ns distinction in any particular study and in two
cognate studies, under such rules as the faculty have prescribed.
Another important movement in the direction of sound scholarship was
made about this time. It was determined that the degree of Master of
Arts, which, so far, had been granted to all graduates of the degree of
A.B. who applied for it after three years from their graduation, should
be conferred only upon such graduates of the regular and philosophical
courses as should pursue, during a residence of not less than one year,
under the direction of the faculty, a prescribed course of study in at
least two departments. The privilege of graduate study was also opened
to those holding like degrees from other colleges. The result of this
action has been to retain at the College for more protracted and
profound study ambitious and scholarly men out of every class.

The modifications of discipline have been no less important either in
their character or results. Formerly in all the New England colleges an
elaborate system of rules, enforced by an oversight, which often
amounted to espionage, was thought to be necessary to good order and the
proper moral development of young men. In the eyes of the students, the
faculty of a college seemed to be little else than a grand court of
inquisition for the trial and punishment of offences against discipline.
In point of fact, a very large percentage of the time of college
officers was spent in that business. At Tufts, perhaps more completely
than in any other New England college, all this is changed. Formal rules
relating to conduct have been abolished. Men are put entirely upon their
honor, and are no longer watched. Since 1875, there has not been a
single case of a student summoned before the faculty or a committee of
the faculty for discipline. Under this policy the gain in the orderly
behavior, moral tone, and contentment of students has been immense. For
eleven years only one student has been sent away from the College for
misconduct; and not more than one or two, so far as I remember, have
left the College because of dissatisfaction either with its methods or
its facilities; while the relative percentage of those who graduate to
those who enter has risen in twenty years from sixty-three per cent to
nearly eighty per cent, placing us, in this respect, in the front rank
of New England colleges.

The whole number of graduates is now about four hundred. Of this number
repr