Iambics.--_Ibid._, p. 182.
SELL. An unexpected reply; a deception or trick.

In the Literary World, March 15, 1851, is the following
explanation of this word: "Mr. Phillips's first introduction to
Curran was made the occasion of a mystification, or practical
joke, in which Irish wits have excelled since the time of Dean
Swift, who was wont (_vide_ his letters to Stella) to call these
jocose tricks 'a _sell_,' from selling a bargain." The word
_bargain_, however, which Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines "an
unexpected reply tending to obscenity," was formerly used more
generally among the English wits. The noun _sell_ has of late been
revived in this country, and is used to a certain extent in New
York and Boston, and especially among the students at Cambridge.

I sought some hope to borrow, by thinking it a "_sell_"
By fancying it a fiction, my anguish to dispel.
_Poem before the Iadma of Harv. Coll._, 1850, p. 8.


SELL. To give an unexpected answer; to deceive; to cheat.

For the love you bear me, never tell how badly I was
_sold_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 94.

The use of this verb is much more common in the United States than
that of the noun of the same spelling, which is derived from it;
for instance, we frequently read in the newspapers that the Whigs
or Democrats have been _sold_, i.e. defeated in an election, or
cheated in some political affair. The phrase _to sell a bargain_,
which Bailey defines "to put a sham upon one," is now scarcely
ever heard. It was once a favorite expression with certain English
writers.

Where _sold he bargains_, Whipstitch?--_Dryden_.

No maid at court is less ashamed,
Howe'er for _selling bargains_ famed.--_Swift_.

Dr. Sheridan, famous for punning, intending _to sell a bargain_,
said, he had made a very good pun.--_Swift, Bons Mots de Stella_.


SEMESTER. Latin, _semestris_, _sex_, six, and _mensis_, month. In
the German universities, a period or term of six months. The
course of instruction occupies six _semesters_. Class distinctions
depend upon the number of _semesters_, not of years. During the
first _semester_, the student is called _Fox_, in the second
_Burnt Fox_, and then, successively, _Young Bursch_, _Old Bursch_,
_Old House_, and _Moss-covered Head_.


SENATE. In the University of Cambridge, England, the legislative
body of the University. It is divided into two houses, called
REGENT and NON-REGENT. The former consists of the vice-chancellor,
proctors, taxors, moderators, and esquire-beadles, all masters of
arts of less than five years' standing, and all doctors of
divinity, civil law, and physic, of less than two, and is called
the UPPER HOUSE, or WHITE-HOOD HOUSE, from its members wearing
hoods lined with white silk. The latter is composed of masters of
arts of five years' standing, bachelors of divinity, and doctors
in the three faculties of two years' standing, and is known as the
LOWER HOUSE, or BLACK-HOOD HOUSE, its members wearing black silk
hoods. To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his
name on the books of some college (which involves a small annual
payment), or in the list of the _commorantes in villâ_.--_Webster.
Cam. Cal. Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 283.

2. At Union College, the members of the Senior Class form what is
called the Senate, a body organized after the manner of the Senate
of the United States, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with
the forms and practice of legislation. The members of the Junior
Class compose the House of Representatives. The following account,
showing in what manner the Senate is conducted, has been furnished
by a member of Union College.

"On the last Friday of the third term, the House of
Representatives meet in their hall, and await their initiation to
the Upper House. There soon appears a committee of three, who
inform them by their chairman of the readiness of the Senate to
receive them, and perhaps enlarge upon the importance of the
coming trust, and the ability of the House to fill it.

"When this has been done, the House, headed by the committee,
proceed to the Senate Chamber (Senior Chapel), and are arranged by
the committee around the President, the Senators (Seniors)
meanwhile having taken the second floor. The President of the
Senate then rises and delivers an appropriate address, informing
them of their new dignities and the grave responsibilities of
their station. At the conclusion of this they take their seats,
and proceed to the election of officers, viz. a President, a
Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The President must be a
member of the Faculty, and is chosen for a term; the other
officers are selected from the House, and continue in office but
half a term. The first Vice-Presidency of the Senate is considered
one of the highest honors conferred by the class, and great is the
strife to obtain it.

