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 IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
 
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 PLATE I 
 
 THOMAS I'KLHAM-IlOLLI.s 
 
 v\ RSI' i)L k !; OF \ i:\vcAs-ri.r;
 
 The University of Cambridge 
 in the Eighteenth Century 
 
 BY 
 
 D. A. WINSTANLEY, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 CAMBRIDGE 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 1922
 
 printi:d in great Britain
 
 L r SAiMA liiiliiJARA 
 
 I IS 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT is sometimes assumed that the University of 
 Cambridge in the eighteenth century led an iso- 
 lated existence, remote from the stream of the national 
 life; and that its numerous deficiencies were due to its 
 immunity from external interference and its freedom 
 to wallow in its sin. This generalisation is however 
 more sweeping than accurate; and is certainly quite 
 untrue of that part of the century when the Duke of 
 Newcastle was Chancellor of the university. The 
 following narrative, which can be briefly described as 
 an account of Newcastle's activities as Chancellor, at- 
 tempts to show that, at least as long as the Duke was 
 a power in Cambridge, the connection between the 
 academic and political worlds, instead of being non- 
 existent, was in reality much too close and intimate to 
 be salutary, and that the university was very far from 
 being left to itself. The abuses were many, but they 
 were not exclusively of home manufacture, and the 
 politicians must shoulder their portion of the blame. 
 
 Use has been made of the Newcastle, Hardwicke, 
 and Cole manuscripts in the British Museum; and in 
 defence of the rather numerous extracts from these 
 papers, it can be pleaded that events are generally most 
 vividly described by those who have taken part in them. 
 It is obvious that such a method does not make for 
 brevity, but possibly the loss of conciseness may be 
 compensated for by increase of interest. 
 
 I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing my 
 great gratitude to my friends. Sir Geoffrey Butler, 
 Fellow of Corpus Christi College, and Mr A. F. Schol- 
 field. Librarian of Trinity College, for very much 
 needed assistance most generously given; and for the
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 sake of the few who may have read an appendix to an 
 earlier work I should mention that a more careful and 
 complete study of the manuscript authorities has shown 
 me that my previous account of the contest between 
 Lord Hardwicke and Lord Sandwich for the High 
 Stewardship of the university was unfortunately not 
 free from serious inaccuracies. It is to be hoped that 
 the description given in the following pages of that 
 fierce struggle more closely approximates to the truth. 
 
 D. A. W. 
 
 Cambridge, 
 
 September 1922
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION .... i 
 
 II. THE UNIVERSITY AND POLI- 
 
 TICIANS 34 
 
 III. THE CHANCELLOR AND THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 145 
 
 IV. THE CHANCELLOR AND THE 
 
 COLLEGES 231 
 
 INDEX 331
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE 
 
 I. THOMAS PELHAM-HOLLES . frontispiece 
 
 FIRST DUKE OF NEWCASTLE 
 
 From the portrait in the hall of Clare College, by permission of 
 the Master and Fellows 
 
 II. JOHN MONTAGU to face 56 
 
 FOURTH EARL OF SANDWICH 
 
 From the portrait by ZofFany in the National Portrait Gallery 
 
 III. PHILIP YONGE 148 
 
 MASTER OF JESUS CO L LEGE, C AMBRI DG (1752-58) 
 BISHOP OF BRISTOL (1758-61) 
 BISHOP OF NORWICH (1761-83) 
 
 IV. LYNFORD CARYL 232 
 
 MASTER OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE (1758-81) 
 
 Plates III and IV are from portraits in Jesus College Lodge, by 
 permission of the Master
 
 M 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 UCH has been written about the university of 
 Cambridge in the eighteenth century, and it 
 would be idle to attempt to do again what already has 
 been done so well. The stormy years of Bentley's 
 Mastership of Trinity are admirably and fully described 
 in Monk's biography of that turbulent scholar^, and 
 Henry Gunning, in his Reminiscences of the University^ 
 Town and County of Cambridge^ has given a vivid and 
 entertaining account of university ways and manners at 
 the close of the century. But Bentley died in 1742 and 
 Gunning did not begm his undergraduate career until 
 1784; and between these two dates lies an unexplored 
 tract of university history. It cannot be pretended that 
 this middle period claims attention as being peculiarly 
 rich in great scholars and striking characters; but the 
 history of an university, like the history of a nation, is 
 not exclusively a record of the achievements of great 
 men. Mediocrities play their part in building up the 
 whole; and it may at least be said of Cambridge during 
 the middle years of the eighteenth century that, though 
 not prolific of great scholars, it was peculiarly rich in 
 university politicians. From 1748 until 1768 it had as 
 its Chancellor that very typical eighteenth century 
 politician, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle; 
 and any society over which Newcastle presided was not 
 likely to lack opportunities of exercising its talents in 
 the direction of intrigue and wire-pulling. It is now the 
 
 ^ Life of Richard Bentley, by James Henry Monk, Bishop of 
 Gloucester (1830).
 
 2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 fashion to deride those who spend their time and energy 
 upon the ephemeral controversies which rage in an 
 university, and possibly they might often be more profit- 
 ably employed; but, while the moralist and scholar 
 condemn, the student of human nature has cause to be 
 grateful. It is neither uninteresting nor uninstructive 
 to see men imitating on a small stage the warfare of the 
 great world and striving to attain their petty ambitions 
 with as much fury and as little scruple as if contending 
 for empires; and the Cambridge combatants in the 
 eighteenth century, though frequently contending for 
 nothing greater than the satisfaction of their own 
 ambitions, certainly carried on their struggles with an 
 ingenuity and resource deserving of a better cause. But 
 the period of university history under consideration 
 does not present an unrelieved picture of sordid 
 struggles for ignoble spoils. The lamp of learning was 
 not burning with startling brightness but it was still 
 burning; jobbery was rampant but honest merit came 
 sometimes to its own; scandals were unpleasantly fre- 
 quent but probably not as frequent as is popularly 
 supposed. We indeed have often occasion to blush for 
 our predecessors; but we possibly have been readier to 
 blush than to enquire. 
 
 And enquiry is the more necessary as we are separated 
 by a wide gulf from eighteenth century Cambridge. 
 Much has changed in the university during the last 
 two centuries; but in no respect has the change been 
 greater than in the habits and outlook of its senior 
 members. A present-day Fellow of a college is not very 
 different in type from the ordinary professional man. 
 His university career is a part and a very important 
 part of his life, but it is not the whole. His interests 
 are many and by no means exclusively academic. 
 Almost as much at home in London as he is in Cam- 
 bridge, he has friends and acquaintances in many paths
 
 INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 of life, does not garnish his conversation with Greek 
 and Latin quotations, and plays his part without 
 conscious effort in general society. He takes a pride in 
 his freedom from eccentricities and improves upon the 
 Pharisee by thanking God that he is as other men. His 
 eighteenth century predecessor had a far more limited 
 outlook upon life and bore more visibly the marks of 
 his calling. Generally in orders and often of com- 
 paratively lowly origin, he was a stranger to the ex- 
 clusive social world of his time. When he visited the 
 metropolis his manners and behaviour stamped him as 
 a provincial, and he commonly had no higher ambition 
 than to become a tutor to the son of an influential 
 nobleman through whose assistance he might secure 
 advancement in the church. If he was singularly fortu- 
 nate he might obtain a bishopric which would place him 
 on terms of equality with the great, but such good 
 fortune was reserved for the few, and the average uni- 
 versity 'don' only saw the polite world from the point 
 of view of the humble dependent. His social experience 
 was in consequence extremely limited. Removed from 
 refining influences, and with few opportunities of 
 measuring his conduct by any other standard than that 
 prevailing in the university, he retained many of the 
 characteristics of the class from which he had sprung. 
 Servile towards his superiors and overbearing towards 
 those he considered beneath him, he was frequently 
 gross and boorish with his friends and equals; but it 
 must in fairness be remembered that the seclusion, 
 which kept him a boor, was productive of certain virtues. 
 It is likely that he had a far deeper and more enduring 
 love of his college and university than is at all common 
 at the present day. To his education he was mainly 
 indebted for whatever success he had achieved in life, 
 and his college, if not his first, was at least his greatest 
 patron. It was moreover his home in a way which it
 
 4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 has nowadays ceased to be except for the few, and he 
 therefore gave it the affection which men reserve for 
 their homes. He may often have quarrelled with his 
 colleagues and neglected his pupils; but he was seldom 
 found wanting in loyalty to the society to which he 
 belonged. 
 
 His virtues, however, have perished with him and he 
 has come down in history with a sorry and tarnished 
 reputation. It is popularly believed that he was lazy 
 and self-indulgent; but there is good reason to think 
 that his failings have been exaggerated. Though Cam- 
 bridge in the eighteenth century was sadly lacking in 
 eminent mathematicians^, it was not wanting in great 
 classical scholars; and a century of university history 
 which can boast of Bentley, Porson, Dawes and Mark- 
 land may be accounted to have paid its debt and more 
 than its debt to classical scholarship. It can of course 
 be contended that scholars of such merit were rare, that 
 they were the exception rather than the rule, and that 
 to derive from them the standard of industry prevailing 
 in the university is to argue from the particular to the 
 general; but, inasmuch as it is the inevitable conse- 
 quence of the progress of learning that the greater part 
 of the work of one generation is superseded by the 
 next, and that only a comparatively few students are 
 remembered for all time, it is particularly necessary to 
 be cautious of assuming that idleness must have been 
 almost universal because the proofs of industry are not 
 very obvious. It is true that research was not quite 
 so much the order of the day as it is at present; but the 
 claims of learning and scholarship were certainly not 
 completely disregarded. No one now troubles to in- 
 vestigate the high dusty shelves of college libraries on 
 which repose the volumes on philosophy, divinity, 
 
 ^ As Sir Isaac Newton died in 1727 he can hardly be claimed as 
 an eighteenth century mathematician.
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 mathematics and the classics, which, though now com- 
 pletely out of date, were greeted in their day as valuable 
 contributions to learning. Dr Smith, Master of Trinity, 
 is now chiefly remembered as the founder of the mathe- 
 matical prizes named after him; but in his own day he 
 was famous as a mathematician and his treatise on 
 optics was translated into French and German. The 
 Essay on the Roman Senate, written by Dr Chapman, 
 Master of Magdalene, has fallen into still deeper 
 oblivion; but yet the treatise, when published, was 
 thought sufficiently important to be translated into 
 French. Few. moreover have ever heard of Dr Law, 
 Master of Peterhouse, who, when a Fellow of Christ's, 
 assisted to edit Roberti Stephani Thesaurus Linguae 
 Latinae\ and probably fewer still have heard of Pro- 
 fessor Rutherforth, Fellow and Tutor of St John's, who 
 was accounted one of the best scholars in the university 
 and published in quick succession volumes upon the 
 natural sciences, theology and international law. 
 
 This list of forgotten scholars could be indefinitely 
 extended, and, as it takes some trouble to produce even 
 a bad book, industry was presumably not an unknown 
 virtue in the university. It must be admitted however 
 that if scholarship was not so neglected as is often sup- 
 posed, there is a great deal of truth in the traditional 
 belief that the instruction given in the university was 
 very far from satisfactory. It was by no means unknown 
 for a newly appointed Professor to be unacquainted 
 with the very rudiments of the subject he was supposed 
 to teach, and for a college Tutor systematically to neglect 
 the instruction of his pupils. Dr Richard Watson, 
 Bishop of Llandaff, was in many ways a very favourable 
 specimen of an eighteenth century Professor, and ap- 
 pears conscientiously to have discharged his duties as a 
 teacher; but nothing is more astonishing than the 
 courage with which he shouldered responsibilities for
 
 6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 which he was most inadequately prepared. He has left 
 on record that, when he was appointed Professor of 
 Chemistry in 1764, 'he knew nothing at all of chem- 
 istry, had never read a syllable on the subject, nor seen 
 a single experiment in it,' and that it was only by as 
 much hard work as his 'other avocations would permit,' 
 he was able, fifteen months after his election, to deliver 
 a course of lectures. Seven years later he was appointed 
 Regius Professor of Divinity, and again he frankly 
 admits that he only knew as much divinity 'as could 
 reasonably be expected from a man whose course of 
 studies had been directed to, and whose time had been 
 fully occupied in, other pursuits,' and that it was not 
 until his election to the Regius Professorship that he 
 embarked upon the study of theology^. There were 
 probably many Professors who initially were as badly 
 equipped as Dr Watson and never troubled to over- 
 come their deficiencies, and others who possessed the 
 requisite knowledge but preferred not to impart it by 
 way of lectures. Edward Waring, who was Lucasian 
 Professor of Mathematics from 1760 to 1798, did not 
 lecture as his 'profound researches... were not adapted 
 to any form of communication by lectures,' and Waring's 
 case is only singular in the excuse given for the non- 
 performance of his duties. 
 
 The average college Tutor does not appear to have 
 been anymore conscientious than the average Professor, 
 and Richard Cumberland, who came up to Trinity as 
 an undergraduate in 1747, has left a very unfavourable 
 account of the instruction he received. 
 
 'When the time came for me to commence my residence in 
 college' he wrote 'my father accompanied me and put me 
 under the care of the Rev. Dr Morgan, an old friend of our 
 family and a Senior Fellow of that society. My rooms were 
 closely adjoining to his, belonging to that staircase which leads 
 
 1 Anecdotes of the life of Dr Richard Watson, pp. 28, 29, 34.
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 to the chapel bell; he was kind to me when we met, but as Tutor 
 I had few communications with him, for the gout afforded him 
 not many intervals of ease, and with the exception of a few 
 trifling readings in TuUy's Offices, by which I was little edified 
 and to which I paid little or no attention, he left me and one 
 other pupil... to choose and pursue our studies as we saw fit^' 
 
 There were however Tutors who conscientiously ful- 
 filled their duties towards their pupils. The Rev. James 
 Backhouse of Trinity is now only remembered as the 
 victim of some scurrilous verses by Porson^; but he 
 appears to have been an admirable Tutor, for we are 
 told that he 'gave regular lectures and fulfilled the 
 duties of his charge ably and conscientiously^.' Another 
 Tutor of Trinity, Thomas Jones, is still remembered in 
 the college for which he laboured, and deserves to be 
 remembered. 
 
 'During many years' it is recorded in his biography 'he con- 
 tinued to take an active part in the Senate House examinations; 
 but latterly he confined himself to the duties of college Tutor. 
 These indeed were sufficiently numerous to engage his whole 
 attention; and he displayed in them an ability, which was rarely 
 equalled, with an integrity which never was surpassed*.' 
 
 Jones was too busy as a Tutor to win fame as a writer, 
 and his only published writings are a sermon on duelling 
 and an address to the volunteers of Montgomeryshire; 
 but his biographer, while regretting that much of his 
 learning died with him, finds consolation in the know- 
 ledge that 
 
 his lectures on philosophv will not be buried in oblivion: all his 
 writings on those subjects have been delivered to his successor 
 in the tuition, and, though less amply than by publication, will 
 continue to benefit mankind^. 
 
 1 Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, p. 69. 
 
 ^ Gunvan^h Reminiscences, u, 113 114. 
 
 ^ Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, p. 69. 
 
 * Marsh's Memoir of the Rev. Thomas Jones, p. 7. 
 
 ^ Memoir of the Rev. Thomas Jones, p. 9.
 
 8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 There is little doubt however that we have im- 
 proved upon our predecessors in regard to the educa- 
 tion given in the university; and, though there are some 
 who think that the improvement has gone too far, a 
 return to the eighteenth century standard of efficiency 
 has never been contemplated^. There has also been an 
 improvement in the refinements and decencies of life. 
 The eighteenth century was a time of heavy eating and 
 copious drinking, and Cambridge, faithfully reflecting 
 the characteristics of the age, was the home of rude 
 plentv. Students of Gunning's Reminiscences are familiar 
 with Dr Ogden's pathetic complaint that the goose was 
 a silly bird, being too much for one person and not 
 enough for two^, and it is possible that some of 
 Ogden's contemporaries were of the same opinion but 
 lacked the ability to give it such epigrammatic expres- 
 sion. Excesses in eating and drinking were certainly 
 not uncommon phenomena. Dr Chapman, Master of 
 Magdalene, who died in 1760, probably shortened 
 his life by gluttony, for we are told that, about a week 
 before his death, ' he eat five large mackerel, full of roe, 
 to his own share, but what gave the finishing stroke 
 was a turbot on Trinity Sunday, of which he left but 
 very little for the company^.' Dr Ridlington, Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall and Professor of Civil Law, was more 
 
 ^ 'It is interesting to note that whereas the earlier Royal Commissions 
 were concerned with providing against the indifference and want of 
 conscientiousness of some of the Fellows, the charge now made in some 
 quarters is that the Fellows overwork themselves at teaching and ad- 
 ministration.' Repor-i of the Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge 
 Universities (1922), p. 39. 
 
 ^ Dr Ogden was a Fellow of St John's and Professor of Geology. 
 For twenty years he was vicar of St Sepulchre's Church in Cambridge. 
 He published volumes of sermons and was warmly commended for his 
 merits as a preacher by Dr Johnson who remarked: 'I should like to 
 read all that Ogden has written.' 
 
 ^ Gray's Letters (edited by D. C. Tovey), 11, 160.
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 fortunate though not more temperate; for, when sup- 
 posed to be dying of the dropsy, he 'prescribed himself 
 a boiled chicken entire and five quarts of small beer^,' 
 and by aid of this unorthodox remedy recovered. Such 
 Gargantuan feats must have been rare, but self-indul- 
 gence was only too common and sometimes had dis- 
 astrous results. In the year 1779 the Rev. George 
 Mounsey, Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, accom- 
 panied some friends on a pleasure party on the river, 
 and, having drunk too much, 
 
 got out of the boat at Ditton Plough, a public house on the 
 waterside, and, kneeling down before a number of people who 
 happened to be there, denied his faith, blasphemously reviled the 
 Holy Ghost, and... cursed the King, the Queen and all the 
 Royal Family^. 
 
 In consequence of this escapade Mounsey was deprived 
 of his Tutorship, but he continued to hold his Fellow- 
 ship, and in 1780 officiated as Moderator in the Schools 
 when, much to the indignation of the antiquarian. Cole, 
 'he seemed as unconcerned as if nothing had happened.' 
 There is however no reason to think that, even in the 
 eighteenth century, college Tutors habitually imitated 
 Ben-hadad, King of Syria^; but the general standard of 
 conduct left much to be desired and the outlook on life 
 was very often frankly materialistic. When the Rev. 
 Dr Walker, Vice-Master of Trinity, lay dying in 1764, 
 he heard one of his nurses say 'Ah, poor gentleman, he 
 is going,' and his comment, though it would have been 
 creditable to a philosopher, was disgraceful in a divine: 
 'Going, going,' he ejaculated, 'where am I going .'^ I'm 
 sure I know no more than the man in the moon*.' The 
 
 1 Gray's Letters, iii, 6i. - Add. MS. 5852, f. 119. 
 
 ^ 'And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself 
 drunk in the paviHons, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that 
 helped him.' i Kings, ch. xx. 16 
 
 ^ Gray's Letters, iii, 61.
 
 10 INTRODUCTION 
 
 doubts of the Vice-Master were probably shared by 
 many, and it was perhaps because they felt so uncertain 
 of the future that they sought to make the most of the 
 present. For whatever be charged against the senior 
 members of the university, they cannot be accused of 
 neglecting their worldly interests, and Cambridge was 
 not behindhand in that shameless hunt for places and 
 preferments which is associated with the eighteenth 
 century. As long as the Duke of Newcastle remained 
 in the service of the king and dispensed the crown's 
 ecclesiastical patronage, he was constantly being re- 
 minded by his academic supporters of their claims to 
 recognition. When the Deanery of Ely fell vacant, both 
 Dr Prescot, the Master of St Catharine's, and Dr Law, 
 the Master of Peterhouse, applied to the Duke for the 
 preferment, Dr Prescot urging that he had 'always re- 
 tained and shewn some affection to the royal family-*-,' 
 and Dr Law imploring the Duke, whose displeasure he 
 had incurred, 
 
 to give credit to this, my solemn and sincere profession, that as 
 I never entertained the least thought of seeking any patronage 
 beside that of your Grace, so neither -was any application made 
 either by me, or, to my knowledge, for me, to any person what- 
 soever, but in perfect concurrence with and proper subordination 
 to your Grace's pleasure^. 
 
 In 1759 another Head of a House, Dr Sumner, Provost 
 of King's, requested Newcastle to advance him in the 
 church; and, as he was already holding a canonry and 
 two livings, he naively suggested 
 
 a method, perhaps the readiest, of carrying into execution in the 
 most effectual manner your Grace's favourable intentions towards 
 me; and that is, my Lord, to divest me at once of both my 
 canonry and my livings by placing me upon the Bench ^. 
 
 Most of the applicants stated their wishes in plain 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32877, f. 170. 2 Add. MS. 32876, f. 508. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32896, f. 168.
 
 INTRODUCTION ii 
 
 language, commendably free from ambiguity, but Dr 
 Ogden practised the oblique mode of address. Gunning 
 in his Reminiscences alludes to this peculiarity, and 
 mentions having been told by his father of a letter from 
 Ogden to a prime minister which began 'The great 
 are always liable to importunity, those who are good 
 and great to a double portion^'; and a letter, which has 
 survived among the papers of the Duke of Newcastle, 
 confirms Gunning's testimony. Though Ogden in 1759 
 held the livings of Damerham in Wiltshire and St 
 Sepulchre's in Cambridge, he was not content and made 
 an exceedingly characteristic appeal to the Duke. 
 
 'Winchester, my Lord,' he wrote in the April of that year, 
 'stands well for the vicar of your parish of Damerham, a few 
 hours distance, almost in the road. Let me bespeak your Grace's 
 pardon, but it is impossible to pass by and overlook so fine an 
 object as that ancient cathedral. Your Grace, it is probable, will 
 shortly place a new bishop in the only see almost which perhaps 
 you have not filled. The prebends will be in his gift. I most 
 humbly take my leave and am, etc. 2' 
 
 It was inevitable that many of these seekers after 
 preferment should be disappointed, but it can be con- 
 fidently asserted that as long as Newcastle remained 
 in office the claims of Cambridge were recognised in 
 over-running measure. It was good to be a whig in 
 those days, but still better to be a Cambridge whig, 
 and best of all to be a whig who had been educated at 
 Westminster and Clare, the Duke's school and college. 
 In 1748 Edmund Castle, Master of Corpus, was made 
 Dean of Hereford; and Dr John Green, who in 1750 
 succeeded Castle in his Mastership, became Dean and 
 afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. In 1752 Edmund Keene, 
 Master of Peterhouse, was given the Bishopric of 
 Chester, and in 1758 Dr Yonge, Master of Jesus, be- 
 
 ^ Gunning's Reminiscences, i, 237. 
 2 Add. MS. 32890, f. 292.
 
 12 INTRODUCTION 
 
 came Bishop of Bristol and later Bishop of Norwich. 
 Dr Newcome, Master of St John's, was Dean of 
 Rochester, and Dr Thomas, Master of Christ's, was 
 Dean of Ely. The Duke's Cambridge supporters cer- 
 tainly did not serve him for nought; and, if we blame 
 them, it is for their shamelessness and not for their 
 ignorance in asking. 
 
 This hunger for advancement in the church had 
 unfortunate consequences. The university was not only 
 familiarised with the most sordid side of contemporary 
 political life but suffered in its independence. It was 
 only natural that men, so anxious to receive, should be 
 timorous of offending possible benefactors and unwilling 
 to pay much attention to scruples which stood in the 
 way of obedience to their patrons. Nice customs have 
 to curtsey to great kings, and there is at least a suspicion 
 that impartiality in university and college examinations 
 had on occasions to be abandoned to comply with the 
 wishes of the great. Thus in October 1757 the Duke 
 of Newcastle wrote to Dr Green, Master of Corpus, 
 and Dr Rutherforth, Regius Professor of Divinity, to 
 recommend to their favourable attention Jonathan 
 Davies, an undergraduate of King's, who was thinking 
 of competing for the Craven scholarship-*^. 
 
 'My Lord Hertford,' wrote the Duke, 'a particular friend of 
 mine, having desired me, as you will see by the enclosed note, 
 to recommend Mr Davies, who is represented to be a very 
 ingenious young man, to your favour for the scholarship founded 
 by Lord Craven, I should be much obliged to you if you would 
 be so good as to assist him upon that occasion^'; 
 
 and the request was most sympathetically received. It 
 is true that Green pointed out that no Craven scholar- 
 ship had yet been declared vacant, that, as the right of 
 electing was confined to the Vice-Chancellor, the five 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32875, f. 103, f. 105, f. 107. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32875, f. 103.
 
 INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 Regius Professors and the Public Orator, he would not 
 have a vote until he became Vice-Chancellor, and that 
 the candidates for this scholarship are examined with great care 
 and it has been given, as far as I have been concerned in the 
 disposal, to those v^^ho w^anted it most and deserved it best; 
 
 but, having paid this tribute to the decencies, he pro- 
 ceeded to remark that 
 
 should this young man's character and improvements be found 
 to answer, as I have no doubt but they will answer, the repre- 
 sentation made to your Grace, I should with the utmost readiness 
 and pleasure assist in choosing him^. 
 
 Dr Rutherforth also laid stress upon the strictness of 
 the examination and the keenness of the competition; 
 but he too concluded by begging leave 
 to assure your Grace that I shall in this and every other instance 
 act under the fullest sense of the duty which I owe to your 
 Grace, and shall be ready to shew my Lord Hertford's friend 
 all the favour that the nature of the examination will admit of^. 
 
 A few weeks after these letters were written, Dr 
 Green was elected Vice-Chancellor, and, two days 
 before Christmas, he was able to inform Newcastle that 
 Lord Hertford's candidate had been awarded the Craven 
 scholarship. 
 
 'It is with great pleasure' he wrote 'I now acquaint your 
 Grace that Mr Davies, a scholar of King's college, whom you 
 were pleased to recommend at Lord Hertford's request, was this 
 day elected into the Craven scholarship. There were six candi- 
 dates who were examined with great care and all of whom 
 appeared very well on the examination: a favourable sign, I 
 should hope, that good letters are far from losing ground among 
 us. There was a difference in their attainments, and it was 
 judged a circumstance much in Davies' favour that, though he 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32875, f. 165. The five Regius Professors were the 
 Regius Professors of Physic, Civil Law, Divinity, Hebrew and Greek. 
 The Regius Professor of History was not an elector as that Professor- 
 ship had not been in existence when the scholarship was founded. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32875, f. 187.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION 
 
 was not of equall standing, he had made equall improvements 
 with the best^.' 
 
 As Jonathan Davies became in after life Headmaster 
 and then Provost of Eton, it is possible that he deserved 
 the scholarship^; but, while this is only a surmise, we 
 know for certain that two of the examiners had been 
 prejudiced in his favour, and that Davies, whether he 
 needed it or not, had been given an unfair advantage 
 over the other candidates. Nor was this the only occasion 
 on which Newcastle successfully played the part of 
 destiny shaping the wills of examiners. When in 1762 
 a certain John Fuller was a candidate for a Trinity 
 Fellowship, his uncle, Rose Fuller, who was a member 
 of parliament, asked Newcastle to use his influence, 
 and the Duke, without hesitation and without delay, 
 wrote to the Master, Dr Smith, the Vice-Master, Dr 
 Walker and the two Tutors, Backhouse and Whisson^. 
 His letter to Whisson is a fair example of his mode of 
 approach. 
 
 'Though I hope for the pleasure of seeing you to-morrow 
 with our address ' he wrote ' I would not omit acquainting you 
 that my friend, Mr Rose Fuller, has earnestly desired me to 
 recommend his nephew, Mr Fuller, of your college, to be chose 
 Fellow at your next election. I shall be very much obliged to 
 you if you would favour him with your vote and assistance. I 
 hear he is a very good young man^.' 
 
 Of the four electors thus appealed to, the two Tutors 
 were apparently most anxious to please. Backhouse 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32876, f. 408. 
 
 ^ He apparently preserved a pleasant memory of having won the 
 Craven, for by his will he left a thousand pounds to found a scholarship 
 to be called 'Dr Davies' university scholarship,' and he specially 
 mentioned in his will that he bequeathed this money 'remembering 
 that he was so fortunate as to get one of the said university scholarships.' 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32941, f. 335, f. 391, Add. MS. 32942, f. 33, f. 99, 
 f. 131, f. 133. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32942, f. 131.
 
 INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 assured Newcastle that, as his greatest happiness was 
 to serve him, ' I will certainly endeavour to serve that 
 young gentleman as far as may be consistent with my 
 indispensible (sic) duty to my own pupils^,' and Whisson 
 declared that ' Mr Fuller's nephew may depend upon 
 my best services at our next election^.' The Vice-Master 
 was more cautious. He pointed out that there were more 
 candidates than vacancies, that 'the Master and Seniors 
 take a solemn oath to choose those that have made 
 greatest proficiency in their studies,' and that much 
 would depend upon Fuller acquitting himself well in 
 the examination; but he significantly added 'where 
 there is an equality there is room for favour^.' The 
 Master however remained silent. Not until after the 
 election had taken place did he reply to the Duke and 
 then he rebuked him: 
 
 'Your Grace, I hope, will excuse this late answer to your 
 letter' he wrote 'as I could not sooner say anything satisfactory 
 to it for want of knowing the number of vacancies and the 
 merits of the candidates. For a long time we had but two 
 vacancies, till last night I received a resignation of two more, 
 and this morning we filled them up with these bachelors of 
 arts Fountaine, Hilton, Fuller and Zouch, elected out of 
 twelve candidates*.' 
 
 Thus, though the Master had kept his counsel and 
 the Vice-Master had been guarded, Fuller secured his 
 Fellowship; and it is possible that the Master would 
 not have displayed such Roman virtue if Newcastle, a 
 few months before, had not been driven from office and 
 the cabinet. It is of course quite possible that the Duke's 
 interference had not influenced the issue in the slightest 
 degree; but it was clearly in the highest degree un- 
 desirable that there should be any interference at all. 
 Yet, as long as many among the university authorities 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 277. 2 Add. MS. 32942, f. 322. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32942, f. 99. 4 Add. MS. 32943, f. 9.
 
 i6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 were dependent upon the great, it was difficult to 
 prevent the great from intervening; for it must not be 
 imagined that the practice originated with or was 
 confined to the Duke of Newcastle. As Chancellor he 
 was closely in touch with the authorities of the uni- 
 versity and therefore favourably situated to exercise 
 an influence; but he was certainly not the only noble- 
 man who commended a candidate for a scholarship or 
 fellowship to the favourable consideration of the ex- 
 aminers and electors. But, even if the university had 
 been immune from outside interference, it is unlikely 
 that all would have been well; for jobbery had bitten 
 deep into the age and was by no means a monopoly of 
 politicians. 
 
 ' I was the second Wrangler of my year ' wrote Dr Watson in 
 his memoirs 'the leading Moderator having made a person of 
 his own college and one of his private pupils the first, in direct 
 opposition to the general sense of the examiners in the Senate 
 
 House who declared in my favour Our old Master^ sent for 
 
 me and told me not to be discouraged, for that, when the 
 Johnians had the disposal of the honours, the second Wrangler 
 was always looked upon as the first^.' 
 
 Enough has been said to show that a change has 
 taken place in the morals and manners of the university 
 since the eighteenth century; and the change has not 
 been confined to the senior members. Two hundred 
 years ago disorderly and riotous conduct was far more 
 common among undergraduates than nowadays, and 
 discipline was lax and ineffective. In 1716 a decree, 
 issued by the Vice-Chancellor and Heads of Houses, 
 called attention to the 
 
 late divers disorders among several scholars of the university, 
 tumultuously meeting together, provoking and exasperating one 
 another by invidious names, opprobrious words, hissing and 
 
 1 Dr Smith. 2 Watson's Anecdotes, p. 18.
 
 INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 shouting one against another, throwing of stones and other great 
 irregularities^; 
 
 and, twelve years later, another decree alluded to the 
 disorder which had arisen 'to the manifest scandal of 
 the university, the destruction of all good order and 
 discipline, and to the great and sometimes irreparable 
 injury of persons educated amongst us^.' In 1749 two 
 Fellow Commoners of Trinity were convicted in the 
 Vice-Chancellor's court of being at an inn until 4 
 o'clock on Sunday morning June 4th, and then going 
 to the Market Cross and 'in a riotous manner eating 
 lobsters and drinking a bottle of wine there ^'; and in 
 an undated letter the poet Gray complains that 
 
 the Fellow Commoners (the Bucks) are run mad, they set 
 women upon their heads in the streets at (noon) day, break open 
 shops, game in the coffee houses on Sunday, and in short act 
 after my heart^. 
 
 Sometimes the disorder assumed serious proportions, 
 and in April 1751 Dr Keene, Master of Peterhouse, 
 was called upon as Vice-Chancellor to quell a riot which 
 might easily have resulted in bloodshed. 
 
 'Major Folkes and Captain Shaftoe' he informed the Chan- 
 cellor 'came to Cambridge on Sunday noon and Frederick 
 Vane^ accidentally met with them. They three went to Mr 
 Ladd's room and drank seven bottles of claret. On the officers 
 going away, Mr Ladd and Mr Vane went into the post-chaise 
 with them in their habits and, as they say, with a design of going 
 a mile on the Huntingdon road and then walking back. This 
 was done about six o'clock on Sunday even, and when they came 
 to the turnpike, just at the end of the town, they saw two young 
 women drinking tea with some tradesmen; and Shaftoe and 
 Vane got out of the chaise and went into the house, and, upon 
 the young women retreating, they forced themselves upstairs, 
 
 ^ Cooper's Annals, iv, 143. ^ Cooper's Annals, iv, 204. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 5852, f. 119. ^ Gray's Letters, i, 162. 
 
 ^ Vane was a Fellow Commoner of Peterhouse and afterwards 
 represented the county of Durham in parliament.
 
 1 8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 broke the windows of the house, and beat the young men who 
 had by this time secured the girls in the cellar. It appears that 
 Folkes and Mr Ladd continued in the chaise and desired the 
 others to desist. This disturbance occasioned the neighbours to 
 collect themselves, and constables were sent for and blows 
 ensued. After some time Mr Vane got upon a horse and rode 
 into the town and endeavoured to summon the gownsmen by 
 telling them that the townsmen were murdering some gentle- 
 men of the university; and, had it happened that any number 
 could have been collected, God knows what might have been 
 the consequence, considering that the townspeople are greatly 
 irritated by the last affair. The moment I heard of the affair I 
 immediately ordered the college gates to be shut and went 
 myself down to the coffee-house where I found Ladd and Vane 
 with many gownsmen and strangers and much mob assembled 
 about the door. I secured Vane and sent him home in my chariot 
 attended by Brockett. I directed the rest of the gownsmen to go 
 home forthwith, requested of the strangers that they would go 
 to their inns, and I read the proclamation amongst the people 
 who immediately dispersed, and so an end was put to this dis- 
 turbance^.' 
 
 This is not the only instance of a Vice-Chancellor 
 being called upon to quell a riot; for in a letter written 
 in March 1770 it is mentioned that 
 
 on one of the days of our late assizes there was a very great 
 disturbance and tumult in the court between the gownsmen 
 and the townsmen, insomuch that the Judge (Adams), after 
 having tried other means of appeasing it, was at last forced to 
 stop all business and to send for the Vice-Chancellor^. 
 
 Disorder, indeed, was unpleasantly frequent, and in 
 
 1 78 I there was another disturbance on a serious scale. 
 
 Six men of different colleges, after supping together at 
 
 Emmanuel, were proceeding in the direction of St 
 
 Catharine's 
 
 in two parties, four in one, two in the second, of which the last 
 
 was about thirty yards behind the other. The four passed by 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32724, f. 236. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32628, f. 102, f. 104, f. 105.
 
 INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 Mrs Jacob's house, who was then leaning over her hatch, with- 
 out taking any notice of her. One of the two hindmost held out 
 his hand to shake hands with her and she gave him hers; at the 
 same instant almost, his companion gave either her or the hatch 
 a push which threw her backwards in the passage; her son in 
 law, Elkin, rushed out to seize the man, the old woman followed, 
 a scuffle ensued, and a blow with a heavy stick, intended for 
 Elkin, fell on Mrs Jacob's head who shrieked and cried 'murder.' 
 At the cry of murder the four hastened back and also Prettyman 
 of Pembroke^ the Moderator, who was passing accidentally. 
 I fancy one or two also from the neighbouring houses^. 
 
 Thereupon a general scuffle ensued, and the unfortu- 
 nate Pretyman, ' having no gown on and being in boots,' 
 was mistaken for a townsman and 'received a violent 
 blow on the face from an undergraduate^.' Proceedings 
 against the six offenders were taken in the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor's court; and although four of them escaped with 
 a fine and reprimand, the other two were fined and 
 rusticated for a year^. 
 
 It is of course quite true that young men will always 
 incline to disorder, and that nowadays it is not unknown 
 for undergraduates to overstep the limits of decorous 
 behaviour. Nevertheless it is impossible to deny that 
 discipline was lax and rioting far too common. Nor was 
 it unknown for individuals among the authorities to be 
 threatened with violence. About 1779 an undergraduate 
 of Emmanuel was bound over to keep the peace for 
 
 ^ Pretyman, who afterwards took the name of Tomline, had a dis- 
 tinguished career in the church and for the last seven years of his life 
 was Bishop of Winchester. In 1821 he published a biography of the 
 younger Pitt. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35658, f. 53. 3 /^/^_ 
 
 * An account of the proceedings in the Vice-Chancellor's court is 
 given in a manuscript in the University Library (MMV, 51). Among 
 the witnesses was Rose Elkin, the fair Jewess, mentioned by Gunning. 
 The story told by the witnesses does not agree in detail with the version 
 given above; but the differences are not material.
 
 20 INTRODUCTION 
 
 threatening to shoot Dr HalHfax, the Regius Professor 
 of Civil Law, whom he accused of having slandered 
 him; and though the charitably disposed were convinced 
 that the young man was not right in the head, the 
 Fellows of Emmanuel refused to admit that he was 
 'out of the way^.' But a far more grievous fate befell 
 Dr Rooke, Master of Christ's, who for some months 
 went in fear of being chastised by John Hutton, an 
 ex-Fellow Commoner of his college. It appears that 
 Hutton, who had entered Christ's in November 1747, 
 was admonished early in his university career by the 
 Master for some gross irregularity; and, as he con- 
 tinued refractory, his family was requested in 1749 to 
 remove him from the college. Rightly or wrongly, and 
 probably wrongly, he considered himself a victim of 
 tyranny and injustice; and the full weight of his anger 
 fell upon the Master whom he regarded as principally, 
 if not solely, responsible for his disgrace. He brooded 
 over his wrongs, and when about Christmas 1750 he 
 visited Cambridge, he called upon Dr Rooke, used in- 
 sulting language to him and repeated his insults in the 
 combination room. Two years later he was again in 
 Cambridge, but on this occasion the Master was away; 
 nevertheless Hutton went about the town declaring 
 that he would insult and abuse Dr Rooke whenever and 
 wherever he met him. He was clearly obsessed with the 
 idea of revenge, and when on April 19th, 1753, which 
 happened to be Maundy Thursday, the Master re- 
 turned to spend Easter in college, he must have been 
 alarmed to hear that Hutton had been some days in 
 Cambridge, awaiting his return^. 
 
 Until Easter Sunday nothing happened, but on the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35626, f. 100. Dr Hallifax was originally a Fellow of 
 Jesus but migrated to Trinity Hall in 1760. In 178 1 he became Bishop 
 of Gloucester. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 33061, f 345.
 
 INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 afternoon of that day, when Dr Rooke was dining in 
 hall with the Fellows and scholars, Hutton 
 came into the backgate of the said college on horseback with 
 pistols... and riding along a passage, which is only a way from 
 one part of the college to the other, and never used for a horse- 
 way or even by passengers on foot but by sufferance, and at the 
 entrance into the screens, which is a covered and paved passage 
 between the hall on one hand and the buttery and kitchen on 
 the other, the porter of the college, meeting and desiring him 
 not to ride through the said screens, especially as the Master 
 and Fellows were then at dinner in the hall, he, the said John 
 Hutton, threatened to blow out the said porter's brains or the 
 brains of anyone who should offer to stop him; and accordingly, 
 riding down the steps and through the said screens, he pro- 
 ceeded through the court of the said college, 
 
 cursing and vilifying the Master 'in a very outrageous 
 manner^,' 
 
 This was merely a foretaste of what was to happen 
 later in the day. Between eight and nine o'clock that 
 evening, Hutton came again into college, and on learn- 
 ing that the Master was at home, took his stand outside 
 the Lodge and volleyed oaths and curses. When the 
 Master's servant appeared, Hutton seized hold of him 
 and began to beat him, and a porter, who rushed to the 
 rescue of the unfortunate domestic, was in his turn 
 knocked down and chastised. Disturbed in their studies 
 by the noise in the court, two scholars of the college, 
 John Tatham and John Bull, appeared on the scene 
 and attempted to restore order, and, rather unwisely, 
 the Master issued from the Lodge and began to ex- 
 postulate with Hutton. What followed is related by the 
 Master in a formal account of the proceedings which he 
 afterwards compiled. 
 
 'He not only' declared Dr Rooke 'renewed his curses and 
 abuse of and threats against this deponent hut actually endeavoured 
 to break from the persons, who withheld him, to come at this 
 1 Add. MS. 33061, f. 345.
 
 22 INTRODUCTION 
 
 deponent. And that with a design and intention, as this deponent 
 verily believes, to assault and do him some bodily harm ; and was 
 with great difficulty withheld from such assault, and at last put 
 out of the said college by the assistance of two scholars and some 
 of the college servants, though without any kind of violence 
 either done or offered to him; and when he was out of the gates 
 he still continued to abuse and threaten this deponent, and in 
 particular said that if ever he saw him at Carlile (sic), where 
 some of this deponent's friends live, that he would play the devil 
 with him or words to that effect, and also further swore, as this 
 deponent is informed and believes, that, if he met him on the 
 road in his chaise at any time, he would run him into the 
 ditchi.' 
 
 And another witness testified that Hutton, after being 
 ejected, stood outside the gate and loudly denounced 
 the Master as a 'damned scrub and a scoundrel^.' 
 
 After such an experience Dr Rooke cannot be blamed 
 for seeking the protection of the law. He began pro- 
 ceedings in the court of King's Bench, and a grave 
 public scandal was only averted by the intervention of 
 Hutton's uncle, the Archbishop of York^, who, as a 
 former Fellow of the college, a friend of the Chancellor, 
 and a great ecclesiastical dignitary, was in a position to 
 exercise considerable influence. At the express wish of 
 the Archbishop, the Master abandoned the legal pro- 
 ceedings and consented to abide by the judgment of the 
 Chancellor who decreed that Hutton, in the presence 
 of the Vice-Chancellor, the Master of Christ's and the 
 two senior Fellows of the college, should confess to have 
 acted wrongly, promise not to ofi-end again, and enter 
 'into a recognisance in the penalty of five hundred 
 
 1 Add. MS. 33061, f. 345. 2 j^i^_ 
 
 ^ Matthew Hutton, who had been an undergraduate of Jesus before 
 he became a Fellow of Christ's, was created Archbishop of York in 
 1747, and, ten years later, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is described 
 as an amiable and cheerful person who 'never let himself down below 
 the dignity of an Archbishop.'
 
 INTRODUCTION 23 
 
 pounds to be of good behaviour towards Dr Rooke for 
 the future.' The Master, thinking that the demand 
 might ' excite some animosity, ' waived his claim to the 
 recognisance, but the rest of the sentence was carried 
 out, though Hutton, refractory to the last, did not 
 apparently make his apology with a very good grace^. 
 Yet, though riotous and disorderly conduct was far 
 too common, it is important to bear in mind that the 
 offenders belonged to the comparatively small class of 
 wealthy young men who came up to the university to 
 amuse themselves and lacked the outlet of athletics for 
 the dissipation of their energy. It is significant that the 
 calm, which prevailed in the university early in the 
 year 1752, was attributed by the then Vice-Chancellor 
 to 
 
 the good conduct of Lord Euston, Lord John Cavendish, Lord 
 Weymouth and his brother, Sir John Armitage, Mr Yorke, 
 Mr Hervey, and some others that might be named of some 
 distinction, whose example cannot fail of having the best effects^; 
 
 and it is frequently forgotten that the gilded youth 
 were comparatively few in number, and that there were 
 many poor and industrious undergraduates who had 
 neither the means nor the inclination to indulge in 
 extravagance and disorder. Dr Watson, while specially 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32731, f. 457; Add. MS. 32732, f. 97, f. 98, f. 160; 
 Add. MS. 35640, f. 27. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32728, f. 127. About 1774 the usual annual allowance 
 for a Fellow Commoner was three hundred pounds. Philip Yorke went 
 into residence at Queens' in that year, and his uncle. Lord Hardwicke, 
 inquired of the President what allowance the hoy ought to have. 'As 
 your Lordship ' replied the President 'may wish to have your question 
 concerning allowance for a Fellow Commoner satisfied, I will not defer 
 writing any longer, though I have but little else to add. I have lately 
 made enquiry at three other colleges, besides those which I had men- 
 tioned to your Lordship whilst at Wimple, viz. Clare Hall, Trinity 
 Hall, and Caius. They all, as well as those which I had enquired of before, 
 seem to agree in about ;^300 per annum, keeping a servant and horse, 
 clothes and pocket money included.' Add. MS. 35628, f. 170.
 
 24 INTRODUCTION 
 
 excepting noblemen and Fellow Commoners, declared 
 that 'there is no seminary of learning in Europe in 
 which youth are more zealous to excel during the first 
 years of their education than in the university of Cam- 
 bridge^'; and there is no reason to think that Dr 
 Watson, who came up to Trinity as a sizar in 1754, 
 was merely generalising from his own exemplary and 
 industrious career as an undergraduate. In 1774 an 
 undergraduate of St John's communicated to his friend, 
 Philip Yorke, then a Fellow Commoner of Queens', a 
 set of rules for university life which certainly suggests 
 a strenuous existence. The victim of this code was 
 commanded to 
 
 rise at six chapel, walk, breakfast till eight eight to nine, 
 prepare for lecture (private tutor rather, if within your expense) 
 nine to ten the college lecture ten to eleven, revision of 
 lectures eleven to twelve, logick or mathematics, college 
 lecture twelve to three correspondence, dress dinner, coffee- 
 house or friend's rooms to drink wine three to five Greek 
 history or translation five to six, visits, tea-drinking six to 
 seven, Locke (or private tutor rather) seven to eight, chapel, 
 hall, classical part of examination (college exercise) extending 
 sometimes beyond eight, nine to eleven, friend's rooms or com- 
 panv at home eleven to six, rest (seven hours) wash before 
 chapel, and take with vou a small Greek testament in your 
 pocket-. "I do suppose' commented Philip Yorke in a letter to 
 his uncle. Lord Hardwicke, 'that the hours and some certain 
 exercises mav be immediatelv cast for that particular society and 
 may require a different application in anv other. I have con- 
 sulted mv voung acquaintance how far he fi.nds this good plan 
 practicable. He verv candidlv confesses that he cannot bring 
 himself to fill the whole circle which he allows to be excellent. 
 With vour Lordship's leave I will give vou the journal of his 
 practice. Rise at six, breakfast and walk till eight, look over 
 lectures till nine, go to lecture till ten, private tutor till eleven, 
 lecture till twelve, till one, dress and write lectures, dinner, 
 
 1 A':e:dote; c" :-e I'-.'e :-' D" Richard IFacscn, rr. r--r>. 
 - Aid. MS.'3;65>^ f. ;+.
 
 INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 cofFee-house and walk till four, to my rooms till five, coffee- 
 house again till six, private tutor till seven, chapel and hall till 
 half after eight, half an hour in my rooms, and from nine to 
 eleven in company. He concludes by saying that this has hitherto 
 been the regular plan of his time, sometimes broken into but not 
 often, which he imagines will increase as the summer comes on^.' 
 
 It will be noticed that Philip Yorke's 'young ac- 
 quaintance' had considerably modified the original pro- 
 gramme and anticipated having to make still further 
 modifications; but, as he was possibly a Fellow Com- 
 moner, it is to his credit that he attempted as much as 
 he did. He was perhaps assisted to be virtuous by the 
 exceptional conditions prevailing at St John's, the 
 Master, Dr Powell, having introduced the practice of 
 annual college examinations ; but it may be assumed 
 that the ordinary boy, who came up to Cambridge to 
 carve out a career, would not have had the same diffi- 
 culties in conforming to a scheme of life which was 
 presumably not impossible of practice. Industry was 
 clearly not unknown among the junior members of the 
 university; and, as we hear so much of the exploits of 
 the 'Bucks,' we are apt to forget that then as now the 
 idle rich were only a small though aggressive minority. 
 But if eighteenth century Cambridge was not so black 
 as it has been painted, it was certainly very different 
 from what it is at the present day. Both ' dons ' and 
 undergraduates belons^ed to an old order which has 
 passed away; and the change which has taken place is 
 not only in respect of customs and manners. The 
 machinery of government has been entirely transformed 
 and the ancient constitution thrown upon the dustheap 
 ot antiquities. 
 
 An enquiry into the constitution of the university in 
 the eighteenth century mav be thought a waste of 
 labour, but it at least serves to confirm the truth of the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35658, f. 32.
 
 26 INTRODUCTION 
 
 maxim that institutional progress is from complexity to 
 simplicity. For whatever may be said of the machinery 
 of university government two hundred years ago it 
 cannot possibly be described as simple. The constitu- 
 tion was based partly on the Elizabethan statutes, 
 partly on earlier statutes unrepealed by the Elizabethan 
 code, partly on royal letters accepted by the uni- 
 versity, and partly on ordinances or by-laws passed from 
 time to time by Graces of the Senate; and thus it was 
 not the work of one architect, uniform and symmetrical, 
 but an edifice built up through the ages and reflecting 
 many difl-erent styles. Nor were its different parts of 
 equal sanction and authority; for though the Senate, 
 acting alone, could repeal or modify its own by-laws 
 and the ancient statutes, it was unable to make any 
 change in the Elizabethan statutes or in that part of 
 the constitution which was based upon the royal letters 
 accepted by the university. Thus the independent 
 authority of the Senate was strictly prescribed, and this 
 tendency to inflexibility was still further increased by 
 the growth of customs and conventions which, though 
 without legal sanction, had in practice almost the same 
 authority as law and materially diminished the elasticity 
 of the constitution. Therefore for a full understanding 
 of the actual system something more is needed than a 
 knowledge of the Elizabethan statutes, for a freedom, 
 which was permitted by law, was not infrequently for- 
 bidden by custom. 
 
 The highest office in the university, as at present, 
 was that of Chancellor. Originally the Chancellor had 
 been chosen for a term of two years from among the 
 resident members of the university, but about the six- 
 teenth century the custom began of conferring the 
 offlce for life upon some eminent statesman or mag- 
 nate who was expected to protect the university and 
 to further its interests. The inevitable consequence of
 
 INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 this innovation was that the Chancellor became a non- 
 resident official, his duties and functions being dis- 
 charged by the Vice-Chancellor who thus became for 
 practical purposes the most important person in the 
 university. It was provided by the statutes that the 
 Vice-Chancellor should be annually elected by the un- 
 divided Senate^ from two candidates nominated by the 
 Heads of Houses; and it was further provided that in 
 the event of the votes of the Heads being equally 
 divided between several candidates, the Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity should determine 'which two of those 
 who have equal voices shall be proposed to the body^.' 
 Thus the Senate was only permitted to choose between 
 two candidates and still further restrictions were im- 
 posed by custom. In theory any graduate of a degree 
 not inferior to that of master of arts was eligible for 
 election as Vice-Chancellor; but by the eighteenth cen- 
 tury it had become a well-established practice only to 
 nominate Heads of Houses, and, indeed, to reduce the 
 nomination and election to a mere form by invariably 
 appointing the senior in degree among those Heads of 
 Houses who had not already served as Vice-Chancellor^. 
 There was much to be said for confining the most 
 important office in the university to Heads of Houses, 
 but the establishment of a regular rotation by seniority 
 of degree is open to criticism. It not infrequently hap- 
 pened that a recently appointed Master of a college, 
 who had long been absent from the university and was 
 totally unacquainted with its business, found himself 
 Vice-Chancellor within two or three months of be- 
 
 ^ For purposes of legislation the Senate was divided into two houses, 
 regents and non-regents. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32960, f. 143. It was expressly provided that no one 
 holding the office of Regius Professor of Divinity could serve as Vice- 
 Chancellor. 
 
 ^ Monk's Life of Bentley, \, 150.
 
 28 INTRODUCTION 
 
 coming a Head; while another Master, because he 
 lacked sufficient seniority, might have to wait several 
 years before he was called upon to serve as Vice-Chan- 
 cellor. Dr John Sumner, Provost of King's, for instance, 
 became Provost and Vice-Chancellor in the same year, 
 1756, because he happened to be a doctor of divinity; 
 while Sir James Burrough, who was only a master of 
 arts, was not elected Vice-Chancellor until he had been 
 Master of Caius for five years. It is obvious that such a 
 system placed a premium upon inexperience and might 
 easily have militated against the efficient administration 
 of business, especially as it was against the custom of 
 the university, though not forbidden by the statutes, for 
 a Vice-Chancellor to continue in office for longer than 
 a year. The danger of inefficient administration how- 
 ever was less than it appears, as it was usual for a 
 Vice-Chancellor, in the discharge of his administrative 
 duties, to consult the other Heads of Houses; and 
 though he does not seem to have been compelled to 
 seek or take their advice, the tradition that he should 
 do so was well established and faithfully observed. A 
 Vice-Chancellor, new to his duties and unversed in 
 university business, would be ready enough to take the 
 opinion of a body which included several of his pre- 
 decessors in office; and it is probable that the system of 
 rotation, however unsound in theory, was not pro- 
 ductive in practice of any serious inconvenience. There 
 is certainly plenty of evidence that the Heads played a 
 very active part in administration. In a letter written 
 on January 20th, 1756, the Master of Peterhouse, then 
 Vice-Chancellor, informed the Duke of Newcastle that 
 he had summoned a meeting of the Heads to devise a 
 way of breaking up a combination of 'ingrossers and 
 forestallers^,' and the sort of business dealt with at 
 these meetings is well illustrated by a letter written by 
 1 Add. MS. 32862, f. 163.
 
 INTRODUCTION 29 
 
 Dr Caryl, Master of Jesus, when Vice-Chancellor, to 
 Newcastle. 
 
 'Yesterday' he wrote on December 5th, 1758 'I desired a 
 meeting of the Heads. The matters, which I had to propose to 
 their consideration, were (i) how to recover some rent that 
 seemed to be in danger of being lost, upon which we agreed to 
 take advice; (2) the obligation which I apprehended we were 
 under to the Solicitor-General for the great pains that he has 
 taken in defending our printing of law-books, upon which I was 
 directed to write him a letter of thanks in the name of myself 
 and the Heads; (3) the prosecution of a surgeon for steaHng the 
 body of a person, who died of a malignant sort of the small-pox, 
 and conveying it through the most public street of the town; 
 ...(4) the case of the peddHng Jews who do much mischief by 
 exchanging their trinkets with young scholars for books, clothes 
 or anything they can lay their hands on^.' 
 
 In another letter Dr Caryl mentions having called a 
 meeting of the Heads in order to take their opinion 
 upon some matters which ' I was unwilling to transact 
 upon my own judgment solely^'; and apparently all 
 business, save possibly the purest routine, was discussed 
 at these meetings. The Heads, in consultation with the 
 Vice-Chancellor, settled the details of Newcastle's in- 
 stallation as Chancellor^ and all university addresses 
 were submitted to them before being brought before 
 the Senate. 
 
 The influence of the Heads was not confined to the 
 administrative sphere; for they were entitled by the 
 statutes to assist the Vice-Chancellor in the discharge 
 of his judicial functions. He could neither expel a 
 student nor imprison a doctor or Head of a House 
 without the concurrence of the majority of the Heads 
 who also acted as his advisers and assessors in all matters 
 affecting the conduct and discipline of the scholars*. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32886, f. 173. 2 Add. MS. 32889, f. 215. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32718, f. 226. 
 
 ^ Peacock's Observations on the Statutes of the University, p. 46.
 
 30 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The same oligarchical tendency is noticeable in the 
 machinery of legislation. Before a Grace could be sub- 
 mitted to the Senate for approval or rejection it had to 
 be unanimously approved by a small committee of that 
 body, known as the Caput and consisting of the Vice- 
 Chancellor, sitting ex officio, three doctors representing 
 respectively the faculties of divinity, medicine and law, 
 a regent master of arts and a non-regent master of 
 arts. A single member of the Caput had the right of 
 vetoing a Grace, and this power of obstruction was 
 the less defensible as belonging to a non-representa- 
 tive body. Though the Caput was annually elected, 
 only Heads of Houses, doctors and the two Scrutators 
 were entitled to vote; and, restricted as were the 
 electors, they were not even allowed an unfettered 
 choice. At the beginning of the Michaelmas term, 
 which was the date appointed for the election of 
 the Caput, the Vice-Chancellor and the two Proctors 
 presented separate lists, each containing the names of 
 three doctors in the different faculties, a regent and a 
 non-regent, and the choice of the electors was con- 
 fined to the fifteen persons thus named. Further re- 
 strictions were imposed by custom. * Much depends in 
 the election of a Caput on the prospect of the Vice- 
 Chancellor for the ensuing year^,' wrote the Master of 
 Corpus in 1764, 'as by the usage of the university one 
 is always of his own college and the rest usually such 
 as are not thought disagreeable to him^'; and according 
 to another authority it was customary to vote for those 
 whose names appeared on the Vice-Chancellor's list^. 
 
 The Caput could only claim to represent the more 
 senior members of the university who thus indirectly 
 
 1 The Caput was elected in October and the Vice-Chancellor in 
 November. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35640, f. 158. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 35628, f. 20; Peacock's Observations, p. 47, n. 2.
 
 INTRODUCTION 31 
 
 possessed a veto upon all legislation. On a Grace being 
 brought before the university assembled in congrega- 
 tion, the Vice-Chancellor called the Caput together to 
 pass or reject it^; and, in the event of any member of 
 this body being absent, his place was taken by the 
 senior person present in the same faculty. If unani- 
 mously approved by the Caput, the Grace would be 
 read for the first time in the two houses of regents 
 and non-regents into which the Senate was divided; 
 but in neither house would a vote be taken. If the 
 Grace was at all controversial, it was usual to circulate 
 copies of it among the colleges after the first reading 
 in the Senate, and there was therefore generally an 
 interval of a few days between the first and the second 
 congregation^. At the second congregation the Grace 
 was first voted upon in the non-regents' house, the votes 
 being counted by the two Scrutators. 
 
 The Scrutators went both together and each of them marked 
 the placet or non-placet of each voter who stood up when he 
 gave it. At the end of each row they compared their papers and 
 so went on from row to row... till they had gone through the 
 whole^. 
 
 If passed by the non-regents, the Grace would then 
 be voted upon in the regents' house where exactly the 
 same procedure was adopted except that the two Proc- 
 tors acted as tellers. 
 
 The division of the Senate into two houses gave a 
 decided advantage to age. Every master of arts, who 
 had kept his name on the books of some college, was 
 a regent during the first five years from his creation 
 after which he became a non-regent; but doctors were 
 
 ^ The Vice-Chancellor could decline to summon the Caput, but this 
 right was only exercised in very exceptional circumstances. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35628, f. 186. Both congregations could be held on the 
 same day, but this was unusual. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 5852, f. 147, f. 148.
 
 32 INTRODUCTION 
 
 able to sit and vote in either house except within two 
 years of taking that degree when they sat in the regents' 
 house^. It is obvious that the regents were at a double 
 disadvantage. A Grace, which they approved, might be 
 rejected by the non-regents before it reached them, 
 and their opposition to a Grace, which they disap- 
 proved, might be overcome by flooding their house with 
 doctors. But though age was at the helm it possibly 
 was not able to use to the full the advantage it possessed. 
 However strongly he might disapprove of a particular 
 measure, a single member of the Caput probably hesi- 
 tated to exercise his right of veto, and even if all the 
 members of the Caput agreed in disapproving a Grace 
 they would be slow to reject it if it was supported by a 
 considerable body of opinion in the university. The 
 Caput, indeed, suffered from the defects of its origin, 
 and if it had been more representative it could have 
 made a more liberal use of its autocratic power. It is 
 also easy to exaggerate the importance of the fluidity 
 of doctors. The game of distributing the doctors be- 
 tween the two houses, so as to secure a majority in 
 both, was often played by university politicians; but it 
 was a perilous enterprise, demanding a nice calculation 
 of forces and might easily end in disaster. Nor is it 
 likely that the doctors were ever sufficiently numerous 
 or unanimous to be used to overcome a really formid- 
 able majority, and they were probably of the greatest 
 assistance when the two houses were fairly equally 
 divided. 
 
 Nevertheless, when all reservations have been made, 
 the fact remains that the balance of power was with the 
 more senior members of the university. Our modern 
 creed that youth is wise and age foolish was not accepted 
 
 1 Add. MS. 33061, f. 261. The Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, 
 the Proctors, the Taxors, the Moderators, the Esquire Bedells, provided 
 they were masters of arts, also sat in the regents' house.
 
 INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 in the eighteenth century which regarded juvenile in- 
 temperance as a greater danger than senile caution, and 
 it was not thought a demerit in the constitution of the 
 university to be an obstacle in the path of the reformer. 
 But the age of reform had hardly begun to dawn, and 
 it is foolish to assume that because a system of govern- 
 ment was unsuited to the needs and requirements of 
 the nineteenth century, it could never have served an 
 useful purpose. And the same may be said of the uni- 
 versity as a whole in the eighteenth century. Regarded 
 from our point of view and judged by our standards it 
 stands condemned; but, though possibly no better, it 
 was at least no worse than its age. If it was lacking in 
 idealism and self-sacrifice, if it sinned by self-indulgence 
 and comfortable acquiescence in traditional abuses, it 
 only faithfully reflected the contemporary code of 
 morality, and much of the censure it has incurred should 
 in fairness be given to the century.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 THE internal affairs of the university in the eigh- 
 teenth century cannot be fully understood without 
 a knowledge of contemporary politics; for the academic 
 and parliamentary worlds were closely connected and 
 party divisions at Cambridge more or less corresponded 
 with those at Westminster. Such a connection was 
 almost inevitable as long as the power of a statesman 
 depended to a great extent upon the amount of patron- 
 age at his disposal. It is not surprising that the average 
 Cambridge 'don' was keenly desirous to be on the 
 winning side in politics, for unless he was skilled in 
 seeing which way the political wind was likely to blow 
 and steering his course accordingly, he had little chance 
 of obtaining the preferment he coveted; and it is as 
 little surprising that politicians sought to enlarge the 
 number of their followers by establishing a connection 
 with the university which would enable them to 
 influence the disposal of academic posts. Doubtless the 
 prizes of university life were small and mean in com- 
 parison with the rich sinecures for which venal poli- 
 ticians competed; but eighteenth century statesmen 
 were not particular in their methods of accumulating 
 patronage. And as the obvious way of establishing an 
 influence in the university was by becoming its Chan- 
 cellor, eminent statesmen were frequently eager com- 
 petitors for that office and for the office of High Steward 
 which was regarded as a stepping stone to the Chan- 
 cellorship. Consequentlv, when either of these places 
 fell vacant, the parliamentary contest was apt to be
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 35 
 
 extended to Cambridge and academic peace to be 
 rudely disturbed by the clash of rival political parties. 
 Thus university and national politics were closely con- 
 nected; and neither the nation nor the university pro- 
 fited. The higher interests of the university were not 
 advanced by its Chancellor being a politician who would 
 be tempted to be principally interested in extending 
 the influence of his party, and no advantage accrued to 
 the nation from an increase of the means of bribery and 
 corruption at the disposal of statesmen. 
 
 The connection was certainly unfortunate and the 
 responsibility for it partly rests upon that master 
 in the art of corruption, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 
 Duke of Newcastle. Until comparatively lately New- 
 castle has been usually depicted as an industrious non- 
 entity whose only weapon was treachery; but a more 
 complete analysis is needed to explain the fact that this 
 seemingly contemptible person proved more than a 
 match for many of the ablest politicians of his time, 
 and, from the fall of Sir Robert Walpole until the death 
 of George II, exercised a parliamentary influence which 
 made his support indispensable to any administration. 
 The secret of his success is not difficult to discover. 
 Undistinguished as an orator, inefficient as an admin- 
 istrator, and deplorably deficient in all the higher arts 
 of statesmanship, he triumphed by uniting a sincere 
 and entirely disinterested passion for public life with a 
 frank and cynical appreciation of the politics of his 
 age^. Understanding that bribery and corruption were 
 
 ^ Newcastle was as financially disinterested as the elder Pitt, though 
 he paraded his virtue less. He refused a pension when he resigned 
 office in 1762, though he had materially reduced his own fortune in 
 the service of the state; and he seems to have always been quite indifferent 
 to money. In 1723 he refused a gift out of the secret service fund, 
 offered him by Lord Townshend to meet financial difficulties caused 
 by 'services to the Government' ; and in a letter to the Bishop of Chichester 
 he explains his refusal. 'You know' he wrote 'the great backwardness
 
 30 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 the acknowledged weapons of politicians, he took full 
 advantage of his position as a servant of the crown and 
 used the vast resources of the royal patronage to win 
 and maintain a personal following in parliament which 
 made him independent of the favour of the king and 
 the confidence of the country. He bestowed places in 
 church and state with a lavish though discriminating 
 hand, and became a power in the land by playing upon 
 the weakness of his fellow creatures. 
 
 The work was disgusting but the workman was not 
 disgusted, and Newcastle consistently laboured to in- 
 crease the patronage at his disposal. Consequently, 
 when on the death of the Earl of Anglesey in 1737 he 
 came forward as a candidate for the office of High 
 Steward of the university, it is unlikely that he was only 
 influenced by a sentimental attachment to his Alma 
 Mater. He undoubtedly had a very genuine affection 
 for Cambridge, but he was, first and foremost, a poli- 
 tician, and it v/as as a politician that he was anxious to 
 establish an official connection with the university. He 
 hoped by becoming High Steward to establish a claim 
 to succeed the Duke of Somerset as Chancellor of the 
 university; and as Somerset was in his seventy-fifth 
 year, Newcastle might reasonably expect that he would 
 not have to wait long for the highest honour that the 
 university could confer. But it was power as well as 
 honour that he sought. He desired the Chancellorship 
 in order that he might establish an unchallenged influ- 
 ence in Cambridge, hoping to further the interests of 
 his party and the whig cause, and to teach the members 
 of the university that political orthodoxy was more 
 likely to lead to advancement than a reputation for 
 learning. 
 
 I have always had to ask or receive any sums of money from the king, 
 how I detest it in others, and consequently how unwilling I should be to 
 do the like myself.'
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 37 
 
 There is no reason however to think that when in 
 1737 Newcastle appeared as a candidate for the office 
 of High Steward, the university reaHsed that it was 
 being asked to place itself under the control of the 
 greatest living exponent of the art of jobbery. Though 
 Newcastle had been Secretary of State for thirteen 
 years, he was overshadowed in the cabinet and the 
 country by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole; 
 and it was not until Walpole's fall from office, five years 
 later, that his power became apparent. It was moreover 
 natural and in the order of things that an university, 
 which was predominantly, though not exclusively, 
 whig, should desire to confer a distinction upon a 
 prominent whig minister who was also a Cambridge 
 man; and there does not seem to have been any serious 
 opposition to the Duke's candidature. But as the High 
 Steward was appointed by Grace of the Senate, it was 
 necessary to ensure a safe passage for the Grace through 
 the Caput where a single negative vote would be fatal, 
 and this was not achieved without careful preliminary 
 preparation. 
 
 'I also beg leave upon this occasion' wrote in 1751 Peter 
 Goddard, Fellow and afterwards Master of Clare 'to inform 
 your Grace that when you was chose High Steward of the 
 university, I was the person who was principally, if not solely, 
 employed by the present worthy Master of Clare HalF, to 
 concert the proper methods and precautions to prevent a defeat; 
 and particularly that it was owing to my applications and soUici- 
 tations that a proper Caput was procured the day that the Grace 
 was proposed; otherwise it would very probably have been 
 stopped in the first instance, such was then the state and temper 
 of the university^.' 
 
 As Goddard coupled with this reminder of his ser- 
 vices a request for ecclesiastical preferment, he possibly 
 
 ^ Dr Wilcox who was the Vice-Chancellor when Newcastle was 
 appointed High Steward. 
 2 Add. MS. 32725, f. 382.
 
 38 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 exaggerated the danger of disaster and the greatness of 
 his achievement; and his testimony is therefore not 
 above suspicion. There were probably however a cer- 
 tain number of tories in the university who would not 
 be indisposed to prevent the election of a leading whig 
 statesman; but as we hear nothing of their activities it 
 may safely be concluded that they did not on this 
 occasion constitute a serious menace. But if Newcastle 
 thought that by becoming High Steward he had made 
 sure of becoming Chancellor within a few years and 
 without opposition, he was doomed to disappointment. 
 In 1747 the Duke of Somerset was still alive, and, 
 though his death could not be far distant, it was by no 
 means certain that Newcastle would be permitted to 
 succeed him. A rumour began to spread in Cambridge 
 that Frederick, Prince of Wales, intended to stand for 
 election as Chancellor on Somerset's death; and when 
 Dr Richardson, the tory Master of Emmanuel, re- 
 turned to Cambridge from London in February 1747, 
 he informed the Vice-Chancellor that during his stay 
 in London he had been introduced to the Prince who, 
 
 after professing great regard to the university of Cambridge, 
 said he should take it as a favour and honour to stand in a nearer 
 relation to it whenever a vacancy... should happen^. 
 
 The Prince was likely to prove a dangerous com- 
 petitor. Having quarrelled with his father in accordance 
 with the family tradition, he had gone into political 
 opposition and placed himself at the head of a faction 
 which was nicknamed the 'Leicester house party,' and 
 recruited from whigs who had a grievance against the 
 government, and tories who were prepared to com- 
 promise so far with their principles as to support a 
 Hanoverian prince against a Hanoverian king. Thus it 
 was as the leader of a parliamentary party that he came 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f.i.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 39 
 
 forward as a candidate for the Chancellorship, and, if 
 he succeeded in his venture, the prestige of the ministry, 
 of which Newcastle was now the most influential mem- 
 ber, would be seriously shaken. The Prince's success 
 moreover was not at all improbable. There was no 
 reason to anticipate that he would not survive the King; 
 and cautious members of the Senate were certain to 
 reflect upon the wisdom of neglecting the father and 
 paying homage to the son. No disloyalty to the whig 
 cause and the Hanoverian succession was involved in 
 supporting him, and much might be thereby gained; 
 and, if the university had been left to its own unguided 
 instincts, the royal candidate could have counted upon 
 a substantial following. Indeed Dr Rooke, Master of 
 Christ's, who was one of Newcastle's most enthusiastic 
 supporters, was seriously alarmed at the outlook; and, 
 though he admitted that some of his 'brethren are 
 extremely clear that the generality of the place will by 
 no means come into it,' he confessed to an inability to 
 share their optimism. 
 
 'I well know' he wrote 'that the Masters of Trinity and St 
 John's are too sanguine in their calculations (the latter of whom 
 has occasioned great matter of merriment by closetting his 
 Fellows and being just as wise as he was about their sentiments 
 after it). The corps of old Jones, though not large, is not despic- 
 able. The young men are apt to run riot^.' 
 
 The Master of Christ's apprehensions were shared 
 by Newcastle, and there was ground for alarm. Quite 
 apart from the advantage enjoyed by the Prince as the 
 heir to the throne, there was a danger of it being com- 
 monly assumed that his candidature had the approval 
 of his father, and that therefore it should receive the 
 support of all loyal subjects. Doubtless such a mistake 
 was not likely to be made by those behind the political 
 scene, but it might easily prevail in the university and 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f.i.
 
 40 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 contribute to the Prince's triumph. Consequently New- 
 castle decided to convince the members of the Senate 
 that they could not vote for the Prince without running 
 counter to the King's wishes. In May 1747 Edmund 
 Castle, Master of Corpus and Vice-Chancellor, was 
 summoned to appear before a meeting of the Privy 
 Council at which the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke read 
 out a formal statement that 
 
 the King having been informed that application has been made 
 in the university of Cambridge for the election of His Royal 
 Highness, the Prince of Wales, to be their Chancellor in case of 
 a vacancy, we are commissioned by His Majesty to acquaint you 
 that the said application was without his consent and privity; 
 and that though His Majesty does by no means intend to inter- 
 fere in their election, yet he is persuaded from the regard and 
 affection which he has always shewed for the university, and 
 from their duty to him, that they will not choose any one of his 
 family for their Chancellor without his approbation^. 
 
 After reading this declaration the Lord Chancellor gave 
 a copy of it to the Vice-Chancellor, and at the same time 
 informed him that 
 
 he was not to communicate the said paper to the university 
 assembled in congregation nor to any publick meeting of the 
 Heads; but privately to as many persons as he pleased, not 
 suffering anybody to take a copy of it. That he was particularly 
 to insist upon that clause that His Majesty has no intention to 
 interfere in the election^. 
 
 The language of this royal message was commend- 
 ably free from ambiguity; and, in order to insure that 
 the university fully understood the situation, New- 
 castle's fellow Secretary of State, Lord Chesterfield, 
 instructed the Master of Caius^ in the King's name 'to 
 signify to the university of Cambridge that His Majesty 
 did not approve of their choosing either of his sons 
 
 1 Add. MS. 33061, f. 211. 2 /^dd. MS. 5852, f. 114. 
 
 ^ Sir Thomas Gooch, Bishop of Ely.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 41 
 
 Chancellor of the university^.' The Vice-Chancellor 
 and the Master of Caius circulated the information they 
 had received, thus putting a speedy end to the legend 
 that the King favoured his son rather than his minister; 
 and, as only a minority would be prepared to cut them- 
 selves off from all hope of preferment by defying the 
 wishes of the sovereign and the government, it is prob- 
 able that if the Duke of Somerset had died about this 
 time, Newcastle would have met with little or no 
 opposition. But the octogenarian Chancellor continued 
 to live, and in time the impression produced by the 
 royal announcement faded away, and the Cambridge 
 supporters of the Prince began to show signs of renewed 
 activity. The rumour was spread that the King had 
 changed his mind and was now willing for his son to 
 become Chancellor^; and when in July 1748 it was 
 reported that Somerset was dying, an informal canvass 
 on behalf of the Prince was begun at Cambridge by 
 the Master of Emmanuel and Thomas Rutherforth, 
 Fellow and Tutor of St John's^. 
 
 Unfortunately Newcastle was in Germany with the 
 King; and the task of fighting his battle at Cambridge 
 devolved upon his colleagues in the cabinet, and in 
 particular upon his brother, Henry Pelham, the First 
 Lord of the Treasury, and the Duke of Bedford, who 
 had succeeded Chesterfield as Secretary of State. One 
 alarming feature of the situation was that Dr Parris, 
 Master of Sidney, was supposed to sympathise with 
 the Prince of Wales' party; for Dr Parris was Vice- 
 Chancellor and in this capacity could exercise consider- 
 able influence in the event of an election. By the 
 statutes of the university a Chancellor had to be elected 
 within fourteen days of the declaration of a vacancy; 
 but the Vice-Chancellor, with whom it rested to deter- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 114. 2 Add. MS. 32715, f. 426. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32715, f. 428.
 
 42 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 mine the date of the election, was free to abbreviate the 
 prescribed period; and it was feared that Dr Parris 
 might act as a partisan and name a day too early to 
 allow Newcastle's supporters to rally to the fray. As it 
 was the dead season of the academic year many residents 
 were absent from the university; and, though the 
 Prince's supporters were probably numerically insig- 
 nificant, it was feared that they might prevail by being 
 on the spot. 
 
 The occasion was critical, for Somerset might die at 
 any moment; and the cabinet rose to the emergency. 
 Instructed by the Duke of Bedford, who had sent his 
 commands through a certain Mr Butcher of Peter- 
 borough, William Hetherington, the Rector of Dry- 
 Drayton^, came over to Cambridge on the morning of 
 Saturday July i6th, and waited upon the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor. 
 
 'I acquainted him' he informed the Duke of Bedford 'that 
 I had received a message from your Grace by a special messenger, 
 wherein you are pleased to order me to take some opportunity 
 of assuring him in your name "that His Majesty had not altered 
 his mind since he sent a message to the last Vice-Chancellor in 
 relation to the choice of a Chancellor of the university upon a 
 vacancy; and that it w^ould be disagreeable to his Majesty to 
 have any of his family elected w^ithout his consent and approba- 
 tion." I likewise added that, as fourteen days were allowed by 
 statute, it was hoped a sufficient time would be given that the 
 election might be the more publick and general. The Vice- 
 Chancellor asked me if I expected a particular answer to this 
 message: I told him, no, I could not say I did; but only left it 
 with him to consider of^o' 
 
 After his interview with the Vice-Chancellor, Hether- 
 ington communicated his message to several Heads of 
 Houses^; but if his embassy was intended to force the 
 
 ^ A village about five miles from Cambridge. 
 2 Add. MS. 32715, f. 426. 3 /^,v.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 43 
 
 Vice-Chancellor to show his hand, it must be counted 
 to have failed. 
 
