Discipline, like every thing else characteristic of our elder
institutions, has for some years been fast giving way in our
universities. Statutes are permitted to slumber unheeded, as not
fitted to the present _advanced_ state of society; and in colleges
where it would, as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century,
have been almost a crime to have been seen in hall or chapel without
_a white cravat on_, scholars now strut in black ones, "unawed by
_imposition_" or a fine. I can remember the time when this inroad upon
decent appearance first begun, and when the Dean of _our_ college put
forth his strong arm, and insisted on white having the preference. Men
then used to wear their black till they came to the _hall or chapel_
door, then take them off, and walk in with none at all, and again
twist them round the neck, heedless whether the tie were _Brummell_ or
not, on issuing forth from Prayers or Commons. Like the Whigs, they
have by perseverance carried their point, and strut about in black,
wondering what they shall next attempt.
* * * * *