present day, by adding the graduating class to the procession, and
substituting the Boston Lancers as an escort, instead of the "body
guards."

The exercises of the first Commencement are stated in New
England's First Fruits, above referred to, as follows:--"Latine
and Greeke Orations, and Declamations, and Hebrew Analysis,
Grammaticall, Logicall, and Rhetoricall of the Psalms: And their
answers and disputations in Logicall, Ethicall, Physicall, and
Metaphysicall questions." At Commencement in 1685, the exercises
were, besides Disputes, four Orations, one Latin, two Greek, and
one Hebrew In the presidency of Wadsworth, above referred to, "the
exercises of the day," says Quincy, "began with a short prayer by
the President; a salutatory oration in Latin, by one of the
graduating class, succeeded; then disputations on theses or
questions in Logic, Ethics, and Natural Philosophy commenced. When
the disputation terminated, one of the candidates pronounced a
Latin 'gratulatory oration.' The graduating class were then
called, and, after asking leave of the Governor and Overseers, the
President conferred the Bachelor's degree, by delivering a book to
the candidates (who came forward successively in parties of four),
and pronouncing a form of words in Latin. An adjournment then took
place to dinner, in Harvard Hall; thence the procession returned
to the church, and, after the Masters' disputations, usually three
in number, were finished, their degrees were conferred, with the
same general forms as those of the Bachelors. An occasional
address was then made by the President. A Latin valedictory
oration by one of the Masters succeeded, and the exercises
concluded with a prayer by the President."

Similar to this is the account given by the Hon. Paine Wingate, a
graduate of the class of 1759, of the exercises of Commencement as
conducted while he was in College. "I do not recollect now," he
says, "any part of the public exercises on Commencement Day to be
in English, excepting the President's prayers at opening and
closing the services. Next after the prayer followed the
Salutatory Oration in Latin, by one of the candidates for the
first degree. This office was assigned by the President, and was
supposed to be given to him who was the best orator in the class.
Then followed a Syllogistic Disputation in Latin, in which four or
five or more of those who were distinguished as good scholars in
the class were appointed by the President as Respondents, to whom
were assigned certain questions, which the Respondents maintained,
and the rest of the class severally opposed, and endeavored to
invalidate. This was conducted wholly in Latin, and in the form of
Syllogisms and Theses. At the close of the Disputation, the
President usually added some remarks in Latin. After these
exercises the President conferred the degrees. This, I think, may
be considered as the summary of the public performances on a
Commencement Day. I do not recollect any Forensic Disputation, or
a Poem or Oration spoken in English, whilst I was in
College."--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, pp. 307, 308.

As far back as the year 1685, it was customary for the President
to deliver an address near the close of the exercises. Under this
date, in the MS. Diary of Judge Sewall, are these words: "Mr.
President after giving ye Degrees made an Oration in Praise of
Academical Studies and Degrees, Hebrew tongue." In 1688, at the
Commencement, according to the same gentleman, Mr. William
Hubbard, then acting as President under the appointment of Sir
Edmund Andros, "made an oration."

The disputations were always in Latin, and continued to be a part
of the exercises of Commencement until the year 1820. The orations
were in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and sometimes French; in 1818 a
Spanish oration was delivered at the Commencement for that year by
Mr. George Osborne. The first English oration was made by Mr.
Jedidiah Huntington, in the year 1763, and the first English poem
by Mr. John Davis, in 1781. The last Latin syllogisms were in
1792, on the subjects, "Materia cogitare non potest," and "Nil
nisi ignis naturâ est fluidum." The first year in which the
performers spoke without a prompter was 1837. There were no
Master's exercises for the first time in 1844. To prevent
improprieties, in the year 1760, "the duty of inspecting the
performances on the day," says Quincy, "and expunging all
exceptionable parts, was assigned to the President; on whom it was
particularly enjoined 'to put an end to the practice of addressing
the female sex.'" At a later period, in 1792, by referring to the
"Order of the Exercises of Commencement," we find that in the
concluding oration "honorable notice is taken, from year to year,
of those who have been the principal Benefactors of the
University." The practice is now discontinued.