"The Senate meet again on the second Friday of the next term, when
they receive the inaugural message of the President. He then
divides them into seven districts, each district including the
students residing in a Section, or Hall of College, except the
seventh, which is filled by the students lodging in town. The
Senate is also divided into a number of standing committees, as
Law, Ethics, Political Economy. Business is referred to these
committees, and reported on by them in the usual manner. The time
of the Senate is principally occupied with the discussion of
resolutions, in committee of the whole; and these discussions take
the place of the usual Friday afternoon recitation. At
Commencement the Senate have an orator of their own election, who
must, however, have been a past or honorary member of their body.
They also have a committee on the 'Commencement Card.'"

On the same subject, another correspondent writes as follows:--

"The Senate is composed of the Senior Class, and is intended as a
school of parliamentary usages. The officers are a President,
Vice-President, and Secretary, who are chosen once a term. At the
close of the second term, the Junior Class are admitted into the
Senate. They are introduced by a committee of Senators, and are
expected to remain standing and uncovered during the ceremony, the
President and Senators being seated and covered. After a short
address by the President, the old Senators leave the house, and
the Juniors proceed to elect their officers for the third term.
Dr. Thomas C. Reed who was the founder of the Senate, was always
elected President during his connection with the College, but
rarely took his place in the chamber except at the introduction of
the Juniors. The Vice-President for the third term, who takes a
part in the ceremonies of commencement, is considered to hold the
highest honor of the class, and his election is attended with more
excitement than any other in the College."

See COMMENCEMENT CARD; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.


SENATE-HOUSE. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the building
in which the public business of the University, such as
examinations, the passing of graces, and admission to degrees, is
carried on.--_Cam. Guide_.


SENATUS ACADEMICUS. At Trinity College, Hartford, the _Senatus
Academicus_ consists of two houses, known as the CORPORATION and
the HOUSE OF CONVOCATION, q.v.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p.
6.

SENE. An abbreviation for Senior.

Magnificent Juns, and lazy _Senes_.
_Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

A rare young blade is the gallant _Sene_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1850.


SENIOR. One in the fourth year of his collegiate course at an
American college; originally called _Senior Sophister_. Also one
in the third year of his course at a theological
seminary.--_Webster_.

See SOPHISTER.


SENIOR. Noting the fourth year of the collegiate course in
American colleges, or the third year in theological
seminaries.--_Webster_.


SENIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his third year after taking the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is further explained by President
Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse: "Bachelors were called
Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors, according to the year since
graduation and before taking the degree of Master."--p. 122.


SENIOR CLASSIC. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the student
who passes best in the voluntary examination in classics, which
follows the last required examination in the Senate-House.

No one stands a chance for _Senior Classic_ alongside of
him.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 55.

Two men who had been rivals all the way through school and through
college were racing for _Senior Classic_.--_Ibid._, p. 253.


SENIOR FELLOW. At Trinity College, Hartford, the Senior Fellow is
a person chosen to attend the college examinations during the
year.


SENIOR FRESHMAN. The name of the second of the four classes into
which undergraduates are divided at Trinity College, Dublin.


SENIORITY. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the eight Senior
Fellows and the Master of a college compose what is called the
_Seniority_. Their decisions in all matters are generally
conclusive.

My duty now obliges me, however reluctantly, to bring you before
the _Seniority_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 75.


SENIOR OPTIME. Those who occupy the second rank in honors at the
close of the final examination at the University of Cambridge,
Eng., are denominated _Senior Optimes_.

The Second Class, or that of _Senior Optimes_, is larger in number
[than that of the Wranglers], usually exceeding forty, and
sometimes reaching above sixty. This class contains a number of
disappointments, many who expect to be Wranglers, and some who are
generally expected to be.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 228.