 ' After you called on me yesterday ' wrote Dr Parris to Hether- 
 ington on July 17th 'with a message from his Grace, the Duke 
 of Bedford, I had certain intelligence that the Lords of the 
 Regency had been informed that Dr Richardson, Taylor, 
 Rutherforth and the Vice-Chancellor had begun a stir here in 
 favour of the P ; and that the Vice-Chancellor, to further the 
 design, had engaged to bring on the election immediately. This 
 is utterly false as far as it concerns me, and without any other 
 foundation than that, as I have no particular attachments to either 
 side, I have not been forward to make any declarations in a matter 
 of great niceness,- and when I perceived others, who had greater 
 reason to be more zealous, expressed themselves with caution^.' 
 
 The Vice-Chancellor was studiously vague with re- 
 gard to his intentions; and, though Hetherington be- 
 lieved that he was really trying to be impartial and 
 would 'act a very fair part in his public capacity'^,' the 
 situation was too critical to justify incurring any risks. 
 Consequently those of Newcastle's friends, who were 
 not too far away, were summoned to Cambridge or the 
 neighbourhood^; a party of voters was collected at 
 Peterborough, ready to descend upon Cambridge*; and 
 a 'stout body of fifty good men and true' was gathered 
 together in London^. Moreover Lord Dupplin^, who 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32715, f. 428. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 3271 5, f. 434; see also f. 430. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32715, f. 434. ^ Add. MS. 32715, f. 430. 
 5 Add. MS. 32715, f. 463. 
 
 ^ Lord Dupplin was the eldest son of the Earl of Kinnoull and one 
 of Newcastle's staunchest supporters. On his father's death in 1758 he 
 succeeded to the Earldom of Kinnoull, and, after Newcastle resigned 
 office in 1762, abandoned political life. The Duke was aggrieved by 
 Kinnoull's retirement from the parliamentary contest; and among the 
 Newcastle papers is a copy of the following verses, dated 14th July 
 1763, and endorsed 'by a gentleman's servant.' 
 
 'Banish this picture. Mollis, from thy view. 
 For Dupplin from his heart has banished you.
 
 44 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 represented in parliament the borough of Cambridge, 
 worked for Newcastle with unflagging zeal: 'he has 
 been ' wrote the Duke's brother, Henry Pelham, 
 
 a most useful and active agent in the university affair, as indeed 
 all your friends have been, particularly Mr Townshend^, 
 Harding, Hall, Squire and one or two more Etonians; the West- 
 minster people, and particularly a clerk in the Duke of Bedford's 
 office, whose name I have forgot but I know he is a West- 
 minster, have been very active also. In Cambridge the Provost 
 of King's, Masters of St John's and Trinity, together with our 
 old friend, the Bishop of Ely^, have stirred most notably^. 
 
 For a few days Cambridge, aroused from its long 
 vacation sleep, presented an extremely animated scene. 
 Those Heads of Houses, who were absent from the 
 university, returned in a hurry, and we are told that 
 'all diligence was used in applying to the residents and 
 calling in the absent voters*.' Nor was this activity 
 without fruit. Though, on the alarm first being given. 
 Butcher was despondent^ and the Master of Christ's 
 by no means sanguine^, the situation was completely 
 changed in a few days. On July 2ist the Master of 
 Christ's wrote jubilantly that ' by this time that majority 
 is now near two to one, and I dare say in a very few 
 
 As Mansfield false, he can in candour find 
 Pretence to quit his friend with quiet mind. 
 Retreats through moderation and good sense, 
 His freind and party leaves to Providence 
 The faithless Jews their King and Saviour sold 
 The Scots, too, bartered a Scot King for gold 
 Scotsmen and Jews in interest are the same 
 And both are damned to everlasting fame.' 
 Add. MS. 32949, f. 347. 
 
 1 Thomas Townshend was a son of the second Lord Townshend 
 and represented the university in parliament from 1727 to 1774. 
 
 2 The Master of Caius. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32715, f. 438; see also f. 412. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 32715, f 463. 5 Add. MS. 32715, f. 430. 
 
 6 Add. MS. 35657, f. 3.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 45 
 
 days will be three to one^'; and the same tale is told by 
 Lord Dupplin. 
 
 ' Many gentlemen from distant parts ' he informed Newcastle 
 'upon the first notice came to their colleges; so that it soon 
 appeared that there was in the university and within call such a 
 majority of electors, who were determined to obey His Majesty's 
 commands, as, if the vacancy had happened, would have done 
 no discredit to the loyalty of that body^.' 
 
 The zeal displayed on this occasion was not entirely 
 disinterested, and was doubtless in many cases inspired 
 by the hope of establishing a claim upon the gratitude 
 of Newcastle and the government. A certain Edward 
 Birkbeck, who was a Fellow of St John's and chaplain 
 to the Prince of Wales, promised the Master of his 
 college to come to Cambridge to vote for Newcastle, 
 though, as he was in Yorkshire at the time and con- 
 nected with the Prince, he might easily have asked to 
 be excused; and when, two years later, Birkbeck was a 
 candidate for a living, the Master reminded the Duke 
 of his readiness and zeal upon a critical occasion^. 
 Newcastle probably received many such reminders of 
 the scare of July 1748; for a scare it was, as the Duke 
 of Somerset did not die until five months later. On July 
 22nd it was known that he was out of immediate danger, 
 and by the beginning of August Cambridge had re- 
 lapsed again into vacation somnolence*. But the demon- 
 stration in force was not without effect. 'Having been 
 called to Cambridge on Tuesday last by an annuall 
 corporation feast,' wrote Lord Dupplin on August 5th, 
 
 I paid my compliments to the Heads and some particular 
 Fellows who had distinguished themselves upon the late occasion. 
 I saw all the Heads except the Vice-Chancellor, who happened 
 to be out when I called, and the Master of Queens' who is in a 
 bad state of health. Everyone is of opinion that the alarm has 
 
 1 Add MS. 35657, f. 3. 2 ^Ydd. MS. 32715, f. 463. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32720, f. 227. 4 Add. MS. 32716, f. 17.
 
 46 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 had a very good effect in the university. The point is well under- 
 stood, and the young men, who were most in danger of being 
 dazzled with the glittering of reversionary preferment, see the 
 opposition in a right light as a means calculated to distress the 
 true friends of government, dishonourable to the great name 
 which is made use of, and injurious to the university. The 
 harmony, which appears among the king's friends,... gave me 
 pleasure, and the spirit and determined firmness, which they 
 have all shewn, has strengthened their own party and dis- 
 couraged their adversaries. Those who came from a distance, far 
 from repining at the journey they had taken, are pleased that 
 their appearance contributed to give life and weight to the cause 
 in which they are engaged. The majority exceeds all expectation, 
 very very few of the whigs are in the opposition, and many of 
 the tories, particularly those of Caius college, have declared 
 their obedience to His Majesty's pleasure. The design of the 
 opposers was undoubtedly to bring on the election by surprise; 
 but whether the Vice-Chancellor would have taken so extra- 
 ordinary a step I don't pretend to determine. So far is certain 
 that the pressing and repeated applications of his brethren could 
 not extort from him a declaration that he would give proper 
 notice till it was evident to everybody that the superiority of the 
 king's friends was such as could not be defeated by any act 
 either of power or cunning. As he has now promised the Bishop 
 of Ely not to bring on the election in less than ten or twelve 
 days after the notice of the vacancy,... our friends are dispersing 
 again^. 
 
 The battle, indeed, had been won, though the fruits 
 of victory could not be gathered until after Somerset's 
 death. As he had pledged his word to the Bishop of 
 Ely, there was now no fear of Dr Parris rushing an 
 election; and his conversion seems to have been com- 
 plete, for when in September 1748 a false report of 
 Somerset's death reached Cambridge, he at once wrote 
 to Thomas Townshend and the Duke of Bedford, in- 
 forming the former of his readiness 'to execute any 
 commands that you or any friend of the Duke of New- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32716, f. 17.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 47 
 
 castle shall be pleased to honour me with through 
 you\' and asking the latter to send 'any such directions 
 as your Grace may think proper for me^.' Nor was Dr 
 Parris the only or the most notable convert. About 
 October 1748 Dr Richardson, Master of Emmanuel, 
 was officially informed by Dr Ayscough, one of the 
 chaplains to the Prince, that, though His Royal High- 
 ness was grateful for the honour intended for him by 
 his friends in the university, he must command them 
 not to make 'any attempt to confer it upon him as he 
 finds it would not be agreeable to the King, his father^.' 
 For a time the Master of Emmanuel kept this informa- 
 tion to himself; but when the Duke of Somerset at last 
 died in December 1748, the Master, who happened 
 to be in London, communicated Ayscough's letter to 
 Dr Rutherforth who immediately publicly announced 
 in Cambridge that no opposition would be offered to 
 Newcastle's election as Chancellor*. 
 
 Thus the succession, for which the Duke had waited 
 so long, came to him in the end undisputed; and on 
 December 14th he was elected Chancellor. As there 
 was no other candidate the proceedings were formal 
 and uninteresting, but his friends succeeded in con- 
 verting the occasion into a demonstration of the victory 
 they had achieved over a disloyal and factious minority. 
 The attendance was unusually large^, one hundred and 
 ninety members of the Senate recording their votes^; 
 and when Dr Chapman, Master of Magdalene, who 
 had succeeded Parris as Vice-Chancellor, declared the 
 Duke elected, the Master of St John's, carried away by 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32716, f. 201. 2 Add. MS. 32716, f. 207. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32717, f. 417; Add. MS. 5852, ff. 116-118. 
 
 * Add. MS. 5852, f. 117,5.427. 
 
 " Dr Rooke mentions that it was 'the fullest Senate I have ever seen 
 upon such an occasion.' Add. MS. 32717, f. 435. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 5852, f. 116, f. 427. Lord Dupplin gives the number 
 of votes as one hundred and ninety one; Add. MS. 32717, f. 443.
 
 48 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 excitement and forgetful of his dignity, ' pulled off his 
 cap and flourished it round three or four times over his 
 head,' thereby shocking the antiquary, Cole, who cen- 
 sured such behaviour as a 'peice of indecency in an old 
 doctor of divinity. Lady Margaret Professor in that 
 faculty, and Head of a large seminary for youth^.' But 
 though the victory was complete and the election unani- 
 mous, there were certain members of the Senate who 
 were too stalwart in their principles to vote for a 
 candidate whom they would gladly have seen defeated; 
 and among those who thus abstained were 
 all the Fellows of pure Emanuel, the three or four tories they 
 still have at Peterhouse, all of the same stamp at King's, one or 
 two of Trinity and Pembroke, several of Caius, and Dr Ruther- 
 forth and some few of St John's^. 
 
 It is probable however that these men were exceptional 
 in their fidelity to a beaten and discredited cause, and 
 that in Newcastle's big battalions were to be found 
 many who had supported the Prince of Wales as long 
 as he seemed likely to be successful. 
 
 This contest for the Chancellorship is a striking 
 instance of the close connection between parliamentary 
 politics and the internal affairs of the university. The 
 intrigues of the Prince at Cambridge were part of 
 his general campaign against the government. Though 
 he had little or no interest in learning or education, he 
 desired to become the head of a learned society in order 
 that he might convert it into a stronghold of his party 
 and increase his means of rewarding his followers. As 
 Chancellor he would be consulted in the disposal of 
 professorships and the other prizes of academic life, 
 and therefore his political creed would commend itself 
 to those who might need his favour. Newcastle's 
 candidature was inspired by the same motives, and it 
 was therefore as leaders of rival political parties that 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 116. 2 Add. MS. 32717, f. 443.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 49 
 
 they contended for the suffrages of the members of the 
 Senate. Neither they nor those to whom they appealed 
 thought overmuch of the interests of the university, and 
 the struggle was almost as purely political as a party 
 contest in the house of commons. 
 
 Newcastle's victory was therefore rightly greeted as 
 a ministerial triumph over the forces of faction; and the 
 newly elected Chancellor was determined that his in- 
 stallation should be worthy of the occasion and some- 
 thing in the way of a national event. Though the 
 ceremony was not to take place until July ist, 1749, 
 Dr Chapman, the Vice-Chancellor, was engaged as 
 early as the previous December in hunting up pre- 
 cedents; and his task was by no means easy. Charles 
 Ashton, the veteran Master of Jesus, was, we are told, 
 'the only person left who remembers the election of the 
 Duke of Somerset'; but as he had not been a member 
 of the Senate at the time, he was not well informed with 
 regard to the proceedings^, and the Vice-Chancellor 
 was obliged to conduct arduous antiquarian research in 
 order to discover the traditional ceremonies of an in- 
 stallation. His labours were not unavailing, and by the 
 middle of June the most important details of the 
 approaching ceremony had been settled^. The Duke 
 was doubtless content that the ritual of the installation 
 should be decided by those who were on the spot, but 
 he was determined to insure that a distinguished com- 
 pany was assembled to do him honour. 'He has 
 invited, summoned, pressed the entire body of nobility 
 and gentry from all parts of England' wrote Horace 
 Walpole with playful exaggeration^, and Newcastle was 
 earnest in his appeals to his friends to gratify him by 
 their presence. He was especially anxious for a large 
 attendance of the episcopal Bench, for he loved a bishop 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32717, f. 522. 2 Add. MS. 32718, f. 226. 
 
 ^ Horace Walpolc's Letters (edited by Mrs Paget Toynbee), 11, 390.
 
 50 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 as dearly as lesser men love a lord: and at one time it 
 seemed likely that he would have an opportunity of 
 marching in triumph through the streets of Cambridge 
 accompanied by the two Primates and the Bishop of 
 London. This hope was disappointed^, but he at least 
 succeeded in gathering together as distinguished a 
 company as ever graced an installation. 
 
 Everything was done to emphasise the importance 
 of the victory which had been won. The Chancellor 
 arrived in Cambridge on the evening of Friday June 
 30th, having slept the previous night at his father-in- 
 law's residence on the Gog-Magog hills^. It had been 
 arranged that he should stay at his old college, Clare, 
 and, in order to escape the fatigue of a public reception, 
 he entered the college from the Backs^. Shortly after 
 his arrival he was waited upon by the Heads of Houses; 
 but he was otherwise left in peace for that night. Soon 
 after eleven o'clock on the following morning a deputa- 
 tion arrived at Clare to escort him to the Senate house, 
 
 at the steps of which he was met by Dr Chapman, the Vice- 
 Chancellor, who walked up the Senate house at his left hand. 
 They then ascended the chair of state, the Duke standing at the 
 left hand thereof and the Vice-Chancellor on the right. A band 
 of music having performed a short overture, the Vice-Chancellor 
 made a congratulatory speech* 
 
 which is said to have been both long and fulsome^. At 
 the conclusion of his speech Dr Chapman presented the 
 Duke with a handsomely bound copy of the university 
 statutes and his patent of election, illuminated by Sir 
 
 ^ 'But the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the disappointment of the 
 university as well as mine, after having determined to do honour to 
 it, on a sudden laid aside the thoughts of it, (as is said) some difficulty 
 having arisen in his mind as to precedency on the occasion.' Samuel 
 Kerrick to his wife, July 2nd, 1749, Pyle IVISS. vol. vi. 
 
 ^ The Duke was married to a daughter of Lord Godolphin. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 5852, f 427. * Cooper's Annals, iv, 268. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 5852, f. 427.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 51 
 
 Thomas Brand^ and enclosed in a 'silver box gilt with 
 the university arms engraved thereon on one side, the 
 Chancellor's and Vice-Chancellor's on the other 2.' Then 
 the Senior Proctor administered the oath of office to the 
 Duke who thereupon sat down in the chair of state and 
 listened to a Latin speech by the Public Orator who 
 endeavoured 
 
 to take off from the obloquy which might have been thrown upon 
 the university for the late proceedings of some of our youth, 
 and threw those irregularities on the licentiousness of the age in 
 general ^. 
 
 To this oration the Chancellor replied in English, and 
 his speech was followed by the singing of an ode, com- 
 posed by William Mason and set to music by William 
 Boyce of the Chapel Royal. 
 
 This brought the ceremony in the Senate house to 
 an end: and the next item in the day's programme was 
 the installation banquet. It had been arranged that the 
 banquet should be held in the hall of Trinity, no other 
 college having a hall large enough to accommodate 
 the number of guests^: and the procession from the 
 Senate house to Trinity was probably, as far as the 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Brand was illuminator to the king and a gentleman 
 usher daily waiter. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 5852, f. 427. 
 
 ^ Ibid. 'I had the honour,' wrote Samuel Kerrick on July 2nd, 
 1749, ^ ^^^ wife, 'to walk in both the processions: the one for the 
 nobility and great personages from Clare Hall (where the Duke of 
 Newcastle lodged) to the Senate house in order to his being installed. 
 Everyone's name was taken down and called over before the procession 
 began and everyone was placed according to his rank under the 
 direction of Sir Clement Cotterell, High Master of the Ceremonies, the 
 Duke walking first. After the installation . . .there was another procession 
 from the Senate house to Trinity college where a most magnificent 
 entertainment was provided.' Pyle MSS. vol. vi. 
 
 ^ Even the hall of Trinity was not sufficiently spacious and there 
 was an overflow into the Master's Lodge: Add. MS. 32718, f. 204. 
 
 42
 
 52 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 general public was concerned, the most attractive part 
 of the day's proceedings. The order of the procession 
 was as follows: 
 
 Fellow Commoners, properly habited, preceded by the 
 Yeoman Bedel, the juniors first, batchelors of physick, batche- 
 lors of law, regent masters, non-regent masters, batchelors 
 of divinity all with their proper hoods and caps Scrutators, 
 Taxors, Proctors with their chained books, the Orator, in- 
 ceptors in physick, inceptors in law, inceptors in divinity, 
 non-gremial doctors in physick, law, divinity, without robes, 
 all these two by two, the Vice-Chancellor alone, and His 
 Grace, the Chancellor, in his robes, followed by the nobility, 
 bishops, etc., and preceded by the three Esquire Bedels i. 
 
 This stately procession wended its way along Trinity 
 street and across the Trinity Great Court: but, on 
 reaching the hall steps, the Yeoman Bedell, who was 
 leading, halted in order to allow the junior members 
 to withdraw. The procession then reformed, and 'the 
 Chancellor, nobility, doctors, etc., passed through into 
 the cloysters where the doctors put on their common 
 scarlet gowns^.' 
 
 After a short wait the company trooped into the 
 hall for the banquet. The Chancellor sat in the middle 
 of the upper table, facing the hall, and each of the 
 other tables was presided over by a nobleman. There 
 was however no general assignment of seats, though 
 apparently a natural order of aristocracy asserted itself, 
 as there were noticeably more Heads of Houses at the 
 Chancellor's table than at any other. Probably the hall 
 was uncomfortably crowded: and though Newcastle's 
 cooks had been sent down to Cambridge to assist in the 
 preparation of the meal, we learn, from one who was 
 present, that the fare was 'plain and in the academical 
 manner of entertaining^.' The dignity of the proceedings 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 427. 2 /^,v_ 
 
 ^ Harris' Life of Hardzvicke, 11, 387.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 53 
 
 was somewhat marred by the behaviour of the Vice- 
 Chancellor who acted as toastmaster, and so overdid 
 his part as to shock the sensitive Cole who afterwards 
 complained that 
 
 it appeared equally shocking and disgusting to see the second 
 person of the university rising up from his place upon every 
 fresh health and, with his cap elated, delivering it out in a 
 stentorian voice to all the company in the hall^. 
 
 But whatever were the shortcomings of the Vice- 
 Chancellor and the fare, it is probable that there was 
 no lack of that conviviality and good-fellowship which 
 contribute more than ceremony to the success of an 
 entertainment. 
 
 Having been installed and feasted, Newcastle was 
 free to spend the remaining days of his visit in making 
 himself known to the university: and he made the most 
 of the opportunity. On Sunday July 2nd he attended 
 both the morning and afternoon services at the uni- 
 versity church, and on the following day officiated as 
 Chancellor at an admission to honorary degrees, re- 
 signing at the conclusion of the ceremony the office of 
 High Steward which he had held for twelve years^. On 
 Tuesday he was again in the Senate house, witnessing 
 the creation of doctors, and these official appearances 
 were only a part, and not the most arduous part, of his 
 activities. During his stay in Cambridge he visited 
 every college in turn, 'and was met at the college gates 
 by the respective Masters and Fellows, properly habited, 
 and by them regaled with wine, etc.^' The Duke was 
 indeed unsparing in his efforts to make a good im- 
 pression: and when on Wednesday July 5th he left 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 427. 
 
 ^ 'The Duke, in an exceeding handsome speech which charmed 
 everybody, desired they would accept his resignation of the office of 
 High Steward of the university,' Samuel Kerrick to his wife, July 6th, 
 1749, Pyle MSS. vol. VI. 3 Add. MS. 5852, f. 427.
 
 54 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 Cambridge to visit the Duke of Grafton at Euston, he 
 must have been in a slightly shattered condition and in 
 need of a rest. 
 
 'Everyone, while it lasted,' wrote Gray to his friend, Wharton, 
 'was very gay and very busy in the morning, and very owlish 
 and very tipsy at night: I make no exceptions from the Chan- 
 cellor to Blew-Coat^,' 
 
 But though fatigued, Newcastle had good reason to 
 be content with his reception which proclaimed the 
 loyalty of Cambridge to the whig and ministerial 
 cause. He was now in a favourable position to make his 
 influence predominant in the university: and it was 
 significant that, on the day he departed, the office of 
 High Steward was given by Grace of the Senate to his 
 old friend and most intimate political associate, Lord 
 Chancellor Hardwicke. As a Cambridgeshire magnate^ 
 and a leading member of the administration, Hardwicke 
 was an extremely eligible candidate: but possibly the 
 Grace for his appointment, which passed 'without the 
 least objection or murmur^,' would not have been 
 carried so easily if it had not been known that Newcastle 
 was particularly anxious for him to be High Steward. 
 Jealous of any rival influence being established in the 
 university, the Chancellor needed a High Steward whom 
 he could absolutely trust, and if he could not trust 
 Hardwicke he could trust nobody. Thus the university 
 submitted to the ministry, confessing that whiggism 
 was the only true faith and that Newcastle was its 
 prophet. 
 
 It will be seen later that the Duke spared no effort 
 to foster this faith, and that his sins towards Cambridge 
 were not those of omission. Seldom has the university 
 
 ^ Gray's Letters (edited by D. C. Tovey), ]. 201203. 
 
 2 Lord Hardwicke's country seat was WimpoJe Hall which is about 
 ten miles from Cambridge. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32718, f. 273.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 55 
 
 had a more active Chancellor: and as long as he re- 
 mained in the service of the crown and in control of 
 the royal patronage, he was able to rely upon the loyalty 
 of his academic subjects. It is true that his authority in 
 the university, even when he was at the height of his 
 power, was never quite unchallenged, but the wishes 
 of a Chancellor, who could so richly reward obedience, 
 were not to be lightly disregarded. But when, eighteen 
 months after the accession of George III, Newcastle 
 fell from office, he found that he had built his greatness, 
 both academical and political, upon a foundation of sand. 
 From being the statesman whom the king delighted 
 to honour, the maker and marrer of destinies, and the 
 object of servile adulation, he became the leader of an 
 impotent and discredited opposition party, doomed to 
 failure from its inception. The weapon of patronage, 
 which he had wielded for so long and so skilfully, was 
 now turned against him by men who had learned its 
 use from him. He paid to the uttermost farthing the 
 penalty for having founded his political power upon 
 human greed and avarice, and suffered the mortification 
 of finding himself deserted by those who had been 
 most obedient to his will in his days of greatness. Nor 
 was it only in the political world that his influence 
 declined. The change in his fortunes was not long in 
 making itself felt in Cambridge: for there was little 
 material inducement to remain faithful to a Chancellor 
 who had only gratitude to give. The time was ripe for 
 a rival banner to be planted in the university, and all 
 that was needed was a favourable opportunity. 
 
 The opportunity came in the autumn of 1763 when 
 Lord Hardwicke was overtaken by what proved to be 
 his last illness. Though he lingered until March 6th, 
 1764, and at one time so far rallied his strength as to 
 encourage hopes of a complete recovery, it was com- 
 monly assumed from the first that he would not survive.
 
 56 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 and the question of his successor as High Steward 
 began to be canvassed almost as soon as he fell ill. 
 Neither the young King nor the Grenville ministry, 
 then in office, would have acted in accordance with the 
 political traditions of the age if they had not con- 
 templated utilising the occasion to overthrow the influ- 
 ence in the university of their antagonist, Newcastle; 
 and when about November 22 nd Lord Sandwich, one 
 of the Secretaries of State, informed the King that in 
 the event of Hardwicke's death he wished to succeed 
 him as High Steward, the announcement was probably 
 not unexpected. Sandwich had undoubtedly strong 
 claims to recognition by the university of Cambridge. 
 He had passed two years of his boyhood at Trinity, his 
 country seat, Hinchingbrooke, was only a few miles 
 distant from Cam^bridge, and he had always taken an 
 interest in the affairs of the university. Moreover as a 
 patron of the fine arts he was not unworthy of high 
 academic office, and as a servant of the crown he might 
 legitimately appeal for loyal support. Unfortunately, 
 however, the scandals of his private life were such as 
 to shock an age which was not easily put out of counten- 
 ance. When every allowance has been made for the 
 exaggeration of gossip and the malice of his enemies, 
 enough remains to stamp Sandwich as an abandoned 
 profligate sunk in sensual enjoyment. A distinguished 
 member of the infamous hell-fire club which met at 
 Medmenham Abbey, and the boon companion of some 
 of the worst men of his time, he had chosen evil for his 
 good; and his only innocent passion was a love of 
 music. The morality of the eighteenth century how- 
 ever was not rigid, and it was apparently not until he 
 added hypocrisy to his other vices that he became an 
 object of public scorn. But when on November 15th, 
 1763, he rose in the house of lords and denounced 
 his friend, John Wilkes, as the author of an indecent
 
 PLATE II 
 
 JOHN MONTAGU 
 
 FOL R'lH I.;,\RI. OF SANDWICH
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 57 
 
 poem, he revealed that he could not even attain the 
 proverbial standard of honour among rogues and 
 thieves. It was well known that Wilkes was being 
 attacked because he was a troublesome opponent of the 
 government, that the copy of the denounced poem had 
 been obtained by most questionable means, and that 
 Sandwich's object was not to safeguard morality but to 
 discredit Wilkes. Revolting as the poem may have been, 
 it could hardly have been more revolting than the 
 spectacle of Sandwich as the champion of virtue and 
 decency: and public opinion quickly decided that the 
 accuser was a greater criminal than the accused. Shortly 
 after the scene in the house of lords, the Beggars' 
 Opera was produced at Covent Garden theatre, and 
 Captain Macheath's remark 'That Jemmy Twitcher 
 should peach me I own surprised me' was greeted by 
 the audience with 'an applause of application^.' For 
 the rest of his life Sandwich was known as 'Jemmy 
 Twitcher': and if public opinion had been an effective 
 political force in the eighteenth century, his career as a 
 statesman would have come to an end on the day he 
 denounced Wilkes. 
 
 Yet it was only a week after his unfortunate appear- 
 ance as a champion of outraged virtue that this dis- 
 reputable nobleman informed the King of his designs 
 upon Cambridge. He had previously discussed the pro- 
 ject with George Grenville, the First Lord of the 
 Treasury, and Lord Halifax, the other Secretary of 
 State: and Grenville had certainly not encouraged him 
 to persevere in the venture. Though naturally anxious 
 for the university to be freed from Newcastle's influence 
 and connected with the administration, Grenville real- 
 ised that Sandwich's candidature would be generally 
 interpreted as a further outrage upon public decency 
 
 ^ Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George III (edited by G. F. 
 Russell Barker), i, 249.
 
 58 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 and might therefore fail: and he was fortified in this 
 opinion by Keene, Bishop of Chester, who as a former 
 Master of Peterhouse could speak for the university^. 
 Grenville therefore urged strongly upon the King that 
 Sandwich would disgrace the royal and ministerial 
 recommendation, and suggested that Lord Halifax, 
 who had also been educated at Cambridge, should be 
 the government candidate. This was undoubtedly a 
 very wise proposal, for Halifax, though not distin- 
 guished, was at least respectable: but on making 
 further enquiries Grenville discovered that Sandwich, 
 realising his own deficiencies as a candidate, had adroitly 
 
 ^ Edmund Keene, Bishop of Chester, was a younger brother of 
 Sir Benjamin Keene, the diplomatist. He had been a follower of New- 
 castle in the days of the Duke's prosperity, but on the accession of 
 George III he deserted his patron for the court. He had the reputation 
 of being a 'cheerful, generous, and good-tempered man': but he lies 
 under the suspicion of being a very abandoned time server. In 1774 
 the antiquary. Cole, met a lady at Horace Walpole's table, and after 
 she had retired, Walpole told him a tale about her which Cole after- 
 wards wrote down. 'She is' he wrote 'the natural daughter of Sir 
 Robert Walpole, first Earl of Orford: and that she might not be left 
 destitute when her father was no more, bought a living for 600 and 
 proposed marrying her to Mr Keene. . . .Accordingly, Mr Keene was 
 put into possession of this living and enjoyed it as his first preferment 
 for some time. In the interim Lord Orford dies, and when the lady 
 was marriageable, it was proposed to Mr Keene to fulfil his engagement: 
 but as he had by this time made other connections, and the lady, I 
 suppose, not over-tempting, though of this Mr Walpole said not a word, 
 and I only judge so from her present squat, short, gummy appearance, 
 though by no means deformed or mishaped but rather under-sized 
 and snub-faced, which probably might have been better when she was 
 younger. When this was determined on, the lady had nothing to do 
 but to retire and live as well as she could with her mother in a starving 
 condition, as no further provision was made for her and the family 
 knew nothing about her. . . .Now I have related the story. . .1 must 
 needs add this caution about it. Mr Walpole is one of the most sanguine 
 friends or enemies that I know. He has had a long pique, I well know, 
 against the bishop and indeed his being a bishop is a sufficient reason 
 for his spleen and satire.' Add. MS. 5847, f 402, f. 403.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 59 
 
 dissuaded Halifax from standing by dangling before 
 him the prospect of succeeding Newcastle as Chancellor. 
 
 'In the evening' noted Grenville in his diary 'Mr Grenville 
 mentioned to Lord Halifax, under the seal of secrecy, the 
 difficulty Lord Sandwich would meet with at Cambridge, that 
 the nomination would be much easier for his Lordship. He told 
 Mr Grenville that Lord Sandwich and he had agreed between 
 themselves that the first should be Steward and the last Chan- 
 cellori.' 
 
 Sandwich had truly played his cards with skill: for 
 as Grenville and the Lord Chancellor, Northington, 
 hailed from the university of Oxford, and the Duke of 
 Bedford, the Lord President, had not been educated 
 at either university. Sandwich and Halifax were the 
 only representatives of Cambridge among the leading 
 members of the government; and, by persuading Hali- 
 fax to stand aside, Sandwich practically forced the King 
 and Grenville to choose between running him as their 
 candidate or foregoing an opportunity of establishing 
 the ministerial influence in Cambridge. In such circum- 
 stances neither the King nor Grenville was prepared to 
 forbid his candidature, much as they disliked and 
 feared it, and Sandwich was able to congratulate him- 
 self upon having surmounted the initial difliculty. He 
 doubtless hoped that the university might forget his 
 shortcomings as a man and remember his power as a 
 minister. 
 
 Sandwich had not been singular however in per- 
 ceiving that a new High Steward might soon be needed: 
 and Newcastle, while yet unaware of the plot being 
 hatched against him, had decided that Hardwicke 
 should be succeeded by his son, Lord Royston-. Ever 
 
 ^ Grenville Papers, 11, 227, 228. It is also possible that Halifax, 
 v/ho was on friendly terms with Newcastle, felt a certain delicacy in 
 opposing him at Cambridge. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 55.
 
 6o THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 fearful of a rival influence being established in the uni- 
 versity, the Duke was naturally anxious to maintain a 
 close connection between Cambridge and the Hard- 
 wicke family: and though Royston was not an eminent 
 politician, he was a man of scholarly tastes and respect- 
 able life, and in many ways very well suited for academic 
 office. He had been educated at Corpus, had always 
 taken an interest in the university, and was well known 
 to several of its leading members: and it is probable 
 that Newcastle did not anticipate any serious opposition 
 to his candidature. Had the Duke realised that he was 
 embarking upon one of the fiercest and most hardly 
 fought contests that either university has ever known, 
 he might have selected another candidate: for though 
 Royston was able to boast a moral superiority over 
 Sandwich, he was conspicuously lacking in the love of 
 battle and disinclined to support his claims with vigour. 
 Something of a recluse and deficient in charm of 
 manner, he had none of the attributes of a popular 
 candidate: and though not unwilling to accept the 
 office of High Steward, he was not prepared to fight 
 for it. In after years he peevishly complained that he 
 had been the victim of his brother, Charles Yorke, and 
 Newcastle who had used him for their own ends and 
 involved him in a wearisome and profitless struggle. 
 
 'I can never' he wrote 'think with pleasure of this affair. 
 It gave me at the time a great deal of trouble, laid me under 
 several obligations for an object which was in itself a trifle, and, 
 unless made an unanimous compliment, not very acceptable^.' 
 
 The decision however was taken before the need 
 of a fighting candidate was realised, and for a few days 
 Newcastle apparently thought that all would be plain 
 sailing. But he was too experienced a campaigner 
 not to take precautions: and on November 26th he 
 issued instructions to his friend, Yonge, Bishop of 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 42.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 6i 
 
 Norwich, who, having formerly been Master of Jesus, 
 was in touch with university poHtics and politicians. 
 
 'The Bishop of Lincoln i' he wrote 'received a most favour- 
 able letter last night from the Vice-Chancellor that I could have 
 expected: and I really think, if this fatal event should happen, 
 which I hope in God it may not, if proper care is taken in time 
 my Lord Royston will meet with little or no difficulty. The 
 management must be left entirely to the Bishop of Lincoln, the 
 Bishop of Litchfield \ and yourself Proper notice should be given 
 to all our friends in the university of the disposition of the Vice- 
 Chancellor I wish you would write a proper letter to my friend, 
 
 Dr Sumner^, and to Dr Sandby*. My honest friend, Mr Hughes 
 of Queens', is now in town: he and all our friends in town should 
 be applied to. Dr Barnard of Eton School should be spoke to. You 
 best know what to do with the Masters of Trinity and St John's ^' 
 
 Newcastle was sanguine and perhaps over-sanguine. 
 He was confident of the support of the Vice-Chancellor, 
 who, he declared, would 'make the nomination we 
 desire^'; though it is doubtful whether the Vice- 
 Chancellor, who was William Elliston, Master of 
 Sidney, had gone further in his letter to the Bishop of 
 Lincoln than the expression of vague and non-com- 
 mittal sentiments of loyalty to the whig cause '^. Nor is 
 
 ^ Dr John Green, Bishop of Lincoln and Master of Corpus, was 
 one of the most active supporters of the Newcastle and Hardwicke 
 interest at Cambridge: but he seems to have been more closely connected 
 with Hardwicke than Newcastle. 
 
 2 Frederick Cornwallis who afterwards became Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. He was for a time a Fellow of Christ's: and of the many bishops 
 created by Newcastle, he was the only one who attended the first levee 
 held by the Duke after his fall from office in 1762. It was on this 
 occasion that Newcastle remarked with equal wit and truth that 'bishops, 
 like other men, are apt to forget their Maker.' 
 
 ^ The Provost of King's. * The Master of Magdalene. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32953, f 73. ^ Add. MS. 32953, f. 55. 
 
 ^ E'lliston was elected Master of Sidney in 1760, being then a master 
 of arts of less than two years' standing. It was remarked at the time that 
 he was probably the youngest man ever made a Head of a House. 
 Add. MS. 32905, f 343.
 
 62 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 there any suggestion that the Duke suspected a min- 
 isterial onslaught upon his sphere of influence : and he 
 seems to have thought that nothing more was needed 
 than a little management and a good deal of flattery. 
 He was speedily aroused from this pleasant dream. To 
 his disgust and annoyance he heard that the Masters 
 of Magdalene and Peterhouse, though they had stoutly 
 declined to desert their old friends, had been asked to 
 pledge themselves to vote for Sandwich in the event of 
 a vacancy in the High Stewardship^; and that the 
 Master and Vice-Master of Trinity had both declared 
 for Sandwich and begun actively to canvass their college 
 on his behalf^. The news was bad both in itself and as 
 an indication of evil in store. It was in no way surprising 
 that Dr Smith, Master of Trinity, should espouse the 
 cause of Sandwich, for his relations with Newcastle had 
 never been cordial: but the Duke must have been 
 deeply chagrined by the desertion of his old friend and 
 ally, the Vice-Master, Dr Walker : and there was reason 
 to fear, with all that Sandwich had to offer, that the 
 Masters of Magdalene and Peterhouse would be the 
 exceptions in their fidelity and Walker the rule in his 
 treachery. If moreover the Master and Vice-Master 
 of Trinity succeeded in their canvass of the college, 
 Sandwich would gain a decisive advantage at the outset, 
 for the Trinity vote might decide the contest. 
 
 Clearly the situation was fraught with danger, and 
 Newcastle was compelled to revise his plan of campaign. 
 It had been his original intention to avoid a public 
 canvass, for a lengthy experience of politics had not 
 killed all his finer feelings, and there was an obvious 
 indecency in treating Lord Hardwicke's death as a 
 foregone conclusion. Decency and Lord Sandwich 
 however were complete strangers: and if Newcastle 
 waited for Hardwicke's death as the signal for a public 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 85, f. 127, f. 145. 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 129.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 63 
 
 appeal to the university, it was tolerably certain that he 
 would find that many members of the Senate had 
 pledged themselves to Sandwich- in ignorance of any 
 other candidate. Consequently he was advised by his 
 friends to abandon his delicate reserve. 
 
 'Your Grace knows well' wrote John Chevallier of St 
 John's^ on November 30th 'that Lord Sandwich has offered 
 himself a candidate, under favour of the court, for the office of 
 High Steward of this university. His friends, some of them men 
 of authority, are now busy in canvassing for him. Should it be 
 agreeable to your Grace, as I hope it is, to give us an High 
 Steward, I beg leave to lay before you this particular, namely 
 that great part of the Senate would be very glad, if it be con- 
 sistent with your Grace's views, to be informed of your intention. 
 We are apprehensive that many absent and young masters of 
 arts will engage themselves hastily to his Lordship because they 
 will have heard of no opposition^.' 
 
 The advice was sound and was accepted by New- 
 castle. 
 
 'So many of my friends' he informed the Vice-Chancellor 
 on December ist 'having pressed me to be no longer silent upon 
 a subject, which I cannot think of without the utmost concern, 
 I take the liberty to acquaint you that if it should please God to 
 deprive the university of their most excellent patron, and myself 
 of my most dear friend. Lord Hardwicke, I shall heartily wish 
 that he may be succeeded as High Steward in the university by 
 the truly worthy heir to his virtues and titles. My Lord Royston 
 was educated with us, and does honour to his education by his 
 character viewed in every light, as a nobleman of distinguished 
 virtue, and as a scholar and a friend to religion and learning. He 
 is your neighbour. Lord Lieutenant, and representative of your 
 county: but above all he is the son of my Lord Hardwicke. I 
 still hope it will please God to preserve the valuable life of that 
 great and good man: if not, you have here my sentiments in 
 relation to his successor, which you will be so good as to com- 
 municate to such members of the university as you may think 
 
 ^ Fellow and afterwards Master of St John's. 
 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 131.
 
 64 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 proper. But I am desirous that this letter may not be read to 
 themi.' 
 
 Newcastle wrote similar letters to the Masters of 
 Pembroke and St John's^, and thus accepted the chal- 
 lenge thrown down by Sandwich. From this time on- 
 wards it was a fight to the death between two rival 
 interests in the university: and though Royston re- 
 mained in the background and displayed but a languid 
 interest in the fray, his deficiencies as a combatant were 
 more than compensated for by the vigour of the Duke. 
 Reluctant though Newcastle had been to begin the 
 contest, having once begun it he rightly thought of 
 nothing but victory; and he knew that victory could 
 only be achieved by careful and systematic organisation. 
 It was imperative that as many members of the Senate 
 as possible should be asked without delay to pledge 
 themselves to vote for Royston if Hardwicke died; and 
 that the canvass should not be confined to merely the 
 resident voters, but extended so as to include the large 
 number of members of the Senate scattered over the 
 country. Such a task needed skill, knowledge and 
 thoroughness for its successful accomplishment; and the 
 general plan seems to have been for lists of voters to be 
 sent from Cambridge to the Duke and the Bishops of 
 Norwich and Lincoln who scrutinised them with a 
 view of discovering the proper avenue of approach to 
 each individual voter. Thus it is noted on one such 
 list among the Duke's papers that Lord Dartmouth is 
 to be asked to solicit Berridge of Clare and Wadeson, 
 Fellow of St John's, that the Archbishop of York is to 
 be entrusted with the task of sounding another Fellow 
 of St John's, William Plucknett, who was a curate at 
 Gainsborough, that the Bishop of Exeter is to be called 
 upon to infliuence the son of one of his Canons: and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 154. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 158, f. 166.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 65 
 
 that the Duke himself is to write to four other voters^. 
 The task was tedious and tiresome ; but Newcastle was 
 determined upon victory and unsparing in his efforts. 
 He could not have taken more trouble if the fate of 
 England had been at stake. He wrote to Dr Markham, 
 the headmaster of his old school, Westminster, to 
 request him to use his influence with a Fellow of 
 Trinity who had been at Westminster^ ; he asked Lord 
 Edgecumbe to appeal to Dr Sumner, Provost of King's, 
 pointing out that 'your Lordship has a right to com- 
 mand Dr Sumner as he owes the best of his preferments 
 (two livings) to your father^ ' ; he called upon Lord 
 Folkestone to bring pressure to bear upon a Fellow of 
 Queens'*; and sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 'the names of those gentlemen of our university who, 
 it is said, will be influenced by your Grace^.' Nor was 
 this work unattended with danger. 
 
 'When I saw your Grace's name on the direction of a letter 
 to me' Dr Warner replied to the Duke 'I was in hopes it was 
 in answer to one with which I had troubled your Grace, some 
 little time ago, in favour of a charitable institution for the 
 widows and children of the clergy in that part of the county of 
 Surrey in which your Grace resides, and which I have had the 
 principal part in getting established. I now enclose your Grace 
 a copy of our rules and constitution, in hope that the Society 
 will be honoured with your Grace's subscription^.' 
 
 Like many other enthusiasts, however, Newcastle 
 found, or thought he found, that his supporters were 
 not as energetic as he considered they ought to be. 
 About the end of December he complained with some 
 bitterness that his friends at Cambridge were not 
 exerting themselves, and insisted that the Bishop of 
 Lincoln should 
 speak to all our sure friends amongst the Heads,... and propose 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 283. 2 Ada. MS. 32953, f. 210. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32954, f. 256. 4 Add. MS. 32955, f. 5. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32955, f. 3. 6 Add. MS. 32953, f. 223.
 
 66 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 to them to meet together every three or four days and bring 
 in the accounts of their several colleges as well as of their re- 
 admissions: and so make out the whole list^. 
 Doubtless the Duke was exacting, and he was possibly 
 the more exacting by reason of having to move in a 
 world imperfectly known to him. Despite the attention 
 he had lavished upon the business of the university, he 
 had never really mastered the academic labyrinth: and 
 to the end of his life he was never completely at home 
 in Cambridge politics. Consequently his touch was not 
 unfailing, and he was sometimes led by his ignorance 
 into serious errors and miscalculations. For instance he 
 requested his friend, Sir Edward Simpson, Master of 
 Trinity Hall, to persuade his Fellows to vote for Lord 
 Royston : and, on hearing from the Master that he had 
 talked with five of his Fellows who seemed willing to 
 vote as requested, he concluded that, as far as Trinity 
 Hall was concerned, all was going well. He was un- 
 deceived by James Marriott, a Fellow of the college. 
 
 T have been here but a few days' wrote Marriott from 
 Trinity Hall on January lOth, 1764, 'and came over on purpose 
 to confer with your Grace's friends, and to give what little 
 countenance and assistance I can, understanding that Lord 
 Sandwich does not relax of his violent applications, notwith- 
 standing the great hopes of the Earl of Hardwicke's recovery. 
 I desired Dr Caryl^ to apprise the Bishop of Norwich of such 
 circumstances as seemed to me somewhat necessary to secure 
 your Grace's interest in a society so entirely independent of its 
 Master as ours is. The members of it will undoubtedly expect, 
 all of them, the compliment of separate applications. For besides 
 Dr Wynne, Dr Dale, Dr Calvert and the Professor^, none of 
 whom positively declare themselves, I greatly doubt whether 
 Sir Edward Simpson can fully answer for his own nephew, Dr 
 Simpson*, who too well knows his uncle's situation to expect 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32954, f. 278. 2 Master of Jesus. 
 
 ^ William Ridlington, Regius Professor of Civil Law. 
 
 * The Master's nephew, Frank Simpson, had been elected to a 
 Fellowship of Trinity Hall in 175 1.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 67 
 
 anything at his death, and has just now engaged his vote to a 
 candidate for a much solHcited Fellowship against his uncle's 
 man.... In this college the Master divides only as a thirteenth 
 man^, with small profits of absentees at Christmas: so that this 
 Mastership, or almost Fellowship, is not better than that of one 
 of our chaplains. He has no vote at any election of a Fellow or 
 Scholar, and it is a mere complaisance that he is permitted to 
 name college servants^.' 
 
 Newcastle can hardly be blamed for failing to know 
 that the Master of Trinity Hall was Master in little 
 more than name, and he must have been ignorant of 
 many other essential facts. He was however aware of 
 his own deficiencies and wisely allowed himself to be 
 guided by the Bishops of Norwich and Lincoln and by 
 Caryl, Master of Jesus; for they possessed the know- 
 ledge of the university which he lacked. The Bishop of 
 Norwich seems to have laboured with exemplary zeal, 
 and it is to be hoped that he served God as faithfully as 
 he served the Duke. Writing to Newcastle on December 
 5th from Grosvenor Square, he mentions that he is 
 expecting letters from Cambridge and that he and the 
 Bishop of Lincoln 
 
 design to be (having agreed it this morning) at Newcastle House 
 by I o o'clock to-morrow morning, and there to be preparing such 
 minutes from the lists, which we both expect, as may be proper 
 for your Grace's consideration when you shall be at leisure to 
 see us^. 
 
 Three days later he writes again to report that he has 
 heard that the Master of Caius has half engaged him- 
 self to vote against Lord Royston, that the Master of 
 Peterhouse has 'declined promising absolutely that he 
 will not stop Lord Sandwich in the Caput,' and that 
 Lord Rockingham was about to write to Sir T. Went- 
 worth*. On December 9th he reported that he had had 
 
 ^ The Trinity Hall Fellowships were twelve in number. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32955, f. 134; see also f. 66, f. 80, f. loi. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32953, f. 208. 4 Add. MS. 32954, f. 136.
 
 68 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 another conference with the Bishop of Lincoln, of 
 which the result was 'the taking out of the lists several 
 names to be written to by us and the enclosed for your 
 Grace^ ' : and, ten days later, he is still struggling with 
 lists and lamenting that those he had recently received 
 'do not enable me to do quite what I wished in the 
 transcript of them which I proposed sending to your 
 Grace^.' 
 
 It is difficult not to be impressed by the thoroughness 
 with which the Bishop executed his task, and he com- 
 bined with great powers of application a sound judg- 
 ment. He fully appreciated the importance of the 
 personal element, and realised how much might turn 
 in winning votes upon a knowledge of petty and 
 apparently trivial details. Hearing for instance that a 
 certain Mr Barker, who was a son of a steward of the 
 Duke of Rutland, desired to be approached by the 
 Duke of Devonshire, he suggested a doubt whether 
 'the Duke of Devonshire will think it proper in him to 
 apply to the son of one of the Duke of Rutland's 
 stewards^': and sometimes he supplied what was little 
 short of a family history of a particular member of the 
 Senate. 
 
 'Mr Ekins, tutor at Eton to Lord Carlisle' he informed 
 Newcastle 'is Fellow of King's, as is his brother. They are sons 
 of Mr Ekins, Rector of Barton in Northamptonshire, the estate 
 of the late Bishop of Rochester's son, Mr Wilcocks (Joseph 
 Esq.) in Queen Street, Westminster, and I this instant recollect 
 that he wrote to them or their father in favour of Dr Ewer* to 
 oblige your Grace. The new Dean of Bristol's brother. Captain 
 Barton, married their sister, which is a bad circumstance, for he 
 and the other new Dean of Carlisle are the most active agents in 
 this town for the Earl. If your Grace would send immediately 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 263. 2 Add. MS. 32954, f. 96. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32954, f. 136. 
 
 * Dr Ewer was an unsuccessful candidate for the Provostship of 
 King's in 1756.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 69 
 
 to the Bishop of Worcester, who, I believe, goes into Sussex on 
 Tuesday, he is a much better channel to Mr Wilcocks than I 
 ami.' 
 
 The Bishop's fears were justified, for both the Ekin 
 brothers supported Lord Sandwich: but this was not 
 due to any failure on his part to take trouble^. He was 
 more successful in his suggestion that Samuel Peck, 
 Fellow of Trinity^, should be approached by the Duke 
 of Grafton whose acquaintance he claimed : for though 
 Grafton, when appealed to by Newcastle, denied any 
 knowledge of Peck, the Bishop proved to be in the 
 right. 
 
 'It is very possible' wrote James Backhouse, Tutor of Trinity, 
 'the Duke of Grafton may not recollect Mr Peck, but he cer- 
 tainly supposes himself known to his Grace, and has often said 
 to me if the Duke of Grafton should apply for his vote he could 
 not refuse him. Mr Peck comes from a place named Weston or 
 Weston Green in the neighbourhood of Euston, and had once 
 the honour of shewing the chapel, library, etc., to the Duke 
 and Dutchess. If his Grace will be pleased to write as if he knew 
 Mr P., I think I may be answerable for the success of such 
 application^' 
 
 and possibly His Grace was pleased to write, for Peck 
 certainly voted for Lord Royston. 
 
 Dr Caryl, Master of Jesus, was equally unflagging 
 in his zeal. At one time he was writing daily to the 
 Bishop of Norwich^ who was doubtless deeply indebted 
 to him for much valuable information, and without his 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32954, f. 203. 
 
 ^ The Bishop of Worcester wrote to Wilcocks who replied to Lord 
 Royston that he had no influence with the Ekin brothers and no wish 
 to work against Lord Sandwich. Add. MS. 35657, f. 44. 
 
 ^ Gunning gives an amusing account of Peck in his Reminiscences, 
 II, 114-116. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32954, f. 140; see also f. 7, f. 168. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32955, f. 9.
 
 70 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 co-operation the Bishop and Newcastle would have 
 been very much in the dark with regard to the situation 
 at Cambridge. 
 
 *Pray write to your brother immediately' he instructed a 
 certain Mr Twells in December 1763, 'and secure him for my 
 Lord Royston, and desire him to let me know where he may be 
 found at a minute's warning. And acquaint my Lord Duke that 
 there is one Mr Johnson of St John's, who is preferred by his 
 Grace, the Duke of Grafton, and that we hope that the Duke of 
 Grafton will write to him. I have just now heard, and I depend 
 upon it as true, that, the moment the vacancy happens, my Lord 
 Sandwich will set out for Cambridge. Communicate this also to 
 my Lord Duke^.' 
 
 But, if Caryl and the Bishop of Norwich gave satis- 
 faction by their enthusiasm and industry, this was not 
 the case with John Green, Bishop of Lincoln and 
 Master of Corpus. 
 
 *I am amazed' wrote Newcastle on January 4th, 1764, 'at 
 the indifference and indolence of the Bishop of Lincoln: it looks 
 really as if his friends and governors, the Yorkes, were not in 
 earnest about it: for I should think his Lordship would never 
 shew any backwardness in their affairs^.' 
 
 Too much emphasis should not be placed upon what 
 might only be a sudden outburst of temper on the part 
 of Newcastle, overwrought by anxiety and a prey to 
 fears : but it is also possible that the Bishop of Lincoln 
 was infected by Lord Royston's apathy, and disinclined 
 to take much trouble in preparing for a contest which 
 might never occur. 
 
 Whatever credit however is given to those who 
 organised the campaign, it must be remembered that 
 their efforts would have been vain if they had not been 
 able to depend upon the co-operation of those to whom 
 they appealed to win votes. They must often have 
 appealed in vain, but on the whole they met with an 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 207. 2 Add. MS. 32955, f. 66.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 71 
 
 encouraging response. The Archbishop of Canterbury 
 had not waited to hear from Newcastle before espousing 
 Lord Royston's cause. 
 
 'I should have thought myself much to blame' he informed 
 the Duke 'if I had not, as soon as ever I knew the wishes of 
 your Grace and Lord Hardwicke's family, endeavoured to 
 second them. Accordingly I spoke and wrote, and got proper 
 persons to write or speak, to as many as I could, and not without 
 success^.' 
 
 The Archbishop of York was also a willing and active 
 worker in the same interest^, and valuable services were 
 rendered by the Duke of Grafton, Charles Townshend, 
 and the latter's namesake and cousin who was dis- 
 tinguished from his more famous kinsman by the nick- 
 name of 'Spanish Charles^.' 'Your Grace may depend,' 
 wrote Grafton on January 5th, 1764, 'that I have 
 spared no pains nor persuasions to have such friends 
 of mine at Cambridge (as I could apply to) act in the 
 manner you could wish them*' : and on returning to his 
 home, Honingham in Norfolk, towards the end of 
 December 1763, Spanish Charles lost no time in re- 
 porting to Newcastle that 
 
 Mr Duquesne, having heard that there was likely to be a 
 competition for the High Stewardship of Cambridge between 
 Lord Sandwich and Lord Royston, and taking it for granted 
 that your Grace wished well to the latter, had already applied to 
 House and Herring of King's and May of Pembroke: he has 
 since received answers from them, and they have all three given 
 absolute promises to be for Lord Royston^. 
 
 Spanish Charles had been educated at Clare College, 
 as had also his more famous cousin; and the latter was 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32955, f. 31. 
 
 - Add. MS. 32953, f. 212, f. 326, f. 338. 
 
 ^ The famous Charles Townshend was a younger son of the third 
 Lord Townshend and a great-nephew of Newcastle; 'Spanish Charles' 
 was the son of a younger brother of the third Lord Townshend. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 32955, f. 76. ^ Add. MS. 32954, f. 190.
 
 72 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 able to be of service through his friendship with William 
 Samuel Powell who had for a time been his private 
 tutor. For many years Powell had occupied the position 
 of principal Tutor of St John's College: and though in 
 1 76 1 he left Cambridge for London, and, two years 
 later, vacated his Fellowship, he retained considerable 
 influence in his college and in time became its Master. 
 Powell was also on friendly terms with the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, Elliston: and therefore in every way a person 
 whose interest should be secured for Royston. The task 
 of approaching him was very properly assigned by 
 Newcastle to Charles Townshend. 
 
 'The Vice-Chancellor, I have reason to think' urged the 
 Duke 'is not ill disposed to me, but Dr Powel can fix him if 
 he pleases: besides Dr Powel has so much interest in St John's 
 
 College that that would determine the election in our favour 
 
 If therefore you would have the goodness to engage Dr Powel 
 to use his interest with the Vice-Chancellor to nominate my 
 Lord Royston, I am almost sure the Vice-Chancellor will do 
 it: and if the Vice-Chancellor names my Lord Royston to the 
 body, I will defy all that Lord Sandwich can do^.' 
 
 The Duke did not make this appeal in vain. 'I have 
 this morning' replied Townshend on December ist 
 ' seen Dr Powell who has engaged himself to me in the 
 fullest manner. He will exert his interest with the Vice- 
 Chancellor and in St John's college^': and having 
 done this good turn, Townshend followed it up with 
 another, reporting on December loth that he had 
 interviewed Professor Disney, 'who has engaged him- 
 self to Lord Royston and will do our cause further 
 service^.' 
 
 Newcastle and his friends had certainly good reason 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32953, f. 123. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 168; see also f. 145. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32953, f. 285; see also f. 184. Disney was Professor 
 of Hebrew and a Fellow of Trinity.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 73 
 
 to be unremitting in their applications: for their 
 adversary was industrious and unscrupulous. Sandwich 
 was both intelligent and well practised in the game of 
 eighteenth century politics: and he realised, quite as 
 fully as Newcastle, that victory could not be achieved 
 without hard work. He did not under-rate the difficulties 
 confronting him, and used to the full the advantages he 
 possessed. In certain respects he was in a far stronger 
 position than his adversary. As the candidate supported 
 by the court and the government, he was able to 
 promise those who were prepared to assist him that 
 they would enjoy the material benefits of the favour of 
 the crown, and to intimidate those who refused him 
 their votes with the threat of being excluded from 
 participating in the royal and ministerial patronage. He 
 could also rely upon the active assistance of at least 
 some of his colleagues in the cabinet. Before the end 
 of the first week of December a certain Trinity master 
 of arts had received two letters from the Duke of 
 Bedford and one from the Lord Chancellor, urging 
 him to vote for Sandwich^. In January 1764 it was 
 reported that Sir James Lowther had written to the 
 Master of Peterhouse to inform him 'that the King has 
 ordered Sir James to write to Dr Law in favour of Lord 
 Sandwich, and to tell him that the King will certainly 
 take care of Dr Law^.' Edward Barnard, Headmaster 
 and later Provost of Eton, who nowadays is remem- 
 bered as the only man who ever did justice to Dr John- 
 son's good breeding, is reported as resisting 'repeated 
 applications and remonstrances with a manly spirit that 
 does him honour^,' and we hear that the Bishop of 
 London, who was working for Sandwich, 'applied 
 strongly to the Whitehall Preachers, and Dr Gisbourn, 
 the Physician of the Household, has been told that his 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32953, f. 223. 2 Ajjj_ ]y[s_ 32955, f. 259. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32955, f. 84.
 
 74 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 refusal to vote as commanded might have disagreeable 
 consequences^.' It was also rumoured that 'poor Kelly 
 (of Jesus college and the late Mr Pointz's nephew) is 
 turned out of a small but to him necessary employment 
 for engaging for Lord Royston^,' and that Mr Lush- 
 ington of Peterhouse, who had also declared in favour 
 of Royston, had been summoned, as a punishment, to 
 join the regiment in Ireland of which he was the 
 chaplain^. 
 
 These stories must be accepted with reserve as they 
 come from those who were anxious to think the very 
 worst of Sandwich, but it is unlikely that the betrayer 
 of Wilkes was morbidly scrupulous in his electioneering 
 methods. Newcastle probably had some justification 
 for complaining, early in December, that ' such shameful 
 measures are taken that ought not to be practised in 
 the meanest, most ignorant borough in the kingdom*' : 
 but the Duke might not have been so shocked if the 
 shameful measures had not seemed so likely to be 
 successful. 
 
 'I am sorry to say' he wrote on December 8th 'that some 
 of the oldest and, I thought, most virtuous part of the university 
 say that my Lord Sandwich might make a very good High 
 Steward, though he would make a very bad bishop^,' 
 
 and the Duke had good reason to be dismayed at the 
 progress Sandwich was making. Like Newcastle he 
 had procured lists ' not only of all the voters but likewise 
 of most of their connections^,' and having been the 
 first to begin an active canvass, it was often found that 
 he had anticipated his rival in an application for a vote. 
 One of Sandwich's most active supporters in Cambridge 
 was the Master of Trinity who eagerly canvassed his 
 college on his patron's behalf. There is no doubt that 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32955, f. 84. 2 Add. MS. 32954, f. 313. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32955, f. 259. * Add. MS. 32953, f. 227. 
 
 ^ Ibid. 6 Ajj_ MS. 32953, f. 240.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 75 
 
 he was extremely active^; and though John Pigott, one 
 of the Fellows, was guilty of exaggeration in declaring 
 on November 30th that the Master had already engaged 
 'most of the votes in this house^,' there was a serious 
 danger of this statement becoming true. But Trinity 
 has always been inclined to resent being ruled from the 
 Lodge, and a Newcastle party arose in the college with 
 the Tutor, James Backhouse, at its head. Between the 
 two camps feeling ran so high that Pigott suspected 
 a brother Fellow of an intention to search the college 
 letter-box in order to discover the address of an 
 absentee^; and it seems that a good deal of this bitter- 
 ness was caused by the Master's tyrannical methods. 
 Indeed only a ludicrous blunder, made by the Vice- 
 Master, saved one of the Fellows, William Preston, 
 from being punished for his principles by financial loss. 
 
 'The Master' wrote the Bishop of Norwich on December 
 19th 'is confined by gout to his bed, and he sent for Preston 
 thither on Thursday night to try once more if the loss of his 
 stewardship would frighten him out of his integrity. In vain. 
 So Dr Walker was directed to elect another person the next 
 morning. Poor Walker's head was too weak for this business, 
 and so, instead of declaring the Master's resentment against 
 Preston, he actually proposed him to the Seniority to be elected 
 steward. They in their obsequiousness supposed either that 
 Preston had yielded or the Master altered his mind: and accord- 
 ingly he was unanimously chosen. The Master blustered and 
 
 ^ John Fuller and Fountaine, who had been elected into Fellowships 
 in 1762 but were no longer in residence, both received letters from the 
 Master asking them to vote for Sandwich. Add. MS. 32953, f. 196, 
 f. 210. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32953, f. 133. 
 
 ^ Pigott communicated his suspicion to George Onslow, but the 
 paper on which the letter is written is very worn and some words 
 have disappeared. Enough remains however to make it possible to 
 understand the general drift of the communication. Add. MS. 32953, 
 f. 222.
 
 76 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 declared he should not be sworn into his office, but that was 
 impossible as he was statutably elected. So poor Frog^ is in 
 infinite disgrace at the Lodge. It happened that the whole 
 society resolved to meet that day after dinner to drink Mr 
 Luther's health ^j and in the course of the afternoon much 
 indignation arose against the Master's violence. Meredith said 
 he had indeed promised, but his hand should rot off before it 
 wrote a suffrage for Sandwich. Powell and others blustered to 
 the same purpose: and one, whose name I have not, to shew 
 what his conduct would be, notwithstanding his forced engage- 
 ment, actually betted five guineas that Lord Sandwich would 
 not be High Steward^.' 
 
 Hence there was war in Trinity, and the Master, 
 who had done his cause no good by his violent and 
 high-handed methods, still further alienated the sym- 
 pathy of the college by committing a bad tactical 
 mistake. 
 
 'Indeed' reported the Bishop of Norwich 'they are all dis- 
 posed to go back, the Master and his Vice-Master having in 
 their great prudence chosen this particular season to propose 
 lowering their dividends, in which proposal they did not succeed*.' 
 
 But undaunted by the opposition he was evoking, Dr 
 Smith continued his campaign: and when he was 
 commanded by Sir Edward Walpole^, to whom he had 
 dedicated one of his books, to 'recall all the force and 
 
 ^ Dr Walker was known as 'Frog Walker' from having once held 
 a curacy in the Fens. 
 
 ^ Luther was a Trinity master of arts who had recently been 
 elected to parliament for the county of Essex. 'The effect of Lord 
 Sandwich's conduct began already to be felt. He, having to thwart 
 the Duke of Cumberland who espoused Mr Luther, taken the opposite 
 side on the election for the county of Essex, the court lost the election 
 by dint of Sandwich's unpopularity.' Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign 
 of George III (edited by G. F. Russell Barker), p. 267. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32954, f. 96. It is recorded in the Admission Book of 
 the college that Preston was admitted into the office of Steward on 
 December 17th, 1763. ^ Add. MS. 32954, f. 136. 
 
 ^ A younger son of Sir Robert Walpole.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 77 
 
 constraint he had put upon his Fellows^,' he only gave 
 an evasive answer^. 
 
 As far as one can tell, however, Dr Smith seems to 
 have confined his operations to his own college and to 
 have done little outside it. Sandwich's leading sup- 
 porters and organisers in the university were Dr Long, 
 Master of Pembroke, Dr Brooke, Tutor of St John's, 
 and Lawrence Brockett, Fellow of Trinity and Regius 
 Professor of Modern History^: but as the Master of 
 Pembroke was over eighty, it is likely that Brockett 
 and Brooke bore the burden of the work. The Masters 
 of Clare and Caius and the Provost of King's were also 
 supporters of Sandwich, though the Master of Caius 
 was by no means enthusiastic in the cause*; but among 
 Heads of Houses Newcastle possessed and retained to 
 the end a small majority. The Masters of St John's, 
 Jesus, Magdalene, Corpus, Christ's, Peterhouse, Trinity 
 Hall and the President of Queens' had all pledged 
 themselves to support Royston, and Dr Richardson, 
 the Master of Emmanuel, though his sympathies were 
 with the government, had given a similar undertaking, 
 in acknowledgment of valuable legal services rendered 
 him by Royston's brother, Charles Yorke; though he 
 was unable to go so far as to canvass for the candidate 
 for whom he had promised to vote^. The Vice-Chan- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32954, f. 96. 2 Add. MS. 32954, f. 136. 
 
 ^ Gray's Letters in, 31-34. ^ Add. MS. 32953, f. 238. 
 
 ^ 'When the precentorship of Lincoln . . . became vacant on 1 8 May 
 1756, Richardson claimed it and filed a bill in chancery against Arch- 
 deacon John Chapman, another claimant. Henley, the Lord Keeper, 
 gave a decision in November 1759 against Richardson who, under 
 the advice of Charles Yorke, appealed to the house of lords. On 
 18 February 1760, after a trial lasting three days, the case was decided, 
 mainly through the influence of Lord Mansfield, in his favour.' 
 Dictionary of National Biography. In a letter to Newcastle, dated 
 December 19th, 1763, the Bishop of Norwich refers to the 'coldness 
 and indifference of the Master of Emmanuel who contents himself
 
 78 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 cellor had not pledged himself to support either candidate, 
 but at the beginning of the year 1764 the general 
 opinion in the university was that he was anxious for 
 Royston's success. It was reported that *at dinner on 
 Christmas day the Vice-Chancellor added to the usual 
 healths "may the university know its own interests." 
 Somebody desired leave (I don't know who) to correct 
 it by altering one word and making it "its old interests" 
 and the amendment was accepted, and so it went round^.' 
 
 Yet though he was able to count upon a majority 
 among Heads of Houses, and though the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor seemed to be inclining in his favour, Newcastle 
 was very far from being satisfied or confident of victory. 
 He did not consider that his friends at Cambridge were 
 as active as they might and should be, and he probably 
 was disappointed in Lord Royston as a candidate. It is 
 true that Royston was in a difficult position, for he 
 naturally did not wish to lay himself open to the 
 accusation of heartlessly anticipating his father's death; 
 but he might have displayed more enthusiasm without 
 incurring the charge of unfilial conduct. It was not 
 until December 3rd that he communicated to the 
 university his desire to succeed his father as High 
 Steward; and it was unfortunate that this communica- 
 tion was made not to the Vice-Chancellor but to Dr 
 Plumptre, President of Queens', who as rector of 
 Wimpole was on intimate terms with the Hardwicke 
 family^. At the instigation of Dr Plumptre, who pointed 
 out that the Vice-Chancellor 'seemed to me to expect 
 to hear from your Lordship on the occasion^,' Royston 
 with giving his own vote in return for Mr Yorke's securing him the 
 whole house of lords'; and two days later the Bishop reports that 
 'Mr Backhouse confirms the Master of Emmanuel's coldness, and tells 
 me he has told him (Backhouse) that he has not asked one of his Fellows.' 
 Add. MS. 32954, f 96, f 136. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32955, f 64. 2 Add. MS. 35628, f 2. 
 
 3 Ibid.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 79 
 
 later repaired his error and formally communicated his 
 intentions to Elliston^; but this was not an auspicious 
 beginning of his candidature. He was moreover in- 
 clined to take for granted that men should labour in 
 his interests; and it is characteristic of him that he 
 omitted to recognise the very valuable assistance 
 rendered by the Bishop of Norwich. 'As to the Yorke 
 family' wrote the Bishop to Newcastle on January 4th, 
 1764, *it has so happened that I never in my life had 
 the honour of a visit from any one of them, no, not 
 even a congratulation upon my first promotion to the 
 Bench^'; and though the Duke succeeded in extracting 
 something approaching an expression of gratitude from 
 Royston, the Bishop refused to be pacified. 
 
 'I have read' he wrote to Newcastle on January 9th, 1764, 
 ' your Grace's most affectionate letter to my Lord Royston and I 
 have read his Lordship's answer, in which I have sought in 
 vain for many things which I thought should have been there, 
 and in particular for some idea of thankfulness to your Grace. 
 ...This, I say, I have sought in vain, having, in my diligent 
 scrutiny for it, only found a few words in the stile of a kingly 
 answer to an address, declaring that his Lordship "has no doubt 
 of the zeal, sincerity and services of all those persons" of whom 
 your Grace was pleased to make such honourable mention^.' 
 
 Newcastle had anxieties beyond the deficiencies of 
 Royston as a candidate, and he was probably more 
 disturbed by the cunning of his adversaries than by the 
 shortcomings of his friends. He knew that those against 
 whom he was matched would stick at nothing to gain 
 their end, and it was not long before he discovered how 
 little they were hampered by restrictive prejudices. 
 Shortly after the beginning of the contest the Sand- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 42. 
 
 ^ The Bishop excepted from this condemnation 'the illustrious head 
 of that family, whose condescension has always been as conspicuous 
 as his abilities.' Add. MS. 32955, f. 64. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32955, f. 126.
 
 8o THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 wich party made an attempt to swell its number by a 
 device which Newcastle and his friends regarded as 
 unfair. The constitution of the university provided that 
 only those doctors and masters of arts whose names 
 were on the books of a college could vote in the 
 Senate, and though it was always possible for a former 
 member of the university to replace his name on his 
 college books, no master of arts thus re-admitted was 
 entitled to a vote in the Senate until three months 
 after the date of his re-admission^. As university struggles 
 were commonly brief in duration, it was unusual for 
 masters of arts, who had removed their names, to be 
 asked to replace them in order to qualify for a vote; 
 and doubtless the three months rule was designed to 
 prevent the practice. But realising perhaps that Lord 
 Hardwicke was not so near death as at one time had 
 been thought, and that the election of a new High 
 Steward might not take place for some months, the 
 leaders of the Sandwich party decided to encourage 
 the re-admission of masters of arts. Consequently on 
 November 30th Lord Carysfort, who was a friend of 
 Sandwich, replaced his name on the books of his college; 
 and although for some days afterwards no other master 
 of arts was re-admitted, the alarm was given. 
 
 'Spanish Charles Townsend' wrote Thomas Townshend on 
 December i8th 'desires me to acquaint your Grace that he has 
 offered himself to be admitted at Clare Hall but has been refused 
 by Dr Goddard^ who refuses all admissions at this time indis- 
 criminately. The Master of Queens' has offered to admit him. 
 He wishes to know your Grace's opinion whether he should 
 accept that offer or not^.' 
 
 This was not an easy question for Newcastle to 
 answer. There was a difficulty in determining whether 
 
 ^ Doctors, who replaced their names on the college books, became 
 at once entitled to a vote. 
 
 2 The Master of Clare. 3 ^dd. MS. 32954, f. 84.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 8i 
 
 Carysfort's re-admission was an isolated incident or the 
 first of a series, and a policy of retaliation presented the 
 obvious danger of driving the Sandwich party to further 
 extremes. Consequently the Duke hesitated to express 
 an opinion, but there was no hesitation with the Bishop 
 of Norwich who was strongly opposed to the adoption 
 of a re-admission policy. 'Lord Carysfort' he urged 
 * began the unfair business of re-admissions, but it has 
 gone no farther on their side and I think should not 
 be attempted on ours^.' Unfortunately however Spanish 
 Charles had not waited for an answer, having placed 
 his name on the books of Queens' on December i6th^; 
 and within the next few days four followers of Sand- 
 wich were re-admitted^. Both parties were therefore 
 committed to the policy, and though it is possible to 
 argue that, if it had not been for Townshend's pre- 
 cipitate action, Carysfort's admission would not have 
 been followed up, this is no more than an assumption; 
 and it is more probable that Sandwich and his friends 
 were either waiting to see how much they were likely 
 to gain by the adoption of such measures or intended 
 to obtain the re-admission of their friends gradually and 
 by degrees, in the hope of what they were doing passing 
 unnoticed. It is at least certain that the Newcastle 
 party would have willingly refrained. ' I am sorry for 
 the re-admissions,' wrote the Duke on December 28th, 
 'I am sure they will turn out against us; but however, 
 as the others go on, we must in our own defence go 
 on too*.' 
 
 It is a sign of weakness to allow your rival to dictate 
 your policy; but though Newcastle might succumb to 
 what he deemed the logic of hard facts, his friends at 
 Cambridge were more resourceful. They declined to be 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32954, f. 136. 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 260. 
 
 3 Ibid. 4 Add. MS. 32954, f. 278.
 
 82 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 impaled upon either horn of the dilemma presented by 
 the enemy, and devised a means of escape. 
 
 'Amongst other means used on both sides to increase their 
 numbers,' wrote the President of Queens' to Royston on 
 December 29th, 'one has been to re-admit masters of arts 
 who have left the uni\ersity and taken their names out, and 
 then in three months after such re-admission they enjoy again the 
 privilege of a vote in the Senate. This was about being carried 
 to such a length that it was thought much confusion and detri- 
 ment would ensue to the university from it; and much trouble 
 and expence would certainly have been occasioned to those who 
 were to have been brought up from all parts. A Grace therefore 
 was yesterday proposed by some of our friends at St John's^ to 
 prolong the time for a twelvemonth for all who should be re- 
 admitted, after the passing of that Grace, before they should 
 have a right of voting. Some altercation followed thereupon on 
 the first reading, but a little before the second reading this day 
 proposals were made that whereas it appeared that in the whole 
 of these admissions, which amounted then in all to twenty-three, 
 your Lordship had five more than Lord Sandwich, there should 
 be five more admitted on his side to make a ballance, and then 
 that this Grace should pass. The Bishop of Lincoln, who is here 
 at present, was consulted on this head, and, as they did me the 
 honour of consulting me also, I said that the proposal was in my 
 opinion a very equitable one and for the peace and good of the 
 universitv, and ventured to sav I did not doubt vour Lordship's 
 approbation of it. On conferring afterwards with the Bishop of 
 Lincoln and others of your Lordship's friends, we all agreed 
 that it ought to be embraced, and, being thus settled, the Grace 
 passed without any opposition, and is I think a very salutary 
 measure upon the whole and I believe rather advantageous to 
 us, as orders were issued from the enemy's quarter to pour in all 
 the recruits of this sort which could be raised. Mr Ludlam of 
 St John's, a fiist friend of your Lordship, was the principal 
 negotiator of this treaty-.' 
 
 1 The Grace was brought forward by William Abbot who is des- 
 cribed by Newcastle as 'the great Tutor at St John's.' Add. MS. 32954, 
 f. 307. He became Tutor in 1 76 1. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35628, 3; Add. MS. 32954, f. 288. Writing on
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 83 
 
 This readiness on the part of Lord Royston's sup- 
 porters to treat with their opponents suggests that they 
 were by no means in a position of commanding strength, 
 and it is probable that they were unable to count with 
 any confidence upon a numerical superiority among the 
 resident members of the Senate. They must have been 
 still more doubtful of their strength among the non- 
 resident voters. Indeed by the end of the year 1763 the 
 canvass had not really made substantial progress. A 
 list sent by the President of Queens' to Lord Royston 
 on December 29th gives one hundred and nineteen 
 votes to Royston, seventy-nine to Sandwich, and nearly 
 two hundred and fifty as unknown^; and with such a 
 wide margin of uncertainty clearly anything like an 
 accurate calculation was impossible. The President 
 moreover does not discriminate between regents and 
 non-regents or between doctors and masters of arts; 
 but, inasmuch as a High Steward was not elected by 
 the undivided Senate but appointed by a Grace passed 
 by the two houses, such a discrimination was essential 
 for a reliable forecast. The omission is repaired in three 
 lists submitted to Newcastle by the Bishop of Norwich 
 about the same time. The first list contains the names 
 of fifty-four 'doctors of more than two years standing 
 and therefore regents or non-regents at pleasure'; and 
 of these twenty-five are marked as voting for Royston, 
 twelve as voting for Sandwich, and seventeen as un- 
 certain-. The second list contains the names of two 
 hundred and twenty non-regent masters; and though 
 Royston is given a majority of about twenty over Sand- 
 wich, nearly half the voters named on the list are 
 
 December 28th the Bishop of Norwich mentions that the Grace was 
 to be read for the first time on the following day; but this appears to 
 be wrong. Add. MS. 32954, f. 274. For a list of re-admissions see 
 Add. MS. 32956, f. 260. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32954, f. 290. 2 /^jj_ ;;^/[5_ 32954, f. 178.
 
 84 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 marked as uncertain^. The third list contains the 
 names of one hundred and seventy regent doctors and 
 masters, and of these one hundred and two are given 
 as uncertain^. 
 
