CAMBRIDGE.
Our arrival here was at 7.30 P. M. on Thursday, June 11,
with but an hour's ride from Ely. This city, as is well known, is the
other great university place of England, with its sister Oxford, and
is in many respects like that; for aside from its being a great seat
of learning, the general look and surroundings are much the same.
Fine meadows surround the city, and the River Cam runs through it, as
does the Cherwell at Oxford. The place is one of great antiquity, for
in Doomsday-book it is described as an important place, and is there
called Grente-bridge, from one of the then names of the river. Its
present name is derived from the more modern name, Cam, which is nearer
correct. The pronunciation by the inhabitants was Cambridge, giving _a_
its sound as in _can_, instead of its long sound as in _came_, by our
usage. In 871 it was burnt by the Danes; rebuilt; and burnt in 1010.
Subsequent to this it has been the scene, at various periods, of great
historical events, but we will leave its ancient history and speak of
it as it now is.
The present population, including about 8,500 students, is 35,372. What
makes it of peculiar interest to people of Massachusetts is, that from
it is taken the name of our Cambridge, which was done in honor of some
of the early settlers, who were graduates here, and also of Rev. John
Harvard, who removed from here to America, and died at our Charlestown,
Sept. 24, 1638. At his death he made a donation to our college of money
and his library of 300 books.
No more beautiful place of sojourn in the kingdom of Great Britain
exists than this. There is at one of the principal business sections
quite a commercial aspect, there being good stores for the sale of
goods of all kinds, and the bookstores are exquisitely tempting. Here
and there are fine old mansions elegantly embowered in trees; and
winding about among them, and for long distances, are the most rural
of roads imaginable for quiet rambles, strongly reminding one of the
more retired parts of our Roxbury, most of them being shaded by
venerable trees. There are examples of churches, with their surrounding
graveyards, which boast of very great antiquity, and they also greet
us with a _look_ of centuries. The people are blest with a becoming
and good reverence for these time-honored enclosures and venerable
buildings, and they religiously repair them when needed, but refrain
from amending.
Happily for them, public sentiment is such that no Old South campaigns,
such as balls, fairs, and "Carnivals of Authors," are required before
they will refrain from putting them out of existence. An atmosphere of
learning, and suggestions of high cultivation, and that of centuries'
duration and exercise, prevails and is everywhere apparent. Even the
business portion seems to be subdued, refined, and classic. After
making due allowance for the fact of knowledge of the nature of the
place and interest in it exciting, perhaps, a too intense admiration,
one gets the impression that the children are more refined, and that
even the street horses are better behaved than elsewhere; he all the
time feels as though he was enveloped in an atmosphere of unusual
propriety, for there's a sort of Sunday-air about everything.
As at Oxford, the colleges are many in number, and the buildings are of
peculiar construction, entirely unlike ours in America. We have given
a full description of those at Oxford, and remarks concerning them
apply alike to these, for in most respects they do not vary much from
each other. It may be said that, take at random one half of those at
Oxford, and exchange buildings and grounds with an equal number from
Cambridge,--take them promiscuously, and put each respectively in the
place of the other,--and you would in no way attract especial attention
so far as style, size, or kind of architecture is concerned. Of course
all vary from each other, but part of those in one place do not vary
from part of those of another, any more than each varies from its
neighbor.
Here are the same courts, or closes, called _courts_ at Cambridge,
and _quads_ at Oxford. They are always entered by a principal arch or
gateway from a main street, and there enclosed is the elegant lawn
of that indescribably velvet-like grass, for which such places are
celebrated, and which the mild and moist climate so well takes care of
and favors. Then there is a grand and scrupulously clean gravel-walk
around it, and up against the buildings; and it may be there are good
paths across it, leading to other openings, through under the first
story to another court of like nature, and yet again to others,--for
some colleges have four or more of these.
Everywhere exists a neatness that is remarkable,--no particle of paper
nor bit of anything to mar the nicety. Windows innumerable are filled
on their outside sills with pots of flowers. We often say, as we pass
through the courts and observe the perfect repair every building is
in,--the cleanliness, the comfortable quiet,--"How perfect, and what
a good public sentiment among the students there must be to make the
condition possible."
Aside from these courts, some, and perhaps most of the colleges, have
very large and great park-like grounds and of many acres in extent,
with walks ancient and shaded with venerable trees. The lazy River
Cam moves leisurely through them, as if loath to leave, and as though
admiring its visit and stay. As we stood on one of the grand old
bridges crossing it,--and there are quite a number on the grounds
leading from one division of the park to another, and sometimes, as at
St. John's College, connecting two buildings,--as we stood looking down
into the water we almost felt that it, as we did, realized that the
visit was one of a lifetime, and not to be hurried over.
