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diff --git a/39525.txt b/39525.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c47e8ea..0000000 --- a/39525.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2745 +0,0 @@ - ASPECTS OF MODERN OXFORD - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: Aspects of Modern Oxford - -Author: A. D. Godley - -Release Date: April 23, 2012 [EBook #39525] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF MODERN OXFORD *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - -[Illustration: _IN CORNMARKET STREET. Drawn by T. H. Crawford._] - - - - ASPECTS - - OF - - MODERN OXFORD - - - - BY - - A MERE DON - - (A. D. GODLEY) - - - - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ - - J. H. Lorimer, Lancelot Speed, T. H. Crawford, - - and E. Stamp - - - - LONDON - - SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED - - Essex Street, Strand - - 1894 - - - - ---- - - - - -CONTENTS - - - I--OF DONS AND COLLEGES - II--OF UNDERGRADUATES - III--OF SIGHTSEERS - IV--OF EXAMINATIONS - V--UNIVERSITY JOURNALISM - VI--THE UNIVERSITY AS SEEN FROM OUTSIDE. - VII--DIARY OF A DON - VIII--THE UNIVERSITY AS A PLACE OF LEARNED LEISURE. - - ---- - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -In Cornmarket Street. _By T. H. Crawford_ . . . . . . . . . -_Frontispiece_ - -In Christchurch Cathedral. _By J. H. Lorimer_ - -New College, Oxford. _By E. Stamp_ - -Corpus Christi College. _By J. H. Lorimer_ - -Smoking-Room at the Union. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -Cricket in the Parks. _By L. Speed_ - -Waiting for the Cox. _By L. Speed_ - -Ringoal in New College. _By L. Speed_ - -Golf at Oxford. The Plateau Hole And Arnold's Tree. _By L. Speed_ - -Commemoration: Outside the Sheldonian Theatre. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -In College Rooms. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -A Ball at Christchurch. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -The Deer Park, Magdalen College, Oxford. _By J. H. Lorimer_ - -In Convocation: Conferring a Degree. _By E. Stamp_ - -A Lecture-Room in Magdalen College. _By E. Stamp_ - -The Library, Merton College. _By E. Stamp_ - -Reading the Newdigate. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -A Dance at St. John's. _By T. H. Crawford_ - -The Radcliffe. _By E. Stamp_ - -In the Bodleian. _By E. Stamp_ - -Sailing on the Upper River. _By L. Speed_ - -Porch of St. Mary's. _By J. Pennell_ - -In Exeter College Chapel. _By E. Stamp_ - -Parsons' Pleasure. _By L. Speed_ - -Fencing. _By L. Speed_ - -Lawn Tennis at Oxford. _By L. Speed_ - -Bowls in New College Garden. _By L. Speed_ - -Coaching the Eight. _By J. H. Lorimer_ - -Evening on the River. _By E. Stamp_ - - - - - ASPECTS OF MODERN OXFORD - - - - -I--OF DONS AND COLLEGES - - - 'We ain't no thin red heroes, nor we ain't no blackguards too, - But single men in barracks, most remarkable like you.' - _Rudyard Kipling_. - -Fellows of Colleges who travel on the continent of Europe have, from -time to time, experienced the almost insuperable difficulty of -explaining to the more or less intelligent foreigner their own reason of -existence, and that of the establishment to which they are privileged to -belong. It is all the worse if your neighbour at the _table d'hote_ is -acquainted with the Universities of his own country, for these offer no -parallel at all, and to attempt to illustrate by means of them is not -only futile but misleading. Define any college according to the general -scheme indicated by its founder; when you have made the situation as -intelligible as a limited knowledge of French or German will allow, the -inquirer will conclude that '_also_ it is a monastic institution,' and -that you are wearing a hair shirt under your tourist tweeds. Try to -disabuse him of this impression by pointing out that colleges do not -compel to celibacy, and are intended mainly for the instruction of -youth, and your Continental will go away with the conviction that an -English University is composed of a conglomeration of public schools. -If he tries to get further information from the conversation of a casual -undergraduate, it will appear that a _Ruderverein_ on the Danube offers -most points of comparison. - -Fellows themselves fare no better, and are left in an--if -possible--darker obscurity. That they are in some way connected with -education is tolerably obvious, but the particular nature of the -connexion is unexplained. Having thoroughly confused the subject by -showing inconclusively that you are neither a monk, nor a schoolmaster, -nor a _Privat Docent_, you probably acquiesce from sheer weariness in -the title of _Professor_, which, perhaps, is as convenient as any other; -and, after all, _Professoren_ are very different from Professors. But -all this does nothing to elucidate the nature of a College. To do this -abroad is nearly as hard as to define the function of a University in -England. - -[Illustration: _IN CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL. By J. H. Lorimer._] - -For even at home the general uneducated public, taking but a passing -interest in educational details, is apt to be hopelessly at sea as to -the mutual relation of Colleges and Universities. In the public mind -the College probably represents the University: an Oxonian will be -sometimes spoken of as 'at College;' University officials are confused -with heads of houses, and Collections with University examinations. -That foundation which is consecrated to the education of Welsh Oxonians -is generally referred to in the remote fastnesses of the Cymru as Oxford -College. As usual, a concrete material object, palpable and visible, is -preferred before a cold abstraction like the University. Explain to the -lay mind that a University is an aggregate of Colleges: it is not, of -course, but the definition will serve sometimes. Then how about the -London University, which is an examining body? And how does it happen -that there is a University College in Oxford, not to mention another in -Gower Street? and that Trinity College across the water is often called -Dublin University? All these problems are calculated to leave the -inquirer very much where he was at first, and in him who tries to -explain them to shake the firm foundations of Reason. - -It may be a truism, but it is nevertheless true--according to a phrase -which has done duty in the Schools ere now--that the history of the -University is, and has been for the last five hundred years, the history -of its Colleges; and it is also true that the interweaving of Collegiate -with University life has very much complicated the question of the -student's reason of existence. We do not, of course, know what may have -been the various motives which prompted the bold baron, or squire, or -yeoman of the twelfth or thirteenth century to send the most clerkly or -least muscular of his sons to herd with his fellows in the crowded -streets or the mean hostelries of pre-collegiate Oxford; nor have we -very definite data as to the kind of life which the scholar of the -family lived when he got there. Perhaps he resided in a 'hall;' -according to some authorities there were as many as three hundred halls -in the days of Edward I.; perhaps he was master of his own destinies, -like the free and independent unattached student of modern days--minus a -Censor to watch over the use of his liberties. But what is tolerably -certain is that he did not then come to Oxford so much with the -intention of 'having a good time' as with the desire of improving his -mind, or, at least, in some way or other taking part in the intellectual -life of the period, which then centred in the University. It might be -that among the throngs of boys and young men who crowded the straitened -limits of mediaeval Oxford, there were many who supported the obscure -tenets of their particular Doctor Perspicuus against their opponents' -Doctor Inexplicabilis rather with bills and bows than with disputations -in the Schools; but every Oxonian was in some way vowed to the -advancement of learning--at least, it is hard to see what other -inducement there was to face what must have been, even with all due -allowance made, the exceptional hardships of a student's life. Then -came the Colleges--University dating from unknown antiquity, although -the legend which connects its foundation with Alfred has now shared the -fate of most legends; Balliol and Merton, at the end of the thirteenth -century; and the succeeding centuries were fruitful in the establishment -of many other now venerable foundations, taking example and -encouragement from the success and reputation of their earlier compeers. -In their original form colleges were probably intended to be places of -quiet retirement and study, where the earnest scholar might peacefully -pursue his researches without fear of disturbance by the wilder spirits -who roamed the streets and carried on the traditional feuds of Town and -Gown or of North and South. - -[Illustration: _NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD. Drawn by E. Stamp._] - -By a curious reverse of circumstances the collegian and the '_scholaris -nulli collegio vel aulae ascriptus_' of modern days seem to have changed -characters. For I have heard it said by those who have to do with -college discipline that their _alumni_ are no longer invariably -distinguished by 'a gentle nature and studious habits'--qualities for -which, as the Warden of Merton says, colleges were originally intended -to provide a welcome haven of rest, and which are now the especial and -gratifying characteristics of that whilom roisterer and boon companion, -the Unattached Student. - -We have it on the authority of historians that the original collegiate -design was, properly speaking, a kind of model lodging-house; an -improved, enlarged, and strictly supervised edition of the many hostels -where the primitive undergraduate did mostly congregate. Fellows and -scholars alike were to be studious and discreet persons; the seniors -were to devote themselves to research, and to stand in a quasi-parental -or elder-brotherly relation to the juniors who had not yet attained to -the grade of a Baccalaureus. Very strict rules--probably based on those -of monastic institutions--governed the whole body: rules, however, which -are not unnecessarily severe when we consider the fashion of the age and -the comparative youth of both fellows and scholars. Many scholars must -have been little more than children, and the junior don of the fifteenth -century may often have been young enough to receive that corporal -punishment which our rude forefathers inflicted even on the gentler sex. - - 'Solomon said, in accents mild, - Spare the rod and spoil the child; - Be they man or be they maid, - Whip 'em and wallop 'em, Solomon said' - ---and the sage's advice was certainly followed in the case of scholars, -who were birched for offences which in these latter days would call down -a 'gate,' a fine, or an imposition. Authorities tell us that the early -fellow might even in certain cases be mulcted of his dress, a penalty -which is now reserved for Irish patriots in gaol; and it would seem that -his consumption of beer was limited by regulations which would now be -intolerable to his scout. Some of the details respecting crime and -punishment, which have been preserved in ancient records, are of the -most remarkable description. A former Fellow of Corpus (so we are -informed by Dr. Fowler's History of that College) who had been proved -guilty of an over-susceptibility to the charms of beauty, was condemned -as a penance to preach eight sermons in the Church of St. -Peter-in-the-East. Such was the inscrutable wisdom of a bygone age. - -Details have altered since then, but the general scheme of college -discipline remains much the same. Even in the days when practice was -slackest, theory retained its ancient stringency. When Mr. Gibbon of -Magdalen absented himself from his lectures, his excuses were received -'with an indulgent smile;' when he desired to leave Oxford for a few -days, he appears to have done so without let or hindrance; but both -residence and attendance at lectures were theoretically necessary. The -compromise was hardly satisfactory, but as the scholars' age increased -and the disciplinary rule meant for fourteen had to be applied to -eighteen, what was to be done? So, too, we are informed that in the -days of our fathers undergraduates endured a Procrustean tyranny. So -many chapel services you must attend; so many lectures you must hear, -connected or not with your particular studies; and there was no -relaxation of the rule; no excuse even of 'urgent business' would serve -the pale student who wanted to follow the hounds or play in a cricket -match. Things, in fact, would have been at a deadlock had not the -authorities recognised the superiority of expediency to mere morality, -and invariably accepted without question the plea of ill-health. To -'put on an _aeger_' when in the enjoyment of robust health was after all -as justifiable a fiction as the 'not at home' of ordinary society. You -announced yourself as too ill to go to a lecture, and then rode with the -Bicester or played cricket to your heart's content. This remarkable -system is now practically obsolete; perhaps we are more moral. - -[Illustration: _CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE. Drawn by F. H. Lorimer._] - -Modern collegiate discipline is a parlous matter. There are still the -old problems to be faced--the difficulty of adapting old rules to new -conditions--the danger on the one hand of treating boys too much like -men, and on the other of treating men too much like boys. Hence college -authorities generally fall back on some system of more or less ingenious -compromise--a course which is no doubt prudent in the long run, and -shows a laudable desire for the attainment of the Aristotelian 'mean,' -but which, like most compromises, manages to secure the disapproval -alike of all shades of outside opinion. We live with the fear of the -evening papers before our eyes, and an erring undergraduate who has been -sent down may quite possibly be avenged by a newspaper column reflecting -on college discipline in general, and the dons who sent him down in -particular. Every day martinets tell us that the University is going to -the dogs from excess of leniency; while critics of the -'Boys-will-be-boys' school point out the extreme danger of sitting -permanently on the safety valve, and dancing on the edge of an active -volcano. - -In recent years most of the 'Halls' have been practically extinguished, -and thereby certain eccentricities of administration removed from our -midst. It was perhaps as well; some of these ancient and honourable -establishments having during the present century rather fallen from -their former reputation, from their readiness to receive into the fold -incapables or minor criminals to whom the moral or intellectual -atmosphere of a college was uncongenial. This was a very convenient -system for colleges, who could thus get rid of an idle or stupid man -without the responsibility of blighting his University career and his -prospects in general; but the Halls, which were thus turned into a kind -of sink, became rather curious and undesirable abiding-places in -consequence. They were inhabited by grave and reverend seniors who -couldn't, and by distinguished athletes who wouldn't, pass Smalls, much -less Mods. At one time 'Charsley's' was said to be able to play the -'Varsity Eleven. These mixed multitudes appear to have been governed on -very various and remarkable principles. At one establishment it was -considered a breach of courtesy if you did not, when going to London, -give the authorities some idea of the _probable_ length of your absence. -'The way to govern a college,' the venerated head of this institution is -reported to have said, 'is this--_to keep one eye shut_,' presumably the -optic on the side of the offender. Yet it is curious that while most of -the Halls appear to have been ruled rather by the _gant de velours_ than -the _main de fer_, one of them is currently reported to have been the -scene of an attempt to inflict corporal punishment. This heroic -endeavour to restore the customs of the ancients was not crowned with -immediate success, and he who should have been beaten with stripes fled -for justice to the Vice-Chancellor's Court. - -[Illustration: _SMOKING-ROOM AT THE UNION. Drawn by T. H. Crawford._] - -Casual visitors to Oxford who are acquainted with the statutes of the -University will no doubt have observed that it has been found -unnecessary to insist on exact obedience to all the rules which were -framed for the student of four hundred years ago. For instance, boots -are generally worn; undergraduates are not prohibited from riding -horses, nor even from carrying lethal weapons; the _herba nicotiana sive -Tobacco_ is in common use; and, especially in summer, garments are not -so 'subfusc' as the strict letter of the law requires. Perhaps, too, the -wearing of the academic cap and gown is not so universally necessary as -it was heretofore. All these are matters for the jurisdiction of the -Proctors, who rightly lay more stress on the real order and good -behaviour of their realm. And whatever evils civilisation may bring in -the train, there can be no doubt that the task of these officials is far -less dangerous than of old, as their subjects are