Peterhouse, Cambridge

“ Unwilling to hurt his mother's feelings by openly abandoning it, he went to Cambridge to take a degree in civil law, and settled in rooms at Peterhouse as a fellow-commoner in October 1742. He never became a fellow of any college. ”

“ Among the charters of Peterhouse are letters patent of the 9th of Edward I (1280) , attested at Burgh 24 Dec, which, after a preamble, conceived in the mediæval spirit, about King Solomon, grant to Bishop Hugh the royal approval (license) of his intention to introduce into his hospital of St.John at Cambridge, in lieu of the secular brethren there, 'studious scholars who shall in everything live together as students in the university of Cambridge according to the rule of the scholars at Oxford who are called of Merton' (Documents relating to the University and Colleges of Cambridge, ii. l1) . ”

“ Peterhouse had the first library in Cambridge. Hugh of Balsham, Bishop of Ely, introduced into an Augustinian Hospital at Cambridge a number of scholars who were to live with the brethren. Before Hugh died the brethren and the scholars quarrelled, and the latter were removed to two hostels on the site of the present college (1281-84) . He did not forget to provide his new foundation with books, among other properties. In the statutes of 1344 are stringent provisions for the care of books, which prove that the society had a library worthy of some thought. ”

“ In 1866 he was appointed professor of history and English literature in Owens College, Manchester, and was principal from 1890 to 1897, when he retired. He took an active part in the foundation of Victoria University, of which he was vice-chancellor from 1886 to 1890 and from 1894 to 1896. In 1897 the freedom of the city of Manchester was conferred upon him, and in 1900 he was elected master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. ”

“ We have seen that a Washington lies buried in the ancient chapel of the first Cambridge college, and we are to see further on that the impulse which set the “Mayflower” on her course proceeded from a Cantabrigian. The oldest of the ‘pilgrim fathers’ was a Peterhouse man, persecuted in England for his ‘Brownist’ opinions. There were many university men among the first settlers, but they were chiefly from the one university; and ‘Cambridge’ was the name which rose to their lips when they christened the town in the great state of Massachusetts where they first set foot. ”

“ While the Oxford buildings of the seventeenth century are gravely Gothic and semi-ecclesiastical, the only building of this type in Cambridge is the picturesque chapel at Peterhouse. The library of St John’s, beautiful though it is, is a hybrid example of the order. Other seventeenth century work, the work of Ralph Symons, for example, the court of Clare, and Wren’s masterpieces at Trinity and Emmanuel, are frankly domestic. Men such as I have mentioned above, belong to a coterie, but do not represent the general temper of their age. ”

“ The first college to be founded at Cambridge was Peterhouse which took its final form in 1284, and during the next century several other similar Houses were established: these societies were intended for selected scholars. ”

“ Meanwhile, in 1632, the college built a chapel of its own.
Peterhouse has points of interest other than being the first of the colleges. It has nurtured men not only of distinction, but of fame. Men so opposite in character as the worldly Cardinal Beaufort—the great Cardinal who figures in Shakespeare—and the pious Archbishop Whitgift were educated here; and in later times that great man of science, Lord Kelvin; but perhaps the most famous of all is Gray, the poet, whose "Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard" has done more to endear him to his country than the acts of any statesman or divine. ”

“ The library Of Peterhouse is the oldest library in Cambridge, and possesses a catalogue of some 600 or 700 books dating from 1418, in which year it was completed. It is chiefly theological, though it possesses a valuable collection of modern works on geology and natural science, and a unique collection of MS. music. Queen’s College Library contains about 30,000 vols. mainly in theology, classics and Semitic literature, and has a printed class-catalogue. The library of St John’s College is rich in early printed books, and possesses a large collection of English historical tracts. ”

“ No doubt the scholars of Peterhouse habitually wore the clerical vestis talaris [353] —the gown to the ankle—but the special item of academic attire adopted at Cambridge appears to have been the capa nigra. [354] The majority of scholars in the hostels{228} and grammar schools observed no general rule as to costume, [355] but the scholars of any standing wore the black cappa of the canon; and the hood, lined with sheepskin or minever, was becoming—even in the xiv century—the habitual, and therefore distinctive, dress of foundation scholars when they “commenced” bachelor or master. ”

