legal authorities. In the case of Green v. Rutherforth, which
came on before Lord Chancellor Hardwicke 23 May 1750
(i. Vesey, 462) a question had been raised on the Visitatorial
Power of the Bishop of Ely in St John's College, and the
Chancellor in the course of his observations said ; " The
Bishop is general Visitor, but he is by the Statutes prohibited
to give new Statutes, or put in execution those of any other ; if
he does, the College are absolved from obedience; Queen
Elizabeth reserving the power of adding, &c."
Also, in the case of The AfasUt of Si John's College
V. Todingion, in the Court of King's Bench in 1757 (i. Burrell,
158) both the Statutes of Bishop Fisher and those of Queen
Elizabeth, as well as other documents were before the Court
and Lord Mansfield said (fol. 201) "The foundation of this
College is to be taken, as to this question, from the Statutes of
Queen Elizabeth, which are the now governing constitution of
this College. These Statutes reserve to the Crown the Legisla*
tive Power."
Royal Letters have frequently been granted to other
Colleges: Christ's College in Cambridge was founded by
the same Lady Margaret, and by their Statutes the Master
and Fellows are ordered to elect one half of the number of
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Notes from the College Records. 647
their Fellows from the Counties on the North, and half
from the Counties South of the Trent. They have often
applied for Royal Letters dispensing with this Statute, which
have always been granted. Similar applications have been
made from Queens' and Trinity Colleges, with the like success.
The Statute in St John's College which has given rise
to the foregoing observations, and which it is conceived may
be modified with great advantage to the Society, and the
promotion of those objects which the Foundress had in view,
the advancement of piety and learning, is that which relates
to the election of Fellows, chap. 12, a copy of the material
part of which is contained in the Paper marked B,
There are upon the whole, in this College, 53 Fellowships,
which have all the advantages of the original Foundation.
Twenty-one of these have been founded by private Benefactors,
and appropriated to particular Families, to Persons educated at
particular Schools, or born in particular districts. It is pro-
vided by the Statute above referred to that more than two
Fellows shall not in any case be elected out of any one County,
imless private Benefactors have founded a greater number. In
t:onsequence of this restriction it can seldom or never happen
that the College can elect a Fellow for the Foundress from
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire. The
private foundations also generally interfere with the election of
young men from the counties of Cumberland, Durham, Stafford,
Cambridge and Norfolk.
Hence it does and clearly must constantly happen that the
very best scholars and most deserving young men of the
College are obliged to be put aside, and seek their chances
of Preferment in other Colleges, or are not preferred at all.
In framing the Statute the object in view seems to have
been the diffusion of Learning ; and giving encouragement to
it in Counties which at that time were but ill supplied with the
means of obtaining instruction. This inconvenience has long
ceased to be felt, and the effect now produced by the restriction
is exactly the reverse of that which was intended. The most
extensive and populous counties are generally filled up by
claimants to the private foundations, and though the candidates
are in these cases required to be idonti^ or sufficiently qualified
to perform the duties of Fellows, yet the maxime idonei the most
deserving are deprived of their fair chance of preferment. In
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648 Notes from the College Records.
all these cases as well as in those instances when two Fellowsl
are already on the list from any County, the chief incitement to
exertion, the prospect of advancement, is greatly diminished or
entirely done away.
Under these circumstances it is earnestly hoped that the
Crown will be induced, by Letter under the Sign Manual, to
remove this restriction either wholly, which is most to be
desired, or at least in part, confining the College if it should be
thought necessary to the observance of the other regulation
in the present Statute that not more than half the number
of Fellows shall be chosen out of the nine Northern Counties
therein specified. The removal of the Restriction altogether, is
however as fully in the power of the Crown as any modification
of it and is that which the interests of the College oblige us
most earnestly to solicit.
The alteration prayed for will not, it is manifest, interfere
with the Foundations of private Benefactors ; the only request
which we wish to make in regard to them is that, should
any Fellow on the old Foundation, possess the claims and
qualifications prescribed by the Founder of a private Fellow-
ship, and be elected into it, he may notwithstanding this
his re-election be allowed to retain his rank in the society.
