An article "On the Date of the First Public Commencement at Yale College, in New Haven," will be read with pleasure by those who are interested in the deductions of antiquarian research. It is contained in the "Yale Literary Magazine," Vol. XX. pp. 199, 200.
The following account of Commencement at Dartmouth College, on Wednesday, August 24th, 1774, written by Dr. Belknap, may not prove uninteresting.
"About eleven o'clock, the Commencement began in a large tent erected on the east side of the College, and covered with boards; scaffolds and seats being prepared.
"The President began with a prayer in the usual strain. Then an English oration was spoken by one of the Bachelors, complimenting the Trustees, &c. A syllogistic disputation on this question: Amicitia vera non est absque amore divina. Then a cliosophic oration. Then an anthem, 'The voice of my beloved sounds,' &c. Then a forensic dispute, Whether Christ died for all men? which was well supported on both sides. Then an anthem, 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates,' &c.
"The company were invited to dine at the President's and the hall. The Connecticut lads and lasses, I observed, walked about hand in hand in procession, as 't is said they go to a wedding.
"Afternoon. The exercises began with a Latin oration on the state of society by Mr. Kipley. Then an English Oration on the Imitative Arts, by Mr. J. Wheelock. The degrees were then conferred, and, in addition to the usual ceremony of the book, diplomas were delivered to the candidates, with this form of words: 'Admitto vos ad primum (vel secundum) gradum in artibus pro more Academiarum in Anglia, vobisque trado hunc librum, una cum potestate publice prelegendi ubicumque ad hoc munus avocati fueritis (to the masters was added, fuistis vel fueritis), cujus rei hæc diploma membrana scripta est testimonium.' Mr. Woodward stood by the President, and held the book and parchments, delivering and exchanging them as need required. Rev. Mr. Benjamin Pomeroy, of Hebron, was admitted to the degree of Doctor in Divinity.
"After this, McGregore and Sweetland, two Bachelors, spoke a dialogue of Lord Lyttleton's between Apicius and Darteneuf, upon good eating and drinking. The Mercury (who comes in at the close of the piece) performed his part but clumsily; but the two epicures did well, and the President laughed as heartily as the rest of the audience; though considering the circumstances, it might admit of some doubt, whether the dialogue were really a burlesque, or a compliment to the College.
"An anthem and prayer concluded the public exercises. Much decency and regularity were observable through the day, in the numerous attending concourse of people."—Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D., pp. 69-71.
At Shelby College, Ky., it is customary at Commencement to perform plays, with appropriate costumes, at stated intervals during the exercises.
An account of the manner in which Commencement has been observed at other colleges would only be a repetition of what has been stated above, in reference to Harvard and Yale. These being, the former the first, and the latter the third institution founded in our country, the colleges which were established at a later period grounded, not only their laws, but to a great extent their customs, on the laws and customs which prevailed at Cambridge and New Haven.