The Collected Writing of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II — John Shaqi
The Collected Writing of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. IIDe Quincey, Thomas
History
The Collected Writing of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II
De Quincey, Thomas
De Quincey, Thomas, 1785-1859; English literature -- 19th century
reproach does not press exclusively upon Oxford; all the ancient
institutions of Europe are tainted in the same way, more
especially the monastic orders of the Romish church.
A great Whig Lord (Earl C----) happened (it may be ten years ago) to
present himself one day at Trinity (the leading college of Cambridge),
for the purpose of introducing Lord F----ch, his son, as a future
member of that splendid society. Possibly it mortified his aristocratic
feelings to hear the head of the college, even whilst welcoming the
young nobleman in courteous terms, yet suggesting, with some solemnity,
that, before taking any final resolution in the matter, his lordship
would do well to consider whether he were fully prepared to submit
himself to college discipline; for that, otherwise, it became his
own duty frankly to declare that the college would not look upon his
accession to their society as any advantage. This language arose out
of some recent experience of refractory and turbulent conduct upon
the part of various young men of rank; but it is very possible that
the noble Earl, in his surprise at a salutation so uncourtly, might
regard it, in a Tory mouth, as having some lurking reference to his
own Whig politics. If so, he must have been still more surprised to
hear of another case, which would meet him before he left Cambridge,
and which involved some frank dealing as well as frank speaking, when
a privilege of exception might have been presumed, if Tory politics,
or services the most memorable, could ever create such a privilege.
The Duke of W---- had two sons at Oxford. The affair is now long past;
and it cannot injure either of them to say, that one of the brothers
trespassed against the college discipline, in some way which compelled
(or was thought to compel) the presiding authorities into a solemn
notice of his conduct. Expulsion appeared to be the appropriate penalty
of his offences: but, at this point, a just hesitation arose. Not in
any servile spirit, but under a proper feeling of consideration for
so eminent a public benefactor as this young nobleman's father. The
rulers paused--and at length signified to him that he was at liberty
to withdraw himself privately from the college, but also, and at the
same time, from the University. He did so, and his brother, conceiving
him to have been harshly treated, withdrew also; and both transferred
themselves to Cambridge. That could not be prevented: but there they
were received with marked reserve. One was _not_ received, I believe,
in a technical sense; and the other was received conditionally; and
such restrictions were imposed upon his future conduct as served most
amply, and in a case of great notoriety, to vindicate the claims of
discipline, and, in an extreme case, a case so eminently an extreme one
that none like it is ever likely to recur, to proclaim the footing upon
which the very highest rank is received at the English Universities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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