Na. 34.
March, 1903.
Contents. REPORTS OF COMPETITIONS PRIZE TRANSLATIONS . THE LOVE OF THE GODS . SONG OF THE STONY ROAD . TIIE FINDING OF THE MAIDEN To A BUTTERFLY . PARADISE • . • SEA-BLOOMS . TILE HIGHER PHILANTHROPY REVIEW-" THE SCHOOL OF LIFE " " LES BEAUX LIVERS SANS MERCI " . OXFORD STUDENTS' DEBAT. ING SOCIETY • OXFORD UNITED HOCKEY TEAM THE " X " CLUE LADY MARGARET HALL SOMERVILLE COLLEGE
4:Dxfort) PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETORS BY JAMES PARKER & CO., CROWN YARD.
542 551 551 552 553 555
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ST. HILDA'S HALL, CORRESPONDENCE
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•
ST. HUGH'S HALL . HOME STUDENTS .
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• Ebitor Miss
CONING,
Somerville College.
treasurer Miss
MOORE,
St. Hilda's Hall.
Committee Miss Sou-THEy, Lady Margaret- Hall. MYERS, Somerville College. Miss EPPSTEIN, St. Hugh's Hall.
Miss
Miss CHAMBERS, St. Hilda's Hall. Miss WILLS-SANDFORD, Home Students, 4o S. Giles'.
1/1,c No. 34.
MARCH.
1906.
Himself has called across our night "Awake, ye German Nation !" He leads us, were't thro' Death, to .see The morning of His Liberty. To God alone the glory !' :
1Pri3e Competition. TRANSLATION COMPETITION. MISS CLAY and Miss SANDERS (L.M.H.), who kindly consented to judge the translations, send the following report :" It seems desirable to give to readers of the Fritillary some idea as to the results of this term's Competition as far as this may be done without publishing all the translations produced. Were it not for this, one would have been inclined to think of the total of work sent in that there was very little to say about it.' The number of competitors is not large, and their work is very much on the same level ; neither the material nor methods have succeeded in revealing the hidden shimmer of genius which one always hopes may be lured by the modest laurels offered through editorial economy. The Lament for Bion ' is certainly the most promising choice of all those received, and great care and taste are evident in the selection of lines throughout a poem of some length. This translator is the only one who has thus made free with her original, as far as we can discover. On the other hand the best of the modern pieces looks singularly unpromising in the original—a Freicorps' hymn. A piece in martial and dignified metre, but with nothing to attract the imagination or suggest any helps to remodelling. The last stanza may be quoted as an example of this austere, but very fine, metre. It is perhaps the most successful of the four from this point of view He gives us in the cause of Right The victor's consecration ;
One might, of course, suggest some alterations to the 3rd and 4th lines here ; the license taken in the use of pronouns seems to give no special force, and is somewhat clumsy, but on the whole the vigorous swinging metre of the German lines is reproduced here in equal vigour and simplicity. One cannot say quite as much for the middle stanzas. In these the shortening of the last foot in lines 2 and 4, to our thinking, has impaired the rhythm In God our confidence and might, Howe'er severe the toil, We fight for Duty and the Right And for our sacred soil.' '
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Another piece by the same translator requires even higher commendation—from the Archangels' Chorus in the Prologue to Faust. It is a far more ambitious attempt than that which is put first, and though in itself it is much less perfect, its intrinsic merit might well be considered to supersede that in the Hymn of the Freicorps. Firstly, the meaning of Goethe's lines is not so unmistakable as that in the simpler hymn. It has been here not only seized, but well and easily rendered. And again these lines strengthen the impression that this translator has the most true feeling for good metre of all the who have attempted this competition. If we may criticise once more it would be to repeat the caution as to neglecting grammatical feeling. The italicised
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parts of the following lines come very near to spoiling them The sea its foaming floods is hurling Against the rocks in majesty, Swift in their race the spheres are whirling Eternally the rocks and sea.' The last stanza is well worth quoting Angels grow strong in contemplation For none Thy mystery can tell, Thy mighty works, as at their first creation Sublime, incomprehensible.' The other prize-winner (who alone attempted translation from the Greek) has very different merits. She possesses evident facility in the use of metre. The following lines run very well, and are a good example of the whole :— 0 mountain glens, 0 rivers, 0 Dorian water clear, Now mourn with me for Bion, the lovely and the dear ! Blush red, 0 rose, for sorrow, and thou, anemone ! 0 springing grass, 0 woodland, lament for him with me I' These are probably the most pleasing in rhythm except the verse :— But we, the strong, the powerful, we mighty men and wise, When once we die, shall never at call of spring arise.' The failure of the whole in effect is due to a monotonous distribution of accent, which might easily give an unpleasant jingling. Against this may be set a very happy gift in choice of language, conveying with a subtle turn so much charm— as in : — Ah me, though in the garden the mallow's life is brief, Though fades the fresh green parsley and the curling anise leaf.' Or again : lapped in heavy silence in hollow earth.' In this A. M. R. stands alone.
Of the other r r pieces the most exact rendering is given to Horace, Carm. II. The last verse has also turn of language and idea which raises poetical above mere metrical translation :— Lands must be left and home and gentle wife, Nor of the trees thou tendest in thy life Shall any follow their brief lord Save the black cypress branch abhorr'd.' The last line, of course, is overloaded—a tendency which appears in other stanzas, and spoils the rhythm. Much less correct, but more promising, is the translation (also from Horace) by Parvum.' It is the most interesting bit of metre that has been sent us, as the first, and possibly best, stanza will show :— Heav'nward raising lift up thine arm, Young is the moon, oh ! thou child of the farm, Offer incense, and youngborn, and suckling, To keep thy fair nurslings from harm.' But the verses further on are extremely uneven. Pray, Parvum, practise till you are a mistress of clean feet, and then such a bounding metre as this would be a delight to use and a pleasure to hear ! Les Elfes' and Die Sterne der Nacht ' are both more nearly translated than this last ode : neither is, however, so vigorous—the translator of Les Elfes' has not shown a power of giving an idea with any distinctness, as though hampered by an unaccustomed use of metre. The rhyme about the stars is a good rhyme, jingling pleasantly along, and giving a clear idea of the German rhyme. The translator has made a very difficult attempt. Arndt's stanzas would need very delicate and skilful rendering. This perhaps points the moral for the whole achievement—that it is a great pity that lovers of verse do not practise the art much more persistently. It must be as great a pleasure as the exercise of any other art—to make melody in one's mind." Miss Ramsay (S.C.) and Miss Overend (S.C.) are the two prize-winners.
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THE FRITILLARY. " OLD AGE" COMPETITION. The " Old Age " Competition brought in ten character studies, Miss Knox (L.M.H.) gaining the prize for her " Love of the Gods." Lack of space unfortunately prevents our printing other interesting sketches, of which, however, we would especially commend a thoughtful treatment of Rembrandt's " Portrait of an Old Lady."
'translations. I. THEODOR KoRNER : " LEIER UND SCHWERT.� Lied zur Einsegnung des preussischen Freicorps. [Nach der Weise : "Ich will von meiner Missethat."]
WIR treten hier im Gottes-Haus Mit frommen Mut zusammen, Uns ruft die Pflicht zum Kampf hinaus Und alle Herzen flammen. Denn was uns rnahnt zu Sieg und Schlacht, Hat Gott ja selber angefacht. Dem Herrn allein die Ehre ! Der Herr ist unsre Zuversicht Wie schwer der Kampf auch werde ; Wir streiten ja fiir Recht und Pflicht Und fur die heil'ge Erde. Drum, retten wir das Vaterland : So that's der Herr durch unsre Hand. Dem Herrn allein die Ehre ! Es bricht der freche Ubermut Der Tyrannei zusammen ; Es soil der Freiheit heil'ge Glut In allen Herzen flammen Drum frisch in Kampfes Ungestilm ! Gott ist mit uns und wir mit nun ! Dem Herrn allein die Ehre ! Er weckt uns jetzt mit Siegerlust Fur die gerechte Sache ; Er rief es selbst in unsre Brust : Auf, deutsches Volk, erwache ! Und fiihrt uns, war's auch durch den Tod, Zu seiner Freiheit Morgenrot. Dem Herrn allein die Ehre! 2
THEODOR KoRNER " THE LYRE AND THE SWORD." Hymn for the Consecration of the Prussian Volunteer Corps. [To the tune : " Ich will von meiner Missethat."]
Here in the House of God to-night We meet with hope inspired, For Duty calls us to the fight, And every heart is fired To battle and to victory ! Lo, 'tis the hand of God we see, To God alone the glory ! In God our confidence and might Howe'er severe the toil ; We fight for Duty and the Right, And for our sacred soil. Then, should we save the Fatherland, 'Tis God hath wrought it by our hand. To God alone the glory ! The impious power of Tyranny Is tottering to its fall ; Let Freedom's fire more generously Burn in the hearts of all. Forth to the battle loud and grim ! God is with us and we with Him ! To God alone the glory ! He gives us in the cause of Right The victor's consecration ; Himself has called across our night : " Awake, ye German nation !" He leads us, were 't thro' Death, to see The morning of His Liberty, To God alone the glory !
EMILY M. OVEREND.
BLI2NOX. line r .
Aatv.ri pot crrovaxcire vcirtaL Kai AeopLov acop,
Kai vorapol action-E. rOv ipepOevra Btuwa. VUV Ovrci pot pOpecrBe, Kai acrea viii' yocioto-ee,
5. vim /.)68a Ootvio-creo-Be rQ rivthoa, vi v civepeoval.
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19. Kayos 6 Talc ayiAato-ty 44aptos oincire ilDoret,
o6Kir' epqac'ag•tv 67r6 Spvc•iv lacvos. (AAA rapa IIl1ovT7L /laths
16pea 22.
TOT.
Baiav cieiSet.
io-riv liGhowa, Kai ai 136es al wore ya6pcos
D-XaCOILEvat yotiovrt Kai OVK i8iXovrt v4teo-Bat.
But lapped in heavy silence in hollow earth shall keep Through night that knows no morning an unawaking sleep. A. M. RAMSAY.
Alai rai paXcixat pev E7rav Karit Kit7r0V lAc.wrat,
xAcopA criXtva ri r' EZ8aXe's o6Xov civ8ov, licrrepay
C(jovrt Kai ei's -frog 11XX o
06ovrt•
lippes 8' of pxyciXot Kal Kaprepol, of c•ockol iiv8pes, 6771-OTC
rpEtra Ocivcopes, civciKoca Ev x0ovi KoiXa
enop,Es EU pciXa paKpOw cirippova viyperov tIrvov.
