The Project Gutenberg eBook of Oxford, by Robert Peel and H. C. Minchin
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world 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 www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Oxford
Author: Robert Peel and H. C. Minchin
Illustrator: Mr. W. Matthison, Mrs. C. R. Walton, Walter S. S. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Bayzant and Miss E. S. Cheesewright
Release Date: April 1, 2014 [eBook #45290]
[Most recently updated: December 18, 2022]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
Produced by: David Widger and Paul Flo Williams
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OXFORD ***
OXFORD
By Robert Peel And H. C. Minchin
With 100 Illustrations In Colour
New York
The Macmillan Company
1906
THIS volume is not
intended to compete with any existing guides to Oxford: it is not a
guide-book in any formal or exhaustive sense. Its purpose is to shew forth
the chief beauties of the University and City, as they have appeared to
several artists; with such a running commentary as may explain the
pictures, and may indicate whatever is most interesting in connection with
the scenes which they represent. Slight as the notes are, there has been
no sacrifice, it is believed, of accuracy. The principal facts have been
derived from Alexander Chalmers' History of the Colleges, Halls, and
Public Buildings of the University of Oxford, from Mr. Lang's Oxford,
and from the Oxford and its Colleges of Mr. J. Wells.
The illustrations, with the exception of six only, which are derived from
Ackermann's Oxford, are reproduced from the paintings of living
artists, mostly by Mr. W. Matthison, the others by Mrs. C. R. Walton,
Walter S. S. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Bayzant, and Miss E. S. Cheesewright.
CONTENTS
OXFORD
OLDEST OXFORD
THE UNIVERSITY AND ITS BUILDINGS
ST. MARY'S CHURCH
THE CATHEDRAL
THE STREETS OF OXFORD
THE RIVER
MERTON COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
BALLIOL COLLEGE
EXETER COLLEGE
ORIEL COLLEGE
QUEEN'S COLLEGE
ST. EDMUND HALL
NEW COLLEGE
LINCOLN COLLEGE
ALL SOULS COLLEGE
MAGDALEN COLLEGE
BRASENOSE COLLEGE
CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE
CHRIST CHURCH
TRINITY COLLEGE
ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE
JESUS COLLEGE
WADHAM COLLEGE
PEMBROKE COLLEGE
WORCESTER COLLEGE
HERTFORD COLLEGE
KEBLE COLLEGE
OXFORD
OLDEST OXFORD
OXFORD is so
naturally associated with the idea of a University, and the Collegiate
buildings which confront one at every turn have such an ancient
appearance, that a stranger might be excused for thinking that the
University is older than the town, and that the latter grew up as an
adjunct to the former. Of course, the slightest examination of facts
suffices to dissipate this notion. Oxford is a town of great antiquity,
which may well have been in existence in Alfred the Great's time, though
there is not a shred of documentary evidence to prove that he was, as
tradition so long asserted, connected with the foundation of a university
there: it certainly existed in the reign of his son and successor, Edward
the Elder, because—and this is the earliest historical mention of
the place—the English Chronicle tells us that Edward took
"Lundenbyrg and Oxnaford and all the lands that were obedient thereto."
That was in 912, a date which marks the first authenticated appearance of
Oxford on the stage of English history. .
There is a passage in Domesday Book which gives us a fair idea of the size
of the town in the Conqueror's day. It contained over seven hundred houses,
but of these, so harshly had the Normans treated the place, two-thirds
were ruined and unable to pay taxes. William made Robert D'Oily, one of
his followers, governor of Oxford. D'Oily's is the earliest hand (a heavy
one, by the way, as the townsfolk learnt to their cost) whose impress is
visible on the Oxford of to-day. We may indeed, if we please, attribute a
certain piece of wall in the Cathedral to a remoter date, but the grim old
tower (which appears in the first illustration) is the first building in
Oxford whose author can with certainty be named. It is all that remains of
the Castle which Robert D'Oily built in order to control the surrounding
country; and he built his stronghold by the riverside because he thereby
dominated the waterway, along which enemies were apt to come, as well as
wide tracts of land in every direction. No doubt the hands of the
conquered English laboured at the massive structure which was to keep them
in subjection.
A queen was once besieged in the castle, Matilda, Henry I.'s daughter.
When food gave out she made her escape in a romantic manner, so the story
tells. The river was frozen and the ground covered with snow. The queen
was let down from the tower by night with ropes, clad in white, the better
to escape observation. Three knights were with her, clad in white also,
under whose guidance she reached Wallingford on foot, and so escaped King
Stephen's clutches.
To the period of the Norman Conquest belongs also the tower of St.
Michael's Church, in the Cornmarket. It has been usual to describe this
edifice as Saxon; but antiquaries incline to think that if Robert D'Oily
did not build St. Michael's tower, he at least repaired it. This tower
formed a part of the city wall, and from its narrow windows arrows may
have rained upon advancing foes. Adjoining it was Bocardo, the old
north-gate of the city, whose upper chamber was long used as a prison.
Nothing of Bocardo now remains; but Robert D'Oily's handiwork is
traceable, as many think, in the crypt and chancel of St.
Peter-in-the-East and in the chancel arch at Holywell.
In these buildings, then, the history of Norman Oxford is written, so far
as history can be written in stone; yet here and there about the city are
to be seen structures which, although two or three centuries younger, have
an appearance hardly less venerable. Year after year the aged walls and
portals are thronged with fresh generations of the youth of England; and
it is in this combination of youth and age that no little of the charm of
Oxford lies. We speak within the limitations of mortality: but, could we
escape them for a moment, "immortal age beside immortal youth" might be
her most appropriate description.
THE UNIVERSITY AND ITS BUILDINGS
WHEN did the
University come into existence? That is a question which many
people would like to have answered, but which still, like Brutus,﹃pauses
for a reply.﹄It is to the last degree improbable that we shall ever know.
There were teachers and learners in Oxford at an early date, but so there
were in many other English towns; the plant struck deeper in Oxford than
elsewhere, that is all that one can say. There are various indications
that in the twelfth century the town had acquired a name for learning. In
1186, Giraldus Cambrensis, who had written a book about Ireland and wanted
to get it known, came and read his manuscript aloud at Oxford, where, as
he tells us,﹃the clergy in England chiefly flourished and excelled in
clerkly lore.﹄That was fifty years after the death of King Henry the
Scholar, who—was it only a coincidence?—had a residence in
Oxford. It is pleasant to find Oxford students, even in those early days,
with ears attuned to hearing "some new thing."
"Doctors of the different faculties," we are told, were among Giraldus'
auditors: a fact which shows that learning was already getting
systematised. A little later it has clothed itself in corporate form, and
possesses a Chancellor. That official (when, and by whom appointed, is the
mystery) is first mentioned in 1214, and we can henceforth look upon the
University as a living body. He is named in connection with the first
recorded "town and gown" row, when the citizens of Oxford took two clerks
and hung them. The papal Legate (this was in the evil days of King John)
intervened, and the citizens were very properly rebuked and fined.
A century passed before "The Gown" had a building set specially apart for
the transaction of their affairs. Then, in 1322, Bishop Cobham of
Worcester added a chapel to the north-east corner of St. Mary's, and gave
it to the University as a House of Congregation. The office of Proctor had
already been instituted, and that functionary had plenty of students to
employ his time—30,000 one writer assures us, but him we cannot
credit. A fourth of that number is a liberal estimate. They lived in Halls
and lodgings, a hard and an undisciplined life, preyed upon by the
townsfolk and biting their thumbs at them in return (whence collisions
frequently ensued) until Walter de Merton devised the College system, to
the no small advantage of all concerned.
Benefactions poured in upon the several Colleges, but the greater
institution was not forgotten. In the Divinity School, within whose walls
Latimer and Ridley defended their opinions, and Charles II.'s Parliament
debated, the University possesses, as is fit and proper, the most
beautiful room in Oxford and one of the most beautiful in England. The
style is Perpendicular and the ceiling is particularly admirable. Together
with the fine room above it, in which Duke Humphrey's manuscripts were
housed, the Divinity School was completed in 1480.
Those six hundred manuscripts of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, which he
bestowed on the University, had a sad history. They were dispersed by
Edward VI.'s Commissioners, who judged them to be popish in tendency, and
only four of them were ever restored to their old home. Nevertheless, Duke
Humphrey's gift was the origin of the Bodleian Library. One does not like
to think what the Library was like in the days which followed, when its
manuscripts were scattered abroad and its shelves sold; but in the last
years of the sixteenth century there arose a man who took pity upon its
desolation. This was Sir Thomas Bodley, Fellow of Merton, a man of travel
and affairs, who devoted the last years of his life to the creation of
what is now one of the most famous libraries in existence. It has ever
been the delight of scholars since the days of James I., who wished he
might be chained to the Library, as some of the books were.
The original chamber did not long suffice to contain the volumes; an east
and then a west wing were added, the latter over Archbishop Laud's
Convocation House (1640) which superseded Cobham's Chapel. From these the
books overflowed into various rooms in the Old Schools Quadrangle, which
had been rebuilt in James I.'s reign. Further space was gained in 1860,
when the Radcliffe, set free by the removal of its collection of
scientific works to the New Museum, was lent to the Bodleian; and again in
1882, on the opening of the New Examination Schools (sketched by Mr.
Matthison), when the Old Schools were rendered available for the uses of
the Library.
The various public buildings belonging to the University erected during
the nineteenth century, such as the Taylor Institution, the University Art
Galleries, the New Museum, and the Indian Institute, can hardly escape
attracting the attention of visitors to Oxford. It remains to say a word
of two older structures, which appear side by side in Mr. Matthison's next
drawing—the Clarendon Building and the Sheldonian Theatre.
The Clarendon Building was designed by Vanbrugh, and completed in 1713. It
is named after the author of the History of the Rebellion, and was
partially built out of the profits of the copyright of that work, which
Clarendon's son presented to the University. It was the home of the
University Press until 1830, and is now occupied by the offices of various
University Boards.
The Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is associated
with less tranquil occupations. It is here that honorary degrees are
conferred and the Encænia held; here the Terræ Filius, a licensed
jester, used to hurl his witticisms at whomsoever he pleased; and here, in
later times, the occupants of the Undergraduates' Gallery have endeavoured
to keep up his tradition. Here, too, Convocation sometimes meets, when a
burning question is to be discussed and Masters of Arts assemble in their
hundreds. On such occasions the Sheldonian has been known to be as full of
clamour as at the Encænia. It is perhaps pleasanter to view Wren's
stately building when it is void alike of undergraduate merriment and of
graduate contention.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH
ALTHOUGH St.
Mary's, being a parish Church, cannot be numbered among the buildings
which are University property, it has been almost as closely connected as
any of them with the life and history of the University. Cobham's Chapel,
as has been already said, was the first House of Congregation; and in the
room above it the University kept its manuscripts, until Duke Humphrey's
Library was built. The chancel and nave, moreover, were used by the
gownsmen for both religious and secular purposes; and it is strange to
reflect that consecrated walls heard not only sermons and disputations,
but the jests of the Terræ Filius and the uproar which they
excited. It was only when the Sheldonian was built (1669) that St. Mary's
ceased to be the scene of the "Act"—the modern Encænia—and was
restored to its original intention.
The porch, with its spiral columns and statue of the Virgin and Child, is
much later than the rest of the building, being the work of Dr. Owen,
Archbishop Laud's chaplain. Architecturally it is not in keeping with the
nave and spire, but in itself, especially when the creeper which
en-wreathes it takes on its autumnal colour, it is very beautiful. It was
found necessary, in 1895, to restore the spire, which with the pinnacles
at its base is the special glory of St. Mary's.
The Church is intimately connected with the religious history of the
nation. Here Keble preached the famous Assize Sermon, which is regarded as
the beginning of the Oxford Movement; here, too, Newman, before he
withdrew to his retirement at Littlemore, preached those many sermons to
whose spiritual force men of all schools of thought have borne witness. A
later vicar was Dean Burgon, to whose memory the west window was put up in
1891.
