The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLI, no. 244 new series, October 1916)Various
General
The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLI, no. 244 new series, October 1916)
Various
England -- Periodicals; English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
the debt in kind, taking classes for years together, usually after a
heavy day’s work in their trade or profession; and I found, again, that
there was an attachment to the place, an _animus revertendi_—at least as
strong as in the case of the old Public Schools or Universities. To put
it bluntly, the Working Men’s College was founded to turn out gentlemen
in the truest and best sense of the term, and it is turning them out,
according to the original sample, to the present time.
To take one among numberless examples which might be given of the College
spirit, I call to mind an old student who was a very great favourite with
us all and a constant attendant at the College, until age and infirmity
limited the number of his visits. He was a wood-turner by trade; always
a poor man, but the happiest, as he was the friendliest, of men, for he
was master of a science which he needed no riches to follow up: he was
a most expert botanist, and when not earning his bread, he was studying
his subject or collecting new specimens on country walks. What did he
care about class distinctions or political parties or social upheavals?
Nothing at all. On the other hand, he illustrated the truth that a
live and wholesome community, which is at unity with itself, is a most
fruitful field for good stories and humorous sayings. He had the most
delightful gift of dry humour. A man of portly carriage, he had been
listening at one of our festive gatherings to a speaker who enlarged on
the subject of all-round men—I forget in what connection, but presumably
on the product which was to be expected from the College. Speaking later,
my old friend described himself as not an all-round man but bulging out
on one side. On another occasion the Lubbock Field Club—the natural
history club of the College—gathered to do him honour, and the speakers
indulged in exuberance of sentiment. In acknowledging his reception, the
honoured guest botanically remarked, ‘The Field Club is all heart, like
winter cabbages.’
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