The First Harvard Union.

The Harvard Union has recently received from W. T. Davis, Esq., of Plymouth, a journal of the meetings of the first Harvard Union, a debating society which existed from 1832 to 1839. The first entry in the journal informs us that "on February 17th, 1832, certain members of the senior and junior classes assembled to consider the expediency of establishing a society for improvement in the art of addressing considerable audiences, and a committee of five was appointed to draw up a constitutio." At the first regular meeting of society, February 24th, a constitution was adopted and the following officers were elected: Senior president, Geo. Ticknor Curtis; junior president, Daniel Fletcher Webster; senior secretary, Jas. A. Dorr; junior secretary, Francis (now Professor) Bowen. The constitution and by laws have been lost, but entries in the journal show that there was an executive committee whose business was to submit questions for debate and to appoint a lecturer, and at least one disputant for each side of the question at each meeting. The junior secretary acted as treasurer. The society rented a hail and for a time shared it with the institute. The college bell was rung for the meetings, which were held on Monday evening of each week at 6 o'clock.

At each meeting a lecture was read by some one previously appointed, upon a subject of his own choosing. After this came an intermission of five minutes, and then followed debate upon the question chosen at the last meeting. The first question discussed by the society was, "Are our republican institutions destined to be permanent?" There were two speakers in the affirmative and seven in the negative, among them Webster.

There seems to have been a tendency to avoid "live" subjects for discussion. In spite of the strong political feeling at the time, questions connected with politics are rare. Once the question "Is the motto 'To the victors belong the spoils' a good one for a political party," was debated and decided in the negative. Only three questions relating to slavery were chosen for debate, and the debate on one of them was in definitely postponed on the evening appointed for it. The question "Are negroes an inferior race of beings?" was twice discussed, and each time was decided in the negative. The excitement over the then recent abduction of Morgan by Free Masons in Western New York. furnished the society material for a debate which showed that the feeling among the members was against the Masons. Two debates on subjects relating to the tariff show that a large majority of the members of the society were in favor of Protection. Professor Bowen says that much interest was manifested in questions relating to Phrenology, then a new science, and such questions were frequently discussed. A debate on the question "Would it be advantageous to have all the studies in college voluntary" was decided in the affirmative.

Among the officers of the society were, besides those already mentioned, James Russell Lowell, Edward Everett Hale, E. R. Hoar, and Charles Theodore Russell. The last meeting was held July 8th, 1839, and was adjourned, the journal says, to the first Monday of the next term.