At the first Commencement, all the magistrates, elders, and
invited guests who were present "dined," says Winthrop in his
Journal, Vol. II. pp. 87, 88, "at the College with the scholars'
ordinary commons, which was done on purpose for the students'
encouragement, &c., and it gave good content to all." After
dinner, a Psalm was usually sung. In 1685, at Commencement, Sewall
says: "After dinner ye 3d part of ye 103d Ps. was sung in ye
Hall." The seventy-eighth Psalm was the one usually sung, an
account of which will be found under that title. The Senior Class
usually waited on the table on Commencement Day. After dinner,
they were allowed to take what provisions were left, and eat them
at their rooms, or in the hall. This custom was not discontinued
until the year 1812.

In 1754, owing to the expensive habits worn on Commencement Day, a
law was passed, ordering that on that day "every candidate for his
degree appear in black, or dark blue, or gray clothes; and that no
one wear any silk night-gowns; and that any candidate, who shall
appear dressed contrary to such regulations, may not expect his
degree." At present, on Commencement Day, every candidate for a
first degree wears, according to the law, "a black dress and the
usual black gown."

It was formerly customary, on this day, for the students to
provide entertainment in their rooms. But great care was taken, as
far as statutory enactments were concerned, that all excess should
be avoided. During the presidency of Increase Mather was developed
among the students a singular phase of gastronomy, which was
noticed by the Corporation in their records, under the date of
June 22, 1693, in these words: "The Corporation, having been
informed that the custom taken up in the College, not used in any
other Universities, for the commencers [graduating class] to have
plumb-cake, is dishonorable to the College, not grateful to wise
men, and chargeable to the parents of the commencers, do therefore
put an end to that custom, and do hereby order that no commencer,
or other scholar, shall have any such cakes in their studies or
chambers; and that, if any scholar shall offend therein, the cakes
shall be taken from him, and he shall moreover pay to the College
twenty shillings for each such offence." This stringent regulation
was, no doubt, all-sufficient for many years; but in the lapse of
time the taste for the forbidden delicacy, which was probably
concocted with a skill unknown to the moderns, was again revived,
accompanied with confessions to a fondness for several kinds of
expensive preparations, the recipes for which preparations, it is
to be feared, are inevitably lost. In 1722, in the latter part of
President Leverett's administration, an act was passed "for
reforming the Extravagancys of Commencements," and providing "that
henceforth no preparation nor provision of either Plumb Cake, or
Roasted, Boyled, or Baked Meates or Pyes of any kind shal be made
by any Commencer," and that no "such have any distilled Lyquours
in his Chamber or any composition therewith," under penalty of
being "punished twenty shillings, to be paid to the use of the
College," and of forfeiture of the provisions and liquors, "_to be
seized by the tutors_." The President and Corporation were
accustomed to visit the rooms of the Commencers, "to see if the
laws prohibiting certain meats and drinks were not violated."
These restrictions not being sufficient, a vote passed the
Corporation in 1727, declaring, that "if any, who now doe, or
hereafter shall, stand for their degrees, presume to doe any thing
contrary to the act of 11th June, 1722, or _go about to evade it
by plain cake_, they shall not be admitted to their degree, and if
any, after they have received their degree, shall presume to make
any forbidden provisions, their names shall be left or rased out
of the Catalogue of the Graduates."

In 1749, the Corporation strongly recommended to the parents and
guardians of such as were to take degrees that year, "considering
the awful judgments of God upon the land," to "retrench
Commencement expenses, so as may best correspond with the frowns
of Divine Providence, and that they take effectual care to have
their sons' chambers cleared of company, and their entertainments
finished, on the evening of said Commencement Day, or, at
furthest, by next morning." In 1755, attempts were made to prevent
those "who proceeded Bachelors of Arts from having entertainments
of any kind, either in the College or any house in Cambridge,
after the Commencement Day." This and several other propositions
of the Overseers failing to meet with the approbation of the
Corporation, a vote finally passed both boards in 1757, by which
it was ordered, that, on account of the "distressing drought upon
the land," and "in consideration of the dark state of Providence
with respect to the war we are engaged in, which Providences call
for humiliation and fasting rather than festival entertainments,"
the "first and second degrees be given to the several candidates
without their personal attendance"; a general diploma was
accordingly given, and Commencement was omitted for that year.
Three years after, "all unnecessary expenses were forbidden," and
also "dancing in any part of Commencement week, in the Hall, or in
any College building; nor was any undergraduate allowed to give
any entertainment, after dinner, on Thursday of that week, under
severe penalties." But the laws were not always so strict, for we
find that, on account of a proposition made by the Overseers to
the Corporation in 1759, recommending a "repeal of the law
prohibiting the drinking of _punch_," the latter board voted, that
"it shall be no offence if any scholar shall, at Commencement,
make and entertain guests at his chamber with _punch_," which they
afterwards declare, "as it is now usually made, is no intoxicating
liquor."

