Frederick Arnold

“ The county of Cambridge is rich in churches, especially in Ely and Cambridge and their neighbourhoods. We have abundant examples of Pre-Norman, Norman, Early English, Decorated, Perpen dicular. At Ely there are some valuable monastic remains. The famous Abbey of Thorncy is only represented by various foundations, and a fragment of the abbey church, which has been worked into the present parish church. Of domestic architecture there are very slight remains in one or two manor houses, and some remains of the Episcopal palace at Downham. ”

“ In the days of Edward the Elder we find that Grantbridge, a derivation of Cambridge is giving its name to a shire, in a new division of Mercia. In the 11th century the borough began to expand beyond the narrow Roman limits. A population grew up by degrees on the other side of the river. Religious foundations gradually took their place in the borough. We begin to have authentic annals in the 12th century. Learned men came hither anxious to teach, and scholars anxious to be taught. ”

“ St Peter s is remarkable for eminent men, and for lay fellow ships at a time when they were hardly known elsewhere. The gardens are good, and there is a small deer park.
King s College owns that magnificent chapel which widely dominates over all the buildings in the town and university. The college was originally commenced and endowed by Henry VI., in connection with Eton. Henry VII. deserves the title of a second founder. The chapel is one vast long- drawn nave. It is the latest and most sumptuous example of the Perpendicular order of Gothic architecture. ”

“ Cambridge is now a chief station on the Great Eastern line, and is also connected with the Great Northern, the London and the North-Western, and the Midland lines. A large market is held on Saturdays. The town has returned two members since the time of Edward I. It is a very ancient corporation, and under the Municipal Reform Act is governed by a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty common councilmen The university, a corporation separate from the borough, also returns two members. ”

“ The chalk is in two divisions, upper with flints, lower without flints. At the foot of the hills the lower bed of chalk has been extensively quarried, and much elaborate sculpture in Ely Cathedral has been formed of it. The thin upper greensand below the lower chalk rests on gault. This formation everywhere constitutes the northern border of the chalk, and in the western portion of the country forms rich, well-wooded soil. The gault is the blue brick earth of Cambridge, and has a thickness of 150 feet. ”

“ The ground I stand upon is so hollow that I am afraid, not only of falling myself, but of involving my royal master in my own ruin." But although he resigned office, his influence with the king was hardly impaired. It was the king s custom, at least for some time, to write a minute daily journal of events and transmit it to Lord Bute. Both Grenville who succeeded him, and Buckingham who succeeded Grenville, regarded him with the utmost jealousy. Grenville made it an absolute condition that Bute should retire from the presence and counsels of the young king. ”

“ In the fen country there are great masses of gravel, sand, and drift-clay. " We can trace the rise of the fen lands through the deposits of land- Hoods, and the growth of fuel-bogs " (Professor Sedgwick) . Besides these regular formations and deposits Cambridge shire contains much diluvial deposit, not to be accounted for by land-floods or tides and currents, but belonging to the glacial period. The uplands or so-called " highlands " of Cambridgeshire are level, but broken by low chalk hills in the neighbourhood of Essex and Suffolk. ”

“ Each college in Cambridge ha,s its separate interest,- - something remarkable in chapel, hall, or library, in garden or gallery. We shall rapidly indicate some distinctive features Trinity in each. The largest of the colleges is Trinity, the largest College. ”

“ The town of Thorney was greatly im proved and beautified by a former duke of Bedford. In 1875 the county was under the ownership of G497 pro prietors of one acre and upwards, and of 6677 proprietors of less than one acre. For parliamentary purposes the two divisions of the shire and isle form one district, returning three members to parliament. The population of the county in 1861, as compared with 1851, exhibited a de crease of 5 per cent., but in 1871 an improvement was manifested to the extent of 6 per cent. ”

“ Much of the Roman work seems to have lapsed into the " great dismal swamp," caused by the silting up of the outfalls of rivers, and the mingling of the tides with the upland waters. The submerged territory seems originally to have been rich meadow and forest land, and it receives the river deposits of soil from eight counties, the causes of the great and abiding fertility. ”

“ The census of 1871 returned 25 per cent, of the male population as agricultural labourers, farm- servants, and shepherds. Although the county is entirely agricultural, mainly arable, with some wheat and pasture crops, many busy trades are also carried on, brewing and malting, brick-making, lime-burning. There is a great deal of boat-building, and there are many seamen employed on the navigable cuts. The climate of the county is generally healthy, but it would be premature to say that ague is altogether banished from the fen country. ”

“ Both the king and Lord Bute soon disclaimed its existence, and there is no lack of corroboratory evidence But it was impossible to eradicate the notion that there was a back-stairs influence personified in Lord Bute. He was denounced in popular addresses before the king himself as a betrayer of the constitution, and mobs regularly broke his windows. Wilkes reviled him ; Junius thundered against him. Lord Chatham declaimed against him as one behind the throne greater than the throne itself. ”

“ The ministers at the time of the accession, who both in the Eastern and the Western World were main taining the war with France with the greatest glory and success, were William Pitt, the duke of Newcastle, and Mr Legge. ”

“ The race course is four miles in length, of elastic turf ; some hundred horses may be seen exercising on the Downs. There are seven race meetings in the year. This and the neighbouring town of Royston, on the borders of Hertford shire, have been often frequented by royalty; many houses are inhabited by patrons of the turf. Our literature abounds with references to Newmarket, which, truth to say, are as a rule of an unflattering description. Winipole Park, Lord Hardwicke s place, is the principal seat in the county, and the fine park has some of the best timber in the country. ”

“ As premier, Bute showed considerable ability. Lord Mansfield said he never knew any man come to business so late who did it so well, and he proved an extremely good speaker. He also gave considerable patronage to literature and art. He had several distinct points of policj 7 . He wished to close the era of war and make peace with France. He wished to sever the political connection between England and Hanover. He wished to humble the dominant Whig families, and to make the king supreme. ”

“ The Fitzwilliam Museum, as we first enter Trumpington Street, is a very striking edifice, and as large funds from time to time are accumulated for its extension, it will become increasingly valuable. Recently it has at a great expense received a remarkable amount of colour and decoration. ”

“ Emmaimo Once its site was occupied by a house of Dominican friars, and it subsequently became the chosen college of the Pnri tans. The frontage of this college is long and imposing. Through an arcade we pass into the principal court, above an arcaded side of which is a picture gallery designed by Wren for the Master s Lodge. The library here is very good. Sidney Sussex College has a history very parallel to that of Emmanuel College. ”

“ It is manifest that this doctrine weakened the responsibility of ministers and the authority of parliament, and invited dangers in the direc tion boih of absolutism and of anarchy. Bute, however, was prepared to carry out a scheme very like Stratford s " Thorough " with zeal and energy. The day after the accession Bute was made a privy councillor. A little later he was made secretary of state. Afterwards he was made Knight of the Garter. The king told the ministers, " Lord Bute is my very good f riend ; " ”