less turbulent. They -have no longer to interfere in the faction fights of Northern and -Southern students. It is unusual for a Proctor to carry a pole-axe, -even when he is 'drawing' the most dangerous of billiard-rooms. The -Town and Gown rows which used to provide so attractive a picture for the -novelist--where the hero used to stand pale and determined, defying a -crowd of infuriated bargemen--are extinct and forgotten these last ten -years. Altogether the streets are quieter; models, in fact, of peace and -good order: when the anarchical element is loose it seems to prefer the -interior of Colleges. Various reasons might be assigned for this: -sometimes the presence of too easily defied authority gives a piquancy -to crime; or it is the place itself which is the incentive. The open -space of a quadrangle is found to be a convenient stage for the -performance of the midnight reveller. He is watched from the windows by -a ring of admiring friends, and the surrounding walls are a kind of -sounding-board which enhances the natural beauty of -'Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay' (with an accompaniment of tea-tray and poker -_obbligato_). Every one has his own ideal of an enjoyable evening. - - - - -II--OF UNDERGRADUATES - - - 'In the sad and sodden street - To and fro - Flit the feverstricken feet - Of the Freshers, as they meet, - Come and go.' - _Q_ - -Whatever the theory of their founders, it is at no late period in the -history of colleges that we begin to trace the development of the modern -undergraduate. It was only natural that the 'gentle natures and studious -habits' of a select band of learners should undergo some modification as -college after college was founded, and comparative frivolity would from -time to time obtain admission to the sacred precincts. The University -became the resort of wealth and rank, as well as of mere intellect, and -the gradual influx of commoners--still more, of 'gentlemen -commoners'--once for all determined the character of colleges as places -of serious and uninterrupted study. Probably the Civil War, bringing -the Court to Oxford, was a potent factor in relaxation of the older -academic discipline; deans or sub-wardens of the period doubtless -finding some difficulty in adapting their rules to the requirements of -undergraduates who might from time to time absent themselves from chapel -or lecture in order to raid a Parliamentary outpost. - -But perhaps the most instructive picture of the seventeenth-century -undergraduate is to be found in the account-book of one Wilding, of -Wadham (published by the Oxford Historical Society), apparently a -reading man and a scholar of his college, destined for Holy Orders. The -number of his books (he gives a list of them) shows him to have been -something of a student, while repeated entries of large sums paid for -'Wiggs' (on one occasion as much as 14*s*--more than his 'Battles' for -the quarter!) would seem to suggest something of the habits of the 'gay -young sparks' alluded to by Hearne in the next century. On the whole, -Master Wilding appears to have been a virtuous and studious young -gentleman. Now and then the natural man asserts himself, and he treats -his friends to wine or 'coffea,' or even makes an excursion to -'Abbington' (4*s.*!). Towards the end of his career a 'gaudy' costs -2*s.* 6*d.*, after which comes the too-suggestive entry, 'For a purge, -1*s.*' Then comes the close: outstanding bills are paid to the alarming -extent of 7*s.* 8*d.*; a 'wigg,' which originally cost 14*s.*, is -disposed of at a ruinous reduction for 6*s.*--the prudent man does not -give it away to his scout--and J. Wilding, B.A., e. Coll., Wadh., -retires to his country parsonage--having first invested sixpence in a -sermon. Evidently a person of methodical habits and punctual payments; -that had two wigs, and everything handsome about him; and that probably -grumbled quite as much at the 10*s.* fee for his tutor as his modern -successor does at his 8*l.* 6*s.* 8*d.* But, on the whole, collegiate -and university fees seem to have been small. - -After this description of the _vie intime_ of an undergraduate at -Wadham, history is reserved on the subject of the junior members of the -University; which is the more disappointing, as the historic Muse is not -only garrulous, but exceedingly scandalous in recounting the virtues and -the aberrations of eighteenth-century dons. Here and there we find an -occasional notice of the ways of undergraduates--here a private memoir, -there an academic _brochure_. We learn, incidentally, how Mr. John -Potenger, of New College, made 'theams in prose and verse,' and -eventually 'came to a tollerable proficiency in colloquial Latin;' how -Mr. Meadowcourt, of Merton, got into serious trouble--was prevented, in -fact, from taking his degree--for drinking the health of His Majesty -King George the First; and how Mr. Carty, of University College, -suffered a similar fate 'for prophaning, with mad intemperance, that -day, on which he ought, with sober chearfulness, to have commemorated -the restoration of King Charles the Second' (this was in 1716); how Mr. -Shenstone found, at Pembroke College, both sober men 'who amused -themselves in the evening with reading Greek and drinking water,' and -also 'a set of jolly sprightly young fellows .... who drank ale, smoked -tobacco,' and even 'punned;' and how Lord Shelburne had a 'narrow-minded -tutor.' From which we may gather, that University life was not so very -different from what it is now: our forefathers were more exercised about -politics, for which we have now substituted a perhaps extreme devotion -to athletics. But for the most part, the undergraduate is not prominent -in history--seeming, in fact, to be regarded as the least important -element in the University. On the other hand, his successor of the -present century--the era of the Examination Schools--occupies so -prominent a place in the eyes of the public that it is difficult to -speak of him, lest haply one should be accused of frivolity or want of -reverence for the _raison d'etre_ of all academic institutions. - -[Illustration: _CRICKET IN THE PARKS. By Launcelot Speed._] - -His own reason of existence is not so obvious. It was, as we have said, -tolerably clear that the mediaeval student came to Oxford primarily for -the love of learning something, at any rate; but the student _fin de -siecle_ is one of the most labyrinthine parts of a complex civilisation. -Of the hundreds of boys who are shot on the G.W.R. platform every -October to be caressed or kicked by Alma Mater, and returned in due time -full or empty, it is only an insignificant minority who come up with the -ostensible purpose of learning. Their reasons are as many as the colours -of their portmanteaus. Brown has come up because he is in the sixth -form at school, and was sent in for a scholarship by a head-master -desiring an advertisement; Jones, because it is thought by his friends -that he might get into the 'Varsity eleven; Robinson, because his father -considers a University career to be a stepping-stone to the -professions--which it fortunately is not as yet. Mr. Sangazur is, going -to St. Boniface because his father was there; and Mr. J. Sangazur -Smith--well, probably because _his_ father wasn't. Altogether they are -a motley crew, and it is not the least achievement of the University -that she does somehow or other manage to impress a certain stamp on so -many different kinds of metal. But in this she is only an instrument in -the hands of modern civilisation, which is always extinguishing -eccentricities and abnormal types; and even Oxford, while her sons are -getting rid of those interesting individualities which used to -distinguish them from each other, is fast losing many of the -peculiarities which used to distinguish it from the rest of the world. -It is an age of monotony. Even the Freshman, that delightful creation -of a bygone age, is not by any means what he was. He is still young, -but no longer innocent; the bloom is off his credulity; you cannot play -practical jokes upon him any more. Now and then a young man will -present himself to his college authorities in a gown of which the -superfluous dimensions and unusual embroidery betray the handiwork of -the provincial tailor; two or three neophytes may annually be seen -perambulating the High in academic dress with a walking-stick; but these -are only survivals. Senior men have no longer their old privileges of -'ragging' the freshman. In ancient times, as we are informed by the -historian of Merton College, 'Freshmen were expected to sit on a form, -and make jokes for the amusement of their companions, on pain of being -"tucked," or scarified by the thumb-nail applied under the lip. The -first Earl of Shaftesbury describes in detail this rather barbarous jest -as practised at Exeter College, and relates how, aided by some freshmen -of unusual size and strength, he himself headed a mutiny which led to -the eventual abolition of 'tucking.' Again, on Candlemas Day every -freshman received notice to prepare a speech to be delivered on the -following Shrove Tuesday, when they were compelled to declaim in undress -from a form placed on the high table, being rewarded with "cawdel" if -the performances were good, with cawdel and salted drink if it were -indifferent, and with salted drink and "tucks" if it were dull. This is -what American students call 'hazing,' and the German _Fuchs_ is -subjected to similar ordeals. But we have changed all that, and treat -the 'fresher' now with the respect he deserves. - -Possibly the undergraduate of fiction and the drama may have been once a -living reality. But he is so no more, and modern realistic novelists -will have to imagine some hero less crude in colouring and more in -harmony with the compromises and neutral tints of the latter half of the -nineteenth century. The young Oxonian or Cantab of fifty years back, as -represented by contemporary or nearly contemporary writers, was always -in extremes:-- - - 'When he was good he was very, very good; - But when he was bad he was horrid,' - -like the little girl of the poet. He was either an inimitable example -of improbable virtue, or abnormally vicious. The bad undergraduate -defied the Ten Commandments, all and severally, with the ease and -success of the villain of transpontine melodrama. Nothing came amiss to -him, from forgery to screwing up the Dean and letting it be understood -that some one else had done it; but retribution generally came at last, -and this compound of manifold vices was detected and rusticated; and it -was understood that from rustication to the gallows was the shortest and -easiest of transitions. The virtuous undergraduate wore trousers too -short for him and supported his relations. He did not generally join in -any athletic pastimes, but when the stroke of his college eight fainted -from excitement just before the start, the neglected sizar threw off his -threadbare coat, leapt into the vacant seat, and won his crew at once -the proud position of head of the river by the simple process of making -four bumps on the same night, explaining afterwards that he had -practised in a dingey and saw how it could be done. Then there was the -Admirable Crichton of University life, perhaps the commonest type among -these heroes of romance. He was invariably at Christ Church, and very -often had a background of more or less tragic memories from the far-away -days of his _jeunesse orageuse_. Nevertheless he unbent so far as to do -nothing much during the first three and a half years of his academic -career, except to go to a good many wine parties, where he always wore -his cap and gown (especially in female fiction), and drank more than any -one else. Then, when every one supposed he must be ploughed in Greats, -he sat up so late for a week, and wore so many wet towels, that -eventually he was announced at the Encaenia, amid the plaudits of his -friends and the approving smiles of the Vice-Chancellor, as the winner -of a Double-First, several University prizes, and a Fellowship; after -which it was only right and natural that the recipient of so many -coveted distinctions should lead the heroine of the piece to the altar. - -[Illustration: _WAITING FOR THE COX. Drawn by Lancelot Speed._] - -Possibly the Oxford of a bygone generation may have furnished models for -these brilliantly coloured pictures; or, as is more probable, they were -created by the licence of fiction. At any rate the 'man' of modern times -is a far less picturesque person--unpicturesque even to the verge of -becoming ordinary. He is seldom eccentric or _outre_ in externals. His -manners are such as he has learnt at school, and his customs those of -the world he lives in. His dress would excite no remark in Piccadilly. -The gorgeous waistcoats of Leech's pencil and Calverley's '_crurum non -enarrabile tegmen_' belong to ancient history. He is, on the whole, -inexpensive in his habits, as it is now the fashion to be poor; he no -longer orders in a tailor's whole shop, and his clubs are generally -managed with economy and prudence. If, however, the undergraduate -occasionally displays the virtues of maturer age, there are certain -indications that he is less of a grown-up person than he was in the -brave days of old. It takes him a long time to forget his school-days. -Only exceptionally untrammelled spirits regard independent reading as -more important than the ministrations of their tutor. Pass-men have been -known to speak of their work for the schools as 'lessons,' and, in their -first term, to call the head of the College the head-master. Naturally, -too, school-life has imbued both Pass and Class men with an enduring -passion for games--probably rather a good thing in itself, although -inadequate as the be-all and end-all of youthful energy. Even those who -do not play them can talk about them. Cricket and football are always -as prolific a topic as the weather, and nearly as interesting, as many a -perfunctory 'Fresher's breakfast' can testify. - -[Illustration: _RINGOAL IN NEW COLLEGE. Drawn by Lancelot Speed._] - -The undergraduate, in these as in other things, is like the young of his -species, with whom, after all, he has a good deal in common. Take, in -short, the ordinary provincial young man; add a dash of the schoolboy -and just a touch of the _Bursch_, and you have what Mr. Hardy calls the -'Normal Undergraduate.' - -[Illustration: Ringoal] - -It used to be the custom to draw a very hard-and-fast line of -demarcation between the rowing and the reading man--rowing being taken -as a type of athletics in general, and indeed being the only form of -physical exercise which possessed a regular organization. Rumour has it -that a certain tutor (now defunct) laid so much emphasis on this -distinction that men whose circumstances permitted them to be idle were -regarded with disfavour if they took to reading. He docketed freshmen -as reading or non-reading men, and would not allow either kind to stray -into the domain of the other. However, the general fusion of classes and -professions has levelled these boundaries now. The rowing man reads to a -certain extent, and the reading man has very often pretensions to -athletic eminence; it is in fact highly desirable that he should, now -that a 'Varsity 'blue' provides an assistant master in a school with at -least as good a salary as does a brilliant degree. Yet, although the -great majority of men belong to the intermediate class of those who take -life as they find it, and make no one occupation the object of their -exclusive devotion, it is hardly necessary to say that there are still -extremes--the Brutal Athlete at one end of the line and the bookish -recluse (often, though wrongly, identified with the 'Smug') at the -other. The existence of the first is encouraged by the modern tendency -to professionalism in athletics. Mere amateurs who regard games as an -amusement can never hope to do anything; a thing must be taken -seriously. Every schoolboy who wishes to obtain renown in the columns -of sporting papers has his 'record,' and comes up to Oxford with the -express intention of 'cutting' somebody else's, and the athletic -authorities of the University know all about Jones's bowling average at -Eton, or Brown's form as three-quarter-back at Rugby, long before these -distinguished persons have matriculated. Nor is it only cricket, -football, and rowing that are the objects of our worship. Even so staid -and contemplative a pastime as golf ranks among 'athletics;' and perhaps -in time the authorities will be asked to give a 'Blue' for croquet. -These things being so, on the whole, perhaps, we should be grateful to -the eminent athlete for the comparative affability of his demeanour, so -long as he is not seriously contradicted. He is great, but he is -generally merciful. - -Thews and sinews have probably as much admiration as is good for them, -and nearly as much as they want. On the other hand, the practice of -reading has undoubtedly been popularised. It is no longer a clique of -students who seek honours; public opinion in and outside the University -demands of an increasing majority of men that they should appear to be -improving their minds. The Pass-man pure and simple diminishes in -numbers annually; no doubt in time he will be a kind of pariah. -Colleges compete with each other in the Schools. Evening papers prove -by statistics the immorality of an establishment where