University of Virginia Library

IV. Matriculation

So soon as the student reached the University by one
of those stage-coaches, which, as we have seen, plied

through that region of country, he was expected to go
promptly to the proctor's office, and submit to all the
conditions of matriculation. The first was to give a
statement in writing as to his age. If under sixteen, he
was refused admission, unless accompanied by an older
brother, or was himself the son of a professor on the
ground. Sometimes, the Faculty acted on their own discretion,
if there was a good reason in a particular case
why this rule should be partially relaxed,—thus in 1830,
Carter W. Wormeley, who was under sixteen, was, in
October, permitted to remain as a quasi-matriculate because
he would reach the accepted limit in February, and
was so well-grown already as to pass for nineteen. The
second requirement was that the student, if an alumnus
of some other incorporated seminary of learning, should
hand in a certificate of good conduct from its authorities.
The third requirement was that he should deposit with
the proctor or the patron,—if such an officer had been
appointed,—all the money, drafts, checks, and orders in
his possession, which he had brought from home to defray
his different expenses. The total sum thus surrendered
was to be subject to the following deductions: (1) the
two per cent. commission payable to the proctor or patron;
(2) the rent of his dormitory; (3) the charge for
the use of the public rooms; (4) the tuition fees; (5) the
amount which he would owe his hotelkeeper for the first
period of three months; (6) the sum estimated to cover
the cost of text-books and stationery; (7) a contingent
fee, to compensate for any damage which he might do to
the property of the University. What probably made
the deepest impression on his sensibilities was the requirement
that he should give up all the loose contents of his
pocket-book, which he had hoped to reserve for amusement
or for petty expenses of every sort from day to
day.

This was another of the pricking regulations for which
apparently there was no sound reason; indeed, it was
very nicely calculated to arouse that feeling of sharp hostility
to authority so rampant during this period. The
explanation offered by the Board of Visitors for imposing
it was that the forcible limitation of the amount to
be spent by the students would enable them to devote
their time and energies more positively and conscientiously
to their studies; and would assure a slower and
more thoughtful enjoyment of the money through the
measured disbursements of the patron, for he, by scanning
the bills sent in to him, could soon detect the smallest
indulgence "in parade and pleasure," and by curbing
it, would leave the young men a larger opportunity "to
acquire literature and science, useful habits, and honorable
distinction." One can easily see in the mind's eye the wry
faces with which this lofty explanation, with its slight
smack of irony, was received by the students, already
writhing under their pecuniary dependence upon an academic
officer. Each one was required to take an oath
that he had deposited the entire amount in his possession;
and should it be afterwards proved that he had
not done so, he was compelled to pay a commission of
four per cent. instead of two. It was not simply the
money brought by him to the University at the beginning
of the session which had to be given up: all funds that
subsequently came into his hands had also to be surrendered.
The accounts for 1836 reveal that the average
amount which the young men had in the patron's custody
was seventy-four dollars, and in 1837, seventy-five;
and this was a counterpart of the entire period. The

largest sum that was withdrawn for pocket money at
one time was ten dollars. It was rarely so much; indeed,
five dollars was the modest amount which the patron
thought sufficient to dole out in response to most of the
applications.

The student could not evade this restriction by making
purchases on credit except under a narrow limitation, for,
in 1828, he was forbidden by the Faculty to run up debts
in excess of five dollars, unless he could show the written
consent of parent or chairman. Ten years afterwards,
an Act of the General Assembly specifically curtailed the
merchant's right to give credit to students; and under the
authority of this law, the chairman declined to acknowledge
the validity of any obligations of the young men
unless contracted for necessaries. He used his own discretion
even in the cases of those who offered their
parents' written permission in justification. So soon as
the abuse of credit by student and merchant was put
under the ban of a statute,—which rendered it liable
to be passed upon by the grand jury,—there was less
difficulty in enforcing the Faculty's ordinance in restraint
of that evil.

