soon after the latter date, board at a good private table cost about $4.[1]
But the blackest aspect of the matter remains to be. told. It was an open secret that even at these prices the Corporation hoped to make a profit, and not infrequently succeeded![2] Probably no single factor contributed more to the execration of Commons than the constant maddening suspicion among the diners that their stomachs were being exploited in favor of the balance-sheet, and that, little as they paid, they were not even getting their money’s worth.
This cheese-paring policy produced its inevitable results. All food was of the cheapest possible quality, making it almost out of the question to supply properly varied and nutritious victuals. Never again, to be sure, did the fare sink to the level of the eternal nauseous porridge of Eaton’s time; and there must have been many occasions when the day was saved by the early custom of paying tuition fees “in kind,” resulting in additions to the larder that ranged from “sack wine” to “goat mutton” and “a old Cowe.” But as will further appear, the students’ diet was generally so restricted,
- ↑ Harv. Magazine, iv, 275. The English charges for commons were much greater. In 1687 Charles Gawdy of Caius College, Cambridge, writes to his father: “Pray you to send 5 poundes by the carrier when he come up againe to pay for my commons this quarter.” Venn, Early Collegiate Life, 229.
- ↑ Quincy, Hist. Harv. Univ., ii, 96. This abomination began very early. Cf. the suggestion of the Overseers quoted on page 118, post.
