The Sun. — 1865-04-07 (London, England)

THE FIRST UNIVERSITY BOAT-RACE.—The race was pulled as evening came on ; and, as the time for it drew near, the whole crowd of Oxford and Cambridge men swelled to the river side and on the bridge ; the Oxford men showing their blue favours, the Cambridge pink. I was fortunate enough to get a capital position for seeing the conclusion of the race, on the top of the little bridge-house at the Berkshire end of Henley Bridge. The start was out of sight. The odds, it will be remembered, were offered and taken against Oxford. A defeat was confidently expected even by Oxford men; so that we who wore blue, on taking our stand as we could to see the end of the race, were not in the highest possible spirits. At last it was known that the boats were off. And here I will set down a story which was told at the time and generally believed. Our friendly antagonists, at starting, were said to have complained that their oars fouled in the weeds. In conse quence of this complaint the start was decided not to have been it fair one, and a second was made. Then the Oxford coxswain steered his men through the same water of which the Cambridge crew had complained, and pleasantly called out to them, " Weeds, weeds !" I have made it my business to inquire into this story, and am able to say, on the best possible evidence—the evidence of some of the crew of the Oxford boat—that it is untrue. What really happened was this :—The Cambridge men, having won the toss for choice of side, chose the Berkshire shore. Then, at the start, the Cambridge coxswain steered out into the stream. If the course so steered had been acquiesced in by the Oxford coxswain, the result would have been that the Oxford boat must have endured the serious disadvantage of standing over to the Oxfordshire shore. He therefore held on his own course, and the oars of the two boats fouled. This was a moment of great excitement. The umpires were called on to give directions ; and their decision was, that, there being plenty of water on the Berkshire side, both boats should be allowed to pull over it. Nevertheless, after the second start, the Oxford boat did not pass the Cambridge quite so quickly as after the first. Very soon—but then the time seemed very long— the boats showed themselves rounding the bend of the river. All doubts were over. The first corona navalis was to come to Oxford. I see that the Times, in describing the character of the races, has marked this asbeing won easily. I doubt whether those who pulled in it would use that word. Certainly it was very cleanly done. The Cambridge boat had no chance at any time after it was seen from Henley Bridge ; but I think scarcely sufficient justice is rendered to the skill and resolution of the Cambridge crew by the use of the word easily. However, the thing was settled; and in a few minutes the Oxford boat came up to an arch of Henley Bridge, well ahead, and shot under to the landing-place. Never shall I forget the shout that rose among the hills. Any one who has been on Henley Bridge will recollect how well the valley lies ,for reverberating sound. Men who loved Horace must have thought of his, lines to Maecenas—  " ut paterni Fluminis simul et jocosa liedderet laudes tibi, Vaticani Montis imago." Certainly the echo, image of the Berkshire hills, made itself heard. It has never fallen to my lot to hear such a shout since. There was fierce applause at the installation of the Duke of Wellington a fer years after, and there has been applause under a hundred roofs since ; but applause that fills a valley is a different thing. I did not see the great pageant of the entry of the Princess Alexandra into London ; but I had the good fortune to see her embark with the Prince of Wales, at Southampton, on the evening of their marriage. The quays and the Southampton water gave back no such answer to our cheers as the Henley valley gave on the 10th of June, 1829.-I,m/on Society. CHILD MURDER By