History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 51

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 51

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COMMENCEMENT .- The first Commencement exer- cises were held on the second Tuesday of August, 1642, "the Governors, Magistrates and the Ministers from all parts, with all sorts of scholars aud others in great numbers," being present. Nine Bachelors' de- grees were conferred that year, and four the next. In 1685, we learn from Sewall's Diary, under the date July 1st, that " besides Disputes, there are four Ora- tions, one Latin by Mr. Dudley, and two Greek, one Hebrew by Nath. Mather, and Mr. President [Increase Mather] after giving the Degrees, made an oration in praise of Academical Education of Degrees, Hebrew Tongue. After dinner ye 3d part of ye 103d PS. was sung in ye Hall." Two years later, Governor Andros attended Commencement, and by his direction, "Mr. Ratcliff sat in ye pulpit,"-an act of guberna- torial authority which incensed the sturdy Calvinism of the College, because Ratcliff was the Church of England Chaplain to his Excellency. Even thus early, the day had become the occasion of festivities not to be missed by any one who had the means or could spare the time to attend them. And after the

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academic diet of orations iu the learned languages and of copious prayer had been partaken of, young and old turned with whetted appetite and thirst to the food and drink provided by the College and by the graduating students. The consumption of punch and liquors did not at first alarm the Corporation, but a vote of theirs, on June 22, 1693, states that "having been informed that the custom taken up in the Col- lege, not used in any other Universities, for the com- mencers [members of the graduating class] to have plumb-cake, is dishonorable to the College, not grateful to wise men, and chargeable to the parents of the commencers, [the Corporation] do therefore put an end to that custom, and do hereby order that no com- mencer, 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 20 shillings for each such offence."

What was peculiarly harmful in "plumb-cake," we are not told; but frequent laws were fulminated against it. In 1722 an ordinance was passed " for reforming the Extravagancys of Commencements," and providing "that 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." " Distilled Lyquours " or "any com- position therewith " were also forbidden under a fine of twenty shillings, and the contraband articles were "to be seized by the Tutors,"-but whether or not the latter were allowed to eat and drink the seized food and drink, we do not know. That the Tutors, how- ever, believed with Iago that "Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used," is plain from the following entry in Mr. Flynt's Diary, on the eve of Commencement, 1724: " Had of Mr. Monis two corkscrews 4d. a piece." Monis was a converted Jew, who taught Hebrew in the College for nearly forty years, and kept a small shop in what is now Winthrop Square. But the plumb-cake stuck in the throats of the Corporation, who, in 1727, voted that "if any who now doe, or hereafter shall, stand for their de- grees, presume to do anything contrary to the Act of 11tlı June, 1722, or go about to evade it by plain cake, thev 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 1725 the inauguration of President Wads- worth fell upon Commencement day. There was, as had been usual on such occasions, says Quincy, a procession " from the College to the meeting-house. The Bachelors of Art walked first, two iu a rank, and then the Masters, all bareheaded ; then followed Mr. Wadsworth alone as President ; next the Corpo- ration and Tutors, two in a rank; then the Honorable Lieutenant-Governor Dummer and Council, and next to them the rest of the gentlemen. After prayer by

the Rev. Mr. Colman, the Governor, on delivering the keys, seal and records of the College, to the President- elect, as badges of authority, addressed him in English, investing him with the government thereof, to which the President inade a reply, also in English, after which he went up into the pulpit and pronounced memoriter a Latin oration; and afterwards presided during the usual exercises." The earlier Commence- ments had been held in the College Hall, but from this time on they were held in the first meeting- house; afterwards, from 1758 to 1833, in the old First Parish Church ; then in the present First Parish Church (1834-72) then in Appleton Chapel (1873-75) and in Sanders Theatre since 1875.

