Princeton Univers ityQ m fi srt e e o

-i 'i ew,

Same

Cbam cterz'

ytic

Fea tare;

Publis hed by the Comm ittee of Fifty

1 906

Contents .

H istoric Pr inceton,

Roya l Charters of Princeton

The Balanced Curri culum,

The Preceptorial System ,

The Honor System,

The Graduate Schoo l,

Undergraduate L ife— Freshman and Sophomore Years ,Undergraduate L ife— Jun ior and Sen ior Years ,

The following a rticles , wri tten by gradua tes of PrincetonUnivers i ty ,

appea red in the Newa rk 'New J ers ey'Evening News

during the current y ea r. By the courtesy of tha t paper, they a re

republi s hed in pamphlet form by the Comm i ttee of Fifty , and m ay

be ha a’free, on applica tion to H. G . Murray , Secreta ry of the

Comm i ttee of Fifty , 52 Wa ll Street, New York Ci ty .

His toric Princeton

It i s a common fallacy to confuse mere bigness w ith importance . Thi s i s true in all the happen ings of l ife, but especially in a' iew of historic mil itary operations . We easi ly realize the epoch

making character of Waterloo and Gettysburg by the aid of their

pomp and pagentry , and feel their importance enhanced by their

wealth of horrors . Other confl icts appeal to us vividly by theirposi tion

,a s mark ing, for instance, the beginn ing or end of strug

gles which have turned the course of hi story . Wo lfe at Quebec ,the farmers at Lexington , Wash ington at Yorktown , and Anders on at Sumter thus gain by pos ition what their scale of operat ionsalone could not give them .

Hence , few Jers eym en realiz e that an ins ign ificant sk irm ishon January 3 , 1 777 , gave to the battlefield of Princeton more

significance than any other Revolutionary field , save Saratoga

and Yorktown . Long Island , Fort Washington, Charles Lee’streachery and the retreat through the Jerseys, had left to the

Ameri can leader the merest wreck of a beaten and dissolvingarmy ;and when the confident Cornwalli s arr ived at Trenton w ithhi s di scip lined tr00ps , Congress and the country expected

hour ly the tidings that Washington ’s l ittle band had been capturedor ann ihi lated , and the war ended .

The di s a fi'

ection of the troops and the languor of both soldiers

and citizens were such as to prompt the remark of an English

hi stor ian , that no great page of hi story i s s o l i ttle stam ped withhero i sm as the Ameri can Revolution . Recruiting was impossible ;en l i stments were expi ring, and the country peop le hastened to

safeguard themselves and their property by taking the oath of

allegiance to the crown . Nothing but mili tary success could , even

momentari ly,stimulate the dying cause of American independ

ence . Lecky says ' “It seemed at this time almost certain that

the Amer ican Revolution would have col lap sed .

” A march of ten

3

m iles, a sk irmi sh of an hour or les s, and the Opportuni ty was

gone ; the Jerseys were cleared of Briti sh tr00ps, and England’s

empire over the thirteen colonies had sl ipped away . Never again

did the Am erican cause appear so hopeless . Princeton,skirmish

though i t was , was the turn ing po int, the Gettysburg, of the

Revolution . Of the abandonment of the Jerseys,the same hi s

torian says ' “A fatal damp was thrown on the cause of theloyal i sts from which i t never whol ly recovered .

The events which led to the battle of Princeton,whi le

throwing into the strongest l ight Washington ’s greatest qual ities ,perform the same service for the monumental incapacity of hi s

adversaries . Surely we can here understand Thackeray ’s bitterfl ing at an Engli sh min i stry which hoped to conquer

Bri tons with hired Hessians and half a dozen generals from

Bond street . In truth , from the absurd Braddock blaring with hi s

drums and trumpets through the forests of Penns vlvania , to Corn

walli s abandoned l ike a rat in a trap at Yorktown , the mi l itary

h i story of the Bri ti sh in America— always saving Wolfe— leavesl i ttle for the English to be proud of .It i s , however, w ith the field of Princeton , as i t now exists ,

and with ' the hi storic rel ics and memories sti l l to be found in theold town , that we have to do. The battlefield l ie s roughly in andaround what used to be cal led the “Big Triangle”— that

'

i s,the

section enclosed by Stockton and Mercer streets , from their j unc

tion near the Princeton Inn, westward , and southwestward to the

Quaker road along Stony Brook . Nassau and Stockton streets

form part of the old turnpike between New Brunswick and

Trenton,the scene of so many marches and counter -marches in

Washington ’s Jersey campaign s . About a mile to the west thi s

road makes a curve to the south , and again turn ing west passes

over Stony Brook by a quaint o ld stone bridge , near Bruere ’s gri stmi l l

,which was bui lt in 1 7 14 , and which has been run con

tinuous ly s ince . From the crest of the hi l l to the west, the

Engl ish turned back to meet the American advance, under Mercer,who was esp ied coming up the Quaker road and along StonyBrook . The latter had passed the Quaker church , half a mileaway

,and

,noting the Engli sh return ing on the double—quick

toward the bridge,he succeeded in reaching the top of the swel l ,

to the right,in time to form line of battle . It was near Will iam

C lark’s house,since demol i shed

,that the first col l i sion occurred .

4

The Americans were driven by a bayonet charge southward to

the field,where a pyramid of shell s now marks the spot on which

Mercer fel l . Here Washington came to the rel ief of his advance ,and

,assuming command

,drove the Engli sh in wild fl ight

,the

greater part crossing the brook and heading for Trenton ; but a

portion turned toward Princeton,and were accounted for later.

Mercer was carr ied to the house of Thomas Clark, where he diedten days later

,after intense suffering. What are said to be his

bloodstains on the floor of the room where he was first laid are

sti l l shown to vi sitors . The house i s now the property of Mr.

Hale .

The fight in which General Mercer fel l occurred with thel ines of the oppo sing detachments drawn diagonally across the

present l ine of the new turnpike— Mercer street— which did not

then exi st . The route of the main body of the Americans was

northeastward along a farm road , which , roughly speaking, followed the direction which Mercer street now takes . Some of the

wounded were carried to the house of Thomas O lden , on the o ld

turnpike . This house i s now the aviary of Drum thwacket, the

residence of M . Taylor Pyne . While men were recently making

some repairs to the grounds , a cannon ball and several grapeshot

were dug up , and these are now in the possession ofM r . Pyne .

About hal f a mile farther east, in a ravine south of Mercer

street, occurred a second engagement . Here fragments of the

Fortieth and Fifty—fi fth regiments , having escaped from the rout

at Stony Brook , ral lied and Opposed the American advance under

General Sul livan . The scene of thi s action wa s j ust a l i ttle south

west of the present Seminary grounds . The stand made by the

Engli sh was only momentary . In a few moments Sul l ivan scat

tered them , the major portion fleeing over the fields to the New

Brunswick road , while about 200 of the Fortieth took re fuge inthe col lege 'O ld North'. A few shots were fired into the bui lding,and the English surrendered . The Americans proceeded east

ward along Nassau street , and thei r rear was passing Queenstown , when the head of Cornwalli s ’s main column reached

Mercer ’s battle ground,two miles to the west. When they reached

Princeton,a field piece

,mounted in a smal l entrenchment opposite

the present si te of the inn, was fired by some stragglers , and

Cornwalli s halted for an hour or s o to reconnoitre, thus makingpossible Washington ’s escape . Resi sting the temptation to ri sk

hi s dw indl ing force by a march on NewBrunsw ick, where Cornwa lli s

’

s stores and mil i tary chest ofi ered a tempting bait,the

American commander turned off at ' ingston on the Mil lstone

road , and thence proceeded with hi s men to the hi ll s around Mor

ri s town .

The Battle of Princeton does not compri se the entire Revo

lutionary history of the town . Morven, . on Stockton street, next

the inn , was p i l laged by the Engl i sh early in December, 1 776 , andwas at one time General Howe ’s headquarters . The house was

buil t very early in the eighteenth century, by John Stockton , and

has remained in the fami ly ever since . In 1 776 i t was the res

idence of Richard Stockton,one of the signers of the Declaration

of Independence . The residence of another “signer” i s on With

ers poon street, about a mile north of the town , where President

John Withers poon buil t a residence in 1 773 . Tusculum , as i t

was cal led,was also used as Briti sh headquarters in 1 776

-

7 , and

in 1789 Washington spent a n ight in the house en route to New

York to take the oath as President .

The Barracks,an old stone house on Edgehil l street, i s

the oldest bui lding in Princeton . I t i s supposed to be the originalStockton mansion . I t wa s used for soldiers ’ quarters both in the

French war and in the Revolution , hence its name .

The Deans house , on Nassau street east of the First Presby

terian Church,was bui lt s imultaneously with O ld North , and was

the President’s house from Burr to Mccosh . Here Jonathan

Edwards died in 1758, after only a month’s incumb ency of the

ofli ce of President . The big cannon which stands on the campus

back of Nassau Hal l i s a rel ic of the battle . It was abandoned

owing to a broken carriage . After various wanderings i t was

p lanted in i ts present location in 1840 .

“The Cannon” i s the greatundergraduate institution ; from the first “fresh fi re” to the final

cla s s day exerci ses much of the col lege l i fe centres around the

old gun .

“O ld North, or Nas sau Hall , i s the most interesting of al l

the bui ldings in the neighborhood . There are, in fact, not many

bui ld ings in the Un i ted States about which so many hi storical

memories cluster . Built in 1756 , its old wall s have echoed the

footsteps of both the Burrs,Jonathan Edwards , John Wither

spoon,Washington and Madison . Not only was the bui lding

actual ly under fire in the battle , but i t was the meeting place of

6

the Revolutionary Legislature,and in the south wing, now the

counci l chamber,the Continental Congress held i ts sessions from

June 26 to November 4, 1 783 . Here Congress decreed a statute

to Washington , which was to be mounted on a pedestal whichshould bear in bas - rel ie f representation s of the evacuation of

Boston and the actions of Trenton , Princeton and Monmouth . I t

i s notable that three of the four events thus to be commemorated

occurred on New Jersey soi l .

At the Princeton commencement in I783 , Washington and the

Congress were present. Washington donated fifty guineas to the

trustees , which they expended for a portrait of him by Peale, ofPhi ladelphia . Thi s was p laced in the frame which had formerlycontained the portrai t of ' ing George . From the ol d hal l , on the

eighteenth of October, 1 783 , Congress i ssued the proclamation , inwhich , after thanking the army in the country ’s name for its hero icachievements , the sold iers were discharged from further service,after November 3 .

Here, too, Washington , summoned from the army at Newburg, received the thanks of Congress, and a fter rep ly ing thereto ,retired to the house at Rocky Hill

,which is now known as Wash

ington headquarters ; and from thence, on November 3 of the

same year, he issued hi s farewell addres s to his troop s . Th i shouse i s now the property of the Washington Headquarters As

sociation of Rocky Hil l . The southeast room , on the second story,i s po inted out as the room where these orders were wr itten .

It must appear from this brief enumeration of incidents andp laces , that Pr inceton i s s ingularly rich in h i stori c association s .Space wi l l not perm it further detai l , but the l i s t might be muchextended . How far these p laces and memor ies have impressed thel i fe and sentiment of Princeton, i t i s hard to s ay ; that they havehad a profound influence in creating what the alumn i love to cal lthe Princeton atmosphere i s undoubted . That atmosphere, s o

subtle in charm,s o enduring in effects , defies analysi s . A pro

fes s or, not long since, said to a classmate, “You feel i t, and I fee li t, and every student feels i t ;but not one of us w i l l ever describeit .” Sti l l, one of i ts chief cond itions i s obviously that the localassociations

,histori c

,academic and rel igious , are undi luted by

the di scordant struggle of commerce,or the social di stractions

and temptations of a large town .

Here the academic c ircle i s dominant, college assoc iation s

paramount, and the patriotic memories of the locality, beginn ingwith Nassau Hal l and the O ld Cannon

,subtly influence the sp iri t

of the p lace ; its i solation , the undefi led beauty of the location and

the quiet, methodical routine of teaching and learn ing, 'om to

create that indefi nab le charm which makes a l i felong impress on

the consciousness of the students . I f you a s k for the secret of that

strong Princeton sentiment which her alumn i are carrying al l over

the land, i t i s here— in the dormitories,through the long winter

even ings , where l i felong friendship s are formed ;under the stately

elms,when in the long spring twil ight the l i ttle group s cement

those friendships amid chatter and song, or perhaps look Soberly

forward to the final parting in June . Those who have but seen

Princeton in her hol iday garb have l ittle idea of the calm of theun iversity l i fe .