PART OF MOSCHUS' LAMENT FOR THE DEATH OF BION.
line i. 0 mountain glens, 0 rivers, 0 Dorian water clear, Now mourn with me for Bion, the lovely and the dear ! 4 & 6. Blush red, 0 rose, for sorrow, and thou, anemone ! 0 springing grass, 0 woodland, lament for him with me ! 19. Among the herds that loved him, no more he sits and plays, Fluting beneath the oak trees through the long summer days, But in the house of Hades another strain he sings, To still the unquiet voices of half-remembered things. And silent is the hill-side, save where forlorn and slow, Caring no more to pasture his loving heifers go. or. All me, though in the garden the mallow's life is brief, Though fades the fresh green parsley and the curling anise leaf, Vet tender spring returning shall bring them in her train, And in a second summer they live and bloom again ; But we, the strong, the powerful, we mighty men and wise, When once we die, shall never at call of spring arise,
Character %tub of "Vb age." THE LOVE OF THE GODS. " It would be so dreadful to be old! " THE true secret of perpetual youth is to be found undoubtedly in a strict sense of proportion. Miss Laetitia's hair was flaked with white, and the faint November roses on her cheeks were almost lost in the wrinkles round her kind patient mouth, but Miss Laetitia was not old. She might admit that she was getting on in life, but then it could never be forgotten that she was twenty years younger than her sister, Miss Mary. All her life Miss Laetitia had been, so to speak, twenty years to the good. For a long time she had envied Miss Mary's undoubted superiority in the achievement of years, and so she was never fifty-four in her own eyes. She was twenty years younger than Miss Mary. The people who are consciously younger than someone else are always young. And so Miss Laetitia said quite innocently : " It must be dreadful to be old !" and the Rector assented cheerfully without any sense of incongruity. If anyone knows the River Charm, they know Charmford, and if they know Charmford, they know the long quaint High Street where Miss Laetitia lived. Outwardly there is nothing very distinctive about each of the warm red Jacobean houses, except, perhaps, that their steps are whiter than those of most town houses, and that the quiet decorum of the whole street suggests that the children must always be shut up over their catechism in the grey Norman Church at the end of the street. The rooks alone are unable to realize the prevailing note of solemn dignity, and,
THE FRITILLARY. in spring, flutter and caw round the elm trees in the churchyard in a way which argues an utter lack of dramatic instinct. The houses slope down to the river at the back. From the window the Rector could see the path beyond the flower-beds to the thatched boathouse, and the large notice, as white as the modesty that dictated it, "No Bathing in sight of these houses." But his eyes were fixed on the daffodils and wallflowers in Miss Laetitia's beds, and as hers followed him, she murmured modestly :"Shall we go out into the garden, Henry ? " When Miss Laetitia's maids were in love with the gardeners, they always made for the cedartree to which Miss Laetitia and the Rector walked now, for on the far side of it you were unseen from the narrow, surprised-looking windows of the old house. It was here that thirty years ago the Rector had asked Miss Laetitia to marry him, and here that she had told him that she could never leave her sister. She had repeated that answer at various intervals for thirty years, and yet she felt as if it were still that spring morning when the two had agreed with heavy hearts that they must wait for a little. But the Rector had a new reason for making for that spot to-day. " Mary is ageing so much you know, Henry," pursued Miss Laetitia with a pathetic note in her soft voice. " She seems to have picked up so many tiresome little ways, and then she is so deaf, and never seems quite to know what I mean. And she takes no interest in anything that is happening outside herself. That is why I should feel it so dreadful to be old. She never seems to mind about anything as long as her toast is hot, and she is not kept waiting for her tea." " I suppose that happens to all of us as we get old," agreed the Rector with a note of surprise in his voice. He had particular reasons for leading the conversation on to this very topic, but he had not been prepared to have the opening given to him. In his eyes Miss Laetitia would always be young, but he realized that time was passing very quickly with him. He could not bear to break into Miss Laetitia's dream, and tell her coldly and crudely that he was himself an old man now, and that the
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toast and tea were beginning to be of great importance to him as well. And yet he could not bear that she should suddenly realize for herself that their long love-story must be closed before long, and, perhaps, face her trouble alone. He had known for years that this shadow of old age must creep over them both in time. Only this morning he had looked up from a treatise on the origin of Conceptualism to see a small boy chasing a colt in a field by the river. There was in the picture that madness of sun and wind and fresh young life that is the heart of spring, and the Rector had put down his book suddenly and felt himself an old man. So now he was prepared as he braced himself to meet the situation. " There are some to whom the gods grant perpetual youth," he said in his courtly manner, as he bent to kiss Miss Laetitia's withered hand. Then he looked round hastily to see if they were noticed, but the gardener was helping the kitchenmaid to pick a preposterously large bunch of parsley, and they were unseen. " But," he went on, " just try to imagine that you were old." " I'm not young, you know," said Miss Laetitia smiling and patting her hair. " No, but I mean really old, like Miss Mary. You say one's interests get narrowed. Well, so they do in a way. One feels impatient sometimes at the pride people take in the age they have reached, as if it were some heroic action." Miss Laetitia nodded. She had a vivid picture of the rejoicings over Miss Mary's seventy-fifth birthday, beside which the thankfulness for national victories sank into insignificance. " But it's not really contemptible. Now take the case of—of a man I know. I think I can sketch his feelings about old age for you. We .all begin with thinking we are very fine fellows, and going to make a name for ourselves. My friend did, like everyone else. And then the years passed by, and now he finds—well he finds that he hasn't. So all he can do and all he can achieve is in the way of time. It's the only way he can make a record now, by making one in years. I think people are only so anxious and pleased about their age because it's just their last little spark of individuality, interest, call it what you please, and just the last
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expression of that wish which we all start with. It's not so bad if you look at it that way, is it, Laetitia ? " The Rector's voice was anxious, for he felt that he was pleading for himself. " No-o," agreed Miss Laetitia, doubtfully ; "but then about the little things ! I'll give you an instance. You know dear Mary has always made a little commentary on the lesson at prayers. Well yesterday she read about Esau and Jacob, and then stopped and looked out of the window in the inspired way she has. And then at last what do you think she said ?—' Cook, I wonder what that pottage was made of I' Now is your friend like that ?" The Rector could not help smiling, but he took Miss Laetitia's hand as well. " Dear one," he said, " it's all part of the same thing. While we're here our bodies must interest us of course, only when we're young it's our strength and health and actions that we think about, and not the silly trivial little things. My friend was something of an athlete. He was very interested in his body at Oxford. It isn't despicable, you know, really. And now when all the vigour's worn out, well, beef-tea has to take its place I " " You're always right, Henry." (Although Miss Laetitia was unmarried no one could dispute that she had a thoroughly conjugal habit of mind.) " But still it is dreadful to see people losing their interests in things, and—and just waiting. Don't you think so?" " Ah, but then you see, darling, apart from the little tiresome things, they have a truer sense of proportion in a way." Miss Laetitia nodded her head with some selfsatisfaction. " Yes, I know what you mean," she said : " I've read somewhere that when people are so near the only thing that really matters, I mean so near death, that all the things we mind so much about here seem very small in comparison." "Yes, partly that," said the Rector, " and partly I think my friend finds out that we aren't so full of ourselves and people as individuals at all. Old age is a great leveller, I'm quite sure of that. Every one is very much the same in the light of the eternal, and the little ups and
downs of life get smoothed over —just as you don't notice each of the waves when you're some way from the sea, though they'd feel very big if you were bathing in them. After all, old age is the borderland to the eternal. Death must be a background to everything, that's what it means, I find, and that's why one can wait quietly and not dash out to meet it, and cry for a short struggle. Someone, I think it's Landor, but my memory's not what it was, has a verse that says :— I have warmed both hands at the fire of life, It sinks, and I am ready to depart.' Well for my part I am quite content to sit by the embers and wait quietly. But, my dear, what is the matter, whatever is it ? " Miss Laetitia's eyes were fixed on the Rector in horror and dismay. " Don't, Henry," she cried, in her quavering little voice, " don't, Henry ! You speak as if you were the old man yourself ! " The Rector was by no means a coward, and by no means weak-minded. But when affairs had_ come to the point at which he was aiming it must be confessed that his courage failed him, and he basely neglected his purpose and his sketch. He could not claim its identity, with Miss Laetitia's tragic eyes looking into his. Besides, in the spring sunshine, when the garden was scented with wall-flowers and alive with the love affairs of birds and gardeners, he did not feel an old man. So he spent a good hour in assuring Miss Laetitia that he had never felt younger ; that she looked younger herself every day, and then walked home wondering whether it was granted to every woman to shut her eyes so sublimely to facts, and to hedge round her love with such firm defences against death and time. The Rector was never sorry that Miss Laetitia had kept her illusions inviolate. The rooks were sadly disturbed in their building that year by bitter east winds and late frosts, and Miss Laetitia, who was never strong, shivered and gave way before them like the wall-flowers. And so by the time the sun was shining again, and the chil-
THE FRITILLARY. dren were beginning to pick the buttercups in the fields by the river, the Rector's love - story came to an end on earth. "Those whom the gods love die young," said the Rector to himself, as he stood by Miss Laetitia's grave. " They loved her, for they never let her grow old." The kitchen-maid told the gardener once that in her opinion the Rector was not sufficiently upset by Miss Laetitia's death, for she had seen him smile once quite distinctly by her grave, and the gardener, being a prudent man, agreed. But then they did not know, as the Rector did, how very different is the view of death and of love beyond death from the borderland of the eternal. W. F. KNOX (L.M.H.).
the Sono of the Stony 1Roa0. O
all ye people who have not taken the Training Course at a college erected for that purpose, Come and hear what we do all day long ; That, being inspired by the feeling of working for a great end, and in the midst of difficulties, you may long with your hearts to be with us.
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Some of us go instead and teach to somnolent children Facts which all the time we hope are facts, and theories childish and graspable by undeveloped minds—with a stern eye we keep the discipline. Or, perhaps, we wander into the dreary room of burettes and pipettes and study science method ; there we drink the water we meant to measure and weigh, which we find in our mouths unawares ; there we cut with attention the fine yellow soap into regular sizes. In the afternoons we wait in file for the lecturer who tells us tidings of joy, but perhaps more frequently of sorrow, about the lessons we gave that morning. And so time flies, and merrily we draw cats, running rabbits, and leaves on the blackboard. Happily we with chalk practise handwriting, and endeavour to remove what we call character, and the wise ones know to be idiosyncrasies and affectation.
COME
Away among the tall chimneys and the glorious dust of a magnificent city, Where the people crowd all day long, and perhaps also at night, but I have not been to see, Where fascinating penny toys distract the passer by from his thoughts, and where the gallant cabbage blooms in a wood barrow, and eggs are for ever young, There we have our camp, say, is not the place noble ? In the morning we arise and turn to Gifts and Occupations. How the tables are bestrewn with leather paper, and how they stick and tempt with gum ; pleasant is the sight of fantastic blocks of the deal-tree.
So the days pass, and on the seventh day in the mid-week we assemble. There stands a joyous young girl with twenty urchins around her—how she has been looking forward to her crit ' ; So a half-hour of ecstasy, of bliss ethereal and breezy happiness passes by. Then how we talk together, and how the heroine listens to our appreciative but painful talk with proud humility. That is the thrill of training, the thrill of intense pleasure that one experiences all day in the full sun of criticism. Also there are the mystic and sober delights of psychology. Come, run with me down the slopes of an objective continuum—now we've reached the bottom, how nice ! Only these few sprites know the wind and murmuring brook sounds that one makes at lectures when one does not understand, and great is the longing to do so.
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Fundamental is the difference between apperception masses and the truth ; let us come and seek it out in Ward and Miinsterberg and others, who write with misty pens and impressiveness—we also did the same in our History essays. Come along and learn The Child with me—you are now learning History, perhaps, but remember you'll have to teach both. Come along, and in the far distant ages—I mean a year hence— You, too, will be able to gaze with sad and contemptuous condescension on a great crowd, the great crowd which is untrained, and jibs if you criticise it individually. We are beyond all that. We walk very fast up the hill, and look happy with all our might. J. A. J.
tbe finbing of the fibatben. THERE was once a King of the Western Moors who lived hard by the Western Sea. He dwelt in a gray castle where there were books unending in dark dim, rooms, and round him were there many scholars gray and dull of heart. And the King he sat in a dark dim room and read books unending, nor did he hear the sea-gulls cry, nor see the waves beat below the white cliffs. And he looked not forth when the trees were green and white, nor when the heather was purple, nor when the bracken was brown, and the huntsmen rode after the wild red deer on the Western Moors. " This is all as it should be," said the scholars, and they wagged their heads and disputed together. And when winter came upon the land, and the moor was hard, and the sky was gold, the King still sat in his dark dim room and read his books unending, and the scholars wagged their heads and disputed together.