As the Province grew during the 18th century, Commencement became more and more of a popular celebration ; and, although the means of communi- cation were few and roundabout, it was flocked to by graduates and sight-seers from all parts of Massa- chusetts. Ladies in high coiffures and bell-shaped hoops drove out from Boston in their coaches. Ministers, magistrates and merchants came on horse- back or in wagons. On no other occasion could you then have seen so large an assemblage of the wealth, learning and dignity of the Province. There was the Governor, with his Council and military escort and members of the General. Court to represent the State; there were the most edifying professors and clergy- men, who could preach or pray by the hour in one living and three dead languages, to represent the Church; there were the friends and families of the students to represent the best society of the Province. The towns-people of Cambridge were all there; and a nondescript crowd of the idle or the curious. The exercises in the Chapel were sober enough, propped as they were by theology ; but in the afternoon and evening punch and flip rose into the heads which had been filled with Greek and Hebrew in the morn- ing, and there were disgraceful scenes.

The Corporation, awakening to the scandal, voted, in 1727, that " Commencements for time to come be muore private than has been usual ; and, in order to this, that the time for them be not fixed to the first Wednesday in July, as formerly, but that the particular day should be determined upon from time to time by the Corporation, and that the Honorable and Reverend Board of Overseers be seasonably acquainted of the said day, and be desired to honor the solemnity with their presence." The next year the Governor directed the Sheriff' of Middle- sex to prohibit the setting up of booths and tents on the land adjoining the College; and in 1733 the Corporation and three Justices of the Peace in Cam- bridge concerted measures for keeping order, by establishing "a constable with six men, who, by watching and walking towards evening on these days, and also the night following, and in and about the entry to the College Hall at dinner-time, should prevent disorders." Friday was fixed upou for the

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Commencement exercises, but so great was the out- cry-both against the day (which came too near Sun- day) and against the attempt at privacy-that, in 1736 Wednesday and publicity were returned to. In 1749 two gentlemen whose sons were about to be graduated offered the College £1000 if "a trial was made of Commencement this year in a more private manner." The Corporation, mindful of the lack of funds, were for acquiescing, but the Overseers would consent to no breach in the old custom. The Corporation, there- fore, had to content themselves by recommending to parents that, "considering the awful judgments of God upon this land, they retrench Commencement expenses, so as may best correspond with the frowne 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 1759 it was voted that " it shall be no offense if any scholar shall, at Commencement, make and entertain guests at his chamber with punch;" in June, 1761, it was deemed no offense for scholars in a sober manner, to "entertain one another and strangers with punch, which, as it is now usually made, is no intoxicating liquor." In 1760 all un- necessary expenses, and dancing in the Hall or other College building during Commencement week, were forbidden. Once (in 1768) the date was changed because a great eclipse of the sun occurred. In 1764, on account of small-pox, and from 1775 to 1781, on ac- count of the war, Commencements were omitted. In 1738 the questions maintained by three candidates for the Master's degree sounded Arian in the ears of the orthodox, and, in 1760, it was the President's duty to assure himself that all the parts to be delivered were orthodox and seemly, and he was enjoined "to put an end to the practice of addressing the female sex." The post-Revolutionary celebrations soon surpassed any that had gone before, both in the number of the attendants and in the merrymaking. The art of brewing intoxicating punch was rediscovered. The banks and Custom-House in Boston were closed on this day ; the new bridge shortened the journey to Cambridge. Few, even among the rich, then had summer places along the shore or in the country, so that, although the Harvard holiday came at the end of August, "all the élites "-to use an expression of Dr. John Pierce-were present. Prohibitions against extravagance in dress on the part of the com- mencers seem to have been little heeded, for "in 1790 a gentleman afterwards prominently connected with the College, took his degree dressed in coat and breeches of pearl-colored satin, white silk waistcoat and stockings, buckles in his shoes, and his hair elaborately dressed and powdered according to the style of the day."

Until about 1760 the exercises, consisting of "theses and disputations on various logical, grammatical, ethical, physical and metaphysical topics," were con-

ducted in Latin. In 1763 the first oration in English was delivered, and little by little that language pre- dominated. Commencers were entitled to parts ac- cording to their rank, the lowest part being a Confer- ence ; then followed Essays, Colloquies, Discussions, Disquisitions, Dissertations, and, highest of all, but the last on the programme, Orations-the salutatory in Latin, and two in English.

