"Green elms are waving o'er us,
Green grass beneath our feet,
The ring is round, and on the ground
We sit a class complete."
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854.
"It is a very jolly thing,
Our sitting down in this great ring,
To smoke our pipes and loudly sing."--_Ibid._
Pleasant reference is had to some of the more modern features of
Presentation Day, in the annexed extract from the "Yale Literary
Magazine":--
"There is one spot where the elms stretch their long arms, not 'in
quest of thought,' but as though they would afford their friendly
shade to make pleasant the last scene of the academic life. Seated
in a circle in this place, which has been so often trampled by the
'stag-dance' of preceding classes, and made hallowed by
associations which will cling around such places, are the present
graduates. They have met together for the last time as a body, for
they will not all be present at the closing ceremony of
Commencement, nor all answer to the muster in the future Class
reunions. It is hard to tell whether such a ceremony should be sad
or joyous, for, despite the boisterous merriment and exuberance
which arises from the prospect of freedom, there is something
tender in the thought of meeting for the last time, to break
strong ties, and lose individuality as a Class for ever.
"In the centre of the circle are the Class band, with horns,
flutes, and violins, braying, piping, or saw-filing, at the option
of the owners,--toot,--toot,--bum,--bang,--boo-o-o,--in a most
melodious discord. Songs are distributed, pipes filled, and the
smoke cloud rises, trembles as the chorus of a hundred voices
rings out in a merry cadence, and then, breaking, soars off,--a
fit emblem of the separation of those at whose parting it received
its birth.
"'Braxton on the history of the Class!'
"'The Class history!--Braxton!--Braxton!'
"'In a moment, gentlemen,'--and our hero mounts upon a cask, and
proceeds to give in burlesque a description of Class exploits and
the wonderful success of its _early_ graduates. Speeches follow,
and the joke, and song, till the lengthening shadows bring a
warning, and a preparation for the final ceremony. The ring is
spread out, the last pipes smoked in College laid down, and the
'stag-dance,' with its rush, and their destruction ended. Again
the ring forms, and each classmate moves around it to grasp each
hand for the last time, and exchange a parting blessing.
"The band strike up, and the long procession march around the
College, plant their ivy, and return to cheer the
buildings."--Vol. XX. p. 228.
The following song was written by Francis Miles Finch of the class
of 1849, for the Presentation Day of that year.
"Gather ye smiles from the ocean isles,
Warm hearts from river and fountain,
A playful chime from the palm-tree clime,
From the land of rock and mountain:
And roll the song in waves along,
For the hours are bright before us,
And grand and hale are the elms of Yale,
Like fathers, bending o'er us.
"Summon our band from the prairie land,
From the granite hills, dark frowning,
From the lakelet blue, and the black bayou,
From the snows our pine peaks crowning;
And pour the song in joy along,
For the hours are bright before us,
And grand and hale are the towers of Yale,
Like giants, watching o'er us.
"Count not the tears of the long-gone years,
With their moments of pain and sorrow,
But laugh in the light of their memories bright,
And treasure them all for the morrow;
Then roll the song in waves along,
While the hours are bright before us,
And high and hale are the spires of Yale,
Like guardians, towering o'er us.
"Dream of the days when the rainbow rays
Of Hope on our hearts fell lightly,
And each fair hour some cheerful flower
In our pathway blossomed brightly;
And pour the song in joy along,
Ere the moments fly before us,
While portly and hale the sires of Yale
Are kindly gazing o'er us.
"Linger again in memory's glen,
'Mid the tendrilled vines of feeling,
Till a voice or a sigh floats softly by,
Once more to the glad heart stealing;
And roll the song on waves along,
For the hours are bright before us,
And in cottage and vale are the brides of Yale,
Like angels, watching o'er us.
"Clasp ye the hand 'neath the arches grand
That with garlands span our greeting,
With a silent prayer that an hour as fair
May smile on each after meeting;
And long may the song, the joyous song,
Roll on in the hours before us,
And grand and hale may the elms of Yale,
For many a year, bend o'er us."
In the Appendix to President Woolsey's Historical Discourse
delivered before the Graduates of Yale College, is the following
account of Presentation Day, in 1778.
"The Professor of Divinity, two ministers of the town, and another
minister, having accompanied me to the Library about 1, P.M., the
middle Tutor waited upon me there, and informed me that the
examination was finished, and they were ready for the
presentation. I gave leave, being seated in the Library between
the above ministers. Hereupon the examiners, preceded by the
Professor of Mathematics, entered the Library, and introduced
thirty candidates, a beautiful sight! The Diploma Examinatorium,
with the return and minutes inscribed upon it, was delivered to
the President, who gave it to the Vice-Bedellus, directing him to
read it. He read it and returned it to the President, to be
deposited among the College archives _in perpetuam rei memoriam_.
