This same tendency of his--to attempt too much--had once before also served him in evil stead when at the University in earlier life. Born on the 6th of April 1840, a son of the late Mr. Edward Oates, of Meanwoodside, near Leeds--himself a lover of nature, and a man of literary tastes--Frank Oates entered at Christ Church, Oxford, at the close of 1860. And here his love of nature and her teachings soon displayed itself by his choice of reading for a class in the Natural Science Schools. His work, however, in this direction did not keep him from study in many other departments of knowledge; and, besides his studies, all out-door pursuits had each their respective fascination for him. Of these, riding held with him, as it had always done, the foremost place; and when the time of year or incidental circumstances kept him from an occasional gallop with the hounds, he would have a long day’s ride into the country instead, drinking in, the while, deep draughts of enjoyment from the scenes he passed through. One such ride, still showing him faithful to his love of birds, he describes himself in a letter to one of his brothers on May Day, 1864, as follows:-- “I had a jolly ride,” he writes, “to Wychwood Forest a few days ago, with S---- of Wadham. We both enjoyed it, as we both entered into the loveliness of the scene. Unfortunately the day was cold, and few birds were seen, though we did hear the nightingale once, and the cuckoo once or twice. We were riding about the forest in the dark, with some prospect of being lost, and did not get back to Oxford till eleven o’clock, having ridden about thirty-six miles.” The exhilaration of these long rides was almost a necessity to him, counteracting, as they did in a measure, the strain of mental work. He also loved bathing, swimming, and sailing, the first two of which Oxford supplied him with in liberal measure, whilst even the last-named he found occasional opportunity of indulging his taste for on the Isis. Then there were cricket and rowing, to both of which he gave a share of his attention, with rifle-shooting at the butts, and fencing at the gymnasium.