e valuable assistance he
has rendered in effecting the completeness of this Collection.

"In the old time when militia trainings were in fashion, the
authorities of Burlington decided that, whereas the students of
the University of Vermont claimed and were allowed the right of
suffrage, they were to be considered citizens, and consequently
subject to military duty. The students having refused to appear on
parade, were threatened with prosecution; and at last they
determined to make their appearance. This they did on a certain
'training day,' (the year I do not recollect,) to the full
satisfaction of the authorities, who did not expect _such_ a
parade, and had no desire to see it repeated. But the students
being unwilling to expose themselves to 'the rigor of the law,'
paraded annually; and when at last the statute was repealed and
militia musters abolished, they continued the practice for the
sake of old association. Thus it passed into a custom, and the
first Wednesday of June is as eagerly anticipated by the citizens
of Burlington and the youth of the surrounding country for its
'training,' as is the first Wednesday of August for its annual
Commencement. The Faculty always smile propitiously, and in the
afternoon the performance commences. The army, or more
euphoniously the 'UNIVERSITY INVINCIBLES,' take up 'their line of
march' from the College campus, and proceed through all the
principal streets to the great square, where, in the presence of
an immense audience, a speech is delivered by the
Commander-in-chief, and a sermon by the Chaplain, the roll is
called, and the annual health report is read by the surgeon. These
productions are noted for their patriotism and fervid eloquence
rather than high literary merit. Formerly the music to which they
marched consisted solely of the good old-fashioned drum and fife;
but of late years the Invincibles have added to these a brass
band, composed of as many obsolete instruments as can be procured,
in the hands of inexperienced performers. None who have ever
handled a musical instrument before are allowed to become members
of the band, lest the music should be too sweet and regular to
comport with the general order of the parade. The uniform (or
rather the _multiform_) of the company varies from year to year,
owing to the regulation that each soldier shall consult his own
taste,--provided that no two are to have the same taste in their
equipments. The artillery consists of d