The word is frequently abbreviated.

The Pembroker ... had the pleasant prospect of getting up all his
mathematics for a place among the _Senior Ops._--_Ibid._, p. 158.

He would get just questions enough to make him a low _Senior Op._
--_Ibid._, p. 222.


SENIOR ORATION. "The custom of delivering _Senior Orations_," says
a correspondent, "is, I think, confined to Washington and
Jefferson Colleges in Pennsylvania. Each member of the Senior
Class, taking them in alphabetical order, is required to deliver
an oration before graduating, and on such nights as the Faculty
may decide. The public are invited to attend, and the speaking is
continued at appointed times, until each member of the Class has
spoken."


SENIOR SOPHISTER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student
in the third year of his residence is called a Senior Soph or
Sophister.

2. In some American colleges, a member of the Senior Class, i.e.
of the fourth year, was formerly designated a Senior Sophister.

See SOPHISTER.


SENIOR WRANGLER. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the Senior
Wrangler is the student who passes the best examination in the
Senate-House, and by consequence holds the first place on the
Mathematical Tripos.

The only road to classical honors and their accompanying
emoluments in the University, and virtually in all the Colleges,
except Trinity, is through mathematical honors, all candidates for
the Classical Tripos being obliged as a preliminary to obtain a
place in that mathematical list which is headed by the _Senior
Wrangler_ and tailed by the Wooden Spoon.--_Bristed's Five Years
in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 34.


SEQUESTER. To cause to retire or withdraw into obscurity. In the
following passage it is used in the collegiate sense of _suspend_
or _rusticate_.

Though they were adulti, they were corrected in the College, and
_sequestered_, &c. for a time.--_Winthrop's Journal, by Savage_,
Vol. II. p. 88.


SERVITOR. In the University of Oxford, an undergraduate who is
partly supported by the college funds. _Servitors_ formerly waited
at table, but this is now dispensed with. The order similar to
that of the _servitor_ was at Cambridge styled the order of
_Sub-sizars_. This has been long extinct. The _sizar_ at Cambridge
is at present nearly equivalent to the Oxford _servitor_.--_Gent.
Mag._, 1787, p. 1146. _Brande_.

"It ought to be known," observes De Quincey, "that the class of
'_servitors_,' once a large body in Oxford, have gradually become
practically extinct under the growing liberality of the age. They
carried in their academic dress a mark of their inferiority; they
waited at dinner on those of higher rank, and performed other
menial services, humiliating to themselves, and latterly felt as
no less humiliating to the general name and interests of
learning."--_Life and Manners_, p. 272.

A reference to the cruel custom of "hunting the servitor" is to be
found in Sir John Hawkins's Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 12.


SESSION. At some of the Southern and Western colleges of the
United States, the time during which instruction is regularly
given to the students; a term.

The _session_ commences on the 1st of October, and continues
without interruption until the 29th of June.--_Cat. of Univ. of
Virginia_, 1851, p. 15.


SEVENTY-EIGHTH PSALM. The recollections which cluster around this
Psalm, so well known to all the Alumni of Harvard, are of the most
pleasant nature. For more than a hundred years, it has been sung
at the dinner given on Commencement day at Cambridge, and for more
than a half-century to the tune of St. Martin's. Mr. Samuel
Shapleigh, who graduated at Harvard College in the year 1789, and
who was afterwards its Librarian, on the leaf of a hymn-book makes
a memorandum in reference to this Psalm, to the effect that it has
been sung at Cambridge on Commencement day "from _time
immemorial_." The late Rev. Dr. John Pierce, a graduate of the
class of 1793, referring to the same subject, remarks: "The
Seventy-eighth Psalm, it is supposed, has, _from the foundation of
the College_, been sung in the common version of the day." In a
poem, entitled Education, delivered at Cambridge before the Phi
Beta Kappa Society, by Mr. William Biglow, July 18th, 1799,
speaking of the conduct and manners of the students, the author
says:--

