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University. May
1826
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Dear
Sir,
I this
morning received the clothes you sent me, viz
an [[sic]] uniform coat, six
yards of striped cloth for pantaloons & four pair of socks — The
coat is a beautiful one & fits me exactly — I thought it best not
to write ’till I received the clothes — or I should have written before
this — You have heard no doubt of the disturbances in College — Soon
after you left here the Grand Jury met and put the Students in a
terrible fright — so much so that the lectures were unattended — and
those whose names were upon the Sheriff’s list — travelled off into the
woods & mountains — taking their beds & provisions along with
them — there were about 50 on the list — so you may suppose the College
was very well thinn’d — this was the first day of the fright — the
second day, “A proclamation” was issued by the faculty forbidding “any
student under pain of a major punishment to leave his dormitory between
the hours of 8 & 10 A M — (at which time the Sheriffs would be
about) or in any way to resist the lawful authority of the Sheriffs” —
This order however was very little attended to — as the fear of the
Faculty could not counterbalance that of the Grand Jury — most of the
“indicted” ran off a second time into the woods and upon an examination
the next morning by the Faculty — Some were reprimanded — some
suspended — [page 2:] and one
expelled — James Albert Clarke from Manchester (I went to school with
him at Burke’s) was suspended for two months, Armstead Carter from this
neighbourhood, for the remainder of the session — And Thomas Barclay
for ever — There have >>been<< several fights since you
were here — One between Turner Dixon, and Blow from Norfolk excited
more interest than any I have seen — for a common fight is so trifling
an occurrence that no notice is taken of it — Blow got much the
advantage in the scuffle — but Dixon posted him in very indecent terms
— upon which the whole Norfolk party rose in arms — & nothing was
talked off for a week, but Dixon’s charge, & Blow’s explanation —
every pillar in the University was white with scratched paper — Dixon
made <an> a physical attack upon Arthur Smith one of Blow’s
Norfolk friends — and a “very fine fellow” — he struck him with a large
stone on one side of his head — whereupon Smith drew a pistol (which
are all the fashion here) and had it not miss d’ [[sic]] fire, would have put an end
to the controversy — but so it was — it did miss fire — and the matter
has since been more peaceably settled — as the Proctor engaged a
Magistrate to bind the whole forces on both sides — over to the peace —
Give my love to Ma & Miss Nancy — & all my friends < —
&>
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I
remain
Your’s affectiona[tely]
Edgar |
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Will you be so good as to
send
me a copy of the Historiæ of
Tacitus — it is a small volume — also some more soap —
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