script records of the "New North Church," which had been presented to the Society by the Rev. Mr. Alger, and said that this volume would be followed by the remaining volumes of the records in Mr. Alger's possession.

Dr. ELLIS presented a copy of "The Speeches of His Excellency Governor Hutchinson, to the General Assembly of the Massachusetts Bay," &c., Boston, 1773.

The President read the following letter:

To the President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

SIR,- The Medal and Ribbons received by the late Dr. W. T. G. Morton from the French Government, &c., together with letters from your late associate, my brother, Nathaniel I. Bowditch, urging Dr. Morton to place them with the Historical Society, are now in the possession of the widow of Dr. Morton. She deems them too valuable to be kept except by some public institution. A secure case with a glass front, so that the chief articles can be seen safely by the public, has been prepared.

Mrs. Morton wishes to deposit them with your Society, provided they can be kept for ever as a memorial of the labors of her husband, and provided, moreover, they can be placed in such a position in the hall of your Society as to be visible to all who examine the various objects of historical interest collected there.

I remain very respectfully yours,

HENRY I. BOWDITCH.

MAY 5th, 1869.

Whereupon, it was—

Voted, That the Society will gratefully receive the memorial referred to in the letter of Dr. Bowditch, and that the President communicate this vote of the Society to him.

The President called attention to the sketch of Hannah Adams, by Chester Harding, the original of the portrait by this artist, placed on exhibition in the rooms of the Society by its owner.

Mr. J. C. GRAY submitted the following remarks on the discipline and mode of instruction in Cornell University, at Ithaca, N.Y., as compared with the same in Harvard University:

The condition and prospects of the Cornell University at Ithaca, N.Y., having lately been the subjects of much public comment, and many comparisons having been made between this institution and Harvard University, the writer submits a few remarks on the question how far it is practicable or desirable so to change the system of education and discipline pursued in the Academic Department of Harvard University, as to render that institution similar to Cornell University at Ithaca, N.Y. In some particulars, such a change would be so manifestly impracticable, that it is useless to inquire whether it would be desirable or otherwise.

1. As to the comparative expense of students at the two institutions.

The average expense annually of a student at Cornell University, may be estimated at $400. In this estimate is included a moderate allowance for clothing, and it is supposed that during vacation the student boards and lodges free of expense, in his parents' house or elsewhere. The average annual expense is estimated in the official circular (Cornell), at about $275, exclusive of the items last referred to.

The whole annual expense of an undergraduate at Cambridge cannot be estimated at less than $800. The greater portion of the difference of $400 must be ascribed to the local position of Harvard College, which, of course, must be deemed unalterable. It may be therefore affirmed, that to reduce the expenses of a student at Harvard to an equality with those of one at Cornell University, or to an approximation thereto, must be considered absolutely impracticable.

2. Terms of admission. Higher terms of admission are exacted for entrance into the Classical Department of Cornell University than into any other department, but the classical proficiency required at this University is materially lower than at Harvard or Yale. It would certainly be in the power of the Government at either of those colleges, to reduce the terns of admission. But there is no evidence whatever of a

desire on the part of either of those bodies to do so, or of the wish of the public that such a retrograde course should be adopted.

3. One of the most important differences between Cornell and Harvard Universities is, that in the former the several branches of scientific and literary instruction, form one institution, under the care of the same officers of instruction and government, who, as far as appears, form one body. At Cambridge, the Scientific Schools (using the word "scientific" generally) are in fact separate institutions, and not connected with the Academic Department, except that the President of the College stands at the head of each Faculty. The textbooks of the Medical and Divinity Colleges are generally, it is believed, different from those of the Academic Department. Many of the studies of the Lawrence and the Mining School are pursued, in some degree, by the undergraduates; such, for instance, as Mathematics and Geometry. It may surprise some to hear, that almost every branch of knowledge proposed to be taught in Cornell University, is well taught at Cambridge, either in the Academic Department or the Scientific School, or, in some cases, in both. It is far from certain, in the writer's opinion, that such connection as does exist at Cambridge between the several Scientific Schools and the College proper, is of advantage to either side, and that all parties might not have prospered as well if all the schools had been located in Boston, leaving the Academic Department by itself at Cambridge. But this question is no longer an open one.

4. In the Cornell University, it is proposed to carry the optional system to the fullest extent. In Cambridge, a very large though not unlimited option is allowed after the Freshman year, and the student, more especially, is allowed to relinquish both the classics and the mathematics; this certainly is an important concession to the advocates of a voluntary system. It is yet to be seen whether the Government of Harvard have not gone quite far enough on what may be called the liberal side.

The better way seems to be to subject the present arrangement to the test of experiment, for a few years at least, without a change in any direction.

It will appear from the Report on the Organization of Cornell University, that the objects for which it is founded are materially different from those pursued by undergraduates at Harvard, Yale, and the other leading colleges in New England.

The Faculty at the Cornell University, propose, in the main, to educate pupils directly for some one of the occupations of practical life. No college in New England professes to do this, whatever facilities may be offered at Scientific Schools connected with such college. The object of a studious undergraduate at Harvard or Yale, for example, is to gain a good general education, which may, perhaps, include some knowledge of many sciences of the most practical kind, but which is mainly calculated to invigorate, refine, and inform the mind generally, and thus prepare a foundation deep and broad, for the special pursuit of any important branch of industry.

Each description of seminary may be useful in its way. The Cornell University is as yet an experiment. If a successful one, it by no means follows that the system pursued in our college should be abandoned. In that system, the study of the classics yet holds a prominent place, but at Cambridge, at least, the pursuit of that study is optional after the first year. It is certainly possible to exclude it altogether; but in so doing, to say nothing of the opinion of many intelligent men in all parts of our country, or of the patronage which our colleges are now receiving, we should differ widely in opinion from the Government of Cornell University, who have in decided terms recognized the high importance of classical studies, and made provision for the teaching of them. Abused as our collegiate system has been (and probably always will be), the people of New England will hardly agree to the assertion lately put forth with great seeming confidence, that we find "scholars stepping out of the highest scholastic positions in college, into nonentity

in after-life." To speak of Harvard only, as the College best known to the writer, we find that H. G. Otis, John Quincy Adams, W. E. Channing, W. P. Preble, and Edward Everett were among the very best scholars of their respective classes; and a large number of names, selected from the living as well as the dead, might be added to the list. Why any radical changes should be made at once in our system of education at Harvard, the writer is at a loss to know, though far from maintaining that there is no room for improvement. Still, there are some suggestions in the Cornell Report which deserve the serious consideration of the Faculty of Harvard and other colleges. This may be said especially of the remarks on Dormitories. The Report on the Cornell University is decidedly against the whole system of dormitories, except as a temporary expedient. It states what was once true of some of our largest colleges, if not so now, that "no private citizen who lets rooms in his own house, to four or six students, would tolerate for an hour the anarchy which most tutors in college dormitories are compelled to overlook."

Still it appears that, at Ithaca, large dormitories have been erected from obvious considerations of economy and convenience. For the same reasons, those at Cambridge cannot now be dispensed with. But the Corporation may well consider the expediency, if dormitories must be erected in future, of making them of a much smaller size, and more resembling in other points respectable private houses. Parietal discipline could certainly be much better enforced in such moderately sized lodging houses. The dormitory system has been carried out fully in English Universities by the construction of large quadrangles, with gates closed at night. What enormities are sometimes perpetrated within those quadrangles may be seen by referring to Bristed's "Five Years in an English University."

The truth is, that if we expect to collect together from five hundred to one thousand young men, mostly minors, and to