Greek Letter Societies.

We make the inquiry of a correspondent the excuse for presenting a brief history of the origin of the principal Greek letter societies, whose numbers have so increased and multiplied as to render a complete enumeration impossible. The list appended, therefore, embraces only the ten oldest and most influential societies which draw their membership principally to the Eastern States. The first of the Greek letter organizations, the venerable Phi Beta Kappa, was established at William and May, Dec. 5, 1776. There is a tradition that Thomas Jefferson was one of its founders. The original chapter has long been defunct, as is now the college itself. Twenty-two chapters now exist, being, in the order of the establishmen, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Union, Bowdoin, Brown, Trinity, Weslyan, Adelbert, Vermont, Amherst, University City of New York, Kenyon, Williams, College City of New York, Middlebury, Coumbia, Rutgers, Hamilton, Hobart, Madison, Cornell. Long before 1825, however, when the earliest of the modern societies was founded, Phi Beta Kappa had ceased to be a secret organization and became, as now, an honorary literary society, to which are elected the honor men of each class. In most of the chapters the members are elected from the senior class and from the classical students. It is a somewhat peculiar circumstance that of the ten fraternities enumerated below, six trace their origin to Union College, confirming the title she has often received as the "Mother of Secret Societies." Of those given below, D. K. E. has the largest membership, with Psi U. and Alpha Delta Phi closely following. The columns below give the date of the organization of each, and the college whence it emanated.

Kappa Alpha, 1825, Union.

Sigma Phi, 1827, Union.

Delta Phi, 1827, Union.

Alpha Delta Phi, 1832, Hamilton.

Psi Upsilon, 1833, Union.

Chi Psi, 1841, Union.

Delta Kappa Epsilon, 1844, Yale.

Delta Psi, 1847, Columbia.

Zeta Psi, 1847, N. Y. Uni.

Theta Delta Chi, 1847, Union.