"Like pigs they eat, they drink an ocean dry,
They steal like France, like Jacobins they lie,
They raise the very Devil, when called to prayers,
'To sons transmit the same, and they again to theirs'";

and, in explanation of the last line, adds this note: "Alluding to
the Psalm which is _always_ sung in Harvard Hall on Commencement
day." In his account of some of the exercises attendant upon the
Commencement at Harvard College in 1848, Professor Sidney Willard
observes: "At the Commencement dinner the sitting is not of long
duration; and we retired from table soon after the singing of the
Psalm, which, with some variation in the version, has been sung on
the same occasion from time immemorial."--_Memoirs of Youth and
Manhood_, Vol. II. p. 65.

But that we cannot take these accounts as correct in their full
extent, appears from an entry in the MS. Diary of Chief Justice
Sewall relating to a Commencement in 1685, which he closes with
these words: "After Dinner ye 3d part of ye 103d Ps. was sung in
ye Hall."

In the year 1793, at the dinner on Commencement Day, the Rev.
Joseph Willard, then President of the College, requested Mr.
afterwards Dr. John Pierce, to set the tune to the Psalm; with
which request having complied to the satisfaction of all present,
he from that period until the time of his death, in 1849,
performed this service, being absent only on one occasion. Those
who have attended Commencement dinners during the latter part of
this period cannot but associate with this hallowed Psalm the
venerable appearance and the benevolent countenance of this
excellent man.

In presenting a list of the different versions in which this Psalm
has been sung, it must not be supposed that entire correctness has
been reached; the very scanty accounts which remain render this
almost impossible, but from these, which on a question of greater
importance might be considered hardly sufficient, it would appear
that the following are the versions in which the sons of Harvard
have been accustomed to sing the Psalm of the son of Jesse.

1.--_The New England Version_.

"In 1639 there was an agreement amo. ye Magistrates and Ministers
to set aside ye Psalms then printed at ye end of their Bibles, and
sing one more congenial to their ideas of religion." Rev. Mr.
Richard Mather of Dorchester, and Rev. Mr. Thomas Weld and Rev.
Mr. John Eliot of Roxbury, were selected to make a metrical
translation, to whom the Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge gives
the following metrical caution:--

"Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of ye crime
Of missing to give us very good rhyme,
And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen,
But with the texts own words you will y'm strengthen."

The version of this ministerial trio was printed in the year 1640,
at Cambridge, and has the honor of being the first production of
the North American press that rises to the dignity of _a book_. It
was entitled, "The Psalms newly turned into Metre." A second
edition was printed in 1647. "It was more to be commended,
however," says Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard University,
"for its fidelity to the text, than for the elegance of its
versification, which, having been executed by persons of different
tastes and talents, was not only very uncouth, but deficient in
uniformity. President Dunster, who was an excellent Oriental
scholar, and possessed the other requisite qualifications for the
task, was employed to revise and polish it; and in two or three
years, with the assistance of Mr. Richard Lyon, a young gentleman
who was sent from England by Sir Henry Mildmay to attend his son,
then a student in Harvard College, he produced a work, which,
under the appellation of the 'Bay Psalm-Book,' was, for a long
time, the received version in the New England congregations, was
also used in many societies in England and Scotland, and passed
through a great number of editions, both at home and abroad."--p.
14.

The Seventy-eighth Psalm is thus rendered in the first edition:--

Give listning eare unto my law,
Yee people that are mine,
Unto the sayings of my mouth
Doe yee your eare incline.

My mouth I'le ope in parables,
I'le speak hid things of old:
Which we have heard, and knowne: and which
Our fathers have us told.

Them from their children wee'l not hide,
To th' after age shewing
The Lords prayses; his strength, and works
Of his wondrous doing.