 There is no reason to think that Sandwich was any- 
 better informed; and probably a good many voters 
 were shy of committing themselves before seeing clearly 
 which way victory was inclining. But about the begin- 
 ning of the year 1764 it seemed as though the toil of 
 the canvass had been undergone in vain, and that 
 Sandwich's hope of becoming High Steward was to be 
 dashed to the ground by Lord Hardwicke's recovery. 
 * There is the greatest reason to hope ' wrote Newcastle 
 on January 5th 'that by the blessing of God the 
 vacancy will not happen^'; and by the beginning of 
 February Hardwicke had so far rallied as to be allowed 
 to receive a visit from his old friend. 
 
 'I saw yesterday' wrote Newcastle on February 2nd 'a most 
 surprizing but most agreeable sight. My great and valuable 
 friend, my Lord Hardwicke, who, after four months confine- 
 ment for a most painful and dangerous disease, is at his age so 
 far recovered as to be able to come down stairs; his looks and 
 voice almost the same they ever were, his spirits and vigour of 
 speech almost the same; and no other complaint at present but 
 great weakness of body and inability to walk without assistance, 
 which by the advance of the season and proper exercise I hope 
 in God will soon be removed*.' 
 
 Convinced that Lord Hardwicke had been snatched 
 from the jaws of death, Newcastle came to the con- 
 clusion that the Cambridge contest was over, and testified 
 to his belief by writing letters of thanks to his leading 
 supporters and the Vice-Chancellor^. He soon found 
 however that Sandwich was very pessimistic about 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32954, f. 181. 2 Add. MS. 32954, f. 186. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32955, f. 82. 4 Add. MS. 32955, f. 474. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32955, f. 148, f. 156, f. 158, f. 160, f. 162, f. 180, 
 f. 182, f. 184.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 85 
 
 Hardwicke's chance of complete recovery and was 
 therefore carrying on his campaign for the High 
 Stewardship. Consequently the Duke was compelled to 
 call upon his friends in the university to renew their 
 efforts. 
 
 Upon the great and happy recovery of my most valuable 
 friend, my Lord Hardwicke, our present High Steward, I was 
 in hopes that that would have put an entire stop to the present 
 contest at Cambridge and have restored peace and good harmony 
 amongst us; but as I am well informed that on the contrary 
 the opposite party are still pursuing with more violence, warmth 
 and activity than ever, I must recommend it most earnestly to 
 my friends, and those who have a regard to my Lord Hardwicke 
 and his family, to redouble their application and to exert all 
 honourable means of adding strength to that cause, to which so 
 many of thern have to their everlasting honour manifested so 
 zealous and so truly virtuous an attachment^. 
 
 It was well these instructions were issued, for about 
 a week later Lord Hardwicke had a relapse from which 
 he never recovered. On March 4th he was reported to 
 be sinking, and two days later he died^. There is no 
 doubt that Newcastle was genuinely distressed by the 
 death of one who had been his friend and counsellor 
 for many years, but he did not permit his private grief 
 to diminish his public activities. It was now certain 
 that the university must appoint a new High Steward, 
 and Newcastle was as determined as ever to secure the 
 succession for the son of his old friend. Yet he well 
 knew that success was uncertain and that he was 
 matched against a mightier antagonist than he had ever 
 before encountered in an university contest. 'My judg- 
 ment upon the whole' wrote the Master of Jesus on 
 March 7th 'is that it will be a very difficult point to 
 carry, as we outnumber them by so few and are in the 
 dark about so many*^'; but the Duke was too experi- 
 1 Add. MS. 32955, f. 474. 2 Adj_ MS. 32956, f. 206. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 256.
 
 86 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 enced a politician to allow despair to damp his ardour. 
 Directly he heard of Hardwicke's death he despatched 
 two letters to the Vice-Chancellor by a special messenger 
 who was instructed *to ride all night, to be at Cambridge 
 to-morrow morning by seven o'clock^.' In one letter 
 he asked that the date of the election might be so fixed 
 as to allow 'those of the members of the university, who 
 are at a great distance, to attend, and expressed a hope 
 that the Vice-Chancellor would prove 'a friend to me 
 and to the interests of the son of that incomparable 
 person whose loss I can never sufficiently lament^.' 
 The other letter has not survived, but its contents can 
 be gathered from a subsequent epistle of the Duke. ' I 
 cannot' he wrote to the Vice-Chancellor 'express the 
 sense I have of your kind intention to nominate the 
 present Earl of Hardwicke to succeed that great and 
 valuable man, his father, in the High Stewardship of 
 our university^'; and there is no doubt that he was 
 genuinely delighted with the success of his application. 
 Hitherto the Vice-Chancellor had refrained from 
 identifying himself with either party; and although he 
 was suspected of antagonism to Sandwich, he had not 
 given clear proof of such a sentiment. It was however 
 his duty as Vice-Chancellor to bring forward the Grace 
 for the appointment of a new High Steward*; and, by 
 deciding that the Grace should be for the appointment 
 of the new Lord Hardwicke, he undoubtedly gave that 
 candidate an advantage. To be first in nomination was 
 not to make certain of victory but, like winning the 
 toss in the boat-race, it might just turn the scale in an 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32956, f. 234. On March 5th Newcastle had conferred 
 with the Bishops of Lincoln and Norwich; and probably the measures, 
 to be taken immediately after Hardwicke's death, were decided upon 
 at this meeting. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 232. 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 254. 
 4 Add. MS. 35657, f. 75.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 87 
 
 even contest. Though convinced supporters of Sand- 
 wich would oppose the Grace, those members of the 
 Senate who inclined to neutrality would be disposed 
 to support it in the hope of avoiding a prolongation of 
 the struggle; and Newcastle by no means under-rated 
 the favour conferred. 
 
 'The Vice-Chancellor' he declared 'a young gentleman of 
 character and merit, unpensioned, undignified, unbiassed by 
 promises or threats, has acted the greatest part that ever man did, 
 kept his resolution to himself, none of us knew what it would 
 be; and, when the vacancy was made, then declared publicly 
 that he intended (as is our form) to nominate the present Earl 
 of Hardwicke to succeed his great and meritorious father^.' 
 
 It also rested with the Vice-Chancellor to name the 
 day for the Grace to be voted upon by the Senate; and 
 Newcastle was particularly anxious that his friends in 
 distant parts of the country should be allowed sufficient 
 time to reach Cambridge, and that the day chosen 
 should not clash with an ordination which the Bishop 
 of Lincoln had arranged to hold at his palace at Buck- 
 den^. After consulting Lord Hardwicke's supporters, 
 the Vice-Chancellor announced the election for Thurs- 
 day March 22 nd, but though this date was apparently 
 quite convenient to the Bishop of Lincoln^, it was too 
 near in point of time to meet with the approval of 
 Newcastle who complained that 'it will be impossible 
 for us to give timely notice to our friends of the 
 election"*.' It was in vain however that he appealed for 
 an extension of time; the Vice-Chancellor pointed out 
 that the day he had selected had been approved by 
 Hardwicke's supporters, that the announcement had 
 been communicated to the Masters and Tutors of the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 5. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 254. Buckden is about four miles from 
 Huntingdon. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 277. 4 Add. MS. 32956, f. 312.
 
 88 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 colleges, and through them to the absent electors, and 
 
 that 
 
 if after this any alteration should be made in the time, it would 
 
 certainly give those persons who are in the interest of Lord 
 
 Sandwich an occasion, whether just or not, to complain of my 
 
 conduct as a magistrate^. 
 
 In spite therefore of his anxiety for Hardwicke's 
 success, the Vice-Chancellor was not prepared to 
 sacrifice everything to partisanship; and though, as will 
 be seen later, the election was ultimately postponed for 
 a week, this was not the result of Newcastle's plea 
 but of a grave tactical blunder on the part of Lord 
 Sandwich's friends. 
 
 The situation, though not desperate, was by no 
 means favourable^; and it was apparently Dr Powell, 
 Charles Townshend's old tutor, who expressed the 
 opinion that the time had come for the despatch of a 
 special emissary to Cambridge to assist in the canvass. 
 In communicating the suggestion to Newcastle, Towns- 
 hend quoted Powell as saying 
 
 how absolutely necessary it is your Grace should have a friend, 
 considerable in himself and acceptable to the university, and a 
 person of activity and quickness, present at the university to 
 animate, conduct, and lead your party^, 
 
 and the Duke, taking the hint, asked Charles Towns- 
 hend to go himself*. Charles needed no pressing. Ever 
 on the look out for a fresh excitement, he was happy to 
 take a holiday from his duties at Westminster and 
 disport himself among university politicians; but it is 
 open to doubt whether Newcastle was justified in 
 allowing him to go. The parliamentary opposition, of 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32956, f. 369. 
 
 2 The Master of Jesus reported on March 8th 'we have had a 
 most discomfortable time for these last twenty-four hours. Every minute 
 brings to light something bad.' Add. MS. 32956, f. 281. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 246. 4 j^^^_ MS. 32956, f. 250.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 89 
 
 which the Duke was the leader and Townshend, for the 
 time being, a member, was engaged in a fierce and 
 critical struggle with the ministry; and it was not a 
 time for it to dissipate its strength by indulging in 
 side shows. Valuable as Townshend might be at Cam- 
 bridge, he would be still more valuable in the house 
 of commons as a critic of George Grenville's financial 
 measures; and in sending him to Cambridge New- 
 castle was guilty of faulty generalship. He had how- 
 ever persuaded himself that the contest at Cambridge 
 was of equal importance with the contest in parliament, 
 and that the success of Sandwich would be as fatal to 
 the opposition as to himself. ' Unless it may be made a 
 publick measure and that all chief persons in the 
 minority will set it in that light, and act in it as such,' 
 he told the Duke of Devonshire on March 7th, ' I shall 
 
 despair of success Indeed, my dear Lord, it is 
 
 necessary that we should all act together or we shall be 
 all blown up^.' 
 
 On March 8th Charles Townshend, accompanied by 
 Dr Powell, left for Cambridge. On the following morn- 
 ing he waited upon the Vice-Chancellor who received 
 him cordially and gave him permission to say that he, 
 the Vice-Chancellor, had undertaken to nominate Lord 
 Hardwicke to the Senate^. Then without further delay 
 Townshend started to work upon the university. 
 
 'I began my canvass this morning' he informed Newcastle 
 on March 9th 'and have had great success u^here it was least 
 expected. Your Grace will perhaps be anxious to hear with 
 exactness in what manner and upon what general grounds I 
 have made my applications. In the first place then I have 
 assumed the honour of being employed by your Grace with the 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32956, f. 252. It seems that Newcastle was under the 
 impression, which proved to be wrong, that Sandwich himself had 
 gone or was going to Cambridge. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 310, f. 318.
 
 90 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 approbation of Lord Hardwicke and his family and of Lord 
 Townshend^ (all thinking and acting together upon the same 
 motives) to sollicit the support of your particular and joint friends 
 in favour of the Vice-Chancellor's nomination of Lord Hardwicke 
 upon the present vacancy. When I have found individuals 
 engaged for us I have acknowledged the obligation, when 
 positively declared against us I have lamented it; and when 
 either undecided or conditionally engaged I have presumed to 
 enforce every topic I could urge to gain the doubtful or to dis- 
 tinguish the present case from competitions in general where 
 either party can be served without previous unkindness or slight 
 to the other. I have found this distinction take exceedingly, and 
 have brought Mr Whiston, after long argument, and Cardale 
 of St John's and others to a declaration that, struck with the 
 idea of doing a positive unkindness to the heir of Lord Hard- 
 wicke merely to seek an uncertain opportunity of obliging Lord 
 Sandwich, they will vote for Lord Hardwicke if first nominated 
 by the Vice-Chancellor^.' 
 
 The work was exhausting but Townshend was in- 
 defatigable. On the arrival of the Bishop of Lincoln in 
 Cambridge on the afternoon of March icth, Towns- 
 hend at once proceeded with him to canvass St John's, 
 of which college the Bishop had been a Fellow before 
 becoming Master of Corpus, calling in particular upon 
 
 Lincolnshire gentlemen whom I thought open to explicit 
 solicitation, and likely to be influenced by the visit, civility, and 
 kind assurances of their own bishop, in opposition to the loose 
 though positive promises of our liberal adversary^. 
 
 Moreover, before the day was over, he and the Bishop 
 had gone through the list of voters and Townshend 
 reported that 
 
 Lord Hardwicke has a majority of thirteen at least in the 
 class of doctors, that Lord Sandwich has at most a majority of 
 six in the class of non-regents which may be taken off by 
 throwing into the non-regents seven of the thirteen doctors, 
 that Lord Hardwicke has a majority of ten at least in the 
 
 1 Charles Townshend's father who died on March 12th, 1764. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 310. 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 357.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 91 
 
 regents; that of the seventeen doubtful regents Lord Hard- 
 wicke is almost sure of some; but if they should all vote for 
 Lord Sandwich, Lord Hardwicke, independent of accidents in 
 the attendance of our distant votes, will still carry his election^. 
 
 Whatever may be thought of the expediency of dis- 
 tracting Charles Townshend's attention from the parlia- 
 mentary struggle, there is no doubt of the success of 
 his Cambridge visit. The Master of Jesus, who had 
 been so despondent, was jubilant over the work 
 achieved^; and Newcastle had the pleasure of con- 
 gratulating his nephew upon reviving 'the spirits (I 
 had almost said the desponding spirits) of all our 
 friends^.' Townshend himself certainly did not under- 
 rate the value of his work; 'it is incredible' he declared 
 'how the face of things changes here; our friends, 
 active, sanguine, united; the adversary, angry, suspicious, 
 and revengeful*.' It is, however, doubtful whether he 
 did not rate his achievement rather too high. He had 
 certainly succeeded in inspiring the Hardwicke party 
 with courage and hope, and in persuading a certain 
 number of waverers to support the Grace; but if he 
 believed that he had routed Sandwich and his followers, 
 he fell into a grievous error. ' Mr Townshend is very 
 sanguine,' remarked the Bishop of Lincoln, 'but I 
 think that in a contest so nearly balanced great hazard 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32956, f. 357. If the seventeen doubtful regents all 
 voted for Lord Sandwich, Lord Hardwicke would be in a minority 
 of one in that house, assuming that he had been obliged to use seven of 
 his thirteen doctors in the non-regents house. Therefore the Bishop 
 of Lincoln was more accurate when he informed Newcastle on March 
 17th that 'on the most exact scrutiny we could make, we brought the 
 matter so very near that, upon allowing our adversary all the doubtful 
 votes, there was in the whole pole but the diiference of one against 
 us.' Add. MS. 32956, f. 375. Another calculadon, which is endorsed 
 as made by Charles Townshend, gives Hardwicke a small majority 
 in both houses. Add. MS. 32957, f. i. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, . 308. 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 341. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32956, f 357.
 
 92 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 must arise from illness, absence from home, great 
 distance and other causes^,' and the Master of Jesus 
 expressed a similar opinion^. 
 
 Yet the experiment of sending a special emissary to 
 Cambridge had been justified; and when Charles 
 Townshend left the university about March 12th, his 
 place was taken by his kinsman, Thomas Townshend, 
 junior^, who in his turn was succeeded by Lord Hard- 
 wicke's two brothers, the Dean of Lincoln and John 
 Yorke^. By the date of Charles Townshend's departure 
 the work of canvassing the university had been more 
 or less completed; but the parties were too evenly 
 balanced to allow of any relaxation of effort. 'No pains 
 should be spared' wrote Thomas Townshend 'where 
 we have the least chance of a vote. Things run very 
 near indeed^.' They ran so near as to make the whims 
 and fancies of a single member of the Senate a matter 
 of vital moment, and a reliable forecast an impossibility. 
 A note by the Master of Jesus, dated March i8th, 
 marks the ever changing character of the scene. He 
 mentions that Evans and Bennet, two supporters of 
 Sandwich, had arrived in Cambridge, though it had 
 been anticipated that they would not come, that Castley, 
 another member of the same party, had also unex- 
 pectedly arrived from the Isle of Man, and that Bacon 
 of Caius had been 'carried off mad this morning^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32956, f. 375. 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 308. 
 
 ^ Charles Townshend's first cousin. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32957, f. 133. It was Charles Townshend who urged 
 that some members of Lord Hardwicke's family should come to Cam- 
 bridge; and it is characteristic of Hardwicke's whole attitude towards 
 the election that he only reluctantly accepted the suggestion. Add. MS. 
 32956, f. 310, f. 361, f. 363. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32957, f 149. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32957, f. 165. In an undated list of absentees six persons 
 are described as insane. Add. MS. 32954, f. 213. Castley was a Fellow 
 of Jesus and Master of Castletown School, Isle of Man.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 93 
 
 Much alarm and trouble was also caused by the be- 
 haviour of Dr Charles Berridge of Clare. After volun- 
 tarily undertaking to vote for Hardwicke, Dr Berridge 
 began to fear that he had made himself a little too 
 cheap; and his suspicions were confirmed by a letter he 
 had written to Newcastle being left unanswered. In a 
 thoroughly bad humour he came to the conclusion that 
 his pledge to support Hardwicke was not being counted 
 to him for righteousness but attributed to the election- 
 eering skill of the Master of Jesus; and he therefore 
 arranged to pair with a certain William Ellis and de- 
 parted for Bath. As Berridge was a doctor whose vote 
 could be cast in either house of the Senate, and Ellis 
 was only a master of arts, the arrangement was a 
 material loss to the Hardwicke party, and on learning 
 from the Master of Jesus what had happened, Newcastle 
 acted promptly. Hearing that Berridge was breaking 
 the journey to Bath by a stay in London, he contrived 
 to see him; and so far succeeded in placating him as to 
 induce him to request Ellis to cancel the engagement 
 between them. Ellis readily consented; and though, 
 after arriving at Bath, Berridge pleaded he was too ill 
 to travel to Cambridge, he was finally persuaded to 
 make the journey and vote for Hardwicke^. 
 
 Such difficulties were almost of daily occurrence, for 
 Dr Berridge was by no means singular in being quick 
 to take offence. 
 
 'On my return to college this morning' wrote a certain Mr 
 Bigg of Clare to Newcastle ' I found myself honoured with a 
 letter from your Grace through Mr Talbot^. I only observe that 
 this was the first application I have had from that quarter, 
 though several days passed after the melancholly event of my 
 good Lord Hardwicke's death before I left college, and, what 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 99, f. 139, f. 155, f. 156, f. 158, f. 255. 
 ^ Talbot was a Fellow of Clare and the Chancellor's secretary for 
 university business.
 
 94 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 is somewhat extraordinary, some of the managers on that side 
 passed by my door to the juniors, though I had particularly 
 offered to write to the absentees of our college^.' 
 
 Bigg did not carry his resentment so far as not to vote 
 for Hardwicke, but it is appalling to think of the time 
 which must have been spent in healing the wounds 
 unwittingly inflicted on pride and dignity. Nor was 
 there any time to spare; for on both sides there was 
 feverish activity until the end. 
 
 'I am informed' wrote Thomas Townshend 'that a letter 
 from Lord Sondes to Mr Barton of Clare Hall might chance to 
 be productive of a good effect. His engagement at present is to 
 another Fellow of the same college, and there is great reason to 
 think that an application from Lord Sondes would stagger him^.' 
 
 Possibly it was of the same Barton it was suggested 
 that as Lady Gainsborough allowed his mother a 
 hundred pounds a year she might be able to persuade 
 him to vote for Hardwicke^; but the services of Lord 
 Sondes and Lady Gainsborough, if requisitioned, failed 
 to wean him from Lord Sandwich. A few days before 
 the election the President of Queens' reported that Carr 
 of Clare, who was a follower of Sandwich and, as a 
 member of the Caput, able to reject the Grace by his 
 single vote, had been promised a valuable living by the 
 Archbishop of York and Lord Rockingham*; and, 
 whatever may be said of the methods employed, they 
 were at least based upon a frank acknowledgment of 
 the predominance of self-interest. Mr Mease, Fellow 
 of St John's and curate at Halesworth in Suffolk, was 
 to be approached by Sir Joshua Vanneck from whom 
 he had hopes of advancement in the church^; and a 
 certain Samuel Hill of the same college was success- 
 fully solicited by Newcastle who, though he did not 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 216; see also f. 52. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32957, f. 149. 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 165. 
 * Add. MS. 32957, f. 153. 5 A(j(j_ MS. 32956, f. 393.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 95 
 
 know him, pleaded that he had 'had the pleasure to 
 contribute to your obtaining the degree of master of 
 arts in our university^.' 
 
 It was certainly a keen and unscrupulous game with 
 a very sordid and unattractive side to it; and, as might 
 be expected in such a hard fought contest, there was 
 little that either party would not do to secure a vote. 
 
 ' I have been earnestly pressed by my neighbour, Mr Wortham 
 of Royston,' wrote Hardwicke to Newcastle on March i8th, 
 ' to beg the favour of your Grace to recommend the pretentions 
 of his nephew, Mr Ferris, to a Fellowship of St John's by a 
 line from your Grace to Dr Ogden. I have already wrote to the 
 Dean of Rochester ^ on the subject, but on no other footing than 
 the merit of the young man, and to desire that a junior com- 
 petitor may not bear him down by superior interest. Mr Wortham 
 says he would not have had recourse to this sort of application 
 if the other candidate had not set the example. Your Grace may 
 be very sure that I shall shut the door as much as possible against 
 these sort of interpositions, but at this juncture I would not 
 have my friends in the county think that I neglect anything in 
 which they are concerned^.' 
 
 Sometimes an attempt was made to intimidate a voter 
 from adhering to a promise he had given. Mr Story of 
 Magdalene for instance pleaded hard to be excused 
 from fulfilling his pledge to vote for Hardwicke as 'it 
 will in all probability deprive me of my curacy and 
 whole support at present*'; and William Gawthrop of 
 Trinity was persuaded by Backhouse to foreswear the 
 allegiance he had sworn to Sandwich. 
 
 'I have sent twice this week' wrote Backhouse on March 
 nth 'to Mr Gawthrop by special messengers but cannot yet 
 obtain an explicit answer that he will vote for us, the Master 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32956, f. 316; see also f. 292. 
 ^ The Master of St John's. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32957, f. 167. Ferris was elected to a Fellowship on 
 the 9th April 1764. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32957, f. 103.
 
 96 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 having sent his own servant to claim and insist on his first 
 promise however unwarily made. This has so horrified him 
 that he knows not what to do; however he has promised to let 
 me see him before any other of the college^.' 
 
 Though we know far less of the activities of the 
 Sandwich party, it is quite certain that they were making 
 a desperate bid for victory. 'Lord Sandwich is inde- 
 fatigable in his applications,' wrote a supporter of Lord 
 Hardwicke from Wakefield, 'his expresses are daily 
 coming down to the North^'; and we also hear of Lord 
 Chancellor Northington being so enraged with a young 
 clergyman for supporting Hardwicke that he refused 
 to give him a living which he had promised him^. 
 Moreover a personal canvass of the university in the 
 Sandwich interest was undertaken by Lord Carysfort, 
 Colonel Draper and Charles Townshend's elder brother, 
 George, who all arrived in Cambridge about the middle 
 of March. George Townshend was soon called away, 
 by the death of his father whom he succeeded in the 
 peerage; but his two companions remained behind and 
 solicited votes. 
 
 'Draper and Carysfort' wrote Thomas Townshend 'go 
 round the university, make civil bows and civil speeches to 
 everybody, and affect to shew a difference between their conduct 
 and the eagerness of Charles Townshend*.' 
 
 The industry of Lord Sandwich's friends was doubt- 
 less very commendable but their tactics were open to 
 criticism. Interpreting the rule, by which re-admitted 
 masters of arts were not entitled to vote until three 
 months had elapsed from the date of re-admission, as 
 meaning three lunar months, the Vice-Chancellor had 
 purposely delayed the election of a High Steward until 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32956, f. 394. Gawthrop finally voted for Hardwicke. 
 2 Add. MS. 32956, f. 420. 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 67. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32957, f. 57; see also Add. MS. 32957, f. 35; Add. 
 MS. 35640, f. no.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 97 
 
 March 22 nd in order that all those re-admitted before 
 December 30th should be able to vote. In so doing he 
 had acted with perfect impartiality; for as the Grace, 
 passed on December 29th and extending the period of 
 three months to a year, had not been passed by the 
 Senate until an equal number of masters of arts had 
 been re-admitted on both sides, neither party was placed 
 at a disadvantage. He must therefore have been both 
 surprised and chagrined when he was presented on 
 March 13th with a memorial from the Provost of 
 King's and the Masters of Pembroke, Clare and St 
 Catharine's^, which stated that the three months should 
 be interpreted as calendar months, and that therefore 
 
 by the Grace in 1698 (confirmed by the King and Council in 
 1728) no person re-admitted after December 22nd has a legal 
 right to vote in the Senate on March 22nd, nor can a new Grace 
 of the Senate give him that right unless it could alter the law 
 of the land^. 
 
 The motive of this manoeuvre was not difficult to 
 detect. There had been seven re-admissions before 
 December 23rd, of which five were in Lord Sandwich's 
 favour^; and consequently, if the contention of the 
 memorialists was accepted, Hardwicke would be at a 
 serious disadvantage. The move, though savouring of 
 sharp practice, was adroit, and undoubtedly caused a 
 good deal of alarm in the Hardwicke camp. At a 
 meeting on March 13th between Talbot, Thomas 
 Townshend, the Master of Christ's and the Bishop of 
 Lincoln, it was decided to take counsel's opinion: and 
 without loss of time Townshend sought out Mr Ser- 
 geant White who happened to be in Cambridge for the 
 assizes. This legal luminary announced the comforting 
 
 ^ The memorial was drawn up by the Master of Trinity and had 
 the support of the Master of Caius. Add. MS. 32957, f. 53; Add. MS. 
 5852, f. 147. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 57. 3 Add. MS. 32956, f. 260.
 
 98 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 doctrine that *in all cases where calendar months were 
 not particularly mentioned, twelve weeks were to be 
 deemed "integrum spatium trium mensium"; but 
 another authority on being consulted declared that 'as 
 we are a kind of ecclesiastical constitution, we are to 
 understand the words "trium mensium spatium" in an 
 ecclesiastical way and as meaning three calendar 
 months^.' It was not for the Vice-Chancellor to decide 
 a legal question upon which lawyers disagreed; and he 
 adopted the only possible course in the circumstances. 
 
 The Vice-Chancellor had a meeting of some Heads at his 
 Lodge on Thursday 15th March in the morning, to which none 
 of the six Heads were called, and in consequence of this meeting 
 sent a paper in the afternoon to each of the six Heads, signifying 
 that upon this dispute he thought himself obliged to put off the 
 election till Friday 30th March^. 
 
 He could hardly have done otherwise; for the ques- 
 tion having once been raised, the obvious way out of 
 the difficulty was to appoint such a date for the election 
 as would divest the doubt of any practical importance. 
 Newcastle was of course delighted^, having previously 
 petitioned in vain for a postponement; and though no 
 fault can be found with the Vice-Chancellor's action by 
 an impartial critic, it was naturally resented by those 
 who, in an attempt to score an unfair advantage, had 
 badly over-reached themselves. 
 
 ' I own ' wrote Lord Sandwich to the Vice-Chancellor ' I 
 expected much more candour from you than what I have lately 
 met with; for I am not a little surprized and concerned at the 
 news I yesterday received of your having put off the day of the 
 election of the High Steward. You cannot but be sensible that 
 this proceeding must greatly distress several of my friends who 
 are come from a great distance with much expence and incon- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. loi ; see also f. 53. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 5852, f. 147; see also Add. MS. 35657, f. 54, f. 56 
 Add. MS. 32957, f. 95, f. 97. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 133.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 99 
 
 venience to their affairs, and who probably will not easily be 
 prevailed on, if they go home, to take a second journey. I am 
 not at present thoroughly apprized of the power of a Vice- 
 Chancellor in this election; but you must not be surprized if I 
 make strict enquiry into that matter; and that, if I find it is 
 contrary to the laws or usage of the university to put off a day 
 of election after publick notice has been given, I apply to 
 superior powers for justice^.' 
 
 This however was mere bluster, and, in accordance 
 with the Vice-Chancellor's decision, the election did 
 not take place until March 30th. It may be assumed 
 that Newcastle knew his own interests, and that the 
 postponement was to his advantage; but it does not 
 certainly appear that he was able to gain any material 
 addition to his strength. On the eve of the election he 
 was extremely despondent. 
 
 'Lord Sandwich's talk' he declared 'is that he has a majority 
 in the regent house, not so in the non-regent. It is feared he 
 has in both, but perhaps he knows some weaknesses on his own 
 side to which we are strangers^.' 
 
 Clearly neither side had anything approaching an 
 adequate margin of safety, and in these circumstances 
 it was incumbent upon Hardwicke's supporters to be 
 ready with a policy in the event of the defeat of their 
 candidate. They did not however find this task at all 
 easy. Though they were in general agreement that, if 
 Lord Hardwicke's Grace failed to pass the Senate, the 
 Vice-Chancellor must, either at the same or at a sub- 
 sequent congregation, submit a Grace for the appoint- 
 ment of Sandwich, they were by no means united in 
 opinion as to what should be done if both candidates 
 were rejected. It was the Bishop of Lincoln who first 
 suggested that it might be well to be prepared for such 
 a contingency, and that, if both Hardwicke and Sand- 
 wich failed to secure election, the Vice-Chancellor 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 137. 2 Ajj_ jvis. 32957, f. 376. 
 
 72
 
 100 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 should bring forward a Grace for the appointment of 
 the Duke of Grafton^. Much could be urged in favour 
 of this proposal. It would undoubtedly be easier to 
 persuade members of the Senate to vote against Lord 
 Sandwich's Grace if they knew that another candidate 
 was in readiness : and there was also reason to fear that, 
 unless he was forestalled, Sandwich, if both he and 
 Hardwicke were defeated, might place his adversaries 
 in a very difficult position by arranging for the new 
 Lord Townshend to be proposed to the Senate for 
 election as High Steward. It was known that Charles 
 Townshend would not canvass against his brother, and 
 Newcastle expressed himself extremely doubtful ' how 
 far the other Townshends would act^.' Thus the sup- 
 porters of Hardwicke would be divided amongst them- 
 selves; and this disaster might easily happen if they did 
 not safeguard against it by agreeing to support the 
 Duke of Grafton. 
 
 As Grafton was quite willing to be thus used^, and 
 as the Vice-Chancellor gave a private assurance of his 
 readiness to nominate him*, the Bishop of Lincoln's 
 proposal was approved by most of the party^, and would 
 almost certainly have been accepted if it had not been 
 for the opposition of Lord Hardwicke and Charles 
 Yorke. Despite his indifference and lack of interest, 
 Hardwicke desired to be nominated again if he and 
 Sandwich were rejected at the first trial^, though it was 
 quite obvious that a new candidate would have a much 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32956, f. 279. 2 Add. MS. 32957, f. 87. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 55. * Add. MS. 32956, f. 310. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32957, f. 55, f. 87. 'I am greatly embarrassed about 
 this second man' wrote Newcastle on March 14th. 'I find all our 
 university friends here, Dr Powel, Spanish Charles, etc. think that 
 without we have a second man ready and known to be so, if once Lord 
 Hardwicke is stopt in either house. Lord Sandwich will certainly be 
 chose.' Add. MS. 32957, f. 55. 
 
 6 Add. MS. 32957, f. 55.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS loi 
 
 better chance of success. Charles Yorke equally objected 
 to the proposal. He argued that no third candidate 
 was needed as, if Hardwicke was defeated, Sandwich 
 would certainly be elected; and that, even if both Hard- 
 wicke and Sandwich were rejected, the third candidate 
 should be a person in favour with the court and min- 
 istry and not like Grafton an active member of the 
 parliamentary opposition^. It is true that Charles Yorke 
 admitted that 'this matter must be settled by the Vice- 
 Chancellor and the rest of our principal friends at Cam- 
 bridge in confidence, just at the eve of the election^'; 
 but it was perfectly clear that both he and his brother 
 very much disliked the proposal^ which was conse- 
 quently dropped. As late as March 25th the Bishop of 
 Lincoln was urging that 
 
 it is highly necessary that another person on our side should be 
 ready, that our friends should all be apprized of this, and that he 
 should be immediately proposed as one whom we are determined 
 to support in the second trial of our strength^; 
 
 but no steps were taken, and the Hardwicke party went 
 into action unprepared to meet a situation which was 
 not unlikely to arise. That no such situation arose, and 
 that therefore no ill consequences ensued from failing 
 to prepare for it, cannot be pleaded in excuse of Hard- 
 wicke and his brother. They were not more farsighted 
 than their friends but only more selfish. 
 
 Fortunately there was not the same difficulty in 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 85. 2 ihid^ 
 
 "^ In an undated letter to his brother, Charles Yorke described a 
 conversation he had had with Newcastle. 'Then the Duke mentioned 
 (what he called a thing undecided and an absolute secret) whether the 
 Duke of Grafton would not be a proper nominee. I spoke with great 
 regard of the Duke of Grafton but said, if it failed in your case, it was 
 likely to fail more strongly in his case, because his nomination would 
 be seen more in the light of opposition as things now are.' Add. MS. 
 35631, f. 9. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32957, f. 263.
 
 102 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 settling certain other points. At a meeting on March 
 27th, attended by the Vice-Chancellor, Talbot, and 
 Hardwicke's leading supporters, it was agreed that, if 
 the Grace was rejected, the Vice-Chancellor should 
 delay bringing forward a Grace for Lord Sandwich's 
 appointment until the following day, and that if 
 
 the Scrutators in the non-regent house should make different 
 returns, which might happen if one of them admitted those 
 votes that the other rejected as bad or disputable,... the Vice- 
 Chancellor ought to dissolve the congregation and defer the 
 election till the legality of the votes in question should be deter- 
 mined by proper authority^^. 
 
 There was also general agreement that it would be 
 unwise to veto Sandwich's Grace in the Caput for fear 
 of provoking anger; and though Talbot urged that 'the 
 employing a negative in the Caput as a last resource 
 would be less invidious and exceptionable if a majority 
 or at least a moiety of the Caput could be induced to 
 join in the negative,' the suggestion was not warmly 
 received^. 
 
 Excitement ran high in Cambridge on the eve of the 
 election. From five o'clock on the afternoon of Thurs- 
 day March 29th, a committee of the Hardwicke party 
 *sat at the Rose, receiving intelligence from those who 
 had been appointed in each college to bring in accurate 
 lists of all who were then arrived^,' and it is easy to 
 imagine the eagerness with which these lists were 
 scanned. As late as the morning of the appointed day, 
 a certain number of voters, whose absence had been 
 counted upon, arrived to support Lord Sandwich*; and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 301. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32957, f. 301. Talbot's proposal was deferred for con- 
 sideration at a meeting on the following day; and though we do not 
 know what happened at this second conference, it is improbable that 
 the suggestion was accepted. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 35657, f. 150. 4 Add. MS. 35657, f. 150.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 103 
 
 it was doubtful up to the last moment whether the 
 Master of Trinity intended to vote. Pleading ill-health, 
 but more probably afraid of being maltreated by the 
 undergraduates of his own college, Dr Smith announced 
 on March 29th that he did not propose to attend the 
 congregation; and, though he adhered to this resolu- 
 tion, his adversaries not unnaturally suspected that he 
 was seeking to deceive them, and thought it unsafe to 
 count upon his absence^. There were also a certain 
 number of members of the Senate who, after professing 
 to be neutral, finally decided to vote for one or other of 
 the candidates^. Consequently it was not until the last 
 moment that the Hardwicke party was able to decide 
 the very important question of the proper distribution 
 of the doctors between the two houses. Despite earlier 
 gloomy prophecies to the contrary, Hardwicke pre- 
 served the advantage he had always had in doctors, 
 counting thirty-one among his supporters to Sand- 
 wich's twenty-two. It was calculated that Sandwich 
 would need to place all his doctors but one in the 
 regents' house; and, working on this assumption, the 
 leaders of the Hardwicke party reckoned that Sandwich 
 would have in the regents' house one hundred and 
 seven or one hundred and eight votes, including his 
 twenty-one doctors; and that therefore, to ensure the 
 passing of the Grace, twenty-six of Hardwicke's doc- 
 tors must be added to the eighty-three masters of arts 
 in that house who had pledged themselves to vote for 
 the Grace. This however would only leave Hardwicke 
 with five doctors to use in the non-regents' house; 
 and though it was calculated that this would be sufficient 
 if the Master of Trinity absented himself, Hardwicke's 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 398; Add. MS. 35657, f. 150. Their 
 suspicions of the Master of Trinity were strengthened by seeing his 
 carriage at his door on the morning of March 30th. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32957, f. 398.
 
 104 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 friends were too suspicious of the Master's sincerity 
 to take the risk. They therefore decided to keep six 
 doctors in the non-regents' house, thus only leaving 
 twenty-five for use among the regents^; and in so doing 
 made a blunder which was to have most unfortunate 
 consequences. They certainly would have done better 
 to have risked the appearance of the Master of Trinity; 
 but they can hardly be blamed for refusing to believe 
 that such an ardent supporter of Sandwich would be 
 found wanting at the last. 
 
 It was indeed impossible to foretell the victor, for 
 seldom have the combatants in a university contest been 
 more evenly matched. In Trinity, King's, Pembroke 
 and Caius, Sandwich had many more supporters than 
 his rival, and not a single vote from St Catharine's was 
 cast against him. But in Peterhouse, Clare, Queens', 
 Jesus, and Christ's, Hardwicke's adherents were in a 
 large majority, and his own college. Corpus, was almost 
 to a man on his side^. There was however very much 
 less difference of opinion among the undergraduates 
 who were for the most part very enthusiastic supporters 
 of Lord Hardwicke, and their enthusiasm was not 
 always displayed in a decorous fashion. 'The lads, I 
 hear,' wrote the Master of Magdalene on March 20th, 
 'assembled about King's Lodge on Thursday night 
 last, made a riot, and cried aloud "Bring out your 
 daughters. Jemmy Twitcher is come^."' Fearing a dis- 
 turbance on the election day, the Vice-Chancellor for- 
 bade undergraduates admission to the Senate house 
 and enrolled special constables for the maintenance of 
 
 ^ There is one list (Add. MS. 32957, f. 326) which gives twenty- 
 four doctors voting for the Grace and twenty against it in the regents' 
 house; but the account in the text is based upon a letter from the 
 Bishop of Lincoln who was likely to know what really happened. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 69. St John's, Magdalene, Emmanuel and 
 Sidney were more or less equally divided in their sympathies. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 193.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 105 
 
 order^. He also took the precaution of conferring with 
 the Scrutators and Proctors 'about the manner of taking 
 the votes^.' He suggested that the senior Scrutator in 
 the non-regent house and the senior Proctor in the 
 regent house should, as each vote was given, mark it 
 down on his paper in the presence of his colleague 
 and the voter, that the junior Scrutator and Proctor 
 should then do the same; and that, at the end of each 
 row, the two Scrutators and the two Proctors should 
 compare their totals^. It cannot be said that these pre- 
 cautions were unnecessary, for the traditional method 
 of recording the votes was extremely unsatisfactory. It 
 was the custom for each Scrutator and Proctor to be 
 provided with a long scroll of paper on which were 
 drawn two lines, against which were written placet and 
 non-placet respectively; and a vote was recorded by a 
 stroke across either one or other of the two lines'*. It is 
 clear that an unscrupulous or careless person might 
 easily mark a vote on the wrong line; and as the parties 
 were so evenly matched, and the Scrutators and Proc- 
 tors themselves supporters of one or other of the 
 candidates, it was clearly expedient to guard against 
 error or fraud. 
 
 The best laid plans however are often those which 
 most easily go astray; but it is improbable that the most 
 gloomy prophet of disaster ever anticipated that they 
 would go as sadly astray as they did. The proceedings 
 on March 30th were singularly rich in sensational 
 incidents. At the morning congregation Lord Hard- 
 wicke's Grace was read for the first time and passed by 
 the Caput, after which the Vice-Chancellor dissolved 
 the congregation^. At two o'clock in the afternoon the 
 members of the Senate again assembled in congrega- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 147, f. 148; Add. MS. 32957, f. 396. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32957, f. 265. 3 Add. MS. 35657, f. 81. 
 
 ^ Terrae Filius, no. 5. ^ a^j_ ]\/[s. 5852, f. 147, f. 148.
 
 io6 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 tion; and it was noticed that the undergraduates, who 
 crowded the approaches to the Senate house, cheered 
 the supporters of Lord Hardwicke as they arrived^. 
 After the voters had taken their seats in their respective 
 houses the Grace was read for the second time; and 
 then began the scrutiny by the two Scrutators in the 
 non-regents' house. They adopted the method sug- 
 gested by the Vice-Chancellor, comparing their figures 
 at the end of each row; and, having completed the 
 scrutiny, declared the Grace carried by one hundred 
 and three placets to one hundred and one non-placets. 
 The announcement was greeted by loud cheers which 
 were taken up by the undergraduates outside^. Then 
 began the scrutiny in the regents' house by the two 
 Proctors, Longmire of Peterhouse and Forster of St 
 John's. They started like the Scrutators by comparing 
 their numbers at the end of each row; but it is important 
 to note that they made no such comparison at the end 
 of the last row of all, and that while Longmire, the 
 senior Proctor, recorded the votes in the usual and 
 approved fashion, Forster practised 'a strange manner 
 of marking in a method unknown to the Schools^.' At 
 the end of the last row, when all votes had been taken 
 except those of the Proctors themselves, Longmire 
 glanced at his paper and calculated that an equal number 
 of placets and non-placets had been given for and 
 against the Grace. He then declared his own vote, 
 which was placet, in a loud tone, and marked it down 
 on his paper; and, as he noticed the junior Proctor 
 simultaneously record a vote, he concluded that his 
 placet had been overheard and marked on the junior 
 Proctor's list. But unfortunately Forster was hard of 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 150. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 5852, f. 147, f. 148; Add. MS. 32957, f. 318, f. 398; 
 Add. MS. 35657, f. 64, f. 150. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 35640, f. 117; Add. MS. 35657, f. 181.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 107 
 
 hearing, and the vote he had entered was his own which 
 was non-placet. 
 
 Thus each Proctor had recorded his own vote and 
 omitted to record the vote of his colleague; and, if they 
 had at once compared their papers, they would have 
 discovered their error and seen that the votes were 
 equal. But they failed to take this precaution, and began 
 to add up the votes. Their totals of course disagreed, 
 Longmire making one hundred and eight placets to one 
 hundred and seven non-placets, while according to 
 Forster the placets were one hundred and seven and 
 the non-placets one hundred and eight. While they 
 were engaged in puzzling over their difference, one of 
 the Bedells, who had taken a look at their papers, pro- 
 ceeded to inform the Vice-Chancellor that the two 
 Proctors disagreed; and at once the rumour spread that 
 Forster had marked Longmire as voting non-placet. 
 This was unfortunate as it helped to confuse the issue; 
 but it was plausible enough to gain easy acceptance and 
 was of course readily believed by Hardwicke's followers, 
 two of whom came forward to testify that they had seen 
 Forster mark Longmire as voting non-placet. 
 
 While the parties were wrangling, the two Proctors 
 discovered that each had omitted to record the other's 
 vote, and thereupon agreed that both the placet and 
 non-placet votes numbered one hundred and eight. 
 They then appeared before the Vice-Chancellor who 
 enquired whether they were able to declare placet or 
 non-placet, adding that, if they could not make either 
 return, they must proceed to a second scrutiny. It was 
 unfortunate that the Vice-Chancellor at this stage sug- 
 gested another scrutiny, as it encouraged Sandwich's 
 followers in the belief that he was acting in Hardwicke's 
 interest. There was no doubt that a second scrutiny 
 was necessary if the Proctors disagreed; and probably 
 the Vice-Chancellor, misled by the Bedell, honestly
 
 io8 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 believed that there was a disagreement. But the two 
 Proctors now concurred in returning the votes as 
 equal; and it does not seem to have been known for 
 certain whether an equality of votes involved the loss 
 of a Grace or a second scrutiny. It is noteworthy that a 
 follower of Hardwicke privately expressed the opinion 
 that, if the votes were equal, the Grace was lost^; though 
 on the other hand it was contended that 
 
 if the votes are equal, it is agreeable to the constitution of the 
 said university in similar cases that the votes should be numbered 
 a second or even a third time before a negative is declared or 
 reported on the Grace proposed^. 
 
 Clearly it was a disputable point; and no sooner had 
 the Vice-Chancellor mentioned the possibility of a 
 second scrutiny than certain of Sandwich's friends 
 declared that no second scrutiny ought to be held, as 
 the votes were equal and the Grace therefore lost. In 
 reply to the Vice-Chancellor, Longmire declared that 
 as the votes were equal he could make no return, but 
 that he was ready to go to a second scrutiny; while 
 Forster answered that, though prepared to make a 
 return, he could not do so without the concurrence of 
 his fellow Proctor, and that in no circumstances would 
 he go to a second scrutiny. Meanwhile the followers of 
 Hardwicke were loudly calling for a second scrutiny, 
 and the followers of Sandwich equally loudly urging 
 Forster not to comply with the demand. When the 
 confusion was at its height, knocking was heard on the 
 Senate house door; and it was believed that the Master 
 of Trinity was seeking admission. Dr Smith had taken 
 a drive in the morning, but, being visited on his return 
 by Lord Townshend and Lord Weymouth, he had 
 promised them that he would attend the second con- 
 gregation. Yet he had not appeared, though urgent 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 318. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 75; see also Add. MS. 35640, f. 117.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 109 
 
 reminders had been sent him; and therefore when the 
 knocking was heard, it was hoped by the one party and 
 feared by the other that he had at last summoned up 
 courage to come. If admitted, his vote would decide 
 the election in favour of Sandwich if there was a second 
 scrutiny; and therefore, while the Provost of King's 
 called upon the Vice-Chancellor to admit Dr Smith, the 
 Master of Magdalene declared that 'the mistake which 
 was made amongst the numbers then present, was not 
 to be rectified by the admission of a new vote^.' The 
 Vice-Chancellor ruled that the door could not be opened, 
 and it was then discovered that the wrangle had been 
 purposeless, as the seeker for admission was not the 
 Master of Trinity but Beilby Porteous, a future Bishop 
 of London, who, having voted as a non-regent for 
 Hardwicke, had left the Senate house to obtain refresh- 
 ment and now desired to return^. 
 
 The Vice-Chancellor having decided that the doors 
 of the Senate house should not be opened, the dispute 
 over a second scrutiny was vigorously resumed. Sir 
 Edward Simpson, Master of Trinity Hall, who as a 
 lawyer was entitled to express an opinion, supported 
 the Vice-Chancellor in the contention that there should 
 be a second scrutiny; but the junior Proctor obstinately 
 refused to be either commanded or persuaded, and, as 
 it was now nearly six o'clock in the evening, the Vice- 
 Chancellor dissolved the congregation. It is reported 
 that 'he sent for the Registrary and Mr Bennet, 
 Esquire Bedel, Notary Public, up to his table and 
 before them asked the senior Proctor, Mr Longmire, 
 if he was ready to make a declaration with regard to 
 the scrutiny for an High Steward in the regent house. 
 He answered to this effect: that he did not see how he 
 could declare it but was ready to take another scrutiny. 
 Then the Vice-Chancellor put the same question to the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 394. 2 Add. MS. 35640, f. 117.
 
 no THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 other Proctor, Mr Forster, who answered he was 
 ready to make a declaration if the senior Proctor would 
 join with him but did not see how he could do it by 
 himself. Being asked if he would assist in taking a 
 second scrutiny, said he would not or words to that 
 effect. Then the Vice-Chancellor immediately said: "I 
 admonish you for this omission in your duty." The 
 Vice-Chancellor then said: "I suppose I have power to 
 continue or dissolve this congregation"; and some 
 persons near him saying he certainly had, said: "Then 
 I will dissolve it," and accordingly went to the chair at 
 the foot pace and dissolved it^.' The doors were then 
 opened, and, as the members of the Senate passed out, 
 the undergraduates rushed in and 
 
 proceeded immediately to an election without one discordant 
 voice, and, after having chaired Lord Hardwicke's proxy and 
 fixed the name of Hardwicke above the Chancellor's chair, 
 dispersed quietly to their respective homes^. 
 
 The proceedings reflect no little discredit upon the 
 university. Nothing could have been more undignified 
 than the futile and unseemly wrangle between men 
 who were hopelessly confused as to what had actually 
 happened; and the Vice-Chancellor is blameworthy for 
 his failure to maintain order. It is moreover very 
 surprising that there should have been any doubt as to 
 the proper action to be taken if there was an equality 
 of votes. Both parties were well aware that the contest 
 was going to be extremely close, and surely no great 
 foresight was needed to envisage the possibility of the 
 candidates receiving an equal number of votes in one 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 147, f. 148. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 150. Accounts of the proceedings will be 
 found in Add. MS. 32957, f. 310, f. 312, f. 316, f. 318, f. 343, 
 f- 3 55 f- 394. f- 396, f- 398, f- 425; Add. MS. 35640, f. 117; Add. 
 MS. 35657, f. 64, f. 66, f. 75, f. 81, f. 150; Add. MS. 5852, f. 147, 
 f. 148.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS iii 
 
 or other of the two houses. Yet, when the possibility 
 actually happened, no one was in a position to say 
 authoritatively what procedure should be adopted. 
 
 The earliest information received by Newcastle of 
 the great event came from Charles Townshend who 
 wrongly reported that Forster had blundered in marking 
 Longmire as voting against the Grace, that the placets 
 therefore exceeded the non-placets by one, and that 
 Longmire refused to admit that the votes were equal^. 
 Consequently the Duke concluded that the battle was 
 won, and that it only remained to settle ' how to put my 
 Lord Hardwicke in possession of the office to which 
 he is elected^'; but he soon heard the true story and 
 was deeply distressed to learn that another election 
 might be necessary. He was an old man and felt unequal 
 to the strain of resuming the struggle with Sandwich. 
 
 'For God's sake' he implored 'don't let us have all this 
 trouble over again if it can be avoided. Dr Smith will come to the 
 next congregation, and we shall have all the votes in North and 
 South of Europe and America brought upon us^.' 
 
 The trouble however could not be warded off by New- 
 castle's passionate desire to avoid it; and he became 
 still more despondent on hearing from Charles Yorke 
 that the Vice-Chancellor, by dissolving the congrega- 
 tion before the Proctors had made a declaration, had 
 annulled the proceedings, and that ' no remedy is to be 
 had either at law or anywhere else, and consequently 
 we must proceed to a new election*.' Newcastle how- 
 ever was not prepared to face a new election if it could 
 be possibly avoided, and as the only alternative policy 
 was an appeal to the courts of law, he was forced to 
 advocate legal proceedings. On learning that the Vice- 
 Chancellor was not prepared ' to suffer any Grace to be 
 read or to pass, relating to the late or any future election 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 310. 2 Ajj_ ]vis. 32957, f. 347. 
 
 3 Ibid. * Add. MS. 32957, f. 404.
 
 112 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 of an High Steward, until Lord Hardwicke shall have 
 determined what course he shall take for the support of 
 his election,' the Duke interviewed Hardwicke, called 
 a meeting of the 'four Mr Townshends and Mr Charles 
 Yorke,' and issued instructions for the collection of 
 material for a law-suit^. 
 
 'The great point' he told the Master of Magdalene 'is to 
 ascertain the number... present and how each man voted, if it 
 can be done, and to know the constitution of the university and 
 the method of their proceedings in these cases, particularly with 
 regard to the refusal of the junior Proctor to consent to a scrutiny 
 or telling over again, which is always the practice and was now 
 denied^.' 
 
 While Newcastle and his friends were preparing a 
 plan of campaign, Sandwich was considering his 
 position which was indeed as dubious as that of his 
 rival. The King and George Grenville were probably 
 anxious for him to withdraw from a contest upon which 
 they had never wanted him to enter^, but it was asking 
 not a little that he should acknowledge defeat and 
 desert his friends when it still remained possible that 
 he might emerge triumphant. Adopting the standpoint 
 that Lord Hardwicke's Grace had been lost in the 
 regents' house as the votes were equal, he contended 
 that the Vice-Chancellor was now in duty bound to 
 bring forward a Grace for his appointment as High 
 Steward; and that, in the event of the Vice-Chancellor 
 refusing to do so, recourse must be had to the law. 
 Yet he did not desire to use coercion if gentler means 
 could be effective; and he cautiously felt his way before 
 definitely deciding upon a course of action. In the 
 letters of thanks which he issued to his supporters, he 
 mentioned that he still regarded himself as a candidate 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 417. 2 Ai^j_ MS. 32957, f. 419. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32957, f. 430.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 113 
 
 for the High Stewardship^; and he followed up this 
 announcement by a visit to Cambridge. The professed 
 object of this visit was personally to thank his friends 
 for their assistance and support^; but he had other and 
 more important designs which it was as well not to 
 publish abroad. He hoped to persuade the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor to bring forward a Grace for his appointment 
 as High Steward; but, if his arguments failed to con- 
 vince, he thought of petitioning the King in Council 
 for redress of his wrongs, and was anxious to discover 
 what his adherents in the university thought of such a 
 petition and how many were prepared to sign it^. 
 
 Accompanied by his friends. Lord Townshend and 
 Lord Carysfort, he arrived in Cambridge on the evening 
 of Thursday April 5th and stayed at Trinity Lodge. 
 By accepting Dr Smith's hospitality he doubtless in- 
 tended to show him that his conduct on the day of the 
 election had been forgiven; but it is doubtful whether 
 Sandwich was wise to honour by his presence a college 
 of which the undergraduates were such enthusiastic 
 supporters of his rival. On the evening he arrived, an 
 effigy, decorated with a wig belonging to one of the 
 Tutors, was flung across the lamp over the Lodge door*; 
 but he was well-hardened by this time to manifestations 
 of public disapproval and was unlikely to be worried 
 by the insults of voteless undergraduates. He spent his 
 first evening in Cambridge in conferring with his leading 
 supporters^; and on the following morning started on 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 3; Add. MS. 32957, f. 425. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 7. 3 Add. MS. 32958, f. 5, f. 15, f. 49. 
 * Add. MS. 32958, f. 15. The Scrutator, '^o. 3: ' I am afraid ' wrote 
 
 the author of the Scrutator 'there is more than one Tutor in the world 
 who ought to be hanged up, not by proxy but in propria persona; for 
 I am sure, as it is sometimes managed, it is a very infamous and pick- 
 pocket employment.' 
 
 ^ Dr Brooke of St John's, Brockett of Trinity, the junior Proctor 
 and others; Add. MS. 32958, f. 49.
 
 114 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 a round of visits. He first waited on the Vice-Chancellor 
 to whom he presented both an oHve-branch and a 
 sword. While professing greatly to desire the restora- 
 tion of peace to the university, he made it perfectly 
 clear that he was not prepared to secure that peace by 
 tamely submitting to defeat; and, though he asked the 
 Vice-Chancellor to suggest a way of ending the dispute, 
 he was at pains to say that he had 'prepared materials 
 for a ligitation.' 'I should have made some reply,' re- 
 ported the Vice-Chancellor to Hardwicke, 'but his 
 Lordship said he did not expect an immediate answer, 
 and then left me^.' 
 
 After leaving the Vice-Chancellor, Sandwich went to 
 Peterhouse, where he called upon the Master, Dr Law, 
 and Longmire, the senior Proctor. The Master had 
 loyally supported Hardwicke, though he was a poor 
 man and anxious for advancement in the church; and 
 doubtless Sandwich had hopes of winning him over. 
 But Dr Law was not to be won; and to Sandwich's 
 declaration that he had come to Cambridge to restore 
 peace, he retorted that 
 
 he had heard that his Lordship was come down with a petition 
 to be signed by his friends here and to be presented to the King 
 and Council, in order to oblige the Vice-Chancellor or Proctors 
 to do more than they thought they ought to do^. 
 
 There was clearly nothing to be done with the Master, 
 and the visit to the senior Proctor was equally disap- 
 pointing. He hoped to extract from Longmire useful 
 information about what had happened on March 30th, 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 155; Add. MS. 32958, f. 13. Newcastle 
 was puzzled whether Sandwich meant 'the settling some method for 
 finishing the present dispute and proceeding to another election (which 
 I rather think was his meaning) or the finding out some third person 
 who might be agreeable to both parties and come in without any 
 opposition.' Add. MS. 32958, f. 86. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 51.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 115 
 
 and possibly might have done so if Lord Townshend, 
 who accompanied him, had not badly blundered. 
 
 'From Dr Law' reported the Master of Jesus 'they went 
 to Mr Longmire where they stayed not long; for somebody 
 rapping at the door, and Mr Longmire, leaving his inner door 
 open whilst he stepped out to the outer one, he heard Lord 
 Townshend say " My Lord, you are wrong, you should not talk 
 but hear him," upon which Mr Longmire on his return 
 thought proper to shut up his mouth, and they soon left him^.' 
 
 On the same day Sandwich and his two companions 
 dined in the hall of Trinity; and, to mark their dis- 
 approval, the undergraduates, with the single exception 
 of a certain William Lowther, not only absented them- 
 selves from hall but collected in the court outside and 
 serenaded the diners with cheers for Lord Hardwicke^. 
 It says much for Sandwich's perseverance that, in spite 
 of these many rebuffs, he remained in Cambridge until 
 the afternoon of Monday April 8th, hard at work the 
 whole time. He was entertained in Caius, dined with 
 the Provost of King's, supped with the Master of St 
 Catharine's, and 'endeavoured to see everyone of those 
 who voted against Lord Hardwicke's Grace and a few 
 more.' Yet he was certainly disappointed by his visit. 
 He had seen no sign of wavering among Hardwicke's 
 friends, and his idea of proceeding by petition to the 
 King in Council was so unfavourably received that he 
 abandoned it^. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 49. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 7, f. 15, f. 21. Lowther was a kinsman of 
 Sir William Lowther who was a supporter of the government and 
 Sandwich; and therefore his presence in hall may have been due 
 more to political conviction than to greed. 
 
 ^ Possibly Sandwich discovered that, as the university did not 
 recognise the crown as visitor, an appeal for redress against a Vice- 
 Chancellor must go to the court of King's Bench and not to the King 
 in Council. Newcastle, writing to Charles Yorke on April 19th, 1764, 
 says 'The Bishop of Ely also wishes to see you on the subject of the
 
 ii6 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 Yet though his visit had been a failure, it was rich 
 in consequences for a certain college of the university. 
 The Master of Trinity was greatly annoyed by the 
 conduct of the undergraduates on the occasion when 
 Sandwich dined in hall, and was determined that they 
 should feel the weight of his displeasure. He desired 
 that they should be commanded to sign a declaration, 
 confessing that by their conduct they had debased 
 themselves, dishonoured the college, and merited the 
 penalty of expulsion^; but as he could take no action 
 without the Seniority, consisting of the eight senior 
 Fellows, it was by no means certain that he could 
 execute his project. Of the eight seniors six were sup- 
 porters of Hardwicke and therefore certain to oppose 
 power of visitation in the crown ; and, particularly, as to the declaration 
 of my Lord Chief Justice Pratt in Dr Bentley's case to Dr Snape, then 
 Vice-Chancellor, and the members of the university who attended the 
 King's Bench with him. He asked the Vice-Chancellor whether they 
 claimed or admitted any local visitor or acknowledged the power of 
 the crown to visit. Dr Snape answered no, neither, that they insisted 
 that the trial of those complaints was to be only in the Vice-Chancellor's 
 court. Upon which the Chief Justice replied, ' If you have no visitor, 
 the court of King's Bench shall take cognizance of this complaint.' 
 Add. MS. 32958, f. 172. See also Add. MS. 32958, f. 84, and Monk's 
 Life of Bentley, 11, 204. 
 
 ^ The document ran as follows: 'It being notorious that not one of 
 the scholars of the house, and but one of the pensioners, did appear 
 in the college hall on Friday, the 6th April last, when, by invitation 
 from the Master and seniors, the Earl of Sandwich, Lord Townshend 
 and Lord Carysfort were entertained there; we, whose names are under- 
 written, do confess that, being then in commons, we did knowingly 
 and wilfully conspire to be absent from the hall, as above mentioned, 
 in open contempt and defiance of all decency, disciphne and govern- 
 ment; and having thus debased ourselves and dishonoured the college 
 by branding it with disgrace and infamy, we confess we have incurred 
 the penalty of expulsion by the 38th statute, de poena majorum 
 criminum et minorum; and do receive from our governours this 
 admonition in order to expulsion instead of expulsion itself which we 
 have justly deserved.' Trinity College Admission Book; Add. MS. 
 32958, f. 383.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 117 
 
 any punishment of the undergraduates for demonstrating 
 against Sandwich; but nevertheless Dr Smith, in spite 
 of all difficulties, succeeded in attaining his end. It was 
 provided that if, when the Seniority was summoned, 
 any members of that body were absent, their places 
 should be taken by those who came immediately after 
 the seniors on the roll of Fellows; and, by biding his 
 time, the Master was able to obtain a majority for his 
 proposal. He waited until three of the seniors opposed 
 to him were away, and then summoned a meeting of the 
 Seniority, knowing quite well that the places of two at 
 least of the three absent members would be taken by 
 his own personal adherents, and that he would thus have 
 a majority. 
 
 'On Friday last,' wrote Backhouse to Newcastle on Sunday 
 May 13th, 'when Davis, Meredith and Newbon (our friends in 
 the present cause) were out of college, the Master, having 
 previously converted Powell and Place, summoned the seniors 
 to confirm the sentence he had drawn up for the undergraduates, 
 
 which at last, after a sort, he effected Mr Brockett was of the 
 
 Seniority, and, I need scarce tell your Lordship, most violent 
 in his counsels. The next day he declared in a public coffee- 
 house that, now the sword w^as drawn in Trinity college, it 
 should never be sheathed whilst there was one left standing in 
 the field. To give your Lordship a specimen of the Master's 
 behaviour at the meeting, I mention the following circumstance, 
 viz., when he was pressed to a non-plus about the true sense and 
 meaning of a clause in the statute, de pona (sic) majorum 
 criminum, he commanded me in a magisterial strain to be silent, 
 alledging this reason for it, that the interpretation of the statutes 
 belonged to the Master alone and the seniors had nothing to do 
 with it^.' 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32958, f. 382. 'The four seniors who concurred with 
 the Master (whose concurrence made a majority) were Dr Walker, 
 Mr Powell, Mr Place, Mr Brockett. The Master availed himself of 
 the absence of Dr Davis and Mr Newbon; for, hy their going out of 
 college, Place and Brockett came into the number of the eight resident 
 seniors.' Add. MS. 32958, f. 429.
 
 ii8 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 The Master however found it easier to subdue the 
 seniors than the undergraduates, of whom only four 
 signed the admonition when first called upon to do so. 
 The remainder, knowing that if expelled they would 
 be readily taken in at other colleges, raised the flag of 
 rebellion and defied the authorities^. The Master and 
 seniors, confronted by such resistance, could not im- 
 mediately capitulate and withdraw the admonition, but 
 it was equally certain that they could not proceed to a 
 wholesale expulsion and reduce the college to four 
 undergraduates. As a compromise they decreed on 
 May 14th that 'none of the pensioners, who will not 
 subscribe the admonition to-morrow evening after 
 chapel, shall be permitted to offer himself a candidate 
 for scholarships'; and, as only a portion of the under- 
 graduates were affected by this order, it was agreed to 
 defer the punishment of the scholars and those pen- 
 sioners, not competing for scholarships, for future con- 
 sideration^. 
 
 Only a single undergraduate, James Carrington, was 
 induced, by anxiety for a scholarship, to sign the 
 admonition : the others continued impenitent and doubt- 
 less thoroughly enjoyed combining the roles of rebel 
 and martyr. They were moreover encouraged to con- 
 tinue their resistance by the knowledge that the action 
 of the authorities was widely condemned. It was re- 
 ported that legal proceedings were threatened by the 
 father of an undergraduate who was denied admission 
 to his Westminster scholarship^; and Lord Chief Justice 
 Pratt marked his disapproval by removing his nephew, 
 Harding, from the college. 
 
 'Lord Chief Justice Pratt' wrote the Master of Jesus to 
 Newcastle on June 23rd 'has at length taken away his nephew, 
 Harding, from Trinity college and from the university: there 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 382, f. 476. 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 386. 
 3 Add. MS. 35640, f. 129.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 119 
 
 has been much altercation about it. The Master has been pressed 
 to declare what punishment of the scholars will satisfy him but 
 cannot be brought to speak plain. The Chief Justice therefore, 
 in his last letter to Mr Whisson, says that he cannot wish his 
 nephew to sign so base a submission as is proposed, nor suffer 
 him to stay in the college exposed to the future vengeance of 
 the Master and seniors, to be wreaked upon him at a time when 
 they can most essentially hurt him^.' 
 
 On the same day that Dr Caryl communicated this 
 information to Newcastle, the Master of Trinity, at 
 last realising that he was contending against insuperable 
 odds, surrendered; and at his suggestion the Seniority 
 passed an act of oblivion. 
 
 ' In order to restore tranquillity and time for study,' runs the 
 entry in the college Admission Book, 'the Master and seniors 
 have pardoned all the offenders in the case above mentioned, or 
 any way relating to it, even those who refused to sign the 
 admonition^.' 
 
 The surrender was thus complete and unconditional, 
 and the episode is of a piece with all Dr Smith's 
 activities on behalf of Sandwich. As a mathematician 
 he was not particularly distinguished and as a politician 
 he was beneath contempt. By bullying his Fellows to 
 vote for Sandwich he had made many converts to 
 Hardwicke, and by attempting to punish the under- 
 graduates for an offence which a wise man would have 
 left unnoticed, he seriously undermined the discipline 
 of the college. He can perhaps be most fittingly 
 described as a pinchbeck Bentley^. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32960, f. 46. ^ Trinity College Admission Book. 
 
 ^ In spite of the act of oblivion the Master and his allies appear 
 to have continued a petty persecution. 'The act of oblivion' wrote the 
 Master of Jesus on June 30th 'is not so absolute as it was given out to 
 be; for one of the young gentlemen has since asked for a bene discessit 
 to remove to Queens' and been refused; though it was what he intended 
 before Lord Sandwich came down, and no objection, I am told, can 
 be made to him but his absence from hall on that night.' Add. MS. 
 32960, f. 143.
 
 120 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 While Dr Smith had been quarrelling with his under- 
 graduates, Newcastle and his friends had been collecting 
 evidence in support of Hardwicke's election; and the 
 task was not an easy one. If a second election was to be 
 avoided, it was necessary to show that one or more of 
 those who had voted in the regents' house for Sand- 
 wich, were either disqualified from voting or had voted 
 in the wrong house; and it was therefore with great joy 
 that the Bishop of Norwich told Newcastle that Thomas 
 Pitt, who had non-placeted the Grace in the regents' 
 house on March 30th, was already at that time a non- 
 regent. Thomas Pitt^, who had been a Fellow Com- 
 moner at Clare, was admitted to his degree of master 
 of arts on July i8th, 1758, and, save for exceptional 
 circumstances, he would still have been a regent on 
 the day of the voting upon Lord Hardwicke's Grace, 
 as the five years of regency were dated not from the 
 admission to the degree but from the creation at the 
 subsequent 'Commencement.' Pitt however had re- 
 ceived his degree by royal mandate, and those who 
 received mandate degrees were 'created immediately 
 and their creation makes their commencement^.' He 
 had therefore ceased to be a regent by July i8th, 
 1763. 
 
 It seems improbable that Sandwich's supporters 
 were unaware of this distinction between mandate and 
 other degrees; and it is more likely that either they did 
 not know that Pitt had taken his degree by mandate or 
 knew that he had done so and took the risk of the truth 
 being discovered by their adversaries. But whether they 
 were careless or cunning, they were delivered into the 
 hands of their opponents. Newcastle, ever haunted by 
 the fear that there might have to be another election, 
 
 1 He was a nephew of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and was 
 later created Lord Camelford. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 23; see also Add. MS. 32879, f. 463.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 121 
 
 rose at once to the heights of optimism and jumped to 
 the conclusion that Hardwicke's election was already 
 to all intents and purposes established. 
 
 'For, as I conceive it,' he wrote, 'the election is already over 
 and the demonstration we have... that Mr Pitt's vote must be 
 set aside, we have a clear majority in both houses in support of 
 your nomination of the Earl of Hardwicke, and God forbid that 
 in this country there should be anywhere a right and no remedy. 
 But where that remedy is properly to be applied for, whether 
 to you as Vice-Chancellor, to your court, or to a congregation 
 to be summoned by you for that purpose, or, as I rather fancy 
 will be the case, to the court of King's Bench for a mandamus 
 to carry the election of my Lord Hardwicke into execution and 
 to put his Lordship into his office to which he is duly elected 
 you, sir, and our friends in the university, and Mr Yorke and 
 Mr Wilbraham (who are my Lord Hardwicke's council) must 
 determine^.' 
 
 The Duke however was to discover that lawyers 
 decline to be hurried, and that it is their business to see 
 obstacles and difficulties not apparent to the lay mind. 
 Charles Yorke was inclined at first to think that the 
 wisest course would be to allow Sandwich to make the 
 first move^; but in any case he refused to commit him- 
 self to a plan of campaign^ without knowing 'the rules, 
 customs and laws of the university.' When this in- 
 formation had been collected, he pointed out that there 
 was no evidence that Pitt had non-placeted the Grace, 
 and that until this evidence was forthcoming it was 
 useless to proceed. It was by no means certain how- 
 ever that this very necessary piece of evidence could 
 be produced. The Proctors were bound by oath and 
 statute not to reveal a vote, and Pitt could not be com- 
 pelled to declare how he had voted. Charles Yorke was 
 even doubtful if a court of law would admit his 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 86. 2 Add. MS. 32958, f. 303. 
 3 Add. MS. 32958, f. 182, f. 192.
 
 122 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 evidence if he offered it of his own accord^; but, as this 
 was at least doubtful, it was agreed that Talbot should 
 write and ask Pitt to 'make an affidavit of his having 
 given a non-placet in the regents' house on the 30th 
 of March^.' Nearly three weeks elapsed before Talbot 
 received Pitt's reply which was a firm refusal. 
 
 'I must say' he answered 'I should look upon myself as 
 guilty of very great injustice if I could be prevailed upon, in so 
 ligitable a point, to furnish weapons to one party against the 
 other, before it is determined whether I can properly be called 
 upon to give evidence at all in this affair^.' 
 
 His delay in answering had made his refusal a fore- 
 gone conclusion, and, before his reply had been received, 
 another expedient was under consideration. With the 
 subtlety of a theologian the Bishop of Lincoln pointed 
 out that, though a Proctor was bound by oath and 
 statute not to reveal a vote, this prohibition could not 
 apply to a vote illegally given, which was indeed no 
 vote at all. The Bishop therefore arranged that Long- 
 mire should be asked whether he would reveal Pitt's 
 vote if convinced that it was invalid; and the senior 
 Proctor replied that if it could be proved to him, beyond 
 all shadow of doubt, that Pitt was a non-regent on the 
 day that Lord Hardwicke's Grace was voted upon, he 
 would regard himself as not bound by his oath. Con- 
 sequently the Master of Jesus and others set to work 
 to collect 'evidence, as far as we can, for Mr Longmire's 
 satisfaction*'; and their labours were successful, for by 
 about the middle of June the senior Proctor had under- 
 taken to reveal the important secret. 
 
 The conversion of Longmire enabled immediate 
 action to be taken. It was arranged that a patent of 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 359; Add. MS. 32959, f. 3, f. 75- 
 
 2 Add. MS. 35640, f. 138; Add. MS. 32958, f. 376, f. 392. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 35640, f. 140; see also f. 138, f. 470. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 35640, f. 142.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 123 
 
 Hardwicke's election as High Steward should be 
 drawn up, and that the Vice-Chancellor, the two 
 Scrutators and the two Proctors, as the seal-keepers of 
 the university, should be asked to fix the seal of the 
 university to it. But as the five seal-keepers had to be 
 unanimous, it was certain that the request would be 
 refused, the junior Scrutator and the junior Proctor 
 both being supporters of Sandwich; and, in consequence 
 of this refusal, the court of King's Bench could be 
 petitioned for a writ of mandamus^. In accordance with 
 this plan Lord Hardwicke's solicitor, Vernon, arrived 
 in Cambridge, and, assisted by the Master of Jesus, 
 drew up a patent of Hardwicke's election and then 
 
 demanded of the five chest-keepers severally the seal to be put 
 to it and wrote dow^n their several answ^ers. The Vice-Chancellor 
 thought that my Lord Hardw^icke had been fairly elected but, 
 as he had not been duly declared so, he could not think himself 
 at liberty to seal the patent. The senior Proctor and senior 
 Scrutator answered in some such qualified manner: the other 
 Proctor and Scrutator more bluntly. Mr Vernon afterwards 
 waited upon them all together, assembled at the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor's, tendered the patent and his commission from Lord 
 Hardwicke, and then retired: in a few minutes he was called 
 in and the Vice-Chancellor told him, in the name of them all, 
 that they had considered his Lordship's demand but could not 
 comply with it^. 
 
 The refusal had of course been foreseen and anticipated; 
 and during his stay in Cambridge Vernon had collected 
 seven affidavits, including one from Longmire stating 
 that Pitt had voted non-placet in the regents' house^. 
 
 All was now ready for the case to be taken to the 
 courts, and on June 28th the Solicitor-General, Vv'^illiam 
 De Grey, moved on behalf of Hardwicke in the court 
 of King's Bench that the seal-keepers should show 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 304. 2 Add. MS. 32960, f. 56. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32960, f. 46.
 
 124 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 cause for refusing to seal Lord Hardwicke's patent. At 
 the suggestion of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, who 
 pointed out that the seal-keepers might fairly retort 
 that, as the Proctors had made no return, they could 
 not affix the seal, De Grey extended his motion; and 
 finally, 
 
 the rule was granted by the court for showing cause on Monday 
 se'nnight why three writs of mandamus should not issue; one to 
 the Vice-Chancellor to hold a congregation, another to the 
 Proctors to make a return of the Grace, and the third to the 
 keepers of the chest to seal the patent^. 
 
 On 'Monday se'nnight,' which was July 9th, Sand- 
 wich's counsel asked that his client should be allowed 
 until the Michaelmas term to show cause, alleging that 
 time was required for the collection of the necessary 
 evidence; and the plea was allowed. 'This is the common 
 way of proceeding in like cases^,' wrote Dr Powell to 
 Newcastle who however was too disappointed to 
 accept comfort. Though he had always feared the pro- 
 verbial delay of the law, he had continued to hope for 
 a speedy settlement; and his anxiety was justified. He had 
 to reckon with the possibility of Hardwicke losing his 
 case and consequently another election being held; and 
 if the second election was not held until the Michaelmas 
 term was well on its way, it might possibly have to be 
 fought under unfavourable conditions. With the new 
 academical year there would be a new Vice-Chancellor, 
 a new Caput, new Scrutators, and new Proctors; and 
 until these new brooms were known, it was impossible 
 to tell how they would sweep. Newcastle had therefore 
 desired a speedy end to the lawsuit^; but when it be- 
 came clear that this was not to be, he plunged again 
 into the troubled sea of university politics, and sought 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32960, f. 112; see also f. 99, f. 125, f. 143. 
 ^ Add. MS. 32960, f. 229; see also f. 226. 
 3 Add. MS. 32958, f. 103, f. 423, f. 476.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 125 
 
 to secure that the changes, incidental to the new aca- 
 demical year, worked for the good of his party. As the 
 Vice-Chancellor continued in office until the beginning 
 of November, the question of finding a suitable suc- 
 cessor to Elliston was not of such pressing urgency as 
 the election of a new Caput, which was fixed by statute 
 for October 12th, and the admission of new Proctors 
 and Scrutators which occurred two days earlier. The 
 Duke was indeed completely powerless with regard 
 to the appointment of Proctors and Scrutators who 
 were nominated by the different colleges in a prescribed 
 order of rotation; but he was served by good fortune 
 and had no cause to regret his impotence. On October 
 loth Longmire and Forster were succeeded as Proctors 
 by Murhall of Christ's and Martyn of Sidney, who 
 were both supporters of Hardwicke; and though one 
 of the new Scrutators was a member of the Sandwich 
 party, the other was Peck of Trinity, who had voted 
 for the Grace on March 30th^. Thus three out of the 
 four new officers were Newcastle's friends; and, as they 
 would play a leading part with the Vice-Chancellor in 
 the election of the new Caput, the gain was material. 
 It was clearly necessary, as there was a possibility of a 
 second election, to secure the exclusion of all supporters 
 of Sandwich from the new Caput; and with the Vice- 
 Chancellor and the two Proctors as supporters of Hard- 
 wicke, the task was comparatively easy. Only Heads of 
 Houses, doctors, and the two Scrutators were entitled 
 to vote at election of a Caput; and their choice was 
 limited to the fifteen candidates named in the three lists 
 presented by the Vice-Chancellor and the two Proctors, 
 each list containing five names. It was therefore easy to 
 arrange that not a single adherent uf Sandwich should 
 be among the fifteen candidates nominated for election. 
 'Now as the three nominators are all of them our 
 1 Add. MS. 32960, f. 143.
 
 126 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 friends,' wrote the Master of Jesus to Newcastle, *we 
 may hope that all the fifteen will be nominated from 
 amongst our friends also, and consequently we cannot 
 well fail of having a good Caput^.' 
 
