HONOR SYSTEM IN AMERICAN COLLEGES 177 



tory of the college the honor system of student control was established.' 

 He quotes a by-law, formulated by the trustees of the college, certainly 

 within a few years after its organization and published from year to 

 year, in which the essential principle of the honor system is set forth 

 in these words: 



The sense of decency, propriety and right, which every honorable young 

 man carries in his own bosom, shall be taken as a sufficient means of knowing 

 these things, and he who pleads ignorance in such matters is unfit to be a 

 member of the college. 



Xo one of the present generation can properly make any definite 

 statement as to the universality of the honor system in our institutions 

 of learning a century ago, or even a half century ago, but in most of 

 our older southern colleges tradition seems to indicate that it has long 

 been in force. 



It is easy to understand why southern colleges should have been 

 the natural home of the honor system. The distinguishing character- 

 istics of southern civilization a few generations ago made it to a large 

 extent spontaneous. Education was not deemed a necessity for all, 

 but rather a privilege belonging to those who could claim, either actu- 

 ally or prospectively, the title of gentleman. A young man went to 

 college not with a view to preparing for a special vocation in life, but 

 because a liberal education was generally regarded as the indispensable 

 badge of the gentleman. Elective courses were unknown. Latin, 

 Greek, mathematics and moral philosophy were studied by all and 

 mastered by few. To be recognized as a scholar was a high honor, and 

 those who achieved it felt a pride in their ability to quote from Seneca 

 or Homer in the original. The son of a gentleman was taught to 

 despise deceit. Cheating was naturally to be expected among traders 

 and day laborers, but these could not be expected to study Seneca or 

 Homer, to seek the scanty knowledge of astronomy and botany that 

 was offered as science, chiefly with a view to its bearing on natural 

 theology, or to appreciate and analyze the evidences of Christianity on 

 which every college-bred gentleman was required to stand examination 

 before receiving the degree of bachelor of arts. 



"We have no special ground for thinking that human nature has 

 ever been very different from that of to-day, and the college classes 

 from which our grandfathers were graduated must not be invested 

 with any halo of sanctity. Neither virtue nor vice belongs more to 

 one generation than another, whatever may be the color of the telescope 

 glasses through which we look back at our ancestors. There is no 

 reason to suppose that manners and morals were any better a century 

 ago than to-day. The advance in civilization suggests the presump- 

 tion of improvement, but morality, as well as knowledge, is relative; 

 and offenses change in importance with the lapse of years. Whatever 



VOL. LXVIII.— 12. 