In twenty years the campus has changed much ;numbers are

greater , bui ldings are larger and more beauti ful . But with al lthis , in some respects , Princeton has not changed . The standards

of the p lace are rel igious,moral and intel lectual

,and the cheap

estimate of a man according to hi s money does not obtain here ,either with undergraduates or with their academic superiors . The

Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Princeton has no more

organ ic connection with the un iversity than with Oxford . But

the un iversity,while never an ecclesiastical or sectarian insti tution ,

stands as firmly pro - chri stian as ever . Thi s generation wi ll not

s ee her pluming herself on the abol ition of public worship ;nor at

chapel service , disp lacing hymns with“col lege songs .” In her

teaching the rel igious element i s not aggressive , but i t i s per

va s ive ;and it i s probably on ly a minority of the students who are

not interested in voluntary rel igious activities . The un ivers ity

compel s no man against hi s conscience and recogn izes hi s right

to bel ieve what he may . But the modern theories that i t matters

not what you believe so long as you believe i t , nor what you l earn

as long as you learn i t,she den ies as decisively as she den ies their

natural corol lary— that i t makes no difference what you do so long

as you do i t .

These are some of the thoughts that must come to the oldPrincetonian as he strol l s amid the famil iar bui ld ings under theshadows of the old elms . Her standards were never sounder, her

ideal s never higher,and her progress i s to- day greater than ever

before under the guidance of her own sons .

8

The Royal Charters of Princeton

In Colon ial days charters were granted , to Harvard in 1636 ;

to William and Mary in 1 696 ; to Yale in 1 70 1 ; to Princeton in

1 746 ; to Columbia and the Un ivers ity of Penn sylvan ia in 1 755;

to Brown in 1 764 ;to Rutgers in I766 , and to Dartmouth in 1 769 .

These col leges , i f they possessed nothing but the traditions of the

past,would sti l l have a standing that mere wealth and numbers of

courses and students cannot give . I f there i s an American

academic aristocracy,these institution s constitute it .

The begi nn ings were simple ; the colonies , unlike the modern

States , were not l iberal to thei r colleges . Poverty ruled ; the con

ditions of l i fe claimed men ’s energies for a struggle to obtain a

bare existence . Nevertheless,the light of learn ing did not go out .

The early settlers s aw the need of common school s and straight

way establi shed them . An educated min i stry first felt the need of

men educated in the country to take their p lace . The lawyers also

called for the means of educating the coming generation in a

knowledge of Magna Charta, statutes of mortmain , and habeas

corpus . Among a hundred men content to cut down the forests ,plant the cr0ps , or trade, a few arose who hungered and thirstedfor

‘

knowledge,and s aw that there exi sted a world beyond the

fields and farms,the church , the town meeting and the tavern .

It was by them that the teaching of the higher education was

made possib le .

The charters of all the col leges are interesting ; thei r sources

were the crown , the Colon ia l legi slatures , or the provincial LordsProprietors . The charter of Harvard was granted by the vote

of the genera l court of the colony of Massachusetts Bay ; the

charter of Yale was granted by the province of Connecticut,

first

as a school , in Saybrook , and then as a col lege , in 1 723 ; the

charters of Princeton , Co lumbia, Dartmouth and Rutgers were

royal grants by the crown ; the charter of theUniversity of Penn

sylvan ia was given by Thomas Penn and Richard Penn,Lords

Proprietors .

An examination of the royal charters granted to Princeton

9

discloses much that i s not general ly known,but which i s of inter

est, not on ly to the inquirer into educational progress , but al so to

the student of American history . The need of higher education inNew Jersey i s clearly indicated by a letter written by the royalGovernor, Jonathan Belcher , to William Belcher, a resident of

England . Thi s letter , which i s dated a year after the first royal

charter was granted for a college,and about a year before the

second royal charter was given,under hi s auspices

,reads as fol

lows 'Sir— Thi s i s a fi ne Cl im ate and a Country of great p lenty

though of L i ttle profit to a Governor. The inhabitants a re gen

era lly rus tick and wi thout education. I am therefore attemp tingthe bui ld ing of a Col lege in the province for Ins tructing the youthin the Princ ip les of Re l igion in good L i terature and Manners andI have a Reas onable m ind of bringing i t to bear.

I am Sr.

Your Friend and 'ery humb le s ervantJ . BEL CHER.

Burl ington, N . J .Sep t. 17 , 1747.

Largely through the influence of Governor Belcher,the col

lege was establi shed and the present historic bu i lding,Nassau

Hall,bui lt . From the recital s of the charter, from the language

of the grants of power it contains , from the very human tone ofmany of the statutes affecting the col lege, we can s ee laid bare

before our eyes the conception , birth , and growth of Princeton

University . Here are found the atmosphere , the environment , the

needs for a college in Colonial days , the statement of its end and

obj ect,and the lines along which i t was to be developed . In the

charter itsel f reference i s had to the fundamenta l concession made

to the inhabitants of New Jersey by that memorable grant in 1664

by Lord Berkeley and S ir George Carteret, adop ted and reaf

firmed,after many vici ssi tudes

,in 1 746 , as the standards and

policy of the Colon ial col lege .

On October 26 , 1 746 , during the Governorship of John Ham

ilton,the first royal charter was granted for the Col lege of New

Jersey . A minute of thi s grant appears on the provincial records

now in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton . The

original charter has been utterly lost ; there i s not even a copy in

exi stence . In the i ssue of the Penn . Journal ofAugu st I3 and 27 ,and of September 10 ,

1 747 , and of the Pennsylvan ia Gazette of

August 1 3 and 2 7 of the same year, appeared abstracts of thi s

charter which closely resemble the exi sting royal charter . Why

IO

the first disappeared and , within less than two years after the

first, why the second was granted , without reference to the first,

i s a my s tery that ha s not been thoroughly explained .

In an article in the Princeton Alumn i Weekly of March 1 1 ,

1905, there i s publi shed an interesting letter, wri tten probably

between 1 749 and 1750 , presumably by a trustee of the col lege . In

thi s letter the writer states that there was great opposition to the

granting o f a royal charter for the col lege ; that influence was

used with Governor Morri s to prevent its being granted , but that

after the death of Governor Morri s the first charter was granted

by Governor Hamilton . Even after the first charter was granted

the opposition continued and threats were made of testing its

val idity in a court of Chancery . These prevented its effectual use

and led to the application for the second and exi sting charter

from George I I .,granted September 14, 1 748, to the

“Governor

and Commander - in- Chie f of the Province,

” to seven men entitled“Esquires ,

” to three men mentioned and entitled “Gentlemen ,and to twelve men mentioned and entitled “Mini sters of the

Gospel , to be“Trustees of said College of New Jersey .

”

The charter contains a preamble with two recitals , the royal

approval and the grant proper . These wil l each be treated separ

ately .

The first reci tal sets forth the need of educational facil itie s

and the desi re of the petitioners for the establ i shment of a college .

Its language i s so clear , i ts desires s o high , and its po int of view

so sound that its words should be quoted exactly . They are as

fol lows '

Whereas s undry of our loving s ub'ects , wel l di s pos ed and

publ ic s p iri ted pers ons , have late ly, by their hum ble pet i tion, pre

s ented to our trus ty and we l l beloved Jonathan Be lcher, Es quire,Governor and Comm ander in Chief of our prov ince of New

Jers ey, in Am erica,repres ented the great neces s ity of com ing

into s om e m ethod for encourag ing and prom ot ing a learned edu

cation of our youth in New Jers ey, and have expres s ed theirearnes t des ire that a col lege m ay b e erected in our s aid provinceof New Jers ey, in Am erica, for the benefit of the inhabi tant s of

the s aid provm ce and others , where in Youth m ay be ins tructed inthe learned language s , and in the l iberal art s and s c iences .

The keynote of the petitioners’ desire as expressed i s for a

learned education of youth , and the means pointed out to obtain

thi s result i s a college . The college was not in tended a s a loc a l

insti tu t ion ; i t was to be for the benefit of“the inhabitants of thi s

province and others . “The definition of the aim of a college as the

I I

place wherein youth may be ins tructed in the learned languages

and in the liberal arts and sciences,

” contains almost every e s

s entia l that we desire to- day .

The second recital refers to the very remarkable grant of

l iberties made by John , Lord Berkeley , Baron Stratton, one of hi s

maj esty ’s Privy Counci l , and Sir George Carteret, of Saltrum ,in

the county of Devon, 'n ight, 'ice- Chamberlain of His Maj esty ’s

household ;Lords Proprietors of Nova Caesarea . I t i s as fol lows

And wherea s by the fundam ental conces s ions m ade at th efirs t s ettlem ent of New Jers ey by the L ord Berkeley, and SirGeorge Carteret

,then proprietors thereof, and granted under the ir

hands and the s eal of the s aid province, bearing date the tenthday of February

,in the year of our L ord one thous and s ix hundred

and s ixty- four, i t wa s , am ong other th ings,conceded and agreed ,

that no freem an, wi th in the s ai d provm ce of New Jers ey, s hou l dat any tim e b e m ole s ted , pun i s hed , di s qu ieted , or cal led in que s t ion ,for any difference in Op inion or practice in m atters of re l igiou sconcernm ent, who do not actual ly d i s turb the c ivi l peace of the

s ai d province ; but that al l and every s uch pers on or pers onsm ight, from t im e to t im e, and at al l t im es thereafter, free ly andfu l ly have and en'oy hi s and the ir 'udgm ents and cons c iences , inm atters of re l i gion throughout the s aid province

,they behaving

them s e lves peaceably and qu ietly and not us ing thi s l iberty to

l icent ious ne s s , nor to the c i vi l in'ury or outward di s turbance of

others , a s by the s ai d conces s ions on record in the s ecretary’s oflice

of New Jers ey, at Perth Am boy, in l ib, 3 , fol io 66, etc . ,

m ayappear.

Thi s document granted to the freemen of New Jersey almost

the l iberties that our race has struggled for and by fighting at

ta ined.

The province of New Jersey was given by Charles I I . ab s o

lutely to his brother the Duke of York , afterward James I I . The

Duke of York sold the province of New Jersey to the Lords

Proprietors for a valuable consideration and conveyed it to them

by a proper grant . The poor Lords Proprietors paid dearly for

thei r dependence on the grant of the Duke ofYork . They entered

into possession,spent large sums of money to exploi t their

province,and attracted coloni sts to settle there , by making known

the advantages of the land and the privileges and liberties guar

anteed to all . Both Charles II . and James I I . did all in their

power to destroy the charters of the American colonies and subvert

thei r libertie s . How James I I . repudiated the grant made by him

as the Duke of York,and the attempts of the crown to ignore

the terms of the concessions of settlement and impose new condi

tions,i s part of the hi story of the S t ate of New Jersey .

I t i s sign ificant that the second recital of the charter of the

12

college does not refer to the rules of Governor Andrus or Lord

Cornbury,but to the Berkeley and Carteret grant of l iberties

,as

the type of civi l and religious freedom .

In 1664 , when Berkeley and Carteret made thei r grant to the

freemen of New Jersey,Charles II . was in the fourth year of hi s

real reign . In Scotland liberty of worship was proscribed,and

martyrs by their death were testifying to their fa i th . In France

Loui s 'I' . wa s , s tep by step , abrogating the rights guaranteed

by the Edict of Nantes and stamping out l iberty in all i ts phases .In England non—conformity was being suppressed and Roman

Catholici sm was sti l l l ega l ly p roscribed . In Spa in,Portugal and

the States of the church , the penalty of freedom wa s death . In

Massachusetts Quaker s and Papi sts were outcasts and witcheswere being burned . In ' i rgin ia the Church of England was

the State church , created by law.

Thus in both the first and last roya l charter,the precious

privi leges of the freemen of New Jersey were recited , approvedand reaffirmed .

The charter contains a royal approval of the facts recited and

of the petitioners ’ insi stent desire for l iberty of conscience , as the

corner—s tone of the col lege charter, a s follows

Wherefore and for that the pet it ioners have al s o expres s edthe ir earne s t des ire that thos e of every re l igious denom inationm ay have free and equal l iberty and advantages of education inthe s aid col lege, any different s ent im ents in re l i gion notwith s tanding. We be ing wi l l ing to grant the reas onable reques ts andprayers of al l our loving s ub'ec ts , and to prom ote a l iberal andl earned education among them , know ye , therefore , etc .