But Cranmer's connection with St. Mary's transcends all its other
associations. On September 12, 1555, he was here put on trial for his
religious opinions, which he defended with as much ability as courage. He
was then recommitted to his prison, and in December Rome pronounced him
guilty. The hardships of his imprisonment told upon his resolution, and he
was induced to write several letters of submission, in which his so-called
errors were recanted. On March 21, 1556, he was once more brought to St.
Mary's. His life was to be taken, but he was to crown his humiliation by a
public confession. Placed upon a wooden stage over against the pulpit, he
had to hear a sermon, at the close of which he was to speak. His fortitude
returned, and to the amazement of all he recanted his recantation. "As for
the Pope"—these were his memorable words—"I utterly refuse
him, as Christ's enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine; and as
for the Sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against the
Bishop of Winchester. And for as much as my hand offended, writing
contrary to my heart, my hand shall first be punished therefore; for, may
I come to the fire, it shall be first burned." He was hurried off to the
stake, and there
"lifted his left hand to heaven,
And thrust his right into the bitter flame;
And crying in his deep voice, more than once,
'This hath offended—this unworthy hand!'
So held it till it was all burn'd, before
The flame had reach'd his body."
THE CATHEDRAL
AT the east end of
the choir aisle of the Cathedral there is a portion of the wall which is
possibly the oldest piece of masonry in Oxford, for it is thought to be a
part of the original Church of St. Frideswyde, on whose site the Cathedral
Church of Christ (to give its full title) now stands. Even so it is not
possible to speak with historical certainty of the saint or of the date of
her Church, which was built for her by her father, so the legend says,
when she took the veil; though the year 740 may be provisionally accepted
as the last year of her life. St. Frideswyde's was a conventual Church,
with a Priory attached, and both were burnt down in 1002, but rebuilt by
Ethelred. How much of his handiwork survives in the present structure it
is not easy to determine; but the Norman builders of the twelfth century
effected, at any rate, such a transformation that no suggestion of Saxon
architecture is obtruded. Their work went on for some twenty years, under
the supervision of the then Prior, Robert of Cricklade, and the Church was
consecrated anew in 1180. The main features of the interior—the
massive pillars and arches—are substantially the same to-day as the
builders left them then.
The Priory was surrendered to Henry VIII. in 1522, who made it over to
Wolsey. That cardinal, in his zeal for the new College, which he now
proceeded to found, shewed little respect for the old Church. He
practically demolished its west end to make room for his building
operations. The truncated Church was used as a chapel for his students,
until the new and magnificent one which he had planned should be
completed. That edifice was never built. Wolsey was disgraced, and the
king took over St. Frideswyde's, to be the Cathedral Church of his newly
created diocese of Oxford.
From this date, then, 1546, it is a Cathedral, but a College chapel also;
for Henry was content that the one building should serve the two purposes.
The Cathedral was restored in the seventeenth century and again in the
nineteenth, with considerable alterations. It is hardly worth while here
to enumerate these in their entirety; but when one sees in old engravings
the beautiful east window, put up in the fourteenth century, which was
removed at the time of Sir Gilbert Scott's restoration, it is impossible
not to regret a change which appears to be quite unjustifiable. At the
same time it may be readily admitted that the east end, designed on Norman
lines, which the architect substituted, has considerable beauty, and
harmonises with the general tone of the building. Regret is unavailing,
and it is perhaps wiser to console oneself with the reflection that at any
rate things might have been worse.
The Cathedral is so hemmed in by the various buildings of Christ Church
that it is difficult to obtain a comprehensive view from the outside.
Perhaps one sees it best from Merton Fields, with the beautiful Rose
Window prominently visible. Even so the Cathedral is in part hidden by the
ancient Refectory of St. Frideswyde's (long since converted into rooms).
This is the view, sketched from the nearer foreground of the Canon's
Garden, which appears in Mr. Matthison's drawing, only that the Rose
Window is hidden by trees. The spire—or spire and tower combined—no
longer holds the bells which chimed originally in Osney Abbey, on the
river's farther side; they were removed to the new Belfry (completed in
1879), which appears to the left of the Refectory.
We are now to speak of the interior of the building. It is sketched from
various points of view in the accompanying six illustrations: but twice as
many would not suffice to exhaust its interest. At no time does the nave
appear more impressive than when a shaft of sunlight strikes across the
massive columns; and Miss Cheesewright has sought to fix upon her canvas
the charm of such a moment. The Lady Chapel was added early in the
thirteenth century; here are enshrined the remains of St. Frideswyde,
which were moved several times before they reached their final
resting-place. The Latin Chapel dates from the fourteenth century, and is
full of interest. Some of its carved woodwork is to be referred to
Wolsey's time, and it contains the tombs, among others, of Lady Elizabeth
Montacute, the Chapel's reputed builder, and of Sir George Nowers, a
comrade-in-arms of the Black Prince. Other notable tombs in various parts
of the Cathedral are those of Robert Burton, author of the Anatomy of
Melancholy; Bishop Berkeley, the metaphysician and upholder of the virtues
of tar-water; Bishop King, last Abbot of Osney and first Bishop of Oxford;
Dean Liddell and Dr. Pusey. A window in the south transept depicts the
murder of Thomas à Becket, whose head has been obliterated, by the order,
it is said, of Henry VIII. Another window in the same transept
commemorates Canon Liddon. The art of Burne-Jones has contributed not a
little to the Cathedral's beauty. In the east window of the Latin Chapel
he has set forth the romantic story of St. Frideswyde. Another of the
windows which he designed is at the east end of the Lady Chapel, and
serves as a memorial of Mr. Vyner, who was murdered by Greek brigands in
1870; another, at the east end of the north aisle of the choir,
commemorates St. Cecilia, with which corresponds a﹃St. Catherine of
Alexandria﹄in the south aisle, put up in memory of Miss Edith Liddell,
daughter of Dean Liddell. Lastly, at the west end of this aisle, the
artist has chosen "Faith, Hope, and Charity" as his subject.
The Cloister and Chapter-House (thirteenth century) must not be
overlooked. The entrance to the Chapter-House is by a singularly fine
Norman doorway. The Cloister saw the unworthy degradation of Archbishop
Cranmer, after the Pope had pronounced him guilty of heresy.
Enough has perhaps been said to shew intending visitors to Oxford that the
interest of the Cathedral is both great and varied. To those who already
know it, these hints will seem a poor and inadequate attempt to express
its manifold charm, but the pictures may serve to emphasise their vivid
recollections. Those who have yet to make acquaintance with it will
perhaps exclaim, as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomon's wisdom and
prosperity, "Behold, the half was not told me."
THE STREETS OF OXFORD
WHERE is the
centre, the ὀμφαλὸς γῆς of Oxford? The average undergraduate will
probably place it within the walls of his own College; but we, detached
observers whose salad days, presumably, are over, look for a definition
worthy of more catholic acceptance. To us Oxford is not a city of Colleges
only, but of noble streets and wide spaces. Them it is our purpose to
explore, not with the hasty stride of one bound for lecture-room, or
cricket-ground, or river, but leisurely and with discrimination; we are
ready to be chidden for curiosity, so we incur not the gravamen of
indifference. Where, then, shall we start on our pilgrimage, and from what
centre? If there be in any city a place where four principal roads meet,
as at the Cross in Gloucester, we may listen there for the pulsations of
that city's heart.
Such a place there is in Oxford, Carfax,—Quatre voies,—the
spot where four ways meet. This, not too arbitrarily, we will name the
centre of Oxford, and thence will wend upon our pilgrimage. But let us
pause a moment, before we set out, at the parting of the ways.
The old Church of St. Martin's at Carfax was pulled down in 1896, and only
the tower left. St. Martin's was the church of the city fathers, as St.
Mary's was (and is) the church of the University. Nowadays the civic
procession winds its way to All Saints, a nearer neighbour of St. Mary's.
Such propinquity would have sorted ill with the manners of mediaeval
Oxford, when the enmity of town and gown, at times quiescent, was never
wholly quelled. In an age when the clerks, regular and secular, fell out
among themselves in the precincts of St. Mary's, even to the shedding of
blood, it is idle to look for a more civil temper in the burgesses: and
the bells of Carfax and St. Mary's summoned those who frequented them to
battle as well as to prayer. They rang out with the former intention on
the feast of St. Scholastica in 1354. It is sad to record that the quarrel
arose in a tavern, where two gownsmen abused the vintner for serving them
with wine of wretched quality. The conflict which ensued was of a very
deadly nature. The scholars held their own until evening, when the
citizens called the neighbouring villagers of Cowley and Headington to
their aid, and the Gown were routed. As many as forty students were slain,
and twenty-three townsmen. Then Edward III. took steps to protect the men
of learning, lowering, among other measures, the tower of Carfax, because
they complained that in times of combat the townsmen retired thither as to
a castle, and from its summit grievously annoyed and galled them with
arrows and stones. The burgesses also were forced to attend annually at
St. Mary's Church, when mass was offered for the souls of the slain,
bearing on their persons sundry marks of degradation; and though these
were subsequently done away, it was only in 1825 that they were excused
the indignity of attending the commemorative service.
Such are some of the memories evoked by the Tower of Carfax, the best view
of which is given in Mr. Matthison's first drawing. The second
illustration is from a point rather farther to the eastward. Both give a
glimpse of the Mitre Hotel, most picturesque of old Oxford hostelries, and
the second a part of the front of All Saints. At this point we may for a
moment leave the High Street (which we have begun to traverse, half
insensibly, under the artist's guidance) and wander down "The Turl," as
Turl Street is commonly called. "Turl" is said to be a corruption of
Thorold, and Thorold to have been the name of a postern-gate in the old
city walls. The quiet old street has Colleges on either hand, Lincoln,
Exeter, and Jesus. Retracing our footsteps, we get the fine view of All
Saints which is given in the third illustration. The history of this
Church, known originally as All Hallows, goes back to the twelfth century,
but the present building, designed by Dr. Aldrich, a former Dean of Christ
Church, has only been in existence since 1708, the old one having been
destroyed in 1699 by the fall of its spire. The present graceful tower and
spire are a worthy memorial of Dean Aldrich's versatility.
We now return to our exploration of "The High," whose magnificence of
outline become more and more apparent as one walks eastwards. It was a
poet bred at Cambridge, no less a poet than Wordsworth, whom the manifold
charm of Oxford tempted "to slight his own beloved Cam"; and he it is who
has written the most quotable description of "The High" in brief.﹃The
streamlike windings of that glorious street,﹄he writes: and indeed its
curve suggests nothing so much as the majestic bend of some noble river.
We may cite, too, Sir Walter Scott's testimony, who claimed that the High
Street of Edinburgh is the most magnificent in Great Britain, except
the High Street of Oxford. It is not at all difficult to assent to
this opinion. As the view gradually unfolds itself, we have on our left
successively the new front of Brasenose, St. Mary's, All Souls, Queen's,
and Magdalen; on our right the long, dark front of University, and many
old dwelling-houses, whose architecture does not shame their situation.
Looking backward for a moment at Queen's College (perhaps when the west is
rosy, as in Mr. Matthison's drawing), one sees substantially the same view
which delighted Wordsworth in 1820; and we, if we are wise, shall take as
much delight in it as he. Many thousand times since then has the sun set
behind the spires of St. Mary's and All Saints, but the unaltered prospect
obliterates the intervening years, and we are at one with the great poet
in his admiration.
Contrast is always pleasant, and one may reach Broad Street (which
certainly must not be neglected) by several thoroughfares totally unlike
"The High." We may traverse Long Wall Street, with Magdalen Grove on our
right, a pleasance hidden from the wayfarer by a high wall, but visible to
such as lodge in upper rooms on the other side of the way; thence along
Holywell Street, with its queer medley of old houses, many of them
pleasing to the eye. Or, still greater contrast, we may go by Queen's and
New College Lanes, with their rectangular turns and severe masonry on
either side. Or, again, we may go through the Radcliffe square with its
massive buildings on every hand—the Radcliffe dome in the centre,
girt about with St. Mary's, Brasenose, All Souls, and the Old Schools. In
any case we find ourselves, at the last, in Broad Street.