 The hopes of the Master of Jesus were fully realised. 
 As it was customary to vote for the candidates nomi- 
 nated by the Vice-Chancellor, it was arranged that 
 Elliston's list should contain the names of those persons 
 whose election was most desired by the Newcastle 
 party; but no risks were run and none but trustworthy 
 persons were placed on the lists of the two Proctors^. 
 No anxiety was therefore felt, and the success of the 
 Vice-Chancellor's nominees was taken as certain until 
 the eve of the election when it became known that 
 certain friends of Sandwich among the doctors had 
 arrived unexpectedly in Cambridge^. These late-comers 
 held a meeting at which it was agreed that 'the Master 
 of Clare Hall should take the lead and the rest of the 
 party observe to act as he did*'; and, though it is by 
 no means clear what lead the Master of Clare was in- 
 tended to take, it is possible that his idea was to vote 
 for the candidates nominated by the junior Proctor as 
 being probably those whose election was least desired 
 by Hardwicke's supporters^. If this however was the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32960, f. 143. 
 
 2 Newcastle only reluctantly agreed to the inclusion of Dr Hallifax 
 of Trinity Hall among those nominated, and stipulated that he should 
 'previously give some assurance as to his behaviour, as far at least as 
 regards the election of the High Steward.' Dr Hallifax had failed to 
 support the Duke's candidate in a recent election of a Master of Trinity 
 Hall, and Newcastle therefore regarded him with suspicion. Add. 
 MS. 32960, f. 94; Add. MS. 32961, {. 293. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32962, f 284. 4 UiJ. 
 
 ^ 'Yesterday' wrote the Master of Jesus on October 13th 'we 
 assembled in the Senate house before two, and the first intelligence 
 I had there was from Mr Backhouse who told me that the Vice-Master 
 had been with him from the Master to recommend the junior Proctor's 
 list, and that he had sent word to the Master that he thought himself
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 127 
 
 design, it failed dismally in execution. The followers of 
 Sandwich, either from lack of preparation or rendered 
 reckless by knowing how little they could do, appear 
 to have voted at random; and the candidates on the 
 Vice-Chancellor's list were 'chosen by twenty-two out 
 of thirty-two^.' 
 
 Up to this point Newcastle had undoubtedly been 
 very successful and he realised that fortune had been 
 kind to him. 'I hear' he commented 'the enemy is 
 very angry at our having secured the whole Caput. How 
 could they expect otherwise when the election or 
 nomination was entirely in our friends and none else^.' 
 But he knew that his task was not completed and that 
 he now had to secure the appointment of a suitable 
 successor to Elliston who would resign the office of 
 Vice-Chancellor early in November. Unless he was 
 successful in this also, it would avail him little to have 
 secured a compliant Caput; and it was by no means 
 certain that he would be able to crown his work in the 
 way he desired. 
 
 It has been previously mentioned that the election 
 by the Senate of a Vice-Chancellor from among the two 
 candidates nominated by the Heads of Houses had 
 become little more than a form; and that it was cus- 
 tomary to elect the senior by degree among the Heads 
 of Houses who had never held the office. If it happened, 
 as it occasionally did, that all the Heads had been Vice- 
 Chancellor in their turn, it was usual to re-appoint the 
 one who had least recently served. Consequently it was 
 impossible to predict the order of succession which was 
 
 old enough to judge how to give his vote in that and in all other cases. 
 Upon this we concluded that they had agreed all to vote for the junior 
 Proctor's list, and therefore changed our own plan hy putting Dr Wynne 
 and Dr Glynn into the junior Proctor's list, whom we had before 
 designed for the senior Proctor's.' Add. MS. 32962, f. 294. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32962, f. 284; see also f. 280, f. 294. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32963,^74.
 
 128 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 always liable to be changed by the death or resignation 
 of a Head; and although this uncertainty was of little 
 moment in ordinary times, it was particularly menacing 
 to Newcastle's plans at this particular juncture. It was 
 of the greatest importance that the new Vice-Chancellor 
 should be a friend; but, if the usual procedure was 
 followed, the Duke could not tell until the last moment 
 upon whom the lot would fall. He therefore contem- 
 plated finding salvation by persuading Dr Elliston to 
 continue Vice-Chancellor for another year. He would 
 thereby free himself from a considerable burden of 
 anxiety; and the continuance of a Vice-Chancellor for a 
 second year of office could be supported by recent 
 precedents. In the early days of his Chancellorship the 
 Duke had actively encouraged such prolongations, and 
 had twice succeeded in obtaining the re-election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor particularly pleasing to him; but when 
 a cry had been raised against such a breach of established 
 custom, he had wisely deferred to public opinion and 
 abandoned the practice. That he now thought of re- 
 viving it is a measure of his anxiety; but fortunately 
 he was dissuaded by the Bishop of Lincoln from re- 
 sorting to a desperate expedient which would almost 
 certainly have caused considerable offence in the uni- 
 versity^. 
 
 It was wise of the Duke to refrain from taking a 
 short but dangerous cut out of his difficulties, and 
 certainly his best policy was to wait upon events. The 
 unforeseen was the predominating element in the situa- 
 tion; and it was clearly impossible to formulate a definite 
 policy until Elliston's resignation was imminent. It 
 happened that in April 1764 there was not a single 
 Head of a House who had not been Vice-Chancellor, 
 and, unless there was a change before the following 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 103; Add. MS. 32959, f. 304, f. 423. See 
 Chap. in.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 129 
 
 November, the successor to Elliston would be Dr Long, 
 Master of Pembroke, who was one of Sandwich's most 
 loyal followers. The Duke however had it in his power 
 to avert this disaster by calling upon the Bishop of 
 Lincoln to resign the mastership of Corpus; for the 
 Bishop's successor in the mastership would precede 
 Dr Long in the Vice-Chancellorship; and, as the Bishop 
 had long been anxious to confine himself to his episcopal 
 duties, Newcastle could count upon his ready acqui- 
 escence^. But he knew too well the value of the Bishop 
 lightly to discard him, and rightly refused to be panic- 
 driven into immediate action. He judged that there was 
 nothing to be lost by waiting, and that before November 
 the death or resignation of a Head might exclude 
 Dr Long from the Vice-Chancellorship and make it 
 unnecessary for the Bishop to retire. And the opportunity, 
 for which he was waiting, came sooner than he expected; 
 ror in May occurred the death of Sir Edward Simpson, 
 Master of Trinity Hall. W^ithout loss of time Newcastle 
 threw himself into the fray and laboured hard to secure 
 the appointment of a friend as Simpson's successor; but 
 on this occasion he toiled in vain. James Marriott, who, 
 after being for many years in close and intimate rela- 
 tions with the Duke, had recently deserted to Sandwich, 
 was elected Master of Trinity Hall, and consequently, 
 unless there was a change in the situation before 
 November, would succeed Elliston as Vice-Chancellor. 
 Thus the last state was worse than the first, and the 
 Duke was driven to do that which he was loath to do. 
 ' The only sure way' he wrote a few days after Marriott's 
 election 'of having a Vice-Chancellor we can depend 
 upon, I am afraid must be by the Bishop of Lincoln's 
 resignation. It is a sad expedient and will be found so^.' 
 But the expedient, though sad, was not difficult of execu- 
 
 ^ Master's History of Corpus Christi College, with additional notes 
 by John Lamb, p. 251. ^ Add. MS. 32960, f. 94.
 
 130 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 tion, as there was an understanding between the Bishop 
 and his Fellows that they should elect as his successor, 
 John Barnardiston, a follower of Hardwicke^. As 
 Barnardiston however was only a master of arts and 
 Marriott a doctor of laws, the latter, as the senior by 
 degree, would have the first claim upon the Vice- 
 Chancellorship; and it was therefore arranged that 
 Barnardiston should take the degree of doctor of 
 divinity and thereby obtain precedence over Marriott^. 
 This programme was carried out shortly after Marriott 
 had succeeded Simpson at Trinity Hall. On June 30th 
 Barnardiston was admitted to the degree of doctor of 
 divinity, and on July 12th was elected to the master- 
 ship of Corpus which had been resigned by the Bishop 
 of Lincoln a few days before^. 
 
 Thus the situation was redressed; but the battle was 
 by no means over or the issue certain. If the usual 
 procedure was followed, Barnardiston and Marriott 
 would be nominated by the Heads and the former 
 elected by the Senate; but it was at least doubtful 
 whether this constitutional convention would be re- 
 spected. Party feeling was running high in the univer- 
 sity, men were in the mood to violate time-honoured 
 traditions, and the Master of Corpus' claim to be 
 appointed Vice-Chancellor rested upon nothing more 
 substantial than custom. Such a foundation might well 
 prove unable to withstand the clash of warring parties; 
 and as of the sixteen Heads of Houses seven were 
 avowed supporters of Sandwich, and one, the Master of 
 Emmanuel, had only reluctantly voted for Lord Hard- 
 wicke's Grace^, Barnardiston's nomination could not be 
 
 1 Master's History of Corpus Chris ti College, p. 251; Add. MS. 
 32959, f. 423. 
 
 2 Doctors of divinity ranked above doctors of laws. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 35640, f. 156; Add. MS. 32960, f. 256. 
 
 ^ The seven certain supporters of Sandwich among the Heads of
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 131 
 
 treated as a certainty. The Heads were too equally 
 divided to allow either party to be confident of victory; 
 but the balance of advantage rested with the supporters 
 of Hardwicke, as it was provided by the statutes that, 
 in the event of the candidates tying for nomination to 
 the Senate, the Regius Professor of Divinity should 
 decide between them; and the Regius Professor at this 
 time was Dr Rutherforth who was warmly supporting 
 Hardwicke. 
 
 Such was the situation immediately after Barnardiston 
 became Master of Corpus; and it was naturally feared 
 that Sandwich would not tamely submit to the exclusion 
 of his friend, Marriott, from the Vice-Chancellorship. 
 But a further complication was introduced by the death 
 on August 7th of Sir James Burrough, Master of Caius. 
 Ten days after Burrough's death the Fellows of Caius 
 elected John Smith as their Master; and as Smith was 
 only a master of arts he could not be preferred to either 
 Barnardiston or Marriott for the Vice-Chancellorship. 
 But shortly after his election he applied to the Vice- 
 Chancellor for the degree of doctor of divinity by 
 royal mandate, and Hardwicke's supporters were quick 
 to see how much they stood to gain by complying with 
 his wish. 'This event will bid fair for securing a quiet 
 election of a Vice-Chancellor,' wrote Dr Caryl to the 
 Duke, 'for there will be two doctors of divinity to be 
 nominated by the Heads. Dr Marriott, as only doctor 
 of laws, will be excluded^.' Moreover there were good 
 grounds for hoping that the substitution of the Master 
 of Caius for the Master of Trinity Hall, as the second 
 
 Houses were the Provost of King's and the Masters of Trinity, Caius, 
 Clare, Pembroke, St Catharine's and Trinity Hall. 'Emmanuel' wrote 
 Dr Caryl on June 30th 'could not for shame but be with us in Lord 
 Hardwicke's affair; but I do not expect his assistance on any other 
 occasion.' Add. MS. 32960, f. 143. 
 1 Add. MS. 32961, f. 354.
 
 132 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 candidate for the Vice-Chancellorship, might prevent a 
 contested election; as in his anxiety to obtain a mandate 
 degree, Smith went so far as to deny that he had 
 any intention of disturbing 'the usual course of 
 election into that office^.' Consequently his request 
 was granted and he became a doctor of divinity by 
 royal mandate^. 
 
 Though a supporter of Sandwich the Master of 
 Caius had undoubtedly played into the hands of the 
 Hardwicke party; but as the day of election drew near, 
 Newcastle began to fear that all might not go according 
 to programme. Dr Smith's engagement not to disturb 
 the usual course of election was personal to himself; 
 and it was significant that his friends and the Fellows 
 of his college declined to limit their liberty of action^. 
 Moreover, though Marriott had apparently taken his 
 exclusion in good part, and had declared that he did 
 not intend to interfere in the election, he had given 
 warning that he meant 'to be on the spot at the election 
 for Vice-Chancellor,' and it was feared that 'if he can 
 gain any point for himself, he will not. . .much mind 
 the loose and somewhat general expressions he has dropt 
 on that subject*.' A certain amount of uneasiness was 
 also caused by so little being known of the intentions 
 of the Sandwich party; and, though it was tolerably 
 certain that the Masters of Corpus and Caius would be 
 nominated, it was feared that the latter might be elected 
 by the Senate. Both candidates had only very recently 
 become doctors, and Barnardiston's seniority over 
 Smith was slight enough to afford a pretext for dis- 
 regarding it. 
 
 Aware of this danger Newcastle contemplated the 
 possibility of persuading his friends among the Heads 
 to pass over the Master of Caius and nominate one of 
 
 1 Add.MS. 32961, f. 3 54, f. 366. 2 Add. MS. 32961, f. 368. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32963, f. 6. 4 Add. MS. 32962, f. 177.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 133 
 
 themselves with the Master of Corpus; and, though he 
 abandoned the scheme when it was pointed out that 
 such a violation of constitutional custom would cause 
 widespread offence in the university, he was obviously- 
 very unwilling to run the hazard involved in the Master 
 of Caius' nomination^. His reluctance was justified, for 
 though the Senate had hitherto presented a greater 
 menace than the Heads, there suddenly appeared a 
 danger of the Sandwich party being able to prevent the 
 nomination of Barnardiston. Newcastle had always con- 
 fidently reckoned upon the support of eight Masters of 
 colleges out of the sixteen; and he was greatly alarmed 
 to learn that the Master of St John's was wavering in 
 nis allegiance, and that the Master of Magdalene 
 refused to return to Cambridge because his wife was 
 about to have a child^. 'You surprize me' wrote the 
 Duke on October 30th 'about Dr Sandby^; for God's 
 sake get him to come. I am sure if he knew how the 
 enemy have used us and what we want of him, nothing 
 could keep him away*.' But in spite of urgent appeals^, 
 Sandby insisted on playing the part of a good husband, 
 and Newcastle saw disaster looming ahead. The situa- 
 tion however was far less serious than he imagined it 
 to be. By a Grace of June nth, 1580, Heads of Houses 
 were enabled to appoint a representative to vote at the 
 nomination of a Vice-Chancellor; and there was there- 
 fore no need for the Master of Magdalene to lacerate 
 his feelings by hurriedly returning to Cambridge. The 
 difficulty caused by the unexpected conduct of the Master 
 of St John's was also successfully overcome. The Bishop 
 of Lincoln undertook to convince the Master of the error 
 of his ways; and, though he failed to induce him to 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32963, f. 6, f. 84, f. 86, f. 98, f. loi, f. 117, f. 128, 
 f. 161, f. 205. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32963, f. 86. ^ The Master of Magdalene. 
 * Add. MS. 32963, f. 114. 5 Add. MS. 32963, f. 86.
 
 134 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 vote for Barnardiston, he succeeded in persuading him 
 to retire from Cambridge and to appoint as his repre- 
 sentative, Dr Ogden, who was a supporter of Hard- 
 wicke^. 
 
 But the problem of the Senate still remained, and 
 Newcastle was very seriously alarmed as to what might 
 happen there. He was urgent in calling upon those of 
 his friends, who were members of the Senate, to appear 
 in Cambridge on the election day, and he appealed 
 without ceasing to his supporters in the university to 
 whip up as many voters as they possibly could^. Nor 
 did he ask of others more than he was prepared to do 
 himself. 
 
 'I immediately sent' he informed the Master of Jesus on 
 October 30th 'to some of the great line of our friends, the 
 doctors of law; Calvert and Simpson will go down, Wynne 
 makes a difficulty, but I am sure Burrel will go. I have sent also 
 to desire the Duke of Cumberland to send Dr Biddle and the 
 
 Windsor voters The Yorkes must take care of Soame Jenyns^, 
 
 Jack Yorke, the Dean of Lincoln*, etc. You should write to the 
 Bishop of Norwich for the Dean, Charles Townshend of Yar- 
 mouth, and the Norfolk or Norwich voters. Henry Pelham I 
 
 will send to, and find some channel to Dr Gisborne I will 
 
 write to Dr Barnard for the Eton men but I doubt they are 
 most against us. Dr Smith, Master of Westminster school, has 
 no vote. Dr Hinchliffe has a vote. There is an usher at West- 
 minster who voted with us. Pray send to Backhouse of Trinity 
 to take care of these Westminster people^.' 
 
 Though Newcastle was ably seconded in these efforts 
 by the Master of Jesus, the President of Queens', and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32962, f. 148; Add. MS. 32963, f. 205. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32963, f. 38, f. 40, f. 54, f. 56, f. 78, f. 82, f. 90, 
 f. 138, f. 140, f. 142, f. 144, f. 150. 
 
 ^ Member for Cambridgeshire and the son of Sir Roger Jenyns of 
 Bottisham Hall near Cambridge. 
 
 * James Yorke, a brother of Lord Hardwicke. 
 ^ Add. MS. 32963, f. 114; see also f. 62, f. 161.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 135 
 
 other Cambridge friends^, he as usual complained that 
 he was not receiving the support he might fairly 
 demand : 
 
 ' I am very angry with you all ' he told Dr Caryl on November 
 1st 'that you take no notice of my letters nor ever acknowledge 
 the receipt of them. I have given myself much trouble to write 
 and send to everybody that I can think of; and you will see by 
 their answers that they all go down, almost to a man. What 
 have the Yorkes done? What has the Bishop of Norwich done 
 with his Dean and Norwich voters .''... Now is the time for our 
 friends to exert. If we lose our Vice-Chancellor all is lost^.' 
 
 The Duke was as usual very excited and alarmed, and 
 he apparently anticipated that Sandwich would offer 
 battle. This however was only a surmise, for he knew 
 next to nothing of his adversary's plans. All he knew 
 was that, about a week after the Caput had been elected, 
 the Bishop of Chester, representing Sandwich, had in- 
 formed the Master of Christ's that they were willing 
 to allow Barnardiston to become Vice-Chancellor if 
 he would give an undertaking ' that if another election 
 for a High Steward should come on in his Vice- 
 Chancellorship, it should not be brought on by supprise 
 (sk)^.' On the advice of his friends and with Newcastle's 
 formal approval, the Master of Corpus at once under- 
 took not to hold an election without at least three weeks' 
 notice*; but, encouraged by this concession, Sandwich 
 then proceeded further and wrecked the negotiation by 
 imposing the additional demand that the Caput should 
 agree 'that if Lord Hardwicke shall be rejected by the 
 majority of the Senate, they will let my Grace pass their 
 body and come to the electors at large ^' It was clearly 
 impossible for the friends of Hardwicke to restrict their 
 liberty of action in this fashion, and the Master of Jesus 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32963, f. 62, f. 86. 2 Add. MS. 32963, f. 173. 
 3 Add. MS. 32963, f. 8, f. 156. 4 Add. MS. 32963, f. 8, f. 29. 
 5 Add. MS. 32963, f. 88.
 
 136 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 voiced the sentiments of the party when he said *we 
 have now nothing left but to fight as good a battle as 
 we can^.' 
 
 Newcastle may therefore be forgiven for believing 
 that a contest was inevitable, for certainly all the signs 
 pointed in that direction; and yet it is possible that 
 Sandwich and his followers were only playing a game 
 of bluff and never intended to oppose Barnardiston's 
 election. They probably realised the difficulty of per- 
 suading the moderate members of the party to concur 
 *in so extravagant a measure as that of setting aside 
 the senior 2'; and although they may have vaguely 
 contemplated the idea of securing the Vice-Chancellor- 
 ship for the Master of Caius, they do not appear to 
 have taken any steps towards the execution of the 
 design, and finally to have abandoned it. On Saturday 
 November 3rd the Heads unanimously nominated the 
 Masters of Corpus and Caius, and on the following day 
 the former was unanimously elected Vice-Chancellor^. 
 
 Newcastle had good reason to rejoice. By securing a 
 reliable Caput and a trustworthy Vice-Chancellor he 
 had safeguarded himself against having to fight at a 
 disadvantage in the event of a second election. He could 
 not have done more; and the value he placed upon his 
 achievement is best attested by his intentions in the 
 event of failure. 
 
 'I believe' he told Dr Caryl 'I am not thought one who 
 would rashly do an improper or indiscreet thing; but, if they 
 had carried it for Dr Smith, I had taken my resolution, I would 
 have come to Cambridge, acted myself as Chancellor, have re- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32963, f. 60. 2 Add_ MS. 32963, f. 223. 
 
 ^ Ibid. The Master of Emmanuel did not appear on the nomination 
 day, having taken to his bed on the plea of illness. It is possible that he 
 was upset by receiving from Charles Yorke 'a thundering letter with 
 so much civility but yet urged with so much force, as must be enough 
 to stun if it were not able to satisfy him.' Add. MS. 32963, f. 227.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 137 
 
 mained in the university as long as necessary, and have declared 
 in Senate to Dr Smith that he had no power or authority nor 
 had anything to do during my residence in the university. And 
 I am not at all unwilling that it should be known that this was 
 my intention^' 
 
 It was fortunately unnecessary for him to adopt such 
 drastic measures; and, freed from all anxiety with regard 
 to the immediate future at Cambridge, he was able to 
 watch with comparative calm the slow and stately 
 progress of the law-suit. Lord Sandwich had been 
 given until the Michaelmas term tu show cause why 
 the writs of mandamus should not be granted; and on 
 November 1 6th his counsel submitted seven affidavits. 
 These documents endeavoured to show that Pitt had 
 been duly qualified to vote in the regents' house, that 
 six regents had voted for the Grace in the non-regents' 
 house, and that 'no second scrutiny ought to be made 
 when the votes are equal, nor the validity of any vote 
 examined afterwards^'; but it does not appear that Lord 
 Hardwicke's friends were at all alarmed. Indeed they 
 were much relieved to find that Sandwich was unable 
 to put up a better case, and, feeling confident of the 
 issue, ceased to take much interest in the legal pro- 
 ceedings. Their optimism was justified, for in April 1765 
 the court gavejudgment in Lord Hardwicke's favour. 
 
 'I have great pleasure in acquainting your Grace' wrote Dr 
 Caryl to Newcastle on May 7th, 1765, 'that all our trouble 
 about the office of High Steward is now at an end. The man- 
 damus was obeyed without any hesitation; my Lord Hardwicke's 
 patent is sealed; and the bells are now ringing merrily to close 
 the whole ^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32963, f. 251. Dr Caryl kept the Duke's intentions to 
 himself. Add. MS. 32963, f. 312. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32964, f. i; see also Add. MS. 32963, f. 356, 
 
 f- 397- 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32966, f. 343; see also f. 273 and Gray's Letters 
 (edited by D. C. Tovey), in, 69-72.
 
 138 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 Thus after many months and much labour Hardwicke 
 succeeded his father as High Steward of the university, 
 and Newcastle could congratulate himself upon having 
 victoriously repelled the assault of the enemy. Never 
 before had he been compelled to fight so fiercely for 
 his predominance in the university; and, inasmuch as 
 he had prevailed and routed the forces which had over- 
 thrown him in parliament, his success was doubly sweet. 
 He enjoyed the satisfaction of having soundly beaten 
 a redoubtable antagonist, and the furious and prolonged 
 character of the struggle added prestige to the victory. 
 Sandwich indeed was too decisively defeated not to be 
 compelled to admit it; and in 1767 he referred in a 
 letter to the Duke to 'that unlucky contest in the uni- 
 versity which I was so silly as to be drawn into^.' Yet 
 Newcastle's triumph was not complete and not un- 
 attended with disappointment. He had induced himself 
 to believe that success at Cambridge would react favour- 
 ably upon the fortunes of the parliamentary opposition; 
 and truly, unless he so believed, he was hardly justified 
 in raising an academic dispute to the dignity of a great 
 political issue. Yet there was no such favourable re- 
 action; and the decline in the strength of the opposition 
 was in no way stayed by Sandwich's defeat at Cam- 
 bridge. Newcastle moreover must have been deeply 
 mortified to find that both Hardwicke and Charles 
 Yorke failed to recognise that they were under any 
 obligation to him. From the very outset Hardwicke had 
 behaved with studied indifference, allowing others to 
 work for him and taking their services for granted; but 
 he was at least consistent and never evinced any interest 
 in the proceedings. Charles Yorke behaved in a still 
 more despicable fashion. Being extremely anxious for 
 his brother to become High Steward, he had encouraged 
 the Duke to be unsparing in effort; and as in November 
 1 Add. MS. 32982, f. 435.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 139 
 
 1763 he had resigned the office, of Attorney-General 
 and thrown in his lot with the opposition party, he was 
 favourably situated to demand a service of Newcastle. 
 Yet in December 1764, when the Duke had accom- 
 plished his work at Cambridge and it could be taken 
 for granted that Hardwicke would be declared High 
 Steward, Charles Yorke deserted the opposition and 
 came to terms with the court and ministry, and his 
 desertion must have considerably detracted from New- 
 castle's pleasure in his victory over Sandwich. The 
 personal triumph remained; but it was difficult after 
 the desertion of Charles Yorke to pretend that it was 
 a triumph of the opposition over the government. 
 
 Thus what seemed about to be the crowning glory 
 of Newcastle's career as Chancellor turned to some- 
 thing like dust and ashes; and at times he must have 
 reflected that it was hardly worth while to have taken 
 so much trouble for so little result. He was however 
 to be avenged, though not until after his death. Though 
 apparently so indifferent to the honour conferred upon 
 him, Hardwicke was not unwilling to hold office in the 
 university as long as he was not expected to take any 
 trouble; and there is reason to think that he was glad 
 enough to be High Steward and regarded himself as 
 the natural successor to Newcastle in the Chancellor- 
 ship. He characteristically however was not prepared 
 to exert himself in paving the way to the accession to 
 the higher dignity; and apparently lightly assumed that 
 the greater prize would come to him in the natural 
 order of things, and that therefore it was quite un- 
 necessary for him to display the slightest interest in 
 the affairs of the university. And by a curious irony of 
 circumstance the place which he coveted, and to gain 
 which he had taken the High Stewardship, was to be 
 wrested from him by the Duke of Grafton who had 
 been one of his supporters in the previous contest. In
 
 140 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 July 1766 Grafton had severed his connection with 
 the opposition and taken office as First Lord of the 
 Treasury; and when in January 1767 he re-entered his 
 name on the books of his old college, Peterhouse^, it 
 was probably with a view of standing for the Chancellor- 
 ship in the event of Newcastle's death. 
 
 ' I suspect my old friend, the Bishop of Chester, to be at the 
 bottom of this affair,' remarked Newcastle to the Master of 
 Jesus, 'though no one was more offended at his Lordship's con- 
 duct, in deserting us as he did, than the Duke of Grafton was at 
 that time. But, dear Caryl, almost everybody changes but you 
 and IV 
 
 The Duke however could hardly be expected to take 
 much interest in a struggle which would not begin until 
 he was on his deathbed, and though he certainly did 
 not desire the court to control the university through 
 Grafton, he never indicated that he wished Hardwicke 
 to be his successor. He probably realised that his pre- 
 ferences and wishes would carry little weight when he 
 was in the grave, and that it was not for him to regulate 
 a future he would not see. He had only to give the 
 signal for operations to begin, and this duty he fulfilled. 
 When he fell seriously ill about the end of the year 
 1767, academic politicians at once began to stir. The 
 question whether Hardwicke or Grafton should be his 
 successor was eagerly discussed in the university; and 
 the President of Queens' was informed by a friend that 
 Grafton 'means to offer himself as a candidate for the 
 Chancellorship whenever it becomes vacant, and that 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32979. It seems fairly dear that Grafton could not have 
 replaced his name on the college books with a view of obtaining a vote 
 in the Senate, as a Grace, passed in January, 1766, provided that no 
 re-admitted person was entitled to vote, 'unless he shall be chosen into 
 an academical office or a professorship or into the foundation of some 
 college or shall reside here three terms.' Add. MS. 32973, f. 271. 
 See also Add. MS. 35628, f. 53. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32980, f. 42.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 141 
 
 he seems to be preparing for it^.' The President also 
 drew his own conclusions from the butler of his college 
 having received from a Fellow of Peterhouse 'a paper 
 containing a list of names of several of the absent 
 members of this college, to which he was desired to 
 affix their respective addresses^. It was also significant 
 that during the Christmas vacation the Vice-Chancellor, 
 who was Marriott of Trinity Hall, 'sent to the butler 
 of Benet for a list of all the members of the Senate who 
 had their names upon the boards in that college^'; and 
 it is possible that he made similar enquiries at other 
 colleges. Though there is no definite proof that the 
 Vice-Chancellor and the Fellows of Peterhouse were 
 actmg on Grafton's behalf, it is at least quite likely 
 that they were; and Hardwicke was advised by a friend 
 that Grafton was stirring. 
 
 It will hardly be a matter of surprise to your Lordship to hear 
 that many of those, who gave your Lordship so much trouble 
 about the High Stewardship, are disposed to support this interest. 
 And I am sorry to add I am not without some fears that some 
 of those, who were your Lordship's friends upon that occasion, 
 will show themselves in different colours on any others. Indeed, 
 my Lord, to speak the plain truth, there is a general complaint 
 of your Lordship's shyness and inattention to the interests of 
 those who distinguished themselves in support of your Lord- 
 ship's interest on that occasion, a circumstance which I must 
 entirely rely upon your Lordship's candour and good undsr- 
 standing to pardon me for mentioning. But I cannot discharge 
 my duty without it. Whether your Lordship means to do us the 
 honour offering (sic) yourself a candidate for the Chancellor- 
 ship or not in case of a vacancy, it would ill become me to pre- 
 sume to judge; but, as I have your Lordship's interest really 
 much at heart, I cannot but in the most earnest manner recom- 
 mend it to your Lordship, in case you ha^/e any such design, to 
 make yourself more known to your friends in the university, 
 and by a proper application to them to secure them in time*.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35628, f. 71. 2 Add. MS. 35628, f. 70. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 35628, f. 71. 4 Add. MS. 35657, f. 292.
 
 142 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 This was very plain speaking, and as Newcastle 
 rallied and survived until November 1768, the High 
 Steward could not complain that he had not received 
 timely warning. There is no evidence however that he 
 took any action beyond informing the President of 
 Queens' that, in the question of his conduct when the 
 Chancellorship fell vacant, he must be guided by the 
 advice of his friends at Cambridge. As it was hardly 
 possible to ask men to support a candidature which 
 might never materialise, nothing was done to urge his 
 claims, though probably the supporters of Grafton were 
 not idle. Thus the months passed away until the death 
 of the Duke of Newcastle, which took place in the early 
 hours of Thursday November 17th. The news was 
 received in Cambridge by noon on the same day; and 
 without loss of time the Vice-Chancellor, who was 
 Dr Hinchliffe, Master of Trinity, summoned a meeting 
 of Heads of Houses for the following morning^. At this 
 meeting the Vice-Chancellor read a letter from the Duke 
 of Grafton, announcing that if he could be elected 
 Chancellor without a canvass of the university he 
 would be much honoured; and, after this letter had been 
 read, the President of Queens' communicated to the 
 meeting 'Lord Hardwicke's sentiments on the same 
 subject^.' We unfortunately do not know the exact 
 nature of the President's communication, but it is 
 probable that he made it understood that Hardwicke 
 was contemplating standing for election, without how- 
 ever having definitely decided to do so^. As it was 
 therefore possible that the Senate might have to choose 
 between two candidates, it was decided to hold the 
 election on Tuesday November 29th, though the Vice- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 307. 2 Add. MS. 35640, f. 299. 
 
 ^ In a letter to Charles Yorke, Rutherforth uses the phrase 'that as 
 Lord Hardwicke had thought proper to declare his readiness to accept 
 of the Chancellorship.' Add. MS. 35640, f. 303.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 143 
 
 Chancellor had originally suggested Monday November 
 2 1 St as a suitable and convenient date. 
 
 It was now the business of Lord Hardwicke's advisers 
 at Cambridge to form an estimate of the support that 
 their candidate was likely to receive; and the President 
 of Queens' and Professor Rutherforth undertook the 
 task of conducting a discreet enquiry. The information 
 they collected was decidedly discouraging. They dis- 
 covered that Dr Powell, now become Master of St 
 John's, who had so strenuously assisted Hardwicke 
 against Lord Sandwich, was in favour of Grafton and 
 could count upon the support of the majority of his 
 Fellows, that Trinity, led by its Master, was over- 
 whelmingly on the same side, that the Master and 
 Fellows of Peterhouse were united 'in support of the 
 Duke of Grafton as a college cause,' that both in 
 Christ's and King's Grafton was certain of a considerable 
 following, and that even Dr Caryl of Jesus, though 
 prepared to vote for Hardwicke, declined to canvass 
 *his Fellows as he did in the case of the High Steward- 
 ship, for he then laid himself open to such claims from 
 them as he has found very inconvenient, and as he never 
 has been able to answer^.' It was roughly calculated 
 that about two hundred and forty persons would vote, 
 and that of these Hardwicke could not possibly count 
 upon more than eighty^. In these circumstances it would 
 be both useless and ridiculous for him to come forward 
 as a candidate; and when the President of Queens', the 
 Masters of Corpus, Jesus, and Emmanuel, and Professor 
 Rutherforth met in conference on Tuesday November 
 22nd, they had little difficulty in deciding the character 
 of the communication they should address to Hardwicke. 
 
 'Upon consideration of the state of the university, after the 
 best inquiry that can be made in the several colleges,' they 
 stated, 'and reflecting on the disadvantages of entering so late 
 1 Add. MS. 35640, f. 303. 2 /^;V,
 
 144 THE UNIVERSITY AND POLITICIANS 
 
 into an opposition, we are of opinion that there is no reasonable 
 expectation of making a respectable minority in favour of Lord 
 Hardwicke, and therefore, for the honour of his Lordship and 
 to avoid inconvenience and distress to the members of the 
 university, we think it best that his Lordship's name should not 
 be made any farther use of on this occasion^.' 
 
 Acting upon this very sound advice Hardwicke 
 decided not to stand for election; and on Tuesday 
 November 29th the Duke of Grafton was unanimously 
 chosen Chancellor. It was well that the university was 
 spared another contest, for it had already suffered enough 
 from the strife of politicians. Twice in twenty years 
 Cambridge had been the scene of a fierce party struggle; 
 and on both occasions victory had rested with New- 
 castle. In the closing years of his life, when he was 
 commonly regarded as an impotent old dotard, he had 
 the happiness of finding that at least he could prevail 
 in Cambridge, and that there, if only there, he could 
 repel the attack of the tories and renegade whigs who 
 elsewhere had completely triumphed over him. As he 
 closed his eyes in death upon the wreck of his former 
 greatness, it is possible that he thought with peculiar 
 affection of the university where he had remained a 
 power until the end. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35628, f. 78; see also, f. 76.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 WHATEVER measure of success Newcastle 
 achieved in life was owing almost exclusively 
 to his amazing industry. This is the secret of the rise 
 of a mediocrity to political greatness. With no serious 
 inte/est in life except work, he found his only happiness 
 in the transaction of business, and outstripped far abler 
 men in the race for power by modelling himself upon 
 the tortoise and leaving them to imitate the hare. In- 
 stinctively and almost unconsciously he extended the 
 sphere and increased the importance of every office he 
 filled; and as a cabinet minister his tendency was to 
 reduce his colleagues to cyphers by retaining in his 
 own hands much more business than he could efficiently 
 manage. He was certainly ambitious and loved power; 
 but it is doubtful whether that infirmity of noble mind 
 was the dominant trait in his character. It is possible 
 that he loved the means by which power is attained more 
 than the power itself, that the race not the goal was the 
 attraction, and that, before it was preached, he practised 
 the maxim that 'to travel hopefully is a better thing 
 than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.' Had 
 he been solely actuated by ambition he would probably 
 have displayed a m.ore discriminating industry and more 
 deftly proportioned his zeal to the importance of the 
 task; but, loving labour for its own sake, he obeyed with 
 slavish fidelity the command to do with your might all 
 that your hand finds to do, and often spent his energy 
 upon trifles at the expense of more weighty and urgent
 
 146 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 matters. No blame could have attached to him if he 
 had elected to treat the office of Chancellor as a sinecure, 
 for it was as such that his immediate predecessors had 
 regarded it, and a hard-worked statesman could hardly 
 be expected to immerse himself in academic affairs. But 
 he had no inclination to avail himself of an excuse at 
 which nine persons out often in his position would have 
 eagerly snatched. He desired to keep in the closest 
 possible touch with the university, to know and in- 
 fluence all that happened there; and to attain this end 
 he was willing to endure an almost intolerable burden 
 of drudgery. It is true that his activity was not dis- 
 interested, and that he hoped to increase his political 
 influence by converting Cambridge into a stronghold 
 of that section of the whig party which he controlled; 
 but the trouble he took was out of all proportion to the 
 gain; and, even if the gain had been less, it is unlikely 
 that he would have been appreciably less active. 
 
 As an absentee however he was not favourably 
 situated to establish a dominant influence in the uni- 
 versity, and as a servant of the crown he could only 
 devote a portion of his time to academic business. It 
 was consequently necessary for him to depend to a 
 certain extent upon subordinates, of whom not the least 
 important was Doctor Samuel Squire. A nephew of the 
 wife of Dr Newcome, Master of St John's, of which 
 college he was for some years a Fellow, Squire in 1748 
 became the Duke's chaplain and his secretary for the 
 business of the university. It was his duty as secretary 
 to keep Newcastle informed of any academic events of 
 importance, to deal with the large Cambridge corre- 
 spondence, and on occasions to serve as the medium of 
 communication between the Chancellor and the uni- 
 versity. On his promotion to the Bench in 1761 as 
 Bishop of St David's, he was succeeded in the office 
 of the Chancellor's university secretary by William
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 147 
 
 Talbot, Fellow of Clare 1. As Talbot continued to 
 reside in Cambridge the management of the Duke's 
 Cambridge correspondence passed into other hands; 
 but the new secretary was clearly more favourably 
 situated than Squire for acting as a conveyer of news 
 and a medium of communication. 
 
 In addition to the Chancellor's secretary, who occu- 
 pied an official and recognised position, Newcastle had 
 always a few trusted agents at Cambridge whose busi- 
 ness it was to let him know when anything was stirring, 
 and on the occasion of controversy or dispute to 
 organise a party in support of his wishes. Such were the 
 functions fulfilled at different times by Dr Keene, 
 Master of Peterhouse, Dr Green, Master of Corpus, 
 Dr Yonge, Master of Jesus, and his successor in the 
 mastership, Dr Caryl. It was clearly expedient to em- 
 ploy upon such work Heads of Houses who by virtue 
 of their position possessed considerable influence in the 
 university; and it is to be noticed that Yonge continued 
 to be so employed even after he had become a bishop 
 and resigned his mastership. Without such assistance 
 Newcastle could have exercised but a faint control over 
 university affairs. Having no official relations with him 
 they served to cloak his interference; and appeared to 
 be following their own inclinations while acting in ac- 
 cordance with his secret instructions. They were of 
 course well known to enjoy the Chancellor's confidence, 
 but the extent of that confidence could only be guessed; 
 and they seem to have been scrupulously careful, unless 
 a contrary policy was either advisable or inevitable, to 
 refrain from committing the Duke. The task was such 
 
 ^ In a letter, dated May 25th, 1761, Talbot mentions that 'a letter 
 from My Lord Bishop of Bristol acquaints me that your Grace had 
 done me the high honour of appointing me your Grace's secretary 
 for the business of the university in the room of Dr Squire, now Bishop 
 of St David's.' Add. MS. 32923, f. 255.
 
 148 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 as could only be performed by trusted friends; and 
 Newcastle was no easy task-master. On one occasion 
 Dr Yonge, after he had become Bishop of Norwich, fell 
 below the exacting standard demanded; and received a 
 letter from the Duke which can only be described as 
 terrific: 
 
 'I never was so much surprised or indeed offended' wrote 
 Newcastle 'with any letter that I have ever received as with 
 that which I have received from your Lordship this night. 
 Everyone which I have had from you this summer has been 
 full of reproaches to me. The present Bishop of Norwich 
 reproach me with leaving his diocese to obey me. Had he not 
 common charity or christian compassion to come to his bene- 
 factors when they had been and were under such distress and 
 affliction as we were this whole summer. Reproach me with 
 being some hours at my house upon business by no means agree- 
 able to him. What business? The support of that cause and that 
 fortune, the which he would have had no Clapham to go to, and 
 might have been a junior Fellow of Trinity college to this 
 hour. The present Bishop of Norwich to reproach me for having 
 put off an engagement to come to dine with me. I shall give 
 your Lordship no further trouble I can assure you. You may 
 remain at your diocese at Clapham and I will never call you 
 from thence. One favour I have to ask of your Lordship, and 
 that is that you would shew our correspondence of this summer 
 to every bishop upon the Bench, and I will venture to say that, 
 except the Bishops of Chester and St David's, there will not be 
 a single bishop who will approve the ungrateful part you have 
 acted towards me, and those, who put you upon it, do not consult 
 your character and reputation^.' 
 
 Yet, however perfect the organisation, it was im- 
 perative for the success of Newcastle's plans that he 
 should be personally known to as many members of the 
 university as possible. Though in the sphere of private 
 life affection may be stimulated by absence, public 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32955, f. 125. Keene was Bishop of Chester and Squire 
 was Bishop of St David's. When this letter was written both these 
 divines had ceased to be supporters of Newcastle.
 
 PLATE III 
 
 IMilJJ 1' \ US^l: 
 
 MASTKR OF JESUS C () L 1. 1; (' E, C A M I', R I D (U; (tj^^-^S) 
 
 lUSHOP OF 15RISTOL (17,5.^-61) 
 
 I'.ISHOl' OF NORWICH (17*. 1 S^)
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 149 
 
 characters are apt to be out of mind when out of sight; 
 and a Chancellor, who was only known by name to the 
 university, would never find a party ready to his call. 
 Hence the frequency of Newcastle's visits to Cambridge. 
 Few Chancellors have been so conscientious or so 
 thorough in the discharge of this part of their duties. 
 Whenever he was at Cambridge which, considering his 
 other engagements, was not seldom, he was careful to 
 see as many people as possible, and consequently was 
 far better known than most of his predecessors. To the 
 undiscerning he might appear to be wasting his time 
 upon social trivialities, and the poet. Gray, was loudly 
 contemptuous of the 'fizzling Duke'; but Newcastle was 
 wise in his generation and knew the value of aristocratic 
 condescension. 
 
 It is indeed probable that he would have visited the 
 university even more frequently if he had not been so 
 much engaged with affairs of state and so often in 
 attendance upon the King in Hanover. Thus he was 
 obliged to postpone his first appearance in Cambridge 
 after his installation until June 1753 when he visited 
 the university to admit Lord Hardwicke to the degree 
 of doctor of laws. A present day Chancellor, when 
 called upon to perform some such duty, generally only 
 spends a few hours among his academic subjects, and 
 seldom exchanges a word with more than a handful of 
 them; but that was not the Duke's way. His stay ex- 
 tended over four days, and in addition to officiating as 
 Chancellor in the Senate house, he held a levee at 
 Clare, presided over a meeting of Heads and Tutors 
 which had been called 'to consider how to remedy the 
 mischiefs arising from peddling Tews dealing with 
 scholars, and the inconvenience of the long non-residence 
 of scholars, particularly in the long vacation,' dined 
 or supped with six Heads of Houses, and dined on 
 Trinity Sunday, which fell within his stay, in the hall
 
 150 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 of Trinity college^. Between 1753 and 1768 he seems 
 to have visited the university six times in all, and 
 though on one occasion he did not stay more than a 
 night, he usually remained at least three or four days 
 and kept high festival the whole time. 
 
 * Everything has passed here, since my coming down, extreamly 
 well,' he wrote to Lord Hardwicke from Cambridge in July 
 1 761, 'the performances of the young men yesterday were ex- 
 treamly good and gave great satisfaction, particularly your friend, 
 Mr Flitcroft's son of Benet. We had last night a very fine enter- 
 tainment at the new Master's of Queens'. We have constantly 
 drunk your Lordship's health twice a day, as I told you we 
 would^.' 
 
 Indeed, so anxious were the members of the university 
 to give their Chancellor a rousing welcome, and so 
 anxious was the Chancellor to accept their hospitality, 
 that it was perhaps as well for all parties that these visits 
 were not more frequent. 
 
 'I had the favour of your letter' wrote Newcastle to the 
 Master of Corpus in June 1760 'and hope to have the pleasure 
 of taking a slight supper with you at your Lodge on Saturday 
 evening. I dine at Therfield^, so can't say exactly what time I 
 shall come to Clare Hall, but I hope by eight o'clock. The 
 Vice-Chancellor has wrote to me very obligingly to sup with 
 him that night, but I have excused myself, having been engaged 
 to you. I think you would do well to ask him to your Lodge. 
 I can't possibly wait upon Dr Beridge and I beg you would make 
 my excuse. My engagements are Master of Benet, Saturday 
 supper, Vice-Chancellor, Commencement Sunday dinner, 
 Alaster of Jesus, supper that night. Provost of King's, Monday 
 dinner. Master of Christ's, supper that night. Trinity college, 
 dinner Commencement Tuesday, Clare Hall, supper that night; 
 and on Wednesday morning I propose to return to London"*.' 
 
 It was customary on the occasion of these dinners and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 69, f. 70. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32924, f. 441. Henry Flitcroft was admitted to Corpus 
 in 1759 "^^^ ^'^^ ^^^ M.A. in 1763. 
 
 2 Therfield is near Royston. "* Add. MS. 32907, f. 351.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 151 
 
 suppers to invite a large number of guests^, and con- 
 sequently the Duke had ample opportunities of en- 
 larging the circle of his acquaintances. The strain was 
 doubtless severe but he had to endure it. It was neces- 
 sary for him to court the university as a parliamentary 
 candidate courts a constituency, to be accessible to all, 
 and to win friends by kindly words and genial attentions. 
 He certainly cannot be accused of having acted on the 
 assumption that the members of the university, like 
 parsnips, could not be buttered with fine words; for he 
 was prodigal of his blandishments. After dining on one 
 occasion in the hall of Trinity he despatched an en- 
 thusiastic letter to the Master who had unavoidably 
 been absent. 
 
 'I am too sensible' he wrote 'of the honour that was done 
 me at Trinity college, and of the very agreeable entertainment 
 which I had there on the Commencement Tuesday, not to take 
 the first opportunity of acquainting you with it, and returning 
 you my most sincere thanks for it. The very great improvements 
 that are made to the buildings and the revenues of the finest 
 college in England, owing entirely to your care, ability and 
 attention to the real advantage of that great society, and the 
 flourishing condition of it owing also to the good order and 
 discipline established there by you, give me, who have so much 
 the honour and reputation of our university at heart, the greatest 
 satisfaction, and require from me the best return which I can 
 make to shew my gratitude for it and sense of it. Independently 
 of my attachment to the university I have always had a 
 particular affection for Trinity college, and as Chancellor I am 
 now truly proud of it in every respect. I hope you will forgive 
 my taking this liberty which proceeds entirely from what I 
 thought but justice to say to you upon the subject. I have 
 acquainted the King with it as well as with the dutiful and 
 loyal behaviour of the university upon all occasions^.' 
 
 1 When Newcastle supped with the Master of Christ's the company 
 numbered twenty in all, and when he dined with the Provost of King's, 
 nearly thirty persons were present. Add. MS. 5852, f. 145. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32908, f. 104. For the details of the Chancellor's visits
 
 152 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Newcastle probably wrote many such letters after 
 departing from Cambridge; and although his compli- 
 ments were wasted upon Dr Smith who never became 
 one of his ardent supporters, he was more successful in 
 other quarters. By assiduously applying himself to the 
 task and by a prodigal expenditure of his time and 
 energy, he acquired a personal following in the uni- 
 versity and thereby laid a solid foundation for his power. 
 It is true that as long as he was in the service of the 
 crown he was able richly to reward devotion; but it 
 would be wrong to imagine that his influence as 
 Chancellor solely depended upon the means of corrup- 
 tion at his disposal. When the evil days came and he 
 retired from the king's service into the ranks of a dis- 
 credited and ineffective opposition, he still retained a 
 measure of control over the university and thus reaped 
 the harvest he had sown. There were of course some 
 who left him when he ceased to have anything to give, 
 but there were many who remained true, remembering 
 how closely he had identified himself with the uni- 
 versity and how solicitous he was for its welfare. 
 
 The question of the extent of his influence and the 
 degree to which he interfered in the affairs of Cambridge, 
 is not easy to answer in a general fashion. His authority 
 certainly never approached anything like despotic sway, 
 and more than once he met with a serious rebuff; but 
 on the other hand there is no doubt that he was until 
 the end a power in the university and, if he prudently 
 refrained from offending academic susceptibilities, could 
 generally prevail. He was a constitutional ruler in the 
 sense that he could do little or nothing unless supported 
 by a majority of the Senate; but, as has been previously 
 
 see Add. MS. 5852, f. 69, f. 70, f. 137, f. 139, f. 145; Add. MS. 
 32907, f. 255, f. 257, f. 280, f. 282, f. 292, f. 351; Add. MS. 32908, 
 f. 104, f. 144; Add. MS. 32923, f. 245; Add. MS. 32924, f. 384, 
 .410, f. 441 ; Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 153 
 
 explai^ied, he had means, not strictly constitutional, of 
 organising the necessary popular support. But though 
 it is possible to differ over the extent of the control he 
 exercised, it would be generally admitted that there have 
 been very few Chancellors who have taken their duties 
 so seriously or have attempted to exercise so minute a 
 supervision over the details of university business. This 
 supervision and interest extended to even such a matter 
 of pure routine as the drafting and presentation of 
 addresses. When an event of national importance oc- 
 cured it was usual for the university to present a loyal 
 address to the crown; and the customary procedure was 
 for the address to be drafted by the Vice-Chancellor, 
 approved by the Heads, passed by the Senate after two 
 readings, and then presented to the sovereign by the 
 Chancellor who was usually attended by a deputation 
 from the university. As the Chancellor made himself 
 responsible for the address by presenting it, he certainly 
 had some claim to be consulted; but some surprise and 
 on occasions resentment, was caused by Newcastle be- 
 having in what was considered to be an arbitrary fashion. 
 For instance, when in the late summer of 1758 the news 
 reached England of the fall of Louisburg, Dr Richard- 
 son, Master of Emmanuel, proposed to Dr Law, Master 
 of Peterhouse, who was acting as deputy Vice-Chancellor 
 in the absence of the Master of Corpus, that the uni- 
 versity should present an address to the crown; and 
 though without loss of time Dr Law informed the 
 Chancellor, mentioning that he regarded himself as 
 obliged 'to consult your Grace before any publick step 
 be taken in an affair concerning which we here seem 
 to be no very competent judges^,' the Duke was very 
 seriously annoyed. 
 
 'I send you' he wrote to Lord Hardwicke 'a silly letter 
 from poor Dr Law: I call it silly, for, poor man, he should 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32883, f. 269.
 
 154 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 have told this officious Master of Emmanuel that he had heard 
 nothing from the Chancellor who was the proper person to tell 
 them if an address was proper or expected i.' 
 
 According to this doctrine it was for the Chancellor to 
 tell the university when to address the crown; but even 
 Newcastle admitted on this occasion that, as the sug- 
 gestion had been made, it must be acted upon. He was 
 careful however to see that the address should be such 
 as he could approve. He arranged that it should be 
 drafted by Law and revised by Lord Hardwicke; and 
 when Hardwicke sent the address to the Duke, he 
 generously gave the Master of Peterhouse the credit 
 for any merit it might have. 
 
 'If your Grace should happen to approve of this address' he 
 wrote 'I suspect that your usual partiality to me may ascribe 
 what is good in it to your faithful servant; but, if you do, you 
 will in truth wrong Dr Law, for his draught (sic) was a very 
 good one, the topics well chosen and well expressed in my 
 apprehension^'; 
 
 and, softened perhaps by Hardwicke's pleading, the 
 Duke repented of his harshness. 
 
 'There is nothing omitted' he wrote to Law on receiving 
 the address, 'which the most zealous servant of His Majesty and 
 friend to his country could wish to have had inserted, and the 
 various points are mentioned so properly that I don't know 
 which to admire most, the propriety of the matter or the elegance 
 of the manner^.' 
 
 This was giving praise in unstinting measure; but there 
 was one phrase in the draft which the Duke could not 
 allow to pass. Dr Law had expressed the hope that the 
 King might 'enjoy the calm evening of a glorious reign,' 
 but as that evening was already far advanced, Newcastle, 
 who knew the ways of kings and courts, remarked that 
 'though that is undoubtedly the fact, I would submit to 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32883, f. 273. 2 Add. MS. 32883, f. 297. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32882, f. 333.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 155 
 
 you whether in an address of congratulation you would 
 just name it^.' For the unfortunate phrase therefore 
 was substituted: 'may in perfect tranquillity enjoy a 
 long and glorious reign' and the King was spared being 
 reminded that he was on the verge of the grave. 
 
 The address, thus amended, having been submitted 
 to the Heads and passed by the Senate^, was presented 
 to the King on September 1 2th, 1 758, by the Chancellor 
 who was accompanied by the Masters of Corpus and 
 Peterhouse. The numerous deputation from the univer- 
 sity, usual on such occasions, was dispensed with, as 
 fatiguing ceremonies were considered bad for the King 
 at his age^. It may be presumed that the absence of 
 Dr Richardson was a punishment for his forwardness 
 in suggesting an address; and, though all had turned 
 out well, it is evident that Newcastle considered that 
 he had not altogether been treated with proper respect. 
 On this particular occasion it had been comparatively 
 easy for him to nip rebellion in the bud and regain 
 effective control, as both the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Green, 
 and the deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr Law, were his 
 loyal supporters; but he could not rely upon being 
 always so favourably situated. There was ever the danger 
 that an independent spirit might resent his interference; 
 and at times he must have been sorely torn between a 
 desire for the university to present an address and a 
 fear that the particular moment was not favourable to 
 the exercise of his influence. Generally however the 
 occasions demanding an university address were too 
 well defined to allow the Chancellor much discretion. 
 Thus when in October 1759 the news of the capture 
 of Quebec reached England, Newcastle was compelled 
 to direct the university to address the King; and, as 
 Dr Caryl was Vice-Chancellor, the Duke probably did 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32883, f. 333. 2 Add. MS. 32883, f. 349, f. 376. 
 3 Add. MS. 32883, f. 333.
 
 156 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 not anticipate that there would be any difficulty. But 
 Caryl's term of office was drawing to a close; and when 
 on November 4th he was succeeded as Vice-Chancellor 
 by James Burrough, Master of Caius, he had not even 
 completed the draft of the address. This was particularly 
 unfortunate, as Burrough, being tory in his sympathies, 
 might not be obedient to the Chancellor's wishes; but 
 Caryl was equal to the emergency. By November 5th 
 he had completed the address and communicated it to 
 Newcastle; but he purposely delayed handing a copy 
 of it to the new Vice-Chancellor until late on the fol- 
 lowing day, his object being, as he informed the Duke, 
 to prevent any meeting of the Heads being summoned 
 to consider it before November 7th, by which time he 
 and his friends would have had 'an opportunity of 
 receiving any commands your Grace may please to 
 honour us with before it will become difficult to pay 
 a proper regard to them^'. 
 
 The Master of Caius was probably unjustly suspected 
 of wishing to cause annoyance; for when it came to the 
 point he proved himself unexpectedly compliant. Though 
 he had been anxious for a numerous deputation from 
 the university to attend the presentation of the address, 
 he at once abandoned the idea when it was pointed out 
 that the King would be thereby caused unnecessary 
 trouble^, and in no respect had Newcastle any reason 
 to complain of his conduct. He earned his reward. 
 
 'On the 1 2th of November' states Cooper in his Annals of 
 Cambridge 'the following address was presented to the King 
 at St James's by the Duke of Newcastle, Chancellor of the 
 university, attended by James Burrough, Esq., Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, Dr Richardson, Master of Emmanuel College, Dr Law, 
 Master of Peterhouse and Dr Caryl, Master of Jesus College, 
 which address His Majesty was pleased to receive very graciously. 
 They all had the honour to kiss His Majesty's hand, and His 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32898, f. 105. 2 Add. MS. 32898, f. 86.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 157 
 
 Majesty was pleased to confer the honour of knighthood upon 
 James Burrough, Esq., Vice-Chancellor^.' 
 
 Ten days before the expiration of Sir James Burrough's 
 Vice-Chancellorship, George II died; and it was of 
 course necessary for the university to address the new 
 King. Burrough's successor as Vice-Chancellor was 
 Sandby, the recently appointed Master of Magdalene, 
 who was an Oxford man and entirely unacquainted with 
 the university over which he was called upon to preside; 
 and Newcastle not unreasonably feared that he might 
 be too new to his duties to produce an address worthy 
 of the occasion. He therefore calmly decided that the 
 Vice-Chancellor should not be allowed to draft the 
 address, and instructed Dr Yonge to write immediately 
 
 to the Dean of Lincoln^ and Dr Caryl, and acquaint them that 
 the university must address and come up in a body. That the 
 Duke of Newcastle desires they would take care that the 
 address may be a well drawn and a proper one. That the late 
 King's amiable and great character should be drawn. The 
 happiness his subjects enjoyed under his long and glorious reign 
 should be mentioned as well as the particular marks of his grace 
 and favour to the university of Cambridge. Then something as 
 strong as possible upon the present King his amiable character 
 and good setting out, and assurances of the same duty to him 
 and attention in the university to bring up their youth in 
 principles of zeal for his royal person and government. That as 
 the Duke of Newcastle is to read this address to the King, His 
 Grace wishes that the draft might be sent up to him. It will be 
 
 a work of but twenty four hours That they will certainly 
 
 take care to shew all proper respect and regard to the new Vice- 
 Chancellor; but not leave to him the forming of the address^. 
 
 Dr Sandby was, therefore, to be politely though 
 firmly shoved aside, and both he and the university 
 would have been poor-spirited to submit to the affront. 
 But on this occasion Newcastle's zeal out-ran his dis- 
 
 ^ Cooper's Annah, iv, 302. ^ Dr Green, Master of Corpus. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32914, f. 9.
 
 158 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 cretion; and he was rebuked by the Master of Corpus 
 who told him that, as it lay with the Vice-Chancellor 
 *to make any address which may happen during his 
 year, we could not without great offence take that 
 matter out of his hands^.' Nor indeed was there any 
 real need for such a violation of custom, as Dr Sandby, 
 fully conscious of his inexperience, was willing and 
 anxious to take expert advice. 'As he was pleased to 
 request my assistance in drawing it up,' continued 
 Dr Green, 'and the draft will be submitted to the 
 review and judgment of your Grace's friends here, 
 I hope it may in some measure be executed agreeably 
 to your advice and directions^.' Newcastle however 
 proved more exacting than the Master of Corpus 
 had anticipated, and was sufficiently dissatisfied with 
 Dr Sandby's draft to return it for re-consideration. 
 
 'I have the favour' he wrote 'of your letter by your servant 
 with the draught (sic) of an address from the university to the 
 King enclosed. As you are so good as to desire my opinion of it, 
 and as I (as Chancellor) shall have the honour of reading it to 
 the King, I hope you will forgive the liberty I take in wishing 
 that you and the Heads, whom you have consulted, would re- 
 consider this draught which, though I am persuaded it was not 
 intended, seems to me not quite to come up to those demonstra- 
 tions of duty and gratitude to my late royal master which a 
 constant avowed countenance and protection and a series of 
 unprecedented favours have deserved from us. Some more ex- 
 plicit declarations with regard to the loss which we with the 
 whole nation have suffered, and some more specifick assurances 
 of our firm resolution to breed up the youth under our care in 
 principles and practice of duty and loyalty to his present Majesty, 
 on whom the hopes of the whole nation and particularly of our 
 university now devolve, I humbly conceive are necessary^.' 
 
 The Vice-Chancellor must have felt very much like 
 a schoolboy who had done his task badly; but, pocketing 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32914, f. 94. 2 /^;V. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32914, f. 143.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 159 
 
 his pride, he acquiesced in the rebuke and set to work 
 at once upon another draft which, with one sHght 
 alteration, Newcastle cordially approved^. Sandby was 
 sensibly relieved, for the worst was now over. 
 
 'I rose very early this morning' he informed the Duke on 
 November 9th 'and wrote out the address again from your 
 Grace's copy and presented it before the Heads in the vestry at 
 St Mary's. It was well liked there, and this afternoon I called a 
 congregation and read it in the Senate house. To-morrow 
 morning at nine it will be read a second time^.' 
 
 Thus all was well; but Sandby must have wondered 
 whether the Vice-Chancellor was not the Chancellor's 
 deputy in fact as well as in name. Possibly Newcastle 
 was more than usually worrying on this occasion as it 
 was important to represent the university in a favourable 
 light to a young king who was suspected of cherishing 
 tory sympathies; and certainly the presentation of the 
 address, which took place on November 1 2th, 1 760, was 
 attended with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. The 
 necessity of keeping the deputation as small as possible 
 existed no longer; and the Duke went to Court ac- 
 companied by the High Steward, the Vice-Chancellor, 
 'several of the nobility, students in the university,' 
 and a bevy of bishops, heads of houses, doctors and 
 masters of arts^. 
 
 Enough has been said to show that Newcastle took 
 his duty with regard to university addresses with almost 
 unbecoming seriousness; and his fussiness must have 
 been extremely irritating to his victims. His interference 
 was due in great measure to over-anxiety for the dignity 
 of the university and a morbid fear of being treated 
 as a cipher; and it certainly was not inspired by any 
 ulterior political motive. It cannot however be said 
 that his conduct was always equally innocent, for there 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32914, f. 183, f. 197. 2 A^jj_ MS. 32914, f. 221. 
 
 ^ Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv, 305, 306.
 
 i6o THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 were occasions when he laid himself open to the charge 
 of sacrificing the university to his requirements as a 
 party leader. This tendency was perhaps most marked 
 in the matter of mandate degrees which assumed an 
 unfortunate importance during his Chancellorship and 
 occasionally placed him in an embarrassing situation. 
 It must be explained that though the statutes of the 
 university forbade the granting of degrees, except to 
 noblemen and quasi nobiles^, unless the proper exercises 
 had been performed at the proper time, and declared 
 all dispensations from this regulation to be null and 
 void, it had always been permissible for the crown to 
 issue letters mandatory for a degree to be granted to 
 an unqualified person notwithstanding any statute to 
 the contrary. Such action on the part of the crown, as 
 long as it was kept within due limits and only taken 
 when there was urgent cause, might clearly be the most 
 easy and convenient way of circumventing the rigidity 
 of the university constitution, but in the latter half of 
 the seventeenth century this royal privilege began to be 
 abused. In the first year of his reign Charles II ordered 
 the creation of one hundred and twenty-one doctors of 
 divinity, twelve doctors of civil law, twelve doctors 
 of physic, twelve bachelors of divinity, two masters of 
 arts and one bachelor of civil law; and though this 
 wholesale issue of letters mandatory can be excused on 
 the ground that several persons had been prevented by 
 the troubles of the Commonwealth period from taking 
 their degrees at the proper time and in the proper way, 
 it seems that throughout the reign of Charles II 
 mandate degrees were more frequently granted than 
 they ever had been before^. It must have been obvious, 
 
 ^ Quasi nobiles included all those allied to the sovereign hy con- 
 sanguinity or affinity, as well as all those commonly called 'honourable 
 personages, sive men, women or maids of honour and their sons being 
 their nearest heirs.' ^ Coopers ^nna/s of CamiriJge, iii, ^81.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY i6i 
 
 even to the most prejudiced tories, that a frequent 
 exercise of this right by the sovereign threatened both 
 the independence and the prestige of the university, 
 placing it between the dilemma of incurring the con- 
 sequences of resistance to the royal will and allowing 
 degrees to be habitually granted to unfit and un- 
 qualified persons; and the system received its death- 
 blow when James II issued letters mandatory for a 
 degree to be conferred upon Alban Francis, a Bene- 
 dictine monk. Consequently, shortly after the Revolu- 
 tion, it was agreed between the crown and university 
 that only on the receipt of a petition from the Chancellor 
 should letters mandatory be issued by the crown, and 
 that the Chancellor should not petition until he had 
 received a certificate, signed by a majority of Heads of 
 Houses, that the applicant was a 'person of good 
 learning^.' 
 
 By this arrangement the initiative was left with the uni- 
 versity. Letters mandatory could not be issued except 
 upon the receipt of a petition from the Chancellor, and 
 
 1 The Certificate of the Heads was generally in the following form. 
 'We, the Vice-Chancellor and the Heads of colleges in the university 
 of Cambridge, whose names are underwritten, humbly beg leave to 
 certify to his Grace, Thomas Holies, Duke of Newcastle, Chancellor 
 of the university aforesaid, that Robert Roper hath been recommended 
 to us as a person of good learning, and as desirous of proceeding to the 
 degree of doctor in laws in this university; but that he cannot be ad- 
 mitted to the same without His Majesty's most gracious letters mandatory 
 dispensing with our statutes in that behalf. And we do further certify 
 that such His Majesty's letters mandatory in favour of the said Robert 
 Roper will be no ways prejudicial either to the university in general 
 or to any college in particular, he paying the accustomed fees and 
 performing the usual exercises, or giving a Sufficient caution for the 
 performance of the same.' The Chancellor's petition embodied the 
 certificate, and concluded with a request for the issue of 'His Majesty's 
 most gracious letters mandatory in this behalf.' Add. MS. 36001, 
 f 275, Add. MS. 32933, f 314. See also Add. MS. 32950, f. 142, 
 Add. MS. 35629, f. 73.
 
 i62 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 the Chancellor could not present a petition until he had 
 received a certificate from the Heads of Houses. Thus 
 adequate protection was granted, and for a time the 
 system appears to have worked well. During the 
 Chancellorship of the Duke of Somerset about seventy 
 mandate degrees were conferred, which does not seem 
 to be an excessive number for a period of nearly sixty 
 years^; and when in the reign of George I the College 
 of Physicians, jealous of the honour of their profession, 
 objected to mandate degrees in medicine, the university 
 graciously undertook 'not to confer degrees in Physick, 
 out of the ordinary and regular course, but with a very 
 sparing hand and unless there was something very 
 particular and urgent in the case^. ' There were doubt- 
 less abuses, but the Heads seem to have commonly 
 acted with care and discrimination, and to have generally 
 demanded, before signing the certificate, that the appli- 
 cant should either be recommended by the Master of 
 his college or present testimonials from persons of 
 standing and reputation who were prepared to testify 
 from personal knowledge that he was 'of good learning' 
 and fully qualified for the degree to which he aspired^. 
 It is not surprising that the university was unwilling 
 to cheapen its degrees by bestowing them upon the 
 unworthy; and as long as the initiative was left to those 
 who were interested in making a sparing use of the 
 privilege, the practice of resorting to the royal mandate 
 was not only innocuous but positively useful. It some- 
 times happened that a thoroughly well equipped candi- 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32949, f. 435. Of these seventy, ten were created 
 doctors of divinity, twelve doctors of physic, three doctors of laws, 
 five bachelors of divinity, one bachelor of physic, two bachelors 
 of laws, and thirty-seven masters of arts. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32945, f. 31; Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv, 168. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32936, f. 112; Add. MS. 32941, f. 114; Add. MS. 
 32952, f. 328, f 330.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 163 
 
 date for a professorship lacked the degree requisite to 
 qualify him for election; and the deficiency could only 
 be remedied by the intervention of the crown. It was 
 also not unknown for those, who for some reason or 
 another had been obliged to leave the university with- 
 out taking a degree, to find in later life that they could 
 not advance in their profession without becoming 
 graduates. This was frequently the case among school- 
 masters; and it was generally felt that if such persons 
 could show that they had continued their studies after 
 leaving the university, no harm would be done by 
 allowing them to receive a mandate degree. 
 
 It was impossible however to eliminate completely 
 the danger of abuse; and during Newcastle's Chancellor- 
 ship the defects in the system were revealed. It was 
 quickly noticed that more than the usual number of 
 mandate degrees were being granted, and that this 
 increase was accompanied by a very hazardous innova- 
 tion. In 1757 Frederick Montagu, a Fellow-Commoner 
 of Trinity college, received a master of arts degree 
 by royal mandate, being the first Fellow-Commoner to 
 be so distinguished, and though he seems thoroughly 
 to have deserved the compliment by his learning and 
 scholarship, an unfortunate precedent was thereby estab- 
 lished. It was difficult to refuse the same privilege to 
 other Fellow-Commoners; and thus what had originally 
 been intended as an exception became the rule. 
 
 'I was sorry' wrote Dr Yonge in 1767 'when this practise 
 (sic) of giving degrees to the Fellow-Commoners began, even 
 though the first person so honoured was Mr Montagu, for whom 
 the university could not do more than enough. But I saw the 
 opening and the danger of it^.' 
 
 There is no doubt that Newcastle was partly re- 
 sponsible for this undesirable increase, and that he 
 particularly encouraged the practice of conferring man- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32980, f. 112; Add. MS. 35629, f. 73.
 
 1 64 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 date degrees upon Fellow-Commoners. In so doing he 
 certainly endangered the independence and prestige 
 of the university. It was clearly the business of the 
 Chancellor to act as a check upon the Heads, in the 
 granting of mandate degrees, by refusing to petition 
 the crown unless satisfied that there was good cause; 
 and it had never been intended that he should take 
 the initiative and call upon the Heads to produce the 
 necessary certificates for the candidates he recom- 
 mended. The recommendation of a Chancellor might 
 be as difficult to resist as a royal command; and the 
 case for the university was well put on one occasion 
 by Dr Yonge. 
 
 'I take the liberty' he told the Duke 'of acquainting your 
 Grace that whenever the Heads are disposed to make compli- 
 ments of masters' degrees to the young gentlemen who are 
 educated at Cambridge, I see no reason why your Grace should 
 obstruct their designs. They are very good judges of the pro- 
 priety of the cases before them, and will, I am persuaded, not 
 recommend any person but such as they think will not be dis- 
 agreeable to your Grace. In general I cannot but think it would 
 be best for your Grace not to recommend but to approve their 
 recommendation when it shall be (as this is) previously made 
 known to your Grace^.' 
 
 The advice was sound enough but it was very difficult 
 for Newcastle to follow it. He would have probably 
 frankly admitted that he was not well qualified to judge 
 the learning and attainments of the candidates; but he 
 might fairly have pleaded in defence of his conduct 
 that he was obliged to consider the question from a 
 point of view not exclusively academic. It was part of 
 his business as a party leader to secure favours for his 
 supporters and their friends, and his success in politics 
 was largely due to his thorough execution of this duty. 
 He had encouraged men to ask for things both great 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32980, f. 112.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 165 
 
 and small, so as to advertise his power as a patron; and 
 it was therefore to him that applicants for mandate 
 degrees or their friends naturally turned. Consistently 
 to refuse such applications, especially when they came 
 from influential quarters, might re-act unfavourably 
 upon his power in parliament, and yet he was well 
 aware that it would be dangerous to affront the pride 
 of the university by converting its degrees into mere 
 rewards for political services. 
 
 There was doubtless a half-way house between these 
 two extremes but the Duke had some difficulty in 
 finding it. He was far too ready to press the claims of 
 applicants who besought him to use his influence, and 
 to assume the initiative instead of waiting for the 
 university to take action. In June 1760 he directed 
 the Master of Corpus to take the proper steps for 
 securing a master of arts degree by royal mandate for 
 Samuel Hill, a Fellow-Commoner of St John's^, who 
 was only seventeen years old and had been at Cam- 
 bridge for little more than a year^. The command on 
 this occasion was executed without hesitation^; but when 
 in 1762 the Duke demanded mandate degrees for two 
 persons, one of whom had been recommended to him 
 by Lord Hertford, the request, though obeyed, was not 
 much liked. 'The proposal of a second degree im- 
 mediately as soon as the first had been granted,' 
 remarked the Master of Corpus, 'occasioned, as the 
 Vice-Chancellor sends me word, some little demur 
 among the Heads*.' There is no doubt that the Duke's 
 demands were apt to be excessive, and he was at last 
 obliged to promise the Heads to be more moderate for 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32907, f. 373. 
 
 2 Admissions to St John's College, Part III, p. 155. 
 2 Add. MS. 32907, f. 373. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32936, f. 112; see also Add. MS. 32936, f. 86; Add. 
 MS. 32939, f. 146.
 
 i66 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 the future^. It was not easy for him however to keep 
 such a promise, and in fairness it must be remembered 
 that he was continually being importuned by those 
 whom it would be hazardous to refuse. Thus in June 
 1763 he was approached by Lord Huntingdon to obtain 
 a master of arts degree for a certain Mr Ragdale, and 
 by Lord Clive to obtain a bachelor of arts degree for 
 Thomas Humphreys, a former member of St John's^. 
 Both Lord Huntingdon and Lord Clive were clearly 
 desirable persons for Newcastle to oblige, and their 
 candidates were able to advance valid claims for con- 
 sideration. Ragdale was a clergyman who needed a 
 degree in order to hold a certain living in Leicestershire 
 for which he was an applicant, and Humphreys, who 
 had been obliged by his father's death to leave the uni- 
 versity after four terms residence, was a candidate for 
 a mastership at Shrewsbury school. Yet though both 
 applications were reasonable and had influential support, 
 Newcastle was careful on this occasion not to act pre- 
 cipitately. He was aware of the danger of exhausting 
 the patience of the university, and was further aware 
 that it was not a favourable moment for him to ask a 
 favour. The Vice-Chancellor at the time was Dr Goddard, 
 Master of Clare, who was the Duke's declared enemy; 
 and it might be taken for certain that he would seize 
 any opportunity of inflicting a rebufl-' upon the Chan- 
 cellor, Newcastle therefore acted with far more caution 
 than usual. He told Lord Huntingdon that he could 
 not at present comply with his demand and gave a 
 similar answer to Lord Clive who applied a little later. 
 
 'I hope' he wrote to Lord Clive on June 30th 'your Lord- 
 ship thinks that it is the greatest concern to me that I am not at 
 present able to obey your commands for obtaining a mandate 
 for a degree for A4r Humphreys. I have explained the whole 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32949, f. 244. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32949, f. 263; Add. MS. 32952, f. 330
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 167 
 
 matter to him, that I had promised the university to be more 
 cautious than I had been in permitting these degrees; and, what 
 is worst of all, it happens very unluckily that, in consequence of 
 that promise, I did actually refuse, the day before yesterday only, 
 to obtain a degree for a friend of my Lord Huntingdon in 
 Nottinghamshire; and wrote him word I could not do it con- 
 sistently with my promise to the university. Should I so soon 
 after do the thing for another it would not have a good appear- 
 ance for me; and therefore I am sure your Lordship will forgive 
 me. I have desired Mr Humphreys would stay a little, which 
 I hope would be no inconvenience to him^.' 
 
 By thus playing off Ragdale against Humphreys and 
 Lord Huntingdon against Lord Clive, Newcastle had 
 extricated himself from a difficult situation; and, had 
 he been content to do no more, all would probably 
 have been well. But, anxious to oblige and to demon- 
 strate his influence, he could not resist making an 
 attempt to secure the two mandate degrees, even though 
 he had announced that it was impossible for him to do 
 anything. Consequently he instructed Dr Caryl and 
 his other friends at Cambridge to find out whether it 
 would be possible to satisfy the two applicants. 
 
 'Mr Ragdale's character' wrote Hurdis, the Duke's secretary, 
 to Dr Caryl 'is an exceedingly good one. His testimonial is 
 signed by very respectable persons and everybody speaks ex- 
 tremely well of him. He has very considerable connections 
 amongst His Grace's friends in Nottinghamshire; himself and 
 his relations have been staunch friends for many years; and his 
 case seems to be so particular and indeed so compassionate that 
 His Grace cannot but wish to oblige them, and that it may be 
 one of those that would be agreeable to the university to admit.' 
 
 Hurdis in the same letter enlarged upon the claims of 
 Humphreys, urging that 
 
 if this should be an admissible case and can be complied with, con- 
 sistently with his promise to the Heads of the university. His 
 Grace would be glad to oblige his Lordship upon this occasion^. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32949, f. 244. 2 ;^j(;}_ ]vis. 32949, f. 263.
 
 i68 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Unfortunately however it was not made perfectly 
 clear in this letter that both or neither of the mandate 
 degrees must be granted; and the omission was the 
 cause of a good deal of trouble. On Monday July 4th 
 Ragdale visited Cambridge and waited upon the Vice- 
 Chancellor. It is possible that he prejudiced Dr Goddard 
 in his favour by mentioning that his application had 
 been refused by the Chancellor; for his suit was success- 
 ful. Moved either by compassion or malice the Vice- 
 Chancellor espoused his cause and proposed at a meeting 
 of the Heads that he should be given a mandate degree. 
 The proposal was naturally supported by the Duke's 
 friends among the Heads, and Ragdale was presented 
 with the necessary certificate to take to the Chancellor. 
 But as Dr Caryl and his allies were convinced that it 
 would be a fatal mistake to suggest the granting of two 
 mandate degrees simultaneously, they purposely re- 
 frained from bringing forward the case of Humphreys. 
 Their policy was intelligible but it was extremely in- 
 convenient to the Duke who was dismayed on learning 
 what had happened. 
 