The grant of the college follows,reciting tha t the best means

of education be establi shed for the benefit and advantage of the

inhabitants of the province and others ; i t orda ins tha t a college be

erected for the education of youth in the learned languages and in

the l iberal arts and sciences,incorporates the institution under the

legal title of “The Trustees of the Co l lege of New Jersey,

”and

names the trustees .

The fear of Stewart succession ever before the house of

Hanover , especia l ly after the ri sing of 1 745, and the need of

watchfu lness even in far - away America,are seen in the elaborate

requirements for the oath to be taken by the trustees at their first

meeting, before proceeding to any business , and from al l s ub s equent trustees , before entering Office . The oaths required by the

charter were three in number . First , the oath appointed to be

I3

taken by an act passed in the first year of the reign of the late ' ing

George I., enti t led

“An act for the fur ther security of hi s

maj esty’

s person and government and the succession of the crownin the hands of the late Princess Sophia

,being protestants

,and

for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended Prince of Wa les

and hi s open and secret abettors . Secondly,

“ they mu st make and

subscribe the declaration mentioned in an act of Parliament made

in the twenty- fi fth year of the reign of ' ing Charles I I . , entitled‘An act for preventing dangers which may happen from Popi sh

recruits Third , an oath for faithful ly executing the office or

trust required in them .

These oaths were required to be admin i stered to them by

three of hi s maj esty ’s j ustices of the peace ;one justice wou ld not

seem to sati sfy the rigorous , complicated requirements . After the

Declaration of Independence these oaths were modified by statute

to conform to changed conditions .

The powers and privi leges contained in the charter were very

broad and very modern in idea and in scope . They include every

thing necessary for a un iversity of the twentieth century .

The on ly l imitation s upon the powers granted are as to the

amount of property to be held,the requirements of the residence

of twelve of the tru stees and a restriction l imiting the power of

making rules and regulations for the government of the col lege .

The first l imitation prohibits the holding of property over the

annual value of The second requires twelve of the twenty

three trustees to be residents of New Jersey . The third forbid s

the trustee s from pa ssing laws repugnant to the laws and statutes

of the realm of Great Britain or of the province of New Jersey ,and prevents them from “excluding any person of any rel igious

denomination whatsoever from ful l and equal l iberty and ad

vantage oi,

education or from any of the l iberties , privileges or

immun i ties of said col lege on account of his or their being of a

religious profess ion different from said trustees of said col lege .

”

The foregoing i s the exi sting royal charter of the Col lege of

New Jersey . It granted freedom of bel ie f to all , whether residing

in the province or elsewhere , who desired an education in the

learned languages and in the liberal arts and sciences ;i t prohibited

di scrimination against rel igious bel iefs of i ts students and it

granted the rights and powers of any university or college of

Great Britain . By the charter rel igion i s taken for granted ; no

I4

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The Balanc ed Cu rricu lum

Every educational insti tution must map out its work with its

main purpose clearly in ' i ew. The professional,technica l and

trade school , and , in the main , the public school , aim directly and

immediately to fit students quickly for gainful pursuits . Hence,they must teach chiefly, and in large part superficia l ly , the appl ica

tion of establ i shed principles and processes , by methods through

which their pupi ls may soonest obta in the desired result . Their

aim i s frankly uti li tarian and any broader and deeper result i smore or less incidental .

The purpose of the true univers ity i s broader . Primari ly i t

aims to train the student in the efli c ient u s e of hi s own faculties

more than to supply specia l information in a narrow field ;to lead

the mind to take a view of the relations of human knowledge to

human l ife,from a higher standpo int than training in some few

special processes can provide .

Such a basis,of course

,affords the best possible founda tion

for subsequent s pec1a liz ation ;since, other things being equal , he i s

the best man who ha s the broadest knowledge of the princip les with

which he must deal,and whose powers overlap the technique of

h i s dai ly business . It seems necessary to point out thi s d is t inction ,because the true character of distinctive university training ha s

been largely ob scured through the mingling of technical and uni

versity courses at many of our largest institutions .

Fi fty years ago the courses leading to the B . A . degree were

narrow,but definite . Of late years there has been a great diversi ty

of methods , in university education proper, accompanied by much

confusion and doubtful experiment . In some of the attempts at

breadth and elastici ty there has been such a loss of defi nitenes s

that the sign ificance of thi s h i storical degree has been greatly im

paired ;and , in the opinion of many , the partia l or tota l abandon

ment of prescribed courses has led to results almost grotesque .

From the mass of experiment and compromise have emerged two

systems which are logical and comprehensible— the free elective ,which has received its most notable and complete i l lustration at

16

Harvard,and the balanced elective , which i s the basis of the curri

culum at Princeton .

The free elective system 'as its name implies'i s based uponthe theory that the business of the college i s to provide courses of

instruction ; that of the student to select and profit by them . The

chief exponent of thi s system frankly states that “the entering

freshman best knows wha t he ought to study .

” It i s cla imed that

absolute freedom of choice develops individua l i ty to an extent im

possible by any other method,and it must be admitted that for

the class ofmen who hunger for knowledge , and who have abi l ity ,determination and a di stinct intel lectual bias

,the system has great

and unique advantages . It has resu lted that in the wea lth and

variety of i ts courses,Harvard College has surpa ssed any other

institution in America . As applied to the average of a mass of

students,the system seems a practical assertion that the greatest

mental development fol lows the l ine of least resistance , which i s

hardly a tenable position as to either the moral or physical world .

Its advocates,however

,would probably hesitate to enuncia te thi s

a s a principle .

The Opponents of the free elective scheme assert that to the

average man,who has no di s t inct bias , the mere number of

courses i s confusing,whi le to that large class who rea l ly do not

want to study anything 'if they can help i t', the temptation to

choose courses productive of l ittle besides lei sure i s i rres istible .

President S'churman,of Cornel l , expressed thi s Obj ection in say

ing ' “Offering courses of instruction i s not educating students ,and the dril l of the Old system is often regretted even by the adyocates of the new . Dean West said la st year , to a Princeton gath

ering ' “Princeton decl ines to turn over the di rection of her curriculum to her least educated men— the entering freshmen . The

col lege that does not know better than the freshman what he

ought to study does not know enough to be a college .

”

The balanced curriculum at Princeton was introduced by

the present admini stration in 1903 , in the words of President

Wi lson ,“to present for the use of the student an organ ic body

of studies , conceived according to a defin i te and consi stent system ,

and directed'

toward a single comprehensive aim,namely , the

discip line and development of the mind .

”

Elementary and fundamental subj ects,prescribed for freshmen

and Sophomores , are made instruments ofmental dri l l , and provide

I7

adequate preparat ion for the more specia l i zed courses of the last

two years . Each candidate for either of the three bachelors ’ de

grees i s required to take Engli sh , Latin or Greek , one modern

language, mathematics , physics , logic and psychology . Of thi s

li st , the subj ects for each year are definitely prescribed , but a

Sophomore may elect further courses in mathematics,languages

,

chemi stry or hi story,chosen in accordance with hi s general view

of his probable j unior courses .

It wi l l be noted not on ly that thi s i s a flat contradiction of the

basi s of the free elective system , but that the subj ects selected lie

at the founda tion of l iterature and science , and are in themselves

both discipl inary and stimulating. Here , then , i s the basi s of the

balanced curriculum— fi rs t,breadth of foundation ; second ,

thorough mental development .In the thi rd , or j unior year, the student i s cal led upon to

elect hi s courses from among those provided in the fol lowing

fashion ' The upper class courses are grouped in four d ivi sion s

and subdivided into eleven departments , as follows

First— Divi sion of phi losophy , containing the departments of

'a'phi losophy, 'b'history, pol itics and economics .Second— Divi sion of ar t and archeology .

Third— Divi sion of language and l iterature,departments of

'a'Engli sh , 'b'classics , 'c'modern languages .Fourth— Divi sion of mathematics and science , departments

of'a'mathematics , 'b'physics , 'c'chemistry, 'd'geology, 'e'biology.

From the above the electing junior must choose five courses ,two in some one department , one in the same divi sion , one in a

different divi sion and one anywhere he pleases . Thus he may elect

either three or four courses in one divi sion 'but not five', or hemay take three in one div ision and two in one department of an

other divi sion,giving additional elastici ty to hi s senior course

elect ions ; or he may take three courses in hi s main divi sion and

scatter hi s other two . Bu t he thoroughly understands tha t he

cannot take courses in senior year which are not natural ly sequent

to hi s j unior work .

At thi s point the balanced elect ive system i s fully apparent

as a well -matured plan for ensuring dril l , breadth and coherence

and a profitable use of the student’s time with the least possible

sacrifice Of individuality and elast icity . Here again wi ll be noted

18

the positive stand against any system which renders possible the

election of courses s o non—sequent as to make a plan of educa

tiona l anarchy, or which sacrifices al l el se to the conserving of in

dividuali sm,ignoring that large proporti on of students who are

not vividly con scious of any individual bent worth conserving.

Under the balanced curriculum he picks from schemes of related

subj ects,previously systematized by the univers ity ; s o that he

special izes in j un ior year in either three or four courses , but with

a counterpoi se in either one or two courses which diverge from

his main branch . He cannot select five miscel laneous and un

related courses,nor five courses which wil l const i tute absolute

special ization .

The trend of the plan thus far i s from general to special

from the fundamentals prescribed for the freshmen , through the

limited electives permitted to the sophomores , to the guided

electives Of j un ior year . The freedom is greater to the sen ior,upon whom there i s no restriction except that he must take al l the

studies of some one department, and that h is selections must bewarranted by his j un ior year work . Sen iors take five courses ,and as no department Offers more than three at one time, the other

two may be in or out of the divi sion in which the main depart

ment l ies .

These detai l s are necessary to an understanding of Princeton ’s

defin i te and individual position upon thi s basic prob lem . Recogniz ing that the stereotyped courses of the past are Obsolete , s he

has flatly refused to swing from the extreme of too rigid law to

that of no law at al l . Starting from the premises that the prov

ince of the true university, as distinct from the techn ical school , i s

the di scip l ine of the mind and train ing of the faculties , as well as

to lay the foundation of a broad culture , s he demands that the

work of her younger students shal l be formative as well as in

formational . She assumes,frankly enough

,that freshmen and

sophomores are too immature for any but a very restricted electivesystem . Hence these studies are not on ly arranged on a comprehens ive basi s , but a large p lace i s given to those branches the

teaching of which has attained the greatest exactness and a c

curacy through long experience ; namely , mathematics and theclassics .

Whether the plan could not profitably give more freedom to

s ome classes of students— the classes which would find great ad

19

vantages in a free elective system— i s fairly Open to di scussion .

Such a distinction i s made in the Engli sh un iversities by separating

the candidates for “pass degrees from the candidates for “honors— the latter receiving much more of privi lege and freedom than

the former .

Wi th the remodeling of study courses has come a modification

in the mean ing of degrees awarded in the di rection of greater

defi nitenes s .

PRINCETON DEGREES.

Princeton has never been an insti tution where the degree of

doctor of philosophy wa s sl ightly confused with doctor of vet

erinary surgery , but i t was felt that her old degree of B . S . was

a misnomer when given to men who took practically B . A . courses ,excepting Greek . Neither was there any idea of cea sing to require

Greek for the B . A . degree . President Wil son says ' “We were

assured by experience that students dri lled in the ful l classical tra in

ing came to us better prepared for success in col lege tasks than

those who had taken on ly Latin and substituted a modern language

for Greek ; and we were clear in our j udgment that the old h i s

torica l degree of bachelor of arts— the only degree that ever has

been stamped wi th something l ike definite s ignifi cance— ought not

to be wrested to strange meanings , to the obliteration of al l defi ni

t ion in the label s of graduation .

”

Hence the Greek requirement for the B . A . degree was re

ta ined,while for those who pursued the humanistic courses with

out Greek , the degree of Bachelor of Letters was offered . Candida tes for thi s degree pursue for two years practical ly the same

course as the B . S . men . They are both students who do not offer

Greek . I t i s in j unior year that the paths diverge— the one to

l iterature , the other to science .

The B . S . degree i s offered for upper class courses in pure

rather than appl ied science . That i s , the courses aim to give the

students a thorough knowledge of scientific theories and principlesrather than to train them in a few special ized processes .This i s based on the ground that a broad foundation i s the

best basi s for subsequent special ization , and that all applied sciencei s the Offspring of pure science .