In Jacob he a witnesse set,
And put in Israell
A law, which he our fathers charg'd
They should their children tell:

That th' age to come, and children which
Are to be borne might know;
That they might rise up and the same
Unto their children show.

That they upon the mighty God
Their confidence might set:
And Gods works and his commandment
Might keep and not forget,

And might not like their fathers be,
A stiffe, stout race; a race
That set not right their hearts: nor firme
With God their spirit was.

The Bay Psalm-Book underwent many changes in the various editions
through which it passed, nor was this psalm left untouched, as
will be seen by referring to the twenty-sixth edition, published
in 1744, and to the edition of 1758, revised and corrected, with
additions, by Mr. Thomas Prince.

2.--_Watts's Version_.

The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts were first published in
this country by Dr. Franklin, in the year 1741. His version is as
follows:--

Let children hear the mighty deeds
Which God performed of old;
Which in our younger years we saw,
And which our fathers told.

He bids us make his glories known,
His works of power and grace,
And we'll convey his wonders down
Through every rising race.

Our lips shall tell them to our sons,
And they again to theirs,
That generations yet unborn
May teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn in God alone
Their hope securely stands,
That they may ne'er forget his works,
But practise his commands;

3.--_Brady and Tate's Version_.

In the year 1803, the Seventy-eighth Psalm was first printed on a
small sheet and placed under every plate, which practice has since
been always adopted. The version of that year was from Brady and
Tate's collection, first published in London in 1698, and in this
country about the year 1739. It was sung to the tune of St.
Martin's in 1805, as appears from a memorandum in ink on the back
of one of the sheets for that year, which reads, "Sung in the
hall, Commencement Day, tune St. Martin's, 1805." From the
statements of graduates of the last century, it seems that this
had been the customary tune for some time previous to this year,
and it is still retained as a precious legacy of the past. St.
Martin's was composed by William Tans'ur in the year 1735. The
following is the version of Brady and Tate:--

Hear, O my people; to my law
Devout attention lend;
Let the instruction of my mouth
Deep in your hearts descend.

My tongue, by inspiration taught,
Shall parables unfold,
Dark oracles, but understood,
And owned for truths of old;

Which we from sacred registers
Of ancient times have known,
And our forefathers' pious care
To us has handed down.

We will not hide them from our sons;
Our offspring shall be taught
The praises of the Lord, whose strength
Has works of wonders wrought.

For Jacob he this law ordained,
This league with Israel made;
With charge, to be from age to age,
From race to race, conveyed,

That generations yet to come
Should to their unborn heirs
Religiously transmit the same,
And they again to theirs.

To teach them that in God alone
Their hope securely stands;
That they should ne'er his works forget,
But keep his just commands.

4.--_From Belknap's Collection_.

This collection was first published by the Rev. Dr. Jeremy
Belknap, at Boston, in 1795. The version of the Seventy-eighth
Psalm is partly from that of Brady and Tate, and partly from Dr.
Watts's, with a few slight variations. It succeeded the version of
Brady and Tate about the year 1820, and is the one which is now
used. The first three stanzas were written by Brady and Tate; the
last three by Dr. Watts. It has of late been customary to omit the
last stanza in singing and in printing.

Give ear, ye children;[62] to my law
Devout attention lend;
Let the instructions[63] of my mouth
Deep in your hearts descend.

My tongue, by inspiration taught,
Shall parables unfold;
Dark oracles, but understood,
And owned for truths of old;

Which we from sacred registers
Of ancient times have known,
And our forefathers' pious care
To us has handed down.

Let children learn[64] the mighty deeds
Which God performed of old;
Which, in our younger years we saw,
And which our fathers told.

Our lips shall tell them to our sons,
And they again to theirs;
That generations yet unborn
May teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn in God alone
Their hope securely stands;
That they may ne'er forget his works,
But practise his commands.