The senior Tutor thereupon made a very eloquent Latin speech, and
presented the candidates for the honors of the College. This
presentation the President in a Latin speech accepted, and
addressed the gentlemen examiners and the candidates, and gave the
latter liberty to return home till Commencement. Then dismissed.
"At about 3, P.M., the afternoon exercises were appointed to
begin. At 3-1/2, the bell tolled, and the assembly convened in the
chapel, ladies and gentlemen. The President introduced the
exercises in a Latin speech, and then delivered the Diploma
Examinatorium to the Vice-Bedellus, who, standing on the pulpit
stairs, read it publicly. Then succeeded,--
Cliosophic Oration in Latin, by Sir Meigs.
Poetical Composition in English, by Sir Barlow.
Dialogue, English, by Sir Miller, Sir Chaplin, Sir Ely.
Cliosophic Oration, English, by Sir Webster.
Disputation, English, by Sir Wolcott, Sir Swift, Sir Smith.
Valedictory Oration, English, by Sir Tracy.
An Anthem. Exercises two hours."--p. 121.
PRESIDENT. In the United States, the chief officer of a college or
university. His duties are, to preside at the meetings of the
Faculty, at Exhibitions and Commencements, to sign the diplomas or
letters of degree, to carry on the official correspondence, to
address counsel and instruction to the students, and to exercise a
general superintendence in the affairs of the college over which
he presides.
At Harvard College it was formerly the duty of the President "to
inspect the manners of the students, and unto his morning and
evening prayers to join some exposition of the chapters which they
read from Hebrew into Greek, from the Old Testament, in the
morning, and out of English into Greek, from the New Testament, in
the evening." At the same College, in the early part of the last
century, Mr. Wadsworth, the President, states, "that he expounded
the Scriptures, once eleven, and sometimes eight or nine times in
the course of a week."--_Harv. Reg._, p. 249, and _Quincy's Hist.
Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 440.
Similar duties were formerly required of the President at other
American colleges. In some, at the present day, he performs the
duties of a professor in connection with those of his own office,
and presides at the daily religious exercises in the Chapel.
The title of President is given to the chief officer in some of
the colleges of the English universities.
PRESIDENT'S CHAIR. At Harvard College, there is in the Library an
antique chair, venerable by age and association, which is used
only on Commencement Day, when it is occupied by the President
while engaged in delivering the diplomas for degrees. "Vague
report," says Quincy, "represents it to have been brought to the
College during the presidency of Holyoke, as the gift of the Rev.
Ebenezer Turell of Medford (the author of the Life of Dr. Colman).
Turell was connected by marriage with the Mathers, by some of whom
it is said to have been brought from England." Holyoke was
President from 1737 to 1769. The round knobs on the chair were
turned by President Holyoke, and attached to it by his own hands.
In the picture of this honored gentleman, belonging to the
College, he is painted in the old chair, which seems peculiarly
adapted by its strength to support the weight which fills it.
Before the erection of Gore Hall, the present library building,
the books of the College were kept in Harvard Hall. In the same
building, also, was the Philosophy Chamber, where the chair
usually stood for the inspection of the curious. Over this domain,
from the year 1793 to 1800, presided Mr. Samuel Shapleigh, the
Librarian. He was a dapper little bachelor, very active and
remarkably attentive to the ladies who visited the Library,
especially the younger portion of them. When ushered into the room
where stood the old chair, he would watch them with eager eyes,
and, as soon as one, prompted by a desire of being able to say, "I
have sat in the President's Chair," took this seat, rubbing his
hands together, he would exclaim, in great glee, "A forfeit! a
forfeit!" and demand from the fair occupant a kiss, a fee which,
whether refused or not, he very seldom failed to obtain.[61]
This custom, which seems now-a-days to be going out of fashion, is
mentioned by Mr. William Biglow, in a poem before the Phi Beta
Kappa Society, recited in their dining-hall, August 29, 1811.
Speaking of Commencement Day and its observances, he says:--
"Now young gallants allure their favorite fair
To take a seat in Presidential chair;
Then seize the long-accustomed fee, the bliss
Of the half ravished, half free-granted kiss."
The editor of Mr. Peirce's History of Harvard University publishes
the following curious extracts from Horace Walpole's Private
Correspondence, giving a description of some antique chairs found
in England, exactly of the same construction with the College
chair; a circumstance which corroborates the supposition that this
also was brought from England.