BOOKS.

GUNNING'S REMINISCENCES OF CAMBRIDGE.* THE writer of these Reminiscences died in the early part of last year, between eighty and ninety years old, having filled the office of Esquire Bedell in the University of Cambridge for more than -sixty of them. The volumes are strictly reminiscences, and not journals of events recorded when they happened, or so shortly after as to be fresh in the memory of the writer. Such journals he appears at one time to have kept, especially in order to preserve notes of the conduct of the Heads of Colleges and other University digni- taries, with whom his office brought him into almost daily connexion, and of whom his experience does not seem to have impressed him with a high estimate. But, in a fit of tender-heartedness caused by an illness in middle life, and under a fear lest mercenary book- sellers should get hold of the journals and make a corrupt use of them, he destroyed them. These reminiscences—which have now reached a second edition—were commenced in the year 1846, when an accident confined him for a long period, and an easy occupation of this kind was a welcome relief to a man accustomed to have his time filled up by the routine duties of an office. - It is not, we should imagine, a lively situation that of poker -(as the profane -call if, from the silvered maces carried by these 'officers) to the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge . and master of cere- monies to the Senate of that august University. If ceremonies . 'continually repeated-become, even when connected with really im- portant business and really important persons, intolerably stupid and deadening to those engaged in them, what must they be when • " :the business and, -die persons who transact it are indebted to the ceremonies for any dignity-that may impose on the imagination of . the vulgar?- 'Nor, if we find courtiers and co-urt-officials _some- . what less impressed with the greatness of the great great than

• the promiscuous audience, for whom the dresses and the masks • ;represent sublime ideas untarnished by low personal associations, . can we be. much surprised if the little great fail to create in the Atindsof their official entourage a very overpowering idea of in- tellect or moral worth ? Decidedly, for the training of a cynic we • : should recommend such a situation as that which this reminiscent , held during the reigns of Pitt, Perceval, and Liverpool. Had the original memoirs not been committed to the flames, we know enough of Mr. Gunning's shrewd and caustic observation of the men and manners that fell under his notice, to be assured that a picture of .petty tyranny, academic vulgarity and. indecency, and clerical inconsistency—we will call it by a mild euphemism—would have , been handed down, which would have shown an incredulous pos- -terity, enjoying a reformation of the extent of which they would • • in general be largely uncenscious, what` they owed to the efforts ..of the few men who sacrificed their ease and their worldly in- terests to their sense of right and their love of country. As it is, the veil. is very partially lifted from the Uglier features of that age • Of rampant Toryism, when regard for truth and for public virtue was amply satisfied by shouting "Church and King," hating and persecuting DISsenters and liberal Churchmen, and grab- . bing as many lucrative offices as barefaced solicitation could ex- - - • tort from a Minister, whose personal contempt for money was

but a- poor compensation to the country for the rapacity of "many of his leading adherents in State and Church. Still, hints enough remain to furnish materials for a striking contrast, in most respects, between, the public and private life of the Uni- versity sixty years ago, -and the experience of those who have known the same-University within the last ten or fifteen years. And herein we have another illustration of the law by which the sins of the fathers are in this world visited upon the children. The popular notion of a Fellow of a College, as a lazy, good-for-nothing, dissip‘ted, and somewhat vulgar and eccentric person in a clerical costume, is derived mainly from that period, and is, except in re- markably rare cases, a most outrageous caricature of anything to be witnessed at the present day. Perhaps the Heads of Colleges have changed less, as in their case the old crime was not so much violation of decorum as an overweening estimate of their dignity, and an unconstitutional grasp of power, with a very unscrupftlous use of such power as they had. These, we believe, are the very phrases which are habitually used to designate their habitual line of proceeding to this very day ; and the principal change, as re- gards them, is in the increased resistance offered by the Senate to their usurpations,—soon, we presume, to terminate at Cambridge, as it has at Oxford, in the substitution of an elective governing body.

