Between the Chapel and Hall stands the Master’s Lodge9, placed so as to communicate with both. The Hall has been very well[164] restored, and is now a good Gothic hall, with an oriel full of excellent portrait glass, representing all the worthies10 of the college, from the Lady Margaret down to Paley in his archdeacon’s apron11 and Darwin in his doctor’s gown. Beyond the hall, and facing westwards, is the lovely building of 1642, which is usually attributed to Inigo Jones. A range of older buildings, constituting the south side of the court, used to impede12 the full view of this beautiful structure; but these were moved back early in the century, and rebuilt in the hideous13 taste of the time. However, we are the gainers by it. Although the work at Clare is, as a whole, a better specimen of the period, the Christ’s building has the advantage of perfect uniformity, and is an excellent example of the transition from Renaissance14 Gothic to the style of which Wren15 is the chief exponent16. Its base is pierced by a gateway17 leading into the famous garden, a classic resort which is a very competent rival of any garden at Oxford18. Of the new buildings at the north-eastern extremity19 of the college, it is unnecessary to say anything; they are moderate, but are hardly worth a detailed[165] inspection20. Their architect was Mr J. J. Stevenson. Within the last three years Messrs Bodley and Garner21 have been employed upon the street front, and, needless to say, have restored it with their usual conservative skill.
For the beginnings of Christ’s College we must go back to the year 1436. William Bingham, Rector of St John Zachary in the city of London, founded a small hostel22 or Grammar College in connection with Clare, and placed it on a site which is now occupied by the western part of King’s College Chapel and a portion of the great court of King’s. Four years later, Henry VI.’s great experiment forced Bingham to seek other quarters, which he eventually found in Preachers’ Street, the thoroughfare leading from the Barnwell Gate to the Dominican Friary. Here he re-founded his college under the picturesque24 name of God’s House, which it had already borne in its former position. But, like so many similar institutions, its revenues languished25. Bingham’s society was to consist of a master with the title of Proctor, and of twenty-four scholars. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, the house maintained only four scholars besides the Proctor. There is a story that the great John Fisher, Bishop26 of Rochester, was bred at this hostel; and that his affection for it was the cause which moved him to bring its destitution27 to the notice of his friend, Lady[166] Margaret Beaufort. It is, at all events, more than certain that Fisher, who guided his patroness in her pious resolves, called her attention to the case, and so laid the foundation, as it were, of Christ’s and St John’s. There is no satisfactory evidence as to the time at which she conceived the idea of founding St John’s. Probably, the notion of a college had taken her fancy long before, and it is not unlikely that the opportunity of founding two colleges presented itself at one time. At any rate, her first work was to re-establish God’s House in 1505. The task of converting St John’s Hospital into St John’s College required several years of preliminaries and formalities. But in God’s House she had a college already to her hand. Henry VI. had apparently28 promised Bingham some compensation for the removal of the house, but the greater work of founding King’s and the civil troubles which soon engrossed29 the crown had prevented him from fulfilling his promise. The Lady Margaret, devoted30 to the memory of the “royal saint,” endowed the society on the scale approved by him, and provided funds for the maintenance of a master, twelve fellows and forty-seven scholars. And “from her singular devotion to the name of Jesus Christ”—the same motive31 which had prompted Alcock to call his foundation Jesus College—she founded the college under the invocation of Christ. We have thus two colleges at Cambridge which recall the popular devotion of the Name of Jesus, then lately established and approved.
[167]
It may or may not be true that the foundress had rooms reserved for her use in the Master’s Lodge. The story seems contrary to the spirit of that age or of any other, but a point may have been stretched in her favour. The testimony32 for this legend rests upon an anecdote33 told by Fuller. “The Lady Margaret,” he says, “once … came to Christ’s College to behold34 it when partly built, and looking out of a window, saw the dean call a faulty scholar to correction, to whom she said ‘lente, lente,’ gently, gently, as accounting35 it better to mitigate36 his punishment than to procure37 his pardon; mercy and justice making the best medley38 to offenders39.” This is scarcely sufficient authority for the tradition. There are no less than four portraits of the Lady Margaret in the college, the best of which is perhaps that at the west end of the chapel, closely resembling the picture in the hall at St John’s. The Combination Room also contains a portrait of Bishop Fisher, and both these pious friends of learning are commemorated40 in the oriel of the Hall. From the foundation of the college onwards, its history has been peaceful and comparatively uneventful. In its early years, it seems to have anticipated the lodging-house system, for we are told that some of the scholars were lodged41 in the Brazen42 George, an inn opposite the college, and that the doors of this hostelry were closed and opened at the same time as the doors of the college.
