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The romance of the Oxford colleges

Name: The romance of the Oxford colleges
Author: Francis Henry Gribble

by Francis Henry Gribble

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University of Oxford

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #77240.

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Balliol College 36

The birching of Robert of Balliol by the Bishop of Durham—He founds a College to make atonement for his fault—Insignificance of the College in early times—Snell Exhibitioners—Adam Smith—His scornful criticism of Oxford—Southey—His introduction to Coleridge of Jesus, Cambridge—Their dream of Pantisocracy—College “Rags” in the dark days—The dawn of civilisation—Mastership of Parsons—Of Jenkyns—Of Jowett—Jowett as tutor—His reforms—His conversation—His sermons—The inscrutable secret which he guarded.

Merton College 55

Antiquity of Merton—The model of subsequent foundations—Friction between the University and the town—The great “town and gown row” of 1354—The scholars of Merton save the University—The wardenship of Sir Henry Savile—The visit of Queen Elizabeth—Oxford during the Civil War—Queen Henrietta Maria at Merton—How Merton ceased to be a reading college—Scandalous proceedings in the gardens—Mandell Creighton and Lord Randolph Churchill.

Exeter College 70

The West Country College—A Whig College—“Debauched by a drunken Governor”—Eminent Alumni—“Parson Jack”—His bout at fisticuffs—Garibaldi’s Englishman—His prowess on the river—James Anthony Froude—His innate Protestantism—The burning of his “Nemesis of Faith”—Burne Jones and William Morris.

Oriel College 86

Foundation by Adam de Brome—Butler and his “Analogy”—Causes of the efficiency of Oriel—The “Noetics”—Eveleigh—Coplestone—Whately—The Tractarians—Who started the Tractarian Movement?—What did the Tractarians want?—The logical weakness of their position—The attitude of the bishops—The stampede to Rome—The honest doubters—Matthew Arnold and Arthur Hugh Clough—Cecil Rhodes at Oriel.

Queen’s College 106

What little Mr. Bouncer said of Queen’s—The inwardness of his criticism—The boar’s head and the Canticle—Another song on the same subject—The Provost and the alarm of fire—The Black Prince at Queen’s—Wiclif at Queen’s—The first of the Oxford Movements inaugurated by his poor preachers—Later times—Jeremy Bentham—Walter Pater.

New College 118

William of Wykeham—A self-educated man—His liberality and his elaborate Statutes—The College depressed by too much founder’s kin—“Golden scholars, silver bachelors, and leaden Masters”—Notable New College men—Sydney Smith—Sir Henry Wotton—Canon Spooner and “Spoonerisms”—Stories of Warden Shuttleworth and others.

Lincoln College 129

A small college with many outstanding names—Mr. D. S. Maccoll and his Newdigate—“Shifter” of the _Sporting Times_—A reminiscence of “Shifter”—John Wesley and the Methodists—Wesley’s meeting with Beau Nash of Bath—Mark Pattison—His early connection with the Tractarians—His abandonment of superstition—His great learning—His treatment of undergraduates.

All Souls College 145

Peculiarities of the Constitution—A College without undergraduates—Court favourites jobbed into fellowships—Fellowships bought and sold—All Souls Fellows, a link between Oxford and the outside world—Sir William Blackstone—Edward Young—The song of the All Souls Mallard and the scandal connected therewith.

Magdalen College 153

The College which withstood James II.—President Routh—His great age and eccentricities—Slackness of the College—The careers of Addison—Of Gibbon—Of Charles Reade—Oscar Wilde and the æsthetic movement at Magdalen—Persecution of Wilde and suppression of the movement.

Brasenose College 171

The eponymous nose—The Hell Fire Club and its ghost—The Phœnix—Dean Hole as the typical Brasenose man—Bishop Heber and his prize poem—His _jeux d’esprit_—The note of satire in his missionary hymns—Richard Heber the greatest bibliophile that the world has ever seen—The author of “Ingoldsby Legends”—Robertson of Brighton—Oxford objections to private initiative in religion—Walter Pater and his philosophy of life.

Corpus Christi College 192

The foundation by Bishop Foxe—Compulsory Greek—Strict discipline in early times—The visitation by the Parliamentary Commissioners—The ejection of the Fellows—Eminent _alumni_—The judicious Hooker and his injudicious marriage—The Duke of Monmouth—General Oglethorpe—Keble, and Arnold of Rugby—An estimate of their work—Celebrities of modern times.

Christ Church 209

Cardinal College—The fall of Wolsey—The foundation of Christ Church—Notable scenes—The degradation of Cranmer—The Parliamentary visitation—The eviction of Dean Fell, Mrs. Fell, and all the little Fellses—Famous Deans of Christ Church—John Fell—“I do not like you, Dr. Fell”—Aldrich—Atterbury—Cyril Jackson—Gaisford—Eminent undergraduates—Sir Robert Peel’s practical joke—Gladstone and Martin Farquhar Tupper.

Trinity College 226

Founded with the spoils of monasteries—The sympathy of Queen Elizabeth—President Kettell—His objection to long hair—His trouble with the Court ladies during the Civil War—Dr. Johnson’s love of the College—The expulsion of Walter Savage Landor—Newman in his evangelical days—The gentleman adventurers—Richard Burton’s revolt against discipline.

Saint John’s College 241

Founded by Sir Thomas White—Raised to fame by Archbishop Laud—Calvinistic opposition to Laud—He triumphs over it and makes Oxford a High Church University—His disciplinarian regulations—His magnificent entertainment of royalty—The entertainment of Admiral Tromp—He gets drunk and is taken home in a wheelbarrow—Dean Mansel—His pugnacious Bampton Lectures and his excruciating puns.

Jesus College 255

Statistics concerning the Joneses of Jesus—A Welsh enclave—Rarity of great names at Jesus—Henry Vaughan the “Silurist”—Sir Lewis Morris—Beau Nash—John Richard Green.

Wadham College 267

Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham—A miscellaneous list of Wadham men—The story of the great Wadham “Rag”—Wadham Evangelicalism—Stories of Warden Symons—The Wadham Positivists—“Three persons and no God”—Richard Congreve—Comte, Clotilde de Vaux, and the Positivist schism—The last Oxford Movement—Canon Barnett and Toynbee Hall.

Pembroke College 278

Broadgates Hall—Its illustrious and fashionable _alumni_—The Hall becomes Pembroke College—Dr. Johnson at Pembroke—He rags the servitors and argues with the dons—His “spirited refusal of an eleemosynary supply of shoes”—He shows Hannah More over the College—George Whitefield at Pembroke—His relations with the Methodists and his religious excitability.

Worcester College 289

Early history of the buildings—Gloucester College—A College for Benedictines—Its dissolution—Becomes the Bishop’s palace—Gloucester Hall—Endowment of Worcester College—Remote situation of Worcester—Stories bearing thereupon—Notable Worcester men—Samuel Foote—Thomas de Quincey—Henry Kingsley—F. W. Newman—Dean Burgon—Burgon’s famous Newdigate.

Hertford College 303

Hart Hall—The principalship of Dr. Richard Newton—Hart Hall becomes Hertford College—Decline, fall, and dissolution of the College—The buildings purchased for Magdalen Hall—Magdalen Hall once more transformed into Hertford College—Famous men at Hertford and Magdalen Hall—Charles James Fox—George Selwyn—Robert Stephen Hawker.

Keble College 316

“Keble College, near Rome”—A memorial of the author of the “Christian Year”—The ideals of the College—How far they have been realised—Diversified results of the experiment—The Bishop of London and Mr. Herbert Trench.

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