From collection Creating Acadia National Park: The George B. Dorr Research Archive of Ronald H. Epp

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Harvard University-Undergrad Life 1870-1900
Harvard University:
Undergrad life 1870-1900.
The Forging
of an Aristocracy
Harvard & the Boston Upper Class,
1800-1870
Ronald Story
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT
1980.
ARTICLE III
Harvard Students, the Boston Elite,
and the New England
Preparatory System, 1800-1876
RONALD STORY
THE HARVARD COLLEGE student body, like the university as a whole,
changed markedly in the ante-bellum era, but it changed less in size than in
composition. (1) Though the number of yearly graduates remained stable
at about 60 from 1810 to 1850, the students came increasingly from Boston's
"rich and fashionable families." (2) More precisely, they came from the
new business and professional families who provided the funds for Harvard's
rapid growth and came by degrees to control its governing bodies. The Har-
vard "experience" became an important part of the process of elite social,
economic, and cultural consolidation in these years, and contributed to the
cohesiveness, cultivation, and hauteur of the distinctive Brahmin upper
class that was to flourish after the Civil War. (3) Analysis of the way in
which Harvard came to be monopolized by the Boston elite should throw
light not only on the development of the class but also on the evolving educa-
tional network which formed a portion of its institutional underpinnings.
There was considerable discussion in the ante-bellum years of Harvard's
"aristocratic" exclusiveness, particularly after 1820 when the pattern became
both acutely visible and pronounced. (4) University officers explained this
new condition by reference to the religious bigotry which made Orthodox
Congregationalists keep their sons away from Harvard, then controlled pre-
dominantly by Unitarians. They noted, too, the establishment of other col-
leges in which young men now matriculated. (5) Neither of these explana-
tions, however, satisfied Harvard's critics, who argued that its Unitarian am-
bience reflected the predominance of the Boston elite at the college. They also
maintained that many boys attended other "seminaries" only because they
could could not gain admission to Harvard, whose facilities and advantages
Ronald Story teaches in the Department of History, University of Massachu-
setts.
History of Education Quarterly
Fall 1975 281
V. 15,#3
were far superior to those of its competitors, including Yale. The critics, who
ranged in label from Orthodox Congregationalists to Jacksonian Democrats
to radical Free-Soilers to working-class Know-Nothings, singled out two sim-
pler and more specific factors to explain the change in the college's student
body: the rising cost of a Harvard education and the rising educational re-
quirements for admission.
Surviving evidence confirms that costs were moving upward. As early as
1831 critics were complaining that "the expense of an education at Cambridge
are greater than are necessary." (6) In 1845 a leading Democrat charged: (7)
The expenses of tuition have been increased at least 50 per cent beyond
what they formerly were; and for some of the classes 33 and a third per cent
beyond what they were when I was a student [in 1817]. Yet the College has
all the time been growing more opulent. The charge for tuition is greater in
Cambridge than at those institutions where there are no endowments.
Tuition proper rose from $20 in 1807 to $75 in 1845 to $104 in 1860. Overall
expenses (to which critics generally referred) also increased, although how
much is not clear. University officials placed the minimum cost of a year for
a Harvard undergraduate at $176 in 1825, $185 in 1835, and $249 in 1860,
a rate of increase much faster than the rate of inflation, but still one that was
relatively modest. (8)
The actual minimum costs were probably higher. In 1837 a youth wrote
to industrialist Amos Lawrence: (9)
The expense of an education at Cambridge is much greater than is generally
supposed; and far exceeds your estimate. Those who are concerned in the
government of the University, have ever represented the necessary expenses
as less than they really are. Mother has made many inquiries of students, and
has taken great care to obtain correct information. But few indigent students
have gone
to Cambridge, most of them being obliged to enter at some
college where they can live more cheaply.
In 1854 a student from New York wrote that tuition aside, "travelling ex-
penses, furnishing the room, etc., though all extravagance was avoided, have
required more than we anticipated." (10) A knowledgeable English travel-
ler observed in 1861: "The expense of education at Harvard College is not
much lower than at our colleges
The actual authorized expenditure in
accordance with the rules is only 50 L per annum, i.e. 249 dollars; but this
does not, by any means, include everything." (11) The real minimum cost
of a Harvard year, though impossible to estimate precisely, probably rose from
about $150 in the early 1800s to about $400 by the outbreak of the Civil War.
"The cause of education, of good morals, of sound learning," wrote one of
Harvard's critics in 1848, "demands that the expenses of obtaining a thorough
education in our Commonwealth should be greatly reduced and brought as
282
HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
low as possible;-the highest, as well as those of inferior grade." (12) In
practice even the "well-born" sometimes had difficulty entering Harvard, as
Theodore Parker pointed out a year later. (13) Poor relations
begged
funds from their affluent cousins; sons of men in sudden financial straits
turned elsewhere or simply did not enter college. In The Barclays of Boston,
a society novel written by Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis in the mid-1850s, the son
of heroine Emma Sanderson was "filled with an ardent desire to go to Cam-
bridge." But the widowed Emma was "unable to meet the expenses attendant
on a college life." (14)
Expense was as much a question of living standards as of survival, and the
standard of living, of course, had been rising at Harvard since the turn of the
century. Presidents John T. Kirkland (1810-1828) and Josiah Quincy (1829-
1845) had tacitly, and indeed sometimes openly, encouraged social elegance
at the college. A Virginian complained in 1813 "that your Principal and
Professors take a pride in the extravagance of the students, and encourage
it." (15) Six years later a committee of University Overseers agreed that: (16)
the increase of the private expenses of the Students is a subject deserving
of the most careful consideration. It is found that there is a perpetual incli-
nation to indulge in expensive pleasures, & in useless & unnecessary extrava-
gance of dress.
But the root of this tendency was less the administration than the students
themselves, who brought elite tastes and resources with them: "Father wants
cheap living; Son has his way: and has his way, because it is not fashionable
to live cheap." (17) A more sumptuous scale of living resulted, as noted in
this report from the 1850s: (18)
A carpet on a college room
was 50 years ago, an unknown luxury; and 25
years ago, the want of one would not have been noticeable. Now all the rooms
are carpeted; and a similar change has taken place in furniture, dress, and
the supplies of the table.
Average expenses were, in fact, significantly higher than the minimum
estimates and rose equally, if not more, rapidly. The following table provides
a rough approximation of the increase of average as compared to other
costs: (19)
1810
1835
1860
tuition
$20
$55
$104
official minimum costs
na
185
249
real minimum costs (est.)
150
300
400
average costs
225
400
700
The average, significantly, did not rise SO precipitously because of the inordi-
Fall 1975
283
nate extravagance of a few students, although expenditure of $2,000 a year
were not uncommon by the 1860s. Rather, it rose because a greater propor-
tion of the students-certainly a considerable majority-spent relatively large
sums. The average, that is, was more than a mere average: it was also a stan-
dard.
By 1840 this fashionable lifestyle was affecting the composition of the stu-
dent body. As a critic wrote in 1845 with regard to Harvard: (20)
The habits of economy at a place of education are affected by the character
of the collective body of the pupils. As expenses increase, the sons of the less
affluent begin to remain away, and the absence of their influence aggravates
the tendency to expensive gratifications.
A faculty member noted soon after that "a standard of expense, in regard to
dress, pocket-money, furniture, etc., has been established which renders it
almost a hopeless matter for a young man of slender means to obtain an edu-
cation there." (21) For as an Overseer committee observed a few years
later: (22)
Parents will not, as a general thing, expose their sons to the severe test of
sending them to a place where they may possibly meet expenses which are
absolutely necessary, but where they will be unable to conform to the com-
mon mode of living of the community with which they associate. Such a trial
is beyond the strength of most young men of the age at which they usually
enter college.
Scholarship aid, except of the kind extended by the wealthy to their im-
pecunious kinsmen, was generally unavailable. Only two of thirty-four large-
scale private bequests to Harvard from 1800 to 1850 were for undergraduate
assistance, and the first of these did not accrue until 1839. Unrestricted funds
invariably went for other purposes, as did tuition fees. Some scholarships did
exist, including a few surviving fellowships for boys from designated towns
and a small grant from the state. But in 1831 only thirty-four Harvard stu-
dents received aid as opposed, for example, to 144 at Yale. In 1851 President
Jared Sparks told an inquirer that a very good student might, at best, receive
$50 a year outright and an equal sum on loan. After 1826, moreover, the uni-
versity reduced the length of its winter vacation, making it more difficult for
needy students to earn money teaching school. In the 1850s several scholar-
ship funds were established in response both to extreme political pressure and
to faculty complaints about the quality of academic life. By 1860 Harvard was
offering 32 scholarships worth from $100 to $300 a year, plus grants and loans
of $20 to $80 a year for about fifty students. (23) Perhaps 15 per cent of the
students received aid in the 1860s. But the fact remains that a growing pro-
portion of those who attended ante-bellum Harvard paid their own way.
284 HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
And the fact that they paid dearly helps explain the increasing monopoliza-
tion of the college by the Boston elite.
Admissions requirements rose, apparently, even faster than costs. In 1818
President Kirkland wrote that improved schools were producing students
better prepared in mathematics and the classics. As of 1826 a boy versed in
the fundamentals of English and arithmetic needed perhaps a year's extra
labor in the classics in order to pass the still casual admissions examination.
In the early 1830s, however, candidates began to fail in significant numbers;
many others were accepted "conditionally." By 1840 Harvard's admissions
requirements were unquestionably the highest in New England, necessitating
from three to four years of preparation. Moreover, the entrance examination
continued to increase in difficulty. In 1845 the list of classical readings was
much longer than in 1835; by 1855 it contained samplings of geography and
history. In 1850 the qualifying examination was eight hours long; by 1865,
when the requirements, though still traditional, were also still the stiffest in
New England, the examination took three days to administer, and "no one
could be certain of getting through." (24)
The stiffening requirements raised the average age of Harvard students
from roughly fifteen and a half in 1810 to seventeen and a half in 1850. They
also affected the social composition of the student body, causing a Democrat
in 1845 to question the notion (25)
that higher qualifications should be the requirement of admission. Such addi-
tional requirements could easily be made a part of instruction in the excel-
lent public school in Boston and in some few Academies and private schools.
They could not be made general in the preparatory schools of the country;
and they would, therefore, shut the doors of Harvard College still more
effectually against almost all but the sons of residents in Boston and a few
favored places.
An undergraduate of the mid-1830s observed that the stricter requirements
favored boys from "the Public Latin Schools of Boston and Salem, the acade-
mies of Exeter and Andover, and the famous Round-Hill School at North-
ampton." (26) A rural student of the late 1840s recalled: (27)
A lad thus partially trained must enter college badly handicapped in a com-
pany of classmates thoroughly drilled in such schools as the Boston Latin,
Andover, Exeter and the large private fitting schools of cities.
It is difficult to discover precisely which schools prepared Harvard students
because the data is extremely fragmentary for the entire ante-bellum period,
especially for the years before 1830. In general, however, the pattern that
emerges from presidential reports, class books, school histories, contemporary
descriptions, and latter-day biographies is roughly as shown in the follow-
Fall 1975
285
ing table on the percentage of students entering Harvard from certain schools
and types of schools in three successive periods: (28)
1801-20
1821-45
1846-70
Boston Latin School
15%
12%
14%
Phillips Academies
15
14
20
Boston private day schools
10
15
21
other academies
20
21
10
private boarding schools
20
18
2
private tutors
20
18
17
other public schools
0
2
17
Even at first glance the figures tend to support the main allegations of
contemporary observers. Early in the era the Boston Latin, Phillips Exeter,
and Phillips Andover supplied between a quarter and a third of Harvard
students; by midcentury they supplied slightly more than a third. The Boston
day schools raised their total from approximately a tenth to approximately a
fifth over the same period. These three sources provided approximately two-
fifths of the students in the early years; they provided well over half later on.
Meanwhile, the number of students from rural academies other than Andover
and Exeter fell by half; the private (or proprietary) boarding schools declined
even more. Public high schools outside Boston, on the other hand, came from
nowhere to occupy a supply role comparable to the Boston Latin itself.
The gross categories obscure some aspects of the overall trend. For instance,
the proportion of Harvardians from private boarding schools-institutions
providing preparatory instruction to boarders for profit-was about the same
in the twenty years after 1820 as in the twenty years before. In the earlier de-
cades, however, these schools, often in western Massachusetts, were mainly
conducted by ministers who boarded a few boys in order to supplement their
ministerial and farming income. The school of the Reverend Samuel Ripley
and his wife in Waltham and Concord was a singularly successful, long-lived
version of this type of ministerial schooling. Pedagogically gifted, the Ripleys
attracted enough patronage from prominent families to become one of the
four main private boarding schools preparing students for Harvard in the
second quarter of the century. Of the other three, the one conducted by
Stephen Minot Weld in Jamaica Plain from the 1820s till about 1850 was
perhaps closest in spirit and form to the older type, charing fees to a com-
paratively small number of boys in return for unadorned classical training.
But Weld, who had graduated from Harvard in 1826, was an educator rather
than a minister, and he staffed his school with well-paid aspiring teachers
from the new Harvard. Weld himself was also from a prominent family and
drew from a broader, more prominent clientele than his predecessors.
More important yet were the Round Hill School in Northampton and
286 HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
the Wells School in Cambridge, each of which sent almost 50 boys to Harvard
between the mid-1820s and the mid-1830s. Round Hill, the most famous
American school of its time, was conducted by a group of men who had at-
tended Exeter and Harvard, traveled in Europe, and obtained a loan from
no less than Harvard itself to establish an institution for the sons of "the
best families" of Boston, New York, and the South. Modeled in part after
the German gymnasium, Round Hill offered an excellent but very expensive
education and at the same time provided an elegant lifestyle with servants,
stables, and tours of the estates of prominent Bostonians. Its rolls bore the
names of dozens of Boston's elite families. (30) The school of Williams
Wells, a former Boston publisher and bookseller, operated according to the
traditional English rules of strict discipline and plain living. But Wells too
offered sound training, utilizing Harvard graduates as instructors. His school
"had a wide-spread influence and reputation." (31) By 1830 it was "re-
garded as being-with the possible exception of the Boston Latin School-
the best place in which to fit for Harvard College, and was therefore much
sought by the best Boston families." (32) Wells likewise attracted the sons
of Harvard faculty members and other Cambridge literati, some of whom
were day students. The Wells and Round Hill Schools both disbanded in
the 1830s, but while they lasted they were the most exclusive preparatory
establishments in the country, prefiguring by a quarter of a century the
Episcopalian boarding schools of St. Paul's and St. Mark's which eventually
succeeded them-a far cry from the parlor of the rural minister.
The private day schools of Boston took up a part of the slack caused by the
eclipse of the private boarding school. Again the broad category obscures
important developments. In the early years of the century a third of Boston's
1,500 school children attended private schools, several of which provided
classical education on a comparatively exclusive basis. The following regula-
tion was typical: (33)
In order that the School may always be a select one, it is distinctly under-
stood, that the consent of at least two-thirds of the original parties to this
instrument must be obtained before any other persons are admitted.
Sometimes the preceptors were socially prominent and operated according
to British patterns. The three leading schools-those of William Jenks, J. S. J.
Gardiner, and Elisha Clap-were all conducted by ministers. Even the best of
these schools, however, seldom lasted a decade.
Over the next thirty years six important private day schools operated in
the Boston area. Five were run along conventional lines by professional edu-
cators with Harvard degrees. The schools of Daniel G. Ingraham, Thomas
G. Bradford, and William H. Brooks sent boys to Harvard on a sporadic basis
Fall 1975
287
from 1820 till the 1850s. That of Frederic Leverett, who served briefly as
headmaster of the Boston Latin, lasted from 1822 to 1835, when it was re-
placed, in a sense, by the school of Samuel Eliot, who taught from 1840 to
1855 before leaving for Trinity College. The sixth school was the Chauncy
Hall School founded in 1828 by Gideon Thayer, who previously had run a
smaller Boston school. Chauncy Hall mainly provided "English" (or non-
classical) education to boys not bound for college; it therefore resembled
both the public Boston English High School which had opened in 1821 and
the many rural academies with their "practical" curricula. Thayer's facilities
were supposedly "unsurpassed" as of 1830, and his "classical department"
supplied modest numbers of Harvard students far beyond 1855, when Thayer
himself retired to head an insurance company owned by Chauncy Hall
graduates. (34)
Phase three of the Boston private day school system began in 1851 when
Epes Sargent Dixwell, an 1827 Harvard graduate who still lived in Cam-
bridge, resigned the headmastership of Boston Latin to open his own school.
A wealthy man with legal training, Dixwell was the brother of a prominent
banker and the husband of a Bowditch. He was also "a most accomplished
man, an elegant scholar, a gentleman of the world." Not surprisingly, his
school quickly became "the best fitting-school for Harvard," the resort of boys
from Brookline and other suburbs as well as Beacon Hill. (35) Most of the
growing share of Harvard students from Boston private day schools in the
middle years of the century may be accounted for by the opening of Dixwell's,
whose clientele was no less well-educated, prominent and exclusive than that
of Round Hill. Dixwell's school explains, at least in part, the following fig-
ures on Boston private education: (36)
1849-50
1859-60
% change
number of schools
61
58
-5
number of pupils
1,800
2,100
17
annual budget
$133,000
$185,000
39
budget per school
$2,100
$3,190
46
While the number of schools (primary as well as advanced) declined, the
number of pupils rose, as did annual expenditures. The budget per school
increased most of all, with each school becoming (like Dixwell's) more
affluent. By the early 1860s the Hopkinson and Noble schools, modeled after
Dixwell's, were in operation. The three institutions together virtually in-
augurated the high-quality upper-class day school system of the late nine-
teenth century.
The New England academies were quasi-public post-common school insti-
tutions that sprang up mostly in the period immediately following the Revo-
288
HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
lution. Of the 400 or so in existence in Massachusetts as of 1860, perhaps a
third had state charters and possibly a tenth had public or private endow-
ments. All but one or two charged tuition, and all without exception had self-
perpetuating private boards of trustees. Located mostly in rural areas, they us-
ually offered an "English" curriculum and catered principally to local
residents, some of whom boarded. Many also offered a classical program for fu-
ture collegians, but comparatively few offered mainly or exclusively college
preparatory work or catered to a clientele outside the immediate vicinity. (37)
The academies fed a steady stream of boys to Harvard (and other colleges)
in the ante-bellum era, supplying slightly more than a third of the incoming
students at Cambridge before 1820 and slightly less than a third after 1845.
Here, too, additional analysis is in order. Harvard-oriented academies al-
ways were incorporated, for example, and always taught the classics. Usually
old, well-endowed, and better known and equipped than their imitators, they
were the best of the lot. Only about twenty of these New England academies
sent boys to Harvard even in the first third of the century, and only a dozen
or so after about 1840. Among these were the Roxbury Latin School and the
Milton Academy near Boston and the Dummer, Lawrence, and Leicester
Academies of Byfield, Groton, and Worcester, respectively. Before 1840 the
Beverly, Westford, and Lancaster Academies, the Derby Academy of Hing-
ham, and the Bristol Academy of Taunton sent a sprinkling of boys to Cam-
bridge; after 1841, the Hopkins School of Cambridge and the Williston Semi-
nary of Easthampton sent a few. (38)
Most important were the Phillips Academies of Andover, Massachusetts,
and Exeter, New Hampshire, which were old and well-endowed, concen-
trated mainly on mathematics and the classics, and attracted widespread elite
patronage virtually from their founding about 1780. Together they accounted
for some two-fifths of the academy-prepared Harvardians before 1820, slightly
fewer until about 1845, and then two-thirds thereafter, when they increased
their flow as other academies faded. But even this figure is misleading, for
Andover's contribution had declined for religious and other reasons. While
an occasional Andoverite still appeared at Cambridge, by 1855 the academy
was offering only half the Greek and Latin required by Harvard; her grad-
ates went mostly to Yale. Phillips Exeter, by contrast, matched its curriculum
closely to Harvard's requirements; by 1845 fitting for "college" at Exeter "of
course meant Harvard." (39) After 1850, in fact, Exeter supplied over one-
half the academy boys at Harvard, an average of perhaps fifteen a year, or
almost a fifth of all entering New Englanders. In the late 1860s the Exeter
total was 23 a year, highest by far for any single school. (40)
Private tutors, the next to last majority category, sent boys to Harvard
throughout the period, their number decliningeproportionately only slightly if
Fall 1975
289
at all. Yet even here there was a change. Before 1820 the tutor was often a local
minister who instructed a boy as a favor to a rural family or kinsman; in
many cases the tutee was the minister's son. Thereafter, however, tutors were
more commonly young Harvard graduates who lived in the household of
wealthy Boston-area families, especially during the summer season in Brook-
line, Nahant, or some other elite suburb. (41) Occasionally the tutor also
served as European travelling companion, chaperoning as well as teaching.
More and more, in fact, private tutelage occurred in Europe under Europeans,
sometimes in connection with a school in England, France, Germany, or
Switzerland. By mid-century private tutees as a whole were a slightly less im-
portant component of incoming Harvard classes. Those who did arrive came
less often from the rural minister's study and more frequently from the
family townhouse or suburban estate; a significant number-among them
three Coolidges, two Lowells, and an Appleton-came freshly prepared from
Europe.
Finally, there were the public schools: tax-supported, tuition-free, con-
trolled by elected officials. Of these the most important by far was the ancient
Boston Latin School. Even in the early nineteenth century, when the Boston
Latin was in comparatively shabby and disreputable state, it managed to
supply a tenth of all Harvard students and was in fact the only public school
to supply any at all. After 1815 headmaster Benjamin Apthorp Gould, a
wealthy and well-connected protege of President Kirkland of Harvard, intro-
duced several innovations-the misdemeanor mark, the weekly declamation,
the school library, regular report cards-which attracted students (or parents)
and enabled the school to keep pace with Harvard requirements. During
the headmastership of Epes Dixwell from 1836 to 1851, the school moved to
new quarters and a private Boston Latin School Association emerged to
provide political support and financial aid. Despite stiff competition, the Bos-
ton Latin was supplying by mid-century about as large a share of incoming
Harvard classes as it had 50 years before. A Boston Latin graduate of the
1850s recalled the "sprinkling" of Beacon Hill boys as "small." Nonetheless,
it was still "a select school, principally
for the rich and exclusive." (42)
Boys from the Boston Latin, like those from Exeter and Dixwell's, "seemed
to touch the appreciation of the Harvard examining board a little more
deftly than an applicant from any other place." (43)
Until the 1820s Boston Latin was the only public school contributing to
Harvard. By 1830 the Salem and Cambridge Latin Schools had revived from
their eighteenth-century doldrums and were fitting a few boys. Twenty years
later the modern high school movement was well underway. In Salem and
Cambridge new high schools absorbed the older Latin schools, which became
classical departments. Elsewhere classical departments developed with the
290 HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
school. Every sizeable Massachusetts town had a high school-over a hundred
as of the Civil War-offering a basic English curriculum. (44) But not every
public high school could boast a college preparatory program, and those that
did often had curricula that were inadequate for Harvard. Outside Boston,
only Salem and Cambridge sent many boys to Cambridge; next came Brook-
line, Dorchester, and Charlestown in roughly that order. Only about fifteen
of the Massachusetts public schools sent boys to Harvard even after 1850,
and a mere half-dozen-all in the Boston vicinity-provided 80 percent of
these. The residue came from Lowell, Lynn, Worcester, and other industrial
towns, whose new high schools helped further to eliminate the rural academy
as a significant component in the preparatory network.
Refined by analysis, the table of Harvard preparatory education appears
as follows:
1801-20
1821-45
1846-70
public schools:
Boston Latin School
15%
12%
14%
North Shore/suburban
0
2
12
other
0
0
12
academies:
Exeter
8
9
16
Andover
7
5
4
other
20
21
10
private boarding schools:
ministerial
15
5
1
other
5
13
1
private tutors:
ministerial
10
8
5
other
10
10
12
Boston private day schools:
Dixwell/Noble
0
0
12
other
10
15
9
The dozen most important schools for Harvard between 1800 and 1870
were approximately as follows:
number of students
active years
sent to Harvard (approx.)
Boston Latin School
1801-70
750
Phillips Exeter Academy
1801-70
550
Phillips Andover Academy
1801-70
250
Cambridge High School
1820-70
100
Salem High School
1820-70
75
Dixwell School
1851-70
75
Fall 1975
291
Round Hill School
1823-34
50
Wells School
1824-35
50
Milton Academy
1807-60
50
Lawrence Academy
1801-70
50
Ingraham School
1820-50
50
Noble School
1860-70
50
As of mid-century three schools-Exeter, the Boston Latin, and Dixwell's in
that order-supplied almost 40 percent of incoming Harvard classes. Andover,
Chauncy Hall, and the Cambridge and Salem High Schools (plus Roxbury
Latin, Charlestown High, and Noble's after 1860) supplied another quarter
or more. Students from the other rural academies and private boarding
schools were largely gone from the Harvard scene; those from the new public
high schools and Episcopal boarding schools for the most part had yet to
arrive.
The cost of preparatory education varied enormously from one decade or
type of school to the next. Public schools were tuition-free, of course, as was
the private Roxbury Latin School. Among the private boarding schools tui-
tion at Round Hill came to $300 a year; Wells, Weld, and Ripley's charged
from one-third to one-half of that amount, and the ministerial schools proba-
bly $50 a year or less. As of 1865 St. Paul's and St. Marks's charged $500. A
ministerial tutor in 1810 might charge little or nothing, whereas a Boston tutor
by 1850 sometimes asked as much as $500. The cheapest of the private Boston
day schools, Chauncy Hall, cost $80 for the classical track in 1835, $100 in
1855, and $155 in 1865; other day schools ranged from about a hundred
dollars in 1815 to about $250 in 1855. Among the academies the Phillips
schools, which assessed a boarder about $60 as of 1820, were often cheaper
in the early years than other academies, which generally required a boarder
to pay from $80 to $100; at these rates many boys from poor families could
and did attend. But by the 1850s the Phillips schools cost a minimum of about
$150, while the other academies were charging in the vicinity of $125. (45)
As schools evolved from the transient, the amateur, and the modest to the
more permanent, professional, and luxurious, they also moved from the rela-
tively cheap to the relatively dear. The literature of the period is full of
examples of boys unable to pay for preparatory education or able to obtain
it only with great sacrifice. The public high schools constituted a counter-
vailing current to this trend. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, these
schools, although free, were mainly for the progeny of the community elites.
This was especially true in the Boston area, from which most high-school-fitted
boys came. (46) The best high schools were in fact mostly in the eastern part
of the state. The following table suggests the general pattern:
292
HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
% Harvard students from:
1801-15
1820-45
1850-65
Boston area schools
40%
55%
65%
schools charging $150
per year or more
0
10
45
schools from Boston area
or charging $150
per year or both
40
60
75
The figures corroborate the judgments of observers that the stiffer Harvard
admissions requirements favored Boston-area students. But by the 1820s cost,
too, was a factor: as the years needed to pass the entrance exam increased, so
did the cost per year.
In 1846 Theodore Parker wrote: (47)
The poor man's son, however well-born, struggling for a superior education,
obtains his culture at a monstrous cost; with the sacrifice of pleasure, com-
fort, the joys of youth, often of eyesight and health
The rich man's son
needs not that terrible trial. He learns from his circumstances, not his soul.
The air about him contains a diffused element of thought. He learns without
knowing it
All the outward means of educating, refining, elevating a
child, are to be had for money, and money alone.
Parker was overstating his case a bit. The high schools and remaining aca-
demies as well as the ministerial tutors produced a small stream of impecun-
ious but deserving boys, who subsequently benefitted from scholarship as-
sistance at Cambridge. For the 70 percent who were neither public school
graduates nor charity students, the cost of a Harvard degree-three years of
preparation and four of residence-was about $2,000, a figure near the top of
the middle-class income range, equivalent in 1970 terms to about $30,000.
"To be the son of rich parents," said Brahmin James Cabot in 1867, "con-
siderably increases the chances of being sent to college." (48)
Did Harvard deliberately adopt policies, as critics sometimes insinuated,
which excluded the provincial and the poor? Over the years the administra-
tion spent tuition and endowment funds to beautify Harvard Yard, expand
and modernize its plant, and pay better salaries to more instructors. It also
raised entrance requirements to improve the quality of incoming students.
High tuition and high requirements both had the unexceptionable aim of
enhancing the quality of student life and instruction. In practice, it improved
the situation of a small number of students who came, as critics and defenders
alike acknowledged, increasingly from the Boston elite. The fact that costs
and requirements began to rise just as Boston lawyers and businessmen
gained administrative power at Harvard doubtless made matters seem vaguely
collusive. University patrons and officials, for example, endowed or super-
Fall 1975
293
vised many parts of the preparatory network-the Boston Latin, Cambridge
High, Exeter, Dixwell's, Roxbury Latin, Milton, Lawrence, Dummer, Round
Hill, and Wells, among others. Having made arrangements for their own
sons and those of other members of the elite, they could raise requirements
with relative personal impunity. They could then shape school offerings to
match new university requirements, which they also determined.
The consequences of these developments were in any case profound. The
hero of Fair Harvard, an anonymous novel of the 1860s, said to the father of
a prospective Harvard student: (49)
One cannot over-estimate the advantage to your son of becoming a member
of Harvard College. Not only will he thereby become master of all ancient
and modern languages, sciences, and arts; not only will society of the highest
fashion and fortune open their doors to welcome him: but he will secure for
himself the sure means of future preferment and honor, in any profession he
may choose to follow.
Though comically exaggerated, the passage was close to the truth, as a few
figures suggest. By the 1870s, Harvard graduates comprised two-fifths of the
chief officers of the large New England textile firms and half the directors of
the leading Boston banks and insurance companies. Prominence in law, medi-
cine, politics, and scholarship was at least equally great. And as of 1892 ap-
proximately 34 percent of the millionaires of Boston had Harvard degrees. (50)
By the 1870s Harvard was essentially what Santayana said it was, "the semi-
nary and academy for the inner circle of Bostonians." (51)
Also important was the two-fold way in which this trend influenced New
England educational developments. In Massachusetts, a cluster of liberal arts
colleges was founded by two groups which Harvard largely ignored: the older
provincial elite (Williams, Amherst) and the newer metropolitan middle
class (Tufts, Boston University, Boston College). By 1870 these colleges were
joined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts
Agricultural College, also catering mainly to the middle class. A system of
educational "tracking" consequently emerged in the state to parallel the new
class structure.
But the influence of the new Harvard also extended to secondary educa-
tion, for the rising admissions requirements helped produce a system of elite
private schooling in which each pupil enjoyed not only comparatively out-
standing facilities but a rate of annual expenditure many times that provided
to a public school pupil. The preparatory schol system was more casual and
open than it would later become, but it was there, nonetheless. Recent scho-
lars have worked fruitfully in ante-bellum public education without, perhaps,
recognizing the degree to which secondary education was being permanently
tracked along upper and middle (and lower) class lines even in the age of
294 HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
reform. It would appear, further, that tracking at both secondary and higher
levels relates more or less directly to, among other things, the emergence of
the Boston upper class.
Notes
1. For changes at ante-bellum Harvard, see e.g. Samuel Eliot Morison, Three Cen-
turies of Harvard (Cambridge, Mass., 1965), pp. 195-301; David B. Tyack, George
Ticknor and the Boston Brahmins (Cambridge, Mass., 1967), pp. 85-128.
2. Andrew P. Peabody, "The Condition and Wants of Harvard College," North
American Review 60 (January 1845): 39. For the list of Harvard graduates by
years, see Harvard University Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and
Graduates, 1636-1930 (Cambridge, Mass., 1930), pp. 208-281.
3. For the emergence of elite funding, control and monopolization, see Ronald
Story, "Harvard and the Boston Brahmins," Journal of Social History 8 (March
1975). For the Boston upper class in general, see e.g. Robert K. Lamb, "The
Entrepreneur and the Community," in William Miller, ed., Men in Business
(New York and Evanston, 1962): 94-119, 350; Frederick Cople Jaher, "The Bos-
ton Brahmins in the Age of Industrial Capitalism," in F. C. Jaher, ed., The Age
of Industrialism in America (New York and London, 1968), pp. 190-193; Richard
Eddy Sykes, "Massachusetts Unitarianism and Social Change, 1780-1870," (un-
pub. diss., University of Minnesota, 1967); Ronald Story, "Class and Culture in
Boston," American Quarterly 27 (1975).
4. Morison, Three Centuries, 216-218; Frederick Robinson, "A Letter to the Hon.
Rufus Choate," in Charles Haar, ed., The Golden Age of American Law (New
York, 1965), p. 91.
5. Josiah Quincy, Speech of February 25, 1845, on the Minority Report of Mr. Ban-
croft (Boston, 1845); Jared Sparks et al, Memorial on Harvard College (Boston,
1850).
6. George T. Curtis, A Memoir of Benjamin Robbins Curtis (Boston, 1879), p. 49.
7. George Bancroft-Board of Overseers, January 1845, Harvard Overseer Reports,
V. 7, Harvard University Archives (HUA).
8. See the Harvard University Catalogue for 1825, 1835, 1845, and 1860; and Wil-
liam R. Thayer, "The Tuition Fee," Harvard Graduates Magazine 23 (Decem-
ber 1914): 228.
9. ?-Amos Lawrence, December 22, 1837, Amos Lawrence Papers, Massachusetts
Historical Society (MHS).
10. Sarah H. Emerson, Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons (New York and London, 1897)
I: 177.
11. Anthony Trollope, North America (Baltimore, 1968), p. 143.
12. Samuel H. Walley, Jr., January 20, 1848, Harvard Overseer Reports, V. 8, HUA.
13. Theodore Parker, "A Sermon of Merchants," November 22, 1846, in The Works
of Theodore Parker, ed. Frances Cobbe (London, 1876) VII: 9.
14. Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, The Barclays of Boston (Boston, 1854), p. 46.
15. Edmund Quincy, Life of Josiah Quincy (Boston, 1868), p. 341.
16. April 27, 1819, Harvard Overseer Reports, V. 1, HUA.
17. William G. Stearns-Amos A. Lawrence, July 4, 1860, Amos A. Lawrence Papers,
MHS.
Fall 1975
295
18. E. R. Hoar, J. W. Churchill, L. N. Thayer, January 28, 1858, Harvard Overseers
Miscellaneous Reports, V. 1, HUA.
19. See e.g. Ruth H. Sessions, "A Harvard Man's Budget in 1790," Harvard Graduates
Magazine 42 (December 1933): 141; Andrew P. Peabody, Harvard Graduates
Whom I Have Known (Boston and New York, 1890), p. 82; Isabel Anderson, ed.,
The Letters and Journals of General Nicholas Longworth Anderson (New York,
London, Edinburgh, 1942), pp. 129-131; William Everett, "Harvard in 1855."
The Harvard Monthly 3 (November 1886): 46; George L. Locke-Amos A.
Lawrence, July 14, 1858, Amos A. Lawrence Papers; George Torrey, A Lawyer's
Recollections (Boston, 1910); Robert Grant, Fourscore (Boston and New York,
1934), p. 90.
20. George Bancroft-Board of Overseers, January 1845, Harvard Overseer Reports, V.
7, HUA.
21. Francis Bowen, "Eliot's Sketch of Harvard College," North American Review 68
(January 1849): 118.
22. E. R. Hoar, J. W. Churchill, L. N. Thayer, January 28, 1858, Harvard Over-
seer Miscellaneous Reports, V. 1, HUA.
23. Harvard University Catalogue for 1860-61.
24. John A. Garraty, Henry Cabot Lodge (New York, 1953), p. 21. For admissions
requirements and examinations, see the catalogues for 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855,
and 1865; the annals of the Harvard classes of 1835 and 1852; "Harvard Univer-
sity," Monthly Chronicle 2 (February 1841): 64; John T. Kirkland, "Literary
Institutions," North American Review 7 (July 1818): 270-271; Francis Bowen,
"Classical Studies at Cambridge," ibid. 54 (January 1842): 48; Horatio J. Perry,
"Harvard and Vacation Fifty Years Ago," New England Magazine 9 (October
1893): 208; Samuel G. Ward-Thomas W. Ward, September 9, 1839, Thomas W.
Ward Papers, MHS; Ethel Fisk, ed., The Letters of John Fiske (New York,
1940), p. 27.
25. George Bancroft-Board of Overseers, January 1845, Harvard Overseer Reports,
V. 7, HUA.
26. Thomas Cushing, "Undergraduate Life Sixty Years Ago," Harvard Graduates
Magazine 1 (July 1893): 553.
27. James C. White, "An Undergraduate's Diary, I," Harvard Graduates Magazine
21 (March 1913): 423.
28. In arriving at these proportions I have relied most heavily on the classbooks and
annals of the Harvard classes of 1811, 1814, 1817, 1822, 1828, 1830, 1835, 1841,
1844, 1852, 1856, 1857, and 1860. None provides complete information for all
members of the class, especially before 1830. Two useful supplementary sources
are Samuel A. Eliot, ed., Heralds of a Liberal Faith (4 vols., Boston, 1910), a
biographical compilation covering dozens of early Unitarian ministers, most of
whom attended Harvard; and Harvard Memorial Biographies (2 vols., Cam-
bridge, 1866), which sketches members of Harvard classes from 1828 to 1865 who
died in the Civil War. Charles W. Eliot's Forty-Ninth Report of the President of
Harvard, 1873-1874 (Cambridge, 1875), 82-84, produces an invaluable table on
which schools prepared how many entering students from 1867 through 1874.
Useful school histories are cited below, as are some of the hundreds of relevant
articles and biographical studies of the period. The percentages, needless to say,
296 HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
are estimates only. In deriving them I have generally excluded the southern stu-
dents, who bulked fairly large in several ante-bellum years.
29. See e.g. George F. Hoar, Autobiography of Seventy Years (New York, 1903) I:
86.
30. John S. Bassett, "The Round Hill School," American Antiquarian Society of
Proceedings n.s. 27 (April 1917): 18-35; J. G. Cogswell, Outline of the Round
Hill School (Boston 1831); George Bancroft-Ebenezer Francis, March 19, 1827,
College Papers, ser. 2, V. 1, HUA.
31. Samuel A. Atkins, A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts (Cambridge, Mass.,
1913), p. 103; Samuel Eliot Morison, The Class Lives of Samuel Eliot and
Nathaniel Holmes Morison (Boston, 1926), p. 3.
32. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Old Cambridge (New York and London, 1900),
p. 154. Other important private boarding schools between 1830 and 1850 were
those of J. A. Weiss in Roxbury and W. P. Greene in Jamaica Plain.
33. William Jenks, "Plan of a School," c. 1815, ms., Boston Public Library (BPL).
34. Annual Catalogue of the Teachers and Pupils of Chauncy-Hall School (Boston,
1835); Thomas Cushing, Memoir of Gideon Thayer (n.p., 1865).
35. William Lawrence, Memories of a Happy Life (Boston and New York, 1926),
p. 12; Octavius B. Frothingham, Recollections and Impressions, 1822-1890 (New
York, 1891), p. 20. See also Charles W. Eliot, A Late Harvest (Boston, 1924), pp.
19-20.
36. Computed from the reports of the secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Edu-
cation for 1849-50 and 1859-60.
37. Theodore Sizer, "The Academies: An Interpretation," in Theodore Sizer, ed.,
The Age of the Academies (New York, 1964): 1-48.
