The buttery in fact was the precursor of “the office.” From its control of the “sizings,” or orders for extra food, it also developed into a species of canteen, at first selling sweetmeats, fancy groceries, and cider; then stationery, sporting goods, and small sundries—all at a handsome profit which the Butler always pocketed. After the Revolution this commercial side developed to such proportions that the buttery and its stock-in-trade were transferred to Massachusetts Hall close by. Here it degenerated into a kind of Rialto for idle undergraduates, and became a nuisance—or something worse. “Wine and stronger drinks,” says Dr. Peabody, “were for sale to the students,—an arrangement sagaciously devised to prevent them from purchasing such commodities at shops and taverns, and of great convenience to the young men, as such purchases were charged on their term-bills. At least one fourth of every class became sots.”[1]
Finally the mischievous influence of this perverted institution was recognized; and in 1800, its proper functions having been superseded by more modern machinery, it was abolished altogether. The only vestiges of it that remain are its tall clock, presented in 1763 by several graduates[2] and now in the treasure-room of the