To prevent the disturbances incident to the day, an attempt was
made in 1727 to have the "Commencements for time to come more
private than has been usual," and for several years after, the
time of Commencement was concealed; "only a short notice," says
Quincy, "being given to the public of the day on which it was to
be held." Friday was the day agreed on, for the reason, says
President Wadsworth in his Diary, "that there might be a less
remaining time of the week spent in frolicking." This was very ill
received by the people of Boston and the vicinity, to whom
Commencement was a season of hilarity and festivity; the ministers
were also dissatisfied, not knowing the day in some cases, and in
others being subjected to great inconvenience on account of their
living at a distance from Cambridge. The practice was accordingly
abandoned in 1736, and Commencement, as formerly, was held on
Wednesday, to general satisfaction. In 1749, "three gentlemen,"
says Quincy, "who had sons about to be graduated, offered to give
the College a thousand pounds old tenor, provided 'a trial was
made of Commencements this year, in a more private manner.'" The
proposition, after much debate, was rejected, and "public
Commencements were continued without interruption, except during
the period of the Revolutionary war, and occasionally, from
temporary causes, during the remainder of the century,
notwithstanding their evils, anomalies, and inconsistencies."[05]

The following poetical account of Commencement at Harvard College
is supposed to have been written by Dr. Mather Byles, in the year
1742 or thereabouts. Of its merits, this is no place to speak. As
a picture of the times it is valuable, and for this reason, and to
show the high rank which Commencement Day formerly held among
other days, it is here presented.

"COMMENCEMENT.

"I sing the day, bright with peculiar charms,
Whose rising radiance ev'ry bosom warms;
The day when _Cambridge_ empties all the towns,
And youths commencing, take their laurel crowns:
When smiling joys, and gay delights appear,
And shine distinguish'd, in the rolling year.

"While the glad theme I labour to rehearse,
In flowing numbers, and melodious verse,
Descend, immortal nine, my soul inspire,
Amid my bosom lavish all your fire,
While smiling _Phoebus_, owns the heavenly layes
And shades the poet with surrounding bayes.
But chief ye blooming nymphs of heavenly frame,
Who make the day with double glory flame,
In whose fair persons, art and nature vie,
On the young muse cast an auspicious eye:
Secure of fame, then shall the goddess sing,
And rise triumphant with a tow'ring wing,
Her tuneful notes wide-spreading all around,
The hills shall echo, and the vales resound.

"Soon as the morn in crimson robes array'd
With chearful beams dispels the flying shade,
While fragrant odours waft the air along,
And birds melodious chant their heavenly song,
And all the waste of heav'n with glory spread,
Wakes up the world, in sleep's embraces dead.
Then those whose dreams were on th' approaching day,
Prepare in splendid garbs to make their way
To that admired solemnity, whose date,
Tho' late begun, will last as long as fate.
And now the sprightly Fair approach the glass
To heighten every feature of the face.
They view the roses flush their glowing cheeks,
The snowy lillies towering round their necks,
Their rustling manteaus huddled on in haste,
They clasp with shining girdles round their waist.
Nor less the speed and care of every beau,
To shine in dress and swell the solemn show.
Thus clad, in careless order mixed by chance,
In haste they both along the streets advance:
'Till near the brink of _Charles's_ beauteous stream,
They stop, and think the lingering boat to blame.
Soon as the empty skiff salutes the shore,
In with impetuous haste they clustering pour,
The men the head, the stern the ladies grace,
And neighing horses fill the middle space.
Sunk deep, the boat floats slow the waves along,
And scarce contains the thickly crowded throng;
A gen'ral horror seizes on the fair,
While white-look'd cowards only not despair.
'Till rowed with care they reach th' opposing side,
Leap on the shore, and leave the threat'ning tide.
While to receive the pay the boatman stands,
And chinking pennys jingle in his hands.
Eager the sparks assault the waiting cars,
Fops meet with fops, and clash in civil wars.
Off fly the wigs, as mount their kicking heels,
The rudely bouncing head with anguish swells,
A crimson torrent gushes from the nose,
Adown the cheeks, and wanders o'er the cloaths.
Taunting, the victor's strait the chariots leap,
While the poor batter'd beau's for madness weep.

