ABSTRACT
The course of study at Princeton was, in fact, an unspoken compromise between the tempered expectations of teachers and the restrained exertions of students. Discipline in the college followed much the same pattern. Students were expected to conform to an exacting list of college regulations that had changed little since discipline had been tightened early in the century. Americans with any acquaintance with European universities were well aware of the inadequacies of American colleges. In mid-nineteenth century, the Eastern colleges were still Christian institutions, but they had ceased to embody their former religious mission. The mandatory religious services may have framed the daily routine of college students, but like so many other requirements they were observed in a perfunctory manner. The memoir of Henry and Scharff, while not great literature, is an informative and sometimes entertaining account; and although idiosyncratic in some respects, it provides genuine insight into the student experience at a midcentury Eastern college.