It i s the aim rather to point out the di stinctive features of the

Princeton curriculum than to give anything like a ful l account ofi t, which , of course , would be impossible here . That its basi s i s

20

sound and comprehensive, and its detai ls thoroughly harmon ized

by men who understand thei r business , i s not to be doubted . That

a schedule of studies , however , can , by itsel f, accompli sh the

results at which the univers ity aims , i s not the view which the

authorities take . They have recognized that sympathetic contact

between teacher and pupi l i s a force for which no equ ivalent

exists,and by the introduction of the preceptorial system thi s

need has been met and the balanced curriculum vastly increased in

efficiency .

But they have turned resolutely away from what they feel to

be the incoherence and la is s ez fa ire sp irit of the free electivesystem for a reason which i s thus tersely and forcibly stated 'curiou s ly enough' in the latest catalogue of the most advanced

exemplar Of that system .

“It i s bel ieved that any plan of study deliberately made and

adhered to,i s more profitable than studies chosen from year to

year without plan , under the influence of temporary preferences .”

'Harvard Catalogue, 1905, p .

2 1

vantages in a free elective system— i s fa i rly open to di scussion .

Such a di stinction i s made in the English universities by separating

the candidates for “pass degrees from the candidates for “honors— the latter receiving much more of privi lege and freedom than

the former .

With the remodeling of study courses ha s come a modification

in the meaning of degrees awarded in the direction of greater

defi nitenes s .

PRINCETON DEGREES.

Princeton has never been an institution where the degree of

doctor of philosophy was sl ightly confused with doctor of vet

erinary surgery , but i t was felt that her old degree of B . S . wa s

a misnomer when given to men who took practica l ly B . A . courses ,excepting Greek . Neither was there any idea of ceasing to require

Greek for the B . A . degree . President Wil son says ' “We were

assured by experience that students dri lled in the ful l classical train

ing came to us better prepared for success in col lege tasks than

those who had taken on ly Latin and substituted a modern language

for Greek ; and we were clear in our j udgment tha t the old h i s

torica l degree of bachelor of arts— the only degree that ever has

been stamped with something l ike definite s ignifi cance— o ught not

to be wrested to strange meanings , to the obliteration of al l defi ni

t ion in the label s of graduation .

Hence the Greek requirement for the B . A . degree was re

ta ined,while for those who pursued the humanistic courses with

out Greek , the degree of Bachelor of Letters wa s offered . Candidate s for thi s degree pursue for two years practical ly the same

course a s the B . S . men . They are both students who do not offer

Greek . It i s i n j unior y ear that the paths diverge— the one to

l iterature,the other to science .

The B . S . degree i s offered for upper class courses in pure

rather than appl ied science . That i s , the courses aim to give the

students a thorough knowledge of scient ific theories and principlesrather than to tra in them in a few special ized proc esses .This i s based on the ground that a broad foundation i s the

best basi s for subsequent specia l ization , and that al l appl ied science

i s the offspring of pure science.

It i s the aim rather to po int out the distinctive features of the

Princeton curriculum than to give anything like a ful l account of

i t, which , of course , would be impossible here . That i ts basi s i s

20

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The Prec eptorial Sys tem

The rapid growth of our larger col leges and un iversities,

though in some respects a subj ect for congratulation,has brought

with i t problems which have been sources of perplexity .

Numerical increase has been s o sudden that the mere ques

tion of housing the students ha s presented great difficulties .Where college faci l i ties have been in sufficient

,the need of de

pending upon private dormitories ha s proved troublesome , since

in some cases serious breaches of discipline,comparative ineffi ci

ency in col lege work and demorali z ing luxury and disp lay have

particularly marked the occupants Of such bui ldings .The financial problem has become more serious

, for a s no

student pays a tuition fee equal to the cost of his education,mem

bers hip has outgrown endowment, and each increase in numbers

has swelled the annual defici t or lowered the level of teachers ’

salaries , or both .

The most serious disadvantage , however, of overgrowth has

been the loss of intimate contact between student and instructor .

Recitation s and lectures , with their formal tests and exercises ,cannot provide thi s

,and hence numbers tend to disintegration at a

most vital point in col lege l ife ; so that at some of the very large

un iversities the mass of students prevents any personal relation

between pupi l and teacher . A student at one of our oldest uni

vers itie s being a sked the name of a certain professor, rep lied“ Isn ’t i t enough that I must l i sten to him without bothering about

hi s name '”

As long as the relation of teacher and learner has exi sted ,the direct impact of mind upon mind , imparting, correcting and ,above all

,stimulating to effort

,ha s been recognized as the idea l

method . A multitude of courses , large student rol ls , large build

ings large classrooms,even large endowment , cannot bring rea l

results i f there i s no direct appeal of the student ’s need to the

instructor’ s interest and sympathy .

I t must al so be borne in mind that the instruction of a

heterogeneous student body in large detachments involves a loss

22

other than that of personal influence . A lowering of academic

standard s i s necessary unless recitations and lectures be supple

m ented by some scheme which wil l more directly reach the in

dividual . A professor lecturing to a class of 200 must bring the

treatment of his subj ect below the mental grasp of the average

of his hearers or the lower half will find him talking over thei r

heads . Consequent ly the subj ect must be treated primari ly with

the popular aim of creating interest rather than with the academic

purpose of presenting truth .

The speed of a large fleet i s that of its slowest vessel s , and

a mean speed within the power of the slower wil l not develop

the power of the faster . For ships and speed , read students and

mental attainment,and it i s evident that i f the classes be divided

into smal l homogeneous groups , and the capacity of each group

developed,the educational gain will be important . The adoption

of the balanced curriculum at Princeton was the first step in thi s

direction . The preceptorial system is the second .

It was a realization of thi s growing problem which some

years ago induced the more progressive of the Princeton faculty

to cast around for a remedy . The undergraduate body was in

creasing, and the decadence of that vital personal relation , which

James McCos h had introduced and done much to promote , was

becoming noticeable . No American university had grappled with

the problem , but about 1870 , Jowett, master of Ball iol College ,Oxford

,had met i t by the efficient reform of the ancient Oxonian

system of personal tutors .

Under Jowett’

s insp i rati on , Ball iol insi sted that every student

should spend an informal hour each week wi th a professor,in

s tructor or tutor , who should make a study of his pupi l’s individua l

points of strength and weakness , advising him in al l hi s academic

l i fe as a friend rather than as a pedagogue ; act a s hi s advocate

'but never as hi s j udge'in faculty meetings , and s o far as possibleexercise an intimate persona l influence . Space wi l l not permit

further detai l,but i t wil l suffice to say that Jowett

’

s own experi

ment , beginn ing with one smal l group of eight student s , extendedin one year throughout Bal l iol ; in three years Ba l l iol men were

taking everything in the way of honors that Oxford Offered , and

the system was made general throughout the univers i ty .

In the summer of 1902 ,Professor Andrew F . West

,dean of

the Graduate School at Princeton , who, in accordance with the

23

desire of President W i lson , had spent two months at Oxford

studying the tutorial system , returned to Princeton with the conv iction that a similar p lan i f introduced there would so lve the

vexed problem . Princeton,by its traditions and surroundings

,

Offered the most promising field for such a system,and it was

evident that unless something should be done the inevitable in

crease in numbers would be accompan ied by a progressive decl ine in efficiency .

Under the old plan , one instructor to twelve or fifteen s tudents

has been deemed sufficient . Although the entire faculty would

be used as preceptors,the extra work would necessitate one in

s tructor to eight or nine students , thus entai l ing a large addition

to the sa lary li st . Through the generosity of some of the alumni ,the necessary expense was partial ly provided for

,and a plan was

adopted which it i s hoped wi l l rai se the balance needed and place

the system on a complete financial basi s .

The selection of fifty additional instructors to fi l l the pre

ceptors hips was a most arduous undertaking. While,as above

stated,al l the faculty were to share in the work

,the duties of

these new instructors were to be chiefly preceptorial , and hence it

was necessary to find men who not only possessed the requisite aca

demic qual ifications but who were especial ly fitted to impress and

influence young men . SO wel l was thi s accomplished, that the

president of a large neighboring un iversity recently remarked

That i t was Princeton ’s good fortune that j ust at thi s time no

other institution was introducing the same system , for such a

col lection of young preceptors as she had j ust secured could

not be dup l icated in America .

”

The preceptorial system in i ts working detai ls differs some

what in the first two years,and in the two upper class years ;each

freshman and sophomore meets , for an hour each week , a preceptor in each of his main studies . The preceptor ’s duty i s to

diagnose individual difficulties and to prescribe the proper rem

edies . The meeting i s in the room of the preceptor , and he may

take hi s students singly or in smal l groups , not exceeding four

or five men of l ike train ing, aptitudes and requirements . His part

i s,in the words of President Wil son ,

“By every serviceable method

to give them counsel,guidance and stimulation in their work .

”

It has been asked whether the preceptorial system does not

merely amount to an improved scheme of“coaching.

”The

24

an swer i s that i t i s not coaching at all , but differs from it funda

mental ly,both in purpose and method . The Obj ect of coach

ing i s to prepare the student to pass examinations or to re

cite a given series of lessons . I t i s the admini stration of prediges ted intel lectual food to indisposed or feeble menta l d igestions ,usually with the idea of keeping the patient academical ly alive . I t

i s chiefly quantitative in purpose and generally temporary in

effect .The preceptor ’s work

, on the other hand , aims not at quantity,but at quali ty ; he does not even take hi s pupi l over the same

ground as the classroom instructor ; he neither marks nor aims

at marks . Hi s purpose i s permanent and not temporary . His

effort i s not to condone indolence , nor to veneer stupidity , but to

stimulate effort and develop power ; to encourage excel lence,prune excrescences and stra ighten crookedness . He makes no

attempt to do hi s man’s work for him,but strengthens him to do i t

for himself .

It has been said that the free elective system assumes that

the greatest development l ies along the l ine of least resi stance .The essential basi s of the preceptorial system as applied at Prince

ton i s that development best results from overcoming difficulties

by sustained and wi sely directed effort . Thus , i t rests upon thesame basi s as Princeton ’s balanced curriculum , which it rounds

out and completes .

So much for the general basi s . In practi se,the heaviest

, be

cause the dul lest,work comes in freshman year . Then must be

corrected the weakness in fundamental s— in languages,a vocab

ulary and a knowledge of construction must be acquired— in math

em a tics , a famil iarity with principles and working methods . In

Engli sh the student reads for his preceptor each month certain

standard works— hi story,essays

,poetry, fiction ; and a strong

effort i s made to awaken a good reading taste . which in a sur

pri s ingly large number of students i s almost dormant . Here i s

laid the basi s of a real cul ture , which a great'

Oxford professor

has defined a s“an acquaintance with the best that has been

thought and sa id in the world .

” By Sophomore year the pupi l wi l l

be guided to the l iterary side of his classical studies ; in Engli sh

reading,the bent of his mind wi ll be allowed to guide hi s choice

of books, a nd the endeavor wi ll be made to strengthen hi s mathe

m atica l perception s . But the flexibil i ty of the system which i s

25

l imited only by the number of groups,permits easi ly that a

brigh t freshman group may be doing more really advanced workin some l ines than a dul l group of Sophomores . The elastici ty

with which thi s feature supplements the stated curriculum i sobvious .

Thus far wil l be noted an important departure from the Ox

ford model , in that the students have several tutors in as many

s tudies , instead of one who covers all,and it has been asked why

this should be , and whether the purely intel lectual gain i s not more

than offset by a loss in concentration of moral influence . In re

ply, it must be said that the reasons for thi s dep arture l ie chiefly

in the inferiority of American secondary educa t ion . 'ery few

American academies give the thorough and broad foundation in

classics , mathematics and Engli sh which marks the work of the

best Engli sh schools . Coaching wi ll always enable a certain num

ber to pass the entrance test , who must drop out unless their

deficiencies are promptly remedied ; and as i t results that , in

spite of more rigid entrance examinations,an American fresh

man possesses a greater wealth of heterogeneou s ignorance than

hi s Engli sh brother,the system must meet thi s condition . With

longer experience and some adaptations now under consideration ,Princeton ’s system may be expected to approach more closely to

the Oxford practi se . For the present , the existing plan seems

wisest because most closely adapted to American conditions .

In j un ior and sen ior years , however , the diversity of pre

ceptors wil l not be necessary . The bulk of each man ’s work now

lies in one of the eleven departments into which the curriculum

i s divided and the preceptor is chosen from that department . The

greater maturi ty of the students and homogeneousness of the

groups render the work less exacting in its deta i l and the in

s tructor’

s influence more sweeping in its scope . Then the relation

i s even less formal and the preceptor occupies more of tha t elder

brother position which i s most desi rable . The students here

should become reading men in the comradeship of their preceptors .

