St. John's College, Cambridge Part 2

One personal relic, a ma.n.u.script Book of Hours, which belonged to her, was in 1902 presented to the Library by Dr. Alexander Peckover, Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

CHAPTER IV

THE FIRST CENTURY

1511-1612

The Hospital being closed, the way was cleared for the new College. The Charter, signed by the Executors of the Lady Margaret, is dated 9th April 1511; in this Robert Shorton is named as Master. He held office until on 29th July 1516 the College was opened, when Alan Percy, of the Northumberland House, succeeded. He again was succeeded in 1518 by Nicholas Metcalfe, a member of the Metcalfe family of Nappa Hall, in Wensleydale. Metcalfe had been Archdeacon of Rochester, and was no doubt well known to Fisher as Bishop of that Diocese.

The building of the College commenced under Shorton, but was not finished until about 1520.

It must be remembered that the College was founded before the Reformation, and that these three Masters were priests of the Church of Rome.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD BRIDGE]

Metcalfe was more of an administrator than a student, and his energies were chiefly devoted to the material side of the College interests.

Fresh endowments were obtained in place of those which had been lost.

King Henry VIII. was persuaded to hand over to the College the estates of three decayed religious houses--the Maison Dieu at Ospringe, the Nunnery of Lillechurch in Higham, both in Kent, and the Nunnery of Broomhall in Berkshire. As these houses, as well as the Hospital, had allowed their affairs to fall into disorder, it is probable that the identification of their lands, and the reduction of these to effective possession, was a matter of some difficulty. Metcalfe was much absent from College; the accounts of his private expenditure on these journeys have survived, and letters to him from the College during his absences show that his skill and wisdom were much relied on.

Fisher also gave largely to the College, and through his example and influence others were induced to endow fellowships and scholarships. He gave three successive codes of statutes for the government of the College in 1516, 1524, and 1530. These present no novel features, being for the most part based on existing statutes of Colleges at Oxford or Cambridge. They are long, and, as the fashion then was, lay down many rules with regard to minor matters. A few of the leading provisions may be given. One scholar was to be Chapel clerk, to a.s.sist the sacrist at Ma.s.s; another was to ring the great bell at 4 A.M., as was done before the College was founded, and again at 8 P.M., when the gates were closed; another was to be clock-keeper. These three scholars were to be exempt from all other domestic duties, except that of reading the Bible in time of plague. Seven scholars were told off to serve as waiters in Hall, to bring in and remove the food and dishes; an eighth was to read the Bible in Hall while the Society were at dinner. When in honour of G.o.d, or the Saints, a fire was made up in Hall, the Fellows, scholars, and servants might stay to amuse themselves with singing and repeating poetry and tales. The Master, Fellows, and scholars were to wear clerical dress; red, white, green, or parti-coloured boots were forbidden.

One-fourth part of the Fellows were always to be engaged in preaching to the people in English; Bachelors of Divinity, preaching at Paul's Cross, were to be allowed ten days of absence for each sermon. No arms were to be borne, though archery was allowed as a recreation. No Fellow or scholar was allowed to keep hounds, ferrets, hawks, or singing-birds in College. The weekly allowance for commons was 1s. for the Master and each Fellow, 7d. for each scholar. The President or Bursar was to receive a stipend of 40s. a year, a Dean 26s. 8d. No one under the standing of a Doctor of Divinity was to have a separate room; Fellows and scholars were to sleep singly, or not more than two in a bed. Each room was to have two beds--the higher for the Fellow, the lower or truckle-bed for the scholar; the truckle-bed being tucked under the other during the day.

The College made an excellent start, and was soon full of earnest and successful students. It is sufficient to mention the names of Sir John Cheke, the famous Greek scholar; of Roger Ascham, the tutor of Queen Elizabeth; and, in another sphere, William Cecil, first Lord Burghley, to give an idea of the influence the College was spreading through her sons.

In all this Metcalfe had his share. He is the "Good Master of a College"

in Fuller's _Holy State_, where we read: "Grant that Metcalfe with Themistocles could not fiddle, yet he could make a little city a great one." And Ascham in _The Scholemaster_ writes of him: "His goodnes stood not still in one or two, but flowed aboundantlie over all that Colledge, and brake out also to norishe good wittes in every part of that universitie; whereby at his departing thence, he left soch a companie of fellowes and scholers in S. Johnes Colledge as can scarce be found now in som whole universitie: which either for divinitie on the one side or other, or for civill service to their Prince and contrie, have bene, and are yet to this day, notable ornaments to this whole Realme. Yea S.

