The principal then left them, and they entered on the trial. The result
was that they discovered the guilty individuals, ascertained the amount
of mischief done by each, and sent to the selectmen a message, by which
they agreed to pay a sum equal to three times the value of the injury
sustained.
The students were soon after informed that this mode of bringing
offenders to justice would hereafter be always pursued, and arrangements
were made for organizing a _regular republican government_ among the
young men. By this government all laws which related to the internal
police of the institution were to be made, all officers were appointed,
and all criminal cases were to be tried. The students finding the part
of a judge too difficult for them to sustain, one of the professors was
appointed to hold that office, and, for similar reasons, another of the
professors was made president of the legislative assembly. The principal
was the executive, with power to _pardon_, but not to _sentence_, or
even _accuse_.
Some time after this a student was indicted for profane swearing; he was
tried, convicted, and punished. After this he evinced a strong hostility
to the government. He made great exertions to bring it into contempt,
and when the next trial came on, he endeavored to persuade the witnesses
that giving evidence was dishonorable, and he so far succeeded that the
defendant was acquitted for want of evidence, when it was generally
understood that there was proof of his guilt, which would have been
satisfactory if it could have been brought forward.
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