“ Like Peterhouse which was adapted and built for the “Ely Scholars,” the Hall at Newnham was the outcome of a students’ association:—the North of England Council for the Higher Education of Women, of which Miss Clough was president, and the association formed to promote the interests of the Higher Local students were its real progenitors.
As soon as the removal from Hitchin had been decided, it was hoped that the students already settled in Cambridge and the Girton community might form one body; but the decision to build away from the town put a stop to any such scheme. ”

“ Since the xvii century Peterhouse has been connected with no great movements. In the xv century and again in the early xixth it produced eminent physical{61} and mathematical students; and in the xviii century Sir William Browne, President of the College of Physicians, learnt here his science. Scotchmen have a predilection for the college; and a nucleus of history men is being formed under the present Master’s guidance. ”

“ George, and when he left school, in 1734, entered a pensioner at Peterhouse, in Cambridge. The transition from the school to the college is, to most young scholars, the time from which they date their years of manhood, liberty, and happiness; but Gray seems to have been very little delighted with academical gratifications; he liked at Cambridge neither the mode of life nor the fashion of study, and lived sullenly on to the time when his attendance on lectures was no longer required. ”

“ A boyish interest in politics was encouraged by Fearon's talk, and probably by visits to the gallery of the House of Commons. He had outgrown his strength and did not especially distinguish himself in the school. He won a few prizes, however, and Dr. Hamilton, the dean of Salisbury, to whom Mr. William Fawcett had shown some of his son's mathematical papers, strongly recommended a Cambridge career. Fawcett accordingly entered Peterhouse, beginning residence in October 1852. In October 1853 he migrated to Trinity Hall, where there appeared to be a better chance of obtaining a fellowship. ”

“ In 1875 Newnham Hall was built on one side of Coe fen and Newnham Mill, as{328} Peterhouse had been built on the other. So that Newnham students frequented the streets of Cambridge from the first, and had their house of residence in the town two years before the sister community settled at Girton. The founders of Girton had been the first to ideate a women’s college in connexion with university teaching, but Newnham was the first college for women to take its place by the side of the historic colleges in Cambridge. ”

“ Richardson became Master of Trinity in 1615. In the time of his successor, Thomas Turner, one of Peterhouse’s most celebrated sons was in residence, the poet Richard Crashaw. The beginning of the sixteenth century found many poets at Cambridge, of whom Crashaw is certainly not the least remarkable. Like George Herbert, who was some twenty years his senior, he was brought up in the traditions of the Church of England, but scarcely had time to prove his principles before the outbreak of the Civil War. ”

“ When Queen Elizabeth visited Cambridge in 1564 he was one of the two B.A.s selected to compose Latin verses in her honour; he also welcomed her with a Latin speech at Queens'. In 1570 he preached in St. Mary's Church against pluralities and non-residence, and on 18 April 1573 became rector of Girton, near Cambridge. In 1583 he describes himself as chaplain to the Earl of Leicester, On 11 May 1589 he was made master of Peterhouse on the recommendation of Whitgift. ”

“ The house belonged to Charles Beaumont, nephew of the metaphysical poet Joseph Beaumont who was Master of Peterhouse, and was bequeathed by him for the college lodge in 1727.
Peterhouse has always been one of the small colleges. Balsham founded it for a master, 14 fellows, and a few Bible clerks. [113] In the time of Charles I. (1634) it maintained 19 fellows, 29 Bible clerks, and 8 scholars, making with the college officers and other students a total of 106. Sixty years earlier, when Caius wrote, there were 96 inmates, and in the middle of the xviii century, 90. ”

“ He was the last Master of Peterhouse but one who became a bishop. His immediate predecessors, Leonard Maw and Matthew Wren, were both translated to bishopricks: Maw to Bath and Wells, and Wren, whose name is most famous, to Ely. During the time of Dr Law,* Bishop of Carlisle, who was master from 1754 to 1788, and filled for a short time the chair of Moral Philosophy, the poet Gray was obliged to change his residence to Pembroke. Gray is one of those persons, uncommon in the last century, who saw beauty in nature, and he became a kind of artistic apostle at Cambridge. ”