38. Report of the Roxbury School Committee, 1840; Report of the Roxbury Peram-
bulating Committee, 1866; A. K. Teele, History of Milton Academy, Mass., 1798-
1879 (Boston, 1879); John Ragle, Governor Dummer Academy History, 1763-
1963 (S. Byfield, Mass., 1963); A History of the Dummer Academy (Newburyport,
1914); A General Catalogue of the Trustees, Teachers, and Students of Lawrence
Academy, Groton, Massachusetts, 1793-1893 (Groton, 1893); The Jubilee of the
Lawrence Academy (New York, 1855); The Centenary of Leicester Academy
(Worcester, 1884); Joseph Sawyer, A History of Williston Seminary (Norwood,
Mass., 1917); "Hopkins Classical School," flyer, Cambridge, October, 1840;
"Hopkins Fund Records, 1726-1854," typescript, HUA; G. B. Emerson, Remin-
iscences of an Old Teacher (Boston, 1878): 24-64. Other relevant academies in
the early years were the Atkinson Academy, N. H., and the Framingham Acad-
emy, Mass.
39. Samuel F. Batchelder, Bits of Harvard History (Cambridge, 1923), p. 308.
40. Biographical Catalogue of the Trustees, Teachers and Students of Phillips
Academy, Andover, 1798-1830 (Andover, 1903); Claude M. Fuess, An Old New
England School: A History of Phillips Academy, Andover (Boston and New
York, 1917); Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Phillips Exeter Academy,
1783-1883 (Boston, 1883); Edward Echols, The Phillips Exeter Academy (Exe-
ter, 1970); L. M. Crosbie, The Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, 1923).
41. See e.g. Thomas Mumford, Memoir of Samuel Joseph May (Boston, 1873),
pp. 25-26, 59.
Fall 1975 297
42. Grant, Fourscore, p. 31; Henry Jenks, Catalogue of the Boston Public Latin
School, with an Historical Sketch (Boston, 1886), p. 71. See also Joseph Powers
and Lee Dunn, "Brief History of the Boston Latin School," typescript, Boston
Latin Papers, BPL; "Records of Subscribers to Association Funds," Boston Latin
School Ms. #186, BPL.
32. Mark D. Howe, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: The Shaping Years, 1841-1870
(Cambridge, Mass., 1957), pp. 6-7; Amos French, ed., Exeter and Harvard Eighty
Years Ago: Journals and Letters of F. O. French, '57 (Chester, N.H., 1932), p. 68.
44. Alexander Inglis, The Rise of the High School in Massachusetts (New York,
1911); George Wright, "The Schools of Cambridge, 1800-1870," Cambridge His-
torical Society Publication 13 (June 1918): 89-112.
45. On the early day schools, see e.g. Henry B. Fearon, Sketches of America. (2nd
ed., London, 1818), pp. 112-113; on the academies, Rufus Ellis, "The Academies
and Public High Schools of Massachusetts," Christian Examiner 50 (January
1851): 27.
46. Michael B. Katz, The Irony of Early School Reform (Boston, 1970), pp. 19-112.
47. "A Sermon of Merchants," November 22, 1846, in Works of Theodore Parker
VII: 9.
48. James E. Cabot, "Bigelow's Classical and Utilitarian Studies," North American
Review 104 (April 1867): 616.
49. Fair Harvard (New York and London, 1869), p. 99.
50. Percentage of Harvard millionaires computed by comparing the composite
graduates list in Harvard University Quinquennial Catalogue, 1213-1461, with
the list of Boston names in Sidney Ratner, ed., New Light on the History of
Great American Fortunes (New York, 1953), pp. 9-22. The financial institutions
analyzed include the Massachusetts, State, and Suffolk Banks, the Bank of Com-
merce, the Provident Institution for Savings, the Massachusetts Mutual Life In-
surance Company, and the Boston Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany. For textile firms, see Frances Gregory and Irene Neu, "The American In-
dustrial Elite in the 1870's," in Miller, Men in Business, p. 203.
51. George Santayana, Character and Opinion in the United States (New York,
1920), p. 40.
298
HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY
HARVARD COLLEGE IN THE SEVENTIES
By Robert Grant
HE years 1870-1880
college. Holmes House and the rail-
mark the beginnings
road station next it, the old Commons,
of the reforms in the
were still standing. Neither Thayer,
methods of govern-
Weld, nor Matthews was in existence.
ment and instruction
There was no Hemenway gymnasium ;
by means of which
only the small, circular one there was
Harvard has become
no Memorial Hall and Gray's was a
a University instead of a college. They
comparatively new building. Holworthy
were essentially a period of breaking
was regarded as the lady patroness of
ground, not merely in the college-yard,
the dormitories. The suites there, con-
but all over the country. We were recon-
sisting of a parlor and two bed-rooms
structing the South, and the granger
and a coal closet, were much in demand,
agitations of the West were being modi-
and even as late as 1876 we find "The
fied into law at Washington. In 1869
Song of the Blood
the last spike of the Union Pacific Rail-
road was driven, and in 1871 the Chicago
Some like upon the winding Charles
fire infused a fiercer energy into an al-
To ply the bending oar,
ready active-minded community. The
Nor care they, though their backs are
burned.
panic of 1873, following an era of wild in-
And every muscle sore.
flation, did not prevent a display of the
But as for me, it suits me not
nation's resources in the exposition of
I'll ever be content
1876. In short, the decade which Lam
To loaf in front of Holworthy,
considering was essentially one of ex-
And toss the shining cent.
periment and development consequent
Some like to grind the livelong day,
upon enlarged material conditions and
And think it is immense,
possibilities.
To study for their Annuals,
was examined for Harvard in June,
And take in large per cents.
1869 ; was graduated in '73 ; took the
But, as for me, ah ! give me a rest,
And let me, free from care,
course for the then new degree of Doc-
Sit on the steps of Holworthy,
tor of Philosophy from '73 to '76, and
And take the evening air.
was a student at the law school from
the autumn of 76 until I became a
The rooms in Massachusetts were still
Bachelor of Laws in '79. Consequently
occupied and were rather favorite quar-
I had some opportunity to observe
ters but presently the building was
the customs of University life then in
altered and devoted to examination-
vogue.
rooms and other purposes. Though
When I was examined for Harvard
rooms were often picturesque, the
the college topographically was the old
family resources were rarely if ever
taxed to provide new furniture for the
The substance of this article was delivered as a lect-
ure in Sanders Theatre, Cambridge. April 10, 1896, by
precious Freshman. It was a Boston
request of the Harvard Memorial Society. It was the
third in a course of three lectures treating of Harvard in
axiom then that nothing need match in
three successive decades. The first of these, Harvard in
a college room, but fond mothers ex-
the Fifties," was delivered by President Eliot, and the sec-
ond, Harvard in the Sixties, by Mr. Moorfield Storey.
erted themselves nobly to make their
My mode of treatment aimed to omit reference to what
sons comfortable, and everything in the
had been already included by my predecessors in the
course ; consequently this paper was written mainly
way of red curtains, discarded bric-a-
from the point of view of the average student of my own
day, which was necessarily a limited one. It is a nar-
brac and sporting prints which the at-
rative of manners and customs, and does not pretend to
tic contained was appropriated to the
describe the mental processes of those in authority at the
time or to depict the results of scholarship. I insert this
collegian's use. And then, perhaps, as
caveat merely for the benefit of any literal-minded readers
who have never been to college and who might be dis-
one of my friends told me happened in
posed to ask where the study caine in.
his case, the mother would buy a new
Harvard College in the Seventies
555
drawing-room carpet or new chairs for gether agreeable. Hazing, SO far as I
herself with the money which she had knew it personally, was rather mortify-
not been obliged to spend on the son's ing to one's self-esteen
than
painful.
outfit. How much more sensible this I think I had to recite "Mary had a Lit-
than to set a youngster up with brand
tle Lamb" in my nightgown with a
new, spick and span furniture, carpets
pitcher in my hand to a group of ap-
and hangings.
preciative Sophomores who were smok-
e rail-
My room was a cosey den of ancient
ing to a man as hard as they could. A
mons,
but fairly gorgeous green rep uphol-
few of my classmates had pails of cold
'hayer,
stery, and was in Holworthy. I was a
water poured over them in bed, but I
stence.
"Tutor's freshman," which meant then
was little and perhaps that saved me.
asium
practically nothing in the way of servi-
Smoking out a Freshman with tobacco
re was
tude. I think I delivered a note once
smoke was a favorite device, and we
was a
for my tutor, but am not certain. Num-
were all liable to be called on at any
worthy
ber 9 was in the middle entry, ground
time to treat to cigars either at our
ness of
floor, and after a few days my posses-
rooms or at Hubbard's, the apothe-
e, con-
sions were increased by a huge stone
cary. A Freshman, instead of being
-rooms
which came crashing through the win-
a gentleman and a scholar as at pres-
emand,
dow, just missing my chum and my-
ent, was regarded as the seum of
d " The
self, who were conscientiously at work
the earth, without property rights.
beside a student-lamp. This missile,
The following letter was sent by a
which was the size of a small canta-
Sophomore of my class to a Freshman.
e8
loupe, was described to us as a trans-
The '74 man had it printed and cir-
mittendum. That is, it went with the
culated.
are
room, and had been handed down in
some such forcible way from one
DEAR SIR I speak for the Sophomore class
Freshman class to another. Other men
when I say that you need have no fear of fur-
had less rude objects as transmitten-
ther roughing if you are willing to follow the
example of your classmates and the custom of
da. A Worcester's Dictionary sometimes
the college in the matter of treating and are
went with the room, and occasionally
willing to promise to give up the use of a cane
an ostrich egg or a manuscript hidden
for the remainder of the term. If you choose
ay,
away in the wall and inscribed with the
to come with me to Hubbard's and get six cigars,
I will give them to members of the class and
names of previous occupants.
see that your algebra is returned. I am dis-
8.
Our entrance examinations began on
interested in saying this, as I do not smoke. You
st,
Thursday and continued through Fri-
had better consider this proposition, as the class
e,
day and a part of Saturday morning.
are much provoked at your obstinacy, and will
Saturday afternoon we learned our fate.
not be very careful in what they say or do other-
wise. If you will call at 6 Gray's at any time
My class numbered 154. Students
within two or three days I will represent the
were still
were received on probation, as it was
class.
ite quar-
termed, and were not matriculated as
Yours, etc.
ling was
members in full standing until the end
nination-
of the first half year. Our entrance
This was signed with the real name
Though
examinations were in Greek composi-
of the writer, and he added, in large
que, the
tion, Greek grammar, history and
letters, "Sic Semper Stultibus," a lapse
, if ever
geography, English into Latin, Latin
in Latin which was the occasion of
re for the
grammar, plane geometry, arithmetic,
some merriment, and wounded our class
a Boston
and algebra. Besides these written ex-
pride.
match in
aminations we had to translate orally
"Bloody Monday"-the first Monday
others ex-
Latin and Greek.
of the college year and long a terror to
ake their
I belonged to one of the last few
Freshmen-was practically obliterated
ing in the
classes- 73-which was hazed or took
from the calendar in the autumn of
ed bric-a-
part in hazing. President Eliot was in-
1870. On that evening the Freshmen
ch the at-
augurated in October, 1869, and I was
were expected to meet the Sophomores
ed to the
tossed in a blanket that same autumn
in the gymnasium for a "rush," and
erhaps, as
in the gymnasium, one of the last
subsequent tossing. I remember that
,ppened in
Freshmen who underwent the ordeal.
both classes were assembled, and that
buy a new
It was a new experience and not alto-
just as we Sophs were beginning opera-
556
Harvard College in the Seventies
tions a Professor appeared on the scene
then under the control of the students,
and, in the language of authority, com-
but presently the authorities offered to
manded us to disperse, By way of com-
co-operate, and little by little the enter-
ment on this occurrence the Harvard
prise prospered until it was duly in-
Advocate in its next issue declared
stalled in Memorial Hall in the autumn
Professor Eliot will receive, for his
of '74. While I was an undergraduate
courageous interposition, the hearty Matthews and Weld were begun and
thanks of all lovers of good order completed,
while the Sophomores we suppose, are,
In my time only a comparatively small
after all, not SO much aggrieved at the
number of students attended Commons.
loss of what used to be a prized heir-
The thinness of the diet provided was a
loom of their year. It may have been
favorite theme for satirists in the col-
a very exhilarating thing, when the
lege paper. Those who could afford it
classes were small, to 'toss' a few
and many who could not went to club
dozen Freshmen. But, now, to toss the
tables at boarding - houses. We paid
number of Freshmen which is neces-
eight dollars a week whether we spent
sary to secure any 'moral' effect upon
our Sundays at home or not. The food
a class of two hundred, the tossing re-
was fairly good to middling bad, ac-
quiring a huge canvas blanket to be
cording to the capabilities of the land-
forcibly elevated a few hundred times,
lady. I should judge that the fare
is a physical labor which few of the
provided at Commons to-day is supe-
Sophomores, who have on previous OC-
rior to what we got for eight dollars.
casions sunk back, faint or exhausted
As regards the cost of living, I spent
from their work, would care to repeat.
just $1,000 a year during the first two
Nor has the effect upon the Freshmen
years and a little more the last two. I
been of late quite what the tossers de-
should say that $1,300 would cover the
sired. After two or three Freshmen
cost of my senior year, without including
have gone up and come down, receiving
my share of my spread. I sent my bills
no severer hurt than a quickening of
for tuition, rent. board and clothes all
the breathing, caused by passing rapid-
my bills in fact, to my father, and
ly through the rarefied air in the upper
was allowed $15 per month pocket
strata, the exercise loses its terrors.
money. I lived comfortably on this,
Freshmen have been known to volun-
bought a few books, and was a member
teer for a second ascent." Hazing re-
of
the "Dicky and the A. D. Club.
ceived its final quietus in 1873, when
There were a number of men in my class
the classes of '75 and '76, who were then
who spent more, but I doubt if anyone
Sophomores and Freshmen, entered
much exceeded $2,000 a year. Scarcely
into a compact with the faculty that
anyone kept a horse, and very few of
there should be no more war if certain
the students went to evening parties in
members of the Sophomore class, who
Boston. For a Freshman or Sophomore
had been caught in the act and had
to go was an unusual thing. On the
been suspended, were allowed to come
other hand there was considerable sim-
back. Since then the Freshman has
ple social gavety in Cambridge. As-
been allowed to live comparatively un-
semblies were held in Lvceum Hall,
molested.
under the management of the students,
In my Freshman year Thaver Hall
and small parties were given by the
was begun, the first in the series of
parents of the Cambridge young ladies.
dormitories since erected by the gen-
The piping query, Going to wear a
erosity of friends of the college. Mr.
dress suit to-night?" called up from
Nathaniel Thayer was not a graduate,
the vard to a man in his room, was a
but his interest in Harvard had already
familiar sound in my day and shows
been indicated in other ways, notably
that we were still simple souls.
by his liberal contribution to the Thayer
We opened the day by going to pray-
Club, the parent of the modern Com-
ers. In my Freshman year from the
mons, which, when I entered, was in the
beginning of the first term until the
little building once a railroad station
Thanksgiving recess, and from March
west of the Scientific School. It was
1st until the end of the year, morning
Harvard College in the Seventies
557
lents,
prayers began at a quarter before seven.
cording to tradition, did SO much to
ed to
After the Thanksgiving recess until the
promote friendly relations between the
enter-
first of March at a quarter before eight.
authorities and the students and to en-
y in-
The first bell rang some time in the
courage the undergraduates to govern
tumn
night, but the second bell five minutes
themselves, that I am probably wrong
duate
before the exercises opened. In that
in my belief that he took a "slant'
n and
five minutes many endeavored to dress
against me from the first. Until I be-
and reach the chapel in time. An ul-
gan to look over my scrap-book re-
small
ster and top boots were a favorite garb,
cently, I had cherished the impression
mons.
and during the last few languishing
that I was an amiable and well-be-
was a
notes of the bell some noble sprinting
haved young man in my college days,
1e col-
was done. When prayers began at. a
and that I was misunderstood by the
ford it
quarter before seven, recitations were
faculty in general and the Dean in par-
0 club
at eight. Compulsory morning prayers
ticular. I still think I am right, but I
e paid
and the rank list were the two leading
feel bound in justice to submit a few
spent
grievances of the students. Changes
documents on his side before I destroy
e food
in regard to the former and the aboli-
them forever.
ad, ac-
tion of the latter were among the first
e land-
reforms introduced by President Eliot.
Letter to my Father.
e fare
Under the rank-list system marks of
HARVARD COLLEGE, June, 1870.
3 supe-
censure were combined with marks, for
DEAR SIR I am sorry to be obliged to in-
lars.
scholarship, and a student's rank. as
form you that at the last meeting of the Faculty
I spent
held out to the world, was gravely af
it was voted that your son be publicly ad-
rst two
fected by deductions for cutting pray-
monished and be put upon special probation
two. I
ers and recitations, whispering in lect-
for participating in disorders in the recitation-
room of Mr. Tutor in - to the Fresh-
over the
ures and smoking in the yard. The
men.
cluding
elective system of studies made this
Mr.
has been greatly tried by the con-
my bills
combination of lesson and conduct
duct of the Class, being an amiable person and
thes, all
marks still more distasteful, and in the
a new instructor, and would have done more
her, and
famous regulations of the Faculty for
wisely, I have no doubt, to have provided ear-
lier and vigorous measures against an evil
pocket
1871 they were separated We were al-
which is fatal to the instruction and discipline
on this,
lowed by these regulations sixty ex-
of the College.
member
cused absences from prayers instead of
The indifferent manner in which your son re-
D. Club.
twenty in the course of the year. But
ceives warnings, and a certain mischievousness
of disposition, which mean8 no serious harm, I
my class
penalties for evil conduct remained in
dare say, lead me to suggest to you the impor-
f anyone
all their awfulness. The list of them
tance of impressing strongly upon him at the
Scarcely
enumerated in the inverse order of their
beginning of next year to be upon his guard
importance included marks of censure,
against the temptation to pranks which is so
y few of
parties in
parental admonition, private admoni-
strong at the beginning of the Sophomore year.
I think I am doing him a kindness if I put any
phomore
tion, public admonition, special proba-
fresh difficulty in the way of heedlessness on
On the
tion, suspension, dismission and expul-
his part.
able sim-
sion. A public admonition was ac-
Very truly yours.
E. W. GURNEY, Dean of the Faculty.
dge. As-
companied with a letter from the Dean
um Hall,
to the father of the student. Special pro-
bation indicated that a student was in
That was the beginning of the trou-
students,
ble. Then, alas! came the following
n by the
serious danger of separation from e.ol-
lege, and on this occasion the letter
little strips of printed matter, received
ng ladies.
from time to time through the post
to wear a
was still more impressive. The office
I up from
of Dean was established in the winter
February 22, 1871.
om, was a
of 1870. Hitherto the President had
A deduction of 32 is marked against Grant,
and shows
been obliged to devote his personal at-
Soph., on the weekly return of February 4th,
tention to the minor details of college
for inattention and disorder at Italian exercise.
S.
government. From this time the Dean
J. W. HARRIS, Sec.
g to pray-
from the
was the official with whom the students
JUNE 5, 1871.
until the
came in personal contact when the
Grant, Soph., is directed to come to the
om March
faculty wished to communicate with
Dean's office on Monday.
r, morning
them. The late Professor Gurney, ac-
J. W HARRIS, Sec.
558
Harvard College in the Seventies
May 6, 1871.
were not confessed before the end of
Grant, Soph., is directed to come to the
the recess the guilty parties would be
Dean's office on Monday.
prosecuted in the criminal court as well
J. W. HARRIS, Sec.
as expelled. We went home to think it
April 29, 1871, ditto; June 12, 1871,
over, and I, for one, felt aggrieved, for I
ditto, save that I was to come on Tues-
was innocent as a lamb of the offence,
day. To pile up the agony, on June 13,
and moreover was entirely ignorant as
1871, as a sequel to the last interview,
to who committed it. There were no
confessions known to me made after
my father received the following
the recess, and so far as I am aware the
DEAR SIR At the last meeting of the Fac-
faculty never discovered who blew up
ulty it was voted that your son, Robert, be
Stoughton. I have heard it positively
publicly admonished for twenty-two unexcused
denied by those who claimed to know
absences from prayers.
Very truly yours,
that the Med. Fac. had anything to do
E. W. GURNEY, Dean of the Faculty.
with it. I was not a member of the
Med. Fac., SO I am unable to testify on
I think there is much to be said on
that point. The whole matter remained
the side of the Dean, but my own be-
shrouded in mystery while I was in
lief is that what he considered indif-
college, and my impression is that the
ference on my part was really shyness.
father of one of my classmates was SO
His impressions regarding me were un-
indignant that his son was suspected
fortunately strengthened early in my
that he sent his other sons to Yale.
Sophomore year by the blowing up of
With the beginning of the second
Stoughton, an episode which caused
term the Freshmen were privileged to
much excitement at the time
One
wear tall hats and carry canes. They
evening late in the autumn of '70 the
always celebrated their emancipation
Yard was startled by a loud explosion
on the first Saturday of the new term
which proceeded from the north entry
by going in force to the theatre in all
of Stoughton. The ground floor room
the splendor of their new possessions,
nearest Holworthy had been blown up
and they were apt to show themselves
by combustibles placed in the cellar.
on Beacon Street, Boston, on the fol-
Its inmates were Freshmen, and among
lowing Sunday. In regard to dress on
the occupants at the moment was my
week-days I recall that among all the
brother who was a Freshman of '74,
students a little round gray soft hat
and who tumbled out of the window in
was very popular. The times were
great haste. Those who tried to escape
rather hard from '70 to '80, and many
by the door could not, for the flooring
men went in for old clothes. Short pea-
had started. One man is said to have
jackets were in common use. Some of
struck the ceiling, but in spite of the
the arbiters of college fashion chose to
noise and smoke no one was hurt. I
wear silk hats with them, when they
was at that time living in 5 Holworthy,
wished to appear swell, thereby produc-
in the entry next to Stoughton, just
ing a somewhat mongrel effect. Eng-
over Professor Sophocles, and was
lish clothes, or indeed a suit of new
peacefully reading. I rushed down to
clothes, was SO much an event that I
see what the matter was, and SO did
recollect on the occasion when a mem-
everybody else in the yard. Conjec-
ber of the Class of '74 imported a suit
ture as to who did it selected the Med.
of lively checks, his friends hung it
Fac. as the probable culprit; but no
outside the window of one of the build-
one was caught at the time. In about
ings on exhibition. The Yard at that
a fortnight my chum and I, and some
time, as very likely now, was often a
dozen other members of my class, were
lively centre for amiable indolence.
sent for to see the Dean on the eve
Besides tossing cents at a mark in front
of the Christmas recess. I think that
of Holworthy, and dropping hot coppers
President Eliot addressed us in person.
out of the windows for the Cambridge
I remember that we were given to un-
urchins to pick up, I recall the slogan
derstand that the authorities had a clew,
of "Heads out !" which brought every
and were informed that if the matter one to his window and from his books
Harvard College in the Seventies
559
d of
many times a week. No woman could year until November 1st, and from
d be
cross the yard without hearing it, and March 1st until the end of the year
well
events of much less import evoked it.
recitations began at eight and con-
nk it
Frequently we had the pleasure of
tinued until one, and the dinner hour
for I
listening to the Glee Club, which was
was one. From November 1st to March
ence,
then a flourishing body whose reper-
1st they began an hour later and the
nt as
toire included "Seeing Nellie Home,"
dinner hour was at two. There were
e no
and "Dearest maiden dance ever with
afternoon recitations from three to six.
after
me; can'st thou refuse me? can'st
My class was the first to experience the
e the
thou but choose me?" yet pandered to
benefits of the elective system under
W up
less noble emotions in "Shoo Fly," and
the new administration. In the col-
tively
the then popular
lege year 1871-72, the Seniors were re-
know
quired to take Physics, one lecture a
to do
Ha-ha-ha, you and me,
week for a half year, Themes, and
of the
Little brown jug how I love thee :
twelve hours of electives the Juniors,
ify on
Philosophy, two hours a week through
ained
Among the college characters and
the year, Physics, two hours a week for
as in
celebrities of the years from 1870-80
a half-year, and one lecture a week
at the
were Jones, the bell-ringer Billy, the
through the year, Political Economy,
postman, and Horace, the expressman,
vas so
and the Constitution of the United
pected
who helped to pack the baskets of
States together, two hours a week for a
soiled clothes which the Boston men
e.
half year, Rhetoric, two hours a week
econd
sent weekly to town, and also "Daniel
for a half year (in all six hours a week),
ged to
Pratt," the great American traveller and
Themes and nine hours of electives
They
president of four kingdoms, a frequent
the Sophomores, German, two hours a
pation
visitor among the students with his
week through the year, Rhetoric, two
ideas stated in his own modest lan-
V term
hours a week through the year, Physics,
in all
guage as worth billions of dollars to
two hours a week for a half year, His-
all nations."
ssions,
tory, two hours a week for a half year,
selves
Chemistry, three hours a week for a
Oh, where is the man 80 lean and fat
he fol-
Who has not heard of Daniel Pratt,
half year (in all seven hours a week),
ress on
Who gathers his wings and flies away
Themes, Elocution, and eight hours of
all the
To parts of earth where the light of day
electives. All the studies of the Fresh-
ft hat
Shines but a little or not at all
men were required The courses in
In the course of the awful waterfall ?
i were
I ask you, friends, what muddy minds
electives included the classics, phil-
many
Have never conceived, unfurled to the winds
osophy, history, natural history, and
rt pea-
That glorious banner that springs like a cat
music. From year to year during the
ome of
Into the air for Daniel Pratt.
seventies new courses were introduced,
hose to
There never was nor ever will be
and these were amplified until aspira-
Such a mighty man to stand like thee,
in they
I say, most magnificent Daniel Pratt,
tion culminated for a time in the
produc-
Above the throne where Plato sat
Chinese professor. The details of
Eng-
changes are a matter of record, and I
of new
So he sung and the students ap-
have no space for them here. The en-
that I
plauded the poor old man to the echo.
trance examinations were made to cover
a mem-
In my time, too, there was a Johnny
a broader field, and experimental prog-
d a suit
Cocoanut who met us as we came
ress was the watch word of the time
hung it
from recitations with cocoanut-cakes
with the authorities. In a tone of
e build-
just before the noon meal, and a boy
contemplative criticism the Harvard
I at that
who played tunes on his teeth in
Advocate remarked that the only con-
often a
Harvard Square by sucking in his
servative body connected with the uni-
dolence.
breath. I recall, too, a malodorous
versity was the students. However un-
in front
goody who made herself famous by
scientific, from an educational stand-
coppers
calling at the chamber-door of one of
point, the matter and manner of the
mbridge
her charges, when he slept too late in
instruction then given may seem as
e slogan
the morning, "Git up, yer lazy divil,
compared with that of to-day, we were
ht every
git up."
fortunate in our instructors. Many of
is books
From the beginning of the academic
the men whose pre-eminent scholarship
560
Harvard College in the Seventies
has gained for the university repute on
to the extent they do now. I do not
both sides of the water were then in
mean that if an undergraduate broke
their prime. Of course the classes
a leg and sought his professor or tutor
from '71 to '80 were, SO to speak, sub-
for advice or sympathy he did not get
jects of experiment, for old methods
it but there was certainly less work-
were in process of being exchanged for
ing together in the matter of studies,
new But we had the benefit of the
and consequently more formal inter-
ability and knowledge of Professors
course. The recitation in most cases,
Child, Lane, Norton, Goodwin, Gurney,
at least where I was concerned, was
Cook, Böcher, Shaler, Dunbar, Trow-
the sole medium of contact, and the
bridge, Henry Adams, J. M. Pierce, expression "Not prepared," on the one
A. S. Hill, and Palmer. If I have side, and "That is sufficient," on the
omitted any names which should be
other, uttered in varying keys calcu-
mentioned I beg their owners' pardon.
lated to produce repulsion, were too
I remember well how interested I was
often the Alpha and Omega of ac-
in the history courses of Professors
quaintance. What infinite gradations
Gurney and Adams, which were con-
of meaning those expressions Not
ducted after the then new method of
prepared," and That is sufficient,"
lectures with outside work by the class.
were susceptible of Only Mephis
Dr. Peabody and Professor Torrey were
topheles could hope to compete with
still actively instructing and were much
some of the faculty of my time in the
beloved. I used to wonder sometimes
way their Shibboleth was uttered, and
that men who applauded loudly at the
to the sensitive ear there was often an
mention of their names should put off
entire Wagner tragedy in the phrase
preparation in their courses until the
"Not prepared," though to an inex-
night before examination - day. Pro-
perienced listener it might convey
fessor Lowell still had a few courses in
merely an impression of bravado. To
Spanish and Italian. I remember go-
be sure there were individual instances
ing up to his house in June, 1876, to
where instructors and students affiliat-
be examined in Dante. I was a can-
ed more closely, as for instance the de-
didate for the degree of Ph.D., being
lightful Field Lectures in Geology of
one of the earliest applicants for that
Professor Shaler, of which I heard at
degree. My course of study for three
the time, though I did not take his
years had been in English, German,
elective but there was comparatively
and Italian literature. As it happened
little of that spirit of mutual interest,
I was very well up in the "Inferno" and
and of co-operation in work which I
the Purgatorio," but I was a little weak
believe distinguishes the university to-
on the "Paradiso," especially the later
day. I remember the solemnity of the
cantos. I took counsel with myself
occasions when one was sent to the
and made up my mind that I would
black-board to demonstrate a problem
not be caught napping in case treach-
in trigonometry or physics concerning
ery should be practised on me. Conse-
which one knew nothing. I can see
quently the night before, I made myself
again, as plainly as though it were ves-
thoroughly familiar with Canto 33, the
terday, one of my classmates in this
last canto. In the presence of two men
plight draw with the chalk simply a
like Professor Lowell and Professor
huge square and walk back to his seat
Child, who was to sit with him in judg-
with the dignity of profound hopeless-
ment on me, I naturally felt a little
ness.
nervous, but my opinion of my own
There was no Freshman Society in
talents rose considerably when Pro-
my day, and the only two Sophomore
fessor Lowell, in an off-hand manner,
Societies were the Institute of 1770 and
told me to begin at the last canto.
the Everett Athenmum. The Juniors
Later you know he became a distin-
had the Hasty Pudding Club, the Pi
guished diplomat.
Eta, and the Signet. The O. K. was
I do not think that it was the fashion
the literary Society. At it we read pa-
in my time for instructors to interest
pers and consumed beer and little cakes
themselves in the students individually
cut in the form of O and K. There were
Harvard College in the Seventies
561
not
the Glee Club and the Pierian Sodality, Selwyn's theatre where the combination
roke
and two Religious Societies, the St. of Tennyson's "Dora" and the bur-
Paul's and the Christian Brethren. The lesque "Black-eyed Susan," in which
get
only secret societies were the A. K. E., Stuart Robson played Captain Cross-
ork-
and the Med. Fac. The Alpha Delta
tree and Kitty Blanchard appeared in
dies,
Phi wax-merged in the A.D. Club, which
tights, drew the same students, like a
nter-
was founded just after I entered col-
magnet, across the bridge again and
cases,
lege. There were several members of
again. I was immersed in studying
was
my class who were members both of
law at the time the Soldene troupe
I the
the Porcellian and the A.D., but '73
carried by cyclone the class of '77, but
e one
was the last class in which men were
I believe that the college authorities
1 the
allowed to belong to both. The A.D.
retain keen recollections of the occur-
calcu-
had quarters on Brattle Street, just be-
rence. The troupe went from Boston
e too
yond Harvard Square, two rooms, in
to Cincinnati, and the first words which
f ac-
one of which we sat and played whist
Emily Soldene is said to have uttered
ations
and the other a sort of pantry in which
on alighting from the train were, "Is
"Not
we kept the crackers and cheese. But
there a University here?'
eient,"
we were very proud of our club and we
I was the witness also of the last
ephis
had capital times there. I judge from
"Mock Parts," a custom which deserv-
) with
what I hear that the A.K.E., or "Dicky,"
edly was voted out of existence by the
in the
is substantially what it was in my time.
Class of '72. It had been the habit for
d, and
The oath which I took on the night of
many years to hold a sort of travesty on
ten an
the initiation not to divulge its secrets
the Junior exhibition (which has also
phrase
binds me now, but I can see no objec-
ceased to be), at which ceremonial one
1 inex-
tion to referring to a pleasantry prac-
of the Junior class delivered from the
convey
tised on me on the occasion which I
window of Hollis Hall an address sup-
o. To
remember more vividly than the other
plemented by satirical and bitter
stances
horrors. I was sitting blind-fold on a
"roughs" and personalities on other
affiliat-
chair, believing that the worst was over,
members of the class sent in anony-
the de-
when two upper class men, whose voices
mously. I remember listening to the
logy of
I recognized, approached me and told
Mock Parts of the Class of '71, and
eard at
me to open my mouth. I did SO and
being shocked by the cruel thrusts
ake his
one of them placed a large plug of
which usage permitted to be made at
ratively
tobacco between my teeth, and told me
those who were unpopular. Others
interest,
to masticate it until I was given leave
evidently sympathized with me, for the
which I
to stop. I was an innocent boy ; I had
next class did away with the practice
rsity to-
never smoked or chewed in my life,
forever.
y of the
and I shall always remember the ex-
The only college newspaper when I
to the
perience of that burning mouthful to
entered was the Advocate but the Ma-
problem
which I was obliged to hold fast until
genta - afterwards the Crimson - pres-
icerning
late in the evening.
ently became a rival. and later the Har-
can see
Early in my college course a reading-
vard Lampoon, which was edited at first
vere yes-
room was started by the students in lower
by students, but from 1876-1879 by a
in this
Massachusetts. I was one of the officers.
board composed chiefly of recent grad-
simply a
We provided the magazines and leading
uates. After this it was again con-
his seat
newspapers, and it presently became
a
ducted by the undergraduates. The
hopeless-
popular and successful institution.
A
promising Frederic Wadsworth Loring,
Telegraph Club was also established in
who was killed in the West by Indians
Society in
my time. The Pudding and the Pi Eta
shortly after graduation, was one of the
phomore
theatricals were then as now prominent
editors of the Advocate from the Class
1770 and
factors in the social life. "Running" for
of '70. At the annual dinner of the
e Juniors
the Pudding was then in its glory. The
editors of the Advocate in May, 1876,
b, the Pi
names "Lyon's and "Kent's will re-
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes read his
). K. was
call to men of my time many a game
poem, "How the Old Horse Won the
e read pa-
of billiards, and those who sought
Bet," when he told us :
ittle cakes
amusement in town must have vivid
Moral for which this tale is told,
'here were
memories of the Parker House and of
A horse can trot for all he's old
562
Harvard College in the Seventies
There were no class officials in my
removed our rubber ball to Cambridge
day except the captain of the ball nine
Common, where we played energetically
and of the crew, who were chosen at
for a year or so, at the end of which we
the beginning of the year at a meeting
were turned off by vote of the Cam-
in Holden Chapel. The class-day offi-
bridge town authorities. By this time
cers were the same as at present, and
the game had become SO well estab-
they were generally chosen without
lished that we were able to insist on
much friction, but the Class of '77 came
our right to play on Jarvis field. The
to loggerheads on the subject in conse-
game played by us was one which had
quence of a strife between the society
originated with the old Oneida club of
and non-society men. A committee of
Boston some ten or fifteen years previ-
graduates was invited to intervene, but
ous, and it was generally in use at the
in the end '77 had no class officers and
schools and colleges of Massachusetts,
no Class day. It was called Corporation
New Hampshire, and Vermont. One of
day instead, and Professor Lowell in-
the salient features of the game was the
vited them to breakfast at Elmwood.
rule that a player could run with the
I have the impression that, apart
ball only when chased, and he must stop
from the small contingent who were
as soon as pursuit ceased. Dribbling
active candidates for the crew, or nine,
was forbidden. The ball was kicked a
the older classmen when I entered col-
great deal, and there was much running
lege were lazy as regards exercise.
It
and dodging. There were eleven men
is my recollection that some of them
on a team, and the members were con-
spent much time in drifting from room
siderably lighter men, as a rule, than
to room and in coloring meerschaums,
those who play nowadays. In October,
and that those who took themselves
1873, a convention of the colleges inter-
seriously did not know what to do when
ested in football was held and an asso-
they had studied enough. Certainly,
ciation formed, but Harvard declined
between the years 1870 and 1880, a
to take part in it or to join, alleging
marked change took place in the mat-
that the game as played by the other
ter of athletics, so that by the end
colleges was SO different from ours that
of the period in question it had be-
a compromise was out of the question,
come the habit of the large majority,
and also claiming that our game was
instead of a small minority of the stu-
more "scientific," an assertion which
dents, to take part daily in some form
excited Yale. The rules of the other
of outdoor exercise. The beginnings
colleges, though differing in details,
of this change occurred while I was an
were substantially the English Associa-
undergraduate. I happened to be one
tion rules adopted in 1863. It was
of the party who owned the first ten-
found that the game played by McGill
nis set at Harvard. We set it up and
College, Montreal, usually styled the
played on it back of College House. I
Rugby game, differed less from ours
happened, too, to be one of the half-
than did that of any other college, and
dozen men who revived football, which
an arrangement was made under which,
had been dormant at Cambridge for
in 1874, the McGill team visited Cam-
some years. It was in my Sophomore
bridge and played two games-one ac-
year, I think, that a party of us took a
cording to our rules and one according
black rubber football, such as we had
to theirs. The teams met on May 14th
been accustomed to use at school, and
and 15th, two elevens on the first day
went out and played. Our example at-
and two tens on the second. My
tracted others, and presently we had a
brother was captain of the Harvard
following of some twenty-five or thirty
team. Harvard easily won the game
men. We played at first, I think, on
played according to our rules, and that
the vacant lot at the side of the Scien-
played according to the McGill rules
tific School, for it was claimed that, with
resulted in a draw. After it the Adco-
baseball and cricket already in posses-
cate remarked "The Rugby is insome-
sion of Jarvis field, there was no room
what better favor than the sleepy game
for us there. The faculty, however,
played by our men." In October, '74,
would not let us stay; accordingly we
we sent a ten to Montreal, which proved
Harvard College in the Seventies
563
bridge
cically
victorious, and for several years a
In the autumn of '74 the first field
ch we
match with McGill was a regular event.
meeting of the new Athletic Associa-
Cam-
In November, '75, the first football
tion, the precursor of a long line of
time
match ever played between Yale and
similar contests, was held on Jarvis
estab-
Harvard took place at Hamilton Park, field. The sports included a hundred-
ist on
New Haven. Fifteen men played on
yard dash, in which eleven sprinters
The
each side, and the game was substan-
participated a running high jump a
h had
tially the Rugby game. It was divided
one hundred-yard hurdle race; throwing
lub of
into three half hours, and Harvard won.
a baseball; a two-mile run, with seven
previ-
Yale did not score, and her defeat was
contestants a half-mile run ; a three-
at the
ascribed to the fact that the rules were
legged race and a three-mile walk. To
new
usetts,
to her. In November, '76,
a
quote from the records of the day
One of
second match was played, this time be-
"The weather was true Indian summer
as the
tween two elevens instead of fifteens,
-a perfectly clear sky, with a bright
ih the
by request of Yale, and on this occasion
sun and very gentle wind. It was evi-
st stop
the blue prevailed. I regret to state
dent that the Field Committee had
bbling
that the Advocate had the poor grace
made every needful preparation for the
cked a
to declare that Our men have re-
afternoon's performances. A quarter-
inning
turned with the feeling that they owe
mile track, quite smooth but rather
1 men
their first defeat, not to any superiority
soft, had been laid out, surrounded by
in their opponents' play, but to an
e con-
a rope while a stouter rope, stretched
, than
offensive combination consisting of the
around the entire field, with the aid of
etober,
Yale eleven, backed by, first, a culpa-
six policemen, kept the populace at a
inter-
ble ignorance or misinterpretation of
proper distance. Directly opposite the
asso-
the rules: second, an equally culpable
spectators seats a judges' stand was
eclined
carelessness in the arrangements on
placed, while in the centre of the field
leging
the field ; third, to an unruly and un-
were the hurdles and jumping-poles,
other
restrained partisan crowd." The refusal
with a hundred-yard track marked out
rs that
of Yale to play with more than eleven
between them." It was an important
estion,
men and Harvard with less than fifteen,
day in the history of athletic sports at
prevented a match in '77. Yale's ar-
Harvard.
ne was
which
gument, as voiced by the Courant, was:
In the matter of baseball, the seven-
other
We are the champions of last fall,
ties were years of much activity and
details,
having won with eleven men and the
success. A great many men played for
ssocia-
Rugby rules, and all teams who wish
exercise in my time, whether they were
[t was
to contest the championship with us
candidates for the team or not, and
McGill
should challenge us to play with eleven
there was plenty of material from which
d the
men and the Rugby rules." In reply
to choose a winning nine. My partic-
the
Advocate
I ours
said Harvard having
ular class contributed the pitcher and
ge, and
beaten all her opponents, Yale included,
catcher of the nine which won in '72
which,
with fifteen men in '75 and '76, was
and again in '73 the series of games
Cam-
the champion in the fall of '76, and had
with Yale. In neither instance was a
therefore a right to keep to fifteen men.
one ac-
third game necessary. The later years
ording
She had been playing all the fall of '76
of the seventies saw the Harvard nine,
y 14th
with fifteen men, and wished to play
under the leadership of Captain Thayer,
Yale with that number but Yale in-
st day
repeatedly victorious against the blue
sisted on eleven men. Harvard made
My
in fiercely contested games, the mem-
arvard
the concession." So there was no game
ory of which stirs the blood in the
that year. But in '78, after parley,
game
veins of their now more than forty-year-
d that
Yale consented to play with fifteen old contemporaries. The Harvard nine
men, and the match came off in Boston
I rules
in these years played with professional
Advo-
on the South End grounds. It was a
as well as college teams, and made tours
fierce contest on a rain-soaked field, and
isome-
in various directions to meet doughty
was won by Yale by a single goal. This
y game
adversaries. No gambling or jockey-
er, '74,
time the Advocate admitted that, though
ing features were then conspicuous no
proved
a disappointment, the game was fairly
newspaper lives of the players exagger-
won.
ated beyond all semblance to truth the
564
Harvard College in the Seventies
importance of the undertaking. The
well on in the seventies the classes
nine were simple-minded, earnest young
were still small enough for a man to
men who were fond of baseball for its
know all his classmates by sight, and
own sake and determined to beat Yale.
the majority of them pretty well. As I
Why we won then and do not win now
remember us, we were an energetic lot,
puzzles many brains wiser in athletic
and, despite the statement I have
lore than mine. I suppose the reason
quoted as to our conservatism, were
is that then we played better ball than
as ready as the authorities to try new
Yale and now Yale plays better ball
ventures. Those who did not study
than Harvard. Naturally the best
hard went in for something else with
players win.
enthusiasm. I was well fitted when I
As to boating, the seventies saw sim-
entered, and was able to keep about the
ilar activity on the water, and though
middle of the class by skimming like
in the early part of the decade Harvard
a swallow over the surface of my work.
took the wash of some of the fresh-
I hope that is not possible now. My
water colleges for a considerable period,
senior year I, like many others, turned
'77, '78, and '79 were among the most
over a new leaf and did a little better,
brilliant in the history of Harvard ath-
SO that when I graduated I was anxious
letics. In those years the eight-oared
to do better still, and accordingly took
crew under Captain Bancroft won
a course for the Doctor of Philosophy
three successive victories against Yale.
degree, living in Boston and coming
In '71, '72, '73, '74, '75, and '76, races
out now and then to consult Professor
were rowed at Ingleside, Springfield, or
Child, whose valuable, friendly counsel
Saratoga, under the auspices of the
I have always remembered with grati-
National Rowing Association of Amer-
tude. When I entered the law school
ican Colleges. As many as ten or in '76 I found it a veritable bee-hive.
twelve crews took part in these con-
Everybody was ardently in earnest, and
tests, and fouls and consequent bicker-
it was interesting to see what a change
ings were numerous. Harvard never
had come over many of the men who
came in first, but she thought herself
had not been conspieuous for hard
first in '73 for about three minutes,
work as undergraduates. The leaven
only to find herself third. That was
of the new administration was working.
the day of the famous diagonal line.