Endorsed: Restriction in the election of Fellows submitted
to Lord Sidmouth by Mr J. Villiers, Aug. 18 19.
Lord Sidmouth clearly encouraged the College to
petition the Prince Regent for a New Statute. No
copy of this Petition appears to have been kept. The
** rough draught" to which Dr Wood alludes was a
Latin Statute removing the restriction. A still rougher
copy full of interlineations and corrections in ink and
pencil has been kept.
My Lord
I have taken advantage of your Lordship's obliging per-
mission and with the concurrence of the Fellows of St John's
College have drawn up a Petition to the Prince Regent for
a modification of the statute by which our elections are made ;
and I will immediately request the Chancellor of the University
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Notes from the College Records. 649
to transmit it to your Lordship. I have also provided a Copy
of the Petition, and a rough draught of a letter precisely
conformable to it and expressed as nearly as possible in the
language of our Statutes, which with your Lordships permission
I will leave with the Under-Secretary of State. The Bishop of
Ely our Visitor has been pleased to concur in our application,
and I have thought it right to attend in Town, that I may
give such further explanations as may be required.
Allow me to take this opportunity on the part of the Society
to which I belong of expressing the strong sense of their
obligation to your Lordship for your attention to an object
which they feel to be of the utmost importance to the reputation
and welfare of their establishment.
I have the honour to be
Caledonian Hotel etc.
Sep. 16, 1819.
Endorsed: Copy of letter from Dr Wood to Lord Sidmouth.
Sir
The Master and Fellows of St John's College on mature
consideration find it expedient to petition to the Prince Regent
for a modification of one of their Statutes; and the regular
mode of proceeding, and that which is most in unison with
their own wishes is to request your Royal Highness will have
the goodness to transmit their Petition to the Secretary of Slate
for the Home Department.
I have brought the Petition with me to Town and if your
Royal Highness will allow me I will deliver it to your Secretary
at whatever time and in whatever way your Royal Highness will
be pleased to appoint.
Lord Sidmouth is prepared to expect this application from
the; College and is fully aware of its nature and object.
Caledonian Hotel I have the honour to be
Adelphi, Strand with the greatest respect
Sep. 16, 1819. etc. etc.
Endorsed: Copy of a letter from Dr Wood to H.R.H. The
Duke of Gloucester Chancellor of the University.
VOL. XX. 4 p
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650 Notes from the College Records.
Bagshot Park,
Septr. 17th 18x9.
Dear Sir
Upon my return home from Windsor late yesterday afternoon
I learnt with much regret that you had called upon me during
my absence as I should have had great pleasure in seeing you
here.
I have lost no time in transmitting to Lord Sidmouth the
Petition to the Prince Regent you left for me, and I have
written to him upon the subject of its contents. It is, I think,
unnecessary for me to assure you that I am happy to seize
any opportunity of proving my anxiety for the Prosperity of
St John's College and my desire at all limes to meet the wishes
of yourself and the Fellows, but it is impossible for me upon
this occasion not to express how entirely I accord with the
highly commendable views of the Society in the Prayer of this
Petition. I must request you to believe me always, Dear Sir
The Rev** Dr Wood, very sincerely yours
Master of St John's College. William Frederick.
N. Audley St, Nov. nth 18 19.
My dear Sir
Upon the receipt of your letter I lost no time in calling upon
Lord Sidmouth and am happy to inform you that the business
is in a fair way of proceeding to your satisfaction. It has been
referred to the Law Officers of the Crown and returned by them
to the Secretary of State office with the opinion that the Head
of the College should make an affidavit as to the truth of the
fticts stated in the Petition. You have therefore only to make
and forward that affidavit, and I have no doubt the whole will
be immediately completed. Without addressing Lord Sidmouth
again, you need only send the affidavit with a note to T. H.
Plaskett, Esq. Chief Clerk in the Office, under cover to Lord
Sidmouth.
I am very glad to have been able to give this little additional
aid to the cause and with very sincere regards.
Most truly yours
J. C. ViLLIERS.
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Notes from the College Records. 65 1
Addressed: The Master of St John's College, Cambridge.
Franked^ Alvanley.