Mr. Gunning's volumes consist of scraps arranged chronologi- cally in order of years. Too much space is allotted to the merely formal incidents of University history, which, if of interest to any . • Reminiscences of the University, Town and County of Cambridge, from the year 1780. By the late Henry Gunning. M.A. Christ's College; Senior Esquire Bedell. In two volumes. Published by Sell. inquirer for special purposes, could have been found in the records of the University, and in the University Calendars since their pubs lioation. To the general public it is of no interest to hear who was- Tice.Chancellor in such a year, or how many votes were given to such and such candidates for offices and seats in Parliament. Large gaps in the recollection of the octogenarian annalist have been thus filled from the Registrar's official books, to the reader's considerable weariness. Our object is to select here and there specimens of the sort of curious information to be found, scattered about far more *- liberally in the earlier than the later portion of the period -tin- versed, in accordance with that law of a meinory weakened by old age, which allows a much more vivid recollection of the distent events of youth and early manhood than of ocourrences'less

moved from the date of writing. •.. • •

Our first quotation points to one among a thousand_ instances of the advance made by English agriculture with-lathe last half-een- tury, and to the effect which this as well as the growtli of large towns has had upon our minor field-sports. We can hardly join in Mr. Gunning's congratulation at the cessation of "these incen- tives to idleness," till we are convinced that in-door idleness is of more advantage to the practical intellect and manly vigour of a nation than fishing and shooting. Young men work harder now than they did eighty years ago ; but so, we suspect, they would if England presented as fine facilities for manly out-door amusements as it did then. We arc happy to say that boating, cricket, and foot-ball, have been found at Cambridge to supply the absence of good sporting opportunities. "The great source of idleness, which consumed more time than all my other employments put together, was my passion for shooting,' for *hi& diversion Cambridge afforded the most extraordinary facilities. In going over the land now' occupied by Downing Terrace, you generally got five or six shots at snipes. Crossing the Leys, you entered on Cow Fen ; this abounded with snipes. Walking through the osier-bed on the Trumpington side of the brook, you frequently met with a partridge, and now and then.0 pheasant. From thence to the lower end of Pembgrton's garden was one continued marsh, which afforded plenty of snipes, and in the month of March a hare or two. If you chose to keep on by the sifle of the river, you came to Harston-Haui' well known to sportsmen ; and at no great distance from this TOU arrived at Foulinire Mere, which produced a great variety of wild-fowl. The heavy coach changed horses at the Swan, and would set you demi, be- tween seven and eight o'clock, at the Blue Boar. If you started from the other corner of Parker's Piece, you came to Cherryhinton Pen; from thence to Teversham, Quy, Bottishani, and Swaffham Fens. In taking this beat, you met with great varieties of wild-fowl, bitterna, plovers of every descrip- tion, ruffs and reeves, and not unfrequently pheasants. If you did not go very near the mansions of the few country gentlemen who resided in the neighbourhood, you met with no interruption. You scarcely ever saw the 'gamekeeper, but met with a great number of young lads, who were on the look-out for sportsmen from the University, whose game they carried, and to whom they furnished long poles, to enable them to leap those very wide ' ditches which intersected the Fens in every direction. I am happy to 'say that these incentives to idleness no longer exist. Thousands and tens of thousands of acres of land, which at the time I speak of produced to the owners only turf and sedge, aro now bearing most luxuriant crops of COM. By removing a number of locks, which were formerly considered essential to the navigation of the Cam, and by deepening the channel, they have at the same time improved the river, and drained the lands to a considerable dis- tance from its banks. At a few feet below the surface they meet with clay, which proves the most valuable manure to the land ; the crops are most abundant, and in a few years the rents will be much higher than those of the best uplands. A large steam-engine, which was erected for the purpose of throwing the superfluous water into the river, is frequently employed in throwing it back again to supply the cattle with water, of which in dry summers they are frequently in want."

Here is a queer but apparently well-authenticated instance of what few will choose to believe was supernaturally acquired know- ledge; though it is hopeless to attempt a rational explanation of it.

