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The Spike: or, Victoria College Review, October 1910

Oxford Impressions

page 22

Oxford Impressions.

There are, it seems, two methods of writing upon Oxford. The first, which is also the most popular in these days of scientific investigation, will pursue the subject after the hard manner of a research thesis, laboriously extracting truth by the aid of statistics bearing on cranial variations, physical abnormalities, and so forth, tabulated and correlated with the examination lists. This method also shows a tendency to enter into the very sordid question of bread and cheese, and the of College beer. The second method, almost as popular, and much affected by those who trod "The High" as undergraduates some thirty or years ago, inverts the towers of Oxford with a soft autumnal glow and is informed by the spirit of a tender reminiscence. The first manner would have something to recommend it were it not for the fact that it has already been appropriate by the great American nation as peculiarly their own; the second manner has its charms also, provided the reader in an Oxford, it would give rise to serious misapprehensions, an produce in the end a totally false impression. As description it is only poetically true; and the colonial undergraduate who builds his expectations of Oxford upon data drawn from the pages of these warmer lovers of the classic Isis, will verily experience the pangs of disillusionment when first he sees Oxford as she is. If he be wise, he will quietly set himself to adjust the delicate balance existing between cold reality and its alluring equivalent in terms of poetry, and if a worthy alumnus, Oxford will readily yield her secrets to him. But if, on the other hand, he be foolish he will vent his spleen in angry words to be repented afterwards at his abundant leisure.

Oxford affects the undergraduate in an astonishing variety of ways, and it is very wrong to imagine that a man issues from her portals after three or four years' residence a recreated being, possessed of attributes that stamp him unmistakably," an Oxford man. "The indolent rich man, for example, will remember his career as a series of pleasurable exploits, the pleasure being enhanced by a wistful recollection of the disciplinary page 23 asperities of his Dean. The idea of associating Oxford with any serious intellectual endeavour will simply never enter his head. He may have indulged in some form of athletic exercise, but most probably his ambitions were circumscribed within the limits of golf and roller skating. It is just possible that this kind may get some good from Oxford in a very indirect way, but in any case, the type is hardly worth discussion. There are many such at Oxford. There is again the undergraduate who makes use of his Oxford opportunities solely as a means towards worldly preferment. The advantages and disadvantages of such an ideal are too obvious to require much comment. The worker, who is nothing more, is not "ragged" at Oxford—he is merely left alone; but the lot of one "left alone" at Oxford can be a desperately solitary one. The enjoyment of an Oxford career depends entirely upon the man. If he has no social qualities to speak of, if he is uninteresting and commonplace, he will find it difficult to gain entrance into College societies. In this connection, it may be noted that mere wealth will go but a short way at Oxford, and then only with certain small and undesirable sets. There remains the ordinary man who passes through without high intellectual distinction, who has indulged freely in the various athletic and social activities of his College, who has made numerous friendships, and on the whole thoroughly enjoyed himself. Undoubtedly he has benefited, though it is difficult precisely to say how, for again it depends so entirely upon the man. Perhaps he has become broader-minded and more tolerant, probably he has contracted a liking for philosophical discussion but, above all, he has amassed a multitude of recollections that will be passing sweet in the aftertime.

The most valuable element in Oxford life is to be found not in the wisdom gathered from lecture rooms, nor in the strenuous pleasures of the field. but rather in the unexampled opportunity for close intercourse with men of like age, whose minds and ideals are approaching maturity. Collected about a study hearth in the early hours, a few men will become frankly and seriously communicative; in the cut and thrust discussions of college societies, where there is no quarter sought or give, wits are sharpened and the understanding generously nourished This is essentially an intellectual pleasure, and, after all is said, the important, the enduring good to be page 24 obtained from an Oxford career is, in character, intellectual. But one may question, without being of necessity taxed with pessimism, whether the majority of Oxford undergraduates appropriate this intellectual inspiration which is, of all things, most worth the having.

There are, of course, many who delude themselves into the belief that they have south and grasped the elusive good; more still, unfortunately, are content to relinquish the quest after a short pursuit, in favour of the more facile pleasure of College life. It is always well to remember that great nonsense has been spoken and written of Oxford's magic influences; it is also vitally important to guard against the importation into the university of a withering materialism. It is true that Oxford is undergoing a change; she is no longer the exclusive haunt of England's gilded youth, the happy hunting ground of our "high-spirited young gentlemen." She is gradually opening wider her doors to the nation, and assuming a more and more important function in the life of the Empire. Scholarships are fast bringing an Oxford education within the reach of pocked men from all classes of the people. Men with scholarships are, naturally, inclined to take themselves and Oxford very seriously. The man desirous of putting his University opportunities to the best advantage for his life's ten years. All is well if he attains his cherished end, while at the same time submitting himself to the influences of College life. The difficulty, of course, is to harmonies the two aims, and it must be confessed with sorrow that in a majority of cases one aim is sacrificed for the attainment of the other. There is a danger, therefore, that with the excellent popularisation of the University, the less apprehensible but intensely real benefits of College life may be forced out. As yet, the danger has not appeared in any serious form at Oxford, and possibly the admirable compromise effected between freedom and discipline in the Oxford College system will always offer an effectual resistance against its entry.

To a colonial, Oxford offers the spectacle of a strange compromise between what is ancient and what is modern. In the forenoons of term, the winding, mediaeval streets are thronged with undergraduates in motley garb only very partially covered by the ordinary Commoner's gown; page 25 women students, who in this benighted land are denied not only the franchise but also the right to academic status, flit past the frowning Bodleian unheeding its antiquity nay, rather defying it, on modern free-wheel bicycles. (But perhaps they are not to blame; they must use bicycles because their Halls lie at such vast distances away from the habitations of man.) A Balliol undergraduate may, by gazing from a study of the time of the Plantagenets, behold across the last word in socks and ties; a few men in Trinity are similarly privileged. The oak paneling of some College halls dates back five hundred years; the very silver mug, out of the depths of which the happy undergraduate drains his beer, may have served exactly the same purpose for some bibulous predecessors of the seventeenth century; but the Don who checks the College accounts and suspends from time to time the" commons" of some luckless defaulter, is involved with the enervating modernity of a patent cash register. The bed on which once languid person reposes, may have borne the weight of Sydney Smith a hundred years ago, but the scout who obsequiously "calls" at 7 a.m. and apologetically hints at some preparation for the mornings devotional office, is a keenly alive to his own interest in the matter of tips and perquisites as any waiter in a Piccadilly restaurant. Oxford is a compromise, therefore, between ancient and modern.

The normal undergraduate too, is in general, a person of some interest; but more especially in seasons of jubilation. In most Colleges the breaking of glass and the burning of furniture are de rigueur on such interesting occasions. In the morning, stern retribution invariably waits upon these nocturnal exertions; but fines are paid with a charming acquiescence. The Oxford undergraduate is more easily amused than his colonial brother; he also pays more for his amusement. But he is, after all, a most likeable fellow.

There is also in most of the good Colleges a wholly delightful intimacy existing between undergraduate and dons, generally, of course, the younger dons. Such connections naturally presuppose an extremely delicate mutual understanding of the limits within which they are possible. It is surely from this most admirable feature of the Oxford College system.

page 26

But these scattered remarks have already broken all reasonable bounds, and, as such, become amenable to the disciplinary exactions of the Editor. The writer would in conclusion, claim some slight indulgence on the score of inexperience—it is treacherous to generalize upon a limited acquaintance. One thing is certain, however: the years that are to run will assuredly bring a greater and not a lesser love of Oxford and her Colleges.

A. McD.