Page:The History of the University of Pennsylvania, Wood.djvu/95

Rh had sent them forth from her bosom while yet so incompetent to their own intellectual management. It was resolved that no applicant should be received into the lowest class under the age of fourteen; a time of life at which it was thought that the sense of honour might be sufficiently developed to serve as a motive for strenuous application, and the intellect sufficiently mature to render such application productive.

With the view of exciting emulation among the students, greater care was taken to apportion the several grades of honorary distinction at the commencements to the merits of the candidates; while, in the mean time, they were taught to feel more strongly the influence of public sentiment, and to allow it more authority over their conduct, by occasional exhibitions of their skill in oratory before respectable assemblages of citizens.

They were, moreover, encouraged to form among themselves an association, similar to those which exist in many other colleges in this country, and the influence of which has been found highly beneficial, both to the young men who belong to them, and to the seminaries under the auspices of which they have been established. In these societies, the charm of secrecy has been employed to attract new members, and to maintain a stronger interest among the old; while it is deprived of all mischievous tendency by the participation of the professors and other officers of the college. To be able fully to appreciate the importance of such institutions, we must revert to the period of our own youth, and call to mind the deep interest, the spirit at once of union and emulation, the kindly feelings towards each other united with the energetic determination to excel, inspired into us by their manlike exercises; and while dwelling on these recollections, we shall experience in the love with which our hearts warm and expand towards the scene of our young efforts, and the vivid desire which arises to witness and contribute to its