It is a wide and quiet street, with comparatively little traffic, a street
dear to meditation. Some such suggestion is conveyed by Mr. Matthison's
sketch. He has not given us here the fronts of Balliol, Trinity, or
Exeter,—views of the first two will be found later on,—but
just the old houses (the one in dark relief is Kettell Hall, built by a
President of Trinity in the seventeenth century) asleep in the sunshine,
with the Sheldonian on the right, whose guardian figure-heads,
traditionally said to represent the twelve Cæsars, seem by the expression
of their stony countenances to be thinking hard of nothing in particular.
At the other end of Broad Street, marked by a flat cross in the roadway,
is the spot where tradition says the martyrs suffered for their faith.
Their Memorial is a little distance off, in the neighbouring street of St.
Giles'. It is an effective and graceful structure, with characteristic
statues of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, and an inscription stating the
manner of their death and the reasons for their martyrdom. It was erected
in 1841, by public subscription, when also the north aisle of the adjacent
Church of St. Mary Magdalen was rebuilt out of the same fund. The Memorial
appears twice in Mr. Matthison's drawings; once at the approach of
evening, looking towards the city, and once as it is seen in full
daylight, with the widening vista of St. Giles' Street in the background.
St. Giles' is surely the widest street in the three kingdoms; Broad Street
is narrow when compared with it. Each September it is the scene of what is
said to be the largest and the oldest fair in England. But we have not
chosen a fair-day for our pilgrimage.
THE RIVER
IF the﹃towers of
Julius﹄are, as Gray called them, "London's lasting shame," the River is
the lasting pride of Oxford. When does "The River" cease to be Isis and
become Thames? One might as well ask when it ceases to be Thames and
becomes Isis. The term is probably not used out of Oxford, and with much
vagueness there. Matthew Arnold speaks of﹃the stripling Thames at
Bablock-Hythe﹄(a very lovely ferry higher up than Oxford), and at
Abingdon nobody talks about the Isis. The use of the name is one of the
odd and pleasant conservatisms of Oxford.
Then, again, there are two rivers in Oxford, according to the map, Thames
and Cherwell; but to the undergraduate there are three—"The River,"
"The Upper River," and "The Cher." For the sake of strangers it may be
well to elucidate this enigma. "The River" is that part of the Thames
which begins at Folly Bridge and ends at Sandford, except that on the
occasion of "long courses" and Commemoration picnics it is prolonged as
far as Nuneham. It is understood subsequently to pass through several
counties and reach eventually the German Ocean. You do not go upon﹃The
River﹄commonly for amusement, but for stern and serious work. You aspire
to a thwart in your College "torpid" first, then in your College "eight,"
with the fantastic possibility of a place in the "Trials" or—crown
of all—in the 'Varsity "Eight" on some distant and auspicious day!
It is no child's-play that is involved, as every oarsman knows.﹃The
River﹄is an admirable school of self-control and self-denial, and
"training"—long may it flourish!—is one of the best of
disciplines. It has been said, and with truth, that boating-men are the
salt of undergraduate society.
The "Torpids" are rowed in March—you will appreciate this fact if
you are rowing "bow" and a hailstorm comes on—in eight-oared boats
with fixed seats. The name bestowed on them seems a little unkind. The
"Eights" come off in the summer term, when sliding seats are used—to
the greater comfort of the oarsmen, and the greater gratification of the
lookers-on, for this rowing is out of all comparison prettier, and of
course the boats travel at a greater pace. Both "Eights" and "Torpids," as
most people are aware, are bumping races; that is, the boats start each at
a given distance from the one behind it, and the object is to bump the
boat in front, and so bump one's way to that proudest of all positions,
"the Head of the River." A bump in front of the Barges (which Mr.
Matthison has sketched), following a long and stern chase from Iffley, is
a thing to live for.
West of Folly Bridge "The River" might as well, for all the ordinary
undergraduate knows of it, sink for some distance, like a certain classic
stream, beneath the ground. Venturesome explorers tell of a tract of water
put to base mechanical uses, flanked by dingy wharves and overlooked by
attic windows.
But to most boating-men "The River" ends at Salter's, only to reappear in
the modified form and style of "The Upper River" at Port Meadow.﹃The
Upper River﹄is some distance from everything else, but it is well worth
the journey to Port Meadow. There is nothing strenuous about﹃The Upper
River.﹄It always seems afternoon there, and a lazy afternoon. The
standard of oarsmanship may not be very high, but no one is in a hurry and
no one is censorious. To enjoy the Upper River as it deserves to be
enjoyed, you should have laboured at the Torpid oar a Lent Term, and have
found yourself not required (this year) for the Eight. You know quite
enough of rowing, in such a case, to cut a figure on the Upper River; but
you will not want to cut it. If you appreciate your surroundings properly,
you will want to sit in the stern while somebody else does the rowing; or,
if you take an oar, you will want to pull in leisurely fashion and to look
about you as you please, in the blissful absence of raucous injunctions to
"keep your eyes in the boat." There is much that is pleasant to look upon—the
wide expanse of Port Meadow on the right, on the towpath willows waving in
the wind, and on the water here and there the white sail of a
centre-board. As you draw near Godstow, you may see cattle drinking,
knee-deep in the stream; you may land and refresh yourself, if you will,
at the "Trout" at Godstow; may visit the ruins of the nunnery, with their
memories of "Fair Rosamond;" or, leaning on the bridge-rail over Godstow
weir, lulled by the ceaseless murmur of the water, may muse upon the
vanity of mere ambition and the servitude of such as row in College
Eights. Then, if the day be young enough, you may go on to Eynsham or to
Bablock-Hythe, and perhaps afoot to Stanton-Harcourt, a most lovely
village; and returning at dusk, when the stream appears to widen
indefinitely as the light fails, you will vow that for sheer peace and
enjoyment there is nothing like the Upper River.
Unless, indeed, it be the Cherwell. This little stream, which flows into
the Isis near the last of the Barges, while it winds about Christ Church
Meadow, Magdalen, and Mesopotamia, is edged about, with shadowy walks; but
once clear of the Parks, it is embedded in grassy and flower-laden banks,
through which your boat passes with a lively sense of exploration.
Presently, at a break in all this greenery, you come abreast of a grey
stone building, with ancient gables and air of reposeful dignity.
Instinctively your oar-blades rest upon the water, for so much beauty
demands more than a moment's admiration. It is Water Eaton Hall, one of
those smaller Elizabethan manor-houses which have survived the violence of
the Rebellion and the neglect of impoverished owners. All about its aged
masonry is the growth and freshness of the spring. Oxford is several miles
away, but even so you are reminded of her special charm—the
association of reverend age with youth's perennial renewal.
MERTON COLLEGE
MERTON is in
several respects the most interesting of the Colleges of Oxford. In the
first place, it is the oldest; for though the original endowments of
University and Balliol were bestowed a little earlier, Merton was the
first College to have a corporate existence, regulated and defined by
statute. With the granting of Merton's statutes in 1264, a new era of
University life began. From being casual sojourners in lodgings and Halls,
students from this date tended more and more to be gathered into
organised, endowed, and dignified societies, where discipline was one of
the factors of education.
Such is Oxford's debt to Walter de Merton, Chancellor of England and
Bishop of Rochester, who died by a fall from his horse in fording a river
in his diocese, and was buried in Rochester Cathedral. His tomb there has
twice been renovated by the piety of the College which he founded.
His statutes are preserved at Merton, and were consulted as precedents
when other Colleges were founded, at Cambridge as well as at Oxford.﹃By
the example which he set,﹄runs the inscription on his tomb, "he is the
founder of all existing Colleges."
Another great distinction of Merton is its Library (whose interior appears
in Mrs. Walton's sketch), which was built in 1377, by William Rede, Bishop
of Chichester, and is the oldest Library in the kingdom.
In monasteries and other houses where learning took refuge, books had
hitherto been kept in chests, an arrangement which must have had its
drawbacks, considering the weight of the volumes of those days.
Mr. Matthison's first drawing shews the College as seen from Merton
Street, with the imposing tower of the Chapel in the background. A very
fine view of the buildings of Merton, in their full extent, is obtained
from Christ Church Meadow.
To speak of them in detail, the Muniment Room is the oldest collegiate
structure in Oxford, and possibly dates from the lifetime of the Founder.
The Hall gateway, with its ancient oak door and enormous iron hinges, is
of the same epoch. Of the three Quadrangles the small one to the north
(which contains the Library) is the oldest. The front Quadrangle opens by
a magnificent archway into the Inner, or Fellows' Court, built in 1610 in
the late Gothic style, its south gate surmounted with pillars of the
several Greek orders. The Common Room (1661) was the first room of the
kind to be opened in Oxford.
The beautiful Chapel has rather the appearance of a parish Church, which
indeed it is. St. John the Baptist's parish, however, is so minute as
hardly to need, in a city of many churches, a place of worship all to
itself, and the building was assigned to Merton in the last decade of the
thirteenth century, with the proviso that one of the chaplains should
discharge such parochial duties as might arise. In the ante-chapel are the
monuments of the famous Sir Thomas Bodley, Sir Henry Savile, once Master,
and Antony Wood, greatest of Oxford antiquarians. Wood (who died in 1695)
was associated with Merton all his life. He was born in the house opposite
the College entrance, called Postmasters' Hall, and there he passed most
of his days.
It is from him that we get a great deal of our information about early
Oxford. Royalty has repeatedly enjoyed the hospitality of Merton, and here
is Wood's account of a visit paid by Queen Catherine, wife of Henry VIII.
﹃She vouchsafed to condescend so low as to dine with the Merton-ians, for
the sake of the late Warden Rawlyns, at this time almoner to the king,
notwithstanding she was expected by other Colleges.﹄Elizabeth and her
privy council were equally gracious, and were entertained after dinner
with disputations performed by the Fellows. One would like to know what
subjects were disputed, and what the queen thought of her entertainment.
When Charles I.'s Court came to Oxford, Queen Henrietta Maria occupied the
Warden's lodgings, which were again tenanted by Charles II.'s queen, when
the Court fled from plague-stricken London.
Merton has had great men among her Fellows, but none greater than John
Wycliffe; and among her postmasters (so the scholars are called here) no
name captivates our sympathies more readily than that of Richard Steele,
trooper and essayist, the friend of Addison and the husband of Prue.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
IT was long and
hotly maintained that University College was founded by Alfred the Great,
and by celebrating its thousandth anniversary in 1872 the College would
seem to have accepted this pious opinion. The claim was raised as far back
as 1387, when the College, being engaged in a lawsuit about a part of its
estates, tried to ingratiate itself with Richard II. by representing that
its founder was his predecessor, Alfred, and that Bede and John of
Beverley had been among its students. Now, Bede and John of Beverley died
about a century before Alfred was born. Ex pede Herculem. The
Alfred tradition need not keep us longer.
University College owes its existence to William of Durham, who, at his
death in 1249, beqeathed to the University the sum of three hundred and
ten marks for the use of ten or more Masters (at that time the
highest academical title) to be natives of Durham or its vicinity. Certain
tenements were purchased, one of them on a part of the site of Brasenose,
and here, in 1253, Durham's scholars first assembled; but only in 1280
were they granted powers of self-government. The recent foundation of
Merton no doubt suggested the idea of bestowing a corporate life on what
had hitherto been known as "University Hall." Durham's scholars removed to
their present locality in 1343.
One of the earliest benefactors whom "Univ." (as this College is
familiarly termed in Oxford) is bound to remember is Walter Skirlaw, who
became Bishop of Durham in 1403. He ran away from his home in youth in
order to study at Oxford, and his parents heard no more of him (according
to his biographer) till he arrived at the see of Durham. He then sought
them out, and provided for their old age. Another benefactor (1566) was
Joan Davys, wife of a citizen of Oxford, who gave estates for the support
of two Logic lecturers, and for increasing the diet of the Master and
Fellows. Had Mr. Cecil Rhodes heard of this lady? To touch on the Masters
of "Univ.," a curious career was that of Obadiah Walker, who lost his
Fellowship in Commonwealth times for adherence to the Church of England;
later on was made Master and turned Roman Catholic; enjoyed the favour of
James II.; and lost his Mastership at the Revolution for adherence to the
Church of Rome.
Of the present buildings of the College none is of earlier date than the
seventeenth century. The two Quadrangles form a grand front towards the
High Street, with a tower over each gateway at equal distances from the
extremities. Above the gateways are statues of Queen Anne and Queen Mary,
on the outside; two more, within, represent James II. and Dr. Radcliffe.