a scholar who -obtains a second is allowed to remain in residence. The stress and -strain of the system would be hardly bearable were it not decidedly less -difficult to obtain a class in honours than it used to be--not, perhaps, -a First, or even a Second; but certainly the lower grades are easier of -attainment. Then the variety of subjects is such as to appeal to every -one: history, law, theology, natural science (in all its branches), -mathematics, all invite the ambitious student whose relations wish him -to take honours, and will be quite satisfied with a Fourth; and eminent -specialists compete for the privilege of instructing him. The tutor who -complained to the undergraduate that he had sixteen pupils was met by -the just retort that the undergraduate had sixteen tutors. - -[Illustration: _GOLF AT OXFORD. THE PLATEAU HOLE AND ARNOLD'S TREE. -Drawn by Lancelot Speed._] - -The relation of the University to the undergraduate is twofold; it is -'kept'--as a witty scholar of Dublin is fabled to have inscribed over -the door of his Dean, 'for his amusement and instruction'--and if the -latter is frequently formal, it is still more often and in a great -variety of ways 'informal,' and not communicated through his tutor. Not -to mention the many college literary societies--every college has one at -least, and they are all ready to discuss any topic, from the Origin of -Evil to bimetallism--there are now in the University various learned -societies, modelled and sometimes called after the German _Seminar_, -which are intended to supplement the deficiencies of tuition, and to -keep the serious student abreast of the newest erudition which has been -'made in Germany,' or anywhere else on the Continent. Then there is the -Union as a school of eloquence for the political aspirant; or the -'private business' of his college debating society, where a vote of -censure on Ministers is sometimes emphasised by their ejection into the -quadrangle, may qualify him for the possible methods of a future House -of Commons. - - - - -III--OF SIGHTSEERS - - - 'The women longed to go and see the _college_ and the _tutour_.' - _'The Guardian's Instruction' by Stephen Penton._ - -When the late Mr. Bright asserted that the tone of Oxford life and -thought was 'provincial with a difference,' great indignation was -aroused in the breasts of all Oxford men--residents, at least; whether -it was the provincialism or the 'difference' wherein lay the sting of -the taunt. Probably it was the first. For, although it is a tenable -hypothesis that _Kleinstaedtigkeit_ has really been a potent factor in -the production of much that is best in art and literature, still nobody -likes to be called provincial by those whose business is in the -metropolis. Caesar said that he would rather be a great man at Gabii, -or whatever was the Little Pedlington of Italy, than an ordinary person -at Rome; but the modern Little Pedlingtonian would seldom confess to so -grovelling an ambition, whatever might be his real feelings. He would -much sooner be one of the crowd in London than mayor of his native city: -so at least he says. And so he is very angry if you call him -provincial, and venture to insinuate that his views of life are limited -by the jurisdiction of his Local Board or City Council; and thus the -University of Oxford refused for a long time to forgive John Bright, and -did not quite forget his strictures even when it gave him an honorary -degree and called him 'patriae et libertatis amantissimus.' And yet the -authorities had done what they could to keep the University provincial. -It was only after many and deep searchings of heart that the Hebdomadal -Council consented to countenance the advent of the Great Western -Railway; while the ten miles which separate Oxford from Steventon -preserved undergraduates from the contaminating contact of the -metropolis there was still hope, but many venerable Tories held that -University discipline was past praying for when a three-hours' run would -bring you into the heart of the dissipation of London. Some there were -who could not even imagine that so terrible a change had really taken -place; it is said that Dr. Routh, the President of Magdalen, who -attained the respectable age of ninety-nine in the year 1855 (he was -elected towards the close of the last century as a _warming-pan_, being -then of a delicate constitution and not supposed likely to live!), -persistently ignored the development of railways altogether; when -undergraduates came up late at the beginning of the winter term, he -would excuse them on the ground of the badness of the roads. - -We have changed all that, like other provincial centres; and -undergraduates who want to 'see their dentist'--a venerable and -time-honoured plea which we have heard expressed by the delicate-minded -as 'the necessity for keeping a dental engagement'--may now run up to -town and back between lunch and 'hall;' the latter function having also -marched with the times, and even six-o'clock dinner being now almost a -thing of the past. Not so long ago five was the regular hour. In the -early seventies seven-o'clock dinner was regarded as a doubtful -innovation; and there we have stopped for the present. But the -fashionable world outside the colleges imitates London customs--always -keeping a little way behind the age--and what has been called the 'Parks -System' actually dines as late as 7.45 when it is determined to be _tres -chic_. It is only one sign of the influx of metropolitan ideas; but -there are many others. Oxford tradesmen have learnt by bitter -experience that the modern undergraduate is not an exclusive preserve -for them like his father. That respected county magnate, when he was at -Oriel, bought his coats from an Oxford tailor and his wine from an -Oxford wine-merchant, to whom--being an honest man--he paid about half -as much again as he would have paid anywhere in London, thereby -recouping the men of coats or of wines for the many bad debts made by -dealing with the transitory and impecunious undergraduate. But his son -gets his clothes in London, and his wine from the college, which deals -directly with Bordeaux. And the tone and subject of conversation is -changed too. Oxford is thoroughly up to date, and knows all about the -latest play at the Criterion and the latest scandal in the inner circle -of London society--or thinks it does, at any rate: there is no one who -knows so much about London as the man who does not live there. - -[Illustration: _COMMEMORATION: OUTSIDE THE SHELDONIAN THEATRE. Drawn by -T. H. Crawford._] - -But if Oxford goes to London, so does London come to Oxford. Whether it -be fitting or not that the site of a theoretically learned University -should be in summer a sort of people's park or recreation-ground for the -jaded Londoner, the fact is so: the classes and the masses are always -with us in one form or another. It has become a common and laudable -practice for East-end clergymen and the staff of Toynbee Hall and the -Oxford House to bring down their flocks on Whit-Monday or other -appropriate occasions; and one may constantly see high academic -dignitaries piloting an unwieldy train of excursionists, and trying to -compress University history into a small compass, or to explain the -nature of a college (of all phenomena most unexplainable to the lay -mind) to an audience which has never seen any other place of education -than a Board school. As for the classes, they have raised the Eights -and 'Commem.' to the rank of regular engagements in a London season, and -they go through both with that unflinching heroism which the English -public invariably display in the performance of a social duty: they -shiver in summer frocks on the barges, despite the hail and snowstorms -of what is ironically described as the 'Summer' term; and after a hard -day's sightseeing they enjoy a well-earned repose by going to -Commemoration balls, where you really do dance, not for a perfunctory -two hours or so, but from 8.30 to 6.30 a.m. In spite of these hardships -it is gratifying to observe that, whether or not the University succeeds -in its educational mission, it appears to leave nothing to be desired as -a place of amusement for the jaded pleasure-seeker. People who go to -sleep at a farce have been known to smile at the (to a resident) dullest -and least impressive University function. Ladies appear to take an -especial delight in penetrating the mysteries of College life. Perhaps -the female mind is piqued by a subdued flavour of impropriety, dating -from a period when colleges were not what they are; or more probably -they find it gratifying to the self-respect of a superior sex to observe -and to pity the notoriously ineffectual attempts of mere bachelors to -render existence bearable. So much for the term; and when the vacation -begins Oxford is generally inundated by a swarm of heterogeneous -tourists--Americans, who come here on their way between Paris and -Stratford-on-Avon; Germans, distinguished by a white umbrella and a red -'Baedeker,' trying to realise that here, too, is a University, despite -the absence of students with slashed noses and the altogether different -quality of the beer. Then with August come the Extension students; the -more frivolous to picnic at Nuneham and Islip, the seriously-minded to -attend lectures which compress all knowledge into a fortnight's course, -and to speculate on the future when they--the real University, as they -say--will succeed to the inheritance of an unenlightened generation -which is wasting its great opportunities. - -[Illustration: _IN COLLEGE ROOMS. Drawn by T. H. Crawford._] - -At Commemoration a general sense of lobster salad pervades the -atmosphere, and the natural beauties of colleges are concealed or -enhanced by a profusion of planking and red cloth; the architectural -merit of a hall is as nothing compared to the elasticity of its floor. -The Eights, again, provide attractions of their own, not especially -academic. The truly judicious sightseer will avoid both of these festive -seasons, and will choose some time when there is less to interfere with -his own proper pursuit--the week after the Eights, perhaps, or the -beginning of the October term, when the red Virginia creeper makes a -pleasing contrast with the grey collegiate walls. Nor will he, if he is -wise, allow himself to be 'rushed' through the various objects of -interest: there are, it is believed, local guides who profess to show -the whole of Oxford in two hours; but rumour asserts that the feat is -accomplished by making the several quadrangles of one college do duty -for a corresponding number of separate establishments, so that the -credulous visitor leaves Christ Church with the impression that he has -seen not only 'The House,' but also several other foundations, all -curiously enough communicating with each other. And in any case, after -a mere scamper through the colleges, nothing remains in the mind but a -vague and inaccurate reminiscence, combining in one the characteristics -of all; the jaded sightseer goes back to London with a fortunately -soon-to-be-forgotten idea that Keble was founded by Alfred the Great, -and that Tom Quad is a nickname for the Vice-Chancellor. Samuel Pepys -seems to have been to a certain extent the prototype of this kind of -curiosity or antiquity hunter, and paid a 'shilling to a boy that showed -me the Colleges before dinner.' (Curiously enough, 'after dinner' the -honorarium to 'one that showed us the schools and library' was 10*s.*!) - -[Illustration: _A BALL AT CHRIST CHURCH. Drawn by T. H. Crawford_] - -He who is responsible for the proper conduct of a gang of relations or -friends will not treat them in this way. He will endeavour, so far as -possible, to confine them within the limits of his own college, where he -is on his native heath, and, if he is not an antiquarian, can at least -animate the venerable buildings with details of contemporary history. He -will point out his Dons (like the great French nation, 'objects of -hatred or admiration, but never of indifference') with such derision or -reverence as they may deserve, and affix to them ancient anecdotes -whereby their personality may be remembered. He will show to an -admiring circle the statue which was painted green, the pinnacle climbed -by a friend in the confidence of inebriation, and the marks of the -bonfire which the Dean did not succeed in putting out. Even the most -ignorant and frivolous-minded person can make his own college -interesting. When he has succeeded in impressing upon his friends the -true character of a college as a place of religion and sound learning, -he may be permitted to show them such external objects as form a part of -every one's education, and which no one (for the very shame of -confessing it) can pretermit unseen, such as the gardens of New College -or St. John's, the 'Nose' of B.N.C, the Burne-Jones tapestry at Exeter, -or the picture of Mr. Gladstone in the hall of Christ Church. Those who -absolutely insist on a more comprehensive view of the University and -City may be allowed to make the ascent of some convenient point of -view--Magdalen Tower, for instance; it is a stiff climb, but the view -from the top will repay your exertions. This is where, as since the -appearance of Mr. Holman Hunt's picture everybody is probably aware, the -choir of the college annually salute the rising sun from the top of the -tower by singing a Latin hymn on May morning--while the youth of the -city, for reasons certainly not known to themselves, make morning -hideous with blowing of unmelodious horns in the street below. At all -times--even at sunrise on a rainy May morning--it is a noble prospect. -The unlovely red-brick suburbs of the north are hidden from sight by the -intervening towers and pinnacles of the real Oxford; immediately below -the High Street winds westwards, flanked by colleges and churches, of -which the prevailing grey is relieved by the green trees of those many -gardens and unexplored nooks of verdure with which Oxford abounds; to -the south there are glimpses of the river flowing towards the dim grey -line of the distant Berkshire downs. To the historically-minded the -outlook may suggest many a picture of bygone times--scenes of brawling -in the noisy High Street, when the old battle of Town and Gown was -fought with cold steel, and blood flowed freely on both sides--in the -days when the maltreated townsman appealing to the Proctor could get no -satisfaction but a 'thrust at him with his poleaxe!' Down the street -which lies below passed Queen Elizabeth--'Virgo Pia Docta Felix'--after -being royally entertained with sumptuous pageants and the play of -'Palamon and Arcyte' in the Christ Church hall. Over the Cherwell, in -the troublous times of the Civil Wars, rode the Royalist horse to beat -up the Parliamentary quarters below the Chiltern hills and among the -woods of the Buckinghamshire border--enterprising undergraduates perhaps -taking an _exeat_ to accompany them. Here it was that certain scholars -of Magdalen, having a quarrel with Lord Norreys by reason of -deer-stealing, 'went up privately to the top of their tower, and waiting -till he should pass by towards Ricot' (Rycote) 'sent down a shower of -stones upon him and his retinew, wounding some and endangering others of -their lives'--and worse might have happened had not the 'retinew' taken -the precaution, foreseeing the assault, to put boards or tables on their -heads. At a later day Pope entered Oxford by this road, and there is a -pretty description of the scene in one of his letters--it will no doubt -appeal to the nineteenth-century visitor who departs through slums to -the architecturally unimpressive station of the Great Western. 