President Wilson said in June last '“Such reading

,so free from artificia l trammels , and done in

constant conference with helpful scholars , ought to impart to

study a new real ity,ought to give co l lege men a sense of having

been emancipated from school and mere tutelage , and given the

responsibi l ities as well as the opportunities ofmaturity . They are

26

cha l lenged to read , to look about them in great subj ects , and di s

cover the world of thought . No doubt more work wi ll be done

under the new s t imulus than i s done now, but i t wil l not , i f

properly directed,be burdensome , du l l , a task , a matter of re

luctance , as too much col lege work i s now. It i s real ly a pleasure

to u s e your mind , i f you have one , and many a man who never

dreams what fun it i s to have idea s and l to explore the wor ld of

though t , may be expected , in his intercourse with hi s preceptors ,to find leafning a rare form of en j oyment, the use of his facultie s

a new indulgence . He may even discover hi s soul and find its

spiritua l relat ions to the world of men and affairs .”

As to results,i t i s early as yet to speak broadly, but i t i s

the testimony of instructors that even now the reci tations are

decidedly better than the average of the last four years . Mr.Bingham 'Yale a preceptor in economics at Princeton

,thus

spoke of one term ’s results at the meeting of the American His

torical Association at Baltimore in December last '

“The monologue of the lecturer may be amusing, but i t can

never become a real conversation . However, this i s obtainablewhen there are gathered together informally four or five young

men who have '

a ll been reading about the same things . That i s

what happens at the smal l weekly conference in the preceptor ’s

study . The discussion i s about the reading ; i t i s free and in

formal . Every one has to talk , and before he knows it , he‘gets

the habi t’— the habit Of talking about intel lectual matters . A di s

cu s s ion begun in the preceptor ’s study i s continued at the club . A

topic which was before an unspeakable nui sance becomes a mat

ter of l ive interest ; there i s a new obj ect in reading. Almost

every one l ikes to be able to talk about the subj ects h i s friends

are di scussing. The result i s that the conversation around the

club tables in Princeton i s actually undergoing a marked change

in its character , and that, while no one pretends that the readingi s l ight or easy

,very few do not find it interesting and worth

while.

The plan i s not an experiment,but a modern application of a

long- establi shed principle . In s o far as any of its detai l s are ex

perim ental, they resul t from new conditions which have largelycome in evidence ln recent years . The purpose goes deeper than

proficiency in any one branch or group of studies . It looks to

the establi shment of correct mental processes , ready u s e of the

27

faculties , the creation of efficiency and the upbui lding of char

acter . That such wi l l be— i s becoming— i ts result,i s the confident

Opin ion of those who are watching it most j ealously . The student

body i s hearti ly co—operating ;even those who have not the broader

view feel that i t i s giving distinction to Princeton and that they

must aid in i ts success out of loyalty . No recent departure in

education has awakened more interest or caused more discu ssion

in educational circles . I t i s not too much to say that the American

world of education has its eyes on thi s new Princeton system .

And Princeton men everywhere are rejo icing that their Alma

Mater has been the first to successfully grapple with the problem ,

which unti l now has baffled every large university in America .

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man that during thi s examination I have neither given nor received

assi stance .

” Woe to a student i f he be detected by a fellow - s tu

dent in cheating ' Before the sun sets,caught in his l ie

,he finds

himself facing the most exacting and most searching tribunal a

student can ever meet— the committee of his fel lows .

The president of each class and two additional upper class

men 'elected by the students'compose it . No dodge or evasion

succeeds with the j udges ; they are students themselves , loved and

respected by all , but in tensely j ealous of the student honor . They

are j ust men and hear fai rly before they determine— then fol lows

a j udgment swi ft and sure . Sometimes i t i s acquittal , but , as a

charge i s seldom made unless the proofs are clear, the verdict i s

usually “gui lty .

” Under the cons t i tution the committee transmits

the name and findings to the dean of the univers ity . One adjudged

guilty i s al lowed twenty—four hours within which to withdraw vo l

untarily or appeal to the faculty . In the absence of withdrawal orappeal

,expul sion follows a s a matter of course . Little can be

expected from an appeal,as the committee never takes positive

action unles s the proof i s absolutely clear . No one outside of the

accused,the committee and the witnesses i s present at the hearing,

and strictest mea sures are now taken by the committee and the

faculty to prevent charges of cheating from becoming publ ic

through them . As might be expected , the offenders do not aid in

thei r dis seminat ion . Almost invariably the accused waives his

appeal and leaves “to go to work ,” or “because of sickness in the

fami ly .

” The committee di scloses i ts proceedings only to the dean .

In the absence of an appeal , the dean withholds the names even

from the faculty . For the past three years there ha s been no

appeaL

The foregoing,perhaps , suggests a contradiction to the state

ment tha t there i s no cheating at Prince ton . In an undergraduate

population of about fourteen hundred there are perhaps two ca ses

a year,and those almost invariably occur in the freshman cla ss .

This i s not strange , for i t takes time for all newcomers to under

stand thoroughly that fine flower of col lege morali ty— the honor

system . In the interest of fa ir p lay , the utmost care i s taken

to immediately acquaint the freshman with what i s required and

the penalty for dishonor. Before the first examination s they are

addressed by the upper classmen of the committee . Usua l ly a

vars ity footbal l man i s among the number, and few freshmen turn

30

a deaf ear. Leaflets explanatory of the system are di s tributed , and

the freshmen are orally told of wha t i s expected of‘

them and of

wha t they may expect in case of transgression .

It wi ll be observed that under any system whereby the s tu

dents guarantee the examination , there must be on the part of the

student body a recogni zed duty of reporting instances of cheating

which may come before their notice . The fol lowing i s taken ver

batim from the leaflet di stributed to the freshmen '“It i s the duty of every man

,regardless of any personal feel

ing which he may have in the matter, to see tha t any Offense which

may come under hi s notice i s investigated . In order to do this , he

must consult the committee in charge , and the man who fa i ls in

thi s i s as truly an offender against the honor system a s the man

who,after pleading hi s word of honor a s a gentleman , deliberately

breaks it .”

The inj unction contained in the foregoing i s scrupu lously

regarded . As one youth put i t,“Even i f I wanted to cheat , I

should be afraid to,for there are not two but I52 pa i rs of eyes

watching me .

” Hence,practical ly speaking

,there i s no cheating

in examination s s o guarded by an awakened publ ic Op inion .

Of such i s the way of Princeton— treasured beyond al l other

things in the hearts of her sons . At other colleges where they

have not the system,i t i s often viewed with doubts and sneers .

Having ri sked i t not, they condemn i t . I t i s not true that“our

doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by

fearing to attempt '” The system can only be possible where there

i s both sol idari ty and coherence Of s tudent sentiment . In other

p laces less i solated in location , less solid in sentiment, they may ,perhaps , be not yet ready for s o great a thing— but in Princeton ,shut ' off in the hi l l s ;from her beginning rooted in the tradit ions of

her country ’s making,with her so l id pull - together sentiment— it

has come to pass .

It has been said that the term honor system i s a misnomer ,since the students

,i f not watched by instructors , are yet watched

by thei r fel low - students . It i s true that the system does not

assume a sense of honor that can be implic i t ly trusted in every indi

vidual , and that public opinion and Observa tion are invoked , as in

the larger world,to protect the col lege community against infra c

tions of college morality . It i s the difference between going in

and out among your neighbors with your good character taken for

3 1

granted , and being shadowed by the detective bureau on the

assumption that you are a pickpocket . Further, the faculty at

Princeton ha s found that a healthy publ ic sentiment i s not on ly the

best guardian of honesty in examinations , but the appeal to i t has

proved in the highest degree a stimulus to the sense of personal

honor . And now as the sentiment has become more firmly rooted ,many a student i s al lowed to take hi s examination alone— exam

ina tions for single conditions or which are made necessary by

unavoidable absence— unguarded by aught but hi s naked pledge ofhonor .

I t i s a l so a mistake to assume that it i s fear which keeps most

s tudents honest in this respect . In the great maj ority it i s more

pride ;pride in the trust reposed in the reputat ion of the student

body ; in the fame of Princeton 'and , briefly , i t i s not Open to di s

cu s s ion that the former system and sentiment tended,and do tend

wherever they now exi st , to moral laxity , while the new makes for

moral fiber and strength of character .

The honor system wil l exi st and succeed at Princeton as longas the faculty and trustees let it alone . Thi s i s the j udgment of

the keenest observers among the instructors . The ini t ial proposal

came from the students , and for thirteen y ears they have worked

over and perfected it,educa ting successive undergraduate genera

tions in it , unti l i t compri ses the most strictly observed s et of laws

and cu stoms now in force at that insti tution . The obligation in

volved i s viewed in i ts broadest sense . Whether a student tech

nica lly violates hi s p ledge 'which , on i ts face , only extends over

the 'tim e occupied by the examination'or invades it by a d ishonestknowledge of the paper be fore he goes in , the penalty i s the same .

The question i s,

“Did you cheat '” not “Did you technica l ly violate

your pledge '” There i s often a history in words , and a moral

epoch was marked at Princeton when di shonesty in examina tions

ceased to be known as “cribbing” or“s henanigagging

” and was

cal led cheating.

” Some day the great world may find less neutral

names for “commissions ,” “rake- offs” or even “haute finance .

”

The success Of the honor system ha s opened new possibi l i

ties at Prince ton in the way of student sel f- government . It i s

sensibly claimed that if the student body could solve this problem,

elsewhere so perplexing and so ful l of inherent difficulties,i t may

profitably be used in other directions . With thi s end in view , a

further s tep has been made thi s year by the formation of a club

32

of twenty influential seniors, who act as a kind of student senate ,consulting with and consulted by the faculty in matters affectingundergraduate government . They represent student Opinion and

student rights in the scheme Of government . President Wil son

Speaks most warmly of the aid already given by th i s group , which

includes many of the scholastic , rel igious and athletic leaders .One very notable and important reform i s tobe

'

largely cred

ited to thi s club— tha t i s,the establi shment

,thi s winter

,of a vastly

improved system for the freshman eating clubs . With furtherexperience thi s experiment wil l no doubt be broadened and a large

measure of student self - government added to the di scipl inary and

educational influences of Princeton .

Among these are already three which give her a high di s

tinction among al l institutions of her class— those institutions at

which The power of thought may be cultivated and the inner and

higher l ife of man maintained .

” They are the balanced curri

culum,the preceptorial system and the honor

,system . The last

i s found in no other university north of the Potomac ; the others

nowhere in America . The ‘

com b ination of the three i s showing

such results— the student standards , ethical , academic and civic

have advanced s o rapidly under their influence a s to make Prince

ton men feel,with some rea son , that their a lma mater i s to- day

doing more for the average undergraduate than any other col lege

or un iversity in America .

33

The Graduate School

All the colonial colleges ofAmerica were founded for reasons

similar to that set forth in the charter Of Princeton ' “that youth

may be instructed in the learned languages and in the - l iberal arts

and sciences .” The scope was broad , but the actual real ization

narrow . The classics,some mathematics , and philosophy were

the subj ects chiefly taught . The course of study was based upon

the undergraduate teaching,not at Oxford

,but Cambridge

,and

the one degree given at graduation was that of bachelor of arts .The possession of thi s degree was proof that the holder knew

the classics and was more or less conversant with the rules of

rhetoric and logic , and had learned something of mathematics and

natural philosophy . In those days the on ly learned professions

were the ministry and the law,each of which required from its

candidates a l iberal education . The course of study would seem

dry and un interesting compared with the wealth of subj ects at

the student ’s di sposal at thi s time,but the results of such an edu

cation were striking. Washington , Madi son , Hamilton , Elsworth ,Adams, and many others , founders of the nation , were educated

along strictly clas sical l ines and were taught l i ttle el se .

Thi s narrow but definite curriculum,expanding slightly as

time went on , l ingered unti l about the close of the Civi l War , a l

though at Harvard,in 1 72 1 , a professorship of divinity was es

tabli s hed,and in 1 772 ,

a profes sorship of medicine , whi le among

the other col leges the tendency to broaden the curriculum was

sporadical ly shown . In the early days there were no professional

or technical school s ;ministers , lawyers and doctors took pupi ls as

students and taught them the secrets of their profession ; in the

surveyor ’s Office and the shops the engineers were educated . To

the successful teacher more pupi l s appl ied than he could rece ive .

There was no such thing as a technical degree for proficiency in

trade or profession .