"Another extraordinary character of the time I am describing was Thomas Philip Foley, who took his Master's degree in 1782. He Was Fel- low of Jesus, and well known in the University as the handsome Foley; he was cousin to Lord Foley, and was possessed of some private fortune. His habits were gay and. dissipated ; he spent much time in London • and was frequently seen in public places in a scarlet coat, which at that was the fashionable colour in the metropolis, and particularly affected by men of the University, for no other reason, that I am aware of, than its being de- nounced by our statutes. He obtained a college living Very early. I well recollect his answer to me when I congratulated him upon his unexpected good fortune, as his predecessor had died tei young a man. 'Sir,' he replied, • he was a man of my own years, but was providentially attacked with gout in his stomach, and died before he could have medical attendance.' He did not long hold the living, but took a more valuable one in the gift of his own family. He afterwards became—what seemed to many incredible—a devoted follower of Joanna Southcote. I read many letters he wrote to his friend Mathew on the subject, in which he laboured most earnestly to convert him, and always expressed a wish that the letters should be shown to me. From a recollection of them, I am able to give the following details relative to Foley's conversion. He was dining with a gay party in London, when the conversation turned upon this woman's pretensions to inspiration. All agreed she was the greatest of impostors; and it was voted an excellent joke to call upon her, and make themselves merry at her expense. They accord- ingly breakfasted together next morning; when it was decided that Foley should be spokesman' that they should pretend to have faith in her revela- tions, and intimate that their visit was for the express purpose of consulting her. She received them very courteously, listened with attention to all that was said and then, assuming a serious and dignified manner, replied in the following words—q am quite aware that the object of your visit is to hold me up to mockery and derision : but I shall be able to convince the most sceptical amongst you that I am entitled to assume the character I profess. 'When you determined last evening upon this visit, there were ten of you present, but there are now only nine.' 'This,' said Foley, in his letter to Mathew, was quite correct, and I turned upon my companions a look of astonishment. She then continued—' You know not the cause of his ab- sence, but I can inform you. He became very ill soon after he reached home ; he is much worse this morning, and will not leave the bed on which he now lies but as a corpse—an event not far distant.' She then with her hand motioned us to withdraw. On leaving her apartment, some were dis- posed to laugh heartily at what they had seen and heard ; but for myself, I confess that her words had made a deep impression, and I hastened to the -house of my friend. In a hurried manner, I inquired if he were at home; and was informed by the servant that his master was dangerously ill, having been suddenly attacked the previous night. I hastened immediately to his bedside, and scarcely left him during the few days that he lived. After his funeral, I again sought an interview with Joanna Southeote, and professed myself a convert.' In many subsequent letters he related events equally extraordinary, and expressed his firm belief that she was divinely inspired : he renewed his entreaties to Mathew, to listen to the truth, and to be of the number who were sealed.'"

It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good ; as will be seen by the somewhat singular occurrence to which Mr. Gunning owed his election to his University office, just after he had taken his degree and was looking for a career. The rope by which Mr. Dawes de- scended ad inferos became the ladder of Mr. Gunning's advance- ment; he does not tell us whether he preserved the sacred relic, but he should have had it gilded and worn it as his chain of office.

