Page:Lippincotts Monthly Magazine-40.djvu/112

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102
SOCIAL LIFE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

lessness by being doubly sweet to him; and as he wends his way homeward, somewhere about the witching hour of twelve, he declares that for such pleasure he would suffer it all again.

He soon makes the acquaintance of most of the young ladies in the neighborhood, if he is a "calicoist" (which implies a greater lover of the fair sex than of his studies), and pursues their acquaintance, or not, as his own sweet will may dictate.

A german club is generally formed in the early part of the year, and gives a german about once a month, though last year it gave eighteen. This club is composed of the dancing girls as well as young men: the latter have to sign a pledge not to drink a drop of any kind of liquor from twelve o'clock of the day of the german until twelve the next day. This prevents any disorderly conduct, and makes the germans much less objectionable than formerly to the quiet citizens, who were liable to be disturbed at all hours by the uproarious germanites after the dancing was over. Our young friend, if fond of dancing, joins, and goes in for an amusement in which only the dancing girls engage. If however, he is not a disciple of Terpsichore, and is still fond of ladies' society, he has an equal number of beautiful and accomplished girls, who will talk, walk, ride, or flirt with him, but disapprove of dancing.

If our friend is not susceptible to the charms of the fair sex, he is by this time deep in his studies, getting quite interested in some ancient Greek, Latin, or Hebrew novelist, or else is just beginning to see the beauty of solid geometry, law, or anatomy. If he does not care to study, he will find many who are only too glad to teach him how to spend his money, and frequently to spend it for him. But we will not suppose our friend has such a disposition as either to be afraid of the girls or his studies. For it very frequently happens that the best students do a good deal of "calicoing."

About this time he is asked, either by a friend or some person specially appointed for the purpose, to unite himself with the Y. M. C. A., which is the oldest college Y. M. C. A. in the world,—having been founded in 1858 and having been kept up ever since. If he is a member of any established church, he rarely hesitates to take advantage of this opportunity to show his interest and join in the only religious work of the university; for the Y. M. C. A. is the only authorized religious organization here. It raises, by subscription from all the students, the salary of the chaplain, who is chosen biennially by the faculty from the four denominations, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal. Taking into consideration the fact that all religious exercises are voluntary, we are very proud of the fifty men that appear