That the commons at Dartmouth College were at times of a quality which would not be called the best, appears from the annexed paragraph, written in the year 1774. "He [Eleazer Wheelock, President of the College] has had the mortification to lose two cows, and the rest were greatly hurt by a contagious distemper, so that they could not have a full supply of milk; and once the pickle leaked out of the beef-barrel, so that the meat was not sweet. He had also been ill-used with respect to the purchase of some wheat, so that they had smutty bread for a while, &c. The scholars, on the other hand, say they scarce ever have anything but pork and greens, without vinegar, and pork and potatoes; that fresh meat comes but very seldom, and that the victuals are very badly dressed."—Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D., pp. 68, 69.
The above account of commons applies generally to the system as it was carried out in the other colleges in the United States. In almost every college, commons have been abolished, and with them have departed the discords, dissatisfactions, and open revolts, of which they were so often the cause.
See BEVER.
COMMORANTES IN VILLA. Latin; literally, those abiding in town. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the designation of Masters of Arts, and others of higher degree, who, residing within the precincts of the University, enjoy the privilege of being members of the Senate, without keeping their names on the college boards. —Gradus ad Cantab.
To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his name on the books of some college, or on the list of the commorantes in villâ.—Lit. World, Vol. XII. p. 283.
COMPOSITION. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., translating
English into Greek or Latin is called composition.—Bristed.
In composition and cram I was yet untried.—Bristed's Five
Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 34.
You will have to turn English prose into Greek and Latin prose, English verse into Greek Iambic Trimeters, and part of some chorus in the Agamemnon into Latin, and possibly also into English verse. This is the "composition," and is to be done, remember, without the help of books or any other assistance.—Ibid., p. 68.
The term Composition seems in itself to imply that the translation is something more than a translation.—Ibid., p. 185.
Writing a Latin Theme, or original Latin verses, is designated Original Composition.—Bristed.