THE PRESIDENT OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SrEcraroa."] SIR,—A reviewer who sets out to correct what he calls "careless" mistakes may just as well verify his own state- ments. The writer who criticized The Book of Public Speaking in your issue of November 22nd says that I am not President of Magdalene College, Cambridge. No doubt he means that I am not Master, but I have been President for over a year. At certain colleges at Cambridge—St. John's, Pembroke, Caine, Corpus, St. Catharine's, and Magdalene—the officer who at Trinity is called Vice-Master has the title of President. He is President of the Fellows, has the general supervision of the domus, and takes the place of the Master if the Master is absent. It is a curious and rather misleading title, but I have no doubt that it goes back to times when Masters were often at loggerheads with their colleges, as Bentley was, for instance, with Trinity. There are plenty of traces in Cambridge statutes, customs, and records of bygone attempts to safeguard the rights of Fellows against the possibility of aggression and depredation on the part of Masters ; and in some colleges the Master is so much outside the domus that be cannot dine in Hall without leave granted, or he has to pay for his dinner if he does so. It is indeed very much like the ancient disputes between deans and bishops as to their respective powers in connexion with their cathedrals, the bishop being held to have power over the cathedral, the dean [We regret the error and offer our apologies to the compiler of The Book of Public Speaking, and also to the President of Magdalene College, Cambridge.—En. Spectator.]
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