 'My Lord Duke' wrote Hurdis to Dr Caryl on July 8th 
 'received the favour of your letter by Mr Ragdale who came 
 here this morning to give an account of his success at Cambridge, 
 and to beg His Grace would be so good as to sign the certificate, 
 usual in such cases, for the king's mandate. His Grace was very 
 much concerned to find that nothing had been done for Mr 
 Humphreys, Lord Clive's friend. You must be sensible from 
 what passed when you was here that His Grace does not like 
 to recommend to such degrees, that he is resolved to keep his 
 promise to the Heads of the university to be very cautious in 
 that respect; but as these cases were very particular and therefore 
 thought to be admissible, and so circumstanced (as appears from 
 the letters you have) that one could not be consented to without 
 the other (for His Grace in answer to Lord Clive had made 
 that a principal reason for not granting his Lordship's request 
 that he had refused to do the same thing for Lord Huntingdon's
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 169 
 
 friend a few days before) it was therefore hoped that both would 
 be complied with; and His Grace does not a little wonder that 
 the one should be granted and not the other, which puts him 
 under greater difficulties now than ever, and has suspended 
 signing Mr Ragdale's certificate till he hears further from you 
 and his friends upon this occasion, and what can be done for 
 Lord Clive's friend which His Grace has equally at heart with 
 the other. Mr Ragdale is very much pressed for time; he has 
 none to lose, for the living has now been vacant upward of four 
 months, and, till Mr Humphreys affair is determined, his must 
 be in suspense, and therefore it is hoped the answer will come 
 soon^.' 
 
 After making every allowance for the difficulties of 
 the situation in which the Duke found himself, there 
 does not appear to be any sufficient excuse for his high- 
 handed action in refusing to proceed with Ragdale's 
 application until he was satisfied that Humphrey's ap- 
 plication would also be granted. The two cases were 
 unconnected except in point of time, Ragdale had been 
 beforehand with Humphreys in applying, and it was 
 unreasonable that he should suffer because another 
 applicant was disappointed. The Chancellor moreover 
 was not justified in refusing to petition the crown for a 
 mandate degree, upon receipt of a certificate from the 
 Heads, unless he was able to show that the certificate 
 had been granted on insufficient grounds. He had 
 grievously blundered in attempting simultaneously to 
 secure two mandate degrees, and his secretary had 
 blundered still deeper in failing to make Dr Caryl 
 understand that Ragdale and Humphreys must stand 
 or fall together. 
 
 'In excuse of what is already passed' wrote the Master of 
 Jesus ' I can only say that I and your Grace's friends here were 
 verily persuaded that if we had tried for both the degrees we 
 had certainly lost both; and we made no question but that your 
 Grace gave the preference to Mr Ragdale's case, as it was 
 ^ Add. MS. 32949, f. 290.
 
 1 70 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 mentioned in the first place, was the most compassionate, of the 
 greatest consequence, and the most amply recommended to your 
 Gracei.' 
 
 Newcastle would have acted wisely if he had allowed 
 Ragdale to proceed to his degree and held out hopes 
 to Humphreys of satisfaction in the near future. He 
 was however determined that one should not be taken 
 and the other left; and as Humphreys' case could not 
 be proceeded with until the autumn when the univer- 
 sity re-assembled after the long vacation, he decided 
 that Ragdale must wait until then for his degree'^. Both 
 Humphreys and his patron, having no option, acquiesced 
 in this arrangement^; but Dr Goddard did not prove so 
 complaisant. He had no occasion to love the Chancellor 
 and very good reason heartily to dislike him**, and he 
 adroitly used Ragdale as a stick with which to beat him. 
 It was customary for the Chancellor, on receipt of a 
 certificate from the Heads, to petition the crown 
 through one of the Secretaries of State; and in August 
 1763 Newcastle was astonished and aghast to learn 
 that the certificate for Ragdale's degree had been sent, 
 presumably by the Vice-Chancellor, direct to Lord 
 Egremont, one of the Secretaries of State, that there- 
 upon Egremont had applied to the crown for letters 
 mandatory which had been granted, and that on 
 Saturday August 13th Ragdale had been admitted to 
 his degree. To excuse such an insult to the Chancellor 
 and such a violation of the customary procedure, it was 
 alleged that Newcastle had requested that Ragdale's 
 certificate 'should be sent in to the Secretarv's office^'; 
 but he certainly had not given any such instructions, 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32949, f. 324. 2 /^/^, 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32949, f. 431, f. 438; Add. MS. 32950, f. 53. 
 ^ For an account of relations between Dr Goddard and the Duke, 
 see Chapter iv. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32950, f. 158.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 171 
 
 and it can only be concluded that Dr Goddard, an- 
 noyed by the Duke's procrastinating policy, intention- 
 ally passed him over. Furious at the insult and the 
 triumph of his enemy, Newcastle threatened legal 
 proceedings, consulted with the Attorney-General, and 
 called upon Lord Hardwicke as High Steward 'to sup- 
 port and defend the rights of the Chancellor^'; but he 
 soon found that he was helpless to avenge himself and 
 that the Master of Clare had completely outwitted him. 
 
 The punishment, though severe, was hardly un- 
 deserved; for Newcastle had blundered badly in placing 
 his own personal inconvenience before the respect which 
 he owed to the university. He had however no re- 
 dress; and though immediately after Goddard had 
 ceased to be Vice-Chancellor, Humphreys obtained his 
 mandate degree, this was but scanty consolation^. It 
 must be admitted that, though in many ways an ad- 
 mirable Chancellor and genuinely anxious to further 
 the interests of the university, the Duke sadly mis- 
 managed the question of mandate degrees. Despite his 
 good resolutions he was not content to be a mere 
 channel of communication between the university and 
 the crown, and allowed his necessities as a party leader 
 to influence his policy as Chancellor. Such conduct 
 bred a justifiable resentment in the university; and it 
 may have been partly due to his unwise activity that 
 in 178 I a Grace was passed which required the assent 
 of the Senate, as well as the Heads, to petitions for 
 mandate degrees^. 
 
 Unfortunately this was not the only question on 
 which Newcastle found himself at cross purposes with 
 the university. It had for long been a well established 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32950, f. 142. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32951, f. 379; Add. MS. 32952, f. 223, f. 256, f. 268, 
 f. 328, f. 330, f. 347, f. 399, f. 401, f. 41T. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 35629, f. 73; Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv, 400.
 
 172 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 custom that a Vice-Chancellor should not be re-elected 
 on the expiration of his year of office; and though in 
 exceptional circumstances a Vice-Chancellor had been 
 continued for a second year, the practice was not 
 popular and had not been encouraged. It could of 
 course be urged that the rule of enforcing retirement 
 at the end of a year was essentially wasteful, and that 
 a Vice-Chancellor would probably be far more useful 
 after twelve months experience of office; but the dignity 
 was coveted, and it was obvious that if a two years 
 tenure of the office became usual, many Heads of 
 Houses would either never attain the honour or be 
 obliged to wait for it longer than was thought desirable. 
 Therefore, whatever might be ideally best, it was 
 probably well from the point of view of the general 
 contentment of the university that the old custom 
 should be maintained; but Newcastle was not con- 
 vinced by the argument for peace and goodwill. He 
 was well aware that it was extremely important for him 
 to be on friendly and intimate terms with the most 
 influential resident member of the university; and he 
 was therefore always anxious that a Vice-Chancellor, of 
 whom he approved, should be continued in office for 
 a second year. This attitude was reasonable, especially 
 in a Chancellor who intended to play an active part; 
 but it was almost certain to provoke trouble. 
 
 But for a time the Duke was extremely successful in 
 converting what had been an exception into an estab- 
 lished rule. Thus when Dr Keene, Master of Peter- 
 house, who had been appointed Vice-Chancellor in 
 November 1749 and proved himself extremely useful 
 to the Duke, was nearing the end of his first year of 
 office, Newcastle urged his re-election. Circumstances 
 favoured the design, for it happened that all existing 
 Heads of Houses had served their turn as Vice- 
 Chancellor, and that if Keene retired he would be sue-
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 173 
 
 ceeded by Dr Wilcox, Master of Qare, who was elderly 
 and not desirous of office. Hence no resentment was 
 aroused by the proposal and the Master of Peterhouse 
 was duly re-elected^. It is possible that Newcastle was 
 misled by the ease with which his wishes had been 
 obeyed, and omitted to notice that the circumstances 
 were peculiar and not likely to recur often. Yet he was 
 warned that 'the Heads in general may look with 
 jealousy upon this particular mark of distinction^. ' The 
 temptation however proved irresistible; and in October 
 1753 he urged the prolongation of his friend, Dr Yonge, 
 Master of Jesus, who was just completing his year of 
 office as Vice-Chancellor. 
 
 'There is nothing so natural' he informed Dr Keene who 
 had recently been appointed Bishop of Chester 'as to continue 
 Dr Yonge, and nobody will so well answer the end or be so 
 agreeable to me. I know my appearing publickly is improper and 
 perhaps might do more hurt than good. But with your Lordship 
 and my real friends I flatter myself that my inclinations will 
 have weight 3.' 
 
 The Duke's inclinations indeed had so much weight 
 that his friends had anticipated them. 
 
 'The day before I received your Grace's letter' replied the 
 Bishop of Chester ' I had invited to dinner the Vice-Chancellor, 
 the Masters of St John's, Trinity, Christ's and Magdalene; and 
 took occasion, in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, to mention 
 the affair and it is but justice to those gentlemen that I assure 
 your Grace their only question was what your sentiments were, 
 and on my telling them they determined to assist. I do not hear 
 of any objection to the measure amongst the body, and I am 
 verily persuaded that it will be effected and in the handsomest 
 manner^.' 
 
 The Bishop proved a true prophet, and the Master 
 of Jesus was continued as Vice-Chancellor for another 
 year. When he finally resigned in November 1754 he 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32722, f. 418. 2 Add. MS. 32722, f. 418. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32733, f. 135. 4 Add. MS. 32733, f. 148.
 
 174 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 was succeeded by Dr Thomas, Master of Christ's; and 
 as Dr Thomas was also an ardent supporter, Newcastle 
 assumed, almost as a matter of course, that he too 
 would be continued for a second year. But there were 
 limits to the patience of the university, and the Chan- 
 cellor had succeeded in reaching them. 
 
 'His Grace, as your Lordship may remember,' wrote Dr 
 Thomas to Lord Dupplin in October 1755, 'desired me to 
 continue another year in the office of Vice-Chancellor which, 
 in obedience to his commands, I readily submitted to. And 
 when I returned to college I found that many of our friends 
 here took it for granted that I was to continue in office a second 
 year. But I find now that Dr Walker, Vice-Master of Trinity 
 college, and several in that college declare they will, if they 
 can, prevent the office from being continued two years in my 
 hands or in the hands of any other person. And the tories and 
 the friends of the Master of Caius college are grown very 
 jealous and suspicious of a design of keeping him out of the 
 Vice-Chancellorship, and will doubtless be very ready to join 
 the Trinity people^.' 
 
 The revolt of Trinity was an ugly phenomenon. It 
 was not inspired by any dislike of Dr Thomas, who had 
 proved a successful and tactful Vice-Chancellor^, but 
 intended as a protest against the Chancellor's attack 
 upon the established traditions of the university. 
 Dr Thomas believed that not only was he personally 
 popular in Trinity but that 
 
 several in that college, if they had not known that it was agree- 
 able to our Chancellor to have had me continued in office 
 another year, would have voted for me sooner than any other 
 person in the university^; 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32860, f. 118. 
 
 2 'They cannot have any objection to me ' wrote Dr Thomas 
 'unless they be tired with peace and quietness. For everything has been 
 carried on all the year in the most quiet manner without one non- 
 placet in the Senate house and without the least disturbance in the 
 university.' Add. MS. 32860, f. 118. 
 
 3 Ibid.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 175 
 
 and this opinion was probably based upon something 
 more substantial than personal vanity. It was clearly 
 the Chancellor who was the object of the attack, and 
 Trinity, as one of the largest and most influential of the 
 colleges, was able to make an effective protest and to 
 count upon considerable support in the university at 
 large. The rebels moreover were able to contend with 
 some show of reason that they had law as well as 
 tradition on their side, and that for a Vice-Chancellor 
 to remain in office for two successive years was not 
 only inexpedient and irregular but illegal. By an act 
 passed in the ninth year of Queen Anne's reign, it was 
 provided that 
 
 no person who has been in an annual office in any borough or 
 town corporate, to which person it belongs to preside at the 
 election and to make return for any member to serve in parlia- 
 ment, shall be capable of being chosen in the same office for the 
 year immediately ensuing^; 
 
 and it was argued that as the university members were 
 elected under the title of burgesses, the university was 
 consequently a borough, and that therefore the Vice- 
 Chancellor, as the returning officer, was not eligible for 
 re-election^. 
 
 Though the argument may have been unsound, it 
 was good enough to convince men willing to be con- 
 vinced; and, threatened by what might turn out to be 
 a rebellion on a large scale, Newcastle beat a timely 
 retreat, and in November 1755 Dr Law, Master of 
 Peterhouse, succeeded the Master of Christ's as Vice- 
 Chancellor. Like everybody else in the university the 
 new Vice-Chancellor was well aware that he was an 
 unwelcome intruder as far as Newcastle was concerned, 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32860, f. 195. Those are not the exact words of the 
 act, for which see 'Statutes at Large,' ninth year of Queen Anne, c. 20. 
 2 Add. MS. 32860, f. 195.
 
 176 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 and that his election represented a victory for the party 
 of resistance. 
 
 ' I think myself obliged ' he wrote ' to take the first oppor- 
 tunity of acquainting your Grace that the university has this 
 day conferred an honour upon me, very much against my own 
 inclination and endeavour, in electing me Vice-Chancellor for 
 the ensuing year. An office which is now made the less agreeable 
 as going contrary both to your Grace's judgment and the 
 general good^.' 
 
 The Duke was doubtless deeply mortified by what 
 he must have deemed factious resistance; but he had 
 only himself to blame. He had been warned that the 
 policy he was pursuing was likely to cause resentment; 
 and though it was natural that he should desire to con- 
 tinue a friendly Vice-Chancellor, he had no excuse for 
 neglecting the force of public opinion. As in the matter 
 of mandate degrees he allowed his own personal con- 
 venience to outweigh more important considerations; 
 and so strong was this inclination that it was some time 
 before he drew the proper conclusions from the Trinity 
 rebellion. A few weeks before Dr Law completed his 
 first year of office, Dr Summer was elected Provost of 
 King's; and if the customary order of succession was 
 observed, the newly elected Provost would follow the 
 Master of Peterhouse as Vice-Chancellor. The prospect 
 was displeasing to Newcastle who had opposed 
 Sumner's election as Provost, and he therefore began 
 to consider ways and means of preventing what he 
 doubtless regarded as a catastrophe. It is not likely that 
 he contemplated the prolongation of Law, for, apart 
 from the danger of such a scheme, he appears to have 
 held the Master of Peterhouse in unjustifiably low 
 esteem; but it is possible that he might have been driven 
 to this extremity if a happier solution of the difficulty 
 had not been suggested. With an ingenuity for which 
 1 Add. MS. 32860, f. 357.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 177 
 
 he is deserving of much credit, Dr Keene pointed out 
 that Dr Green, who had been Master of Corpus since 
 1750, had never served as Vice-Chancellor, being 
 disqualified by holding the Regius Professorship of 
 Divinity^; but that, as he had already announced his 
 intention of resigning his professorship^, it was ex- 
 pedient that he should execute his intention without 
 delay, and thereby establish a claim to succeed Law as 
 Vice-Chancellor^. The scheme was certainly ingenious 
 but it had one serious defect. Dr Sumner was senior 
 by degree to Dr Green and consequently entitled to 
 precede him as Vice-Chancellor, but it was hoped that 
 as the Provost had long been absent from the univer- 
 sity and was entirely unacquainted with its business, 
 he might be happy to be allowed to delay undertaking 
 a taskforwhich he lacked the necessary experience. This 
 expectation however was not fulfilled. In answer to 
 Dr Green, who had broached the question with him, 
 the Provost with Roman fortitude replied that he was 
 deeply obliged 
 
 for the civility of the offer, but that by accepting the Headship 
 he thought he ought not to decline any trouble that fell to his 
 share, that he understood the office would by the rules of the 
 university come to him the following year^, and that it would 
 not become any person of resolution to postpone the discharging 
 it on account of some little inconvenience, and that another 
 year might perhaps be as inconvenient to him as the next^. 
 
 When Dr Green inquired if this was his final answer, 
 he replied that it was. 
 
 It is extremely likely that Dr Sumner was well aware 
 that Newcastle distrusted him, and that a plot was on 
 foot to prevent his election as Vice-Chancellor. He not 
 
 ^ Chapter i, p. 27, n. 2. 
 
 ^ Green had recently been made Dean of Lincoln. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32868, f. 106. * That is the next academic year. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32868, f. 370.
 
 178 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 unnaturally declined to be a party to the intrigue of 
 which he was to be the victim; and if he chose to stand 
 out for what was certainly his right by custom, he could 
 count upon considerable support in the university. 
 Dr Yonge and Dr Thomas agreed with the Master of 
 Corpus in believing that if the Provost 'persists in this 
 resolution, he can't be attempted to be sett aside without 
 many and great inconveniences or without throwing 
 this place into a great ferment^ ' ; and this was no ground- 
 less fear. It would be comparatively easy to raise once 
 again the cry that the Chancellor was tampering with 
 the independence of the university; and it seemed not 
 at all improbable that Trinity would take up the cudgels 
 for Sumner as they had taken them up for Law^. The 
 fear of what might happen served as a sufficient deter- 
 rent; and although the Master of Corpus resigned his 
 professorship in order to be ready for any emergency, 
 it was finally decided, that as the Provost had indicated 
 he was ready to adopt a friendly attitude towards 
 Newcastle^, it would be wise to allow him to become 
 Vice-Chancellor*. Consequently he succeeded Law in 
 November 1756; and the Duke was particularly careful 
 to give him a cordial welcome. 
 
 'The university' he declared 'could not have made a better 
 choice, and I shall be extremely happy if during the time of 
 your Vice-Chancellorship it may be in my power to be of any 
 use or service to you in the execution of your office. Allow me 
 also to thank you for some particular marks of regard which I 
 have received from you, and to assure you that, though from a 
 previous engagement I had it not in my power upon a late 
 occasion to show you the due regard I had for you, nobody is 
 more sensible of your merit than myself or shall be more desirous 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32868, f. 370. 2 /^;V_ 
 
 ^ The Provost had undertaken to support Newcastle's candidate for 
 the Regius Professorship of Divinity which Dr Green was vacating. 
 * Add. MS. 32868, f. 410; see also, f. 382, f. 464.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 179 
 
 to show you, and the learned society of which you are the head, 
 all marks of my esteem and regard^.' 
 
 This was an extremely courtly welcome, but the Duke 
 was probably much annoyed at his failure. It must have 
 seemed intolerable to him that the university should 
 think more of custom than of his wishes; and until the 
 very end he fretted against the restrictions imposed by 
 the dead hand of tradition. Had it not been for the 
 wise advice tendered by his friends at Cambridge, it is 
 possible that he would have ventured upon further 
 trials of strength. When Dr Green, who had succeeded 
 the Provost as Vice-Chancellor, was approaching the 
 end of his year of office, he was urged by the Duke to 
 stand for re-election; but he wisely declined to embark 
 upon an enterprise which if it failed would be extremely 
 damaging to the Chancellor's prestige, and if it suc- 
 ceeded would bequeath a legacy of hatred. 
 
 'I beg leave to acquaint your Grace' he wrote on November 
 3rd, 1758, 'that this morning I resigned the office of Vice- 
 Chancellor in the usual form. As I was well apprized of your 
 sentiments as to the expediency of continuing for two years, and 
 think it would be much for the advantage of this place, I used 
 the precaution of calling together your Grace's friends to consult 
 about this matter and to offer my service for another year if it 
 should be thought an advisable measure. After a due considera- 
 tion of the affair it was not judged proper to attempt it at present, 
 as it would not probably be done without an opposition^.' 
 
 Dr Green's refusal to stand for re-election seems to 
 have convinced Newcastle that, whatever he might 
 think of university traditions and however incon- 
 venient he found them, he must at least pay them the 
 homage of outward respect. It is significant that the 
 much trusted Dr Caryl, who succeeded the Master of 
 Corpus as Vice-Chancellor, retired from office at the 
 end of a year; and though at the height of the High 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32869, f. 55. 2 Add. MS. 32885, f. 212.
 
 i8o THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Steward controversy the Duke contemplated a return 
 to his old policy, he was dissuaded from embarking 
 upon such a perilous venture by the Master of Corpus, 
 and manfully resisted the proposal when it was put 
 forward by the Bishop of Ely. 
 
 'I objected to his Lordship' he declared 'the supposed illegal- 
 ity of a returning officer, the Vice-Chancellor,... serving his 
 office two years successively. The Bishop would not imagine 
 that that could be so, as the contrary had been so often practised; 
 but whether the objection in law be founded or not I am not 
 prepared to say; but the objection in fact is sufficient to lay aside 
 any thought of that kind. For under the present doubts and in 
 the present situation of things, the university would certainly 
 not consent to it; and, if we were to attempt it, we should (I am 
 afraid) try our strength upon a very weak and unpromising point^.' 
 
 This was something of the nature of a death-bed 
 repentance; and it is evident that Newcastle had mis- 
 managed the questions of mandate degrees and the 
 Vice-Chancellor's tenure of office. By the attitude he 
 had adopted in both cases he had given rise to the 
 suspicion that he was seeking to play the part of a 
 dictator, and thus done himself an injustice; for he had 
 no desire to convert the Chancellorship into a despotism. 
 He was well aware that the university was jealous of 
 its independence and resented dictation; and his aim 
 was therefore to guide rather than direct, and to estab- 
 lish an influence which would be more felt than seen. 
 Such a policy was difficult to put in practice, and it is 
 evident that he was not always successful, especially 
 where his own immediate interests were concerned, in 
 exercising the necessary restraint; but he was aware of 
 the danger and occasionally displayed a most commend- 
 able caution. 
 
 His caution is most noticeable in the matter of pro- 
 fessorial elections. It was extremely important for the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 249.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY i8i 
 
 maintenance of his influence that not only his friends 
 should occupy the high places in the university but 
 that the aspirants to such places should understand that 
 they could not afford to be indifferent to the goodwill 
 of the Chancellor. If his avowed opponents succeeded 
 in securing all the prizes of academic life, it would be 
 difficult for him to win followers except among that 
 very small minority which preferred a losing cause and 
 disclaimed worldly advancement. On the other hand it 
 would be extremely dangerous for him to interfere 
 openly in such elections. The electors were under a 
 moral obligation to judge fairly and impartially between 
 the candidates; and though it must be admitted that 
 this obligation sat particularly lightly upon many of 
 them, it would be probably remembered and evoked 
 with due solemnity if the Chancellor attempted any- 
 thing like dictation. Moreover, if he openly espoused 
 the cause of one particular candidate, he could hardly 
 avoid incurring the hostility of all the other competitors, 
 and thus make many enemies in order to win a single 
 friend. Generally speaking however he seems to 
 have successfully steered a course between the two 
 dangerous extremes. He undoubtedly took a very inti- 
 mate interest in professorial elections and encouraged 
 the candidates to appeal for his favour; but, unless it 
 was absolutely necessary, he refrained from com- 
 mitting himself deeply in support of any single com- 
 petitor, and remained as much as possible in the back- 
 ground. There is no doubt that this was the right policy 
 for him to pursue. It would certainly be inexpedient 
 for him to express a preference if all the candidates 
 were his loyal supporters; and, if it was necessary to 
 prevent the election ot an enemy, this task could be 
 best performed by his agents at Cambridge who, while 
 carrying out his instructions, would be careful to give 
 an appearance of acting independently.
 
 i82 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 From the very first Newcastle seems to have pursued 
 this policy which, though it involved him in a net of 
 intrigue and entailed endless correspondence, was pro- 
 bably the best means he had of keeping a control over 
 professorial appointments without incurring the charge 
 of encroaching upon the independence of the univer- 
 sity. At about the same time as he became Chancellor, 
 the Regius Professorship of Divinity fell vacant through 
 the death of Dr Whalley, Master of Peterhouse; and 
 before Dr Whalley was actually dead, Dr Smith, Master 
 of Trinity appealed to Newcastle to support Philip 
 Yonge, a Fellow of Trinity, who was thinking of 
 standing for the professorship. Dr Smith was extremely 
 pressing and engagingly frank. 
 
 'On my return to Cambridge' he wrote on December iith, 
 1748, 'I found our Divinity Professor in so weak a condition 
 that his death is expected every hour. That professorship most 
 properly belongs to Trinity college as being founded by King 
 Henry VIII who has obliged us to pay the Professor a salary of 
 forty pounds per annum out of the estates he gave us; to this 
 King James I annexed the rectory of Summersham, valued at 
 about 2^0 per annum. In consideration of the salary being 
 paid by us, the founder has given us three votes out of seven for 
 electing the Professor, viz. the Master and the two maxime 
 seniores who are Dr Walker and Mr Whitehall. The other 
 four out of the college are the Vice-Chancellor, Dr George, 
 Dr Newcome and Dr Rook as Heads of King's, St John's and 
 Christ's College. By this it appears that the founder has almost 
 appropriated the professorship to a Trinity college man, seeing 
 that one more vote than our three will carry it for him. Our 
 present candidate is Mr Yonge, a very amiable man, a true friend 
 to the government, an excellent scholar from Westminster 
 school, and esteemed by us as the greatest ornament of it. So 
 that for the honour of Westminster school, which your Grace 
 has frequently put me in mind of and which I have much at 
 heart, I must beg the favour of your Grace to assist Mr Yonge, 
 
 particularly by applying to Dr George^ Mr Yonge is well 
 
 ' Provost of King's.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 183 
 
 acquainted with Dr George who has told him to-day that he is 
 not yet engaged^.' 
 
 Philip Yonge, who has already figured prominently 
 in this narrative as Dr Yonge, Master of Jesus and 
 later Bishop of Norwich, was already a person of 
 established reputation in the university. In 1746 he 
 had been appointed to the office of Public Orator, and 
 he was well known to Newcastle whose interest he had 
 steadily supported. He doubtless counted upon his 
 patron's favour in this venture, for otherwise it is un- 
 likely that he would have thought of standing. To be 
 eligible for election it was necessary to be either a 
 doctor or bachelor of divinity; and as Yonge was only 
 a master of arts, he would have to qualify for election 
 by taking the degree of doctor of divinity, per saltum^^ 
 which however he could not do without removing his 
 name from the books of his college and forfeiting his 
 Fellowships. Thus he ran the risk of losing his Fellow- 
 ship without gaining the professorship; and it was not 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32717, f. 421. 
 
 ^ 'If he be a master of arts and not a gremial, he may take the 
 degree of doctor of divinity, per saltum, provided he be of twelve 
 years standing from the degree of master of arts.' Gunning's Ceremonies, 
 pp. 180 181. Yonge took his M.A. degree in 1735. 
 
 ^ The custom by which it was necessary to remove your name from 
 the books of your college before taking a degree, per saltum, was based 
 upon a misunderstanding. By an interpretation given in 1575 of the 
 2 1st chapter of the Elizabethan statutes, the privilege of taking a degree, 
 per saltum, was confined to non-gremials which properly and originally 
 meant non-resident members of the university. In course of time, 
 however, the term gremial came to be applied to all members of 
 the Senate, whether resident or not, and therefore non-gremial came 
 to denote non-membership of the Senate. See Appendix A, p. xvii, 
 n. \, of Peacock's Observations on the statutes of the University. It 
 should be noted that Yonge could not get over the difficulty by obtaining 
 the degree of doctor of divinity by royal mandate, as probably a good 
 many of the Heads would have been unwilling in the circumstances 
 to approve the necessary certificate.
 
 1 84 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 even possible for him to be re-elected to his Fellowship 
 after having resigned it. If he had been possessed of the 
 gaming instinct he might have been attracted by the 
 hazard of the game; but he was not a gambler by nature, 
 and had not the slightest intention of relinquishing a 
 comfortable competence unless he could make certain 
 of securing something better. His election was sure if 
 four out of the seven electors pledged themselves to 
 support him; and, having engaged the votes of the 
 three Trinity electors, he naturally looked to Newcastle 
 to win over the Provost of King's and thereby make his 
 success certain^. 
 
 It might have been expected that Newcastle would 
 have rushed to the support of his follower and secured 
 the Provost's vote without delay, but he was far too ex- 
 perienced in such matters to allow himself to be hurried, 
 and knew that it was always best to play for time. He 
 replied to Dr Smith in an extremely non-committal 
 fashion, lavishing compliments upon Trinity and Yonge 
 but at the same time carefully pointing out that the 
 other electors were 'persons for whom I cannot but 
 have the greatest regard, and that they may with reason 
 expect of me that I should not take a determined part 
 in this affair without first knowing their sentiments 
 upon it^.' This was a polite way of intimating that he 
 would not pledge himself before ascertaining who were 
 likely to be candidates; and it was well that he waited. 
 In addition to Yonge, Dr Rutherforth, Fellow and 
 Tutor of St John's, John Green, then a comparatively 
 unknown Fellow of St John's but afterwards Master of 
 Corpus and Bishop of Lincoln, and Dr Rooke, Master 
 of Christ's, announced their intention of standing; and 
 though from the first Rutherforth had no chance of 
 
 1 Yonge and Dr Walker also wrote to the Duke. Add. MS. 32717, 
 f". 423, f. 426. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32717, f. 431.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 185 
 
 succeeding, as he had been one of the leaders of the 
 faction which had favoured the Prince of Wales' 
 candidature for the Chancellorship and was unsup- 
 ported by any of the electors, the two other competitors 
 were likely to prove very serious rivals to Yonge. Both 
 Green and Rooke were stalwart supporters of Newcastle 
 and had claims upon his favour which could not possibly 
 be disregarded. It is possible, and certainly not in- 
 congruous with his character, that Dr Smith, knowing 
 that Green and Rooke were about to come forward, 
 hoped to surprise the Duke and induce him prematurely 
 to commit himself to Yonge. As a politician however 
 the Chancellor was quite a match for the Master of 
 Trinity who gained nothing by his early application. 
 *I take it for granted' wrote the Vice-Chancellor to 
 Lord Dupplin 'that his Grace will be cautious of inter- 
 posing^ ' ; and the Duke stood in no need of the warning. 
 It was hazardous for him to discriminate between the 
 three candidates who were his friends; and, as there was 
 no danger of Rutherforth being successful, the right 
 policy for the Chancellor was at least to make a show 
 of standing aside and leaving the issue to be decided 
 by the electors. 
 
 How far he really stood aside it is difficult to say; 
 and it may be that his neutrality was more nominal 
 than real. It is certain however that he refused to 
 intervene on behalf of Yonge who abandoned his 
 candidature on discovering that the Vice-Chancellor 
 and the Provost of King's were pledged to support 
 Dr Rooke, that the Master of St John's had engaged 
 himself to vote for Green, and that Dr Rooke, who was 
 an elector in his capacity of Master of Christ's, would 
 either vote for himself or not vote at all^. By with- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32717, f. 443. The Vice-Chancellor was Dr Chapman, 
 Master of Magdalene. 
 
 - Add. MS. 32717, f. 435, f. 465, f. 481. It was provided that in
 
 1 86 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 drawing from the contest he not only saved his Fellow- 
 ship of Trinity but increased in favour with the Duke 
 by not playing the part of an importunate suitor. 
 
 'I don't enter into the reasons that induced you to it' wrote 
 Newcastle to Yonge 'but am persuaded that you are so reason- 
 able and must know the delicacy of my present situation so well 
 that, however I may have wished your success from the great 
 good opinion I have of you and long acquaintance I have had 
 with you, you could not expect that I should have gone further 
 than I have done, at least as yet, in your favour. All the electors 
 without distinction and all the candidates but one are equally 
 my friends, and would have had just cause to complain of me 
 if in my present circumstances I had at once declared in favour 
 of any one candidate, before I either knew who the other 
 candidates might be or what were the sentiments of the particular 
 electors^.' 
 
 Yonge's withdrawal eased but did not remove the 
 Duke's difficulties. He was appealed to by Dr Rooke 
 to persuade the Master of St John's to abandon his 
 support of Green^, and was urged by the Master of 
 St John's to espouse Green's cause: 
 
 'Mr Green' wrote the Master 'is a most excellent preacher, 
 a very good scholar and divine, and has presided in our divinity 
 disputes in the chapel with great credit. He is a true friend to 
 
 your Grace and to the Royal Family In short, and to be plain, 
 
 amongst your Grace's friends I think none of the competitors 
 equal to Mr Green 2.' 
 
 But this opinion of the Master of St John's was not 
 shared by the Vice-Chancellor and the Provost of King's 
 who thought none of the competitors equal to Dr Rooke, 
 and presumably Dr Rooke was in agreement with 
 
 the event of no candidate obtaining at least four votes, the Vice-Chancellor 
 and the Master of Trinity should elect, and if they failed to agree, the 
 Chancellor, if he was a Bishop, or otherwise the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, was to appoint to the professorship. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32717, f. 478. 2 Add. MS. 32717, f 435. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32717, f 472.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 187 
 
 them. The uncertain but decisive factor was of course 
 the Trinity vote,- and both Green and Rooke hoped 
 that the Duke would intervene to secure that vote for 
 them. Newcastle however was no more prepared to 
 intervene for them than he had been for Yonge ; and 
 though it was tolerably certain that the three Trinity 
 electors would all vote the same way, it was difficult to 
 forecast which way it would be. As Dr Rooke had been 
 a scholar of Trinity in his time, he expected their 
 support, especially against a Johnian^; but, as he was 
 one of the most unpopular characters in the university, 
 it is possible that he was too well known in his old 
 college to find much favour there. It is at least signi- 
 ficant that Yonge privately told Green, some days before 
 the news was published abroad, that he did not intend 
 to stand for the professorship, thereby allowing Green 
 to anticipate Rooke in applying for the Trinity vote^; 
 and the Master of St John's expressed the belief that 
 Green was well thought of in Trinity^. Nevertheless 
 Dr Smith and his two senior Fellows kept their own 
 counsel; and the issue remained uncertain until the eve 
 of Christmas when it was announced that the Master 
 of Christ's had withdrawn from the contest^. Dr Rooke's 
 example was quickly followed by Rutherforth who must 
 have known from the first that he was engaged upon a 
 forlorn hope^; and in due course Green, the only sur- 
 viving candidate, was elected to the Regius Professorship. 
 Dr Rooke's sudden retreat is somewhat inexplicable. 
 In a formal letter to the Duke he explained that he 
 had been over-persuaded by his friends to stand, and 
 that on finding that 'the publick voice rather allotted 
 this province to a person in all respects equal to it, 
 
 ^ There was bitter rivalry between Trinity and St John's in the 
 eighteenth century. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32717, f. 470. 3 ;^jj_ jvis. 32717, f. 497. 
 * Add. MS. 32717, f. 530. 5 ^jj_ ;^s. 32717, f. 470.
 
 1 88 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Mr Green of St John's College, I made no hesitation 
 in conforming to this opinion, and with much more 
 readiness do now decline than I at first sollicited this 
 office^.' This profession of deference to public opinion 
 smacks somewhat of unreality; and it may be that the 
 Master of Christ's was influenced by less avowable 
 motives. It is possible that he either surmised or knew 
 that the Trinity electors were going to vote for Green; 
 but it seems unlikely that he would take a final decision 
 upon mere surmise, and there is nothing to suggest 
 that anyone knew for certain, not even perhaps the 
 Trinity electors themselves, which way their votes 
 would be cast. There is no doubt however that 
 Dr Rooke knew that Green was under the patronage 
 of Lord Hardwicke who was anxious for his success^; 
 and, as it was common knowledge that Hardwicke and 
 Newcastle were knit together in the closest bonds of 
 friendship, no great insight was needed to perceive that, 
 though Newcastle might refuse to express a preference, 
 he was probably anxious that Lord Hardwicke's candi- 
 date should be successful. It is therefore possible that 
 Rooke, understanding that his success was at least un- 
 certain and not really desired by the Duke, came to the 
 conclusion that his most politic course would be to 
 retire with a magnanimous gesture; and, at the cost of 
 relinquishing all hope of the professorship, establish a 
 claim upon Newcastle's gratitude. There is nothing in- 
 herently improbable in such a theory; and it was 
 certainly believed at the time that the Master of Christ's 
 had been influenced by other considerations than the 
 welfare of the university and the advancement of 
 learning. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32717, f. 546. 
 
 ^ In a letter to Newcastle of December 1 6th, 1 748, the Vice-Chancellor 
 remarked of Green that 'the interest of my Lord Chancellor would be 
 employed in his behalf.' Add. MS. 32717, f. 462.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 189 
 
 'Dr Rooke' wrote a contemporary 'made interest and 
 secured such a number of votes that Green could not obtain it 
 without making interest above to get a promise made to Rooke 
 that pleased him as well as the professorship, for which he is 
 not fit^' 
 
 We are not told with whom the interest was made, but 
 the reference is almost certainly to Hardwicke and in- 
 directly to Newcastle; and though no details are given 
 of the 'premise,' it is not improbable that the Pre- 
 bendaryship of Lincoln, given to Rooke in 1751, 
 was a consolation prize for the professorship he had 
 lost. If this be the true story of how Green came to be 
 Regius Professor of Divinity, it is clear that Newcastle 
 exercised an indirect but very potent influence over the 
 course of affairs, and that much happened behind the 
 scenes at which we can only guess. But even if there 
 was no reason to think that the withdrawal of the 
 Master of Christ's was not quite so spontaneous as he 
 represented it to be, it is obvious that the Duke's 
 wishes were very carefully considered. If the electors 
 had been solely influenced by the merits of the candi- 
 dates, it is probable that the prize would have gone to 
 Rutherforth who had the reputation of being a remark- 
 ably good scholar^, and in after years was described as 
 'the great and unrivalled ornament of the divinity 
 scholes^. ' Yet, because he was known to be an enemy 
 of the Chancellor, his claims were disregarded, and not 
 a single elector was prepared to vote for him. 
 
 The lesson was not thrown away upon Rutherforth 
 who quickly saw that something more was needed for 
 advancement in the university than, a reputation for 
 learning, and that, unless he repented and sought forgive- 
 ness, his ambition would remain unsatisfied. Through 
 
 ^ Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain, p. 158. 
 
 2 Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop Watson, p. 5. 
 
 2 Admissions to St John's College, Part III, p. 396.
 
 190 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 the good offices of Dr Keene he was reconciled with 
 the Chancellor, and it is said that he was encouraged 
 in the hope of becoming Regius Professor of Divinity 
 if ever Green was promoted to a higher dignity^. It is 
 not at all unlikely that some such prospect was held 
 out to him, for Newcastle was always ready to forgive 
 the repentant sinner; but Rutherforth was not particular 
 as to the exact professorship, and when in July 1756 it 
 was falsely reported that Dr Long, Master of Pembroke 
 and Lowndean Professor of Astronomy, was either dead 
 or dying, he was quick in applying to the Duke. 
 
 'The notice that your Grace has been pleased to take of me' 
 he wrote 'encourages me to request the favour of your interest, 
 if it is not already engaged to any other person, to succeed to 
 Lowndes' professorship in your Grace's university.... I have no 
 other pretentions to ask for such a favour besides your Grace's 
 great humanity, and the assurance, which I beg leave to give 
 you, of my sincere attachment to His Majesty's person and 
 government, and of a steady regard for your Grace and for the 
 interest of your friends^.' 
 
 These loyal professions were thrown away as Dr Long 
 lived and enjoyed his professorship for another fourteen 
 years; but Rutherforth was not long kept waiting for 
 an opportunity of testing the sincerity of the Duke's 
 friendship. Two months later Dr George, Provost of 
 King's, died; and as it was common knowledge that 
 Green, who in the interval had become Master of 
 Corpus, would receive the Deanery of Lincoln, vacated 
 by the Provost's death, and resign the Regius Professor- 
 ship of Divinity, Rutherforth once more appealed to 
 the Duke for his assistance and protection^. 
 
 ^ Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain, p. 271. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32866, f. 308. In 1748 Rutherforth had pubhshed a 
 two volume work entitled A System of Natural Philosophy, being a 
 Course of Lectures in Mechanics, Optics, Hydrostatics and Astronomy, 
 which were read at St John's College, Cambridge. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32867, f. 444.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 191 
 
 Nor did he appeal in vain, for the Duke was sincerely 
 anxious for his success and pledged himself to support 
 his candidature. He intended to tread warily however 
 and was not prepared to allow Rutherforth to use his 
 name to the electors^. As on the previous occasion the 
 uncertain factor was the Trinity vote; for though there 
 was no candidate from that college, it was believed 
 that the Trinity electors would willingly vote for 
 Dr Law, Master of Peterhouse, if he could be persuaded 
 to stand. As Law was Vice-Chancellor and therefore 
 himself an elector, and moreover could confidently 
 count upon the vote of his old friend, Dr Thomas, 
 Master of Christ's, it was within his power to secure 
 the professorship; and as he was a poor man with a 
 large family, he was undoubtedly anxious to succeed 
 Dr Green^. It would have been clearly very unwise for 
 Newcastle to intervene and impose a veto upon Law's 
 candidature; but Dr Keene, who had preceded Law in 
 the Mastership of Peterhouse, and was aware that 
 Newcastle intended Rutherforth to be Regius Professor, 
 was equal to the emergency. 
 
 'As soon as it appeared' he wrote to the Duke on October 
 6th 'that Dr Green was secure of the Deanery of Lincoln and 
 was disposed to resign the divinity chair, I wrote to the Vice- 
 Chancellor that Dr Rutherforth would be a candidate, and that 
 I hoped he would receive him as a friend of the Duke of New- 
 castle and of mine. This he has done already in a handsome 
 manner, though the expectations of many of the university, and 
 of some of great weight in the election, were in his favour if he 
 had offered himself. This is not to be wondered at as his char- 
 acter and behaviour have already rendered him very acceptable 
 to the body of that place. It is impossible to judge what part the 
 Trinity people will take, or what the event may be; but it appears 
 plain that if Dr Law had declared himself he would stand the 
 best chance of having the Trinity votes if they have not a candi- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32868, f. 20, f. 76. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32868, f. 106; Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain, p. 271.
 
 192 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 date of their own. In that case I hope it will appear to His 
 Grace a matter of great self-denial for a man of his character, 
 with a family of nine children, to renounce his pretentions to 
 prospects of so advantageous a preferment, out of deference to 
 the prior inclinations of His Grace to Dr Rutherforth, and I 
 persuade myself that His Grace will form a more favourable 
 sentiment of him from this instance of his conduct, and dispose 
 him to support him in any future openings in the university, 
 more particularly the Margaret Professorship^.' 
 
 It is evident from this letter that Dr Keene either 
 told or plainly hinted to the Vice-Chancellor that he 
 would disoblige Newcastle by standing for election; 
 and Law, who was a loyal though not a favoured fol- 
 lower of the Duke, was obedient to the command. No 
 better instance could be given of the influence which 
 Newcastle exercised over professorial elections without 
 appearing to take any part at all in them. Yet Ruther- 
 forth 's success was not made certain by Law's act of 
 self denial. The Chancellor was by no means popular 
 in Trinity^, and it was not at all improbable that 
 the Master and the senior Fellows of that college would 
 run another candidate against Rutherforth, and that 
 Dr Sumner, the newly elected Provost of King's, who 
 had no cause to love Newcastle, would throw in his 
 lot with the opposition, and consequently secure for the 
 Trinity candidate the four votes which would ensure 
 his election. If the Trinity electors harboured any such 
 design, the best way of defeating it was for the New- 
 castle party to secure the Provost's vote for Rutherforth; 
 for w.thout the Provost Trinity was impotent, the 
 remaining three electors, having engaged themselves 
 to vote for Newcastle's candidate. Consequently the 
 Provost was approached by Dr Green, but for some 
 time without success. Dr Sumner refused to commit 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32868, f. 106. 
 
 2 Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain, p. 271.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 193 
 
 himself, even when Green, throwing caution to the 
 winds in the beHef that a desperate situation demanded 
 desperate remedies, frankly told him that Rutherforth's 
 candidature was favoured by the Duke^. 
 
 For some days the issue remained in suspense, and 
 it is possible that the Trinity electors were trying to 
 find a candidate to oppose to Rutherforth. If this was 
 really their quest they failed in it : for about the middle 
 of October Dr Hooper told Green that he was prepared 
 to vote for Rutherforth, and hinted that the Master and 
 the other senior Fellow would probably do likewise^. 
 Dr Hooper's vote alone however made Rutherforth 
 certain of the professorship : and when towards the end 
 of the month the Provost of King's promised to support 
 the Duke's candidate^, the announcement, though of 
 interest to Newcastle as indicating a friendly disposition 
 on the Provost's part, was of small importance as far 
 as the election went. On October 31st, 1756, Ruther- 
 forth was elected to the Regius Professorship*, and by 
 his subsequent conduct acknowledged his debt to the 
 Chancellor. 
 
 It is clear that Newcastle was able to exercise con- 
 siderable influence in these professorial elections: but 
 it is equally clear that he was cautious in using the 
 power he possessed, and that, though prepared to inter- 
 vene in order to defeat an enemy or keep a promise to 
 a friend, he was always particularly careful to remain 
 in the background, and to refrain as far as possible from 
 
 1 'The Provost' wrote Green 'asked me among other things whether 
 Dr Rutherforth's election into the Professor's office would be agreeable 
 to your Grace. I told him Your Grace, I believed, was cautious of 
 having your name made use of on this occasion, but as he thought 
 proper to enquire particularly into that matter, I had great reason to 
 suppose that it would be agreeable to your Grace.' Add. MS. 32868, 
 f. 370. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32868, f. 370. 3 Add. MS. 32868, f. 464. 
 * Add. MS. 32868, f. 509. 
 
 13
 
 194 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 openly expressing a preference for any one particular 
 candidate. When not compelled by reasons of policy 
 to take a side in these contests, he apparently left the 
 decision to the electors : and it would be to wrong him 
 to believe that he systematically used the professorships 
 of the university as prizes for good conduct. He was 
 often content, and probably preferred, to hold his hand 
 and leave the decision to the experts: and though he 
 may have assisted Green, and certainly assisted Ruther- 
 forth, both these candidates had claims upon him which 
 he could not afford to neglect. His attitude was very 
 different, and possibly more typical, when the Lucasian 
 professorship of mathematics was vacated in 1759 by 
 the death of John Colson. On the day Colson died, 
 Edward Waring, a junior Fellow of Magdalene, com- 
 municated to Newcastle his intention of being a candi- 
 date forthe professorship, and petitioned for his * Grace's 
 favour and protection upon this occasion^.' Though 
 only twenty-five years old, and not even of sufficient 
 standing to take his master of arts degree, Waring 
 had gained a great reputation in the university as a 
 mathematician, and was already engaged upon his 
 Miscellania Analytica which was to make his name 
 famous throughout Europe. At the time of Colson's 
 death, however, he was only known as a young man 
 of great promise, and in the eighteenth century the 
 dignity of age was more highly appreciated than the 
 vigour of youth. All the Heads of Houses were electors 
 to the professorship, and as Waring required a master 
 of arts degree by royal mandate, in order to qualify as 
 a candidate, it was within the power of the Heads not 
 only not to elect him but to prevent him from even 
 standing. He was therefore in urgent need of all the 
 assistance he could obtain : but Newcastle was not pre- 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32900, f. 109.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 195 
 
 pared to take him under his protection without due 
 inquiry into his merits. 
 
 'I have the favour of your letter' he wrote to Dr Caryl 'and 
 send you enclosed a letter w^hich I have received from Mr 
 Waring. I have heard a very good character of him, and have 
 not had any application from any other person. But as the 
 Master of Trinity is from his superior knowledge in the science 
 of mathematicks the best judge of the qualifications of those 
 who either wish to be, or we should wish to have, our professor, 
 I must beg that you would wait upon Dr Smith and in my name 
 desire to know his thoughts who would be the most proper 
 person. In all these elections I have no other view but to promote 
 the interest of those who are the best qualified. This is for the 
 honour of the university which is and ever shall be my principal 
 object^.' 
 
 Newcastle was wrong in believing that no other con- 
 sideration but the intellectual qualifications of the candi- 
 dates had ever weighed with him: and like many of 
 us he suffered from the delusion that his ideal was his 
 practice. But as on this occasion he was neither fettered 
 by any promise nor threatened by any enemy, he could 
 indulge his impartiality: and his conduct was studiously 
 correct. Having received his instructions Dr Caryl 
 waited upon the Master of Trinity who however de- 
 clined on the ground of propriety to suggest the 
 names of other possible candidates, and only spoke of 
 Waring with very tempered enthusiasm. 
 
 'Having seen part of the book which Mr Waring is going to 
 publish,' reported Caryl, 'he says that Mr Waring shews a deal 
 of fire and some invention, but seems to have given too little 
 attention to the proper manner of expressiiig his thoughts, and is 
 therefore sometimes not easy to be understood. This however 
 he considers as a fault that time will probably correct, and as the 
 young man has discovered an earnest desire to excell, it is likely 
 that he will improve himself into a degree of eminence 2.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32900, f. 216. 2 ^j^j_ ]yjs. 32900, f. 229. 
 
 132
 
 196 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 This was damnation with faint praise, and in the light 
 of what happened later, it seems not improbable that 
 Dr Smith was anxious for his friend, Ludlam, to obtain 
 the professorship, and therefore intentionally depreciated 
 Waring. But as, for the time being. Waring was the 
 only candidate, it was agreed between Newcastle and the 
 Heads that he should receive a mandate degree, with the 
 clear understanding however that the Heads were not 
 thereby committed to vote for his election as professor^. 
 Shortly after this decision had been taken, two other 
 candidates appeared, William Ludlam and Francis 
 Maseres. Ludlam was a Fellow of St John's where for 
 many years he had been a lecturer on algebra and taken 
 an active part in administering the affairs of the college. 
 He was considerably senior to either Waring or Maseres, 
 and, though he had published nothing more sub- 
 stantial than occasional papers, he was an intimate friend 
 of Dr Smith who in the second edition of his Harmonics 
 had described him as one of the two 'most ingenious 
 and learned gentlemen in this university.' Maseres, a 
 far younger man, after being a Scholar and Fellow of 
 Clare and gaining the first Chancellor's classical medaP, 
 had left the university and been called to the Bar. He 
 had not however allowed law to monopolise his atten- 
 tion, and in 1758 had published a Disseriation on the 
 Use of the Negative Sign in Algebra with a dedication 
 to the Duke of Newcastle. As a mathematician he was 
 certainly inferior to either Waring or Ludlam, but he 
 was believed to be their superior in general ability^; and 
 doubtless he and many others thought that as a Clare 
 man he could confidently count upon Newcastle's 
 support. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32900, f. 231, f. 325; Add. MS. 32901, f. 395. 
 
 2 Maseres gained the first Chancellor's medal in 1752, the year in 
 which those prizes were instituted. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32901, f. 395.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 197 
 
 Maseres lost no time In appealing to the Chancellor, 
 and both he and Waring personally waited upon him^. 
 Their example was not followed by Ludlam who possibly 
 thought the assistance of the Master of Trinity suffi- 
 cient; but as all three candidates were unobjectionable 
 from Newcastle's point of view, he wisely decided not 
 to interfere, even indirectly, and to leave the decision 
 to the electors. Thus if Maseres thought that his con- 
 nection with Clare would cover his shortcomings, he 
 was disappointed: and it soon became evident that his 
 candidature was not regarded with any favour in the 
 university, and that his chances were negligible. The 
 Lucasian Professor was strictly bound to residence, and 
 it was not until it was too late for the announcement to 
 exercise any influence that Maseres made perfectly clear 
 that he intended, if elected, to sacrifice his career at the 
 Bar and reside in Cambridge^. Ludlam on the other 
 hand was a very serious competitor. In addition to the 
 support of the Master of Trinity, whose opinion as a 
 mathematician of repute would have considerable weight 
 with the other electors^, Ludlam was favoured by the 
 Masters of Corpus and St John's, and 'several more of 
 the older Heads*.' Moreover one of his most ardent 
 champions was Dr Powell, Tutor of St John's, who 
 published anonymously a very bitter attack upon the 
 first chapter of the Miscellania Analytica which Waring 
 had circulated 'in order that the electors and the uni- 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32900, f. 339; Add. MS. 32901, f. 395. 
 
 2 On January 21st, 1760, the Master of Corpus wrote of Maseres 
 that 'the notion of his design to follow the study and profession of the 
 law, which seems incompatible with the strict residence that the founder 
 of the professorship has injoined, makes many not so well disposed to 
 assist him on this occasion, however well they may think of his talents'; 
 and after the election the Master remarked 'Mr Mazeres, though very 
 able, was too late in declaring his intention to reside here.' Add. MS. 
 32901, f. 500. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32901, f. 500. ^ Add. MS. 32901, f. 395.
 
 198 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 versity at large might judge of the nature of his pursuits 
 and his qualifications for the high office which he 
 solicited.^' 
 
 Thus the fight was between the elderly competent 
 teacher and the young man of genius: and, though 
 genius prevailed, the victory was a very narrow one. 
 
 *I beg leave to take this early opportunity of acquainting your 
 Grace' reported the Master of Corpus on January 28th, 1760, 
 'that the election for the mathematical professorship came on 
 at three o'clock this afternoon and was determined in favour of 
 Mr Waring: six voted for him, five were disposed to serve Mr 
 Ludlam, and the other Heads were absent through illness or by 
 inclination. It was conducted very amicably and without the 
 least ill-will on any side. The Master of Trinity was not well 
 enough to attend, but was inclined, as far as he chose to say 
 anything, to favour Mr Ludlam^.' 
 
 It reflects little credit upon the university that 
 Waring, who was one of the few eminent mathematicians 
 produced by Cambridge in the eighteenth century, 
 should have so narrowly escaped defeat, but no blame 
 attaches to Newcastle who never swerved from the im- 
 partial attitude he adopted from the first. It is fairly 
 obvious that the Duke, partly because he really desired 
 the prosperity of the university, and partly because he 
 was aware of the danger of an opposite course, pre- 
 ferred, if he possibly could, to leave the university to 
 elect its own professors, and it is not surprising that 
 he should not have been over-willing to intervene. 
 Throughout his Chancellorship there was always a 
 party in Cambridge which was anxious to seize any 
 favourable opportunity of challenging his authority; and 
 he could render this party no greater service than by 
 affording a pretext for an agitation against his despotic 
 power. Experience had taught him that though the 
 
 ^ Baker's History of St Jo/ins College (edited by J. E. Mayor), 
 II, 1069. 2 Add. MS. 32901, f. 500.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 199 
 
 disaffected were normally few in number, they con- 
 stituted a nucleus of a formidable agitation, and that 
 there were very definite limits to the influence he could 
 safely exercise. 
 
 In the early days of his Chancellorship, indeed, he 
 had been confronted with a revolt which for many 
 months occupied his attention and distracted the uni- 
 versity. The original cause of the disturbance was the 
 question, which age has not withered nor custom staled, 
 of university reform. Early in the year 1749 certain 
 members of the government, seriously alarmed by the 
 prevalence of Jacobite sentiments at Oxford, began to 
 consider the establishment of a commission of enquiry 
 into that university^; and though, on hearing of this 
 proposal, Newcastle was careful to emphasise that, in 
 contrast with Oxford, Cambridge was distinguished by 
 its loyalty to the crown^, he was probably well aware 
 that the discipline in his university was very far from 
 satisfactory, and that, however correct its politics, it 
 needed over-hauling quite as much as Oxford^. He 
 further must have seen that an enquiry begun at one 
 university might easily be extended to the other; and 
 it is therefore not unlikely that he deemed it advis- 
 able to anticipate the action of the ministry and to hint 
 to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Chapman, that, as the 
 government was preparing to take action against 
 Oxford, it would be well for Cambridge to set its house 
 in order. But whether or not it was the Chancellor who 
 gave the signal, it is certain that in March 1749 the 
 Vice-Chancellor and Heads, with the Duke's approval, 
 were busily engaged 'in drawing up several necessary 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32718, f. 29. - Add. MS. 32718, f. 31. 
 
 ^ In a pamphlet attributed to Dr Green it is stated that in 1749 
 more than twenty members of the university were 'sentenced to an 
 entire or temporary banishment.' See Considerations on the expediency 
 of making and the manner of conducting the late Regulations at Cambridge.
 
 200 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 regulations for restoring good order and discipline in 
 the university^'; but they were not allowed to perform 
 their task unaided. The Duke, assisted by Herring, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been a Fellow and 
 Tutor of Corpus, and Sherlock, Bishop of London, who 
 had been Master of St Catharine's, revised and amended 
 the regulations proposed by the Heads; and, though it 
 is difficult to apportion the labour, there is no doubt 
 that Newcastle and the two Bishops played an active 
 part, and that the regulations in their final form were 
 very far from being the exclusive work of the Heads^. 
 
 Progress could not be otherwise than slow in the 
 circumstances, and tardiness was not the only or the 
 most serious objection to the method of procedure 
 adopted. It soon became known in Cambridge that 
 something was on foot, and considerable resentment 
 was caused by what was thought to be an attempt on 
 the part of the Chancellor and the Heads to dictate to 
 the university. It was contended that inasmuch as any 
 regulations framed must be passed by the Senate, a 
 committee of that body should have been constituted 
 to assist in drafting them^, and that in matters of disci- 
 pline Tutors and Deans were far better qualified to 
 express an opinion than Heads of Houses reposing on 
 Olympian heights. There was much substance in these 
 objections, and Newcastle and the Heads were guilty 
 of a bad error of judgment. They fell under the delusion, 
 common to reformers, that mankind willingly submits 
 to improvement, and for months they continued their 
 labours without taking public opinion into account. By 
 the spring of 1750 their task was completed, and pro- 
 bably any impartial critic would have admitted that the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32718, f. 117. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32718, f. 117, f. 119; Add. MS. 35657, f. 12. 
 
 ^ An occasional letter to the Rev. Dr Keene, attributed to Peter 
 Chester, Fellow of St Catharine's.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 201 
 
 code they had framed was on the whole a praiseworthy 
 achievement. It appHed for the most part to persons in 
 statu pupillari, and cannot be described as particularly 
 drastic. Valid objection might be taken to the articles 
 which enforced the keeping of the whole term and the 
 transmission to the Chancellor of the names of offenders 
 against the new regulations^; but for the most part only 
 a reasonable degree of discipline was enforced. Under- 
 graduates and bachelor of arts were forbidden to be 
 out of college after eleven o'clock at night, to keep a 
 servant or a horse without permission, to frequent 
 coffee-houses or places of amusement in the morning, 
 or to dice and play cards in taverns; and they were 
 further commanded to hear sermons at St Mary's 
 church, and to refrain from rioting and extravagance 
 in dress. Various penalties, ranging from the payment 
 of a fine to expulsion from the university, were imposed 
 for violations of these regulations, and the Chancellor 
 and the Heads doubtless believed that their reasonable 
 attempt to reform the lax and ineffective discipline of 
 the university would receive a warm welcome^. 
 
 Academic politicians however are very human; and 
 are quite as liable as the ordinary uneducated man to 
 be swayed by passion more than by reason. The new 
 code was not judged on its merits but condemned by 
 its origin. It was construed as an attempt at arbitrary 
 government; and there was a widespread feeling that 
 if the Senate tamely submitted and passed the regula- 
 tions, a dangerous and most unfortunate precedent 
 would be established. The mainstay of this opposition 
 were doubtless certain lovers of faction who liked nothing 
 m.ore than a fight, and certain hide-bound tories who dis- 
 liked nothingmore than reform; but associated with these 
 
 1 The Heads were not responsible for the regulation that the Chan- 
 cellor should be sent the names of offenders. Add. MS. 35657, f. 16. 
 ^ Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv, 278-280.
 
 202 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 malcontents were many honest and sagacious men who 
 were not prepared to purchase the reform of the uni- 
 versity by the sacrifice of its liberty. Confronted with an 
 opposition which was too respectable and too dangerous 
 to be regarded with contempt, and fearful of what might 
 happen when the regulations were submitted to the 
 Senate, Dr Keene, the Vice-Chancellor, thought to re- 
 pair the original blunder by consulting 'with some 
 leading men in each college, with a view to take off a 
 popular objection that had been made against us for 
 not having consulted some of the body^'; but the 
 remedy was applied too late to be effective. 
 
 On May 5th, 1750, the regulations were brought 
 before the Senate, and it had previously been arranged 
 between the Vice-Chancellor and the Heads that the 
 proceedings should begin with the reading of a letter 
 from the Chancellor, that the regulations should then 
 be passed by the Caput and given a first reading in the 
 two houses; and that, before they were voted upon at a 
 later congregation, they should be sent 'to each college 
 for their consideration^.' The Chancellor's letter was 
 duly read; and, though couched in a somewhat dicta- 
 torial tone, no objection was taken to it^. But when 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32720, f. 383. 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 16. 
 
 ^ Newcastle's letter to the university, which was dated April 26th, 
 1750, ran as follows. 'The situation I am in gives me the frequent 
 opportunities of hearing the sentiments of others on the state of our 
 university; and although many things alledged against us are without 
 foundation, and others greatly aggravated and misrepresented, and much 
 may be said in some sort of excuse for what is really true from the 
 general depravity of manners that too much prevail everywhere, yet 
 the most sanguine of our friends cannot be so far prejudiced in our 
 favour as to think that there is no want of reformation or further restraint 
 amongst us. The corruption of the times will account for the inroad 
 that luxury has made into places where temperance and frugality ought 
 chiefly to reside, and will discourage in some degree, but ought not to 
 prevent, our endeavours to prevent its increase. . . .To accomplish so 
 desirable an end much time and deliberation is required; but that we
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 203 
 
 Dr Keene began to read the regulations to the Caput, 
 a member of that body suggested that before they were 
 read, and consequently passed or rejected, the Caput 
 should be allowed to consider them at their leisure. 
 Such a proposal was revolutionary and against all 
 custom and tradition, but it nevertheless found con- 
 siderable support. 
 
 'You will imagine' wrote Dr Rooke 'that as this was con- 
 trary to the constant method of proceeding and indeed imprac- 
 ticable, (as it is seldom known who are to make the Caput till 
 they are actually called up for that purpose,) the Vice-Chan- 
 
 cellor and I did not fail to put them in mind of this But 
 
 notwithstanding all that could be said (which was put with the 
 utmost temper) the above gentlemen continued to wish and 
 desire that they might not be read till another day, and they, as 
 well as the rest of the body, have time to consider of them. To 
 which the Vice-Chancellor was at last forced to consent, from 
 an apprehension that, if they had been then published, they 
 might have been in the first instance and out of hand rejected, 
 and accordingly put it off till next Friday. You may imagine 
 that this has thrown us into some little hurry, and we are not 
 without fears that an obstruction, though perhaps not ill- 
 designed in the beginning, started in this manner may encourage 
 a more general opposition^.' 
 
 This was a very ominous beginning, and Dr Rooke's 
 
 might make some progress towards it, I have recommended it to those, 
 whose experience and constant residence in the university have rendered 
 them proper judges of the state of discipline amongst you, to specify 
 such particular irregularities as call for a more immediate attention and 
 to point out the best method of correcting and suppressing them. Those 
 observations have since been sent to me which (after being revised and 
 fully considered by the Archbishop and Bishop who have been bred 
 up amongst us, and after being digested under the form of regulations,) 
 I herewith transmit to you for your approbation, that they may have 
 all the force necessary for obtaining their just effect.' Add. MS. 35657, 
 f. 1 4. Newcastle's language rather implied that the Senate must obediently 
 approve what he and the Heads had agreed upon, and the letter was 
 not likely to remove the grievance of the opposition. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f 16; see also Add. MS. 32720, f. 383.
 
 204 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 fears were fully justified. The action of the Caput, in 
 demanding that they should be allowed time to consider 
 the regulations before voting upon them, was a very 
 thinly veiled protest against the method of procedure 
 adopted by the Chancellor and Heads, and in that lay 
 its significance. A crisis was clearly at hand and it was 
 impossible to foretell the course of events. The first 
 reading of the regulations having been postponed to 
 Friday, May nth, it was arranged that the second 
 reading should be taken at a congregation on the 
 afternoon of the same day; and in the short time at his 
 disposal Dr Keene made a valiant attempt to stem the 
 rising tide of hostility. Perceiving that the opposition 
 included a certain number of moderate men who sin- 
 cerely believed that it was their duty to resist what they 
 deemed to be tyranny, he decided to attempt to detach 
 them from the extremists in the party by making a 
 display of deference to public opinion. With this end 
 in view he dropped the two regulations which ordered 
 the full term to be kept and the names of offenders to 
 be sent to the Chancellor^; and hoped that by a sacrifice 
 of the articles, to which most objection had been taken, 
 he had saved the rest. 
 
 The opening proceedings at the morning congrega- 
 tion on Friday, May i ith, breathed peace and goodwill, 
 and encouraged the hope of a happy issue. Before 
 beginning the business of the day, the Vice-Chancellor 
 summoned the two houses before him, and delivered a 
 short speech in which he explained that he intended 
 to omit certain regulations which had been adversely 
 criticised, and was so well aware of the imperfect 
 character of what remained that he was willing to con- 
 sider any suggestions for their improvement. The regu- 
 lations were then passed by the Caput and read for the 
 first time in the two houses; and such a favourable im- 
 1 Add. MS. 32720, f. 383.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 205 
 
 presslon had been created by the Vice-Chancellor's 
 address that it was generally believed that opposition 
 was at an end, and that the regulations would be passed 
 at the congregation in the afternoon. This interpreta- 
 tion of the situation proved too optimistic, for the ex- 
 tremists were not to be so easily outmanoeuvred. They 
 realised that by his policy of conciliation Dr Keene had 
 deprived them of a considerable measure of moderate 
 support and materially diminished their chances of 
 success, and that their only hope lay in revealing the 
 Vice-Chancellor and Heads as the implacable enemies 
 to the liberties of the university, and thereby re- 
 uniting the opposition. Therefore, before the morning 
 congregation came to an end, Jonathan Lipyeatt^, of 
 St John's, a member of the opposition, brought forward 
 a Grace which provided that in all cases where penalties 
 were incurred by a breach of the regulations the 
 offender should have a right of appeal from the Vice- 
 Chancellor to the Senate. Lipyeatt urged that this 
 Grace, if passed, would remove the objections felt by 
 him and his friends to the regulations, v/hich would 
 therefore be approved without opposition; and he seems 
 to have been at some pains to pose as an honest man 
 sincerely anxious for a compromise^. 
 
 It was however only a pose, for it is not uncharitable 
 to believe that he desired to fan opposition once more 
 to fever height, and to wreck the Vice-Chancellor's 
 attempt at conciliation. If a right of appeal was allowed, 
 the regulations would become unworkable and disci- 
 pline in the university be still further undermined; 
 and yet, absurd as was this Grace, it was admirably 
 designed to attain its promoter's purpose. For some 
 years an angry dispute had raged in the university 
 whether doctors and masters of arts, convicted of a 
 
 ' This name is also given as Lyppeat and Lypeat. 
 2 Add. MS. 32720, f. 383; Add. MS. 35657, f. 16.
 
 2o6 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 disciplinary offence in the Vice-Chancellor's court, 
 could claim the right to appeal to delegates appointed 
 by the university, which they certainly had in cases 
 other than disciplinary; and, as was perhaps inevitable 
 in the circumstances, the controversy tended to become 
 a struggle between the Heads and the rest of the 
 university. The popular cry that liberty was being 
 destroyed by a self-appointed oligarchy was used with 
 effect, and the right of appeal was claimed not so much 
 as of value in itself but as an emblem of freedom and 
 independence^. The sting of Lipyeatt's Grace therefore 
 lay in reviving the embers of an ancient controversy; 
 and the Vice-Chancellor was driven between the horns 
 of a dilemma. He believed that if he allowed the Grace 
 to pass, it would be useless to proceed with the regula- 
 tions, and he knew if he arranged for the Grace to be 
 rejected by the Caput, Lipyeatt and his friends, pur- 
 posely confusing the issue, would persuade the regents 
 and non-regents that, despite a show of conciliation, 
 the Heads were intent as ever upon creating a despotism, 
 and determined as ever to limit the right of appeal; 
 and that, therefore, just as in the days when the liberty 
 of the nation was at stake, the house of commons had 
 refused to vote supplies until grievances had been re- 
 dressed, the Senate must refuse to approve the regula- 
 tions until the right of appeal in its full extent had been 
 secured. 
 
 Somewhat at a loss to know what to do, the Vice- 
 Chancellor, instead of at once submitting the Grace 
 
 1 The controversy was mainly concerned with the proper interpreta- 
 tion of the 42nd and the 48th statutes of the Elizabethan code. The 
 right of appeal was specially provided for by the 48th statute but not 
 mentioned in the 42nd; and those who maintained that there was no 
 appeal in disciplinary cases supported their contention with the argu- 
 ment that the 48th statute was exclusively concerned with the non- 
 disciplinary jurisdiction of the Vice-Chancellor.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 207 
 
 to the Caput, put it in his pocket and dissolved the 
 congregation. This was an unusual procedure and cal- 
 culated to arouse antagonism by making it impossible 
 for the Grace to be finally passed with the regulations 
 at the afternoon congregation. The delay was unfor- 
 tunate; and although Dr Keene probably felt that he 
 needed time to consider his policy and consult his 
 friends, it can be urged that, as there was really no 
 alternative to the rejection of the Grace by the Caput, 
 it might have been better if this step had been taken 
 at the morning congregation, and time allowed for the 
 resulting animosity to cool before the regulations were 
 voted upon. It is unlikely however that anything that 
 Dr Keene might have done could have saved the situa- 
 tion; and there was really nothing left for him but to 
 meet his fate with becoming dignity. At an early stage 
 in the afternoon congregation Lipyeatt's Grace was 
 submitted to the Caput and vetoed by the Master of 
 Caius. The expected followed. Men, reasonable enough 
 in ordinary circumstances, fell a prey to the extremists 
 who convinced them that 'the liberties of the univer- 
 sity were in danger and the Heads were aiming at new 
 powers in these regulations^'; and though there was 
 little or no justification for such an accusation, it was 
 accepted as true in the excitement of the moment. 
 
 'It proved as we apprehended' wrote Dr Rooke 'that upon 
 a pretext of the above mentioned Grace not being read in the 
 morning, and being read but stopt in the Caput in the afternoon, 
 they fought through every one of the regulations and stopt just 
 halfofthem^.' 
 
 It was a notable victory and the Vice-Chancellor had 
 been completely outmanoeuvred. The disaffected party 
 had only allowed the less important regulations to pass; 
 and rejected all that the framers of the code considered 
 most valuable. The bitterness of defeat was moreover 
 ^ Add. MS. 32720, f. 383. 2 Add. MS. 35657, f. 18.
 
 2o8 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 intensified by the attack having been inspired by a dis- 
 like of the power of the Chancellor and the Heads, and 
 supported by many whom it was impossible to accuse 
 of a love of faction. Though the Master of Christ's 
 declared that the tory party was at the bottom of the 
 mischief, he admitted that the tories 'under the show 
 of guarding against oppression, drew in many honest, 
 well meaning men to side with them^*; and both Trinity 
 and King's were well represented in the opposition^. 
 That the revolt had been directed against the Chancellor 
 as well as the Heads was apparent; for though Dr Keene 
 assured Newcastle that 'few, very few, my Lord, 
 objected to them on account of your Grace's recom- 
 mendation^' the Duke was far too closely identified with 
 the regulations to escape his share in the condemnation. 
 He had co-operated with the Heads in the attempt to 
 improve the discipline of the university, and had ap- 
 parently only succeeded in providing an excuse for a 
 revolt^. 
 
 The failure indeed was too complete to be endured, 
 and the defeated party was united in a determination 
 to continue the struggle. It is possible that Newcastle, 
 incensed by the ingratitude of the university, was 
 tempted to resort to the last weapon in the arsenal of 
 academic reformers and impose the regulations upon 
 the university by act of parliament^; but he wisely 
 refrained from a course of action which would have 
 diminished his popularity in the university, and for 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 18. 2 Add. MS. 32720, f. 383. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32721, f. 200. 
 
 ^ For the accounts of the congregations on May iith, see Add. 
 MS. 35657, f. 18; Add. MS. 32720, f. 383. 
 
 ^ 'I would however submit it to your Grace's consideration' wrote 
 Lord Dupplin on June 9th, 1750 'whether you will not give them one 
 instance more of your paternal affection by forbearing to do any act 
 of your own for some time, and thereby leaving them full room for 
 better thoughts and amendments.' Add. MS. 32721, f. 91.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 209 
 
 which there was no necessity. It was perfectly obvious 
 that the Senate had acted under the impulse of anger 
 and the excitement of the moment, and might in time 
 be converted to a better frame of mind. This policy 
 of appealing from a Senate drunk to a Senate sober 
 commended itself to Dr Keene who pressed to be allowed 
 to make another attempt to secure the passage of the 
 rejected regulations^. Aware however that a second 
 defeat would probably be final, Keene was prepared to 
 bide his time and not to return to the breach until he 
 could confidently count upon success. 
 
 'From the first defeat' he informed Newcastle 'I have 
 exerted all my spirits and devoted my whole time to secure a 
 second attempt. To this purpose I solicited a small number of 
 trusty friends, such as the new Master of Benet^, the Master of 
 Magdalene^, Mr Garnet^ Courtail^, Caryl, and Backhouse, who 
 gave me the best information of the disposition of their respective 
 colleges^.' 
 
 An active propaganda was thus set on foot; and it is 
 possible that a good many members of the Senate were 
 reminded that their chance of advancement in the 
 church was not independent of the goodwill of the 
 Chancellor. But it did not prove at all easy to win 
 converts in sufficient numbers; and, in order to make 
 more certain of the victory, the Vice-Chancellor was 
 obliged to make important changes and modifications in 
 the regulations. He was of course accused of having con- 
 ceded so much as to deprive what remained of any value''; 
 but there are always those who scent weakness in every 
 compromise; and as the extremists were still winning 
 converts by representing the regulations as an encroach- 
 ment upon liberty under the guise of reform, Dr Keene 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32720, f. 383. '^ Dr John Green. 
 
 ^ Dr Chapman. * Of Sidney. 
 
 ^ Of Clare. ^ Add. MS. 32721, f. 200. 
 
 ' Add. MS. 35657, f. 21. 
 
 w u c 14
 
 210 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 was doubtless well advised to defer to public opinion and 
 thus deprive the enemy of its most potent argument. 
 
 The battle was fought in the Senate on June 26th, 
 1750; and though the opposition had mustered all their 
 strength^ and strove hard for victory, the regulations, 
 rejected on May nth, were passed in their modified 
 form by the Caput and the two houses. The victory, 
 though decisive, was narrow, for the majorities were 
 slender, never amounting to more than twelve and some- 
 times falling as low as four^. Pursuing the same tactics 
 as on the previous occasion, the opposition again brought 
 forward their Grace about the right of appeal which was 
 promptly vetoed in the Caput; but, in order to neutralise 
 the possible ill effects of its action, the Caput immedi- 
 ately afterwards passed another Grace 'importing that 
 no alteration was made or intended to be made in 
 the article of appealing where it was allowed by the 
 statutes^.' Thus the Vice-Chancellor spared no effort 
 to conciliate his opponents, and though he failed to 
 soften the hearts of many, he succeeded in persuading 
 a certain number that the struggle was not between 
 liberty and tyranny but between faction and order. He 
 was not an admirable character and was conspicuously 
 lacking in the virtue of loyalty; but he appears to have 
 possessed a very sound political sense and many states- 
 manlike attributes^. 
 
 But, though the regulations had been passed, they had 
 yet to be enforced; and there was likely to be trouble 
 in this connection. It might be anticipated that the 
 undergraduates, aware of the controversy which had 
 divided the university, and never over-anxious to obey 
 authority, would under the pretext of resisting tyranny 
 indulge their passion for disorder; and there was the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 21. - Ibid. ' Ibid. 
 
 * For the proceedings in the Senate House on June 26th, see Cooper's 
 Annals, iv, 278-281.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 21 1 
 
 further danger that they might be encouraged by certain 
 members of the Senate who, though defeated in their 
 attempt to reject the regulations, were anxious to con- 
 tinue the struggle. Stormy times were thought to be 
 ahead; and in November 1750 Dr Keene was con- 
 tinued as Vice-Chancellor for another year, as it was 
 believed that 'his temper and firmness joined together 
 will enforce the execution of the regulations better than 
 it could be done by any other^.' A strong man was cer- 
 tainly needed; for about a fortnight after Keene had 
 been re-elected Vice-Chancellor, there occurred a very 
 scandalous breach of that article of the new code which 
 forbade bachelors of arts and undergraduates to be 
 out of college after eleven o'clock at night. 
 
 'On Monday the 19th instant' reported the Vice-Chancellor 
 to Newcastle in November 1750 'Mr Brown, Fellow of 
 Pembroke Hall and senior Proctor of this university, came to 
 me and acquainted me that on Saturday night he visited the 
 Tunns tavern^, that he found there the gentlemen educated at 
 Westminster school, celebrating the anniversary of their royal 
 Foundress, and that Pembroke clock had struck eleven before 
 he set out from his college to visit. The master of the tavern 
 attended him into the room and then retired. The Proctor being 
 told by some one in the room that masters of arts were in the 
 company, he went to the head of the table where he found Mr 
 Professor Francklyn, President, Mr Crew, Fellow of Trinity, 
 and Mr Ansell, LL.B. Fellow of Trinity Hall. He told them 
 that he came thither to require that every person under the 
 degree of M.A. should immediately retire to their respective 
 colleges. On having said this Mr Ansell told him he hoped he 
 would observe that every person was sober in the room, which 
 immediately produced a loud huzza from the whole company. 
 The Proctor said he thought that was an insult upon him; Mr 
 Ansell replied that he (the Proctor) mistook what was meant 
 as applause to him, for vindicating the regularity of the club, for 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32722, f. 418. 
 