Before the change could be effected, George the
Third had died, and the business had to be begun over
again with King George the Fourth. But it did not
take long, and the following Royal Letter was sent to
the College. It will be seen that it gives the fullest
relief asked for. It has not, I believe, been printed
before.
George the Fourth by the Grace of God of the united
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland' King, Defender of the
Faith To all to whom these presents shall come Greeting,
Whereas the Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of
Saint John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge have
by their Petition humbly represented unto us that the College
of Saint John the Evangelist was founded by our illustrious
Ancestor the Lady Margaret Tudor Countess of Richmond and
Derby who received authority from King Henry the Eighth to
make laws for the regulation and government of the new
College, That a code of Statutes was accordingly drawn up by
the Lord Bishop of Rochester one of the Lady Margaret's
Executors and put in force, till the Reformation rendered a
revision of them necessary That King Henry the Eighth granted
a new body of Statutes which however from various causes were
found in the reign of Queen Elizabeth so imperfect as to call
for very considerable corrections and additions, That Queen-
Elizabeth in the eighteenth year of her reign issued a Com-
mission to the Lord Chancellor Burleigh and others to form
a more complete code and accordingly that body of statutes
was drawn up by which, with the addition of one Ordinance
granted by King Charles the First under the Sign Manual, the
College has ever since been governed That both King Henry
the Eighth and Queen Elizabeth explicitly reserve to themselves
and their Successors the power of altering or abrogating any
of the Statutes thus giving or of granting new Statutes should
circumstances render it necessary The Petitioners have further
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652 Notes from the College Records.
most humbly represented unto us that by the Statute De
Sociorum Qualiiatihus the College is restrained from electing
more than two Fellows from any one County in England
or more than one from any Diocese in Wales, a restriction
■which however adapted to the circumstances of the College and
the state of Literature in the Kingdom when the Statutes were
made is now found to be greatly prejudicial to the cause which
the illustrious Foundress had chiefly at heart the advancement
of piety and learning, that in consequence of this restriction the
Petitioners in their elections of Fellows are frequently obliged
to pass over the best Scholars and most deserving young men
and to confer the honours and emoluments to which such
candidates might otherwise with justice aspire on those whose
merits are less prominent The Petitioners therefore humbly
prayed that we would be graciously pleased to direct by our
Royal Letters that in all future elections into the Lady Foun-
dress's Fellowships the Candidates most distinguished in morals
and learning and among those who are equally distinguished
the most indigent may be preferred in whatever County of
England or Diocese of Wales they may happen to have been
born The Petitioners also fqrther prayed that we would be
pleased to allow such Fellows on Lady Margaret's foundation
as may be entitled to Fellowships founded by private Bene-
factors to be elected into them and to retain their seniority in
the Society notwithstanding such election or that we would
make such other regulations touching the premises as in our
known zeal for the advancement of piety and learning we may
see expedient And Whereas our Attorney General has certified
to us as it seems probable that the advancement of piety and
learning as well as the interests of the said College may be
promoted by our acceding to the said Petitioners request and
that he is of opinion that we may, if we are graciously pleased
so to do, make such alterations in the Statutes of the said
College as desired by the said Petitioners, Know Ye therefore
that we of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere
motion Have granted, ordained, declared and directed and by
these presents for us and our heirs and successors Do grant,
ordain, declare and direct that in all future elections into the
Lady Foundresses Fellowships in the said College of Saint John
the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge the Candidates
most distinguished in morals and learning and among those
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Notes from the College Records. 653
who are equally distinguished the most indigent may be pre-
ferred in whatever County of England or Diocese of Wales they
may happen to have been born anything in the Statutes of the
said College contained to the contrary in any wise notwith-
standing And we do also for us our heirs and successors grant,
ordain, declare and direct that such Fellows on Lady Margaret's
foundation in the said College as may be entitled to Fellowships
founded by private Benefactors may be elected into them and
may retain their seniority in the Society notwithstanding such
election any thing in the Statutes of the said College contained
to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding And lastly we do here-
by for us our heirs and successors grant unto the said Master
Fellows and Scholars of the said College and their Successors
that these our letters patent or the inrolment or exemplification
thereof shall be in all things good, firm, valid^ sufficient and
effectual in the law according to the true intent and meaning
thereof notwithstanding the not truly or fully reciting the
Statutes of the said College or any other omission imperfection,
defect, matter, cause or thing whatsoever to the contrary thereof
in any wise notwithstanding. In Witness whereof we have
caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself at
our Palace at Westminster this fourth day of March in the first
year of our Reign.