'The -shades of the evening overtook me. The moon rose in the clearest sky I -ever saw, by whose solemn light I paced on slowly, without company, or -any interruption to the range of my own thoughts. About a mile before I -reached Oxford all the bells tolled in different notes, the clocks of -every college answered one another, and sounded forth (some in a deeper, -some in a softer tone) that it was eleven at night. All this was no ill -preparation to the life I have led since among those old walls, -venerable galleries, stone porticos, studious walks, and solitary scenes -of the University.' Jerry-built rows of lodging-houses rather militate -against the romance of the Iffley Road as we know it now. - -[Illustration: _THE DEER PARK, MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. By J. H. -Lorimer._] - -But, after all, the majority of sightseers are not given to historical -reflections. What most people want is something that 'palpitates with -actuality;' they want to see the machine working. They are temporarily -happy if they can see a Proctor in his robes of office, and rise to the -enthusiasm of 'never having had such a delightful day' if the Proctor -happens to 'proctorise' an undergraduate within the ken of their vision. -'It was all so _delightful_ and mediaeval, and all that kind of thing, -don't you know? Poor young man--simply for not wearing one of those -horrid caps and gowns! _I_ call it a shame.' This is the reason why a -Degree Day is so wonderfully popular a ceremony. There is a sense of -attractive mystery about it all--the Vice-Chancellor throned in the -Theatre or Convocation House, discoursing in unintelligible scraps of -Latin like the refrain of a song, and the Proctors doing their -quarter-deck walk--although the dignity of the function be rather marred -by the undergraduates who jostle and giggle in the background forgetting -that they are assisting at a ceremony which is, after all, one of the -University's reasons of existence. It is the same kind of curiosity -which causes the lecturer to become suddenly conscious that he is being -watched with intense interest--an interest to which he is altogether -unaccustomed--by 'only a face at the window' of his lecture-room, to his -own confusion and the undisguised amusement of his audience. - -[Illustration: _IN CONVOCATION: CONFERRING A DEGREE. Drawn by Ernest -Stamp._] - -Such are sightseers: yet every man to his taste. When Samuel Pepys came -over from Abingdon to see the sights of the University town, it is -gratifying and rather surprising to learn that what most impressed him -was the small price paid for creature comforts: 'Oxford mighty fine -place,' such is the diarist's reflection, 'and _cheap entertainment_.' - - - - -IV--OF EXAMINATIONS - - - 'Thinketh one made them in a fit of the blues.' - _Q_ - -If there is one subject on which the professedly non-reading -undergraduate is nearly always eloquent it is the aggravation of his -naturally hard lot by the examination system; that is, not only 'The -Schools' themselves, but the ancillary organization of lectures, -'collections,' and college tuition in general; all which machinery, -being intended to save him from himself and enable him to accomplish the -ostensible purpose of his residence at the University, he very properly -regards as an entirely unnecessary instrument of torture, designed and -perfected by the gratuitous and malignant ingenuity of Dons, whose sole -object is the oppression of undergraduates in general and himself in -particular. He is obliged to attend lectures, at least occasionally. -His tutors compel him to attempt to pass his University examination at a -definite date; and then--adding insult to injury--actually reproach him -or even send him down for his ill success, just as if he had not always -demonstrated to them by repeated statements and constant proofs of -incapacity that he had not the smallest intention of getting through! -Small wonder, perhaps, that on returning from a highly unsatisfactory -interview with the University examiners to a yet more exasperating -colloquy with the authorities of his college, he should wish that fate -had not matched him with the 'cosmic process' of the nineteenth century; -and that it had been his happier lot to come up to Oxford in the days -when examinations were not, and his remote ancestors got their degrees -without any vain display of mere intellectual proficiency, or went down -without them if they chose. - -[Illustration: _A LECTURE-ROOM IN MAGDALEN COLLEGE. Drawn by E. -Stamp._] - -And yet, should the modern undergraduate take the trouble (which of -course he never does) to acquaint himself with the statutes and -ordinances which governed his University in the pre-examination period, -he would find that even then the rose was not wholly devoid of thorns. -Even then the powers that be had decreed that life should not be -completely beer, nor altogether skittles. It is true that the student -was probably less molested by his college; but the regulations of the -University dealt far more hardly with him than they do at present. -Under the statutes of Archbishop Laud, the University exercised those -functions of teaching and general supervision which it has since in -great part surrendered to its component colleges; and in theory the -University was a hard task-mistress. - -Attendance at professorial lectures was theoretically obligatory, and -'since not only reading and thought, but practice also, is of the -greatest avail towards proficiency in learning,' it was required that -the candidate for a degree should 'dispute' in the Schools at stated and -frequent times during the whole course of his academic career. -Beginning by listening to the disputations of his seniors (a custom -which perhaps survives in the modern fashion which sometimes provides a -'gallery' at the ceremony of _viva voce_), he was as time went on -required himself to maintain and publicly defend doctrines in a manner -which would be highly embarrassing to his modern successor--'responding' -at first to the arguments of the stater of a theory, and with riper -wisdom being promoted to the position of Opponent.' This opposing and -responding was termed 'doing generals.' 'Argufying' was the business of -the University in the seventeenth century, and had been so for a long -time. - -On the memorable occasion of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Oxford in the -year 1566, Her Majesty was entertained intermittently with disputations -on the moon's influence on the tides, and the right of rebellion against -bad government. Thus, Archbishop Laud required of the -seventeenth-century undergraduate so many disputations before he became -a _sophista_, and so many again before he could be admitted to the -degree of Bachelor; and if the system had worked in practice as it was -intended to do in theory, young Oxford would not have had an easy time -of it. In the days of Antony Wood's undergraduate career exercises in -the 'Schooles' were 'very good.' 'Philosophy disputations in Lent time, -frequent in the Greek tongue; _coursing_ very much, ending alwaies in -blowes,' which Wood considers scandalous; but at least it shows the -serious spirit of the disputants. But a University can always be -trusted to temper the biting wind of oppressive regulations to its shorn -alumni; and there can be no doubt that the comparative slackness and -sleepiness of the eighteenth century--a somnolence which it is easy to -exaggerate, but impossible altogether to deny--must have tended to wear -the sharp corners off the academic curriculum. Indications that this -was so are not wanting. After all, there must have been many ways of -avoiding originality in a disputation. A writer in 'Terrae Filius' -(1720) states the case as follows:-- - - -'All students in the University who are above one year's standing, and -have not taken their batchelor' (of arts) 'degree, are required by -statute to be present at this awful solemnity' (disputation for a -degree), 'which is designed for a public proof of the progress he has -made in the art of reasoning; tho' in fact it is no more than a formal -repetition of a set of syllogisms upon some ridiculous question in -logick, which they get by rote, or, perhaps, only read out of their -caps, which lie before them with their notes in them. These commodious -sets of syllogisms are call'd strings, and descend from undergraduate to -undergraduate, in regular succession; so that, when any candidate for a -degree is to exercise his talent in argumentation, he has nothing else -to do but to enquire amongst his friends for a string upon such-and-such -a question.' - - -So, even in the early part of the present century, reverend persons -proceeding to the degree of D.D. have been known to avail themselves of -a thesis (or written harangue on some point of theology) not compiled by -their unaided exertions, but kept among the archives of their college -and passed round as occasion might require. If mature theologians have -reconciled this with their consciences in the nineteenth, what may not -have been possible to an undergraduate in the eighteenth century? Also, -the functionary who stood in the place of the modern examiner was a very -different kind of person from his successor--that incarnation of cold -and impassive criticism; collusion between 'opponent' and 'respondent' -must have been possible and frequent; and so far had things gone that -the candidate for a degree was permitted to choose the 'Master' who was -to examine him, and it appears to have been customary to invite your -Master to dinner on the night preceding the final disputation. Witness -'Terrae Filius 'once more:-- - - -'Most candidates get leave .... to chuse their own examiners, who never -fail to be their old cronies and toping companions.... It is also well -known to be the custom for the candidates either to present their -examiners with a piece of gold, or to give them a handsome -entertainment, and make them drunk, which they commonly do the night -before examination, and some times keep them till morning, and so -adjourn, cheek by jowl, from their drinking-room to the school, where -they are to be examined.' - - -The same author adds: 'This to me seems the great business of -_determination_: to pay money and get drunk.' - -Vicesimus Knox, who took his B.A. degree in 1775, is at pains to -represent the whole process of so-called examination as an elaborate -farce. 'Every candidate,' he says, 'is obliged to be examined in the -whole circle of the sciences by three masters of arts, of his own -choice.' Naturally, the temptation is too much for poor humanity. 'It -is reckoned good management to get acquainted with two or three jolly -young masters and supply them well with port previously to the -examination.' _Viva voce_ once put on this convivial footing, it is not -surprising that 'the examiners and the candidate often converse on the -last drinking bout, or on horses, or read the newspapers, or a novel, or -divert themselves as well as they can till the clock strikes eleven, -when all parties descend, and the _testimonium_ is signed by the -masters.' Under such circumstances it is obvious that the provisions of -Archbishop Laud might be shorn of half their terrors. Even at an earlier -period other methods of evasion were not wanting. As early as 1656, -orders were made 'abolishing' the custom of candidates standing treat to -examiners. In the statute which still prescribes the duties of the -_clericus universitatis_, there is a clause threatening him with severe -penalties--to the extent of paying a fine of ten shillings--should he so -far misuse his especial charge, the University clock, as to 'retard and -presently precipitate the course' of that venerable time-piece, 'in such -a manner that the hours appointed for public exercises be unjustly -shortened, to the harm and prejudice of the studious.' Moreover, we -read in Wood that notice of examination was given by 'tickets stuck up -on certaine public corners, which would be suddenly after taken downe' -by the candidate's friends. To such straits and to such unworthy shifts -could disputants be reduced by mere inability to find matter. - -It has been said that attendance at professorial lectures was -theoretically obligatory; but it is hardly necessary to point out that -even serious students have occasionally dispensed with the duty of -attending lectures; and it is more than whispered there have been -occasions in recent centuries when it was not an audience only that was -wanting. There are, of course, instances of both extremes. Rumour -tells of a certain professor of anatomy, who, lacking a quorum, bade his -servant 'bring out the skeleton, in order that I may be able to address -you as "gentle*men*;"' but all professors have not been so -conscientious. Gibbon goes so far as to assert that 'in the University -of Oxford, the greater part of the public professors have for these many -years given up altogether the pretence of teaching,' and the Reverend -James Hurdie does not much improve the matter, when he prepares to -refute the historian's charge in his 'Vindication of Magdalen College.' -So far as the College is concerned, the reverend gentleman has something -of a case; but his defence of the University is not altogether -satisfying. Some of the professors, no doubt, do lecture in a -statutable manner. But 'the late noble but unfortunate Professor of -Civil Law began his office with reading lectures, and only desisted for -want of an audience' (a plausible excuse, were it not that some -lecturers seem to have entertained peculiar ideas as to the constitution -of an audience). 'Terrae Filius' has a story of a Professor of Divinity -who came to his lecture-room, found to his surprise and displeasure, a -band of intending hearers, and dismissed them straightway with the -summary remark: 'Domini, vos non estis idonei auditores!' 'The present -Professor, newly appointed (the author has heard it from the highest -authority), means to read.' Moreover, 'the late Professor of Botany at -one time _did_ read.' In fact, as the 'Oxford Spy' observes in 1818:-- - - 'Yet here the rays of Modern Science spread: - Professors are appointed, lectures read. - If none attend, or hear: not ours the blame, - Theirs is the folly--and be theirs the shame.' - -It is evident that professorial lectures were not a wholly unbearable -burden. - -'It is recorded in the veracious chronicle of Herodotus that Sandoces, a -Persian judge, had been crucified by Darius, on the charge of taking a -bribe to determine a cause wrongly; but while he yet hung on the cross, -Darius found by calculation that the good deeds of Sandoces towards the -king's house were more numerous than his evil deeds, and so, confessing -that he had acted with more haste than wisdom, he ordered him to be -taken down and set at large.' - -[Illustration: _THE LIBRARY, MERTON COLLEGE. Drawn by Ernest Stamp._] - -So when the Universities are at last confronted with that great Day of -Reckoning which is continually held over their heads by external -enemies, and which timorous friends are always trying to stave off by -grudging concessions and half-hearted sympathy with Movements; when we -are brought to the bar of that grand and final commission, which is once -for all to purge Oxford and Cambridge of their last remnants of -mediaevalism, and bring them into line with the marching columns of -modern Democracy; when the judgment is set and the books are opened, we -may hope that some extenuating circumstances may be found to set against -the long enumeration of academic crimes. There will be no denying that -Oxford has been the home of dead languages and undying prejudice. It -will be admitted as only too true that Natural Science students were for -many years compelled to learn a little Greek, and that colleges have not -been prepared to sacrifice the greater part of their immoral revenues to -the furtherance of University Extension; and we shall have to plead -guilty to the damning charge of having returned two Tory members to -several successive Parliaments. All this Oxford has done, and more; -there is no getting out of it. Yet her counsel will be able to plead in -her favour that once at least she has been found not retarding the rear, -but actually leading the van of nineteenth-century progress; for it will -hardly be denied that if the Universities did not invent the Examination -System, at least they were among the first to welcome and to adapt it; -and that if it had not been for the development of examinations, -qualifying and competitive, at Oxford and Cambridge, the ranks of the -Civil Service would have continued for many years longer to be recruited -by the bad old method of nomination (commonly called jobbery and -nepotism by the excluded), and society would, perhaps, never have -realised that a knowledge of Chaucer is among the most desirable -qualifications for an officer in Her Majesty's Army. Here, at least, the -Universities have been privileged to set an example. - -The Oxford examination system is practically contemporaneous with the -century; the first regular class list having been published in 1807. -The change was long in coming, and when it did come the face of the -University was not revolutionised; if the alteration contained, as it -undoubtedly did, the germs of a revolution which was to extend far -beyond academic boundaries, it bore the aspect of a most desirable but -most moderate reform. Instead of obtaining a degree by the obsolete -process of perfunctory disputation, ambitious men were invited to offer -certain books (classical works for the most part), and in these to -undergo the ordeal of a written and oral examination; the oral part -being at that time probably as important as the other. Sudden and -violent changes are repugnant to all Englishmen, and more especially to -the rulers of Universities, those homes of ancient tradition; and just -as early railways found it difficult to escape from the form of the -stage-coach and the old nomenclature of the road, so the new Final -Honour School took over (so to speak) the plant of a system which it -superseded. _Viva voce_ was still (and is to the present day) -important, because it was the direct successor of oral disputation. The -candidate for a degree had obtained that distinction by a theoretical -argument with three 'opponents' in the Schools; so now the opponents -were represented by a nearly corresponding number of examiners, and the -_viva voce_ part of the examination was for a long time regarded as a -contest of wit between the candidate and the questioner. Nor did the -race for honours affect the great majority of the University as it does -at present. It was intended for the talented few: it was not a matter -of course that Tom, Dick, and Harry should go in for honours because -their friends wished it, or because their college tutor wished to keep -his college out of the evening papers. Candidates for honours were -regarded as rather exceptional persons, and a brilliant performance in -the Schools was regarded as a tolerably sure augury of success in life: -a belief which was, perhaps, justified by facts then, but