"During this year a circumstance occurred which caused considerable consternation in the University. Francis Dawes, Esq., was Senior Fellow and Bursar of Peterhouse ; he was also Senior Esquire Bedell. He was a man of social habits, and of a most convivial disposition ; he had an extensive circle of acquaintances both in the county and University, and being possessed of good property, was better able to indulge his fondness for society. It was during this period that Stourbridge Fair was in all its glory; and the thea- tres, which were temporary ones, (there being generally two,) always at- tracted a crowded audience. The members of the University were frequently in the habit of coming up ten days or a fortnight before the beginning of term, for the purpose of seeing the theatrical exhibitions, with which the greater number of them were but little acquainted. On the 29th of Sep- tember, Mr. Dawes had prepared a very sumptuous dinner for several county families, consisting of the Hattons, Cottons, Serocolds, Pembertous, &c. ; and in the evening all the party were to visit the theatre. Dinner was to be served at three o'clock. Mr. Dawes was in the habit of making many little preparations for his dinners, and always decanted his wine, generally per- forming these offices immediately after breakfast. His servant was much sur- prised at his master not making his appearance, and became alarmed when he learned that he had not been seen since breakfast ; and it was imagined he must have expired somewhere in a fit. Search was made in the garden, the grove, &c. ; but without success. The clock struck three, and several of the guests (more punctual to the hour of dinner than in modern times) had arrived: their concern and consternation were great, and the search was re- newed. At length, some one went to the old tower, which is now visible, but was at that time concealed by dilapidated buildings ; there the Bursar was found hanging, and must have been so many hours, being quite cold. It is very extraordinary that no person could give any probable conjecture as to the cause of this rash act, and it has always remained an equal mystery."

One can scarcely believe that the following description relates to the youth of men now living among us; so rapidly and completely have manners and feelings altered, and mainly, in the particulars herein concerned, from the simple circumstance of increased facili- ties of communication between London, the great centres of com- merce and manufactures, and provincial towns. Yet we can bear ocular testimony, that, twenty-five years ago, Stourbridge Fair was more like what Mr. Gunning describes than it was like the wretch- ed village feast it has now dwindled to. The Dr. Farmer of the extract was Master of Emmanuel College, the well-known Shak- sperian commentator, and a great favourite of Pitt.

"Stourbridge Fair was, at the time I am now speaking of, a place of con- siderable importance' not only on account of the various trades that were carried on there, but as furnishing sights and scenes rarely to be met with out of the metropolis. I will endeavour to describe it, and I trust my memory will enable me to do so pretty accurately. As soon as you left Barnwell, there was a small public-house on the right-hand side, called the Race-horse ; here the cheese fair began ; from thence till you came oppo- site the road leading to Chesterton Ferry, the ground was exclusively occu- pied by dealers in that article. It was the great mart at which all the deal-

ers in cheese from Cottenham, Willingham, with other villages in the county and isle, assembled ; there were also traders from Leicestershire Derby- shire, Cheshire, and Gloucestershire. Not only did the inhabitants of the neighbouring counties supply themselves with their annual stock of cheese, but great quantities were bought and sent up to London, the practice of em- ploying travellers being at that time scarcely known. In the neighbourhood of the chapel, which is still standing (1851), there were about a dozen booths, called Ironmongers' Bow ' : these, among a great variety of other • articles, furnished the goods required by saddlers and harness-makers, toge- ther with every description of leather in great abundance. One of the pro- prietors I perfectly recollect ; his name was Rose ; he resided in London, where he carried on a very extensive business. During the three weeks the fair lasted, he lodged at Cambridge, and went to his booth every morning after breakfast, returning to a late dinner : he lived in a good style, kept a handsome chariot, drove a pair of very fine horses, and his servants' liveries were as handsome as those of any gentleman in the county. "Another row of booths reaching from the chapel to Paper Mills turn-

pike, was called 'The booths, These contained woollen cloths from Yorkshire and the Western counties of England ; but this part of the fair was beginning to be on the decline. There was also a very large piece of ground set apart for the sale of hops. A considerable part of the Common was occupied by earthenware and china from the potteries, and by the coarser wares from Ely. On the left-hand side of the road, leading from the Newmarket road to the ferry, was a row of booths extending to the Common ; they consisted of silkmercers, linendrapers, furriers, stationers, an immense variety of toys, and also of musical instruments. At one of these booths, I recollect that if you bought an instrument, the proprietor undertook to give lessons upon it gratis. The most conspicuous person in the fair (and whose booth stood upon three times as much ground as the largest amongst them) was named Green ; he came from Limehouse, and dealt in tea, sugar, soap, candles, and every other article in grocery that housekeepers could possibly require. His goods were of the fine quality, and he Bold them as cheap as they could be bought in London ; so that any

family in Cambridge, or within thirty miles of it, (who could afford the money,) laid in their annual stock at that season.