By Writ of Privy Seal : Scott.
Endorsed: Grant to St John's College, Cambridge for altering
their Statutes.
We conclude this article with the following con-
gratulatory letters to Dr Wood from the Duke of
Gloucester, Chancellor of the University, the Bishop
of Ely- and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The total
cost of obtaining the Statute was ;^ 146 \os. Sd.
Gloucester House
March 8, 1820.
Dear Sir
I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
yesterday's date, and tb express the great satisfaction I feel
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654 Notes from the College Records.
at the King having given his assent to the Prayer of the
Petition I transmitted to his Majesty from St John's College ; a
Petition which reflects so much honour on its present Members,
and the consequences of which cannot fail to prove of the most
essential Advantage to the Society. In requesting you to be so
good as to convey my acknowledgments to the Members of
St John's for their very handsome Message, I hope you will
assure them that it must, at all times, be gratifying to me to be
able to prove my high respect and esteem for your venerable
Institution, and I trust you will believe that I have the greatest
pleasure in seizing every opportunity to express the personal
Regard with which I am always, Dear Sir,
very sincerely yours
The Rev Dr Wood William Frederick
Master of St John's Coll.
Endorsid: His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester,
Mar 9, 1820.
Ely House, March 8th, 1820.
Dear Sir
It gives me very great satisfaction to find that you have
received your new Statute from the Crown, which cannot fail
to promote most essentially the welfare of the College. I can
never cease to feel most deeply interested in the prosperity of
a Society with which I have the honor to be so closely connected
as its Visitor, and it is highly gratifying to me to observe that
in the discharge of my duty I have on all occasions been so
fortunate as to obtain the entire approbation of yourself and
the College. Believe me to be dear Sir, yours ever
most faithfully,
B.E. Ely.
Addressed: Revd Dr Wood, St John's College, Cambridge.
Endorsed: The Lord Bishop of Ely, Mar 9, 1820.
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Darkness. 655
Lambeth Palace
March 9th 1820.
Rev: Sir
I very heartily congratulate with you on the emancipation of
your College from a restriction that could not be otherwise than
injurious to it. Nevertheless it must not be forgotten that even
under this restriction, St John's College, by the efforts of its
Masters, and the Character of its Tutors, has always maintained
with credit, its rank in the University. I have the honor to be.
Rev: Sir
your faithful humble Servant
Cantuar :
Addressed: The Rev: Dr Wood, Lodge, St John's College,
Cambridge.
Franked: Cantuar, dind. Endorsed : Archbishop of Canterbury
Mar. 10, 1820.
R. F. S.
[To be continued,'^
DARKNESS.
Boon twilight, and the spiritual gray
Of morning on the misty mountain sides,
Are ebb and flood of life's eternal tides
Of dark and light : one half-world turns away
To sleep in shade : one wakes to work and play i
Darkness redeems the errors of the light :
Beneficent and all-atoning night
Blots out the imperfections of the day.
Then call not darkness evil : good and ill
Are human discords ; but unwavering
The deathless ministers of nature's plan
Perform the mandates of the heavenly will.
That darkness only is an evil thing,
Which reigns perpetual in the mind of man.
C. E. Byles.
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A TOURISTS TALE.
I JOINED a tour to "Sunny Spain"
'Twas one of " Spook's conducted."
Now I'm a lofty soul, and scorn
To be by guides instructed,
And so I gave our gang the slip,
And on my own hook took a trip
Into the wild interior
Of what was once Iberia.
The night came on and found me far
From human habitation.
And miles, and miles, and miles away
From any railway station;
And so I wandered on, until
I gained the summit of a hill.
And thence I spied a tiny light.
In Spain a most uncommon sight.