which--like -most beliefs, dying hard--has unfortunately survived into a state of -society where it is impossible to provide the assurance of a successful -career for all and each of the eighty or hundred 'first-class' men whom -the University annually presents to an unwelcoming world. - -[Illustration: _READING THE NEWDIGATE. Drawn by T, H. Crawford._] - -However small its beginnings it was inevitable that the recognition of -intellect should exercise the greatest influence--though not immediately -and obviously--on the future of the University. _La carriere_ once -_ouverte aux talents_--the fact being established and recognised that -one man was intellectually not only as good as another, but a deal -better--colleges could not help following the example set them; the -first stirrings of 'inter-collegiate competition' began to be felt, and -after forty years or so (for colleges generally proceed in these and -similar matters with commendable caution, and it was only the earlier -part of the nineteenth century after all) began the gradual abolition of -'close' scholarships and fellowships--those admirable endowments whereby -the native of some specified county or town was provided with a -competence for life, solely in virtue of the happy accident of birth. -To disregard talent openly placarded and certificated was no longer -possible. The most steady-going and venerable institutions began to be -reanimated by the infusion of new blood, and to be pervaded by the -newest and most 'dangerous' ideas. - -Nor were the outside public slow to avail themselves after their manner -of the changed state of things. The possessor of a University degree -has at all times been regarded by less fortunate persons with a kind of -superstitious awe, as one who has lived in mysterious precincts and -practised curious (if not always useful) arts, and at first the title of -'Honourman,' implying that the holder belonged to a privileged -few--_elite_ of the _elites_--whom a University, itself learned, had -delighted to honour for their learning, could inspire nothing less than -reverence. Also the distinction was a very convenient one. The public -is naturally only too glad to have any ready and satisfactory -testimonial which may help as a method of selection among the host of -applicants for its various employments; and here was a diploma signed by -competent authorities and bearing no suspicion of fear or favour. -Presently the public began to follow the lead of Oxford and Cambridge, -and examine for itself, but that is another story: schoolmasters more -especially have always kept a keen eye on the class list. So an -intellectual distinction comes in time to have a commercial price, and -this no doubt has had something (though, we will hope, not everything) -to do with the increase in the number of 'Schools' and the growing -facilities for obtaining so-called honours. But it is needless to -observe that the multiplication of the article tends to the depreciation -of its value. The First-class man, who was a potential Cabinet Minister -or an embryo Archbishop at the beginning of the century, is now capable -of descending to all kinds of employments. He does not indeed--being -perhaps conscious of incapacity--serve as a waiter in a hotel, after the -fashion of American students in the vacation, but he has been known to -accept gratefully a post in a private school where his tenure of office -depends largely on the form he shows in bowling to the second eleven. - -Here in Oxford, though we still respect a 'First,' and though perhaps -the greater part of our available educational capacity is devoted to the -conversion of passmen into honourmen, there are signs that examinations -are no longer quite regarded as the highest good and the chief object of -existence. It is an age of specialism, and yet it is hard to mould the -whole University system to suit the particular studies of every -specialist. Multiply Final Schools as you will, 'the genuine student' -with one engrossing interest will multiply far more quickly; and just as -the athlete and non-reading man complains that the schools interrupt his -amusements, the man who specialises on the pips of an orange, or who -regards nothing in history worth reading except a period of two years -and six months in the later Byzantine empire, will pathetically lament -that examinations are interrupting his real work. Are men made for the -Schools, or the Schools for men? It is a continual problem; perhaps -examinations are only a _pis aller_, and we must be content to wait till -science instructs us how to gauge mental faculty by experiment without -subjecting the philosopher to the ordeal of Latin Prose, and the 'pure -scholar' to the test of a possibly useless acquaintance with the true -inwardness of Hegelianism. After all it is the greatest happiness of -the greatest number that has to be considered, and the majority as yet -are not special students. Moreover, there are various kinds of -specialists. If 'general knowledge' (as has been said) is too often -synonymous with 'particular ignorance,' it is equally true that -specialism in one branch is sometimes not wholly unconnected with -failure in another. - -[Illustration: _A DANCE AT ST. JOHN'S. Drawn by T. Hamilton Crawford, -R.W.S._] - -It was the severance of another link with the past when the scene of -examinations was transferred from the 'Old Schools'--the purlieus of the -Sheldonian and the Bodleian--to a new and perhaps unnecessarily palatial -building in the High Street, which is as little in keeping with the -dark, crumbling walls of its neighbour, University College, as the -motley throng of examinees (_pueri innuptaeque puellae_) is out of -harmony with the traditions of an age which did not recognise the -necessity of female education. We have changed all that, and possibly -the change is for the better, for while the atmosphere which pervaded -the ancient dens now appropriated to the use of the great library was -certainly academic, and was sometimes cool and pleasant in summer, the -conditions of the game became almost intolerable in winter. Unless he -would die under the process of examinations like the Chinese of story, -the candidate must provide himself with greatcoats and rugs enough (it -was said) to hide a 'crib,' or even a Liddell and Scott, for the -proximity of the Bodleian forbade any lighting or warming apparatus. -But in the new examination schools comfort and luxury reign; rare -marbles adorn even the least conspicuous corners, and the only survivals -of antiquity are the ancient tables, which are popularly supposed to be -contemporaneous with the examination system, and are bescrawled and -bescratched with every possible variety of inscription and -hieroglyphic--from adaptations of verses in the Psalms to a list of -possible Derby winners--from a caricature of the 'invigilating' examiner -to a sentimental but unflattering reminiscence of one's partner at last -night's dance. Here they sit, a remarkable medley, all sorts, -conditions, and even ages of men, herded together as they probably never -will be again in after-life: undeserving talent cheek by jowl with -meritorious dulness; callow youth fresh from the rod of the -schoolmaster, and mature age with a family waiting anxiously outside; -and a minority of the fairer sex, whose presence is rather embarrassing -to examiners who do not see their way to dealing with possible hysteria. -And in the evening they will return--if it is Commemoration week; the -venerable tables will be cleared away, and the 'Scholae Magnae Borealis -et Australis' will be used for the more desirable purpose of dancing. -Is it merely soft nothings that the Christ Church undergraduate is -whispering to that young lady from Somerville Hall, as they 'sit out' -the lancers in the romantic light of several hundred Chinese lanterns? -Not at all; they are comparing notes about their _viva voce_ in history. - - - - -V--UNIVERSITY JOURNALISM - - - 'I only wish my critics had to write - A High-class Paper!' - _Anon._ - -The business of those who teach in the Universities is to criticise -mistakes, and criticism of style has two results for the master and the -scholar. It may produce that straining after correctness in small -matters which the cold world calls pedantry; and in the case of those -who are not content only to observe, but are afflicted with a desire to -produce, criticism of style takes the form of parody or imitation; for a -good parody or a good imitation of an author's manner is an -object-lesson in criticism. Hence it is that that same intolerance of -error which makes members of a University slow in the production of -really great works stimulates the genesis of ephemeral and mostly -imitative literature. The more Oxford concerns herself with literary -style, the more she is likely in her less serious moods to ape the -manner of contemporary literature. It all comes, in the first instance, -of being taught to copy Sophocles and travesty Virgil. Ephemeral -literature, then, at the Universities has always been essentially -imitative. In the last century, when it was the fashion to be -classical--and when as in the earlier poems of Mr. Barry Lyndon, 'Sol -bedecked the verdant mead, or pallid Luna shed her ray'--Oxonian minor -poets imitated the London wits and sang the charms of the local belles -under the sobriquets of Chloe and Delia, and academic essayists copied -the manner of the 'Spectator,' and hit off the weaknesses of their -friends, Androtion and Clearchus; and now that the world has come to be -ruled by newspapers, it is only natural that the style and the methods -of the daily and weekly press should in some degree affect the lighter -literature of Universities, and that not only undergraduates, who are -naturally imitative, but even dons, who might be supposed to know -better, should find themselves contributing to and redacting -publications which are conducted more or less on the lines of the 'new -journalism.' - -[Illustration: _THE RADCLIFFE. Drawn by Ernest Stamp._] - -Oxford has been slow to develop in this particular direction, and the -reasons are not far to seek. The conditions just now are exceptionally -favourable--that is, a _cacoethes scribendi_ has coincided with -abundance of matter to write about, but the organs of the great external -world naturally provide a model for the writer. But it is only recently -that these causes have been all together present and operative, and the -absence of one or more of them has at different times been as effectual -as the absence of all. In the early part of the present century there -can have been no lack of matter: University reform was at least in the -air, athletics were developing, the examination system was already in -full swing. But for some reason the tendency of the University was not -in the direction of the production of ephemeral or at least frivolous -literature. The pompous Toryism of University authorities seventy years -ago did not encourage any intellectual activity unconnected with the -regular curriculum of the student, and when intellectual activity began -to develop, it was rather on the lines of theological discussion--the -subjects were hardly fitted for the columns of a newspaper. At an -earlier date the Vice-Chancellor was interviewed by the delegate of an -aspiring clique of undergraduates, who wished to form a literary club -and to obtain the sanction of authority for its formation. He refused -to grant the society any formal recognition, on the ground that while it -was true that the statutes did not absolutely forbid such things, they -certainly did not specifically mention them; and the members of the -club--when it was eventually founded independent of the -Vice-Chancellarial auspices--were known among their friends as the -'Lunatics.' Such was the somewhat obscurantist temper of the University -about the year 1820; and we can imagine that the Vice-Chancellor, who -could find nothing in the statutes encouraging a debating society, would -not have looked with enthusiastic approbation on a newspaper designed to -discuss University matters without respect for authority. Even if he -had, it would have been hard to appeal to all sections of the community; -though there was certainly more general activity in the University than -formerly, the _gaudia_ and _discursus_ of undergraduates were matters of -comparatively small importance to their friends, and of none at all to -their pastors and masters. - -In the earlier part of the eighteenth century the conditions were -exactly reversed. To judge from the specimens that have survived to the -present day (and how much of our own lighter literature will be in -evidence 170 years hence?) there must have been plenty of 'available -talent.' It was an age of essayists. Addison and Steele set the -fashion for the metropolis: and as has been said before, Oxford -satirists followed at some distance in the wake of these giants. The -form of 'Terrae Filius' is that of the 'Tatler' and 'Spectator,' and the -'Oxford Magazine' of that day is largely composed of essays on men, -women, and manners; many are still quite readable, and most have been -recognised as remarkably smart in their day. Nor is it only in professed -and formal satire that the talent of the time displays itself. Thomas -Hearne of the Bodleian was careful to keep a voluminous note-book, -chronicling not only the 'plums' extracted by his daily researches from -the dark recesses of the library, but also various anecdotes, scandalous -or respectable, of his contemporaries; and one is tempted to regret that -so admirable a talent for bepraising his friends and libelling his -enemies should be comparatively _perdu_ among extracts from 'Schoppius -de Arte Critica,' copies of church brasses, and such-like antiquarian -lumber--the whole forming a 'Collection' only recently published for the -world's edification by the Oxford Historical Society. His -'appreciations' would have made the fortune of any paper relying for its -main interest on personalities, after the fashion which we are learning -from the Americans. 'Descriptions of his friends and enemies, such as -'An extravagant, haughty, loose man,' 'a Dull, Stupid, whiggish -Companion,' are frequent and free; and anecdotes of obscure college -scandal abound. We read how the 'Snivelling, conceited, and ignorant, -as well as Fanatical Vice-Principal of St. Edmund Hall .... _sconc'd_ -two gentlemen, which is a Plain Indication of his Furious Temper;' and -how 'Mr. ---- of _Christ Church_ last _Easter-day_, under pretence of -being ill, desired one of the other chaplains to read Prayers for him: -which accordingly was done. Yet such was the impudence of the man that -he appeared in the Hall at dinner!' - -[Illustration: _IN THE BODLEIAN. Drawn by Ernest Stamp._] - -As it was, however, those very collections which exhibit Hearne's -peculiar genius show us at the same time how impossible, even granting -the supposition to be not altogether anachronistic, a regular University -'News-letter' would have been. We talk now in a vague and, perhaps, -rather unintelligible fashion of 'University politics,' and in some way -contrive to identify Gladstonianism with a susceptibility to the claims -of a school of English literature, or whatever is the latest phrase of -progress--mixing up internal legislation with the external politics of -the great world. But in Hearne's time there were no University politics -to discuss. 'Their toasts,' says Gibbon of the Fellows of Magdalen -College, 'were not expressive of the most lively loyalty to the House of -Hanover,' and Hearne's interest in politics has nothing to do with the -Hebdomadal Council. When he speaks of 'our white-liver'd Professor, Dr. -----,' or describes the highest official in the University as 'old -Smooth-boots, the Vice-Chancellor,' it is generally for the very -sufficient reason that the person in question is what Dr. Johnson called -a 'vile Whig.' But Tory politics and common-room scandal and jobbery -apart, the University would appear to have slept the sleep of the -unjust. 