Lowell Also Is In Little To Massachusetts And To
New England What Manchester Is To Us In So Great A Degree.
It is
the largest and most prosperous cotton-manufacturing town in the
States.
Cambridge is not above three or four miles from Boston. Indeed,
the town of Cambridge properly so called begins where Boston
ceases. The Harvard College - that is its name, taken from one of
its original founders - is reached by horse-cars in twenty minutes
from the city. An Englishman feels inclined to regard the place as
a suburb of Boston; but if he so expresses himself, he will not
find favor in the eyes of the men of Cambridge.
The university is not so large as I had expected to find it. It
consists of Harvard College, as the undergraduates' department, and
of professional schools of law, medicine, divinity, and science.
In the few words that I will say about it I will confine myself to
Harvard College proper, conceiving that the professional schools
connected with it have not in themselves any special interest. The
average number of undergraduates does not exceed 450, and these are
divided into four classes. The average number of degrees taken
annually by bachelors of art is something under 100. Four years'
residence is required for a degree, and at the end of that period a
degree is given as a matter of course if the candidate's conduct
has been satisfactory. When a young man has pursued his studies
for that period, going through the required examinations and
lectures, he is not subjected to any final examination as is the
case with a candidate for a degree at Oxford and Cambridge. It is,
perhaps, in this respect that the greatest difference exists
between the English universities and Harvard College. With us a
young man may, I take it, still go through his three or four years
with a small amount of study. But his doing so does not insure him
his degree. If he have utterly wasted his time he is plucked, and
late but heavy punishment comes upon him. At Cambridge, in
Massachusetts, the daily work of the men is made more obligatory;
but if this be gone through with such diligence as to enable the
student to hold his own during the four years, he has his degree as
a matter of course. There are no degrees conferring special honor.
A man cannot go out "in honors" as he does with us. There are no
"firsts" or "double firsts;" no "wranglers;" no "senior opts" or
"junior opts." Nor are there prizes of fellowships and livings to
be obtained. It is, I think, evident from this that the greatest
incentives to high excellence are wanting at Harvard College.
There is neither the reward of honor nor of money. There is none
of that great competition which exists at our Cambridge for the
high place of Senior Wrangler; and, consequently, the degree of
excellence attained is no doubt lower than with us.
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