There came into the hall one night an aged woman with thin white hairs and eyes like a flame. And the hounds bayed as she came in, and the fire burnt low. Then she stamped the snow off her feet, and the King looked up from his books to see what the noise might be. "0 King, you are not happy!" said she to him. " That know I well," said the King, " but how to be I know not. I read my books unending in my dim dark rooms, yet can I find never a way. Methinks, too, I would give much to find it." " That way can I show you, 0 King 1 " said the old woman. " You shall be happy when you shall find the maiden whose eyes are bright, and whose kiss is cold on the cheek but warm in the heart. Her raiment it is all white and glittering, and she can make glad and uplift the hearts of men." " How shall I find this maid ?" asked the King. "You shall find her hunting," said the old woman, and stamped her feet again. And when the King looked again he could not see the old woman with thin white hair and eyes of flame, and no man knew where she had gone. " Now this is a strange tale," said the King, and he let his book unending fall to the ground. " How could this be so ? " said the scholars, and wagged their heads. "Yet will I go hunting to-morrow," said the King, " and leave for one day my books unending in my dim dark rooms." And the scholars answered nothing, but wagged their heads and disputed together. When the morrow came, the King rode out with the scholars to a wood where lie the wild red deer. And the ground was hard, but the scent keen in spite of the frost, and the world was white with snow. And the King saw how the frost shone in the sun, and he heard the cry of the hounds and the wash of the waves below, and he sat up straight in the saddle. " Now indeed will we hunt," said the King. Then arose the cry of the hounds as they scented a stag, and over the moor the horses followed them, though the ground was hard and many of the scholars stumbled and fell. But the
THE FRITILLARY. King rode on and heeded not the bogs nor the slippery rocks. For he felt how the dead brown heather sprang under his horse's hoofs, and he saw how the frost danced on the leafless trees, and the sun shone on the snow in orchards and combes. " Yet have I not found the maiden," said the King, " whose kiss is cold and whose eyes are bright, nor have I seen her white glittering robe, neither has she yet uplifted and made glad my heart." And the King rode on. But all the other riders had stumbled and fallen save one, the foremost of the scholars, who rode by his side. " 0 King," he said, " the air is cold and the ground is hard, and I am well nigh frozen to my saddle. Not here, 0 King, shalt thou find the maid with the cold kiss and the bright eyes. Come back with me, King, to the dim dark rooms and the books unending !" " Nay," said the King, " but I will quest my quest. Besides, methinks I care not now so greatly for the books unending, nor yet for the dim dark rooms." And the scholar turned homewards with many groans and complaints, and the King was left alone. And the King rode on till the sun was low in the heavens, and all the sea was lit by the red and gold of the sky. And still the King rode on till the moonlight was white on the snow-clad moors, and black among the trees, till the stars shone and the air was crisp. Then the King's heart, as he rode on, was warm and uplifted within him, and the words of the woman came back to his mind. And he lifted his eyes and looked on the snow around him, and his horse bounded on untired, and he felt the kiss of the keen wind, and the thrill of life went to his heart. Then the King cried aloud : " I have found her ! I have quested my quest, and I have found my wondrous maiden. For this glorious earth is my peerless queen, and shall be so for ever. Now is her wind-kiss cold on my cheek, but warm in my heart. Now are the stars, her eyes, bright in the frost. Now lies she white and glittering in her raiment of snow. Now have I found her 3
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hunting, and she has made glad and uplifted my heart. Now shall I live life truly and be happy, as could I never be with my books unending in the dim dark rooms." So the King rode home rejoicing, and the wind chilled his cheek and warmed his heart, and the stars smiled at him through the frost. So rode he home to where the scholars sat by the hall fire and considered their bruises, And when he told them of how his quest was fulfilled, they only wagged their heads and disputed together. But men do say that not long did the scholars abide in the castle, nor were the rooms any more dim and dark, nor filled with books unending. But the King hears now when the sea-gulls cry, and he sees the waves beat below the white cliffs. For when a man hath once known and loved life, then must he live.
to a IButterftv. BUTTERFLY, butterfly, Summerborn mystery, Often I wonder why Life is so short for thee. Beautiful winged-flower, Joy-giving, innocent, Though in one shining hour Thy span of life is spent ; Yet by thy second birth Thou dost this truth express, We too shall rise from earth Clothed in pure loveliness. WANDERER.
iparaNse. THERE are many who say, in these latter days, that there is no life after death, and that the dream of a heaven where earthly wrongs shall be set right and earthly losses made good is
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destined to no fulfilment. Let such read the testimony of one who saw, though in a vision, some little way into the other world, and deny if he dare the truth of the things here set forth. " I had followed (said he) a rocky path, which grew wilder and rougher at every step, up the face of a mountain steep, and set foot at last on the summit. There, instead of the prospect of hill, lake, and river I had thought to see, I found as it were the floor of a new country, like land on the top of a cliff; and not far a-head there seemed to be a wall, in which I saw only one very small door. Not hoping to find admission by so low and narrow a gate, I climbed by a tree to a level with the wall, so obtaining a sight of that which lay within, though I could not reach the wall, or gain entrance. This was what I saw : " Beyond the wall, and aided by its protection, lay a garden the like of which man never beheld. Everywhere it was carpeted with the softest moss and grass, in which grew little flowers—primroses, anemones white, blue, and red, cowslips, golden daffodils, and where the grass stood longer, buttercups and tall moon-daisies. Roses ran over-head, but they were moss-roses ; and round the margin of a little lake, and along the banks of the stream that flowed from it, were blue forget-me-not and the gay heads of flowering rush. It seemed that all the seasons had brought their brightest, and the roses were without thorns. " But stranger than the fair spot, and fairer far, were its inhabitants. Look where I would, I saw nothing but children. The sun shone so warm and bright upon them, that most were running altogether without clothes, and seemed the more content. Some were gathering buttercups, cowslips, and daisies, and making flower-chains and flower-balls ; some were splashing in the shallow water of the lake, burying their pink toes in the clean sand at the bottom, or rolling to and fro on a bed of green grass on which in one place the water had overflowed. Some were wheeling and leaping like colts over the meadow, in and out among the great beeches which leant kindly arms towards earth, and some had mounted the boughs, and were swaying up and down ; but most seemed hard at work, child-fashion, on their plays. True,
they had no toys ; but had they not enough without ? The trees gave them black snapping sticks and beechnuts, the lake gave sand and water, the flowers bloomed for their pleasure only, and they had no lack of playmates. Nor were their mates of their own kind only, for from every side came other young creatures to play with them. Two children were mounted on a colt, one bestrode a fat white lamb ; further on, boys and girls were rolling and tumbling with a family of young wolves, and again a baby and a lion-cub lay fast asleep against the warm shoulder of the mother lioness. "As I watched, it appeared that through the low pleasant noise of happy laughter, and songs of birds, and the fond wordless croodling of the mother-beasts, the murmur of the flowing water began to pass into articulate sound, and slowly from its monotone I gathered some such meaning as this :— ' Enter, enter, beast and child, All things young and glad of heart, In the Garden undefiled, Come and take your happy part. Here be never blow or frown, Sickness, hunger, cold, distress • Din or mirk of darksome town ; Here is love and happiness. Here may you be clean and play In the healing golden light ; Find, when fades the pleasant day, Warm and quiet sleep at night. Babies, play with downy bird, Bird will warm you in her nest ; Never cruel deed or word Mar again your baby rest. Enter here may all who can ; Undefiled of heart and kind ; Child or maiden, beast or man, May the lowly entrance find.' " Then I understood that this was the haven to which all children came, from whom a harsh and ugly fate had withheld the birthright of their childhood in this world : and it seemed well. For scarcely would the vilest of mankind willingly
THE FRITILLARY. expose his little children to the want or the sin in which he does not fear to live : therefore it appears just that in some other world childhood should be restored to them in its fulness." R. Now, is not this witness true ?
"Sea.1311ooms." THE sea of a dream, misty-blue in the dawn, Of a virginal purity, not yet awake To her beauty and life, till at on-coming morn, Of ray-kisses engendered, a faint flush is born, For the sun's bright sake. High noon :—living diamonds sparkle and dart Their arrowy beams from her breast—and to me As the wave sinks and swells o'er her slowthrobbing heart, The foamy-winged sea-gulls seem almost a part Of the passionate sea. But as evening draws on, see the splendour begun : Blue deepens to violet, the great clouds are rolled In a wonder of crimson, till, massed into one, They pass and dissolve at the touch of the sun. In a glory of gold. Then night ; from the measureless dome each clear star Gazes down at the dim mirror-floor of the deep ; The path of the moon, strewn with pearl, leads afar, While the tranquil sea rocks the earth, weary of jar, To a long, dreamless sleep. 0. M. M.
the lbigber Vbflantbropv. IN a wild and little-known corner of Westmoreland, hardly noticed by the Lakeland traveller, seeking remembered names and haunts of poets, there is a handful of small, decent homesteads, that, possessing a church, school and station 4
539
within a radius of three miles, considers itself a village, and lives a dignified communal life of its own without the aids and hindrances of Social Science. Great bleak outlines of hills, rich pasture-lands, impossible roads and whitewashed dwellings, looking much alike in their desperate cleanliness, are your first impression. A people of few words, much experience, and quiet friendliness, your next. You live amongst them for a week before you discover that this tiny community has quite a disproportionate share of social problems with which it deals in a spirit of exquisite morality and brotherliness. ' Tommie' was the first revelation—and something of a shock. You had watched him in the hay-field—a ruddy youngster of not more than seventy, with his head always on one side, a shyness hardly in keeping with his years,—and his lips to another man's beer-can ! He was glad to lean on his rake and talk to you, chiefly of taking a wife, on which delicate subject he solicited your advice with blushes ; and, indeed, a glance at the one untidy cottage of the village, shared by Tommie and his cat, convinced one of the desirability of such a step, from several points of view. Little by little, you learned how Tommie with an old grandmother and no surname had drifted hither as a tiny lad—not daring to look the world in the face, but peering at it round the old woman's skirts, which habit, tradition said, had been the cause of his present slight deformity ; how, after her death he lived on alone in the small cottage, let to them at a nominal rent by a neighbour, and how for many years he had been famous in the more immediate circle of his friends as an incorrigible thief. Neighbours' clothes-lines supplied him all the year round with under-wear ; the ' public' with great-coats, from which he fashioned all manner of weird garments for himself; and except for the daily milk for his cat, and his own Sunday dinner, regularly allowed him by the farm, he stole with a singular dexterity and a catholic taste —soap, cotton-reels, thimbles, cups, spoons, plants, books that he couldn't read, writing materials, though he couldn't write, anything in short that ,
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came in his all-consuming way. Every year his cottage swelled with plunder, and the hope of any outsider ever being admitted became less. At first the village-elders remonstrated, reasoned, protested—but when they came to realize that the distorted, half-tamed mind had no light on the question of "mine and thine," they desisted, satisfying themselves by removing temptations to theft where possible, and by giving Tommie work to do for which he might honestly receive payment in whatever shape pleased him. Funerals were to him a special harvest and a joy for ever. Then, locking his cottage door, in stolen mourning, and elate with unlawful anticipations, he would march many weary miles to attend a burial and subsequent feastings, at which latter he generally collected provision enough in his funeral handkerchief to see him through several days. Occasionally the meal came first ; and Tommie, who never forgot what was owing to the occasion, and having sympathetic recourse to his handkerchief, strewed beef and ham liberally in the wake of the departed. This did not embarrass him ; it was his companion in the procession who blushed. "But when Tommie comes to die," remarked our informant, " my, that will be a funeral ! lay half the country side '11 come to claim its own !" Not five minutes' walk from Tommie's patch of garden, where the sun shone and the rain fell on his roses and southern wood and gooseberrybushes, as though they had been honest flowers and fruit, lived a rosy family of little children, whom one saw clinging round their father as he strode home from work, bearing himself royally after a long day's toil. We had noted him for his fine bearing and courtesy, and his tenderness with the little ones. Two women ministered to the needs of this household, and on enquiring which of them was the children's mother, we were told a story that seemed patriarchal enough to have stood beside that of Abraham. It appeared that three children had been born to the man and his wife, all of whom had died within a year of birth. The woman, broken-hearted, and fearfully detecting
a judgment of God, prayed that she might die rather than live to lose another child. Her husband comforted her in her loneliness, bore with her in her hopeless melancholy, and finally brought home a second wife, afterwards the mother of the children we knew. The village wondered, but held its peace—it dared not pronounce judgment where it lacked understanding ; for it was remarked that the man bare himself as fearlessly and uprightly towards his neighbours as heretofore. Then a busy tongue wagged—and it was the women who heard. That day the children's mother rose up, put her few things together, kissed the wondering little ones, and went sorrowfully down the straight path with its neat boxborders ; but at the gate she turned, and turning, met the outstretched arms of that other, whose tragic loneliness she had cheered, who fell on her neck, beseeching her to remain with them. So the two women went back to the house, weeping, but hand in hand. Perhaps the most anxious care of the village was the little, apple-cheeked, wild-eyed old dame whom one at first recognized as the witch of many a fairy-tale, but came to respect later as one whom sorrow had shocked into chronic madness and occasional mysticism. She was a widow of two ideas—her religion (of a vividly Calvinistic type) and her son. He, " as fine a young fellow as ever stepped," was killed in a quarry accident, and from the day that his mother, going forth to welcome him, met that slow-treading procession winding down the hillside, the light of her reason broke into a fitful, many-coloured flame leading nowhither. You will understood that, poor as her neighbours were, no one ever dreamed of, much less suggested, sending Betty away. It was everyone's privilege to care for her and supply her wants, which were indeed few—bare necessities, and a listener. The parish allowed her a shilling a week ; she had nothing of her own, and no one in the village fared better. The children knew her bounteous ways, and loved her too well to fear her ; the women would take their work and drink tea with her, and Betty, so that she could get a listener,
THE FRITILLARY. was quite content to pour out her " prophesyings," as the village called them, working herself up at times to a pitch of almost intolerable excitement. But it was worth while to wait till the passionate incoherence had spent itself, for before you took leave of her, she would lead you to the door, and pointing to the flaming western sky, would tell you in hushed voice of a vision she once had, at this very hour of sunset ; when, suddenly the amber clouds had parted for an instant, and she had seen stand forth, fair and clear, the Lord of Hosts Himself, and heaven lay all behind Him, and she felt but dared not look upon the brightness of His face. The recollection of this vision always soothed her—it was as though in imagination she touched the hem of that garment and was healed. * * ae Now this village (it must be understood) is not given to dreaming dreams or seeing visions : it keeps its hands rigorously from picking and stealing : and only one man in it has more than one wife. And just because of its own simple, strenuous righteousness, its treatment of these three of its members seems to me perfectly ideal—the practical realization of philanthropy not as a science but as an Art, and that the greatest in the world. E. J. C.