How inducive of thought are these old classic grounds, centuries in
use? Poets, philosophers, and martyrs, the most renowned men of the
world, have here walked as we are walking. Oxford has had her great
men, and we bow reverently at the thought or even mention of their
names. How the destinies of the kingdom and those of the world have
been influenced by men to whom Oxford was _alma mater_; but an intense
conservatism has always nestled in her bosom and been suckled at her
breasts. For centuries it was Oxford's conscientious duty and work to
be conservator of religion and philosophy, and, as she understood it,
to see that the ship did not drag anchor, drift, nor move a particle
from her ancient moorings of received doctrines and principles; and so,
if burning of martyrs would aid the cause, martyrs must be burned, and
Hooper and Latimer and Ridley and Cranmer, _Cambridge_ men, must be
ensamples and victims. As a result the flame of poetry burned low in
that university, and if the world was to have a Milton and a Spenser,
a Gray and a Byron, Christ's, Pembroke, and Trinity of Cambridge must
furnish them. So of great philosophers! Cambridge's Trinity must
furnish Newton and Bacon; and, as named, the great martyrs Cranmer,
Latimer, and Ridley must go from Jesus, Clare, and Pembroke of this
university; and what vast influence in our New England was exerted
by the labors of John Robinson, the Pilgrims' minister and spiritual
adviser, who although he died before he was permitted to look on this
promised land, yet was to the moment of his death their best earthly
friend; and so we may speak of Elder Brewster and of John Cotton;
of Shepard of Lynn, and Parker and Noyes of Newbury, and all their
fellow-contemporaries in the work of the ministry,--hardly one, save
the two last named, who did not graduate at Cambridge! Archbishop
Laud declared Sidney, Sussex, and Immanuel Colleges here to be "the
nurseries of Puritanism." To use the thought of Dean Stanley: "It seems
to have been the mission of Cambridge to _make_ martyrs, and the work
of Oxford to _burn_ them."
But we pass on and notice the colleges themselves. From their great
number and the long history each has, it will be impossible to give
even a respectable synopsis of their history, and we can do but
little more than name them, as was done for Oxford, in the order of
their founding, with the date, and give a sample only of names of the
eminent men who have been educated at each; and first in the list is
St. Peter's, founded 1284, by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. The
library contains 6,000 volumes, and has fine old antique portraits of
some of the masters and fellows, dating from 1418 to 1578. Among its
eminent men were the famous Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester,
who died 1447. Thomas Gray, author of the renowned "Elegy in a Country
Churchyard," died in 1771, and Lord Chief Justice Ellenboro', 1818.
The second in antiquity is Clare College, founded by Dr. Richard
Badew, Chancellor of the University, in 1326. Elizabeth Clare, the
third sister and co-heiress of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester
and Hertford, of her bounty built the college buildings, and in 1347
endowed it with land; and from thence it obtained the name which it
has held for over five centuries. The grounds named are inconceivably
elegant, and a graceful poet of Oxford, in speaking of them, remarks as
follows:--
Ah me! were ever river-banks so fair,
Gardens so fit for nightingales as these?
Were ever haunts so meet for summer breeze,
Or pensive walk in evening's golden air?
Was ever town so rich in court and tower,
To woo and win stray moonlight every hour?
Some of her eminent men are, beside the martyr Latimer: John Tillotson,
Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1594; Ralph Cudworth, D. D.,
the celebrated writer, 1688; and Rev. James Hervey, author of the
Meditations, 1758. The next is Pembroke, founded in 1347, by Mary
de St. Paul, second wife of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. She
obtained her charter from Edward III. Her husband had died suddenly
in France in 1324. The venerable appearance of the buildings caused
Queen Elizabeth, when she visited it for the first time, to salute it
in a Latin exclamation, a translation of which is, "O house antique
and religious." The thought may have been suggested by a remembrance
of John Rogers, and of Bradford and Ridley, who suffered martyrdom in
the preceding reign, and who were all of this college, the last named
having been its master, or, as we say, its president.
The chapel was built in 1665, from designs by Sir Christopher Wren,
architect of St. Paul's London. The library contains 10,000 volumes.
This college has been called Collegium Episcopale, from the great
number of bishops who were here educated. Among her eminent men was the
martyr Ridley, who was burned at the stake in 1555; Edmund Spenser the
poet, 1599; and William Pitt, 1806.
Gonville and Caius College (Caius is called _Keys_ by the students)
is next. It was founded by Edmund de Gonville in 1348. He proceeded
to erect buildings, but did not live to carry his design into full
execution; he, however, left money for their completion. In 1557 John
Caius, M. D., physician to Queen Mary, endowed the college largely,
and, having procured a charter of incorporation, it took his name. Dr.
Caius was master of his college from 1559 till within a few weeks of
his death in 1573.
There are in the college grounds three gates, which lead to as many
of the courts. One, erected by the Doctor in 1565, has the Latin
inscription over it, HUMILITATIS, meaning, this is the gate
of Humility. The second was built in 1567. This has two inscriptions,
one on each side. One is VIRTUTIS, the gate of Virtue. On the
other side is JO CAIUS POSSUIT SAPIENTIÆ, "John Caius built
this in honor of Wisdom." The third is inscribed HONORIS, the
gate of Honor, and was built in 1574. On the north wall of the chapel
is an inscription to the founder of the college. It is in Latin, a
free translation of which is as follows: "Virtue our Death survives.
I was Caius, aged 63, Died July 29, Anno Domini 1573." Dr. Caius
gave to the college a beautiful Caduceus, or silver mace, ornamented
with four twining serpents; it is two feet and a half long, and, by
his direction, is borne before the master at the principal college
festivities.
