Never should you allow yourself to think of going into the recitation-room, and there trust to “skinning it,” as it is called in some colleges, or “phrasing,” as in others.—­Todd’s Students Manual, p. 115.

PIECE.  “Be it known, at Cambridge the various Commons and other places open for the gymnastic games, and the like public amusements, are usually denominated Pieces.”—­Alma Mater, London, 1827, Vol.  II. p. 49.

PIETAS ET GRATULATIO.  On the death of George the Second, and accession of George the Third, Mr. Bernard, Governor of Massachusetts, suggested to Harvard College “the expediency of expressing sympathy and congratulation on these events, in conformity with the practice of the English universities.”  Accordingly, on Saturday, March 14, 1761, there was placed in the Chapel of Harvard College the following “Proposal for a Celebration of the Death of the late King, and the Accession of his present Majesty, by members of Harvard College.”

“Six guineas are given for a prize of a guinea each to the Author of the best composition of the following several kinds:—­1.  A Latin Oration. 2.  A Latin Poem, in hexameters. 3.  A Latin Elegy, in hexameters and pentameters. 4 A Latin Ode. 5.  An English Poem, in long verse. 6.  An English Ode.

“Other Compositions, besides those that obtain the prizes, that are most deserving, will be taken particular notice of.

“The candidates are to be, all, Gentlemen who are now members of said College, or have taken a degree within seven years.

“Any Candidate may deliver two or more compositions of different kinds, but not more than one of the same kind.

“That Gentlemen may be more encouraged to try their talents upon this occasion, it is proposed that the names of the Candidates shall be kept secret, except those who shall be adjudged to deserve the prizes, or to have particular notice taken of their Compositions, and even these shall be kept secret if desired.

“For this purpose, each Candidate is desired to send his Composition to the President, on or before the first day of July next, subscribed at the bottom with, a feigned name or motto, and, in a distinct paper, to write his own name and seal it up, writing the feigned name or motto on the outside.  None of the sealed papers containing the real names will be opened, except those that are adjudged to obtain the prizes or to deserve particular notice; the rest will be burned sealed.”

This proposal resulted in a work entitled, “Pietas et Gratulatio Collegii Cantabrigiensis apud Novanglos.”  In January, 1762, the Corporation passed a vote, “that the collections in prose and verse in several languages composed by some of the members of the College, on the motion of his Excellency our Governor, Francis Bernard, Esq., on occasion of the death of his late Majesty, and the accession of his present Majesty, be printed; and that his Excellency be desired to send, if he shall judge it proper, a copy of the same to Great Britain, to be presented to his Majesty, in the name of the Corporation.”