I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our Almae Matres, assented to by sundry of their children.—­Terrae-Filius, Oxford, p. 41.

ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF.  An association composed of the graduates of a particular college.  The object of societies of this nature is stated in the following extract from President Hopkins’s Address before the Society of Alumni of Williams College, Aug. 16, 1843.  “So far as I know, the Society of the Alumni of Williams College was the first association of the kind in this country, certainly the first which acted efficiently, and called forth literary addresses.  It was formed September 5, 1821, and the preamble to the constitution then adopted was as follows:  ’For the promotion of literature and good fellowship among ourselves, and the better to advance the reputation and interests of our Alma Mater, we the subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form ourselves into a Society.’  The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank.  The first orator elected was the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished Senator of the United States.  That appointment was not fulfilled.  The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge, now of Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion; and since that time the annual oration before the Alumni has seldom failed....  Since this Society was formed, the example has been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to extend to them all.  Last year, for the first time, the voice of an Alumnus orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale; and one of these associations, I know, sprung directly from ours.  It is but three years since a venerable man attended the meeting of our Alumni, one of those that have been so full of interest, and he said he should go directly home and have such an association formed at the Commencement of his Alma Mater, then about to occur.  He did so.  That association was formed, and the last year the voice of one of the first scholars and jurists in the nation was heard before them.  The present year the Alumni of Dartmouth were addressed for the first time, and the doctrine of Progress was illustrated by the distinguished speaker in more senses than one.[01] Who can tell how great the influence of such associations may become in cherishing kind feeling, in fostering literature, in calling out talent, in leading men to act, not selfishly, but more efficiently for the general cause through particular institutions?”—­Pres.  Hopkins’s Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses, pp. 275-277.

To the same effect also, Mr. Chief Justice Story, who, in his Discourse before the Society of the Alumni of Harvard University, Aug. 23, 1842, says:  “We meet to celebrate the first anniversary of the society of all the Alumni of Harvard.  We meet without any distinction of sect or party, or of rank or profession, in church or in state, in literature or in science....  Our fellowship is designed to be—­as it should be—­of the most liberal and comprehensive character, conceived in the spirit of catholic benevolence, asking no creed but the love of letters, seeking no end but the encouragement of learning, and imposing no conditions, which say lead to jealousy or ambitious strife.  In short, we meet for peace and for union; to devote one day in the year to academical intercourse and the amenities of scholars.”—­p. 4.