COLLEGE REMIMSCENCES. 187 



al College ! I could tell many a talc of woe, and probably shall, in the 

 course of these papers, of blasted health, of broken hearts, of lost rep- 

 utation, of crippled fortune and of premature death, all occasioned by 

 excesses during College life. All are not disenthralled from the iron 

 bondage, as was poor Gordon, but many continue under the dominion 

 of the tyrant foe, and their sun goes down while it is yet day. 



Since I have become a man, for 1 was a boy at College, and 

 have associated as a man with my former Professors, I have been 

 surprised at the accuracy of their information about almost every 

 College trick and the chief actors in almost every unlawful College 

 adventure, I presumed, as all collegians do, that the Faculty were rath- 

 er a stupid set in discovering the authors and promoters of mischiefj — 

 that they had no suspicion of any particular man, and that among a 

 crowd, it was easy to escape suspicion. But in calling to their recollec- 

 tion this praijk and that disturbance— this cracker explosion and that 

 instance of key-hole closing, I was amazed at their knowledge of facts 

 and persons connected with the whole transaction. So it is now ; — let 

 young men know that no hen roost is robbed — no iron ball rolled in 

 the passage— no out-house fired — no midnight yell screeched — no acts 

 of rovvdyism in town perpetrated, — of which the authors are not al- 

 most certainly known. Young men flatter themselves that no body 

 knows or suspects them : — herein they are mistaken. But how are 

 they known ? Not always from observation, but from a perfect acquain- 

 tance with the general character and temperament of every student, — 

 from the conduct of the generally suspected immediately after the oc- 

 currence of a fracas, for few young men can wash the guilt stains from 

 their faces, and a close observer of human nature can almost with uner- 

 ring certainty read the fact plainly written on the countenance of a 

 scamp, especially the morning after an adventure. The more he tries 

 to conceal it, the more plainly it is revealed, and I presume there are 

 few Faculties who cannot go over the College roll, and say to the au- 

 thors and generally too, the abettors of almost every case of mischief, 

 1'hou art the man. Young men, unsuspecting themselves, deem others 

 so, and having no knowledge of mankind, presume that others arc as 

 ignorant as they. They little imagine the facilities which Faculties 

 have of detecting defaulters, and the system of police pursued in a well 

 regulated institution. It is true, all known offenders are not brought to 

 justice, because all are not discovered in the act of transgression, but 

 they are marked men, and sooner or later, they are caught in the trap 

 which their own folly has laid. 