1Rerfew. The School of Life. (By SYBIL M. ILES.) WE have here the story of an Oxford student, who, fresh from the haunts of learning and the stimulus of college life, has to find her place in that uninspiring corner of life's school—a London suburb. With anxious forebodings of ' spiritual starvation' she bids farewell to `alma mater,' and enters on her home life. But in spite of her gloomy prognostications, Juliet finds that home life proves quite pleasant, and that her three years at St. Ursula's, instead of unsettling her for it, have so widened her sympathies and enlarged her
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outlook, that she is more in touch with her suburban relations than at one time she would have thought possible, and when presently sorrow and poverty come upon her family, she has a good opportunity of vindicating the college girl to prejudiced minds. " I wish the people who told us how foolish we were to send her to Oxford could taste this stew," remarks her mother appreciatively as she takes another mouthful of her daughter's own cooking. The book cannot pretend in any way to be a psychological study, but Juliet—with her flippant manner hiding many sterling qualities, her rapid transitions from unrestrained hilarity to the depths of gloom, her emotional delight in what she herself rather aptly terms the " holiness of beauty " rather than that " beauty of holiness " which so appeals to her bosom friend Agnes— is a type of girl very common both in Oxford and out of it. Agnes, with her long tirades on " life " and duty, comes too near the excellent prig who plays so large a part in stories like "The Wide Wide World" to be really attractive. Juliet must have been a little blinded by her devotion to this friend to bear as patiently as she does the long didactic lecture on her last day at Oxford, and one cannot help feeling it is only fair when later on Agnes herself is found in need of a sermon from the Rev. Reginald. We feel we are meant to admire Agnes—a fact which in itself immediately makes it impossible for us to do so. Her wisdom is too evenly balanced against the mistakes into which youth and weakness lead most of the other characters to whom life's school has so much to teach. The best passage in the whole book is, undoubtedly, the reconciliation scene between Paul and his truant wife. It is short and well managed, and the few words spoken in this second betrothal have an artistic restraint which gives them at once true feeling, and makes the scene really dramatic. The love scenes may all be said to be well managed. At these impressive moments, which are destined to occur at least three times in the life of the Rev. Reginald, he loses that stilted
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language which he affects at times when his speech is not marked by the opposite extreme of excessive freedom. But the style of the book, although it might well be more condensed, is, on the whole, easy, and makes it pleasant reading. It is clear that the authoress herself is imbued with a love and reverence for Oxford ; it is, therefore, a little disappointing that Agnes and Juliet are the two types of student she has chosen to give to the outer world—that Agnes, with her depth of character, should be a person whose excellencies are of a type which preclude our sympathies, while Juliet is not in herself a grLt enough character, nor is she sufficiently sensitive to culture to appreciate to the full the advantages of her Oxford training. A. M. M. H.
"Its Beatty ILirres sans illSerci." [With most abject acknowledgments.] WHAT can ail thee, student-maid, Alone and palely loitering ? The college gates are closed and barred, And no bells ring.
'0
0 what can ail thee, student-maid, So haggard and so woe-begone ? The city sleeps in silver light, And the day is done. I see a passion on thy brow, With grief and horrid fear perplext, Thy humid cheeks are deathly pale, Thy white lips vext.' I wandered in a fair broad street, Lingered before an open door, And wonder chained my willing feet At what I saw. Fair forms in lofty places set, Proud names eternally enrolled, All decked in luxury of white, Richness of gold.
Singers of songs that cannot die, Of ancient stories ever new : Yearning, I reached up empty hands, And my longing grew. (` One stood beside, I grew aware, A still, strange man with sombre look, Anon he stoopt and wrote down names In a long, black book.) I bore them with me swift away, Nor staid to heed if any saw ; We reached a little, upper room, Shut fast the door. I ranged them in a shining row, And they were glorious to be seen : Vermilion, golden, purest blue, Delicious green. And then they sang me into dreams : Trembling, I woke—remembered all : One cried, " Les beaux Livres sans Merci Have thee in thrall !" And now I know th' enchanted place ; The sad air all about me thrills With phantom horrors—I have heard Of Blackwell's Bills. And this is why I wander here, Alone and palely loitering, Tho' the college gates are closed and barred And no bells ring.' E. J. C.
Ogforb Stubents' 73)ebating Society. Visit of Cambridge Representatives, Dec.
1o,
1904.
Miss EPPSTEIN'S presidency will always be remarkable because in it was organized the first debate held in Oxford between the womenstudents attached to the two older Universities. On the whole it may be said that the attempt was distinctly successful ; we were overwhelmed with admiration at the devotion of the many
THE FRITILLARY. Cambridge students who braved a difficult, long and uninteresting journey in order to visit us. A captious critic might, perhaps, have been inclined to wish the speeches shorter ; women, however, in the Schools and elsewhere, are proverbially long-winded, and we must condone the weaknesses of our sex. The lack of a permanent abiding place, from which the O.S.D.S. suffers, made us at first rather apprehensive when we heard that the High School hall could not be had ; but after various suggestions of hiring the Town Hall, appealing to the generosity of the authorities of some College and the like, Miss Maitland came to the rescue and most kindly allowed us to use the Gymnasium of Somerville College. Furthermore, a common - room was lent to us for the purpose of tea, whereat a motley company, including all the visitors, Miss Maitland, Miss Rogers and various less worthy people, were entertained. We cannot say how grateful we are to the Somerville authorities for having delivered us from the horns of a very difficult dilemma. The motion for discussion was : " That it is right and expedient that all international dealings should be governed by the same regulations as those which are considered binding in individual relations." Lady DOROTHY HOWARD (Girton College) spoke first. She said that lately there had been a tendency to speak of public and private morality as two different things. Our creed now seemed to be " my country to be asserted before all others." This was surely national selfishness, which was no better than the same vice in a private person. We were suffering from the disease of " Kilometritis." What was the object of government ? Surely not to aquire square miles, but to promote the happiness of the people in the country and of the world at large. Our attention was taken away from social reforms, and diverted to remote savages and lands. In private life we condemned the man who neglected his family for the sake of ostentation. We should not want to get land but to cooperate with other nations for the good of the world.
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Rivalry had a good side if it were generous but it was bad if it made us hate other nations. The rivalry between two nations could be very much more harmful than that between two people, because it was more wide-spread. From an illegitimate rivalry came wars of oppression, and then national demoralization. People said that aggression was national evolution, but the nation was what we made it. National and private morality should really be the same because statesmen should be the leaders of opinion in the country. Against the prevailing iniquitous state of affairs there were two remedies, first to strengthen public opinion, and second to increase arbitration. Surely many questions might be settled by the second method, and many wars avoided. Public opinion had stopped duelling ; why should it not stop war ? In conclusion the text, " What shall it profit a man," &c., was adapted to the needs of the nation. The Hon. Proposer was evidently very much in earnest. She spoke with an intensity and conviction which is rarely found in the O.S.D.S., and made a profound impression on the House by the eloquence of her appeal. Miss ESCREET (S.C.) quoted Mr. Pecksniff to prove that there was " nothing personal in morality." The Hon. Proposer, however, had said that all morality was personal ; she was surely wrong, because there was a difference between the state and the individual. The state was a certain " something" which had a distinct life of its own, and was not merely a collection of individuals. In an ideal state of society, public and private morality would undoubtedly lead in the same direction. But we were still awaiting the millenium. We should not fling away the good of the greatest number. Besides there were many codes of morality, and even if private consciences all moved in the same direction there would still be difficulties. A trustee for example could not be quixotic. A notable example of public spirit in a mater familias was to be found in Mrs. Jellaby. Again, wars of agres-
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sion were not always causeless. What was a man to do whose neighbour allowed weeds to flourish in his garden, and took no pains to prevent them seeding next door ? In such cases, aggression was the truest form of defence. Arbitration was of course desirable, but was it possible ? Moreover, would not a country in a state of unnatural peace degenerate ? We should fall into vices of sloth and the like, and should probably become grasping. The American for example had become swallowed up in moneygetting. The chances of possessing those fine qualities which war produces would be lost. It was true that individuals settled difficulties in lawcourts, but would nations when they were beaten acknowledge such decision ? If they did not, war would finally ensue. Russia in the present war had refused arbitration. It could only exist between the nations who gave consent. Finally, the statesman was a trustee, and therefore could not act as if he were a private individual. Miss Escreet began well, but failed to do herself justice in the latter part of her speech. She was sound, but would have been better had she allowed her humour a freer scope. Miss VERRAL (Newnham College) criticised the remark made by the Hon. Opposer, to the effect that the state was something apart from individuals. If the world had been divided into fixed nations we might have regarded the state as a sacred unit, but nations have been fused. Should we not like the trustee cited by the Hon. Opposer to keep the law ? The statesman was the trustee of the nation's honour. We did not ask the statesman to act according to his own conscience, but according to the conscience of nations. Persuasion was undoubtedly better than aggression, but was war responsible for all the energy of the world ? Why should peace make us slack ? Surely the less a man was a fighting animal the better. Would it not be better to have an unbiassed council to judge the case ? Public opinion gave legal opinion its force, and surely the same principle might be applied to nations. Miss Verrall was very clear, and shewed conspicuous ability in debate. Miss FR EIRE MARRECO (L.M.H), ex-Secretary,
after welcoming the visitors, said that in such questions man could not be looked upon as himself, but was part of the state. The Hon. Proposer wanted to bring everything up to the level of private morality, but we must allow a greater lapse of time to bring about the perfection of a national code. The opposition had been accused of a reactionary policy, but the proposers would carry us back to a state of nature such as we saw in the physical world where we found the survival of the fittest. Nations were thrust before forces which could not be estimated. The opposition represented the spirit of natural historical sequence. If we only waited, the morality of nations would reach the level of private morality. Premature attempts to attain this end would be most unwise. Miss Freire Marreco spoke with her usual force and lucidity, and made the best of a rather bad case. An excellent discussion followed, in which several of the Cambridge visitors joined, and also Miss HADOW (S.0 ), ex-President, Miss SIDGWICK (S.C.), MISS CARTMEL-ROBINSON (S.H.).