This has been marked as the Medical College of Cambridge, and has
produced a long roll of eminent physicians, among whom is William
Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of blood, in 1657. It has
also produced several antiquarians, who were distinguished for their
valuable researches. Among her eminent men may be named Sir Thomas
Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange, London,--died 1579; also the
distinguished Bishop Jeremy Taylor, 1667.
The next in order, the fifth, is Trinity Hall. This is the only college
which retains its original designation of _hall_. A few years ago there
were three others so called, Pembroke, Clare, and St. Catherine's. The
first of these changed appellation about thirty years ago; the two
latter quite recently, to avoid being confounded with the _private
halls_ contemplated in the University act, but afterwards changed to
_hostels_. This college was one of the hostels for the accommodation
of students, but was purchased by John de Cranden, Prior of Ely, for
the monks to study in; and in the year 1350 it was obtained of the
prior and convent of Ely by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, with
the lands thereto appertaining, who constituted it a "perpetual college
of scholars of canon and civil law in the University of Cambridge;"
and, in accordance with the founder's intentions, it is particularly
appropriated to the study of civil law.
It is situated on the banks of the river, and has three courts.
The eminent men are Stephen Gardiner, a distinguished Bishop of
Winchester, died 1555; Lord Howard of Effingham, commander against
the renowned Spanish Armada, 1573; Thomas Tusser the poet, and author
of the somewhat celebrated "One Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,"
1580; and, above all, the distinguished Earl of Chesterfield, Philip
Dormer Stanhope, 1773. Among the bright lights of modern times may be
named the late Lord Lytton, the novelist, poet, and statesman; and
also Sir Alexander Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice of England, who took
so conspicuous a part in the controversy between England and America
concerning the Alabama Claims.
The sixth is Corpus Christi. Two ancient Saxon guilds were united
to form it, and in 1352 King Edward II. granted a license for its
founding. This college has one modern and elegant building, the
corner-stone of which was laid July 3, 1823. All its appointments are
grand. It has in its museum some plate that is very old and curious;
an antique drinking-horn, presented to the guild of Corpus Christi, in
1347, by John Goldcorne; the cup of the Three Kings,--a small bowl of
dark wood mounted with silver; thirteen silver-gilt spoons, terminated
by figures of Christ and the apostles; an elegant salt-cellar nearly
a foot high; a magnificent ewer and basin; and a cup with a cover
weighing 53 ounces.
Among her eminent men are the justly renowned Mathew Parker, Archbishop
of Canterbury, died 1575; Christopher Marlowe the dramatist, 1593;
John Fletcher, the dramatist, and colleague with Beaumont, 1625; and
Archbishop Tennison of Canterbury, 1715.
The seventh is King's. This royal and very magnificent institution
arose from the munificence of the meek but unfortunate King Henry VI.,
who endowed it in 1443. His misfortunes prevented him from carrying out
designs which would have made it greatly excel any other college. It
was aided, however, by Edward IV. and Richard III., but it was reserved
for his thrifty nephew, Henry VII., by devotions in his lifetime and by
his will, to provide funds for the completion of the noble edifice.
However pressed for space, we must employ enough to speak of the
remarkable chapel, which is one of the great objects of attraction at
Cambridge, and one of the most interesting buildings in Christendom.
It is of what is known as the perpendicular Gothic architecture. Its
length is 316 feet. The corner-stone was laid by Henry VI., July 25,
1446. The work progressed till 1484, when it came to a standstill for
want of funds; but in 1508 Henry VII. took it in hand, contributing
£5,000, and his executors bestowed £5,000 more in 1513. It was not
till July 29, 1515, in the seventh year of Henry VIII., that the
exterior was finished. This was just 69 years from its commencement.
Nothing more was done till 1526, when arrangements were made for the
fine painted glass windows. The elegant screen-work and elaborate oak
stalls were put up in 1534. All this work is very curiously carved, and
was done when Anne Boleyn was queen; the west side is ornamented with
several lover's knots, and the arms of Queen Anne impaled with those
of the king. On this screen, in the old cathedral style, is the organ,
which is of very large capacity, and in 1860 £2,000 was expended on it.
It would be next to an impossibility to adequately describe this
magnificent interior. It is of very great height, and the ceiling is
of fan-tracery of the most elaborate design of open-work cut in stone.
Arms of all the kings of England, from Henry V. to James I., are here.
The painted glass windows, twenty-five in number, are remarkably large,
and for brilliancy of color and artistic design are surpassed by none
in the world. They represent Old and New Testament scenes. The designs
are entirely English, and the date of their manufacture ranges from
1516 to 1532, so that the very latest is more than 346 years old, or
88 years before the Pilgrims set sail for America. Choral service is
performed in the chapel every afternoon. The grounds are very grand,
and too much cannot be thought or said of this institution.
Among her eminent men were Robert Woodlark, founder of St. Catherine
College; Sir Francis Walsingham, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth;
Bishop Pearson, author of the celebrated "Exposition of the Creed;" and
Sir Robert Walpole, the renowned and royal minister of state.