“ Hostels and church, facing the Trumpington road, were just without Trumpington gate. In 1309 the college area was extended southwards, over the ground occupied by Jesu hostel. [104] The property of the Gilbertine canons was added in the xvi century. The college area covers the space between Trumpington Street and Coe fen, and Little S. Mary’s church and Scroope Terrace; two-thirds of the site of the Fitzwilliam Museum being ground purchased from Peterhouse. The new Gisborne building (1825) is built on the west beyond the hall. The frontage of Peterhouse on Trumpington Street is unpromising ”

“ In any case the few months intervening between December 23, 1280 and the decision to remove to Peterhouse could not be described as a “long time,” and as Balsham had become bishop of the diocese in 1257 it is most probable that he at once set about what it must certainly be supposed he had at heart while still subprior of Ely. ”

“ Oxford led the way with University and Merton; Cambridge followed with Peterhouse. The college, as distinct from the monastery, was a place of retreat whose aim was learning; the aim of the monastery was self-discipline. It is needless to say that these colleges were established upon a clerical basis: each was a society consisting of a master and a certain number of fellows. Their constitution was that of a public School; the modern undergraduate system was a much later development. The early founders had no idea of a college in the modern sense ”

“ The history of collegiate foundation in Cambridge after that of Peterhouse may be followed through the ensuing description of the colleges, but for ease of reference these are dealt with in alphabetical order. The main street which traverses the town from south to north, parallel to, and at a short Colleges. distance from the river, is known successively as Trumpington Street, King’s Parade, Trinity Street, St John’s Street and Bridge Street. The majority of the colleges lie on either side of this street, and chiefly between it and the river. ”

“ He, too, has eight Saints on his cope, and eight more in his canopy. [163] Twelve Latin verses (p. 218) give a dialogue between himself and Death, whose words are incised, while his are in relief. The chancel has twelve fine stalls on either side, and a grand rood screen, all from the generosity of Rector Sleford. Yet another, and earlier, worthy connected with this place, is Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely and Founder of the earliest Cambridge College, Peterhouse. ”

“ And, apart from the University buildings, the town of Cambridge, with its narrow streets and mean public edifices, is hopelessly outclassed by the beautiful city of Oxford. Invidious comparisons, however, are, in the case of sisters, more than ordinarily odious.
(p. 20) CHAPTER II Entrance to Cambridge.—Railways.—Roman Catholic Church.—Street runlets, Hobson, Perne.—Fitzwilliam Museum.—Peterhouse, Chapel, Deer-park.—Little St. Mary's Church, Washington Arms.—Gray's window.—Pembroke College, Large and Small Colleges, "Querela Cantabrigiensis," Ridley's farewell.—St. ”

“ Peterborough was founded by Wulfhere, king of Mercia from 659 to 674: it formed part of the diocese of Lincoln till the xvi c. Ramsey and Thorney were other fen monasteries. Ramsey was on the borders, in Huntingdonshire, but Thorney was in Cambridgeshire. Peterborough and Thorney with Ely and Crowland were sacked by the Danes in 870. All these were ‘black Benedictine’ houses.
[19] Cottenham 7 miles north of Cambridge; the benefice became an advowson of Chatteris abbey in the isle of Ely, and was bestowed by the abbess on Warham in 1500. ”

“ Pembroke escaped Essex and Wilkins, but it can hardly be congratulated on what it has acquired instead. The south side of the old court has perished; the quaint two-storied building which contained the Hall and Library, has disappeared, and, instead, we have the modern Hall, a very insignificant Gothic apartment quite out of keeping with the traditions of Pembroke. Mr Waterhouse’s street front, south of the chapel, is quite the worst modern building in Cambridge so far as appearance goes; his library and clock-tower are, fortunately, in a not very obtrusive position. ”