January, T905. President. Miss DE SkLINCOURT, S.C. Secretary. Miss MOORE, S. H. Treasurer. Miss LARDELLI, S.H.H. THE debates this term have certainly gained in interest. This is due, no doubt, partly to the excellent suggestion of the President, that should the first or second speaker be desirous to speak upon any special subject she should be allowed to frame the motion. The result has been an improvement, but much remains to be done. Opening speeches are apt to be apologetic or facetious, and so to convey a sense of lack of power, with one important exception the summings up have been weak. Public discussion has a superficial element now and again, when dulness is mistaken for depth and flippancy for humour. The first meeting of the Society was held on January 3rst, the subject for discussion being :—
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0
1
" That in the opinion of this House the Vegetarian is the only form of diet for all right thinking people." Some sensation was caused when Miss Goddard expressed her disapproval of the motion on the -grounds that it seemed to advocate a return to cannibalism. -Miss BALLARD (H.S.) began her speech by a lively attack upon the aforesaid member, in which she deplored her ignorance of the English language. The general feeling was that this was treating the matter too seriously, as it had already been dealt with by the President. Miss Ballard then proceeded to discuss the motion. She approved of vegetarianism, firstly, because it is natural. From the point of view of descent man should eat vegetable food exclusively, for he belongs to the order of the primates. She appealed to the testimony of keepers at the Zoological Gardens to prove that monkeys are always vegetarians. She accounted for cannibalism on psychological grounds —by devouring his enemy man imagined that he absorbed his cunning and craft, and moreover that he pleased the gods. Secondly, Miss Ballard declared that mankind has physical adaptation for vegetable eating. Here her argument was weak, as she seemed to refer solely to the teeth, which in carnivorous animals are sharp and pointed, and in vegetarian animals are stamp-like. She then distinguished between food which brings force from without, and stimulants which call up reserve forces from within—in this last class she included tea, coffee, and pulse. She proceeded to examine the medical effects of meat eating, and quoted authorities to show that it had caused appendicitis and cancer. Meat, she said, is often diseased; the tuberculosis bacilli will boil for ten or fifteen minutes,—the interior of a joint is rarely boiled at all. She would not, she said, lay stress upon the unnecessary sufferings of the animals, for the cruelty was obvious to all ; but she insisted strongly upon the evil effects of meat-eating from a moral point of view. This was a serious consideration, and more argument was required to support her theory than the refer-
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ence to certain old gentlemen whose tempers had rapidly improved when they adopted a vegetarian form of diet. Miss Ballard concluded with a picture of the unhealthiness of those who frequent our streets. The lethargic who cannot walk, the anthretic who suffer from the gout, and the obese. All this she would have us believe is entirely due to meat eating. The Hon. Proposer was certainly not lacking in enthusiasm, and she could not fail, therefore, to win the attention of the House—her arguments were not, however, calculated to convince her listeners. Miss WILLIAMS (St. Hilda's) said that in opposing the motion she wished not to uphold man as the oppressor, the tyrant of the world, she wished simply to take her stand as the champion of necessity. The great mistake of the vegetarian is, she said, that he reckons from the exception and not from the rule—he starts with the individual and argues from him to the nation. To arrive at the truth, it is necessary to start from the nation as the unit. She pointed out later on in her speech that the vegetarian is the exception, and that he generally adopts that particular form of diet on account of ill-health. There are, she declared, two aspects of vegetarianism—the scientific and the moral; she casually mentioned a third—the futile. She then entered upon a discussion of the various sorts of food—carbo-hydrates and nitrogenous foods. The great disadvantage of vegetarianism is, she said, that it is quite out of keeping with the modern rush of life. Monkeys and primitive men had plenty of time on their hands, but where could we now find time to nibble like the rabbit, or chew the cud like the cow ? The process of digestion would be much slower. She answered the remark of the Hon. Proposer with regard to the moral effects of meat eating, with a brief reference to the characteristics of various nations. Northern nations are more energetic than southern ; the reason is that the colder air makes people hungry and they eat meat. As we go further east we find vegetarian races, but they are for the most part degenerate and lazy. Japan is the last refuge of the vegetarian, but
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during the war the usual diet has been proved insufficient, and rations of food have been distributed amongst the troops. The attack upon meat eating from a hygienic point of view was, she said, practically worthless ; it is not from the use but from the abuse of a meat diet that the evils described by the Hon. Proposer can be traced. With regard to the adaptations for vegetable eating, she had a stronger argument than that about the teeth. Carnivorous animals have a small digestive surface, herbivorous animals have a larger one—man, who has the happy medium, should eat both vegetables and meat. She would not discuss the similarity with the monkey and the ape, for mankind had branched off from his ancestors at a very distant date ; any relationship was certainly ended now. More especially he would be entirely justified in disclaiming any connexion with the monkeys in the Zoo. The strongest vegetarian argument which she recognised was the appeal to humanity. Here she took her stand upon a higher ground. If man is to attain to the object for which he was created, and to use to the full the gift of reason with which he has been endowed, meat eating is a necessity. Few vegetarians have been men of mark. Herbert Spencer tried it, but was forced to give it up. Miss Williams then mentioned some less vital arguments in refutation of the motion. Could all the great men of the past, with the exception of a few hermits, have been wicked in their ways and thoughts ? Then again the general spread of vegetarianism would be harmful from an economic point of view, for the corn supply would fail and prices would rise. She concluded by saying that she appealed to facts and not to fiction, to the common sense of the House, and to the truth in man's reason. The speech was distinctly humourous and the arguments were sound. The delivery was not quite clear, nor were the points brought out with quite sufficient emphasis ; for these reasons, although successful, Miss Williams did not receive the full amount of appreciation which she deserved. A fault must, however, be observed in
both speeches—the treatment was not sufficiently scientific. Miss HAYNES (L.M.H.) observed that all this time she had been reflecting sorrowfully upon the sufferings of the animals, and a thought had been suggested to her. What would become of them all if a vegetarian diet became universal? Would not slaughter-houses be required more fearsome than those already existing? On the other hand, the tables might be turned and the animals might eat us. Miss Haynes' remarks received their customary tribute of applause. Miss JACKSON (H.S.) gave an amusing description of a vegetarian lady of her acquaintance. Miss MATTHEWS (H.S.) showed us in a few words that she was an enthusiast upon the subject. Her gravity was extreme. She contradicted the assertion that few men of mark have been vegetarians. What about Rousseau, Byron, Shelley, General Booth ? She denied the fact that a vegetarian form of diet requires a longer time for the process of digestion ; she agreed that meat is often diseased, the reason being that the animals have not proper exercise. Miss ESCREET (S.C.) remarked that the cruelty practised upon the animals was no argument. It was not a necessity but an abuse ; reform in this respect could be carried out more effectively by working within society than by setting oneself apart from it. Miss SKRINE (L.M.H.) enlarged upon the suggestion of Miss Haynes that the animals might eat us. She described most graphically an old picture of the re-peopling of the world after the flood. The outstanding feature was the extraordinary amount of animal life. The people were afraid to venture out of doors. Miss PETO (L.M.H.) suggested that the assertion of the Proposer that food has an enormous influence on character might account for such expressions as " turnip head." Miss EPPSTEIN (S.H.H.), ex-President, pointed out that the evils resulting from fruit eating were as serious as those resulting from meat eating. The abuse did not prove that the thing was harmful in itself. She contradicted an assertion of the Hon. Proposer that the poor suffer most from
THE FRITILLARY. the effects of bad meat, for they live chiefly upon vegetable food. She accounted for the extraordinary improvement in temper described by the Hon. Proposer as being rather due to change than to any intrinsic merit in vegetarianism. Miss RICHARDSON-EVANS (S.H.) suggested that the question of the food-supply was the one of supreme importance. Economic difficulties would be largely increased if we depended entirely upon the cereals for our support. MISS FREIRE MARRECO, with her instinctive perception of the feeling of the House, declared that the light manner in which many of the arguments had been received, proceeded not from any discourtesy or real want of interest, but rather from the fact that people are wont to treat food as rather an amusing subject. When the Hon. Proposer included pulse in the class of stimulants, she had been reminded of the words of the philosopher Empedocles — " Wretched, thrice wretched, keep your hands from beans."
THE subject for discussion at the second meeting was, " That this House welcomes the beginnings of Revolution in Russia." Miss SIDGWICK (S.C.) began by a description of the nature of the motion. " It was," she said, "a subject of immediate and burning interest, and one which must be approached with gravity." We must, therefore, forgive her if she seemed to bear with undue weight upon questions trivial in themselves. She then examined the word " revolution." We must set aside the thoughts of bloodshed supported by the French Revolution, and take the word in its actual sense as denoting political change. No one could doubt that changes economic as well as political were taking place in Russia. What was this polity in which a change must necessarily take place? It is an autocracy, and is subject, therefore, to objections both theoretic and practical. Theoretically an autocracy is said to be unsound. Great exponents of the " divine right of independence," such as Mazzini, would say that it is thus predestined to failure. It is a government which is suited only to children and to races which are in the
547
position of children. Practically an autocracy is rather apparent than real. No one mind can attend to all departments and rule unbiassed. The autocrat is subject either to the control of fear, in which case the government may be called " an autocracy tempered by assassination," or it may become surrounded by a bureaucracy. This has been the case with Russia, and the result has been administrative absolutism. Since the murder of Alexander II., Russia has been in a state of siege law, entirely at the mercy of an army of officials. With regard to the treatment of political offenders, the police have liberty to enter any house and to arrest any suspect person. There is no capital punishment except for treason ; the substitute is solitary confinement, in which the misery is so great that the result is mostly suicide. Again, all liberty of speech is suppressed ; those who endeavour to bring about reform must run the risk of imprisonment and exile. The attitude of the Church also is opposed to freedom, and is thus one of the most fatal signs of the influence of the autocracy. Education is restrained, for students are forbidden to discuss questions of present interest. At the present time all the educational establishments are closed. Miss Sidgwick pointed out that already there are certain forms of representation in Russia. There are the Zemstvos, or district Assemblies which are more or less representative. The numbers of representatives have been reduced since 189o, but still this form of local representative government shows that Russia is not altogether unprepared for a wider system. Secondly, there was the former institution of elected Justices of the Peace—these have been removed and the local police officer is now all-powerful, but the idea of representation having once existed, might be again revived. The desire for change is widespread amongst the Russian people. The agitation of students is universal ; it is an agitation in which the educated classes, the lawyers of St. Petersburg, the doctors of Moscow, the artizans, and an important minority of the nobility, all join. Economic agitation is in progress, political agitation is going on, a change in religious organization seems also imminent. When
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political, economic and religious questions are thus united, the result is revolution and not simply reform. The word may still startle but the shrinking must not be encouraged. The peace principles of Tolstoi are logical and consistent, but at the present stage of events it is necessary to appeal to something more fundamental than reason. The abrogation of manly rights and the submission to shame are worse than death ; and those people who are risking their lives in asserting their rights are justified in their action, for they are obeying the voice of the Just and Terrible who bids us " bear." Miss Sidgwick held the attention of the House from the beginning to the end of her speech. It was felt that much could be learnt from one who had so much knowledge of her subject, and' so clear a perception of the main issues it involved. Miss CUTHEERT (L.M.H.) criticised the Hon. Proposer's view of the word revolution. It did not, she said, simply denote political change, for, with the exception of the English Revolution, none had been carried through without bloodshed. Revolution naturally implies suffering, otherwise the motion could not possibly be opposed. Every constitution is changing, but every constitution is not revolutionary. In considering revolution, therefore, as a great upheaval, it is necessary to consider the dangers with which it is attended. With regard to Russia then, first of all is she prepared ? The Hon. Proposer had said that she was already prepared by her local representative assemblies ; at the same time she had acknowledged that these assemblies were largely under the control of the police. Such being the case, they could not educate the people in self - government. Miss Cuthbert pointed out that a long period of education had been necessary before the English people had been fitted for such a state of things. It was impossible that a country which had only been present in European politics for a period of two hundred years should be ready for an advanced constitutional government. Russia was barbarian until Peter the Great had dragged her into the West against her will. Autocracy
is the government for children ; Russia is in the position of a child. Moreover there were other dangers. Poland was ready to rise at the least disturbance in Russia ; again it has been often shown that revolution generally ends in military despotism —Military despotism in Russia would probably mean European war. The peace of Europe as a whole is of greater value than is the immediate reform of Russia. Miss Cuthbert concluded by saying that she would like the House to support not revolution in Russia, but a general European representation that these things cannot continue. In this way a peaceful reform would be brought about, which would be far more advantageous than revolution. The speech was by no means so profound as that of Miss Sidgwick, but it was nevertheless extremely interesting. Miss Cuthbert had been called upon to take the place of an absent member ; she showed no lack of capacity in dealing with a difficult question at very short notice. The House had listened with attention to both speeches, but there was an extraordinary lack of public discussion—the gravity of the question no doubt deterred many, as they did not feel sufficiently qualified to discuss the motion. It was carried by 32 votes.
