A Collection of College Words and CustomsHall, Benjamin Homer
History
A Collection of College Words and Customs
Hall, Benjamin Homer
College students -- United States -- Language; English language -- United States -- Slang; Slang
Quincy thus speaks of the collection:--"Governor Bernard not only
suggested the work, but contributed to it. Five of the thirty-one
compositions, of which it consists, were from his pen. The Address
to the King is stated to have been written by him, or by
Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson. Its style and turn of thought
indicate the politician rather than the student, and savor of the
senate-chamber more than of the academy. The classical and poetic
merits of the work bear a fair comparison with those of European
universities on similar occasions, allowance being made for the
difference in the state of science and literature in the
respective countries; and it is the most creditable specimen
extant of the art of printing, at that period, in the Colonies.
The work is respectfully noticed by the 'Critical' and 'Monthly'
Reviews, and an Ode of the President is pronounced by both to be
written in a style truly Horatian. In the address prefixed, the
hope is expressed, that, as 'English colleges have had kings for
their nursing fathers, and queens for their nursing mothers, this
of North America might experience the royal munificence, and look
up to the throne for favor and patronage.' In May, 1763, letters
were received from Jasper Mauduit, agent of the Province,
mentioning 'the presentation to his Majesty of the book of verses
from the College,' but the records give no indication of the
manner in which it was received. The thoughts of George the Third
were occupied, not with patronizing learning in the Colonies, but
with deriving revenue from them, and Harvard College was indebted
to him for no act of acknowledgment or munificence."--_Quincy's
Hist. of Harv. Univ._, Vol. II. pp. 103-105.
The Charleston Courier, in an article entitled "Literary
Sparring," says of this production:--"When, as late as 1761,
Harvard University sent forth, in Greek, Latin, and English, its
congratulations on the accession of George the Third to the
throne, it was called, in England, a curiosity."--_Buckingham's
Miscellanies from the Public Journals_, Vol. I. p. 103.
Mr. Kendall, an English traveller, who visited Cambridge in the
year 1807-8, notices this work as follows:--"In the year 1761, on
the death of George the Second and the accession of his present
Majesty, Harvard College, or, as on this occasion it styles
itself, Cambridge College, produced a volume of tributary verses,
in English, Latin, and Greek, entitled, Pietas et Gratulatio
Collegii Cantabrigiensis apud Novanglos; and this collection, the
first received, and, as it has since appeared, the last to be
received, from this seminary, by an English king, was cordially
welcomed by the critical journals of the time."--_Kendall's
Travels_, Vol. III. p. 12.
For further remarks, consult the Monthly Review, Vol. XXIX. p. 22;
Critical Review, Vol. X. p. 284; and the Monthly Anthology, Vol.
VI. pp. 422-427; Vol. VII. p. 67.
PILL. In English Cantab parlance, twaddle, platitude.--_Bristed_.
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