It is not easy to describe the more
In 1875 the Harvard color, which since
elusive features of college life in my
1864 had masqueraded under the name
day, the friendships formed, the walks
of *Magenta, owing to some difficulty
and talks, the grapplings with the prob-
or carelessness in getting the proper
lems of existence in company or by
shade of handkerchief for the crews,
one's self. These are matters which
was definitely established as crimson.
count, perhaps, for more than anything
These were active days on the Charles
else in the experience of every stu-
for miscellaneous oarsmen. Class and
dent. I refer to them to indicate that,
scratch crews abounded and sunk each
though we were bovish, we were, as a
other from time to time, and every one
rule, right-minded and eager at heart
tried to row. At one period, in '75 I
to do well, and thoughtful withal when
think, club crews, made up from differ
no proctor's vicinity catered to our taste
ent sections of the yard, and named
for mischief. I am sure that when the
after the dormitories, Holworthy, Weld,
corner-stone of Memorial Hall was laid
Holyoke, and Matthews, took the place
in October, 1870, some of us envied the
of the class crews for a time. Sliding
glory of those in whose memory it was
seats were first introduced in the seven-
done, and felt that we had been deprived
ties, 'and eight substituted for six oars
by fate of an opportunity. We were by
in the University boat in 1876.
no means a morbid lot, however. In-
There was much sociability among
deed, feeling that we had just missed
the students in my day. There was
the great chance, we may have been
considerable loafing in one another's
disposed, after the manner of those who
rooms, and sitting round doing noth-
missed the last car from Scollay Square,
ing.
I dare say there is still. Until
to take things as comfortably as we
Harvard College in the Seventies
565
could under the circumstances. Some
tunes accumulated, had scarcely begun
asses
of us read a good deal, but our miscel-
to be felt. Society in New England at
n to
laneous reading was rarely directed by
the time of the civil war stood for no-
and
As I
suggestions or hints from our instruc-
ble ideals and great purposes. That
tors. The college library was then a
C lot,
grand generation has passed away. Its
have
place for storing books instead of cir-
great men are dead many of its theo-
culating them. as at present, and was
ries seem a little nebulous to us now.
were
comparatively little used by the stu-
We have entered on a new phase of
new
dents. The Harvard Advocate, in bid-
study
civilization, and new problems bred of
with
ding farewell to my class, said "No
democracy and unrest confront us. Yet
hen I
longer will they sport at pitch-penny
I believe that work as earnest and
ut the
in front of Holworthy, or pass ball in
more intelligent than the work of the
like
defiance of proctors all over the yard.
past is being done in the world to-day,
on
work.
But, seriously, few classes have ever
and that much of it is being done at
graduated more beloved by their fellow-
Harvard. I do not think that the Uni-
My
urned
students or esteemed by the faculty versity should be held responsible for
than '73." This was a little stiff per-
that which should be learned at the
better,
uxious
haps, but I cannot allow such a tribute
mother's knee and impressed on the
y took
to my class to lie buried in the files of
growing boy by parental precept and
more than twenty years ago.
osophy
example. If the student is extravagant
As I look back on my college days it
and self-indulgent it is because his
:oming
strikes me that we were boys. Honest,
elders_are. If the tone and aspirations
ofessor
;ounsel
energetic, square-trotting, manly boys,
of society and the homes of this country
grati-
but still boys. The fault was not are at fault, young men will be sent to
wholly ours; the apparent aim of the
school
Harvard unable to appreciate the ben-
authorities was to keep us so, and one
efits which are offered to them. But
ee-hive.
of the most significant and valuable of
est, and
when we come to compare the Har-
the results of the policy adopted by
vard of to-day with the Harvard of
change
President Eliot and his faculty is the
the seventies, I cannot but feel that
en who
trust which is now reposed in thehonor
from the point of view of a liberal edu-
r hard
of the students and the breaking down
leaven
cation the young man of to-day, if he
of the barriers between the instruct-
will choose wisely, and make the most
orking.
ors and the instructed. We were spied
of his time, has a grand chance. His
e more
on and watched. Proctors dogged our
faculties are stimulated in a way in
in my
footsteps at night and stalked between
which mine never were. He is allured,
e walks
the tables on examination-day. What
not clubbed into the path of knowledge
e prob-
wonder that the Freshmen and Soph-
and wisdom. The methods of teaching
i or by
omores "ragged" signs from the lamp-
s which
are charged with sympathy, and the
posts and the shops out of deviltry,
standards of mental excellence have
anything
and that even Juniors wore top-boots
been greatly raised. Competition is
ery stu-
lined with "cribs," in order to baffle
fiercer, and, to excel, the mental athlete
ate that,
the argus - eyed ? It was anything to
needs the full energies of a healthy
ere, as a
get the better of our tutors, and with
body and a well-trained mind. In the
at heart
them the presumption seemed to be
plethora of choice and the abundance
hal when
that a student was not to be trusted.
of the interests of university life, some
our taste
It is evident to me that the relations of
when the
may go miserably astray in the twilight
was laid
the undergraduates of the present day
but even in the sixties all did not
to their instructors is very different,
nvied the
hearken to the inspirations of the hour,
and that, as a consequence, the Harvard
and in the fifties the connection of some
ry it was
man of the nineties is more disposed to
deprived
with the college was abruptly severed.
put away boyish things and take advan-
e were by
Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days,
ever. In-
tage of the opportunities offered him
Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes,
for culture.
And marching single in an endless file,
st missed
We were energetic, honest, and manly
Bring diadems and fagots in their hands.
ave been
boys, and we were simple in our habits.
To each they offer gifts after his will.
those who
The material wave which swept over
Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds
by Square,
them all.
the nation, as a result of the great for-
I, in my pleached garden, watched the pomp,
ly as we
566
Golf
Forgot my morning wishes, hastily
which will send them out into the world fit to
Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day
control events and do battle for our motto
Turned and departed silent. I, too late,
Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn."
Veritas. But the University cannot evolve
a noble life from a shallow soul. It says
Harvard University to-day offers young
choose, and it is for each to declare whether
men a chance to train themselves for the
he will havé the sky or the herbs and apples.
work of life such as it never offered me and
We who were undergraduates twenty years
the men of my time. The students have a
ago must needs envy the men of the nineties
gymnasium for the mind and for the body
their greater privileges.
GOLF
By H. J. Whigham
IT is natural that a game which has
fore, it will be well to confine ourselves to
formed the chief recreation of the Scottish
the more recent incidents in the growth of
people for several centuries should have by
the game. more especially those which have
this time acquired a large literature of its
to do with its spread in this country. For
own, SO much SO that two of the best vol-
even Mr. Horace Hutchinson's excellent
umes in the whole domain of sporting his-
work in the Badminton series was contrib-
tory are devoted to this subject. It will
uted before England became thoroughly
be unnecessary and superfluous therefore
converted. Nine years Ago, at the English
to enter upon a full description of the
universities, not only was the game played
game's development in the remote past, for
by a very small body of undergraduates
are not its annals written in the pages of
over the half-inundated cricket fields dur-
the Badminton book upon golf and did not
ing the winter months, but the ignorance
Sir Walter Simpson go back farther yet and
displayed by all who did not belong to this
invent a pretty legend to explain the ori-
devoted band was simply appalling to one
gin of the pastime? All this has been done
who had been born and educated north of
for us already. It is needless to recount
the Tweed. The point of view taken by
how the popularity of the game began in
most Englishmen was well expressed when
the seventeenth century seriously to men-
it was proposed about a year later that
ace the profession of the soldier and the
the members of the team selected to repre-
pursuit of religion how the great Mon
sent Oxford in the inter-university golf
trose preferred a friendly contest at Mussel-
match should be allowed the privilege of
burgh to raiding the base Lowlander, or
wearing a half-blue"-the full blue"
how Charles I. forfeited his crown and his
being the reward for services in the Rowing
life because he allowed the Irish Rebellion
Eight, Cricket Eleven, or football teams.
to break out while he was sacrificing his
The president of the "blues" committee
royal duties to indulgence in this ancient
was at that time one of the best all-round
sport. More recent passages in history tell
athletes in Oxford, and he very strongly
the same tale. The one fact of importance
objected to extending any university rec-
which has been related of the predecessor
ognition to the exponents of a game which
of Queen Victoria on the throne of Eng-
-as he put it-did not induce perspira-
land is that he was elected captain of the
tion. In other words, he confirmed the
St. Andrews Golf Club, and it is certain to-
general opinion of outsiders that golf is
day that Mr. A. J. Balfour would refuse
not an athletic pursuit at all, but merely a
the premiership of the British Government
mild recreation for old men.
if he could by so doing become the amateur
Now, although it is perfectly true that
golf champion of Scotland and England.
children of ten and octogenarians can
In order, then, to avoid returning over
trudge round the links and enjoy the fresh
ground that has been SO often trodden be-
air and the mild exercise involved in tap-
SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE
VOL. XXI
MAY, 1897
NO. 5
UNDERGRADUATE LIFE AT HARVARD
By Edward S. Martin [1856-1939]
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. II. HYDE AND HOWARD PYLE
I
F anyone started out to write about the
from Boston and the towns and cities im-
people of the city of New York and
mediately tributary to it. Six or seven hun-
their customs and manner of life, he
dred come from outside of New England,
would hardly think it necessary to
and of these about one hundred and tifty
say that there were many different sorts
or seventy-five come from New York and
of people there who were busy about
its suburbs. New England, outside of
many different sorts of things, and lived
eastern Massachusetts, sends the rest.
various lives under conditions of wide di-
These eighteenhundred young men possess
versity. It is understood that in a big
eighteen hundred different outfits of per-
city these differences of people and aims
sonal idiosyncracies, and besides that are
and circumstances always exist, but it is
exponents of exceedingly various systems
not SO well appreciated to what degree
of raising. The lads who come from a long
analogous diversities exist in a great col-
distance are apt, though by no means sure,
lege. We are all ready to think, for all
to be sons of well-to-do parents, and inured
that some of us know better, that a college-
from childhood to the comforts and in
boy is just a college-boy, and that one col-
many cases to the luxuries of life. A great
lege-boy is about like another, and that
many of those who come from the Boston
they all go to college for about the same
district are in a similar predicament, but a
purpose, and pursue it in about the same
large proportion of those who live within
Note:
way. There is an approximation to truth
easy reach of Cambridge are sons of peo-
in that supposition, but not a very close
Martin graduated
ple who have little money to spare, and
one. The extremes of humanity in a big
who have to count carefully the cost of the
town are, of course, vastly farther apart
education they give their children. In this
in 1877. He was a
than any two lads in a Harvard class, but
great collection of young men there are
still the difference between Harvard un-
lads who are used, when at home, to dine
Freshman during
dergraduates is SO considerable that it
in a dress-coat, and very many others who
must be appreciated if one is to form any
never possessed a dress-coat and see no
G.B.D.'s senior
just idea of the elasticity and comprehen-
immediate prospect of requiring one
year. Herein
siveness of the bond that includes them
there are lads with good manners and lads
all. In the academic department of Har-
He describes the
with nomanners at all; lads who have been
vard there are nowadays nearly eighteen
taught to keep clean and lads whose ablu-
hundred young men. Rather more than
Harvard culture
RVI.
tions are infrequent and perfunctory lads
half of them come from places SO near
who are used to society and lads who are
m she was
of the widdle
Cambridge, that they can spend their Sun-
not ; lads who are eager after knowledge
days at home. Pretty nearly half come
for learning's sake; lads who covet it be-
Seventies. See also
Copyright, 1897, by Charles Scribner's Sons. All rights reserved.
Robert grant's companco
article in same issue.
532
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
The Johnson Gate (West) Erected
cause knowledge is power : lads whose par-
individuals of the same breed than a group
ents are anxious that they should learn as
of Harvard Freshmen. There is less differ-
much as possible because a smattering of
once in their manners. their dress their talk,
knowledge is elegant. And. of course,
and they may even have come to hold a
there are lads of strong character and weak
good many sentiments in common. Big
lads ; lads whose minds have matured and
as she has grown to be. multifarious as her
lads who are still very young: lads of good
brood is, and in spite of the strong centrif-
morals and lads with an inclination toward
ugal tendencies that separate her children
unwholesome experiment : lask with an
and send them each about his proper busi-
acute interest in athletics and physical
ness, Harvard still stamps her own indi-
prowess. and lads who are indifferent to
viduality upon them. in faint lines, it may
muscle or speed: lads for whom the seri-
be, but distinctly enough for practised eyes
ous business of life has already begun. and
to detect.
others for whom the material conveniences
There was an old Harvard and there is
have been provided in advance and who
a new. and the line of separation is SO re-
seek mainly such a training and such ex-
cent that a graduate of less than twenty
periences as may best enable them to profit
years standing can remember when it be-
by what they have got. The usual length
gan (1) appear. It came with the elective
of time that a lad spends as an undergrad-
system. and has developed year by year as
uate in college is four enough
that system has developed. and as students
even under the most favorable conditions
names have multiplied in the Harvard cat-
to make him over and turn him out a new
alogue. Twenty years ago there were still
man. Accordingly, as lads differ widely
classes and class-feeling at Harvard. Most
when they enter Harvard, they also differ
of the studies of Freshman year and nearly
widely when they are graduated. But they
half of the Sophomore studies were pre-
are perceptibly more alike than they were.
scribed. There were then about two hun-
They do not live together four years un-
dred students in a class. There were some
der conditions approximately similar with-
lectures which a whole class attended in a
out gathering some things in common.
A
body, but for general purposes of instruc-
group of Harvard seniors look more like
tion each class was divided arbitrarily on
been
The Flower Rush on Class Day.
534
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
proportion of
them by sight.
Each class had its
together, and
was thus divided
off conveniently
for inspection ac
cording to its sen
iority. Most lads
came to college
with some ready
made friends, and
those who came
from the larger
schools had a con-
siderable squad of
more or less inti-
mate associates to
start with. The
members of these
bands of school
mates were as
signed to different
divisions accord
ing their names
and shared with
one another the
information they
curfes
got about new
men. Abbott, who
had been at school
with Smith and
took his meals at
Vestibule, Memorial Hall, showing Memorial Tablets on the Right
the same club-
table with him,
an alphabetical basis into divisions of thir
quickly formed theacquaintance of Adams,
ty or forty men, who recited together.
At
Arbuthnot. Allardice, Bates and Barstow,
that time all of a Freshman's class-room
and imparted his views about those young
associations were with Freshmen. So were
gentlemen to Smith, who reciprocated by
most of his other associations. He first got
putting Abbott in possession of his impres-
to know the members of his division by
sions of Rathbone, Robinson, Sands, Saw-
name from hearing their names called in
verand Thompson. Lawrence at the same
the recitation-room. Presently, if he was
club-table, presently knew Knowles, all the
of a reasonably social turn, he had scraped
Lowells, Lane. Mullins, Marvine. Notman,
acquaintance with most of the men of his
and Pope : and Abbott and Smith learned
own division. To some lectures half the
very quickly what he thought of them. It
class, or even the whole class, went together.
seems to a retrospective graduate that in
The roll-call at such lectures helped to
Harvard College in those days about three
identify the members of the class. At pray-
fifths of the cursory talk of average under-
ers, too, the Freshman saw his classmates
graduates was about one another. It began
all together, and usually his devotions did
when sub-Freshmen met to be examined
not absorb him SO much but that every
for admission, and it continued until gradu-
morning he looked a good many of his
ation. The amount of attention that men
fellow-worshippers over. At prayers, too,
paid to one another and the time they de-
every day he saw nearly all the undergrad-
voted to estimating one another's intellec-
uates in college, and came to know a large
tual, physical, social, and moral qualities,
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
535
and discussing details of conduct was ex-
traordinary, It cannot be said that every
and estimates were in a constant state of
man in it class knew every other man, but
revision and reconstruction. In those days
the apparatus for bringing men of the same
the sentiment called class -feeling flour-
class together was efficient, and it did usual-
ished. Menknew their classmates, and knew
Ivhappen that by the end of Freshman year
their class, though their acquaintance was
by no means limited to it. After Freshman
Morning Prayers-Appleton - Chapel.
nearly every man believed that he knew,
year, especially, they began to know the
or knew about, every man in his class
men in other classes, and often to form
whose acquaintance it seemed likely to be
worth his while to make. Men were mis-
friendships with them. But they always felt
judged, misunderstood, overestimated and
a strong interest in their own class, bragged
underestimated ; but acquaintance was
about it as a class, and believed it, if pos-
sible, to be the best class in college, or
very general and was constantly ripening,
certainly better than the classes immediate-
536
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
what best suits his taste,
inclinations, and pur-
poses. Most of the elect-
ive courses are open to
students of several classes
and tograduate students,
and when a Freshman
has sorted out the studies
he purposes to pursue, he
finds himself in the lect
ure or recitation room
with an unclassified body
of learners, most of them
no doubt Freshmen like
himself, but very likely
with plenty of Sopho-
mores too, and possibly
with other upper . class
men and graduate stu.
dents. Compulsory
prayers have passed out
of existence, and he rare-
ly or never sees his own
class all together at one
time. Indeed, there is
not a lecture - room in
Harvard College that will
seat all the members of
the present Freshmen
class at once. He rarely
even sees a group of men
together in any class-
room of whom he can be
sure that all of them are
his class-mates. Instead
The Delta Phi Club.
of reciting day after day
throughout a college
ly ahead of it and next behind it. They
year with the same squad of youths, here.
knew it could cheer louder than any other
cites with four or five different sets, each
class, and SO far as demonstrated facts al-
of which is composed of men who happen
lowed, they tried to believe that it had the
to have chosen the same course as he. It
best ball-nine and the fastest crew. \ Har-
is possible, in the course of a year or two,
vard class in the centennial year of Ameri-
under favorable conditions to learn to know
can independence was still a family, not
a good deal about two hundred men, but
very closely united, but still conscious and
to get the run of four or five hundred men
appreciative of a tie which was recognized
under conditions that are not particularly
as existent, even though it did not bind
favorable is, obviously enough, impractica-
very tight.
ble.
Nowadays a Harvard class has come to
But though the tie of class has been SO
be a much larger and looser aggregation
stretched and honey-combed at Harvard
of individuals, and the facilities for knit-
that it does not serve the social purpose it
ting it together have almost disappeared.
once did, it must not besupposed that every
Between four and five hundred men now
Harvard man goes his own gait without
enter college together. Only a single study,
definite ties of association with his fellows.
English, is prescribed to all of them. All
The Harvard " Club Book and the Har-
the rest they select, each man choosing vard "Index" for last year record the ti-
HOWARD PYLE.
UNDERGRADUATE LIFE IN 1679.
" We found there eight or ten young fellows sitting around, smoking tobacco, with the smoke of which the room was
so full, that you could hardly see.
538
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
tles, and in most cases the membership of
out club-rooms. Finally there is the Med.
someninetvorganizations of students, some
Fac. and such social apparatus as Harvard
primarily social, some remotely so, but all
has these various organizations constitute.
of them serving in different degrees tobring
There are enough of them to cover a good
men together. In this list arethe half-dozen
deal of ground if their membership was
organizations which are devoted 10 the in-
widely enough distributed. but, as a matter
terests of the college press the score. or
of fact, the societies that are of the most
thereabouts. devoted to sports and athlet-
use in promoting acquaintano and social
ies the five or six devoted to music : the
relations affect only a small proportion of
school clubs, as the Andover, Groton, St.
the undergraduates. \ few men belong 11)
Mark's and St. Paul's clubs, where the tie
more clubs than they have time to attend
to, and it large majority
is a common experience
of their fellows belong to
in a preparatory school
none at all. What ( 011
the clubs of locality. as
cents the majority sposi
the Canadian. Southern.
sibly of the most impor
and Maine clubs the
tance but as long as
religious societies. half a
there social mas hine
dozen of them the clubs
at Harvard it is as well
based on an interest in
10 look it over and see
a particular study. as the
how 11 work, and what
English, Classical. and
il does
Natural History clubs
When Thomas Bul-
the clubs where French
finch. of Boston. enters
and German are spoken:
Harvard with some four
the political clubs the
or five hundred other
clubs in derogation of
young men. he finds
strong drink the de-
himself in possession of
bating clubs many oth-
a good many ready
er clubs devoted to other
made social advantages
interests, and finally the
He has been fitted for
half-score or SO of clubs
college at a good private
chiefly social. somelarge,
school in Boston. where
some small, whereof
the other lads of his year
whatever other excuse
were boys whom he had
they find for being. the
known ever since they
chief basis of member-
were all in knickerbock
ship is general affinity.
ers. .\ dozen of them
In this latter group be-
enter at the same time.
long the Hasty Pudding
They are sons of well-to-
and Pi Eta, the Porcel-
Suit Worn by Barnabas Hedge. a Mem
do people in Boston so-
lian and the A. 1)., the
ber of the Class of 1783. at the Grad
Institute of 1770 and
uating Exercises of the Class
ciety, and are a reasona-
bly good-looking, civil-
its shadowy satellite.
the Dicky; the Alpha Delta Phi, the
ized squad of youths, They organize them-
Delta Phi, the Zeta Psi, and the Theta
selves into a club table, and take their
Delta Chi, all of which have houses or
meals together at the best boarding-house
rooms where the members meet and spend
they can find or afford. They not only
more or less of their time. These last four
know one another pretty well, but they
clubs are all of comparatively recent origin.
all have more or less acquaintance with
So is the Delta Upsilon, which differs from
the upper classmen. and most of them
them in having a larger membership, and,
have cousins or brothers or old family
at last accounts, in allowing considerations
friends in college. So Thomas steps in-
of scholarship and literary proclivities
to
to a ready - made circle, and proceeds
influence its choice of members. Like it
to take notice how he may profitably en-
in that respect are the O. K. and the Sig-
large it. He has talked Harvard college
net, societies of age and standing, but with-
pretty steadily with his pals for some years.
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
539
and has a fairly accurate knowledge of the
tened eagerness would be discerned and
salient social facts about it. He is a fair
remembered to his social detriment. Being
student, and has a good preparation, and a
of a social turn. however, Thomas does
tolerably well-trained mind and if he was
make acquaintances. some by hook, and
ambitious to be a high scholar he could
someb casual crook. but most of them by
probably be one, but college offers him SO
more formal processes of introduction.
much besides high-scholarship that seems
Some of his friends in the upper classes
worth his while. that he is quite satisfied to
have him in their minds, and pay him the
be a fair scholar only. and (1) devote a con-
civility to call upon him. He has some-
siderable share of his attention to the ex-
thing to say to new acquaintances, and
perience of other sensations and theaccom-
has been used to having views and ex-
plishment of other ends. He has a good
pressing them. and his manners are good,
equipment of energy. both physical and in-
and more than all he has in fair measure
tellectual. and is a lad of force. a good deal
that balance of faculties that is called
of it being still undeveloped. Besides the
common sense: and SO it happens that he
necessary book-learning which he got at
usually leaves an agreeable impression be-
school, he acquired exceptional proficiency
hind him. He studies intelligently but not
in manipulating a base-ball. He enjoys
to such excess as to prejudice his interest
playing base-ball and intends to playin col-
in the social side of college life. When
lege, and his pals know of his proficiency.
spring comes he plays base- on his
and think and talk a good deal about it.
class-nine. and such men in his class as
Wherever Thomas goes. to his lectures and
care for athlet-
recitations, to Jarvisand the Soldiers' Field,
ics get to know
to his meals and his room, to other fel-
him by sight.
lows' rooms, to thy billiard-room in Har-
So do men in
vard Square most affected by Freshmen.
other classes
and to punches, and in and out of Bos-
whose interest
ton, he sees new faces and takes note of
in base ball is
them. He has a room in a private dormi-
acute. H e
tory where several of his club-table com-
doesn't neces-
panions also live. and he gets to know by
sarily become
sight other men in that building. He and
popular because
his pals presently form relations with other
he is a base-ball
squads of youths from other schools who
player, but he
constitute other club-tables, and with
becomes con-
whom they discuss issues of class politics.
spicuous enough
At the class-meeting Thomas's crowd run
to promote the
him for captain of the ball nine, but a big-
establishment of
ger crqwd from another school down him
his identity and
and get their man in. Still Thomas's name
to make the men
has been spoken in the meeting and he
who direct the
has made one or two more acquaintances
social destinies
there. It must not be supposed that he is
of the place
or ever becomes while in college over-
ready to make acquaintances. He is polite
The Porcellian Club
and civilly responsive, but is hardly
more likely to speak to a) man whom
he not know in the ward or in a
does
Cambridge street-car than you would
be to speak to a stranger on Broad-
way or in an elevated railroad train.
He is especially strict with himself at
first about scraping an acquaintance
with a man, and especially an upper-
class-man, whom he wants to know,
for fear that any betrayal of unchas-
540
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
aware of his existence. The upshot of it
takes the place in him of his own. When
is that Thomas, becoming conspicuous
Thomas Bulfinch, after his name has been
enough to be discerned, and being agree-
spelled out in the yard at night by the
able enough to be liked, and being sat-
Sophomore members of the Institute, is
isfactory in most overt particulars, pres-
seen leaving newspapers at Sophomores'
ently finds himself
doors in the early
the possessor of a
Journal 1799
morning, wheeling
coveted distinction
baby-wagonsalong
in being one of
Massachusetts
the ten Freshmen
Avenue, and doing
elected members
other such humble
of the Institute of
offices, no body
1770.
who knows Har-
The precise rela-
vard College will
tion of the D. K.
have any doubt
E. society, vulgar-
that he will pres-
ly known as the
ently be a member
'Dicky," to the
of the "Dicky."
Institute, is a se-
From that time on
In Noyes's room the awful pot appeared."
ret which is shared
it is plain sailing
pretty equally be-
Drawing by Washington Allston, class of 1800. Reproduced in the
Souvenir of the Hasty Pudding Centennial.
for him. There is
tween the members
no bushel over his
of the society, and the newspapers of Bos- candle. It has been put in a candle-stick,
ton. The newspapers explain annually and set forth, and if it does not shine it will
that the Dicky"
be because of a de-
is a society behind
fect in luminosity,
the Institute, and
and not from any
that the first two-
lack of fit position.
thirds or SO of the
When Thomas
hundred men who
returns to college
are elected into the
in the beginning of
Institute become
his Sophomore
members of the
year, he occupies a
"Dicky." The
place of considera-
newspapers are
ble social power,
quite confident that
for it falls to him
the first ten of the
and his nine peers
Institute are also
of the Institute to
the first ten of the
select the next ten
"Dicky," and when
of their class-mates
members of first
who seem most
tens are seen short-
suitable for mem-
ly after their elec-
bership of that so-
tion doing all man-
ciety. With four
ner of fantastic
or five hundred
things about Har-
men to choose
vard Square, and
from, whom do
even in Boston, the
they select? Nat-
explanation is that
urally their choice
these young men
Programme of a Pi Eta Entertainment.
is limited to the
are "running for
Drawn by F. D. Millet.
men they happen
the Dicky." Judg-
to know, and per-
ing from outward manifestations this "run-
haps between them all they know half
ning" seems to be a process of probation
the class. Thomas's special interest in
wherein the candidate is handed over to
this process of selection is to look after
tormentors whose will for the time being
the interest of those of his particular fa-
540
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
aware of his existence. The upshot of it takes the place in him of his own. When
is that Thomas, becoming conspienous
Thomas Bulfinch, after his name has been
enough to be discerned. and being agree
spelled out in the vard at night by the
able enough 10 be liked. and being sat
Sophomore members of the Institute, is
isfactory in most overt particulars, pres seen leaving newspapers at Sophomores'
ently find himself
door 111 the early
the possessor of il
morning wheeling
coveted distinction
Journal 1799
baby wagonsalong
in being one of
Massachusetts
the ten Freshmen
Avenue, and doing
elect members
other such humble
of the Institute of
offices. 110 body
who known Har
1770.
The preciscrela
vard College will
(1011 of the 1). K.
have any doubt
E. society, vulgar-
that he will pres
ly known as the
ently be a member
Dicky," to the
of the Dicky
Institute, is it S('-
From that time on
In Incess room the awful put appeared
cretwhich is shared
it is plain sating
Keji
pretty equally be
Padding
for him. There is
tween the members
no bushel over his
of the society. and the newspapers of Bos.
candle. It has been put in a candle stick.
ton. The newspapers explain annually and set forth, and if it does not shine it will
that the Dicky"
be because of il de
is a society behind
feet in luminosity.
the Institute. and
and not from any
that the first two-
lack of fit position.
thirds or SO of the
When Thomas
hundred men who
returns to college
are elected into the
in the beginning of
Institute become
his Sophomore
members of the
year. he occupies a
"Dicky." The
place of considera-
newspapers are
ble social power.
quite confident that
for it fall- to him
the first ten of the
and his nine peers
Institute are also
of the Institute to
the first ten of the
select the next ten
"Dicky," and when
of their class-mates
members of first
who seem most
tens are seen short-
suitable for mem-
ly after their elec-
bership of that SO
tion doing all man-
ciety. With four
ner of fantastic
or five hundred
things about Har-
men to choose
vard Square, and
from. whom do
even in Boston, the
they select? Nat-
explanation is that
urally their choice
these young men
Programme of a Pi Eta Entertainment.
is limited to the
are "running for
Drawn by F. D. Millet.
men they happen
the Dicky." Judg-
to know, and per-
ing from outwardemanifestations this "run-
haps between them all they know half
ning" seems to be a process of probation
the class. Thomas's special interest in
wherein the candidate is handed over to
this process of selection is to look after
tormentors whose will for the time being
the interest of those of his particular fa-
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
541
Strawberry Night at the Hasty Pudding Club.
miliars whom he likes the best. He sees to
have things all their own way in Sopho-
it that as many men as possible from his
more year ; neither do their members neces-
club-table get into the second ten. The
sarily abuse the advantages of their posi-
beneficiaries of his influence, on being ad-
tion, but their position is advantageous,
mitted, aid him as far as they can in getting
and they profit by it.
a due number of their pals and his into the
Early in Sophomore year, Thomas, con-
third ten, SO that in due time the whole club-
tinuing his triumphant social career, is in-
table is taken into the Institute, and a fair
vited to be a member of one of the small
proportion-perhaps all of them get in
clubs made up mainly of Seniors and Jun-
early enough to share in the advantages of
iors, which take in a few Sophomores.
the shadowy Dicky. And as it happens
He joins, say, the Delta Phi. It affords
with Thomas's club-table, SO it happens
him the conveniences of a pleasant club-
with other club-tables, made up of men
house and the society of three or four mem-
from other schools. The club-tables do not
bers of his own class, ten or twelve Jun-
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
541
Strawberry Night at the Hasty Pudding Club.
miliars whom he likes the best. He sees to
have things all their own way in Sopho-
it that as many men as possible from his
more year: neither do their members neces-
club-table get into the second ten. The
sarily abuse the advantages of, their posi-
beneficiaries of his influence, on being ad-
tion, but their position is advantageous,
mitted, aid him as far as they can in getting
and they profit by it.
a due number of their pals and his into the
Early in Sophomore year. Thomas, con-
e
third ten. SO that in due time the whole club.
tinuing his triumphant social career, is in-
table is taken into the Institute. and a fair
vited to be a member of one of the small
proportion-perhaps all- of them get in
clubs made up mainly of Seniors and Jun-
early enough to share in the advantages of
jors, which take in a few Sophomores.
the shadowy, Dicky. And as it happens
He joins, say, the Delta Phi. It affords
with Thomas's club-table, SO it happens
him the conveniences of a pleasant, club-
with other club-tables, made up of men
house and the society of three or four mem-
from other schools. The club-tables do not
bers of his own class, ten or twelve Jun-
542
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
iors, and a like number of Seniors.
Very
is left in college to which he considers it
likely also it relieves him of the risk of suf-
an imperative necessity to be joined is the
fering inconvenience from the enforcement
Hasty Pudding, and into that he will glide
of theno-license lawwhich prevails in Cam-
in due time to a certainty. and at no nec-
bridge, and that is a consideration, for it
essary cost of the slightest intermediate of
should be known
fort. If his aspira
that there is no
tions are satisfied
public place in
H.P.C.
he will pay such
Cambridge where
attention as IS nec-
two sojourners
essary to his stud-
ylawfully share
ies, and spend the
a bottle of beer
greater part of his
over their lunch.
leisure in clubs.
Thomas finds the
He will find con.
society of the Del.
genial society in
ta Phi club-house
them, and will
agreeable and its
probably make
privileges handy.
friendships whi
and it is possible
will be a pleasure
that he might
to him in after life.
spend too much
Heiswell situated
of his time there if
to have a certain
it did not happen
kind of fun. He
that while his hab-
has the usutruct of
its as a Delta Phi
one complete set
clubman are still
of the i.il privi-
in a formative
leges of the Har-
state he learns
vard system. un-
ACTING MANAGER
W. DAVIS
that he is one of
hampered by any
three or four gen-
PIANIST
reasonable posst
tlemen who have
bilities of reverses
been chosen to
SIACO MANACET
J.T.WHEELWRICHT!
or any irksome re-
represent the
NOV.23
sponsibilities
Sophomore class
about anything
in the A. 1). Club.
Hasty Pudding Club Poster. 1876
but his personal
Being already an
comfort He
active member of one club and two socie-
must study enough to keep up with his
ties, two certainly. and all presumably. with
classes, or else he will be dropped. but
club-rooms to maintain. Thomas blinks a
even if that happens he will always enjoy
little at the prospect of incur-
some of the most agreeable priv-
ring liability for another set of
ileges that can belong to a grad-
club dues, especially as he has
uate. There will always be a
about as much present use for
couple of pleasant houses in
two clubs of the same general
Cambridge where he will be
character as a cat traditionally
welcome and will receive polite
has for two tails. Nevertheless,
attentions from agreeable young
he bows gracefully to the SVS-
fellows. whether he comes out
tem, and promptly joins the .1.
to a dinner, or to class day or
D., thereby securing another
Silver Medal Bearing the
commencement, or stops on his
Seal of the Pi Eta So
set of club-house privileges and
ciety
way in town after watching
further advantages of social in-
some game on the Soldiers'
tercourse with selected outfits of Seniors
Field.
It is not surprising that some men
and Juniors.
after achieving membership in the small
Thomas has now been in college only a
clubs take little thought thereafter about
year and a half, but his social career is
the further extension of their experience
practically complete. The only club that
of Harvard life. Into the clubs they go,
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
543
and there they stay, content with ease and
inherited vigor to permit his powers to
good company, as calmly and ingloriously
stagnate, he will still keep in the ring, for all
as a billiard-ball in its pocket, their main
that there are cushioned seats reserved for
use in the college microcosm being to af-
him in private boxes among the spectators.
ford observers awful examples of Harvard
He will still, in spite of his embarrassment
indifference.
of social opportunity, pay decent attention
The small clubs are not conducive tosus-
to his work as a student, he will play base-
tained effort in the public service on the
ball if his efficiency in that continues to be
part of their members, but, after all, their
so exceptional as to make his services de-
seductions are not necessarily irresistible.
sired by the captain of the University nine;
One of the More Luxurious Rooms (Claverly Hall).