THE motion at the third meeting was—" That in the opinion of this House the present system of criminal law in England is deplorable." Miss TERRY (S.C.) said that the subject was one of such vastness that she could only attempt to touch upon a few points which were in need of reform. As a preliminary she sketched the ends of criminal law. The criminal, she said, should suffer punishment for his own good and for the good of others. Primarily for his own good, for the other would necessarily follow. The number of convictions is 5o % of the male and % of the female population in England. This, she said, points to the need for reform. Our methods are ineffectual both with regard to the safety of society and to the reform of the offender. The fact that crime is diminishing is not due to
THE FRITILLARY. the criminal system but to other causes. Professional crime is on the increase. The law is deplorable, firstly because it is unintelligent. We allow criminals to have children and bring them up in circumstances which would be fatal to the best of men. Secondly, the system of imprisonment is not only ineffectual by itself, but also cruel. Thirdly, the law is deplorable, for in dealing with professional criminals more severity is needed. She compared the profession of crime to fox hunting—the risk encouraged men to try again in both cases ; if every fox hunter broke his neck fox hunting would cease, so also with regard to crime. She quoted the case of George Grey as showing the merely nominal punishment which is often afforded to professional criminals. She pointed out that even should he wish otherwise a criminal on leaving prison would hardly have the chance of getting honest labour. " Once a thief, always a thief," was her pessimistic statement. Professional criminals should permanently be deprived of their liberty ; in the case of theft provision should be made for restitution. With regard to child criminals, we should follow the example of America, where the children are treated rather as refractory than as criminal, and the result has been that a percentage of so has dropped to 3. The child is sent home on probation under the supervision of officers, and he has then no excuse for considering himself in the light of a hero. She described our system of capital punishment as a contradiction—we expatiate upon the sacredness of human life, and then proceed to take it away. Unless it is necessary it is unwarrantable. The Hon. Proposer did not consider it necessary, but she had little argument to support her statement. The greatest argument against it is, she said, that it is irrevocable. A judge depends upon testimony, he cannot actually know that a man is guilty, and some have suffered death for actions they never committed. The chief object of punishment, she repeated, is the reform of the criminal, and she desired that the same careful study should be given to crime which doctors bestow upon disease. The motion was one which it was by no means
549
easy to uphold, and Miss Terry deserves praise for her clearness and the artistic rendering of her speech. The fault was that she did not go quite deep enough into the matter ; her arguments might have been made more convincing by a larger amount of comparison. Miss TEW (S.H.H.), ex-Secretary, in opposing Miss Terry declared that she took the same view of the principles underlying criminal law, but she would place them in a different order. She acknowledged the existence of the philosophical and theoretical side, but she 'intended to regard the question from a strictly legal point of view. Why do we imprison our criminals?. The answer is, to punish, to deter, and to reform. The second of these answers is the most important. As Sir John Bridge said, "My object is to protect the community." Sir R. Anderson has pointed out that no human tribunal can estimate the moral nature of human action, this is beyond the province of law. The reform of the criminal must therefore from a legal point of view be considered of secondary importance. What then is necessary for adequate protection ? Firstly, security that the guilty do not escape, and secondly, that the innocent do not suffer. With regard to the first point, our police system is the envy of every country ; with regard to the second, it is an axiom of our law, in contrast to the inquisitorial system in France, that every man is presumed to be innocent. Every point in favour of the prisoner is brought forward, hearsay evidence is not admitted, and confessions are treated with suspicion ; the result is a wonderfully small amount of unjust condemnation. The Hon. Opposer quoted the Beck case to support her statement—the popular indignation which this miscarriage of justice caused is a proof of its almost unique occurrence; moreover, the fault was not in the law, but in the procedure. Miss Tew contradicted the statement that our system of punishment is unsuccessful by appealing to statistics. There is a large decrease of crime, especially amongst juvenile offenders ; she utterly refuted the idea that this proves nothing. It proves that there is less crime, and that our treatment of child prisoners since the Industrial Schools
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Act 1857 is not inadequate. Again, it cannot be said that prisoners after their release are left to rack and ruin. They are taught trades, such as road digging and mending, they construct great breakwaters, &c. ; in this way their health is considered, and also they are made to do something for the State, whose laws they have broken. Moreover there are Associations which were sanctioned by Government in 1866, which provide help for prisoners who have been released. The system which existed some seventy or eighty years ago might have been described as deplorable, but things are very different now. Capital punishment is only resorted to in cases of murder, high treason, and setting fire to arsenals and dockyards. If it is to be shunned as cruel, the question may be asked, is it more cruel than the system which prevails in America, in Russia, and in Switzerland and Spain ? The Hon. Opposer again insisted that the chief point is the protection of society. Capital punishment is justified because of its deterrent effect. She declared that it upholds rather than destroys the idea of the sanctity of human life. She agreed that no mere man has the right to condemn another to death, but in his capacity the judge is no mere man, but the mouthpiece of the State. If Society is to be protected from hardened criminals this can only be by death or by imprisonment for life, which is even worse than death. Miss Tew concluded with the words of Browning's "Pope," to show the righteousness of a just condemnation : " For I may die to-night, and how can I dare die ? let this man live." The speech was distinctly interesting, for it showed a considerable amount of power, and a comprehensive view of the question. The opening remarks were not altogether in keeping with the high standard of the latter part of the speech, and from the point of view of length some portions might have been omitted. As it was, the conclusion was excellent ; it would, however, have been more effective had there been a more careful calculation of time. Miss GODDARD (S.H.H.) pointed out that the system of solitary confinement is more barbarous than that of capital punishment. The prisoner
is thrown back entirely upon his own thoughts, and the result is generally madness. Miss SKRINE (L.M.H.) contradicted the assertion that the treatment of child criminals is deplorable. Doubtless the system is liable to complaint, but it is going the right way to work. She sketched the main characteristics of a reformatory as drawn from the story of " Mord Em'ly : " three main causes of youthful crime are recognised lack of food, a bad bringing up, and the desire to be regarded as "an artful dodger." Miss Skrine has the power of picturesque description, but her speeches would benefit by more conciseness. Miss SPRULES (S.H H.), ex-Treasurer, propounded a scheme which she said had occupied her mind for years. She pointed out that we should concern ourselves not with the protection but with the progress of society. That we should consider the criminals from a more sympathetic and personal point of view. Might not every citizen offer his own home and family as a refuge for the " wretched creatures " who were in reality his brethren ? Miss PETO (L.M.H.) suggested that if the progress of society can be brought about by the circulation of criminals, this scheme would do much, for it could not fail to bring about a large increase in crime. The PRESIDENT suggested that Miss Sprules' theory was beside the point, possibly the scheme appeared to her to be impracticable. Miss CONING (S.C.) suggested that capital punishment is a shifting of responsibility. Moreover the destruction of a man's body did not necessarily mean the destruction of his power of influencing for evil. The problem was interesting, but the general feeling was that it lay beyond the bounds of the debate. Miss BERTHA SMITH (S.C.) showed by the story of a Burmese official and his servant the enormous difficulty in acquiring an honest living which is supplied even by a short term of imprisonment. There is no disgrace in punishment if it fulfils its object, and yet it is almost impossible for a man who has
THE FRITILLARY. once committed a crime to start afresh. As society advances the reformation of the individual would, she said, become more and more the real object of punishment. She pointed out that in this respect Capital punishment defeats its own ends. Miss ESCREET (S.C.) pointed out the differences between the English ticket-of-leave system described by Miss Tew and the system prevalent in America. A ticket-of-leave can be obtained by any prisoner if he behaves himself; moreover, supervision in England is in the hands of the police, and not of specially appointed officials. Miss BAKER (S.H.H.) criticised the suggestion that evil influence might still exist after the extreme penalty has been inflicted, saying that it was impossible for us to know anything about it. We do know that this influence exists during lifetime, is it not therefore better to risk an evil which seems hardly possible than to submit to one which everybody must recognise ? Miss LILLEY (S.C.) said that no definite line could be drawn between the weakling and the professional criminal. At some point, which it is impossible to determine, the one would become the other, and the man who through weakness had submitted to evil would say definitely, " Evil be thou my good." Miss BAZELEY (S.H.H.) suggested that the influence of evil spirits would affect the weak rather than the strong ; was it not better that this should be the case, than that those who were strong to do evil should survive ? Miss EPPSTEIN (S.H.H.), ex-President, agreed that the ideal method of treatment of criminals would be the same as that which is applied to the study of disease. This is, however, impossible for practical purposes. The judge cannot take environment and heredity into consideration, he must draw his conclusions simply from the facts of the case. The subject is rather one for private enterprise and specialisation. Public discussion was vigorous and suggestions were numerous. There was the danger, however, of superficiality on the one hand, and obscurity on the other. It is extremely difficult to maintain an equal balance, and confine discussion within legitimate limits, but at the same time to en-
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courage originality and humour. Some elements might still be eliminated from public discussion, but there is much that is sound and good.
ogoo
tinfteb *boater, team.
(captain—S. L. PETERS.) THE United' has had some good practices, but the committee has not yet finally selected the team to play against Cambridge on March 2r st at Cambridge. It is impossible to criticise the forwards individually, but they all lack combination and a certainty in shooting in the goal circle ; with some more practice together, however, the whole line promises to be quick and effective. The right half wants to make less use of tricky strokes,' which she often wastes time and opportunity in displaying, though as a rule she does very good work. The left half is strong and steady, though she would be better if she were quicker. The left back is very sure and effective in her admirable defence, which is even better than last year. The goal is generally very reliable in stopping her opponents' shots, but she must still be quicker in clearing the ball out of the circle. The matches already played have been successful in their results :January 4th—v. Chiswick, won 4—I. February r rth—v. Queen Anne's School, won 7-0. March r 7th—v. Rathgowrie.
the " f " Club. President—Miss ROGERS, S.H.H. Secretary—Miss M. SCOTT, S.C. Treasurer—Miss LEESON, S.H.
THE Club opened the year with an Exhibit Meeting, held at St. Hugh's Hall, when many
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most interesting specimens were shown, including Neolithic stone implements from the Isle of Wight, Irish ferns, Swiss flora, variably protected pupae and Geological photographs. There was a very large attendance of members as well as of their friends. At this meeting new members were elected to the Club. The second meeting was held at Somerville College, when Miss Webb (S.H.H.) read a paper on Fermentation. At the third meeting, held at L.M.H., we had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Jenkinson upon a subject which he has himself been investigating, "The Development of the Frog's Egg." The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides. As yet, this term, we have only had one meeting of the Club. This was held at St. Hugh's Hall on Friday, Feb. Toth, when Miss Jourdain very kindly read a paper on " The problem of the Finite and the Infinite." She first traced the historical connection between mathematics and metaphysics, showing that at critical periods in the history of thought mathematics had supported the intuitions of metaphysics, and that this was especially true of the present day, when recent mathematical discoveries were helping to elucidate the problem of the Finite and the Infinite. She defined mathematics as a science of relations. The Infinite in mathematics can be deduced from the Finite, and the Finite from the Infinite, both depending on the axiom of existence, which is defined as that which it not self-contradictory. The mathematician discovers in the Infinite two elements, only one of which, the Transfinite, has till lately been the subject of mathematical treatment. The logical process, however, reaches beyond the Transfinite to the Absolute Infinite, the conception of which has recently been attained. The practical result of the theory is the discovery of much simpler formulae for the solution of mathematical problems. We were specially indebted to some of our visitors for the discussion which took place after the paper. We are hoping to have a second meeting this
term on Friday, March loth, when Miss Hedley (S.H.) will read a paper on "The Arrangement of Atoms in Space." The Committee would like to take this opportunity of inviting any who are interested in science to become members of the Club. They will be glad to supply any information upon the subject. •
ILAN, Margaret ball. Hockey Club has had a successful season in every way. The attendance at practices has been good, and there has been no lack of keenness in the Elevens. The result has been shown in the matches. HOCKEY CLUB.—The
1st XI. v. Bournemouth Ladies, draw r—r. v. Somerville, won 8-1. v. High School, won 6—o. The Etceteras have still to be played, though many thanks are due to them for very useful practice matches during term. and XI. v. St. Hugh's, lost 1-3. v. Dons and Graduates, lost o—r. v. Somerville, won 4-3. The Etceteras and St. Hilda's still to be played. 3rd XI. v. Somerville, lost 1-3. v. Etceteras, won 9—o. The whole of the 1st XI. has shown a very remarkable improvement. Much as we have missed Miss Greene at back, Miss Stocker has become a very steady and safe player in her place. Miss Alleyne has unfortunately been obliged to retire from the XI., but Miss Hannah has developed very rapidly into a brilliant halfback. Miss Freer also on the left is quick and reliable. Misses Kemp and Little have kept in splendid form throughout the season, so that the defence has altogether been decidedly good. For the forwards, Misses Rogers, Moorhouse, and Andrews have become really first-class players, and Misses Liddell and Worlledge have throughout been useful and often remarkably good. The team is as a whole quick and sure of itself, and also plays really well together.
