The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-30 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF

OXFORD HONOURS.
(From, the Times.)
In ordinary cases a list of honorary degrees at either
Shr.
of the universities is about as dull an affair as the cata-
logue of ships in " Homer." Every now and then, no
doubt, the name of some worthy, illustrious in peace or s
war, in thought or achievement, is included in the batch 2
of brevet lawyers, and commands general respect. This
name sheds, as it were, a halo around those of his corn-
panions, every one of whom was at least converted into a
D.C.L. at the same time as a great man. But, if we .1
look at the ordinary practice in such cases, we find either 2,
that persons are selected for the dignity who, from their '
social position, may add a certain degree of lustre to the 2,4
universities, or that they are men to whom the universi- St
ties willingly show honour, because in honouring them Si
they honour themselves. We need not quote in detail 5(
the names of the royal personages and great philosophers 5(
and literary men who have received the freedom of the 2(
Isis or the Cam at the hands of our university authori-
ties ; the fact, as we state it, is one of general notoriety. 25
It was reserved for the University of Oxford to put the
matter on an entirely different footing, and to convert 2E
what has hitherto, and with reason, been esteemed an
honourable distinction into a mere political by-blow. 18
Lord Derby is the Dagon of the hour, and Lord 20
Derby's followers are duly converted into little 25
Dagons, that the Oxford Dons may humour the
great man even in his whims. It is intelligible 25
enough that Lord Derby should have been selected for 25
the post, because during his tenure of political power St,
death had removed from the scene the old Chancellor— 50
alas how different a man I We will say nothing of the St.
motives which might have induced such a choice, but 10
will rather accept the selection as a graceful compliment St.
to the office rather than to the Premier. But, even if St.
Lord Derby were to be chesen Chancellor of Oxford St
when he was First Minister of the Crown, does it follow St.
that all his colleagues are to be selected for university St.
distinctions when they have ceased to occupy the lower St.
places in the Ministry ? We are urging no captious St.
objection against the addition of one or two colleagues 50
of Lord Derby to the list of eminent men who might io
with propriety have been selected for an honourable dis- st:
tinction. Our complaint is, that all have been taken 19,]
and that the University of Oxford has thus degraded 14
itself to the level of a political club—and what a club ! 50
When everybody else had thrown them off, the Oxford 20
Dons have taken the Protectionists in. They have 11i
afforded a refuge to a faction which had long since been 10
rejected by every important interest in the country St.
and which had ended its political career by re- 20
nouncing the principles upon which its existence 10
as a party was based throughout. Certainly we St.
have no wish to renew the acrimony of past controver 50
-
sies, and, had the adherents of Lord Derby been content 40
to retire for a time into a decent obscurity, we would 25
not have been the first to disturb the even tenour of 25
their reflections and regrets. But here we find our old St.
friends, who beyond all question have made the greatest 8i
political fiasco of modern times, flaunting about in all
St.
the dignity of fallen greatness, and, what is worse, the
University of Oxford abetting them in the monstrous 25°5
delusion. One would as soon have expected to meet 100
one of those Magdalens whom Correggio knew so well St.
how to paint en debardeur at a masked ball, and receiv- 6
ing countenance in her irregularities from an elderly and 25
respectable divine. 50
Let us look for a moment at the names. There is the 20
Duke of Richmond. Well, the Duke of Richmond occu-
pies, no doubt, a high social position in the country.
Then there are the two Marquises of Chandos and
Blandford—amiable men, enough, we believe, in their
way, and noblemen to boot, so let Oxford take them in
also without question. Then we have the Derby Chan-
cellor, Lord St. Leonards ; the Derby Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Mr. Disraeli ; the Derby Foreign Secretary,
Lord Malmesbury ; the Derby Colonial Secretary, Sir
John Pakington ; the Derby Home Secretary, Mr.
Walpole ; the Derby President of the Board of Trade,
Mr. Henley ; the Derby Vice-President of the
Board of Trade, Paymaster-General of the Forces, and
Treasurer of the Navy, Lord Colchester ; the Derby
Postmaster-General, Lord Hardwicke ; the Derby Lord-
Lieutenant, Lord Eglinton ; one of the Derby Joint-
Secretaries to the Treasury, Mr. G. A. Hamilton (the
other would have been " too bad") ; the Derby Attorney-
General for Ireland, Mr. Napier ; the Derby Under-
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Stanley. Besides these
there is Sir E. B. Lytton, a distinguished literary man,
no doubt, but who in the present instance, we suspect,
owes his red gown rather to the fact that he wrote a
very silly pamphlet about Protection than that he
is the author of Pelham. Then there is Sir
bald Alison, the Tory historian of revolutionary
Europe. Against the last two names we raise no ob