Young men of energy and ambition may
when he gets into the Pudding he will act
find it amusing on occasions to sit on the
in theatricals perhaps, and he will try gen-
edge of a table and throw dice for drinks,
erally to keep his finger in such of the col-
but they will not be content to settle down
lege pies as come within his reach. If he is
to that sort of thing as a steady occupation.
recognized as a representative man of en-
For superior men who are too active to be
ergy and influence he may be chosen into
pocketed, the clubs are pleasant without
the Signet or O.K., even though he has no
being unprofitable. It usually happens, in
special turn for letters, and has evaded the
spite of the apparently haphazard system
importunities of the editors of the college
by which the small clubs are recruited, that
papers. When his class graduates, he will
a good many superior lads get into them,
very likely figure as one of its class-day
who continue to be forces in the college
marshals, and what is more important, he
during all the remaining years of their
will carry away with him, along with some
course. It is the instinct of leaders to lead,
scholarship and friendships and associa-
and lead they will if for nothing more
tions of value, a considerable share of true
than for leadership's own sake. There are
education which will be useful to him in
usually such leaders among the Harvard
transacting the various business of life.
clubmen, but they are leaders because it is
Harvard will have been a generous mother
in them, and rather in spite of their being
to Thomas somewhat too indulgent no
in the clubs than because of it. Supposing
doubt, but still truly munificent.
that Thomas is a young fellow of too much
If Thomas's luck had taken a slightly dif-
'ndergraduate Life at Harvard
543
and there they stay, content with ease and
inherited vigor to permit his powers to
good company, as calmly and ingloriously
stagnate, he will still keep in the ring. for all
as a billiard-ball in its pocket, their main
that there are cushioned seats reserved for
use in the college microcosm being to af
him in private boxes among the spectators.
ford observers awful examples of Harvard
He will still. in spite of his embarrassment
indifference
of social opportunity, pay ent attention
The small clubs are not conductivetosis
to his work is a student, he will play base-
turned effort III the public service on the
ball if his efficiency in that continues 10 be
part of their members. but. after all. their
so exceptional as to make his services de-
seductions are not necessarily irresistible.
sired by the captain of the University nine:
One of the More Luxurious Rooms (Claverly Hall)
Young men of energy and ambition may
when he gets into the Pudding he will act
find it amusing on occasions to sit on the
in theatricals perhaps, and he will try gen-
edge of a table and throw dice for drinks.
erally to keep his finger in such of the col-
but they will not be content to settle down
lege pies as come within his reach. If he is
to that sort of thing as a steady occupation.
recognized as a representative man of en-
For superior men who are too active to be
engy and influence he may be chosen into
pocketed. the clubs are pleasant without
the Signet or (). K., even though he has no
being unprofitable. It usually happens, in
special turn for letters, and has evaded the
spite of the apparently baphazard system
importunities of the editors of the college
by which the small clubs are recruited. that
papers. When his class graduates, he will
a good many superior lads get into them,
very likely figure as one of its class-day
who continue to be forces in the college
marshals, and what is more important, he
during all the remaining years of their
will carry away with him, along with some
course. It is the instinct of leaders to lead,
scholarship and friendships and associa-
and lead they will if for nothing more
tions of value. a considerable share of true
than for leadership's own sake. There are
education which will be useful to him in
usually such leaders among the Harvard
transacting the various business of life.
clubmen, but they are leaders because it is
Harvard will have been a generous mother
in them, and rather in spite of their being
to Thomas somewhat too indulgent no
in the clubs than because of it. Supposing
doubt, but still truly munificent.
that Thomas is a young fellow of too much
If Thomas' sluck had taken a slightly dif-
544
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
ferent turn he might have gone in the Zeta oped and supplemented to some extent, but
Psi and Porcellian clubs, and SO into the its enlargement has not begun to keep
Pudding: or he might have failed to
pace with this large increase of member-
reach either A. D. or Porcellian, but still
ship. There is the less need that it should
have been a member of one of the younger
have kept pace with it fully because the
clubs, and still a member of the Pudding;
bulk of the increase is due, not to Har-
or he might have taken a different course
vard's reputation as a sor ial centre. but to
at the start and brought up in the Pi Eta or
the opportunities she offers to students.
Delta Upsilon clubs, in either of which he
Hundreds of men come to her every year
would have found plenty of companions.
for purely scholastic purposes, to learn
And again it might have happened to him,
what her professors teach, and with nomore
as it does actually happen to two-thirds of
idea of such a course of social, athletic,
his classmates, to go through college with
and convivial experiences as our young
out joining any club or society whatever,
man, Thomas, has gone through than of
except such as are based on a common in-
going to the moon. Some of these men are
terest in some study, or some school, or
unsocial persons, who are satisfied to go
locality, or in some form of religion. If
their own gait on their own hook: others
this latter experience had been his there
are unsocial because their work as students
would have been nothing deplorable about
engrosses their energies: others because
his fate. In Harvard College proper
money is scarce with them as well as time.
twenty years ago there were less than eight
The command of a reasonable amount of
hundred students, At the beginning of the
money does not secure social success to its
present year there were 1,754 The
social
possessor at Harvard, or in any college.
apparatus of the college has been devel-
but it does give opportunities. .\ student
whose means are very nar-
row. often has (1) supplement
them by money-getting work.
which occupies the hours that
his studies leave him. If he
takes a scholarship his rank
must be high, and high rank
involves hard work and de
votion to one's list. He is
not only more frugal but bus.
ier than his fellows whose
allowances are bigger. He
avoids even harmless dissipa-
tions, because he cannot af-
ford them. Consequently, so
far as he seeks society at all,
it is the society of men of like
aims and conditions with
himself, as being more col-
venient for him, and more
congenial too, as well as more
feasible. A man does not
have to be joined to a club or
a society before he can con-
verse with his fellow. The
clubs have their uses, but
probably the most satisfac-
tory talk that goes on be-
tween undergraduates is not
the talk of the clubs, but the
seasoned communications
A Room in College House.
born of intimacy and affinity
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
545
A Room in Holworthy.
which pass from man to man by gaslight
at Harvard. He is the right man in the
in the college rooms. A man may be
right place. He may choose all knowledge
too poor or too busy in college to form
to be his and the best the university has
a large acquaintance, but not to make
will be spent to aid him in making good
friends and to get the good of friendship.
his title to his property. He has every-
That the richer and the poorer lads are not
thing to work for, everything to work with,
ordinarily thrown more together at Har-
and much fewer distractions than his more
vard may be a misfortune to both of them,
affluent fellow. He is the especial pride
but it is one that they both bear with equa-
and pet of all the benefactors the college
nimity. The man who has a scholarship and
has ever had. All the prizes that are in-
lives in College House has, usually, begun
trinsically valuable have been until this
the serious work of his life. He hasn't be-
year for him and for no one else. He is
gun altogether from choice, but partly from
not an exception for whom, allowances
th
necessity, and his environment and its op-
are made and who suffers by contrast.
portunities are presumably-satisfactory to
He is, apparently, the rule, and his breth-
re
him. He didn't come to college to have
ren are the exceptions-very numerous
re
fun, but to work. He finds all the work he
to be sure-and allowances are made
ot
can do, and as much chance for recreation
somewhat grudgingly for them. It is
or
as he can improve besides. As a student
not the poor student who suffers because
n-
he is in the position which his brethren
the present social apparatus has been out-
he
of the clubs will be in a year or two later
grown SO much as the student who is not
ut
when they enter the professional schools.
too busy to have social aspirations, or too
C-
There the more sensible of them will real-
poor to cultivate them, but whose reason-
ize that their success in life depends on
able inclinations are never quite satisfied
not
what they are able to do with their heads,
because the fact of his presence in college
the
and they will put away childish things and
does not transpire in the right quarter at
ity
apply themselves for all they are worth.
the right time. It will be remembered
Let no one be sorry for the poor student
that when Thomas Bulfinch got into the
VOL. XXI.-56
'ndergraduate Life at Harvard
545
A Room in Holworthy
which pass from man to man by gaslight at Harvard. He is the right man in the
in the college rooms \ man may be right place. He may choose all knowledge
100 poor or too busy in college 10 form
to be his and the best the university has
a large arquaintance. but not to make
will be spent to aid him in making good
friends and to get the good of friendship.
his title to his property. He has every-
That the richer and the poorer lack are not
thing to work for. everything to work with.
ordinarily thrown more together at Har-
and much fewer distractions than his more
vard may be it misfortune to both of them,
affluent fellow. He is the especial pride
but it is one that they both bear with equa.
and pet of all the benefactors the college
nimity. The man wholasawholarship and
has ever had. .\ll the prizes that are in
lives in College House has, usually, begun
trinsically valuable have been until this
the serious work of his life. He hasn't be
year for him and for no one else. He is
gunaltogether from choice, but partly from
not an exception for whom allowances
necessity, and his environment and its op-
are made and who suffers by contrast.
portunities are presumably satisfactory to
He is apparently, the rule. and his breth.
him. He didn't come 10 college to have
ren are the exceptions very numerous
fun. but to work. He finds all the work he
to be sure and allowances are made
can do, and as much chance for recreation
somewhat grudgingly for them. It is
as he can improve besides. is a student
not the poor student who suffers because
he is in the position which his brethren
the present social apparatus has been out-
of the clubs will be in a year or two later
grown SO much as the student who is not
when they enter the professional schools.
too busy to have social aspirations. or too
There the more sensible of them will real-
poor to cultivate them. but whose reason-
ize that their success in life depends on
able inclinations are never quite satisfied
what they are able to do with their heads,
because the fact of his presence in college
and they will put away childish things and
does not transpire in the right quarter at
apply themselves for all they are worth.
the right time. It will be remembered
Let no one be sorry for the poor student
that when Thomas Bulfinch got into the
Vol.. NXI. 56
(
546
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
through college alone,
but they split up into
small groups They
form friendships and
they find their satis-
factions, but some of
them make not more
than a score of itc.
quaintances all the
time they are in col.
lege. 4/1 is the press
ence of such men in
considerable number
at Harvard thatmakes
it evident that the
present societies are
very imperfectly rep
resentative. Twenty
years ago when the
Hasty Pudding and
In Editorial Cannot of The Daily rimsell
Pi Eta clubs had
Institute and presumably into the Dicky elected its many men from il claim as
also, he bestirred himself to get all the best
they could. they were reasonably sure
fellows - that is, the fellows most congenial
that they had liken in nearly all the men
to him - into those societies. So did the
in that class not otherwise provided for,
other club-table representatives. who got
whose idiosyncrasies seemed adapted (1)
in with him. By the time the club tables
the requirements of their membership.
were sufficiently represented. and the fel-
These club took in in those days about
lows who happened to know one another
three-fifths of it class: now. they and
were duly provided for. the Sophomore
Delta I psilon between them like in hardly
societies were full. ()f course. in a col.
one third The evil result of this differ
lege. where no man knows more than
il
once is that a good many men who would
third of his classmates,
and where the class as
a social unit has passed
away. it is perfectly
possible for social gems
of a highly desirable
ray to be entirely over-
looked. This seems
to happen pretty often,
Lads 'in to college
from small schools, un-
allied with any strong
company. and without
social connections of
any sort, and miss as-
sociations which would
be both pleasant and
profitable to them, not
from personal unfit-
ness, or from individ-
ual defect, but because
their qualities are not
discovered in time.
Such men do not go
The Weld Boat-house
indergraduate Life at Harvard
547
have
like to be in the Pudding or some other of tages. It in it condition of great freedom
the organized clubs and societies. and who whi h a really sturdy chick may appreciate.
are qualified for membership of them. don't
It IS doubtless due to the failure of
get in : the good result of it is that failure
Harvard's older clubs and societies to pro-
to get into the societies and clubs no
vide for the wants of the growing family
longer necessarily implies a serious dis-
that so strong a movement has lately de-
paragement of a man's social qualities.
veloped 10 start a large new club which
When two-thirds of all the men in college
shall admit not less than a thousand mem-
are left out of all the purely social clubs
bers. and which shall practically be open
and societies it makes it easy not to be in
to any member of the college who desires
any of them. The bigger the crowd is that
to join it and who is able to pay its very
the clubs exclude the more salubrious and
moderate fees and dues. Such a club, it
cheerful it is for the excluded. It is pleas-
is believed. would afford a common meet-
ant oftentimes to be in the coop, but the
ing-ground for all the members of the
position outside of the slats has its advan-
university who care to rub against one an-
548
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
An Anxious Parent Sees the Dean
other. and would meet a want which in lie place in Cambridge where it graduate
felt to be rather urgent in Cambridge of a can get a comfortable dinner and find
public place where the ordinary incidents shelter for the night. Buston is SO near
of civilized life in the way of food. drink
that old Cambridge has never developed it
(possibly). newspapers. shelter, and com-
good hotel. If college men have it dinner
panionship could be experienced. Dr.
to give or visiting strangers 10 entertain.
Birkbeck Hill, in his recent book about
they do it at a Boston hotel. I inless an
Harvard. laments the lack there of anything
undergraduate belongs 10 some undergrad
corresponding to the common rooms of
uate club he cannot buy a bottle of beer
Oxford. wish," he writes, "some
without sending to Boston. Beer in smol
generous and worthy benefactor would
10 affect the livers of some persons 1111
rise ; some hospitable man who knows how
favorably, and it IS undoubtedly liable at
much a pleasant meal removes awe and
times to be consumed in excessive quanti
gives us suppler souls." who would pro-
lies by individuals especially in youth
vide Harvard with a hall for the profes-
but whether the waste of time and energy
sors, assistant professors. tutors. and in-
that would result in having beer and other
structors, a noble kitchen. a good cellar. a
potable fluids procurable in Cambridge.is a
stock of old wine. and a half dozen Com-
more serious evil than the waste of time
mon Rooms. Perhaps, large though the
and money and the dearth of certain social
staff is, one Common Room would suffice
opportunities which is incident to the prac-
at first till the art of using it had been ac-
tice of keeping all the Cambridge been in
quired.
Let Harvard once get
Boston. IS it nice question.
two or three Common Rooms built. and
\ great undergraduate social club in
hospitable customs will begin to form."
Cambridge might possibly help (1) ame-
This lack which Dr. Hill deplores, a uni-
liorate the embarrassment to which Har-
versity club of the right sort might con-
yard is subject just now. because of the
tribute very materially to supply. If it
difficulty of providing suitable food at
did no more than serve the purposes of
moderate cost for her growing children.
the Princeton Inn, at Princeton, it would
Students who can pay well for their board
be helpful, for at present there is no pub-
do well enough at their private boarding-
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
549
houses, but those whose expenditures are thing like the degree that it deserves, but
more limited suffer much inconvenience.
the majority of Harvard men nowadays
Memorial Hall takes care of at least a
do appreciate it. They are interested in
third more men than it has room for, and
their daily work, and in the enlargement of
five or six hundred men who would like to
their intellectual horizon which follows the
share the competition for meals which
attention they pay to it. And then, a col-
takes place there cannot be admitted even
lege room is a delightful place. Its OC-
to that privilege, but keep their names on
cupant for the time being is its master.
the waiting list until a vacancy occurs.
He can do as he will in it lock his door
The Foxcroft Club, where life can be sus-
and be not at home admit all comers
tained at smaller cost than at Memorial
sit alone and read or study, or sit with his
Hall, is also overcrowded, but hopes, not
congenial friend and talk out whatever he
confidently as yet, to be presently en-
may have the good fortune to have in his
larged. Such a university club as is pro-
mind. One Harvard graduate certainly,
posed certainly would not undertake to
who found many pleasures of very varied
provide cheap board to undergraduates,
sorts in college, remembers very few with
but even if it only afforded an occasional
such a sense of solid comfort duly taken as
change of diet to those of its members
certaintalks had in collegerooms with good
who boarded at Memorial or Foxcroft, it
men though young, about letters and life
might make their condition more agree-
and people, the immediate environment,
able.
and the greater world on the brink of which
Because the organized social apparatus
all college men stand. Music has charms,
of a great college is tangible and in sight
superlative charms, in college too. In this
there is always danger of having it engross
same graduate's memory there are few
much of the observer's attention. It is
musical associations more consoling than
a relief to turn from the whole scheme of
the memory of what he heard, half asleep
clubs and societies, and the hopes and
in a chair before a fire, while a good mu
jealousies of their
members. and
would-be and
wouldn't-beme
bers, to those ele-
ments of Harvard
life which are out-
side and indepen-
dent of all of
them. Every Har-
vard graduate,
whatever pleasure
he may or may
not have had in
clubs, must look
back with satisfac-
tion experiences
to which they con-
tributed nothing.
Honest study is
like any other
form of virtue in
being its own re-
ward. There is a
satisfaction in it
that of course
many youths fail
to appreciate or
d
cultivate in any-
Interior showing the Mantel of the Hasty Pudding Club.
:-
VOL. XXI.-57
550
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
sician, who was his classmate, sat at his
experience has found that altruism can
piano in the corner. Some of the calmest
best work. Under the supervision of this
and most peaceful memories of college
director, students visit charitable institu-
are the best. The more boisterous pleas-
tions and learn how they are conducted
ures we smile to recall, and wonder as we
they also serve the Associated Charities
remember them at the vigor and the folly
as visitors to the poor, provide entertain-
of youth. But about those quieter streaks
ments for hospitals and asylums, manage
of happiness there was no folly and they
boys' clubs and lending libraries, and serve
involved no remorse.
their brethren in other ways. Another
A Harvard professor tells with satisfac-
field of philanthropic labor is the Prospect
tion a story that illustrates the number of
Union in Cambridgeport. an enterprise of
different interests that may prosper simul-
the university extension pattern, where
taneously at Harvard nowadays with-
working people who want to know go to
out at all interfering with one another.
evening classes and learn. The classes,
One night a year or two ago, Mr. David
almost without exception, are taught by
A. Wells gave a lecture in a large room in
Harvard undergraduates who give one
Sever Hall, on some subject connected
evening a week (1) the work. The other
with political economy. On the same
main attraction of the Union is its weekly
evening a mass-meeting of students was
lectures, most of which are given by mem.
called in Massachusetts Hall, to determine
bers of the Harvard Faculty. It is stated
what action should be taken at a critical
that since the Union began in 1891. every
juncture in intercollegiate athletics. The
member of the Faculty from the President
professor started rather late to hear Mr.
clear around to the President again, has
Wells, and as he went he lamented to him-
lectured there several times.
self that the mass-meeting would draw SO
One dark night, just about twenty years
great a crowd that the lecturer might have
ago, before Harvard had experienced the
to talk to empty seats. When he got to
fundamental changes which have made her
Sever, he found the lecture-room SO full
what she is just now, some young gentle.
that he had to stand up. He got tired of
men, whose identity was never established,
standing after awhile and went away, and
painted in large greasy black letters on the
as he came through the yard it occurred
front of University Hall the words The
to him to look in at the rooms of the
University is going (1) Hell." There have
Classical Club. There he found twenty-
always been persons. some of them sons of
three men sitting around and discoursing
Harvard, some not, who have been in sin-
upon such matters as the members of a
cere accord with this sentiment. Doubtless
classical club discuss when they meet.
there always will be such. Dr. Cotton Ma
The mass-meeting was thoroughly attend-
ther was of that mind and very discontent-
ed too, and the professor went home very
ed with his alma mater, when he wrote in
much impressed with the idea that Har-
1717 to Elihu Yale suggesting that if Gov-
vard had come to be big enough to take
ernor Yale should make an important gift
thought about several things at once.
to the struggling college about to be moved
An example of the comprehensiveness
from Saybrook to New Haven, he might
of the interests of Harvard students ap-
reasonably give name toit. George
pears in the Student Volunteer Work,"
Whitfield was of the same persuasion, in
in which a considerable number of under-
1740, when he wrote that the light of the
graduates engage. It might be called an
New England universities has become
elective course in sociology, for that very
darkness-darkness that may be felt
nearly describes it, except that the work
that "bad books have become fashionable
done does not count toward the A.B.
amongst them and Tillotson Clarke
degree. The work has an organized com-
are read instead of Shepard Stoddard."
mittee and a salaried Director who knows
Some people may be of that mind even
about the organized charity work of Cam-
now, and think, perhaps, that Harvard has
bridge and Boston, and who is qualified by
outgrown her backbone and is ready to
special knowledge and long experience to
tumble apart by her own weight. Others
steer young men who wish to learn to
grieveover the dissolute tendencies of some
help their fellows, into the courses in which
of her scholars, and sigh for the olden time
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
551
The Tennis Courts
when discipline was strict and manners
it, expecting to see something curious, as it
godly and simple. There is more or less to
is the only college or would- academy of
mend at Harvard as in other places, but
the Protestantsin all America, but wefound
there seems good ground for the opinion
ourselves mistaken. In approaching the
that she never was SO useful or flourishing
house, we neither heard nor saw anything
as now, and that the standard of morals,
mentionable but, going to the other side
manners, and erudition among her students
of the building, we heard noise enough in
wasnever SO high. One gets the impression
an upper room to lead my comrade to sup-
from reading some of the old laws of Har-
pose they were engaged in disputation. We
vard that in her early days her students
entered, and went upstairs, when a person
devoted four-fifths of their time to pious
met us and requested us to walk in, which
works, and that butter rarely melted in
we did. We found there eight or ten young
their mouths. But laws are one thing, and
fellows sitting around. smoking tobacco,
the observance of them is quite another.
with the smoke of which the room was SO
Wherever one gets an eye-witness view of
full, that you could hardly see ; and the
Harvard undergraduates, whether one or
whole house smelt SO strong of it, that when
two centuries, or more or less, ago, they al-
I was going upstairs, I said, this is certainly
ways appear to be young men. One of the
a tavern. We excused ourselves, that we
earliest impartial observations of Harvard
could speak English only a little, but under-
was made in 1679-80 by two Frieslanders,
stood Dutch or French, which they did not.
who made a tour in the American colonies,
However, we spoke as well as we could.
e
their record of which has been found and
We inquired how many professors there
e
translated. Theystarted at six in the morn-
were ; and they replied not one, that there
ing to go from Boston to Cambridge, and
was no money to support one. We asked
n
madethetrip in two hours in spite of having
how many students there were. They said
is
lost their way. They said We reached
at first, thirty, and then came down to
o
Cambridge about eight o'clock. It is not a
twenty; I afterwards understood there
rs
large village, and the houses stand very
were probably not ten. They could hardly
e
much apart. The college-building is the
speak a word of Latin, SO that my comrade
e
most conspicuous amongthem. Wewentto
could not converse with them. They took
552
Undergraduate Life at Harvard
us to the library where there was nothing
not proved able to supply them with cheap
particular. We lookedover it a little. They
board of attractive quality at a satisfactory
presented us with a glass of wine. This is
price.
all we ascertained there. The minister of
Where SO many men are working on in-
the place goes there morning and evening
dependent lines, with SO much to keepthe
to make prayer, and has charge over them.
apart and SO little, comparatively, to draw
The students have tutors or masters. ()ur
them together, one may reasonably wonder
visit was soon over, and we left them to go
whether such a thing as a common Har
and look at the land about there."
vard spirit any longer exists. It does ex-
It is proper to say that these visitors hap-
ist, SO men say who abide by the univer
pened upon Harvard at an unlucky time,
sity, and who ought to know. They see
when she had no president, and her affairs
it and feel it. It does not penetrate all in-
were at a particularly low ebb. Nearly fifty
dividuals in the same degree, but it is reck.
years later "grave excesses, immoralities
oned with and observed as a definite force.
and disorders" SO afflicted the college, that
The men best qualified to judge of it insist
the record of some of them is set down in
that it makes for veracity, for a high sense
President Quincy's History.' One
of honor, and for good manners. Indiffer-
special trial at this time was the tendency
once has sometimes been charged against
of the people of eastern Massachusetts to
Harvard, and perhaps not without some
crowd to Cambridge to spend Commence
basis ; but not indifference to truth. That
ment week, and have all the fun they could.
is her quest in science and in philosophy,
For a time the overseers combated this
and the basis of her law in matters of con
tendency by all possible restrictions and
duct. Veritas was not written on the Har
prohibitions, but the colonists fairly beat
vard shield for nothing. The Harvard
them, and Commencement continued for a
spirit may need to be awakened, and nour.
century afterward to be a high Massachu-
ished, and kept alive, but it is worth keep
setts holiday, earnestly kept, and not with-
ing alive. for truth is its most pervasive ele.
out a considerable admixture of revelry.
ment.
It is one merit of Harvard (ii)
All through the eighteenth century and
lege," says Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes,
down to 1849, when commonswere discon-
'that it has never quite sunk to believing
tinued and the college ceased to try to feed
that its only function was to carry a body
its scholars, there was a succession of diffi-
of specialists through the first stage of their
culties about food. The commons fare, it
preparation." No ; it has never come 10
seems, was always pretty bad, and the stu-
that. There is more to its work. and it
dents were dissatished with it. Dr. 1. P.
impossible that anyperson with even
Peabody, of the Class of 1826, tells, in his
il moderate share of imagination could
Reminiscences," how it was in his day,
spend a week in Cambridge without be
The food," he says, "though not deficient
coming aware of it. If there is one Har
in quantity, was SO mean in quality, SO
vard prospect which is fitter than another
poorly cooked and SO coarsely served, as to
to deepen this perception into a convie.
disgust those who had been accustomed to
tion, it is the sight of that simple marble
edecencies of the table, and to encourage
shaft which stands under a tree near the
a mutinous spirit, rude manners, andungen-
entrance of the Soldiers' Field. It bears
tlemanly habits ; SO that the dining-halls
the names of the men whom the Field
were seats of boisterous misrule, and nur-
commemorates--names written before on
series of rebellion." From 1849 to 1865
tablets in Memorial Hall and below them
there were no commons, and all students
runs Emerson's quatrain, chosen for this
boarded where they might. In 1865 the
use by Lowell
Thayer Club was started for the benefit
of men who wanted to board cheaply. It
Though love repine and reason chafe,
There came a voice without reply-
merged into Memorial Hall when that was
" Tis man's perdition to be safe.
opened. Now, as has been said, the college
When for the truth he ought to die."
has outgrown her dining-halls, and needs
more of them. vateenterprise and capi-
The lines read calmly enough on a page
tal successfully supplement the efforts of
of a book, with other quatrains crowding
the college to lodge its students, but it has
them, but on that stone in that field-with
Memory
553
a hundred youths, earnest in their sports
of a perpetual voice, resonant, clear, sweet,
on one side, and on the other the roofs and
blending with all other sounds, and yet al-
gables of Harvard, and beyond the tower
ways audible, always inspiring, always in-
of Memorial Hall - they seem the message
perative and irresistible.
Windi arving on Holden hapel
MEMORY
By Charles C. Nott. Jr.
UPON a night long after I had died
I rose and passed the portals of Her heart.
Therein no wreck nor ruin I espied,
But fair and quiet its dim-lit chambers lay
And a sweet silence breathed in every part.
And I. who once had dwelt there, stood and sighed
And thought, " While I have slept in the cold clay,
How soon the stains of grief were washed away,
That soon some tenant new might here abide."
And as I thought, one quietly entered in,
And in his hand, the key to every door.
I bowed my head and turned away and said :
in
Pardon me if I return here from the dead ;
n
is
I dwelt here once, though I dwell here no more."
But he the keys did place my hands within,
And said, " Whate'er thy steward's is, is thine
My name is Memory. and this place is mine."
ge
ng
ith
Vol.. XXI-58
EWS
American Review of Reviews 69
rence France is bound
(1924).
of
all
the
Continenta
as
she
is,
indebted
ans.
She
will
insist
that
the
matter
of
reparations
by British yielding in
ROOSEVELT AT HARVARD
And
an
absence
1876
Donald's
BY J. LAURENCE LAUGHLIN
nch would hold to
(Instructor in Political Economy at Harvard, 1878-'83)
le justice-might easily
Advisor to T. losevelt
ald's hold upon French
HEN Roosevelt was at Harvard the
had SO remarkable a development for the
complicate Anglo-French
W
Golden Age of scholarship was then
last thirty years in all the universities of
flourishing. To see him in his environment
the country.
tly reminded my readers
and to watch its effect on him is itself a
While in history Gurney and Torrey were
m
of
British
concession
revelation of character, since at that time
princes of the blood, Henry Adams came
sfy the French would be
his acts were unconscious and no one ex-
as the paladin of new adventure. He had
e proposal of Bonar Law
pected anything unusual from him. Even
the dash and spirit of the iconoclast.
go, namely, to cancel all of
if there is no visible evidence of a direct
He held the first seminar for research in
lebts to Britain save only
influence on him of a very distinguished
history in this country. He tied up Ameri-
yment which, added to
group of scholars, it is
can history not only with
1 Germany's annual pay-
quite possible that he, no
British institutions but
ations, would meet the
less than many other
also with those of our
3 made by Britain to
students, insensibly ab-
Teutonic forebears. Such
sorbed into his veins an
men as these added a new
; to the United States
ethereal ichor which in
touch to the temple of
1,000,000 now and will
after life nourished many
learning by which Har-
maximum of $184,000,000.
a lofty ambition.
vard had already won
the $625,000,000 which it
distinction and on which
many will pay under the
Harvard's "Golden Age"
the university is still
uld be 22 per cent., or
As a freshman Roose-
receiving credit.
, $137,500,000, leaving a
velt entered the univer-
The Overseers at that
$23,500,000 and ultimately
sity in 1876, just as a
date were presided over
Since both Italy and
new régime inaugurated
by
Charles
Francis
in sums nearly as large.
by President Eliot had
Adams, our Ambassador
on which Britain is now
got- into fair working
at the Court of St. James'
ed States, it will be seen
order. The new captain
during the Civil War,
uction would be enormous
had already introduced
whom I remember urging
o practical cancellation.
the elective system and
in an address the unwis-
as the Bonar Law proposal
had enlisted some for-
dom of too great an ex-
rance and Italy will pay by
ward-looking members of
tension of the franchise.
to Britain proportionate
his faculty such as C.C.
Certainly Roosevelt took
:laims upon Germany, the
Langdell, Charles F.
little heritage from that
insaction is patent.
Dunbar, and Henry
THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS A
source. But the xeig
very grave question as to
Adams. The potentiali-
HARVARD FRESHMAN
held over the university
nald will be able or willing
ties of this situation are
(From a photograph loaned by his sister,
by those Overseers was
nar Law proposal. At all
Mrs. Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, in the
so interesting that one
memorial museum at New York City)
truly more imposing
travelled from London. to
might be tempted to
than usually falls to the
an statesmen have now to
linger too long on them.
They involved
lot of an institution of learning. Among
ris, and having dealt with
epoch-making changes in education for law,
others are to be found the names of Richard
German reparations and
economics, and history. The appointment
H. Dana, I Elliot Cabot, Oliver W.
the investigation of the
of Dean Langdell in the Law School brought
Holmes, Ralph W. Emerson, Henry Lee,
organization of world peace,
in the case-system, revolutionized the
James Freeman Clarke, Senator George
o consider the closely allied
teaching of law throughout the country,
Frisbie Hoar, E. Rockwood Hoar, Alex-
rld debts. And not unui
and attracted the attention of foreign
ander Agassiz, Edward Everett Hale, and
ad
on
this
matter
can
jurists. With the creation of the first
Phillips Brooks. Here was a list which
nal judgment passed upon
professorship in political economy at Har-
suggests a roll-call of New England's wit,
the last year in European
vard for Dunbar in 1871, there began the
eloquence and culture. These were the
modern teaching in economics which has
men who held the power of approval or
391
THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS
the educational policy of the
in appearance with a splendid Jovine head
covered by thick white hair and beetling
eye-brows. As a great scholar, he had no
Faculty in Roosevelt's Time
little contempt for the pretensions of raw
om the members of the faculty,
students. In the class-room he asked an
that one must seek for the
explanation of a subjunctive ending: to his
which were likely to affect
evident satisfaction all the best men failed
through direct contact. A glance
to give a correct answer; but when a stupid
aculty, which disclosed the pos-
fellow replied: "I don't know," Sophocles
instruction open to him, shows
broke out: "That is right. It is a typo-
sive array at once of learning,
graphical error." Lowell had no faith in
nd genius. It is worth while to
the elective system. His friend the bar
here the men who were then
keeper of the Parker House, he said, had a
purses of instruction. In the
scheme for getting rich by feeding tame
re G. M. Lane, W. W. Goodwin,
ducks on wild celery, which gave the fine
hocles, and William Everett; in
flavor to wild ducks. Later Lowell asked
guages, Dr. F. H. Hedge, Jamcs
him if it worked. "No," he sadly replied;
well; Ferdinand Bôcher, Francis
"the damned things won't eat it." By
A. S. Hill; in history, E. W.
this parable Lowell implied that the average
. W. Torrey, Henry Adams, and
student was unfit to choose his intellectual
cvane; in natural history, Asa
pabulum.
. Goodale, W. G. Farlow, N. S.
It would be difficult to conceive of a
1 William James; in philosophy,
more alluring bait set to draw young
wen, Andrew P. Peabody, George
students toward literature in Roosevelt's
, William James, and Charles F.
first year than the series of readings
economics). Also there were
offered in the evenings to all members of
ibbs and John Trowbridge in
the university. Greek Plays and Plato by
enjamin Peirce and his son, J. M.
Professor Goodwin; Homer by Asst. Profes-
Highest Honors
mathematics, and Charles E.
sor Palmer; Lucretius by Asst. Professor
was soon (1878) t
the fine arts.
Everett; Cervantes by Professor Lowell;
only in the Class
ese men came many a flash of
Dante by Professor Norton; Molière by
In the faculty
An example of a zeugma by
Professor Bôcher; and Chaucer and Shake-
Assistant Profes
"I am under the impression it
speare by Professor Child. Could anything
(Law), William
nd a shed." Professor Evangel-
be more enticing? Yet little Holden Chapel,
John Trowbridg
olides Sophocles was picturesque
with its old-fashioned coat of arms over
George H. Palm
its door, was never crowded, To
one now left is
day, possibly because of the larger
classes and of a wider training, such
past eighty, wh
letters as in phil
affairs are largely attended.
great admirer of
Those were indeed halcyon days
at Andrew Lan
One wonders if they can be re-
Palmer's translat
peated. In 1876, the future presi-
dents of universities then enrolled
rhythmic prose, a
as candidates for the degree
of
in the nineties to
Ph.D. included G. Stanley Hall
Contact with
(Clark), E. A. Birge (Wisconsin)
In Roosevelt's
and Isaac Sharpless (Haverford).
the
Adams was not in
In the same year, and among
earliest doctors created by Har
The year following
history were turn
vard, were Judge Robert Grant,
Senator
Lodge. Although
Professor Ernest Young,
Henry Cabot Lodge, and myself.
not become intim
the
college days, it is
There
was
then
seen
about
a
young
man
named
near their paths C
yard
blond
C ON WINTHROP STREET, IN CAMBRIDGE,
Lowell
who
(in
1877)
Highest
It is clear that
took
RE ROOSEVELT LIVED WHILE AT HARVARD
in
and
now
campaign Lodge
Honors
Mathematics
upstairs, corner room-with four windows-facing the
President of Harvard.
Kittredge,
Inducing Roosevel
as a sophomore, was then
getting
career in politics, t
photograph was taken last year, for the Roosevelt
Memorial Association)
and align himself
S
ROOSEVELT AT HARVARD
3
splendid Jovine
te
hair
and
beetline
t scholar,
he
had
e pretensions
of
ss-room
he
asked
inctive ending: to
1
the
best
men
failed
er;
but
when
a
stupid
't know,"
Sophocles
right.
It
is
a
typo
well had no faith
His friend the bar
House, he said, had
ch by feeding tame
which gave the fine
Later Lowell asked
No," he sadly replied
won't
eat
it."
By
plied that the average
hoose his intellectual
ult to conceive of a
set to draw young
ature in Roosevelt's
series of readings
THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S ROOM WHILE AT HARVARD
gs to all members of
(From a photograph loaned by his sister, Mrs. Anna Roosevelt Cowles)
k Plays and Plato by
omer by Asst. Profes-
Highest Honors in Classics. Paul Shorey
lican organization. To this influence wa
S by Asst. Professor
was soon (1878) to win Highest Honors not
seemingly due his steadfast adherence t
by Professor Lowell;
only in the Classics but also in Philosophy.
party organization, which later led hir
Norton; Molière by
In the faculty, the younger men were
into the support of "Bull" Andrews an
Chaucer and Shake-
Assistant Professors James Barr Ames
Bursum in New Mexico, and "Gas
ild. Could anything
(Law), William James, W. G. Farlow,
Addicks in Delaware, which SO man
: little Holden Chapel,
John Trowbridge, Henry Adams, and
people objected to.
1 coat of arms over
George H. Palmer. Of all these the only
never crowded. To-
one now left is Professor Palmer, already
A Mediocre Freshman Record
because of the larger
past eighty, who is as distinguished in
Into these surroundings as one of 23
a wider training, such
letters as in philosophy. Roosevelt was a
freshmen Roosevelt came in the autumn o
gely attended.
great admirer of Palmer. He was furious
1876. In that nondescript region betwee
indeed halcyon days.
at Andrew Lang's patronizing scorn of
Harvard Square and the Charles River
; if they can be re-
Palmer's translation of the Odyssey into
which included the "Gold Coast" alon,
876, the future presi-
rhythmic prose, and made a visit to Palmer
Mt. Auburn St., he found modest quarter
ersities then enrolled
in the nineties to express his indignation.
at 16 Winthrop St. where he lived during
S for the degree of
ed G. Stanley Hall
Contact with Henry Cabot Lodge
the four years of his college life. On hi
last birthday (Oct. 27, 1923) a tablet with
A. Birge (Wisconsin),
In Roosevelt's time at Harvard, Henry
an inscription written by President Elio
harpless (Haverford).
Adams was not in residence after 1876-1877.
was placed on the house:
year, and among the
The year following, his courses in American
ors created by Har-
history were turned over to Henry Cabot
judge Robert Grant,
Lodge. Although Roosevelt probably did
HERE LIVED
nest Young, Senator
not become intimate with Lodge in these
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
t Lodge, and myself.
college days, it is interesting to note how
DURING
then seen about the
near their paths came together thus early.
FOUR FORMATIVE AND
1 young man named
It is clear that as early as the Blaine
FRUITFUL YEARS
in 1877) took Highest
campaign Lodge had great influence in
AS A MEMBER OF HARVARD
thematics and is now
inducing Roosevelt, if he hoped to have a
UNIVERSITY
Harvard.
Kittredge,
career in politics, to leave the independents
1876-1880
pre, was then getting
and align himself with the regular Repub-
THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS
ork of the freshman year was
language. This was the only case in which
ported by his uncle
this as an early exar
not much can be learned as to
Roosevelt's choice fell upon one of the older
his "constitutional dis
ces from the courses he took.
professors. All his other instructors were
W. H. Hudson says
truction in Latin and Greek,
(except possibly Dunbar) the younger men.
"immense self-confid
thematics, Physics, and Chem-
As a diversion in modern languages, he
striking resemblance
record was not high. With a
began Italian with a course on Gozzi,
letter written by T
f 57 for the year, he ranked as
Silvio Pellico and Toscani's Grammar.
his mother (October
class. Fruitfulness must have
In both German and Italian he received a
ther sources than scholarship.
year at Harvard:
mark of 82. Then, as was to be expected,
come very well this
two courses in natural history appealed to
His Paces" as a Sophomore
work nearly as hard
him. In the one on Physical Geography,
any other day-six,
phomore year only one-third
Meteorology, and Structural Geology he
Some of the studies a
was required. Consequently
was given the highest mark for the year
ing, however, especial
egan to show his predilections.
