The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-13
GOLDWIN SMITHS STORY ~
MS LIFE Ar ONFORD.
IIf.

NUS Su"AFu ns Fupss anu Otnrf h0t n
ties NJ stud,-Nstabirs and Freaks
of the University In Its Golden
\ge-The EJeetn:ens sf t:lndstsue.
In isSs wa appointed regius professor
| OF modern history at Oxford. This
ended my connection with the Saturday
Rsrisr. The position, while it was wholly
unsolicited. was the height Of my desire.
l thought with pleasure that WAS settled
In Il for life. On the north Of the Parks
l built me n little house which called
Parks End and which afterward had the
honor of being occupied by Max MOller
and after him by Prof. Osler. | planted
my little garden. laid out my little
croauet ground. which In summer eve
ninss was the scene Of pleasant little
croquet parties followed by pleasant little
suppers. The subject Of my professor
shfp was tine one for which my lamp had
very often been lighted long before sun
rise. The future smiled
Mortimer was within easy reach by rail,
could 60 there now and then for dny
with the South Berks hounds. On one Of
my visits there happened q curious thing
which may interest the telspathists. At
some distance from my fathers house I
! was seized with faintness. 20 which was
liable. After lying some time on the COM
mon l got water at cottage and reached
home. There found that at the very mo-
ment OF my faintness q telegram had been
received from my housekeeper at Oxford
asking whether it was true that had died
suddenly. IL was another member OF the
university OF the same name. The tele-
gram would have been documentary evil
dence. which IN these cases il generally
wanting. Coincidence would a. usual
have been aided by the working Of the
retroactive imagination. A story was
told by Sir Harry Burrard Neale. one OF
the Burrard family. with which mine was
intimate and I believe remotely con-
nected. An old couple in Scotland.
Cameron l think was the name. left their
home to seek for their only son. who had
been carried OF by q press gang. They
wandered to Huntington on the Solent.
There a kind boatman took them on board
his boat bound for Portsmouth. where
they would find the men-of-war. A
storm came on and the boat was in danger.
Sir Harry Burrard Neale was coming up
the Solent in his ship. the San Firenae.
He saw the boat in danger. hove to. took
the old people on board and asked them
what they were doing at sea in such
weather. They told him that they were
seeking for their son. whose name they
gave. There is q pressed man Of that
name he said. -cn board this ship: send
him up He was their son. To this.
which is certainly fact. but not less GER
tainly mere coincidence. the retroactive
Imagination Of the two old people would
probably lend miraculous colors.
My predecessor in the chair was Hal
ford Vaughan. whose history was one OF
genius mournfully. almost trasically
thrown away. As a student he had
shown powers Of mind far beyond those
OF ordinary priEernsn By his father.
who was a Judge. he had been destined
for the bar. but his heart was devoted to
philosophy II was said that the Judge
gave him a. an exercise a case on which
to write judgment and on reading the
judgment wept TO think what a lawyer
was going to be lost. Vaughan lectures
on the Norman Conquest were admirable
and were very well attended But no took
il into his head that regular iecturing
was intellectual slavery no. 20 be endured:
hs resigned his chair. was reinstalled by
the efforts OF friends and again resignec.
He had written work on moral phi
losophy which was understood TO be
highly original and Of which great sx-
pectations were formed but again and
again when his work was on the point Of
publication some strange accident oc-
Cured. or he fancied that il had occurred.
and the book never saw the light There
can be little doubt that Vaughan in the
end became hypochondriac His last years
were passed in retirement His lectures
were never published. and the only fruit
Of has genius ever given 70 tn. world was
a not very valuable set Of critical notes
on Shakespeare
Society for any one Of my class and
pursuits could hardly be more pleasant
than II was at Oxford in those days. The
professors Of different subjects with the
resident tutors and fellows oe colleges
formed A circle with various lines and
interests. moderate incomes. socially and
Hospitality disposed Hospitality. easy
and frugal. college kitchens and common
rooms supplied. Al the little dinner
parties talk was rational. yet bright and
merry The old academic rust had de-
parted oxford was now within an hour
and half Of London and psrfsctly in the
world
The most eminent 81 the group was
Henry Smith. professor Of mathematics.
and but for his early death. good judges
thought. Newton or Laplace He
was generally cultivated and spanked
with wit One - our professors VINO
was weak in his aspirafes votsd a. an
election at which Gladstone and Hardy
were the candidates. and meaning 70
vote for Gladstone In his nervous haste
ssid -Ardy IRVING 20 corrsct him
self hs said that he had no: finished pro-
nouncing the name He has not begun
10 pronounoe it," said Henry Smith. who
was sitting az scritineer A. mafhe-
NAUTICAL professor Henry Smith noted
a falling OF in the brain power Of his
students. which hs was inclined 10 ascrihs
TO smoking AZ Magdalen when | was
there nobody smoked One Of the dons
still took smut
Another Dotability was Max MCllsr.