I t i s not unti l wel l into the n ineteenth century that we find

professional and technical schools s prlnging up all over the country

and awarding new degrees . School s of law , theology , medi

34

cine,engineering

,dentistry

,chemi stry

,mechanics mu l t ip lied with

every decade . Many of the older col leges , especia l ly i f th ey were

si tuated in a large ci ty , ei ther invited the founding of professional

and techn ica l school s , or the independent professional and tech

nica l schools attached themselves to the older institutions .

Our American idea of a university seemed then to be a place

where any degree could be obta ined after a more or less extended

study of such differing subj ects as art,science

,veterinary

,and

denti stry ; the greater the variety of degrees granted the greater

seemed the honor attained by the univers ity . In the latter part of

the nineteenth century thi s combination of non - correlated ins titu

tions under a central control became particularly apparent . We

find that upon the American college , based on the purely Engli sh

model of Cambridge Univers ity , was grafted the American izedidea of a foreign un ivers ity .

During the first hal f of the nineteenth century a few students

took pilgrimages for purposes of study to some one of the col leges

where there was some eminent professor who could and would

teach something Of his specialty to a graduate student . This was

true in the caseof Professor Joseph Henry at Princeton . Students

came there to l earn physics from an acknowledged master . These

instances , however , were not common . When the graduates of our

col leges desi red to pursue original work beyond the undergraduate

curriculum they found what they required in Germany .

To the German universi ty we mainly owe the existence in

our un iversities of trained scholars pursuing original research , and

i t i s due to the German un iversities and methods tha t our real origina l work i s now accompl i shed . Thirty years ago for every

student pursuing a graduate course at an American university

there were five or six at work in the German universi t ies . From

Germany there returned to America many who had earned their

degrees of doctor of phi losophy at Ha l le, Jena , Heidelberg, and

Berlin ;men who returned as enthusiasts , fi l led with the real love

of learn ing . It i s largely to them that we owe the changed ideas

as to what constitutes a true university . A university may grantevery known degree by the hundreds , yet i f i t does not afford com

prehensive and advanced study it belies its name and vocation .

At an opportune moment in the history of education , the gi ft

Of John s Hopkins became ava i lable for a university in the city ofBaltimore . For the first time in America a real university was

35

establi shed , with a few great masters as its first profes sors . Here

were assembled men who could teach what in thi s country had

never been taught before . To its unpretentious ha l l s flocked the

flower of young graduates from our American colleges and univers ities , craving knowledge and eager for truth . No such

prestige was ever so qu1ckly Obtained or better deserved . I t

showed the possibi li ties of the higher education as nothing had

ever shown them in thi s country ;its graduates were eagerly select

ed as professors of colleges and universities throughout the coun

try, and in thei r turn taught according to the methods of the new

insti tution . There was consternation in the American un iversities,

and much heartburning, before the ideal s held by Johns Hopkin sUniversi ty prevai led throughout the land .

At Princeton , prior to Dr . McCosh’

s presidency , there was

no real university work at all . Recognizing the need,he

,in 1870 ,

procured the establi shment of gradua te fel lowships for or1gina l

research in the classics,experimental s cience , mathematics , and

mental science . Later two more were founded . The es tabli sh

ment of these graduate fellowships was the germ of the future

un ivers ity,although at the start

,and for many years after

,the

holders of these fellowships could not pursue thei r studies at

Princeton owing to lack of proper Opportuni t ies , and we re com

pelled to go abroad to obta in the necessary instruction .

In 1874 Professor Joseph Henry , then secretary of the Smith

s onian Institution at Washington,and also a trustee of Prince

ton, wrote a letter favoring the establ i shment in Princeton of what

he styled a “col lege of di scoverers ,” to be devoted to graduate re

search . This i s given in ful l in Dean West ’s report to the stand

ing committee of the graduate school . Part of thi s report fol lowsYour propos i t ion i s not ent irely new,

and, indeed, i t wou l dbe s trange i f s o im portant a pro'ect had not been s ugges ted byother m ind s . The celebrated Bacon, the e loquent advocate of the

im portance of experim ental inves tigation, propos ed in h i s “NewA tlan ta” a co l lege of di s coverers under the quaint nam e of the“Hous e of Solomon,

” in which m en were to be a s s em b led , em inentin al l branches of learn ing, provided wi th al l the im p lem ent s of

di s covery, wi th l ibraries and apparatus , and freed from the careof providing for m aterial wants . I woul d not by any

m eans res tric t the m em bers of thi s co l lege to inves tigators in thel ine of phys ical s c ience , but woul d open i t to men of profoundthought in al l branche s capable of im provem ent.In the autumn of 1887 Dr . McCos h invited a number of the

sen ior class who had j ust graduated to return to Princeton a nd

devote a year to non - profess ional study . Out of a class of a

36

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were hearti ly in fa vor of the experimen t,and assi s ted the presi

dent in making i t a success . Dr . Brackett ’s time and wonderful

store of knowledge wa s then, as now , at the service of the timid

inqu irer . William Mill igan Sloane , the hi storian , now professor

at Columbia, in the fall of 1877 was appo inted assi stant professor

of Latin . He at once started the first regular seminars in phi los

ophy and hi story , which marked the beginn ing at Princeton of a

new era of educational progress . He met his class around a large

table , now used by Professor Ormond ; on thi s table are carved

the names of the first class , and from their memories the joys of

those meetings wi ll never be erased . To Professor S loane i s

largely due the success of the beginning of graduate work at

Princeton insti tuted by Dr . McCos h .

In the catalogue of 1 878- 1879 appeared an announcement , in

about two lines,that graduate instruction could be ob tained in

philology and philosophy and science . A few graduate students

returned each year and the success of the movement,a s shown in

the rapid progress of the men taking the courses , was such that

Dr . McCos h , in 1885, outl ined“What an American Un iversity

Should Be ,” in an address bearing that title . One passage , on the

duty of the un iversity to develop graduate studies , may be quoted

here as fol lows

It s houl d es tab l i s h what are cal led pos t- graduate or graduate cours es . It woul d be of great us e i f we cou l d detain one inten

,or better, one in fi ve, a year after graduating, in order to s tudy

s pec ial ly s om e s pec ial branch or branches . Pos t—graduate cours es

s houl d be provided for thes e. In thes e the very highes t s tudy andinves t igat ion in the s everal arts and s c iences s hou l d be purs ued ,s ay in language, or in s c ience, or phi los ophy. They m ight b etaught a s advanced cours es by th e undergraduate profes s ors or

by s pec ial profe s s ors of high gi fts . They s houl d b e open only tothos e who have taken a degree in one or other of the col legiatedepartm ents . Thes e woul d b e eagerly s e i z ed by our higher m indswi th a tas te for h igher work and ready to go on wi th i t. Thes ea re th e youth s who wou l d conduct original res earch and m akeoriginal ob s ervation s , advance learning, and m ake di s coveriesand bring glory to the p lace at wh ich they rece ive the ir education,and to the ir country at large .

' By th i s m eans Am ericacoul d produce s cholars and ob s ervers equal to thos e in Europe .

Thi s cannot b e accom p l i s hed i f s tudents a re cons trained to giveup learning a s s oon a s they have earned the ir firs t academ ic degree, a s tate of th ings almos t univers al in thi s country .

In 1897 came the deci sion a s to Princeton ’s posi tion in the

higher learn ing. Those who desired professional and technical

school s were overruled and Princeton , at its sesquicentenn ial , took

38‘

i ts place in the ranks of universi ties devoted to l iberal learning,a s contrasted with technical and professional education .

In 1900 Professor Andrew Fleming West was appointed

dean of the graduate school , which was placed under the super

vision of a special commi ttee of the tru stees . Ex—President Grover

Cleveland i s now chairman of that committee , the other members

of which are Messrs . M . Taylor Pyne , John L . Cadwalader and

Cyrus H . McCorm ick. The administration of the graduate

school i s in the hands of Dean West and an advi sory committee

of the faculty . Only graduates of Princeton and other un iversi

ties maintaining a simi lar standard for bachelors ’ degrees may be

enrol led on their degrees . The courses offered are not cosmical

they are the classics,philosophy , hi story , pol i tics and economics,

art and archeology,English , modern languages , mathematics ,

physic s,chemistry

,astronomy, geology and biology . These are

divided into s ix seminars , with a director for each , and after a

one or two years ’ course with proper results,decided by examina

tions . and these furn i shed , the degree of master of arts and doctorof phi losophy may respectively be earned . There are , in thi s cur

rent year, 105men studying in the graduate school .

The need for a separate bui lding where graduate students

can l ive and dine together has been felt for a long time . Re

cently , thanks to the generosity of friends of the un iversi ty, such

want ha s been supplied . A graduate hall has been founded , known

by its old name of “Merwick.

” It i s a fine country house,in a

beauti fully wooded close of eleven acres . I t has been altered and

furn i shed to meet the needs of a residential hall,and affords a c

commodation for Professor Howard Crosby Butler 'resident pro

fes s or in charge'and twelve resident graduate students .Its large din ing hal l accommodates six students

,in addition ,

who room outside . These nineteen men , pursuing special studies ,of diverse character

,are thrown together in pleasant surroundings

and in an atmosphere of academic calm . The dinners are formal ,yet easy . As the interests differ

,the tone of l i fe and conversation

cannot be narrow . On Wednesday n ight of each week Dean West

presides at dinner and some invited guest i s present . After dinner

an informal address i s del ivered by the guest of the evening, and

general di scussion fol lows .Among the addresses del ivered recently are the fol low

ing ' Dr . Henry van Dyke , on Engli sh Literature ; Profes

39

s or Wil liam Mil ligan Sloane , of Co lumbia Un iversity, formerly

of Princeton , on Recol lections of Bi smarck and Mol tke ; Pro

fes s or C . F . Brackett on the Physiology of O ld Age ;Dean H . B .

Fine on Impressions of Oxford and Cambridge ; Professor J . G .

Hibben on Some Popular Fal lacies ; Professor W . B . Scott on

South Africa ; Professor H . A . Garfield on Consular Service ;Professor W . M . Daniel s on The Modern Newspaper ; Professor

Paul van Dyke on Certain Aspects of College Miseducation ; and

Professor Stanley Axson on The Teaching of Engli sh Literature .

No such environment i s found at any other university in thi s

country . There i s an added dignity of l iving with learn ing,not

in a dark garret and unknown,but with genia l compan ions

,in the

bright sunshine of gentle surroundings . Such opportunities im

pel the student to recognize that he has a position to maintain and

a p lace to hold . In the da i ly meeting each must give something

and learn much . These are not meetings of lawyers , doctors or

engineers alone,with a continual talk of sh0p . Here must be

grown wisdom , and with wi sdom the graces of a cultivated l i fe

and a recognition of the wide world of infinite expanse and vital

importance beyond the limited domain of the individual special i st .

There i s no greater privi lege obtainable by a graduate

student who wishes to study along the lines covered by the s ix

seminars of the Princeton Graduate School , than admi ssion as a

member of the House of Merwick . Already Harvard Universityha s felt the impetus and i s consider ing the establi shment of an

experiment based on Merwick, and , i t i s rumored , ha s already

selected an old dormitory for that purpose .

The l ine of un iversity development at Princeton i s fixed . I t

wi l l be in graduate work for original research .

Principal Rhys,of the University Of Oxford , in hi s report of

the Moseley Committee,London

,1904, in commenting on Ameri

can un iversities,states

For the purpos e of thes e rem ark s I accep t the exi s tence of

s uch organiz at ion for res earch work by graduates a s the tes t ofan Am erican un1vers ity , and by m eans of that te s t you sweep out

of con s i deration the greater num ber of titu lar univers i t ies inAm erica which one m ay regard a s s eparable acc i dents of the s uperabundance of energy attending the giant growth of a young nationthat a s yet hardly ‘knows her own m ind and fu l ly real iz es no

l im i tat ions .

There is room at Princeton for more courses , but the authori

ties are determined that all courses shal l be real , and not sham .

40

To- day the Princeton faculty of classics and mathematics are un

equaled in thi s country , and the advantages offered to students

are second to none . In the development of the university a great

graduate college i s needed,with at least a dozen new professors ;

strong men and masters in thei r departments . A grea t endow

ment i s required ; in addition to the endowment for the twelve

new professors,there must be a home, or shel l , of the graduate

college,a stately bui lding, not in the centre of the campus , yet

not too far away . I t Should contain rooms for a hundred men ,a master ’s hou se

,and a common dining hall . Its architecture

should be dign ified and restful , in harmony with the scholastic

Gothic of Blair Hal l and the new library . President Wilson and

Dean West have already perfected plans for such a graduate

col lege ; the only thing that prevents thei r real ization i s the need

of proper endowment . This wil l eventually be obtained , but for

the sake of the higher education may it come quickly . Then wi l l

be real ized the hopes of many years .