"Besides the tradesmen, there was the usual mixture of dwarfs and giants, conjurors and learned pigs. It was a common practice for some of us who were well acquainted with the University, to enter into a confederacy with these conjurors, and with the owners of these learned animals, to give them a string of questions and answers, and to point out some mode by which they might discover the persons to whom the answers were particu- larly applicable. In consequence of this secret intelligence, the characters of the conjurors and the pigs stood higher at Stourbridge Fair than at any other place. Persons guilty of indiscretions, which they flattered them- selves were known only to their most intimate friends, were astonished at finding that the sapient pig was acquainted with their proceedings, and pointed them out with but little hesitation to the assembled crowd. " There were a great number of drinking-booths. One was on a very large scale, over the doors of which was painted, Quod petis his est.' In this booth (if the weather was fine) men from the country, with their wives and families used to feast on geese pork, and herrings, luxuries that were to be had in great abundance, and which were served to perfection.

" There was a theatre on the spot where the Shakspere public-house now stands ; it belonged to the Norwich company, which generally comprised many respectable and frequently very excellent performers. Brunton was for many years manager. His performance of Shylock and Iago was highly applauded; his daughter and several of his relations were much distin- guished on the London boards. The performances continued for about three weeks; the house was generally well filled, and on some evenings crowded in every part, especially when the Lord-Lieutenant, or the Members for the Town and University, bespoke the play. Dr. Farmer never failed to be pre- sent, except on Michaelmas-Day, which was the anniversary of the founda- tion of Emmanuel, and which was always celebrated by a splendid dinner in the College Hall. On every other evening he with his friends, George Ste- vens, Isaac Reed, Malone, and one or two others, (whom Dr. Barnes used to designate the Shakspere Gang,) were accustomed to occupy that part of the pit which is usually called 'The Critics' Row,' and which was scrupulously reserved for them. They seemed to enjoy the play as much as the youngest persons present. They were the best-natured and most indulgent of critics; and as these dramatic enthusiasts never expressed disapprobation, few other persons ventured to do so ; but when they approved, the whole house applauded most rapturously. Dr. Farmer and his friends rarely left before the whole performance was concluded ; the party joined loudly in the mirth which the fairies of those days never failed to produce, in the midst of which the hearty and very peculiar laugh of the Doctor could easily be distin- guished. When the performance was over, they returned on foot, and ad- journed to Emmanuel _Parlour, where half-a-score persons were either waiting for them or accompanied them home."

This story of Bishop Watson of Llandaff is good enough to earn its space.

"The principal inn at the head of Windermere had been known as the Cock; but the landlord, by way of compliment to his distinguished neigh- bour, substituted the Bishop as the new sign. An innkeeper close by, who had frequently envied mine host of the Cock for his good fortune in securing a considerable preponderance of visitors, took advantage of the change' and attracted many travellers to his house by putting up the sign of the Cock. The landlord with the new sign was much discomfited at seeing many of his old customers deposited at his rival's establishment ; so by way of remedy, he put up in large red letters, under the portrait of the Bishop, 'This is THE oEn Com!' " Free-trade victories have not yet abolished all recollection of ab- surd attempts at regulating prices by law, even in this country

Across the Channel, the following proclamation would be of the latest fashion of the day. But we suspect the time will come when both here and all over Europe such a document will be among the curiosities of political literature, among the " artes perditze " of medixval antiquity.

"On the 20th of July, the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Mayor published the following notice- " 'BOROUGH OF CAKBRIDGIL " ' July 20,1795.

"'Information having been given us, that Butcher's Meat, Poultry, Butter, Eggs, Vegetables, and other articles, are purchased in this town

before they are brought into the public Market ; and that such articles as

are purchased in the public Market are there immediately sold again at an advanced price, to the great injury of the poor, and others resorting thereto: "'Now NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that we have directed all Officers, Constables, and others whom it may concern, to be vigilant in detecting

such offenders, that prosecutions may be forthwith commenced against diem.