Johnes did then so florish, as Trinitie College, that princely house now, at the first erection was but _Colonia deducta_ out of S. Johnes, not onelie for their Master, fellowes and scholers, but also, which is more, for their whole both order of learning, and discipline of maners; and yet to this day it never tooke Master but such as was bred up before in S. Johnes; doing the dewtie of a good _colonia_ to her _metropolis_, as the auncient cities in Greice, and some yet in Italie at this time are accustomed to do."

But troubles were in store both for Fisher and Metcalfe. The Reformation, the divorce of Henry VIII. from Queen Catherine, the Act of Succession, and the sovereign's views on the royal supremacy, were the stumbling-blocks. Fisher went to the Tower, and on 22nd June 1535, to the scaffold; Metcalfe was compelled to resign in 1537.

Fisher had by deed of gift presented his library to the College, but retained its use for his lifetime--the greatest loan of books on record, as has been said. This magnificent collection was now lost, a loss more lamentable than that of the foundress' estates. Endowments might be replaced, but "the notablest library of bookes in all England" was gone for ever. It is to the credit of the Fellows of the College that, no doubt at some risk to themselves, they stood by Fisher. They visited him in his prison, and in a n.o.bly worded letter stated that as they owed everything to his bounty, so they offered themselves and all they were masters of to his service.

In 1545 King Henry VIII. gave new statutes to the College, adapted to the reformed religion; but all mention of Fisher and his endowments is cut out; the College even had to pay 3d. for removing his armorial bearings from the Chapel.

During the reign of King Edward VI. the outspoken and eloquent Thomas Leaver was Master; on the accession of Queen Mary he, with many of the Fellows, had to fly to Switzerland. In Ascham's words: "mo perfite scholers were dispersed from thence in one moneth, than many years can reare up againe."

The reign of Queen Mary did not extend over much more than five years, but while it lasted a resolute and unflinching effort was made to re-establish the Roman Catholic faith.

The accession of Queen Elizabeth resulted in an equally rapid and fundamental revolution of opinion on the most vital points which can interest mankind. A few selected extracts from the College Account Books for this period bring before us, with almost dramatic effect, the changes which occurred. (Queen Mary succeeded in 1553, Queen Elizabeth on 17th November 1558.)

"1555, To the joyner for setting up the rood, 2_d._; A new graell printed in parchment 40_s._;--1556, In Spanish money given to the goldsmyth by Mr Willan to make a pixe to the highe Aultar, 24_s._ 11_d._; A redde purple velvet cope, with the border of imagrie, having the a.s.sumption of our Ladie behinde and three little angels about her and the greater being full of floure de luces, 46_s._ 8_d._;--1557, To William Allom for two antiphoners, one ma.s.se book and hymnal and processioners, 6 13_s._ 4_d._"

"1558, To John Waller and his man for a dayes working pulling down the hye Altar and carrying it away 20_d._; For pulling down the aulter in Mr Ashton's Chapel 6_d._; 1563, Received for certain old Albes and other popishe Trashe, sold out of the Revystry the last yere, 26_s._ 10_d._; Paid to Mr Baxter for ten Geneva psalters and six service psalters, bought at Christmas last, 22_s._"

This last entry gives us the key to the troubles at St. John's; the Marian exiles had returned with strong Calvinistic leanings. The unrest was, of course, not confined to St. John's, but was general throughout the University. But for the greater part of the reign of Elizabeth there was a strong leaning toward Puritanism in the College. There was a rapid succession of Masters, most of whom were thrust on the College by Court influence; and about this time the Fellows of St. John's acquired the reputation of being "cunning pract.i.tioners" in the art of getting rid of unpopular Masters.

Queen Elizabeth visited Cambridge in August 1564, and was received with all honour. She rode into the Hall of St. John's on her palfrey and listened to a speech from Mr. Humphrey Bohun, one of the Fellows, in which for the last time the rest.i.tution of the Lady Margaret's estates was hinted at, without result.