 2 The Three Tuns Tavern stood at the corner of the market and 
 St Edward's Passage. 
 
 14 2
 
 212 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 an insult on him (the Proctor). The Proctor's charge against 
 Mr Ansell was not founded so much on the words themselves 
 as the manner of expressing them, which he said was with an air 
 of triumph and with a sneer. Mr Francklyn expostulated with 
 the Proctor about the propriety of visiting a room where there 
 were M.A. That when the Proctor urged the necessity of doing 
 his duty, and that the Professor knew that there were laws 
 against clubs in general, and that this step of the Proctor was not 
 a rigorous execution of the new regulations, the Professor 
 laughed in his face and said with an air of contempt, "this he calls 
 a mild execution of the laws." The Proctor asserts that Mr 
 Francklyn expressed great indignation at being visited that night, 
 and moreover at the close of the dispute Mr Francklyn drank 
 "to our next meeting without interruption from Proctors." The 
 Proctor charges Mr Crew with telling him that it was rude and 
 uncivil to visit where M.A. are in company, and said the Proctor 
 might have concluded that they, the M.A. in company, would 
 take proper care of the young part of the club. That Mr Crew 
 insisted that it was strange that the execution of these orders 
 should be begun with the Westminster club, and that we scarce 
 knew which were to be observed, which not, and that some 
 were executed, some not. On these accounts the Proctor charged 
 Mr Professor Francklyn, Mr Crew, and Mr Ansell with inter- 
 rupting and insulting him in the execution of his office. Mr 
 Proctor did likewise charge Mr Vernon, Fellow Commoner of 
 Trinity college, with rude and insolent behaviour to him both 
 at the club and after at his chamber. Mr Proctor charged also 
 Mr Vane, Fellow Commoner of Peterhouse, that, over and 
 above the general charge of insult in the room, he behaved 
 disrespectfully to him in his chamber. The ill-behaviour was 
 expressed by each of them talking to him of their independence 
 in the university, Mr Vernon laughed in his face, and Mr Vane 
 told him at his room that what he did was in approbation of 
 what Francklyn had said, and that, if he was to be pitched upon, 
 he would gladly suffer for his school-fellows. The younger part 
 of the company, consisting of about forty, were accused of 
 making the noise which was frequently repeated during the 
 litigation between the Proctor and the M.A.; and consequently 
 of insulting him in the execution of his duty^.' 
 i Add. MS. 32723, f. 333.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 213 
 
 The most serious feature of this incident was that 
 three masters of arts, all of whom were Fellows and 
 one, the Regius Professor of Greek, had in the presence 
 of a crowd of undergraduates cast ridicule upon the 
 Proctor for attempting to enforce one of the new regula- 
 tions. It was impossible not to suspect premeditation. 
 Before the dinner was held the Proctor had given 
 notice that 'he intended to visit the Westminster club 
 that night^' and it was not unreasonably assumed that 
 the masters of arts were aware of the intended visit, 
 and purposely allowed the festivities to continue until 
 eleven o'clock in order to compel the Proctor to enforce 
 an article of the new code. But whether what had 
 happened was due to design or accident, the Vice- 
 Chancellor felt called upon to intervene in support of 
 the Proctor; and he cannot be accused of having acted 
 in haste. 
 
 'I was struck, my Lord,' he told Newcastle, 'with the im- 
 portance of the accusation and immediately determined to pro- 
 ceed upon it; but, as it is very rare that any accusation is made 
 against M.A. in matters of discipline, I summoned a meeting 
 of the Heads to consult with them, and they all agreed that the 
 whole must be brought into my court and publicly heard'^.' 
 
 The citations having been sent out in the usual form, 
 the Vice-Chancellor, attended by his assessors, the 
 Heads of Houses, opened his court in the Law Schools 
 at three o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday November 
 24th. There was a large attendance of undergraduates 
 who of course were overwhelmingly in sympathy with 
 the culprits. The proceedings began with a lengthy 
 statement by the senior Proctor which was taken down 
 by the Registrary. The Proctor, who delivered his state- 
 ment in a 'cool, deliberate, and precise manner*^,' gave 
 almost identically the same account as he had already 
 
 ^ An Enquiry into the Right of Appeal, attributed to Dr Chapman. 
 2 Add. MS. 32723, f. 333. ^ Ibid.
 
 214 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 given the Vice-Chancellor; but he withdrew his charge 
 against Vane of indecorous behaviour at the dinner, 
 while still maintaining that at the subsequent interview 
 Vane had not conducted himself respectfully. Before 
 the Proctor had concluded his statement dusk had 
 fallen, and the court was obliged to adjourn to the 
 Senate house. When the Proctor had completed his 
 evidence, Ansell was called upon to make his defence, 
 and he appears to have been extremely offensive. 
 
 'He began' wrote the Vice-Chancellor 'and addressed him- 
 self to me and "Gentlemen of the university," looking up to 
 the gallery where the scholars were permitted to go. I stopped 
 him and said that the scholars made not part of the court, were 
 not my assessors. He then changed his address and went on in 
 a warm and indecent speech, appealing to the passions of the 
 boys, and venturing to accuse my conduct in hearing the accusa- 
 tion, in consulting with the Heads, and in sending out my 
 citations^.' 
 
 Ansell's speech concluded the proceedings of the day 
 and the court was adjourned until nine o'clock on the 
 morning of Tuesday November 27th. As the dignity 
 of the first session had been marred by the unruly be- 
 haviour of the undergraduates who had interrupted the 
 Proctor and applauded Ansell, the Vice-Chancellor 
 ordered the Law Schools to be fenced off, enrolled 
 thirteen vice-Proctors to maintain order, and publicly 
 declared that he would expel 'on the spot any one that 
 should give the least disturbance^.' These precautions 
 were effective, for the proceedings on the Tuesday were 
 far more orderly. Moreover none of the accused 
 imitated Ansell's insolence. Professor Francklin suc- 
 ceeded in proving to the satisfaction of the court that 
 the Proctor's entry had not been greeted with a shout, 
 and that his account was inaccurate in certain minor 
 details; and though the Vice-Chancellor thought the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32723, f. 333. 2 /^;y_
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 215 
 
 Professor's speech 'light and ludicrous, and principally- 
 intended to render the Proctor's evidence contradictory 
 and expose him to the crowd\' it was admittedly free 
 from any sign of disrespect to the court. But if Francklin 
 was an improvement upon Ansell, Francklin was im- 
 proved upon by Crew who 
 
 made a speech which, with the agreeable manner of delivering 
 it, prejudiced everybody in his favour. He gave the best turn 
 that could be to the charge made against him, and omitted to 
 take notice of some of the allegations when he was pressed 2. 
 
 Both the Fellow-Commoners also acquitted themselves 
 well, especially Vane who made a very favourable im- 
 pression upon the court by his 'manner of speaking 
 which was attended with an ingenuous trepidation^.' 
 
 Sentence was passed on Thursday, November 29th. 
 Francklin, Crew, Vernon and Vane escaped with a 
 reprimand, and the last three were particularly compli- 
 mented upon the modesty of their defence, but Ansell, 
 for his 'rude, contemptuous and disobedient behaviour' 
 to the Vice-Chancellor, was sentenced to be suspended 
 'ab omni gradu suscepto et suscipiendo.' 'I do ac- 
 cordingly' added the Vice-Chancellor 'suspend you 
 from your degree '^,' explaining at the same time how- 
 ever that the sentence would be revoked directly 
 Ansell made his submission and acknowledged his of- 
 fence^. The punishment, though severe, was thoroughly 
 well deserved. Ansell had conducted himself in court in 
 an extremely offensive and unbecoming fashion; and 
 the assessors were in complete agreement with the Vice- 
 Chancellor's sentence. Moreover, on the morning of 
 the day on which sentence was passed, the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor had sent a message to Ansell to the effect that 
 'if he would make an acknowledgement of his fault, 
 
 1 Add. MS, 32723, f. 333. - Ibid. 
 
 3 Ibid. 4 Add. MS. 32723, f. 339. 
 
 '' An Enquiry into the Right of Appeal.
 
 2i6 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 before sentence was delivered, the Vice-Chancellor 
 would not proceed to that part of the sentence which 
 related to the suspension^'; and Ansell had deliberately 
 refused to take this means of escape^. 
 
 He cannot therefore in any way be regarded as the 
 victim of tyranny; and it is possible that his provocative 
 attitude was due more to political design than to native 
 insolence and obstinacy. His subsequent conduct cer- 
 tainly suggests that he was asking for trouble with a 
 definite object in view. Shortly after sentence had been 
 passed upon him, he claimed the right to appeal against 
 it, and thereby raised again the much disputed and 
 vexatious question whether in cases of discipline there 
 was any appeal from the Vice-Chancellor's court. 
 Dr Keene could not allow the appeal without retreating 
 from the position which he and the Heads had taken 
 up, and yet it was certain that by refusing it he would 
 revive an unfortunate controversy, and restore to the 
 extremists the advantage of which he had deprived them 
 by his conciliatory tactics. Ansell, who was probably 
 the agent of a party, thus threw down a definite chal- 
 lenge; and the Vice-Chancellor, driven into a corner, 
 had no option but to accept it. 
 
 'The Heads at a meeting yesterday' he wrote on December 
 4th 'were of opinion that I should persevere in refusing the 
 appeal, in order to have that great question finally settled about 
 the right of appealing with which we are so frequently annoyed, 
 and which, if granted in the unlimited manner so much con- 
 tended for by many people, utterly destroys all government in 
 this university ^' 
 
 ^ An Enquiry into the Right of Appeal. 
 
 ^ The court also reprimanded the undergraduates for applauding 
 the Proctor, and expressed the opinion that 'all persons concerned, under 
 the degree of master of arts, batchelor of law or batchelor of physick, 
 did incur the penalty of six shillings and eightpence for being out of 
 his college after eleven of the clock.' 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32723, f 357.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 217 
 
 It is worthy of note that Dr Keene was prepared to 
 admit an inquiry into the right of appeal, and only 
 declined to take such action as would prejudge the 
 question; and no fault can be found with his attitude. 
 Therefore when at a congregation on December i6th 
 William Ridlington, Fellow of Trinity Hall and after- 
 wards Regius Professor of Civil Law, asked for a Caput 
 to be summoned, in order that delegates might be ap- 
 pointed to hear Ansell's appeal, the Vice-Chancellor 
 very properly refused to summon the Caput, and an- 
 nounced that early in the following term he intended to 
 bring forward a Grace dealing with the question in 
 dispute. Ridlington and his friends vented their spite 
 by stopping in the non-regents' house a supplicat for 
 a bachelor of arts degree^; and when on the 1 8th 
 January 1751, the Vice-Chancellor, in fulfilment of 
 his pledge, proposed his Grace for the appointment of 
 a syndicate 'to consult the statutes and archives of the 
 university, and from thence draw out a state of the case 
 about appeals to be laid before the king and council,' 
 it was rejected in the non-regents' house by fifty-two 
 votes to eleven^. 
 
 The opposition contended that there was no necessity 
 for a syndicate, as the question should be decided by 
 the Senate; and they therefore in their turn proposed 
 a Grace by which all members of the university were 
 to enjoy an unlimited right of appeal, though persons 
 in statu pupillari must act through their Tutors. This 
 Grace was withdrawn in order to allow the Chancellor 
 to be consulted^; but there is no doubt that, had it been 
 persevered with, it would have been vetoed in the Caput. 
 The Heads were the authorised interpreters of the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 5852, f. 125, f. 126; Cooper's Annals, iv, 282-283. 
 ^ Uid. 
 
 " Add. MS. 35657, f. 26. A letter to the Author of a further 
 Inquiry.
 
 21 8 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 statutes, and though prepared on this occasion to accept 
 a decision of the king in council, they could not allow 
 their functions to be usurped by the Senate, nor could a 
 Grace over-ride a statute. Hence there was a deadlock 
 with regard to the mode of procedure, and Newcastle 
 was as helpless as Dr Keene. For a time indeed there 
 was a hope that the question might be decided by the 
 courts of law, as Ansell was preparing to seek a 
 remedy in the court of King's Bench; and both the 
 Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor would have welcomed 
 such a solution of the difficulty^. Ansell was however 
 obliged to abandon his suit, and any hope of a settle- 
 ment receded into the background. In July 1751 
 Dr Keene told the Duke that he would endeavour 'this 
 summer to form a plan by which the disputes on 
 appeals may entirely be prevented for the future^'; 
 but he had no plan ready when the Michaelmas term 
 began. 
 
 The delay in a settlement played into the hands of 
 the opposition by allowing them time to air their 
 grievances and fan an agitation. An association was 
 formed in defence of the right of appeal, which con- 
 sisted of about thirty-six masters of arts and met at the 
 Tunns tavern under the presidency of Dr Banson, 
 Fellow of Trinity Hall^. There was also a shower of 
 pamphlets. Both parties rushed into print, quoting 
 authority against authority and statute against statute, 
 and contributing more heat than illumination to the 
 controversy*. Even the undergraduates joined in the 
 fray, and from this quarter came an amusing production 
 entitled An Expostuiatory Address of the Undergraduates 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32724, f. 290. 2 /^jj_ MS. 32724, f. 445. 
 
 ^ In February 175 1 Dr Rooke gave the number of 'associators in 
 favour of liberty' as forty-four; Add. MS. 35657, f. 26. 
 
 * A list of these pamphlets will be found in Cooper's Annals, iv, 
 280, n. 2.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 219 
 
 of the University of Cambridge to the Doctor and thirty-six 
 Masters of Arts met together at the Tunns Tavern. The 
 author or authors of this squib contended that though, 
 as to the matter of appeal we confess at present we neither 
 understand the old nor the new statutes... we do, with great 
 submission and a due deference to your better judgment, suggest 
 that if there be an appeal from the Vice-Chancellor to the 
 masters of arts, there should be one from the masters of arts 
 
 to the undergraduates We cannot be so unjust to you as ever 
 
 to imagine that you will desert a body of youth ever serviceable 
 in carrying on all popular schemes, and who so loudly supported 
 you in all the late trying occasions. Recollect the hazards we ran 
 when we were threatened with tolbooths, prisons, and expul- 
 sions. Call to mind the bravery of that young heroe who dared 
 in the midst of the crowd to scatter his aqua fortis. Think of 
 that humourous person that imitated an ass with such native 
 similitude, and who is scarce yet recovered from the violent 
 agitation such a performance must necessarily throw him into. 
 But enough of this, stand firm, reverend friends, a select body 
 of men, firmly united, must at length prevail and bear down a 
 corrupt multitude. You may depend on our joint and sincere 
 endeavours till that natural liberty and equality, to which we 
 were born, be again restored, and government, that creature of 
 policy and ambition, be dissolved^. 
 
 The undergraduates were undoubtedly extremely 
 amused at the bickerings of their seniors; but the state 
 of affairs in the university was really more an occasion 
 for sorrow than amusement. When in November 1751 
 Dr Wilcox, Master of Clare, succeeded Dr Keene as 
 Vice-Chancellor, the controversy was still raging and 
 apparently as far off an end as ever. As a demonstration 
 of hostility the opposition had voted against Dr W'ilcox's 
 election^, and three weeks later they brought forward 
 their Grace for an unlimited right of appeal. The Grace 
 was rejected by the Caput, and when it was again 
 
 1 Add. MS. 33061, f. 343. 
 
 2 They voted for the Provost of King's who had been nominated 
 with Dr Wilcox.
 
 220 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 brought forward in January 1752, Dr Wilcox declined 
 to summon the Caput to consider it^. The opposition 
 retaliated for these defeats by voting against supplicats 
 for degrees, though they were not always successful in 
 preventing them from passing. 
 
 In any prolonged contest, however, there comes a 
 stage when the desire for peace is stronger than the 
 passion for victory; and in spite of the controversy 
 seeming likely to continue indefinitely, the end was 
 really near at hand. During the Christmas vacation of 
 1 750-1 75 1 the Vice-Chancellor conferred with the 
 representatives of the opposition party, and though they 
 failed to agree upon a settlement, it was something that 
 the antagonists had been able to meet; and doubtless 
 an atmosphere favourable to peace was generated^. 
 Probably there were subsequent meetings of which we 
 know nothing; for on the 13th March 1752 the Senate 
 unanimously passed a Grace requesting Newcastle, 
 Hardwicke, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop 
 of London, Lord Chief Justice Lee, and his brother, 
 Sir George Lee^, to act as referees in the dispute, and 
 stipulating that whatever they or a majority of them 
 decided to be ' consentaneum statutis, privilegiis et con- 
 suetudinibus academiae' should be accepted by the 
 university as a final judgment. It was further provided 
 by the same Grace that the Heads should be represented 
 by the Vice-Chancellor and the Masters of Corpus and 
 Magdalene, and the opposition by Bickham of Emman- 
 uel, Smith of King's and Thomas Balguy of St John's^. 
 
 All of those asked to be referees consented to act 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 5852, f. 129, f. 130; Cooper's Annals, iv, 285-286. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 3 5657, f. 3 r . A letter to the author of a further Inquiry. 
 
 ^ Sir William Lee was Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and his 
 brother, George, had recently been appointed Dean of Arches. 
 
 * Cooper's Annals, iv, 285-286. Add. MS. 35657, f. 33; Add. 
 MS. 35591, f 299.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 221 
 
 with the exception of Newcastle who declined as a party 
 interested in the dispute, and as about to leave for the 
 continent with the King^. It had probably been under- 
 stood from the first that the Duke would refuse, and 
 his co-operation was not essential to the success of the 
 scheme. It is however remarkable, in view of the angry 
 passions aroused, that not only was the proposal to 
 refer the dispute to arbitration greeted with enthusiasm, 
 but that it alone sufficed to restore peace and harmony 
 to a distracted university. ' If there be any contentions 
 left amongst us at present ' wrote Dr Squire in April 
 1752 'it seems to be which side was most willing to 
 come into reference^,' and another testifies that 'if there 
 should be anyone who repine at peace being restored 
 to us, they dare not so much as utter it in a murmur^.' 
 When in June 1752 Dr Keene returned to Cambridge 
 after an absence, he was able to report that he 'found 
 it in that state of tranquillity which I foresaw would 
 take place on the reference being unanimously complied 
 with*'; and thus, as though by a wave of a magician's 
 wand, peace was restored at the moment when the out- 
 look was darkest. We know very little as to how this 
 happy state of things was brought about; but there is 
 no doubt that both parties welcomed the truce, and were 
 well content to wait in patience for the decision of the 
 referees. Whatever that decision had been it is unlikely 
 that discord would have broken out again; but, curiously 
 enough, the referees apparently never pronounced a 
 verdict. When in November 1752 Dr Yonge, Master 
 of Jesus, became Vice-Chancellor, he told Newcastle 
 that there was little reason 
 to apprehend a revival of our late dissensions, since duty and 
 
 1 Cooper's Annah, iv, 286; Add. MS. 5852, f. 130; Add. MS. 
 32726, f. 424. ^ Add. MS. 32726, f. 424. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32726, f. 427; see also, f. 481. 
 * Add. MS. 32728, f. 127.
 
 222 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 gratitude to the great persons, who have so kindly undertaken 
 to hear and determine our dispute, must dispose all parties to 
 wait their leisure with an entire acquiescence^; 
 
 and, so well were the parties disposed that they allowed 
 the dispute to be shelved altogether. It is possible that 
 the referees came to the conclusion that it might be 
 hazardous to the recently restored peace to promulgate 
 a decision ; and it was doubtless far better to allow the 
 controversy to perish of inanition, even though the 
 story is thus deprived of an end. 
 
 It is clear that the relations between Newcastle and 
 the university were very far from being consistently 
 harmonious, and that he was often compelled to struggle 
 for the maintenance of his power. There is however 
 another and a pleasanter side to his Chancellorship, 
 and a side which tends to be forgotten. A generous 
 benefactor, it was he who set a good example to 
 his successors by instituting the custom of the Chan- 
 cellor annually awarding two gold medals to those 
 'who, having obtained senior optimes in philosophical 
 learning, shall pass the best examination in classical 
 learning^'; and by so doing he certainly encouraged 
 the study of the classics. From the very first these 
 medals attracted the best brains in the university; 
 and the examination seems to have been conducted 
 with commendable thoroughness. On one occasion, 
 when the votes of the examiners were equally divided 
 between two of the candidates, the Vice-Chancellor 
 appealed to the Duke who decided 'that where there 
 is an equality of voices in the disposal of the medals, 
 the casting vote ought to be in the Vice-Chancellor, 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32730, f. 212. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32936, f. 99. In the nineteenth century the restriction 
 of the competition to those who had attained a certain standard in 
 mathematics was abolished.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 223 
 
 and I should desire that it might always be so deter- 
 mined^.' In 1765 only two competitors appeared, and 
 ihis unusual lack of candidates so grieved the Vice- 
 Chancellor, Dr Barnardiston, Master of Corpus, that 
 he postponed the examination for a fortnight, and went 
 'to everyone of the young gentlemen, who were capable 
 of appearing as candidates, that the victors, by in- 
 creasing the number, might receive the greater honour'; 
 and, though his solicitations failed, he was able to report 
 to Newcastle after the examination that ' the two young 
 candidates were very deserving of your Grace's favour, 
 and, though the contest was only for precedence, they 
 were examined with the same accuracy as if the number 
 had been greater^.' 
 
 It was also during his time as Chancellor that the 
 present east front of the Library was erected; and 
 though he did not originate the idea which had long 
 been under consideration, he took an active and leading 
 part in its execution. There were indeed some who 
 thought that it would have been better if he had been 
 less active and left more to the initiative of the univer- 
 sity; and possibly James Burrough, afterwards Master 
 of Caius, was of this opinion. Burrough, who was an 
 amateur architect of some merit^, produced in 1752, a 
 design for an east front of the Library, uniform in style 
 with the Senate house which had been recently erected. 
 If left to itself the university would probably have 
 accepted Burrough's scheme without demur; but at this 
 point Newcastle intervened and took the matter into 
 his own hands. 
 
 'I have directed Mr Wright' he informed Dr Keene in 
 October 1753 'to prepare forthwith a complete design for 
 building a wing to answer the Senate house in front, and to the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32903, f. 307. 2 Ajj_ ]VIS. 32966, f. 61. 
 
 ^ According to tradition Burrough designed the Senate house, but 
 probably he did no more than give general suggesdons.
 
 224 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Regent Walk. And also of a new front to the Library and 
 Schools to front the Regent Walk, with arcades to Caius college 
 and King's college to join the Schools with the other buildings. 
 In the building opposite to the Senate house I would propose 
 a Vice-Chancellor's court, an appartment for the Librarian at 
 the end towards the Library, and for the Register at the end 
 towards St Mary's church. I must beg that you would give 
 immediate attention upon an affair in which the ornament and 
 conveniency of the university and my own credit are so much 
 concerned 1.' 
 
 It will be noticed that the project thus outlined was 
 far more ambitious than that put forward by Burrough; 
 but it was not novel, as the erection of a building, 
 parallel with the Senate house, had long been con- 
 templated, and in 1738 a syndicate had been formed to 
 negotiate the purchase of the site. Aware however 
 that such an undertaking would be excessively costly, 
 the Duke intended to proceed by degrees and to make 
 a beginning with the Library front; but if he thought 
 that the university would accept his proposal without 
 demur, he was guilty of a bad error of judgment and 
 forgot how easy it is to offend the pride of an architect. 
 Burrough was not unnaturally much chagrined at having 
 his design so lightly cast aside, and objected that the 
 new Library front, as designed by Wright, was not 
 uniform in style with the Senate house; and, as he was 
 a popular character in the university^, he found many 
 sympathisers who were prepared to support him. There 
 was consequently a danger of V/right's design being 
 rejected by the Senate; but the Duke's friends at 
 Cambridge took pains to preach the doctrine that the 
 university 'might be hurt and disgraced by any be- 
 haviour upon this occasion which might have the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32733, f. 135. 
 
 2 According to Cole, Burrough had no enemies, and any prominent 
 person in an university, of whom this can be said, must be either 
 singularly fortunate or remarkably amiable.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 225 
 
 appearance of rudeness and Ingratitude^'; and when 
 on nth of June 1754 a Grace was submitted to the 
 Senate, recommending that the syndicate appointed in 
 1738 should be entrusted with the execution of the 
 Chancellor's plan for the new library front, it passed 
 with only ten non-placet votes in the non-regents* 
 house and six in the regents' house^. Burrough and 
 ten other members of Caius college were among the 
 non-placets, and as the controversy is said to have 
 provoked 'a great deal of animosity and ill-temper in 
 the university,' the Duke was lucky to have gained 
 so easy a victory. 
 
 Immediately after the assent of the Senate had been 
 obtained, building operations were begun. In September 
 1754 Newcastle visited Cambridge from Wimpole to 
 inspect the trenches dug for the foundations, and in 
 the following April he laid the foundation stone. Three 
 years later the building was finished, and on July 3rd, 
 1758, was opened in state by the Chancellor^. General 
 satisfaction was expressed with Wright's work which 
 was described as 'extremely handsome,' though fault 
 was found with the bookshelves which were said to be 
 'very beautifull and very inconvenient''^.' The whole 
 cost amounted to about ten thousand, five hundred 
 pounds, and it was not found at all easy to raise this 
 sum. It had been arranged at the outset that an appeal 
 should be made by the Vice-Chancellor for subscrip- 
 tions; and Newcastle, realising that many would only 
 give in the hope of receiving again, and that as a 
 dispenser of the royal patronage he was favourably 
 situated to ask for money, closely associated himself 
 with the appeal. 
 
 'I desire Yonge' he wrote to Dr Keene in October 1753 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32734, f. 320; see also f. 293. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32735, f. 431, f. 449; Add. MS. 5852, f. 136, f. 137. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 5852, f. 145. 4 Add. MS. 32875, f. 75. 
 
 w u c 15
 
 226 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 'would, from the buttery books of the several colleges, send me 
 up the names of the several peers, bishops, peers' sons, and 
 persons of any distinction who have been at our university, 
 that we may judge whereabouts our subscriptions will come. I 
 desire also to have the names and sums given by the several 
 persons upon the two last subscriptions in 1720 and 1724 or 
 thereabouts^' 
 
 Dr Yonge was Vice-Chancellor when the subscrip- 
 tion list was opened, and when he retired in November 
 1754, three thousand, six hundred and fifty pounds had 
 been collected, of which sum the King had subscribed 
 one thousand, and Newcastle five hundred pounds. 
 Dr Thomas, Master of Christ's, who followed Yonge 
 as Vice-Chancellor, raised another twelve hundred and 
 seventy-one pounds; but after his retirement there was 
 a serious falling ofF; and the three Vice-Chancellors 
 who were in office from November 1755 to November 
 1758 only succeeded between them in raising a sum 
 slightly less than that collected by Dr Thomas in a 
 single year^. Thus when Dr Caryl became Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in November 1758 between three and four 
 thousand pounds were still needed; and encouraged and 
 perhaps assisted by the Duke, he made an energetic 
 appeaP and by the middle of May 1759 had reduced 
 the debt to about two thousand, six hundred pounds*. 
 This was still an embarrassingly large liability and 
 Newcastle resorted to heroic measures. He added 
 another five hundred pounds to his original donation, 
 and arranged that the King should contribute another 
 thousand pounds, thus considerably easing the financial 
 situation^. By the middle of October 1759 only a sum 
 of six hundred pounds remained to be paid^, which was 
 advanced out of the funds of the university. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32733, f. 135. 2 Add. MS. 5852, f. 441. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32891, f. 88. * Add. MS. 32891, f. 161. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32893, f. 3, f. 5. 6 Add. MS. 32897, f. 213.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 227 
 
 ' As the workmen have stayed so long for their money ' wrote 
 Dr Caryl to Newcastle on November 23rd, 1759 'I took a 
 resolution to advance it to them out of the university stock, and 
 have accordingly paid them all this morning, hoping that in 
 two or three months I shall be enabled to replace it by the 
 payment of such subscriptions as are already promised^.' 
 
 It had clearly been very difficult to raise the necessary 
 money, and the task might have been impossible but 
 for the assistance given by the Duke. He and the King 
 between them contributed more than a third of the total 
 cost of the building; and it is possible that many sub- 
 scribed because they knew that Newcastle was keenly 
 anxious for the success of the scheme. 'Probably most 
 of the clerical subscribers and possibly many of the 
 laity' scribbled Cole in after years upon a list of sub- 
 scribers 'put in here as into a lottery of the Duke of 
 Newcastle's formation, Translations, places and pre- 
 ferments were what were fished for, and many succeeded 
 to their heart's desire^. ' The difficulty he had found in 
 collecting money was enough to convince the Duke that 
 the completion of Wright's design must wait for another 
 Chancellor; but he is deserving of our gratitude for 
 what he actually achieved. It is not so easy to be grateful 
 to him for the statue of George II which he presented 
 to the university, and which now stands in the Library. 
 Executed by Wilton, it is an ugly and cumbersome 
 piece of work, lacking in any interest save as an indica- 
 tion of the taste of the age in statuary. George II was 
 still on the throne when Newcastle announced his in- 
 tention, expressing at the same time, a wish that the 
 statue should be placed in the Library, 'as his Majesty 
 has been so considerable a benefactor to it^, ' but it was 
 not until 1766 that the statue was erected, and then 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32899, f. 71. 2 Add. MS. 5852, f. 441. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32911, f. 369; see also Add. MS. 32909, f. 278; 
 Add. MS. 32912, f. II. 
 
 152
 
 228 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 not in the Library but in the Senate house^. The Duke 
 himself was mainly responsible for the long delay by 
 failing to make timely preparations for the composition 
 of an inscription, 'You know' pathetically remarked 
 Wilton in June 1763 'how much I want the inscription, 
 and how many months I have waited for it to compleat 
 the work^.' Stirred at last into activity by this appeal, 
 Newcastle sent instructions to Dr Caryl for an inscrip- 
 tion to be written; 'His Grace' wrote the Duke's 
 secretary 'thinks that there should be a good deal and 
 something very handsome and proper said about the 
 late King who was so great a benefactor, and something 
 should also be said of the university and of himself 
 with regard to his zeal for both^.' 
 
 Newcastle however was not content to give general 
 instructions, and he was not sparing of criticism on 
 receiving a draft of the inscription in April 1764. He 
 strongly objected to the words 'summa confidentia' 
 being used with regard to his relations with George II, 
 because they conveyed 'the sense of first minister which 
 no man should say of himself; and he also ventured 
 to express an opinion on points of scholarship. 
 
 'I had some doubts' he told the Bishop of Norwich 'whether 
 "quod volenti" was classical and sufficiently conveyed the sense, 
 viz. because he did so. Lord Grantham assures me it is right and 
 elegantly expresses the sense which is propter quod. Lord 
 Grantham had himself some doubts, as I had, whether "ipsum 
 per annos complures" is not at too great a distance from the 
 conclusion to which it relates^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32975, f. 91. 2 Add. MS. 32949, f. 167. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32949, f. 263. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32958, f. 266. The final form of the inscription was 
 as follows: 
 
 Georgio Secundo 
 Patrono suo, optime merenti, 
 
 Semper venerando; 
 Quod volenti Populo,
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 229 
 
 A few weeks later he returned to the charge, having in 
 the interval consulted those of his friends who had kept 
 up their classics. 
 
 'As to ipsum ' he wrote to the Bishop of Norwich 'they were 
 clear that there could be no objection to the distance, but one 
 of them rather chose se or seipsum than ipsum alone; but, if 
 ipsum will do, it is better alone. One of them had some doubts 
 whether the verbs should not be in the subjunctive mood... but 
 I believe it is better as it is. It has occurred to me, and to me 
 only, whether four or five words might not be thrown in to 
 heighten it; for example, something like this in pace et in 
 bello feliciter-^-and then another word of higher commendation. 
 ...This is my own. Try it a little, and see whether it will do^.' 
 
 The Bishop tried it and apparently came to the con- 
 clusion that it would do, for the words suggested appear 
 in the final form of the inscription. The Bishop how- 
 ever upheld his use of quod^ quoting as his authority 
 'the seventeenth section of Tully's Fifth Philippic^' and 
 he preferred to drop the phrase 'ipsum per annos com- 
 piures' rather than permit the introduction of se or 
 seipsum. 'The reciprocal pronoun' he remarked 'is the 
 most difficult thing to manage in the Latin language 
 
 Justissime, humanissime, 
 
 In Pace et in Bello, 
 
 Feliciter Imperavit; 
 
 Quod Academiam Cantabrigiensem 
 
 Fovit, auxit, ornavit; 
 
 Hanc Statuam 
 Aeternum, faxit Deus, Monumentum, 
 
 Grati Animi in Regem, 
 
 Pietatis in Patriam, 
 
 Amoris in Academiam, 
 Suis Sumptibus poni curavit 
 Thomas Holies 
 
 Dux de Newcastle 
 Academiae Cancellarius 
 
 A.D. MDCCLXVI. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 416.
 
 23C THE CHANCELLOR AND THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 and perhaps in the English too^.' It is characteristic of 
 Newcastle to have been so profuse of advice upon a 
 question which might have been safely left to the 
 experts, and typical of his whole attitude towards the 
 university. He wasted his own and other people's time 
 by continually interfering in matters which could easily 
 have been arranged without him; and was ever seeking 
 to assert his authority. Over his Chancellorship hangs 
 an atmosphere of intrigue and wire-pulling for which 
 he is largely responsible; and though he no more intro- 
 duced jobbery and corruption into the university than 
 he did into political life, it can hardly be denied that 
 in both spheres of his activity he was not scrupulous as 
 to the means he employed to win followers. Nevertheless 
 he deserves to be remembered in the university for the 
 love he bore it. His frequent professions of affection 
 ring true; and it can at least be said of him that he 
 strove, according to his lights, to promote the honour 
 and glory of Cambridge. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32958, f. 427.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 IF Newcastle had strictly confined himself to his pre- 
 scribed duties as Chancellor it would have been 
 unnecessary for him to concern himself with the 
 domestic affairs of the various colleges, unless called 
 upon to act in the capacity of visitor^, and it would 
 doubtless have conduced to the peace of mmd, both 
 of himself and the university, if he had restrained his 
 activities. College politics are apt to be involved and 
 tortuous labyrinths, perplexing enough to those who 
 daily tread them, and quite bewildering to the un- 
 initiated stranger. The political life of a small society 
 tends to be fierce; and in a college, as in a city state, 
 the balance of forces is never constant, parties are for 
 ever forming and dissolving, and nothing is certain 
 except an inexhaustible supply of contentious questions. 
 Had Newcastle been born in a different station and 
 passed his life as a Fellow of a college, his capacity 
 for patient and industrious intrigue would not have 
 been wasted; but, situated as he was, it was hopeless 
 for him to attempt to control the affairs of sixteen 
 separate societies. The task moreover was not only 
 greater than any one man could perform; it was even 
 more dangerous than it was difficult. Much as the 
 Fellows of a college might cabal and intrigue against 
 one another, bitter as might be their personal rivalries, 
 they would certainly combine against the intruder from 
 the outside; for college feeling ran high and the inter- 
 ference of a Chancellor would be bitterly resented. 
 
 ^ A few of the colleges had the Chancellor as their visitor.
 
 232 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 Nevertheless Newcastle could not afford to be indifferent 
 to college politics unless he was prepared very sub- 
 stantially to modify his conception of his part in 
 academic business. His influence in the university de- 
 pended in no small measure upon his influence in the 
 various colleges, and that influence could best be 
 gained and kept by the exercise of some sort of control 
 over their internal politics. Moreover, with the excep- 
 tion of the Masters of Trinity, Jesus, and Magdalene, 
 the Heads of Houses were elected by their Fellows; 
 and, as the Heads wielded considerable power in the 
 university, it was clearly to the Duke's advantage that 
 they should be friendly to his interests. 
 
 Thus he might appear to be between the horns of 
 a dilemma. If he intervened in college business he ran 
 a serious risk of encountering a rebuff, and if he pursued 
 a policy of strict non-intervention there was a real danger 
 of his power in the university lacking foundation. The 
 dilemma however was more apparent than real, since 
 it was possible for a Chancellor, who knew his business, 
 to exercise an influence in the colleges without too 
 ostentatiously appearing to do so. It has already been 
 mentioned that in his management of university busi- 
 ness Newcastle depended to a great extent upon trusty 
 friends at Cambridge who were aware of his wishes and 
 worked for their accomplishment; and he pursued much 
 the same method with regard to the colleges. Backhouse 
 in Trinity, Talbot in Clare, Yonge and Caryl in Jesus, 
 Green in Corpus, Rutherforth in St John's, and Marriott 
 in Trinity Hall, were his agents in their respective 
 colleges; and though it is only occasionally and when 
 times are critical that we hear of their activities, it may 
 fairly be assumed that they were constantly working to 
 mould their colleges nearer to the Duke's desire. The 
 work demanded uncommon tact and discrimination, 
 and was by no means always successfully performed;
 
 PLATE IV 
 
 LVXFORI) CARYL 
 
 MAsri:R OK ji-;srs foi. i. i;c, i;, tw m I'.ri dgk (173S si)
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 233 
 
 but if Newcastle had been denied such assistance, his 
 hold upon the colleges, and consequently his hold upon 
 the university, would have been very much less than 
 it was. 
 
 It must not be imagined however that the system 
 was completely organised, and that the Duke had a 
 representative in every college. He does not appear to 
 have ever established a foothold in either Caius or 
 Emmanuel which were both reputed strongholds of 
 toryism; and though it is perhaps not surprising that 
 he failed to weaken the authority of Dr Richardson, 
 the tory Master of Emmanuel, he might have been 
 expected to be more successful in Caius where for a 
 time his loyal supporter. Sir Thomas Gooch, Bishop 
 of Ely, was Master. It seems however that Gooch, if 
 he made the attempt, was signally unsuccessful in con- 
 verting his Fellows to his own way of thinking; and 
 it is significant that when he died in 1754 Newcastle 
 apparently made no attempt to prevent the election into 
 the mastership of James Burrough whom he regarded 
 with profound suspicion. It is even still more significant 
 that when Burrough died in 1764, at a particularly 
 critical moment in the High Steward controversy, 
 Newcastle seems never for a moment to have con- 
 templated the possibility of influencing the election of 
 the new Master. He doubtless realised that there was 
 nothing to be done in a college which had only pro- 
 duced one vote in support of Lord Hardwicke's Grace; 
 but his complete acquiescence in a policy of inaction 
 vividly illustrates his impotence. Given a favourable 
 opportunity he would not have hesitated to plant his 
 banner in both Caius and Emmanuel; but he needed 
 for the success of the operation a powerful ally within 
 the gates, and was apparently unable to find him. 
 
 Caius and Emmanuel were not the only societies in 
 which Newcastle had little or no influence; for we hear
 
 234 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 singularly little of his relations with Pembroke and 
 St Catharine's, and it seems unlikely that he had a 
 following in either of these colleges. The argument 
 from silence is, however, admittedly dangerous, and 
 inasmuch as Newcastle would prefer to remain in the 
 background as far as possible, it is quite possible that 
 his influence was most effective when it was least 
 apparent. There is for instance no indication that when 
 in 1754 Dr Rooke was succeeded in the mastership 
 of Christ's by Hugh Thomas, the Duke intervened in 
 any way; but it may well be that the Fellows of Christ's 
 had been so carefully trained by Dr Rooke that they 
 could be safely trusted not to elect a Master who would 
 be displeasing to the Chancellor. Nor is there any 
 evidence of external pressure upon the Fellows of 
 Queens' when in 1760 they had to appoint a successor 
 to Dr Sedgwick who had been their President for 
 nearly thirty years. Newcastle was promptly informed 
 that *a major part of the society... are determined in 
 favour of Dr Plumptre,...the junior of that name who 
 is rector of Wimpole^, ' and it would have indeed been 
 surprising if he had been unable to extend a cordial 
 welcome to Lord Hardwicke's rector^. It is therefore 
 possible that the Fellows of Christ's and the Fellows 
 of Queens' were such loyal courtiers as to anticipate 
 the ducal wishes; but, if so, they were exceptionable, 
 and it certainly would be a great blunder to imagine 
 that Newcastle disposed of masterships of colleges like 
 places in the church or sinecure offices in the gift of 
 the government. He naturally wished to have as many 
 friends as possible among the Heads of Houses; but 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32914, f. 60. 
 
 2 A certain Mr Manning, an ex-Fellow of Queens', thought of 
 standing for the Presidency against Plumptre, but quickly came to the 
 conclusion that he would be unable even to put up a respectable fight. 
 Add. MS. 32914, f 116, see also f. 29, f. 58, f 94.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 235 
 
 he had to tread warily, and was well aware that the 
 display of indiscreet activity would be the surest way 
 of defeating the end he had in view. 
 
 It is indeed extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
 to estimate with any accuracy the extent to which he 
 interfered in the domestic affairs of the different col- 
 leges. There is good ground for thinking that the inter- 
 ference was occasional and for the most part confined 
 to the elections to masterships; but it is dangerous to 
 be more precise, and it is certainly not safe to lay down 
 as a general rule that he never allowed the election of a 
 Master to pass without his intervention. It is moreover 
 quite certain that much must have happened of which 
 we know little or nothing, and it would be idle to 
 pretend that we have plumbed to their depths the sub- 
 terraneous intrigues that were carried on. We know 
 enough however to be perfectly sure that Newcastle 
 was never indifferent to the choice of a Head of a 
 House, and that on occasions he was prepared to go 
 to great lengths to secure a suitable appointment. Some- 
 times his task was comparatively easy, as in the case 
 of the mastership of Jesus which was in the gift of 
 the Bishop of Ely, and was conferred in succession upon 
 Dr Yonge and Dr Caryl, two of the most trusted of 
 Newcastle's Cambridge supporters. Yonge was ap- 
 pointed by Sir Thomas Gooch, and, in view of the 
 cordial relations between the Bishop and the Duke, it 
 is probable that Yonge owed his good fortune to the 
 favour he enjoyed with the Chancellor. But though this 
 is no more than a surmise, we can at least be certain 
 that Yonge's successor, Caryl, was deeply indebted for 
 his advancement to Newcastle. 
 
 ' I have the satisfaction of acquainting your Grace ' he wrote 
 to his patron on July 14th, 1758, 'that yesterday the Bishop of 
 Ely^ was so kind as to collate me to the mastership of Jesus 
 
 ^ Matthias Mawson, who had succeeded Gooch as Bishop of Ely.
 
 236 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 college. My earliest and best thanks are due to your Grace for 
 your kind and effectual recommendation of me to his Lordship^' 
 
 It was easy enough for Newcastle, especially when 
 he controlled the distribution of the crown's ecclesiastical 
 patronage, to influence the appointment to a master- 
 ship which was in the gift of a bishop; but the game 
 was more intricate and success less certain when the 
 electors were the Fellows of a college, jealous of their 
 independence. Yet the stories of the election of Dr Green 
 as Master of Corpus in 1750, and of Dr Law's election 
 as Master of Peterhouse in 1754, suggest that, though 
 the game was tricky, it was possible to play it with 
 success. On the death of Edmund Castle, Master of 
 Corpus in 1 750, the Fellows were unanimous in wishing 
 to elect Charles Skottowe, President of the society, as 
 their Master, but Skottowe declined the honour, and 
 as the Fellows could not agree upon any other candidate, 
 a certain number of them appealed to Thomas Herring, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, to recommend them a suit- 
 able Master. It was quite natural that they should turn 
 in their difficulty to the Archbishop who had been a 
 Fellow and Tutor of the college and continued to take 
 a friendly interest in its welfare; but it is at first sight 
 somewhat surprising that the Archbishop should have 
 advised them to go outside their own body and choose 
 as their Master, John Green, Fellow of St John's and 
 Regius Professor of Divinity^. As might have been 
 anticipated, the suggestion was not received with favour, 
 except by those Fellows who were responsible for the 
 appeal, but, as they were the majority, Green was duly 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32881, f. 317. On the occasion when Yonge was 
 appointed Master, Newcastle wrote to the Bishop on behalf of Caryl; 
 but it is likely that he also wrote on behalf of Yonge, and possibly gave 
 him the preference. Add. MS. 32878, f. 397. 
 
 2 The Archbishop's letter is printed in Nichols' Illustrations of the 
 Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, vi, 794.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 237 
 
 elected into the mastership. It is not improbable that 
 the Archbishop's recommendation was inspired by Lord 
 Hardwicke, and that, when the Fellows appealed to 
 Lambeth, they were not acting on a sudden impulse 
 but executing a carefully thought out scheme. Lord 
 Hardwicke was intimate with Herring whose patron 
 he had been in early days^, and as he was also the patron 
 of Green, it is not unlikely that he inspired the Arch- 
 bishop's recommendation. And it may well be that the 
 appeal was engineered with the sole object of securing 
 Green's appointment. Many months before his death 
 Castle was known to be in failing health; and a letter, 
 written in 1749 by Edmund Pyle, whose son was a 
 Fellow of Corpus, to the Archbishop, certainly suggests 
 that an intrigue was on foot in which Herring was 
 playing a leading part. 
 
 'I no sooner' wrote Edmund Pyle to the Archbishop 're- 
 ceived the great favour of your Grace's kind and good letter 
 than I w^rote to the person intimated therein, and deferred my 
 dutiful answer to it no longer than till I was enabled to acquaint 
 you with his truly filial reply that he should never find greater 
 pleasure than that of complying with every desire of a father 
 and the honourable friends of that father. Meantime, I am 
 sorry for the ill state of my friend C st 1 which gives occasion 
 to this affair 2.' 
 
 It can be taken for certain that the 'person intimated 
 therein' was Pyle's son, the Fellow of Corpus, and it 
 is not far fetched to assume that 'the truly filial reply' 
 was a promise to obey the Archbishop's wishes in the 
 event of the Mastership falling vacant. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Newcastle was privy to 
 whatever intrigue there was, and that he and Hardwicke 
 had agreed upon securing the mastership of Corpus for 
 
 ^ Life of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, by P. C. Yorke, i, 422. 
 2 Master's History of Corpus Christi College, with additional matter 
 by John Lamb, p. 240, note A.
 
 238 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 a friend whom they could trust. It is possible that Green 
 was imposed upon the society with the express object 
 of disciplining it in loyalty to the Chancellor and the 
 whig faith; and, if so, the object was obtained, for 
 nowhere in the university had the Duke greater in- 
 fluence than in Corpus. It has already been mentioned 
 that when Green retired from the mastership in 1764, 
 the Fellows, by previous arrangement, obediently elected 
 in his place, Barnardiston, who could be relied upon to 
 further the Chancellor's interests: and the ease, with 
 which this transference of power was effected, is a 
 tribute to the value of the work achieved by the retiring 
 Master. The story of the election of Dr Law as Master 
 of Peterhouse resembles in certain particulars the history 
 of Green's introduction to Corpus, and provides a further 
 illustration of the Duke's wishes being taken into account 
 in the appointment of a Master. Dr Keene, Bishop of 
 Chester, did not retire from the mastership of Peter- 
 house until 1754: but as early as 1752 he had already 
 decided that his successor should be Edmund Law, 
 Archdeacon of Carlisle, and was busily engaged in per- 
 suading his Fellows to pledge their votes beforehand. 
 As Law had no connection with Peterhouse, having 
 been an undergraduate at St John's and a Fellow of 
 Christ's, he was not exactly a strong candidate: but 
 Keene wanted the Archdeaconry of Carlisle for his 
 brother in law, Venn Eyre, and, believing Law to be 
 a sound whig who would be faithful to Newcastle, he 
 decided to support him. But skill and management 
 were needed to overcome the objection taken to Law 
 as an alien, and it is possible that Keene intentionally 
 delayed his resignation until he had made sure of his 
 candidate's election. 
 
 'I have begun' he wrote to Newcastle on June 27th, 1752, 
 'to open the affair of my resignation to some part of the society, 
 and find that it will be a more difficult matter than I expected.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 239 
 
 The society is young and unacquainted with Dr Law, and the 
 business of recommending a stranger is become very invidious 
 since the affair of Benet college. It is natural for Mr Stuart, 
 who is the principal person with whom I am to treat, to think 
 that, having made one Master, should he be employed in making 
 another, some douceurs are to be expected. And indeed, con- 
 sidering the part he has acted in overthrowing the old system of 
 the college and establishing the new one, he is certainly deserving 
 of favours. If your Grace will be so good as to continue your 
 disposition to serve him with the living of Ashen in Essex, I 
 would afterwards, as opportunity would offer to me, take him up^.' 
 
 A few months after this letter was written, Stuart 
 obtained a dispensation to hold the rectory of Ashdon 
 with the vicarage of Steeple Bumpstead^, and in 1754 
 Law was elected Master of Peterhouse, resigning the 
 Archdeaconry of Carlisle which was conferred upon 
 Venn Eyre. 
 
 It is noteworthy that Dr Law was appointed Master 
 of Peterhouse and Dr Green was appointed Master 
 of Corpus as the result of a college intrigue in which 
 the Chancellor was not directly involved, though un- 
 doubtedly his wishes had great weight with the electors. 
 On both occasions he had the good fortune to have a 
 friend, upon whom he could implicitly rely, and who was 
 in close touch with the Fellows; and there can be no 
 question that from Newcastle's point of view such a 
 method of procedure was ideal. He was saved the odium 
 which would arise from intervention, and was able to 
 secure the election he desired, without having to espouse 
 the cause of one particular candidate and thereby 
 cause offence to others who, rightly or wrongly, con- 
 sidered that they had an equal claim upon his favour. 
 Indeed, when he could safely do so, he had every in- 
 ducement to remain as much as possible in the back- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32728, f. 127. Charles Stuart had been elected to a 
 Fellowship in 1740 and was a Tutor for several years. 
 - Gentleman s Magazine for 1753, p. 345.
 
 240 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 ground; and, if he had needed a lesson in the dangers 
 of interference, he would have received it in the last 
 years of his Chancellorship when he found himself com- 
 pelled to take a hand in the election of a Master of 
 St John's. 
 
 When Newcastle became Chancellor the Master of 
 St John's was Dr John Newcome who was a loyal and 
 enthusiastic supporter of the Duke, and had specially 
 distinguished himself by his zealous opposition to the 
 candidature of Frederick, Prince of Wales. As St John's 
 was the largest college in the university, and had no 
 rival in size or influence except Trinity, it was no small 
 gain to Newcastle to have Newcome among his most 
 fervent adherents, especially as his relations with Trinity 
 were never from the first completely satisfactory, and 
 became decidedly strained after the whig predominance 
 in the state had been shattered by George IIL It may 
 be that it was impossible for a Chancellor to be on 
 intimate terms with Trinity and St John's, so bitter was 
 the feud between the two colleges^; but, if it was 
 
 ^ A letter from Dr Smith, Master of Trinity, to Newcastle, dated 
 June 27th, 1751, affords a vivid illustration of the feelings of Trinity 
 towards St John's. ' Last post ' wrote the Master ' I received Mr Robinson's 
 letter sent me from Cambridge by Dr Wilson, as your Grace had ordered 
 him. I have not the honour to know much of Mr Robinson but surely 
 he does me too great an honour to employ your Grace and Mr Pelham 
 to sollicit me for a poor butler's place as he calls it. I am always ready, 
 as I ought, to serve your Grace and Mr Pelham, otherwise it would 
 be indifferent to me whoever is to be our butler, provided he be but a 
 honest man. But your Grace may remember perhaps that St John's 
 college always looked upon themselves as the rivals of Trinity, the 
 next great college in the university. And the humour, I find, is still so 
 prevalent among us that I much question whether the generality of my 
 Fellows will not be very much averse to Mr Robinson's friend on that 
 very account of his coming from St John's; and I am not sure whether 
 some of the higher spirits among them would not sooner quarrel with 
 their bread and butter than receive it from the hands of a Johnian 
 butler.' Add. MS. 32724, f. 406.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 241 
 
 possible, the role was too difficult for the Duke to play, 
 and he had to be content with fostering his influence 
 in St John's through Dr Newcome. Hence it must have 
 been with interest not unmixed with alarm that he 
 heard in September 1758 that Dr Newcome was 
 dangerously ill. 
 
 'I think it my duty to inform your Grace' wrote the Master 
 of Christ's 'that the Master of St John's college has been 
 indisposed for about a week. His disorder is the hickups which 
 have in some fits held him ten or twelve hours. And last night 
 they returned with some violence. This day his physician, 
 Doctor Plumptre, finding the medicine he had prescribed did 
 not take effect, and observing a kind of periodical return of the 
 illness, has given him the bark which, according to the account 
 which I received this morning at eleven o'clock, sits easy on his 
 stomach. But if the bark should not succeed I should apprehend 
 there will be danger in the case^' 
 
 The three most likely candidates for the mastership 
 in the event of Dr Newcome's death were Dr Zachary 
 Brooke, Dr Powell, and Professor Rutherforth. Brooke 
 and Powell were the two Tutors of the college, and 
 Rutherforth had held the same office from 1740 to 
 1751 : but an ex-Tutor is comparable with a dead lion; 
 and of the three candidates Brooke and Powell had 
 far better prospects of success than Rutherforth. To 
 secure election it was necessary to obtain the votes of 
 at least more than half the number of Fellows; and as 
 at this particular time there were forty-eight Fellows of 
 the college, the candidate who could confidently count 
 upon twenty-five votes was certain of election. Dr Brooke 
 was apparently of the opinion that if the contest was 
 only between him and Powell he could make sure of 
 this necessary minimum"^: and as he was a supporter 
 of the Duke, and Powell was a leading member of the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32884, f. 51. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32884, f. 53, f. 73, f. 92. 
 
 w c c 16
 
 242 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 opposition party in the university, he not unreasonably 
 expected to receive the Chancellor's assistance if the 
 mastership fell vacant. He perceived however that his 
 chance of success would be seriously diminished if 
 Professor Rutherforth stood for election; for though 
 Rutherforth had a scanty following in the college and 
 was not at all likely to secure the mastership, there was 
 a serious danger that, if he came forward as a candidate, 
 he would secure a certain number of votes which would 
 otherwise be given to Brooke, which might result in 
 none of the three competitors securing the necessary 
 minimum, in which event the appointment would lapse 
 to the eight senior Fellows. It was clearly of great 
 importance to Brooke that Rutherforth should not be 
 a candidate; and he therefore appealed to Newcastle 
 to dissuade the Professor from standing for election. 
 
 'I have, my Lord,' he wrote on September 20th, 1758, 'very 
 carefully examined the state of my interest in the college upon 
 a supposition that the mastership was now to be vacant: and, 
 as far as I can judge, and I would not deceive your Grace or 
 myself in this matter, I have nothing to apprehend from a 
 competition with Dr Powell, provided my interest is not broke 
 in upon from any other quarter. For out of forty-eight votes, 
 the present number of electing Fellows, I have twenty-five that 
 I can depend upon against him, and he has only sixteen that he 
 can depend upon against me. And I can venture to say out of the 
 remaining votes, which I consider at present as dubious, I have 
 much the greatest likelyhood of a majority in my favour. As this 
 is a true state of the case, my Lord, as far as I and my friends 
 can determine from repeated surveys of the college, I shall hope 
 for your Grace's countenance and favour. For that would put 
 the affair out of all dispute^.' 
 
 If the contest had only been between Brooke and 
 Powell, Newcastle would not have hesitated between 
 the candidates, for he certainly had no wish to see an 
 enemy installed as Master of one of the most influential 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32884, f. 92.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 243 
 
 colleges in the university. The situation however was 
 unfortunately not quite so simple. Rutherforth, who 
 from being an opponent had recently become an ally 
 of the Duke, might presumably relapse into his former 
 hostility if commanded to forego an opportunity of 
 securing the mastership : and, if he stood for election, 
 it would not be easy for Newcastle to discriminate 
 between him and Brooke. Both were his friends and 
 would expect his assistance; and the Chancellor might 
 easily find himself in the position of Captain Macheath 
 between Polly and Lucy. This situation never arose, 
 for Dr Newcome made a speedy recovery; but while 
 that recovery was still uncertain Newcastle had already 
 indicated the policy he would probably pursue in the 
 event of a fatal issue to Dr Newcome's illness. His main 
 anxiety was to prevent at all cost Powell's election; and 
 he therefore through Dr Yonge specially charged his 
 true friends not so to 'differ amongst themselves as to 
 let Dr Powell avail himself of their dissentions,' adding 
 however that between Brooke and Rutherforth he 
 desired to be neutral^. The Duke was clearly opposed 
 to a three-cornered contest, fearing that it might result 
 in Powell carrying off" the prize, and as it was quite 
 certain that Brooke had many more supporters in the 
 college than Rutherforth, Newcastle's wishes, as ex- 
 pressed through Dr Yonge, were interpreted as a sug- 
 gestion that Rutherforth should retire in favour of 
 Brooke. Not only was Rutherforth told by some of 
 the Newcastle party in the university that the Duke was 
 in favour of his rival'^, but Brooke himself was assiduous 
 in proclaiming the same fact. 
 
 'It was generally, I may say universally, understood' wrote 
 Dr Yonge in after years 'that your Grace did actually take a 
 part at that time and support Dr Brooke. He made no scruple to 
 say so lO everyone, and was perpetually with my Lord Kinnoull 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32884, f. 88. 2 Add. MS. 32964, f. 343. 
 
 162
 
 244 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 and me with his lists and his calculations. I have really forgotten 
 (for it is four years ago if not more) how far your Grace did 
 really support him. But I am sure the Professor believes you 
 did most entirely, and so do all the university^ ' 
 
 It is probable that the Professor and the university 
 were right, and that the Chancellor desired a straight 
 fight between Brooke and Powell; but as Dr Newcome 
 regained his health and continued Master, the Duke's 
 plan of campaign was never fully revealed. It is not 
 apparent that he could have steered any other course; 
 but the incident affords an useful illustration of the 
 difficulties which beset him when he had to play a part 
 in college politics. In order to make certain of Powell's 
 defeat Rutherforth's ambition had to be sacrificed : and, 
 however sound the policy, the victim was not un- 
 naturally a little sore. After the crisis was passed, 
 Rutherforth in a letter to Newcastle contended that he 
 would have certainly succeeded against Powell if Brooke 
 had not stood, and that if the contest had been only 
 between Powell and Brooke the former would have 
 been victorious^: and though he was singular in this 
 opinion, he may be excused for holding it and for 
 believing that the Chancellor had acted with un- 
 becoming partiality. Rutherforth indeed felt he had a 
 grievance, and it was perhaps wise of Newcastle to 
 refrain from replying to his letter^; but when on a 
 sudden illness of Dr Newcome in December 1761, 
 Rutherforth again appealed to the Duke and again 
 received no answer^, he must have felt that he was being 
 very badly treated. It must have been difficult for him 
 to realise that his patron had a difficult game to play 
 and could not possibly allow personal considerations to 
 influence his strategy; and it is to the credit of his 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 418. 2 Add. MS. 32886, f. 149. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32964, f. 343. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32964, f. 343; Add. MS. 32932, f. 445.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 245 
 
 loyalty that in spite of these disappointments he remained 
 an unswerving supporter of the Chancellor and actively 
 supported Lord Hardwicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship. 
 
 Such constancy was the more remarkable from being 
 exceptional. When the acid test of the succession to the 
 High Stewardship was applied, Dr Brooke showed his 
 gratitude for the favours he had received by enlisting 
 under the banner of Lord Sandwich, while an exactly 
 opposite course was pursued by Dr Powell who for- 
 swore his hostility to the Duke and actively canvassed 
 on behalf of Lord Hardwicke. It is possible that both 
 men were influenced by the same well-founded belief 
 that Dr Newcome, who was over eighty by that time, 
 was not much longer for this life, and that therefore 
 it behoved them to choose the patron most likely to 
 advance their interests in the event of the mastership 
 falling vacant. About August 1764 Powell seems to 
 have definitely asked Newcastle to support his claims 
 to the mastership, and received a most gratifying reply. 
 
 'I shall be extremely happy' wrote the Duke 'whenever I 
 have an opportunity, to shew my grateful sense of the obligations 
 I have to you, and I can never wish dignity and power to be 
 placed in better hands than yours, and shall be always glad to 
 contribute to it v/herever and whenever I can^' 
 
 It was perhaps rather indiscreet of Newcastle to be 
 quite so effusive over the repentant sinner; for it was 
 by no means certain that Powell would prove himself 
 as strong a candidate as he had been expected to be 
 on a previous occasion. In 1761 he had relinquished 
 his Tutorship and quitted Cambridge for London, and 
 two years later had resigned his Fellowship; and though 
 he still retained a considerable following in the college, 
 his influence was presumably not quite what it had 
 been. Newcastle moreover should have remembered the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32961, f. 269; see also f. 220.
 
 246 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 claims of Rutherforth who had remained true to the 
 whig cause when so many had deserted it, and it is 
 possible that when he gave Powell an assurance of his 
 support, he was not expecting a vacancy in the master- 
 ship in the immediate future, and was thinking more of 
 saying the thing to please than of defining a policy. 
 Yet by October 1764 it became fairly clear that 
 Dr Newcome was nearing his end; and the old man, 
 conscious of his growing incapacity, expressed the 
 greatest anxiety to resign the Lady Margaret Professor- 
 ship of Divinity which he had held since 1727. If he 
 was permitted to execute this design, Newcastle would 
 almost certainly find himself at a serious disadvantage 
 when Newcome's death, which could not be far off, 
 vacated the mastership. All doctors and bachelors of 
 divinity were electors to the Lady Margaret Professor- 
 ship, and as the divinity faculty was more strongly 
 represented in St John's than in any other society, that 
 college had come to regard the professorship as more 
 or less its own possession^. In the event of the professor- 
 ship being declared vacant, it was almost certain that 
 Dr Law, Master of Peterhouse, and Dr Brooke would 
 come forward as candidates, and whereas Brooke would 
 look for support to his patron. Lord Sandwich, Law 
 would appeal to Newcastle. There could be no doubt 
 that Sandwich would use what influence he possessed 
 on Brooke's behalf, and the fact that he supported a 
 Johnian candidate would possibly gain him many fol- 
 
 ^ In November 1764 the number of electors to the Lady Margaret 
 Professorship were 102, of which 36 were in St John's and 25 in 
 Trinity, 1 2 in Queens', 7 in Emmanuel, 6 in Corpus, 4 in Clare, 
 3 in Christ's, 2 in King's, 2 in Caius, 2 in St Catharine's, i in Jesus, 
 I in Magdalene and i in Sidney. Add. MS. 32963, f. 330. Writing 
 on November 17th, 1764, to the Master of Corpus, an old Johnian, 
 Newcastle remarks 'you gentlemen of St John's, having so many 
 batchelors of divinity, look upon yourselves to have a right to that 
 professorship.' Add. MS. 32964, f. 17.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 247 
 
 lowers in St John's and enable him to intervene with 
 telling effect when Dr Newcome's death necessitated 
 an election of a new Master. Newcastle was in a very 
 different and a far more difficult position. The Master 
 of Peterhouse had undeniable claims upon his assistance, 
 and his claims would certainly be favoured by many of 
 the leaders of Newcastle's party in Cambridge^: but, 
 though he had been an undergraduate of St John's, he 
 had never been a Fellow of the college and had long 
 ago severed his connection with it. Hence he could not 
 be seriously counted as a Johnian candidate, and the 
 Duke by supporting him would incur a serious risk 
 of undermining his influence in St John's at the very 
 moment when it was most important for him to foster 
 it. Nor would the situation, as it affected the Duke, be 
 much improved if, as would probably happen, another 
 candidate appeared who was both a Johnian and an 
 adherent of the Chancellor, for even if Newcastle 
 decided to support such a candidate with a view of 
 retaining his hold upon St John's, it was by no means 
 certain that he would be able to persuade his friends to 
 pursue a similar course, and it might therefore well 
 happen that the appearance of a third candidate would 
 rent the Chancellor's party in twain and throw the 
 professorship into the hand of Dr Brooke. 
 
 In view of the extremely complicated and difficult 
 situation which would thus arise, Newcastle was na- 
 turally anxious that Dr Nev/come should not resign 
 his professorship: and rightly believed that not only 
 would a serious difficulty be thereby avoided but a 
 positive advantage gained. The greatest disaster that 
 could possibly happen would be for Dr Brooke to 
 secure both the professorship and the mastership; and 
 his chance of doing so would be very much diminished 
 if both offices were simultaneously in the market. Indeed 
 1 Add. MS. 32963, f. 328.
 
 248 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 it was reasonable to assume that Dr Powell's prospects 
 of obtaining the mastership would be materially im- 
 proved if his candidature for that office coincided with 
 an election to the Lady Margaret Professorship : for his 
 most serious competitor, Dr Brooke, might possibly be 
 bought off by being allowed to obtain the professorship. 
 'The election of a Margaret Professor and that of a Master 
 of St John's' wrote Dr Powell in November 1764 'will cer- 
 tainly have great influence upon each other. And therefore I 
 cannot but think myself somewhat interested in them. The 
 resignation, which your Grace's letter prevented, would have 
 hurt my expectations^.' 
 
 It had only been with great difficulty that Dr New- 
 come had been prevented from resigning his professor- 
 ship, and the success achieved was only partial. It is 
 true that the Master was finally dissuaded from his 
 intention by the Duke^: but he had been very insistent, 
 and unfortunately had not kept his own counsel. 
 
 'His peace of mind, he says' Talbot informed the Duke on 
 October 31st, 1761, 'depends upon its taking effect. I have 
 plied him as closely as I could, but in the present low state of his 
 spirits no reasoning has much influence upon him. I have also 
 called into my aid, Miss Kirke, a relation of his who lives with 
 him, and who has been a very faithful assistant to me in this 
 difficult business^. She has done everything in her power and 
 several times incurred his anger by steadily opposing his design. 
 Yesterday, in spite of all her dissuasions, he enclosed his resigna- 
 tion of the professorship in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor and 
 ordered his footman to carry it directly. Before the footman got 
 out of the house she ventured to stop him, took the letter and 
 put it into her pocket. In the evening she told him what she 
 had done, and he bore it with less impatience than could be 
 expected. At this time I called upon him, renewed my promise 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 25. 
 
 - Add. MS. 32963, f. 283, f. 344, f. 409. 
 
 ^ Talbot afterwards married Miss Kirke who was a co-heir with 
 Richard Bcadon of the bulk of Dr Newcome's fortune. Baker's History 
 of St Johns College, 11, 1030.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 249 
 
 of preaching his Concio ad clerum, rendering him any other 
 service in my power, etc., and after about an hour and half left 
 him in pretty good temper and spirits. Hitherto I had kept the 
 secret of this design most religiously, even from your Grace's 
 friends, but having learned from Miss Kirke that the Master 
 had himself communicated it two [sic) of his Fellows, Dr Ogden 
 and Mr Cardale (the Bursar)^, I saw that concealment was no 
 longer to be hoped for, and therefore this morning went to the 
 Bishop of Lincoln^ and imparted to him the whole affair. He 
 was of the opinion that I should immediately tell it to Dr Law 
 ...and Dr Law wished me to communicate it to his friend, the 
 
 Dean of Ely^ Having gone thus far, I thought, and the Dean 
 
 of Ely thought so too, that it would be right for me to tell it 
 also to the Vice-Chancellor*.' 
 
 Consequently it was quickly known all over the 
 university that Newcome was anxious to resign his pro- 
 fessorship; and by November 4th Dr Law, Dr Ogden, 
 and Dr Brooke had announced their intention of 
 standing for election in the event of a vacancy^. Thus, 
 though the Duke had succeeded in persuading Dr New- 
 come to continue in his professorship, he failed to 
 prevent the appearance of candidates for the succession. 
 Ogden apparently contented himself with announcing 
 his intention of standing and did not solicit votes, but 
 the other two competitors were determined to waste 
 no time, rightly calculating that, even if Dr Newcome 
 did not resign, it could not be long before he died. 
 Espousing Dr Brooke's cause, Lord Sandwich acted 
 with promptitude and vigour; and it was reported that 
 'his applications on behalf of Dr Brooke are, if pos- 
 sible, warmer and stronger than those which he made 
 for himself^.' Nor was Dr Law behindhand, for he 
 
 ^ Joseph Cardale. 
 
 ^ Dr Green, who had recently resigned the mastership of Corpus. 
 
 ^ Dr Thomas, Master of Christ's. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32963, f. 134. ^ Add. MS. 32963, f. 223. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32963, f. 344; Add. MS. 32964, f. 32.
 
 250 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 appealed to Newcastle and Lord Hardwicke, sending 
 them each a list of the electors, 'with some few of 
 their connections^,' and went about the university 
 soliciting votes for himself^. It was certainly not to 
 Newcastle's interest that this canvassing should con- 
 tinue, for he might be forced to take a side and thereby 
 diminish his chances of being able to control the ap- 
 pointment of Dr Newcome's successor in the master- 
 ship. He could not support Dr Law without imperilling 
 his influence in St John's, and by prematurely com- 
 mitting himself to Dr Ogden he would prevent himself 
 from having a free hand to deal with the problem of 
 the mastership when it came up for solution. He con- 
 sequently played the waiting game, and, by persuading 
 Dr Newcome to announce his intention of continuing 
 to hold the professorship, must at least have succeeded 
 in diminishing the activity of the canvassing. It was 
 unlikely that many of the electors would commit them- 
 selves before it was absolutely necessary to do so; and 
 though Dr Law's chances of securing the professorship 
 were probably diminished by Newcome's resignation 
 being deferred, Newcastle could not afford to weaken 
 his position in the university and St John's in order to 
 gratify one man's ambition^. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35657, f. 213; Add. MS. 32963, f. 239, f. 328; 
 Add. MS. 35657, f. 212. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32963,^409. 
 
 ^ In a letter to the Bishop of Lincoln Newcastle asserted that he had 
 only advised the postponement of Newcome's resignation in order that 
 Law should have a better chance of securing the professorship: but it 
 is not easy to follow the reasoning. The main advantage arising from 
 the elections to the professorship and mastership taking place con- 
 currently was that a competitor for the mastership might be persuaded 
 to forego his claims by being allowed to obtain the professorship; 
 and as Dr Law was unlikely to be a candidate for the mastership, he 
 had nothing to gain and something to lose by the resignation being 
 delayed. Add. MS. 32964, f. 17.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 251 
 
 It was not however in Newcastle's power to pre- 
 scribe the duration of Dr Newcome's life : and early in 
 December it became perfectly clear that the old man's 
 death was near at hand. The Duke therefore concluded 
 that it was time to make preparations for securing a 
 suitable successor to Newcome in the mastership, and 
 though he was well aware that Professor Rutherforth 
 was a possible candidate and would expect his support^, 
 he informed Dr Powell on December 13th that the 
 Master of St John's was in a 'very declining way,' 
 advised him to proceed to Cambridge without delay, 
 and promised him the fullest measure of support : 
 
 'I think' he wrote 'no time should be lost in taking the 
 necessary measures to secure your interest. I am ready to do 
 whatever you yourself shall advise, for you cannot have your own 
 interest more at heart than I have^.' 
 
 Nor were these merely empty words. Powell had given 
 him a list of certain Fellows of St John's, which showed 
 that Mr Jenkin might be influenced by Lord Portmore, 
 Mr Metcalfe by Lord Milton, Mr Todington by the 
 Bishopof Ely, Mr Ashcroft by Mr Whichcot, Mr Loggan 
 by Mr Jennings of Barkway, and Mr Horseman by 
 the Duke of Grafton^; and furnished with these details 
 the Duke at once began to discuss plans of action. 
 
 ' Pray let me know to-morrow ' he wrote to Powell on 
 December 15th 'what your wishes are what I should do. In 
 the meanwhile you should apply to everybody yourself, and that 
 will help me in my applications. A letter from yourself to the 
 Duke of Grafton will have more effect than one from me: 
 
 ^ See his letter dated November 5th, 1764, and addressed tothe Bishop 
 of Lincoln. Add. MS. 32963, t. 255. - Add. MS. 32964, f 283. 
 
 ^ Jenkin had acted as private tutor to Lord Milsington, Lord 
 Portmore's eldest son; Metcalfe was vicar of Milton Abbas where 
 Lord Milton had his country seat; and Horseman was curateat Houghton 
 le Spring, of which the vicar was Richard Stonehewer whose son had 
 been the Duke of Grafton's private tutor and afterwards became his 
 secretary.
 
 252 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 however an application from me shall not be wanting. I will 
 answer for the Duke of Cumberland but I doubt whether he 
 will be able to prevail, as Lord Portmore has just entered his 
 son under Dr Brooke^.' 
 
 In thus deciding to support Dr Powell with the whole 
 weight of his influence, Newcastle was not acting on 
 a sudden resolution but embarking on a carefully 
 meditated plan of campaign. Nor moreover had he 
 omitted to take the claims of Rutherforth into careful 
 consideration. He was aware however that the Pro- 
 fessor was unable to count upon many votes among the 
 Fellows, that his chance of obtaining the mastership 
 was very slender, and that the probable result of sup- 
 porting him would be to give the victory to Dr Brooke. 
 Rutherforth was clearly not a candidate to run: but it 
 was not enough to refuse him support. He must be 
 prevented from standing in order that Powell's success 
 might be more certain; and, encouraged by the Bishop 
 of Lincoln expressing an opinion that Rutherforth did 
 not intend to be a candidate^ the Duke determined to 
 appeal to his supporter to sacrifice his ambition for the 
 sake of the cause. 
 
 'The very sincere regard and esteem which I have for you 
 and your merit' he wrote to Rutherforth on December 15th 
 'and the grateful sense I have of the many obligations which I 
 have received from you, make me take the liberty to trouble 
 you upon a subject which may probably soon come to be a great 
 object of our attention. I mean the securing a good Master of 
 St John's in case of a vacancy, the present Master, as I hear, 
 being in a very declining way. My great object, and I hope that 
 of all our friends, will be the preventing Dr Brooke from suc- 
 ceeding there, for which purpose my Lord Sandwich will exert 
 his utmost endeavour and make use of all his force; but if our 
 friends are so happy as to agree in the person, I hope they will 
 be able in all events to exclude Dr Brooke, provided the person 
 they are for be one who in all respects will fit that station with 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 301. 2 Add. MS. 32964, f. 295.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 253 
 
 ability, integrity, and a pure zeal for our cause. There are cer- 
 tainly those of that college who will answer that character in 
 every respect, and therefore the consideration is who is the most 
 likely to succeed. As Dr Powell has been so lately Tutor there, 
 and I believe has long had a view to the mastership, I doubt 
 not but he has kept up such connections with his pupils and 
 with the college as must give him a very fair chance of suc- 
 ceeding, provided we with all our force do assist him. If not, 
 I should fear Dr Brooke might carry it, and then the three 
 great colleges, St John's, Trinity and King's united, would 
 undoubtedly fling the university absolutely into Lord Sand- 
 wich's hands, which I am sure nobody is more zealous to 
 prevent than yourself. If for these considerations I should assist 
 Dr Powell with any little credit I may have with any of the 
 Fellows, I hope it would not be disagreeable to you^.' 
 
 It is never easy to ask a man to play the part of a 
 martyr, and it is not surprising that Newcastle found 
 some difficulty in composing this letter^. Yet he per- 
 formed a delicate task not ungracefully. Without 
 definitely asking Rutherforth not to stand for election, 
 he pointed out to him the path of duty: and if, as there 
 can be little doubt, he was correct in assuming that it 
 was not in Rutherforth's power to obtain the master- 
 ship, and that the utmost he could do would be to damage 
 Powell's prospects, the sacrifice demanded was not too 
 great. Everything had indeed been done to spare the 
 feelings of the Professor, to whom Powell had also 
 written, 'expressing' as he told Newcastle 'my respect 
 and my hopes of his support and countenance in my 
 view of the mastership if he has no thought of it for 
 himself^.' But the best laid plans often go sadly astray: 
 and Rutherforth was found to be unwillino- to immolate 
 himself on the altar of duty. In a cool note addressed 
 to the Duke he mentioned that his previous applica- 
 tions for the Chancellor's assistance had been left 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32964, f. 303. 2 j^^^_ MS. 32964, f. 301. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32964, f. 305.
 
 254 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 unnoticed, that 'these discouragements have prevented 
 me from endeavouring to keep up such an interest in 
 the college as I otherwise might have done'; but that, 
 having consulted his friends, he had been advised that 
 his rank in the university and seniority in the college 
 compelled him to stand for the mastership, and that 
 he hoped, 'however your Grace may be disposed to 
 favour Dr Powell in preference to me, you will not 
 blame me if I have such a regard for my own family 
 as to be a candidate^.' To Powell Rutherforth wrote in 
 a similar strain^, and the Duke saw himself threatened 
 by what he was most anxious to avoid, a contest between 
 two of his friends. 
 
 'The meaning of my letters to Powell and Rutherforth' he 
 declared 'was and is that the point to be agreed upon by common 
 friends... should be to see which of the two, Powell or Ruther- 
 forth, is the most likely to carry it, and in plainer words whether 
 Dr Rutherforth hath any chance at all to carry it. If that should 
 appear, I cannot think Dr Rutherforth will be so weak and so 
 unreasonable as to stand out, which must certainly bring in Dr 
 Brooke^.' 
 