'Terrae Filius' grumbles at the corrupt method of -'examination,' and 'The Student' is lively and satirical on the -peccadilloes and escapades of various members of society. But your -prose essayist is apt to be intermittent, and the publication that -relies mainly on him leans on a breaking reed; so that we can hardly be -surprised that the last-named periodical should eke out its pages with -imitations of Tibullus, to the first of which the Editor appends the -encouraging note, 'If this is approved by the publick, the Author will -occasionally oblige us with more _Elegies_ in the same style and -manner.' - -Now that every one is anxious to see his own name and his friend's name -in print, and that the general public takes, or pretends to take, a keen -interest in the details of every cricket-match and boat-race, a paper -chronicling University matters cannot complain of the smallness of its -_clientele_. Every one wants news. The undergraduate who has made a -speech at the Union, or a century for his college second eleven, wants a -printed certificate of his glorious achievements. Dons, and -undergraduates too, for that matter, are anxious to read about the last -hint of a possible Commission or the newest thing in University -Extension. Men who have gone down but a short time ago are still -interested in the doings of the (of course degenerate) remnant who are -left; and even the non-academic Oxford residents, a large and increasing -class, are on the watch for some glimpse of University doings, and some -distant echo of common-room gossip. Modern journalism appeals more or -less to all these classes; it cannot complain of the want of an -audience, nor, on the whole, of a want of news to satisfy it, and -certainly an Oxford organ cannot lack models for imitation, or awful -examples to avoid. It is, in fact, the very multiplicity of -contemporary periodicals that is the source of difficulty. A paper -conducted in the provinces by amateurs--that is, by persons who have -also other things to do--is always on its probation. The fierce light of -the opinion of a limited public is continually beating on it. Its -contributors should do everything a little better than the hirelings of -the merely professional organs of the unlearned metropolis; its leaders -must be more judicious than those of the 'Times,' its occasional notes a -little more spicy than Mr. Labouchere's, and its reviews a little more -learned than those of the 'Journal of Philology.' Should it fall short -of perfection in any of these branches, it 'has no reason for -existence,' and is in fact described as 'probably moribund.' Yet -another terror is added to the life of an Oxford editor: he _must_ be at -least often 'funny;' he must endeavour in some sort to carry out the -great traditions of the 'Oxford Spectator' and the 'Shotover Papers;' -and as the English public is generally best amused by personalities, he -must be careful to observe the almost invisible line which separates the -justifiable skit from the offensive attack. Now, the undergraduate -contributor to the press is seldom successful as a humourist. He is -occasionally violent and he is often--more especially after the festive -season of Christmas--addicted to sentimental verse; but for mere -frivolity and 'lightness of touch' it is safer to apply to his tutor. - -It is a rather remarkable fact that almost all University -papers--certainly all that have succeeded under the trying conditions of -the game--have been managed and for the most part written, not by the -exuberant vitality of undergraduate youth, but by the less interesting -prudence of graduate maturity. It is remarkable, but not surprising. -Undergraduate talent is occasionally brilliant, but is naturally -transient. Generations succeed each other with such rapidity that the -most capable editorial staff is vanishing into thin air just at the -moment when a journal has reached the highest pitch of popularity. -Moreover, amateur talent is always hard to deal with, as organizers of -private theatricals know to their cost; and there is no member of -society more capable of disappointing his friends at a critical moment -than the amateur contributor to the press. Should the spirit move him, -he will send four columns when the editor wants one; but if he is not in -the vein, or happens to have something else to do, there is no promise -so sacred and no threat so terrible as to persuade him to put pen to -paper. If these are statements of general application, they are doubly -true of undergraduates, who are always distracted by a too great -diversity of occupations: Jones, whose power of intermittent satire has -made him the terror of his Dons, has unaccountably taken to reading for -the Schools; the poet, Smith, has gone into training for the Torpids; -and Brown, whose '_Voces Populi_ in a Ladies' College' were to have been -something quite too excruciatingly funny, has fallen in love in the -vacation and will write nothing but bad poetry. Such are the trials of -the editor who drives an undergraduate team; and hence it comes about -that the steady-going periodicals for which the public can pay a yearly -subscription in advance, with the prospect of seeing at any rate half -the value of its money, are principally controlled by graduates. No -doubt they sometimes preserve a certain appearance of youthful vigour by -worshipping undergraduate talent, and using the word 'Donnish' as often -and as contemptuously as possible. - -[Illustration: _SAILING ON THE UPPER RIVER. Drawn by L. Speed._] - -Nevertheless, there appear from time to time various ephemeral and -meteoric publications, edited by junior members of the University. They -waste the editor's valuable time, no doubt; and yet he is learning a -lesson which may, perhaps, be useful to him in after-life; for it is -said that until he is undeceived by hard experience, every man is born -with the conviction that he can do three things--drive a dog-cart, sail -a boat, and edit a paper. - - - - -VI--THE UNIVERSITY AS SEEN FROM OUTSIDE. - - - 'A man must serve his time to every trade - Save censure--critics all are ready made.' - _Byron._ - -It has been said that the function of a University is to criticise; but -the proposition is at least equally true that Oxford and Cambridge are -continually conjugating the verb in the passive. We--and more -especially we who live in Oxford, for the sister University apparently -is either more virtuous or more skilful in concealing her peccadilloes -from the public eye--enjoy the priceless advantage of possessing -innumerable friends whose good nature is equalled by their frankness; -and if we do not learn wisdom, that is not because the opportunity is -not offered to us. It is true that our great governing body, the -Hebdomadal Council, has hitherto preserved its independence by a prudent -concealment of its deliberations: no reporter has ever as yet penetrated -into that august assemblage; but whatever emerges to the light of day is -seized upon with avidity. Debates in Convocation or even in Congregation -(the latter body including only the resident Masters of Arts), although -the subject may have been somewhat remote from the interests of the -general public, and the number of the voters perhaps considerably -increased by the frivolous reason that it was a wet afternoon, when -there was nothing else to do than to govern the University--debates on -every conceivable subject blush to find themselves reported the next -morning almost in the greatest of daily papers; and perhaps the result -of a division on the addition of one more Oriental language to -Responsions, or one more crocket to a new pinnacle of St. Mary's Church, -is even honoured by a leading article. This is highly gratifying to -residents in the precincts of the University, but even to them it is now -and then not altogether comprehensible. Nor is it only questions -concerning the University as a whole which appeal to the external -public; even college business and college scandal sometimes assume an -unnatural importance. Years ago one of the tutors of a certain college -was subjected to the venerable and now almost obsolete process of -'screwing up,' and some young gentlemen were rusticated for complicity -in the offence. Even in academic circles the crime and its punishment -were not supposed to be likely to interfere with the customary -revolution of the solar system; but the editor of a London daily -paper--and one, too, which was supposed to be more especially in touch -with that great heart of the people which is well known to hold -Universities in contempt--considered the incident so important as to -publish a leading article with the remarkable exordium, 'Every one knew -that Mr. ----, of ---- College, would be screwed up some day!' Most of -the _abonnes_ of this journal must, it is to be feared, have blushed for -their discreditable ignorance of Mr. ----'s existence, not to mention -that leaden-footed retribution which was dogging him to a merited doom. - -[Illustration: _PORCH OF ST. MARY'S. Drawn by J. Pennell._] - -It is hardly necessary to say that in nine cases out of ten comment on -the proceedings of a learned University takes the form of censure: nor -are censors far to seek. There are always plenty of young men more or -less connected with the Press who have wrongs to avenge; who are only -too glad to have an opportunity of 'scoring off' the college authority -which did its best--perhaps unsuccessfully, but still with a manifest -intention--to embitter their academic existence; or of branding once for -all as reactionary and obscurantist the hide-bound regulations of a -University which did not accord them the highest honours. In these cases -accuracy of facts and statistics is seldom a matter of much importance. -Generally speaking, you can say what you like about a college, or the -University, without much fear of contradiction--provided that you -abstain from mere personalities. For one thing, the cap is always fitted -on some one else's head. It is not the business of St. Botolph's to -concern itself with an attack which is obviously meant for St. Boniface: -it is darkly whispered in the St. Boniface common-room that after all no -one knows what actually _does_ go on in St. Botolph's: and obviously -neither of these venerable foundations can have anything to do with -answering impeachments of the University and its financial system. -Moreover, even if the Dons should rouse themselves from their usual -torpor and attempt a defence, it is not very likely that the public will -listen to them: any statement proceeding from an academic source being -always regarded with the gravest suspicion. That is why 'any stick is -good enough to beat the Universities,' and there are always plenty of -sticks who are quite ready to perform the necessary castigation. - -Moreover, these writers generally deal with a subject which is always -interesting, because it is one on which every one has an opinion, and an -opinion which is entitled to respect--the education of youth. Any one -can pick holes in the University system of teaching and -examination--'can strike a finger on the place, and say, "Thou ailest -here and here,"'--or construct schemes of reform: more especially young -men who have recently quitted their Alma Mater, and are therefore -qualified to assert (as they do, and at times not without a certain -plausibility) that she has failed to teach them anything. - -That the British public, with so much to think about, should find time -to be diverted by abuse of its seats of learning, is at first a little -surprising; but there is no doubt that such satire has an agreeable -piquancy, and for tolerably obvious reasons. English humour is -generally of the personal kind, and needs a butt; a capacity in which -all persons connected with education have from time immemorial been -qualified to perform, _ex officio_ (education being generally considered -as an imparting of unnecessary and even harmful knowledge, and obviously -dissociated from the pursuit of financial prosperity, both as regards -the teachers and the taught): Shakespeare set the fashion, and Dickens -and Thackeray have settled the hash of schoolmasters and college tutors -for the next fifty years, at any rate. Schoolmasters, indeed, are -becoming so important and prosperous a part of the community that they -will probably be the first to reinstate themselves in the respect of the -public; but Dons have more difficulties to contend against. They have -seldom any prospect of opulence. Then, again, they suffer from the -quasi-monastic character of colleges; they have inherited some of the -railing accusations which used to be brought against monasteries. The -voice of scandal--especially feminine scandal--is not likely to be long -silent about celibate societies, and no Rudyard Kipling has yet arisen -to plead on behalf of Fellows that they - - 'aren't no blackguards too, - But single men in barracks, most remarkable like you.' - -Altogether the legend of 'monks,' 'port wine and prejudice,' 'dull and -deep potations,' and all the rest of it, still damages Dons in the eyes -of the general public. 'That's ---- College,' says the local guide to -his sightseers, 'and there they sits, on their Turkey carpets, -a-drinking of their Madeira, and Burgundy, and Tokay.' Such is, -apparently, the impression still entertained by Society. And no doubt -successive generations of Fellows who hunted four days a week, or, being -in Orders, 'thanked Heaven that no one ever took _them_ for parsons,' -did to a certain extent perpetuate the traditions of 'Bolton Abbey in -the olden time.' Well, their day is over now. If the Fellow _fin de -siecle_ should ever venture to indulge in the sports of the field, he -must pretend that he has met the hounds by accident; and even then he -risks his reputation. - -[Illustration: _IN EXETER COLLEGE CHAPEL. Drawn by E. Stamp._] - -It is always pleasant, too, to be wiser than one's erstwhile pastors and -masters. The pupil goes out into the great world; the teacher remains -behind, and continues apparently to go on in his old and crusted errors. -Outwardly the Universities do not change much, and it is easy to assume -that the habits and ideas of their denizens do not change either. Thus -it is that the young men of the 'National Observer,' coming back from a -Saturday-to-Monday visit to a university which they never respected and -are now entitled to despise, are moved to declare to the world the -complete inutility of what they call the Futile Don. 'He is dead,' they -say, 'quite dead;' and if he is, might not the poor relic of mortality -be allowed in mere charity to lie peacefully entombed in his collegiate -cloisters? Yet, after all, it is only among the great Anglo-Saxon race -that the profession of teaching is without honour; and even among us it -may be allowed that it is a mode of earning a pittance as decent and -comparatively innocuous as another. We cannot, all of us, taste the -fierce joys of writing for the daily or weekly press, and the -barrister's 'crowded hours of glorious life' in the law courts would be -more overcrowded than ever were not a few _faineants_ suffered to -moulder in the retirement of a university. Seriously, it was all very -well for the young lions of the Press to denounce the torpor of Dons in -the bad old days when colleges were close corporations--when Fellows -inherited their bloated revenues without competition, and simply because -they happened to be born in a particular corner of some rural district. -But now that nearly every First-class man has the chance of election and -would be a Fellow if he could, one is tempted to recall the ancient -fable of the sour grapes. Or at least the _esprits forts_ whom the -University has reluctantly driven out into the great world might be -grateful to her for saving them in spite of themselves from an existence -of futile incapacity. - -Probably as long as colleges exist in something like their present -form--until the People takes a short way with them, abolishes common -rooms and the Long Vacation, and pays college tutors by a system of -'results fees'--these things will continue to be said. Deans and Senior -Tutors will never escape the stigma of torpor or incapacity. That quite -respectable rhymester, Mr. Robert Montgomery (who, had he not been -unlucky enough to cross the path of Lord Macaulay, might have lived and -died and been forgotten as the author of metrical works not worse than -many that have escaped the lash), has left to the world a long poem--of -which the sentiments are always, and the rhymes usually, -correct--entitled 'Oxford.' He has taken all Oxford life for his -subject, Dons included; and this is how he describes the fate of College -Tutors:-- - - 'The dunce, the drone, the freshman or the fool, - 'Tis theirs to counsel, teach, o'erawe, and rule! - Their only meed--some execrating word - To blight the hour when first their voice was heard.' - -To a certain extent this is true in all ages. But there are worse things -than mere sloth: this is not the measure of the crimes charged against -college authorities. They--even such contemptible beings as they--are -said to have the audacity to neglect untitled merit, and to truckle to -the aristocracy. Every one knows Thackeray's terrible indictment of -University snobs: Crump, the pompous dignitary (who, to do him justice, -seriously thinks himself greater than the Czar of All the Russias), and -Hugby, the tutor grovelling before the lordling who has played him a -practical joke. Every one remembers how even the late Laureate gibbeted -his Dons--how - - 'One - Discussed his tutor, rough to common men. - But honeying at the whisper of a lord: - And one the Master, as a rogue in grain, - Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory.' - -No doubt Universities are not immaculate. There have been Tartuffes and -tuft-hunters there, as in the great world. No doubt, too, it was very -wrong to allow noblemen to wear badges of their rank, and take their -degrees without examination (although the crime was a lesser one in the -days before class-lists were, when even the untitled commoner became a -Bachelor by dark and disreputable methods); but these things are not -done any more. At this day there are probably few places where a title -is less regarded than at Oxford or Cambridge. It is true that rumour -asserts the existence of certain circles where, _ceteris paribus_, the -virtuous proprietor of wealth and a handle to his name is welcomed with -more effusion than the equally respectable, but less fortunate, holder -of an eleemosynary exhibition. But, after all, even external Society, -which regards tuft-hunting with just displeasure, does--it is -said--continue to maintain these invidious distinctions when it is -sending out invitations to dinner. The fact is that there are a great -many peccadilloes in London which become crimes at the University. - -Satire, however, does not confine itself to Dons: undergraduates come in -for a share of it too, though in a different way. When the novelist -condescends to depict the Fellow of a college, it is usually as a person -more or less feeble, futile, and generally _manque_. The Don can never -be a hero, but neither is he qualified to play the part of villain; his -virtues and his vices are all alike inadequate. If he is bad, his -badness is rarely more than contemptible; if he is good, it is in a -negative and passionless way, and the great rewards of life are, as a -rule, considered as being out of his reach. But with the undergraduate -the case is different. He--as we have said--is always in extremes: -literature gives him the premier _role_ either as hero or villain; but -it is as the villain that he is the most interesting and picturesque. -Satire and fiction generally describe him as an adept in vicious habits. -So sings Mr. Robert Montgomery, with admirable propriety:-- - - 'In Oxford see the Reprobate appear! - Big with the promise of a mad career: - With cash and consequence to lead the way, - A fool by night and more than fop by day!' - -Over and over again we have the old picture of the Rake's Progress which -the world has learnt to know so well: the youth absents himself from his -lectures, perhaps even goes to Woodstock (horrid thought!)