The sun., 1902-01-26


ono Of the chief cities Of the realm. 70 hsv'
dreaded any danger 70 the liberties OF hi
borough from the mob Of half-starveo
boys who were beginning to pour, ycaI
after year. into the town. The wealthy
merchant who passed the group Of shiver'
ing students huddled around teacher
as poor as themselves in porch and door
way. or dropped his aims into the cap OF
the mendicant scholar, could hardly dis
cern that, beneath rags and poverty lay
a power greater than the power OF kings
the power for which Beckett had died and
which had bowed Henry III. TO penance
and humiliation" As yet, however, In that
time Of disorder. the twelfth century. there
was no sign Of the academical and ecclesias-
tical usurpation which was to level the
municipal freedom OF Oxford with the dust.
The essay on the early history Of Oxford
from which we have here quoted deals al
4 most exclusively with the tovn. The gen.
esis and evolution OF the University were
reserved for separate treatment which the
author never found time to give. We pass
| to the papers on Oxford During the Eigh-
teenth Century which occupy all but
fifty pages Of this volume.
II.
IL is, as Green says. almost impossible,
without special study, TO throw ones self
into communion with the age Of the first
| two Georges-to feel as though its men and
women were OF real flesh and blood and
| not mere marionettes, whom an adroit
hand In putting through fictitious bows and
imaginary minuets. In the moral history
Al. - <.tv
date we call the last is not Of necessity
hundred years nearer us than It's prede-
cessors, Just as infancy, spite OF the
lapse OF years that intervenes. Is really
nearer than manhood TO that second child
hood, a garrulous old age. 30 in the history
OF mankind. instead Of a constant, unin-
termitted advance. we see the ages OF the
past recurring in mysterious alienation
each, viewed by itself, seeming but the gulf
that parts two, alike In all but time. till
wider retrospect shows us that this age OF
severance has its counterpart too. and that
the alienation Is not an exception. but a
law Green goes on to dwell on the i'm
measurable distance that sewers the nine
teenth century, proud OF its truth, it's earn
estness, its energy. its high and noble aims.
from the heartlessness. the indifference
the frivolity. In one word. the utter world
illness, OF the eighteenth century. -Were
one Of US writes Green, falling asleep
In the nineteenth. TO wake an English
man Of the sixteenth century. to don
his run his short cloak. buh jerkin and
trunk hose. he would find little novel. save
his costume. or strange In those who
thronged the streets Of the time OF Queen
Bess. save their 'prythees and canary. The
two centuries have common sympathies.
common ideas, common aims Drake In but
the prototype OF Nelson or Franklin, sgd
ney. Of Havelock. Raleigh Of the emigrsnt
or gold seeker Of to-day" But fall asleep
once moro, and wake - two centuries
nearer, as the chronologists have tin the
age Of the Georges. You Will no longer
feel yourself at home. sally forth In
well-combed peruke. gold-laced coat and
silver shoe buckles, into Pail Mall or Mer-
ton Walks, and bow gracefully 10 the Delias
and Phyllises that swim past you In their
hoops and huge head dresses. with leer
on their painted faces. and a roguish hutter
OF their fans. Chat with one OF those gay
beaux. all lace and perfumes, who are
dangling their amber headed canes with
the true supercillious vacancy OF men Of the
model Why. asks Green. are you so
silent2 Why cannot you talk with them'
Sir Fopling is voluble enough, can chat Of
,o-morrow's masquerade. the intrigues Of
Lady Dash or the latest epigram Of George
Selwyn: he will rally you on your blues
rattle over the frolc OF last night. how they
smoked a country squire. carried OF an
actress, or knocked down a watchman.
or. perhaps you still be dumb
he will turn with a charming ease 20 themes
Of graver import. though treated with as
light an air; will demolish Christianity
with jest and quote Toland for a sarcasm
on superstition.
II Is Green's purpose in essays here re-
printed 10 rebuild from the facts which he
had succeeded In collecting the oxford
Of the first Georges; 20 see what men lived
then and what manner Of life theirs was.
90 listen 20 their disputations. 90 smoke
a pipe of Virginia with them In the Common
room. or chai over a bowl Of punch In the
oonee- house. IN short, 10 give as fun an
account AZ possible Of the social and poiiti- |
cal state ~ Oxford during the greater part
81 the eighteenth century. We are told
that az that time OIford was in the moe,
primary sens an 'uniyensitas its little |
microoosm represented faithfully. though !
in miniature. every purpose. aim or fancy |
II the world without. bat Il ~as without |
order OF arrangem"ut uben. eIi-tod no |
cen'ro around which these tendenoies |
might group themselves religion had OWN. |
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