We cannot leave these grounds without asking the reader to go with us
to the great and single-arch stone bridge,--King's Bridge,--and for a
moment enjoy the grand views to be had from it. To the right is to be
seen the front of the Fellows' Building and the west end of the great
chapel. Immediately in front is Clare College, with its picturesque
bridge. The bridges and avenues make a grand view, bounded in the
distance by the grounds of Trinity College. On the other side the view
is of a more retired character. In the distance to the left are the
spires and turrets of Queen's College, and extending along the side
of the river is the terraced walk and quiet shady grove of the same
institution. The venerable avenue at right-angles with this, tradition
has long pointed out as the favorite walk of Erasmus; and in deference
to this tradition the University purchased it of the town, by whom it
was doomed at one time to destruction.
Queen's College is the eighth in order. This, in its architecture,
history, and plan, is one of the most picturesque and interesting of
all the colleges. It was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou, consort
of Henry VI., who, amidst a career perhaps one of the most troubled and
chequered on record, found time and means to emulate the example of
her royal husband, and, while he was erecting King's College, became
the foundress of this. The civil wars interrupted the work, but Andrew
Doket, the first master, by good management secured the patronage of
Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV., who set apart a portion
of her income for its endowment, and she has since been annually
celebrated as a co-foundress.
Among the things of especial interest is a sun-dial, said to have been
made by Sir Isaac Newton; and next is the Erasmus Court and tower. When
the erudite and ingenious Erasmus visited England, at the invitation
of his friend Bishop Fisher, then Chancellor of the University, he
chose this college as his place of residence, "having his study," says
Fuller, "at the top of the southwest tower of the court now called by
his name." This college, like many others, has gardens and fine grounds
on both sides of the river. They are connected by a wooden bridge of
one span,--an ingenious piece of carpentry, and frequently called the
Mathematical Bridge. To the right of this is the Grove, a most inviting
place for quiet meditation. The terraced walk on the banks of the river
is a delightful spot, shaded by lofty overhanging elms, at the end
of which a striking view is obtained beneath the great stone arch of
King's Bridge.
The eminent members here, or a few of the vast lot, were John Fisher,
the master of the college and Bishop of Rochester, who was beheaded
1535; Thomas Fuller, D. D., the great Church historian, 1561; Dr. Isaac
Milner, master, and Bishop of Carlisle, 1820; and Samuel Lee, the
eminent linguist, 1852.
On the opposite side of the street is the ninth college, St.
Catharine's, founded in 1475, by Robert Woodlark, D. D. The chapel
was consecrated 1704, by Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely. The especially
eminent men here are John Bradford, martyred 1555; John Strype, the
learned ecclesiastical historian, 1737; and Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of
Winchester. It was he who gave rise to what is known as the celebrated
Bangorian Controversy, in 1761.
The next college in order of date, the tenth, is Jesus. It has a most
rural situation and pleasing aspect, for it is located back some
distance from the road, and is charmingly surrounded with gardens,
which give it a very domestic character.
As a general thing, the main college buildings at Cambridge are out,
bounding the street or road; but this one is beautifully situated
as named, and its retired position is said to have called forth the
remark of James I., that if he lived at the University he would pray at
King's, eat at Trinity, and study and sleep at Jesus. It occupies the
site of an old Benedictine nunnery, dedicated to St. Rhadegund, founded
in the reign of Henry II. Towards the close of the fifteenth century
the nuns became notorious for their dissolute lives and extravagance;
and in a few years the buildings fell into decay, and their remains
were so wasted that only two nuns were left. At this period John
Alcock, Bishop of Ely, determined to convert it into a college; and in
1497 he obtained letters-patent to put the college into possession of
the property belonging to the nunnery, and the latter institution was
dissolved.
The college has four courts, and its chapel is second only to that at
King's College. Among its ancient men were Cranmer the martyr, burnt at
Oxford 1556; Lawrence Sterne, the author of "Tristram Shandy," 1768;
and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1835.
The next, and the eleventh, is Christ's. This was founded 1456, by
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and mother of Henry VII.
It arose out of a hostel called God's House, which had been endowed
by Rev. William Byngham of London in 1442. In 1505, Lady Margaret
obtained a license from her own son, Henry VII., to change its name
to Christ's College, and endow it. The library contains 9,000 books,
among which are many that are ancient and very valuable; there are also
a great number of manuscripts and curious old works, particularly a
splendid copy of the Nuremburg Chronicle in Latin, printed in 1494. The
college also possesses some beautiful old plate, which belonged to the
foundress, especially two exquisite saltcellers, engraved with Beaufort
badges, and a set of Apostle spoons. The garden is very tastefully
laid out, and contains a bowling-green, a summer-house, and a bath;
but the great attraction of all others to visitors is the celebrated
mulberry-tree planted by John Milton when he was a student. The trunk
is much decayed, but the damaged parts are covered with sheet lead.
It is banked up with earth covered with grass, being also carefully
propped up, and every means used for its preservation; though so aged,
it is still vigorous, and produces excellent fruit. From the southeast
of this garden most charming views are had through the foliage, of
King's College Chapel and other buildings. Among the eminent men were
Latimer the martyr, 1557; John Milton, 1674; Archdeacon Paley, author
of the Evidences, 1805; and Francis Quarles, author of the Emblems,
1644.
