SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENT LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE

AN American tourist visiting Oxford or Cambridge for a few days would probably be able, with the aid of his Baedeker, to write an article of several pages concerning the impressions which he formed of the institution visited. There would be so many visible points of contrast between his American AlmaMater and the English university that he would find his theme rich in material, a richness which he would clothe with the vividness of first impressions. Saxon towers a thousand years old, Norman—Romanesque arches and columns, Gothic chapels and Renaissance halls, ivy covered walls and cloister courts, these and other visible evidences not only of age but also of continuity of existence would form an important part of his picture. The limitations imposed in this article prevent the discussion of these subjects. Their mere enumeration, however, serves to give us a glimpse of the physical environment of the Cambridge student.

It is probably impossible for an American visitor to have a sympathetic understanding of Cambridge customs without a partial knowledge of the history of the university. Whether the story of the founding of the first college by King Alfred be fact or fable, it still remains true that Cambridge as well as Oxford came into existence soon after the dawn of English history. They both have had uninterrupted growth, with the result that the usage and traditions of centuries have formed the customs and life of the present day. Consequently one who becomes a student in Cambridge accepts without protest the conditions imposed. He must choose a tutor, or advisor, whose consent he must receive before leaving town. He must dine in the Hall of his college, say five times a week. He must attend his college chapel in gown or surplice, unless his conscience forbids. When outside of the college grounds after eight o'clock at night he must appear in academic dress, under penalty of a fine, and he must be inside of the porter's gate before ten at night unless he wishes to incur the displeasure of his tutor. These and similar restrictions and conditions appear childish to American college men unless they remember that those laws are the outcome of the evolution of. centuries.

When a student "goes up" (*) to Cambridge he joins one of the twenty colleges forming the university and chooses, or is assigned to the care of, one of the four or five tutors belonging to that college. This tutor or dean does not of necessity give instruction to that student. His function is chiefly that of an adviser, perhaps even of a guardian. He is the college administrator as far as that student is concerned. To him at any time the student may go for advice regarding courses, books, lectures and athletics. He assigns a suit of rooms to the student and by him the student is held responsible for good behavior and reasonable application to work.

In the college which the student has joined are all the requisites of a university home. Matins and evensong are held in the college chapel. He is expected to attend either of these four or five times a week. He usually dines in the college hall; indeed he must take a certain number of dinners there in order to receive his degree. It is rather amusing to an American to see the head porter of the college "pricking off" (t) the attendance at dinner. For in America attendance upon lectures is insisted upon and the student may dine where he pleases. But in England attendance upon lectures is more or less voluntary (though it is usually noted), while the social aspect of dinner with the members of the college is given prominence. These dinners are rather more formal than dinners in the commons of an American college. A grace in Latin, read by a senior student before dinner, and a post ptandium by the president of the Fellows are in keeping with the formal religious spirit of the nation. The students at the lower tables and the professors and Fellows at the High table wear academic gowns indicating the status of the wearer in the university. The hour after "Hall" is very often used in informally entertaining the newer members of the college in the rooms of the older students. Coffee, fruit, and sometimes after-dinner wines are served. But the guests are careful not to overstay their welcome so that the major part of the evening may be given up to work.

Breakfast, lunch and tea, prepared by a college servant (a ''gyp'' in Cambridge parlance,a "scout" in Oxford),are taken in the students' rooms and are also opportunities for extending and receiving hospitality. Upon these occasions the guest may meet men representing not only the various colleges but also various countries; princes from India, sons of Chinese merchants or governors, pashas from Egypt, Japs, Germans, Poles, ardent imperialists from South Africa, Australia, Canada, hard-headed Scotchmen, brilliant Irishmen, and always the solid Englishman. Indeed, the cosmopolitan character of these gatherings is one of their chief charms.

A student may obtain the B. A. degree either by taking a "Pass" (general) course or an Honor (special) course. For the former the requirements are not quite equivalent (except in classics) to those demanded in the American university. But in the Honor courses the examinations are extremely difficult, those in mathematics and mathematical physics being especially rigorous. For these Honor courses a student invariably engages a coach, a Fellow of one of the colleges, to whom the student must report twice or three times a week throughout the year. The income of one of the good coaches in mathematics is from three to four times that of a full professor in Dartmouth College. Thus, though the student may be lax in attendance upon lectures, he is held to hard work by his coach, who has a reputation to maintain. The difference between this system and that of Princeton, copied more. or less after it, is that in Cambridge a student elects and pays for his coach, in Princeton a coach (preceptor) is thrust upon him; and just here seems to be one great difference between American and English notions of scholarship. In England an education is sought after and acquired by a student. In America so much is provided by the State, that a student is even apt to look upon a college education from the point of view of a reluctant recipient.

