...ciety for mutual improvement, keeping even its existence a secret, and calling it The Nine, from their number. They were Hopkinson, Stearns, Sumner, Browne, Warren, Worcester, Appleton, Carter, and McBurney . They met in each other's rooms, read essays, and each in turn made up a record, generally of an amusing kind, to be read at the next meeting. On Nov. 2, 1829, Sumner read, in 22 Holworthy, an e...