Cambridge, Ms., City and one of the seats of justice of Middlesex co. This is the seat of Cambridge University, the oldest and best endowed of the colleges in the United States. It may be divided into three parts — Old Cambridge, where the college is situated, about 3 miles W. from Boston; Cambridgeport, a flourishing village, about midway between Boston and Old Cambridge ; and East Cambridge, where the county buildings are located, immediately connected with Boston by Cragie's Bridge over Charles River; also with the city of Charles- town by a bridge. Population in 1790, 2115; 1800, 2453; 1810, 2323; 1820, 3295; 1830, 6072; 1840, 8409; 1850, 15,215. Cambridge is one of the oldest towns in New England. It was incorporated in 1630, by the name of Newtown. It took the name of Cambridge in 1638. It has ever been closely connected with Boston in all its literary, intellectual, and political relations ; and, were it not for municipal distinctions, might be considered as virtually an integral part of the metropolis. Old Cambridge especially constitutes one of the very beautiful suburbs of Boston. (For a notice of the university, the reader is referred to Colleges.) The university buildings are pleasantly, though somewhat irregularly, situated. Some have quite a venerable appearance; and others, which are newer, particularly the library building, are among the finest specimens of architecture in the country. A large proportion of the houses in Old Cambridge are of the most elegant description, being built and located, even when they are not very costly, with a just regard to the principles of taste. They are often embowered in the most beautiful trees and shrubbery. There are several handsome houses of public worship in the vicinity of the College Green.
Cambridgeport, as its name implies, is a more crowded and bustling mart of business. There are, however, many very pretty streets here, and many elegant and costly houses. There are several handsome meeting houses, the town- house, and other public buildings.
East Cambridge, formerly known as Lechmere's Point, opposite the N. W. part of Boston, is also a business part of the city, and has risen into consequence within a few years. It contains six or eight places of worship, the court house, jail, and house of correction. Here are the extensive glass works of the New England Glass Company; also soap, candle, and brush factories, and a great variety of other manufacturing and mechanical operations. Charles River winds its course along the S. border of Cambridge, affording convenient facilities for navigation to each section of the town.
The Mount Auburn Cemetery lies about a mile W. of the university, in the towns of Watertown and Cambridge. This beautiful rural cemetery, the first of the kind in the country, was dedicated September 24,1831. It contains about 100 acres of land, covered with a natural growth of trees, the highest part of which is 125 feet above the river, laid out with winding graveled walks, and embellished with every variety of shrub and flower. Numerous monuments, of costly material and exquisite workmanship, are already erected, constituting this a magnificent resting-place of the dead. It is surrounded by an iron fence, with an imposing granite gateway, in the Egyptian style ; and not far from the entrance is a chapel, of granite, for the celebration of burial services. Our readers will be pleased to see the following short extract from the address of the late JUDGE STORY at the setting apart of this hallowed spot to the purpose for which it is now used : —
"Nature," he says, " seems to point it out with significant energy, as the favorite retirement for the dead. There are around us all the varied features of her beauty and grandeur — the forest - crowned height, the abrupt acclivity, the sheltered valley, the deep glen, the grassy glade, and the silent grove. Here are the lofty oak, the beech, that' wreathes its old, fantastic roots so high,' the rustling pine, and the drooping willow, — the tree that sheds its pale leaves with every autumn, a fit emblem of our own transitory bloom; and the evergreen, with its perennial shoots, instructing us that 'the wintry blast of death kills not the buds of virtue.' Here is the thick shrubbery, to protect and conceal the new- made grave ; and there is the wild flower creeping along the narrow path, and planting its seeds in the upturned earth. All around us there breathes a solemn calm, as if we were in the bosom of a wilderness, broken only by the breeze as it murmurs through the tops of the forest, or by the notes of the warbler, pouring forth his matin or his evening song.
"Ascend but a few steps, and what a change of scenery to surprise and delight us! We seem, as it were, in an instant, to pass from the confines of death to the bright and balmy regions of life. Below us flows the winding Charles, with its rippling current, like the stream of time hastening to the ocean of eternity. In the distance, the city — at once the object of our admiration and our love — rears its proud eminences, its glittering spires, its lofty towers, its graceful mansions, its curling smoke, its crowded haunts of business and pleasure, which speak to the eye, and yet leave a noiseless loneliness on the ear. Again we turn, and the walls of our venerable university rise before us, with many a recollection of happy days passed there, in the interchange of study and friendship, and many a grateful thought of the affluence of its learning, which has adorned and nourished the literature of our country. Again we turn, and the cultivated farm, the neat cottage, the village church, the sparkling lake, the rich valley, and the distant hills, arc before us through opening vistas; and we breathe amidst the fresh and varied labors of man."
From the first settlement of the country, Cambridge has been a place of great importance At the commencement of the revolution, and during the year 1775, the head-quarters of the American army were in this town, and here Washington entered upon his duties as commander-in-chief. His quarters were at the Cragie House, situated on the street between the college and Mount Auburn. Our admired poet, Longfellow, the present proprietor, displays good taste by preserving as nearly as possible the original external appearance of the house. The Washington Elm, on the westerly side of Cambridge Common, is also an object of interest, as under its branches Washington was stationed while his commission was proclaimed to the army of twenty thousand men drawn up on the Common; and here he drew that sword which, turning every way, like the sword of the angel, became salvation to his country, and terror and confusion to her adversaries.