It was mainly at the cost of John Radcliffe, a member of the College, that
the smaller Quadrangle was completed. Other famous members were the
brothers Scott, afterwards Lords Stowell and Eldon; Sir William Jones, the
great Oriental scholar; and Sir Roger Newdigate, responsible for so many
thousand heroic couplets, who gave the handsome chimney-piece in the Hall.
It is curious to notice, by the way, that the fireplace stood in the
centre of this room until 1766. The Common Room contains two specimens of
an out-of-the-way art, portraits of Henry IV. and Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester, burnt in wood by Dr. Griffith, a former Master.
The beautiful monument to the poet Shelley, set up in the College in 1893,
is the gift of Lady Shelley. Its honoured position within the walls of the
Foundation which drove him out so hastily and harshly is indeed a fitting
emblem of "the late remorse of love."
BALLIOL COLLEGE
THIS College was
originated about 1260 by John de Balliol, a baron of Durham, whose son for
four years occupied the throne of Scotland. But inasmuch as John de
Balliol only made provision for four students, and that as penance for an
outrage, the greater credit attaches to his wife Dervorguilla, who endowed
a dozen more and hired them a lodging close to St. Mary Magdalen Church,
on the site where part of the present College stands. Devorguilla gave her
scholars their first statutes in 1282. She bade them live temperately, and
converse with one another in the Latin tongue.
Truth to tell, as the revenues at first yielded each scholar only
eightpence a week, riotous living seemed hardly practicable. Benefactors,
however, presently stepped in, notably Sir Philip Somervyle of
Staffordshire, who in 1340 raised the weekly allowance to elevenpence, and
to fifteenpence in case victuals were dear. The grateful College accepted
from Sir Philip a new body of statutes, in which the now familiar title,
"Master of Balliol," makes its first appearance, a title associated twenty
years afterwards with the honoured name of John Wycliffe. Among later
benefactors may be mentioned Peter Blundell, founder of the Devonshire
school which bears his name; Lady Elizabeth Periam (a sister of Francis
Bacon); and John Snell, a native of Ayrshire,—it is to his endowment
that Balliol owes her most distinguished Scotsmen, such as Adam Smith,
Lockhart (Sir Walter Scott's son-in-law and biographer), and Archbishop
Tait.
Balliol was an early friend to the new learning, and fostered the
scholarly tastes of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, son of Henry IV., and
Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (to name but two of her most prominent
humanists). Duke Humphrey left his books to the University, six hundred in
number—a very large collection for those days, when as yet Caxton
had not revolutionised the world. And in Reformation days, when the
humanities were called to account, learning found a zealous supporter in
Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham, who had been bred at Balliol.
The annals of the College during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
are not particularly distinguished. After the Restoration Balliol men seem
to have been considerably addicted to malt liquors, and much ale does not
conduce to profound study. But modern Balliol men might apply to their own
use the words of Dr. Ingram's famous song, "Who fears to speak of '98?"
for it was in 1798 that Dr. Parsons became Master of the College, and with
his advent began the great days of Balliol.
Parsons, with two other heads of houses, established the Examination
system, which has been so much belauded and so much abused. It was soon
apparent that Balliol tutors had the knack of equipping men to face the
ordeal of "the Schools"; the College speedily came to the front, and its
intellectual pre-eminence in Oxford during the nineteenth century is now
universally admitted. Men trained at Balliol during this period occupied
and still occupy some of the very highest positions in the State. Not to
mention the living, whose fame is in the mouths of all men, some of the
most prominent names are those of Lords Coleridge, Bowen, and Peel
(formerly Speaker of the House of Commons), Sir Robert Morier, and
Archbishop Temple. Matthew Arnold and Clough were undergraduates at
Balliol with Benjamin Jowett, afterwards its most famous Master; and, to
balance the severity of these poets, the lighter Muse of Calverley
sojourned for a time within its walls.
The buildings of Balliol, which Mr. Matthison has sketched from four
points of view, are extensive, but not conspicuously beautiful. The front
towards Broad Street was rebuilt in 1867 by Mr. Waterhouse. Old prints
assure us that it had previously a forbidding and almost prison-like
aspect. Mr. Matthison calls attention to the fact that this picture shows
the spot where the martyrs were burned. The automobile in the foreground
may suggest to the thoughtful reader that martyrdom is no longer by fire.
The drawing from St. Giles' perhaps conveys a pleasanter impression. The
third shews us that part of the College known as "Fisher's Buildings,"
erected at the cost of a former Fellow in 1769. The fourth drawing is of
the Garden Quadrangle with the Chapel on the left (rebuilt in 1856); here
the surroundings are more attractive; we are looking on﹃a grove of
Academe,﹄in which vigorous minds may still, as heretofore, grow happily
towards their maturity.
EXETER COLLEGE
THIS College,"
wrote Fuller the historian, in words which Exeter men will approve,
"consisteth chiefly of Cornish and Devonshire men, the gentry of which
latter, Queen Elizabeth used to say, were courtiers by their birth. And as
these western men do bear away the bell for might and sleight in
wrestling, so the scholars here have always acquitted themselves with
credit in Palæstra literaria!'
The western College was founded in 1314 by Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of
Exeter, who twelve years later met his death as a supporter of Edward II.,
when that king was overthrown and murdered. A later and liberal patron was
Sir William Petre, father of Dorothy Wadham, a statesman of the Tudor
period. Of the ancient buildings of Exeter hardly anything remains. The
Hall dates from the seventeenth century, the fronts to the Turl and Broad
Streets from the nineteenth. The present Chapel is the third in which
Exeter men have worshipped. Designed by Sir Gilbert Scott on the model of
the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, it is certainly the most attractive of the
College buildings. Its interior is richly decorated, and contains a
tapestry representing "The Visit of the Magi," the work of Burne-Jones and
William Morris, formerly undergraduates of Exeter.
Among interesting members of this Foundation may be cited Dr. Prideaux,
Rector from 1612 to 1642, who began residence at Exeter as a
kitchen-knave, and lived to be a Bishop; the first Lord Shaftesbury,
Dryden's "Achitophel"; the Marquis of Winchester, a loyal Cavalier, whose
epitaph by the same poet may be read in Englefield Church, Berkshire;
William Browne, author of Britannia's Pastorals; and Sir Simon
Baskerville (ob. 1641), an eminent physician, who would take no fee from
any clergyman under the rank of dean. The Fellows' Gardens, a secluded and
beautiful spot, contains two noted trees, a large chestnut known as
"Heber's Tree," from the fact that it overshadowed his rooms in Brasenose,
and "Dr. Kennicott's Fig Tree." Dr. Kennicott, the great Hebrew scholar,
regarded this tree as peculiarly his own. During his proctorate, some
irreverent undergraduates stole its fruit, upon which Dr. Kennicott caused
a board to be hung upon it, inscribed "The Proctor's Fig." Next morning it
was discovered that someone had substituted the audacious legend, "A fig
for the Proctor."
ORIEL COLLEGE
ORIEL COLLEGE was
founded by Adam de Brome, almoner to King Edward II., in 1324. He was
Rector of St. Mary's, whose spire forms with the dome of the Radcliffe a
background to the view of Oriel Street, and obtained leave from the king
to transfer the Church and its revenues to his College. The College
originally had the same title as the Church, but five years after its
foundation it received from King Edward III. a messuage known as La
Oriole (a title of disputed meaning), and from this date was renamed
"Oriel College."
The Front Quadrangle, whose exterior and interior are here depicted, was
erected in the first half of the seventeenth century. Viewed from without,
it has an air of quiet dignity; but the visitor will be even better
pleased when he has passed the Porter's Lodge. A striking feature is the
central flight of steps, with a portico, by which the Hall is reached. On
either side of the statues of the two kings (Edward II. and Charles I.)
stretches a trio of finely moulded windows, flanked by an oriel to right
and left. Mr. Matthison clearly made his drawing when the "Quad." was gay
with flowers and Eights-week visitors, but at no season is it anything but
beautiful. The Garden Quadrangle, which lies to the north and includes the
Library, was built during the eighteenth century. The adjacent St. Mary
Hall, with its buildings, was recently incorporated with Oriel, on the
death of its last Principal, Dr. Chase.
Among famous men nurtured at this College were Raleigh, Prynne, Bishop
Butler, and Gilbert White, the naturalist; but it was in the first half of
the nineteenth century that Oriel's intellectual renown was at its highest.
To recall the names of Pusey, Keble, Newman, Whately, and Thomas Arnold
suffices to indicate the subject which most preoccupied the Oxford of that
epoch. Oriel seemed fated to be the seat of religious controversy, from
the seventeenth century days of Provost Walter Hodges, whose Elihu,
a treatise on the Book of Job, brought him into suspicion of favouring the
sect of Hutchinsonians. Happily there was some tincture of humour in the
differences of those days. When this Provost resented the imputation, his
detractors told him that a writer on the Book of Job should take
everything with patience. Controversy apart, any College might be proud of
a group of Fellows of whom one became an archbishop, another a really
great headmaster, and a third a cardinal. Oriel has had poets, too, within
her gates, for in a later day Clough and Matthew Arnold won fellowships
here.
But Oriel has had no more dutiful son, if liberality is any measure of
dutifulness, than Cecil Rhodes. It is too soon to appraise the value of
his scholarship scheme, which provides an Oxford education for numerous
colonial and foreign students; but his old College, which benefited so
largely by the provisions of his will, can have no hesitation in including
him among its benefactors.
QUEEN'S COLLEGE
OPINIONS will
differ as to whether the Italian style, of which this College is a fine
example, is as suitable for collegiate buildings as the Gothic, and
whether the contrast which Queen's presents to its neighbour, University,
is not more striking than pleasing; but the intrinsic splendour of its
façade, as viewed from "The High," is indisputable. "No spectacle," said
Dr. Johnson, "is nobler than a blaze"; and those who saw the west wing of
the Front Quadrangle of Queen's in flames, one summer night in 1886, must
have felt their regrets tempered by admiration, so imposing was the sight.
Happily the damage was mainly confined to the interior of the building. A
fire had already devastated the same wing in 1778. On that occasion, as
Mr. Wells narrates in Oxford and its Colleges, the Provost of the
day﹃nearly lost his life for the sake of decorum. He was sought for in
vain, and had been given up, when he suddenly emerged from the burning
pile, full dressed as usual, in wig, gown, and bands.﹄This recalls
Cowley's story of a gentleman in the Civil Wars, who might have escaped
from his captors had he not stayed to adjust his perriwig. Less fortunate
than the Provost, his sense of ceremony cost him his life.
Queen's College was founded by Robert Eglesfield of Cumberland, Confessor
to Philippa, Edward III.'s queen. Impressed with the lack of facilities
for education among Englishmen of the North, he practically restricted the
benefits of his Foundation to students from the north country, and Queen's
is still intimately connected with that part of England. Philippa did her
best for her Confessor's institution, and later queens have shewn a
similar interest. The statue under the cupola, above the gateway,
represents Queen Caroline.
With the exception of the Library (1696) and the east side of the Inner
Quadrangle, all the present buildings were erected in the eighteenth
century. The Library, a handsome room in the classical style, was
decorated by Grinling Gibbons, and contains, as well as a very valuable
collection of books, ancient portraits on glass of Henry V. and Cardinal
Beaufort. The Chapel (1714) was designed by Wren, and the Front Quadrangle
by his pupil Hawksmoor.
Queen's is tenacious of her old customs. Still the trumpet calls the
Fellows to dinner; still, on Christmas day, the boar's head is brought in
bedecked with bays and rosemary;
a survival, possibly, of the pagan custom
by which at Yule-tide a boar was sacrificed to Freyr, god of peace and
plenty.
Peace and plenty, at any rate, have characterised the annals of Queen's;
and among those who have enjoyed these good things within her walls may be
mentioned "Prince Hal," Addison (before his migration to Magdalen),
Tickell, Wycherley, Bentham, Jeffrey of the Edinburgh Review, and
Dr. Thomson, late Archbishop of York.