Leland the antiquary and Hugh Latimer were among the earlier members of the college. But the history of Christ’s is centred in one[168] event, the seven years’ residence of John Milton, who entered as a pensioner43 in 1625, and went down with his Master’s degree in 1632. “John Milton of London,” the entry runs in English “son of John Milton, was initialed in the elements of letters under Mr Gill, Master of St Paul’s School; was admitted a lesser44 pensioner Feb. 12th, 1624 [O.S.] under Mr Chappell, and paid entrance fee 10s.” Mr Chappell, on the authority of Dr Johnson, is said to have flogged the poet. “There is reason to believe that Milton was regarded in his college with no great fondness. That he obtained no fellowship is certain, but the unkindness with which he was treated was not merely negative.” Milton himself says enough to make the truth of this statement at least doubtful; for his language, ten years after his departure from Cambridge, is not merely the language of a man who had forgotten old grudges46, but breathes a lively affection for his college. The flogging possibly took place; the University was then nothing but a large public school, and each college was a separate boarding-house. Milton, when he went up, was just sixteen, and boys of sixteen are not past flogging. If he went down without a fellowship, he was surely, in spite of that, a most promising47 student. His Latin verses, which we still read as we read Ovid and Propertius, are the finest poetry, and not mere45 academical exercises; his skill in Italian marks a degree of culture unknown even in that Italianised age. In addition to his[169] scholarship, he possessed48 extraordinary personal beauty, which gives him among poets something of that eminence49 possessed by Raffaelle among painters. We are told that he was called the “Lady of the College.” And, while at Christ’s, he wrote some of his most lasting50 works, including the famous Hymn51 on the Nativity, which was written in 1629. His verses on Hobson, the University carrier, are well known, and Lycidas, the elegy52 on his college friend, Edward King, appeared at Cambridge in 1637. His noble Verses at a Solemn Musick, containing some of the finest and most imaginative lines in English, belong to this early period. The master under whom his residence took place was Dr Thomas Bainbrigge, master from 1620 to 1645. Cromwell had gone down from Sidney before Milton came up to Christ’s, but he was still in the neighbourhood of Cambridge. Milton’s mulberry-tree, the Palladium of the college, may or may not be Milton’s; but to believe the tradition does no violence to our faith. The memory of Milton had a more than usually potent53 influence on another poet, Wordsworth.
Among the band of my compeers was one
Whom chance had stationed in the very room
Honoured by Milton’s name. O temperate54 Bard55!
Be it confest that, for the first time, seated
Within thy innocent lodge and oratory56,
One of a festive57 circle, I poured out
Libations, to thy memory drank, till pride
And gratitude58 grew dizzy in a brain
Never excited by the fumes59 of wine
Before that hour, or since.
[170]
And this, from internal evidence, must have been on a winter Sunday afternoon before chapel! For the inebriated60 poet, always a sad idler at Cambridge, had to run back “ostrich-like” to chapel, where he arrived late and, full of wine and Milton, swaggered up to his place through “the inferior throng61 of plain Burghers.” Here was a young gentleman who deserved flogging!
But the presence of Milton must not allow us to forget the band of contemplative scholars and philosophers who, in his time, were the ruling influence in the college, and now lie beneath the chapel floor. The course of the reformed and Puritan doctrines62 was largely determined63 by the study of Platonic64 philosophy, just as the Aristotelian system had allied65 itself to Catholic theology. Platonism in Cambridge is the result of two opposing forces: on the positive side, the teaching of Erasmus; on the negative side, the publication of Hobbes’ Leviathan in 1651. This book received many reputations from Cambridge men; two of the best known are the work of Dr Bramhall of Sidney, Bishop of Derry and afterwards Primate66 of Ireland, and of Dr Cumberland of Magdalene, the painful Bishop of Peterborough. But the most effective opposition67 to Hobbes’ materialistic68 and mathematical science came from Christ’s. The first of the Cambridge Platonists was the meditative69 Mede, who died in 1638. He was a fellow of the college in Milton’s time, and spent his days in wandering about the college backs and fields, absorbed in[171] mystical speculation70, of which the eventual23 outcome was his work on the Apocalypse. In the evening, members of the college would resort to his rooms, and he would ask them “Quid dubitas? What doubts have you met in your studies to-day?” and, having heard their answers, would set their minds at rest and dismiss them with prayer. But Mede was scarcely so remarkable71 as Henry More, the author of the Mystery of Godliness and other books, who devoted his life at Cambridge to Platonic speculations72, and even extended his enquiries to the Neo-Platonic writers and the Hebrew Cabala. Ralph Cudworth* was three years his junior, and survived him one year. This man, the greatest of the company, was Master of Clare for some time, and, in 1654, became Master of Christ’s, where he remained, unmoved by the Restoration, till his death in 1688. He was the most powerful of Hobbes’ adversaries73, and his True Intellectual System of the Universe, published in 1678, is a fairly convincing counterblast to the Leviathan. However, Cudworth was rather a talented pedant74 than a genius: he lessened75 the value of his work by recondite76 allusions77, and his critical capacity was impaired78 by prejudice. But, in that age of laborious79 theology, Cudworth’s book deserves a position next to, although far below, Leighton’s commentary on St Peter.
