RADCLIFFE COLLEGE 329 



the higher qualities both of character and culture 

 may be held in religious reverence and developed 

 side by side. 



December, 1902, brought Mrs. Agassiz to her eightieth 

 birthday. The celebration of the occasion was intimately 

 connected with Radcliffe. In the autumn of that year her 

 children and grandchildren, knowing that her dearest wish 

 was for a Students' House at Radcliffe, offered unknown to 

 her to give the college $50,000 for that purpose, provided 

 that an equal sum were raised before the fifth of December, 

 Mrs. Agassiz's birthday, in order that the building might 

 be presented to her as a birthday gift. Another novel and 

 beautiful tribute was prepared by Major and Mrs. Higgin- 

 son who arranged for a concert to be given in her honor by 

 the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Art So- 

 ciety in Sanders Theatre on the evening of the birthday. 

 " It is a lovely plan, but I have sworn that I would never 

 have one of these semi-public birthdays," Mrs. Agassiz 

 wrote in her diary when she learned of it, "but this time I 

 must yield, not without dread." The day when it came 

 proved memorable in her experience, and her acceptance 

 of it highly characteristic, as extracts from her diaries and 

 letters show. 



December 1, 1902. The week opens and I try 

 to turn my thoughts away from the eightieth birth- 

 day. I dread the celebration. . . . But one often 

 shrinks from what seems quite pleasant in the ac- 

 tual experience. I am, however, nervous and agitated 

 in the prospect and so afraid that I may have a cold 

 or be out of condition and disturb every one's plans. 