ST. EDMUND HALL
HALLS for the
accommodation of students existed in Oxford before Colleges were founded,
and a few were established subsequently; of these St. Edmund Hall is the
only one which retains its independence. The quaintness and irregular
beauty of its buildings may plead with stern reformers for its continued
survival.
Opposite to the side entrance of Queen's, St. Edmund Hall is in another
respect under the wing of that College; for Queen's has the right of
nominating its Principal.
The origin of St. Edmund Hall is uncertain, but it is commonly supposed to
derive its name from Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1234 to
1240. Its buildings, grouped round three sides of an oblong quadrangle,
date from the middle of the seventeenth century.
The first view shews the entrance to the Hall, with the interesting old
Church of St. Peter-in-the-East in the background. The crypt and chancel
of this Church take us back to the times of the Conqueror, and may have
been the work of Robert D'Oily, one of William's Norman followers, who is
known to have built Oxford Castle.
In the view of the interior of the Quadrangle the building at the back is
the Library; the abundance of creepers on the left hand adds to the idea
of comfort suggested by the homeliness of the architecture.
The third illustration shews the Hall as seen from St. Peter's Churchyard.
The vicinity of the monuments may serve to remind members of the Hall of
their mortality.
Hearne, the antiquary, was a member of St. Edmund Hall; so also was Sir
Richard Blackmore, who was in residence for thirteen years. It was his
lot, says Johnson, "to be much oftener mentioned by enemies than by
friends"; but this is hardly surprising, in view of the interminable epics
which he inflicted upon his contemporaries.
NEW COLLEGE
THIS College, in
respect of its buildings and its endowments, is one of the most splendid
in the University. Its founder, William of Wykeham, rose through the
favour of Edward III. to high positions in Church and State, being made
Bishop of Winchester in 1366 and Chancellor of England in the following
year. He was a man of affairs, liberal and tolerant, who took delight in
building, and had himself great skill in architecture. He had already,
before he designed New College, as Clerk of the Works to Edward III.,
rebuilt Windsor Castle. Doubtless, zeal for education was one of his
incentives; but he must have known a deep gratification, as the work went
on, in the growth of the stately buildings which were to perpetuate his
name. Richard II.'s sanction was given in 1379, and Wykeham's Society took
possession of its completed home in 1386. During the six years which
followed, its founder was occupied with the building of Winchester
College, the other great institution connected with his name. He died in
1404, in his eightieth year, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral,
having lived long enough to see his two Foundations prosperously started
upon their several careers.
New College, as left by William of Wykeham, consisted of the chief
Quadrangle (which includes the Chapel, Hall, and Library), the Cloisters
with their tower, and the gardens. It is this Quadrangle (shewing the
Chapel) which appears in Mr. Matthison's first drawing; but it is not
quite as Wykeham saw it, for the third storey was added, as at Brasenose,
in the seventeenth century, when the windows also were modernised.
Passing through this Quadrangle, the visitor reaches the Garden Court,
which is also the creation of the seventeenth century, and was built in
imitation of the Palace of Versailles. Seen from the garden (as in the
second illustration) it certainly has, with its fivefold frontage and its
extensive iron palisade, a most imposing appearance.
The garden contains a structure older by several centuries than any of the
Colleges—that fragment of the old City Wall which is shewn in Mr.
Matthison's third drawing. Its reverse side is visible from the back of
Long Wall Street, and another fragment now acts as the wall of Merton
garden. The city wall existed in its entirety in Wykeham's time, though
already falling into decay: there is a brief of Richard II., issued to the
then mayor and burgesses of Oxford, wherein the king complains of the
ruinous state of the fortifications, and demands that they be at once
repaired. He thought of taking refuge in Oxford, it appears, if his
enemies in France should invade the country. He was soon to learn, at
Flint Castle, how impotent is any masonry to protect a sovereign against
subjects whose affections he has estranged. One may climb the old wall in
New College garden and think of the days when it was a real defence, when
the occupants of the "mural houses" at its base were exempted from all
imposts, with the reservation that they should defend the wall with their
bodies, in the event of an enemy's assault. On some part of the ground now
occupied by the College and its garden stood several of those Halls where
students lodged in the pre-collegiate days; but the greater part was waste
land, strewn with rubbish and haunted by all sorts of bad characters.
Certainly the whole community benefited, and not Wykeham's scholars only,
when king and pope sanctioned his undertaking.
The Cloisters, of which two views are given, are singularly beautiful.
They were designed, together with the area which they enclose, as a
burial-ground for the College. It is unfortunate that many of the brass
tablets were removed during the Civil War, when the College was used as a
garrison. Royalist pikes, in those days, were trailed in the Quadrangle,
and ammunition was stored in Cloisters and Tower. Later on the College was
tenanted by soldiers of the Commonwealth, who in course of fortifying it
did some damage to the buildings.
The Chapel is perhaps the finest extant specimen of the Perpendicular
style. It suffered severely during the Reformation, when the niches of the
reredos were denuded and filled up with stone and mortar, with a coat of
plaster over all. In course of time the original east end was
rediscovered, and the reredos renewed. By 1894 statues were erected in the
niches; and as the open timber roof had been replaced in 1880, the whole
may now be considered to have been restored, as far as is possible, to its
original appearance. The west window (in the ante-chapel) is famous as
having been designed by Reynolds. An illustration of it is here given. The
beauty of the figures and of the colouring is universally admitted.
The last illustration shews the New Buildings, through which is a back
entrance to the College, as seen from Holywell Street. Of these it must be
said that they are far less interesting than the quaint old street in
which they are situated. The best of them is the most recent addition, a
fine tower put up in 1880 to the memory of a former Bursar, Mr. Robinson.
The Hall is a fine building, though its original proportions have been
altered, not for the better. Here on August 29, 1605, King James I. with
his queen and the Prince of Wales were entertained to dinner; and here on
festival days the scholars were bidden by their Founder to amuse
themselves after supper with singing and with recitations, whose themes
were to be "the chronicles of the realm and the wonders of the world." On
the walls are portraits of Chichele and William of Waynflete, members of
the College, who were presently to rival, as Founders, the munificence of
William of Wykeham himself; of Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, friend of
Erasmus and promoter of humanism; and of Sydney Smith.
The exclusive connection between Winchester and New College, which the
Founder planned, proved in course of time a disadvantage. In 1857 half the
fellowships and a few scholarships were thrown open to public competition.
Since then the College has largely increased its numbers, and
representatives of all the great schools of England are sojourners within
its walls. The Founder's motto, "Manners Makyth Man," is of too wide an
application to be limited to the members of any one school; and it is
permissible to think that William of Wykeham, shrewd and liberal-minded as
he was, would approve the change. An earlier alteration he would certainly
have endorsed. He secured as a special privilege to the Fellows of his
Foundation, that they should be admitted to all degrees in the University
without asking any grace of congregation, provided they passed a
satisfactory examination in their own College. His object was to impose a
severer educational test than that which the University then afforded;
when, however, University examinations became a reality, his good
intention was nullified. Wykehamists pleaded their privilege, and so
evaded the ordeal which members of other Colleges must undergo. Thus was
an originally good custom corrupted. The College, to its credit,
voluntarily abjured this questionable privilege in 1834; and is now second
only to Balliol in the intellectual race.
LINCOLN COLLEGE
JOHN FLEMMYNGE,
Bishop of Lincoln, was for the greater part of his life a sympathiser with
the Lollards; but on changing his opinions—for what reason is not
known—he founded a College for the express purpose of training
divines who should confute their doctrines. Such was the origin of Lincoln
College, in the year 1429.
Mr. Matthison's first picture shews the entrance to the College, as seen
from Turl Street. Farther on is a part of the front of Exeter, and the
spire of its Chapel, with Trinity in the background. Lincoln's
entrance-tower dates from the Founder's time.
The second gives the interior of the Front Quadrangle. Reference to old
engravings, such as that given in Chalmers' History of the Colleges,
Halls, and Public Buildings of the University of Oxford (1810), shews
the battlements to be a modern addition, and anything but an improvement.
The Chapel, which stands in the inner court, was built at the expense of
Dr. John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln and afterwards Archbishop of York,
and was consecrated on September 15, 1631. Its roof and wainscoting are of
cedar, the roof in particular being richly ornamented. The painted windows
are also noteworthy. Tradition says that they were bought by Dr. Williams
in Italy. That at the east end represents six principal events of the
gospel narrative, with their corresponding types in the Old Testament. The
following is the complete list:—The Creation of Man—the
Nativity of Christ; the Passage through the Red Sea—the Baptism of
Christ; the Jewish Passover—the Lord's Supper; the Brazen Serpent in
the Wilderness—the Crucifixion; Jonah delivered from the Whale—the
Resurrection; the Ascent of Elijah in the Chariot of Fire—the
Ascension.
John Wesley spent nine years in Lincoln College, being elected Fellow in
1726. Among its members may be named Sir William Davenant, Poet Laureate;
and Dr. Robert Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln, a man of great piety,
learning, and amiability, who forms the theme of one of Izaak Walton's
Lives. It is to him that our English Liturgy owes the beautiful﹃Prayer
for all Conditions of Men﹄and "General Thanksgiving." A recent Rector of
Lincoln was Mark Pattison, B.D., who might rival Sanderson in learning,
though not in the quality of forbearance. His Memoirs, posthumously
published, contained, with much that was of interest, some unusually
outspoken judgments upon his contemporaries in Oxford.
ALL SOULS COLLEGE
COLLEGIUM Omnium
Animarum Fidelium defunctorum de Oxon.
This title expresses one of the
purposes for which All Souls was founded. It was a Chantry first, a home
of learning afterwards. An obligation was imposed upon the Society to pray
for the good estate of the Founders, during their lives, and for their
souls after their decease; also for the souls of Henry V. and the Duke of
Clarence, together with those of all the dukes, earls, barons, knights,
esquires, and other subjects of the Crown of England who had fallen in the
French War; and for the souls of all the faithful departed. To think of
All Souls is to think of Agincourt.
As to learning, sixteen of the Fellows were directed to study civil and
canon law, the rest philosophy, theology, and the arts.
The Founders were Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, and King Henry
VI. Chichele is the Archbishop who in Shakespeare's King Henry V.
urges the king (quite in accordance with history) to vindicate his claims
to the crown of France. Educated in all the prejudices of his age, he set
his face against the followers of Wyckliffe; at the same time he protested
against the encroachments of Rome, and was spoken of in Oxford as﹃the
darling of the people, and the foster-parent of the clergy.﹄He was deeply
read in the law, and All Souls still bears the impress of his legal
tastes.
The buildings are very extensive, and are grouped around three
quadrangles. The first view (which gives also a glimpse of the Radcliffe
and the Old Schools) shews the front of the North Quadrangle, as seen from
St. Catherine Street, with the windows of the magnificent Codrington
Library.
But the Library is eclipsed, in general opinion, by the Chapel.﹃It is
usually observed,﹄says Chalmers,﹃that whatever visitor remembers
anything of Oxford, remembers the beautiful Chapel of All Souls, and joins
in its praises.﹄It is characterised by dignity and simplicity, and its
great reredos has a remarkable history. The Chapel was wrecked in
Reformation days, and the remains of the reredos were covered with plaster
in the reign of Charles II. In 1870 some workmen accidentally discovered,
on removing some of the plaster, the ruins of the now forgotten reredos.
It was then reconstructed, and the empty niches refilled with statues of
Chichele, Henry VI., and the great ones of their time. The College also
owns a fine sundial, the work of Sir Christopher Wren, who was one of its
Fellows.
The four Bible-clerks, as is well known, are the only undergraduates. An
All Souls' Fellowship is now what an Oriel Fellowship was in the early
part of the nineteenth century, the blue ribbon of Oxford. Since its
foundation in 1437 the following are a few of the eminent men who have
been members of this Society:—Linacre, Sheldon, Jeremy Taylor, the
poet Young, Blackstone, and Bishop Heber.
