CHAPTER I.

SOCIAL RELATIONS. — Sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh. — Shakspeare,
The great normal organizations of human society are three: the family, the state, and the church. The school is another great institution, which may be placed here as coming next in im- portance. I propose to consider this subject somewhat in relation to each of these, and first, in its family and social relations.
The college years lie between the breaking of old family and social ties and the forming of new ones. During this period, the existence of college societies "in some form is a neces- sary outgrowth of human nature." ^ Both in- tellectual and social instincts reach out for that satisfaction and development which is at- tained in association with one's fellows. Says Ex-Gov. Hawley, of Connecticut, '' the fitness and capacity for friendship, and the ability to attract and retain true friends, are as well subject to cultivation and improvement, as any quality or power of mind."^ Come now the secret societies, and offer to meet these wants; '* and in this culture " in friendship, continues Ex-Governor Hawley, " lies one of the chief values of the college fraternities." And accord- ing to Baird, ^ the ''constitutions of the widest
^ Porter's American Collee^es, p. 194.
2 Psi Upsilon Catalogue, p. x.
^ American College Fraternities, pp. 197-198.
12 THE SECRET SOCIETY SYSTEM.
and best known societies " would proclaim essen- tially the two objects of satisfying the intellectual and social nature. Let us consider the methods employed; we notice that a leading character- istic is secrecy; why are the societies secret.'^