Jesus College, Oxford. By E. G. Hardy, M.A. (F. E.
Robinson and Co. 5s. net.)—It is not Mr. Hardy's fault that this is not an interesting book. In College histories the excitement comes in, for the most part, when there are domestic difficulties or external aggression. Jesus has not suffered seriously from either. For the first century or so of its existence it was greatly hampered by poverty. The will of Sir Leoline Jenkins, who died in 1685, put it in a position of moderate affluence. The aggregate of his bequest at the time was £700 per annum. But, luckily for the foundation, among the real estate were two parcels of land in Lambeth, one of which was sold in 1813 for £20,000, while the other now brings in more than £3,000. What there is to tell Mr. Hardy relates well enough, and be is careful to give details, for it is indeed in details that what interest these narratives have com- monly lies. It is to be noted that the restrictions to Wales, which at one time made the College one of the closest in the University, were not part of the original foundation. This is the more curious because these restrictions, absolutely swept away elsewhere, still exist in part at Jesus.
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