THE FRITILLARY. Forwards : Misses Worlledge, Rogers, Moorhouse, Liddell, Andrews. Halfbacks Misses Freer, Knox, Hannah. Backs : Misses V. Kemp, Stocker. Goal: Miss Little. The and XI., though losing two of its best players at the beginning of term, has been steadily improving. Misses Branfoot and Fletcher have become fast and effective forwards. Misses Hollings and Kemp have played well, and Miss Smithwick has improved considerably. Miss Pickford makes a good centre-half, and Miss Carless, though more accustomed to the left wing, has, with Miss Barnard and Miss Dobbs, made a very safe defence. Miss Warner has played well. Forwards: Misses Hollings, H. Kemp, Fletcher, Branfoot, Smithwick. Halfbacks Misses Skrine, Pickford, Warner. Backs : Misses Carless, Dobbs. Goal: Miss Barnard. The 3rd XI. is also an XI. to be proud of, though the choice of players was strictly limited. They have played, however, with real dash and energy. Miss Payne is really up to and XI. standard, and has kept the 3rd XI. forwards well together. Miss Barstow is a very interesting and capable centre-half, and the backs have improved. Misses Middlemore, Brown, and Cuthbert have played well. Forwards : Misses Levett, Brown, Payne, Middlemore, Williams. Half-baths : Misses Cuthbert, Barstow, D. Lodge. Backs : Misses Dustin, H. Sanders. Goal : Miss Bond.
Practice is in a fairly flourishing condition, in spite of a somewhat diminished attendance on the last few occasions. In former years this Society has discontinued its meetings in the Summer Term, but this year a motion has been passed that it should hold them weekly as usual, and, if fine, in the garden. The wit displayed this term has been of so evanSHARP PRACTICE.—Sharp
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escent and ethereal a character, that it is impossible to chronicle it here. One suggestion, however, may be pardoned. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence, and Sharp Practice provides an excellent opportunity for practising the former virtue. HEARTY congratulations, though late, to B. Friere Marreco on getting the Sidgwick Latin Prose Prize, and to L. Gunter who was proxime.
Recent Appointment. M. Alleyne, Assistant Mistress of French and German at the School of Misses Potter and Worcester, Tunbridge Wells. Birth Note. On the 22nd Nov., 1904, rat i r Rupert Road, Bedford Park, W., the wife of John Murray Gibbon (Nancy Fox) of a son.
$oinerrille College. HOCKEY CLUB
(Captain, S. L.
PETERS).
First Eleven. Forwards: (Left) Misses Walford, Mullins, Jackson, Terry, B. Smith. Ralf-backs : Misses Shaw, S. L. Peters, Hibgame. Backs: Misses Clayton, Cullis. Goal : Miss H. L. Thompson. The following matches have been played this term :— Jan. 18 v. Newnham College, lost 1-7. ,, 19 v. Cambridge Ladies, lost 2-6. Feb. 14 v. St. Hugh's, won 4-1. zo v. Bournemouth Ladies, lost r-5. 27 v. Lady Margaret Hall, lost 1-8. Mar. 4 v. Etceteras, scratched. 9 v. Wycombe Abbey, scratched. 22 „ 15 v. Games Club, scratched.
THE FRITILLARY.
554 Second Eleven.
Forwards (Left) Misses Bolton, Cudworth, Lyall, Lorimer, Myers. Half-backs : Misses Scott (Captain), Longman, Pearson. Backs : Misses Noakes, Edmonds. Goal : Miss Lenwood.
The following matches have been played this term :— Jan. 26 v. North Oxford Ladies, lost so-2. Feb. 8 v. Home Students, lost 4-3. so v. Games Club, won 7—I. 21 v. St. Hilda's Hall, won 3—I. 25 v. Etceteras, won, 4—I. Mar. 2 v. Lady Margaret Hall, lost 4-3• Third Eleven. Forwards : Misses Shaw-Phillips, Binney, Barrett, Wakefield, Coldwell. Half-backs : Misses Simpson, Spicer, Harrison. Backs : Misses Mercier (Captain), Hicks. Goal : Miss Commin.
The 3rd XI. have played the following matches this term :Feb. 15 v. Lady Margaret Hall, won 3-1. Mar. 15 v. North Oxford, scratched.
SHARP PRACTICE (Secretary, E. JAcKsoN).— The meetings of this Society have been regularly held. Although the attendance has been very small at times, the discussions have been lively and vigorous. The motions, "That it's money makes the world go round," and " That each member of a community ought to be able and willing to produce that which he requires for life," were defeated by small majorities. The motion of March 7, " That no man is justified in giving up his life for a mere question of fact," called forth a great deal of discussion. The other motions have been :" Where there's a will there's a way." " That boys and girls should be educated together until the age of thirteen." " That a candid friend is an unmitigated evil."
BOAT CLUB (Secretary, E. S. LORIMER).—The only point worthy of record this term is the timely decision of the Club to buy a new boat.
PARLIAMENT.—The Liberal party still continues to be in the majority. On the resignation of Miss Cameron last term, Miss Cudworth was elected Prime Minister.
Cabinet.
Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Sir P. Sheavyn, Bart. Secretary of State for Colonies, Sir R. Sidgwick, Bart. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, H. C. Escreet, Esq. Secretary of State for India, M. Lenwood, Esq. Secretary of State for Ireland, A. Niemeyer, Esq. Secretary of State for War, R. Bisset Smith, Esq. Chancellor of the Exchequer, H. Binning, Esq. President of Board of Trade, L. Cameron, Esq. First Lord of the Admiralty, B. Smith, Esq. President of Local Government Board, B. Terry, Esq. First Lord of the Treasury, M. Cudworth, Esq. The Government has this Session brought in a Home Rule Bill modelled on Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1886. It was introduced and read a second time on Thursday, February 9th. Special interest was added to the debate by the speeches of the member for Londonderry (Miss Overend), and the member for Cavan (Miss Bradshaw), who gave respectively the Protestant and Roman Catholic attitude towards Home Rule. The discussion of general principles was resumed on Tuesday, Feb. 28th, and the Bill then passed into Committee. As the number of clauses was somewhat large the system of closuring by compartments was adopted. Contrary to expectation, there was no break up of the party, the divisions being marked by a unanimity astounding on a subject of so controversial a nature. The Bill was passed by a majority of three votes, but the Prime Minister, concluding from
THE FRITILLARY. the smallness of the majority that he had lost the support of the House, handed his resignation to His Majesty. His Majesty was pleased to call upon the member for St. Alban's (Miss N. Scott) to form the new Cabinet, which he did as follows :Secretary of State for the Colonies, Miss Pope. Secretary of State for Ireland, Miss Overend. Secretary of State for India, Miss M. Scott. Secretary of State for War, Miss Walford. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Miss Jamieson. First Lord of the Admiralty, Miss de Selincourt. President of the Board of Trade and Agriculture, Miss Hibgame. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Miss Gunn. Home Secretary, Miss Lyall. Postmaster-General, Miss Sergeant, First Lord of the Treasury, Miss Scott. (President, B. SMITH ; Treasurer, E. S. LORIMER).—The meetings this term have been rather miscellaneous in character, with a view to interesting the members in various branches of Archwology. The following lectures have been given :— ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Secretary, A.
NIEMEYER ;
Feb. 1st. " Celtic Stones," E. C. Jones. „ 8th. " Old Furniture," E. S. Lorimer. „ isth. " Old China," L. Klingenstein. „ 22nd. " Hermitages," E. Jackson. March 1st. " Oriel College," S. Pringle. The Society has been two interesting expeditions, one to St. John's College on Feb. 6th, and one to Wadham on Feb. 23rd. At St. John's, owing to the kindness of Mr. Powell, we were able to see the Library, though in order not to infringe the statutes, we were only admitted in parties of four. We also saw the Hall and Chapel, and examined the plate in the Buttery. At Wadham, Mr. Wells brought the most interesting books from the library, and specimens of the plate into the Hall, where he gave us a vivid history of the College. We handled a first edition of " The Fairie Queen," and of " Paradise Lost," and also a folio edition of Shakespeare
555
worth about £400. We examined a silver sugar castor presented by Sir Christopher Wren, and a cup given by " the wicked Earl of Rochester." In the Senior Common Room, which was fitted up in the reign of Charles II., was a portrait of Mother George, an Oxford celebrity, who, at the age of 120, threaded needles, without spectacles, on the receipt of is. The afternoon proved very enjoyable, and we were very grateful to Mr. Wells.
St. ibugb's HOCKEY CLUB (Captain, M. J. TEW ; ViceCaptain, W. WEST; Secretary, M. WEBB) —In spite of the ordinary misfortunes in the shape of "put out" knees and influenza, which seem to attend us so persistently in the hockey season, we have so far had a fairly successful term. Individual play has greatly improved in many cases, but the play of the team as a whole still leaves much to be desired. The want of combination is especially noticeable in the forward line, neither the three inside forwards nor the left inner and wing play well together, though the play on the right wing has been much better in this respect. The wing has played a consistently good game (though both she and her inner are sometimes liable to be " off-side "), and has been well supported by the right inner. But though the forwards are good in the field, their play in the circle is characterised by feeble and inaccurate shooting. If they would realise that it is generally necessary to look where they are shooting, and that considerable waste of time is involved by turning themselves and the ball round several times before putting in a shot, this defect might easily be remedied. The wing halves have both played an excellent game ; they are fast, determined, and thoroughly dependable. The play of the backs is very variable. They can be brilliant but also erratic in their methods.
556
THE FRITILLARY.
When they discard the latter mode of play and become quicker, their play will leave nothing to be desired. The goal has played excellently this term. She is very quick in clearing and most reliable. The way in which she has often defended against almost overwhelming odds has provoked the envy and admiration of her own, if not that of the other, side. It may perhaps be as well to remind those members who are not yet in the XI., but are we hope qualifying for it next year, that the success or failure of the team is to a great extent in their hands. It is obvious that an XI., however willing, cannot practise against non-existing opponents, so that it is to the public spirit of the weaker members of the Club that we must look for success in our matches, quite as much as to that of the team which ultimately takes the field. First Eleven. Forwards : W. West, L. Rogers, D. Hammonds, D. Dodwell, I. Dawson. Halves: G. Hough, M. Tew, W. Goddard. Backs : P. Bowen Colthurst, G. Watson. Goal : L. Todd. Matches. v. Dons and Graduates, won 8—o.
v. Somerville ist XI., lost 1-4. v. L. M. H. znd XI., won 3-1. v. St. Hilda's, won 7—o. v. North Oxford Club, not yet played. v. Home Students, not yet played.
(Secretaries, L. F. TODD, R. FARwas proposed at the first Hall meeting this term that there should be only two sociables instead of the usual four, but, this motion being thrown out, there have already been three, and we hope to hold a final one in the last week of term. As a whole the Sociables have been well attended, our heartfelt thanks being especially due to the Seniors, whose warm support has much encouraged us in our arduous duties. SOCIABLES
NELL).—It
We could wish that more Freshers would regularly avail themselves of these fortnightly opportunities for social intercourse with superior minds.
WE regret the omission last term of various items of Hall news. We can only say that time has but increased our regrets that Miss Wardale is no longer resident at St. Hugh's, while it has added to the pleasure with which we last term welcomed Miss Deneke as Librarian.
HEARTY, though belated, congratulations to M. Potter on having gained the English Essay Prize.
Students who came into residence last Term. M. Cornish, Clifton High School. R. Farnell, Ladies' College, Eastbourne. D. M. Hammonds, Clapham High School. G. Hough, Worcester High School. M. A. Keeling, Bradford Girls' Grammar School. R. Arbuthnot Lane, Baker Street High School. M. K. Mowll, Clapham High School. M. T. M. Ottley, Baker Street High School. L. von Vogdt, Taganzeff, St. Petersburg. C. G. W. Watson, North London Collegiate School for Girls.