During the undergraduate course there are only three or four examinations, the Preliminary, or previous, examination, generally called the Little Go; the General taken by the"pass" candidates, and the parts of the Tripos taken by the candidates for honors. As the pro- fessors or coaches may or may not be the examiners, the students are careful not to confine their attention to any one or two texts or to a set of lecture notes. A thorough understanding of the entire subject matter gathered from various , texts, supplemented by extended applications and collateral reading,is the only safe preparation. As these examinations are an exacting test of a student's knowledge of and power in a subject the time spent in preparation for them is generally not limited to ordinary college terms. Indeed a critical American is apt to think that "term" is an opportunity for university men to exchange hospitalities and to indulge in their favorite sports, while vacation is an opportunity for study. This is true only by contrast with American colleges. In science, for example, men, whether in Europe or in America, must work in the laboratories under the guidance of an instructor.

But the undergraduates in Cambridge, though a majority in numbers, are not the most important part of the student body. The graduate students coming as they do from nearly all parts of the world contribute very greatly to the prestige of the university. They enter more or less into the social and athletic life of their colleges. They are subject to all the rules and regulations. The only difference between them and undergraduates being that their fine for an offence against the laws is twice as great as it is in the case of an under-graduate.

Each 'College has its own social, musical, religious and athletic organizations, but there is one society common to the whole university, the Cambridge Union. It is a combination of a clubhouse, a library, and a University House of Commons. There every Tuesday night, political, social or educational questions are discussed. The subject is announced a couple of weeks in advance and leaders on each side are chosen. But after the leaders have spoken, the debate is open to any member "on the floor of the house" and the decision is arrived at by a division of the House in true parliamentary fashion. There the future statesmen of the nation receive their training not only in readiness of debate but also in parliamentary procedure.

The feature, however, which distinguishes Oxford and Cambridge from all other universities in the world is their system of fellowships. A student who has spent four or five years in graduate work in Cambridge and who, through original contributions, has shown very marked ability in his special subject may be elected a Fellow by the college council. As a Fellow he receives a stipend of one thousand dollars a year together with rooms and board in the college. He dines with the professors at the High Table and in various ways becomes part of the college governing body. He is expected to devote himself , to research, indeed the traditions of a fellowship demand it. The only requirement made by the college is that he take a certain number of dinners in Hall and sleep a certain number of times in his rooms in college. No charge is made for his dinners in Hall, but if, without giving notice, he is absent he is fined the price of the dinner. This is merely another evidence of the importance attached to the social life of the college. A Fellow may become a lecturer, a coach, or in time a professor, or he may accept a position in another college. In general his new appointment brings.in addition, its own remuneration.

The great value of this system of fellowships is that it provides the university with a group of young men to the number of about four hundred, specialists in their departments, who are able to give five or six years of continuous application to research. It is safe to say that this system has provided a large number of the world's great scholars.

Athletics in Cambridge is a large subject. Each college has its grounds for tennis, association and Rugby football, cricket, lacrosse, hockey (played on the ground—there is practically no ice in England), and its own boathouses. Nearly every student takes part in some form of athletics. Matches between college teams are very numerous. But evidently when there are so many men playing there are practically no spectators. There is no grandstand, there are no rooters. There are no paid coaches. Consequently coaching does not loom up before a student as a possible profession.

University teams are composed of the best players in the college teams. Only at a contest between the university and some outside team are spectators supposed to be present. Then a small admission fee is charged. The writer saw one of the most closely contested games of Rugby football played in England during the year '05-'06. It was between Cambridge University and a team from New Zealand. The Colonials had a remarkable record, having won every game during their extended tour of England, and as Cambridge also had a good team an interesting contest was looked for. There were about two thousand spectators, not a large crowd when it is remembered that the university has three thousand students and a very large faculty, while the town has a population of thirty thousand. The game was one of forty or forty-five minute halves with five or ten minutes interim. In the English game the ball is in play the moment the "scrum" forms; there is no waiting for signals. Notwithstanding this and notwithstanding the strenuousness of the play, the whistle was not blown once for a player to "get his wind" or to recover from an injury. Not a player left the game. Apparently no one was injured. With the exception of an occasional offside no rules were broken. Altogether it was a fine exhibition of clever passing, skilful dodging, unusual staying power, and gentlemanly con. duct.