The li fe work and ideals of such an institution were nevers et forth more clearly than by President Wilson , in hi s eloquent

address at the sesquicentennial . Among other things , he saidI have had s ight Of th e perfect p lace of learning in m y

thought ; a free p lace and a various , where no m an cou l d be andnot know wi th how great a des tiny knowledge had com e into the

worl d— i ts e l f a l itt le worl d ; but not perp lexed ; l iving wi th as inglenes s of a im not known wi thout ; the hom e of s agac iousm en, hard - headed and wi th a wi l l to know,

debaters of the worl d’ sques t ions every day and us ed to the rough ways of democracy ,and y et a p lace removed— c alm s c ience s eated there, rec lus e, as cetic, l ike a nun , not knowing the worl d pas s es , not caring

,i f the

truth but com e in answer to her prayer; and l i terature, walkingwi th her open doors

,in qu iet cham bers , wi th m en of O l den tim es ,

s toried wal l s about her and calm voices infini tely sweet ; here“m agic cas em ents Opening on the foam of peri lous s eas in fairylands forlorn,” to which you m ay wi thdraw and us e your youthfor p leas ure ; there windows open s traight upon th e s treet, wherem any s tand and talk

,intent upon the worl d of m en and bu s ines s .

A p lace where ideal s are kept in heart in an a ir they can

breathe, but no fool’s paradi s e. A p lace where to learn the truthabout the pas t and hol d debate about the affairs of the pres entwi th knowledge and wi thout pas s ion ; l ike the worl d in having al lm en’s l i fe at heart, a p lace for m en and al l that concerns them .

but unl ike the worl d in its s el f- pos s es s ion, its thorough way of

talk,its care to know m ore than the m om ent brin gs to l ight ; s low

to take exc i tem ent ; its a ir pure and wholes om e wi th a breath offaith ; every ey e wi thin i t bright in the c lear day and qu ick to looktoward heaven for the confirm ation of its hope . Who s hal l s howu s the way to th i s p lace '

41

Undergradu ate L ife— Fre shm an and

Sophom ore Year s

I t i s not a mistaken enthusiasm of youth that regards the

entrance upon col lege l i fe as an epoch . Apart from its academic

s ignifi cance— which i s important— the boy i s about to stand for the

first time upon hi s own feet in a l ittle world where hi s j udgment

of other men and their j udgment of him wil l profoundly influence

hi s mental,moral and social l i fe .

For the first time he i s rel ieved from the detai led watchfu lness

of parents or school teachers , and , for good or i l l , permitted to

largely form hi s own habits,l ive hi s own li fe

,and shape hi s own

future . It i s now only the broad influences that can be provided

for him . Most of the detail s are matters on which he must exerci se

hi s power of choice .

The Princeton graduate who cannot d istinctly remember hi s

first day as a freshman has indeed l ived many a long year . The

experience of the first few weeks of that time— the time that tries

fres hm en’

s soul s— the heights of joy , the depths of gloom , the

alternate hopes and fears , but with i t al l the supreme pride and

happiness of being a Princeton man can never be forgotten .

Probably the most clearly remembered feature of this time i s

the early introduction of the freshman to that despicab le tribe ,whom he immediately begins to hate— sophomores . After m anv

encounters with thei r ingenuity in devi sing unheard - of schemes

and stunts for him to perform for their amusement— and for hi s

own instruction and edifi cation, as they tel l h im— the freshman

takes counsel with himsel f and others of his classmates , and very

soon learns the usefulness of back al leys and side streets . He

fai l s to appreciate education in the form admin i stered by s opho

mores .

Unti l Friday , the day after col lege Opens , every freshman has

felt himself more or less alone . But on thi s day he gets hi s first

real knowledge that he i s not merely an individual but a member

of a body ;that hi s interests— at thi s time chiefly those of revenge

42

ful Opposition to the sophomores- are bound up with the interests

of the 399 other men of hi s class , and that their combined interest

i s to advance the wel fare of Princeton . When he finds himself in

hi s first class meeting,in the Old gymnasium, voting for hi s class

officers , a fter having been ru shed through a mass of opposing

sophomores at the entrance,he gets hi s first idea of Princeton

spirit— common purpose and common action . His idea i s strength

ened in the evening at the cannon rush , where a spi rit of uni ty

and organ ized class action i s insti l led which grows strongerthroughout the course . The thril l of power which comes over

every freshman at thi s t ime i s the precursor of that which he wil l

later experience when he attends for the first time the m a s sm eeting

of the enti re un iversity in support of the footbal l team ; or when

he cheers with the whol e undergraduate body at hi s first big game .At the beginning of freshman year , eating clubs of thirty or

thirty- fi ve men are formed in the various boarding houses through

out the town . Of late years the caterers in charge of these places

have so abused their privi lege of charging high prices for poor

food that just before the last Chri stmas vacat ion the Sen ior Counci l took the matter in hand , and , wi th the backing of the universi ty ,establi shed six beauti ful din ing- rooms

,each with a comfortable

parlor, for the accommodation of s ix freshman clubs in Un iversity

Hall . Here over 200 freshmen are now receiving most excellent

food through a caterer who i s respon sible to the authorities . The

entire entering class wi ll be thus accommodated next year with

good food provided under university supervi sion and at a very

reasonable price . Under these new conditions , which are almost

idea l , butter ball s decorate the tables instead of the cei l ings , and

tables remain on thei r legs instead of otherwise, a s formerly . The

freshmen clubs formed at the opening of col lege are continual ly

changing thei r membership , but by the end of the second term a

membe rship i s secured which remains fixed throughout sophomoreyear .

As there are no fraternities nor Greek letter societies in

Princeton , the eating club system i s the foundation of social l ife .

There are thirteen permanent clubs for j uniors and seniors ; the

underclass clubs form anew with each class . At the c lose offreshman year

,each club i s a small congenial group of men of

mutual tastes,characteri stics and interests , associating on terms of

closer intimacy and friendship than could have been formed in any

43

other way . Thi s intimacy supplements and strengthens,rather

than weakens , the class and college spirit, which i s insured and

protected by the democracy and freedom of the campus li fe .

Outside of the classrooms and their clubs,freshmen are drawn

into close association in their rooming houses . Though new dor

m itories are constantly being erected , and it i s very probable that

in the near future enough wi ll exi st to accommodate al l,lack of

dormitory room at present necessitates the rooming of the maj or

i ty of the entering men in boarding—houses situated in the town ,wi th eight or ten men in each house . Fun of the most boi sterous ,rough , good—natured kind holds sway ; in fact, before the preceptoria l system arrived , sometimes to the exclus ion of study, and con

sequent fatal iti es a t the mid - year examinations . The novel j oys of

a freshman house are the delight of an upper - classman to look

back upon .

Freshman year i s a period of earnest effort in curriculum

work , in such outside activities as the col lege papers , the musical ,dramatic and l iterary clubs and athletics . New impressions , new

ideas , the ambition to make a name for oneself in the four years

that are ahead call out zeal and determination . The experience

gained in these first efforts,the confidence and delight of suc

cess are beneficial and pleasurable . The freshman who finds him

sel f representing hi s un iversity on a team , or who reads hi s own

articles in print in the college papers,or who travels on the Glee

and Triangle Club trip s experiences a pleasure that i s probably as

keen as that received from anything else in col lege .

It i s natural that the di stinctions of freshman year are the

most strongly drawn,but shortest l ived . Men form judgments of

their fel lows too quickly, but these j udgm ents are constantly modifi ed by events unti l in j unior and senior years , men who have been

lost to view in the first year and a hal f often stand out a s leaders ,and the upper- class leaders wi ll usually be found men of both

character and achievement,with a strong sense of their responsi

b ility to their fel lows and themselves .

The di scipl inary influence of freshman year l ies chiefly in a

practical course of instruction in humili ty . Hazing in the old

sense does not exi st,but “horsing” or playing pranks on freshmen

and causing them to do absurd things in public i s in vogue for sev

eral weeks after col lege opens .

The old story of the freshman who caught hi s death by being

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Just after Easter the thirteen upper- class eating clubs an

nounce their elections from the sophomore class . This period i s a

trying time , for the selections now made wi ll determine to a great

extent the closest companions and associat ions of the men for the

next two years . Eight Sophomores are elected by each club , to

whom the selection of the eigh t , ten or possibly twelve additional

men i s largely left . By this arrangement the closer friendship s

of under- class years are more firmly united,and membership s com

posed of men of congenial tastes and simi lar habits are secured .

The Sophomores elected do not take their meal s at the club unti l

the fall . The large proportion of men elected to the clubs,amount

ing to about S ixty - fi ve per cent . of the whole class , i s another ad

vantageou s feature of the upper - class club system .

Formerly membership in the eating clubs was confined to a

comparative few . But the upper - class clubs have grown at a more

rapid rate than the growth of the un iversity,and as new clubs are

continually forming, i t i s rea sonable to expect that in a short time

every man who cares to jo in a club wi l l be able to do so . Like

every other man - devi sed scheme of l i fe , there are cases of hardship

in the working out of the club system , yet the number of such cases

i s insign ificant in compari son with i t s genera l advantages .The outdoor l i fe of Princeton i s the j oy of i ts undergraduates .

In the heart of a beauti ful country , the men of all classes make

good u s e of the afternoons , which are left free by the arrangement

of recitations from 8 A . M . unti l 2 P . M . Probably at no other

large American university i s real sport s o generally practi sed as at

Princeton . In the fa l l i t takes the form of tenni s , cross - country

running, canoeing, and the Engl ish game of soccer , recently introduced. Long wa lks in the country , particularly to freshmen , to

whom they are new,are delightful . Carnegie Lake , over three

mi les long,wil l soon add very desirable opportunities for sport .

Spring,with Princeton most beauti ful and charming

,i s the time

of keenest del ight . Brokaw field i s crowded each afternoon with

baseball teams playing for the club championship , whi le the tenni s

courts are in fu l l swing all day long . A plunge in the Brokaw

tank fini shes up an afternoon of delight . These spring days of

uninterrupted j oy can never be forgotten .

The curriculum work of freshman and sophomore years i schiefly prescribed

,and consi sts largely of recitation work . The

preceptorial system,in which men meet the preceptors individually

46

for conference,has already been of marked effect in establi shing

more thoroughly the foundation princip les of the languages , math

em a tics and the sciences . Informal conversations between pre

ceptor and undergraduate in a modern language awakens a new

interest in its l iterature and hi story . The better preparation of

the students for their examinations ha s shown practical proof

of the effectiveness of the preceptorial system .

By the end of Sophomore year the student has felt the full

benefit of the characteri st ic conditions which enfold Princeton un

dergra tuate l ife . This can only be fully experienced when the stu

dent and hi s comrades are housed on the campus in the college

dormitories , subj ect only to the rules and restraints which necessar

i ly govern dormitory li fe . Among these , not the least i s the au

thority which the upper—class men exerci se over their j un iors , and

which goes far , informal as i t i s , to render an elaborate code of col

lege rules unnecessary . A gruff “Less no i se,freshmen , from a

sen ior or j unior i s al l sufficient in quieting disturbances .The charm of campus li fe , however , i s so great that its re

straints are hardly felt . In the sma l l town the social distractions

and temptations are insign ificant,and the students are thrown into

a close compan ionship which in four years stores up a wealth of

friendship and of sentiment which i s apt to last a man for hi s li fe

time . In the winter the mingling is in the rooms , but with the

first warm weather the whole lei sure l i fe of the under - clas s man i s

turned to the shady lawns and playgrounds,or to strol l s under

the magn ificent elms which dot the campus and line the walks .Here the Princeton bond i s welded ' here i s born that so l idarity

and cohesion which wi l l make a man S eyes brighten and hi s hand

grip tighten when,years later , he may meet a Princeton man . He

,

too, has l ived the life . He knows the old scenes , the old bui ldings ,the old influences , the old memories . Perhaps he even knows someof the old faces .

Freshman and sophomore li fe,the l i fe of l i ttle responsibi l i ty

and much delight , i s a bright period of a Princeton ca reer . Um

consciously, but none the less surely, the customs , traditions and

l i fe of the un iversity are working themselves into the li fe of each

man , retouching his individuali ty, and emphasizing and moldinghi s purpose and character as i t has done for hundreds of others ;teaching its lessons of manl iness , democracy , honor, stronge purpose and principle .

