Mr. W. G. Brown '91 spoke last night in the Fogg Lecture Room "On Certain Great Men and Great Occasions in the History of Harvard." He began by describing Governor Hutchinson's visit to the College on April 4, 1771, just when the College had begun to take on its present appearance, for the fire of 1761 had destroyed nearly all of the old buildings.

Governor Hutchinson, a Harvard man of the Puritan type, followed by a large retinue of dignitaries, rode into the Yard, passed through the ranks of soldiers and students drawn up on both sides of the road, and was welcomed by President Locke on the steps of Harvard Hall. Before him he saw the first Stoughton Hall, standing a little in advance of where University now stands, to the left were Hollis and Holden Chapel, to the right beyond Massachusetts, on the present site of Dane, stood the meeting-house, and beyond was Wadsworth. The governor was really welcomed, not by the President, but by Samuel Adams of the Class of 1740, and the occasion was notable as being the first when the academic atmosphere of Harvard was thrilled with the spirit of the coming revolution. The College on that day had made its choice between the king and the people, and in all the ceremonies not a word was said of the king, whom the governor represented.

Shortly after this occasion, on July 2, 1771, George Washington, who yet remains incomparably our greatest figure, rode up through Tory Row--now Brattle street--looking, said President Quincy, like a member of the General Court from the rural districts of Massachusetts. He was enthusiastically received by the whole College, and the students gave up all their rooms to the soldiers. On the next day, over on the Common, Washington formally took command of the troops. It was upon him that the College, in 1776, conferred its first degree of L.L.D.

It was not until August, 1824, that another notable visit was paid to Harvard. Then came Lafayette, described as straight and noble looking, full six feet in stature. The College he saw was much changed; the first Stoughton was no longer there and in its place stood University Hall. The new Stoughton stood to the left of Hollis, and around the corner was Holworthy.

On September 8, 1836, was held the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the College. It was during one of the ceremonies of that occasion that Fair Harvard was first sung. In 1865 a solemn funeral procession on the occasion of the death of Lincoln, formed before old Gore Hall, passed by Boylston and Grays to the present Unitarian Church, where the most solemn services were held, in which Phillips Brooks made a prayer of remarkable power and passion. On January 26, 1893, with the snow deep on the ground, but with the whole University, officers, students and servants standing bare-headed, the funeral procession of Phillips Brooks, perhaps Harvard's most eloquent son, passed through the Yard.

In closing, Mr. Brown said that in thinking of the men who have brought triumphs to the University, we must not forget, as we are so apt to do, the great number of her sons who, fired by the same great ambitions, have failed to triumph, but have battled nobly to the end.