, it is supposed, to the
abode of those thus marked.

Our tale shall be told by a silent _star_,
On the page of some future Triennial.
_Poem before Class of 1849, Harv. Coll._, p. 4.

We had only to look still further back to find the _stars_
clustering more closely, indicating the rapid flight of the
spirits of short-lived tenants of earth to another
sphere.--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. II. p. 66.

STAR. To mark a star opposite the name of a person, signifying
that he is dead.

Six of the sixteen Presidents of our University have been
inaugurated in this place; and the oldest living graduate, the
Hon. Paine Wingate of Stratham, New Hampshire, who stands on the
Catalogue a lonely survivor amidst the _starred_ names of the
dead, took his degree within these walls.--_A Sermon on leaving
the Old Meeting-house in Cambridge_, by Rev. William Newell, Dec.
1, 1833, p. 22.

Among those fathers were the venerable remnants of classes that
are _starred_ to the last two or three, or it may be to the last
one.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 6.

STATEMENT OF FACTS. At Yale College, a name given to a public
meeting called for the purpose of setting forth the respective
merits of the two great societies in that institution, viz.
"Linonia" and "The Brothers in Unity." There are six orators,
three from Linonia and three from the Brothers,--a Senior, a
Junior, and the President of each society. The Freshmen are
invited by handsomely printed cards to attend the meeting, and
they also have the best seats reserved for them, and are treated
with the most intense politeness. As now conducted, the _Statement
of Facts_ is any thing rather than what is implied by the name. It
is simply an opportunity for the display of speaking talent, in
which wit and sarcasm are considered of far greater importance
than truth. The Freshmen are rarely swayed to either side. In nine
cases out of ten they have already chosen their society, and
attend the statement merely from a love of novelty and fun. The
custom grew up about the year 1830, after the practice of dividing
the students alphabetically between the two societies had fallen
into disuse. Like all similar customs, the Statement of Facts has
reached its present college importance by gradual growth. At first
the societies met in a small room of the College, and the
statements did really consist of the facts in the case. Now the
exercises take place in a public ha