It is a somewhat melancholy80 fact that the only other poet of whom Christ’s can boast besides Milton is that master of tortured conceits81, Francis Quarles. Curiously82 enough, the portrait,[172] probably of Quarles, in the Combination Room, which bears the motto “Nec ingratus nec inutilis videar vixisse” was at one time supposed to be that of Milton. But the college has had eminent83 students in other departments. Dr Seth Ward,* a little younger than Milton, is known as the Bishop of Salisbury during the time of James II. and the Revolution. In 1766, at the age of twenty-three, William Paley* was elected a fellow, and remained at Cambridge for ten years. Paley’s early life is said to have been careless and riotous84. One morning, however, when lying late in bed, a friend and boon-companion came into his room, and treated him to what is sometimes known as a “straight talk.” This admonition awakened85 Paley’s conscience, and led in time to the publication of the famous Evidences of Christianity and to the Archdeaconry of Carlisle. In all probability, no historical name is so often on the undergraduate’s lips—not always with blessings—as the name of this reclaimed86 ne’er-do-weel. The Evidences, as is well known, form part of the subjects for the Previous Examination or Little-Go, and have in this capacity given birth to an especial department of literature in the shape of “Paley Sheets” and other précis of the heavy work. A less logical but more human theologian was John Kaye,* master from 1814 to 1830, and Bishop successively of Bristol and Lincoln.
If, among statesmen, Christ’s can put forward Lord Liverpool, famous for his interminable ministry87 of more than twenty years, she has had[173] in science, a son who is as famous in his branch of study as Milton is in poetry. This was Charles Robert Darwin (* Ouless) who came up to Christ’s in the twenties with the intention of taking holy orders. At Cambridge, however, he found such opportunities for research that he abandoned his design, and, at the recommendation of Professor Henslow, who then held the botanical chair, went out as naturalist88 to the Beagle. This was the beginning of his scientific career and of the revolution in biological science which he effected. A tablet with his profile in relief has been placed in the room occupied by him, which is at present occupied by the Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Dr Armitage Robinson. To-day Christ’s not only claims as its master Dr John Peile, the eminent classical philologist89, but the greatest of living scholars who have devoted themselves to the study of their own language—the editor of Langland and Chaucer, Professor Skeat. And Cambridge men will always remember with pleasure that Christ’s was the college of the most pleasant of all English versifiers, Charles Stuart Calverley (then Blayds) who not only, by his light verses, added to the gaiety of the nation, but, by his translation of Theocritus, increased the range of English poetry.
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1
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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impede
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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garner
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| v.收藏；取得 | |
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hostel
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| n.（学生）宿舍，招待所 | |
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eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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25
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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26
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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27
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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28
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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36
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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37
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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38
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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39
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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40
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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42
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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pensioner
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| n.领养老金的人 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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46
grudges
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| 不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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48
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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50
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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elegy
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| n.哀歌，挽歌 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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54
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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55
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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56
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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60
inebriated
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| adj.酒醉的 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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62
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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63
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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66
primate
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| n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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materialistic
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| a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的 | |
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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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70
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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71
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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74
pedant
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| n.迂儒；卖弄学问的人 | |
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75
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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recondite
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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78
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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81
conceits
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| 高傲( conceit的名词复数 )； 自以为； 巧妙的词语； 别出心裁的比喻 | |
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82
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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83
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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84
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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85
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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86
reclaimed
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| adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救 | |
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87
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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88
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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89
philologist
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| n.语言学者，文献学者 | |
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