PENNILESS BENCH. Archdeacon Nares, in his Glossary, says of this phrase: "A cant term for a state of poverty. There was a public seat so called in Oxford; but I fancy it was rather named from the common saying, than that derived from it." Bid him bear up, he shall not Sit long on _penniless bench_. _Mass. City Mad._, IV. 1. That everie stool he sate on was _pennilesse bench_, that his robes were rags.--_Euphues and his Engl._, D. 3. PENSIONER. French, _pensionnaire_, one who pays for his board. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., and in that of Dublin, a student of the second rank, who is not dependent on the foundation for support, but pays for his board and other charges. Equivalent to COMMONER at Oxford, or OPPIDANT of Eton school.--_Brande. Gent. Mag._, 1795. PERUVIAN. At the University of Vermont, a name by which the students designate a lady; e.g., "There are two hundred _Peruvians_ at the Seminary"; or, "The _Peruvians_ are in the observatory." As illustrative of the use of this word, a correspondent observes: "If John Smith has a particular regard for any one of the Burlington ladies, and Tom Brown happens to meet the said lady in his town peregrinations, when he returns to College, if he meets John Smith, he (Tom) says to John, 'In yonder village I espied a _Peruvian_'; by which John understands that Tom has had the very great pleasure of meeting John's Dulcinea." PETTY COMPOUNDER. At Oxford, one who pays more than ordinary fees for his degree. "A _Petty Compounder_," says the Oxford University Calendar, "must possess ecclesiastical income of the annual value of five shillings, or property of any other description amounting in all to the sum of five pounds, per annum."--Ed. 1832, p. 92. PHEEZE, or FEEZE. At the University of Vermont, to pledge. If a student is pledged to join any secret society, he is said to be _pheezed_ or _feezed_. PHI BETA KAPPA. The fraternity of the [Greek: Phi Beta Kappa] "was imported," says Allyn in his Ritual, "into this country from France, in the year 1776; and, as it is said, by Thomas Jefferson, late President of the United States." It was originally chartered as a society in William and Mary College, in Virginia, and was organized at Yale College, Nov. 13th, 1780. By virtue of a charter formally executed by the president, officers, and members of the original society, it was established soon after at Harvard College, through the influence of Mr. Elisha Parmele, a graduate of the year 1778. The first meeting in Cambridge was held Sept. 5th, 1781. The original Alpha of Virginia is now extinct.