Our next, and twelfth, is St. John's, and derives its name from a
hospital dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, founded in the reign
of Henry II., which occupied the site of the present college. It was
founded, like the one last named, by Countess Richmond, mother of
Henry VII. After having founded Christ College, she was induced by
Bishop Fisher of Rochester to found this. In 1505 she took measures
for converting St. John's Hospital into a college, but various causes
prevented its being done in her lifetime; but she added a codicil
to her will empowering her executors to carry out her design. She
died June 29, 1509, and the college was opened July 29, 1516. Rich
endowments, made since, have raised it considerably above the original
design, and it now ranks as second college of the University.
The new chapel is one of the most elegant structures in the kingdom.
The corner-stone was laid in 1864. It was from designs by Scott, and
cost £53,000. It is 193 feet long, and 52 feet wide, divided into
chapel proper and ante-chapel. The tower is 163 feet high including
the pinnacles. It is very massive, and is open on the inside to a
height of 84 feet. As at King's College, attempts at full description
must not be made. It is enough to say that the finish of the interior
is extravagantly elegant, and that the windows are remarkable for
their wealth of imagery, and brilliant color. We will venture to say
that the ceiling of the great chapel is vaulted in oak, in nineteen
bays, decorated by a continuous line of full-length figures, and by
scrollwork in polychrome. In the central bay at the east end is a
representation of Our Lord in Majesty. The other eighteen bays contain
figures illustrating the eighteen Christian centuries after the first
one, and are indescribably grand in design and execution. They are
mainly devoted to representation of the bishops, college-founders, or
of her most eminent men, and we give the ninth century panel as an
illustration. It portrays Henry Martyn, missionary of India, William
Wilberforce, statesman, William Wordsworth, poet, Thomas Whytehead,
missionary to New Zealand, Dr. Wood, Master of St. John's College and
Dean of Ely.
Passing out of the third court by an archway on the south side, a
picturesque old bridge of three arches leads us to the college walks
and gardens, which are more pleasantly laid out and more diversified
than any others of the University; from them a fine view is obtained
of the library and bridge of Trinity College. These walks consist of
a series of terraces, and retired paths encompassing meadows, which
are planted with fine trees, among which are some stately elms. Beyond
these is the Fellows' Garden, or Wilderness, a large piece of ground
containing a bowling-green; and the trees are planted in such order as
to resemble, when in leaf, the interior of a church. These grounds are
said to have been laid out by Matthew Prior, the poet. Of her eminent
ones may be named the famous Ben Jonson, 1637; Thomas Wentworth, Earl
of Strafford, beheaded 1641; Mark Akenside and Henry Kirk White, poets,
who died 1770 and 1806.
The thirteenth is Magdalen, which occupies a portion of the site of
a Benedictine priory, established about 1430. On the suppression of
monasteries by Henry VIII. this college would soon have become extinct,
had not Lord Audley of Walden procured in 1542 a grant of it, and
a charter to establish on its site a college to be named St. Mary
Magdalen College. It has but two courts, and the first is next the
street.
Among the matters of especial interest is the library of Samuel
Pepys, Esq., who died in 1703, and left his whole collection of books
and manuscripts to this college. In the library is that curious and
inexpressibly interesting manuscript, the original of the celebrated
Diary of Mr. Pepys. We confess that nothing in any of the college
libraries was of so much interest as were these works of the gossipy
Pepys, and so while at this college it was our good fortune to examine
the original manuscripts of the remarkable Diary in six volumes, about
eight inches or so square, and two inches thick. If we say that the
short-hand resembles almost strictly any of our present styles of
phonography, with here and there a word fully written out, we give
the best possible idea of it. All is exceedingly clean and free from
any blot or blemish, and just such as may be imagined would have been
prepared by the nice Pepys. The Diary was to us, before, one of a few
choice books; and now since we have seen his work, and his portrait by
Sir G. Kneller, we are more than ever if possible in mood to think well
of him who has written as none but he could or would write.
The distinguished personages of this college, besides Pepys, are Bryan
Walton, Bishop of Chester and editor of the Polyglot Bible, who died in
1661; Dr. James Dupont, the celebrated Greek Professor, and master of
the college, 1679; and that other learned divine and college master,
Dr. Daniel Wheatland, 1740.
The fourteenth is Trinity, and without question this is the noblest
collegiate institution of the kingdom, whether we regard the number
of its members, or the extent and value of its buildings, or the
illustrious men who have been educated within its walls. A large
volume might be written in relation to these, and then but a synopsis
be given. It is composed, or rather was organized, of others,--St.
Michael's House, founded in 1324, King's Hall, in 1337, and Physwick's
Hostel, the most important institution of that kind in Cambridge,
and with this was included, six other minor hostels. These, in 1546,
were surrendered to Henry VIII. as a preparatory step to the founding
of one magnificent college, and he by letters-patent, Dec. 19, 1546,
founded this in honor of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, and endowed
it with very considerable possessions; but his death in a few weeks
after stopped whatever further he may have contemplated. His son and
successor Edward VI. issued the statutes of the college, and his
daughter, Queen Mary, considerably augmented its endowments.