Richard Longworth, a man of Presbyterian sympathies, was at this time Master. In 1565 he, with the Fellows and scholars, appeared in Chapel without the surplice. Lord Burghley, as Chancellor of the University, wrote a sharply worded letter to Longworth, expressing his grief that such a thing should happen in "my dear College of St. John's"; adding, "truly no mishap in all my service did ever plunge me more grievously."

Fortunately affairs were in strong and capable hands. With the authority and in the name of Queen Elizabeth, Whitgift, at this time Master of Trinity, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cecil provided new statutes for the University in 1570, and for St. John's in 1580. By these much more power was put in the hands of the Master, and government rendered easier to a resolute man.

Matters improved, if not at once, at least gradually, and the Anglican rule became firmly established. But during the mastership of William Whitaker (1586-1595) we still hear of troubles with "Papists." Whitaker was a learned scholar and an acute theologian, but he does not seem to have been a ruler of men or a judge of character. He got involved in an unfortunate dispute with Everard Digby, one of the Fellows, a man of considerable literary reputation, but of a turbulent disposition.

Whitaker, who clearly wanted to get rid of Digby, seized upon the pretext that his bill for a month's commons, amounting to 8s. 7d., was left unpaid, and deprived Digby of his fellowship. An appeal was lodged with Whitgift and Cecil, who ordered Whitaker to reinstate Digby.

Whitaker replied that Digby was a Papist, was wont to blow a horn in the Courts and to holloa after it, and that he had threatened to put the President in the stocks! He seems to have succeeded in getting rid of Digby for good.

On the death of Whitaker in 1595, Richard Clayton became Master. If not a brilliant scholar, he commanded respect, and the tenor of many letters which have come down from that time shows that the Fellows in residence were on good terms with each other, and with those of the Society who had gone out into the world. The College was prosperous, and the building of the Second Court was the visible sign of returned efficiency. Clayton lived on into the reign of King James I., dying 2nd May 1612; besides being Master of St. John's, he was also Dean of Peterborough and a Prebendary of Lincoln.

During this period the College enjoyed a considerable reputation as a training ground for medical men. Thomas Linacre, physician to Henry VIII., founded in 1534 a medical lectureship in the College, endowing it with some property in London. The stipend of the lecturer was to be 12 a year, no mean sum in these days--being, in fact, the same as the statutable stipend of the Master. In the Elizabethan statutes special and detailed provisions are made for the continuance of the lectureship.

These lay down that the lecturer must be versed in the works of Aristotle, and that he should lecture on the works of Galen, which Linacre had translated. The effect of the foundation was to attract a number of medical students to the College, many of whom seem to have obtained fellowships, for we find the Fellows pet.i.tioning Queen Elizabeth, while her code of statutes was under consideration, that Divines should be preferred to Physicians in the election of Senior Fellows; otherwise, they submitted, an undue proportion of Physicians would get on the seniority and rule the College. Further, they asked that the medical Fellows, as some return for their privileges, should attend on poor students free of charge. That the College school of medicine was a noted one is confirmed by the fact that three successive Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians were Fellows of St.

John's: Richard Smith (1585-1589), William Baronsdale (1589-1600), and William Gilbert (1600-1601). Smith and Gilbert were physicians to Queen Elizabeth; Baronsdale and Gilbert had been Senior Bursars of the College. Of these Gilbert is the most celebrated; his treatise, _De Magnete_, is a scientific cla.s.sic. Galileo spoke of Gilbert as "great to a degree which might be envied." Francis Bacon mentions the book with applause, and Hallam describes Gilbert as "at once the father of experimental philosophy in this island, and by a singular felicity and acuteness of genius, the founder of theories which have been revived after the lapse of ages, and are almost universally received into the creed of science." Gilbert, who always signs his name Gilberd or Gylberd in the College books, was Senior Bursar of the College in 1569, and President in the succeeding year.

Amongst others who have held the Linacre lectureship, and attained to scientific distinction, was Henry Briggs, who was appointed lecturer in 1592. He afterwards became Gresham Professor of Geometry and Savilian Professor at Oxford. He took up Napier's discovery of logarithms; the idea of tables of logarithms having 10 for their base, and the calculation of the first table of the kind, is due to him.