 If Rutherforth, as he himself admitted, was able to 
 count upon very few votes among the Fellows, his con- 
 duct may appear selfish and unreasonable: but it was 
 not completely indefensible. He was doubtless very 
 much influenced by the achievement of Dr Newcome 
 who, after starting with only six certain votes among the 
 Fellows, had in the end been elected Master*; and 
 though Powell not unnaturally was emphatic in as- 
 serting that 'such a scheme can hardly take place twice 
 in a century^, ' Rutherforth may be excused for hoping 
 that history would repeat itself. Moreover, though he 
 might have only a scanty following among the Fellows 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 343. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32964, f. 320, 
 
 3 Ibid. 
 
 * Add. MS. 32964, f. 322 
 
 5 Ibid. 

 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 255 
 
 of the college, he was not without influential friends 
 in the great world, among whom were the three uncles 
 of the young Duke of Devonshire and Sir Anthony 
 Abdy who was a member of the whig opposition party 
 and an adherent of the Cavendishes^. It should further 
 be noted that both Lord Hardwicke and the Bishop of 
 Lincoln, who still retained considerable influence in 
 his old college, St John's, informed Powell that they 
 would assist him in his candidature if Rutherforth did 
 not stand^, thereby implying a preference for the com- 
 petitor whom the Duke was so anxious to discourage. 
 
 Newcastle was undoubtedly much chagrined by the 
 unfortunate course events had taken, and so was Powell 
 who not only feared that he might be deserted by many 
 of the Duke's friends^, but began to suspect the loyalty 
 of the Duke himself. It was in vain that Newcastle 
 assured him that he certainly would not 'disoblige you 
 and Mr Townshend* upon this occasion, whatever the 
 consequences may be^ ' : an unfortunate phrase in a letter 
 of the Duke, which might be interpreted as meaning 
 that he intended to be neutral between the two candi- 
 dates, and the fact that he had delayed fulfilling his 
 promise to write to certain of his friends on Powell's 
 behalf, suggested to the angry man that he was being 
 betrayed and forsaken. On the evening of Christmas 
 Day the Bishop of Norwich had an interview with 
 Powell and sought to dissipate his anger and alarm. 
 
 'I said what I could upon this occasion' wrote the Bishop to 
 Newcastle, 'particularly that you had not designed writing till 
 
 1 The Duke of Devonshire at this time was a boy of sixteen, having 
 succeeded his father in October 1764. For details about Sir Anthony 
 Abdy, whose sister was Rutherforth's wife, see Walpole's Memoirs of 
 the Reign of George III, i, 284; see also Add. MS. 32964, f. 311. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32964, f. 392. '-^ Add. MS. 32964, f. 365. 
 
 ^ For the connection between Powell and Charles Townshend, see 
 ch. II, pp. 71-72. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32964, f. 371.
 
 256 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 you should have heard from Dr Rutherforth: that you expected 
 Dr Rutherforth's letter would have been very different from 
 what it was, that you was certainly cautious of offending the 
 Cavenish (sic) family and Sir Anthony Abdy, that I myself, in 
 my letter of last night to your Grace, had quite slighted what 
 you said of a neutrality, having observed that it was not men- 
 tioned by your Grace with the force with which you expressed 
 your determination to oblige Mr Townshend and him^.' 
 
 The plea of the Bishop was apparently successful with 
 Powell who two days later wrote a letter of reconcilia- 
 tion to Newcastle^, but now the Duke in his turn dis- 
 played bad temper. 'I am weary' he told the Bishop 
 of Norwich 'of writing to Dr Powell since I find I am 
 not believed, as you must see by the forced unpolite 
 terms of his letter to me this day^'; and he was probably 
 not much comforted by being told by the Bishop of 
 Norwich that the benefactors of mankind were pro- 
 verbially the victims of gross ingratitude*. 
 
 But, despite these ebullitions of temper, it was really 
 out of the question for Newcastle and Powell to quarrel, 
 for each was essential to the other. Newcastle had no 
 intention of running any other candidate for the master- 
 ship, and Powell's position was not sufficiently secure 
 to enable him to be indifferent to the Duke's influence. 
 There was indeed no breach and Newcastle never con- 
 templated deserting his candidate. After mature con- 
 sideration he decided to leave Rutherforth's letter un- 
 answered^, and despatched notes to several friends, 
 asking them to support Powell with all the influence 
 they had^. In particular he urged the Bishop of Lincoln 
 to assist Powell, in order to avert the catastrophe of 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 392. 
 ^ Add. MS. 32964, f. 416; see also f. 418. 
 3 Add. MS. 32964, f. 438. 4 Add. MS. 32964, f. 457. 
 
 ^ He wrote a draft of a reply which was not sent; Add. MS. 32964, 
 f. 406, f. 438. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32964, f. 422, f. 424, f. 426.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 257 
 
 St John's falling into the hands of Lord Sandwich^; and 
 though the Bishop in reply only undertook not to assist 
 Rutherforth 2, Newcastle cannot be blamed for not 
 achieving more in this particular quarter. He was doing 
 his best and Powell had no valid ground of complaint. 
 
 Meanwhile Dr Newcome was rapidly dying, and 
 towards the end became a victim to insane delusions. 
 On January 8th, 1765, Talbot visited him and found 
 him better; but there was no hope of any substantial 
 improvement and the end was only a matter of days. 
 
 'He takes no food' reported Talbot 'but what is forced 
 down, thinking it in his present unhappy state of mind to be a 
 sin. He is very quiet at all times, save w^hen this force is used 
 upon him, and then he makes most piteous outcries: but when 
 it is over he seems to retain no resentment against his attendants 
 who are constrained to discharge this unpleasing office^.' 
 
 Two days later death put an end to his sufferings, and 
 the two great offices of Master of St John's and Lady 
 Margaret Professor were thrown into the market to be 
 scrambled for. But, as has been seen, the scramblers had 
 anticipated the signal : and by the date of Newcome's 
 death definite progress had been made. With regard to 
 the Lady Margaret Professorship it was clear that though 
 Dr Ogden still professed to be a candidate^, he was not 
 a serious one, and it was suspected that he was really 
 aiming at the mastership, and hoped that, by setting 
 up as a rival to Dr Law, he might induce Newcastle to 
 purchase his withdrawal by adopting him as Newcome's 
 successor in the mastership. 
 
 'I suspect' wrote the Master of Jesus on November 9th 
 'that he does not really aim at the professorship, but only, by 
 making himself of consequence on this occasion, to secure some 
 other point ^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 440. 2 Add. MS. 32964, 451. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32965, f. 115. 
 
 * On January loth, 1765, he asked Newcastle to support him. Add. 
 MS. 32965, f. 141. 5 Add. MS. 32963, f. 328. 
 
 w u c 17
 
 258 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 It was also clear that Dr Law was not likely to be suc- 
 cessful against Dr Brooke. His only hope of victory lay 
 in winning a good number of votes in Trinity, and in 
 the Johnian vote being divided between Brooke and 
 Ogden, but there was really very little prospect of 
 either of these things coming to pass. Though Law was 
 for a time optimistic about Trinity^, Dr Caryl, who was 
 a more impartial judge and an exceedingly careful cal- 
 culator 2, was far less sanguine^: and inasmuch as the 
 electors in St John's were waiting until the situation 
 with regard to the mastership was more certain before 
 declaring themselves with regard to the professorship, 
 it was impossible to forecast their action with any 
 certainty. There was no doubt however that they 
 desired to keep the professorship in the college, and 
 that therefore there was little chance that they would 
 play into Dr Law's hands by dividing their votes be- 
 tween two Johnian candidates. 
 
 'In respect to the Margaret professorship' wrote Talbot on 
 December 23rd 'the difficulty of pronouncing anything certain 
 is increased by the reserve in which the people of St John's 
 (who make a third part of the electors) hold themselves. As the 
 mastership and professorship are now likely to become vacant 
 at the same time, their policy may not improbably be in the 
 upshot to compromise their own differences by giving the 
 mastership to one of their candidates and the professorship, if 
 it can be managed, to the other*.' 
 
 Law indeed had been playing an uphill game from 
 the start, and a few days after Newcome's death Dr Caryl 
 reported that Law and his friends 'are now convinced 
 that it has been all along impracticable to effect such 
 a division of St John's college as should make Dr Law's 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32964, f. 81; Add. MS. 32965, f. rry. 
 - In a letter to Newcastle, Powell refers to Caryl's 'reckoning which 
 is always exact.' Add. MS. 32965, f. 266. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32963, f. 328. 4 Add. MS. 32964, f. 374.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 259 
 
 election sure^. ' If however Lord Sandwich's candidate 
 was the favourite for the professorship, it was all the 
 more important for Newcastle to make certain of the 
 mastership for Powell, and the outlook in this direction 
 was certainly promising. As the electors numbered 
 forty-five^, the successful candidate for the mastership 
 must receive at least twenty-three votes; and as by the 
 end of the year 1764 Powell believed that he could 
 count with certainty upon twenty-one votes^, he was not 
 far off the necessary minimum^. Indeed Dr Brooke, 
 though supported by all the influence that Sandwich 
 could command, was proving a far less eligible candi- 
 date for the mastership than for the professorship; and 
 though it is an adversary who says ' his character is such 
 that his promotion to the mastership... can portend 
 nothing but ruin to the college,' there is some reason 
 to think that such an opinion was fairly common, and 
 that Brooke was very unpopular*. Yet it was impossible 
 to predict the result until the actual candidates were 
 known. It was for instance by no means certain that, 
 when it came to the point, Dr Rutherforth would 
 stand^: for he stood no chance in a straight fight, and 
 his only hope was that by intervening he might prevent 
 any of the candidates obtaining a sufficient number of 
 votes and thereby procure a lapse to the seniors. It was 
 also believed In certain quarters that Dr Ogden would 
 come forward as a candidate^, and though It was scorn- 
 fully remarked that on the first scrutiny he would only 
 receive his own vote'^, any addition to the number of the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32965, f. 197. '^ Add. MS. 32961, f. 220. 
 
 ^ Writing on December 30th Powell asserted that he was sure of 
 twenty votes, and on the day following reported that Mr Todingtou 
 had just promised him his vote. Add. MS. 32964, f. 459, f. 469. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 32964, f. 374. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32964, f. 392; Add. MS. 32965, f. 205. 
 
 6 Add. MS. 32963,^255. 
 
 ' Add. MS. 32965, f. 205, f. 215. 
 
 172
 
 26o THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 competitors was a fresh complication and increased the 
 uncertainty of the issue. Dr Alvis, who had recently- 
 been a senior Fellow, was also named as a possible 
 candidate, but the constantly changing character of the 
 situation is best illustrated by an important alteration 
 in the plans of the Sandwich party. It was soon clear 
 that Brooke was not proving himself a good candidate 
 for the mastership, and therefore it was agreed about 
 the end of the year 1764 that, while continuing to 
 stand for the professorship, he should resign his candi- 
 dature for the mastership in favour of his assistant 
 Tutor, Thomas Frampton. The change was for the 
 better from the point of view of those who were en- 
 deavouring to overthrow the Newcastle interest; for 
 though Frampton was described as 'given to pleasure 
 and of little application,' he was believed to be a person 
 of some ability, and was certainly far more popular in 
 the college than Brooke^. 
 
 The multiplication of possible candidates materially 
 added to the difficulties of Newcastle's task. He had 
 made up his mind to support Powell and was therefore 
 most anxious that others, with equal and possibly greater 
 claims upon his support, should not aspire to the master- 
 ship. It was awkward for him to withhold his favour 
 from Dr Ogden who had loyally supported him through- 
 out the High Stewardship dispute: and he was much 
 annoyed by receiving on January iith a letter from 
 John Skynner, announcing his intention of standing for 
 the mastership. 'I flatter myself wrote Skynner 'that 
 I may still rely on your Grace's kind disposition to me, 
 and that you will not prefer the interest of any of the 
 candidates in prejudice to mine^. ' 
 
 Skynner was a Fellow of the college and a person 
 of some distinction in the university, having only 
 recently resigned the office of Public Ora.or which he 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32965, f. 115. 2 Add. MS. 32965, f. 147.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 261 
 
 had held for ten years. Powell made light of the danger 
 of his competition^; but Skynner himself believed that 
 he could muster sufficient strength in the college to 
 bring about a lapse to the senior Fellows upon whom 
 he pinned his hopes^. If this belief was well founded 
 he could successfully wreck Newcastle's scheme: and, 
 even if the venture proved unsuccessful, it inevitably 
 placed the Duke in a delicate situation. When in 1761 
 Dr Newcome was thought to be dangerously ill, New- 
 castle had encouraged Skynner to think of the master- 
 ship, and had apparently even gone so far as to discuss 
 with him a plan of procedure. Therefore, when in reply 
 to Skynner's announcement, the Duke declared his 
 intention of warmly supporting Powell^, he laid himself 
 open to a cutting rejoinder. 
 
 'But when it was settled from the beginning' replied Skynner 
 'that I should procure such a number of votes only as would 
 hinder any other candidate from a majority,... when the plan 
 was approved by your Grace and you was so kind as to omit no 
 opportunity of enquiring about the mastership whenever I had 
 the honour of waiting upon you, I adhered to the resolution 
 approved, not to stir till the Master's life became in extreme 
 danger*.' 
 
 Skynner indeed felt that he had a substantial grievance: 
 and though Newcastle rightly pointed out that 'the 
 state of the college and the candidates is much altered 
 since that time*^, ' it was impossible for him completely 
 to gloss over the fact that he had discarded the candidate 
 whom he had formerly encouraged. 
 
 Such was the situation when the death of Dr New- 
 come on January loth, 1765, came as a call to arms. The 
 election of a new Lady Margaret Professor was fixed 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32965, f. 135. 
 
 '^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 207; see also f. 159. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 167. 4 ^^'^^^_ -^f^_ 32965, f. 207. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 167.
 
 262 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 for Saturday January 19th, and of a new Master for 
 Friday January 25th. Dr Law did not seem at all 
 likely to get the professorship, and though Powell was 
 almost certain to obtain more votes for the mastership 
 than any of the other candidates, it was quite possible 
 that he might fail to secure the necessary minimum, 
 and that therefore the duty of appointing Dr Newcome's 
 successor might devolve upon the seniors. The outlook 
 was not free from anxiety, and that Newcastle was 
 conscious of the need of exploring every avenue of 
 assistance is shown by his letter to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury on January i8th. 
 
 'The most likely to carry it on our side' he wrote 'is Dr 
 Powell, a very zealous friend and in every respect a most de- 
 serving unexceptionable man, w^as long and lately the first Tutor 
 in the college, and has now a very good temporal estate of his 
 own. I hope he will carry it, but the statutes of that college make 
 it necessary for him to have a majority of the whole number of 
 the Fellows or else there is a devolution, first to the senior 
 Fellows, and afterwards to the visitor, the Bishop of Ely. But 
 the seniors will scarce let it come there. I hear the bishops dine 
 at Lambeth this day, and I wish your Grace would talk to the 
 Bishop of Lincoln about it. Dr Murray, who was at Hamburgh, 
 has a curate, one Mr Plucknett^ who is a Fellow and has con- 
 sequently a vote. I applied to Princess Amelia who had some 
 knowledge of Dr Murray: Her Royal Highness told me she 
 had not been able to serve Dr Murray and therefore had no 
 pretence to ask a favour of him; but that your Grace had been so 
 good as to take this Dr Murray (who is a very deserving man) 
 under your protection, and that Her Royal Highness fancied 
 your Grace would have more influence over him than anybody. 
 If your Grace should think proper so far to interfere as to direct 
 your chaplain to write to Dr Murray to influence his curate to 
 vote for Dr Powell to be Master of St John's upon the present 
 vacancy, I should be very much obliged to you. But if your 
 
 ^ William Plucknett was licensed to the curacy of Gainsborough in 
 1762. Dr Murray (or Murrey) was Vicar of Gainsborough from 1761 
 until his death in 1778.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 263 
 
 Grace thinks such an appHcation would be improper, or has the 
 least objection to it, I beg you would forgive the liberty I have 
 taken in troubling you upon it^.' 
 
 Dr Powell was also anxious and took a momentous 
 decision on the same day that Newcastle wrote to the 
 Archbishop. It had always been foreseen that the 
 Fellows of St John's, in order to avert a contested 
 election, might come to a friendly arrangement and 
 agree upon a Professor and a Master: and in December 
 1764 a friend of Lord Sandwich had told Powell that 
 his candidature for the mastership would not be op- 
 posed if he would undertake to support Dr Brooke for 
 the professorship^. It would undoubtedly have been 
 dishonourable of Powell to have promptly closed with 
 this offer : for as an adherent of the Duke it was in- 
 cumbent upon him to do his utmost to secure the 
 professorship for Dr Law as well as the mastership 
 for himself: but if, as the situation developed, it became 
 clear that Law was not going to be elected Professor 
 and that Powell was not certain of being elected Master, 
 wisdom would dictate acceptance of the compromise 
 offered by the Sandwich party. Therefore when a week 
 before the election of a new Master, and a day before 
 the election of a new Professor, Powell discovered that 
 there was a certain majority against Law and not a 
 certain majority for himself, he decided to compromise, 
 and on January i8th there was peace in St John's. On 
 that day it was arranged between Frampton and Powell 
 that the former would not stand for the mastership and 
 that the latter would support Dr Brooke for the professor- 
 ship'^: and on the following day Brooke was elected 
 Lady Margaret Professor, prevailing over Law by a 
 dozen votes. As the withdrawal of Frampton, and the 
 support of the Sandwich interest in the college, made 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32965, f. 242. 2 ;^dj_ ]vfg_ 32964, f. 380. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 244, f. 250, f. 252.
 
 264 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 Powell certain of securing the necessary minimum 
 number of votes for the mastership, there was no point 
 in any other candidate standing, and on January 25th, 
 1765, he was unanimously elected Master^. 
 
 'The Lady Margaret, my Lord,' wrote Dr Ogden 
 to the Duke on January i8th, 'as I apprehend, has 
 made the Master^'; and Dr Ogden apprehended rightly. 
 It is of course impossible to dogmatise upon what might 
 have happened if there had been no compromise, but 
 there is no reason to think that Powell was guilty of 
 over-caution. 
 
 'I made no agreement' he told Newcastle on January 20th 
 'with Dr Brooke and Mr Frampton till Dr Caryl's reckoning, 
 which is always exact, shewed me that the friends, who at my 
 request were willing to remain neuter but not to vote against 
 the interest of the college, were not able to turn the election in 
 favour of Dr Law, nor would I have agreed even then if either 
 Dr Rutherforth had declined or Dr Ogden engaged to vote for 
 me. But without one or other of these things I could not be 
 secure^.' 
 
 Indeed the reproach of excess of caution can be levied 
 more fittingly against Lord Sandwich and his advisers. 
 It is possible that their intelligence department was 
 inadequate, and that they failed to appreciate that 
 Dr Brooke was safe for the professorship: for they 
 certainly made a bad bargain and trumped their best 
 card. 
 
 Newcastle however was disappointed, and, as was 
 characteristic of him in moments of adversity, he was 
 lavish in distributing blame. 
 
 'My friends at Cambridge' he wrote to Dr Caryl on January 
 1 6th 'are not so good managers of elections as I was formerly: 
 and perhaps should still be if I knew as well how to go about 
 getting an university (in which I have much miscarried) as in 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 292. Two days before his election he received 
 'a letter of compliments from Lord Sandwich.' 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32965, f. 246. 3 Add. MS. 32965, f. 266.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 265 
 
 carrying a county. My first rule always was to think of the 
 person that could carry it: that never comes into your thoughts 
 (that is the thoughts of my friends at Cambridge). You only are 
 afraid of disobliging everybody, and by that means will evidently 
 let in the enemy. Had I had the sole management of these two 
 elections, viz. the Margaret Professor and the Master of St 
 John's, I would have forfeited anything if either Dr Brooke 
 had been Professor, or Frampton, or any of his degree. Master 1.' 
 
 The Duke however exaggerated his own capacity and 
 under-estimated the difficulties of the situation. 
 
 'It is now plain to everyone' replied Dr Caryl 'that, had we 
 resolved upon carrying our point, we had no way for it but to 
 have taken a candidate out of St John's: and I make no question 
 but that many of us have seen it long: but as Dr Law had set 
 his heart upon it ever since he returned to Cambridge and has 
 been so firm to us.^ it was too delicate a point to confer upon, 
 even among ourselves; and unless he could himself have seen 
 the desperateness of his own case (which he hardly did at the 
 last) and have given up in time, we could not act otherwise 
 than we have done^.' 
 
 Dr Law's persistence had indeed been the great diffi- 
 culty. He had set his heart upon the professorship and 
 had not sufficient detachment to realise that he could 
 not be successful. He was not the candidate that New- 
 castle would have chosen, but he was too faithful an 
 adherent to be thrown over. 
 
 The history of this double contest amply illustrates 
 both the necessity which compelled the Duke to inter- 
 vene in college politics and the difficulties he found in 
 doing so. Unless he was prepared to sacrifice what 
 influence and prestige remained to him in the univer- 
 sity, he could not allow Lord Sandwich to appoint the 
 Master of St John's, but all through the struggle he 
 knew that he was treading on dangerous ground, and 
 that by insisting overmuch on his own wishes he might 
 easily alienate his friends and swell the number of his 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 227. ^ Add. MS. 32965, f. 268.
 
 266 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 enemies. Possibly, when all was over and the bitterness 
 of the struggle had been dimmed by time, he was able 
 to see that he had at least attained his main objective, 
 and that the mastership of St John's had been cheaply 
 purchased by a divinity professorship; but he was not 
 always so fortunate. There were occasions when he 
 intervened in the domestic affairs of a college and did 
 not even score a modified success : and, if at the close 
 of his life he ever indulged in retrospection, it is 
 probable that his two bitterest university memories 
 were the election of Sir James Marriott as Master of 
 Trinity Hall and the election of Dr Goddard as Master 
 of Clare. 
 
 The election of Marriott as Master of Trinity Hall 
 in 1764 was the culminating incident of a long story 
 which cannot be understood without a knowledge of 
 the constitution of the society with which it is con- 
 cerned. In many ways Trinity Hall was unique among 
 the Cambridge colleges. Of its twelve Fellows not more 
 than two were usually in holy orders : and upon these 
 two exclusively devolved the duties of maintaining 
 discipline and education in the college. 
 
 'These men' wrote Gunning 'reside during the greater part 
 of the year: they alone give lectures, they alone keep up the 
 discipline of the college, and attend to the moral conduct of 
 those in statu pupillari. The rest of the Fellows are laymen, 
 generally lawyers, frequently members of parliament; they only 
 reside during the twelve days of Christmas, the mornings of 
 which they pass in auditing their accounts, and their evenings 
 are devoted to the most splendid hospitality very generally ex- 
 tended^.' 
 
 The Master was quite as much an absentee as the 
 majority of his Fellows: and although such a practice 
 would find little favour at the present time, it was in 
 accordance with the traditions of the college and the 
 
 Gunning's Reminiscences, 11, 28.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 267 
 
 wishes of the Founder. Trinity Hall had been estab- 
 lished as a 'perpetual college of scholars in the canon 
 and civil law'; and it is therefore not surprising that 
 the Master and Fellows of a college, devoted to one 
 branch of knowledge, practised and presided in the 
 various ecclesiastical courts, and were more commonly 
 to be found at Doctors Commons than in Cambridge. 
 But the inevitable consequence of this system was that 
 the ordinary Fellow of Trinity Hall in the eighteenth 
 century was far less 'donnish' and far more a man of 
 the world than the Fellows of other colleges. Cambridge 
 was not his home and academic interests did not pre- 
 occupy him. He knew the world, was conversant with 
 affairs, and mixed on terms of equality with the great. 
 A contemporary described the society as ' being always 
 composed of people of the best families and fortunes^' : 
 and although, as the contemporary was a Trinity Hall 
 man, this may be an exaggeration, it was not ludicrously 
 untrue as it would have been if said of any other college. 
 As the Fellows were men of some importance in the 
 world, and financially independent of what they drew 
 from the college, they were apt to hold themselves in 
 high esteem and to regard the Master as an equal and 
 even as an inferior. 
 
 'In this college' wrote Marriott to the Duke in 1764 'the 
 Riaster divides only as a thirteenth man, with small profits of 
 absentees at Christmas, so that this Mastership or almost Fellow- 
 ship is not better than that of one of our chaplains. He has not 
 a vote at any election of a Fellow or Scholar, and it is a mere 
 complaisance that he is permitted to name college servants^.' 
 
 Yet the Master was not quite so powerless as this state- 
 ment might seem to suggest. It is true that he had no 
 vote in an election to a Fellowship, but no candidate 
 could be elected unless a majority of the existing 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32867, f. 417; see also Add. MS. 32871, f. r6i. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32955, f. 134.
 
 268 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 Fellows voted for him, and in the event of all the candi- 
 dates failing to obtain the requisite number of votes, 
 the Master had the right of nominating whom he 
 pleased to the vacant Fellowship^. If therefore the 
 Master was a skilful politician it was within his power 
 considerably to influence the composition of the society 
 over which he presided; for, either by multiplying the 
 number of candidates, or by persuading a few of the 
 electors to observe a neutrality, he might render an 
 election impossible and secure the exercise of his right 
 of nomination. It is true that the Fellows regarded this 
 privilege of the Master with considerable resentment, 
 and in theory at least it was always possible for them 
 to prevent him from exercising it^; but he was one and 
 they were many, and by playing upon the jealousies of 
 some and the indifference of others it was sometimes 
 possible for him to combine the substance with the 
 dignity of power. 
 
 When Newcastle became Chancellor the Master of 
 Trinity Hall was Dr Edward Simpson who was already 
 embarked upon a highly successful career in the ec- 
 clesiastical courts, having recently become Judge of the 
 Consistory Court of London. His ambition lay outside 
 Cambridge, and, anxious to advance in his profession, 
 he wisely sought to obtain the protection of a powerful 
 patron; for without some such support progress in the 
 eighteenth century was apt to be tardy and uncertain. 
 The patron he selected was Sir George Lee who, after 
 being educated at Christ Church, Oxford, had been 
 admitted an advocate at Doctors Commons, and quickly 
 rose to great eminence, being appointed in 1751 Dean 
 of Arches and Judge of the Prerogative Court of 
 Canterbury^. The friendship of such a man was likely 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32870, f. 186; Add. MS. 32871, f. 161. 
 
 2 Add. A4S. 32870, f. 186. 
 
 ^ Lee was not knighted until 1752.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 269 
 
 to prove of the greatest assistance to Simpson, especially 
 as Lee was a person of some distinction in the political 
 world. He had sat in parliament for several years and 
 was an important member of the opposition party which, 
 under the nominal leadership of Frederick, Prince of 
 Wales, was engaged in relentless war against New- 
 castle and the government. The Leicester house party, 
 as it was styled, continued in existence after the Prince 
 of Wales' death, and the politics of Dr Simpson naturally 
 took the same hue as those of his patron. 
 
 Newcastle could therefore at the outset of his career 
 as Chancellor expect little support from the Master of 
 Trinity Hall, and he was not much more fortunately 
 situated with regard to the Fellows. It was remarked 
 in 1750 that one of the most influential of the Fellows 
 was Matthew Robinson who played a very leading part 
 in the opposition to Newcastle's project of university 
 reform, and in the June of that year Matthew Robinson 
 still further increased his influence in the college by 
 securing the election of his brother, John, to a vacant 
 Fellowship. 
 
 'I am afraid' wrote Lord Dupplin on June 9th, 1750, 
 'Robinson will carry his point at Trinity Hall and bring in his 
 brother to supply a vacancy which has lately happened. When 
 the society is full there are twelve Fellows. The vacancy reduces 
 the number to eleven. Professor Dickins never comes to college. 
 Of the ten Robinson has five secure All measures that could be 
 thought of have been taken to keep away Mr Mills of Canter- 
 bury. If he does not go there cannot be an election in favour of 
 Robinson, for six must concur: otherwise the election devolves 
 to the Master. Dr Monson, Pinfold and Salusbury (and Dale 
 if he goes down) oppose Robinson strenuously. They have been 
 for long inactive and have suffered him to get too much ground^.' 
 
 Lord Dupplin's fears were justified. Either Mr Milles 
 of Canterbury put in an appearance, or, which is more 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32721, f. 91.
 
 270 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 likely, one if not more of the Fellows opposed to 
 Robinson preferred in the end to vote for his candidate 
 rather than allow the Master to exercise his right of 
 nomination; for John Robinson was duly elected and 
 admitted a Fellow. 
 
 It is clear that whichever party prevailed in Trinity 
 Hall Newcastle would not profit, for he could expect 
 no assistance either from the Master or Matthew 
 Robinson. In 1751 the Master's nephew, Francis 
 Simpson, was elected to the Fellowship vacated by 
 Salusbury: and, although we know no more than the 
 bare fact, it is possible that the Fellows were of the 
 opinion that Francis Simpson would be less amenable 
 to his uncle's influence if he owed his Fellowship to 
 their votes and not to his kinsman's nomination. Two 
 years later however the Master was able to nominate 
 to a vacant Fellowship, Peter Calvert, who had been 
 recommended to him by Sir George Lee, and who had 
 failed to secure the necessary minimum of votes among 
 the Fellows; but, as a few months earlier in the same 
 year, he had equally nominated to a Fellowship, George 
 Carr, who had been an undergraduate at Jesus and was 
 specially recomm^ended for a Fellowship at Trinity Hall 
 by Newcastle's friends, Dr Keene and Dr Caryl, 'as 
 a proper person to manage and cultivate the whig 
 interest in that society^,' it might be thought that the 
 Master was exercising his power with becoming im- 
 partiality. But appearances were deceptive. Carr, who 
 was in holy orders, was nominated to one of the two 
 tutorial Fellowships which could only be held by priests, 
 and it may be surmised that, as a lawyer was out of the 
 question, neither the Master nor Sir George Lee would 
 take much interest in the appointment, that the Fellows 
 would be equally indifferent, and that it would be com- 
 paratively easy for Dr Keene and Dr Caryl to utilise 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32870, f. 123; see also Add. MS. 32866, f. 274.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 271 
 
 such a favourable opportunity of introducing a friend 
 into Trinity Hall. 
 
 There were however only two such Fellowships, and 
 if they were to be the only means by which Newcastle 
 could influence the composition of the society, there 
 was nothing for him but to abandon hope. Had it not 
 been for the Master's nomination of Calvert the Duke 
 might have acquiesced in his own exclusion, for he had 
 a keener appreciation of the limitations of his power 
 with regard to the colleges than with regard to the 
 university; but the situation took on a different com- 
 plexion when it became notorious that the Master was 
 the obedient follower of Sir George Lee, and could be 
 counted upon to exercise his privilege of nomination 
 in accordance with Lee's recommendations. The Duke 
 was always particularly fearful of any rival banner being 
 planted in the university, but when that rival banner 
 was that of an Oxford man and an avowed political 
 opponent, the situation was desperate. It was essential 
 that there should be a trial of strength, but it may well 
 be that Newcastle would never have ventured upon such 
 a dangerous undertaking if it had not been for the 
 promptings of his friend and follower, James Marriott. 
 
 James Marriott, the son of a London attorney, had 
 been admitted as a pensioner at Trinity Hall in 1746, 
 and in 1751 had graduated as a bachelor of laws. After 
 taking his degree he continued to reside in college^, 
 and, as he was contemplating a career in the church, 
 he wisely sought to ingratiate himself with Newcastle. 
 This venture was attended with signal success, for the 
 Duke seems to have employed him in arranging his 
 library, and on a later occasion Marriott was able to 
 boast that he had 'been almost a domestic in your 
 Grace's house^. ' It was therefore only right and proper 
 that when the Chancellor visited Cambridge in April 
 1 Add. MS. 32863, f. 298. 2 /^y^_
 
 272 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 1755, to lay the foundation stone of the new Hbrary 
 buildings, Marriott should present him with two poems 
 in honour of the occasion; and he seems to have seized 
 every possible opportunity of advertismg the fact that 
 he was under the special protection of the Duke. 
 Doubtless Newcastle's patronage would have been of 
 invaluable assistance to him if he had adhered to his 
 original intention, but about the end of the year 1755 
 he abandoned his design of taking holy orders and 
 determined to embark upon the profession of the civil 
 law^. He was well fitted by his training and education 
 for such a career, and could confidently count upon a 
 certain amount of family influence-. 
 
 This change of plan led him naturally enough to 
 think of a Fellowship of Trinity Hall as a desirable 
 acquisition, and he made up his mind to stand as a 
 candidate at the next vacancy. But much to his disgust 
 he discovered that he could expect no support from the 
 Master who was under a promise to favour the claims 
 of a certain Mr Andrews, a candidate recommended 
 by Sir George Lee. He therefore turned to his patron 
 for assistance. 
 
 'Being obliged for family reasons' he wrote to the Duke in 
 November 1755 'to quit my design of going into orders, and 
 having acquainted the gentlemen of Trinity Hall with my 
 intention of offering myself a candidate for the next vacant 
 Fellowship, the Master, Dr Simpson, does not give me so much 
 encouragement as I hoped. Sir George Lee being desirous, I 
 find, of recommending a gentleman who is greatly my junior, 
 not having yet taken any degree, myself being of a doctor of 
 laws' standing the next Commencement, and having had more 
 than one junior put over my head already. I take the liberty 
 therefore of desiring your Grace's favour to countenance me 
 in this affair, and shall always esteem myself very happy to be 
 honoured with the continuance of your Grace's patronage^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32860, f. 465. 2 Ajd_ ]VIS. 32865, f. 368. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 3286c, f. 465.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 273 
 
 As there was no immediate prospect of a Fellowship 
 falling vacant, it was not necessary for the Duke to do 
 more than give words of kindly encouragement; but 
 when in January 1756 Marriott wrote to say that 
 Dr Pinfold was about to be appointed Governor of 
 Barbadoes, and would almost certainly 'resign so small 
 a thing as a Fellowship of Trinity Hall^,' the Duke 
 perceived that it was necessary to take some sort of 
 action. What Marriott asked him to do was to re- 
 quest Dr Pinfold 'to make a circulation immediately 
 in my favour^.'; but as this was a direct invitation 
 for him to intervene in the domestic affairs of the col- 
 lege, he might reasonably hesitate before risking such 
 a hazardous adventure. He seems to have sent for 
 Marriott and to have wisely advised him to approach 
 the Master once more: but, though the counsel was 
 prudent, when it was put into practice it only more 
 fully revealed that Dr Simpson had completely sold him- 
 self to Sir George Lee. 
 
 'Since I had the honour of seeing your Grace' wrote Marriott 
 on January 28th, 1756, 'and in consequence of what you 
 pleased to say to me, I waited upon Dr Simpson who told me 
 that he would not interfere in any election at Trinity Hall, and 
 on my reminding him that the elections had of late devolved 
 into his power solely and were likely to do so again, he answered 
 that in such case he should be for Sir George Lee's man^.' 
 
 What Marriott feared, and not unreasonably feared, 
 was that the Master, despite his assertions, would inter- 
 fere and scheme to secure the nomination to Pinfold's 
 Fellowship when it was vacated. What Newcastle feared, 
 and also not unreasonably, was that an influential 
 Cambridge college would pass entirely under the in- 
 fluence of a political antagonist, and it is therefore 
 extremely likely that when in March 1756 Marriott 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32862, f. 151. ^ Ibid. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32862, f. 269.
 
 274 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 reported that Dr Keene, Bishop of Chester, had 
 voluntarily offered to assist him and wanted Newcastle's 
 permission to engage upon a canvass^, leave was not 
 refused. Too much was at stake for considerations of 
 prudence to be overweighted, and Marriott, if elected 
 to a Fellowship, could render invaluable service to the 
 Duke who was without a friend among the Fellows of 
 the college, and sorely needed one. 
 
 Yet when in June 1756 Dr Pinfold's Fellowship was 
 declared vacant, it was obvious that Marriott was going 
 to have a very uphill fight. Of the eleven electors three 
 would certainly not come up to Cambridge to vote: and 
 it was therefore necessary for Marriott to secure six votes 
 out of the remaining eight. If he failed in this task the 
 Master would nominate his own candidate to the Fellow- 
 ship, and he had already announced his intention of 
 obeying Sir George Lee and appointing Andrews. The 
 dice were certainly loaded against Marriott. From the 
 outset he had the support of Professor Monson who 
 was one of the electors and greatly respected in the 
 society^, and it was a foregone conclusion that the 
 Bishop of Chester would be able to engage Carr's vote^ : 
 but neither Thomas Ansell* nor Matthew Robinson 
 had any reason to be prejudiced in favour of an adherent 
 of Newcastle, and it seemed unlikely that William 
 Wynne, who had been elected to a Fellowship in 1755, 
 would take the trouble of making a journey from Wales, 
 where he was living, in order to vote for Marriott. 
 Moreover there was nothing to be expected from 
 Francis Simpson, who was inclined to follow his uncle, 
 or from Peter Calvert, who owed his Fellowship to the 
 Master's nomination, and who, when indirectly ap- 
 proached by Newcastle, announced through his father 
 that he was 'under great obligations to Sir George Lee 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32863, f. 298. 2 /^/^_ 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32865, f". 368. 4 Seech, iii, pp. 211-216.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 275 
 
 as well as to Dr Simpson, and cannot well refuse to act 
 in concert with them at the next election^.' 
 
 Nevertheless Marriott secured the necessary six votes 
 and was duly elected into the Fellowship recently held 
 by Pinfold. But he certainly did not owe his success to 
 the labours of Newcastle and Dr Keene : for neither the 
 Duke nor the Bishop were able to exercise any ap- 
 preciable influence in Trinity Hall, and their sole con- 
 tribution seems to have been Carr's vote. Marriott's 
 victory was indeed mainly due to the mistakes made 
 by his adversary, the Master, and to his own efforts. 
 Dr Simpson was guilty of faulty strategy in making it 
 too evident that he was working to obtain the nomina- 
 tion to the Fellowship. It was a point of honour with 
 the Fellows to prevent the Master from exercising this 
 privilege: and when it became clear that, unless they 
 supported Marriott, there could be no election, Ansell 
 and Matthew Robinson decided to swallow their pre- 
 judices and to vote for the Duke's candidate. Possibly 
 moved by the same consideration, Wynne also decided 
 to take a journey of two hundred miles and give his 
 vote for Marriott, and thus, with Monson and Carr, 
 Marriott was certain of five votes out of a possible 
 eight. He needed one more vote however to defeat 
 the Master's design; and of the three remaining electors, 
 Calvert and probably Francis Simpson were pledged to 
 support the Master. Only Dr Ridlington was left^: 
 and as he had only recently come to an agreement 
 with the Master and definitely refused to vote for 
 Marriott, it looked for a time as if victory was to be 
 missed by the closest of all possible margins. At 
 the last moment, however, Ridlington was 'brought 
 over by the rest through an expedient^'; and on 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32866, f. 168. 
 
 - The three absent Fellows were Milles, Dale, and John Robinson. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32870, f. 186.
 
 276 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 July 2 1st, 1756, Marriott was elected into a Fellow- 
 ship^. 
 
 It is obvious that his success was mainly due to the 
 fact that there was no other candidate but Andrews 
 whom nobody except the Master and Sir George Lee 
 wanted, and that he owed little or nothing to the 
 support he received from the Chancellor and his friends 
 in the university. Marriott indeed was careful to point 
 out to the Duke that the victory had been so un- 
 expected, and achieved with so much difficulty, that it 
 would be absurd to assume that the final battle had been 
 fought and the Master's wiles defeated for ever. Indeed 
 he inclined to the opinion that 
 
 Sir George Lee cannot easily be prevented, though an Oxford 
 man, from having a society in the university of Cambridge... 
 entirely at his disposal, and that this must be the consequence 
 of those strange connections of the Master^. 
 
 Newcastle however, believing that what had once been 
 done could be repeated, and perceiving the importance 
 of having for the first time a trusted friend among the 
 Fellows of Trinity Hall, determined upon active steps 
 for the eradication of Sir George Lee's influence. He 
 instructed Marriott to confer with certain of his sup- 
 porters upon 'the state of afi-airs at Trinity HalP,' and 
 Marriott obeyed his patron's command. 
 
 'Agreeably to your Grace's desire' he wrote on October 
 28th, 1756, 'on my being down at Wimbledon with my good 
 friend, the Bishop of Chester, I had a conference with him on 
 the subject of Sir George Lee's interest at Trinity Hall and the 
 late conduct of the Master. I have made his Lordship perfectly 
 sensible of the difficulties which will arise in my endeavouring 
 to prevent the influence which a person, who is at the head of 
 
 1 For details, see Add. MS. 32865, f. 368; Add. MS. 32866, 
 f. 168; Add. MS. 32867, f. 417; Add. MS. 32868, f. 466; Add. MS. 
 32870, f. 186. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32867, f. 417. 3 Ibid.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 277 
 
 the civil law and pays great respect to all the members of that 
 profession, must naturally have in such a society as ours. However, 
 as there is reason to hope that I may possibly take the lead at the 
 next election, and that the flying party, as they did lately, will 
 range themselves with me, I have desired the Bishop and Dr 
 Squire to take some measures, as far as they can, and when I go 
 down to Cambridge at Christmas will neglect nothing myself 
 that may be for your Grace's service. But in the meantime I 
 must beg your Grace not to take any notice of what I have 
 informed you, either to the Master, Dr Simpson, or to any other 
 Cambridge people, for fear of the alarm being given and the 
 Master's putting it into Sir George Lee's power to secure his 
 interests betimes^.' 
 
 We do not know what subterraneous intrigues 
 Marriott carried on during the Christmas vacation : but 
 when about the middle of February 1757 Dr Monson, 
 a Fellow of the college and Regius Professor of Civil 
 Law, was reported to be at the point of death, Marriott 
 at once entered into close communication with the Duke. 
 He was aware that in the event of Monson's death the 
 Master would endeavour to redeem his pledge to Sir 
 George Lee by nominating Andrews to a Fellowship: 
 and, if this end was successfully attained, another Fellow 
 would owe his place entirely to Lee's recommendation. 
 To avert such a catastrophe Marriott strongly urged 
 upon the Duke the claims of a certain Mr Crespigny, 
 and was able to advance weighty arguments. He 
 pointed out that he confidently hoped to persuade 
 Ansell and Matthew Robinson to vote for Crespigny, 
 that Dr Ridlington would probably vote the same way 
 as Robinson, that the Master's nephew had engaged 
 himself to support Crespigny, and that if 
 
 any one person more, either Carr, Wynne, or Calvert can be 
 managed by any friends of your Grace or Mr Crespigny to 
 vote the same way, then my voice will make the majority to 
 throw out Sir George Lee's man this time, who, if he comes in 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32868, f. 466.
 
 278 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 the next, must come in then by the immediate interest of your 
 Grace and by no other ^, 
 
 It was clearly reasonable for Newcastle to support 
 Crespigny if he was likely to be successful : and, if Carr's 
 vote would ensure his election, the Duke was asked to 
 perform an easy task. No sensible man is reluctant to 
 back a winning horse, and, Monson having died in the 
 interval, Crespigny was elected to a Fellowship on 
 March 26th, 1757. But Monson's death also vacated the 
 Professorship of Civil Law which was a crown appoint- 
 ment, and Dr Ridlington, one of the two Fellows in 
 orders, was anxious to have the professorship. He 
 had good reason however to fear the hostility of 
 Newcastle, whom he had hotly opposed when the 
 appeal question was dividing the university, and as 
 the professorship was practically in the Duke's gift, 
 Ridlington's chances were not of the best. Marriott 
 however pointed out to the Chancellor that the situa- 
 tion was too serious to allow him to indulge his pre- 
 judices, and that not only had Ridlington acted as 
 Monson's deputy, and was a very able man with 
 influential friends, such as the Duke of Devonshire and 
 Lord Exeter; but that as the only resident doctor of laws 
 he was a perpetual member of the Caput, that, 'if 
 obliged, can rivet this whole college in His Grace's 
 interest beyond a possibility of a competition from any 
 quarter,' and that 'therefore whether it is not for the 
 Chancellor's interest to obtain the professorship for 
 him, so as to lay him under an obligation^. ' In support 
 of these arguments Marriott submitted to the Duke a 
 letter written by Ridlington who declared that if he 
 obtained the professorship, it would be his constant 
 endeavour to display his gratitude to the Chancellor"^. 
 As Ridlington was probably the candidate with ^ by far 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32870, f. 186. ^ Add. MS. 33061, f. 362. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32870, f. 191.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 279 
 
 the strongest claims, it is possible that the amount of 
 persuasion required was due to Newcastle's well- 
 founded distrust of him : but Marriott carried the day, 
 and Ridlington was appointed Professor of Civil Law. 
 
 'I hope' wrote Newcasde to the Lord Mayor of London on 
 April 5th, 1757, 'Dr Ridlington acquainted your Lordship 
 that I had promised him that he should have my recommenda- 
 tion for the professorship of civil law in our university, 
 according to your desire: and I am extremely glad to have it in 
 my power to shew my regard for your Lordship^.' 
 
 Newcastle had good reason to be satisfied with the 
 improvement in his relations with Trinity Hall. Seven 
 years before he had been without a friend in the college : 
 he could now rely upon the assistance of Carr and 
 Marriott, and had some claim upon the loyalty of 
 Crespigny and Ridlington. It might be thought that 
 the time was now ripe for him to give the signal for 
 the complete destruction of Lee's influence in the 
 society: but he prudently refrained. The Fellows of 
 Trinity Hall had not resisted the interference of the 
 Master and Lee in order to facilitate the interference 
 of Newcastle, and they would most bitterly resent such 
 a consequence of their action. Further, in the course 
 of the summer of 1757, Lee broke with the Dowager 
 Princess of Wales, and Newcastle began to contemplate 
 the possibility of entering into an alliance with him. 
 Hence it was not to the Duke's advantage to offend 
 Lee by waging open war against him at Cambridge: 
 and Marriott was emphatic that, Newcastle's interest 
 having been established, peace, not war, in the college 
 was the right policy. 
 
 'Apprehending' he wrote on May 30th, 1757, 'your Grace's 
 present footing with Sir George Lee, I would fain use all the 
 early means necessary to secure your Grace's interest, without 
 affronting him, upon a perpetual foundation in a society which, 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32870, f. 366; see also f. 233.
 
 28o THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 being composed of laymen and gentlemen, mostly of independent 
 fortunes, is to be managed with more attention than has been 
 usual, and with more delicacy than any other, the constitution 
 of it giving the Master not the least shadow of power but in 
 consequence of the majority not agreeing, which in such a 
 society can never be your Grace's interest to foment, but rather 
 to reconcile all parties to yourself under any one person with 
 whom they may chose to act in concurrence, who as an equal 
 will not give them either envy or jealousy i.' 
 
 In giving this advice Marriott had doubtless one eye 
 upon his professional prospects, for he was naturally 
 unwilling to offend an eminent and influential civilian^: 
 and he possibly under-estimated the difficulty of har- 
 monising the interests of Lee and Newcastle in Trinity 
 Hall. But the death of Sir George Lee in December 
 1758 relieved him of a task which might have proved 
 impossible, and Newcastle of a rival who would always 
 be in a position to cause trouble. From this time on- 
 ward Dr Simpson, who succeeded Lee as Dean of 
 Arches and Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canter- 
 bury, and received the honour of knighthood, became 
 one of Newcastle's staunchest adherents in the univer- 
 sity: and this was not the only consequence of Lee's 
 death. The Duke's interference in the affairs of Trinity 
 Hall had been mainly a defensive measure provoked by 
 Lee's attack, and, now that the danger was over, he 
 was ready to leave the college to manage its own con- 
 cerns. There is no evidence that he played any part in 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32871, f. 161; see also Add. MS. 32877, f. 130. 
 
 "^ In September 1756 Marriott, in a letter to Newcastle, expressed 
 his fear that 'my very showing any inclination to traverse Sir George's 
 interest will most certainly expose me to his severe resentment as a 
 Judge which, to so young an advocate as I shall be, will do me an irre- 
 vocable prejudice for ever after. I must humbly hope therefore that 
 your Grace's favour will set me in good time above that resentment 
 by introducing and supporting me in Sir George's own court as the 
 client of the Duke of Newcastle.' Add. MS. 32867, f. 417.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 281 
 
 the election in 1760 of Samuel Hallifax to the Fellow- 
 ship vacated by George Carr, or in the election in March 
 1 764 of Pedley to the Fellowship vacated by Crespigny; 
 and this is not surprising if, as seems to have been the 
 case, such interference on his part was the exception 
 and not the rule. Nor can he be held to have suffered 
 by thus withholding his hand. In the days of adversity 
 which followed the accession of George III to the 
 throne, the Master of Trinity Hall and five of the 
 Fellows, Marriott, Wynne, Calvert, Francis Simpson, 
 and Hallifax, supported the Newcastle interest in the 
 university and voted for Lord Hardwicke as High 
 Steward. The Judas of the society was Dr Ridlington 
 who conveniently forgot his promises of eternal grati- 
 tude and enlisted under the banner of Lord Sandwich^. 
 It is clear that the Duke had retired into the back- 
 ground as far as Trinity Hall was concerned, believing 
 that Marriott and his other friends in the college would 
 watch over his interests; but the death of Sir Edward 
 Simpson on May 21st, 1764, forced him to emerge 
 from his retreat. The times were too critical to permit 
 him to be indifferent to the succession to Sir Edward 
 Simpson in the mastership. The dispute over Lord 
 Hardwicke's election was awaiting a decision in the 
 law courts : and, as a fresh election might be ordered, 
 it was of the greatest importance that the new Master 
 of Trinity Hall, who might be the next Vice-Chancellor, 
 should be a staunch supporter of the Duke and Lord 
 Hardwicke. Yet at the outset Newcastle had little real 
 cause for anxiety. The statutes of the college provided 
 that no one could be elected Master unless he received 
 the votes of at least seven out of the twelve Fellows, 
 and that, in the event of no candidate receiving this 
 necessary minimum, the Chancellor, as visitor of the 
 college, should appoint to the mastership: and as 
 1 Add. MS. 32957, f. 322.
 
 282 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 Newcastle believed that he could count upon the loyalty 
 of at least five of the Fellows, and that at least one or 
 two would not trouble to attend the election, it appeared 
 to be within his power either to obtain the election of 
 a friend or to secure a devolution of the appointment 
 to himself. 
 
 'The first thing I beg of you' he wrote to the Bishop of 
 Norwich on the day of Sir Edward Simpson's death 'is that you 
 would see, as soon as you can, our friends of Trinity Hall, Dr 
 Calvert, Dr Wynne, Dr Marriot (sic) and, I had forgot, Dr 
 Simpson, and that you would shew them what I had written to 
 the Archbishop in their favour, and that you would call upon the 
 Archbishop yourself and talk over the affair with himi. But the 
 most material of all is what relates to the mastership of Trinity 
 Hall. I have no view but to have a good one, and I beg you 
 would... speak to our friends at Doctors Commons and write 
 
 immediately to Dr Halifax^ (sic) to take care of it Pray write 
 
 to our Cambridge friends, Caryl, the Dean of Ely^ and the 
 Bishop of Lincoln about the mastership of Trinity Hall. I am 
 amazed that none of you sent me word of the imminent danger 
 this poor man was in*.' 
 
 Newcastle, as was not unusual with him, was anxious 
 and flurried, and undoubtedly what he most feared was 
 that the Mastership might be secured by Dr Ridlington 
 who would be supported by the whole weight of Lord 
 Sandwich's influence. This was a catastrophe to be 
 averted at all cost: but it is likely that at the opening 
 of what was to be an arduous and unsuccessful campaign, 
 the Duke believed that there was little danger of defeat. 
 Confidently relying upon the votes of five of the twelve 
 Fellows, he conceived that the Bishop of Norwich and 
 
 ^ This refers to the disposal of the civil law preferments vacated 
 by Simpson's death; see Add. MS. 32959, f. 19. 
 
 2 Dr Hallifax was chosen as one of the two tutorial and therefore 
 resident Fellows: the other was Dr Ridlington. 
 
 ^ Dr Thomas, Master of Christ's. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 32959, f. 24.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 283 
 
 his other friends at Cambridge, starting from such a 
 position of advantage, might easily achieve victory. He 
 knew however that time was of importance, and that 
 Sandwich would prove himself a redoubtable and un- 
 scrupulous antagonist. 
 
 In his letter to the Bishop of Norwich Newcastle had 
 emphasised that he was unprejudiced in favour of any 
 one particular candidate and was solely intent upon 
 meeting the wishes of his friends among the Fellows : 
 and, had this indeed been the case, his task would have 
 been far easier. There is good reason to think however 
 that he was anxious for Dr Calvert to be elected^: for, 
 apart from other considerations, it is otherwise some- 
 what inexplicable that, on hearing from the Bishop of 
 Norwich that the gossip of Doctors Commons suggested 
 Calvert as a likely Master, he should have decided at 
 once to adopt him as a candidate. But as the Bishop also 
 mentioned that neither he nor the Chancellor's other 
 agents in the university were of any use in this 
 emergency, as they knew 'none of the Fellows but the 
 five who want not our solicitations^, ' Newcastle at once 
 sent for Dr Marriott and on May 22nd conferred with 
 him. His object in this interview was certainly to instruct 
 Marriott to inaugurate a campaign on behalf of Calvert, 
 and it is probable that he had never contemplated the 
 possibility of resistance on the part of his faithful fol- 
 lower. Marriott however had not served Newcastle 
 for naught, and he was unlikely to forget that he had 
 served him far longer than Calvert. He consequently 
 felt himself slighted, thus to be sent for merely to be 
 
 1 He urged the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint Calvert as 
 Dean of Arches in place of Simpson, and gave as a reason that Calvert 
 'has two near relations, Mr John Calvert and Mr Nicholson Calvert, 
 members of parliament and very zealous friends, who interest themselves 
 extremely for him.' Add. MS. 32959, f. 19. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 26.
 
 284 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 instructed to promote the success of a colleague, and 
 the interview was stormy. He told the Duke that he 
 could not vote for Calvert as Master, that Dr Hallifax 
 was equally unwilling to do so, and that, if Newcastle 
 did not quickly adopt another candidate, Dr Ridlington 
 would inevitably be elected Master. He seems also to 
 have made fairly clear that he himself was the proper 
 candidate for the Duke to adopt, though he dealt more 
 fully with this point in conversation, a few days later, 
 with John Roberts who was in Newcastle's confidence 
 and had been Henry Pelham's secretary. 
 
 'He has already acquainted me' wrote Roberts on May 25th 
 'with his determination to be a candidate for the mastership of 
 Trinity Hall himself, and he told me at the same time that he 
 had been with your Grace at Claremont, made the same 
 declaration to you, and had desired your assistance. He seemed 
 to be much mortified at not receiving more encouragement 
 from your Grace, and dropt to me obliquely that if he had not 
 voted as Your Grace desired him, or should even now apply to 
 those who are not your friends, he should not fail of reaping 
 some advantage from the event of Dr Simpson's death^.' 
 
 Marriott was angry and aggrieved, and not without 
 justification. He probably was human enough to exag- 
 gerate the value of the services he had rendered : but 
 he certainly had been of assistance to the Duke in the 
 past, and not unnaturally resented being passed over. 
 It was the old tale of the anger of the labourer, who had 
 endured the heat and burden of the day, only to discover 
 that he had done no better than the man hired at the 
 eleventh hour: but it is Newcastle's apparent obtuseness 
 and not Marriott's anger that constitutes the problem. 
 It is of course possible that the Duke believed that his 
 faithful follower was too well schooled and disciplined 
 to think of the mastership unless it was his patron's 
 will that he should have it; but this does not explain 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32959, f. 79; see also f. 34.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 285 
 
 the Duke's preference for Calvert. Certainty is out of 
 the question, but there is some reason to think that his 
 conduct was not quite so unpremeditated or without 
 thought as it might superficially appear. From a stray 
 remark in John Roberts' letter it appears that, sub- 
 sequent to the accession of George III to the throne, 
 Marriott had displayed an inclination to desert his 
 patron and throw in his lot with those who were com- 
 passing the overthrow of the whigs; and, though he 
 repented of his wrong doing and remained loyal to his 
 party, a certain amount of pressure had been necessary 
 to keep him in the straight and narrow path^. It is 
 possible that the lesson had not been thrown away upon 
 the Duke, and that he passed over Marriott for the very 
 good reason that, though he used him, he distrusted 
 him. It is at least suggestive that, after he was perfectly 
 well acquainted with Marriott's ambition, he never con- 
 templated supporting his candidature for the mastership. 
 But whether Marriott's rebellion was a risk which 
 had to be incurred or was provoked by a blunder which 
 might have been avoided, there is no doubt that it 
 seriously deranged the Duke's plans. It was possible 
 that Marriott was speaking the truth when he said that 
 Calvert had no chance of securing election and that 
 Hallifax would be loath to vote for him : and, if this 
 were to prove the case, of the five votes which Newcastle 
 had confidently counted upon for Calvert, only three 
 would be left. But two or three days after Marriott 
 had visited Claremont, even worse news came. It was 
 reliably reported that Hallifax would not only not vote 
 for Calvert but had pledged himself to vote for 
 Ridlington, and that Ansell had also undertaken to 
 support Ridlington who was coiifident of success-. 
 Hence if Newcastle could count upon three votes for 
 his candidate, Ridlington could count upon an equal 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 79. 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 81.
 
 286 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 number for himself; and in such an evenly matched 
 game it was impossible to foretell the winner. Moreover 
 it was possible that the advantage lay with Ridlington, 
 for it was rumoured that Mr Milles of Canterbury, 
 who like John Robinson was a confirmed absentee, 
 might attend the election and vote for Ridlington. 
 'I take him to be a humourist' wrote Calvert 'who 
 seldom stirs out, but very able to travel if pressed, and 
 they reckon him one of their number^. ' 
 
 The situation was undoubtedly very serious. As long 
 as Newcastle had been able to rely upon five of the 
 Fellows supporting him, and upon two being absent, he 
 rightly assumed that, even if the candidate he favoured 
 failed to secure the necessary minimum of votes, no 
 other candidate could be more fortunate, and that it 
 would fall to him as visitor to appoint the new Master. 
 But if, as it appeared, he could only count upon the 
 loyalty of Wynne, Calvert and Frank Simpson, and if 
 Milles was going to emerge from his retreat at Canter- 
 bury, it was possible that Ridlington might dissuade 
 Marriott from standing, and secure the seven votes 
 which would give him the mastership. It was obvious 
 that active measures were needed, and they were forth- 
 coming. The Duke was prepared, if necessary, to drop 
 Calvert as a candidate: but, before coming to a final 
 decision on this point, he wrote on May 2 ^th to both 
 Dr Hallifax and Richard Milles, who was a nephew of 
 Mr Milles of Canterbury, asking Dr Hallifax to reserve 
 his vote for the mastership 'for such friend of ours as 
 shall be thought most likely to succeed': and asking 
 Richard Milles to persuade his uncle to do the same. 
 'The election or devolution to the Chancellor will 
 depend' he urged Hallifax 'upon your vote^.' 
 
 Richard Milles promised to write to his uncle in the 
 sense indicated by Newcastle, but expressed the opinion 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 81. 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 83, f. 85.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 287 
 
 that his kinsman's health was too infirm to permit of 
 his undertaking a journey to Cambridge^. As he was 
 likely, if he came, to vote for Ridlington, it was satis- 
 factory to hear that he might be prevented from at- 
 tending, for his absence would certainly assist the Duke 
 in bringing about a devolution to himself. But from 
 Hallifax came a reply which left no doubt that he was 
 deeply pledged to support Ridlington, and his letter 
 witnesses to genuine distress of mind. 
 
 ' It is a cruel circumstance ' he wrote ' to be thrown into a 
 situation which makes it necessary for me either to violate the 
 duties of friendship to one to whom I am under the greatest 
 obligation, or seem to relinquish or neglect your Grace's interests 
 in this university, which I feel myself bound by every tie of 
 gratitude and honour to promote to the utmost of my power. 
 When Dr Ridlington was informed of the death of our late 
 worthy Master he applied to me for my vote and assistance. 
 Considering the real services I had received from him when I 
 was endeavouring to secure my own election at Trinity Hall, 
 the intimate connexions that have since that time subsisted 
 between us, being both of us jointly concerned in carrying on 
 the business of the pupils, together with the readiness he has 
 shown on all occasions to contribute to everything that might 
 make my situation easy in the college, I thought he would have 
 just reason to complain of unkindness from me, was I to refuse 
 complying with his request, the first and the only request he 
 ever made me. I told him therefore that my vote was at his 
 service if he could make any use of it: at the same time giving 
 it as my opinion that his being in orders would be an insuperable 
 objection to him with the gentlemen at the Commons, and 
 desiring him in that case, if he found he had no chance of suc- 
 ceeding himself, he would leave me at full liberty to assist any 
 other person I pleased. This is the whole of the case between the 
 Professor and me, and I own that I am exceedingly anxious 
 that your Grace should consider my conduct on this occasion in 
 a favourable light. I do assure your Grace that I have no oblique 
 ends of my own to serve, no crooked politics to persuade me to 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 104.
 
 288 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 swerve from the duty to which your Grace has the justest 
 claim^.' 
 
 The pathos of this letter was probably wasted upon 
 Newcastle who must have been pre-occupied with the 
 thought that Hallifax's vote was irretrievably lost if 
 Ridlington stood for the mastership. Information from 
 other sources also made clear that in no conceivable 
 circumstances could Calvert secure election as Master : 
 and that, as there was a strong prejudice in the society 
 against allowing the visitor to appoint, it was probable 
 that, if Calvert continued as a candidate, a sufficient 
 number of the electors would rally round Ridlington 
 to secure his election. Therefore, after a few days 
 thought, the Duke decided to adopt Wynne instead of 
 Calvert as his candidate: and there is no doubt that 
 he was very well advised to make the change. It was 
 possible that Dr Dale, Pedley, and even Milles, if he 
 came, might be persuaded to vote for Wynne, Hallifax 
 would certainly do so if Ridlington ultimately decided 
 not to stand, and it was further discovered that if 
 Marriott did not come forward as a candidate and was 
 obliged to choose between Ridlington and Wynne, he 
 would support the latter^. Therefore on May 30th the 
 Duke informed Calvert that Wynne was to be the 
 official candidate of the party, and Calvert loyally ac- 
 cepted the decision^. But Newcastle considered that 
 something more was needed to be done in order to make 
 as certain as possible of success, and he rose to the 
 occasion. 
 
 'I find' he told Calvert 'most of the Fellows are afraid of a 
 devolution, and that some of them may vote for Dr Ridlington, 
 not out of regard to him but purely to prevent a devolution, and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 148. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 118, f. 146, f. 150, f. 172, f. 200, f. 227, 
 f. 247. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32959, f. 200.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 289 
 
 that nothing would so effectually remove that objection as a 
 previous declaration from me (not publick but to be understood) 
 that, in case of a devolution to the Chancellor, I would appoint 
 that person who should be the most agreeable to the majority 
 of my friends in Trinity HalF.' 
 
 This ' previous declaration ' was consequently made : 
 but as the main objection of the society was to the 
 principle of a devolution, it was unlikely to be very 
 effectual. Early in June however a change came over 
 the situation. Though supported by Lord Sandwich^, 
 Dr Ridlington discovered that being in orders was a 
 fatal disability to a candidate for the mastership of 
 Trinity Hall. He had successfully engaged the votes of 
 Pedley and Hallifax: but Matthew Robinson refused 
 to support him because he was a clergyman, and, as 
 Robinson possessed considerable influence in the society, 
 Ridlington wisely abandoned the contest^. Consequently 
 Hallifax was now free to give his vote to Wynne"*, and 
 Pedley also undertook to vote for Wynne against any 
 other candidates except Ridlington, Ansell, and Matthew 
 Robinson^ As Ridlington had decided to withdraw, 
 and Robinson and Ansell had not yet appeared in the 
 field, there was a reasonable chance of Pedley's vote 
 being secured for Wynne who would thus be supported 
 by five out of the twelve Fellows. But any reliable fore- 
 cast was entirely out of the question, for the situation 
 was constantly being modified, and it was impossible to 
 foresee the events of the following day. For instance no 
 sooner was it known that Ridlington would not stand 
 than Marriott executed his threat and came forward as 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 200. 
 
 ^ '1 am informed' wrote Dr Burrell to Newcasde on June 4th 
 'Lord Sandwich tries every possible method to procure an election 
 in favour of Dr Ridlington, and for that purpose sent a very extraordinary 
 letter yesterday to one of the Fellows.' Add. MS. 32959, f. 254. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32959, f. 227. * Ibid. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32959, f. 245. 
 
 19
 
 290 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 a candidate for the mastership. He had bided his time, 
 knowing perfectly well that if he and Ridlington both 
 stood, they would so divide the votes that the appoint- 
 ment of a new Master would inevitably fall to the 
 Chancellor; and he was certainly right to seize the 
 opportunity afforded by Ridlington's withdrawal. He 
 was able to count upon the support of Matthew 
 Robinson, Ridlington, and Ansell, and, as it was under- 
 stood that each candidate would vote for himself, he 
 started his campaign with at least four votes in his 
 favour. Lord Sandwich moreover adopted him as his 
 official candidate 1; and though Newcastle and his 
 friends made light of his chance of success, it is possible 
 that their optimism was more official than sincere. 
 
 Thus of the twelve Fellows, including the two candi- 
 dates, five were ranged on the side of Wynne and four 
 on the side of Marriott: and, unless there was a change 
 in the situation, neither candidate could secure election. 
 The three electors who had not yet declared themselves 
 were Dr Dale, John Robinson, and Milles; and as it 
 was correctly assumed that John Robinson would not 
 attend, the interest centred round Dale and Milles. It 
 was within their power, by voting for Wynne, to make 
 sure of his election : but, as they were both unknown to 
 Newcastle^, itwas unlikely that they would be prejudiced 
 in favour of his candidate. But it did not necessarily 
 follow that they would be in favour of Marriott. Dr Dale, 
 who might be counted upon to attend, refused indeed 
 to commit himself until he was better informed as to 
 his own chance of securing the prize^; and though the 
 'humourist,' Milles, was worried by his nephew and 
 possibly visited at Canterbury by Marriott and Matthew 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 304. 
 
 2 It is significant that Newcastle communicated with Dale through 
 Charles Yorke, and with Milles through his nephew. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32959, f. 284.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 291 
 
 Robinson^, he too was not to be drawn, and resisted 
 the importunity of his suitors with the desperate 
 courage of an invalid. In reply to the letter written by 
 his nephew at Newcastle's request, Milles declared that 
 he wished to remain at liberty to act as he thought best, 
 and from this position he refused to budge^. 
 
 There was however a general feeling that, when it 
 came to the point, Milles would not break the habit of 
 a lifetime by visiting his college, and if he and John 
 Robinson were both absent, Newcastle fondly believed 
 that a devolution to himself was inevitable, and that 
 therefore Wynne would secure the mastership by his 
 nomination^. But he soon discovered that the declara- 
 tion he had made that he would * appoint that person 
 who should be the most agreeable to the majority of 
 my friends in Trinity Hall,' had not been quite so 
 effective as he had hoped. Though Calvert, Wynne and 
 Simpson were prepared to go all lengths to thwart 
 Marriott's ambition, there was a suspicion that Pedley, 
 and much more than a suspicion that Hallifax, would, 
 in the event of Wynne failing to secure the necessary 
 minimum, rather vote for Marriott than allow no elec- 
 tion to be held. Pedley indeed affirmed to Francis 
 Simpson that he would rather 'see a devolution than 
 vote for Dr Marriott*,' and had promised Wynne that 
 he would not vote for Marriott, 'though a lapse should 
 be the consequence^'; but he was not regarded as 
 absolutely safe, and considerable alarm was felt as to 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 254, f. 337, f. 367. 
 
 - Add. MS. 32959, f. 252, f. 282. For det-^ils concerning the situa- 
 tion at this stage, see Add. MS. 33061, f. 269; Add. MS. 32959, 
 f. 235, f. 237, f. 272, f. 280, f. 306, f. 331, f. 351; Add. MS. 3564.0, 
 f. 136. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32959, f. 237. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32959, f. 353; see also f. 337. 
 
 5 Add. MS. 32959, f. 347. 
 
 19 2
 
 292 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 the attitude he might ultimately adopt. He was justly 
 suspected, for, unknown to his friends and in defiance 
 of his promise, he had pledged himself to vote for 
 Marriott rather than allow a devolution. Hallifax on 
 the other hand acted with commendable frankness, 
 quite definitely and openly stating that, if Wynne failed 
 to secure election, he would vote for Marriott rather 
 than allow the Chancellor to appoint the new Master^; 
 and to this determination he adhered in spite of the 
 admonitions of his old Master, Dr Caryl 2. 
 
 'I told him' Caryl reported to the Duke 'that there might 
 be room for such apprehensions if there was any danger of a 
 stranger being placed over them, but after what your Grace 
 had been so good as to declare, he could not have a suspicion on 
 that head^.' 
 
 Even more emphatically did the Duke address the man 
 who threatened to wreck the campaign. 
 
 'For God's sake, then, my good Sir' wrote Newcastle 'con- 
 sider well what you are doing, and remember that by falling in 
 with these people, under the very false notion of preventing a 
 lapse,... you are adding weight to the very set of men you have 
 been so strenuously and honourably opposing*.' 
 
 But Hallifax was not to be moved by arguments or 
 threats, and thus for a second time within a few days 
 he played an ungrateful part. He was clearly an un- 
 comfortable and most inconvenient ally: but he was 
 able to give a reasoned defence of the position he had 
 taken up. 
 
 'It has always been accounted' he wrote on June 13th 'so 
 wrong a thing at Trinity Hall to suffer a lapse of any kind, and 
 we are so plainly directed by our statutes to agree in an election, 
 if it is possible, that I own I cannot reconcile it to the principles 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, f. 245, f. 337, f. 347. 
 
 ^ Before his election to a Fellowship at Trinity Hall, Hallifax was 
 a Fellow of Jesus. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 347. 4 /^jd_ ]y[s. 32959, f. 369.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 293 
 
 which I have been taught to entertain, to concur with any of 
 the Fellows to make a lapse in the present instance. You seem 
 to think that it all rests on me alone to make or prevent a 
 devolution to the Chancellor. Give me leave to say, Sir, that 
 you have been misinformed. There are, most undoubtedly, 
 seven without me who have resolved at all adventures to have 
 an election, and the names of the seven are these Ridlington, 
 Robinson, Ansell, Marriott, Pedley, Dale, and Dr Wynne him- 
 self who on all occasions, and more particularly on the present 
 occasion, has declared repeatedly that he thought it of all things 
 the wrongest to suffer a lapse, and that, as for his own part, in 
 order to prevent it he would willingly go over with all his 
 interest to any of the practising civilians at the Commons to 
 make an election. Being asked to explain himself what he meant 
 by the practising civilians, he answered Calvert, Simpson, 
 Marriott, and himself ...I believe it is an impracticable thing for 
 Dr Wynne to secure his election, and therefore the next person 
 at the Commons, on whom the society have turned their eyes, 
 is Dr Marriott. I will freely own to you that Dr Wynne is the 
 more eligible man of the two, and I am sure it was in compliance 
 to what Dr Caryl told me would be agreeable to the Duke of 
 Newcastle, that I went that very morning to Dr Wynne and 
 promised him my second vote, and I have contributed all I 
 could to gain others to his interests. But I cannot persuade my- 
 self to devote myself so entirely to Dr Wynne's cause as to go 
 contrary to the sense of the society^.' 
 
 Dr Hallifax's defence cannot be described as masterly. 
 He admitted that Wynne would make a better Master 
 than Marriott, and yet in certain circumstances was 
 prepared to vote for the latter against the man he believed 
 to be the better candidate. It is moreover impossible 
 to believe that Wynne was opposed to a devolution 
 which was indeed his only chance of obtaining the 
 Mastership ^. Yet, though the apologia is not very con- 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32959, .381. 
 
 " On June 1 2th it was reported that Lord Sandwich was extreme!/ 
 angry with Wynne, because 'as Dr Marriott has six votes, he (Wynne) 
 will not make the seventh.' Add. MS. 32959, f. 371.
 
 294 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 vincing, it is unnecessary to assume that Hallifax was 
 inspired by unworthy or corrupt motives. It is more 
 probable that he was one of those exasperating politicians, 
 the bane of the party to which they belong, who are for 
 ever starting inconvenient scruples, and who wish the 
 end without wishing the only means by which the end 
 can be attained. 
 
 The election was fixed for Friday, June 15th, and 
 on the eve of the decisive day the issue was still in doubt. 
 It was known that neither John Robinson nor Milles 
 would attend, and that of the remaining ten electors, 
 five on the first scrutiny would vote for Wynne and 
 four for Marriott, Dr Dale not having yet declared his 
 vote. It was therefore certain that, even if Dale gave his 
 vote for Marriott, no election could take place, and the 
 appointment would lapse to the Chancellor unless on 
 a second or later scrutiny two of the electors transferred 
 their votes in order that there should be an election. 
 Unfortunately for Newcastle, while there was no chance 
 of any of Marriott's supporters voting for Wynne at 
 any stage of the proceedings, it was certain that Hallifax 
 would vote for Marriott rather than allow a devolution, 
 and it became increasingly clear that Pedley, in spite 
 of his promises and professions, would probably do the 
 same^. Hence everything depended upon Dr Dale's vote. 
 It he voted for Wynne and was prepared to face a 
 devolution Marriott, even if both Hallifax and Pedley 
 voted for him, could not be elected, but if Dale voted 
 for Marriott it was within the power of Hallifax and 
 Pedley, if they acted together, to make Marriott Master. 
 Hence when two or three days before the election the 
 rumour was spread that Dale had committed himself 
 to Marriott, the greatest despondency prevailed among 
 Newcastle's followers in the college. 'Nothing can save 
 us' wrote Wynne on June 13th 'but another freak of 
 1 Add. MS. 35640, f. 144; Add. MS. 32959, f. 379.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 295 
 
 Matt Robinson^,' but when, on the day following, the 
 rumour was discovered to be untrue, a more cheerful 
 view was taken of the situation 2.' 
 
 The rumour unfortunately proved to be an intelligent 
 anticipation. When the Fellows met on the afternoon 
 of Friday June 1 5th, Dale declared for Marriott, and 
 thus on the first scrutiny each candidate received five 
 votes, Wynne, Simpson, Hallifax, Pedley, and Calvert 
 voting for Wynne, and Marriott, Matthew Robinson, 
 Ansell, Ridlington, and Dale voting for Marriott. They 
 then proceeded to a second scrutiny, but without how- 
 ever effecting any change in the distribution of votes. 
 On the third scrutiny, however, Hallifax voted for 
 Marriott who consequently now had six votes to 
 Wynne's four. At this stage Pedley suggested that the 
 election should be postponed until the following day: 
 but the proposal was not accepted, and, after a brief 
 adjournment for chapel, a fourth scrutiny was taken 
 which again showed Marriott as having six votes and 
 W^nne four. But on the fifth scrutiny Pedley, declaring 
 'that of the two evils he must chuse the least,' voted 
 for Marriott who was consequently elected into the 
 mastership and admitted on the following day^. 
 
 It was a mortifying end to all Newcastle's labours, 
 and all the more mortifying because the victor had been 
 a faithful follower and dependent of the Duke. Marriott 
 indeed was amply revenged for his claims upon the 
 mastership having been slighted by his patron, and it 
 was undoubtedly very fortunate for him that he found 
 Lord Sandwich ready at hand to espouse his cause. To 
 what degree the support of Sandv/ich contributed to- 
 wards his success it is difficult to say*. It is certain 
 
 1 Add. MS. 35640, f. 144. 2 /^(j(^_ ]y[g_ 32959, f. 407. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 413, f. 421, f. 423, f. 425, f. 465; Add. MS. 
 35640, f. 146; Add. MS. 5852, f. 149. 
 
 ^ 'Lord Sandwich' wrote Caryl on 20th June 'I know values
 
 296 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 that Newcastle would have won the battle but for the 
 conduct of Hallifax and Pedley : but there is nothing 
 to show that these two renegades acted under Lord 
 Sandwich's influence. It appears that Hallifax had been 
 persuaded by Ridlington, to whom he believed himself 
 to be under a debt of gratitude, to give a pledge that 
 he would prevent a devolution if he possibly could: 
 and that 'the sense of his obligations to Dr RidHngton 
 was the single principle upon which he acted through 
 the whole contest at Trinity Hall^.' It reflects little 
 credit upon Dr Hallifax's intelligence that he failed to 
 perceive that he could not serve both Newcastle and 
 Ridlington, but there is not the slightest reason to think 
 that he was inspired by a desire to serve Lord Sandwich. 
 After the election he spared no pains to assure Newcastle 
 that he was, as he had ever been, his faithful follower, 
 and ready to obey his commands. 
 
 'As a proof of his sincerity' wrote Dr Caryl in October 
 1764 'he assures me that at this instant Dr Ridlington is willing 
 to resign his professorship, and that Lord Hallifax (sic)"^ has 
 signified to him (Dr Hallifax) that he may have it, but that he 
 was absolutely determined to refuse it, because the consequence 
 of his acceptance must be an expectation from him to joyn a set 
 of people whose principles and measures he detests^.' 
 
 Though Newcastle had been very angry with Hallifax, 
 describing him in a letter to the Bishop of Norwich as 
 'this weak, ungrateful man*' he was touched by this 
 manifestation of loyalty and penitence, and readily 
 forgave him^. 
 
 himself upon the countenance he afforded to Marriott's pretensions, 
 but that he made him one vote I do not know.' Add. MS. 32959, 
 f.465. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32962, f. 249. 
 
