Evening star., 1923-11-16
BY THE MARoIISE DE FONTENOY

BY THE MARQIISE DE FONTENON.
Quite unique. III it's way. is the
ancient prerogative of the Archbishop
of Canterbury. the prtmate or ali
England, to bestow degrees of the
University Of oxford upon those dis
tinguished men. not otherwise con-
nected with his alma mater, whom he
wishes TO specially honor. 1t Is q
prerogative which dates back TO the
anti-reformation era. when the prt-
mate of all England usually com+
bined in his own person the dignity
of Archbishop of Canterbury with
that of pnpal legate and plenipo-
tentiary of the pOntiff- AS legate the
primate enjoyed the power of bestow-
ing, of his own free will. degrees
of the university from which he had
graduated. Although the state church
of England has. since the sixteenth
century. cut itself adrift from Rome.
yet the Archbishop of Canterbury
still retains from the two principal
and oldest English universities the
powers which his predecessors de-
rived from the fact that they We're
pontifical legates. Thus. the present
Archbishop of Canterbury was edu-
Gated at Trinity, College, oxford.
Consequently thei degrees that he
confers are those Of Oxford. and this
is done quite Independently OF the au-
thorities of his alma mater. which.
save in his case, are alone in its
right to grant its degrees, either as
the result of examinations or by
vote OF the heads of the university.
If the primate had taken his orig
inal degree at Cambridge he would
be entitled to bestow Cambridge Uni
versity degrees.
If call attention to this, it is
because these degrees conferred by
the Archbishop of Canterbury are
srees, owing to the fact that their
investiture Invariably takes place in
his wonderful old medieval palace.
almost opposite to the houses of par
Thames. Thus he has Just bestowed
the degree OF doctor of divinity OF
oxford upon. the new Bishop of
Sierra I-eonE whom he had conse-
Grated to that see few days pre-
viously, the Rt. Rev. C. w. Wright.
At the same time. he, bestowed an
oxford degree of doctor Of music
upon the widely known c. H. Moody,
who, for nearly thirty years, has en-
joyed something more than national
celebrity as the chief organist of the
cathedral Of Ripon. where so many
great oratorios and masterpieces of
sacred music have been produced. SO
far as l am aware. the Rt Rev.
William T. Manning. Protestant Epis-
copal Bishop OF New YORK. Is the
only American prelate to have re-
ceived this somewhat rare and un-
usual honor from the head of the
state church of England In token of
the sympathy and communion OF
anglicanism with the entirely inde-
pendent American denomination of
r,,bf~h nr Manning is an aclyn0U1-
edged leader.
X X \ X
Two English names that are partic-
ularly familiar on this side, are those
of Phillimore and Bryce, and, there
fore. 1t will interest quite a number
of people here to learn OF the i'm
pending marriage betEeen Capt. the
Hon. Godfrey Phillimore and the
widowed Mrs. Bryce. The former Is
the eldest son and heir of Lord Philli-
very tragic fashion during the great
war. on the very day when he was
40 badly wounded In battle in France
that he was unable to attend her fu-
neral. A daughter of Col. Arthur
Haigh of Bemersyde in Berwickshire.
she had place at Sonning on the
she used to swim every day On the
occasion OF the fatality her boy Of
eight got into difficulties while in the
water and was In danger of drown
ing. HIS mother swan to his rescue,
brought him safely to the bank, but
was so exhausted that she succumbed
then and there to heart failure.
Capt. Phillimore has inherited his
fathers curious gift OF ambidexterity.
Indeed, Lord Phillimore, before he re-
tired from the bench, which he occu-
MED for so many years, frequently
was watched taking copious short
hand notes, first with his right hand
and then with his left hand. He never.
however, got quite SO far as one of
his colleagues, who was able to take
notes about one subject with his right
hand and about another with his left
hsnd-a feat which recalls that per-
formed by Justice Frederick Crane of
the supreme court Of New York, In
February, 1911, when he tried two
cases at the same time. At one end
of the hall OF Justice was gathered
the entire court OF q divorce suit.
while at the other end was assem-
bled q court engaged in q suit for the
recovery Of money. Judge Crane left
the bench and spent the entire morn
ing In striding from one end of the
room to the other, exclaiming, u will
allow that" in passing upon q dis
puted point In the property suit and
then. q minute later, exclaiming, at
the other end OF the room, You open