See CONGREGATION, CONVOCATION.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. At Union College, the members of the
Junior Class compose what is called the _House of
Representatives_, a body organized after the manner of the
national House, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the
forms and manner of legislation. The following account has been
furnished by a member of that College.
"At the end of the third term, Sophomore year, when the members of
that class are looking forward to the honors awaiting them, comes
off the initiation to the House. The Friday of the tenth week is
the day usually selected for the occasion. On the afternoon of
that day the Sophomores assemble in the Junior recitation-room,
and, after organizing themselves by the appointment of a chairman,
are waited upon by a committee of the House of Representatives of
the Junior Class, who announce that they are ready to proceed with
the initiation, and occasionally dilate upon the importance and
responsibility of the future position of the Sophomores.
"The invitation thus given is accepted, and the class, headed by
the committee, proceeds to the Representatives' Hall. On their
arrival, the members of the House retire, and the incoming
members, under the direction of the committee, arrange themselves
around the platform of the Speaker, all in the room at the same
time rising in their seats. The Speaker of the House now addresses
the Sophomores, announcing to them their election to the high
position of Representatives, and exhorting them to discharge well
all their duties to their constituents and their common country.
He closes, by stating it to be their first business to elect the
officers of the House.
"The election of Speaker, Vice-Speaker, Clerk, and Treasurer by
ballot then follows, two tellers being appointed by the Chair. The
Speaker is elected for one year, and must be one of the Faculty;
the other officers hold only during the ensuing term. The Speaker,
however, is never expected to be present at the meetings of the
House, with the exception of that at the beginning of each term
session, so that the whole duty of presiding falls on the
Vice-Speaker. This is the only meeting of the _new_ House during
that term.
"On the second Friday afternoon of the fall term, the Speaker
usually delivers an inaugural address, and soon after leaves the
chair to the Vice-Speaker, who then announces the representation
from the different States, and also the list of committees. The
members are apportioned by him according to population, each State
having at least one, and some two or three, as the number of the
Junior Class may allow. The committees are constituted in the
manner common to the National House, the number of each, however,
being less. Business then follows, as described in Jefferson's
Manual; petitions, remonstrances, resolutions, reports, debates,
and all the 'toggery' of legislation, come on in regular, or
rather irregular succession. The exercises, as may be well
conceived, furnish an excellent opportunity for improvement in
parliamentary tactics and political oratory."
The House of Representatives was founded by Professor John Austin
Tates. It is not constituted by every Junior Class, and may be
regarded as intermittent in its character.
See SENATE.
HUMANIST. One who pursues the study of the _humanities (literæ
humaniores)_, or polite literature; a term used in various
European universities, especially the Scotch.--_Brandt_.
HUMANITY, _pl._ HUMANITIES. In the plural signifying grammar,
rhetoric, the Latin and Greek languages, and poetry; for teaching
which there are professors in the English and Scotch universities.
--_Encyc._
HUMMEL. At the University of Vermont, a foot, especially a large
one.
HYPHENUTE. At Princeton College, the aristocratic or would-be
aristocratic in dress, manners, &c., are called _Hyphenutes_. Used
both as a noun and adjective. Same as [Greek: Oi Aristoi] q.v.
_I_.
ILLUMINATE. To interline with a translation. Students _illuminate_
a book when they write between the printed lines a translation of
the text. _Illuminated_ books are preferred by good judges to
ponies or hobbies, as the text and translation in them are brought
nearer to one another. The idea of calling books thus prepared
_illuminated_, is taken partly from the meaning of the word
_illuminate_, to adorn with ornamental letters, substituting,
however, in this case, useful for ornamental, and partly from one
of its other meanings, to throw light on, as on obscure subjects.
ILLUSTRATION. That which elucidates a subject. A word used with a
peculiar application by undergraduates in the University of
Cambridge, Eng.
I went back,... and did a few more bits of _illustration_, such as
noting down the relative resources of Athens and Sparta when the
Peloponnesian war broke out, and the sources of the Athenian
revenue.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 51.
IMPOSITION. In the English universities, a supernumerary exercise
enjoined on students as a punishment.
Minor offences are punished by rustication, and those of a more
trivial nature by fines, or by literary tasks, here termed
_Impositions_.--_Oxford Guide_, p. 149.
Literary tasks called _impositions_, or frequent compulsive
attendances on tedious and unimproving exercises in a college
hall.--_T. Warton, Minor Poems of Milton_, p. 432.
_Impositions_ are of various lengths. For missing chapel, about
one hundred lines to copy; for missing a lecture, the lecture to
translate. This is the measure for an occasional offence.... For
coming in late at night repeatedly, or for any offence nearly
deserving rustication, I have known a whole book of Thucydides
given to translate, or the Ethics of Aristotle to analyze, when
the offender has been a good scholar, while others, who could only
do mechanical work, have had a book of Euclid to write out.
Long _impositions_ are very rarely _barberized_. When college
tutors intend to be severe, which is very seldom, they are not to
be trifled with.
At Cambridge, _impositions_ are not always in writing, but
sometimes two or three hundred lines to repeat by heart. This is
ruin to the barber.--_Collegian's Guide_, pp. 159, 160.