"Now in calashes shine the blooming maids,
Bright'ning the day which blazes o'er their heads;
The seats with nimble steps they swift ascend,
And moving on the crowd, their waste of beauties spend.
So bearing thro' the boundless breadth of heav'n,
The twinkling lamps of light are graceful driv'n;
While on the world they shed their glorious rays,
And set the face of nature in a blaze.

"Now smoak the burning wheels along the ground,
While rapid hoofs of flying steeds resound,
The drivers by no vulgar flame inspir'd,
But with the sparks of love and glory fir'd,
With furious swiftness sweep along the way,
And from the foremost chariot snatch the day.
So at Olympick games when heros strove,
In rapid cars to gain the goal of love.
If on her fav'rite youth the goddess shone
He left his rival and the winds out-run.

"And now thy town, _O Cambridge_! strikes the sight
Of the beholders with confus'd delight;
Thy green campaigns wide open to the view,
And buildings where bright youth their fame pursue.
Blest village! on whose plains united glows,
A vast, confus'd magnificence of shows.
Where num'rous crowds of different colours blend,
Thick as the trees which from the hills ascend:
Or as the grass which shoots in verdant spires,
Or stars which dart thro' natures realms their fires.

"How am I fir'd with a profuse delight,
When round the yard I roll my ravish'd sight!
From the high casements how the ladies show!
And scatter glory on the crowds below.
From sash to sash the lovely lightening plays
And blends their beauties in a radiant blaze.
So when the noon of night the earth invades
And o'er the landskip spreads her silent shades.
In heavens high vault the twinkling stars appear,
And with gay glory's light the gleemy sphere.
From their bright orbs a flame of splendors shows,
And all around th' enlighten'd ether glows.

"Soon as huge heaps have delug'd all the plains,
Of tawny damsels, mixt with simple swains,
Gay city beau's, grave matrons and coquats,
Bully's and cully's, clergymen and wits.
The thing which first the num'rous crowd employs,
Is by a breakfast to begin their joys.
While wine, which blushes in a crystal glass,
Streams down in floods, and paints their glowing face.
And now the time approaches when the bell,
With dull continuance tolls a solemn knell.
Numbers of blooming youth in black array
Adorn the yard, and gladden all the day.
In two strait lines they instantly divide,
While each beholds his partner on th' opposing side,
Then slow, majestick, walks the learned _head_,
The _senate_ follow with a solemn tread,
Next _Levi's_ tribe in reverend order move,
Whilst the uniting youth the show improve.
They glow in long procession till they come,
Near to the portals of the sacred dome;
Then on a sudden open fly the doors,
The leader enters, then the croud thick pours.
The temple in a moment feels its freight,
And cracks beneath its vast unwieldy weight,
So when the threatning Ocean roars around
A place encompass'd with a lofty mound,
If some weak part admits the raging waves,
It flows resistless, and the city laves;
Till underneath the waters ly the tow'rs,
Which menac'd with their height the heav'nly pow'rs.

"The work begun with pray'r, with modest pace,
A youth advancing mounts the desk with grace,
To all the audience sweeps a circling bow,
Then from his lips ten thousand graces flow.
The next that comes, a learned thesis reads,
The question states, and then a war succeeds.
Loud major, minor, and the consequence,
Amuse the crowd, wide-gaping at their fence.
Who speaks the loudest is with them the best,
And impudence for learning is confest.