I plodded on until I met
A gentleman in "knickers,"
And round his waist a saah was tied.
Adorned with bright pigstickers.
I felt a little bit afraid.
And some insipid comment made
About the state of Spanish weather.
And tried to pull myself together.
He answered me in Spanish tongue.
That sounded much like swearing.
His eyes they glittered brightly, like
The gimcracks he was wearing.
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A Tourisi's Tale. 657
Then all at once it flashed on me.
That I had met with banditti:
And so, in hopes that he would vanish,
I summed up my choicest Spanish.
Now when I am in " Gay Paree,"
And try French conversation;
I always can rely upon
This feature of the nation :
As soon as I begin the "brogue,"
Be it to honest man, or rogue,
He cannot for a moment stand it.
And so it happened with the bandit.
His face was puckered up in pain,.
His eyes grew quite abnormal,
He turned upon his heels, and left
In manner most informal.
Now Spanish men are most polite,
But he was too dumbfounded quite.
To give a thought to etiquette,
Which, strange to say, I dont regret.
Now learning foreign tongues at school
Is really most improving;
For never have I found my words
In English half so " moving."
And therefore this is my advice:
Before you give up French, think twice:
And when you've learnt a tongue, don't lose it.
You don't know when you'll have to use it.
H. B. Hamer.
VOL. XX. 4
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:■ ^/r*^
m
THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE AS A CAREER.
CRY for help from Macedonia on the banks of
the Cam must always prove an irresistible
attraction to a loyal Johnian, and the 31
years which have rushed by since I resigned
my seat on the Editorial bench of TAe Eagle have not
increased my powers of resistance against such an
appeal. So it happens that in an unwary moment I
yielded to pressure, and promised an article for the
preparation of which I have but scanty heisure.
Looking back across the interval of time which
separates me from the golden days of undergraduate
life, I can recall numerous distinctions which the College
gained in those days. Seniority in the Classical and
Mathematical Triposes seemed to come to the College
as a matter of course. In the five years from 1867 to
1871, Sandys, Hallam, Whitaker and Heitland headed
the Classical list, while Moulton and Pendlebury were
Senior Wranglers, and Elliott (now serving in India and
a CLE.) just missed that distinction in the same period.
The first place was gained by the College in the
Natural and the Moral Science Triposes in 1870 and
1 87 1. To office at the Union Johnians were elected
from year to year. Fractions of light blue were not in
those days exposed to view, nor was the undivided
honour awarded to any but representatives of the
University in the contests of rowing, cricket, or the
athletic sports between Cambridge and Oxford. But
Light Blues flitted about the Courts of the College,
and more that one Johnian both rowed in the Eight and
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The Indian Civil Service as a Career. 659
played in the XI. The most famed of runners, jumpers,
and hurdle racers (Pitman, Fitzherbert, and Cooper) wore
the Lady Margaret Colours. On the river, on the
College cricket ground, and in the racquet courts St
John's held a record which no other College could beat.
Meanwhile the very bull-dogs and proctors were found
charmed and motionless in the course of their rounds
under the influence of the sweet strains of Gillespie's
band. With a large annual enrolment of freshmen, the
College treated its Scholars and Exhibitioners with a
marked liberality. On February 24 1868 the Civil
Service Commissioners wrote to a Johnian Exhibitioner
selected for the Indian Civil Service in these terms —
** The Commissioners have always endeavoured to impress
upon candidates at the time of their selection that it was
at once their duty and their interest to give up all
honours except those of the Indian civil service." With
these short-sighted and happily short-lived views the
Commissioners proscribed the Universities as unfit for
the residence of their selected candidates. Both at
Oxford and Cambridge many Colleges retaliated and
warned off men who intended to go out to India. Such
were not accounted worthy to retain their Scholar-
ships, since their Indian studies must interfere with
their acquisition of honours in the Schools and Triposes,
and a narrow view of life and honour led the College
authorities to deprive successful competitors in the
Indian civil service examinations of their scholarships or
Exhibitions, But St John's College took the lead in
resisting this tendency, and even awarded to one of its
exhibitioners, wha had been selected for the Indian