It is difficult to decide between cricket, football and boating as the favorite sport, but certainly the latter is one of the most important branches of athletics. The climate of England is very favorable to the development of this sport, but the water stretches cannot be said to be ample. The river Cam is only about twenty yards wide and has numerous bends in it, but it probably produces more oarsmen than any other body of water in the world. Any. afternoon from October to June one may .see hundreds of men in singles, pairs, fours and eights, pulling back and forth along the river. One notices chiefly the college eights practicing for the bumping races which take place in March or June. They are coached by an old Blue, possibly by a college "don," who rides a bicycle or horse along the tow path. The extent to which this sport is indulged in may be made clear by statistics. In the Lent races last year forty-six crews of eight men took part and in the Mays there were thirty-three eights. As some men rowed in both races the total number participating might be placed at about five hundred. One could not help wondering how many there would have been if they had a real river like the Connecticut on which to row.

The Lent races, are very interesting from the point of view of the colleges. For some reason the rivalry is keener then than it is in the Mays. The students who are not rowing collect along the river bank to cheer on their crews. Many of them don running garb, and rush along the bank abreast of their crew, calling out advice and encouragement. When it is remembered that two of the colleges are named Jesus and Christ's it will be understood why the American stranger is often shocked by the admonitions which he hears.

If any boat is bumped by the one behind it both boats immediately pull to one side and allow the procession of boats to pass. The next afternoon the two boats exchange places. Thus one boat may go up or down four or five or possibly six places during the. four afternoons of the races. It is evident then that the standing of a boat depends not only upon the rowers of this year but also upon those of previous years. However, if a boat makes a bump every afternoon' the crew is considered as worthy of all praise and they are allowed to carry home their oars as trophies and they are also entitled to a "bump supper.

In the calendars and student handbooks which one finds in the shops in Cambridge there is always given the standing of the various boats on the river for the past year. In the Union there is posted the order for the last eighty years.

The spring races take place during the so called May Week, which is really a fortnight in June, during which the university, entertains her friends. It resembles more or less our Junior Week. On four consecutive afternoons both banks of the river are lined with university men and their friends; the former in flannels and blazers* indicating by color or crest the athletic organization to which the wearer belongs, the latter, "glorified groups of summer millinery," gay with the colors young women affect on such occasions. They arrive in autos or carriages, in launches or canoes, and take up vantage points where bumps are likely to be seen. The visitor is apt to forget all about the oarsmen in beholding the spectacle before him. Evidences of vigor and grace, of vivacity and good breeding are everywhere. This young lady might have stepped out of a Romney, that out of a Gainsborough or Reynolds. The whole scene is English, yet not outside of Oxford or Cambridge would one see it. But the members of the crew are unconscious of or indifferent to the display along the banks, for they row the course as they have rowed it hundreds of times before, only with more vigor in their strokes. From the most promising oarsmen in these races are chosen the members of the university crew for the following year.

During May Week one may also see some very fine tennis. Six Cambridge men then play an equal number representing All England. The Dohertys, who are old Cambridge men, and other Internationals come up for those matches. Naturally the university is generally worsted, but not without putting up an exhibition of skillful and aggressive tennis.

The Canadian games of hockey and lacrosse have taken root in England, but for some reason the game of baseball does not thrive. It has been introduced a couple of times but has not met with favor. However it has not been crowded out on account of a lack of playing grounds, for when one considers that he is in little, crowded England the large amount of ground given up to athletic purposes is very surprising.

There have been set down here a few of the ordinary facts concerning student life in Cambridge. But how far this presentation fails to give a complete picture of that life the writer is well aware. The traditions of the university, those intangible but extremely important constituents of the atmosphere of an educational institution, are almost innumerable. It must indeed be inspiring for a student to feel that he is part of an institution which has produced Bacon, Newton, Milton, Cromwell, Coleridge, four generations of Darwins, Byron, Macaulay, Tennyson, Thackeray, Gray, Wordsworth, John Harvard and several of the Pilgrim Fathers, Maxwell, Cayley, not to mention other leading thinkers. of the past and of the present. How many great contributions have Cambridge men made to literature, science and art ; how many of the riddles of the universe have been there solved!

The American tourist of a day sees in Cambridge architectural evidences of a great past, of a flourishing present. But the visitor from the New World who is 'permitted to spend a year or more within her gates is impressed by the fact that her claims to greatness do not lie in the fan tracery of the stonevaulted ceiling of King's Chapel, nor in the prowess of her oarsmen. They are to be found in those imperishable names which she has given and is still giving to the world of scholarship.

*A student never arrives in Cambridge, he always "comes up"; he never leaves Cambridge, he always "goes down". The official notice placed upon the door of the rooms of a student who has gone away from the town is "Gone Down".

tA pin prick is made on the list of the members of the college after student's name to indicate his presence at dinner. The custom comes down from the days when fountain pens and good pencils were unknown.

*This term owes its origin to the red flannel boating jacket worn by the Lady Margaret Boating Club of St. John's College. Vide Standard Dictionary.

By Professor G. F. Hull of the Department of Physics