MAGDALEN COLLEGE
WILLIAM OF
WAYNFLETE, who founded this College, was brought up in the traditions of
William of Wykeham, and maintained them most worthily. A member of
Wykeham's school, and perhaps of New College, he became Headmaster of
Winchester, only leaving it to act as first Headmaster of Eton, on the
foundation of that College by Henry VI. Like Wykeham he lived through
troubled times, and like him occupied the see of Winchester and was
Chancellor of England. The latter post he resigned in the last year of
Henry VI., but remained Bishop of Winchester until his death in 1486. He
was buried in Winchester Cathedral, where eighty-two years earlier Wykeham
had been laid to rest.
On the present site of Magdalen College stood an old hospital, named after
St. John the Baptist. This hospital, with its grounds, was made over to
William of Waynflete in 1457; some remains of its buildings still survive
in what is known as the Chaplains' Quadrangle; and in this hospital the
new society found temporary shelter. Waynflete did not proceed at once to
build his new College; the times were disturbed, and with the victory of
the Yorkist faction he found himself in some peril. Pardoned, however, by
Edward IV., he was at liberty to carry out his designs. If not his own
architect, he certainly superintended the building; and with the exception
of the famous Tower, the work was completed before his death.
In the result, taste has generally decided, what most visitors feel
instinctively at first sight, that Magdalen is the most beautiful College
in Oxford. This distinction it owes partly to the perfect proportions of
its buildings, and partly to the loveliness of its surroundings. To assure
oneself of this, one may take a boat up the Cherwell (as the people in Mr.
Matthison's first drawing have done), and, while the sculls rest idly on
the water's surface, drink deeply of the beauty of the scene.
The foundation stone of the famous Tower (which from different points of
view appears in three more of the illustrations) was laid in 1492.
Tradition says that it was designed by Wolsey, who was about that time
Bursar of Magdalen; and also asserts that a mass for the soul of Henry
VII. used, before the Reformation, to be performed upon the top of the
Tower on every May-day at early morning. It is certain that a hymn is
still sung there annually at that season, as those who are up early enough
may hear for themselves.
Whether one approaches Magdalen by the water-way or by "The High"—as
in the second illustration—the Tower is still the dominant feature
of the view. On the left are seen St. Swithun's Buildings, designed in
happy harmony with the older structure. When the Lodge is passed, one is
confronted with the old stone pulpit (sketched by Mrs. Walton), from which
an open-air sermon was formerly preached on St. John the Baptist's day. *
The court on that occasion used to be fenced round with green boughs, in
allusion to St. John's preaching in the wilderness.
* This custom has recently been revived.
The Cloisters are next entered, from which is obtained a splendid view of
Waynflete's Quadrangle and Tower (the "Founder's Tower" of the next
illustration). The perfect grace of Magdalen is here revealed, and praise
becomes superfluous. The Chapel, Hall, and Library open out of this
Quadrangle. The College choir is among the best in the three kingdoms.
Many theories have been suggested in explanation of the curious stone
figures in the Quadrangle, which were put up after Waynflete's day. The
most reasonable appears to be that which makes them represent the several
virtues and vices which members of the College should follow after and
eschew. But even so that interpretation seems a little forced which makes
the hippopotamus, carrying his young one on his shoulder, emblematic of﹃a
good tutor, or Fellow of a College, who is set to watch over the youth of
the society, and by whose prudence they are to be led through the dangers
of their first entrance into the world.﹄*
* Oedipus Magdalensis, in the College Library.
To speak now of the three remaining illustrations, the first shews the
garden, reached from the Quadrangle, the exterior of which forms the
background of the picture. From here a good view is obtained of the new
buildings, a stately eighteenth-century pile, which adjoin the deer park;
a part of them, as well as of the deer park, is seen in Mr. Matthison's
sketch. Finally, he gives his impression of the College as seen at evening
from the entrance of Addison's Walk, with the Tower blue-grey against a
paling sky.
That walk, which commemorates "the famous Mr. Joseph Addison," as Esmond
called him, was in part, at any rate, laid out in Queen Elizabeth's day;
and here the future essayist may have often strolled and meditated, in the
exercise of that gift of "a most profound silence" with which, half in
jest, he credited himself. There stood in his time at the entrance of the
water-walk an oak, which for centuries had been, according to Chalmers,
"the admiration of many generations." Evelyn, the diarist, commemorates
its huge proportions. It was overthrown by a storm in 1789, and a chair
made of its wood is preserved in the President's lodgings.
Magdalen in its time has welcomed many royal visitors, among them Edward
IV. in 1481, and Richard III. in 1483. Richard was so pleased with the
disputations provided for his entertainment that he presented the two
protagonists (one of them was Grocyn, the Greek scholar) with a buck
apiece and money as well. Other guests were Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder
son of Henry VII., and Henry, son of James I., whose great promise was cut
short by an early death. Cromwell and Fairfax dined at Magdalen, when they
received the degree of D.C.L. in 1649, and, instead of hearing the usual
disputations, played at bowls upon the College green.
Meanwhile the College had educated its fair share of prominent men:
Wolsey; Colet, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's; Cardinal Pole; William
Tyndale, translator of the Bible; Lyly, whose Euphues gave a name to a
certain style of writing; and John Hampden. A notable President (1561) was
Dr. Laurence Humphrey, who was among the Genevan exiles in Queen Mary's
time. On his return he retained the Genevan dislike for ecclesiastical
vestments, but was persuaded to wear them on the occasion of Queen
Elizabeth's visit to Oxford. "Mr. Doctor," said the queen, who was aware
of his usual practice, "that loose gown becomes you mighty well. I wonder
your notions should be so narrow."
The life of a College is in general self-contained, but in the last year
of James II.'s reign Magdalen becomes for a time the centre of a
constitutional struggle. There is no more glorious page in her annals.
James II. had done his best to turn University College into a Roman
Catholic seminary, and had made a professor of that religion Dean of
Christ Church. He now sought to impose upon the Fellows of Magdalen a
President of his own choosing, one Farmer, a papist, and a man of known
bad character. The Fellows replied by electing one of their own number,
John Hough, upon which they were cited before the Court of High Commission
and bullied by Judge Jeffreys, while Hough's election was declared invalid.
Farmer was so generally discredited that the king did not press his
claims, but shortly afterwards nominated in his stead Dr. Parker, Bishop
of Oxford. When the Fellows respectfully refused to accept him, Hough and
twenty-six Fellows were forcibly ejected, as well as many of the "demies"
(or scholars) who sympathised with their action. Parker died after a few
months' tenure of office, when James named Gifford, a Roman Catholic, as
his successor. It was only in October 1688, when moved to terror by the
Declaration of William of Orange, that the king, among other concessions,
cancelled Gifford's appointment and restored Dr. Hough and the ejected
Fellows. But then, as we know, all concessions were too late. Hough
remained President until 1701.
During the eighteenth century Magdalen was not exempt from the general
somnolence which pervaded the University. Gibbon's residence there was cut
short by his becoming a Roman Catholic. His harsh judgment of the College,
warped as it was, cannot be entirely refuted. Famous nineteenth-century
members of Magdalen were Robert Lowe, Lord Selborne, Charles Reade, and
Professor Mozley. At present it does not look as if the charge of
inactivity could ever again be preferred against Waynflete's Foundation.
BRASENOSE COLLEGE
THE first thing
about this College to excite a stranger's curiosity is its name. The
explanation is trivial enough. Brasenose Hall (which was in existence in
the thirteenth century and became Brasenose College in 1509) was so called
from the brass knocker—the head of a lion with a very prominent nose—which
adorned its gateway. In 1334 the members of the Hall, from whatever
reason, migrated into Lincolnshire, taking the knocker with them, and set
up their rest at Stamford. "There is in Stamford," wrote Antony Wood,﹃a
building in St. Paul's parish, near to one of the tower gates, called
Brazenose to this day, and has a great gate, and a wicket, upon which
wicket is a head or face of old cast brass, with a ring through the nose
thereof. It had also a fair refectory within, and is at this time written
in leases and deeds Brazen Nose.﹄This building was bought by "B. N. C."
(to adopt Oxford phraseology) in 1890, and the knocker brought back to
Oxford, none the worse for its prolonged rustication.
The College named after this venerable relic owes its foundation to a pair
of friends, William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton of
Sutton, in the county of Cheshire, an ecclesiastically-minded layman, who
became Steward of the monastery of Sion, near Brentford.﹃Unmarried
himself,﹄the knight's biographer informs us, "and not anxious to
aggrandize his family, Sir Richard Sutton bestowed handsome benefactions
and kind remembrances among his kinsmen; but he wedded the public, and
made posterity his heir."
The College which grew up under the personal supervision of these two
friends, occupies the ground on which stood no less than eight Halls: a
fact which seems to shew that these institutions were not large in bulk.
The Founders purchased Brasenose Hall, Little University Hall, Salisbury
Hall, with St. Mary's Entry—a picturesque lane, which appears in the
first of Mr. Matthison's illustrations; and five more. Tennyson's phrase,
"the tumult of the Halls," must have been peculiarly applicable in
mediaeval Oxford. Distinctly mediaeval were the statues of the new
Foundation; those who drew them up adhered to the training of the
schoolmen, and made no provision for the new learning. When John Claymond,
first President of Corpus, endowed six scholarships at Brasenose (in
1536), he stipulated that the scholars appointed should attend the
lectures of the Latin and Greek Readers of his own College. However,
Brasenose had her own lecturers in these humaner studies, before the
century was out.
If one would see the Front Quadrangle as the Founders viewed it, when the
last stones from Headington quarries were put in their places, he must
imagine it deprived of its third tier of windows and its parapet, for
these are Jacobean additions. The alteration, so far as it affected the
outside, can hardly have been for the better; for the additional storey
has certainly dwarfed the proportions of the fine Tower, which, with its
Gateway, is the most striking feature of the second picture. As to the
interior of the Quadrangle—sketched by Mr. Matthison from two points
of view—it is less easy to form an opinion; the dormer windows are
so quaintly ornamental that the severest critic may hesitate to wish them
gone.
Architecture of a totally different order meets the eye when the Inner
Quadrangle is reached, as a glance at the final illustration proves; for
the Italian style is much in evidence. The foundation stone of the present
Chapel, which represented an older one, was laid in 1656, and tradition
attributes the design of it, as well as that of the Library, to Sir
Christopher Wren, who was then quite a young man. Its windows are Gothic,
but the Corinthian pilasters and the general idea of the structure shew
that the architect's adherence was divided between the older and newer
methods. The ceiling is elaborately carved in fanwork tracery. The Library
stands between the Chapel and the south side of the Quadrangle. There is a
curious regulation in the statutes directing that each volume it contained
should be described in the catalogue by the first word on the second leaf.
The reason of this is that the first leaf, being often splendidly
illuminated, was liable to be torn out by dishonest borrowers; and as it
was important to be able to identify a book, this could best be done by
noting the first word on the second page, because it would very seldom
happen that two copyists would begin that page with the same word. Hence
the initial word of the second leaf of a manuscript would in all
probability mark that individual copy and no other.
Famous members of Brasenose College were Foxe, the historian of the
Martyrs; Robert Burton, author of the Anatomy of Melancholy—we
may be sure heused the Library; John Marston, satirist and
dramatist, who, along with Ben Jonson and Chapman, was thrown into prison
for vilifying the Scotch in Eastward Ho; Sir Henry Savile,
afterwards Warden of Merton, Founder of the Savilian Professorship of
Astronomy; Bishop Heber; Henry Hart Milman, the historian; and more noted
cricketers and oarsmen than we have space to mention.
Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, was chosen Principal of the College when in
his ninetieth year, but resigned after two months of office. That was in
the sixteenth century.
CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE
CORPUS—as
this College is universally known among Oxford men—was founded in
1516, during the days of the "new learning," by Richard Foxe, Bishop of
Winchester. Zealous for education, he took care that Greek as well as
Latin should be taught to his scholars, appointing two "Readers" in those
tongues, whose lectures were to be open to the whole University. When,
therefore, in 1853 Corpus endowed the new Latin Professorship, it was
acting in the spirit of its Founder. That spirit, indeed, has animated the
College throughout its history, for hard work (by no means divorced from
athletic excellence) is traditional at Corpus. Bishop Foxe's plate and
crozier are still among the treasures of his Foundation.
The first illustration shews the exterior of the College. Above the
gateway a curious piece of sculpture represents "Angels bearing the Host,"
or Corpus Christi, in a monstrance; on either side is a shield, the one
engraved with Foxe's arms, the other with those of his see.
