The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-24 00:00:00

THE OXFORD COMMEMORATION,
The second gathering in the Sheldonian Theatre at Ox-
ord was as great as its predecessor, notwithstanding the
intense heat. The wit, such as it is, of the undergraduates
was likewise as exuberant as ever. They carried the gal-
lery by storm at ten o'clock and at once commenced oper-
ations. The ladies were greeted with the usual impartial
favour. They were cheered in general ; they were c
in particular as the wearers of hats or bonnets, as being
with chignons or without them, as wearing white, pink,
black, or stripes, and one more specificallystill as the
" Dark girl dressed in blue." After the ladies had re-
ceived abundant praise, the undergrads turned their
attention to the other sex • and great woe befel any un-
lucky wight who venturedto offend against undergraduate
canons of propriety. After several false alarms
of white coats one graduate was discovered wear-
ing his master's hood, and a tremendous assault of
howling was directed against him. He took the hood
off, and then the tide turned in his favour. Far
comore
unhappy was the fate of a stranger in a black velvet at.
He excited the most deadly hostility.
He was
" a regular eyesore." To his neighbours it was
were
epithets said,
"Do not speak to him." Disparaging
applied to the material ; some hinted that it was
<<elvet," others " velveteen." "Be per-
cotton v
suaded to go out," " Whom do you travel for ? "
" Do not laugh, but hide your diminished headis ashamed
Whalley send you ?" " You know your wife
of you, It is the only chance he has of wearing it," and.
" You are neither useful nor ornamental," were succes-
sively shouted at the unfortunate individual. The public
characters met with varied receptions as before. Mr.
Disraeli, Mr. G-oldwin Smith, Dr. Temple, and
Mr. John Bright, evidently had staunch
Wales friends
and loud critics. The Prince als
received that mixed criticism which is the lot
of many public characters. The mention of Mr. Spurgeon
occasioned shouts of laughter. The "Dean of Rochester,"
" Sir Roundell Palmer," Darbishire," " Bishop Magee,"
" Mr. Chancellor," " Mrs. Chancellor," " Mrs. Vice,"
were successively installed favourites. At eleven o'clock
the procession came—the Chancellor and a long list of
dites including the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop
of O gnixaforri d,, the Bishop of Rochester, Chief Justice Bovill,
Canon Bright, Mr. Gathorne Hardy, Mr. William Heath-
cote, Dr. Arnold, Dean Mansel, &c.
The names of those who were to be admitted to the de-
gree of Doctors of Civil Law were then submitted, and the
question put. To the "Placetne vobis, domini doctores I
Placetne vobis, magistri ?" there was no dissent till the
name of Mr. Lowe was "opposed, and then a shout
of " Non placet" was raised in the gallery, with
some slight approbation of this dissent among the
Masters in the arena. After all other dissent ap-
peared to have been withdrawn, one gentleman
persisted in his non placet, like the combative member in
the House of Comons who sinly maintains that " the
Noes have it ." b m
ut the Chancgellor of the University
passed quickly to the next name on the list, and the cry
of non placet being then repeated caused considerable
laughter. The only other interruption occurred when the
name of Mr. William Smith was submitted. An under-
graduate, in the tone of one anxiously asking for informa-
tion, inquired " Which Mr. Smith ? ' and this question
upset the gravity even of the Chancellor.
The doctors were then ushered in, twenty-eight in num-
ber, and were admitted to the degree, after presentation
by the Regius Professor of Civil Law, Dr. Bryce. Each
presentation was accompanied by a few words in Latin.
The Duke of Richmond was loudly cheered. Then came
Lieutenant-General von Bulow, who was equally well
received, and whose name gave the Chancellor
an opportunity of a graceful allusion to the gal-
lantry displayed by Denmark against overwhelming
odds in the Schleswig-Holstein war. Earl Cowley apud
external gentes scepius legatus, was welcomed by the
Chancellor as an Ambassador who had deserved well of
his country. Cheers were loud for the Bishop of Lincoln,
and equally loud for Lord Lyttelton, whose honours
at the sister university were gracefully alluded to.
Convocation was then told by the Regius Professor
in choice Latin of the judgment, impartiality,
and equable temper which had won for Mr.
Speaker the respect of both sides of the House of Com-
mons, and which also well warranted the bestowal of the
Doctor's Degree in Civil Law, honoris causd. The dignity,
learning, and high position of the Lord Chief Justice
were next insisted on, and he wasp resented, amid l
acclamations, as one recognised by the Bar, by suitors,
and the whole State as "judex incorruptus, orator dulcis
fecundusque, libertatis Anglicie amantissimus, legum
priscarum custos acerrimus." The Chancellor of
the Exchequer was greeted with the same dis-
favour which he had provoked at an earlier stage
of the proceedings ; but Dr. Bryce introduced Mr. Lowe
in glowing language, exciting laughter by an allusion to
the vigilant guardianship the right hon. gentleman exercised
over the public purse. The remaining names were subjected
to no such criticism. Due stress was laid upon the exertions
of Sir J. Kay Shuttleworth in behalf of education, and
Sir W. Mansfield was praised as great both in council and
in war. A hearty reception awaited Canon Mosely, but
the honours of the day were with Canon Liddon, whose
popularity in the University, seems to be unbounded.
The cheers were again and again renewed as he moved to
his place in the semicircle. When the whole of the
newly-elected doctors had taken their . places, the fol-
lowing prize competitions were recited from the rostra :
Latin verse prize, Avium nidificatio," by Mr. Frederick
Burn Harvey, Scholar of New College ; Gaisford verse
prize, by Mr. Walter S. Gibson, Exhibitioner of Balliol
College ; and the Newdegate prize, " Margaret of Anjou,"
by Mr. J. Huntley Skrine, Scholar of Corpus Christi
College.