(92). The other was an elementary course
and Metaphysics. T
ble that from now on mathe-
on Zoölogy, in which he received 97, the
hard, requiring a go
never taken. To an impulsive,
highest mark of the year.
they are even more
the severely logical processes
tics did not appeal. This
High Marks in Political Economy
Natural History cour
SO from the fact that
C showed itself distinctly in
Now came a new departure. For the
on many points with
Strange as it may seem, in
first time his mind turned from the languages
we are reading (Mil)
forcible and energetic nature
and natural history to those subjects of
justification, howeve
in him something remotely
public interest with which his future was to
egotism it must be
eeling influenced him strongly.
be SO much occupied. He selected a course
least in the case of Mi
ied him and developed an al-
in Political Economy, then known as
when serious criticism
imagination. A sticky memory
Philosophy 6. Although Professor Dunbar
some parts of his very
) doubt aided him in his pen-
had been appointed in I871, there was no
Moreover, the studen
modern languages. In this
separate department of Political Economy
think for himself.
year he got his highest mark
until I879-80. Previously, economics had
course on German Historical
been briefly taught by Francis Bowen, the
came out less well (51) in a
Professor of Philosophy, and for a time the
he French Literature of the
new subject found shelter in his department.
asia
may
be
Century, and thereafter took
Roosevelt's first introduction to that field
nch. Apart from his required
was announced in the catalogue as: "Po-
elevated
plate
istory, Rhetoric, and Themes,
litical Economy.-J. S. Mill's Political
ourses gave him the opportu-
Economy.-Fi Legislation of the
as
many
lou
fy his characteristic and life-
United States, Professor Dunbar and
radiate
for natural history. It goes
Dr. Laughlin." Professor Dunbar gave
from
ng that he was in tall clover
lectures on the public finance of the Civil
junction
1 James in his course on the
War in which he was a master. To me
Anatomy and Physiology
fell the duty of conducting recitations and
Koush and
es. At this time also, he got
discussions on Mill's original two-volume
se in Elementary Botany with
treatise. Inasmuch as the work was exact-
which
run
Farlow. He was now showing
ing, Roosevelt's mark for this year of 89
Oxus (
d with a percentage of 84 for
was high. In addition, he had the pre-
stood 26th in his class.
scribed. course in Metaphysics on Ferrier's
Ocean)
so
Jarim
Lectures on the Greek Philosophy, con-
ns Shown in Junior Year
ducted by Professor Palmer, in which he
Alia
is
for
got 87; and in Prescribed Logic 85.
So
far
, a student does not show his
a
until the junior year. By
as scholarship was concerned, this was
by
the
sevelt began to disclose the
red-letter year, in which he gained a percent-
Urals,
can i
which affected his whole future
age of 86 and stood 13th in his class.
was a formative and fruitful
How
he
himself
regarded
work
of
the
to
cut
igh one-third of the work was
this year recalls the attitude of Herbert
Spencer to his early studies.
When
which
free choice allowed him to
belongs
dvanced German course on
Spencer, as a mere youth, was reading he
PAGE
FROM A NAT
the, and German Lyrics given
Arnott's
"Physics"
with
his
uncle,
of
BY THEODORE RC
) "elder scholars," Dr. Hedge,
strongly dissented from the doctrine
the original in the Ro
fach" was theology and not
inertia set forth by the author and sup
House,
ROOSEVELT AT HARVARD
WS
the only case in which
ported by his uncle. He himself notes
this as an early example of what he calls
Honorable Mention in Natural Histor
Il upon one of the older
constitutional disregard for authority."
other instructors were
In his senior year, 1879-80, practic
W H. Hudson says it also disclosed his
all the work was elective. He was fre
bar) the younger men.
"immense self-confidence". There is a
modern languages, he
express his own preferences as to subj
striking resemblance to this revelation in a
and instructors. In Italian he took a CO
a course on Gozzi,
Toscani's Grammar
letter written by Theodore Roosevelt to
on Manzoni, Modern Plays, Alfieri,
1 Italian he received a
his mother (October 8, 1878) in his junior
Tasso, with a mark of 70. In Poli
year at Harvard: "My studies do not
Economy 3, he studied with Professor I
as was to be expected,
:al history appealed to
come very well this year, as I have to
bar Cairnes's "Leading Principles of Pc
work nearly as hard on Saturday as on
1 Physical Geography,
cal Economy," McLeod's "Elements
Structural Geology he
any other day-six, seven or eight hours.
Banking," and Bastiat's Harmonies Ec
Some of the studies are extremely interest-
est mark for the year
miques, in which he got 78. His ru
S an elementary course
ing, however, especially Political Economy
passion for natural history, however,
and Metaphysics. These are both rather
:h he received 97, the
him to give half his time to it.
I
hard, requiring a good deal of work, but
practically every normal student then
ear.
they are even more interesting than my
Harvard he chose the now famous Nat
Political Economy
Natural History courses; and all the more
History 4, Geology, under Professor Sha
SO from the fact that I radically disagree
I departure. For the
receiving a mark of 91. The other co
on many points with the men whose books
ned from the languages
was Advanced Zoölogy with Dr. Faxor
we are reading (Mill and Ferrier)." In
to those subjects of
which he won a mark of 89. His percent
which his future was to
justification, however, of such obvious
for the year was 81, and he ranked 4
He selected a course
egotism it must be remembered that, at
in his class. For the four years he ha
least in the case of Mill, the time had come
my, then known as
record of 80, and was graduated 21st
when serious criticism had battered down
ough Professor Dunbar
a class of I7I.
some parts of his very symmetrical system.
in I87I, there was no
It is significant that the only distinct
Moreover, the student was encouraged to
of Political Economy
in scholarship awarded him at gradua
think for himself.
iously, economics had
was Honorable Mention in Natural History
by Francis Bowen, the
During his whole stay at Harv
11)
hy, and for a time the
he never elected a course in Hist
elter in his department.
ana may be roughly divided mild
nor in English. In those days
roduction to that field
classmates, Albert Bushnell H
the catalogue as: "Po-
3 elevated plateaus sepurated by
Robert Winsor, Curtis Guild,
1. S. Mill's Political
Josiah Quincy, were receiving pr
il Legislation of the
as many lower plains. These
for elocution, but Roosevelt ne
rofessor Dunbar and
entered those contests. In a
rofessor Dunbar gave
radiate from a knot out
life his speaking was marked
lic finance of the Civil
the junction of the Haridoo
vigor, force, and pungent epitl
as a master. To me
rather than by rhetorical artif
ducting recitations and
Kouth and Himalayas, from
Once, while in the last days of
S original two-volume
term as President, and after Ta
as the work was exact-
which run this three rivers
election, he was taxed with t
rk for this year of 89
idity in attacking the tariff qu
tion, he had the pre-
Oxus (noto Our) Indus (.5 to Indian
tion, when he instantly repli
etaphysics on Ferrier's
Ocean)
"That's Taft's skunk." In
so
Jarim
(
n.e
to
Lake
lop.
reek Philosophy, con-
word was packed a whole volu
Palmer, in which he
Alia is bounded an the
of political policy.
ribed Logic 85. So far
concerned, this was a
mest by the line of the fault
Social Activities
ich he gained a percent-
It is obvious that Roosev
the Urals, continued southward so
13th in his class.
showed no marked intellect
regarded the work of
as to cut off asia Minor,
power nor scholarship in colle
e attitude of Herbert
He was an average B man. I
arly studies. When
which belon. to Europe, and
equally obvious, also, as we
e youth, was reading
A PAGE FROM A NATURAL-HISTORY EXAMINATION
know, that the qualities wh
with his uncle, he
PAPER BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT, IN HIS JUNIOR YEAR
make for scholarship are not th
from the doctrine of
(From the original in the Roosevelt Memorial Museum, Roosevelt
which necessarily make for lead
the author and sup-
House, New York City)
ship. Many a high scholar 1
THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS
er life to win even slight recog-
as follows: "I have begun studying fairly
example of the one
ile, as in the case of Coolidge,
hard now, and shall keep it up until Christ-
result of the new int
aining has been of great value
mas. I am afraid I shall not be able to
the action of the un
man, it has not been, as in the
come home for Thanksgiving; I really have
bringing Hugh Mo
cKinley and Harding, a pre-
my hands full, especially now that my
Newcomb, each to gi
the highest political success in
Political Economy Professor wishes me to
Of especial value
y. Leadership depends much
start a Finance Club, which would be
discussion of papers 1
quick intelligence, a knowledge
very interesting indeed, and would do us
selves. Early in the
dices and weaknesses of human
all a great deal of good, but which will also
had been read. In
: of character, personal magnet-
take up a great deal of time." The presi-
of them was by Rober
especially, courage. Clearly,
dent of the club was J. G. Thorp (of 1879)
Roosevelt on "Taxat
little in the life of an under-
and the secretary was A. B. Hart. The
posed that evening
disclose or to develop these
meetings were held in the rooms of the
addressed by a futu
department on the first floor of University
United States and h
not appear that he had any
Hall, on the window sills of which, along-
There was also an in
arity with his class.
"Bob"
side the wide front steps, was placed the
the occasion of the
course, received the highest
"shingle" of the club as a means of an-
George. I can recal
popularity in being chosen
nouncing a meeting to members. That
members gathered in
all; but, while Roosevelt stood
"shingle" is now hanging on the wall of
whom George spoke
place on that Committee, he
Professor Hart's office in the Widener
talk there was a g
ted. He was, however, elected
Library.
which the students fr
place on the Class Day Com-
The lecturers invited by the club stirred
ments with the speak
October, 1879, he was chosen
up a wide interest in economics. Few of us
fairly good grind i
of the Advocate. His family
had known William G. Sumner person-
principles of economic
gave him all the social activity
ally. The vigor of his writing had given us
George did not show
e for. A contact with other
the impression of a very austere person-
give-and-take. It is
S was afforded in a small way
ality. At Yale a student who had been
cidence that only se
ching a class in the Sunday
invited to supper with Sumner's family
1886) Theodore Roose
Christ Church in Cambridge.
came bursting into his chum's room late on
lican candidate for M
he old church near the college
a wintry night, shouting: "Fellows, Billy
City against Henry
ch Phillips Brooks, when invited
Sumner is kind to his family." Although
candidate, and Abra
ficial preacher to the university,
on the subject of "The Relation of Leg-
candidate of the Unite
e would be of infinitely more
islation to Money," Sumner's lecture dis-
tudents at Harvard if he should
played not only force, but eloquence and
Interest in Hunting, Bc
voluntary relation to them of a
felicity of style. It was a pleasure, also, to
Having had a delica
Christ Church, than to be the
come into contact with the unusually
years, Roosevelt's in
eligious adviser at the university.
agreeable personality of Gen. Francis A.
sports came from a C
ys of "Fundamentalists," it is
Walker, who spoke on "The Principles of
build up a vigorous boc
ding that in Roosevelt's senior
Taxation." His experience in the army
his membership in th
rector (whose creed was "as
with Hancock, his administrative ability,
interest in boxing. It
a thread") drove him from his
his work on the census, and his suggestive,
that his eager enjoyment
hool because he was not a
economic mind created a desire to know
with his innate passion
n" of the Episcopal Church.
him. About that time he was delivering
a
and both combined to
course of lectures at the Lowell Institute in
open-air life. In
ested in a "Finance Club"
Boston on "Money." Likewise, in the
friendship with Harry
Roosevelt's junior year, in order
case of Edward Atkinson we came to know
significant. It was
he interest of my students in
an active business man who, without
credit. Minot, even
conomics to public questions, I
academic training, had attempted to form-
was marked by unu
o a group of them the advantage
ulate economic theory. He had a genius
originality of mind.
a Finance Club for the purpose
for lucid exposition, SO that his lectures
days he worked out
ion and of inviting outside
on "American Competition with Europe, and
to speak at the university.
now have on my shelves
original proofs of alge
"Capital and Labor," "Railways, attracted
osevelt there were among them
"The
National
Banking
System,"
lasso from Thoreau's
adley, J. G. Thorp, A. B. Hart,
many
students.
Later,
the
lecture
one
permanent
inter-
of Cicero. His
tt, W. H. Rhett, Josiah Quincy
which
stirred
up
the
most
on
knowledge of birds n P
es G. Washburn. The plan
est
was
that
by
Col.
T.
W.
Higginson
tie
the
between
appealed to Roosevelt, for he
"Young Men in Politics," which led
to
him
the
the
after
summer
excu
is sister in the autumn of 1878
formation
of
a
Harvard
Union
at
the
end
of
th
S
ROOSEVELT AT HARVARD
begun studying fairly
example of the one at Oxford. Another
which was followed by the publication o
eep it up until Christ
result of the new interest in economics was
brochure on birds under their joint auf
shall not be able to
action of the university authorities in
ship. In the record of Roosevelt's jour
ksgiving; I really have
bringing Hugh McCulloch and Simon
as a naturalist, and on his hunting ex]
ecially now that my
Newcomb, each to give three lectures.
tions, there is a very familiar resembl
rofessor wishes me to
Of especial value was the writing and
to the serious accuracy of the descript
ub, which would be
discussion of papers by the members them-
in that "Catalogue of Summer Birds."
ed, and would do us
selves. Early in the first year five papers
od, but which will also
had been read. In February, 1879, one
A Serious Student
of time." The presi-
of them was by Robert Bacon and Theodore
Roosevelt being a member of the Po
J. G. Thorp (of 1879)
Roosevelt on "Taxation." We little sup-
lian Club, it might have happened that
as A. B. Hart. The
posed that evening that we were being
supposedly gay existence in it might 1
in the rooms of the
addressed by a future President of the
set a premium solely on having a g
rst floor of University
United States and his Secretary of State.
time. His scholarship, as we know, fel
sills of which, along-
There was also an interesting meeting on
in his senior year, but there is good evide
steps, was placed the
the occasion of the presence of Henry
to show that there was in him a la
b as a means of an-
George I can recall the small group of
desire to get some real value out of
to members. That
members gathered in University Hall to
courses. Of the things that showed
inging on the wall of
whom George spoke informally. After his
seriousness I cite only one: In his ju
fice in the Widener
talk there was a general discussion, in
year I had an interesting conference V
which the students freely exchanged argu-
him. He came to me to discuss whethe
ed by the club stirred
ments with the speaker. They had had a
would be better for him to specialize
economics. Few of us
fairly good grind in the fundamental
natural history or to take more econom
G. Sumner person-
principles of economics. As a consequence,
He gave no indication that he was think
is writing had given us
George did not show to advantage in the
of a public career. My advice was t
very austere person-
give-and-take. It is an interesting coin-
the country at that time especially need
tudent who had been
cidence that only seven years after (in
men trained to think correctly on pul
with Sumner's family
1886) Theodore Roosevelt was the Repub-
questions and that those questions W
is chum's room late on
lican candidate for Mayor of New York
nine-tenths economic. I can not say t
uting: "Fellows, Billy
City against Henry George, the Labor
my advice influenced him, but he did C
is family." Although
candidate, and Abram S. Hewitt, the
tinue his economics in his senior year.
The Relation of Leg-
candidate of the United Democracy.
Nor could one say that in after life
Sumner's lecture dis-
Interest in Hunting, Boxing, and Bird Study
always thought correctly on economi
ce, but eloquence and
In public office, in order to get things do
was a pleasure, also, to
Having had a delicate physique in earlier
it is too often supposed that econor
with the unusually
years, Roosevelt's inclination to outdoor
considerations must be sacrificed to politi
y of Gen. Francis A.
sports came from a conscious purpose to
expediency. Yet he did not forget
on "The Principles of
build up a vigorous bodily strength. Hence
college courses in economics. After he h
perience in the army
his membership in the gun club and his
left the presidency and was contributi
administrative ability,
interest in boxing. It happened, of course,
editor on the Outlook, when I was in char
sus, and his suggestive,
that his eager enjoyment of hunting jumped
of the campaign of education for the p
ted a desire to know
with his innate passion for natural history
sage of the Federal Reserve Act, I had
me he was delivering a
and both combined to enhance his zest in
interview with him in order to secure ]
the Lowell Institute in
an open-air life. In this connection his
support for the measure. On sending
Likewise, in the
friendship with Harry (Henry D.) Minot
my card, he appeared at the other end
inson we came to know
was significant. It was much to Roosevelt's
the open floor entirely covered with desl
; man who, without
credit. Minot, even in his early years,
holding up my card at arm's length, a
ad attempted to form-
was marked by unusual precision and
shouting: "There's the fellow that taug
ory. He had a genius
originality of mind. In his pre-college
me Political Economy." In conferenc
1, SO that his lectures
days he worked out for me voluntarily
after explaining the measure and aski
petition with Europe,"
original proofs of algebraic theorems. I
him for advice how to proceed, he sai
or," "Railways," and
now have on my shelves as gifts from him a
"Have it associated as little as possib
king System," attracted
Tasso from Thoreau's library and an old
with Aldrich's name. Although Aldric
Later, the one lecture
text of Cicero. His precocious, scientific
bar Root, was the ablest man I knew
: most permanent inter-
knowledge of birds naturally created a
Washington. Have it come up from t
l. T. W. Higginson on
strong tie between him and Roosevelt, and
small bankers of Florida or Oregon
litics," which led to the
to the summer excursion in the Adiron-
Then, as we finished, he added: "I will
o
rvard Union after the
dacks at the end of their freshman year,
all I can to help you. I wish I could o
398
THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS
more. I could make a speech on the free
active life on the development of the indi-
coinage of silver; but when you get me into
vidual. Certainly, the slight contact of
compound differentials and finance"-here
instructors in the class-room with students
his voice rose into his characteristic falsetto
has much less influence on character and
as he pointed his finger upward-"I am
development than the constant attrition
TH
all up in the air." To which I replied:
of students with one another. Men fre-
"That does not speak well for your teaching
quently go through a university without
at the university." "On the contrary,
getting educated, and men who have never
Mr. Laughlin," patting. me cordially on
seen a university are admittedly educated,
the knee, "that was the best course I had
and have the power to think in a subject.
at the university." It was a bit of kindly
The contact with other students, which
jollying.
is conceded to be the stronger force, is
A
MERICANS, as
thought to wh
after all only the world of active life
Beveridge once called
Qualities of Leadership Brought Out
in petto.
government. While e
after College
The case for academic training as a
give at any time an al
All in all, Roosevelt showed no more
preparation for politics, therefore, is not a
names of the Presiden
than average ability in his college years.
strong one, except SO far as the university
Coolidge, there are fev
He was not in any way distinguished.
may possibly work for character rather
dren in the country
There was needed the collision with oppo-
than for scholarship. Of course, inherited
names of half a dozen
nents and the struggle against difficulties
traits have their effect on the final resultant.
the twenty-nine incu
to bring out the essential characteristics of
But one can not study the older portrait of
unless they included
his nature. Not until his election to the
Roosevelt without seeing that at graduation
pants who have succee
New York State Assembly, and especially
the real personality was almost wholly
Yet it is an unique
in his New York mayoralty campaign (in
undeveloped. There was already the im-
of modern democratic
which he was defeated by Mr. Hewitt)
petuousity and the hint of the coming
marked social import
did he begin to display those qualities of
egotism. He later saw himself objectively
weight is nil. That is
force, driving power, combativeness, and
and admired what he saw. There
is,
velt referred to it whe
intense energy, which were SO marked in
however, no revelation in the earlier face
missioner in New Yo:
his later years. He realized, what few of
of his almost uncanny power to understand
that it would be his o
our politicians grasped, that courage was a
what was going on in the mind of the com-
the Presidency.
great political asset.
mon man and to touch the spring which
Bryce, who wrote m
There is no trace in the face of Roosevelt
would make him act according to his wish,
sympathetically in
as shown in his class photograph at gradua-
nor his capacity to seize upon the dramatic
monwealth of our polit
tion (1880) of the qualities just mentioned.
moment for presenting his purpose. The
any other of our forei
Indeed, a comparison of the outward
dramatic and political instinct is born,
preters, gives a chapter
personality of Roosevelt in college and in
not made. The face at graduation is a
to every other feature
his prime raises a very interesting question
clean sheet on which were later written the
organization, but dism
as to the relative effect of academic and
hard lines of ambition and political combat.
dency with a few scatte
confined to the use of 1
quotations from the C
nounces it originally an
Woodrow Wilson in
HARVARD
Government" says of
The chief embarrassm
FINANCE
office is, that in explain
to be said about it on
Meeting
there is to say," an
CLUB
Judgment of the office i
this evening
His chief dignity, nex
the Senate, lies in the ci
7.30 o'clock.
awaiting the death
President."
President
Secretary
The Vice-President OC
national life for whi-
THE "SHINGLE" OF THE HARVARD FINANCE
in any European go
CLUB, OF WHICH THEODORE ROOSEVELT WAS
to that of the heir app
ONE OF THE FOUNDERS IN 1878
remaining monarchie
conceived originally or n
Dell'alfe Horve
Houghton lifter to., 1937.
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN of her hillers Boston:
NEW ENGLAND MEMORIES (INTERLUDE)
The portion of the 'Retrospections' to be inserted here,
article in the old North American Review. Now Frere's transla-
in the interval, as it were, between the years before and
tions were published in 1847, when Norton was twenty years
after the illness that cut his life into two parts, may be taken
old. The other day I walked into the Athenxum Library in
as looking both backward and forward. We have seen that
Boston and asked, But how did you acquire that large case
in his opinion all autobiography is dated by the time of its
containing the library of George Washington?' The custodian
composition rather than the time with which it is concerned.
replied, Professor Norton many years ago raised the money
to buy it and present it to the Athenxum.' Norton was a man
This, like the rest of the "Retrospections," was written while
who started things, and must be thought of as a citizen of the
his life was nearing its end. It is, however, SO characteristic
Franklin type rather than the Ruskin type - in spite of the
of Chapman, even in its mistakes, and SO illuminative of a
preciosity which came over him later. This preciosity repre-
vanished Boston under a piercing scrutiny from without,
sented a reaction against his theological inheritance, and he
that it must be preserved.
became, as it were, a puritan turned aesthete. He retained the
battling qualities of his origin.
Harvard
In the eighties Professor Norton was in his academic bloom
It was a good day to be at Harvard in the eighties. The
an institution. His personal eccentricities and his habit of
Professors, Norton, Goodwin, Lane, Royce, James, Shaler,
articulate speech - every consonant a triumph, every vowel a
Palmer, were domestic and approachable. The examinations
jewel - combined with his function as the prophet of culture,
were easy. I should now be declaring that examinations meant
led him into extravagances that delighted everyone. A younger
little to me, but that in my breakdown of fifteen years later
contemporary of his, Frank Sturgis probably a cousin
I dreamed every night that I was passing an examination.
used to give a lecture (unfortunately I never heard it) in imi-
The tension, however, came from my own nervous disposition
tation of Charles. Sturgis would dress himself like Charles,
rather than from the rigor of the work.
walk on like Charles, take his seat on the platform with the
The studies were prescribed for the Freshman Year, and after
care of a character in a play by Ben Jonson, and begin in a musi-
that, one had a large liberty of choice under Dr. Eliot's Elective
cal, modulated, deliberate voice - 'I purpose this afternoon
System. The elder tradition of a University as a place where a
to make a few remarks on the hor-ri-ble vul-gar-ity of EVERY-
man could get an education if he wished one was given its
THING. Norton attended the lecture and enjoyed it as much
chance. In those days the professors had a leisurely and social
as anyone. He was indeed crusted all over like an armadillo
relation to their classes, partly because the classes were com-
with comfortable scales, and he would have patronized Michael
paratively small; partly because the students had chosen their
Angelo. His mission was to promote beauty in its every form,
own teachers and wanted to learn. The old Medieval System
beauty of manners, of thought, of conduct. He was the Bal-
was in force and there was life in the work. I chose my courses
dassare Castiglione of his day. But let us not forget that he
somewhat at random one under Goodwin in Aristoph-
was also the friend and helper of all classes of men. At his
lanes, one under Lane - think it was Horace- one under
country house in Ashfield he used to give an annual harvest-
Child - Chaucer, and one about the British philosophers, with
home dinner to his country neighbors,2 and on every Christmas
Palmer. As for Norton, he had a sphere of his own, and every
day at Shady Hill in Cambridge he gathered to his board such
one came under his influence.
students as he believed to be far from their homes and in need
Our Charles Eliot Norton was a man of remarkable force,
of the comforts of a friendly household. His sister, Miss Grace
of remarkable goodness, of untiring public spirit. I have been
Norton, was quite as remarkable as himself, a quiet, old
running across traces of his activity ever since leaving college.
dowager, who lived in a large house of her own, and by her
For instance, in the Memoirs of John Hookham Frere, the trans-
lator of Aristophanes, I find Norton quoted as one of the early
It would be more accurate to say collected.
critics to praise Frere's work, about which Norton wrote an
The 'Ashfield Dinner' was in reality a local festival in which George William
Curtis and other 'summer residents' also bore an important part.
190
191
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN
NEW ENGLAND MEMORIES (INTERLUDE)
manners, brains, and experience of the great world always
His rooms had low ceilings, were walled with books, and
suggested the dowager the dowager of diamonds and real
darkened by large, distressing steel engravings of the great
lace, the dowager of the elder world. She had known every
philosophers - Locke, Kant, Hegel, and the rest, into whose
one of importance for fifty years and corresponded with the
company Palmer lured the serious-minded youths and charged
great men of her times. She was at home with old and young,
them with capsules of religious poetry - Wordsworth, Herbert,
and in her later years became the cynosure to whom intellectual
Vaughan, etc. He told me once that Wordsworth was 'the
foreigners brought letters, and with whom she struck up
fashioner of his soul,' which seemed to me a dreadful way of
friendships. There was a naughty side to her; indeed, there
saying it. He used to give readings from his translations of
was a bad little girl side to her, an unexpected savagery and out-
the Odyssey in a lyrical falsetto monotone that suggested that
rageousness which made you angry for a minute, till you saw
peculiar limbo of moral feeling which foreshadows suicide. He
that she was good granite. Both she and her brother Charles
was an anchorite, but there was a wellspring in him - hidden,
were first cousins of President Eliot, and all three were as tough
blocked up, and subjugated, filled with the junk of philosophic
as boxers, and sometimes gave you an unexpected uppercut
thought and moralism. This wellspring broke out later, as
which was not quite within the rules.
we know; but it could be felt even in the days of his first widow-
I somehow came to know Miss Norton quite well while I
erhood when I was at Harvard. Palmer had not only a wide
was an undergraduate, and I recited to her in her parlor my
but a lasting influence upon his scholars, and he kept them in
Ivy Oration, the conventional pasquinade of Class Day, in
sight after they left the University. There was a power in him.
order to be sure that I had not over-stepped the limits of pro-
The course I took with him was on the English philosophers,
priety in my sallies. For many years after graduation I cor-
Locke, Berkeley, Hume, etc., and I owe to Palmer a philosophic
responded with her, and I used to lay traps for her in literary
experience that left a permanent trace in my mind - an im-
criticism, into which she plunged like a walrus. For instance,
pression, a preoccupation, that I never quite got rid of. It
I made use of the word 'suppliance' (in the sense of something
came about in this way. We had polished off Locke and were
supplied) in a note to Miss Norton, and received an avalanche
making a flight over Berkeley in order to reach Hume. In
of contemptuous abuse in her reply. Thereupon I produced a
dealing with Berkeley, Palmer outlined Berkeley's paradox as
large piece of wrapping paper a yard square. In the centre of
in the nature of the human intellect, and how we possessed no
this I drew a rectangle two inches by two and inscribed in it
acid or touchstone that could test the validity of our own
the words, Ham. I, 3, 9. I folded the paper up small and mailed
Reason. Our explanations of any problem were, for laught we
the missive to her. In order to solve the riddle she was obliged
could find out, merely a part of our dream. This was news to
to unfold the thing and consult a copy of Shakespeare.
me, and I said to myself, 'Very well; until one can get past this
To show the kind of savage she was, during the Great War
barrier, I do not intend to burden my mind with philosophy.
I wrote some extremely gloomy verses called 'May, 1918,
This idea has been with me - you might say - every minute
which were to appear in the Atlantic. One of her cronies, a
since then. Palmer gave no explanation of the paradox, but
reader of the Riverside Press, showed her a proof of my verses,
stated it clearly; and it was worth while having gone to Har-
upon which she wrote me an outrageous letter, a savage and
vard to hear the case honestly stated. From time to time in
impertinent diatribe. Miss Norton's rare interest in my ex-
after years, when I met a competent metaphysician, I would
cursions into different fields of writing was of great importance
enquire of him whether any progress had been made in the
to me, and her sometimes boisterous frankness an inspiration.
solution of Berkeley's riddle, and received always the same
I have read in the books that a friendship between a lady of the
reply, that no answer had been found. It was due to Palmer
great world and a young aspirant in any field of art has a
that when at the age of sixty-eight, I ran across Lucian's
good sort of spiritual influence on each of them.
apostasy as to the validity of geometry, the idea was familiar
Professor George Herbert Palmer was a kind, a holy, and a
to me. The strange point was that between the dates of these
gloomy man. He followed up the students who took his courses.
two philosophers, no one else had noticed this discovery.
192
193
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
BAR HARBOR, MAINE
March 17, 1936.
Old Corner Bookstore,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sirs:
I note in the New York Sunday Times (March 15) an
editorial article entitled "Socrates at Cambridge"
mention of an article by Daniel Gregory Mason, "Harvard
in the Nineties" in the New England Quarterly which refers
to Josiah Royce, the philosopher and others of his time.
The writer in the Times does not refer to the
date of this issue of the New England Quarterly but I
would assume it to be the current, or latest number,
probably January.
Will you kindly look this up and obtain for
me the issue of the New England Quarterly in which this
article appears and mail it to me?
Yours sincerely,
GBD-0
jeoge
3.Dour
O
down to the country home. And the
After that they had a "talk," and Hon-
way John put in all the time he could
or told her husband all the bitterness that
spare from business during her absence
had been in her heart so long.
was a wonder. He shandoned his club.
John did not make many promises-it
"Busy," he said, curtly, to inquiring
was not his way-bu he said. feel like
friends. He rented a cozy cottage, with
a man who has been roughly awakened
a little lawn in front and a nice yard at
from a sound sleep but it is better to be
the back. It was a long way out, to be
awake."
sure, but not too far for a twice-a-day
Always after that talk he gave Hon
trip. He moved the furniture from the
or a generous allowance for household
flat into it, making such additions as were
expenses, and she not infrequently sur
necessary. Then he went after Honor
prises him with something he wanted,
and the baby. She was surprised and
bought with money she had saved out of
pleased that he should come after her,
that allowance. He got so in the habit
and as they were driven away from the
of spending his evenings at home alone
depot she told him she was " glad to get
with his family, or with the nice people
that Honor got together at her modest
home."
'We'll take a little drive, he said,
little evenings," that it became quite a
when she noticed that they were rolling
calamity to him when he was forced to
out of town. At length they stopped at the
be absent. In time a stout German girl
coltage. An intuition of the truth came
was added to their household, so that Hon-
to Honor before she reached the door, and
or need not be too closely eora fined.
when John led her into the parlor-there
The Kents gave a little dinner, one
were "pariors" in those days-she sat
night, at which Mr. Bates was present.
down on the most convenient resting
The shrewd old law yer's sharp eyes miss-
place, which happened to be the piano-
ed none of the details in his host's house
stool and ened.
that make up a happy married life; but
" Don't you like it III said John.
when chance favored him he said, I
Like it! It's a p-p-paradise 133 she
suppose, John, that these days you won-
sobbed: and then she put her arms around
der how you ever came to be such a fool."
his neck, and oned harder than ever.
And John answered, You are quite
There were tears in John's eyes as he right."
velue of a university
p 390.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN 1890.
BY CHARLES ELIOT NORTON.
H
FROM whatever side one approaches generous youth trained to the perform-
Cambridge, the tower of the Haryard ance of duty, and prompt to offer life,
Memorial Hall is seen dominating the
with all its promises and all its hopes, a
landscape. It is an appropriate emblem
willing sacrifice to the public good. The
of the university. No other building in
walls of the central hall are lined with in-
the United States is so rich in tender and
scriptions that celebrate lofty virtuels, and
noble personal and patriotic associations
with tablets on which are recorded the
associations which, connecting the life
names of those sons of Harvard who
of the university with the life of the na- died for their country in the war of re-
tion, and indicating the intimate relation generation. In the whole world there
between ideal studies and unselfish char-
is no other such impressive and affect
acter, afford a perennial in iration to ing tribute to the virtues and services of
high conques It is the monument of youth. Through this hall every day
Charles Eliot Norton. "Harrard University in 1890."
P. 581-592,
RPER'S
MAGAZINE
majority of the undergraduate students growth of the university has not yet
pass and repass to and from the great ad.
been fully recognized by the country
joining dining hall, whose windows are
Old conceptions, true of the Harvard of
filled with the images of the scholars and
forty years ago, have not yet altogether
poets and heroes of past times, and whose
given place to a correct understanding of
walls are adorned with the purfraits of
its actual character. False conceptions
the worthies of the university who have of
it still prevail among large and influs.
served the cause of learning or of the
ential sections of the community. It has
state. He must be of a dull spirit who is
not yet secured from the nation the affec-
not moved by the silent and familiar ped
tion, respect and confidence which it de
serve of such incentives to excellence, and
serves, and which it will not fail to obtain
who at times does not feel his heart glow
in proportion as its true character becomes
and quicken with the thought that, as a
known.
member of the university, he is an asso-
While ex orience is making it more
ciate. with in whose charaoters and
plain from year to year that the success
lives the worth of its teachings and influ-
ful working of popular institutions is de
ence been expressed, and that he is
pendent on popular education, it is also
surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who
proving that the quality and sufficiency
claim of him that he show himself worthy
of that education are dependent upon in-
to belong to their company.
fluences that proceed from the superior in-
The importance of the relation of the
stitutions of learning. It is by means of
university to the state, typified in Me-
the higher education which these offer. or
morial Hall, and conspicuously shown
aim to offer to the limited number of
during the war, has been more obvious
their-students, that the sources of the gen-
in the years that have followed, during
eral intellectual and moral life of the
which the university has shared in the
community are in large measure supplied,
growth of the nation, and exhibited
and it is not too much to say that they
changes corresponding to those which
consequently possess an importance be-
have taken place in the community at
yond that of any other of our national in-
large, Its preceding history is that of
stitutions. But the influence of most of
preparation for this evolution. As the
them is hampered by narrow means, local
chief and oldest seat of learning in New
limitations or sectarian restrictions. The
England, and especially as pro-eminent in
services which the numerous smaller col
Masanchusetts, and intimately connected
loges perform in their respective localities
with the State, its local foundations were
are great, but it is impossible for them to
solidly laid, and its superstructure/munch
offer to their students the advantages of a
in accord with those fundamental princi-
truly liberal education. There are few
ples of the commonwealth which have
colleges in the United States that have
RO largely contributed to the shaping of
such a position and such means as might
the character of the United States. The
justify them in claiming to do this, or to
foundation was laid in 168 and in 1650
be regarded as national institutions, of the
charter was granted by the General Court,
higher education.
under the seal of the Colony of Massis
In order to provide a liberal education,
chusetta Bay, establishing Harvard Col.
the term liberal must apply in the fullest
lege as a "for the advance
sense to the institution itself. This must be
trient of all good literature, arts, and ser
free from every bond of party or sect, open
ences and this charter. with an appen
upon equal terms to all students of what
dix passed in 1657, is now in force pre
ever race or social position.) It must at
sisely as first drafted, the venerable
ford such assistance to poor students of
may-en-
P. 582 (bottom)
who at times does not feel his heart glow
in proportion as its true character becomes
and quicken with the thought that, as a
known.
member of the university, he is an asso-
While ex erience is making it more
ciate with men in whose characters and
plain from year to year that the success
lives the worth of its teachings and influ-
ful working of popular institutions is de-
once basebeen expressed, and that he is
pendent on popular education, it is also
surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who
proving that the quality and sufficiency
claim of him that he show himself worthy
of that education are dependent upon in-
to belong to their company.
fluences that proceed from the superior in-
The importance of the relation of the
stitutions of learning. It is by means
of
university to the state, typified in Me
the higher education which these offer, OF
morial Hall. and conspieuously shown aim to offer to the limited number of
during the war, has been more obvious their students, that the sources of the gen-
in the years that have followed, during
eral intellectual and moral life of the
which the university has shared in the community are in large measure supplied,
growth of the nation, and exhibited and it is not too much to say that they
changes corresponding to those which
consequently possess au. importance be
have taken place in the community at yond that of any other of ur national in-
large. Its preceding history is that of stitutions. But the influence of most of
preparation for this evolution. As the them is hampered by narrow means, local
chief and oldest seat of learning in New
limitations, or sectarian restrictions. The
England, and especially as pre-eminent in
services which the numerous smaller col-
Massachusetts, and intimately connected
leges perform in their respective localities
with the State, its local foundations were
are great, but it is impossible for them to
solidly laid, and its superstructure framed
offer to their students the ad vantages of a
in secord with those fundamental princi
truly liberal education. There are few
ples of the commonwealth which have
colleges in the United States that have
so largely contributed to the shaping. of
such a position and such means as might
the character of the United States. The
justify them in claiming to do this, or to
foundation was laid in 163 and in 1650 a
be regarded as national institutions of the
charter was granted by the General Court,
higher education.
under the seal of the Colony of Massa
In order to provide a liberal education,
chusetts Bay, establishing Harvard Colo
the term liberal must apply in the fullest
lega as a corporation "for the advance
sense to the institution itself. This must be
ment of all good literature, arts, and set
free from every bond of party sect, open
encess and this charter, with an appea-
upon equal terms to all students of what
dix passed in 1657, is now in force pre-
ever race or social position It must at
cisely as first drafted, "the venerable
ford such assistance to poor students of
source of collegiate authority at the
good character and capacity as may en-
ture were so constructed as to admit of share of the opportunities it offers. And
present day. Foundation and superstrue
able them to secure a full proportionate
extension without essential change of
it must be so amply endowed as to main-
plan They have been adapted and en: tain varied. disinterested, and able instruc-
larged to answer to the new and increas tion in every important branch of learn-
ing noeds of new times, and never in any ing Moreover, its life must be recog the
preceding period has the enlargement
nixed as an integral part of the life of
been 60 rapid or NO great as in the last
state, through definite, long established
twenty years. This broad nationalizing
traditions of close association with it; and
P. 583
HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN 1800,
689
must have-proved the worth and power for the foundation of a new institution used
at whom hts it has nurtured, and by the sex: to strengthen and enlarge the old. For,
it discipline by the character of those which could move wisely have been
vices which they have rendered to the however serviceable such a new institu-
tion may become, the fact is not to be
community
Age adds to the influence and authority
overlocked its establishment in rol vies
of a great institution of learning. The
a discipation of wealth and of energy.
more increase in the sum of the associa
Whatever is generous in the object of
tions that attach themselves to it from
the founders would be far more effect
age to age strengthens the force of its ap:
tively promoted if the wealth and ener-
peal to the imagination, the culture of
BY required for the foundation and cal-
which is one of the chief ends of its exist-
rying on of the new institution were
once. Time, too, increases its resources.
concentrated and applied in an already
Many well devoted personal says the
existing school of learning. The Jam-
of 1000, "have been and
entable waste involved in the needless
daily are moved and stirred up to give
duplication of the instruments of study,
and bestow sundry gifts, legacies, lands,
of buildings, libraries, and laboratories,
and revenues for the advancement of all
would at least be avoided. But more
good literature, arts, and sciences." The
than this, and of more essential impor-
stream of such bounty wideus as it flows.
tance, no new school of learning in a TO
With the natural growth of the commu-
gion where an old and vigorous.one ex-
nity the number of students increases.
ists can share in those traditions and
But though this be true and though the
associations of inestimable value in edu-
of growth late than ever before it has not kept ing-which inhere of in the an ohiefssources institution that of
of Harvard has been more rapid
cation-stimulating elevating and refin-
pace with and the in growth power in of numbers, the nation. in has the higher intellocute long been one and moral life of which of the
wealth, main reasons of this fact are to be community, and the support
The found in the general conditions of Amer- the affections of many successive These gener- are
lean rather society than during in the the special past twenty conditions years of ations things.that have neither been money no engaged more good
the university The fact, therefore, is not will can supply.
an exceptional one; it is true of all the Competition among institutions than in of
leading institutions of pure learning 'in learning is of no less importance the mainten-
the United the higher States, true education, of the, and whole it is sys of anoe other "fields of a high of activity standard for of accomplish+
tem of import to the nation at large than ment, here, no less than elsewhere, far, and
greater to the individual institutions themselves. competition may be pushed too
Yet though their growth has not been
to the injury of all the competing parties,
comparatively in equal measure with that
In the case of these institutions the dan-
of the nation, itchas been positively great
ger is not greater that through excessive
mong the obvious minor causes of the
competition the supply of pupils may be
comparatively slow growth of the older
so divided as to be insufficient in any
colleges must be reckoned the establish-
one among them for its healthy life, than
ment of a great number of local institut
that the supply of competent-tenchers
tions more or less fitted to supply the de
may be insufficient to meet the demand
mand for the higher learning in the Te:
for a strong body of instructors.
