Harvard's Birthday in 1836.

In view of the coming celebration, it may be interesting to know in what way our fathers celebrated the birthday of their Alma Mater fifty years ago. The following account of the doings of that memorable day is taken from the History of Harvard University, written by President Quincy in 1860:

"It was soon ascertained, that, on the 8th of September, there would be a general attendance of the Alumni of Harvard University, from all parts of the United States; and preparations, chiefly under the direction of Henry F. Baker, of the class of 1815, were accordingly made on a corresponding scale.

A pavilion was erected within the college grounds, as a dining-hall for the Alumni, which extended over nearly eighteen thousand square feet; being one hundred and fifty feet in length, and one hundred and twenty in breadth. It was constructed in successive stories, covered with white canvas, and supported in the centre by a pillar sixty-five feet in height.

The lower story was sustained by forty-four pillars, on which rested a frame-work, from whence beams extended toward the centre, and thus formed a foundation for the scaffolding of the story above, and so on in succession to the top. The pillars were wreathed with evergreens and flowers, and pendants or streamers, of blue and white, radiated from the centre to the sides of the tent. The pavilion was erected on sloping ground, and the tables rose one above another in the form of an amphitheatre. On the lowest sides of the area, tables were placed on an elevated platform, for the President and Vice-Presidents of the day, and the eldest and most distinguished of the Alumni and their invited guests, to the number of one hundred. By this arrangement, every individual seated in the amphitheatre would face the table at which the president of the day and the principal guests were seated. Behind the chair was an arch covered with white drapery, richly decorated with evergreens and flowers, on which was inscribed "SEPTEMBER 8, 1836," and between the supporting columns were placed the arms of the University.

As the day of the celebration approached, extensive and tasteful arrangements were also made by the Undergraduates for the decoration of the College edifices. The entrance to Harvard Hall, and the porticos of Dane and University Halls, were wreathed with evergreens and flowers; and arches decorated in the same manner were erected over the three principal entrances to the College grounds. The name of Harvard was placed over the centre arch, between Massachusetts and Harvard Halls, while those of Dunster and Chauncy, the first two Presidents of the University, surmounted respectively the two side arches. Arrangements were also made for a general illumination of the College buildings.

On the morning of the 8th of September, 1836, a white banner, on which the device of the first seal of the University was emblazoned, was raised on the summit of the pavilion. At an early hour all the avenues leading from the city of Boston and its environs to Cambridge were thronged; and by nine o'clock the Alumni and invited guests, to the number of more than fifteen hundred, assembled in University Hall.

Blank books were presented for the signatures of the Alumni and their guests, and during the day more than eleven hundred recorded their names.*

Robert C. Winthrop acted as Chief Marshal of the Day.

At ten o'clock, a procession was formed at University Hall, in the following order:

Undergraduates.

Band of Music.

Chief Marshal and Aids.

Committee of Arrangements.

President Quincy and the Chaplain of the Day.

The Corporation of the University.

Ex-President Kirkland and President Humphrey of Amherst College.

His Excellency the Governor and his Suite.

The Vice-Presidents of the Day. Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Judges of the United States and State Courts and the Attorney-General.

Benefactors of the University, distinguished Strangers, and other Guests especially invited.

The Overseers of the University. Professors, Tutors, and other Officers of the University.

Gentlemen who have received Honorary Degrees, and who do not come within any regular Class of Graduates.

Graduates of the University in the order of their Classes, from the oldest Class present to that of 1836, inclusive.

Students in the Divinity School, Law School, and Medical School, who are not included above.

*These books were bound under the direction of Robert C. Winthrop, Chief Marshal of the Day, and form a quarto volume, which is to be preserved in the archives of the University until the next Centennial celebration.