--'Woodstock -rattles with eternal wheels' is the elegant phrase of Mr. -Montgomery--and, in short, plays the fool generally:-- - - 'Till night advance, whose reign divine - Is chastely dedicate to cards and wine.' - -[Illustration: _PARSON'S PLEASURE. Drawn by L. Speed._] - -The specimen student of the nineteenth century will probably survive in -history as represented in these remarkable colours, and the virtuous -youth of a hundred years hence will shudder to think of a generation so -completely given over to drunkenness, debauchery, and neglect of the -Higher Life generally. There is a _naivete_ and directness about -undergraduate error which is the easy prey of any satirist; and -curiously enough the public, and even that large class which sends its -sons to the Universities, apparently likes to pretend a belief that -youth is really brought up in an atmosphere of open and unchecked -deviation from the paths of discipline and morality. If Paterfamilias -seriously believed that the academic types presented to him in -literature were genuine and frequent phenomena, he would probably send -his offspring in for the London Matriculation. But he knows pretty well -that the University is really not rotten to the core, and that colleges -are not always ruled by incapables, nor college opinion mainly formed by -rakes and spendthrifts; and at the same time it gives the British Public -a certain pleasure to imagine that it too has heard the chimes at -midnight, although it now goes to bed at half-past ten--that it has been -a devil of a fellow in its youth. This fancy is always piquant, and -raises a man in his own estimation and that of his friends. - -[Illustration: Fencing] - -These little inconsistences are of a piece with the whole attitude of -the unacademic world towards the Universities. Men come down from -London to rest, perhaps, for a day or two from the labours of the -Session. They are inspired with a transient enthusiasm for antiquity. -They praise academic calm: they affect to wish that they, too, were -privileged to live that life of learned leisure which is commonly -supposed to be the lot of all Fellows and Tutors. Then they go away, -and vote for a new University Commission. - - - - -VII--DIARY OF A DON - - - 'Collegiate life next opens on thy way, - Begins at morn and mingles with the day.' - _R. Montgomery._ - -Half-past seven A.M.: enter my scout, noisily, as one who is accustomed -to wake undergraduates. He throws my bath violently on the floor and -fills it with ice-cold water. 'What kind of a morning is it?' No -better than usual: rain, east wind, occasional snow. _Must_ get up -nevertheless: haven't superintended a roll-call for three days, and the -thing will become a scandal. Never mind: one more snooze.... There are -the bells (Oh, those bells!) ringing for a quarter to eight. Ugh! - -Dress in the dark, imperfectly: no time to shave. Cap and gown -apparently lost. Where the ---- Oh, here they are, under the table. -Must try to develop habits of neatness. Somebody else's cap: too big. - -Roll-call in full swing in Hall: that is, the college porter is there, -ticking off undergraduates' names as they come in. Hall very cold and -untidy: college cat scavenging remnants of last night's dinner. -Portrait of the Founder looking as if he never expected the college to -come to this kind of thing. Men appear in various stages of dishabille. -Must make an example of some one: 'Really Mr. Tinkler, I must ask you to -put on something besides an ulster.' Tinkler explains that he is fully -dressed, opening his ulster and disclosing an elaborate toilet: -unfortunate--have to apologise. During the incident several men without -caps and gowns succeed in making their escape. - -Back in my rooms: finish dressing. Fire out, no hot water. This is -what they call the luxurious existence of a College Fellow. Post -arrives: chiefly bills and circulars: several notes from undergraduates. -'Dear Sir,--May I go to London for the day in order to keep an important -engagement.' Dentist, I suppose. 'Dear Mr. ----,--I am sorry that I was -absent from your valuable lecture yesterday, as I was not aware you -would do so.' 'Dear Sir,--I shall be much obliged if I may have leave -off my lecture this morning, as I wish to go out hunting.' Candid, at -any rate. 'Mr. ---- presents his compliments to Mr. ---- and regrets -that he is compelled to be absent from his Latin Prose lecture, because -I cannot come.' Simple and convincing. Whip from the Secretary of the -Non-Placet Society: urgent request to attend in Convocation and oppose -nefarious attempt to insert 'and' in the wording of Stat. Tit. Cap. LXX. -18. Never heard of the statute before. Breakfast. - -College cook apparently thinks that a hitherto unimpaired appetite can -be satisfied by what seems to be a cold chaffinch on toast. 'Take it -away, please, and get me an egg.' Egg arrives: not so old as chaffinch, -but nearly: didn't say I wanted a chicken. Scout apologises: must have -brought me an undergraduate's egg by mistake. Never mind; plain living -and high thinking. Two college servants come to report men absent last -night from their rooms. Must have given them leave to go down: can't -remember it, though. Matter for investigation. Porter reports -gentleman coming into college at 12.10 last night. All right: 'The -Dean's compliment's to Mr. ----, and will he please to call upon him at -once. 'Mr. ----'s compliments to the Dean, and he has given orders not -to be awakened till ten, but will come when he is dressed.' Obliging. - -Lecture to be delivered at ten o'clock to Honours men, on point of -ancient custom: very interesting: Time of Roman Dinner, whether at 2.30 -or 2.45. Have got copious notes on the subject somewhere: must read -them up before lecture, as it never looks well to be in difficulties -with your own MS.--looks as if you hadn't the subject at your fingers' -ends. Notes can't be found. Know I saw them on my table three weeks -ago, and table can't have been dusted since then. Oh, here they are: -illegible. Wonder what I meant by all these abbreviations. Never mind: -can leave that part out. Five minutes past ten. - -Lecture-room pretty full: two or three scholars, with air of superior -intelligence: remainder commoners, in attitudes more or less expressive -of distracted attention. One man from another college, looking rather -_de trop_. Had two out-college men last time: different men, too: -disappointing. Begin my dissertation and try to make abstruse subject -attractive: 'learning put lightly, like powder in jam.' Wish that -scholar No. 1 wouldn't check my remarks by reference to the authority -from whom my notes are copied. Why do they teach men German? Second -scholar has last number of the 'Classical Review' open before him. Why? -Appears afterwards that the 'Review' contains final and satisfying -_reductio ad absurdum_ of my theory. Man from another college asks if -he may go away. Certainly, if he wishes. Explains that he thought this -was Mr. ----'s Theology lecture. Seems to have taken twenty minutes to -find out his mistake. Wish that two of the commoners could learn to -take notes intelligently, and not take down nothing except the -unimportant points. Hope they won't reproduce them next week in the -schools. - -Ten fifty-five: peroration. Interrupted by entrance of lecturer for -next hour. Begs pardon: sorry to have interrupted: doesn't go, however. -Peroration spoilt. Lecture over: general sense of relief. Go out with -the audience, and overhear one of them tell his friend that, after all, -it wasn't so bad as last time. Mem., not to go out with audience in -future. - -Eleven o'clock: lecture for Passmen. Twelve or fifteen young gentlemen -all irreproachably dressed in latest style of undergraduate -fashion--Norfolk jacket and brown boots indispensable--and all inclined -to be cheerfully tolerant of the lecturer's presence _quand meme_, -regarding him as a necessary nuisance and part of college system. After -all there isn't so much to do between eleven and twelve. Some of them -can construe, but consider it unbecoming to make any ostentation of -knowledge. Conversation at times animated. 'Really, gentlemen, you -might keep something to talk about at the next lecture.' Two men appear -at 11.25, noisily. Very sorry: have been at another lecture: couldn't -get away. General smile of incredulity, joined in by the new arrivals -as they find a place in the most crowded part of lecture-room. Every -one takes notes diligently, and is careful to burn them at the end of -the hour. Translation proceeds rather slowly. Try it myself: difficult -to translate Latin comedy with dignity. Give it up and let myself -go--play to the gallery. Gallery evidently considers that frivolity on -the lecturer's part is inappropriate to the situation. 11.55: 'Won't -keep you longer, gentlemen.' - -Twelve: time to do a little quiet work before lunch. Gentleman who was -out after twelve last night comes to explain. Was detained in a -friend's room (reading) and did not know how late it was. In any case -is certain he was in before twelve, because he looked at his watch, and -is almost sure his watch is fast. Fined and warned not to do it again: -exit grumbling. No more interruptions, I hope..... Boy from the -Clarendon Press: editor wants something for the 'Oxford Magazine,' at -once: not less than a column: messenger will wait while I write it. -Very considerate. Try to write something: presence of boy embarrassing. -Ask him to go outside and wait on the staircase. Does so, and continues -to whistle 'Daisy Bell,' with accompaniment on the banisters -_obbligato_. Composition difficult and result not satisfactory: hope no -one will read it. Column nearly finished: man comes to explain why he -wants to be absent during three weeks of next term. _Would_ he mind -going away and calling some other time? Very well: when? Oh, any time, -only not now. This is what they call the leisure and philosophic calm -of collegiate life. - -Lunch in Common Room: cold, clammy, and generally unappetising. Guest -who is apparently an old member of the college greets me and says he -supposes I've forgotten him. 'Not at all: remember you quite well: glad -to meet you again.' Haven't the faintest idea what his name is: -awkward. Appears in course of conversation to be ex-undergraduate whom -I knew very well and did not like. Evidently regards me as a venerable -fossil: he himself has grown bald and fat and looks fifty, more or less: -suppose I must be about seventy or eighty. Vice-Principal wants to know -if I will play fives at two: yes, if he likes. No, by the way, can't; -have got to go and vote in Convocation. Don't know what it is about, but -promised to go: can't think why. Time to go. - -In the Convocation House. Very few people there, nobody at all -interested. Borrow Gazette and study list of agenda. Question on which -I promised to vote comes on late, all sorts of uninteresting matters to -be settled first: mostly small money grants for scientific purposes: -pleasant way of wasting three-quarters of an hour. My question here at -last: prepare to die in last ditch in defence of original form of -statute. Member of Hebdomadal Council makes inaudible speech, -apparently on the subject. No one else has anything to say: Council's -proposal, whatever it is, carried _nem. con_. No voting: might as well -have played fives after all: next time shall. - -Time for walk round the Parks: rain and mud. Worst of the Parks is, you -always meet people of houses where you ought to have called and haven't. -Free fight under Rugby rules going on between University and somewhere -else. Watch it: don't understand game: try to feel patriotic: -can't...... Meeting at four to oppose introduction of Hawaiian as an -optional language in Responsions. Not select: imprudent for a caucus to -transact business by inviting its opponents: people of all sorts of -opinions present. Head of House makes highly respectable speech, -explaining that while qualified support of reform is conceivable and -even under possible circumstances advisable, premature action is rarely -consistent with mature deliberation. Nobody seems to have anything -definite to suggest: most people move amendments. Safe to vote against -all of them: difficult to know how you are voting, however: wording of -amendments so confusing. All of them negatived: substantive motion -proposed: lost as well. Question referred to a Committee: ought to have -been done at first. Hour and a half wasted. Remember that I have cut -my five-o'clock pupil for second time running. Am offered afternoon -tea: thirsty, but must be off: man at half-past five. On the way back -meet resident sportsman in the High. Has been out with hounds and had -best twenty-five minutes of the season, in the afternoon, three miles -off. Might have been there myself if it hadn't been for Convocation: -hang Convocation! Never mind; satisfaction of a good conscience: shall -always be able to say that I lost best run of season through devotion to -duty. - -[Illustration: _LAWN TENNIS AT OXFORD. Drawn by Lancelot Speed._] - -Six forty-five: pupils gone; dress for seven-o'clock dinner with friend -at St. Anselm's. Man comes to ask why he has been gated: explain: man -not satisfied. Gone, at any rate. Another man, asking leave to be out -after twelve. Five minutes to dress and walk a quarter of a mile. Wish -men wouldn't choose this time for coming to see one. Very late: dinner -already begun: no soup, thanks. Meaty atmosphere: noisy atmosphere at -lower end of Hall: undergraduates throw bread about. No one in evening -dress but myself. Distinguished guest in shape of eminent German -Professor: have got next him somehow: wish I hadn't: wears flannel shirt -and evidently regards me as a mere butterfly of fashion. Speaks hardly -any English: try him in German: replies after an unusual effort on my -part, 'Ich spreche nur Deutsch.' My command of the language evidently -less complete than I thought: or perhaps he only speaks his own patois. -Man opposite me Demonstrator at the Museum, who considers that the -University and the world in general was made for physiologists. - -Small party in Common Room, most of diners having to see pupils or -attend meetings. Will I have any wine? No one else drinks any and my -host is a teetotaller: 'No, thanks--never drink wine after dinner.' -Truth only a conventional virtue after all. Eminent Teuton would like -more beer, but has been long enough in England to know better than to -ask for it. Am put next to Demonstrator, who endeavours to give general -ideas of digestive organs of a frog, interpreting occasionally in German -for Professor's benefit: illustrates with fragments of dessert: most -interesting, I am sure. Nothing like the really good talk of an Oxford -Common Room, after all. Senior Fellow drinks whisky and water and goes -to sleep. Coffee and cigarettes: or will I have a weed? 