New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-15
THE MASTER OF BALL1OL.
l.
HIS CHARACTER-HlS WORN AND i->r hO
ENCE AT OXFORD-CONVERSA-
TIONAL TRAITS.

ment He never led party. His name was
not a flag But he was great teacher great
head of a great college, one of the foremost hg-
ures Of a great university, clergyman whose
relation to his church was like that of no other
scholar who equally at home WIN 81
Dan, and Plato a Professor of Greek who knew
English at least as well as the Hellenic tongue,
a theologian to whom dogma was ever second
ary matter, University Den whose horizon was
world e;-and this last is the rarest eulogy
Of all.
But he was before and above all other things
an Individuality He had definite conceptions OF
life and he acted on them. He took the liberty
there is none other the world 80 often resents
of being himself. and not somebody else, and
as he had great natural force Of character and
great acouirements he impressed himself very
deeply on his time, and on those about him. No
body is left to whom he can be compared
Another Of the giants Of great generation is
gone. Most Of his great contemporaries mad
passed before him. He dies at seventy-siX, ana
whether you look among the men OF his own
period or of the generation which came after
him. or among those who have since begun TO
make their mark in life, there are not many
whose eminence is comparable to his or who
give promise of approaching his rare excellence
Of life.
technical value of his educational work at OK
ford. but one does not need to be an expert to
see that it had a very great value indeed. You
have only to ask what Baol College would
have been without him. and what the University
of Oxford would have been without him. There
is a new oxford since Jowett first appeared on
the scene. The medieval oxford has given
place to a modern oxford. She is no longer
monastic no longer ecclesiastical, no longer ex-
elusive no longer under the domination of
dead spirit, but Of spirit that maketh alive.
She has opened her arms and broadened her
methods and nberalized her ideas of education
and of university life In all these changes
Jowett bore a part, often foremost part 1t is
difficult TO conceive of the oxford of to-day with
out him.-almost as difficult of Baol minus
his aIl-pervading and overmastering person
aty.
That is however, but single view of
tivity that was many-sided. He was one of
band of men who in our time. have elevated
the general conception and theory Of education,
and of its place in the world. Teaching was to
him the highest function. but in no narrow sense
of the word. He thought it the great business of
the University to raise up men-or, in his own
phrase, English gentlemen, "who felt that there
would be no shame in entering on career IN
which learning and usefulness would be the only
the aim may seem simple, but, in common with
most men of ample nature he loved simplicity,
and the word to him not criticism, but a
eulogy Many Of his pupils, the men whom he
taught and formed, are men of high distinction.
They are the foremost to do justice to their mas
ter You will hear them speak of Jowett not
merely as one who taught them Greek, but who
taught them the conduct Of life. In them he
lives and will long live. They are his best cpl
taph-they and the extraordinary company Of
friends whom he had gathered about him: Mat
thew Arnold, Dean Stanley. Lord Coloridge Lord
Bowen. the new Lord Of Appeals, Mr. Justice
Wright, at whose home he died, Lord Rosebery
TO whom he had and who had for him close
attachment, the Speaker and many more, attest
the quality and range of his friendships.
He showed in many ways that his regard for
his pupils was sincere and he attached many Of
them to him, but also repealed many by his man
ner The average student was repealed. He liked
and respected his master in the abstract or at
O. distance but Jowett in the flesh and regard
ing him across table, too much for his
nerves There was benignity in his look, but he
looked through you all the same. The true way
was to face him. to stand up to him; not ag-
gressvely but quietly. a boy who had been
we'll bred and used to social intercourse on equal
terms got on very we'll with him. he Master
ever, difficult for a pupil to be on equal
terms with the Head of a great college
1t was his habit to ask a certain number Of his
pupils to breakfast with him, once or twice dur
ing term, or oftener. All but the bodest felt it
10 be an ordeal He welcomed his young guests
with tepid shake Of the hand and the glance
of cross-examining counsel The rest was
often silence. The meal went on for many min
utes perhaps, without a word. Jowett 81
lent by way of encouraging the boys to talk. The
boys were silent from nervousness. from not
understanding the mood Of the Master and the
ways Of the place. or from a not unnatural fear
OF one Of those forked sentences which at any
moment might issue from those thin lips. piercing
and transfxing whatever or whoever was with
in range 1t was awkward enough to sit through
such a NEAL the expectation, the possibility Of
a catastrophe present to everybodys mind eX-
cept to the hosts
He, in his real kindness of spirit. may not
have understood why he should be a terror to
those who were not evildoers and to whom he
meant WELL If one Of the company spoke out
frankly and simply. and had intelligence, all
went well. The Master listened with a pleased
or. at worst. a tolerant expression Of counte-
nance Sometimes he answered. and the answer
was not always an epigram. 1t was interesting
to note how long this awe Of the pupils lasted,
even among those who knew themselves his
favorites One night at house in the country
one Of them, long since emancipated from uni
varsity control, a legisla tor in his early youth
and reputed confident in his own powers. was
Intercepted by Jowett after dinner On his way
TO the smoking-room. Come to my room and
, have talk" said the Master in tones both win
ming and peremptory. The ex-student of Balliol
had no choice but to obey. He went sending "a
glance over his shoulder which was comic in its
dismay. 1t was more than an hour before he
appeared in the smoking-roor We asked how
1t had gone THE old boy was delightful" he
answered, land never glad when any
thing over"
For man who had a great and deserved re-
x,aun aa TALLER DIR InWeft Mns often sinpI-