The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-15 00:00:00

AQUATICS.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD AND TIIE UNIVER-
SITY OF CAMBRIDGE, U.S.
The following is the reply of the Committee of the Ox-
ford University Boat Club to Hr. Watson's letter, which
appeared in The Sun of yesterday :

" University Boat Club, Oxford, Feb. 14.
" Sir,—Your proposition to make an eight-oared match
between the Harvard and Oxford University Boat Clubs
having been referred to us by the members of the Oxford
University Boat Club,. we beg to inform you that we have
given the matter our best consideration, and that we must
entirely concur in all that has been said by Mr. Willan in
his informal correspondence with you on the subject. We
are willing (though the season proposed is most inconve-
nient) to row an eight-oared match with your club next
September, under conditions similar to those under which
wo annually meet the University of Cambridge ; but we
much fear that the difficulties arising from the difference
of our systems of boating—caused, as that is, by the phy-
sical differences of our respective countries—will prove to
be insuperable.

"You propose, first, that your boat shall carry only eight
men, whereas in ours—from the nature of our rivers and
the style of our boats—we must necessarily carry a ninth
for the purpose of steering; and, secondly, you propose
(thereby admitting that our ordinary rivers are not adapted
to your system of steering) that the race shall be on a broad
open lake, to which kind of water we are quite unaccus-
tomed, and our boats unfitted. We have with great re-
luctance come to the conclusion that wo cannot agree to
these conditions, as we aro of opinion that we ought not
to involve our club in a match in which the competitors
will not meet upon the same terms, as we consider that
matches in which the parties engaged start under diffe-
rent conditions aro, as trials of skill and strength, very
unsatisfactory; they may, no doubt, be interesting; and
invariably afford great opportunities for speculation, but
when honour only is at stake they seem to us
to be entirely out of place ; for at the conclusion of the
contest it is impossible to say how far the conditions
themselves, and how far the manner in which
they have been carried out in that particular instance, have
aided in bringing about the result. It is true that iu ono
letter you express a wish to test not Only the skill and
strength of our respective crews, but also your system (i.e.
steering the boat by means of the bow oar) against our
method of carrying a coxswain. We see, however, no ad-
vantage to be gained by such a trial, for wo have no reason
to doubt that your sys tem is the best on broad and straight
pieces of water;' and yet if this were over so satisfactorily
proved, wo should still be unable to adopt it on our narrow
and winding rivers. We would submit, however, that it is
not possible to prove satisfactorily the advantage of ono
method of operation over another, and at the same time
and by the same test to discover the superiority of one
operator over the other. To test the systems the opera-
tors must be equal—to decide between the operators the
, methods must be the same.

" For those reasons we cannot agree to make a match
on the terms you propose, because practically they would
place the competitors on a different footing. We are con-
vinced that we cannot learn your method of steering on
our narrow river; and, indeed, you can hardly expect
us to race you upon a system which would necessi-
tate an entire change in our build of boats and
style of rowing, and which, even then, we could
not practise on our own river. We may more reason-
ably ask you to adopt our system—it would involve
no change in your boat or style of rowing, and it has this
great advantage over yours—that it could be adopted on
any course, whatever its nature. Moreover, the art of
steering may be thoroughly learnt by a coxswain in a
month—not so the art of steering without a coxswain.
Of course, if you consent to carry a coxswain, you would
then have no object in desiring to haVe the race on Lake
Windermere; but if you object to the Thames we can get
a course of three miles, almost quite straight, on the river
Ouse, at Lynn, in Norfolk. Hoping that you may be in-
duced to fall in with our views, we are, Sir, yours
obediently,
" FRANK WILLAN, President,
"W. W. WooD, Secretary, .1
Comnii:tee of the
"It. G. MARSDEN, Treasurer, }Oxford University
"C. it. W. TorrExtrAm, Boat Club.
"EDMUND S. CARTEIt,

NEW QUEEN'S COUNSEL—The following members
of the bar are, we unlerstand, to receive the honour
of a silk gown : —Mr. Higgin, Mr. Holker, and Mr. West,
of the Northern Circuit ; Mr Matthews and Dr. Kenealy,
of the Oxf .rd Circuit; Mr. Fitz amen Stephen, of the
Midland Circuit; Mr. Shoe and Mr. Stuart, of the Chan-
cery Bar; Sergeant Simon (patent of precedence) of the
Northern Circuit ; Mr. A. Stavely Hill, of the Oxford Cir-
cuit; and Mr. J. A. Russell, of the Northern Circuit.
There is one other gentleman, whose name has not
reached u 3, who is also to receive "silk."—souciew
Journal.