Page:Samuel F. Batchelder - Bits of Harvard History (1924).pdf/96

 “banner,” embroidered, painted, and gilded by the young ladies of Cambridge. This very elaborate flag was almost square, bearing at the top the old motto, “Tam Marti Quam Mercurio,” and at the bottom the new title, “Washington Corps.” Emblematic devices filled the centre. The standard had a varied history. During the life of the Corps it was treated with the utmost reverence; and the formality with which it was brought forth from the middle entry of Holworthy for a parade was one of the most impressive ceremonies of the occasion. When the days of its pride were done, it was left to moth and dust in a forgotten corner. Later, it was haled forth to become an object of derision. Old and tattered, it figured among the miscellaneous oddments carried in the mock parades of the “Navy Club,” as late as 1846. Finally it disappeared altogether. In 1886 its horribly mutilated remains were discovered and identified in the rooms of the Porcellian Club, where it now reposes as one of their chief treasures.

During the War of 1812, the Washington Corps exhibited the utmost activity. (A few of its members are known to have enlisted, but the undergraduate roll of honor for this conflict has never been completed.) Its