New Student. M. Hirst, Leeds University. BOAT CLUB (Captain, R. W. GODDARD). The Club has considerably increased in numbers, and new members have, on the whole, shewn praiseworthy keenness. We would like to take this opportunity of reminding members who aspire to the rank of first-class scullers, that they will never attain the object of their desire unless they bear in mind two great rules. 1. To keep time with stroke, thus avoiding the risk of smashing the sculls and upsetting the boat. z. To endeavour, as far as in them lies, to keep
THE FRITILLARY. their elbows from projecting at right angles to their sides. The Hall, theoretically, has been rejoicing in the unearthing of the punt from her winter quarters. Several expeditions, fraught with manifold perils, have been made, and those members who have been privileged to wield the pole and paddle have presented the pleasing spectacle of the maximum of physical force, combined with the minimum of science. However, we hope that before long we may note some progress, not only in the art of punting, but also in the punt. We are hoping to appear next Term in all the glory of fresh varnish, a most acceptable grant having been made to the Club for the purpose of a much-needed overhauling of the boats. May we urge those who have not yet passed their swimming test to do so at the earliest opportunity, not so much for their own sakes as for the good of the Club : contributions in the shape of members being always thankfully received SHARP PRACTICE (President, T. EPPSTEIN).— The House this term has shewn an extraordinary predilection for private business, and the strong desire of some members to reform the morals of the remainder has been praiseworthy, though irrelevant. The result has been that public business has been short, or that the meetings have been somewhat prolonged. The most animated discussions were on the motions, that "consistency of conduct is a bar to progress," and that " a tax should be levied on the domestic cat," though the debate on the latter became somewhat personal. On several occasions we have had the pleasure of welcoming former members, whose eloquence used once to cheer and inspire us. Our new members are beginning to enter into public discussion, but not yet, as a rule, with that alacrity which their evident oratorical powers might warrant.
(President, E. T. BAZEvigour of the Society is unabated. It has this term read " Cymbeline." Owing to SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY
LEY).—The
557
cataclysmal and other circumstances members were unable to assemble for two weeks, but on again meeting they were delighted by the spirited rendering of " Imogen " by an ex-president. The part has, indeed, been sustained throughout with unusual imagination, and the Society is to be congratulated on the felicity with which it tends to realize its characters. BROWNING SOCIETY (President, D. W. SPRULES). —Our condition at present may perhaps be not unhappily compared with that of the wicked who flourished like a green bay tree. It is true that we suffered a falling off of three members at the beginning of term, but who shall say that we are not the more healthy for a little weeding ? We have made a serious attempt to raise the level of our discussion. Week by week two of our noble band spend some time in evolving lofty thoughts, wherewith to inspire us after our reading. Touching the success of our scheme our modesty will only allow us to say, that on one notable occasion we discussed the " Pope " for fully half an hour. At our next meeting we hope to attain to yet more exalted heights, for Miss Deneke has most kindly promised to read a paper. May we thank those members whose scanty leisure, which they might otherwise spend in lighter and mayhap more congenial pursuits, is devoted to reading beforehand the passage which is to be studied at the next meeting ? Great indeed is the gulf fixed between them and the aspiring souls whose close affinity with the poet removes from them the need of any previous survey. P.S.--We are still reading the " Ring and the Book."
%t. lbilba's HOCKEY CLUB (Captain, E. B. DODWELL ; ViceCaptain, G. JONES ; Secretary, G. WILLIAMS).We have practised this term with St. Hugh's at
THE FRITILLARY.
558
Summertown. Dr. Brooks has kindly coached us during the latter part of the term. Thus far we have played matches against Somerville, The Dons, St. Hugh's, and North Oxford. The results have been disastrous : v. Somerville, lost 3—I. v. The Dons, lost 5-2. v. North Oxford, lost 8—o. v. St. Hugh's, lost 7—o. We have not yet played Lady Margaret Hall or the Etceteras. BOAT CLUB (Captain, G. R. SowELs).—Boating was impossible during the early part of the term owing to the ice, but since then both boat and canoe have been much in request.
(President, Miss RICHARDVice - President, MSS RICHMOND ;
Regular drills of the F.B. have been held this term every Wednesday afternoon, and several sudden alarms have been given with satisfactory results. The members of the Brigade are becoming proficient in the use of the buckets and of the ropes ; and the chute presents no difficulty to them. They are to be commended for their silence and smartness during drill. In the last week of term there will be a presentation of badges for special merit to those who have proved themselves deserving. Our thanks are due to Mr. Bateman for his services in the interest of the Brigade. The members of the F.B. are :Privates Burrows, Jones, Dodwell, Richard, Taylor, C. Robinson, Davidson, V. Siemens, Hedley. SOCIALS
DEBATING SOCIETY SON - EVANS ;
Secretary, Miss GouLD).—Two meetings of this Society have been held this term. At the first, the motion, " That genius is more hindered by wealth than by poverty" (Proposer, Miss Hawtrey ; Opposer, Miss Lacquier), was lost by a large majority ; at the second, which took the form of a sharp practice Debate, the House decided in favour of wide, as against the claims of deep, reading. The merits of the method adopted by the translator and composer of the " Clouds " will form the subject of the third Debate, and should appeal to a large number of members.
(President,
Miss RICHMOND).—There
has been one Social this term which was an unqualified success. One of Austin Dobson's charming duologues, and the music so kindly supplied by Miss Richmond and Miss Finlay, formed delightful interludes to dancing and progressive whist. •
LIBRARY
(Librarian, C. M. E BURROWS).
The Library has profited by several kind gifts from Miss Wardale, Mrs. Wells, Miss Skeel, Miss Counsell, the Principal, and others, for which we are most grateful.
ARCHITECTURE CLUB
CURRENT EVENTS CLUB
(President,
Miss RICH-
MOND).—The Club runs its uninterrupted course through the term, though the excitement and complexity of foreign affairs led to the institution of leading articles from the Times in the place of original discussions by the members.
FIRE BRIGADE
(Captain,
Miss SLEIGH ;
Lieu-
much gratitude the Brigade acknowledges the gift of ten tunics from an anonymous member of the F.B.
tenant,
Miss CHAMIER).—With
(President, C. M. E.
BuRRows).—The Club has held several meetings, when the history of some of the Colleges has been traced. Some expeditions to Oriel, Queen's, and New College have been made. We owe our best thanks to Mr. Armstrong for shewing us so much of Queen's College in a very entertaining way, and to Mr. Phelps for permission to visit the Oriel Senior Common Room.
THE FRITILLARY. bome Stubents. (CaPain, Miss H. POULTON).— At the beginning of the Lent term a meeting was held, at which seven members were present, to consider the constitution of the Club ; and it was decided that Student-Members in their 4th year since registration should be allowed to play ; this enabled Miss R. Butler and Miss Tyndale still to play for the XI., and their services will be much missed next year. The record for this term is two matches, but one has yet to be played. The first against Somerville resulted in a win (4-3). The team was as follows :—Misses Uggla, Mack, Martin, Merivale, Poulton, Alzelius, Bowditch, Butler, Plunket, Moseley, M. Bowditch. The result of the second match against the Dons was a draw (2-2). Miss Poulton was away, but her place at centrehalf was ably filled by Miss V. Butler, and on Miss Plunket failing at the last minute, Miss B. Vidal of the Etceteras was asked to play. On the team as a whole it is difficult to make remarks, since it has played together so seldom ; it has been very difficult to fit in matches, as Miss Plunket and Miss Poulton have been playing in the united practices and matches, as well as the Etceteras and county matches. Of the individual players in the forward line, Miss Plunket and Miss Butler combine well and are quite invaluable, and Miss Mack at back is very energetic and dependable. Among the less experienced players, Miss Alzelius and Miss M. Bowditch have made great progress. The following are members of the eleven :— Forwards: Misses Perks, V. Butler, Plunket, Butler, M. Bowditch. Half-Backs: Misses Poulton, Merivale. Backs : Misses Mack, Tyndale. HOCKEY CLUB
The left half and goal have not yet been chosen. The match v. Lady Margaret Hall II. has had to be scratched, but we hope to play St. Hugh's Hall on March 13.
COMMON
Room (Secretary, Miss E. M. BowStudents living out of Oxford will
DITCH).—Home
559
be glad to hear that in future luncheon can be obtained at the Common Room for a moderate sum : people in for examinations will also, it is hoped, find this convenient. Socials have been fairly well attended, but always by the same people : it seems a pity that the circle of regular attenders does not increase.
(Librarian, Miss R. BUTLER).—Sevenew books have been added this term, and the rules have been revised, posted on the Notice Board, and are really being enforced. It is greatly to be desired that members should not remove books without putting down their names in the register. LIBRARY
ral
READING SOCIETY (Secretary, Miss L. C. LowE). —This Society has gained two new members this term, and lost one. The attendance has been very good, and great interest has been shewn in reading the " Winter's Tale," and " Cymbeline."
New Students.
Louise Gabrot, Ecole des religieuses de Notre Dame de Calvaire Berzons. Winifred M. Waller, St. Mary's Training College, Lincoln.
TENNIS CLUB
(Hon. Sec., L. H.
PERKS).—
Tennis has been quite satisfactory this term we have used one of the courts at Lady Margaret Hall, and r i members have joined. :
congratulate Miss Hubback on her appointment as Head Mistress of the Girls' County School, Chester. Miss Spencer has a post as Assistant-Mistress at the Secondary School, Newport, near Doncaster, and Miss Vidal a private post in a French family near Paris. WE
A
VERY
successful entertainment was given on
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THE FRITILLARY.
Feb. 21st in S. Giles' Parish Room by the Home Students, in conjunction with the Etceteras Hockey Club, who brought with them a visiting team from Bournemouth. The first part of the programme consisted of scenes from " David Copperfield," skilfully selected and arranged by Miss Lowe. The curtain rising, reveals that stern old maid, Miss Trotwood, explaining to the blushing Janet the two chief maxims of life : (r) " Avoid Men and Matrimony ; " (2) " Keep Donkey-boys off the green." They are interrupted by a piteous tatterdemalion, who announces himself as " your nephew, David," and who is promptly seized upon by his amazed aunt, and dosed with salad dressing and anchovy sauce. He is only rescued by Janet and the blandly benevolent Mr. Dick, who recommend hot soup and a bath. Thanks to these milder measures, David reappears in the second scene, revived, but swathed in shawls. Mr. Dick is just demonstrating upon the history of Charles I., with the aid of a truly marvellous kite, when peace and happiness are scattered to the winds by the arrival of that terrific pair, Mr. and Miss Murdstone. To the spectators, the sepulchral looks of this gentleman, and the waspish appearance of his sister— his black hat and whiskers, her gamp and blackand-yellow bonnet—seem sufficient to overawe any opposition, and at once to seal the fate of the runaway. Miss Trotwood, however, stands undaunted in the breach, and after a queer threecornered duel, fairly routs the foe, who abandon the happy David to the protection of his aunt, the charming, if bewildering conversation of Mr. Dick, and the promise of those much-needed articles—a suit of new clothes. The parts were filled as follows :— Miss Trotwood - Miss McMunn. Mr. Murdstone - Miss Pollard. Miss Murdstone- Miss R. Butler. Mr. Dick Miss Perks. David Miss G. Perks. Janet - Miss V. Butler. Miss Murdstone was quite inimitable, and the gentlemen are especially to be congratulated on their get-up, while on Miss TrotwooTs spirit
and go depended the whole success of the piece. The second half of the entertainment (after music by Miss Poole and Miss Spencer), consisted of scenes from the Rivals '—a play so well known that little need be said, except that it proved as delightful as usual. Mrs. Malaprop's (Miss Burch) " nice derangement of epitaphs " excited the usual laughter, while her bonnet rivalled Miss Murdstone's. Miss M. Bowditch and Miss Charles played the parts of Lydia and Lucy very nicely, but the two Absolutes carried off the honours of the evening. Sir Antony (Miss Plunket) was really capital in her calm passion (or passionate coolness ! ) while Jack (Miss Alzelius) proved a most fascinating lover. The thanks of the Home Students are due to those of their body who were energetic enough to provide such an excellent evening's amusement, at very short notice.
Corresponbence.
To the Editor of the Fritillary. MADAM, Perchance you, like myself, have oftentimes been inconvenienced by the necessity of attend. ing a nine o'clock and twelve o'clock lecture on the same day. If you have ever had this experience on a windy day, you were probably distressed by having to appear before a University lecturer with hair that had lost much of its pristine neatness. I do not think it is in keeping with our reverence for the University that the lectures in the latter part of the morning should be attended by women-students whose most striking characteristic is a somewhat irregular aureole of wind-swept tresses Beautiful and inspiring as such a sight may be, viewed from the artistic standpoint, I think that it is scarcely convenient. May I therefore use your columns to suggest that a looking-glass be provided by public subscription, and hung in an accessible part of the Clarendon Buildings ? With many apologies for trespassing on your valuable space, I am, Madam, Yours faithfully, A PLAIN BUT WOULD-BE TIDY WOMAN-STUDENT. March 3rd, 1905. Printel by
JAMES PARKER & CO.,
Crown Yard, Oxford.