The second picture gives the interior of the Front Quadrangle. It is
perhaps not too fanciful to suggest that the solidity and simplicity of
the architecture are in keeping with the characteristics which experience
has taught us to look for in Corpus men. A touch of variety is given by
the ancient cylindrical dial, constructed in 1581 by Sir Charles Turnbull,
a Fellow. It is surmounted by the effigy of a pelican, a bird dear to
Corpus. Another stone pelican, by the way, broods over the Library roof at
Wadham.
Jewel and Hooker among theologians, and Stowell and Tenterden among
lawyers, belonged to Bishop Foxe's College. Here, too, was trained
Oglethorpe, philanthropist and founder of Georgia, whom Pope chose as a
type of "strong benevolence of soul" and Johnson loved to honour; and
here were passed in close friendship the undergraduate days of Arnold and
Keble, who, though later estranged by differences of opinion on religious
questions, still retained their old personal regard.
CHRIST CHURCH
IF Magdalen is the
most beautiful of Oxford Colleges, Christ Church is assuredly the most
magnificent. Building was one of the favourite pursuits of Cardinal
Wolsey, first Founder of Christ Church, as it was of Wykeham and Waynflete
before him: it is almost mysterious how men of this type, who had the
highest affairs of the State as well as of the Church upon their
shoulders, found so much leisure to devote to architecture. Wolsey's plans
were cut short by his fall from power, but he had already shewn by his
completed palace in Whitehall and by Hampton Court, which he built as a
present for his sovereign, the grandeur and largeness of his ideas. Out of
the revenues of suppressed monasteries he had designed to establish a
College far larger and far more richly endowed than any of its
predecessors; and three sides of the Great Quadrangle had arisen before he
fell upon adversity. Then the king stopped the work, and for a century the
unfinished structure stood as a reminder of
Vaulting ambition, that o'erleaps itself,
And falls o' the other side.
Yet Wolsey had a public as well as a private ambition. He loved learning,
and desired to promote it: he sought to save the Church by rearing
instructed ministers for her service. If he failed, it was a noble
failure; for though Henry VIII., who now assumed the title of Founder,
sanctioned an establishment less wide and generous than Wolsey proposed,
even so the new College easily surpassed all others in the scale of its
endowments.
The finest view of Christ Church from without is that which is obtained
from St. Aldates Street, and is shewn in Mr. Matthison's first drawing.
"Tom" Tower, which forms the centre of the façade, was not part of the
original scheme, but was added in 1682, when Dr. John Fell was Dean. The
College owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Fell for employing Wren as his
architect, if for nothing else. Wolseys gate, which was no higher than the
two smaller towers between which his statue stands, might easily have been
spoilt by a less skilful designer, but Wren added to its beauty, and made
it one of the finest structures in Oxford. The Tower is named after the
great bell which it contains, brought from Osney Abbey. Every night "Tom"
tolls a curfew of a hundred and one strokes at nine o'clock, and at the
closing stroke all College gates are shut and all undergraduates supposed
to be within their College walls. Dr. John Fell, by the way, is the Dr.
Fell whom the epigrammatist disliked without being able to assign a cause.
His pictures shew a forbidding countenance enough, but he deserved well of
his College and the University. In addition to the Tower, he completed the
front towards St. Aldates, fostered the University Press, and did his best
to make examinations a reality. He planted also the elms of the Broad
Walk, a beautiful avenue which custom has decreed as the regulation
promenade on "Show Sunday" (in Commemoration Week); but within the last
twenty years storms have made havoc of the trees, and little of the Walk's
former beauty remains.
The Great Quadrangle—"Tom Quad." in Oxford parlance—dwarfs by
its large dimensions all the other courts of Oxford. The arches and
rib-mouldings indicate the original intention of the first builders, which
was to surround the Quadrangle with a cloister. As it is, though this
design was never carried out, the impression conveyed is one of great
splendour. Never is the appearance of "Tom Quad." more effective than at
the moment when the white-robed congregation comes out of the Cathedral
doors. All undergraduates of "The House" wear surplices—worn by
scholars only, save here and at Keble—and the Cathedral is their
Chapel. Mr. Matthison has chosen such a moment for his drawing, when the
Quadrangle is in a moment flooded by the white surplices, varied here and
there by the crimson hood of a Master or a Doctor's scarlet robes.
On the left of the drawing appears the Cathedral spire; in the centre the
Belfry Tower, a solid and handsome structure put up in Dean Liddell's day;
and on the right the windows and pinnacles of the Hall.
To approach the Hall one passes through the archway at the south-east
corner of the Quadrangle, and ascends a wide staircase notable for the
wonderful fanwork tracery of the ceiling. This tracery dates from the time
of Dean Samuel Fell (father of Dr. John Fell), and was completed in 1640;
it appears in Mr. Matthison's fourth drawing. The Hall itself (which is
the subject of the next illustration) has no rival in Oxford and no
superior in England, Westminster Hall only excepted. It measures 115 feet
by 40, and is 50 feet in height. The window above the dais contains full
length stained-glass representations of Wolsey, More, Erasmus, Colet, and
other great men of the Reformation era; and the walls are hung with a very
fine collection of portraits, including those of Henry VIII. and Wolsey
(by Holbein), Deans Aldrich and Atterbury (by Kneller), Charles Wesley (by
Romney), George Canning (by Lawrence), Gladstone (by Millais),﹃Lewis
Carroll﹄(by Herkomer), and Dean Liddell (by Watts).
There is still much of Christ Church to explore, as the remaining
illustrations indicate. From Merton Street one approaches "The House" by
Canterbury Gate, which opens upon the small Canterbury Quadrangle (erected
towards the end of the eighteenth century). Beyond is Peckwater
Quadrangle, built in 1705 after the Italian model, on the site of
Peckwater's Inn. The black and crumbling walls of this quadrangle are in
striking contrast to the smooth surface of "Tom Quad.," but in the summer
term, when every window is gay with flowers, the gloom of Peckwater is
forgotten. On the right hand is the Library, which, beside books, contains
an interesting collection of paintings of the early Italian schools. The
outlook from the Meadow Buildings (1863), which includes the Broad Walk,
the Long Walk, and glimpses of the River, is a pleasant one, though the
buildings themselves are not, from the outside, particularly attractive.
Some of the famous sons of Christ Church have already been incidentally
mentioned. As might be expected from its numerous muster-roll, it has had
members who attained distinction in every walk of life; but statistics
seem to shew that there is something in the atmosphere of "The House"
peculiarly favourable to the growth of statesmen. No other College, at any
rate, has given England three premiers in succession, Mr. Gladstone (a
double first), Lord Salisbury, and Lord Rosebery. To make an exhaustive
list might weary the reader, but the honoured name of Sir Robert Peel must
at least be mentioned. Strenuous as were these men's labours in
after-life, it is permissible to fancy that amid the pleasant surroundings
of their student days they did not altogether "scorn delights." Here, for
instance, is an extract from the diary kept by Charles Wesley when an
undergraduate:﹃Wrote to V.—translated—played an hour at
billiards.﹄There is no harm in supposing "V." a girl, if we choose.
How strangely runs the little list
Of Wesley's day, like Isis rippling,
While yet the mighty Methodist
'Mid striplings merry made, a stripling.
to quote the words of an anonymous rhymer.
Again, the expounding of mathematics term after term is a sober pursuit
enough, yet C. L. Dodgson, mathematical tutor of Christ Church, had
leisure to be "Lewis Carroll" also, the nursery classic, the delight of
children of all ages. The serious purpose of John Ruskin, who as the
anonymous "Oxford Graduate" took the Art world by storm, could not
extinguish his lambent humour. It is a part of the genius of Christ Church
to keep alive a certain sunshine of the mind. Let us hope that this was
the case even with her austerer thinkers; with Locke, who was forced to
leave the College on account of his Whig opinions; with William Penn, who
was sent down for nonconformity—you will find sunshine as well as
shadow in his little volume, Some Fruits of Solitude, which he is
thought to have composed, partly at any rate, in prison; and with Dr.
Pusey, as he searched for the way of perfection among the dusty folios of
patristic lore.
TRINITY COLLEGE
TRINITY COLLEGE was
founded by Sir Thomas Pope, a rich lawyer, in 1555. The site was
previously occupied by Durham College, a now extinct foundation, which
existed for the training of students from the Benedictine monastery of
Durham.
There is much that is admirable about the buildings and grounds of
Trinity; and its position is so little secluded that anyone passing down
Broad Street or Parks Road can hardly help noticing its beauties. The
first illustration shews the College as seen from Broad Street. In the
foreground are the handsome wrought-iron gates—there is a companion
pair at the verge of the garden, in Parks Road—beyond which is the
square Entrance Tower leading to the Small Quadrangle, decorated by four
figures representing Astronomy, Geometry, Divinity, and Medicine. The old
cottage buildings on the right of the Porter's Lodge, facing Broad Street,
which are now used as College rooms, are in striking contrast with the new
buildings designed by Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A., and finished in 1887; these
are some of the last century's most successful additions to ancient
Oxford.
The Chapel has an unwonted fragrance, for the wainscot is of cedar; it is
famous also for its carving, being in this particular one of the best
examples of the work of Grinling Gibbons. The Hall has an unusually good
collection of portraits. Of all the buildings the Buttery is probably the
most ancient.
The second illustration, taken from Parks Road, shews a part of the
garden, with the Inner Quadrangle in the background; this latter is built
in the Italian manner, after Wren's design. The costume of the loiterers
in the garden, of both sexes, suggests that Mr. Matthison painted his
picture on some warm day of spring. On such a day it is pleasant to fleet
the time carelessly amid such scenes as these; nor must the beautiful Lime
Tree Walk escape mention, whose pleached boughs form a continuous archway
of foliage.
Trinity can point to a remarkably long list of distinguished members, of
whom it may suffice to name here the poets Lodge and Denham, Harrington
(author of Oceana), Chatham, Professor Freeman, Bishop Stubbs, and
Richard Burton. But Burtons stay was a short one; he heard already "the
call of the wild."
ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE
ARCHBISHOP
CHICHELE'S College of St. Bernard, established by him in 1437 and
suppressed by Henry VIII., occupied the site of what is now St. John's
College. One reminder of the older foundation is the statue of St.
Bernard, which still stands in the Tower over the Gateway. This Gateway,
sketched from St. Giles', forms the subject of the second illustration.
The Hall and Chapel too, though much altered in later times, were in the
first instance used by the Cistercians.
St. John's was founded by Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London, in 1555.
His portrait hangs in the Hall, as well as those of Laud and Juxon,
successively Presidents of the College and Archbishops of Canterbury, and
that of George III. St. John's was devoted to the Stuart cause, so it may
be supposed that the likeness of the Hanoverian king was not hung without
compunctions on the part of senior members. The Library contains a
portrait of Charles I., and statues of him and of his queen face each
other in the Inner Quadrangle.
Reference has been already made to the second illustration. The first
shews the exterior of the Front Quadrangle, sketched from within the
walled row of elm trees. This Quadrangle was only finished in 1597, when
its eastern side (facing the Gateway) was built.
The Inner Quadrangle, which was begun at the same date and completed in
the first half of the seventeenth century, is, from an architectural point
of view, of unusual interest. The visitor may naturally inquire what two
classical colonnades are doing in a Gothic quadrangle. There is no more
satisfactory reply than that the architect, Inigo Jones, made a somewhat
bold experiment, combining Italian reminiscences with a Gothic scheme.
Individual taste may determine how far he was successful; probably most
critics will admire the colonnades in themselves, but think them out of
place where they are. Laud furnished the funds for Inigo Jones' work, but
happily the pair excluded the Italian element from their Garden Front,
which is certainly one of the most beautiful things in Oxford. Diverse as
are the judgments which have been passed upon Laud's character and
actions, there cannot be two opinions as to the beauty and fitness of this
building, nor could any Head of a College desire a worthier memorial.
