New-York tribune., 1905-11-13
OXFORD DRINKING.
The Bishop of London on Intemo.,,
ance-Increase of Lururu
Oxford. Novemhs. !,

st. Mary's I'm High Street. sometimes descr,b.s
as the most picturesque roadway in Ensl.,,
has not commanded public attention In r.c.
years 1t was not so during the Oxford mov.
ment in the Anglican Church. when DR. N.z,,.-
was preaching from that pulpit sermons witt,
Mr. Gladstone toward the end of his NE. A.
scr'bed among the simplest vet most ,n,
itual he had ever heard. Oxford preach,n~ g.
become more academic and perfunctorv -
those stirring times of storm and stress vp,.s
the English Church was shaken to IL, rorrd,
tions by surges of mediavalism and unda-c,.
rents of rationalsm and it has not sf,-,,.,
observation outside the ivygrown ouasra,.s.-
of the classic. storied university town pr
last Sundays sermon has reached q largsr =,
dience, although It meant for Oxford ma,
exclusively. 1t dealt with waves which .on.
times passed over the place. These wer. -.
controversies and agitations over the teach,c.
Of the primitive church. the revival Of Ca.ho-
lie usage, the Interpretation of creed and
ritual and the investigations OF higher criticism
waves OF drunkenness the preacher,
phrase; and he spoke of them as cominr ~.
upon all the colleges at once, but hero and th...
upon another and sometimes upo,
group of them at the same time. Ths ur.ach..
Strengthened up to his full stature and bI, vo,..
fhas
he certain from evidence before hir, .,,,
in certain colleges there was this wava =,
drunkenness" The dons must have caught ,h.,,
breath and the undergraduates have trs-,hs
in their shoes when they heard this plain ,nok.,
indictment. Oxford-the refuge Of lost cau,..
the stronghold of classical study, the centr. :,
intellectual England-a nursery and ,onc,n-
house for drunkardsi There could hardly h.v.
been greater disturbance If the spirs Of q,
Mary's had suddenly toppled over
The preacher was the Bishop of Iondo, q,
Oxford man himself since he had lived .nd
studied at Keble College. and prelate Of broad
experience, who first gained reputation and 4,
iuence the head of Oxford House in ths Ea,,
End. He has had unrivalled opportunities to-
watching Oxford men In his conduct Of -.
lfgious work in swarming centres of population
and in his administration of a great diocese.
and he has remained in touch with the univer
sity and knows much OF its inner life al any,
body outside its walls. He did not mention COL
leges by name. but he spoke plainly and canddIy
of the growing evil of intemperance. He BEGAN
with instances of what would be known IN
America hazing. Freshmen received VISITS
from intruders. who demanded drinks" and IL
these were not supplied. the victims were n
treated and their furniture was smashed. Evan
in quiet colleges, where were supposed 10
spend their time In hard reading and pious
meditation. 1t was ordinary sight to witness
two or three men coming out of "drunks" What
can have become Of that fine old fetich paternal
rule in the colleges. If such excesses as these
are of frequent occurrence? The Bishop was not
content with telling what happened in the green
tree: he also went on with the dry tree Men
came out of Oxford to remain hopeless drunk
ards He had as many as twenty of them on
his hands IN London while he was preaching
and one of the worst had been a university cox
swain 1t was to Oxford that he looked to come
down and reform East London; and 10! these
chronic inebriates whose example could only be
a warning to struggling povertyI The Bishop
knew how to hammer In his moral I'VE are
poisoning the well with vengeance he ex
claimed with righteous fervor
Naturally. the Bishops sermon has caused
searching of heart in all the colleges His infu-
ence is great. his reputation for sobriety Of
Judgment and conservatism Of thought Is so well
established, that his charges against Oxford can
not be lightly dismissed by those responsible for
the government of the colleges Deans masters
and wardens agree that there may have been
increase In wine drinking especially by fresh
men, in some of the colleges; but they are con-
from excessive refornatory zeal Half dozen
of them have submitted to press Interviews
remarkable concession from academic Oxford.
which affects to regard Journalism as a daily
nuisance to be abated in the interest of public
morals-and they strenuously deny that there Is
any liberation of intemperance in their own col
leges. One explanation is that the Bishop has
taken too literally d bit of quadrangle ang
which has come in since he was at Keble Col
lege in training for High Churchmanship wine
party is now known as a drunk but II Is not
bad as the word sounds if this optrnist Is TO
be believed. IF any man is occasionally tns
worse for wine" remarks another graybeard
who remembers sympathetcally the sowing Of
his own wild oats, "he is not condemned Win
intolerance: but it is another thing if any mem
Der of a college be found hopelessly drunk, OF
have the reputation of being habitually intenl-
perate." Other university dons frankly adml
that on the boating holidays good many un-
dergraduates drink more than is good for them
but they add that this has always been so and
there has been marked change for the worse
tom Brown at Oxford" was generally ac-
cepted when it written accurate ao-
count of life in the university during the Garner
part Of the Victorian reign. Wine parties were
not unknown IN those days. and men drank toO
much and were seldom disciplined for IL lhei0
are more entertainments of this kind now tna'
there were then and there are natural exp4ah~-
tions for 1t. Men coming up to Oxford from
Eton, Harrow. Rugby and other public scho0"
are accustomed TO more luxury and have moi'
money to spend than in the old days The pun
lie schools, it is true. were reformed more I"
less completely half century ago by ennsnI
ened and energetic headmasters like Arn0la
II Vaughan
mummery of Montem, with it's fantastic coiDD
nation of masqueradng license and ehlOiV
contribution of salt was abolished at Eton; tns
old CHRISTOPHER Inn. where boys were 10 V
found drinking at any hour Of the day. WA'