WHEN several Harvard students were indicted by the Grand Jury of Middlesex County on various charges of trespass and assault, and a far larger number were suspended from school, the President of Harvard College issued a statement to defend his actions. It judiciously began: "A series of trespasses having been recently committed upon the buildings and property of this seminary, of a most injurious and disgraceful character, accompanied by a succession of disturbances, extraordinary and without cause, or apology, it has been deemed the duty of the faculty to communicate to the parents or guardians of each member of the Institution, the nature and course of these outrages." The year of this incident was 1834.

Only last year President Pusey, when citing the difficulties with students in his annual report to the Board of Overseers, commented that "possibly there were years comparable in difficulty to the 1830's." In that report President Pusey went on to deplore the combination of "discontent" and "strong passion" which threatened to disrupt the college community. Then, prophetically, he concluded. "And the end is not yet."

Indeed, the events of this academic year would draw the analogy between Harvard's past history and its present dilemmas even closer.

The academic year began quietly enough. The then President, Josiah Quincy, was starting a successful drive to secure money for a new building to house the Harvard Library, a project that was sorely needed by the College. The year previous President Andrew Jackson had come to Harvard, and the Corporation with some fuss, had bestowed an honorary degree on him. But this year the Corporation and the Board of Overseers seemed to be living in quiet harmony.

However, late in the spring student trouble began. The original incident was small: a freshman named Maxwell refused to recite his Greek lessons. His instructor, Mr. Durkin, reacting to this provocation with speed and strength, hotly demanded that Maxwell obey. Maxwell adamantly refused, stating that he did not recognize his Instructor's authority to command obedience. The next day Maxwell was called to President Quincy's office to explain the incident; two days later he again was called before the President, and when he left the second time he had requested permission to withdraw from the University. If in those days the administration knew that from small seeds large and disruptive oak trees grow, they failed to detect a seed in this incident.

Yet, according to the Diary of George Moore, a senior, "The class are up in arms against their Instructor, Mr. Durkin, and the Government." That night at Chapel services, which the College rules required everyone to attend, the Freshmen disrupted the proceedings by constantly scraping their feet, and throwing out firecrackers. The attention of the President became riveted on the Freshmen, but his only response to their outburst was a high rise in temper.

Then, a group of students took the issue up more directly. That evening an unknown number of students stole into the recitation room of Mr. Durkin to make their point. They made it with force. "The recitation room was wholly demolished," reported Moore, "all the glass broken--and all the furniture broken and thrown out the window." The College government was incensed by this outrage.

The immediate response of the administration to this incident was to bring in night watchmen to guard the University property. But this action only added fuel to the fire because two days later apparently the same group of students stoned the watchmen.

In the meantime, the large majority of Freshmen, now joined by several upperclassmen, continued their original and more mild tactics of disrupting both the morning and evening Chapel services. To add a voice to their noise, the Freshmen called a class meeting to discuss the incidents.

Over the ensuing weekend things quieted down. But on Monday President Quincy called in prominent members of the Freshman and Sophomore classes. In unequivocal terms with a voice that shook in rage, he told the students that it was the duty of the Faculty and the determination of the Corporation to punish those students who had destroyed and trespassed on University property. If President Quincy had meant to knock the wind out of the disturbances, his statement had the opposite effect.

The threat and the tone in which it was given alienated more students than it scared. The Chapel disturbances were taken up by an even larger number than before that evening. Thus, on the next day President Quincy retaliated by dismissing two students from the College--Trask of the Sophomores and Barnwell of the Freshmen.

The action of the President and the government of the College caused an immediate uproar. There was a general feeling that Barnwell was totally innocent of any part in the disturbance, and, as a result, the students called a meeting in which it was decided to petition the government and ask for the reinstatement of Barnwell. The Petition "was accordingly signed by most of the members of the College," sent to President Quincy with the request that it be answered by the next day.

In addition to the petition a vote was taken to cease the hostilities, but the Sophomore Class refused, and rather than cease the disturbances they decided to vacate their seats in Chapel. The Sophomores, then, did not attend Chapel that evening or the next morning.

President Quincy did not answer the petition the next day. Pressing to blunt the protest instead, the Government of the College decided to suspend one Freshman and one Sophomore the next day. Consequently the noise at evening Chapel increased although the Sophomores still left their seats vacant.

The President issued a stern warning to the Sophomores after that, and the next morning the Sophomores appeared in Chapel after a three day absence. Yet still in defiance of the authorities they entered through the door usually reserved for the Freshmen. For this action President Quincy asked them to stay after the services were over, but the class, rather than submitting to the demand, marched out with the rest of the class in the normal way.