Coming up to St. John's as a scholar in 1590, Laud became President in
1611, and on the completion of his new buildings had the honour of
receiving King Charles I. and Queen Henrietta Maria as his guests. Full of
stress as his life was, and tragic as was its end, his most peaceful hours
were probably passed within the walls of the Foundation which his
generosity did so much to adorn. His body, which had been buried in London
after his execution, was brought to St. John's at the Restoration, and
laid to rest, as he had desired, beneath the altar in the Chapel. The
Library contains a valuable collection of ecclesiastical vestments which
are said to be his gift.
The third and fourth illustrations shew the north and south ends of the
Garden Front. The open window in Mrs. Waltons sketch is that of the room
occupied by Laud.
The Garden is among the most delightful in Oxford; and for beauty and
diversity of flowers it certainly bears the palm. Like the garden at
Wadham, it was formerly laid out in the stiff Dutch style.
Sir Thomas White, the Founder, was a member of the Guild of Merchant
Taylors; and a considerable number of the scholarships are given to
members of that Company's London school.
JESUS COLLEGE
JESUS COLLEGE since
its birth in 1571 has always been closely connected with Wales. Queen
Elizabeth, who did not forget her Welsh ancestry, and "took no scorn,"
perhaps, "to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's day," was willing to accept
from Hugh Price, its actual originator, the honorary title of Founder. The
College possesses three portraits of this sovereign, as well as pictures
of Charles I. and Charles II. (who were benefactors).
The buildings are in the late Gothic style. The two illustrations shew
different aspects of the Front Quadrangle, which conveys an impression of
beauty and restfulness.
The Chapel is interesting. Above the entrance is a Latin inscription,
signifying "May prayer ascend, may grace descend." Within are the tombs of
Dr. Henry Maurice, Professor of Divinity, 1691; Sir Edward Stradling, a
colonel in Charles I.'s army, 1644; and several Principals of the College:—Dr.
Francis Mansell, who held that office three times; Sir Eubule Thelwall,
Principal from 1621 to 1630; and Sir Leoline Jenkins, appointed in 1661.
First appointed in 1620, Dr. Mansell resigned the following year in favour
of Thelwall, who had completed the building of the College. His second
term of office was cut short in Commonwealth days, but he was reinstated
at the Restoration; the only Head of a College, perhaps, who underwent
such repeated vicissitudes. Sir Leoline Jenkins did much to repair the
damages which the College suffered in the Civil Wars.
The service in the Chapel on Wednesday and Friday evenings is entirely in
the Welsh language.
Distinguished members in the past of Jesus College were Henry Vaughan, the
poet; "Beau Nash," the arbiter of fashion in Bath; Lloyd of St. Asaph, one
of "the Seven Bishops"; and J. R. Green, the historian.
Were Sir Hugh Evans and Fluellen, those embodiments of Welsh humours,
suggested by Jesus men? We may think so, if we will; for Shakespeare is
known to have visited Oxford, and is quite as likely to have picked up his
Welshmen there as anywhere else.
WADHAM COLLEGE
IT can only be
conjectured how long the vision of a stately building which, like
Absalom's Pillar, should preserve the memory of his childless house,
haunted the vacant hours of Nicholas Wadham of Merifield, in the county of
Somerset. What is certain is that death cut short his day-dreams, and that
he committed the accomplishment of his design to his wife Dorothy. This
remarkable woman was seventy-five years of age when the task devolved upon
her. She assumed its responsibilities to such good purpose that within
three years the College which bears her name was completed. The members of
the first Foundation were admitted in 1613, and the Foundress lived some
five years more.
Wadham is one of the most perfect specimens of late Gothic architecture in
existence.
No alteration whatever has taken place in the Front Quadrangle since its
erection; only, where the stones have crumbled, they have been cunningly
replaced. The Chapel, though Perpendicular, was erected at the same time
as the other buildings. The late Mr. J. H. Parker made the reasonable
suggestion that the architect desired to emphasise by this variation of
style the religious and secular uses of the several structures. Wadham,
whether viewed from Parks Road or from its own delightful gardens, is a
veritable joy to the beholder, as our illustrations indicate. The Hall,
moreover, which is one of the finest in Oxford and contains a large
collection of portraits, should not be neglected, nor the interior of the
Chapel, with the sombre grandeur of its stained windows and "prophets
blazoned on the panes."
Wadham's early prosperity received a check in Civil War times, when its
plate was melted down for the king and its Warden driven out by the
Roundheads. Yet Wilkins, its new Warden, did not abuse his trust; and,
thanks to his interest in science, it was within the walls of this College
that the idea of the Royal Society was conceived.
Wadham has not lacked famous members, of diverse professions and highly
divergent opinions. There is Admiral Blake, whose statue watches to-day
over his native Bridgewater; Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, who was made
Master of Arts at fourteen; Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons; Lord
Westbury, whose inscription in the ante-chapel tells us that he "dated all
his success in life from the time when he was elected a scholar of Wadham
at the age of fifteen"; Dean Church among ecclesiastics and Dr. Congreve
among Positivists. Finally, there is Sir Christopher Wren, whose name has
been kept to the end in order that there may be coupled with it the name
of Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A.; for these two architects, both sons of Wadham,
have left impressions which deserve to be indelible upon the Oxford that
we know.
PEMBROKE COLLEGE
PEMBROKE dates its
collegiate life from 1624, but it had already existed and flourished for
several centuries as Broadgates Hall. It owed its rise in the world to the
benefactions of Thomas Tesdale and Richard Wightwick, burgesses of
Abingdon, who desired to endow a College for the benefit of their native
town, and its new name to the Earl of Pembroke, then Chancellor of Oxford.
Thomas Browne, who was later to be the author of Religio Medici,
being senior commoner of the Hall at this epoch, delivered a Latin oration
at the opening ceremony, in which he did not fail to employ the metaphor
of the Phoenix rising out of its ashes.
Architecturally, Pembroke is a little put out of countenance by the
neighbouring glories of Christ Church; nevertheless, the interior of the
Inner Quadrangle ("The Grass Quad.," as it is called), which is the
subject of the first illustration, possesses an irregular but restful
beauty. Up and down its staircases trod George Whitefield, who, as a
servitor, had the ungrateful duty of seeing that the students were in
their rooms at a fixed hour; yet not one syllable of discontent with so
humble a vocation disfigures the pages of his diary.
On the right hand, as one enters the Front Quadrangle, is the library,
formerly the refectory of Broadgates Hall, and the only surviving part of
that institution. The Chapel, renovated and decorated by Mr. C. E. Kempe
in 1884, should be visited. The view of the gateway possesses an added
interest from the fact that Samuel Johnson, when an undergraduate of
Pembroke, lodged in a room in the second storey over the entrance. Johnson
ever retained an affection for his University and College, but it is to be
feared that during his residence of fourteen months poverty and ill-health
combined to make him far from happy. To others, perhaps, he appeared 'gay
and frolicsome,' bent on entertaining his companions and keeping them from
their studies, but to Boswell he gave a different explanation. 'Ah, Sir,'
he said, 'I was mad and violent. It was bitterness which they mistook for
frolic. I was miserably poor, and I thought to fight my way by my
literature and my wit, so I disregarded all power and all authority.' In a
more cheerful mood he spoke of Pembroke as 'a nest of singing birds'; and
it is on record that he cut lectures to go sliding on Christ Church
Meadow. Dr. Johnson is Pembroke's most famous son; but she can also point
to the names of Francis Beaumont, John Pym, Shenstone, Blackstone, and
Birkbeck Hill, Boswell's greatest editor.
WORCESTER COLLEGE
WORCESTER COLLEGE
is the successor to Gloucester Hall, a hostel of the Benedictine Order
founded in the thirteenth century. This Hall was originally designed for
students from the monastery at Gloucester, but was soon thrown open to
other Benedictine houses. Suppressed at the Reformation, it was called
back to life in Elizabeth's reign by Sir Thomas White, who had already
shewn his zeal for education by founding St. John's College, and for
several generations had a successful career. Among its distinguished
members may be mentioned Thomas Allen, mathematician; Sir Kenelm Digby,
the romantic wooer of the brilliant and high-spirited Venetia Stanley; and
Richard Lovelace, the Cavalier poet. At the Restoration bad times came,
and Gloucester Hall, like the earlier Hertford College of a subsequent
age, seemed likely to perish of inanition.
At this crisis there stepped in a benefactor, Sir Thomas Crookes of
Worcestershire, with a bequest of £10,000; and the transformed Hall was
known, from 1698 onwards, as Worcester College.
Worcester is comparatively at some distance from the other Colleges, a
fact on which undergraduate humour loves to dwell; but jests on this
subject reflect rather on the poor walking powers of those who make them.
At any rate, a "well-girt" visitor to Oxford need not hesitate to take the
journey, and will certainly find his pains rewarded, for Worcester has
much to show that is of interest, and much that is beautiful.
The first view gives the interior of the Front Quadrangle. The buildings
here are stately and dignified, if a little cold; they are obviously of
the same date as those overlooking the deer-park of Magdalen, and suggest
the genius of the eighteenth century.
There could hardly be a greater contrast to these than the ancient
structures which are at the left hand of the Quadrangle, as one enters;
for these old buildings take us back to the monastic days of Gloucester
Hall. A glimpse of them, as viewed from the Garden, is given in the second
illustration.
The Garden itself is delightful, and has, alone of Oxford pleasances, the
additional feature of a lake. Mr. Matthison's drawing shows how beautiful
this lake and its surroundings can be, when the colours are newly laid on
by the brush of summer.
HERTFORD COLLEGE
Hertford college
consists of an anomalous collection of buildings, of various styles and
dates. The eye rests with most pleasure on the Jacobean part of the
Quadrangle, opposite the gateway. One view gives the interior of the
Quadrangle—in which is a sloping stairway reminiscent of a larger
one of the same type in Blois Castle, the other shews the College from
without, and includes the new buildings recently finished.
This medley of structures is suggestive of the vicissitude through which
the College has passed.
So far back as the thirteenth century it was in existence as Hart Hall;
and here the students of Exeter and New College were successively lodged,
while their own Colleges were building. Rightly or wrongly, Exeter College
claimed the ownership of Hart Hall for four centuries; but in 1740 the
then Principal of the Hall, Dr. Newton, was successful in asserting its
independence, and Hart Hall became Hertford College. The endowments,
however, were insignificant; the members fell off and the walls (or a part
of them) fell down; and in 1820 a commission declared that Hertford
College no longer existed.
About this time Magdalen Hall, which stood close to Magdalen College, was
burned down, and the University allotted the buildings of Hertford to its
roofless inhabitants; and the name of Hertford was changed to Magdalen
Hall.
The final transformation came in 1874, when Hertford College, its title
revived by Act of Parliament, was endowed by Mr. Baring, the banker. Thus,
with finances very different to the slender endowments of Dr. Newton's
time, the College began a new era of prosperity.
The famous Selden was at Hart Hall, and Charles James Fox at Hertford; the
old Magdalen Hall bred William Tyndale, Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Clarendon,
and Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan.
KEBLE COLLEGE
MEMBERSHIP of this
College is restricted to those who belong to the Church of England.
Another primary purpose of Keble is to provide a less expensive education
than that afforded by other Colleges. At the moment when the scheme was
formulated died John Keble, author of the Christian Year, and it was
decided to name the new foundation after him, at once as a tribute to his
memory and in order to enlist the active sympathies of his many admirers.
An appeal for funds met with a liberal and widespread response, and Keble
College was opened in the Michaelmas term of 1870.
The external appearance of Keble is not commonly admired. It is a
pleasanter task to dwell for a moment on the beauty of the interior of the
Chapel, which was presented by Mr. William Gibbs, and completed in 1876.
The visitor will be struck by the noble proportions of this edifice, its
finely toned windows and its elaborate mosaics. A small ante-chapel
contains Holman Hunt's celebrated picture—The Light of the World,
presented by Mrs. Combe.
Keble soon took its place among the other Colleges, both in work and play.
It has a splendid Hall and Library, given by the Gibbs family. In
accordance with the economy of the scheme, the rooms of the undergraduates
are small, and all meals are taken in common in Hall. There is
consequently more of the air of a public school about Keble than is looked
for in ordinary College life. Its first warden, Dr. Talbot, is now Bishop
of Southwark.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OXFORD ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law 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™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world 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 www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.