LAST Friday was such a day as the Class of '79 deserved to have for their Class Day. At 9.30 the class assembled in front of Holworthy, and marched to the Chapel, where prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Peabody. At about 11.30 the exercises in Sanders Theatre began. After the prayer by Dr. Peabody, Mr. Henry Coolidge Mulligan, of Natick, the orator of the day, was introduced. His oration was thoughtful and vigorous. Without overstepping the bounds of his subject, he contrived to make the time-worn theme fresh and interesting, and to say something which the members of the Class of '79 cannot fail to remember through life.
The class poet, Mr. Edward Hale, of Northampton, was next introduced, and read a strikingly original poem. Both the conception and the treatment of the poem were unique. The conception of the opening was worthy of Holmes, the changes from "grave to gay" were very gracefully made, and the speaker was successful in sustaining the poetic spirit throughout the whole.
Next came the ivy orator, Mr. William Bancroft Hill, of Temple, N. H., who kept his audience constantly entertained. His oration was marked by an easy, characteristic humor, and was distinguished from the customary productions of the kind by the presence of a vein of pathos, which is always an element in humor of the highest quality.
The exercises were ended by the singing of the class ode, which was gracefully written by Mr. E. C. Perkins, of Boston. As a whole, the literary exercises of the Class of '79 were by far the best that have been given by any class at Harvard for many years, - certainly the best that have been heard by any one who is at present a student in the University. They were worthy of the class.
No less successful in their way were the afternoon exercises. At 5.15 the class cheered the buildings, and then entered the enclosure about the tree, where the other classes received them, and the customary exercises, including the singing of the class song, written by Mr. Earl B. Putnam, of Waterville, N. Y., took place. The various spreads and teas, the dancing at Memorial Hall, the illuminations, and the singing of the Glee Club in the evening were all thoroughly enjoyed. In every way the observance of the Class Day of '79 was successful. It was a fitting close for a glorious college career. A class could desire no more appropriate day for the turning-point of their lives, - for the day on which they look back over the four years of the college course, live over again its joys and its triumphs, and bid farewell to its endeared scenes.
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