47

Undergradu ate L ife— Jun ior and Sen ior

Years

I f the entrance upon col lege li fe i s an epoch in a man ’s h i s

tory , the entrance into upper- class years i s a most prominent mile

stone in a

i

Princeton student’s career . Hardly les s great than the

feel ing of independence and freedom from parent and school re

straint experienced in a man ’s individua l and personal li fe upon

entrance to col lege,i s the feeling of community and class free

dom experienced in the change from under - c lass to upper - classl i fe .

It i s the change from a follower to a leader from a servant

of the law to a maker ; from one who in general i s a bsorbing into

his own l i fe the personal ity and l i fe of others to one who may con

tinue to assimilate these impressions in his character , but who , in

addition,i s supplying the example and giving in large measure of

h i s personali ty and character to others . I t i s the change from the

care - free li fe to respons ibi l ity ;from the period ofdependency upon

others for leadership in general affairs to the period of initiative ;from the time when the leaders of college thought and action are

regarded from afar as enviably determined and capable men occu

py ing pedestal s of unattainable fame , to the time when these same

positions must be fi l led by the members of one ’s own class . The

last two years ’ l i fe i s the time when al l the determination , purpose ,and abil i ty to direct which have been unconsciously but strongly

developing during the first two years are given the opportunities

to show forth and prove thei r mettle .

For upon the upper—classman by an unwri tten constitution

rests the responsibi l ity for the sound maintenance and regulation

of undergraduate l ife and customs . Into his hands i s given the

control of the various organ i zations— the management of the

teams , the musical and dramatic clubs , the forming and expression

of college sentiment in the col lege periodica l s , the maintenance of

the customs and traditions which have proved thei r value , the

safeguarding of the institutions of the un iversity ’s l i fe exempli

48

hed in the honor system in examinations and the interclub treaty- in short, the in i tiation and preservation of practically al l the

many various activitie s and institutions which go toward making

Princeton l i fe the powerful influence for independent and man ly

vigor that it i s .

The changes accompanying the entrance from sophomore to

j unior year are foreshadowed and expected to a certain extent ,but the reality i s a revelation of suddenness and completeness . On

the final day of college in sophomore year the symbol i sm of hats as

a mark of increasing authority is continued from the previous year

when the privi lege of orange embroidery on the cap procla imed

the status Of sophomore . Now,as the wearing of high si lk hats

and the carrying of canes are marks of the height of power , these

articles are very properly assumed by the newly made jun ior to

express his d ignity and authority .

The first scenes of “dign i ty and authority, however , culm in

ating in the smashing of hats,canes and perhaps heads , are far

from impressive . The next step in this revelation of the mysteries

and strongly guarded privi leges of upper- class l i fe i s the opening

of the exclusiveness of certain sections of the town , previously

forbidden territory to the unholy presence of under - classmen . The

final step in thi s p rocess of class l iberation i s the blossoming forth

of the happy j un ior into the “purple and fine l inen” of the upper

class club hat- bands,affording a di splay and arrangement of color

rivaling the rainbow . In the evening the erstwhile sophomore i s

formal ly ratified as a j unior in the status of undergraduate li fe

by hi s admission to the upper- class clubs at the club banquets .

Meanwhi le the freshmen are celebrating their advance to SOpho

more l i fe by a large class parade,while the graduates in thei r

various reun ion headquarters are turning over the experiences of

long- past col lege days and are making old friendships bright oncemore .

The most noticeable change from sophomore to j unior year i sfelt by the undergraduate in the institution of upper- clas s club

l i fe . The manner of l iving i s on a higher plane than before , not

with an extravagant,but a profitable result . A man ’s under - class

club was run by some outsider,and he original ly went there prin

c ipally for meal s , and secondarily for sociabi l ity' His upper- class

club i s directed by himself,and he i s there for association and com

panions h ip, with the matter of table board incidental . Hi s club has

49

a certain standing, mode of l i fe and reputation , for the m a inten

ance and improvement of which he i s responsible . He therefore

takes a great pride in l iving in the way which wi l l best add to hi s

club ’s standing and progress . Consequently he throws off the

somewhat rough - and - ready,come -what-may , quick - lunch

,boyi sh

manners and habits assumed during under- class years,and b e

comes the man of affairs in his demeanor .

This i s not to assert that he is priggi shly sti ff or affectedly

dign ified , but that he has the general ai r of greater maturi ty and

realizes it . The conditions of l iving in the clubs are there fore

delightful, for these clubs are clubs and not merely eating- houses .

The board i s excellent and the expenses of the table reasonable .

The associations of under - class l i fe are splendid , but the equally

firm friendship and congen ial ity of upper- class l i fe , with the added

charm of highly p leasurable and delightful surroundings,i s a

memorable privilege . The del ight i s at its height on a winter ’s

n ight, when , with little else to do , friends gather around a log

fire in the open firep lace to di scuss the co l lege questions of the

day , or to swap stories , or tel l thei r experiences of the last summer .Or they may be grouped around the p iano , while some musical

genius entertains the crowd with a new song for next year ’s Tri

angle Club play , or the whole company sings the rol l icking, happy

col lege songs of the past and present .Comfortable reading- rooms and well - supp l ied libraries answer

the desi res of those in Search of knowledge or l iterary diversion ,and also afford a quiet atmosphere for study . In the spring and

early summer , tenni s courts , shower baths and cool porches are a

source of delight . I f the club membership has propensities in the

direction of “fussing,the clubhouses afford excellent opportun

i ties for dances,many of which are held on the eve of a big game

or before the larger un iversity'

promenades .

This general picture of pleasure should not be interpreted asone of luxurious ease and lazy comfort . The men do not get into

the habit of remaining close to the club , or there spending prae

t ical ly their whole time . They have their college work to do , and

thi s i s imperative . They have the outdoor attractions of Sport and

exercise in the afternoon , which are insi stent , and they have thei r

worh in the organizations and college activities in the even ing,which i s more insi stent .Outside of the pleasure of the club li fe itsel f, the very best

50

feature of upper - class l ife i s the common intermingling and close

friendship of the men Of al l the clubs and of the entire class .

Those who have been toge ther in their under- cla ss clubs for two

years and have there formed la sting friendships , continue to a sso

ciate very intimately and profitably , even i f nominal ly separated

by their m em bers h 1p in d ifferent clubs or in no club at al l . The

bond which draws them together does not fai l to draw together

other members of the several clubs , with the resul t that a stronger

general friendship and better feel ing i s cultivated throughout the

class . The clubs are not closed to non -members as are fratern i ties .

At almost every meal some man outside of the club may be found ,and before graduation

,a great number of men have been guests

in many of the clubs . By thi s association and intermingling, a

close family spirit i s bound to be maintained . Then , again , the

clubs are al l s ituated on the one street , and , unimportant as it

may seem,this fact i s real ly vital , for because of i t the majority of

men in the two upper classes are enabled to s ee, talk , and associate

with each other two or three times a day .

In its own li fe and affairs the undergraduate body i s pre

eminently sel f- govern ing. I t i s the deliberate pol icy of the faculty

to leave the regulation of student l ife to the students , s o far as i t

can wisely be done . Better results are obtained in th i s way , be

cause, when duties are left to the student’s own sense of honor and

man l iness , they wil l recogn i ze them rather than feel the impu l se

to “beat the game,which i s the ordinary effect of compulsion .

But a more important result of thi s pol icy i s the train ing afforded

in independent thought,j udgment and action

,and in strong pur

pose and initiative— lessons of the very highest value in roundingout men for practical use fulness in the larger affairs of l i fe . The

respons ibi l ity of thi s government rests chiefly upon the upper

classmen , and i s most strikingly i l lustrated in the honor system

and the inter- club treaty .

The first of these— the honor system in examinations— i s in

the hands of a committee of s ix undergraduates , of which four are

pres idents of the four cla sses . The others are one senior and one

j un ior elected by the student body . It i s their duty to try al l casesof violation of the system 'which have been exceedingly few in i ts

hi story', and to recommend for expul sion any who are found

guilty . This duty has never been shirked nor weakly evaded by

the committee , no matter how unpleasant or painful— and it i s a l

51

ways both . The senior members are responsible for a full explan

ation of the system to the incoming class , and for impressing upon

every man hi s own persona l responsibi l i ty .

The committee which has charge of the interclub treaty i s

composed of one j un ior and one senior from each upper - class club .

Upon these men devolves the duty of enforcing the treaty entered

into by the several clubs to refrain from influencing under - class

men toward thei r respective clubs,directly or indirectly , or from

giving any intimation in regard to club elections before the fixed

d ate , near the end of the year, when the results of al l the election s

a re announced by the secretary of the committee .It i s the aim of the committee to insure the observance of thi s

a greement,through which under- class l i fe i s kept free from that

restlessness of mind,and wirepul ling for social di stinction

,bred

b y unrestrained club rivalries , typical of col leges possessing the

fraternity system . Another important effect of the treaty i s that

it keeps the two upper classes free from any bitterness of club

feeling which unrestrained club competition might easily provoke .

But under the wise restrictions which are the result of under

graduate far- sightedness,the clubs never interfere with the robust

,

vigorous central spiri t for which Princeton i s famed . So in the

undergraduate mind the interests of the un iversi ty and its organiz ations always stand first , the class second and the club third . Tra

dition,backed by the club treaty

,accompli shes thi s .

Junior year i s probably the most en joyable of the course . Men

h ave then become ful ly imbued with the Princeton spi ri t and have

reached the cl imax of enthusiastic en j oyment of university l i fe .

The sen iors ’ enthusiasm i s not lost, but tempered by the increased

b urden of col lege affai rs and shaded by the near problem of

choosing a li fe career . The junior i s first of all sel f- respecting,for he i s above the unsophi sticated crudeness of under - class l i fe

and i s the equal of the senior , except in actual respon sibi l ity . He

i s a molder of Opin ion , and holds an enviable position in that he

has al l privi leges , small restraint and l ittle burden of res pons ib il

i ty ;nor i s hi s p leasure clouded by approaching graduation and the

burdensome problems that it wi l l bring . Juniors are sponsors and

protectors of freshmen,and as such are always regarded by the

latter with deference and respect.

A spi ri t of novel fun very often takes hold of a class in

j un ior year . A recent class invented a parade of i ts own on St.

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qu i re it , a s wel l as abi l i ty to exerci se a selective and di scriminating

j udgment in reading . Except for preceptorial hours the ins truct ion i s by lecture— not recitation .

The democracy of student l ife at Princeton i s pervasive .Students are not valued according to their parents ’ possessions

,

and those who work thei r way through lose neither standing nor

consideration with thei r fellows . A boy of fair abi li ty and good

powers of appl ication can work hi s way through i f hi s freshman

expenses are provided in advance .

After the first year the income- yi elding fields are many .

Tutoring, typewri t ing agencies for New York or Philadelphia

firms,l ibrary work and work for some of the organ izations may

be mentioned apart from vacation work . More than half the

men at Princeton earn some portion of their col lege expenses .

Men receive an equal chance , according to their abi l ity , on the

teams and in the organization s,and the club system is such that

almost no man i s kept out from lack of means .

As spring approaches and the shadow of the inevitable part

ing fall s continual ly across hi s path , the thoughtful sen ior must

begin to balance up hi s four years ’ experience . He has worked ,played ; formed associations and friendships which are likely to

influence hi s whole future . In ways both definite and indefinite

he i s conscious of a wider knowledge. What i s of more value i s

the gl impse given him of the v i sta stretching out into wider plains

of knowledge and culture ; the world of books Opened to him— a

world which mi sfortune or poverty cannot close to him ;the desi re

to di scriminate between true and false knowledge ; and perhaps

to feel in the exerci se of his mental powers that keen and subtle

pleasure which i s the reward of the true scho lar . But that comes

only to the few .

What every graduate does feel defin i tely and strongly i s , that

the tradi t ions and memories of Princeton have become part of the

very warp and woof of his consciousness . Dimmed at times , per

haps,by di stance and time , but always renewable wi th the old fire

and fervor at class reunions ;or, more Often , maintained in steady

and close association and intimacy . Upon each man who goes

out Princeton sets her indel ible sea l ;her memories of happy days ,of stately bui ldings and of beauti ful surroundings ;her friendships

wi th congenial classmates and with genia l and help ful in structors ;her insp irations absorbed from men of broad culture and high pur

54

pose,ever pointing the way to what i s highest and best in l i fe

thoroughness of service , earnestness of purpose ; an aspi ration

to be an honest, earnest, and useful citizen .

“For rigorous teachers seized my youth

And purged its faith and trimmed its fire ;Showed me the high white star of truth

There bade me gaze and there asp ire .

55