"The battle o'er, the sable youth descend,
And to the awful chief, their footsteps bend.
With a small book, the laurel wreath he gives
Join'd with a pow'r to use it all their lives.
Obsequious, they return what they receive,
With decent rev'rence, they his presence leave.
Dismiss'd, they strait repeat their back ward way
And with white napkins grace the sumptuous day.[06]

"Now plates unnumber'd on the tables shine,
And dishes fill'd invite the guests to dine.
The grace perform'd, each as it suits him best,
Divides the sav'ry honours of the feast,
The glasses with bright sparkling wines abound
And flowing bowls repeat the jolly round.
Thanks said, the multitude unite their voice,
In sweetly mingled and melodious noise.
The warbling musick floats along the air,
And softly winds the mazes of the ear;
Ravish'd the crowd promiscuously retires,
And each pursues the pleasure he admires.

"Behold my muse far distant on the plains,
Amidst a wrestling ring two jolly swains;
Eager for fame, they tug and haul for blood,
One nam'd _Jack Luby_, t' other _Robin Clod_,
Panting they strain, and labouring hard they sweat,
Mix legs, kick shins, tear cloaths, and ply their feet.
Now nimbly trip, now stiffly stand their ground,
And now they twirl, around, around, around;
Till overcome by greater art or strength,
_Jack Luby_ lays along his lubber length.
A fall! a fall! the loud spectators cry,
A fall! a fall! the echoing hills reply.

"O'er yonder field in wild confusion runs,
A clam'rous troop of _Affric's_ sable sons,
Behind the victors shout, with barbarous roar,
The vanquish'd fly with hideous yells before,
The gloomy squadron thro' the valley speeds
Whilst clatt'ring cudgels rattle o'er their heads.

"Again to church the learned tribe repair,
Where syllogisms battle in the air,
And then the elder youth their second laurels wear.
Hail! Happy laurels! who our hopes inspire,
And set our ardent wishes all on fire.
By you the pulpit and the bar will shine
In future annals; while the ravish'd nine
Will in your bosom breathe cælestial flames,
And stamp _Eternity_ upon your names.
Accept my infant muse, whose feeble wings
Can scarce sustain her flight, while you she sings.
With candour view my rude unfinish'd praise
And see my _Ivy_ twist around your _bayes_.
So _Phidias_ by immortal _Jove_ inspir'd,
His statue carv'd, by all mankind admir'd.
Nor thus content, by his approving nod,
He cut himself upon the shining god.
That shaded by the umbrage of his name,
Eternal honours might attend his fame."

In his almanacs, Nathaniel Ames was wont to insert, opposite the
days of Commencement week, remarks which he deemed appropriate to
that period. His notes for the year 1764 were these:--

"Much talk and nothing said."

"The loquacious more talkative than ever, and fine Harangues
preparing."

"Much Money sunk,
Much Liquor drunk."

His only note for the year 1765 was this:--

"Many Crapulæ to Day
Give the Head-ach to the Gay."

Commencement Day was generally considered a holiday throughout the
Province, and in the metropolis the shops were usually closed, and
little or no business was done. About ten days before this period,
a body of Indians from Natick--men, women, and pappooses--commonly
made their appearance at Cambridge, and took up their station
around the Episcopal Church, in the cellar of which they were
accustomed to sleep, if the weather was unpleasant. The women sold
baskets and moccasons; the boys gained money by shooting at it,
while the men wandered about and spent the little that was earned
by their squaws in rum and tobacco. Then there would come along a
body of itinerant negro fiddlers, whose scraping never intermitted
during the time of their abode.

The Common, on Commencement week, was covered with booths, erected
in lines, like streets, intended to accommodate the populace from
Boston and the vicinity with the amusements of a fair. In these
were carried on all sorts of dissipation. Here was a knot of
gamblers, gathered around a wheel of fortune, or watching the
whirl of the ball on a roulette-table. Further along, the jolly
hucksters displayed their tempting wares in the shape of cooling
beverages and palate-tickling confections. There was dancing on
this side, auction-selling on the other; here a pantomimic show,
there a blind man, led by a dog, soliciting alms; organ-grinders
and hurdy-gurdy grinders, bears and monkeys, jugglers and
sword-swallowers, all mingled in inextricable confusion.

