New-York tribune., 1900-12-15
OXFORD MEMORIES.
Mr.. TUcKwELLs ANECDOTES OF HIS
CONTEMPORARIES.


"REMINISCENCES OF OXFORD. By the Rev. W.
Cassen & Co.
Mr.. Tuckwells book should be a treasury OF
recreation 10 the everyday, hard working man.
who has neither the energy nor the time to be
deeply interested in the sidelights on English
history. oxford was called by the poet Gay "a
soy of wild asses; Gay should have known what
he was talking about but, TO judge by this book,
the wild asses OF oxford in the nineteenth cen
tury have been brilliant herd. Characteristic
ally, the greater part Of the eccentricities and
sointillations recorded here are not traceable to
glddy young undergraduates, for at oxford the
Undergraduate is, and is generally made TO feel
himself comparatively small beer" The only
significant body social Of Oxford is made up Of
Dons and tutors, who the Dons Of the future
men who have attained feIlowships and uni
Nersity posts or struggling toward them,
through the process Of acadenical selection Such
was DIR. Frowd- the incorrigible Fellow Of Cor
pus 10 whom Mr.. Tuckweu attributes the pithy
pulpit saying. Hell is place which men believe
10 be reserved for those who are a great deal
worse than themselves" And such was Moses
Griffith, commonly called Mo" Fellow Of Mer-
ton, Of whom this is told: The lesson happened
TO be the third chapter OF st. Luke. Griffith
read on I'll he came 10 the formidable pedigree
al the end Which was the son OF He'll he be-
gan; then glancing at the genealogical Banquo
Ane which follows-the rest concerns neither
you nor me. so here endeth the Second Lesson d"
one Of the most original characters. as his SER
wees to science gave him some right TO be. was
Dr. Bucldand. whose lectures on geology were
IN has time-seventy or eighty years ago-an in
nQyauon and an occasion Of wit 10 the wits. OF
him 1t was written:
Some doubts v,ara onna .,-r-.a -. ~,
Flood ''
Buckland arose, and all was clear as-mud
II is possible that an old and oft quoted ioka
al the expense Of the Scots may have first seen
the light when, in The course Of a lecture on the
prehistoric cheinotherium. sceptical Caledonian
interrupted Buckland with the question .Tt
would seem that your animals always walked
one way! Yes, was the reply "Cheirothe-
ilain was a scotchman, and he always travelled
sou1h. Indeed many OF the good things in the
book may be already familiar to those who know,
something Of old oxford traditions but thew vii,
be none the less welcome for that II is interest
ing 70 note small variations in some OF the most
famous anecdotes and mots. and Mr.. Tuclywelrs
reading is generally the better. For instance
phe unlntenaonally comic remark OF GaisforS n.
christchurch. on the study OF Greek. (which no,
only elevates above the vulgar herd. but Leads
not infrequently 10 positions OF considerable
emoiument Is al the funnier for being given as
the conclusion OF sermon preached on Christ
mas Day. But on the other hand. in that string
OF witty transformations The Masque OF Raj
hol" the Tuckwen version Of the lines on Dean
Liddell rs:
! am the Dean OF Christchurch. sir;
ms rs my wife look well al her
sne Is the Broad, ! am the High.
We are the University
Whleh Is perhaps. less trenchant than that
made IN the other current version:
My wife arc ] and daughters three.
We are the UNIVERSITIES.
eor LlaeeifS pflae IN his daughters. one OF whom
was Anee y wonderland. Twas notorious. how