'Thanks, but -must be off: man at nine...' Back in college: rooms dark: can't find my -matches and fall over furniture. - -Man comes to read me an essay. Know nothing about the subject: thought -he was going to write on something else. Essay finished: must say -something: try to find fault with his facts. Man confronts me with -array of statistics, apparently genuine: if so nothing more to say. -Criticise his grammar: man offended. Interview rather painful, till -concluded by entrance of nine-thirty man with Latin prose. Rather -superior young man, who considers himself a scholar. Suggest that part -of his vocabulary is not according to classical usage: proves me wrong -by reference to dictionary. Is not surprised to find me mistaken. Wish -that Higher Education had stopped in Board Schools and not got down to -undergraduates. - -Man at ten, with a desire to learn. Stays till near eleven discussing -his chances in the schools at great length. Presently comes to his -prospects in life. Would send me to sleep if he wouldn't ask me -questions. - -Eleven: no more men, thank goodness. Tobacco and my lecture for -to-morrow.... Never could understand why a gentleman being neither -intoxicated nor in the society of his friends, cannot cross the -quadrangle without a view-halloo... There he is again: must go out and -see what is going on. Quadrangle very cold, raining. Group of men -playing football in the corner: friends look on and encourage them from -windows above. As I come on the scene all disappear, with shouts: none -identified: saves future trouble, at all events. More tobacco and -period of comparative peace. Bedtime. - -Wish my scout wouldn't hide hard things under the mattress. - -Noise in quadrangle renewed: 'Daddy wouldn't buy me a Bow-wow,' with -variations.... Some one's oak apparently battered with a poker. _Ought_ -to get up and go out to stop it.... - - - - -VIII--THE UNIVERSITY AS A PLACE OF LEARNED LEISURE. - - - 'I had been used for thirty years to no interruption - save the tinkling of the dinner-bell and the chapel-bell.' - _Essays of Vicesimus Knox._ - -Standing with one foot in the Middle Ages and the other in a luxuriously -furnished 'Common Room'--such is Oxford life as summarised by a German -visitor, who appears to have been a good deal perplexed, like the outer -world in general, by the academic mixture of things ancient and modern, -and a host who wore a cap and gown over his evening dress. Certainly -the University is a strange medley of contraries. It never seems to be -quite clear whether we are going too fast or too slow. We are always -reforming something, yet are continually reproached with irrational -conservatism. Change and permanence are side by side--permanence that -looks as if it could defy time: - - 'The form remains, the function never dies,' - -and yet all the while the change is rapid and complete. Men go down, -and are as if they had never been: as is the race of leaves so is that -of undergraduates; and so transiently are they linked with the enduring -existence of their University, that, except in the case of the minority -who have done great deeds on the river or the cricket-field, they either -pass immediately out of recollection or else remain only as a dim and -distant tradition of bygone ages. An undergraduate's memory is very -short. For him the history of the University is comprised in the three -or four years of his own residence. Those who came before him and those -who come after are alike separated from him by a great gulf; his -predecessors are infinitely older, and his successors immeasurably -younger. It makes no difference what his relations to them may be in -after-life. Jones, who went down in '74, may be an undistinguished -country parson or a struggling junior at the Bar; and Brown, who came up -in '75, may be a bishop or a Q.C. with his fortune made; but all the -same Brown will always regard Jones as belonging to the almost forgotten -heroic period before he came up, and Jones, whatever may be his respect -for Brown's undoubted talents, must always to a certain extent feel the -paternal interest of a veteran watching the development of youthful -promise. So complete is the severance of successive generations, that it -is hard to see how undergraduate custom and tradition and College -characteristics should have a chance of surviving; yet somehow they do -manage to preserve an unbroken continuity. Once give a College a good -or a bad name, and that name will stick to it. Plant a custom and it -will flourish, defying statutes and Royal Commissions. Conservatism is -in the air; even convinced Radicals (in politics) cannot escape from it, -and are sometimes Tories in matters relating to their University. They -will change the constitution of the realm, but will not stand any -tampering with the Hebdomadal Council. Whatever be the reason--whether -it be Environment or Heredity--Universities go on doing the same things, -only in different ways; they retain that indefinable habit of thought -which seems to cling to old grey walls and the shade of ancient elms, -which the public calls 'academic' when it is only contemptuous, -explaining the word as meaning 'provincial with a difference' when it is -angry. - -[Illustration: _BOWLS IN NEW COLLEGE GARDEN. Drawn by Lancelot Speed._] - -There is the same kind of unalterableness about the few favoured -individuals to whom the spirit of the age has allowed a secure and -permanent residence in Oxford; a happy class which is now almost limited -to Heads of Houses and College servants. You scarcely ever see a scout -bearing the outward and visible signs of advancing years; age cannot -wither them, nor (it should be added) can custom stale their infinite -variety of mis-serving their masters. Perhaps it is they who are the -repositories of tradition. And even Fellows contrive to retain some of -the characteristics of their more permanent predecessors, whom we have -now learnt to regard as abuses. Hard-worked though they are, and -precarious of tenure, they are, nevertheless, in some sort imbued with -that flavour of humanity and _dolce far niente_ which continues to haunt -even a Common Room where Fellows drink nothing but water, and only dine -together once a fortnight. - -For times are sadly changed now, and a fellowship is far from being the -haven of rest which it once was, and still is to a few. Look at that old -Fellow pacing with slow and leisurely steps beneath Magdalen or -Christchurch elms: regard him well, for he is an interesting survival, -and presently he and his kind will be nothing but a memory, and probably -the progressive spirit of democracy will hold him up as an awful -example. He is a link with a practically extinct period. When he was -first elected _verus et perpetuus socius_ of his college--without -examination--the University of Oxford was in a parlous state. Reform was -as yet unheard of, or only loomed dimly in the distance. Noblemen still -wore tufts--think how that would scandalise us now!--and 'gentlemen -commoners' came up with the declared and recognised intention of living -as gentlemen commoners should. Except for the invention of the -examination system--and the demon of the schools was satisfied with only -a mouthful of victims then--Oxford of the forties had not substantially -changed since the last century--since the days when Mr. Gibbon was a -gentleman commoner at Magdalen College, where his excuses for cutting -his lectures in the morning were 'received with a smile,' and where he -found himself horribly bored by the 'private scandal' and 'dull and deep -potations' of the seniors with whom he was invited to associate in the -evening. Not much had changed since those days: lectures were still -disciplinary exercises rather than vehicles of instruction, and the -vespertinal port was rarely if ever interrupted in its circulation by -'the man who comes at nine.' Many holders of fellowships scarcely came -near the University; those who did reside were often not much concerned -about the instruction of undergraduates, and still less with -'intercollegiate competition.' Perhaps it was not their life's work: a -fellowship might be only a stepping-stone to a college living, when a -sufficiently fat benefice should fall vacant and allow the dean or -sub-warden to marry and retire into the country; and even the don who -meant to be a don all his days put study or learned leisure first and -instruction second, the world not yet believing in the 'spoon-feeding' -of youth. Very often, of course, they did nothing. After all, when you -pay a man for exercising no particular functions, you can scarcely blame -him for strictly fulfilling the conditions under which he was elected. -'But what do they do?' inquired--quite recently--a tourist, pointing to -the fellows' buildings of a certain college. 'Do?!!' replied the Oxford -cicerone--'do? ... why them's fellows!' But if there was inactivity, it -is only the more credit to the minority who really did interest -themselves in the work of their pupils. Not that the relation of -authorities to undergraduates was ever then what it has since -become--whether the change be for the better or the worse. Few attempts -were made to bridge the chasm which must always yawn between the life of -teacher and taught. Perhaps now the attempt is a little -over-emphasised; certainly things are done which would have made each -particular hair to stand on end on the head of a Fellow of the old -school. In his solemn and formal way he winked at rowing, considering -it rather fast and on the whole an inevitable sign of declining morals. -He wore his cap and gown with the anachronistic persistency of Mr. Toole -in 'The Don,' and sighed over the levity of a colleague who occasionally -sported a blue coat with brass buttons. Had you told him that within -the present century College Tutors would be seen in flannels, and that a -Head of a House could actually row on the river in an eight--albeit the -ship in question be manned by comparatively grave and reverend seniors, -yclept the Ancient Mariners--he would probably have replied in the -formula ascribed to Dr. Johnson: 'Let me tell you, sir, that in order to -be what you consider humorous it is not necessary that you should be -also indecent!' But there is a lower depth still; and grave dignitaries -of the University have been seen riding bicycles. - -All this would have been quite unintelligible to the youthful days of -our friend, whom we see leisurely approaching the evening of his days in -the midst of a generation that does not know him indeed, but which is -certainly benefited by his presence and the picture of academic repose -which he displays to his much-troubled and harassed successors: a -peaceful, cloistered life; soon to leave nothing behind it but a brass -in the College chapel, a few Common Room anecdotes, and a vague -tradition, perhaps, of a ghost on the old familiar staircase. Far -different is the lot of the Fellow _fin de siecle_; 'by many names men -know him,' whether he be the holder of an 'official' Fellowship, or a -'Prize Fellow' who is entitled to his emoluments only for the paltry -period of seven years. And what emoluments! Verily the mouth of -Democracy must water at the thought of the annual 'division of the -spoils' which used to take place under the old _regime_: spoils which -were worth dividing, too, in the days when rents were paid without a -murmur, and colleges had not as yet to allow tenants to hold at -half-a-crown an acre, lest the farm should be unlet altogether. But now -if a Prize Fellow receives his 200*l.* a year he may consider himself -lucky; and remember that if he is not blessed with this world's goods, -the grim humours of the last Commission at least allowed him the -inestimable privilege of marrying--on 200*l.* a year. After all, it is -not every one who receives even that salary for doing nothing. - -The 'official' variety of Fellow, or the Prize Fellow who chooses to be -a College Tutor, is a schoolmaster, with a difference. He has rather -longer holidays--if he can afford to enjoy them-and a considerably -shorter purse than the instructors of youth at some great schools. He -is so far unfortunate in his predecessors, that he has inherited the -reputation of the Fellows of old time. Everybody else is working: the -Fellow is still a useless drone. As a matter of fact, the unfortunate -man is always doing something--working vehemently with a laudable desire -to get that into eight weeks which should properly take twelve; or -taking his recreation violently, riding forty miles on a bicycle, with a -spurt at the finish so as not to miss his five-o'clock pupil; sitting on -interminable committees--everything in Oxford is managed by a committee, -partly, perhaps, because 'Boards are very often screens;' or sitting -upon a disorderly undergraduate. On the whole, the kicks are many, and -the halfpence comparatively few. He has the Long Vacation, of course, -but then he is always employed in writing his lectures for next term, or -compiling a school edition, or a handbook, or an abridgment of somebody -else's school edition or handbook, in order to keep the pot -boiling--more especially if he has fallen a victim to matrimony, and -established himself in the red-brick part of Oxford. It is true that -there is the prospect--on paper--of a pension when he is past his work, -but in the present state of College finances that is not exactly a vista -of leisured opulence. Altogether there is not very much repose about -_him_. College Tutors in these days are expected to work. It is on -record that a tourist from a manufacturing district on seeing four -tutors snatching a brief hour at lawn-tennis, remarked, 'I suppose -there's _another shift_ working inside?' Such are the requirements of -the age and the manufacturing districts. - -Nor are beer and skittles unadulterated the lot of the undergraduate -either--whatever the impression that his sisters and cousins may derive -from the gaieties of the Eights and 'Commem.' For the spirit of the -century and the 'Sturm und Drang' of a restless world has got hold of -the 'Man,' too, and will not suffer him to live quite so peacefully as -the Verdant Greens and Bouncers of old. Everybody must do something; -they must be 'up and doing,' or else they have a good chance of finding -themselves 'sent down.' I do not speak of the reading man, who -naturally finds his vocation in a period of activity--but rather of the -man who is by nature non-reading, and has to sacrifice his natural -desires to the pressure of public opinion acting through his tutor. -Perhaps he is made to go in for honours; but even if he reads only for a -pass, the schools are always with him--he is always being pulled up to -see how he is growing; or at least he must be serving his College in one -way or another--if not by winning distinction in the schools, by toiling -on the river or the cricket-field. Then he is expected to interest -himself in all the movements of the last quarter of the nineteenth -century; he must belong to several societies; he cannot even be properly -idle without forming himself into an association for the purpose. If he -wants to make a practice of picnicing on the Cherwell he founds a -'Cherwell Lunch Club,' with meetings, no doubt, and possibly an 'organ' -to advocate his highly meritorious views. An excellent and a healthy -life, no doubt! but yet one is tempted sometimes to fear that the loafer -may become extinct; and then where are our poets to come from? For it is -a great thing to be able to loaf well: it softens the manners and does -not allow them to be fierce; and there is no place for it like the -streams and gardens of an ancient University. If a man does not learn -the great art of doing nothing there, he will never acquire it anywhere -else; and it is there, and in the summer term, that this laudable -practice will probably survive when it is unknown even in Government -Offices. - -[Illustration: _COACHING THE EIGHT. By J. H. Lorimer._] - -For there is a season of the year when even the sternest scholar or -athlete and the most earnest promoter of Movements yields to the _genius -loci_; when the summer term is drawing to a close, and the May east -winds have yielded to the warmth of June, and the lilacs and laburnums -are blossoming in College gardens; when the shouting and the glory and -the bonfires of the Eights are over, and the invasion of Commemoration -has not yet begun. Then, if ever, is the time for doing nothing. Then -the unwilling victim of lectures shakes off his chains and revels in a -temporary freedom, not unconnected with the fact that his tutor has gone -for a picnic to Nuneham. Perhaps he has been rowing in his College -Eight, and is entitled to repose on the laurels of 'six bumps;' perhaps -he is not in the schools himself, and can afford to pity the -unfortunates who are. And how many are the delightful ways of loafing! -You may propel the object of your affections--if she is up, as she very -often is at this time--in a punt on that most academic stream, the -Cherwell, while Charles (your friend) escorts the chaperon in a dingey -some little distance in front; you may lie lazily in the sun in -Worcester or St. John's gardens, with a novel, or a friend, or both; you -may search Bagley and Powderhill for late bluebells, and fancy that you -have found 'high on its heathy ridge' the tree known to Arnold and -Clough. Or if you are more enterprising you may travel further afield -and explore the high beech woods of the Chiltern slopes and the bare, -breezy uplands of the Berkshire downs; but this, perhaps, demands more -energy than belongs to the truly conscientious loafer. - -[Illustration: _EVENING ON THE RIVER. Drawn by E. Stamp._] - -Well, let the idle undergraduate make the most of his time now; it is -not likely that he will be able to loaf in after-life. Nor (for the -matter of that) will his successors be allowed to take their ease here -in Oxford even in the summer, in those happy days when the University is -to be turned into an industrial school, and a place for the education no -longer of the English gentleman but the British citizen. Will that day -ever come? The spirit of the age is determined that it shall. But -perhaps the spirit of the place may be too much for it yet. - - - - - _London: Strangeways, Printers._ - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF MODERN OXFORD *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39525 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. 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