CHAPTER V

THE SECOND CENTURY

1612-1716

The second century of the College history opened quietly. Owen Gwyn was elected Master by the choice of the Fellows; John Williams, then a Fellow, afterwards Lord Keeper, Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York, exerting himself on Gwyn's behalf. It appears that Williams in after years repented of the choice, and Thomas Baker, the historian of the College, speaks slightingly of Gwyn. Still, under his rule the College flourished, and Williams himself marked the period by providing the greater part of the funds for the new Library.

King James I. and Prince Charles (afterwards Charles I.) frequently visited the University; James holding his Court at Trinity, but being entertained at St. John's. On one of these occasions, comparing the great Court of Trinity with the two then existing Courts of St. John's, he is said to have remarked that there was no greater difference between the two Societies than between a shilling and two sixpences.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _HALL, AND CHAPEL TOWER_]

With the advent of the Stuart kings the practice arose of sending mandatory letters to Colleges, directing the election of named persons to fellowships. In theory it may have been correct enough; the statutes as enacted by Queen Elizabeth reserved to herself and her successors the power of rescinding or altering them. To direct that the statutory provisions as to elections should be dispensed with in favour of an individual was thus within the sovereign's power, however inconvenient it might prove in practice. One of the special grievances at St. John's was that King James directed the College to elect a Scotchman, George Seaton, M.A., to a fellowship, though there was none then actually vacant. The College obeyed, informing his Majesty that they had made their statutes wink to fulfil his bidding, and maintained an extra Fellow for a time. The practice was, however, followed by others; and Gwyn seems to have been deluged with letters from persons in high places, begging for his favour at elections. At some Colleges the device of "pre-elections" seems to have been resorted to; a promising man being elected to the next fellowship which should be vacant. Thus, when the vacancy became known, the College could, with a clear conscience, say that it had been already filled up; there is, however, no trace of this practice at St. John's.

On Gwyn's death in 1633 there was a disputed election to the mastership, which Charles I. settled by nominating William Beale. Beale was originally a Trinity man, but had been for about a year Master of Jesus.

He was a supporter of Laud; he embellished the Chapel, and introduced a more ornate ritual; under his influence St. John's seems to have been the only College at Cambridge which fully complied with Laud's instructions. Thus when the Puritans got the upper hand, Beale and his College were the subject of their displeasure.

In 1642 King Charles applied to the University for supplies. The contribution of St. John's was 150 in money and 2065 ounces "grocers weight" of silver plate. The list of the pieces of plate and of the donors' names is but melancholy reading; suffice it to say that among those sent were pieces bearing the names of Thomas Wentworth, Lord Strafford, and of Thomas Fairfax. The fact that this plate actually reached the King did not endear the College to the parliamentary party.

Oliver Cromwell surrounded the College, took Dr. Beale a prisoner, and, to equalise matters, confiscated the communion plate and other valuables.

Beale, after some imprisonment and wandering, escaped from England and became chaplain to Lord Cottington and Sir Edward Hyde (afterwards Lord Clarendon) in their emba.s.sy to Spain; he died at Madrid, and was there secretly buried. A number of the Fellows were also ejected, and for some time the College was used as a prison. The Chapel was stripped of the obnoxious ornaments, and other damage done. A little bundle of papers labelled "Receipts for Army taxes during the Commonwealth" still reposes, as a memento of these days, in the Muniment Room.

St. John's, which dabbled in Presbyterian doctrines during the days of Elizabeth, now had these imposed upon it by superior authority. The two Commonwealth Masters, John Arrowsmith (1644-1653) and Anthony Tuckney (1653-1661), were able men of Puritan austerity, the rule of the latter being the more strict; judging from the after careers of its members, the College was certainly capably directed. A well-authenticated College tradition relates that when, at an election, the President called upon the Master to have regard to the "G.o.dly," Tuckney replied that no one showed greater regard for the truly G.o.dly than himself, but that he was determined to choose none but scholars; adding, with practical wisdom, "They may deceive me in their G.o.dliness; they cannot in their scholarship."

On the Restoration, Dr. Peter Gunning, afterwards Bishop of Ely, was made Master; and the Earl of Manchester, who, as an officer of the Parliament, was the means of ejecting many of the Fellows, now directed that some of them should be restored to their places. An interesting College custom dates from this period: on the 29th of May in each year the College butler decorates the Hall and Kitchen with fresh oak boughs; there is no order to that effect, but--"it has always been done."