In a neighboring field, a countryman had, perchance, let loose a
fox, which the dogs were worrying to death, while the surrounding
crowd testified their pleasure at the scene by shouts of
approbation. Nor was there any want of the spirituous; pails of
punch, guarded by stout negroes, bore witness to their own subtle
contents, now by the man who lay curled up under the adjoining
hedge, "forgetting and forgot," and again by the drunkard,
reeling, cursing, and fighting among his comrades.

The following observations from the pen of Professor Sidney
Willard, afford an accurate description of the outward
manifestations of Commencement Day at Harvard College, during the
latter part of the last century. "Commencement Day at that time
was a widely noted day, not only among men and women of all
characters and conditions, but also among boys. It was the great
literary and mob anniversary of Massachusetts, surpassed only in
its celebrities by the great civil and mob anniversary, namely,
the Fourth of July, and the last Wednesday of May, Election day,
so called, the anniversary of the organization of the government
of the State for the civil year. But Commencement, perhaps most of
all, exhibited an incongruous mixture of men and things. Besides
the academic exercises within the sanctuary of learning and
religion, followed by the festivities in the College dining-hall,
and under temporary tents and awnings erected for the
entertainments given to the numerous guests of wealthy parents of
young men who had come out successful competitors for prizes in
the academic race, the large common was decked with tents filled
with various refreshments for the hungry and thirsty multitudes,
and the intermediate spaces crowded with men, women, and boys,
white and black, many of them gambling, drinking, swearing,
dancing, and fighting from morning to midnight. Here and there the
scene was varied by some show of curiosities, or of monkeys or
less common wild animals, and the gambols of mountebanks, who by
their ridiculous tricks drew a greater crowd than the abandoned
group at the gaming-tables, or than the fooleries, distortions,
and mad pranks of the inebriates. If my revered uncle[07] took a
glimpse at these scenes, he did not see there any of our red
brethren, as Mr. Jefferson kindly called them, who formed a
considerable part of the gathering at the time of his graduation,
forty-two years before; but he must have seen exhibitions of
depravity which would disgust the most untutored savage. Near the
close of the last century these outrages began to disappear, and
lessened from year to year, until by public opinion, enforced by
an efficient police, they were many years ago wholly suppressed,
and the vicinity of the College halls has become, as it should be,
a classic ground."--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. I. pp.
251, 252.

It is to such scenes as these that Mr. William Biglow refers, in
his poem recited before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in their
dining-hall, August 29th, 1811.

"All hail, Commencement! when all classes free
Throng learning's fount, from interest, taste, or glee;
When sutlers plain in tents, like Jacob, dwell,
Their goods distribute, and their purses swell;
When tipplers cease on wretchedness to think,
Those born to sell, as well as these to drink;
When every day each merry Andrew clears
More cash than useful men in many years;
When men to business come, or come to rake,
And modest women spurn at Pope's mistake.[08]

"All hail, Commencement! when all colors join,
To gamble, riot, quarrel, and purloin;
When Afric's sooty sons, a race forlorn,
Play, swear, and fight, like Christians freely born;
And Indians bless our civilizing merit,
And get dead drunk with truly _Christian spirit_;
When heroes, skilled in pocket-picking sleights,
Of equal property and equal rights,
Of rights of man and woman, boldest friends,
Believing means are sanctioned by their ends,
Sequester part of Gripus' boundless store,
While Gripus thanks god Plutus he has more;
And needy poet, from this ill secure,
Feeling his fob, cries, 'Blessed are the poor.'"

On the same subject, the writer of Our Chronicle of '26, a
satirical poem, versifies in the following manner:--

"Then comes Commencement Day, and Discord dire
Strikes her confusion-string, and dust and noise
Climb up the skies; ladies in thin attire,
For 't is in August, and both men and boys,
Are all abroad, in sunshine and in glee
Making all heaven rattle with their revelry!

"Ah! what a classic sight it is to see
The black gowns flaunting in the sultry air,
Boys big with literary sympathy,
And all the glories of this great affair!
More classic sounds!--within, the plaudit shout,
While Punchinello's rabble echoes it without."