There were certain fixed charges, as we have seen, to
be covered by the amount deposited by the student at the
beginning of the session. These varied slightly from
year to year, but throughout the first seventeen sessions
remained substantially unaltered. If the matriculate announced
his intention, with the proper permission, to attend
the lectures of one professor alone, the fee was fifty
dollars; of two, thirty dollars each; and of three, twenty-five
dollars, respectively. After 1837, ministers of the
Gospel, or future candidates of divinity, were relieved of
this expense. A new charge of twenty dollars was, subsequent
to 1834–5, imposed upon the student of law, in

addition to the usual one for a single chair. The young
man who entered late, or departed early, unless prevented
from stopping longer by sickness, was required to pay the
tuition fee for the entire session. It was only in 1825,
—when the beginning and length of the session were
rendered uncertain by the abnormal circumstances of the
hour,—that the amount of the tuition fees was proportioned
to the time of actual attendance.

During the first four years, one hundred and fifty dollars
was always paid in by the student to defray the charge
of his hotelkeeper for board; but, in 1829–30, the amount
was lowered to one hundred dollars. This sum entitled
him to the use of the very plain furniture in his
dormitory, and also to servants' attendance, and to laundry.
The deposit for rent, when one room was to be
occupied by two tenants, was eight dollars apiece for the
session; the general cost of fuel and candles was fifteen
dollars apiece; and of books and common stationery,
about forty dollars. The contingent fee was fixed at
ten dollars. The amount intrusted to the patron for
clothing and pocket-money was in the neighborhood of
one hundred and fourteen dollars; and for the use of the
library and public rooms, fifteen dollars. In 1829–30,
it was estimated that, with clothing, pocket-money, and
the contingent fee omitted, the student's annual expenses
should not run beyond two hundred and eighteen dollars;
and in 1834, with these two items counted in, beyond
three hundred and seventy-five. But, in 1838, when the
proctor calculated that the outlay ought not to exceed
three hundred and fifty dollars, he acknowledged that
the great majority of the young men spent at least five
hundred in the course of a single session.

Having made the deposits with the patron as the
enactments prescribed, taken an oath that he retained

no funds in his possession, and that he would obey the
ordinances,—a copy of which was given him,—the student
then announced the courses of study which he wished
to pursue. It was now the patron's duty to pay the appointed
fees to the professors designated, in return for
which each delivered to that officer for transmission to
the student a ticket[4] admitting him to his school. The
matriculate, without parental authority to the contrary,
was required, as we have already mentioned, to choose
three schools if he belonged to the academic department;
and in 1827, he was granted the right to add still others,
provided that he should state his desire to do so within
one month after entrance.

What was the patronage enjoyed by each of the
schools during the first seventeen sessions? In 1825,
when the professorship of law was as yet vacant, the attendance
was as follows: in the School of Medicine, there
were twenty students; of Ancient Languages, fifty-seven;
of Modern, seventy-three; of Natural Philosophy, thirty-five;
of Mathematics, seventy-three; of Chemistry and
Materia Medica, thirty-five; and of Moral Philosophy,
fifteen. Of the approximately three thousand, two hundred
and forty-seven young men enrolled from 1825 to
1842 inclusive, the several schools were entitled to the
following proportions: Mathematics, 1541; Natural
Philosophy, 1122; Ancient Languages, 1112; Modern
Languages, 976; Moral Philosophy, 804; Law, 705;
Chemistry, 680; and Medicine, 630. We are able, at a
glance, to gauge the relative popularity of the different
schools. The School of Mathematics led the procession;
the School of Medicine closed it,—the average annual attendance
in the one was eighty-five students; in the other,

thirty-five. During the period of seventeen years under
review, the School of Medicine was at flood-tide in
1835–6, when fifty-five students were enrolled in it. The
attendance in the School of Law dwindled from seventy-two
in 1839–40, to fifty-four in 1841–2; in the School of
Ancient Languages, from one hundred and seven in 1825,
when Professor Long occupied that chair, to thirty-nine,
seventeen years later. This decline was reflected in the
School of Modern Languages, which fell from one
hundred and thirty-six in 1838–9 to forty-eight in 1841–2.
The figures for the School of Mathematics in 1836–7
and 1841–2 were, respectively, one hundred and thirty-five
and forty-seven; for the School of Natural Philosophy
in 1837–8 and 1841–2, one hundred and ten and
forty-one; for the School of Chemistry in 1836–7 and
1841–2, seventy-five and thirty-six; and for that of Moral
Philosophy in 1839–40 and 1841–2, seventy-eight and
forty-six. We shall be able to comprehend clearly the
reasons for this temporary decay when we come to examine
the other sides of the history of this period.