From the Diary of the Rev. John Pierce,1 who at- tended every Commencement from 1784 to 1848 (ex- cept that of 1791, when he was absent at his mother's funeral), we get valuable information concerning the Commencements of the first half of this century ; and I can do no better than to make a few extracts which show the character of the observances from year to year, and the changes that crept in. Dr. Pierce gives the list of all the speakers, with comments on their effusions and many other details, so that I limit myself to quoting what is most important, or amusing : 1803-"The sentiments of Farrar in an English disser- tation were well adapted to oppose the rage for novel- reading and plays which is so prevalent, especially in the capital." " At dinner the greatest decorum pre- vailed." 1806-"The theatrical musick with which the exercises was interspersed was highly disgusting to the more solid part of the audience." 1809-" In- stead of dining in the hall as usual, I went with my wife to the house provided by Mr. Parkman, where, it was computed, there were 500 persons who dined in one large tent in the fields. The expense must have been at least $1000." 1810-Exercises four hours long. 1811-"The new President [Kirkland] acquitted himself with great dignity and propriety. His prayers were short. But for style and matter they exceeded all we have been accustomed to hear on such occasions." 1812-"I dined in the hall. The students did not wait as formerly." 1813-An Oration in French was given. 1814-Exercises lasted five hours. Dinner in the new Hall [University] for the first time. 1815-" Fuller excited loud applauses from the notice he took of the deposed imperial despot of France." "The most splendid dinner I ever wit- nessed on a similar occasion," prepared by Samuel Eliot, Esq. 1818-Oration in Spanish. "There was less disorder, as there were fewer tents on the Com- mon." 1819-"The oldest graduate and clergyman " present "was the Rev. Dr. Marsh, of Weatherfield, Con. (1761). He probably wore the last full-bottomed wig which has been seen at Commencement." 1820 -"The Master's oration, by [Caleb] Cushing, was sensible and delivered ore rotundo." 1821-"The President was 22 minutes in his first prayer and 2 in his last." "For the first time since the University was founded no theses were published, no theses col- lector having been appointed." 1824, August 25- " We were detained from entering the meeting-honse from X to XI. 40, by the tardiness of the Governour.

1 Proceedings of the Mass. Historical Soc., Dec., 1889, Jan., 1890.

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At length the cavalcade arrived at University Hall with General La Fayette, who was cordially welcomed by President Kirkland in a neat and peculiarly ap- propriate address, delivered in the portico, in the hearing of a large and mixed multitude. A proces- sion was then formed, which proceeded to the meeting- house amid continual shouts of assembled throngs. As soon as order was restored, the President made a prayer of 3 minutes. . . A large portion of the speakers made personal allusions to our distinguished guest. In every instance such allusions were followed by loud shouts, huzzas and the clapping of hands. At nearly V we left the meeting house for the hall, where I dined in company of La Fayette and suite." 1826-"Of Southworth, who defended physical educa- tion, it was reported that he was the strongest person in College, having lifted 820 lbs." 1827-Emerson's [Edward B.] oration lasted 36 minutes. 1828-" For the first time for many years, no tents were allowed on the Common." 1829-At dinner "I set the tune, St. Martin's, the 17th time, to the LXXVIII Psalnı. Tho I set it without an instrument, yet it was exactly in tune with the instruments which assisted us. I asked the President how much of the psalm we should sing? Judge Story replied, Sing it all. We accord- ingly, contrary to custom, sang it through, without omitting a single stanza. It was remarked that the singing was never better. But as the company are in 4 different rooms, it will be desirable on future occa- sions to station a person in each room to receive and communicate the time, so that we may sing all to- gether, or keep time, as musicians express it." 1830 -" A prayer by Dr. Ware, of 4 minutes, in which, as Dr. Codman remarked, there was no allusion to the Saviour or his religion." None of the parts "were contemptible; and none electrified the audience, as is sometimes the case." 1831-The psalm " was pitched a little too high." 1833-"The concluding oration of the Bachelors by [Francis] Bowen, was a sober, chaste performance. The manner of his bidding adien to the old meeting-house, as this was to be the last Com- mencement observed in it, was particularly touching." 1834-Exercises in the new church, which "is so much larger and more convenient than was the former that all who desired were accommodated." 1835-" By my suggestion, as thanks are commonly returned after dinner, when there is great hilarity, and it is difficult to restore order, the usual psalm, LXXVIII, was sub- stituted." 1836-"Be it noted that this is the first Commencement I ever attended in Cambridge in which I saw not a single person drunk in the hall or out of it. There were the fewest present I ever re- member, doubtless on account of the bis-centennial celebration to be observed next week." 1837-" A dissertation by R. H. Dana was on the unique topic, Heaven lies about us in our Infancy. He is a hand- some youth and spoke well. But his composition is of that Swedenborgian, Coleridgian and dreamy cast which it requires a peculiar structure of mind to un-