The courts, five in number, are very elegant and full of interest,
but we must pass all by, simply stating that what is called the Old
Court is said to be the most spacious quadrangle in the world and is
in dimensions as follows, for the four sides respectively, omitting
inches, 287 feet, 344 feet, 256 feet, and 325 feet, giving an area of
79,059 square feet.
There is nothing done in the preparation of this series of articles
that demands a greater sacrifice of inclination to the contrary than
does this abrupt termination of what would be a long and interesting
statement, but limited space forbids even the record of full regrets.
Of thousands of eminent men here educated may be named the illustrious
philosophers Bacon and Newton, who died in 1626, 1727; also Crowley,
Dryden, Byron, and Crabbe, poets; Dr. Isaac Barrow, the learned
divine; Richard Porson, the eminent Greek critic and scholar; and Lord
Macaulay, the historian and essayist; and we cannot well refrain from
adding that there also was educated England's greatest modern poet,
Alfred Tennyson.
Having begun a somewhat extended description of the colleges composing
this famed university, we are devoting more space to them than at
first anticipated, but feel justified, as the subject is one of great
interest to us all, our own University City being most intimately
related to it; and so we speak of the remaining of the seventeen
colleges before we proceed to speak of other items of interest.
The next in order, the fifteenth, is one of very great moment to us
of New England, for our interests are so closely connected with it;
and that is Emanuel, which occupies the site of a dissolved monastery
of Dominicans, or Black Friars. On the dissolution of monasteries
this site was granted to Edward Ebrington and Humphrey Metcalf, of
whose heirs it was purchased by Sir Walter Mildmay. This distinguished
statesman was one of the most eminent adherents of what were termed
Puritanical principles; and, with possibly the idea of establishing a
nursery of those doctrines, in the year 1584 he obtained from Queen
Elizabeth a charter for the incorporation of this college.
No college of the University has done so much toward deciding the
fortunes, and it may be said the existence of New England, as has
this. Established in 1584, which was but 29 years after the burning of
the martyrs at Smithfield and Oxford, and coming into existence as it
were in spite of those deeds of darkness, it became the one of all
others to which those stanch men and advancing ones would send their
sons, and a grand and mighty power was wielded, and strength and even
respectability were given to the movement. This college is intimately
connected with our history; and New England will not have done her
duty, nor availed herself of a good privilege that is hers, till in
these college-grounds she has erected a memorial to those determined
and worthy men who did so much for New England.
John Robinson, the Pilgrims' minister, who was to have come to America
the next spring but who died before his eyes could be gladdened by the
sight, was educated at Emanuel. To our disgrace be it said, his dust
to-day moulders in the soil of Holland, without so much as a plain
slab to tell of his resting-place; and only as the guide in the church
informs one, in reply to a request to be pointed to the spot, is the
resting-place of the great departed ever seen.
Thomas Shepard and Henry Dunster, the latter our Harvard's second
president,--these also to-day in their death, as they did in life,
honor this as their Alma Mater.
The library contains 20,000 volumes, and some very rare and valuable
manuscripts. The building itself was for nearly a century the college
chapel; but so much of the Puritan element was here, that the chapel
proper was never consecrated. Little however, did this trouble the
worshippers, but the contrary was the case. By-and-by the church was
in the ascendant, and then, in 1677, a new chapel had been built from
designs by the celebrated Wren, "built due east and west," and all the
appliances came of a non-dissenting church, consecrated by Bishop, and
from then till now in good established use.
Here were educated William Sancroft, the renowned Bishop of London at
the time of building St. Paul's Cathedral, and afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury, in 1693; Sir William Temple, statesman and essayist, 1700;
and Dr. Parr, 1825. This, with the next college to be described, was
considered by Archbishop Laud, as a very dangerous institution, and he
designated the two as nurseries of Puritanism.
That sister college--the sixteenth, Sidney Sussex--was built on the
site of a monastery of Gray Friars. On the subjugation of their
institution it was granted by Henry VIII. to Trinity College, of whom
it was purchased by the executors of Frances, daughter of Sir William
Sidney, and widow of Thomas Radcliffe, third Earl of Sussex; who, by
will dated Dec. 6, 1588, bequeathed £5,000 and some other property to
found this college, and the corner-stone was laid May 20, 1590. The
building was completed in three years, and the college at once took
a high rank and good standing. It will always be celebrated for its
connection with Oliver Cromwell, who entered here as a student April
26, 1616, at the age of seventeen, and on the college books is the
following record:--
_Oliverus Cromwell Huntingdoniensis admissus ad commeatum siciorum
Aprilis vicesimo sexto, tutore mag Ricardo Howlet._
An amusing interpolation in a different and later handwriting appears,
and speaks of him as:--
_Grandis impostor; carnifax perditissimus, etc._
His father dying the next year, and leaving no property, the son
was obliged to leave college; but, as Bishop Burnett was pleased
to say, "some Latin stuck to him." His room was one in which is an
Oriel window, on Bridge Street. There is in the master's lodge a fine
portrait of the great Protector, made near the close of his life,
and it is said to be remarkably faithful to the original. The long
coarse gray hair is parted in the middle and reaches venerably to
the shoulders. The forehead is high, majestic, and bold, and has a
deeply marked line between the eyes, which are gray, and suggesting
the repose of a vast power. The complexion is high-colored, mottled,
and the features are large and rugged like the nature of the man
himself; but it has--now that the feverish dream of his eventful life
has declined--come to appear to have, by new interpretations and as
seen through new mediums, a calm, dignified, and, some would say, a
benevolent look. It is enough for one college that for a year Cromwell
was her foster-child.
