minious failure, and being apprehensive that the disastrous consecpaences which must follow will be felt in all the other colleges of the land. And yet, after all, this is not entirely a question of possibilities or probabilities. The experiment has been tried already, and tried until it is no longer an experiment. It has been tried at least long enough to prove that it is not surrounded by any of the dangers which seem so formidable to the distinguished president of Princeton, and that it is truly attended by all the advantageous consequences which are anticipated from it by the enlightened and progressive president of Harvard. This identical experiment has been tried for a period of more than four years in Columbia College; and it is this fact which has induced me to intrude the expression of my opinions into this discussion.
More than four years have now elapsed since the ordinary modes of compulsion, by which the attendance of students upon scholastic exercises is commonly enforced in colleges, were abandoned in this institution. As a substitute for these, the simple rule was adopted, that any marked irregularity of attendance on the daily exercises should debar the student from the privilege of attending the stated periodical examinations, through which every candidate for graduation is obliged by statute to pass, and to pass satisfactorily, before he can receive a degree in Arts. And, in order to remove any uncertainty which might exist as to the amount of irregularity which should be considered sufficient to deprive an individual of this privilege, the limit of tolerated absences from any particular department of study was put at one-fourth of the total number of exercises in that department. This limit was fixed upon, because it had been already tried, for several years, with results entirely satisfactory, in the School of Mines which is associated with the college, and which is carried on, on the same grounds. Under this system, a student may absent himself without being called upon to assigu any reason for his absence. He may, if he pleases, assign such a reason voluntarily, or he may state in advance his desire or intention to be absent from a future exercise, and, in case he does this, a note is made of the reason so assigned, which is preserved for a purpose which will presently appear. In order that he may be always aware of the state of his absence account, a bulletin is kept constantly posted where it is accessible to him, exhibiting the number of his absences from every department separately, up to the current date. The data for this bulletin are derived from the daily reports of the college officers made to the president—each officer presenting his report for the day, immediately after the close of college hours—and from these the proper entries are made in the bulletin immediately. An abstract of this record is furnished monthly to the parent or guardian of every student; so that, if there be any unjustifiable irregularity, it is referred to the authority most suitable to investigate the causes and to apply the proper correction. If, at the close of the session, any student appears, from the record, to have exceeded his limit, in any department, he is notified that he is debarred from examination in that department; and the loss of an examination, in any single department, deprives him of his standing as a candidate for a degree. He is not on that account compelled to leave college. He may continue to attend as before; but, if, on account of growing irregularity, or inattention to study, his attendance should be deemed unprofitable to himself, or prejudicial to others, he may be required to withdraw. In this event, he retires silently, and without censure.
In case a student, whose absences for the session exceed the limit of tolerance, should be able to make it appear that all these absences were occasioned by causes beyond his control, or were otherwise justifiable, the faculty are at liberty, in their discretion, to raise the ban, and to admit him to examination. But, if a single one of these absences appears to have been wanton or unwarranted, it is of no avail to him that all the others were unavoidable—he loses his standing as a candidate for a degree.
Under this system an appeal is made to a higher motive than the fear of censure. It is inculcated on the student continually that to attend the college exercises is a privilege and a duty; to be absent a loss and a wrong to himself. And, when this idea becomes familiar, he will not only be