derstand, much more to rellish. . . . The speakers were mostly heard. None had a prompter. For the first time they carried their parts rolled up in their left hands. Two or three only were obliged to unrol them to refresh their memories. The concluding ora- tion, for the first time within my memory, contained not only no names, but even no mention of benefac- tors. ... Wine was furnished at dinner as well as cider. As honey or molasses attracts flies and other insects, so these inebriating liquors allure graduates addicted to such drinks, particularly the intemperate, to come and drink their fill." 1838-"Notwithstanding the efforts of the friends of temperance, wine was fur- nished at dinner. There was nevertheless pretty good order in the hall. . . . There was a meeting in the Chapel after dinner, and it was resolved, though with some opposition, to have an annual meeting of alumni." 1840-" No man was allowed to wait upon ladies into the meeting-house for fear he should re- main." 1841-The Governor and suite arrived in good season, escorted by an elegant company of Lan- cers. 1842-First year in which the following notice was published in the order of exercises : "A part at Commencement is assigned to every Senior, who, for general scholarship, is placed in the first half of his class, or who has attained a certain rank in any de- partment of study." "I saw much wine-drinking. When will this 'abomination of desolation ' be ban- ished from the halls of Old Harvard? To add to the annoyance of many attendants, cigars were smok- ed without mercy." 1843 .- "The dinner was very soon despatched. Indeed, the Bishops [Doane and Eastburn] and others compared it to a steamboat dinner, on account of the haste in which it was eaten. . . . Wine in abundance was furnished ; and though but comparatively few partook of it while the company were together, yet afterwards there was a gathering of wine-bibbers and tobacco-smokers who filled their skins with vinous potations, the hall with a nauseous effluvia, and the air with bacchanalian songs and shonts." Mrs. Quincy, as usual, held a levee at the President's (Wadsworth) House, in the garden of which a brass band "discoursed sweet music." 1844 .- Thirty parts assigned ; twenty-two performed. "This was the first commencement, probably, . .. in which no exercises were assigned to candidates for the Mas- ter's degree." 1845 .- " Votaries of Bacchus " less noisy than usual. At Prof. Beck's large and sumpt- nous entertainment wine was " administered by black servants." 1846 .- The dinner was served with only wine and lemonade, for the first time, it is believed. 1847 .- Levee at President Everett's. "The band of music in attendance played at my solicitation Tivoli, Marseillais Hymn and Auld Lang Syne." No speech- es after dinner, for want of time. 1848 .- Twenty-six parts delivered; "all spoke sufficiently loud." " I prefaced my setting the psalm with the remark that as time had not yet beaten me, I should beat time once more, as this practice enables a large company

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the better to keep time." Between 1784 and 1848 there were but six rainy Commencements, viz. : 1796, 1798, 1835, 1837, 1845, 1846.