To this the author appends a note, as follows:--

"The holiday extends to thousands of those who have no particular
classical pretensions, further than can be recognized in a certain
_penchant_ for such jubilees, contracted by attending them for
years as hangers-on. On this devoted day these noisy do-nothings
collect with mummers, monkeys, bears, and rope-dancers, and hold
their revels just beneath the windows of the tabernacle where the
literary triumph is enacting.

'Tum sæva sonare
Verbera, tum stridor ferri tractæque catenæ.'"

A writer in Buckingham's New England Magazine, Vol. III., 1832, in
an article entitled "Harvard College Forty Years ago," thus
describes the customs which then prevailed:--

"As I entered Cambridge, what were my 'first impressions'? The
College buildings 'heaving in sight and looming up,' as the
sailors say. Pyramids of Egypt! can ye surpass these enormous
piles? The Common covered with tents and wigwams, and people of
all sorts, colors, conditions, nations, and tongues. A country
muster or ordination dwindles into nothing in comparison. It was a
second edition of Babel. The Governor's life-guard, in splendid
uniform, prancing to and fro,
'Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.'
Horny-hoofed, galloping quadrupeds make all the common to tremble.

"I soon steered for the meeting-house, and obtained a seat, or
rather standing, in the gallery, determined to be an eyewitness of
all the sport of the day. Presently music was heard approaching,
such as I had never heard before. It must be 'the music of the
spheres.' Anon, three enormous white wigs, supported by three
stately, venerable men, yclad in black, flowing robes, were
located in the pulpit. A platform of wigs was formed in the body
pews, on which one might apparently walk as securely as on the
stage. The _candidates_ for degrees seemed to have made a mistake
in dressing themselves in _black togas_ instead of _white_ ones,
_pro more Romanorum_. The musicians jammed into their pew in the
gallery, very near to me, with enormous fiddles and fifes and
ramshorns. _Terribile visu_! They sounded. I stopped my ears, and
with open mouth and staring eyes stood aghast with wonderment. The
music ceased. The performances commenced. English, Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, French! These scholars knew everything."

More particular is the account of the observances, at this period,
of the day, at Harvard College, as given by Professor Sidney
Willard:--

"Commencement Day, in the year 1798, was a day bereft, in some
respects, of its wonted cheerfulness. Instead of the serene
summer's dawn, and the clear rising of the sun,
'The dawn was overcast, the morning lowered,
And heavily in clouds brought on the day.'
In the evening, from the time that the public exercises closed
until twilight, the rain descended in torrents. The President[09]
lay prostrate on his bed from the effects of a violent disease,
from which it was feared he could not recover.[10] His house,
which on all occasions was the abode of hospitality, and on
Commencement Day especially so, (being the great College
anniversary,) was now a house of stillness, anxiety, and watching.
For seventeen successive years it had been thronged on this
anniversary from morn till night, by welcome visitors, cheerfully
greeted and cared for, and now it was like a house of mourning for
the dead.

"After the literary exercises of the day were closed, the officers
in the different branches of the College government and
instruction, Masters of Arts, and invited guests, repaired to the
College dining-hall without the ceremony of a procession formed
according to dignity or priority of right. This the elements
forbade. Each one ran the short race as he best could. But as the
Alumni arrived, they naturally avoided taking possession of the
seats usually occupied by the government of the College. The
Governor, Increase Sumner, I suppose, was present, and no doubt
all possible respect was paid to the Overseers as well as to the
Corporation. I was not present, but dined at my father's house
with a few friends, of whom the late Hon. Moses Brown of Beverly
was one. We went together to the College hall after dinner; but
the honorable and reverend Corporation and Overseers had retired,
and I do not remember whether there was any person presiding. If
there were, a statue would have been as well. The age of wine and
wassail, those potent aids to patriotism, mirth, and song, had not
wholly passed away. The merry glee was at that time outrivalled by
_Adams and Liberty_, the national patriotic song, so often and on
so many occasions sung, and everywhere so familiarly known that
all could join in grand chorus."--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_,
Vol. II. pp. 4, 5.