"'WE LIKEWISE GIVE NOTICE, that no person will be allowed to sell any article in the Market of the said Borough before eight o'clock in the morn-

ing; at which time the Crier will ring his bell. And we forbid all persons exposing to sale any article whatever, or to keep open shop after ten o'clock in the morning of the Lord's Day, nit is our determined resolution to punish those to the utmost who after this notice shall offend herein.

"'L. Yams, Vice-Chancellor.

" JOILN MORTLOCK, Deputy Mayor.'"

Here is an epigram of Mansel (Master of Trinity College, and Bishop of Bristol) worth preserving, and, unlike most of his

epi-

grams that have become famous, containing no word or allusion that perforce recalls to the mind that Swift too was a dean and Rabelais a churchman. The appeal mentioned in Mr. Gunning's introductory remark is the memorable occasion on which a number of the junior fellows of Trinity forced upon the governing body of the College that pure method of electing Fellows by examination which has raised the College to its recent eminence.

"The Master at the time of the appeal was Dr. Hinchliffe, Bishop of Pe- terborough. That detur dignicai' was not always the maxim which influ- enced him in disposing of a place, was apparent from the well-known fact that he had (when a vacancy occurred in their choir) decided in favour of a person with an indifferent voice, because he had a vote in Northamptonshire.

"In some lines written by Manse!, this circumstance is thus alluded to-

" A singing man and yet not sing !

Come, Justify your patron's bounty: Give us a song—Excuse me, sir ; My voice is in another county!'"

We have room only for a selection of sketches of the senior Fel- lows of Trinity in 1787. "Ex pede Herenlem." What must the University—that seminary of sound learning and religious edu- cation—have been, when the governing body of its greatest col- lege could be thus portrayed, by an old man whose mind had lost much of its caustic vigour, and who was too near the grave him- self to indulge any taste for exaggerated and malicious scandal, even if his book did not bear evident marks, to those who knew him from manhood upwards, of a purposed softening of all that was harsh in the truth he had to exhibit ?

"The Reverend James Backhouse, B.D., like most of the Seniority, was considered a man of gallantry ; but Cambridge not being the scene of his amours, he was not thought so immoral as the rest. I think he had the living of Shudy Camps, in this county ; but he lived a good deal at Balsham, where he was supposed to have formed a connexion not of the most reputable kind. He instituted a school for females, in the management of which he was much censured. Person, who had described the failings of the Seniority in some powerful satirical verses, alluded to this circumstance in the follow- ing lines—the only lines in the whole poem I can venture to quote- " • Was it profit that he sought?

No; he paid them to be taught.

Had he honour for his aim

_ No; he blush'd to find it fame ! '

"Perhaps the most singular character amongst them all was the Reverend Samuel Peek, B.D. He had a good deal of antiquarian knowledge, and knew more of village law than the Chairman of the Quarter-Sessions. At that time there were very few Magistrates in this county, and not one cler- gyman in the commission of the peace. Peck knew the times when the overseers of the poor, and the surveyors of highways ought to be appointed, and their various duties. I have heard several of the Judges relate instances of the adroitness with which (when they met at Trinity Lodge) he contrived to extract from them their opinions on questions arising out of the 43d cap. of Elizabeth, and which had not been finally decided.

"An opinion once prevailed in this county, (and I fear in many others,) that when a person had been bitten by a mad dog, and symptoms of having taken the infection showed themselves, the relations of the suffering party were justified in smothering the patient between two feather-beds. This question he formally proposed to the Judges ; and to their answer, that'per- sons thus acting would undoubtedly be guilty of murder,' he gave all pos- sible publicity. For this he deserved great credit, as I have heard persons of undoubted veracity declare that it was considered not only to be legal, but really to be an act of kindness.