And now, for centuries, founding at Cambridge ends. Puritanism has set
the world astir. The church, reformed as she prided herself to be, had
her hands full to look after the already educated ones, and so no more
founding of colleges for a long time was to be done; and we bridge over
the chasm of 121 years, till, in 1717, Sir George Downing qualifiedly
devised several valuable estates for the founding of a college within
the precincts of the University; and so this is the seventeenth, and
the last in order.
He died in 1749. The sole inheritor of the property died in 1764,
and left the estates to his lady; but the terms of Sir George's will
being that if his heirs died without issue the property was to go to
the founding of a college as named, the estate was claimed by the
University; and after years of litigation the validity of the will
was established, and the seal was affixed to the charter of the new
college, Sept. 22, 1800.
The corner-stone was laid with great ceremony, May 18, 1807, and it
was opened in May, 1821, or more than 225 years from the date of the
opening of the next one preceding it. The date of the founding of the
first one, St. Peter's, being 1257, a period of 564 years intervened
between the establishment of that first and this last one; and in all,
from then till now, 626 years have passed, or more than a third of all
the time since the birth of Christ.
However pleasant it would be to pass in review a few of the thoughts
that come as it were demanding attention, we must pass all. Replete
with interest are these two great centres of learning, Cambridge and
Oxford, England's Yale and Harvard. How the destinies of men and
nations, the civilized world over, have been not only influenced,
but made and controlled by their influence! What hallowed grounds
are these classic walks amid these trees, by the River Cam! How
interesting are these venerable weather-worn walls, these courts, these
half-destroyed stairs of stone, rasped away, and deep into, by feet of
men distinguished and great in all the departments of intellectual life!
It was our intention to have spoken extendedly of the government of
these institutions, and of many things pertaining to them, but we must
refer the reader to the more appropriate sources of information for
that. We would have spoken also of those grand old dining-halls, of
which every college has one. Some of them are many centuries old, with
quaint rich finish of old English oak, high open-timber roofs, fine
windows, and grand old portraits adorning their walls. These halls are
museums of interest inexpressible. Here are the very benches on which
the boys sat, the greatest men of earth in embryo. The libraries, with
their mementoes, their curious and rare old articles and books and
paintings! How well we know that not one of our readers, who has not
seen these things, can even approximately comprehend what we write. The
old and new chapels! What repositories of greatness, and what charms
inhere!
We would have spoken of great things outside the University, for there
are many that are indeed great, and they crowd themselves up now, if
for nothing more, for an honorable mention. The Fitzwilliam Museum has
grand picture-galleries, and works of art and antiquity incredible; the
building itself is a marvel of good architecture. Old St. Benedict's
Church, one of the most perfect examples of Saxon architecture
in England, is a thousand years old, with an extremely ancient
burial-ground surrounding it. Old and grand St. Edward's was erected in
1350,--533 years ago. Here Latimer preached. How venerable and calm,
interesting to admiration, is its little cemetery, 500 years old. The
Church of St. Mary the Great, begun in 1478, completed in 1519, was
towerless till 1608; and in the 130th year later arose the grand and
imposing tower we now behold. That classical structure, the University
Library, has 230,000 printed books and 3,000 manuscripts, of every
language and tongue,--all this in addition to the 17 other libraries
of the respective colleges! The great Geological Museum is excelled by
none in the world; St. Michael's Church, built in 1324, is elegant now
and in grand repair; as one has expressed it, "the old structure is
to-day the most seemly and creditable in the town." The ancient Round
Church consecrated in 1101, and afterwards restored, in a sense is
itself a worshipper, as well as a place of worship for humanity.
We must speak of that curious fragment of architecture of the twelfth
century, the School of Pythagoras. How quaint, how more than ancient!
And we can only speak of--and, as it were, by the act slight that other
antiquity--Barnwell Priory, founded in 1112, by old Payne Peverd, for
Augustine canons. Once a place of magnificence, it declined, with
none to care for it. At length a single department remained, and now
that has come to the ignominious use of a common private stable. The
Anatomical Museum, and the fine Botanical Gardens of thirty-eight
acres, deserve mention. They shall have that much; they deserve volumes
in their praise.