The irregularities of Commencement week seem at a very early
period to have attracted the attention of the College government;
for we find that in 1728, to prevent disorder, a formal request
was made by the President, at the suggestion of the immediate
government, to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, praying him to direct
the sheriff of Middlesex to prohibit the setting up of booths and
tents on those public days. Some years after, in 1732, "an
interview took place between the Corporation and three justices of
the peace in Cambridge, to concert measures to keep order at
Commencement, and under their warrant to establish a constable
with six men, who, by watching and walking towards the evening on
these days, and also the night following, and in and about the
entry at the College Hall at dinner-time, should prevent
disorders." At the beginning of the present century, it was
customary for two special justices to give their attendance at
this period, in order to try offences, and a guard of twenty
constables was usually present to preserve order and attend on the
justices. Among the writings of one, who for fifty years was a
constant attendant on these occasions, are the following
memoranda, which are in themselves an explanation of the customs
of early years. "Commencement, 1828; no tents on the Common for
the first time." "Commencement, 1836; no persons intoxicated in
the hall or out of it; the first time."

The following extract from the works of a French traveller will be
read with interest by some, as an instance of the manner in which
our institutions are sometimes regarded by foreigners. "In a free
country, everything ought to bear the stamp of patriotism. This
patriotism appears every year in a solemn feast celebrated at
Cambridge in honor of the sciences. This feast, which takes place
once a year in all the colleges of America, is called
_Commencement_. It resembles the exercises and distribution of
prizes in our colleges. It is a day of joy for Boston; almost all
its inhabitants assemble in Cambridge. The most distinguished of
the students display their talents in the presence of the public;
and these exercises, which are generally on patriotic subjects,
are terminated by a feast, where reign the freest gayety and the
most cordial fraternity."--_Brissot's Travels in U.S._, 1788.
London, 1794, Vol. I. pp. 85, 86.

For an account of the _chair_ from which the President delivers
diplomas on Commencement Day, see PRESIDENT'S CHAIR.

At Yale College, the first Commencement was held September 13th,
1702, while that institution was located at Saybrook, at which
four young men who had before graduated at Harvard College, and
one whose education had been private, received the degree of
Master of Arts. This and several Commencements following were held
privately, according to an act which had been passed by the
Trustees, in order to avoid unnecessary expense and other
inconveniences. In 1718, the year in which the first College
edifice was completed, was held at New Haven the first public
Commencement. The following account of the exercises on this
occasion was written at the time by one of the College officers,
and is cited by President Woolsey in his Discourse before the
Graduates of Yale College, August 14th, 1850. "[We were] favored
and honored with the presence of his Honor, Governor Saltonstall,
and his lady, and the Hon. Col. Taylor of Boston, and the
Lieutenant-Governor, and the whole Superior Court, at our
Commencement, September 10th, 1718, where the Trustees
present,--those gentlemen being present,--in the hall of our new
College, first most solemnly named our College by the name of Yale
College, to perpetuate the memory of the honorable Gov. Elihu
Yale, Esq., of London, who had granted so liberal and bountiful a
donation for the perfecting and adorning of it. Upon which the
honorable Colonel Taylor represented Governor Yale in a speech
expressing his great satisfaction; which ended, we passed to the
church, and there the Commencement was carried on. In which
affair, in the first place, after prayer an oration was had by the
saluting orator, James Pierpont, and then the disputations as
usual; which concluded, the Rev. Mr. Davenport [one of the
Trustees and minister of Stamford] offered an excellent oration in
Latin, expressing their thanks to Almighty God, and Mr. Yale under
him, for so public a favor and so great regard to our languishing
school. After which were graduated ten young men, whereupon the
Hon. Gov. Saltonstall, in a Latin speech, congratulated the
Trustees in their success and in the comfortable appearance of
things with relation to their school. All which ended, the
gentlemen returned to the College Hall, where they were
entertained with a splendid dinner, and the ladies, at the same
time, were also entertained in the Library; after which they sung
the four first verses in the 65th Psalm, and so the day
ended."--p. 24.

The following excellent and interesting account of the exercises
and customs of Commencement at Yale College, in former times, is
taken from the entertaining address referred to
above:--"Commencements were not to be public, according to the
wishes of the first Trustees, through fear of the attendant
expense; but another practice soon prevailed, and continued with
three or four exceptions until the breaking out of the war in