P. 583 (bottom)
ence Time, too, increases its resources. concentrated and applied in an already lam-
Revard charter of 1650, **have been and entable waste involved in the needless
1.Many well-devoted persons," says the existing school of learning: The
daily are moved and stirred up to give duplication of the instruments of study,
and bestow sundry gifts, legacles, lands, of buildings, libraries, and laboratories,
and revenues for the advancement of all would at least be avoided. But more
good literature, arts, and sciences. The
than this, and of more essential impor-
stream of such bounty widens as it flows.
tance, no new school of learning in al re
With the natural growth of the commu-
gion where an old and vigorous.one ex-
nity the number of students increases
ists can share in those traditions and
But though this be true, and though the
associations of inestimable value in edu-
growth of Harvard has been more rapid
nation-stimulating, elevating and refin-
of late than ever before, it has not kept
ing-which inhere in an institution that
pace with the growth in numbers, in
has long been one of the chief-sources of
wealth, and in power of the nation:
the higher intellectual and morallife of the
The main reasons of this fact are to be
community, and in the support of which
found in the general conditions of Amer-
the affections of many successive gener
ican society during the past twenty years,
ations have been engaged. These are
rather than in the special conditions of
things that neither money nor mere good
the university, The fact, therefore, is not
will can supply.
an exceptional one: it is true of all the
Competition among institutions of
leading institutions of pure learning in
learning is of no less importance than in
the United States, true of the whole-sys
other fields of activity for the mainten-
tem of the higher education. and it is of
ance of a high standard of accomplish-
greater import to the nation at large than
ment, but here, no less than elsewhere,
to the individual institutions themselves,
competition may be pushed too far and
Yet though their growth has not been
to the injury of all the competing parties.
comparatively in equal measure with that
In the case of these institutions the dan-
of the nation, it has been positively great.
ger is not greater that through excessive
comparatively slow growth of the older so divided as to be insufficient in any
Among the obvious minor causes of the
competition the supply of pupils may be
colleges must be reekoned the establish- one among them for its healthy life, than
ment of a great number of local institu-
that the supply of competent teachers
tions more or less fitted to supply the de-
may be insufficient to meet the demand
mand for the higher learning the To-
for a strong body of instructors.
irious where they have been fou nded, and
But while the multiplication of col.
thus tendings to diminish the resort of leges and an-called universities has of late
youth to the older and better equipped, the done something to check of the normal
more distant and exacting institutions. growth of the older schools of learning,
The founding of many of these collages is a much more essential and important
natural result of the material and ratel cause of the comparative slowness in the
fectual a conditions of the community, and increase of their students is to be found
may, perhaps, be generally serviceable to in the general tendency of our recent civy
the when as in such a case as he-terial aims. and to turn the most active
of education tis-only to be ilization to concentrate interest upon mar
recent regretted establishment of Chick Univer and energetic intelligence of the commu-
Macy at Worcester, means are employed mily to the pursuit not of knowledge and
P. 584
TARPER'S WITH
window but of wealth, and to the attain
order to
HOUSE
to
ment of what are eatoome to be
BY her
in Vistination from the ideal objacts
entoryous Un
life. This tendency is no leas obvious in
the
the Old World than in the New. It is
doubleds as regular indi-
outelse-the
life
the most marked characteristic of our age:
of the community this to be regretted.
It must be rockoned with in all our con-
nagarations of the state of modern society
the difficulty in au the fact
in our political eneculations, in our enti-
that the standard for entrance to the un-
mates of the worth of life in our own
dergraduate department of our universi-
times. It may be deplored by those who
lies has during the same period been con.
cherish the high opportunities of human
siderably rained with the effect of increase raduate
existence, but it must be accepted as the
ing the average age of the under
inevitable and irrealatible drift of the age,
students by one or two years. The read
and those who hold life as meaning more
justment of the proportions of time given
than bread must act themselves, not to the
to general culture and to special training,
-vain work of stomaning the current, but
and the best distribution between them
of Ho directing its force that in the long
of the period allotted to education, Gone
run itimay be rendered beneficial to those
of the most serious problems for those
objects for which the best men in all times
now engaged in the conduct of our uni-
have striven. It is vain to keep-back
versities. The lead in raising the stand
foundation of the Nile, but some of the st.
Arth of our professional schools, as well
as of the undergraduate department
has
perabundant waters may be NO turned as
to fertilize the sanda, and to change the
throughout been taken/by ward.
flood from an instrument of ruin,to a
But while the universities must re-
means of welfare. Egypt, said Herodo
spond, If they are to perform their great
public function Bright, to the demands
this, is the gift of the Nile.
One of the results of the rapid and
of the community they are also required
brilliant development of the material re-
to recognize its needs, and more especially
sources of the world, and of the natural
those Which must be supplied its higher
desire which it has stimulated in all
life is to be duly maintained they must
classes to secure a share in the growing
guide and load, not
more follow the
wealth, has been the increased eagerness
general direction of the national progmest
their proper work is not oalyo of tenoli
of youth to enter as an early age upon
the pursuits, professional or other, which
ing, but of inspiration It is for
lead directly to the obtaining of a livell.
them to enforce the upon their
hood and the acquisition of money. The
students, and through them the dom-
time spent in acquiring general culture
munity fords no solid basis for permanent
that mere material prosperity at
and mental resources that have no imme-
disto relation to getting on in the world
welfare of B nation. The continu-
seems as If wasted to those whose desires
shee of this prosperity depends on the
are set upon speedy advancement in the
intelligence and character of the people,
carber of fortune, and they turn from the
and thus the institutions that are devoted
college or university to the professional
to the cultivation of the intelligence and
school or the business office. This diapo
of the morel faculties are-even from a
material and selfish point OF view, the
sition has been confirmed by the conta
most portant institutions of the soun
spondingly rapid development of seleise
and those which have the highest
daring paint half-century, which has
- of alliama.com
P. 584 (bottom)
PRODUCTION same given
than bread must set themselves not to the
to general culture and to special training,
e
vain work of stemming the current, but
and the best distribution between them
of so directing its force that in the long-
of the period allotted to education, is one
run it may be rendered beneficial to these
of the most serious problems for those
objects for which the best men in all times
now engaged in the conduct of our uni.
have striven. It is vain to keep-back the
versines. The lead in raising the stand-
inundation of the Nile, but some of the Sti-
and of our professional schools as well
perabundant waters may be so turned as
as of the undergraduate department has
to fertilize the sands, and to change the
throughout been taken by Harvard.
flood from an instrument of rain to a
But while the universities must TO
means of welfare. Egypt, said Herodo-
spond if they are to perform their great
tus, is the gift of the Nile.
public function anight, to the demands
One of the results of the rapid and
of the community they are also required
brilliant development of the material TO
to recognize its needs, and more especially
sources of the world, and of the natural
those which must be supplied If its higher
desire which it has stimulated in all
life is to be duly maintained They must
classes to secure a share in the growing
guide and lead, not morel follow the
wealth, has been the increased eagerness
general direction of the national progress
of youth to enter at an early age upon
Their proper work is not oniyone of teach
the pursuits, professional or other, which
ing, but of inspiration as wells It is for
lead directly to the obtaining of liveli
them to enforce the conviction upon their
hood and the acquisition of money. The
students, and through them upon the com-
time spent in acquiring general culture
munity, that mere material prosperity at-
and mental resources that have no imme-
fords no solid basis for the permanent
diate relation to getting on in the world
welfare of a nation. The very continu-
seems as if wasted to those whose desires
ance of this prosperity depends on the
are set upon speedy advancement in the
intelligence and character of the people,
career of fortune, and they turn from the
and thus the institutions that are devoted
college or university to the professional
to the cultivation of the intelligence and
school or the business office. This dispo-
of the moral faculties are, even from a
sition has been confirmed by the corres
material and selfish point of view, the
spendingly rapid development of science
most important institutions of the coun
during the past half-century, which has
try, and those which have the highest
led to a higher standard of nurely pro-
claim on the support of all who are-en-
fessional training, and to the consequent
gaged it the acquisition of wealth no less
Hecensity for a longer period of prelimi
than of those who-cherish high ideals of
many professional study than was former.
national character who believe in the suc
requisite The term of study in the
premany lot apirimal ileventent, and
professional schools now needed to equip
who know that wisdom exalteth them
the student for his work is longer by one
to honor that hold her fast."
year as least. often by lvro years, than was
But Whough the resor of youth to the
deemed necessity years ago
A
higher institutions of learning is by DO
steady presente is exerted for the lessen
means what it ought to be. compared
10g of the of general education in
the growth in wealth and the in-
HARVARDIUNVERUTY IN 1890:
084
population of the country nor tion for their sons, send them to college
what a needed for the protection of its
for this end quite as much 98 with an
material interests and for the millore
a salid education. and supply them
mout of its civilization yet the number of
with incomes far beyond their egitimate
young menewho yearly frequent them is
needs These youths form a small and
not unconsiderable in the present year
unfoctunate section of the college com-
1680, there are 2079 enrolled at Harvard,
munity, exposed to extraordinary tempts
of whom 1871 are in the undergraduate
tion and often unfitted by domestic train
department, They from forty States
ing to resist it They naturally fall into
and Territories of the Union, and few
extravagant expenditure that leads to self
from foreign countries. They represent
indo gence, waste of time neglect of pp.
every grade in society, from poor to rich:
pertunity and in some cases to immoral
tevery varioty of creed. Orthodox, Liberal,
habits. They set a bad example which is
Roman Catholic, Agnostic, Jew every
not without effect. They raise the stand-
shade of political opinion: and they meet
and of expense even for those who are
and mingle on terms of even more com.
supplied with but a moderate and appro-
plete equality than those which common-
priate income. In the courses of study
by exist in society There is no commu-
which they nominally pursue they are a
nity in which artificial distinctions have
hinderance to the progress of the industri
lessinffuence, and probably there is noone
members of the class. They contrib
of the larger colleges of the land in which
ute little or nothing to the welfare of the
simple collegiate divisions, such as those
college. But. on the other hand, they
of the annual classes and of college socies
themselves not infrequently derive dis-
ties, have less effect in creating distine-
tinet benefit from their college.experience
tions in the ranks of the students. Stu-
They could probably find nowhere else so
dent life at Harvard is essentially and
little false regard for wealth; they are
healthily democratic. In all departments,
for the time members of a community in
slike of study or of sport, there are no
which other distinctions have a legitimate
marked distinctions except the natural
superiority; they are made aware of the
ones of character and capacity The rich
existence of higher ideals than those
estidont undoubtedly has some advan-
which riches constitute or enable their
tages over the poor but they are for the
owner to attain: they are subjected to a
most part either strictly personal as in
discipline which the outer world of socie
the ability to spend more for amusement
ty does not afford: the existence and the
and in the gratification of special tastes,
power of things of the intelligence are
on they esable him to belong to the more
forced upon their attention. and it not in-
expensive and exclosive, but otherwise in
frequently happens that some intellectual
general less desirable clubs. If he be an
interest is awakened in their minds, and
attractive fellow in bearing and manners,
they leave college with some mental re
they assist him in gaining a more or less
sources and some respect for the nobler
factitious popularity But the disadvan
use and ends of life, which without a col-
tages of narrow means are less obvious
lege course, they might never have gained.
and Less felt at Harvard than in society
One fact of much importance which
at large, and a youth of independent and
has been very noticeable in recent years
reasonable character need never suffer
is the marked improvement in the general
there from any hurt to his feelings be-
spirit and temper of the underg traduate
sause of his poverty Of course, in col-
body This seems mainly due to three
fere world, there are heart-burn-
causes-the raising of the average agriof
nes produced by the differences in wealth
the students: establishment of the elec.
and social position. but. on the whole the
tive (patenx which requires each of them to
the each other selec and determine biscounte of studys
585 (better
Roman Catholic, Agnostic, Jow every
not without effect. They raise the stand
shade of political opinion; and they meet
ard of expense even for those who are
and mingle on terms of even more com.
supplied with but a moderate and appro-
plote equality than those which common
printe income. In the courses of study
Ly exist in society There is no commu-
which they nominally pursue they are a
nity in which artificial distinctions have
hinderance to the progress of the andustri
less influence, and probably there is no one
ous members of the class. They.contrib
of the larger colleges of the land in which
ute little OF nothing to the welfare of the
simple collegiate divisions. such as those
college on the other hand, they
of the annual classes and of college socie
themselves not frequently derive dis-
ties, have less effect in creating distino
tinet benefit from heir college experience.
tions in the ranks of the students, Stu-
They could probably find nowhere else ao
dent life at Harvard is essentially and
little false regard for wealth they are
healthily democratic In all departments,
for the time members of a community in
alike of study or of sport, there are no
which other distinctions have a legitimate
marked distinctions except the natural
superiority; they are made aware of the
ones of character and capacity. The rich
existence of higher ideals than those
student undoubtedly has some advan.
which riches constitute or enable their
tages over the poor, but they are for the
owner to attain they are subjected to a
most part either strictly personal, as in
dise line which the outer world of socie
the ability to spend more for amusement
by does not afford: the existence and the
and in the gratification of special tastes,
power of things of the intelli genee are
or they enable him to belong to the more
forced upon their attention, and it not in
expensive exclusive, but otherwise in
frequently happens that some intellectual
general less desirable clubs. If he be an
interest is awakened in their minds, and
attractive fellow in bearing and manners,
they leave college with some mental TO:
they assist him in gaining a more or less
sources and some respect for the nobler
factitious popularity. But the disadvan
use and ends of life, which without a col-
tages of asrrow means are less obvious
lege course, they mug ht never havegained
and less at Harvard than in society
One fact of much importance which
at large, and a youth of independent and
has been very noticeable in recent years
reasonable character need never suffer
is the marked improvement in the general
there from any hurt to his feelings be-
spirit and temper of the undergraduate
cause of is poverty. or course, in col.
body! This seems mainly due to three
logo, as in the world there are heart-burn-
causes the raising of the average age of
logs by the differences in wealth
the students the estab lishment of the elec
and social position. but. on the whole, the
tive system which requires each of them to
relations the students with each other
select and determine his course of study;
maniy and determined by
and above all, to the policy introduced
manners rather than by
and now firmly established at Harvard
of totaling the students as capable of self-
is
more
government and responsible for their own
teath
in
BELL
consult Nowhere else: is the student
have so
more trusted than
at Harvana Heas treated not as a child,
but all and the good results which
Var
5X6
HARD NEW
the
have followed from this policy are abvi
some
of
the
ous in the improved order. the MARATHON
display OH which was INFO
industry. and the resoler commission
aborished
authority that prevail throughout the
with to law ALL
university Among twelve or filteen
customs
the
prevalent
hundred pouths most 07 them public
spirit of good feeling and good sense.
leased from the discipline of school
the imitations into certain still
or the immediate control of their parents,
exhibit something of stupid folly and 00-
there will of course, be some incapable
casionally of brutal
of meetin the responsibility of indepen
but they do not belong properly without
dence, and of making good use of its op
present order of things and their sup
portunities. There are some men who
pression way be looked for before Inno
never outsrow a childish habit of mind.
All a result of the common sense not
Buttes a whole, with few exceptions the
right feeling of the students themselv
students show themselve worldy of the
The intention to behave like gontlem
confidence reposed in them Even those
is strong among them. and the spurit
who enter college children in disportion
entleman kness is. perhaps - as vigorous
soon learn the folly of prolonged childish
among them and as widely diffused as
news, and acquire a manlier-temper The
in society at large, The aense of honor
test to which the students are subjected
is apt to be blunt outside as well as in
by becoming at once masters of their own
side collage-walls, and it is not to belox-
lives: a severe one. Some fail under
peeted that students should have a keen
it: but its effect in developing moral ohar
or perception of the fine and incessant 10
acter, through the sense of personal re-
quirements of personal honor than that
spousibility, is unquestionably beneficial
which prevails in the world from which
to - a great majority. Harvard College
they come.
is not the place for a youth of weak
The dependence of health and vigor of
will OF of convictions in regard right
mind upon health and vizor of body is
and wrong that rest on artificial sup-
now the fundamental proposition in every
ports. Parents who wish their sons to
rational scheme of equestion: The pro-
be constrained to virtue by external obser
vision made at Harvard for the exercise
vances and formal penalties should not
required for health and for normal paysi
send them hither. It is indeed true that
cal development is probably as thorough
the domestic training and the hool edn-
complete, and intell igent as can be found
estion of the actual generation of meri
in any institution of learning. It maria
can children are often inmentably want-
new stage in the improvement of the
ing in respect to the simplest elements of
university as a place of education, and
sound character and many parents look
there is nothing in which therlife.of the
to the college to make good defects due
student of to-day differs more widely
to their own inefficiency or nerlect. But
from that of preceding generations of
this is enharge which the college cannot
American undergraduates than in the
undertake by direct-means It must as-
attention given to the care of the body,
sume that the youth of eaghteen or nine
in the large share which athletic sports
teen years old who enters its gates no long.
hold among college interests, and in the
er needs to be treated BM an infent. Usu
strong feeling aroused by athletic compe-
ally this assumption is correct. It would
titions, The rivalry of the different uni-
be difficult to findra better-behaved and
versities and colleges in athletic contests
better mannered body of afteen hundred
reminds the scholar of the similar rival
young men than the students at Dam-
ries among the cities of Greace, but our
Suences against food order in
coliege sames wait still for them
a. DOG (bottom)
who
may be looked for unfore long
never outgrow a childish habit of mind
as a result of the common - sepan and
But, as a whole, with few exceptions the
right feeling of the students themselve
students show themselve worthy of the
The intention to behave like gentlem
confidence reposed in them. Even those
is strong among them. and the spirit
who enter college children in disposition
remandiness is, perhaps, as vigorous
soon learn the felly of prolonged childish
among them and as widely diffused as
news and acquire a manlier tomper. The
in society at large. The sense of honor
test to which the students are subjected
is apt to be blunt outside as well as in-
by becoming at once masters of their own
side college walls, and it is not to be or
lives is a severe one. Some fail under
peaked that students should have is keen-
it: but its effect in developing moral char
en perception of the fine and incessant re
acter, through the sense of personal re:
quirements of personal honor than that
sponsibility, is unquestionably beneficial
which prevails in the world from which
to a great majority. Harvard College
they dome.
is not the place for a youth of weak
The dependence of health and vigor of
will. or of convictions in regard r right
mind upon health and vigor of body is
and wrong that rest on artificial sup:
now the fundamental proposition in every
ports. Parents who wish their sons to
rational scheme of education The pro-
be constrained to virtue by external obser-
vision made at Harvard for the exercise
vances and formal penalties should not
required for health and for normal plays
send them hither. It is indeed true that
est development is probably as thorough
the domestic training and the school edu-
complete, and intelligent as can be found
cition of the netual generation of Americ
in any institution of learning. It marks
call children are of ften lumentably want
a new state in the improvement of the
ing in respect to the simplest elements of
university as a place of education, and
sound character, and many parents look
there is nothing in which the life of the
to the college to make good defects due
student of to day differs more widely
to their own me ciency or neglect But
from that of proceding generations of
this is excharge which the college cannot
American under graduates than in the
undertake by direct means. It must as
attention given to the care of the body,
same that the youth of eighteen or nine
in the large share which athletic sports
teen yearsoid who enters its gates no long
hold among college interests, and in the
or needs to be treated as an infant Usu-
strong feeling aroused by athletic compe-
ally this assumption is correct. It would
titions. The rivalry of the different uni-
be difficult to finded botter-behayed and
versities and colleges in athletic contests
botter-mannered body of fifteen hundred
reminds the scholar of the similar rival-
young men than the students at Came
ries among the cities of Greece, but our
bridge Offences against good order in
college games wait still for their Pindar
college are rare against good civin order
to sing the spirit of beautifu youth with
still rever The high spirits incident to
its desire not upon valor and honorable
youth sasionally manifest theisselves
deeds and the dell fame that no.
EXP exuberant display and in reckless con-
companies them.
duot. but lively animal spirits are not
College-games achietic sports PM
sharol the American
take nt ORDER promotive of
and there is too little rasher
than
the students
too much of cenuino gayety and jollity
and subordinate to them. They are the
Hanvard students have
Of gentlemen who do not aim at
587
HABY
⑉
paramon
game. the expect Unit
life of a great figure, but Brand
its
excel
$1200 them-is.not easily about
with
in her de-
your one
orence the spirit animaling profes-
hundred eighity full
and smokers sport is obvious The
of instruction.
and the worth ed Sports part-of
of three hours & week at on
and amusement are les-
ture. Therman intent of on made
character is degraded in
uate student should be to secure
tion as the partic in it strive
tion inthose branches-of know ledze likely
for excellence other which may
toberace serviceable.for the general enit
be attained by a youth who does not
are of his taind, and for providing him
low it to become the ebief object of his
with intellectual tastes and resources. It
efforts, but who holds itsm its right place
is a misuse ofrare opportunities if be con-
as a pleasant and animating recreation
fines himself to studies of a technically
ands manly isument Fairplay,
scientific character, or to such as partake
honor to o
cheerful
acceptance
of the character of the professional studies
of defent of victory,
to which be intends to give his later years
are essential to contests be-
uration for life in the world. It
tween gentlement and it they cannot be
may indeed be his mixfortune that
secured in intercol contests, these
obliged by row means to hasten 318
the entrance of the
profession thatshell provide
spirit into college athletics
him livelihood, he is compelled to
tended to promote the vice, now conv
negient the generous and liberalizing
mon, of botting upon the issue of the
studies of letters and the arts, studies
Harvard snow taking the lead
known collectively under the fortunate
wither reforro of the objectionable prac-
term of the humanities, in order to con-
lines that have lowered the character of
centrate himself on special lines of pro
collece athletic sports.
fessional work. But everything is done
But while staletica have of late occu-
at Harvard to prevent or to liminish this
med a larger share of public attention
necessity by the provision of scholarships
than the other parts of college training,
by which a considerable part of the cost
and have beened consequently to have
of his education is lifted from the shoul-
development in college
ders of the poor, industrious, and capable
life, the of larvard since the
student. The cost of living at Harvard
was asian of mental education
on the most econo nical basis consistent
and at learning and its advance toward
with health and including the tuition fee
Line position of B true university have
of $150, may be set at from $400 to $475
been such 80 greatly to change its rein-
a year. In this sump and not include the
THE
five position to all other institutions of a
expenses of the long vacation or the
multar_sort in the United States, The
of clothes Every year not less than one
twenty years have been B period of
hundred and to
Barrata from the tradition
the aggregate amount of
AT narrow cademic system to: a new,
rying in individual amount from:$90.to
liberal, and comprehensive system, in
$300, are distributed to needy and merito-
which the isteal os an American universi-
nous students, so that the actual cost of
type different ideal from the English or
education Earvard for such a student,
the German gradually working-ilself
receiving scholarship of the average
due
The result is not yet complete, the
value of 8236, need not be more than about
not you realised, so far as the reali
the same sum. Seldan, without excessive
in ideal may be possible,
labor, secure his degree of A.B. in three
the
it
steady
No
years-nood if he has been wine in the se
P. 587 (bottom
ordered ter than that which
to be meat serviceable for the
Leult
be attained by a youth who does not
ure of his mind, and for providing
him
low DO becomio object of his
with intellectual tastes-and Resources
It
efforts, but who holds in its right place
in a misuse of rarie opportunities if he con
ASK pleasant and recreation
fines himself to studies of in technically
ands maniy accem Fairplay,
scientific character, or to such as: partake
honor to opponents cheerful
acceptance
of the character of the professional studies
of defeat modest of victory,
to which ha intends to give his later years
are conditions essential to contests be
of preparation for life in the world. It
tween gentlemen, and it they cannot be
may, indeed. he his misfortune that,
accured in intercollegiate contests, these
obliged means to hasten his
contests must cease. The entrance of the
entrence to a profession thatshall provide
professional spirit into college athletics
him with livelihood he is compelled to
tas tended to promote he vice, now com
nerlect the generous and liberalizing
mon, of betting upon the issue of the
studies of letters and the arts, studies
rames Harvard is How taking the lead
known collectively under the fortunate
in the reform of the objectionable prac-
term of the humanities, in order to soon
tices that have lowered the character of
centrate himself on special lines of pro-
college athletic sports.
fessional work. But everything is done
But while athletics have of late eeen-
at Harvard to prevent or to diminish this
inted a larger share of public attention
necessity by the provision of scholarship
the other parts of college training,
by which a considerable part of the cost
and hav consequently to have a
of his education is lifted from the shoul-
ionate development in college
dera of the poor, industrious and capable
life. the program of Harvard since the
student. The cost of living at Harvard
war as an institution of mental education
on the most economical basis consistent
and of learning, and its advance toward
with health, and including the tuition fee
the position of a true university have
of $150, may be set at from $400pto $476
been such ⑉ greatly to change its cala
a year In this sum are not include the
five position to all other ins titutions of a
expenses of the long vacation OTF the siost
similar aut in the United States. The
of clothes. Every year not less than one
last years have been a period of
hundred and twenty-fire scholarships, to
Harvard from the tradition
the aggregate amount of 829,590, and va
al narrow academic system to a new,
rying in individual amount from $90 to
liberal and comprehensive system, in
$360, are distributed to needy and merito-
which the ideal of au American universi-
nous students so that the actual cost of
different ideal from the English on
education at Harvard for such a student,
the German gradually working iteelf
receiving a scholarship of the average
our The 18 not yet complete the
value of $236. need not be more than about
SD fareas the reali-
the same sum. He can, without excessive
nation of such er ideal may be possible,
labor, secure his degree of A.B. in three
bat the
toward at is steady.
No
years, and if he has been wise in the age
renster importance to the nation
lection of his studies he will borable to
on
this
enter one of the fessional schools al
fax
ready in possession of faculties disen lined
last tal'sculture serious training of and his worth for the
by of then-
effnemento life.
Line number of teachers living instrum
P.588
tion
the und
SIGNATURE
the graduate school is REGIST for-from one
disposit
hundred. and they are roughly divided
of the s
among the different branches of learning
there is nothing in which a con
as follows:
treat in afforded to the
Anoient History Languages and Literature.
16
of most foreign universities the add
Language total and Arts
on
winded student who returns to Harvard
Poficical
18
after the residence abroad finds in its open
and Ethics
6
from ensation for
in
Natural Chemistry
24
foreign Heat of Bearning TORY
Physical Science
offer. In this immistration of its libra-
Harvard has set needed and bone-
The-courses of study offered this year
ficial example to all other institutions of
for undergraduate and graduate students
learning. A natural doubt may how
(not including the professional schools)
ever mine as to whether a yourr studient
are 516 in number.
anaccaslomed to the use of books is likely
impleprovision, on a sealenot attained
to make judicious use tol the opportunity
elsewhere in America, Is made for the
thus put within his reach: but it is to be
needs of scientific instruction in the bio
remembered that his use will generally be
logical chemical and physical labora
guided in the first instance by the direct
tories in the geolo teal and mineralogical
tions of this instructors, and that be will
oabinets, in the collections of natural his
how to help hanwell
tory and in the botames gardens. But
in the vast choice set before him of the
the pentre of the intellectual life of the
books fitted for his needs or hisentorta in
university is to be found in the library,
ment
which, under the charge of its present
The advice and assistance of teachers
eminent librarian, Mr. Justin Winsor, is
not confined to the class opm or the mat
administ sed with a liberality and efficient
ter of studies. Under a provision lately
ev unparalleled in anyicollegiate library
put in effect every student on hisentrance
in the world. The college library proper
to college is referred to is member of the
now contains about 270,000 volumes and
Faculty who willact as this adviser in me.
about 250.000 pamplels and if the libear
gard toall matters in which homay stant
ries of the separate schools and class
in need of counsel such, for instanous 888
rooms be added, the total number of yol
indicions scheme and choice
of
times falls little short of 360,600, The
study, and the best use of
op
accessions to the library proper during
portuni in collegation are
the ten years from 1880 to 1889 inclusive
in atter fi is social
have been at the rate of something over
economical, and moral interests
The
11.000 volumes annually The number
studentias Chans britt ghtat once into kind
of persons making use of the library stead
Ly and human relations represent
ile increases from year to year. Fourteen
alive of the sage authorities and no
years.og BY per cent of the students made
parent need be fraid last, int ding his
use of it, in 1887.8 the proportion for the
son to Harvard he should be lef without
whole college had increased to 39 per cent.
the help of judicious dasin erested, and
for the three upper classes to 97 per cents
friendly counsel
in 1888 a the respective numbers were 87
The progress of the university as a true
the
per cont. and 95 percent A more strike
school of learning has been nowhere
illustration or the general intellectual
more marked of late than in the improve
activity of the under graduates could hard
ment of its professional schools. In the
Ly be found. Every student in allowed
the and Medical schools this has been
to take out three volumes at a time.and
brou
about mainly by theramided
P. 588 bottom
The courses of abut offered this year
Darvara thas set: a and bene
for undergraduate and graduate studenta
ficial example to all other institutions of
(not including the rofessional schools)
learning. A natural doubt DHY how
are 16 in number.
ever, nerse as to whether a young student,
Ample provision, en a nonie not attaines
to the use of books is likely
elsewhere in America is made for the
to make judicious use of the opportunity
needs of scientific instruction in the bio
thus put within his reach but it is to be
logical chemical, and physical labora
remembered that his use will generally be
tories in the geological and mineralogical
guided in the first instance by the direc
cabinets, in the collections of natural his
tions of his instructors, and that he will
tory and in the botanical gardens. But
thus gradually learn how to help himself
the centre of the intellectual life of the
in the vast choice set before him of the
university is to be found in the library
books fitted for his needs or his entertain
ment
which under the charge of its present
eminent librarian, Mr. Justin Winsor, is
The advice and assistance of teachers
administered with a liberality and efficient
not confined to the class cooin or the mat-
ov unpar lleled in any collegiate library
ter of studies, Under a provision lately
in the world. The college library proper
out in effect every studen on bis on
now contains about 270,000 volumes and
to xollege is referred to remember of the
about 280,000 pamphlets, and if the libra
Faculty who will actors his adviser in TO
Keen of the separate schools and class
gard town matters in which the may stand
FOORDS be added, the total number of vol
in need of counsel such for instance as R
umas falls little short of 360,000, The
judicion scheme and choice uses of
study, and the best use of
accessions to the labrary proper during
portunities in college
the ten years from 1880 to 1889 inclusive
havelbeen at the rate of something over
in after-life in to his social pro-
11,000 volumes annually The number
economical, and moral interests The
of persons making use of the library stead-
student is thus brought at once into kind.
ily increases from year to year Pourteen
1x and tions with represent
years age 67 per cent of the students made
parent ative of need the be college afraid, authorities lest in sending and his no
use of it. in 1887-8 the proportion for the
whole college had increased to 89 percent
son to Harvard, he should be left without
for the three upper classes to 07. per cent.
the help of judicious, disinterested, and
friendly counsel.
in 1888-9 the respective numbers were S
net cent and 95 percent it more strik
The progress of the university as a true
school of learning has been nowhere
illustration of the general intellectual
activity all the under aduates could bard.
more marked of late than in the improve
Iv the founds Every eludent followed
ment 01 its professional schools. in the
law and Medical schools this has been
to take out three volumes at a time and
the as pitten hermay desire.
brought about mainly by the reasing
of
The tots number of volumes taken out in
the reg rements of admission to them.
$88.66.689 in 1888 9 R was 68,892
by better methods and enteres scope of
instruction, by the Introduction of thor
Type and SPOOKS within the library
and by annistin upon
increasing
fact
a
nocessi
to coaper the
to the-atmost Re:
of a Regree the re:
quired termed instruction now nd least
be
one-year twenty
longer
P.589
TARVARD UNIT IN 1890.
a
The change thus wrought in these
special knowledge and no estimped
in to
schools is Pedical, and their example has
make them the rivals of that
done much to raise the standard of pro-
could be brought into comparison with
fessional education throughout the coun-
them in any country. Such is the Muse
In the Divinity School the change
um of Comparative Zoology, whose TOTAL
has-boen not less remarkable. The pro
nificent collections, due to the genius,
Peasons have been drawn without prefer
the labors, and the liberality of the two
ence from denominations of widely dif-
Agassis, father and son afford to the
fering creeds, orthodox and liberal alike;
student of zoology means as ample and
that have worked together in perfect
as well arranged to assist him in the progr
harmony; the long tradition of high
ress of his studies as any museum in the
learning in the profession has been main-
world. such. too, is the Botanical Muse
tained by them, while their number has
um, established by the great master of
been increased and the range of instruc-
American botany, Asa - Gray, and pre-
tion enlarged. The instructors, no less
sided over by teachers worthy of their
than the pupils, have felt the benefit of
master: such are the Chemical Labora-
these changes, and the spirit of energetic
tory, and the Jefferson Physical Labora-
industry which animates all the schools
tory, in which the most modern means
reacts to uta advantage upon the under
and appliances are provided for the prose-
graduate department
cution of a science that with astonishing
But the most important development
rapidity is extending its triumphs in the
of the university in late years has been
conquest of new fields from nature: such
that of what now known as the Grad-
is the Observatory, for which the genms
sate School, that is the department of
and devotion of successive directors, and
advanced studies pursued by grad es
the generous endowments of private per
who intend to devote themselves to Leach
sons, have secured a position in the first
ins. or to independent investigation and
rank of astronomical observatories. All
research in some one of the higherbranch
these and other important subsidiary in
08 of knowledge, or to general self-cuit-
stitutions are open to pupils prepared to
ure. The importance of these studies as
take advantage of the means of instruct
essential to the progress of civiliz tion is
tion which they offer. For students of
felt in proportion to the growth of the
other subjects in science, and of literate re
nation in wealth and material power
and philosophy advanced instruction is
The United States cannot maintain an
provided according to their needs and o
equal position with other nations in this
Sciency, while the resources which the
except by the fostering of these
library affords are even more importa at
wheet intellectual pursuits, and no duty
to the graduate than the underg aduate
is more imperative upon our leading
student. The school is rengthened X
schools-of learning than to offer the best
fellowships and scholarships which have
attainable instruction in those studies by
been endowed by benefactors of the uni
which knowledge may be increased. the
versity "for the encouragement to ber
level of intellectual life elevated, and the
row the terms of one of these endow
consequent moral improvement of the
ments, If of a higher, broader, and more
community secured. The teachers capa
thorough scholarship than is required or
bio giving this indispensable instruc-
expected of undergraduates in all sound
tion are comparatively few, and the
literature or learning." or, in the words of
means for providing them with appropri-
another of the deeds of gift, "for assisting
ste-salaries, as well as with the leisure
to support one or more pupils
pret
requieite for their own progress, are
erably such as shall express the determine
scenty as yet blevery American institu-
tion to devote their lives to the advance
tion of learning It is not elaiming too
meat of theoretic science and original
into Taryard It these no.
investigation
P. 589 (bottom
ween increased, and the range of instruc-
tion
American botany, Ara Gray, and pro-
enlarged. The instructors, no less
sided over by teachers worthy of their
than the pupils, have felt the benefit of
master such are the Chemical Labora
these changes, and the spirit of energetic
tory, and the Jefferson Physical Labora
industry which animates all the schools
tory, in which the most modern means
reuota to its advantage upon the under
and appliances are provided for the prose
graduate department
cution of a science that with astomishi ng
But the most important development
rapidity is extending its triumphs in the
of the university in late years has been conquest of new fields from nature: such
that of what is now known as the Grad-
is the Observatory, for which the genius
note School. that is, the department of and devotion of successive directors, and
advanced studies pursued by grad 68 the generous endowments of private per
who intend to devote themselves to
sons, have secured a position in the first
ing, or to independent investigation and
rank of astronomical observatories. all
research in some one of the branch=
these and other important submidiary in-
es of knowledge, OF to general self-cult-
stitutions are open to pupils prepared to
ure. The importance of these studies as
take advantage of the means of instruc-
essential to the progress of civilization is
tion which they offer. For students of
felt in proportion to the growth of the other subjects in science, and of literature
nation in wealth and material power. and philosophy. advanced instruction is
The United States cannot maintain an provided according to their needs and pro-
equal position with other nations in this ficiency, while the resources which the
except by the fostering of these library affords are even more important
highest intellectual pursuits, and no duty to the graduate than the undergraduate
is more imperative upon our leading student. The school is strengthened by
schools of learning than to offer the best
fellowships and scholarships which have
attainable instruction in those studies by been endowed by benefactors of the uni-
which knowledge may be increased the versity, for the encouragement." to bar
level of intellectual life elevated, and the
row the terms of one of these endor
consequent moral improvement of the ments, of a higher, broader, and more
community secured. The teachers capa
thorough soholarship than is required OF
ble of giving this indispensable instruc-
expected of Undergraduates in all sound
tion are comparatively few, and the
literature or learning," or in the words of
means for providing them with appropri-
another of the deeds of gift, `for assisting
ate salaries, as well as with the leisure
to support one or more pupils
prof
requisite for their own progress are
erablysuch as shall express the determina
scanty as yet every American institu-
tion to devote their lives to the advance
tion of learning It is not claiming too
ment of theoretic science and original
much to any that Harvard is in these TO:
investigation." In the present year there
least nob interior to any other
are 112 students registered in this depar
in the United States in certain
ment and there seems to be good reason
the distinctly leads the advance:
to anticipate that its growth/will hene
unhreese within the university
forth be steady To raise the standard of
only the schools of
intellectual work in this country nearer
but
of
to the highest level attained by it el
to
the
of
where to attract disinterested seholars
a
890
ARPER'S NEW
creater numbers men who pursne their
for the ordering of the
facts
studies primarily for the sake of pure
of the exact sciences so as to decriminate
learning and not for a livelihood; schol
the princinics or laws of which-each-fact
BMS who in their turn shall lead the ad.
is millustration. Mathematics physical
vance of knowledge, and help to
and natural science, philology in its widest
the ever-increasing need of high
acceptance, all mere knowledge, in fine.af
ligenes and better culture, of com
fords the material for the ultimate work of
oriticism, efficient suggestion and Wise
the imagination and it is therefore the cult-
leadership inspolities and in society, men
ure of the imagination which, if the ad-
who shall keep alive in themselves and
vanced courses of study in the university
quicken in others the best ideals of indi
are to be properly ordered, demands atten
vidual and national life, who shall be fit-
tion beyond that which, in the oldest and
ted to guide and help and instruct and in-
most famous institutions of learning has
spire the youth of each generation-this is
hitherto been accorded to it. The neglect
the chief problem which Harvard and
with which the studies directly contribu-
other of our principal schools of learning
ting to this culture have been treated is
are now engaged in solving.
easily to be accounted for historically, and
(The real itality of a university de-
the conditions of our actual civilization
servin of this name depends, indeed. not
are bardly more favorable for them than
so much on the excellence and abundance
those of the past have been. It is time,
of the direct guidance. which it offers
indeed, that their need has become more
along the most advanced lines of the ever
obvious with the splendid rapidity of the
advancing forces of learning, as upon
progress in mere knowledge characteris
the spirit with which it inspires its stu-
tie of our own times. Progress in know
dents. The highest end of the highest
ledge does not necessarily involve a cor.
education is not anything which can be
responding contemporarees progress in
directly taught, but is the consummation
intelligence, wisdom. and virtue: on the
of all studies. It is the final result of
contrary, its common, immediate, and di-
intellectual milture in the development
reet effect is to strengthen the forces of
of the breadth, serenity, and solidity of
materialism. and the chief efforts of ours
mind, and the attainment of that com-
higher institutions of learning should
plete self-possession which finds expres-
therefore be directed to provide such edu:
sion in character To secure this end,
cation as may serve more OF less to count
one means, above all. is requisite, which
teract this prevailing tendency. And
has strangel enough, been greatly neg.
this education is to be found and found
lected in our schemes of education, name
only, in the intelligent and comprehen-
ly. the culture of the faculty of imagi
sive study of those arts in which then
nation. For it is by means of this fac- have bought to express themselves
ulty acting in conjunction with and under their thoughts, feelings, and emotions
the control of reason, that the true na-
in forms of beauty. For it is these arts
ture and relative-importance of the ob
which set the standard of human attain-
jeets of study are to be discovered and
ment. and it is the study of them that at
the attainment of knowledge for practi-
fords the best culture of the Imagination
eal use brought into connection with the
This study should be regarded as the prop
pursuit of truth as the intellectual basis
er accompaniment and crown of all other
of conduct. The largest acquisitions of
studies. All others are enligh ned and
knowledge remain barren unless quick-
elevated by it. The studies that nourish
ened by the imagination into vital ele-
the soul, that afford permanent resources
ments of moral discipline and growth
of delight and recreation. that maintain
The setivity of the imagination is needed
idasis of conduct and develop those. stim-
STO (bottom)
ted to guide and help and instruet and in-
most famous institutions of learning has
Spire the youth of each generation-thi is
hitberto been accorded to it. The beglect
the chief problem which Harvard and
with which the studies directly contribu-
other of our principal schools of learning
ting to this culture have been treated is
are now engaged in solving.
easily to be accounted for historically, and
The real vitality of a university de
the conditions of our actual aivilization
serving of the name depends, indeed. not
are hardly more favorable for them than
so much on the excellence and abundance
those of the past have been. It is true,
of the direct guidance which it offers
indeed, that their need has become more
along the most ad vanced lines of the ever-
obvious with the splendid rapidity of the
advancing forces of learning, as upon
progress in mere knowledge characteris-
the spirit with which it inspires its stu-
tie of our own times. Progress in know-
dents. The highest end of the highest
ledge does not necessarily involve a cer.
education is not anything which can be
responding contemporaneous progress in
directly taught, but is the consummation
intelligence, wisdom, and virtue: on the
of all studies It is the final result of
contrary, its common, immediate, and di-
intellectual culture in the development
reet effect is to strengthen the forces of
of the breadth, serenity, and solidity of
materialism, and the chief efforts of our
mind, and in the attainment of that.com
higher institutions of learning should
plete self-possession which finds expres-
therefore be directed to provide such edu-
sion in character. To secure this end,
cation as may serve more or less to cour-
one means, above all, is requisite, which
teraet this prevailing tendency, And
has strangel enough, been greatly neg-
this education is to be found, and found
lected in our schemes of education, name
only in the intelligent and comprehen-
ly, the culture of the faculty of imagio sive study of those arts in which men
nation. For it is by means of this fac-
have straight to express themselves
ulty acting in conjunction with and under
their thoughts, feelings. and emotions
the control of reason, that the true nas
in forms of beauty. For it is these arta
ture and relative importance of the ob
which set the standard of human attain-
jects of study are to be discovered, and
ment and it is the study of them that at
the attainment of knowledge for practi-
fords the best culture of the imagination.
cal use brought into connection with the
This study should be regarded as the prop
persuit of truth as the intellectual basis
er accompaniment and crown of all other
of conduct. The largest acquisitions of
studies. All others are enlightened and
knowledge remain barren unless quick-
elevated by it. The studies that nourish
ened by the imagination into vital ele-
the soul. that afford permanent resources
ments of moral discipline and growth.
of delight and recreation, that maintain
The activity of the imagination is needed
ideals of conduct, and develop those synn
not more for the interpretation of history
pathies upon which the progress and well
than for the appreciation of the signifi-
fare of Society depend, are the studies that
cancerol literature and the fine arts whose
quicken and nourish the imagination and
chief interest consists not in their works
are vivified and moralized by it. The
as independent products but as express
greatent need of Harvard as of other uni-
sions of the inner the and highest powers
versities. at the present time, is that of an-
of man k insneeded not more for the
dowments for fallen instruction in the
eggilion of the nature and the discovery
learning which tends to the direct culta
of the of social problems than
vation of this faculty
K.591
HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN
591
A striking illustration of the general
other, so that the outward
et of the
intifference to it is afforded at Harvard by
university should better for
with its
the disregard of the influence of architect-
object as a place for the best
location of
are as an element in education, as shown
the youth of the nation. Suo
superb
in the character of the buildings erected
work of patriotism is hardly to
in the last half-century, and which are
expect
ed in this generation. but at son
time
it
evidences of the material prosperity of
must be accomplished, by individ
the university Harvard by no means
or by
public means, if the university is
to
stands alone in her neglect in this respect.
fulfil one of its most important funet ths.