In closing a list of these objects of interest we name only one more,
the Hobson Conduit. This is one of the things of general interest,
for the students of the University for 200 years have looked upon
it time-and-time-again. It is an octagonal structure, monumental in
design, crowned with a cyma-recta dome, and having niches in each
of the principal sides. Below these is a moulded octagonal section,
resting on a square plain base. It was built in 1610, and stands at the
city end of an artificial water-course leading from a place called the
Nine Wells, three miles distant, and supplies the city with water. From
the Hobson Conduit pipes distribute it over the place. Hobson's name is
closely connected with Cambridge. He was born here in 1544, and is said
to have been the first person in the kingdom who adopted the system
of letting out horses for hire, and history says he did a flourishing
business with the University students. He made it an unalterable rule
that every horse should have an equal portion of rest as well as
labor, and would never let one go out except in its turn; hence the
celebrated saying often heard nowadays, when more than two hundred
years old, repeated in America, "Hobson's choice,--this or none." He
died Jan. 1, 1631, and though he had attained the patriarchal age of
eighty-six, his death is attributed to his being obliged to discontinue
his journey to London, while the plague was raging in Cambridge, and to
this fact Milton alludes in the two humorous epitaphs he wrote on him.
There is one matter of interest yet remaining to be spoken of, and that
relates to the government of the University. As before named, there are
in all seventeen colleges. Each is an independent body, but is subject
to the code of laws of the University, and in their administration
all bear their share. The principal officer of the University is the
Chancellor. His power is, strange to say, only nominal, and is, at
that, delegated to a Vice-Chancellor elected annually from one of the
heads of colleges. He is considered for the year the governor of this
literary commonwealth. On all official occasions he is preceded by
three Esquire Bedells, each bearing a large silver mace. There are
next, elected annually, two Proctors, to attend to the discipline
of the students of all the colleges, and assist in the general
management of the University. Next is the Public Orator, who acts as
the mouthpiece on all public occasions. We next have what are called
Syndices, who are members of committees chosen to transact all special
University business. There are many other minor officers, but those are
the more important. The members of the University are, like our own,
divided into two great orders, graduates and undergraduates, or those
who have taken their degrees, and those who are yet students, and not
graduated.
Each college also has its head, or, as we term it, President. At
this University they are termed Masters, or sometimes, though less
generally, Heads. Then, each has more or less members who are called
Fellows. These are such as are maintained by the college revenues.
Next are Pensioners; these are the ordinary students, who simply
pay their own expenses, receiving no pecuniary advantage from the
college. What are termed Scholars are students who, having displayed
superior attainments, are elected by examination to have rooms rent
free, payments of money, and other advantages, as a good and honorable
residence and welcome at their Alma Mater. Finally are the Sizars.
These are students of limited means, who have their commons free,
and receive other emoluments. It may be well to mention that each
college has its own peculiar undergraduate's gown, and that most of
the degrees and faculties are distinguished by different costumes.
The total number of members of the University is about 8,000. The
University sends to the House of Commons two members, who are chosen by
the collective body of the senate.
The revenues of the separate colleges are large, and derived from
endowments and fees; but those of the University are small and rarely
exceed £5,500 a year. The students are divided into four classes:
Noblemen, who pay £50 caution money; Fellow-Commoners, who pay £25, and
who receive their name from their privilege of dining,--having their
commons at the table of their fellows; Pensioners, who pay £15, and
form the great body of the students not on the foundation; and Sizars,
who pay £10 and are students whose poverty prevents their taking
advantage of many of the privileges of the University, though they are
not shut out from any of its educational facilities. Sizars were once
obliged to perform the most menial offices, but for many years this
custom has been abolished. The matriculation fees for these classes of
students are respectively as follows, £16, £11, £5. 10_s._, and £5.
5_s._
There are various degrees of payment for tuition, according to the
degree and condition of the members, and slightly varying in the
several colleges. The annual, unavoidable average expenses of an
undergraduate or student are about £70, or $350. There are in the
University 430 fellowships tenable for life, but in most cases
conditioned upon taking holy orders within a given period, and their
value varies from £100 to £300 per annum. Since the days of Newton,
Cambridge has been the chosen seat of mathematical science, but the
tendency to make it a stronghold of learning in all the various
branches has been increasing of late years.
It would be a pleasing work to follow on and give more extended notes
of this great seat of learning. One while here is conscious that he
is in no common place, for on this spot many of the mighty and really
influential of earth began their great careers. No equal quantity of
the earth's surface has been trodden by greater men than have walked
here, and reverently we take our leave of the famed place, well
conscious of what we have _not_ spoken of.
The returns of 1880 gave the number in college as 1,399; 1,409 in
lodgings; total, 2,808.
The following returns, compiled by the University Marshals, show the
present number of residents at the various colleges, and also the
number of unattached students. In the returns, graduates as well as
undergraduates are included.
In college. In lodgings. Total resident.
Trinity 335 340 675
St. John's 215 195 410
Jesus 74 147 221
Caius 100 98 198
Trinity-Hall 53 105 158
Christ's 70 80 150
Pembroke 49 87 136
Corpus Christi 79 45 124
Clare 56 68 124
King's 68 30 98
Emanuel 66 27 93
Magdalen 47 16 63
Queen's 41 19 60
St. Catharine's 39 21 60
St. Peter's 55 3 58
Downing 30 26 56
Sidney 41 12 53
Non-Ascripti 0 162 162
----- ----- -----
1,418 1,481 2,899
We now take our departure for London, completing the round trip which
has employed twenty days inclusive. No like number can ever be filled
with more satisfaction, or be replete with a greater interest. The
route gone over is in all respects one that the experience has proved
admirable and to be relied upon, as giving a sample of the best things
that England and Scotland have to exhibit.