THE "MAGENTA" DINNER.

THE Annual Dinner of the Editors of the Magenta took place at Ober's, on Friday evening, April 30. The dinner itself was excellently served, and the speeches which followed were something more than is usually expected of after-dinner orators.

Professor W. Everett, being called upon to reply to the first toast of the evening, "Alma Mater," remarked that he was less in the confidence of the Old Lady than many other persons high in office; a distinction which had appeared to be recognized by the managers of the Centennial at Concord, who had provided carriages for the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard College, and requested himself and his colleagues to follow on foot! However, the College had done its going to Concord in 1776, when it moved there bodily to allow the Revolutionary army to occupy Hollis and Stoughton as barracks.

So Harvard College was prepared to make as serious a move again, when the exigencies of the country really needed it; but, meanwhile, meant to stay where she was, maintaining her own native and self-created policy, in spite of all the cries for novelty and so-called improvement from that part of the community which favored the brand-new institutions of the day, grinding out A. B.'s by patent machinery. They might leave out Harvard College in the cold if they chose, and stigmatize her studies, her habits, her buildings, her societies, as old-fashioned. Sooner or later they would all come back to her, as having discovered and worked out for herself, by the experience of generations, what were the real demands of a liberal education, whose object was to make men.

For "The Faculty," Professor Anderson replied. He said that he noticed now a much greater difference in undergraduates than existed ten years ago, and he remarked that the Faculty, although it might have the appearance of a body possessing great "solidarity," was nevertheless made up of individual members, who differed almost as much as undergraduates. He exhorted us to try and remember, when we were startled by some unexpected decree which it seemed impossible for sane men to pass, - to try and remember whether the lights burned long in University on the night when that awful edict went forth, and to infer, if it appeared that the midnight oil had been consumed, that a decision had not been reached without some consideration, and that a minority had made themselves heard upon the occasion.

Mr. A. M. Sherwood next did justice for "Our Contributors." In answering the toast to "The Fathers of the Magenta," Mr. Merwin, '74, mentioned some of the causes which led to the founding of the paper. He referred to the excellent opportunity which the annual dinner gave for old editors to hand down to new ones the principles of the paper, and urged the present Board to stand by the principles of their predecessors.

Mr. S. D. Warren answered for "The Board of '75." He said that if the editors from '75 were not the parents of the paper, they were its wet-nurses, and they left it now with sincere regret. In replying for "The Advocate Board," Mr. Isham assured us once more of that good-will which it is the wish of both papers may exist always, as it has in the past, between the Advocate and the Magenta.

The President next called upon Mr. Parker C. Chandler of Williams, and at present of the Law School, as an ally of Harvard. Mr. Chandler spoke of his connection with college journalism; he said that although he could not claim to be either father or wet-nurse of the Magenta, he nevertheless considered that he had done something to bring it into existence by pointing out in the Williams Review the field for a new paper at Harvard. He concluded by reading a poem which appeared some time ago in the Advocate, and which described himself as the editor of the Review in terms not quite complimentary.

In response to "The Crew," Mr. Van Duzer was called up unexpectedly, in the absence of the captain. He said that he would not say much, for he was afraid that a habit which he had been obliged to form, in speaking for the crew, would get the better of him and he would be found dunning the company for subscriptions. He was sorry that there was still need for money, but he hoped that need would be soon supplied. The sentiment, "The University Nine, - may they beat Yale!" was received with enthusiasm. Mr. Hooper, in reply, said that at present the difficulty in the way was to get hold of Yale. When the time came, he was sure the Nine would do their utmost.

Several songs followed, and the toast, "The Magenta," was given; and replied to by Mr. Harcourt Amory. After Mr. Thayer, '78, had replied for his Class, the sentiment, "The Ladies of Cambridge," was answered by Mr. E. M. Wheelwright. His remarks were few, for he confessed his incapacity to treat the subject satisfactorily.

Some one then proposed "The Police of Cambridge," and asked Mr. Wendell to reply. Mr. Wendell feared that his remarks might mar the harmony of the occasion, but finally he found words in which to express, to a certain degree, his feelings in regard to the efficient "Guardians of the Peace." Shortly after midnight "Auld Lang Syne" was sung, and the company proceeded to wend their way towards the Square.