No one denies that their surroundings
Conspicuous as Harvard is, there no
have a subtle and strong though perhaps
wonder that she is the object of cons nt
unconsciously received in fluence upon the
criticism. So long as this criticism is
disposition of men, No one denies that
honest and founded upon knowl re,
culture of the eye in the recognition and
there is nothing but good in it. But he
appreciation of beauties of form, color
peculiar position which Harvard occu les
and proportion is desirable; that the plea
exposes her to much criticism that is im
sure if not the happiness of life is in
norant, unfair, and at times malevolent.
creased by enjoyment of these things.
Absolutely independent as she is in mat-
No one denies. that uoble and beautiful
ters of religion of sectarian relations, she
buildings, in noble association and well
lacks the support of any denomination,
designed for the purposes for which they
and is exposed to attack from newspapers
are intended, become more and more
which, nontinally religious, are actually
impressive from generation to generation
seotarian in character, and hayerat heart
as they become more righly invested
the special interest of denominational in
with associations of human interest. The
stitutions of learning. Her old motto,
youth who surrounded by beautiful
"Christo et Ecclesice, Harvard translates
and dignified buildings to which inspir
literally, To Christ and His Church
ing memories belong cannot but be
the Church that embraces all mankind.
strongly affected, less OF more, conscious-
Her position is not acceptable to sectaries,
ly on unconsciously, according to his na-
and the very strength which she derives
tive sensibilities and perceptions, by the
from it exposes her to many am embitter
constant presence, of objects that while
ed assault. Another but inferior source
pleasing and refining the rey cultivate
of unfair criticism has its origin in the
his sensited beauty, and arouse not mere-
disappointments which occur among the
ly por emotion, but his sympathy with
large body of her pupils and their friends.
the SDIRE and generous efforts of his dis-
Amontela
thousand students there will
tant predecessors His award nature
always be a proportion of failures, and
takes on an impress from the outer sight.
another proportion to which the special
He mayneed help at first to discern the
opportunities of any given institution will
expression in the work of the beauty prove unfitted. Both these classes are
which it embodies, but he needs no help tempted to find excuses for their failure
to feel its dignity and venerableness. The in defects of the institution, either ima-
value of the influence of noble archi-
ginary, or exaggerated and admitting of
tecture, simple as it may be, at a grent
remedy. A worthless student. who has
seat of education, especially in our coun-
made a sorry affair of his college course,
try, is hardly to be overestimated and
vents his spleen in misrepresentations of
yet it has been either absolutely#disre-
the college which could not save him in
garded at Harvard, or, if recognized, the
his own despite. But r'vard courts
attempt to secure buildings that should
publicity. She has nothing but gain to
exert this influence has been little short
anticipate from it. Even were it not so,
total failure. If some great benefacto
she would still court it; for her ruling
the university should arise, ready to
desire is not for her own credit and sue-
unconsciously received influence upon the
crificism. So long as this criticisa is
disposition of men. No one denies that
honest and founded upon knowl e,
culture of the eye in the recognition and
there is nothing but good in it. But he
appreciation of beauties of form; color,
peculiar position which Harvard occu tes
and proportion is desirable: that the plea-
exposes her to much criticism that is ig
sure if not the happiness of life is in.
norant, unfair. and at times malevolent
creased by enjoyment of these things.
Absolutely independent as she is in mat
No one denies that noble and beautiful
ters of religion of sectarian relations, she
buildings, in noble association and well
lacks the support of any denomination,
designed for the purposes for which they
and is exposed to attack from newspapers
are intended, become more and more
which, Fly religious, are actually
impressive from generation to generation
seotarian in character. and havecat heart
as they become more richly invested
the special interest of denominationa in-
with associations of human interest, The
stitutions of learning. Her old motto,
youth viselives surrounded by beautiful
"Christo et Ecclesia Harvard translates
and diguified buildings to which inspir
literally To Christ and This Church
ing memories belong cannot but be
the Church that embraces all mankind.
strongly affected, less or more, conscious-
Her position is not acceptable to sectaries,
ly or unconsciously, according to his na-
and the very strength which she derives
tive sensibilities and perceptions, by the
from it exposes her to many an embitter
constant presence. of objects that, while
ed assault. Another but inferior source
pleasing and refining the eye, cultivate
of unfair criticism has/its origin in the
is senserof beauty, and arouse not mere-
disappointments which occur among the
ly pc emotion, but his sympathy with
large body her pupils and their friends.
the spren and generous efforts of his dis-
Amongle
thousand students there will
tant predecessors. His inward nature
always be a proportion of failures, and
takes on an impress from the outer sight.
another proportion to which the special
He may need help at first to discern the
opportunities of any given institution will
expression in the work of the beauty
prove unfitted. Both these classes are
which it embodies, but he needs no help
tempted to find excuses for their failure
to feel its dignity and venerableness. The
in defects of the institution, either ima-
value of the influence of noble archi-
ginary, or exaggerated and admitting of
tecture, simple as it may be, at a great
remedy A worthless student who has
seat of education, especially in ON coun-
made a sorry affair of his college course,
Siny, is hardly to be overestimated and
vents his spleen in misrepresentations of
yet it has been either absolutely disre-
the college which could not save him in
garded at Harvard, or if recognized, the
his own despite, But rvard courts
attempt to secure buildings that should
publicity She has nothing but gain to
exert this influence has been little short
anticipate from it. Even were it not so
total failure. If some great benefacto
she would still court it; for her ruling
the university should arise, ready to with desire is not for her own credit and sue-
work that should hand down his name in cess, but for the best progress of universi
ever-increasing honor with posterity, he -ty education. Harvard has a least edu-
bnight require the destruction of all the cated herself so far that jealousy is not a
buildings erected in the last century ruling element in her character. I say
and their reconstruction with simple and she courts publicity, but not that of ad.
beautiful design, in mutually helpful vertisement and paffery. There
is
no
harmonious, and effective relation to each institution of learning in the world that
512
more
and
fall
them's
from than that which
to their calling and FOOTBLE and
the
makes
Reports
of
her
to relieve text from anxiet
President Treasurer, the account
and
the years hen theysahall be longer
of the heads of her dit
service
They
afford
ans
But the true life of a university depends
extense
Phone
possible
of
the
finally that so much on the bundance-of
MOUNT
the university, and they
its the character of those who
for the asking
use them on the spirit that animates its
Treasurer is alwo,
istrators and instructors and
a
ing document
their individual capacity to exercise a
II presents detailed account of the
right in fluence upon their pupils. Har-
finances of the university its invest
vard has been fortunate in a long suc-
ments, receipts and expendi tires. The
cession of eminent teachers. the have won
vango of such a statement consists not
from generation to generation the respect
only in its effect in maintaining public of their pupils, and have set to them an
confidence in the careful management of example of devotion to duty and of sim
the funds in the hands of the corporation
plicity and dignity of life. It is a feee of
but also in its laying open for public com:
conspicuous good fortune that at the pre-
men
and
criticism
the cost of each depart
sent time/when the transition is going on
ment of the university and exhibiting its
from the traditional methods and condi-
needs
well une eratood that a umi
tions of a colonal college to the forms
like hospital should always be
and requirements of a national universi
1990 the sense at finding its income
ty she has at her head one of the ablest.
insufficient for the demander on it and
most foresighted, and liberal minded of
of equistantly expending all its available
public servants
Take
means for the pr otion of the objects
The steady and solid progress made by
for which it exists The invested funds
larvard during the past twenty years of
of Harvari increase by gift or logacy to
President Eliot's administration affords
the amount of hundreds of thousands of
the promise of future advance. No pause
dollar annually, For the past five years
is possible in the course of an institution
from August 31 1884 to August 81.1889
which by its very nature is foreed to ad
-the average amount of this annual in
vance with the progress el knowledge Baid
crease hasbeen $361.258 Large esthis.sum
with the over-increasing demands of the
the Harvard stands in need o much more
community The standard of such a seat
Her total invested funds amounted at the
of learning is continually vising Each
close of her last financial year to nearly
forward step compels the next It can,
seven millions dollars-a sum inade
indeed never reach its aim, never perfect
quate to supply the means for such ser
ly Mulfil its function. Its ideal remains
the community as she is prepared
constantly unattainable, thoup h constant
total for provided only that she has the
In more clearly defined and more distinct
income a paltry sum-sin.com
ly visible. And yet the parmanent fea
painson with the wealth of many of her
tures of this ideal never vary. Theywoor
its paltniness dis
always the fair proportions of a school
not only to them, but to the
where truth is sought by research inquiry
men of wealth in the nation at lar e,
and speculation; where the youth of a n&-
whose privilege no less than whose duty
tionare taught to obtain mastery of them
it is to
provide from their supers indant
selve by the discipline of character as well
for the higher educal ion of the
Rsbyan juisition of knowledge: wherethey
Harvard needs at this moment,
are helped to the understanding of their
in order BE Talfill her anctions satisfac-
nature ant duties as social beings and are
downment of not
instructed pton/vinatters serviceable
0.592(bottm-last)
of her diff
cabable effective service
THE
G
They afford
truelife of in
depends
exacts view as possible the
not much on the of
university and the
its meansas.on the character of those who
any one for the asking
use them on the spirit that animates its
the the Treasurer is alway
istrators and instructors and and
a interesting document
their individual capacity to exercise a
It presents a detailed coount of the
right in tuence upon their pupils. Har
finances of the university its invest
vard has been fortunate in a long sue
ments, receipts and expenditures The
cession of eminent teachers, who have won
value of such a statement consists not
from generation to generation the respect
only in its effect in maintaining public
Lef their pupils, and have set to them an
confidence in the careful management of
example of devotion to duty and of sim.
the funds in the hands of the corporation,
plicits and dignity of life. All is a piece of
but also in its laying open for public com-
conspienous good fortune that at the pre
menland criticism the cost of each depart
sent time,when the transition is going on
ment of the university and exhibiting its
from the traditional methods and condi-
needs. It is well understood that a um
tions of 8 colonial college to the forms
versity, like a hospital should always be
and requirements of a national universi
BOOT in the rease of finding its income
ty she has at her head one of the ablest.
insufficient for the demand upon and
most foresighted, and liberal-minded of
of constantly expending all its available
public servants.
means for the promotion of the objects
The steady and solid progress made by
for which it exists: The invested funds
arvard during the past twenty years of
larvard increase by gift or legacy tak
President Eliot's administration affords
the amount of hundreds of thousands of
the promise of future advance. No pause
de annuall For.the-past five years
is possible in the course of an institution
from August 1884, to August 31,1889
which by its very nature is foreed to ad-
the average amount of this Annual in.
vance with the program of knowledge and
ereasehas been $361,363. large as this sum
with the ever increasing demands of the
is. Harvard stands'in need of much more
community, The standard of such a seat
Her total invested funds amounted at the
of learning is continually rising Each
close of her last financial year to nearly
forward step compels the next It can,
seven millions of dollars - 8 sum inade
indiced never reach its aim, never perfect-
quste to supply the means for such ser
ly fulfil its function. Its ideal remains
the community as she is prepared
constantly unattainable, thoug constant
provided only that she has the
by more clearly defined and more distinct
requisite income a paltry sum in com-
by visible. And yet the permanent fea
parsson with the wealth of many of her
tures-of this ideal never vary They bear
own in its paltriness dia-
Aways the fair proportions of a school
not only to them, but to the
wheretruth is sought by research. inquiry,
men of wealth in the nation at large,
and speculation: where the youth of us
privilege no less than whose duty
tio are taught to obtain mastery of them-
from their supera ndant
selvesby the discipline of character as well
for the higher education of the
asby act disition o knowledge: where they
Harvard needs at this moment,
are helped to the MAR derstanding of their
her functions satisfac-
nature and duties as social beings and are
endo ment of not
instructed not only in matters serviceable
live millions, with steady annu-
to their individual interesta. but in the
al
in proportion to the steady
nobler learning by which they are in:
upon her enlarge
spared to subordinate their personal con
or her teachings corns to the rood of the community The
which know-
ideal university AB the training-place of
provide
sale
the wisest strongest and best man Such
teachers
such
as
B university Harvard espires to become.
OscarHardlin.
College and Community in 1900
OLLEGE facultics, acutely sensitive to their own economic
grievances, are likely now to look backward with nostalgia
at the relative well-being of their predecessors. A glow seems
to suffuse the professorial life of 1900, that alas was blown
away by the winds of high cost of living.
Yet the causes of contentment among such a group as constituted
the Harvard faculty of 1900 were far too complex to be tied to the
level of remuneration alone. It is true that among the vocal and literate
group that inhabited the Cambridge of 1900 there was a pervasive si-
lence about finances, except in the rare cases when the salaries of in-
dividuals actually fell. The minutes of meetings, the correspondence
official and private, the published recollections and unpublished diaries,
even the diatribes of those who left the university with grievances,
reveal scarcely a sign of discontent with the immediate economic situa-
tion of the faculty - eloquent evidence of what a different world
was about them.
1
Not that the compensation was particularly munificent, certainly
not by present standards. In these affairs, President Eliot was prcj-
udiced toward thrift. 'To his ascetic and devoted spirit, asceticism
and devotion were required of the teachers of youth, and it mattered
little, a critic pointed out, 'if they were prescribed by poverty instead
of
being elective. 2 In mild protest against these charges, the president
pleaded extenuating circumstances, but admitted that he believed the
'profession to be one that called for altruistic conceptions of life and
duty.' It was perhaps as a token of that belief that the Corporation
Records displayed a mean salary in 1902 of $2,259 for assistant pro-
fessors, of $3,000 for associate professors, and $3,940 for full profes-
sors, to which sums, the more dutiful, if less altroistic, might have
All quotations from original documents in the University Archives, including
the Corporation Records, College Papers, and Eliot Papers, arc made with the con-
sent of the President and Fellows of Harvard College,
Arthur Stanwood Pier, The Story of Harvard (Boston, 1913), p. 199.
Henry James, Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909
(Boston, 1930), II, 8:-82, note 2.
Harvard Library Bulletin Pp :
V. 12 (1958):
Bloss Perry. And glady Teach: Reminiscences
5/04/20
Boston = HM , 1935.
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
223
I suppose I knew at that time the names of a few
Harvard professors. The one most familiar to me was that
X
of Louis Agassiz, who had died in 1873. I had studied
Goodwin's Greek Grammar, and was aware that Child
is
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT
was an authority on English Ballads. I had read Professor
Lowell's poems and essays, and knew that Longfellow and
OF LEARNING
Holmes had once been professors likewise. Asa Gray, the
botanist, was a distant kinsman of ours, and I had seen
I have been a looker on in the Cockpit of Learning these many years.
ROGER ASCHAM, The Schoolmaster
Charles Eliot Norton at Ashfield. Oddly enough, consider-
ing the ineffaceable personal impression which President
The best and most fruitful conception of a university or college is the ancient one of
Eliot usually made, I cannot recall when and where I first
a society or guild of scholars associated together for preserving, imparting, in-
creasing, and enjoying knowledge.
saw him.
PRESIDENT A. LAWRENCE LOWELL,
By 1886, when Harvard was celebrating its two hun-
At War with Academic Traditions in America
dred and fiftieth anniversary, I was studying in Ger-
I: LOOKING IN AT THE WINDOW
many, and during the nineties, whether at Williams or
Princeton, I had very few opportunities of meeting Har-
M
Y GRANDFATHER, Baxter Perry, had been
vard teachers. When we came to live in Cambridge in
graduated from Harvard in President Kirkland's
1900, I knew possibly a dozen professors. In the Depart-
time, but I cannot recall that my father had any
ment of English, for example, I had happened to meet
special veneration for that seat of learning. In my own
Barrett Wendell and George P. Baker. I knew that Child
undergraduate days, few students in the smaller New
was dead, and that A. S. Hill, Wendell, and Briggs had
England colleges knew anything whatever about Harvard.
devoted much of their energy to teaching undergraduates
The 'inferior institutions' imagined that Harvard looked
to write, but the courses offered by the English Depart-
down upon them, but the more cruel truth was that she
ment in Linguistics and Literature were then much less
was not thinking of them at all. The first Harvard under-
known to the general public than the courses in composi-
graduates I ever saw were on the porch of a hotel at Bar
tion.
Harbor in the summer of 1879. Half-a-dozen of us
By the tests of productivity and of interesting person-
Williams boys, cruising along the Maine coast and held at
alities the leading department at Harvard, in 1900, was
Mount Desert by a southeaster, fell into conversation with
that of Philosophy. In this unrivalled 'philosophical me-
these Harvard youths. They were extremely courteous,
nagerie,' as Professor Palmer termed it, he was himself the
but when they asked politely, 'Where is Williamstown
senior exhibit, with William James, Royce, Münsterberg,
College?' we were young enough to be annoyed.
and Santayana as his associates. All of them except
224
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
225
Santayana wrote for the Atlantic and were constantly in evi-
After dinner Howells read aloud some passages from it for
dence in Boston and Cambridge circles. Although Norton
our delectation. I hope I was not in a controversial mood,
had retired from activeteaching in 1898, and Shaler-the
but I did not really like this much-discussed third manner'
geologist and professor of things-in-general - were among
of Henry James. (Neither, for that matter, did Henry's
the best known of the Harvard group. Both men had wel-
older brother William. 'There isn't any third manner,'
comed me warmly when I first came to Cambridge. I
William once remarked to me. 'Poor Harry has simply
printed Shaler's Reminiscences in the Atlantic, and Ruskin's
changed his stenographer, and the new one records all of
letters to Norton, although I objected strongly and without
his hesitancies and ellipses.') Whenever Howells paused in
avail to Norton's deletion of many of Ruskin's affectionate
his reading of striking passages, Mr. Norton, perhaps
personal greetings to his correspondent. I was always a
mischievously, insisted on asking my opinion of the style.
little in awe of Mr. Norton. I saw him occasionally at the
I maintained that with all its marvels, it was artificial and
Tavern Club and always at the Saturday Club. In his own
affected, and I could not help contrasting it, in my own
library at Shady Hill he was a charming host, and like my
mind, with the perfection of Mr. Howells's reminiscent
friend Robert Grant I found Norton's 'bent for disillusion'
writing in such books as Literary Friends and Acquaintance.
singularly fascinating. 'Not only,' writes Judge Grant,*
I did not utter this conviction aloud, however. Arthur
'did I relish hearing false claims or premises stripped of
Sedgwick, I thought, was on my side, but neither our host
their glamour, but his judgments, even when most gloomy
nor Mr. Howells would allow that those glittering pages
with respect to immediate values, were compact with in-
had any flaw. Two or three days later I happened to meet
finite riches in a little room - riches of finished speech,
Mr. Norton. 'I think I may tell you,' he said, with his
however withering.'
wonderful and slightly malicious smile, 'that Mr. Howells
On two occasions, in his library, after seating me by the
agreed with you entirely about The American Scene, but he
fireplace and waiting until the cigars were drawing well,
would not admit it.'
Mr. Norton proceeded to give an elaborate analysis of
Professor Norton's cousin, President Eliot, was likewise
Theodore Roosevelt. In both instances, his mild opening
a fastidious master of speech, with a mind as inquisitive as
phrase was this: 'Of course the man is a Barbarian.' But
Norton's, although less subtle and far more vigorous. As
I
he said it so gently and with such a disarming smile that I
have said of him elsewhere, I 'he was an amplificator im-
was sure - perhaps mistakenly - that 'T. R.' would
perii, an enlarger of the empire of man's estate. His mind
have enjoyed it as much as I did. To his old friends he
was Roman rather than Greek; he cared little for specula-
was finely loyal. I remember dining at Shady Hill one
tive subtleties, he distrusted introspection, and was deaf
evening with Mr. Howells and Arthur Sedgwick, just after
to some of the rich voices of the past. He read John Locke
the publication of Henry James's The American Scene.
At the unveiling of the bust of President Eliot at Eliot House, on the one-
Fourscore; an Autobiography, 1934.
hundredth anniversary of his birth, March 20, 1934.
226
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
227
rather than Plato, was more interested in Pasteur than in
and Regent of the University. As soon as the formal ex-
Virgil, and in commenting on the Bible story of Mary and
ercises were concluded, Mr. Mills poured out for me a very
Martha, he made it clear that he preferred Martha. He
tall glass of whiskey-and-water in President Wheeler's
was primarily an organizer and administrator, with an im-
library, and pronounced with finality: 'Mr. Perry, Poetry
perial grasp of fact It is true, of course, that sculpture
is a fine thing, but Business is the thing.' That was the
cannot suggest all of the fascination which was felt in Mr.
voice of a whole era.
Eliot's living, speaking presence: in his flawless courtesy of
Yet if there was one spot in the United States which
bearing, his habit of deferential listening, his swift,
seemed as yet deaf to such a voice, in the opening years of
benignant smile, and above all, the tones of his incompa-
the twentieth century, it was Old Cambridge; steeped as it
rable voice. It was usually low and grave; sometimes
was in the traditions of Harvard College and typified by
hauntingly wistful; but when he was moved by moral in-
the leisurely charm of Brattle Street. The Graduate School
dignation it rang - as someone said of Dryden's couplets
of Business Administration, designed to 'establish business
- like a bronze coin thrown down on marble.'
as a profession,' was not invented until 1908, and did not
Mr. Eliot belonged to my father's generation, and from
attain its present prominence until after the World War.
the first year of our settling in Cambridge, his kindness to
In 1900 the gracious outward aspect of Old Cambridge
me could scarcely have been greater if I had been his son.
was in harmony with its inner spirit. Brattle Street, and
I do not think that he was particularly interested in the
even the streets 'just off' Brattle, looked as secure as an
purely literary features of the Atlantic, but he read all its
English cathedral close, and there was among its old
articles on education, economics, politics, and social recon-
American families the sense of continuity, of assured social
struction, and was a frequent contributor. I happened to
position, which was a part of that English tradition which
meet him on the platform of various public meetings in
lingered in Boston and Cambridge until well into the
Boston and Cambridge, and sometimes had the ill-luck to
twentieth century. Brattle Street was like an island in the
precede or follow him as a speaker. I say 'ill-luck,' because
stream of new and alien races swarming into Greater
all the rest of us must have felt, 'What can the man do
Boston; an island also in the stream of suburban Americans
that cometh after the King?' And yet, as many other men
attracted to Cambridge by rapid transit, by the develop-
of my generation have testified, we could not have had a
ment of manufacturing interests, and by the growth of
more considerate and encouraging listener. How flattered
Harvard University. Possibly Old Cambridge could count
I felt in 1902, when he suddenly found himself unable to
fewer men of world-wide reputation than in 1850, and yet
give a promised address at the University of California and
within half a mile of the Craigie House there were probably
asked me to take his place! I did my best with a speech on
#N many men of personal distinction as could be found
'Poetry and Politics,' about which I remember nothing
ywhere in a similar radius, outside of the great European
now except the remark of D. O. Mills, the veteran banker
capitals.) Family still counted for something, but money
228
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
229
for very little. A typical figure was President Eliot, riding
Hodges. He was a singularly able, liberal, and spiritually
his bicycle every morning on his way to market or for
minded man, like ourselves an immigrant to Cambridge,
tranquil exercise. I recall that he once appeared on his
and, I suspect, never really at home or happy there. Mrs.
bicycle at our house at Mercer Circle at 7.15 A.M. to invite
Perry, who was born in New Haven, educated at Smith,
me to lunch with an Englishman who had just arrived.
and had been a professor's wife at Williams and Princeton,
Luckily I was shaved and nearly dressed, and came down
was tolerably familiar with the innocent provincialism of
to find Mr. Eliot examining curiously some vellum-bound
typical college communities. In our first year or two in
seventeenth-century quartos in my study - about the
Cambridge, we used to collect Harvard stories. One of
last things in which I should have supposed him to be in-
hers was the remark of a Cambridge lady upon whom my
terested. There were very few telephones in Cambridge
wife happened to be calling, on the day of a Harvard-Yale
then. Today, if a President of Harvard were arranging an
football game. Casting about for fruitful topics of con-
extemporized luncheon party, his secretary would be tele-
versation, they hit upon the fact that two brothers, one re-
phoning the professor's secretary - but it would be much
presenting Harvard and the other Yale, were that day
later than 7.15 A.M. There were no motor cars as yet, and
playing against each other. 'Perhaps it isn't so strange as
but few private carriages, though Mr. Howells could no
it seems, hazarded the Cambridge lady; you know that it
longer have said, as he did once, that there was but one
often happens that one of two brothers is brighter than the
carriage in Old Cambridge and that was owned by a
other.' Her guest, brought up in Yale loyalties, assented
publisher. Social life was simple. Calling had not yet gone
politely. I was able to match this with a remark made to
out of fashion, and for such occasions, especially on Satur-
me by the Cambridge lady's husband, after a dinner in
day and Sunday afternoons, gentlemen were accustomed
their house. The men, while taking their coffee, mentioned
to don their silk hats. Richard H. Dana the Third, a lover
a then newly published book, Who's W ho in America. I
of the old ways, was one of the last dwellers on Brattle
remarked that I was finding it useful in the Atlantic office,
Street to wear a silk hat really well. ¹
inasmuch as it gave biographical information about most
As newcomers to this Old Cambridge, my wife and I
of the men who had achieved national prominence.
were naturally looking at Harvard from the outside. Yet it
Whereupon our host asked, with entire seriousness,
was obvious that for generations the college had set its
'Wouldn't the Harvard Quinquennial Catalogue answer
stamp upon the community. There were many Harvard
every purpose?'
professors, for example, in Saint John's Church - really
There was a strong Harvard flavor, naturally, in those
the Chapel of the Episcopal Theological School - where
'paper, discussion, and supper' clubs in which Cambridge
we sat on Sundays under the preaching of Dean George
abounded. We joined the Query Club and the Junior Shop
In this paragraph I have quoted freely from my R. H. Dana (1851-1931),
Club, and are indebted to them for many enduring friend-
Boston, 1933.
ships. The Query Club still held to the old convention of
230
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
231
frock coats and high-necked dresses; the Junior Shop Club,
tion be applied to Dr. Hale, and the carelessness of his
made up almost entirely of young Harvard professors and
dress was matched by the reckless inaccuracy and vigor of
their wives, ventured boldly upon dinner coats and eve-
his talk. Our treasurer, who was responsible for the selec-
ning gowns. The 'papers,' supposed to be the shop-t of
tion of the food and wine, was a venerable librarian and
a specialist, were not too technical, and the suppers were
epicure named Denny, who might have stepped straight
excellent. Occasionally we attended dinners in the Back
out of the pages of Charles Lamb. He startled me once by
Bay, which was then none too easy of access from Cam-
asking the chemical composition of the ink used in the
bridge. I joined a good many - perhaps, in view of the
Harvard Library, and when I pleaded ignorance, he re-
amount of night work which I was carrying, too many -
marked with deep satisfaction: 'I asked that question
of those agreeable men's dining-clubs which are a peculiar
once of Justin Winsor, and he could not answer. I always
institution of Boston. Aldrich introduced me to the Jury
said he was destitute of the very first qualification for a
Club, whose twelve members dined monthly at some
librarian.'
Boston hotel. We had a bibulous retired Admiral, I re-
A more gentle figure of the past was Mr. Josiah Phillips
member, and a couple of flaming Irish journalists from the
Quincy, who as a boy of six had been the marvellous
Papyrus group. I had supposed that all the Fenians were
'little Josiah' of Bronson Alcott's Temple School in 1835.
dead!
I lis questions and answers to his teacher are faithfully re-
A personification of ancient Boston and Harvard re-
corded in Miss Elizabeth Peabody's Record of a School and
spectability was the Examiner Club, founded in 1863 by
Mr. Alcott's Conversations with Children on the Gospels.
some of the contributors to the famous Unitarian organ,
Emerson, who often visited the Temple School, wrote in
The Christian Examiner. Its original aim was 'the dis-
his Journal for 1836: 'Little Josiah Quincy, now six years,
cussion of some topic of general interest,' and it met
six months old, is a child having something wonderful and
monthly at Young's Hotel. Among the older members
divine in him. He is a youthful prophet.' But 'little
were a few survivors of the 'Conscience Whigs' and the
Josiah,' when I knew him, had long ceased to talk theology.
'Cotton Whigs' of the eighteen-fifties; men who still hated
He had even written dramatic poems and worldly fiction
or loved Daniel Webster and liked to talk about him.
for the Atlantic. He disliked the cigars selected for us by
There were old-school reformers like Edward Atkinson
Mr. Denny, and always brought a supply of his own,
and Gamaliel Bradford, Senior, who shared my father's
which he used to offer me with an Old-World hesitancy and
views on the tariff. Our most picturesque figure was Ed-
elegance. It was from him that I learned that he hap-
ward Everett Hale, who had written 'The Man Without a
pened to be calling upon Emerson on the day when the
Country' for the Atlantic in the very year of the founding
1856 edition of Leaves of Grass arrived, with its famous 'I
of the Club. The phrase 'grand old sloven' - once ap-
Greet You at the Beginning of a Great Career. R. W.
plied to Montaigne by Emerson - might with equal affec-
Emerson' emblazoned in gilt letters upon the cover.
- Reproduced in my Walt Whitman, edition of 1906, p. 114.
232
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
233
Emerson had written those words to Whitman in a private
ities and policies of their Alma Mater. The phrase
letter in 1855, and Walt saw no reason why he should not
'Harvard indifferentism' had already been coined, but
make them public. 'At no other time,' Mr. Quincy wrote
though it was accurate enough as describing a small and
me, 'had I seen a cloud of dissatisfaction darken that
sophisticated group of undergraduates, indifference was
serene countenance.'
surely not a characteristic of the alumni. If they disliked
Although I was a member of the Examiner Club until
some fact or tendency pertaining to Harvard, they never
1910, and met there many vigorous men of my own genera-
hesitated in public or private to express their views.
tion, I find that my memories of their talk are vague.
Astonished as I was at first by this broad latitude of crit-
That private dining-room in Young's Hotel seems now a
icism, I came gradually to see that it was one of the price-
dusky, shadowy place, with but a dim light upon the faces
less traditions of a freedom-loving university.
of a few old men, who represented something that has long
Those leisurely monthly dinners of the Saturday Club
since disappeared from Boston. But perhaps the dimness is
opened many doors of friendship. Although I met many of
only the haze from those cigars presented to me by Bron-
the Saturday Club group at other clubs also, there were
son Alcott's favorite pupil, 'little Josiah' Quincy.
some men like Edward W. Emerson, Alexander Agassiz,
The Harvard coloring in some other Boston clubs was
William Lawrence and George A. Gordon whom I rarely
even more marked than in the Examiner. The Saturday
saw elsewhere and whose conversation was always re-
Club, which I joined in 1903, had at that time thirty-five
warding. 'General conversation,' the ideal aim of dining-
members, although some of these, like Mr. Howells and
clubs, is difficult to secure when there are more than ten at
Judge Holmes, were no longer residents of Boston. Yet
the table, but even on crowded days at the Saturday Club
every member of the Harvard Corporation, save one, was
and in spite of the 'business of Harvard College' which
enrolled in the Club, besides ten or a dozen Harvard pro-
was bound to intrude at times, there was always the
fessors. Mr. Norton was then President. It is obvious
chance of sitting next to some real person like Major Hig-
that it was a temptation to some members to utilize Club
ginson or Dr. Henry P. Walcott or President Eliot, members
dinners for informal discussion of the various business of
of the Corporation though they were! I recall the touch-
Harvard College. In fact, James Russell Lowell had been
ingly simple question asked by Mr. Howells on the OC-
a sinner in this respect as far back as 1866, when he wrote
cusion of his very last visit to the Club. He was then an
to Norton concerning a recent dinner of the Club: 'With
old man, and disinclined to meet strangers. But discover-
me it was a business meeting. I sat between Hoar and
ing that he and President Lowell had never met, I asked
Brimmer [two members of the Corporation] that I might
Mr. Howells if I might not bring Mr. Lowell over to sit
talk over college matters.' I confess that as a newcomer to
next him. 'Is he a friendly person?' asked the novelist
Boston and Cambridge I was amazed at the annihilating
with some anxiety. I could assure him on this point. The
frankness with which Harvard men discussed the personal-
two men, thus shaking hands for the first time, had long
234
AND GLADLY TEACH
HARVARD: THE COCKPIT OF LEARNING
235
been members of both the Saturday Club and the Tavern
for half-a-dozen years in daily contact with Harvard
Club, where friendly persons' do not wait to be intro-
graduates as human beings, and having found that most
duced; but more than thirty years had gone by since
of them were 'friendly persons, I was in a mood to look
Howells had deserted Boston for New York.
favorably upon that letter of President Eliot which
The history of the Saturday Club has been written in
offered me a professorship. Whatever else might be true
two stout volumes, and that of the Tavern Club in one,2
of Harvard, I could not believe that an institution headed
and I should not naturally allude to these clubs in this
by Charles W. Eliot was dominated by any considerations
chapter, were it not that I am attempting to describe the
of Circulation and Advertising. At No. 4 Park Street
various indirect paths which I happened to follow in gain-
one was trained to speak respectfully of Circulation and
ing an acquaintance with Harvard men and Harvard ways.
Advertising, for without the protection of those Twin
The ever delightful Tavern Club, which has long had its
Deities what would become of the magazine? 'When my
home in Boylston Place, Boston, with the Bear for its
master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there,
totem, is as unacademic a retreat from sorrow as can be
and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house
discovered anywhere. Yet Harvard men are in the major-
of Rimmon; when I bow down myself in the house of
ity of its varied membership. Its first President, Mr.
Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.'
Howells, was indeed a perpetual example of the saving
It is a very human prayer, but I did not wish to be
truth that a college education is not essential to a real
repeating it for the rest of my life.
education; but his seven successors in the Presidency of
the Tavern all had some association with Harvard. When
II: LIFTED IN
I joined the Club in 1905, the splendid figure of Major
'I hope it will turn out,' President Eliot wrote me on
Henry Lee Higginson sat in the Tall Chair. In the im-
March 21, 1906, 'that your pecuniary situation will be
mortal line of Mark Howe - official historian and un-
fully as good as it is now, and that the nature of your
official poet of the Tavern - Higginson was
work will be more congenial, comfortable, and influen-
'The Bear's - the Ursa's - Major.'
tial.' With these kindly words he lifted me into the cock-
I was still, in the midsummer of 1905, looking in at
pit, on the half-time arrangement.
the windows of Harvard College from the outside. I
There were some amusing aspects of this appointment.
knew next to nothing about its graduate schools and the
In the first place, I did not know exactly what I was
larger problems of Harvard University. But having been
accepting. The Smith Professorship 'of the French and
Spanish Languages and Literatures and Professor of
1 Early Years of the Saturday Club (1855-1870). By Edward W. Emerson,
Belles Lettres' was the title of the chair which I had been
1918. Later Years of the Saturday Club (1870-1920). Edited by M. A. DeW.
Howe, 1927.
offered in 1905, with the explanation which I have already
2 Semi-Centennial History of the Tavern Club. By M. A. DeW. Howe, 1934
quoted: 'It will be for you to select the work you would
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THE TRUE HARVARD
BY WILLIAM JAMES [?]
The True Harvard[1
When a man gets a decoration from a foreign institution, he may take it as an honor.