"Those who had offended against the regulations of the Excise or Customs were in the habit of applying to Peck to memorialize the Commissioners or the Lords of the Treasury; and I am persuaded that no attorney in the town would draw up documents better than he did. "His rooms were over the Queen's Gateway ; and on a Saturday, from eight a. tn. till four or five p. so., country-people were constantly going to and from his rooms. To his clients he used to say, 'A lawyer would have put you to expense; Sam Peck never takes a fee, but he loves gratitude ; and he will accept a few sausages, a joint of pork, a couple of fowls, a goose, or a turkey, or any article that your farm produces.' "In the evening, his boy came from Grantchester with a light cart, to fetch away the provisions that had been brought in the course of the day. "Whoever wishes to have a perfect idea of this extraordinary man will see in the buttery of Trinity a likeness of him, by Bareblock, of King's. Himself, his horse, his servant, and his dog, are delineated with most aston- ishing accuracy.

"I cannot better finish my history of Peck than by relating Dr. Seale's account of his journey with him from town, in the coach so well known by the name of the Fly.

When Seale arrived at Gray's Inn Lane, he found Peck and two ladies already seated, who appeared to be entire strangers to each other. At Epping Place the passengers stopped to breakfast ; when Peck suggested that the ladies ought not to be allowed to pay any share ; which Seale immediately agreed to. The coach then proceeded to Chesterford ; where the expense of dinner was shared by the gentlemen, the ladies signifying by their approving smiles that they had a due sense of the liberality of their companions. On arriving at Trumpington, the coachman pulled up, and Peck's man .was in waiting to convey the party to Grantchester. These ladies were, in ,fact, Peck's housekeeper and housemaid, who had for some years lived with him in a very equivocal capacity. "The next in succession was the Reverend Thomas Wilson, B.D., who held the office of Bursar. He was universally known by the name of 'Parabfila,' from having so pronounced that word when he was keeping an act in the schools. He lived in the rooms at present occupied by Mr. Romilly, to which a garden is attached, and he had a huge padlock placed on the outside of his garden-gate.

"The following reason was assigned for locking him in : as he was standing at the gate one night, Mrs. Hinchliffe was returning to the Lodge, attended by her servant with a glass lantern. The latter had stepped forward to nag the bell, and her mistress was accosted by the Bursar, (who mistook her for a lady who had promised to visit him,) and invited to his rooms."

"Of the Reverend William Collier, B.D., (universally called 'Bob Collier,') I have previously spoken, as having taken an emigrant countess under his protection. He had been Tutor of the College, and was for nearly twenty years Professor of Hebrew ; he was an admirable classic, and particularly well versed in modern languages, at that time a very rare accomplishment in the University. Collier led a most dissolute life ; he was also a notorious gourmand.

"An anecdote I had from his own mouth will prove his title to the latter character. When I was last in town,' said he, 'I was going to dine with a friend, and passed through a small court, just as a lad was hanging up a board on which was this tempting inscription,--

'A' roast pig this instant set upon the table !'

"The invitation was irresistible—I ordered a quarter; it was very deli- cate and very delicious. I despatched a second, and a third portion ; but was constrained to leave one quarter behind, as my dinner hour was approaching, and my friend was remarkably punctual.' "His appearance was precisely that of a friar as caricatured on the Eng- lish stage. I remember being present at Stourbridge Theatre when the Spanish Friar was performed. On the entrance of the Friar, all eyes were turned from the stage to the side-box where the Professor was sitting ; for so perfect was the resemblance tbat many persons expected to find his seat vacant."

We have omitted to quote any notice of the man who ruled Cambridge almost as absolutely as Pitt ruled England, for twenty years of the period over whicll this book extends, Dr. Milner, Presi- dent of Queen's College, and brother of the Low-Church historian. Those who ever heard Mr. Gunning speak of this eminent person, and who have read what is written of him in these reminiscences, will understand us when we say that the latter, though it con- veys no pleasant impression of the unscrupulous character of the man, is yet so modified as to touch that suppressio veri which, when notorious public characters are concerned, equals a suggestio falai.