Dr. Pierce's long record ceased just at the time when the character of. Commencement was permanently changed. After the middle of this century Class Day drew off the ladies from Commencement, which became more the day of the graduates in which even the Seniors counted for little. Until 1869 the celebration was usually held on the third Wednesday of July ; since 1870 it has been held on the last Wednesday in June. In the morning the President, the Governor of Mas- sachusetts, the Faculty and recipients of honorary degrees head a procession composed of Seniors and candidates for higher degrees and proceed, led by a brass band, to Sanders Theatre. The President, Pro- fessors and those of the students who are to deliver their parts wear gowns; the other students are in ordinary evening dress. The President sits in the old presidential chair, whose knobs were made, tra- dition says, by President Holyoke. The distin- guished guests, Faculty and speakers occupy the rest of the platform ; the candidates for degrees sit below in the orchestra. The balconies are filled by the families and friends of the commencers. The exercises last from two and a half to three hours- most of the orations being in English. Then the President hands the degrees in large bundles to the marshals, who distribute them to the candidates. Meanwhile the graduates have begun to throng the College Yard. Each class holds a reunion in one of the College rooms, where claret and rum punch, lem- onade and sandwiches are provided. At one o'clock the Association of the Alumni meets in Harvard Hall. At two a procession is formed, led by the President and guests and followed by the members of the Classes in order of graduation. Graduates of 1832 and earlier are entitled to dinner free ; the others pay one dollar each. The procession marches to Memo- rial Hall, where, after a frugal repast, there is speak- ing till about five o'clock, when the assembly, having sung the 78th Psalm and " Fair Harvard," breaks up. From ten to four, polls are open in Massachusetts Hall for the election of Overseers, and as soon after four as possible the vote is announced. In the evening the most boisterous of the newly -made grad. uates sometimes start bonfires or engage in other noisy demonstrations, but of late years even these traditions of an earlier and more turbulent period have been less heartily kept up.

CLASS DAY .- Class Day seems to have originated in the custom of the Seniors choosing one of their members to bid farewell to the College and Faculty in a valedictory address. In 1760 we learn that each man brought a bottle of wine to the meeting, and that then, and also on the day of the celebration itself, there was disorder. The list of Class Day Orators begins in 1776; that of the Poets in 1786. The earliest ceremonies, to quote James Russell

Lowell, "seem to have been restricted to an oration in Latin, sandwiched between two prayers by the President, like a criminal between two peace-officers." The 21st of June was the day appointed for Class Day, when the Seniors completed their studies; then followed a vacation, after which they came back in August to take their degrees at Commencement. Gradually, the Class Orators adopted English instead of Latin, an innovation which led the Faculty to vote, in 1803, that, whereas "the introduction of an English exercise, which gives it more the appearance of a public Exhibition designed to display the talents of the Performers and entertain a mixed audience than of a merely valedictory address of the Class to the Government, and taking leave of the Society and of one another, in which Adien Gentlemen and Ladies from abroad are not particularly interested; And whereas the propriety of having but one Person to be the Organ of the Class . on this occasion must be obvious, and as at the same time it is more Academical that the valedictory performance be in Latin than in English, as is the practice in Univer- sities of the most established reputation abroad, and was formerly our own; Voted, that the particular kind of Exercise in the Senior Class at the time of their taking leave of the College, Sanctioned by the usage of a Century and a half, be alone adhered to, and consequently that in future no performance but a Valedictory Oration in the Latin language, except music adapted to the occasion, be permitted in the Chapel on the day when the Seniors retire from the Society."

A description of a Class Day a little earlier than this (1793) is given iu Robert Treat Paine's Diary : "At ten the class walked in procession to the Presi- dent's, and escorted him, the Professors and Tutors to the Chapel, preceded by the band playing solemn music. The President began with a short prayer. He then read a chapter in the Bible; after this he prayed again ; Cutler then delivered his poem. Then the singing club, accompanied by the band, per- formed Williams' Friendship. This was succeeded by a valedictory Latiu Oration by Jackson. We then formed and waited on the Government to the President's, where we were very respectably enter- tained with wine, etc. We then marched in proces- sion to Jackson's room, where we drank punch. At one we went to Mr. Moore's tavern and partook of an elegant entertainment, which cost 6s. 4d. a piece. Marching then to Cutler's room, we shook hands and parted with expressing the sincerest tokens of friend- ship."

The Faculty were unable to enforce their restric- tion as to Latin, although for several years (1803- 8) no Poets or Orators are recorded; then the per- formances went on pretty regularly in English, and were concluded by a dance (of the Seniors only) round the Rebellion Tree. By 1834 the Seniors had begun to entertain their friends with iced punch,

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 51

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034