Coming as mine has come to-day, I prefer to take it for that far more valuable thing, a token
of personal good will from friends. Recognizing the good will and the friendliness, I am
going to respond to the chairman's call by speaking exactly as I feel.
I am not an alumnus of the College. I have not even a degree from the Scientific School, in
which I did some study forty years ago. I have no right to vote for Overseers, and I have
never felt until to-day as if I were a child of the house of Harvard in the fullest sense.
Harvard is many things in one-a school, a forcing house for thought, and also a social club;
and the club aspect is SO strong, the family tie SO close and subtle among our Bachelors of
Arts that all of us here who are in my plight, no matter how long we may have lived here,
always feel a little like outsiders on Commencement day. We have no class to walk with,
and we often stay away from the procession. It may be foolish, but it is a fact. I don't
believe that my dear friends Shaler, Hollis, Lanman, or Royce ever have felt quite as happy
or as much at home as my friend Barrett Wendell feels upon a day like this.
I wish to use my present privilege to say a word for these outsiders with whom I belong.
Many years ago there was one of them from Canada here-a man with a high-pitched voice,
who could n't fully agree with all the points of my philosophy. At a lecture one day, when I
was in the full flood of my eloquence, his voice rose above mine, exclaiming: "But, doctor,
doctor! to be serious for a moment
in SO sincere a tone that the whole room burst out
laughing. I want you now to be serious for a moment while I say my little say. We are
glorifying ourselves to-day, and whenever the name of Harvard is emphatically uttered on
such days, frantic cheers go up. There are days for affection, when pure sentiment and
loyalty come rightly to the fore. But behind our mere animal feeling for old schoolmates
and the Yard and the bell, and Memorial and the clubs and the river and the Soldiers' Field,
there must be something deeper and more rational. There ought at any rate to be some
possible ground in reason for one's boiling over with joy that one is a son of Harvard, and
was not, by some unspeakably horrible accident of birth, predestined to graduate at Yale or
at Cornell.
Any college can foster club loyalty of that sort. The only rational ground for pre-eminent
admiration of any single college would be its pre-eminent spiritual tone. But to be a college
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man in the mere clubhouse sense-I care not of what college-affords no guarantee of real
superiority in spiritual tone.
The old notion that book learning can be a panacea for the vices of society lies pretty well
shattered to-day. I say this in spite of certain utterances of the President of this University to
the teachers last year. That sanguine-hearted man seemed then to think that if the schools
would only do their duty better, social vice might cease. But vice will never cease. Every
level of culture breeds its own peculiar brand of it as surely as one soil breeds sugar-cane,
and another soil breeds cranberries. If we were asked that disagreeable question, "What are
the bosom-vices of the level of culture which our land and day have reached?" we should be
forced, I think, to give the still more disagreeable answer that they are swindling and
adroitness, and the indulgence of swindling and adroitness, and cant, and sympathy with
cant-natural fruits of that extraordinary idealization of "success" in the mere outward sense
of "getting there," and getting there on as big a scale as we can, which characterizes our
present generation. What was Reason given to man for, some satirist has said, except to
enable him to invent reasons for what he wants to do. We might say the same of education.
We see college graduates on every side of every public question. Some of Tammany's
stanchest supporters are Harvard men. Harvard men defend our treatment of our Filipino
allies as a masterpiece of policy and morals. Harvard men, as journalists, pride themselves
on producing copy for any side that may enlist them. There is not a public abuse for which
some Harvard advocate may not be found.
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THE TRUE HARVARD
PAGE 2
BY WILLIAM JAMES [?]
In the successful sense, then, in the worldly sense, in the club sense, to be a college man,
even a Harvard man, affords no sure guarantee for anything but a more educated cleverness
in the service of popular idols and vulgar ends. Is there no inner Harvard within the outer
Harvard which means definitively more than this-for which the outside men who come here
in such numbers, come? They come from the remotest outskirts of our country, without
introductions, without school affiliations; special students, scientific students, graduate
students, poor students of the College, who make their living as they go. They seldom or
never darken the doors of the Pudding or the Porcellian; they hover in the background on
days when the crimson color is most in evidence, but they nevertheless are intoxicated and
exultant with the nourishment they find here; and their loyalty is deeper and subtler and
more a matter of the inmost soul than the gregarious loyalty of the clubhouse pattern often
is.
Indeed, there is such an inner spiritual Harvard; and the men I speak of, and for whom I
speak to-day, are its true missionaries and carry its gospel into infidel parts. When they
come to Harvard, it is not primarily because she is a club. It is because they have heard of
her persistently atomistic constitution, of her tolerance of exceptionality and eccentricity, of
her devotion to the principles of individual vocation and choice. It is because you cannot
make single one-ideaed regiments of her classes. It is because she cherishes SO many vital
ideals, yet makes a scale of value among them; SO that even her apparently incurable
second-rateness (or only occasional first-rateness) in intercollegiate athletics comes from
her seeing SO well that sport is but sport, that victory over Yale is not the whole of the law
and the prophets, and that a popgun is not the crack of doom.
The true Church was always the invisible Church. The true Harvard is the invisible Harvard
in the souls of her more truth-seeking and independent and often very solitary sons.
Thoughts are the precious seeds of which our universities should be the botanical gardens.
Beware when God lets loose a thinker on the world-either Carlyle or Emerson said that-for
all things then have to rearrange themselves. But the thinkers in their youth are almost
always very lonely creatures. "Alone the great sun rises and alone spring the great streams."
The university most worthy of rational admiration is that one in which your lonely thinker
can feel himself least lonely, most positively furthered, and most richly fed. On an occasion
like this it would be poor taste to draw comparisons between the colleges, and in their mere
clubhouse quality they cannot differ widely:-all must be worthy of the loyalties and
affections they arouse. But as a nursery for independent and lonely thinkers I do believe that
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Harvard still is in the van. Here they find the climate SO propitious that they can be happy in
4
their very solitude. The day when Harvard shall stamp a single hard and fast type of
character upon her children, will be that of her downfall. Our undisciplinables are our
proudest product. Let us agree together in hoping that the output of them will never cease.
1
Speech at the Harvard Commencement Dinner, June 24, 1903, after receiving an LL.D.
degree. Printed in the Graduates Magazine for September, 1903.
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Note:
Full text publighed 6/27/1903 in the Boston
Evening Transcript then Harvard Graduates'
Magazire Sept. 1903, Pp. 5-8; and William James,
Memories and Studies (1911), Pp. 348-355.
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Caubridge Historical Society Proceedings 4 (1909).
Secretary
FRANCIS HILL BIGELOW.
Treasurer
HENRY HERBERT EDES.
Curator
CLARENCE WALTER AYER.
The SECRETARY-ELECT was duly sworn.
STEPHEN PASCHALL SHARPLES read the following paper:
78
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL
In 1848 Mr. Abbott Lawrence sent to the Treasurer of Harvard University a remarkable letter, At the
time of the inauguration of his grandson Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Bishop William Lawrence had this
letter printed and presented a copy of it to each person who was present at the dinner given by the
Alumni of the School, on Tuesday evening the 4th of October, to the scientific delegates to the
inauguration. I call this a remarkable letter, for it was one of the first of its kind ever written in this
country and marked the beginning of a new era in education.
At this time only sixty years ago what is now known as the laboratory method of instruction was
almost unknown except in a few schools in Europe The College was still jogging along in the old
scholastic ruts. That which was good enough for the fathers was good enough for the sons.
Persons preparing for the learned professions, as they were called, might study Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin grammar, dabble in history, as it was written, and learn a little logic and mathematics, in all but
little more than is now required to graduate from a good high school. As to any study of these
subjects beyond the mere textbook, that was not even thought of by the Faculty, much less by the
students.
The letter of Mr. Lawrence, which I understand was written with the assistance of Mr. Storrow, must
have fallen like a bombshell into the pastures where the professors were wont to wander mid the
flowers of ancient learning. Indeed I have heard it intimated that one professor, who was rather fond
of investigations on his own account, was warned that the College did not employ investigators but
teachers.
But the prize of $50,000 thus dropping from the sky was too large to be ignored, and was therefore
gratefully accepted and acknowledged as a most munificent gift; it was up to that time the largest gift
that the College had ever received. As showing the ideas prevailing at the time, I quote from the letter
the following sentence; "The buildings I have supposed, without having made estimates, could be
erected, including an extensive
79
laboratory, for about thirty thousand dollars." Although Mr. Lawrence was mistaken in regard to the
sum necessary to endow the school, he was not mistaken in the necessity for such a school.
At that time the only technical school in America was the one at Troy, which was mainly devoted, as it
still is, to teaching Engineering.
No college in the land had conceived the idea that chemistry, physics, and natural history were live
studies, that must be taught by living teachers and not by the study of text-books and recitations on
their contents, supplemented at times by a course of lectures by the professor, who too frequently
told his students that the experiment should have succeeded, but that for some unknown reason it
had not As for a student experimenting for himself, that was not to be thought of for a moment, as
apparatus was expensive and it might be broken. The only chance he ever had to experiment for
himself was to obtain an appointment as an assistant to the professor. This often was very convenient
for the professor, for if things did not go as they should, it was easy to lay the failure to his assistant.
The poor assistant had no redress.
This was all changed by Mr. Lawrence's donation. Students were admitted to the School, and actually
furnished with apparatus which they could break and pay for, and they learned in chemistry how easy
it was to blow up a hydrogen generator or to burn themselves with nitric or sulphuric acid. The
engineering students were put at work making actual surveys and planning bridges and railroads and
such other mercenary work. The professor of natural history no longer showed a few dried specimens,
but expected the students to furnish fresh specimens and study them afterwards
The School existed under these conditions from the time it was founded until about forty years agot It
was primarily a school for advanced students or students who wished to do advanced work and not for
beginners. There were few required studies, the courses being almost all elective. The men who came
to the School came because they had a special object in so doing
Note: Founded in 1847 by a gift of $50,000.from AbbottL Lawrence.
It was during the first twenty years of its life that the School had its greatest teachers and turned out
its most noted graduates. At that time there seemed to be a great indifference in regard to
80
taking a degree, and many men who afterwards made a mark in the world left without obtaining a
degree
The greatest influence in the start of the new School was the fact that Louis Agassiz came to America
about the time it was founded. His coming marked a new era in science. Joined to a great love for his
own studies, he had an equally great love for imparting his knowledge to others. Those who knew him
could not resist the charm of his manner. As a lecturer he always drew a crowded house, composed in
many instances of those who understood but little of what he said, but who were attracted by his
enthusiastic manner, and who cared but little about what he was saying so long as they could hear
him talk. It was my good fortune to see him almost daily for some years, and he always came in with
a cheery good morning and some pleasant words. One of my most cherished possessions is a letter he
gave me at a time I was applying for a professorship.
While with most of you Agassiz is but a name, with those of us who met him personally, it was far
more than the name of a professor, it was the name of one who always made you feel that he had
a
warm personal interest in what you were doing.
Associated with Agassiz from the first until 1863 was another professor who had also a strong
personality and was able to instil into his students a love for his profession.
Eben Norton Horsford at the time he came to the School was fresh from the teachings of the famous
chemist Justus Liebig, who only a few years before at Giessen had founded the first laboratory for the
practical teaching of chemistry. Horsford was a great admirer of his teacher, and it is said that when
he was about to leave Giessen the other students hunted up an old pair of Liebig's shoes and placed
them on his desk. When he inquired about the shoes they told him that the Herr Professor had sent
them to him as the only one of his students that was worthy to stand in them.
But with a growing family he was unable to live on the meagre income of his professorship, and so
was forced to resign his position. This was probably fortunate for him, as he entered into mercantile
persuits and became wealthy. But he was an investigator all his life, having a private laboratory in his
house, in which I spent some pleasant hours listening to his explanations
81
of work that he was engaged upon. Among his students who afterwards became noted, I will mention
George C. Caldwell, who graduated in 1855, under whom I commenced the study of chemistry in 1864
at the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and who for many years was the honored professor of
Agricultural Chemistry at Cornell; Professor Francis H. Storer, for many years Dean of the Bussey
Institute; Cyrus M. Warren, who was Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and early became noted for his studies on the mineral oils; James M. Crafts, who also
was a professor at the Institute of Technology and at one time President; John Williams Langley,
Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan; Professor Charles F. Chandler, of Columbia
College, New York, who was practically the founder of the School of Mines connected with that
institution.
Many of the earlier students of chemistry went to Europe to finish their studies, but they were initiated
into the science by Professor Horsford.
I have said less in regard to Professor Agassiz's students than of those of Professor Horsford, since
Professor Agassiz's students or those who studied under his students are scattered over the world, -
to-day some of them still teaching; others having passed over the great divide. One of the most noted
of them, Professor Shaler, was known to you all. Professors Putnam and Niles are still with us, and
Professor Morse has not yet found the way to Mars. But the list is too long to notice more of them.
Professor Horsford was succeeded by Dr. Wolcott Gibbs. Dr. Gibbs was not a popular lecturer and was
but little known outside of his laboratory in Cambridge. In regard to his teaching I quote from
Professor Clarke's notice of him in the "Journal of the London Chemical Society": "Gibbs apparently
believed, although his belief was not stated in set terms, that a good teacher who kept in touch with
his pupils should know perfectly well where they stood, and no examination could tell him anything
more." He never gave any examinations, except the final one for a degree, and this was a mere
formality that had to be observed to conform to the regulations of the School. I well remember my
own examination. It was mainly verbal, largely free translations from French and German text-books
and some pleasant talk about
82
work that I had been engaged upon. My thesis was ready for publication, for this was a point on which
he insisted that some original work must have been done. In my case it was the translating and
editing and extending Hoffmann's Chemical Tables. But my degree by no means ended my work in the
School. I was invited to come back and spend another term as his private assistant. This was followed
by three delightful years as his assistant in the School, - years in which, while nominally an assistant,
I
was a student as well, working in lines that he suggested.
Our course of study, if it could be called a course, would be regarded by many modern teachers as
entirely lacking in all the essentials of a regular study. We had but one text-book in use; that was
Fresenius' "Qualitative Analysis." One rule was thoroughly enforced: no student was to take up a new
subject till he had mastered the old.
I remember keeping one student who has since done much work of a high grade a whole year on
qualitative analysis,- a study that he should have finished in six months; but he knew it when he got
through, and his course in life has since been distinguished by the same slow, painstaking study, until
now he stands at the head of his profession in his chosen branch of study.
Dr. Gibbs had during his active teaching only four assistants; they have all since held professorships.
He afterwards had three or four more assistants; two of these at present hold full professorships, and
a third is engaged in research work of a high grade under the government at Washington.
Most of the doctor's students have done credit to his teaching. One of them was President of the
Colorado School of Mines for many years. Another is chief chemist of the Geological Survey at
Washington; another is Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in
Columbian University and government expert on high explosives.
Professor Eustis was appointed Professor of Engineering in 1849 and held the office until his death in
1885. His department had the most students, and the men who graduated from it were generally at
once put to work. As an instance the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad had a standing order
for two students
83
a year. Professors Pickering and Trowbridge both graduated from this department.
The most noted student that the school produced was perhaps Simon Newcomb, who has recently
passed away, full of honors.
Dr. Gray had a few special students who have occupied high positions.
To Dr. Jeffries Wyman must be given the credit of introducing the laboratory method into the study of
anatomy, and his students have won for themselves a high position in the science of medicine. Of
these I need only mention Drs. Walcott, Bowditch, and Carmalt, who has long been a professor at
Yale.
At the time the franchise was bestowed on the graduates of the School, President Eliot, congratulating
us on having won a long fight (we were over twenty years endeavoring to be put on the same
standing as the graduates of the academic department) said to us, "For your numbers you have more
distinguished graduates among you than any other department of the University."
The School has practically ceased to exist. The University now grants the S.B. degree to students in
the academic department,) giving the student the choice of an A.B. or S.B. degree, and the Alumni no
longer make any distinction between the degrees.
But the work so well inaugurated by the old School will still go forward on even a higher plane in the
Graduate School, assisted by the funds of the McKay bequest, and students will still have the chance
to pursue in the University the studies which the School was founded to promote, with the great
advantage that they will be much better fitted by previous training to take advantage of the
opportunities offered. They will still have the advantages that we had, that they can devote their
entire time to the study of their chosen vocation. But they will have the still further advantage of
abundant material to work with, while many times we had to either abandon our experiments or
devise apparatus and methods by which we could carry them on in a primitive manner. Where a
student can now obtain almost anything he wishes in a few hours, we often had to wait weeks for
supplies. This may have been a disadvantage, but on the other hand it had certain advantages. We
were forced to devise the means to accomplish our ends. If we wanted oxygen, we had to make it;
now we can buy it by the
84
gallon ready for use. We had no supply of electricity; we had illuminating gas, but we did not know
how to use it as we do to-day. The first gas furnaces in the School were put there after I graduated,
and at that time we were still using charcoal to make combustions. The first assay furnace in the
School was built by Mr. Pettee in 1868 in order to instruct the students in assaying. Filtering with the
vacuum pump was introduced about 1869, and the first determinations of nitrogen ever made by use
of a sprengel pump were made in 1867. In order to confirm the results of these experiments I had to
build my own pump in 1868. The outfit of the School, even as late as 1870, was no better than the
ordinary high school possesses. The entire outfit furnished each student, with the exception of the
balances, did not exceed twenty dollars; he furnished his own platinum crucible But with this limited
amount of material research work was carried on which has stood the test of time.
The influence of the School on education in this country is hardly to be estimated. Its methods have
revolutionized the University, and it has been well said that, instead of the University absorbing the
School, the School has absorbed the University. For now the methods that were introduced in the
School are used all through the University, and every professor uses to a greater or less extent the
laboratory method, teaching his students how to use his material, rather than to memorize
text-books Many think that the system has been carried too far, and that a student should be better
grounded in the elements of education before entering into advanced studies of his own choosing. And
in this view they are undoubtedly right. A man cannot be too well trained in his preliminary studies
before he undertakes his life work. On the other hand, a certain latitude is permissible in these
preliminary studies; they should many of them be chosen with a certain end in view. As an illustration
for a student of chemistry or engineering, it is almost indispensable that he should have a good
reading knowledge of French, German, and English, and if he intends to make mining his specialty he
should also understand Spanish. In this connection I will mention what we did in our course of German
in the school, and in this we rather had the advantage of the teacher. We took the matter into our
own hands and required
85
him to use a German chemical work. Here we had the advantage that we understood the text much
better than he did, and we soon learned to translate this work with comparative lease, whereas, had
we taken a course in literary German, we should have been no better off at the end of the course than
at the beginning.
The great trouble in the new facilities for advanced studies will be, as President Lowell has ably said,
that it will tend to build up a generation of teachers who are well learned in all that has been done
before, but who will lack the initiative to go ahead and do things for themselves. The education
that
we received from the old School was not so much the study of what had been done, but the power to
think and reason on what we were doing, and to initiate new work. Those of us who afterwards taught
taught not so much because we had been educated to teach as because we had found out something
0
that we felt we must impart to others. Each of us imbibed something of the enthusiasm of our masters
and tried to hand it on to our students.
86
ARCHIBALD MURRAY HOWE read the following letters from Willard Phillips to Octavius Pickering:
BOSTON, October 1, '48.
MY DEAR PICKERING
It is Sunday, as you will see by the date, and Madame and lout of respect to my code
have been entertaining ourselves with Battle of Buena Vista written by Capt. Carleton,
who was in it. There is something exceedingly chivalrous and romantic to me in this
whole episode of the Mexican War which we have just finished. One of our neighbors, a
mason, had a son out there who was orderly to Gen. Pillow and has just returned, who
furnishes his father with innumerable incidents and anecdotes to relate to me to my
great entertainment.
If Wm. Prescott would collect the materials, he might write another Conquest as
dramatic as the first. There is surely something taking in this military rushing, crushing
Educ 5505
16/P5
THE
Lawrence Scientific Sch
Educ U 4810.550.10
IN
VE
Harvard University
TAS
1847-1906
HARVARD
COLLEGE
by
LIBRARY
JAMES LEE LOVE
BURLINGTON, N. C.
1944
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
SINCE THE INAUGURATION OF
PRESIDENT ELIOT
1869-1929
EDITED BY
SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON
CLASS OF 1908
VETRI
TAS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1930
Robert A. McCaughey.
Perspectives
THE PTRANSFORMATION
OF AMERICAN ACADEMIC LIFE:
in American History
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1821-1892
Editors: DONALD FLEMING and BERNARD BAILYN
When it comes to hiring learning, and inspiration and personal weight, the
law of supply and demand breaks down altogether. A university can not be
managed like a railroad or a cotton mill.
819-1-273
VOLUME VIII 1974
-Charles William Eliot
I
I is a commonplace among historians and sociologists to lo-
cate the beginnings of the American academic profession,
along with those of the American university, no earlier than
the 1870's and 1880's. "We take for granted," Richard Hofstadter
wrote in 1963, "the existence of universities and the academic pro-
1873. 1,284
fession. But before the Civil War the United States had neither, in
any respectable degree. Both were created in one generation."
More recently Christopher Jencks and David Riesman concluded
that "until the late nineteenth century there had hardly been an
academic profession at all." Unfortunately, however, this inter-
PUBLISHED BY THE
disciplinary consensus results not from an abundance of detailed
Charles Warren Center for Studies
investigations of either the history or sociology of academic pro-
fessionalization in the United States but from the paucity of both. 1
in American History
For this situation historians bear the primary responsibility. "In
spite of all the publication," Richard H. Shryock reminded his
colleagues more than two decades ago, "We do not yet have an
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
adequate history of higher education in the United States, or even
such a history of the American academic profession." Work done
1. Richard Hofstadter, "The Revolution in Higher Education," Paths of American
Thought, Arthur M. Schlesinger and Morton White, eds. (Boston, 1963), p. 269; Chris-
topher Jencks and David Riesman, The Academic Revolution (New York, 1968), p. 160.
For a more recent statement of this view, see Talcott Parsons and Gerald M. Platt, The
American University (Cambridge, 1974), p.4.
239
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Bussey Institution. Records of the Bussey Institution, 1883-1994 : A Finding Aid.
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Harvard University Library
Frames Version
OASIS: Online Archival Search
Questions or Comments
Information System
Copyright Statement
VI BI
Bussey Institution. Records of the
Bussey Institution, 1883-1994 : A
Finding Aid.
Bussey Institution
Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain of Harvard University
June 2003
C
President and Fellows of Harvard University
Descriptive Summary
Repository: Arnold Arboretum Archives of Harvard University,
Jamaica Plain, MA
Call No.: REQUEST AS: VI BI
Creator: Bussey Institution
Title: Records of the Bussey Institution, 1883-1994
Quantity: .3 Linear Feet, 1 Archival Box
Processing Information:
Processed: September 2001
By: Lisa Pearson
Revised: May 2003By: Sheila Connor
Acquisition Information:
These records were acquired during the years of the Bussey Institute's
affiliation with the Arnold Arboretum. The papers were accessioned into HOLLIS
# 008902736 and this file name is ajp00012.
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make an appointment. The Director, or all Office OT origin, may place restctonS
on the use of some or all of its records. The extent and length of the restriction will
be determined by the Director, office of origin, and the Archivist and will be
enforced equally for all researchers.
Use Restrictions:
The copyright is held by The President and Fellows of Harvard College for
the Arnold Arboretum Archives of Harvard University. The copyright on some
materials in the collection may be held by the original author or the author's heirs
or assigns. Researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from the
holder(s) of copyright and the Arnold Arboretum Archives prior to publishing any
quotations or images from materials in this collection.
Photocopies may be made at the discretion of the Arnold Arboretum Archives
staff. Permission to make photocopies does not constitute permission to reproduce
or publish materials outside the bounds of the fair use guidelines.
Historical Note
The will of Benjamin Bussey, drawn up in 1835, gave an
endowment to Harvard University for the establishment of an
undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture to be called the
Bussey Institution, as well as a grant of land from his estate in Jamaica
Plain, Massachusetts. One of the provisions of the will allowed
Bussey's granddaughter, Mrs. Maria Bussey Motley, a life tenancy on
the property of "Woodland Hill" as the estate was called, therefore it
took some years for the terms of the will to be acted upon.
In 1870 Mrs. Motley released seven acres of the property for the
establishment of the school and work began on dormitory, classrooms
and outbuildings. At the same time her husband, Thomas Motley, Jr.,
was appointed instructor of farming, a post he held until his death in
1895, and Francis Storer was named professor of agricultural
chemistry. In 1871, as the new Bussey Institution buildings neared
completion additional professors were chosen including Francis
Parkman as professor of horticulture. Charles S. Sargent succeeded
him in that position in 1872.
Enrollment in the program was never very large, it averaged
about eight students during the years 1880-1895 and only ten
undergraduate degrees were ever granted. Francis Storer felt that
growth was hampered by free tuition offered by the Massachusetts
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by raising vegetables for the Harvard College food services.
Enrollment improved during the period 1896-1907 and new instructors
were appointed, including John G. Jack.
At least one future landscape architect was enrolled in the
program at the Bussey Institution. He was Charles Eliot, son of
Harvard President Charles Eliot, who was later employed by Frederick
Law Olmsted.
The Bussey Institution remained as an undergraduate school until
1908 when it was reorganized into the Graduate School of Applied
Science (after 1915 Applied Biology). That year Professor William E.
Castle moved his laboratory to the Bussey. In 1909 Dr. Edward M.
East was appointed chair of Experimental Plant Morphology. The
program was expanded to include plant anatomy in 1914 with the
appointment of Professor Irving W. Bailey. Professor Oakes Ames
followed in 1915 and maintained a laboratory there until 1926.
In 1930 the Bussey faculty was merged with the Faculty of Arts
and Sciences and in 1936 the Bussey staff was transferred to the
Biological Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Bussey
Institution remained as a holding agency and its funds were used to
support the Arnold Arboretum. In the late 1940s botanical activities
were reorganized at Harvard University and the Bussey Institution was
folded into the Institute for Research in Experimental and Applied
Botany. During World War II the Bussey Institution buildings in
Jamaica Plain were renovated and used by the U.S. Army Medical
Corps.
The Bussey Institution began an ongoing relationship with the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 1894 when the
department began to produce diphtheria antitoxin at the Bussey
facility. In 1904 a new Antitoxin and Vaccine Laboratory was built on
adjacent land. In 1947 the Bussey buildings became the home of the
Diagnostic Laboratories. By the 1963 more room was needed, SO the
state arranged the purchase of the former Bussey Institution grounds
and buildings from Harvard University. When construction of the new
State Laboratory Institute began in 1969 on the property, efforts were
made to preserve the old gothic Bussey Institution building however
funding was not available for preservation and restoration of the
structure and it was demolished in the early 1970s.
Scope and Content
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collection consists of correspondence (both original and photocopies),
university reports about the institution (both original and photocopies),
photographs of the buildings and grounds, articles about the institution
and other miscellaneous materials.
Organized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II.
Publications of the Bussey Institution; III. Articles about the Bussey
Institution; IV. Photographs; and V. Blueprints
Container List
Series: I. Correspondence
Folder 1. Charles W. Eliot to Frank H. Storer, 46 letters, 1887-1904
(photocopies)
Folder 2. Weir, J.A., to Arboretum staff, principally Anderson,
PhyllisIncludes letter from Irwin Goldman regarding J. A. Weir
Archives at the American Philosophical Society, 10 letters, 1968-2002.
Folder 3. Buildings Maintenance and renovations (includes plans) 17
letters, 1887-1983.
Folder 4. Administration, personnel and budgets, 14 letters/reports,
1936-1944.
Folder 5. Research, 8 letters, 1894-1953 (originals and photocopies)
Series: II. Publications
Folder 1. Extract from the Will of Benjamin Bussey.
Folder 2. Bussey Institution Course Descriptions 1872-1880.
Folder 3. Reprints and photocopies from "Report of the President of
Harvard College"1895/96 - 1897/98, 1948/49 - 1951/52.
SEE ALSO: Bulletin of the Bussey Institution. For holdings of
this title, search the Harvard Libraries HOLLIS catalog at
http://lib.harvard.edu
Series: III. Articles about the Bussey Institution
Folder 1. Anon. "The Bussey Institution of Harvard University.
Founded 1872 (sic) - -Closed June 30, 1936. " Genetics. 21: 295, July
1936.
Folder 2. Anon. The Passing of Bussey [Institution] Boston Herald
June 17, 1952.
Folder 3. Elliot, Clark A. ed. Science at Harvard. (Selected
photocopies annotated with references to Bussey).
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Folder 6. Sax, Karl. 1947. "The Bussey Institution. Arnoldia 7, (5)
13-16.
Folder 7. Sax, Karl. 1966. "The Bussey Institution: Harvard
University Graduate School of Applied Biology. 1908-1936." Journal
of Heredity. 175-179.
Folder 8. Wheeler, William Morton. 1930. "The Bussey Institution" In
The Development of Harvard University. Ed by S.E. Morrison. 508-
517. (2 copies, one annotated by Ida Hay).
Folder 9. Weir, J. A., "Harvard, Agriculture, and the Bussey
Institution." Genetics 136: 1227-1231 (April 1994).
Folder 10. Weir, J. A., "Harvard, Agriculture, and the Bussey
Institution.' Manuscript, n.d..
Folder 11. Weir, J. A., The Bussey Institution of Harvard University: a
Case Study in the History of Agriculture and Genetics. Manuscript,
n.d.. Received Arboretum 1993. Includes photocopies describing
grants received by J.A. Weir for research on Bussey Institution
Series: IV. Photographs
Folder 1. Various photographs of the Bussey Institution from the late
nineteenth century to the 1940's. See also: Digital images.
Series: V. Blueprints
Blueprints for the Head House and Greenhouses for the Bussey
Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, May
1901.
1. Section of Stone Sills for the Bussey Institute - Jamaica Plain, L.I. -
May 1901. Lord and Burnham Co., Horticultural Architects and
Builders.
2. Basement, blueprint 1. Head House and Greenhouses for the Bussey
Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody and
Strearns Architects.
3. First Floor, blueprint 2. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
4. Attic Floor, blueprint 3. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
5. Roof, blueprint 4. Head House and Greenhouses for the Bussey
Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody and
Stearns Architects.
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Greenhouses, blueprint 6. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
8. Side Elevation, blueprint 7. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
9. Side Elevation, blueprint 8. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
10. First Floor Frame, blueprint 9. Head House and Greenhouses for
the Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Peabody and Strearns Architects.
11. Attic Floor Frame, blueprint 10. Head House and Greenhouses for
the Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Peabody and Strearns Architects.
12. Roof Frame, blueprint 11. Head House and Greenhouses for the
Bussey Institute of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Peabody
and Strearns Architects.
13. Greenhouses East and South Elevations, POS 12, Lord and
Burnham Co., Horticultural Architects and Builders.
Blueprints rolled and pinned to a 1-inch wooden dowel with a
canvas- backed naugahyde cover.
ajp00012
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ARNOLDIA
A continuation of the
BULLETIN OF POPULAR INFORMATION
of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University
VOLUME 7
APRIL 4, 1947
NUMBER 3
THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION
TH
Bussey Institution has played an important part in the development of
the Arnold Arboretum. When the Arnold Arboretum was established in 1872
the Bussey Institution provided most of the land for the new organization. The
two institutions worked in harmony for many years and when the Bussey Insti-
tution was closed in 1936 part of the funds were used to support the work of the
Arboretum. Under the reorganization of botanical activities at Harvard these two
institutions will continue to cooperate.
In 1835 Benjamin Bussey provided in his will for both the land and an endow-
ment for a school of agriculture and horticulture, thus anticipating by more than
25 years the Morrill Act of Congress establishing the State Agricultural Colleges.
The obligations of the Bussey Trust were not liquidated until 1862, and the or-
ganization of the Bussey Institution was effected in 1871. The curriculum covered
a three-year course for undergraduates who had done a year's work at the Law-
rence Scientific School. Inadequate funds, competition from State Colleges, and
the transfer to the Arnold Arboretum of most of the Bussey land led to the ter-
mination of Harvard's undergraduate school of agriculture in 1906.
In 1907 the Bussey Institution was reorganized as a graduate school " for ad-
vanced instruction and research in scientific problems that relate and contribute
to practical agriculture and horticulture." Under the administration of W. M.
Wheeler, with the cooperation of East, Castle, Brues, Bailey and Ames, the
Bussey Institution soon became a center of graduate instruction and research in
genetics, entomology, plant anatomy, and economic botany. It attracted gradu-
ate students from both the United States and foreign countries who have subse-
quently become leaders in agricultural institutions and other fields of applied
biology. In the field of genetics alone 40 men obtained the Sc. D. degree before
the Bussey Institution was closed in 1936.
The research contributions from the Bussey Institution have been equally im-
[ 13 ]
pressive. Perhaps the greatest single contribution to agriculture of this century
was made by two biologists of "Ivy" colleges-Shull of Princeton and East of
Harvard-when they developed the method of crossing inbred lines of corn to
produce the vigorous and productive hybrid corn which now dominates American
agriculture. It is estimated that the development and utilization of hybrid corn
was worth more than half a billion dollars to the farmers of this country last year.
In 1930 the Bussey faculty was merged with the faculty of Arts and Sciences,
and in 1936 the Bussey staff was transferred to the Biological Laboratories in
Cambridge. The Bussey Institution continued as a holding agency, and the funds
were used largely to support the work of the Arnold Arboretum. Under the re-
cent reorganization of botanical activities at Harvard, the Bussey Institution will
be included in the newly created Institute for Research in Experimental and Ap-
plied Botany, whose objective is that of coordinating the activities of the Botanic
Garden, the Bussey Institution, the Harvard Forest, the Atkins Garden and Re-
search Laboratory in Cuba, and the living collections of the Arnold Arboretum.
During the war years the Bussey Building was renovated by the Medical Corps
of the U.S. Army, who occupied it until the summer of 1946. Most of the build-
ing is now occupied by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which
will be responsible for all maintenance and repairs. We have retained a large
laboratory for use as summer quarters for staff members and students in horticul-
tural and botanical work, and have ample quarters for the Arnold Arboretum
maintenance staff in the basement. The grounds and greenhouses will continue
to be used for experimental work in botany, plant breeding, horticulture and
agriculture by staff members and students. The grounds also contain the green-
houses and nursery plots of the Arboretum, although much of the nursery work
has now been transferred to the Case estates in Weston.
When the Bussey Institution gave up undergraduate instruction in agriculture
and horticulture, and became organized for graduate work in applied biology, the
original functions of the institution were not forgotten. Many of the graduate
students came from agricultural colleges, and of those who specialized in plant
genetics most have returned to agricultural work in State or Federal service. Since
agriculture is based upon the fundamental biological sciences a curriculum in pure
science can provide the essential training for research in agriculture. The Bussey
Institution fulfilled this need in the past and now as part of the Institute for Re-
search in Experimental and Applied Botany can again contribute to the instruc-
tion of graduate students interested in agricultural research. In addition, provision
has been made for work in tropical agriculture, the field work to be done at the
Atkins Botanic Garden in Cuba.
During recent years experimental work in agriculture and horticulture has been
conducted at the Bussey Institution by Professors Karl Sax and Paul C. Mangels-
dorf. Problems related to the origin of corn are being studied by crossing standard
varieties with forms from Central and South America and with related genera.
14 ]
By means of genetic and cytological analysis it is possible to determine relation-
ships and possible origins of our modern corn varieties.
Other work with corn includes the production of new sweet varieties adapted
to New England. Seven years ago the white "Midget," an early corn of very
high quality, was crossed with "Golden Bantam." The hybrid was backcrossed
on "Midget" and the yellow segregates backcrossed on "Midget`' a second time.
The next year the plants were selfed to obtain pure yellow types. These were
selected for uniformity of growth habit and foliage color, and were then inter-
crossed. As a result we have a new variety which has the earliness and high quality
of "Midget" but one which is more productive and has more vitamin A. We have
named the new variety "Seven-eighths Midget" since approximately seven-
eighths of its germplasm is derived from "Midget." We now have seed for distri-
bution to those who wish to cooperate in making field tests for productivity and
eating tests for quality.
Although the "Seven-eighths Midget" is a corn of very high quality, the
yields are relatively low. Yields have been increased by crossing "Seven-eighths
Midget" with an early dwarf strain of "Golden Bantam" and utilizing the vigor
of the first generation hybrids. This hybrid corn retains most of the quality of the
"Midget" and is, in our opinion, of higher quality than any of the many hybrid
sweet corn varieties now on the market. Seed of this hybrid is being produced
this year so that it can be distributed for testing in the New England area next
year.
The artificial induction of polyploidy to increase the size of flowers, fruits and
seeds has been of considerable value with certain ornamental plants. Doubling
the chromosome number of species of crop plants has not been very satisfactory.
Such polyploids are partially sterile and seed production is reduced. We have
produced tetraploid sweet corn, broccoli, turnips, rye, wheat and barley, but none
of these polyploids have been of economic value. Chromosome doubling in sterile
generic or species hybrids, however, restores fertility and results in new species
or genera. At the Bussey Institution we have produced a new genus by doubling
the chromosome number of a wheat-rye hybrid, and a new species of wheat has
been resynthesized. Hundreds of new species have been produced throughout
the world during the past decade by the artificial induction of polyploidy in sterile
species hybrids. Some of these will be of economic value. Many of our economic
crop plants have originated by natural doubling of the chromosomes of species
hybrids in nature, but nature required thousands or perhaps millions of years
Investigators at the Bussey Institution were among the first in this country to
utilize embryo culture as an aid in plant breeding. Crosses between distinct spe-
cies often produce no viable seed, but in some cases this sterility can be overcome
by culturing the young embryos in nutrient solution and permitting them to ma-
ture independently of the mother plant.
Clonal lines of apple root stocks are becoming more generally used since it has
15 ]
been found that tree growth can be controlled if certain types of root stocks are
used. Of special interest are the "Malling" dwarfing root stocks originated in.
England. The disadvantage of clonal root stocks is the cost of propagation by lay-
ering. In our breeding of ornamental species of apples we have found half a dozen
Asiatic species which breed true from seed due to apomixis. We are now testing
these species - Malus toringoides, M. hupehensis, M sikkimensis, and other species
-as root stocks for "MeIntosh" and other commercial varieties with the hope
that some may have a dwarfing effect. These Asiatic species are also resistant or
immune to crown gall-a factor of some importance in commercial propagation.
In the genus Prunus we have found that P. tomentosa has a dwarfing effect on
the commercial varieties of peaches and promotes early fruiting, but more time
is required to determine its practical value. For lilac propagation the tree lilac is
giving very promising results as a root stock for standard Syringa vulgaris varie-
ties. In the Pomoideae a more or less systematic survey is being made of the
grafting compatibility of the different genera.
The work of the Bussey Institution is closely coordinated with that of the
Arnold Arboretum and the Harvard Forest. Under the auspices of the Cabot
Foundation, a forest tree breeding project was started ten years ago. Numerous
hybrids have been made between the species of poplars growing in the Arnold
Arboretum. We now have about fifty selected clonal lines of hybrid poplars which
make a much more rapid growth than do the parental species. These are to be
tested under field conditions at the Harvard Forest for growth rate and disease
resistance in order to select desirable types which can be used for reforestation
for special purposes. Species hybrids of pines also show hybrid vigor and a num-
ber of our hybrids have been planted in the Arnold Arboretum for further tests
and seed production. Eventually these, too, will be tested at the Harvard Forest.
The Bussey Institution, as part of the Institute for Research in Experimental
and Applied Botany, will continue to conduct work in pure and applied science.
With the facilities of the Arnold Arboretum, the Biological Laboratories, the
Harvard Forest, and the Atkins Garden, Harvard is in a better position than it
has ever been before to contribute to the basic sciences of agriculture and horti-
culture.
KARL SAX
[ 16 ]
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Harvard University-Undergrad Life 1870-1900
Details
1870 - 1900