When the Chief Marshal named the classes of the Alumni, it was deeply interesting to mark the result. The class of 175? was called, but their only representative, and the eldest surviving Alumnus, Judge Wingate, of New Hampshire, being ninety-six years of age, was unable to attend. The classes from 1763 to 1773 were successively named, but solemn pauses succeeded; they had all joined the great company of the departed, or, sunk in the vale of years, were unable to attend the high festival of their Alma Mater. At length, when the class of 1774 was named, Mr. Samuel Emery came forward; a venerable old man, a native of Chatham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, who, at the age of eighty-six, after an absence of sixty years from the Halls of Harvard, had come from his residence in Philadelphia to attend this celebration. The Rev. Dr. Ripley, of Concord, of the class of 1776, and the Rev. Dr. Homer, of Newton, of the class of 1777, were followed By the Rev. Dr. Bancroft, of Worcester, and the Rev. Mr. Willis, of Kingston, of the class of 1778; and, as modern times were approached, instead of solitary individuals, twenty or thirty members of a class appeared at the summons.

On leaving University Hall, the procession moved along the principal avenues within the college grounds, through the gateway between Massachusetts and Harvard Halls, and, passing through the lines of the escort formed by the undergraduates, entered the Congregational Church. The galleries of the edifice had been reserved for the ladies, and, after the entrance of the procession, every part of the building was filled by a crowded audience. After a voluntary on the organ, the Rev. Dr. Ripley offered a solemn and fervent prayer. Although more than eighty years of age, he spoke in a clear and powerful voice. Like the Jewish leader, 'his eyes were not dim, nor his natural force abated.'

An occasional Ode, Fair Harvard, written by the Rev. Samuel Gilman, of Charleston, S. C., was then sung.

The touching allusions of this beautiful Ode excited a deep and solemn enthusiasm, and the address of President Quincy commanded, during two hours, the attention of the audience. A prayer was afterwards offered by the Rev. Dr. Homer, and then the whole congregation united their voices in the solemn strains of 'Old Hundred.'

No one could look around at this moment, without thrilling emotions, on this crowded assembly of educated and intelligent men, convened on the high festival of this ancient literary institution, and soon to be separated never to meet again.

The benediction was given by the Rev. Dr. Ripley; and, on leaving the church, the procession was formed in the same order as when it entered. The classes of the Alumni were again summoned, and solemn pauses again succeeded, until Mr. Emery walked down the aisle alone, and was greeted by testimonies of applause from his younger brethren. On leaving the church, the procession, including more than fifteen hundred individuals, proceeded to the left across the Common, and then, turning to the right, passed in front of the College edifices. By this arrangement, the graduates of the various classes passed in review before each other. After passing Dane Hall, the procession turned to the left, proceeded through Harvard street, in front of the President's house, and entered the College grounds opposite the pavilion.

Harrison Gray Otis, the elected President of the Day, was prevented by a sudden domestic bereavement from attending the celebration, and, in his absence, Edward Everett presided at the dinner of the Alumni.

The tables were prepared to accommodate about fifteen hundred persons, and they were completely filled by the Alumni and their invited guests, except a division on the left of the President's chair, reserved for, and occupied by, the undergraduates.

It was extraordinary to see how soon and how quietly fifteen hundred persons found places, each one seated and duly provided for the feast. On the left of the chair, the undergraduates of the University were seated, and thence to the extreme right extended row above row, and class after class, of Alumni, embracing every period of life, from the youth fresh from the studious hall, to the octogenarian, who seemed to live again in the memories of the distant past. When all were seated, a prayer was offered by the Rev. President Humphrey, of Amherst College. For a time the dining quietly proceeded; but soon the busy hum of many voices, the laugh, the joke, animated the scene. All were again hushed, as if by magic, when Mr. Everett, the President of the Day, rose to address them. To say that he was most happy, is feeble praise. He was eloquent, brilliant, touching: - and as he read, in the sea of intelligent faces around him, the effect of his own unrivalled declamation, his fancy seemed to burst away on freshened pinion, and to pour forth lavishly the riches of his well-fraught mind.'"