15
50
St.
16
16

jection. The suspicion, such as it is, that rests upon
them arises from their political associations. Politics
apart, they are fairly entitled to University distinctions.
The same thing may of course be said of Mr. Disraeli,
and, in a lesser degree, of Lord Redesdale. There is
one name, indeed, which we heartily rejoice to see in
the list,—it is that of Sir Harry Smith, although the old
warrior must be somewhat puzzled at his approaching
honours. It seems, however, agreed on all sides that
this mark of conventional distinction is to be accorded
tam, Marti quam Mercurio, and, if it is to be assigned at
all to military gallantry, there can be no more gallant
D.C.L. than Sir Harry Smith.
It was impossible to form a list of this kind without
including in it the names of some men distinguished in
literature and science, or by the honours of their pre-
vious University career. It would have been too inde-
cent to exclude altogether the persons for whom the
honours contemplated were originally intended. Mr.
Macaulay and Sir Roderick Murchison, and Dr. C.
Wordsworth and Professor Aytoun, therefore have been
induced to march through Oxford with this ragged regi-
ment of doctors. They, together with the three literary
politicians above named, constitute the ha'porth of
bread to this intolerable quantity of sack. Dr. Forbes
Winslow, hitherto eminent among lunatics, will hence-
forth be eminent among Oxonians, and Mr. Samuel
Warren appropriately closes the procession.

Are these indeed our great Men ? If we ever form
our national Pantheon, will it be filled exclusively with
the busts of the Derby Doctors ? Shall we see on ono
side the bust of Malmesbury, musing upon the Canadian
cod fisheries—on the other, that of Walpole, devising
his militia qualification for the county voters ?
Northumberland, indeed, may not be there, with ducal
condescension " offering his arm" to Commodore Sey-
mour ; and a squeamish delicacy may exclude Beres-
ford addressing the Essex " rabble," or Stafford, as
he presided at that memorable dinner of Admiralty
contingencies. Let us at least have Beresford with
Colonel Fox and Forbes Mackenzie habited as
the three witches in Macbeth, and represented as asking
each other " When shall we three meet again ?"—not
on the weird heath, but in the recesses of the Tory Club.
Let us have Brown, of the Carlton, in the act of with-
drawing the Norwich petition. Let us have the " man
in drab." Above all, at the head of the proud Gallery.
of Illustration, let the chivalrous Derby himself be re-
presented in the act of giving up the principle of protec-
tion, and at the lower end let Warren be seen as he
appeared when writing the last lines of the Lily and the
Bee. Let the seat of this Pantheon be the University
of Oxford, and let the ancient University henceforth be
styled the Derby Arms !

AFFAIRS OF THE EAST.
(From the Morning Post.)
Prince Menschikoff has left Constantinople, and diplo-
matic relations are definitively broken off between the
Czar and the Sultan. This is a matter of serious mo-

went to Europe, and of infinite discredit to Russia, now
menacing with warlike aggression a friendly state, whose
only offence is the possession of what her neighbour
covets.

Of the course of England, and of France, in this emer-
gency there can be no doubt. Their professions will 163
not be found empty, nor their actions treacherous. 22
There is but one feeling in this country. And there is 2
no voice, save one that speaks under Russian influence, St.
that does not re-echo the sentiments expressed by all 20
parties in the British Parliament. The Opposition has St.
challenged the Government to carry out a bold and
English policy, and her Majesty's advisers have replied 15
that their policy was "to maintain inviolate the faith
of treaties and the independence and integrity of 10
Turkey." 10
The first step of that bold and united action, resulting 25
from the identity of interests and cordiality of agree-
-10
went of the two great Western Powers, will be the sail.
1.0.6
ing of a combined fleet for the Dardanelles, to carry into
effect our guarantee of the treaty of 1841. 20
An honourable issue from the labyrinth of contradic-
tions in which Russia has involved herself in her Eastern St.
policy will now be difficult. But we still think that,
however the honour of Russia may suffer the peace of 17
Europe at large will not be hopelessly endangered. 25
Turkey is strong of herself, and, with France and Eng-
land to back her, she must prove more than a match for
the Czar, who is too discreet and too sensible to plunge
into active war with the whole of Europe, for all the
great Powers would assuredly resist any attempt to 10
overthrow by arms the Ottoman empire. 5
Russia has imagined hitherto that " there are insuper- 20
able obstacles to com"nion and united action between 20
England and France, and it has been under this im- 20
pression that she has acted. When the Czar finds out 20
his mistake he will probably halt in his ambitious course, E
which he has fated to advance by intrigue, and cannot 5
carry out by arms. For though treaties may be shirked, 20
and Cabinets may be tricked, the arguments of Dundas 202
and Lasusse are likely to be so effective in aspect as to
excite no desire to provoke their force. 5

ELECTION OF CHAMBERLAIN. I 1 o
1

S
I
STATE OF THE POLL- , SIXTH DAY (MAY 28). I 10

Sir John Key
Mr. Benjamin Scott,

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