It has been supposed by some that the version of the
Seventy-eighth Psalm by Sternhold and Hopkins, whose spiritual
songs were usually printed, as appears above, "at ye end of their
Bibles," was the first which was sung at Commencement dinners; but
this does not seem at all probable, since the first Commencement
at Cambridge did not take place until 1642, at which time the "Bay
Psalm-Book," written by three of the most popular ministers of the
day, had already been published two years.


SHADY. Among students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., an
epithet of depreciation, equivalent to MILD and SLOW.--_Bristed_.

Some ... are rather _shady_ in Greek and Latin.--_Bristed's Five
Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 147.

My performances on the Latin verse paper were very
_shady_.--_Ibid._, p. 191.


SHARK. In student language, an absence from a recitation, a
lecture, or from prayers, prompted by recklessness rather than by
necessity, is called a _shark_. He who is absent under these
circumstances is also known as a shark.

The Monitors' task is now quite done,
They 've pencilled all their marks,
"Othello's occupation's gone,"--
No more look out for _sharks_.
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 45.


SHEEPSKIN. The parchment diploma received by students on taking
their degree at college. "In the back settlements are many
clergymen who have not had the advantages of a liberal education,
and who consequently have no diplomas. Some of these look upon
their more favored brethren with a little envy. A clergyman is
said to have a _sheepskin_, or to be a _sheepskin_, when educated
at college."--_Bartlett's Dict. of Americanisms_.

This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor
toted about no _sheepskins_,--no, never!... How you'd a perished
in your sins, if the first preachers had stayed till they got
_sheepskins_.--_Carlton's New Purchase_.

I can say as well as the best on them _sheepskins_, if you don't
get religion and be saved, you'll be lost, teetotally and for
ever.--(_Sermon of an Itinerant Preacher at a Camp
Meeting_.)--_Ibid._

As for John Prescot, he not only lost the valedictory, but barely
escaped with his "_sheepskin_."--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. X. p. 74.

That handsome Senior ... receives his _sheepskin_ from the
dispensing hand of our worthy Prex.--_Ibid._, Vol. XIX. p. 355.

When first I saw a "_Sheepskin_,"
In Prex's hand I spied it.
_Yale Coll. Song_.

We came to college fresh and green,--
We go back home with a huge _sheepskin_.
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 43.


SHIN. To tease or hector a person by kicking his shins. In some
colleges this is one of the means which the Sophomores adopt to
torment the Freshmen, especially when playing at football, or
other similar games.

We have been _shinned_, smoked, ducked, and accelerated by the
encouraging shouts of our generous friends.--_Yale Banger_, Nov.
10, 1846.


SHINE. At Harvard College this word was formerly used to designate
a good recitation. Used in the phrase, "_to make a shine_."


SHINNY. At Princeton College, the game of _Shinny_, known also by
the names of _Hawky_ and _Hurly_, is as great a favorite with the
students as is football at other colleges. "The players," says a
correspondent, "are each furnished with a stick four or five feet
in length and one and a half or two inches in diameter, curved at
one end, the object of which is to give the ball a surer blow. The
ball is about three inches in diameter, bound with thick leather.
The players are divided into two parties, arranged along from one
goal to the other. The ball is then '_bucked_' by two players, one
from each side, which is done by one of these two taking the ball
and asking his opponent which he will have, 'high or low'; if he
says 'high,' the ball is thrown up midway between them; if he says
'low,' the ball is thrown on the ground. The game is opened by a
scuffle between these two for the ball. The other players then
join in, one party knocking towards North College, which is one
'home' (as it is termed), and the other towards the fence bounding
the south side of the _Campus_, the other home. Whichever party
first gets the ball home wins the game. A grand contest takes
place annually between the Juniors and Sophomores, in this game."


SHIP. Among collegians, one expelled from college is said to be
_shipped_.

For I, you know, am but a college minion,
But still, you'll all be _shipped_, in my opinion,
When brought before Conventus Facultatis.
_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

He may be overhauled, warned, admonished, dismissed, _shipped_,