New-York tribune., 1868-06-29

Masters Of Arts collected in the building Underga@du @
ates usual conspicuous by their absence anu d @
galleries which run round the senate Iiousc, 1 au1
which appropriated 10 the students. hardly hseISu
n hundred occupants The body OF the nan was !hlly
filed with the wives and daughters OF the resident pro
fessors and tutors, and with number OF the towns
people, who bad dropped in to catch slght OF te @
Of EyaDgeline" The Senate House itsefls place 700
full OF hateful recOect0ns TO all who have ever eAcuI
stoned there, TO look otherwise than hldeous 70 nne
and impartial spectators admit that 1t has no pre-
tension to archtectura beauty At proceeding COM
menced with most punctuallty Tie vice. ahse
lOr for the year is Dr. ThOmpson the Master OF lIn
and though TO those who studied under the Ielgm "a %
Whewell no other Master OF Trinity ever come up 10
the ideal Of what the Master ought 10 be- yet to lnor9
modern generation, Dr. Thompson doubtless sHIsSH n
the requirements Of his arduOus post. The NlceCha-
ceor having taken his seat I'm his chair at the end OF le
Latin speech the candidate for an honorary degree Amid
the Of heads Of houses and other acadeine
dgntares conspicuous by their scarlet roDes S Uo 4
LOngfellow In stature and figure there was ntue i
TO attract attention to the celebrity OF the day. But te
face was one which, think would have caught the spec
atOrs glance If his attention had not been caledtO
il by the cheers which greeted LOnglelows appearance
in the robes Of an LII d. Long, white sken hair, and
beard Of patTarchal length and wheness, lncl0sed
Young fresh cOIorcd connenance with hne-cut features
and deepsunken eyes Oyershadowed by massive black
eyebrows. Looking at him, you had the feeling that the
white head of hair and beard were mask put to con
ceal yOuug mans face and that II the poet chose e
could throw of the disguise and appear as man IN th
very prime and bloom Of life. In the last unfinished
fragment which Nathaniel Hawthorne ever wrote, he
prOpOunded tho quaint theory that youth ana strength
were the natural appanages of mortal life, and that old
men felt m times Sort of strange anomaly in the
fact that youth was longer theirs. II the doctrine
thus put forward in "Pansey" had In II aught OF tutn
no man surely would feel its lesson more quietly than
Hawthorucs fnend and fellowlaborer In the wOrd OF
letters. In Longferow's face the contrast, 1 might
almost say the inconsistency, between the youth
Of the spirit and the age Of the body seems
to mo sncuarly marked and striking. In
few weLFounded Latin sentences, the
Public orator rected the claims Of the distinguished
visitor 10 the privilege of honorary degree Inc
names Of "Hiawatha" and EnOch Arden" ard "Eyan:
gene sounded strangely amid the sonorous periods oi
the Latin Grafton. Wien it ended, MI clark leu
Mfr. LOngfclOw to the VceChanceOr, with whom he eX-
changed few words Of complimentary greeting; then
the usual fonacs gone through, with the eXcep,
OF the oath, and the of LOngellOw added
40 the list Of usriOus WORTHLESS recorded on the muster
roll OF the Erdduutc- of CsI4bIidRe.
The small company Of undergraduates c1cercd loudly
the new L. d. took his seat admd the dgnitarcs Of
the Unyersity and then the regular business OF Com
mcuCcment proceeded with. In France or Germany
the writer OF the poem would have introduced some au
sion the presence OF the veteran poet, tile hOnored
guest Of The day But such departure from the written
letter would be foreign TO the traditions OF Cambridge
So when the poem had been duly read per copy the
ended the undergraduates gave three cheers
for LOugclOw the crowd, such was dispersed
few miuutcs-and all was over.