The governor of Massachusetts, who is always the guest of honor, and until 1866 was ex-officio President of the Board of Overseers, drives out from the State House, accompanied by the Roxbury Horse Guards, a cavalry troop that goes back to Colonial days. Near the Johnston Gate the procession of officers and undergraduates is formed, in the reverse order of classes, and it is a moving sight to watch the procession of younger and younger alumni until we reach the class that is celebrating its triennial. Seniors in their bachelors' gowns (another medieval survival) line up in double ranks for the procession of alumni to pass between, and then fall in and march to their places in Sever Quadrangle (now Tercentenary Theatre--ed.).

The Sheriff of Middlesex County, girt with his sword of office as representative of sovereignty, calls the meeting to order. The assembly is opened with prayer. The President takes his place in the ancient Tudor chair which has been the Harvard President's seat of office for over two centuries. On his right are the Fellows and Overseers of Harvard College (the two governing boards created by the Charter of 1650), and the distinguished guests, some of whom are to receive honorary degrees. On his left are members of the several faculties, in full academic dress, the gowns and hoods of foreign universities making a splash of color against our sombre black.

Order of Ceremony

The Commencement Programme is another ancient survival. Originally it was a big sheet with a dedication to the principal dignitaries present, somewhat more fulsome than our present republican formulae, followed by the names of the ten or twenty lads who were taking degrees, and then by a formidable list of theses or propositions in Latin on the Arts and Philosophy. These theses represented the sort of thing that the students had been debating during their four years in college. They were, in effect, challenges to the audience. Any graduate present could leap to his feet and challenge a thesis, and some member of the Senior Class had to take him on. Cortain theges were marked for a formal debate according to the recognized rules of logle, and until the classes got to be more than 25 in number, every member was assured of some part in the programme.

This medieval method still goes on in the Catholic colleges; but at Harvard Commencement parts in English were substituted in he nineteenth century. Yet the Commencement Programme is still the Seniors' programme. The "candidate" are all in the nominative case, Inviting the guests to the ceremony, before the dignitarion. In the colonial period, the Seniors paid for the programme themselves, and there was a great row in 1733 when they shifted their patronage from a printer of reputed Tory leanings to one more patriotic in his sentiments.

A Senior with a good voice and presence, and classical training (they are hard to find nowadays), delivers the Salutatory Oration *** Other Commencement Parts by selected Seniors follow. In the last century there was much jealousy and heart-burning over these Parts, and those who were not awarded them used to stage a mock commencement of their own, with ribald Parts, a few days before.

The Parts being delivered, the President confers the degrees. This can no longer be done individually. The Dean of each faculty presents a roll containing a list of the men whose degrees have been voted by the Governing Boards early that morning, and the President pronounces the appropriate formula.

Honorary Degree Great Honor

Except for translating it into English--which was done as recently as 1896--there has been little change in the formula for the B.A. since Harvard was founded. The several higher degrees are then conferred; and finally, the honorary degrees. As it has been kept a dead secret who are to receive these, they are looked forward to with great interest; and the President's brief and pithy characterization of each recipient is greeted with loud applause. A Harvard honorary degree is the highest academic honor conferred on this continent, and as such is deeply appreciated. The two Governing Board make the choice