18 ENVIRONMENT AND EDUCATION-I 



a member of the famous Spencer family of Albany, who, 

 having passed some years at this little college, and never 

 having been able to get out of the freshman class, had 

 gone to another institution of about the same grade, had 

 there founded a Greek letter fraternity which is now 

 widely spread among American universities, and then, 

 through the influence of his father, who was Secretary 

 of War, had been placed as a midshipman under Com- 

 modore McKenzie on the brig-of-war Somers. On the 

 coast of Africa a mutiny was discovered, and as, on ex- 

 amination, young Spencer was found at the head of it, 

 and papers discovered in his cabin revealed the plan of 

 seizing the ship and using it in a career of piracy, the 

 young man, in spite of his connection with a member of 

 the Cabinet, was hanged at the yard-arm with two of his 

 associates. 



The most curious relic of him at the college was pre- 

 served in the library of the Hermean Society. It was a 

 copy of "The Pirates ' Own Book": a glorification of the 

 exploits of "Blackbeard" and other great freebooters, 

 profusely adorned with illustrations of their joys and tri- 

 umphs. This volume bore on the fly-leaf the words, l i Pre- 

 sented to the Hermean Society by Philip Spencer," and 

 was in those days shown as a great curiosity. 



The college was at its lowest ebb; of discipline there 

 was none; there were about forty students, the majority 

 of them, sons of wealthy churchmen, showing no inclina- 

 tion to work and much tendency to dissipation. The 

 authorities of the college could not afford to expel or even 

 offend a student, for its endowment was so small that it 

 must have all the instruction fees possible, and must keep 

 on good terms with the wealthy fathers of its scapegrace 

 students. The scapegraces soon found this out, and the 

 result was a little pandemonium. Only about a dozen 

 of our number studied at all; the rest, by translations, 

 promptings, and evasions escaped without labor. I have 

 had to do since, as student, professor, or lecturer, with 

 some half-dozen large universities at home and abroad, 



