the university,—­we have thought proper to insert a full, true, and attested copy of the will of the last deceased heir, in order that the world may be furnished with a correct genealogy of this renowned Jack-knife, whose pedigree will become as illustrious in after time as the family of the ‘ROLLES,’ and which will be celebrated by future wits as the most formidable weapon of modern genius.”

That part of the will only is here inserted which refers particularly to the Knife.  It is as follows:—­

 “I—­I say I, now make this will;
  Let those whom I assign fulfil. 
  I give, grant, render, and convey
  My goods and chattels thus away;
  That honor of a college life,
  That celebrated UGLY KNIFE,
  Which predecessor SAWNEY[42] orders,
  Descending to time’s utmost borders,
  To noblest bard of homeliest phiz,
  To have and hold and use, as his,
  I now present C——­s P——­y S——­r,[43]
  To keep with his poetic lumber,
  To scrape his quid, and make a split,
  To point his pen for sharpening wit;
  And order that he ne’er abuse
  Said ugly knife, in dirtier use,
  And let said CHARLES, that best of writers,
  In prose satiric skilled to bite us,
  And equally in verse delight us,
  Take special care to keep it clean
  From unpoetic hands,—­I ween. 
  And when those walls, the muses’ seat,
  Said S——­r is obliged to quit,
  Let some one of APOLLO’S firing,
  To such heroic joys aspiring,
  Who long has borne a poet’s name,
  With said Knife cut his way to fame.” 
    See Buckingham’s Reminiscences, Vol.  II. pp. 281, 270.

Tradition asserts that the original Jack-knife was terminated at one end of the handle by a large blade, and at the other by a projecting piece of iron, to which a chain of the same metal was attached, and that it was customary to carry it in the pocket fastened by this chain to some part of the person.  When this was lost, and the custom of transmitting the Knife went out of fashion, the class, guided by no rule but that of their own fancy, were accustomed to present any thing in the shape of a knife, whether oyster or case, it made no difference.  In one instance a wooden one was given, and was immediately burned by the person who received it.  At present the Jack-knife is voted to the ugliest member of the Senior Class, at the meeting for the election of officers for Class Day, and the sum appropriated for its purchase varies in different years from fifty cents to twenty dollars.  The custom of presenting the Jack-knife is one of the most amusing of those which have come down to us from the past, and if any conclusion may be drawn from the interest which is now manifested in its observance, it is safe to infer, in the words of the poet, that it will continue “Till time and ugliness shall end.”

In the Collegiate Institute of Indiana, a Jack-knife is given to the greatest liar, as a reward of merit.