 - Lord Hahfax was one of the Secretaries of State, the other being 
 Lord Sandwich. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32962, f. 249. 4 Aj^j_ MS. 32959, f. 373. 
 ^ Add. MS. 32962, f. 297.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 297 
 
 There is nothing to show that Pedley either asked 
 for or received forgiveness: and perhaps he thought 
 that he had sinned too deeply to hope for pardon. Like 
 HalHfax he had pledged himself to prevent a devolution, 
 but, unlike Hallifax, he had not only concealed his in- 
 tention but had given lying assurances that he would 
 never vote for Marriott. 
 
 'I cannot forgive Mr Pedley' wrote Francis Simpson 'who 
 at the very time he promised me that he would not vote for Dr 
 Marriott, even though a devolution should ensue, had actually 
 given it under his (sic)'^ to the other party that he would vote for 
 Marriott to prevent a devolution, which explains his meaning 
 that of two evils he would chuse the least, for having verbally 
 promised one party, and under his hand assured the other to 
 vote for Marriott, he chose to adhere to his written promise 
 rather than his verbal one^.' 
 
 Yet inexcusable as was his conduct, it would be absurd 
 to pretend that he had sinned against Newcastle, for 
 he was not a follower of the Duke, and would have voted 
 for either Ridlington and Ansell in preference to Wynne. 
 It was for Wynne, whom he had basely deceived, and 
 not for Newcastle, to give or refuse him pardon, and 
 we do not know whether that pardon was ever given. 
 Nor are we any wiser as to the motives leading Pedley 
 to play this double game. It is possible that he was 
 influenced by Sandwich: but it is quite as likely that 
 he was influenced by resentment against such an obvious 
 attempt to prevent an election being held. 
 
 Indeed, in dealing with the affairs of Trinity Hall and 
 the other colleges, Newcastle was battling against 
 eddies and currents completely unknown to him, and 
 consequently he was often shipwrecked. On the other 
 hand Marriott had not fostered the Duke's interest in 
 the society without learning a great deal in the process, 
 
 ^ 'Hand' is probably the word omitted. 
 2 Add. MS. 32959, f. 425.
 
 298 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 and throughout the contest he had been fighting at an 
 advantage. The victor and the vanquished were never 
 reconciled^, and it is impossible that Newcastle could 
 have ever thought of his defeat with anything but 
 bitterness. But his failure at Trinity Hall must have 
 rankled far less deeply than the rebuff he suffered at 
 his own college, Clare. For Clare and his old school, 
 Westminster, he cherished a very particular affection: 
 and, until he quarrelled with the college, it was at 
 Clare that he always stayed when he visited Cambridge. 
 Dr Wilcox, who was Master when the Duke became 
 Chancellor, was his unswerving friend and ally, and 
 it is probable that Newcastle was more at home in that 
 society than in any other in the university. It is possible 
 that he thought he could never be betrayed by a college 
 upon which he had lavished so much affection: and, 
 if such was his belief, he had towards the end of 1762 
 a very rude awakening. 
 
 'Our Master's state of health,' wrote on September nth, 
 1 762, William Talbot, who was a Fellow of Clare, 'has suffered 
 so considerable a change within a few days past that it seems 
 probable he cannot continue long. In case of a vacancy I know 
 how much the society is bound to consult your Grace's judgment 
 and good-liking in the choice of a new Master. Nevertheless I 
 do not find that the present sett of Fellows are in general dis- 
 posed to be duly attentive to this obligation, for out of seventeen 
 Fellows, who have a right of voting on such occasions, I appre- 
 hend ten have by various arts been induced to engage their votes 
 beforehand to Dr Goddard who has of late publickly boasted 
 that he was certain of success. This intelligence, I doubt not, 
 was sometime since communicated to your Grace by the Bishop 
 of Norwich, to whom I opened the state of things here. As Dr 
 Goddard is a man whom your Grace has little reason to approve 
 
 1 Writing in June 1768, when Marriott was Vice-Chancellor, 
 Newcastle remarks: 'The present Vice-Chancellor will endeavour to 
 pass me by, as far as he can, and that I shall neither have power nor 
 credit.' Add. MS. 32990, f. 224.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 299 
 
 of, I would be glad to do everything in my power in this con- 
 juncture to exempt myself at least from the number of the 
 ungrateful, and therefore beg leave to intreat the favour of your 
 Grace's directions how I am to act^.' 
 
 Dr Peter Goddard was of humble origin, probably 
 being the son of a French barber settled in Cambridge. 
 Admitted to Clare as a Sizar in 172 1, he was elected to 
 a Fellowship of the college six years later, and acted 
 as tutor to Lord Lincoln, Newcastle's nephew, during 
 his residence at Clare^. He was accordingly brought into 
 close contact with the Duke, and, if his own account 
 can be accepted, it was mainly due to his efforts that 
 the Grace appointing Newcastle as High Steward was 
 safely steered through the Caput ^. He naturally put a 
 high value upon the services he had rendered upon this 
 occasion: and in 1751 reminded the Duke of his achieve- 
 ment and asked for preferment in the church, men- 
 tioning that he only held 'two livings, about ;/^i8o per 
 annum, situated in a very pleasant but dear country, 
 and therefore any addition, especially of a sinecure kind, 
 would be extreamly acceptable*.' His petition was either 
 rejected or unanswered, and smarting under what he 
 deemed a particularly base display of ingratitude, he 
 determined to be the architect of his own fortunes and 
 simultaneously to satisfy both his ambition and his spite. 
 He made up his mind to be the next Master of Clare, 
 and for ten years conducted a secret canvass of the 
 Fellows of the college with the assistance of Richard 
 Terrick, Bishop of Peterborough, who, as an ex-Fellow 
 and distinguished prelate, was able to exercise con- 
 siderable influence in the society^. From Talbot's letter 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 227. 
 
 ^ These details were kindly given me by Mr Wardale, Fellow of 
 Clare. 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32725, f. 382; see ch. 11. p. 37. 
 
 4 /^/V. 5 Add. MS. 32942, f. 269, f. 279.
 
 300 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 we gather that by September 1762 Goddard had 
 secured a majority among the electors: and, being of 
 an arrogant and overbearing disposition, he began to 
 boast of certain victory and to conduct himself as the 
 destined successor to Dr Wilcox^. 
 
 If he fulfilled his boast Newcastle's influence and 
 prestige in his old college would be certain to decline 
 and might easily disappear. It would be impossible to 
 conceal the fact that Goddard had openly defied the 
 Duke : and it was certainly not hopeful for his behaviour 
 in the future that his two friends on the episcopal bench 
 were the Bishop of Peterborough, who had thrown over 
 Newcastle for Lord Bute, and Thomas Hayter who had 
 recently been promoted to the see of London in direct 
 opposition to the Duke's wishes. A man with such 
 associates might well, as a Master of a college, be a 
 particularly painful thorn in the Chancellor's side: but, 
 though the outlook was black, Talbot did not give up 
 hope. It was provided by the statutes of the college 
 that a Master must be elected on the tenth day from 
 the declaration of a vacancy, that no election was valid 
 unless held in the presence of a majority of the electors, 
 and that, if the tenth day passed without an election 
 taking place, the right of nominating a Master passed 
 to the visitor of the college who was the Chancellor^. 
 As the month was September many of the Fellows 
 were away from Cambridge and possibly in distant 
 parts of England : and Talbot pointed out to the Duke 
 that 
 
 it is not an improbable supposition that Goddard may not be 
 able to collect together within the limited time nine determined 
 men of his party, which number is requisite to constitute a 
 majority of the whole society. In this case your Grace's friends, 
 absenting themselves voluntarily on the day of the election, 
 (which is the tenth day of the vacancy) it will be impossible for 
 
 ^ Add. MS. 32942, f. 227. 2 ^^j^_ ]yjs. 32942, f. 227, f. 269.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 301 
 
 them without us to proceed to an election. And no election 
 being made on that day, the consequence will be a devolution to 
 your Grace^. 
 
 Before he heard of this proposal Newcastle had been 
 carefully considering possible courses of action. As it 
 was in the days before the university was rent in twain 
 by the strife between him and Sandwich, which, while 
 it lasted, coloured every academic controversy and 
 divided almost every college, he had to beware of too 
 openly interfering in what was a purely domestic affair : 
 and he inclined to the opinion that, if Goddard was 
 certain of a majority, it would be best for his sup- 
 porters among the electors to acquiesce in the inevitable 
 and vote for the man who had outwitted them. Yet he 
 was not blind to the dangerous consequences of such a 
 policy of submission, and he was prepared to consider, 
 at least as an abstract proposition, the possibility of 
 arranging for a devolution. 
 
 'I think I have a claim to some regard from them' he re- 
 marked with reference to the Fellows of Clare 'but as they 
 think otherwise, or act as if they did, I think it would be by no 
 means proper to give Dr Goddard any unnecessary disturbance, 
 and therefore I wish that all our friends would shew a cheerful 
 concurrence in his election, except any method could be found 
 not to proceed to the election or make any that day, and then 
 the appointment would devolve to the Chancellor, as it did in the 
 case of Dr Grigg put in by the Duke of Somerset"^.' 
 
 Thus he dallied with the thought of working for a 
 devolution, but when Talbot made a practical proposal 
 he hesitated to sanction it: 
 
 'To be sure ' he wrote ' I should wish it upon many accounts, 
 but as I am so much concerned in the coii^equences of it, I must 
 beg that I may not in the least appear in it, and that nothing 
 may be done that would be liable to my just censure. For that 
 reason I wish you would consult some of my friends, the Heads, 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 269. 2 Ajj_ M3_ 32942, f. 271.
 
 302 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 upon the subject, and any knowing men in the university upon 
 whom you can depend i.' 
 
 While the Duke was hesitating Dr Wilcox died, and 
 the question of a policy at once became urgent. Talbot 
 was anxious for a devolution to be attempted, and the 
 Duke, after much hesitation, was prepared to sanction 
 the scheme if the sole responsibility for it was shouldered 
 by Talbot and his friends^. But Dr Goddard was not 
 the man to throw away the labours of ten years by 
 leaving anything to chance: and no sooner was the 
 breath out of Dr Wilcox's body than he was sending 
 for his friends among the electors to return to Cam- 
 bridge post haste ^. On September 23rd he was reported 
 to have * got such a number of his friends together that 
 he is secure of his election*,' and two days later he 
 was elected into the mastership. 
 
 'As he had got together' wrote Talbot 'a clear majority, it 
 was thought prudent that your Grace's friends should come into 
 his election without any seeming reluctance. And I was the 
 more attentive to this particularly for the sake of Mr Gould, a 
 very ingenious and deserving young man who assists me in the 
 care and instruction of my pupils, who, being in the junior part 
 of the society, might have been exposed to some inconveniences 
 from the resentments of a provoked Master. For my own part, 
 though the signal discourtesies, that I have received from Dr 
 Goddard and his abettors, would have justified my refusing to 
 the last to concur in electing him, yet as the known relation I 
 have the honour to bear unto your Grace as Chancellor of the 
 university^ might have induced a suspicion in some people that 
 my conduct was framed according to your Grace's instructions, 
 upon mature deliberation I resolved to come in with the rest, 
 that no handle might be given for reflections of that sort. I 
 cannot forbear mentioning to your Grace the names of Mr 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 285. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32942, f. 279, f. 296, f. 305. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32942, f. 287. 4 Add. MS. 32942, f. 330. 
 
 ^ Talbot succeeded Dr Squire as the Chancellor's university 
 secretary.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 303 
 
 Hagar, Mr Cay (who practises at the Bar) and Mr Gould as 
 persons who are the ornaments of this society as well as of 
 distinguished attachment to your Grace, and who are filled with 
 the utmost indignation at the ungrateful treatment which your 
 Grace have received from a sett of men here^' 
 
 Newcastle was quite as indignant as the gentlemen 
 who were the ornaments of Clare, and he had good 
 cause to be. He had identified himself more closely with 
 Clare than with any other college in the university, 
 and had taken particular pleasure in talking of himself 
 as a Clare man: and he therefore the more bitterly 
 resented the treatment he had received. A lengthy 
 political experience however had taught him that few 
 disasters are irretrievable: and, instead of brooding 
 upon the wrong he had suffered, he was prepared to 
 forgive his enemy who, after having achieved so notable 
 a victory, might conceivably be ready to come to terms. 
 He told Lord Hardwicke that he believed 'Goddard 
 will act well enough^' : and in his reply to the new 
 Master's notification of his election, he tempered rebuke 
 with forgiveness. 
 
 'You say very truly' he wrote 'that I have often expressed 
 a very good opinion of you: I sincerely had it, and hope and 
 believe that I shall never have any occasion to alter it. I own 
 freely (for I will never disguise the truth) that some late con- 
 nections which you had with one^, who had acted a very un- 
 grateful part to me who had been his chief if not only benefactor 
 as to his publick preferments until just at last, could not be 
 agreeable to me. And the manner in which the college has 
 thought proper to proceed without taking the least notice of me, 
 their Chancellor, their visitor, their friend, and, I may say, their 
 benefactor, is so unusual in cases of the like nature that it did 
 
 make a very strong impression upon me However I rejoice 
 
 to hear from yourself and Mr Talbot that your election was 
 unanimous. I have had very strong assurances from my good 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 358. 2 Add. MS. 32942, f. 347. 
 
 "^ Thomas Hayter, Bishop of London.
 
 304 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 friend, the Bishop of Oxford, that your conduct will be agreeable 
 to your old friends. I desire no more, and hope and don't doubt 
 but you will endeavour to promote or to re-establish that union, 
 friendship, and harmony in our college which has now subsisted 
 for so many years, and that you will act in concert with those 
 friends of the government in the university, with whom you 
 were bred up, and upon those principles which I know are your 
 own^.' 
 
 Thus Newcastle made a magnanimous gesture, but 
 Dr Goddard in his hour of triumph was not disposed 
 to sue for forgiveness and replied to the Duke rather 
 saucily. He pointed out that it was to Newcastle's 
 nephew. Lord Lincoln, that he owed that connection 
 with the Bishop of London for which he was blamed, 
 and slyly contended that such a staunch friend of liberty 
 as the Duke could not possibly condemn the Fellows 
 of Clare for choosing 'without favour or affection that 
 man for their Master whom they do in their consciences 
 believe to be the fittest for that office^.' Goddard 
 indeed had not forgiven Newcastle for the neglect of 
 former years, and though Talbot expressed a belief that 
 he was anxious for a reconciliation^, there was small 
 foundation for optimism. There can be little doubt that 
 the new Master was determined to free Clare from the 
 Duke's influence, and his power for mischief would not 
 be confined to the college as he became Vice-Chancellor 
 within two months of his election as Master. 
 
 Formal hostilities between the Master and the Duke 
 may be said to have begun on February 7th, 1 763, when 
 Dr Goddard deprived the Rev. Robert Hagar of his 
 Fellowship on the ground that as Vicar of Hawnes he 
 possessed an income exceeding that with which a 
 Fellowship of Clare was tenable. Even if the action of 
 the Master had been strictly in accordance with the 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 392. 2 Ad(j_ MS. 32942, f. 440. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32942, f. 442.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 305 
 
 college statutes, it would have been unfortunate that 
 the victim should be one who was distinguished by 
 his loyalty to Newcastle; but the incident took on a 
 much worse complexion when it became clear that the 
 Master had acted illegally. Supported by public opinion 
 in the university, which was almost unanimously on 
 his side^, Hagar lost no time in appealing for redress 
 to the Chancellor as visitor of the college^: and the 
 Duke would have been more than human if he had not 
 relished the prospect of humiliating the adversary who 
 had rejected his forgiveness. Dr Goddard had indeed 
 made a very bad blunder, and, realising his error, sought 
 too late to extricate himself from a most unfortunate 
 situation. 
 
 'Yesterday' wrote Talbot on March 6th, 1763, 'our Master 
 began to think himself so much in the wrong that he sent for 
 Mr Hagar and told him... he was now willing to give up that 
 point, and, dropping the whole dispute, to permit Mr Hagar to 
 enjoy his Fellowship as if nothing had passed. Mr Hagar's 
 answer was to this effect, that your Grace as visitor of the 
 college, having accepted the appeal and undertaken to hear and 
 determine the cause, it seemed to be no longer in his (A4r 
 Hagar's) power to let it drop. That he, (the Master) had thought 
 good indeed to declare his Fellowship vacant: but to restore him, 
 he apprehended, was beyond the limits of his authority. This, he 
 believed, could only be done by the visitor^.' 
 
 The Master was indeed trapped: and although in the 
 presence of his Fellows he revoked his declaration of 
 February 7th, and acknowledged that he had wrong- 
 fully dispossessed Hagar of his Fellowship*, he failed 
 to stop the proceedings which had been begun against 
 him. 
 
 The case was heard on March 29th at Newcastle's 
 town house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the Duke having 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32947, f. 188. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 33061, f. 257; Add. MS. 32947, f. 39. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32947, f. 188. 4 Add. MS. 33061, f. 257.
 
 3o6 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 as assessors the Masters of Corpus and Trinity Hall, 
 who had been appointed by the university in accordance 
 with the college statutes. The proceedings were purely 
 formal and the result a foregone conclusion. After 
 various documents had been read, and Goddard and 
 Hagar had spoken, 
 
 His Grace, the said visitor, with the advice and consent of his 
 assessors, did pronounce for the appeal interposed in this behalf, 
 and did pronounce, decree, and declare that the said Dr Peter 
 Stephen Goddard, the Master of Clare Hall aforesaid, had pro- 
 ceeded wrongfully on the seventh day of February last in 
 declaring the Fellowship of the said Robert Hagar void, and did 
 therefore pronounce and decree the said declaration of the said 
 Master null and invalid to all intents and purposes whatsoever, 
 and did continue and confirm the said Robert Hagar in the quiet 
 and full enjoyment of his said Fellowship with all the profits, 
 benefits, emoluments, and advantages to the same belonging, in 
 as full and ample manner as if the said declaration of the said 
 Dr Peter Stephen Goddard, the Master, of the seventh day of 
 February last had never been made, and did order and direct 
 that this decree and the said declaration of the said Master, 
 deHvered this day and hereto annexed^, be intimated to the said 
 Master and Fellows, and that they be enjoined to register the 
 same in the publick register of the said college, and that they 
 do certify him, the said visitor, thereof under the seal of the said 
 college, or under the hands of the Master and Fellows present 
 in college, on or before the first day of May next ensuing. And 
 the said visitor did further, by the advice and consent of his said 
 assessors, at the petition of the said Robert Hagar, condemn the 
 
 ^ 'I, Peter Stephen Goddard, Doctor in Divinity and Master of 
 Clare Hall in the university of Cambridge, do hereby declare that for 
 want of proper information I did declare Mr Hagar's Fellowship void, 
 contrary to the statutes, but that upon receiving further information 
 I did publickly, in the presence of all the Fellows then in college, 
 revoke the said declaration and acknowledge that he had by statute a 
 right to hold his Fellowship with the Vicarage of Hawnes in the county 
 of Bedford and diocese of Lincoln. And I do desire to have my said 
 declaration of February yth 1763 adjudged null and void by the visitor 
 and his assessors.' Add. MS. 33061, f. 257.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 307 
 
 said Dr Peter Stephen Goddard in the sum of twenty pounds, in 
 the name of costs, to be paid to the said Robert Hagar for and 
 towards his charges and expenses in presenting this appeal^. 
 
 Thus Goddard's attempt to assert his power as Master 
 had woefully miscarried and only brought him humilia- 
 tion ; but even as he delivered his judgment the Duke 
 knew perfectly well that, instead of crushing his enemy, 
 he had only infuriated him. On the day before the appeal 
 was heard, the Master of Corpus informed Newcastle 
 that Goddard had 'expressed his desire to have some 
 communication with your Grace to-morrow, if it might 
 conveniently be, on the subject of an address from the 
 university^'; and beneath the innocent appearance of 
 this message was concealed an ugly menace. The Peace 
 of Paris, which concluded the Seven Years' War, had 
 recently been signed, and the occasion certainly de- 
 manded that the university should present a con- 
 gratulatory address to the crown. It would fall to 
 Goddard as Vice-Chancellor to draft the address, and 
 he was acting perfectly correctly, and in accordance 
 with a practice insisted upon by Newcastle, in wishing 
 to consult the Chancellor before taking any steps in the 
 matter. Yet the Duke was aware that the Master of 
 Clare's civility was a sham. Driven from the ministry 
 in 1762, Newcastle was now at the head of a small 
 opposition party which had opened its attack upon the 
 government of the day by an onslaught upon the 
 Preliminaries of Peace. It was not therefore easy for 
 him as Chancellor of the university to congratulate 
 the crown upon what as a politician he had un- 
 sparingly condemned ; but more than his reputation for 
 consistency was at stake. He had been quick to see 
 that his party could never prevail in a bribed and 
 corrupted house of commons unless it possessed the 
 confidence of the country, and that, tainted as it was 
 i Add. MS. 33061, f. 257. 2 /s^jj_ ]vjg_ 32947, f. 341.
 
 3o8 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 with that aristocratic exclusiveness which was the bane 
 of whiggism, it was hopeless to expect the support of 
 the nation unless it included the only really popular 
 statesman of the day, William Pitt. To win Pitt had 
 therefore been Newcastle's aim from the first. He had 
 persuaded his friends to attack the Peace Preliminaries 
 because he knew that Pitt disapproved of them; and 
 there was no sacrifice he was not prepared to make to 
 win the support of the man he deemed indispensable. 
 But Pitt was not to be easily won. Though he un- 
 sparingly denounced the terms of peace when they 
 came under discussion in the house of commons, he 
 went out of his way to repudiate any connection with 
 Newcastle and his friends, taking his stand as a man 
 single and alone, contending for the right but un- 
 connected with any party. Yet early in March 1763 it 
 seemed that the union, so eagerly desired by Newcastle, 
 was on the point of being achieved. Apparently dis- 
 carding all his prejudices, Pitt closely associated him- 
 self with the opposition in an attack upon a cyder tax 
 introduced by the ministry, professed to be firmly 
 united with the men whose overtures he had recently 
 scorned, and frequently conferred with them about the 
 conduct of the parliamentary campaign. When on 
 March 9th, 1763, he dined at Devonshire house in 
 the company of the opposition leaders, the event was 
 greeted as marking the beginning of a new political 
 era; and his brother-in-law. Lord Temple, remarked to 
 Newcastle that 'what he had been about unsuccessfully 
 for six months, viz. the bringing Mr Pitt and us 
 together, is now come about, as it were, of itself^.' 
 
 Such was the political situation when the Master of 
 Clare expressed a wish to consult Newcastle about an 
 university address upon the Peace of Paris: and it is 
 easy to appreciate the extremely difficult position of the 
 
 ^ Yorke's Life of Lord Hardwicke, iii, 456.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 309 
 
 Duke. The university addresses the crown in the 
 name of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars, and it 
 was only too likely that Pitt, who was quick to take 
 offence and regarded the Peace as a crime against the 
 country, would be excessively angry if Newcastle asso- 
 ciated himself with a public acknowledgment of the 
 beneficial character of the treaty. It was by no means 
 unlikely that he would vent his anger by severing his 
 connection with the opposition, which would thus be 
 deprived of the ally whom they had so laboriously won, 
 and whom they were so anxious to keep. It was still 
 more likely that Dr Goddard, who could not have been 
 unacquainted with the political situation, would wreak 
 his revenge by drafting an address extravagant in its 
 praise of the Peace; and indeed so many were the 
 difficulties that Newcastle would gladly have dispensed 
 with an address altogether. This however was out of 
 the question, for even his most loyal adherents at Cam- 
 bridge would never have consented to exclude them- 
 selves from the royal bounty by so affronting the 
 crown; and he consequently had to solve the problem 
 of satisfying the needs of the university without giving 
 offence to Pitt. 
 
 Before Goddard raised the question, Newcastle had 
 sought advice from Lord Hardwicke and the Duke of 
 Devonshire^. Apparently both these noblemen sug- 
 gested that the language of the address should be 
 moderate so as not to give offence to Pitt, which was 
 doubtless most excellent counsel but not easy to put 
 into practice. In view of their strained relations it is 
 improbable that either Goddard or Newcastle showed 
 his hand at their interview on March 29th when the 
 former formally asked the Chancellor's permission to 
 
 1 In a letter to the Master of Corpus, dated March 29th, 1763, 
 (of which there is a copy in the Cambridge University Library) 
 Newcastle mentions having consulted Hardwicke and Devonshire.
 
 310 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 draft an address. But on the same day Newcastle had 
 an interview with Pitt who expressed the opinion that 
 if the Duke was in 
 
 any way named or comprehended as Chancellor in an address 
 upon the Peace, which must in any shape be some approbation 
 of it, it will be laid hold of by the court and turned to my dis- 
 advantage all over the kingdom^. 
 
 Sorely perplexed, the Duke, like many another com- 
 mander in a difficulty, assembled a council of war. On 
 March 30th the Bishop of Norwich, the Master of 
 Corpus, and Thomas Townshend, who represented the 
 university in parliament, conferred with him^; and the 
 decision they reached was embodied in the following 
 minute : 
 
 It is apprehended that the form and style of the university, 
 inserting the name of the Chancellor in all addresses and acts 
 of this kind, will not admit of any alteration in that respect. It 
 is proposed that the measure should be that our friends should 
 endeavour, as from themselves, to make the address as Httle 
 liable to objection as possible; that the Chancellor should have 
 no hand or concern in it; that the Vice-Chancellor should be the 
 person to apply to the Secretary of State; that he (the Vice- 
 Chancellor) should attend His Majesty with the address; and 
 that the Chancellor should be then in town and by his non- 
 attendance manifest his disapprobation of the measure and shew 
 that he had no concern in it. It is also thought proper that the 
 Chancellor should write a letter to the Vice-Chancellor when 
 he comes to town, that he had heard the university had thought 
 proper to address His Majesty upon the Peace; that he was 
 sorry not to be able to attend the university in any mark which 
 they may think proper to give of their respect and duty to the 
 King, in which nobody would more readily concur than himself 
 if his attendance upon that occasion did not appear to him incon- 
 sistent with the part he had already taken when that affair was 
 under the consideration of parliament^. 
 
 ' In a letter to the Master of Corpus, dated March 29th, 1763. 
 - //^/V.; see also Add. MS. 32947, f. 347. ^ Add. MS. 32947, f. 357
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 311 
 
 It will be noticed that, though the address was to be 
 in the name of the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars 
 of the university, Newcastle entirely dissociated him- 
 self from all the proceedings; and there is little doubt 
 that he adopted this attitude of repudiation in order to 
 placate Pitt. Lord Hardwicke indeed expressed the 
 opinion that the Duke had protested over much, and 
 pointed out that there was a great difference between 
 'what a man does in his private personal capacity and 
 what he does as the head of a great body of men who 
 are masters of their own actions^'; but Newcastle pre- 
 ferred to incur the charge of over -acting rather than 
 run any risk of offending Pitt. But if he believed that 
 he had surmounted his troubles, he had reckoned with- 
 out Goddard who was not disposed to throw away such 
 a golden opportunity for retaliation. He composed an 
 address which opened with the declaration that 
 
 His Majesty, out of tender regard to his people, had concluded 
 a destructive though successful war by a safe, honourable and 
 most advantageous Peace that would for ever stand recorded and 
 celebrated in our annals as an event the most glorious to our 
 country; 
 
 and it is hardly uncharitable to assume that this flam- 
 boyant sentence was intended to pain and annoy. Pitt 
 would certainly be chagrined at the war, which he had 
 conducted, being described as destructive, and it would 
 be intolerable for Newcastle if the university, over which 
 he presided, described the Peace as the most glorious 
 event in the annals of England. 
 
 An university address however had to be approved 
 by the Heads and sanctioned by the Senate before it 
 could be presented; and, anticipating the consequences 
 of Dr Goddard's malice, Newcastle had arranged for 
 his friends among the Heads of Houses to attempt to 
 tone down the exuberance of the address. Consequently, 
 1 Add. MS. 32948, f. I.
 
 312 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 when on April 2nd the Vice-Chancellor submitted his 
 draft to a meeting of the Heads, the Master of Corpus 
 took strong objection to the extravagant language about 
 the Peace and the contemptuous reference to an over- 
 whelmingly successful war. 
 
 'I was seconded' he reported 'by the Master of Pembroke, 
 and my exceptions supported by several others, so that after a 
 long debate and altercation it was carried by six to five to change 
 the word "destructive" into "expensive," to leave out "most 
 advantageous," and to alter the last flaming paragraph, "that 
 would for ever stand recorded and celebrated" into "we trust 
 would be attended with the greatest blessings, etc." The Vice- 
 Chancellor was not very willing to submit to the alterations, but 
 we insisted upon them and upon our right to make them as a 
 majority. He threatened that he would not go up with an 
 address that said so little in favour of the Peace; but it certainly 
 says full enough, and I am apprehensive that your Grace will 
 think it says too much. The Masters of Christ's, King's, Peter- 
 house, Jesus, Pembroke, and myself were for making these 
 alterations; the Vice-Chancellor, Masters of Caius, Emmanuel, 
 St John's, and Sydney were rather wishing it should pass as it 
 first stood 1.' 
 
 The lesson was not thrown away upon Goddard. The 
 customary procedure was for the Vice-Chancellor to 
 submit the address to the Chancellor before bringing 
 it before the Senate; but, aware that Newcastle would 
 attempt still further to modify the fulsome language, 
 the Master of Clare, wisely from his point of view, did 
 not allow the Chancellor to see the address until it had 
 been passed by the Senate^. Thus Newcastle was con- 
 fronted with a document which he heartily disliked but 
 which he could not alter; and his anger knew no bounds. 
 
 'I am amazed' he told Thomas Townshend 'that when we 
 had a majority of the Heads who over-ruled the Vice-Chancellor 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32948, f. 13. It is curious to find the Master of Pembroke, 
 Dr Long, supporting, and the Master of St John's, Dr Newcome, 
 opposing Newcastle. 2 ^j^j^ ]y[S. 32948, f. 15.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 313 
 
 in some things, that they could afterwards let such an address 
 pass^'; and he told Lord Hardwicke that he was 'amazed that 
 a serious religious body, as the university is or ought to be, 
 and where there are so many worthy reputable men as there are 
 there, should suffer... fulsome flattery, upon certain points to be 
 made in their name 2.' 
 
 It was not enough for him to complain to his friends, 
 and the letter, which he had originally intended to write 
 when the Vice-Chancellor came to town, was dispatched 
 at once. 
 
 'Reverend Sir' he wrote to Goddard on April 6th 'I re- 
 ceived here yesterday the favour of your letter of the 4th, trans- 
 mitting to me a copy of the address which the university have 
 thought proper to make to His Majesty on occasion of the 
 Peace. I am extremely sorry that anything should prevent my 
 attending the university with their address to the King. Nobody 
 can be more ready and desirous to show his duty and loyalty to 
 His Majesty upon all occasions than myself; or, as far as in me 
 lies, to promote and encourage those principles of steddiness and 
 affection to the Protestant succession, happily established in His 
 Majesty and His Royal Family, which now for many years I 
 have had the pleasure to see so uniformly pursued and so warmly 
 exerted there. I apprehend from several expressions in the address, 
 which I own I cannot approve, and which I should have ob- 
 jected to if I had been previously consulted, that my attendance 
 upon this occasion will not be consistent with the part which I 
 and other Lords thought ourselves obliged to take when the 
 consideration of the Preliminaries was before the parliament. 
 I therefore hope that it will not be thought want of duty to 
 the King or of respect to the university (in neither of which 
 will I ever be guilty of the least failure) if I desire you, Sir, 
 (as has been very frequently done in our late Chancellor's time) 
 to acquaint the Secretary of State that the university has agreed 
 upon an address to His Majesty, and that you desire to know 
 
 ^ A copy of the Duke's letter to Townshend, dated April 7th, is in 
 the Cambridge University Library. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32948, f. 21. When the Duke wrote this letter to Hard- 
 wicke he had not seen the address, but he was aware from the Master 
 of Corpus of its general tenor.
 
 314 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 from his Lordship when you and the university may attend 
 His Majesty with it^.' 
 
 Though this letter was addressed to the Vice- 
 Chancellor and circulated among the Heads of Houses, 
 it was intended quite as much for Pitt as for the uni- 
 versity. From the very outset Newcastle had been 
 obsessed with fear of what Pitt would think; and, 
 acting on a suggestion of the Bishop of Norwich^, he 
 lost no time in communicating his letter to his exacting 
 ally. He must have been greatly relieved to find that 
 it gave entire satisfaction: 'nothing' wrote Pitt 'can be 
 more becoming or carry more propriety and dignity^.* 
 Thus if Goddard had hoped to rend in twain a political 
 alliance recently concluded, he was disappointed, but 
 he was probably well enough pleased by what he had 
 actually achieved: it was enough for him that he had 
 humiliated the Chancellor and demonstrated his loyalty 
 to the crown. On April 14th he presented the address 
 to the King, and, though unattended by the Chancellor, 
 he was accompanied by a distinguished gathering which 
 included several bishops, a sprinkling of peers and 
 members of parliament, and about two hundred doctors 
 and masters of arts*. As he surveyed the scene Goddard 
 may have reflected that the last laugh is the best. 
 
 But though he had avenged himself, he did not wish 
 for peace and harmony; and, as long as Newcastle lived, 
 Goddard continued to wage war against him. His con- 
 duct with regard to Ragdale's application for a mandate 
 degree was probably inspired by malice^; and into his 
 farewell speech on resigning the office of Vice-Chancellor 
 he introduced 'some strong expressions in favour of 
 the Peace*^.' It was therefore quite natural that he should 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32948, f. 13. 2 Add. MS. 32948, f. 46. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32948, f. 84; see also f. 81. 
 
 ^ Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, iv, 326. 
 
 ^ See ch. in, pp. 166-171. 6 ;^jj_ ]VJS. 32952, f. 223.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 315 
 
 eagerly support Lord Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship; and, even when Newcastle had been 
 many years in the grave, Goddard had not forgiven him 
 for omitting to prefer him in the church. In 1781, 
 shortly before his death, the Master of Clare published 
 a volume of sermons which he dedicated to the then 
 Duke of Newcastle, who as Earl of Lincoln had been 
 his pupil; and he took the opportunity to recall his 
 ancient grievance. 
 
 'You being one of my oldest pupils now living' he wrote 'as 
 well as of the greatest dignity and consequence I ever had the 
 care of, having been placed under my tuition at Clare Hall in 
 the year 1737 by the late Duke of Newcastle, and not having 
 received the least mark of favour either from him or yourself, 
 (except that you have frequently acknowledged to my friends 
 and others that I faithfully and conscientiously discharged my 
 duty) though I am not conscious of any failure of a proper 
 regard for you both on my part, I presume to present these 
 sermons to you-*^.' 
 
 Thus Goddard carried his grievance with him to the 
 grave. 
 
 It must be admitted that Newcastle was equally un- 
 forgiving. 'It is indifferent to me' he wrote to Lord 
 Hardwicke in August 1763 'what day the Vice- 
 Chancellor comes, provided I know it time enough to 
 avoid meeting him, for I am determined never to be 
 in a room with him if I can avoid it^'; and his anger 
 never lost its edge. Never again did he make Clare his 
 headquarters; and when he visited Cambridge in the 
 summer of 1766 he stayed at St John's^. Probably of 
 the many disappointments he experienced in the course 
 of a long life, he felt none more keenly than his treatment 
 by Goddard. It was not so much vexation at the loss 
 
 ^ Wardale's History of Clare College, p. 163. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32950, f. 142. 
 
 ^ Cambridge Chronicle, July 5th, 1766.
 
 3i6 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 of what had once been a stronghold of his influence 
 at Cambridge, but sorrow and grief that he should have 
 been repudiated by his own college, of which he had 
 been so proud, and whose fidelity he had never doubted. 
 Goddard indeed had been far more successful than he 
 possibly realised: he had not only, like Marriott after 
 him, outwitted the politician; he had wounded the man. 
 It must not be assumed however that, whenever 
 Newcastle was unsuccessful in an election to a master- 
 ship, he made an enemy for life, for he was generally 
 prepared to forgive and, if possible, to make a friend of 
 a victorious adversary. It was clearly not to his interest 
 to sow a crop of vendettas in the university, and though, 
 when engaged in the contest, he was anxious to achieve 
 success and not over-scrupulous of the means he used, 
 he was generally ready to resume amicable relations 
 when the battle was over and the issue determined. The 
 history of his relations with Dr Sumner, Provost of 
 King's, certainly supports the theory that, though an 
 interfering, he was not an unforgiving Chancellor. 
 When in 1756 the Provostship fell vacant through the 
 death of Dr George, Dr John Sumner, who had been 
 Headmaster of Eton from 1745 to 1754, and Dr John 
 Ewer, who had been Lord Granby's private tutor, were 
 the two candidates. As Dr Sumner was suspected of 
 having the support of Lord Sandwich, Newcastle, ever 
 jealous of a rival influence in the university, very readily 
 agreed at Granby's request to support Dr Ewer^; and, 
 even before Dr George was dead, Dr Yonge, the Duke's 
 indefatigable agent, was busy in preparing for a canvass 
 of the Fellows of King's^. Unfortunately we do not 
 know the details of the contest; but there can be little 
 doubt that it was vigorously waged on both sides, New- 
 castle admitting in after years that he had fought hard 
 
 Add. MS. 32866, f. 109. 
 
 - Add. MS. 32866, f. 163, f. 165.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 317 
 
 for Dr Ewer^; and, as was perhaps inevitable, the vigour, 
 with which the struggle was carried on, was productive 
 of bitterness which was reflected in the strange recep- 
 tion accorded to the victor, Dr Sumner. 
 
 'I think it my duty' wrote Dr Yonge to the Duke on 
 October 24th, 1756 'to acquaint your Grace with some circum- 
 stances which have attended the admission of the Provost of 
 King's, as one of them very much concerns your Grace, and 
 the others bear very hard upon some whose names are not 
 mentioned, and who are, I hope, incapable of deserving the 
 appellations given to them. The Provost was presented as usual 
 to the Bishop of Lincoln^ in a Latin speech which was made by 
 Mr Upton, who, having said somewhat of the morals and 
 learning of King's college, added "utcunque de nobis sentiant 
 malevoli" or words to that purpose. In the college he was 
 received (as usual likewise) with another Latin speech by Mr 
 Read who mentioned the "nebulonum quorundam convicia in 
 aulis potentium temere sparsa." What led Mr Upton to his 
 reflection I know not, but the expressions of Mr Read may be 
 accounted for from the Bishop of Lincoln's answer to the first 
 speech, part of which, I am very well assured, was in sense as 
 follows. " I am glad to hear so good an account of the college, I 
 confess I thought otherwise of it, and imagined I had very good 
 authority for my opinion; for the Chancellor of the university 
 told me that the college, to which I was related as visitor, was 
 the worst college in it." This affair gives great concern to those 
 here who have the honour to be best known to your Grace, as 
 they see what an effect it must have upon the gentlemen of 
 King's college, who look upon themselves as charged with great 
 immoralities and great want of literature. I am told that Mr 
 Read, being asked whom he meant, made no scruple of men- 
 tioning Doctor Squire's name^, but did not explain his using the 
 plural number. Of this I am not certain, and although I am very 
 clear in the other facts, which indeed are notorious, yet whether 
 your Grace learning them from me should be a secret or not is a 
 doubt with me, and I leave it entirely to your Grace's pleasure ^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32942, f. 233. 2 q^i^e visitor of the college. 
 
 ^ The Chancellor's university secretary. 
 
 4 Add. MS. 32868, f. 410.
 
 3i8 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 It Is clear from the above account that it was within 
 Newcastle's power to join with the defeated minority 
 in making war upon the newly elected Provost and his 
 supporters; and it is therefore the more noteworthy that 
 he pursued an entirely opposite policy. On discovering 
 that 
 
 if the new Provost owed any share of his success to Lord Sand- 
 wich, (which I can scarce believe he did) he will yet certainly 
 act in such a manner as to make it appear that he was ignorant 
 of it, and that he is by no means connected with his Lordships, 
 
 Newcastle was quite prepared to bury the hatchet; and, 
 as Sumner was equally conciliatory, the two antagonists 
 established friendly relations which continued even after 
 the Duke had been driven from the Cabinet by 
 George III and Lord Bute. A few months after New- 
 castle had ceased to be a servant of the crown, he 
 mentioned Dr Sumner as one who had remained faithful 
 to him in the days of adversity ^, and although later on 
 he had to mourn the desertion of the Provost who 
 warmly supported Lord Sandwich for the High Steward- 
 ship, he had at least the consolation of knowing that 
 he was in no way responsible for the breach. If he had 
 failed to inspire Dr Sumner with a devotion proof 
 against all temptations of worldly advantage, he had at 
 least succeeded in winning and for several years retaining 
 his friendship; and, considering how unpromising had 
 been the beginning of their connection, this was no 
 mean achievement. 
 
 Nor was Dr Sumner exceptionally fortunate in re- 
 ceiving this conciliatory treatment. When on June 9th, 
 1760, Dr Chapman, Master of Magdalene, died after 
 a short illness, Newcastle was at once requested by 
 several applicants to use his influence with Lady 
 Portsmouth, in whose gift, as the owner of Audley End, 
 the mastership lay. Dr Ogden expressed the hope that 
 1 Add. MS. 32868, f. 352. 2 Add. MS. 32942, f. 233.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 319 
 
 'your Grace will promote a faithful servant and one 
 whom your former bounty has already made your own^' : 
 Dr Berridge of Clare was careful to say that he was 
 more solicitous of the dignity and honour of this preferment 
 through your influence than for its profits and emoluments, 
 being, (I thank God), in such plenty of circumstances as can no 
 way be thought necessitous^; 
 
 while Mr Eliot, Tutor and Fellow of Magdalene, re- 
 commended himself on the ground that the society 
 wished him to succeed Dr Chapman^. Without loss of 
 time Newcastle instructed the Master of Corpus to con- 
 sult a selected number of Heads of Houses as to the 
 most suitable candidate for him to support, and wrote 
 to Lady Portsmouth, politely requesting her 
 to suspend determining anything upon the vacancy of the master- 
 ship of Magdalen college... till I have the honour to lay before 
 you the wishes and inclinations of the principal members of the 
 university, who are the first friends of the government, and whose 
 advice I am always desirous of having*. 
 
 The Heads of Houses recommended Mr Eliot as 'a 
 person of good principles and learning, zealouslyattached 
 to His Majesty's family and government, very accept- 
 able to your Grace's friends here, and much respected 
 through the whole university^'; and Newcastle, if he 
 had been given the opportunity, would certainly have 
 recommended Eliot to Lady Portsmouth. But Lady 
 Portsmouth had not waited for the death of Dr Chapman 
 to decide upon the disposal of her patronage. 
 
 ' I shall always be glad ' she replied to Newcastle on June 1 1 th 
 'to have it in my power to oblige your Grace, but, soon after I 
 was in possession of Audely End, I promised the first vacancy 
 of the preferment, and my engagement is so circumstanced that 
 it is impossible for me to receed from it^.' 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32907, f. 141; see also f. 98. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32907, f. 100. 3 ^jj_ JYJ5_ 32907, f. 102. 
 * Add. MS. 32907, f. 137, f. 209. 
 
 Add. MS. 32908, f. 209. 6 Add. MS. 32907, f. 160.
 
 320 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 Lady Portsmouth's promise had been given to 
 George Sandby who was rector of Denton in Norfolk 
 and an Oxford man; and Newcastle was not unnaturally 
 offended by the slight to Cambridge and Magdalene. 
 *I think' he wrote to the Master of Corpus 'my Lady 
 Portsmouth does very unkindly by our university in 
 not taking one of our body, especially when there is 
 so very deserving an one at the college as Mr Elliott 
 is^.' But on learning that the new Master was the son 
 of a zealous and orthodox whig, Newcastle welcomed 
 him with open arms and warmly commended him to 
 his friends at Cambridge^. Nor was Sandby unwilling 
 to be won. 
 
 'Permit me to say' he wrote to the Duke in August 1760 
 'that there is not one amongst the warmest of our noble Chan- 
 cellor's friends with whom your Grace's commands might be 
 deposited with greater confidence, nor who would execute them, 
 as far as my power and abilities will go, with more observance, 
 caution, and punctuality than myself My father was very zealous 
 in the Revolution cause, and he always taught me by principle 
 to succour that part which your Grace led the way in, and which 
 he particularly engaged in himself under the counsel (sic) of poor 
 Mr Pelham, when the times were perilous and the waste of 
 money great. It was upon these accounts that your Grace, 
 nineteen years ago, promised to give me a little fresh plumeage 
 (sic) for all that which my father had destroyed; and when the 
 disturbances in the house of commons rendered it inconvenient 
 then to your Grace to do what you had designed, I soon after- 
 wards saw my sorrowing father to his grave, and have sat down 
 performing my best ever since. Providence has now thrown me 
 before your Grace again, and, if it pleases your Grace to raise 
 me up with any favour, it shall be received and held with every 
 token of gratitude^.' 
 
 Sandby moreover was as enthusiastic about his new 
 university as he was about its Chancellor. ' I was once 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32907, f. 351; see also f. 239, f. 282, f. 292. 
 
 2 Add. MS. 32908, f. 152. 3 Add. MS. 32909, f. 376.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 321 
 
 an Oxford man' he wrote a few months after his ap- 
 pointment as Master ' but am now all over Cambridge ^ * ; 
 and he proved himself a man of his word. Unlike the 
 Provost of King's he did not desert to Lord Sandwich,, 
 and, if he erred, it was in excess of loyalty. 
 
 'I very lately made' he wrote to Newcastle in May 1765 
 'a domestick of Lord Rockingham's Fellow of Magdalen, and 
 told him that, whenever his vote could be of use, I hoped he 
 would remember that I helped to it. He promised that he would. 
 I have likewise three bye Fellowships now vacant, and I intend 
 keeping them so till within a year of the general election, that I 
 may know the better how to dispose of them 2.' 
 
 Lady Portsmouth had indeed given the Chancellor a 
 loyal supporter; but it is to the credit of the Duke that 
 he was politic enough to welcome the intruder into the 
 academic fold^. 
 
 Enough has been said to show that if Newcastle 
 quarrelled with a college it was only with reluctance 
 and under great provocation; but his conciliatory tactics 
 were not always successful. It was almost vital for his 
 position in the university that he should be on friendly 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32914, f. 221. 2 Add. MS. 32966, f. 387. 
 
 ^ It should be mentioned that in October 1763 Newcastle was 
 disturbed, though without adequate reason, about the Master of 
 Magdalene. 'I send you an unpleasant letter' he wrote to the Bishop 
 of Norwich 'which I have received from Dr Sandby. I generally guess 
 pretty right when my friends, or those who call themselves so, begin to 
 cool towards me. I have thought for some months that that was the case 
 of the Master of Magdalene, and particularly from his not having sent 
 me an edition of his Terence which he put out in August last, and which 
 I saw at Wimple in that month, a present froin the editor. I own it 
 surprised me, and I spoke to Caryl about it. He has now sent me his 
 Juvenal with some hints of dissatisfaction. Your Lordship is very good 
 in your intentions about the Chancellorship and I hope you will, when 
 vacant, determine it for Dr Sandby.' Add. MS. 32952, f. 47. The 
 complaint was eminently characteristic of Newcastle, but Sandby 
 profited, being appointed Chancellor of Norwich in July 1768. Add. 
 MS. 32990, f 336.
 
 322 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 and intimate terms with Trinity which, as one of the 
 largest colleges, wielded considerable power; and yet 
 this proved more than he could accomplish. It is true 
 that Trinity never became actively hostile until Lord 
 Sandwich sought to establish his power in the univer- 
 sity, and that even in those days a certain number of 
 the Fellows remained loyal adherents of the Duke; but 
 there is no disputing the fact that, even when his rela- 
 tions with the college were outwardly correct and 
 superficially cordial, Newcastle was less sure of his 
 ground in Trinity than in most of the colleges where 
 he had established a footing. It was Trinity which led 
 the opposition to his attempt to make the prolongation 
 of the Vice-Chancellorship for a second year the rule 
 and not the exception; and this was not the only occasion 
 that the college adopted an independent line and proved 
 unamenable to the Chancellor's influence. 
 
 The phenomenon is the more surprising from having 
 no obvious cause. Trinity had warmly supported the 
 Duke when he was a candidate for the Chancellorship, 
 and until the accession of George III enjoyed the reputa- 
 tion of being 'the great strength of the whig interest^' 
 in the university. The Duke moreover was unsparing 
 in his flattery of a foundation which he once described 
 as 'the finest college in England^,' and there is no 
 possible doubt that he was extremely anxious to have 
 the support of a society which could, when it chose, 
 play an important and often a decisive part in university 
 politics. Yet he certainly failed, and it is probable that 
 his failure was due to various and unconnected circum- 
 stances rather than to any one particular blunder. It 
 has already been suggested that his intimacy with 
 St John's would not plead in his favour with the rival 
 college; and it also appears that certain of the Fellows 
 of Trinity believed that the Duke, when he controlled 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32724, f. 466. 2 Add. MS. 32908, f. 104.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 323 
 
 the crown's ecclesiastical patronage, had deprived them 
 of their fair share of church preferment. 
 
 'Now these favours' wrote a member of the college in a 
 periodical in 1764 'so great and singular, how have they been 
 repaid? Nay sir, don't be so open-mouthed, I hear what you are 
 saying, "by prebends, deaneries, and bishoprics." Nothing less 
 I assure you; I hardly know of one man who has been preferred 
 from that college^.' 
 
 If this complaint was well founded, the college had 
 an undeniable grievance against the Chancellor; and 
 there is some reason to think that the influence of the 
 Master, Dr Smith, was not often exercised to promote 
 peace and goodwill. Though Dr Smith only became an 
 avowed enemy of the Duke when there was nothing to 
 be gained by serving him, he never appears to have been 
 on more than terms of ordinary courtesy with him, and 
 it is unlikely that Newcastle ever relied upon him to 
 further his interests. It should not be assumed that 
 Dr Smith was from the start actively working against 
 the Duke, but there are indications that he adopted a 
 neutral attitude, and resented as an encroachment upon 
 his authority any attempt by Newcastle to establish 
 his influence in the college. 
 
 But whatever were the reasons for the coolness, it is 
 certain that Newcastle was very far from being hostile 
 to the college, and that on the one occasion when he 
 acted against its wishes he was the victim of an excusable 
 error. In 1755 Mark Hildesley was promoted from the 
 vicarage of Hitchin, a Trinity living, to the bishopric 
 of Sodor and Man; and as at this date the sovereignty 
 of the Isle of Man was vested in the House of Athol, it 
 was at least an open question whether in the case of this 
 particular see the crown could claim its usual right of 
 presenting to a living vacated by promotion to a 
 
 1 The Scrutator-, April 12th, 1764.
 
 324 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 bishopric. Those who disputed the right of the crown 
 contended that there was 
 
 'no instance of the crown presenting to any benefice upon a 
 promotion to the see of Man, that there are instances where 
 the private patrons have presented,... that in a case of a contest 
 between the crown and a patron for the right of presentation 
 to a Hving upon the promotion of a bishop, which was deter- 
 mined in favour of the crown and which is reported by Levinz, 
 the judges rest their arguments very much upon the crown 
 granting the temporahties,' and that 'no temporahties are 
 granted to the Bishop of Man which distinguishes his case from 
 that of other bishops^.' 
 
 Acting however on the advice of Hildesley, who men- 
 tioned that in the opinion of some people the presenta- 
 tion to his Hving would lapse to the crown^, the Master 
 of Trinity petitioned Newcastle that a Fellow of the 
 college should be appointed to the vicarage of Hitchin. 
 
 'The good Bishop of Sodor and Man, formerly one of my 
 darling pupils,' he wrote on May 2ist, 1755, 'having been 
 pleased to apply to your Grace to desire that a Fellow of his 
 own college may succeed him in the vicarage of Hitching, if 
 your Grace be pleased to comply with the Bishop's request and 
 will do us the honour to name the clerk or leave it to the Bishop 
 or the Master and seniors to recommend one to your Grace, in 
 any case it will be accepted by this society as a particular mark 
 of your Grace's favour^.' 
 
 Unfortunately the Master had dallied too long, and 
 Newcastle had already pledged himself to give the 
 living to Hildesley's curate, Mr John Jones, an Oxonian, 
 whose claims were supported by the parishioners of 
 Hitchin'^. It is unlikely that the Duke would have thus 
 committed himself if he had remembered that the living 
 was in the gift of Trinity: but, having engaged himself 
 to the curate, he could only politely refuse to comply 
 with Dr Smith's request. There the matter might have 
 
 1 Add. MS. 328;;8, f. 70. 2 ^^dd. MS. 32860, f. 463. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32855, f. 94. 4 Add. MS. 32860, f. 463.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 325 
 
 ended if certain Fellows of the college had not raised 
 the question of the right of the crown to present to 
 a living vacated by a promotion to the bishopric of 
 Sodor and Man. 
 
 'As soon as your pre-engagement was known in the college' 
 wrote Dr Walker to the Duke in November 1755 'many of 
 the Fellows came in a body to the Master and told him they 
 were well advised that the presentation to Hitchin was in the 
 college and not in the crown, and begged of him to let us try 
 our right. After some deliberation it was agreed at first to enter 
 a caveat, and to take time to consider whether we should proceed 
 in the affair or no. Not long after we were informed from 
 several knowing persons in such affairs that the preferments of 
 Bishops of Mann did not lapse to the crown as in other bishop- 
 ricks, upon which information the Master and seniors unani- 
 mously agreed to a conclusion to try the college right^.' On 
 July 7th, 1755, it was agreed by the Vice-Master and seniors, 
 the Master consenting, 'that the college presentation to the 
 vicarage of Hitchin be granted to Mr Morgan, and, if it 
 should be contested, that our right of presentation be supported 
 at the expense of the college^.' 
 
 Thus the action of the crown or rather of Newcastle 
 was definitely challenged, and the Master and Fellows 
 of Trinity were set upon a fight to a finish. Encouraged 
 by the Bishop of Lincoln^, who sympathised with their 
 attitude and in whose diocese Hitchin lay, they believed 
 that they were in the right, and that their action would 
 be upheld in a court of law. Nor was it only for a 
 principle that they were contending, for the curate was 
 objectionable as an Oxonian, and, as the Master ex- 
 plained, they had 
 
 very few livings in their gift for which a Fellow would quit his 
 Fellowship, and that it was of little importance to the crown 
 because the case of the Bishop of Sodor and Man is quite distinct 
 from all other bishopricks*. 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32860, f. 463. 2 Trinity College Conclusion Book. 
 3 John Thomas. * Add. MS. 32858, f. 70.
 
 326 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 On the other hand it was extremely difficult for New- 
 castle to retreat with honour from the position he had 
 taken up, and indeed he could not do so without estab- 
 lishing a precedent against the crown which would 
 certainly not be forgotten. He was advised by the crown 
 lawyers not to abandon what they regarded as a legal 
 right: and, if he had viewed the dispute exclusively 
 from the point of view of the king's Prime Minister, he 
 would probably have accepted the challenge of the 
 college. But as the Chancellor of the university he 
 could not forget that a quarrel with Trinity might 
 seriously prejudice his position; and he therefore sought 
 for a compromise, directing Lord Dupplin in August 
 1755 to propose to Dr Smith 
 
 to have the matter of right referred to any indifferent person or 
 persons, and mentioned the Master of the Rolls as being one 
 who could not be an unfavourable judge to his own college^. 
 
 The Master however stubbornly refused arbitration, 
 and Newcastle, probably because he was loath to offend 
 Trinity, unconditionally surrendered and allowed the 
 nominee of the college to remain in undisputed pos- 
 session of the living^. 
 
 As the college had been completely triumphant and 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32858, f. 70. 
 
 ^ There is the following note on p. 356 of the Rev. Weeden Butler's 
 Memoirs of Dr Hildesley. 'Mr Jones's expectation of obtaining the 
 presentation to Hitchin must appear a little singular at first sight: as 
 the patronage was in Trinity college, Cambridge, and Mr Jones himself 
 belonged to Oxford. But the case was this: the king usually filling up 
 such preferments as became vacant upon the appointment of a new 
 bishop, it was supposed that the prerogative would have extended to the 
 instance of Dr Hildesley's promotion, which it did not. The parishioners 
 however petitioned the college in behalf of Mr Jones, not being aware 
 of the informality of so doing: or that a society were not likely to 
 dispose of the presentation to any one not a member of their body.' 
 The parishioners may have petitioned the college but they certainly 
 petitioned Newcastle through a certain Mr Plummer. Add. MS. 
 32860, f. 463.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 327 
 
 Newcastle had completely cleared himself from any 
 suspicion of malice, it is impossible to believe that the 
 incident was productive of anything more than a 
 temporary coolness: and there is no reason to think 
 that, if it had never happened, the relations between 
 Newcastle and the college would have been more 
 cordial. The most fundamental factor in the situation 
 was probably the lack of any friendly understanding 
 between the Master and the Duke : and as the master- 
 ship of Trinity is in the gift of the crown, it was un- 
 fortunate for Newcastle that he never had, subsequently 
 to his election as Chancellor, an opportunity of dis- 
 posing of this particular piece of royal patronage. 
 Dr Smith did not die until February 2nd, 1768, and by 
 that date Newcastle was not only on the verge of the 
 grave himself but shorn of his former greatness and 
 out of favour with the court. Yet, though opposed to 
 the government and without any appreciable political 
 influence, he could not relinquish all idea of establishing 
 a friend as Master of Trinity, and when his loyal sup- 
 porter, James Backhouse, one of the Trinity Tutors, 
 asked for his assistance, he was not deaf to the appeal. 
 He could not have been sanguine of success, for he 
 knew that the Prime Minister, the Duke of Grafton, 
 was warmly in favour of Dr HinchlifFe, and that 
 Grafton was entitled to advise the King as to the ap- 
 pointment: but, as on some previous occasion the Arch- 
 bishop had 'recommended Mr Backhouse to the King, 
 in case of a vacancy, for the mastership of Trinity^,' 
 it was to the Archbishop that Newcastle turned. 
 
 'I have had an account this day' he wrote on January 30th, 
 1768, 'that the Master of Trinity is so ill that he cannot last 
 many days. Your Grace knows how much I have at heart Mr 
 Backhouse's success. He is a very worthy man and has great 
 merit from the long laborious part he has had of being a Tutor 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32988, f. 125.
 
 328 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 
 
 with great reputation in a great college: and his services have 
 been such as to give him just pretensions to the mastership when 
 it shall be vacant.... If Mr Backhouse should be Master and that 
 college should join with St John's, we shall then have nothing 
 to fear... .The Bishop of Norwich has sent for Mr Backhouse 
 to town, and intends that he shall wait upon your Grace as soon 
 as possible after his arrival^.' 
 
 Backhouse arrived in London on January 30th or 
 perhaps before^, and waited upon the Archbishop: but 
 both his visit and the Duke's letter failed to produce 
 the desired effect. The Archbishop, who was confined 
 to his house, declined to write to the King on behalf 
 of Backhouse, pleading that as his advice had not been 
 sought by the crown, he was not justified in giving it : 
 though apparently, if he had been able to attend at 
 court, he would have been prepared to speak to the 
 King in favour of Backhouse. He however suggested 
 that the Bishop of London might say a good word to 
 the King for Backhouse, but it is quite clear that he 
 believed the enterprise to be hopeless; and the Bishop 
 of Norwich reported that, when Backhouse returned 
 from Lambeth, 'he thought from all he could collect 
 from the Archbishop that all was over, and he said he 
 would be the first to congratulate with Dr Hinchliffe, 
 and would study to live upon the best terms with him 
 at college^.' It is possible that the Archbishop was 
 franker with Backhouse than he was with the Duke: 
 and the Bishop of London, if he interceded with the 
 King, failed to persuade. Grafton had the royal ear and 
 Dr Hinchliffe was appointed Master of Trinity. 
 
 Newcastle was not to live to see another Head of a 
 House appointed, and before the year was out he was 
 in his grave. It is obvious that he did not attain the 
 power he coveted in the university, and that he was still 
 
 1 Add. MS. 32988, f. 118. 2 Add. MS. 32988, f. 122. 
 
 3 Add. MS. 32988, f. 148; see also f. 124, f. 125.
 
 THE CHANCELLOR AND THE COLLEGES 329 
 
 more unsuccessful in his excursions into college politics. 
 Yet he can only be held to have failed if judged by the 
 standard which he set himself. Few Chancellors can 
 have played a more active and dominant part in univer- 
 sity affairs : and the strongest testimony to his influence 
 is that in the day of his greatest impotence in the State 
 he was able to defeat Lord Sandwich who had the court 
 and ministry behind him. As a politician and a servant 
 of the State he would have been doubtless well advised 
 not to toil so arduously in a field from which he could 
 reap no adequate harvest: but, had he been wiser, we 
 should have been poorer. Had he not so ceaselessly 
 interfered and so carefully preserved the records of his 
 campaigns, we should know far less about eighteenth 
 century Cambridge and the way the academic game was 
 played. And for that we owe him gratitude.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abbot, William, Fellow and Tutor 
 
 of St John's, and the question of 
 
 re-admissions, 82 n. i 
 Abdy, Sir Anthony, brother-in-law 
 
 of Professor Rutherforth, 255 and 
 
 n. I, 256 
 Adams, Judge, 18 
 Addresses, university, 153-159, 307- 
 
 314 
 
 Alvis, Andrew, . Fellow of St 
 John's, and the election of a 
 Master of St John's in 1765, 
 260 
 
 Amelia, Princess, 262 
 
 Andrews, a candidate for a Fellow- 
 ship of Trinity Hall, 272, 274, 
 276, 277 
 
 Anglesey, Arthur Annesley, Earl of. 
 High Steward of the University, 
 36 
 
 Ansell, Thomas, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, and the dinner of the West- 
 minster club, 2 1 1-2 12; proceed- 
 ings against in the Vice-Chancel- 
 lor's court, 213-216; and the 
 right of appeal, 216-218; and the 
 election of Marriott to a Fellow- 
 ship of Trinity Hall, 274-275; 
 and the election of Crespigny to a 
 Fellowship of Trinity Hall, 277; 
 and Marriott's election as Master 
 of Trinity Hall, 285, 289-290, 
 293, 295, 297 
 
 Appeal, right of, 205-222 
 
 Armitage, Sir John, 23 
 
 Ashcroft, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 John's, 251 
 
 Ashdon, Rectory of, 239 
 
 Ashton, Charles, Master of Jesus, 
 
 49 
 Athol, Dukes of, and the Isle of 
 
 Man, 323 
 Audley End, and the Mastership of 
 
 Magdalene, 318, 319 
 Ayscough, Francis, Chaplain to 
 
 Frederick, Prince of Wales, 47 
 
 Backhouse, James, Fellow and Tutor 
 of Trinity, his merits as a Tutor, 
 7, 15; and the new regulations, 
 209; and the Trinity Fellowship 
 election in 1762, 14-15; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship in 1764, 69, 75, 
 77 n. 5, 95-96; and the conflict 
 between the undergraduates and 
 seniority in 1764, 117; and the 
 election of the Caput in 1764, 126 
 n. 5; and the election of a Vice- 
 Chancellor in 1764, 134; a candi- 
 date for the Mastership of Trinity 
 in 1768, 327-328; relations with 
 the Duke of Newcastle, 232 
 
 Bacon, of Gonville and Caius, 92 
 
 Balguy, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 John's, and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 220 
 
 Banson, John, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, and the question of the right 
 of appeal, 218 
 
 Barker, son of the Duke of Rutland's 
 steward, 68 
 
 Barnard, Edward, Headmaster and 
 afterwards Provost of Eton, sup- 
 ports Lord Hardwicke for the 
 High Stewardship in 1764, 61, 73; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 134; and Dr John- 
 son, 73 
 
 Barnardiston, John, elected Master 
 of Corpus in 1764, 130, 238; 
 elected Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 
 130-137; and the examination for 
 the Chancellor's medals, 223; and 
 the election of the Duke of Grafton 
 as Chancellor in 1768, 143 
 
 Barton, Captain, 68 
 
 Barton, of Clare, 94 
 
 Barton, Cutts, Dean of Bristol, 
 68 
 
 Bedford, John Russell, Duke of, and 
 the Duke of Newcastle's candida- 
 ture for the Chancellorship, 41-43,
 
 332 
 
 INDEX 
 
 46; and Lord Sandwich's candi- 
 dature for the High Stewardship, 
 
 59^ 73 
 
 Bennet, 92 
 
 Bennet, Thomas, Esquire Bedell, 109 
 
 Bentley, Richard, Master of Trinity, 
 I, 4, 115 n. 3 
 
 Berridge, Charles, Fellow of Clare, 
 and Lord Hardwicke's candida- 
 ture for the High Stewardship, 64, 
 93; applies for the Mastership of 
 Magdalene, 319; see also 150 
 
 Bickham, James, Fellow of Em- 
 manuel, and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 220 
 
 Biddle, Dr, and the election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Bigg, of Clare, 93-94 
 
 Birkbeck, Edward, Fellow of St 
 John's, supports the candidature 
 of the Duke of Newcastle for the 
 Chancellorship, 45 
 
 Bowers, Thomas, Bishop of Chiches- 
 ter, and the Duke of Newcastle, 
 
 35"- I . 
 
 Bristol, Bishop of, see Philip Yonge 
 
 Bristol, Dean of, see Barton 
 
 Brockett, 18 
 
 Brockett, Laurence, Fellow of Trin- 
 ity and Regius Professor of 
 Modern History, supports Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77, 113 n. 5; 
 and the conflict between the under- 
 graduates and seniority in 1764, 
 1 17 and n. i 
 
 Brooke, Zachary, Fellow and Tutor 
 of St John's, thinks of standing 
 for the Mastership of St John's in 
 1758, 241-244; supports Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77, 113 n. 5, 
 245; elected to the Lady Margaret 
 Professorship of Divinity in 1765, 
 246-266; a candidate for the 
 Mastership of St John's in 1765, 
 247-260 
 
 Brown, James, Fellow and after- 
 wards Master of Pembroke, and 
 the dinner of the Westminster 
 Club, 21 1-215 
 
 Boyce, William, sets the Duke of 
 
 Newcastle's installation ode to 
 music, 51 
 
 Buckden, 87 and n. 2 
 
 Bull, John, scholar of Christ's, 2 r 
 
 Burrel, see Burrell 
 
 Burrell, Sir William, and the election 
 of a Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Burrough, Sir James, Master of 
 Gonville and Caius, and the 
 Senate House and the Library 
 East Front, 223-225, 223 n. 3; 
 elected Master, 233; elected Vice- 
 Chancellor, 28; and the address 
 on the fall of Quebec, 156-157; 
 knighted, 157; entertains the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 150; and the 
 address on the Peace of Paris, 312; 
 and Lord Sandwich's candidature 
 for the High Stewardship, 67, 77, 
 130 n. 4, 233; and the question of 
 re-admissions, 97 n. i ; his popu- 
 larity in the university, 224 and 
 n. 2; Newcastle's distrust of, 233; 
 death of, 131 
 
 Butcher, of Peterborough, 42, 44 
 
 Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 318 
 
 Calvert, John, 283 n. i 
 Calvert, Nicholson, 283 n. r 
 Calvert, Peter, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, nominated to a Fellowship, 
 270-271; and the election of 
 Marriott to a Fellowship, 274- 
 275; and the election of Crespigny 
 to a Fellowship, 277; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 66, 281; and 
 the election of Marriott as Master 
 of Trinity Hall, 282-286, 288, 
 291, 293, 295; recommended to 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury for 
 the office of Dean of Arches, 283 
 n. I ; and the election of a Vice- 
 Chancellor in 1764, 134 
 Canterbury, Archbishop of, see 
 Thomas Herring, Matthew Hut- 
 ton, Thomas Seeker 
 Caput, method of electing, 30 and 
 n. I, 125; its powers, 30-32; and 
 the appointment of the Duke of 
 Newcastle as High Steward, 37; 
 election of in 1764, 124-127
 
 INDEX 
 
 333 
 
 Cardale, Joseph, Fellow and Bursar 
 of St John's, 249 and n i. 
 
 Carlisle, Dean of, see Charles Tarrent 
 
 Carlisle, George Howard, Earl of, 68 
 
 Carr, of Clare College, 94 
 
 Carr, George, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, nominated to a Fellowship, 
 270; and Marriott's election to a 
 Fellowship, 274-275; and Cres- 
 pigny's election to a Fellowship, 
 277-278; supporter of the Duke 
 of Newcastle, 279; vacates his 
 Fellowship, 281 
 
 Carrington, James, undergraduate 
 of Trinity, signs the Admonition 
 in 1764, 118 
 
 Caryl, Lynford, Master of Jesus, and 
 the new regulations, 209; and the 
 East Front of the Library, 226- 
 227; recommends Carr for a 
 Fellowship of Trinity Hall, 2 70; 
 appointed to the Mastership of 
 Jesus, 235-236, 236 n. I ; elected 
 Vice-Chancellor, 179; activities as 
 Vice-Chancellor, 28-29; ^^^ Duke 
 of Newcastle's agent at Cam- 
 bridge, 147, 232; entertains the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 150; and the 
 address on the fall of Quebec, 155- 
 156; and the election of Waring 
 to the Lucasian Professorship of 
 Mathematics, 195; and the address 
 on the accession of George HI, 
 157; and the address on the Peace 
 of Paris, 312; and mandate degrees, 
 167-170; and Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 66-67, 69, 77, 85, 91-93; and 
 the legal proceedings connected 
 with Lord Hardwicke's candida- 
 ture, 122-123; and the election of 
 Marriott as Master of Trinity Hall, 
 282, 292, 293, 296; and the election 
 of the Caput in 1764, 126 and n. 5; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chancel- 
 lor in 1764, 131, 134-137; and the 
 elections to the Lady Margaret 
 Professorship and Mastership of St 
 John's in 1765, 257, 258, 264-265; 
 and thestatueof GeorgeH, 228 ;and 
 the Duke of Grafton's election as 
 Chancellor, 140, 143; see also 119 
 
 Carysfort, John Proby, Lord, sup- 
 ports Lord Sandwich's candida- 
 ture for the High Stewardship, 80 
 -81, 96; accompanies Lord Sand- 
 wich to Cambridge, 113 
 
 Castle, Edmund, Master of Corpus, 
 appointed Dean of Hereford, 1 1 ; 
 as Vice-Chancellor, 38, 40, 41; 
 death of, 236-237 
 
 Castley, Thomas, Fellow of Jesus, 
 92 and n. 6 
 
 Cavendish, Lord John, 23 
 
 Cay, Fellow of Clare, 303 
 
 Chancellor of the university, 26, 27; 
 method of appointment, 41; a 
 member of the house of regents, 
 32n. i; installation of Duke of 
 Newcastle as, 29; and university 
 addresses, 153-154; and mandate 
 degrees, 1 61-162, 170 
 
 Chancellor's medals, custom of giving 
 begun by the Duke of Newcastle, 
 222-223; 31^^ Francis Maseres, 196 
 
 Chapman, Archdeacon John, dis- 
 pute with the Master of Emmanuel 
 over the precentorship of Lincoln, 
 77 n. 5 
 
 Chapman, Thomas, Master of Mag- 
 dalene, and the election of Dr 
 Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 182, 185-186; and 
 Duke of Newcastle's election as 
 Chancellor, 47 ; and Duke of New- 
 castle's installation as Chancellor, 
 49~53 5 ^'^^ the new regulations, 
 199, 209; and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 220; and the pro- 
 longation of Dr Yonge's term of 
 office as Vice-Chancellor, 173; 
 author of a work on the Roman 
 Senate, 5; his death, 8, 318-319 
 
 Charles H, and mandate degrees, 160 
 
 Chester, P'shop of, see Edmund 
 Keene 
 
 Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stan- 
 hope, Earl of, and the Prince of 
 Wales' candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 40-41 
 
 Chevallier, John, Fellow and after- 
 wards Master of St John's, sup- 
 ports Lord Hardwicke for the 
 High Stewardship, 63 and n. i
 
 334 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Chichester, Bishop of, see Thomas 
 Bowers 
 
 Christ's College, disturbance in, 20- 
 23; Duke of Newcastle's relations 
 with, 234; and Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 104; and the election of the 
 Duke of Grafton as Chancellor, 
 
 Clare College, affection of Duke of 
 Newcastle for, 11, 298; the Duke 
 of Newcastle entertained by, 
 150; election of Dr Goddard as 
 Master, 298-304; and Hagar's 
 appeal, 304-307; the Duke of 
 Newcastle's quarrel with, 315- 
 316; and Lord Hardwicke's candi- 
 dature for the High Stewardship, 
 104 
 
 Clive, Robert, Lord, 166-168, 170 
 
 Cole, William, and George Mounsey, 
 9; and Dr Newcome, 48; and Dr 
 Chapman, 53; and Dr Keene, 58 
 n. I ; and the East Front of the 
 Library, 227 
 
 Colson, John, Lucasian Professor of 
 Mathematics, death of, 194 
 
 Constitution of the university, 25- 
 33, 80-82, 80 n. I 
 
 Cornwallis, Hon. Frederick, Bishop 
 of Lichfield, 61 and n. 2 
 
 Corpus Christi College, election of a 
 master in 1750, 236-238; election 
 of a master in 1764, 130; supports 
 Lord Hardwicke for the High 
 Stewardship, 104; and the Duke 
 of Grafton's election as Chancellor, 
 141 
 
 Cotterell, Sir Clement, Master of 
 the Ceremonies at the Duke 
 of Newcastle's installation, 51 
 n. 3 . 
 
 Courtail, John, Fellow and Tutor of 
 Clare, and the new regulations, 
 209 
 
 Craven scholarship, examination 
 for, 12-14 
 
 Crespigny, Claude Champion, Fel- 
 low of Trinity Hall, elected to a 
 Fellowship, 277-279; and the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 279; vacates 
 Fellowship, 281 
 
 Crew, Samuel, Fellow of Trinity, 
 and the dinner of the Westminster 
 Club, 2 1 1-2 12; proceedings a- 
 gainst in the Vice-Chancellor's 
 court, 212-215 
 
 Cumberland, Duke of, 76 n. 2, 134, 
 252 
 
 Cumberland, Richard, 6-7 
 
 Dale, Robert, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, and the election of John 
 Robinson to a Fellowship, 269; 
 and the election of James Marriott 
 to a Fellowship, 275 n. 2; and 
 Lord Hardwicke's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 66; and the 
 election of Marriott as Master, 
 288, 290 and n. 2, 293-295 
 
 Damerham, living of, held by Dr 
 Ogden, rr 
 
 Dartmouth, W^illiam Legge, Earl of, 
 
 ^^ 
 Davis, Henry, Fellow of Trinity, 
 
 117 and n. i 
 
 Dawes, Richard, 4 
 
 De Grey, William, Solicitor General, 
 and the legal proceedings con- 
 nected with Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 123-124 
 
 Denton, 320 
 
 Devonshire, William Cavendish, 
 fourth Duke of, 68, 89; and Dr 
 Ridlington, 278; and the address 
 on the Peace of Paris, 309 and n. i 
 
 Devonshire, William Cavendish, 
 fifth Duke of, 255 and n. i 
 
 Dickins, Francis, Regius Professor 
 of Civil Law and Fellow of Trin- 
 ity Hall, 269 
 
 Disney, William, Regius Professor of 
 Hebrew and Fellow of Trinity, 
 supports Lord Hardwicke's can- 
 didature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 72 
 
 Divinity, Regius Professor of, dis- 
 qualified for election as Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, 27 n. 2; election of, 182-193 
 
 Doctors, Vice-Chancellor's authority 
 over, 29; and the Caput, 30; right 
 of voting in either house of the 
 Senate, 31-32, 103-104, 104 n. r
 
 INDEX 
 
 335 
 
 Doctors' Commons, and the Fellows 
 of Trinity Hall, 267, 282-283, 
 287, 293; see also 268 
 
 Draper, Colonel, afterwards Sir 
 William, supports Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 96 
 
 Drummond, Robert, Archbishop of 
 York, supports Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 64, 71, 94 
 
 Dupplin, Thomas Hay, Lord, repre- 
 sentative of the borough of Cam- 
 bridge in parliament, 43-44; and 
 the Duke of Newcastle's candi- 
 dature for the Chancellorship, 43 
 and n. 6, 45-46, '47 n. 6; and the 
 election of Dr Green as Regius 
 Professor of Divinity, 185; and 
 the new regulations, 208 n. 5; and 
 the election of John Robinson to a 
 Fellowship at Trinity Hall, 269; 
 and the dispute with Trinity over 
 the living of Hitchin, 326; see also 
 174, 243 
 
 Duquesne, 271 
 
 Edgecumbe, George Edgecumbe, 
 Lord, 65 
 
 Egremont, Charles Wyndham, Earl 
 of, 170 
 
 Ekins, Jeffery, Fellow of King's, 68, 
 69 and n. 2 
 
 Ekins, Rector of Barton in North- 
 amptonshire, 68 
 
 Eliot, Fellow and Tutor of Magda- 
 lene, anxious for the mastership, 
 319, 320 
 
 Elkin, 19 
 
 Elkin, Rose, the "fair Jewess," 19 
 
 Ellis, William, arranges to pair with 
 Dr Berridge, 93 
 
 Elliston, William, Master of Sidney 
 Sussex, elected Master, 61 and 
 n. 7; and the address on the Peace 
 of Paris, 312; supports Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 office of High Steward, 61, 64, 72, 
 77-79' 84 86-90, 96-97, 99-102, 
 104-112; and the question of re- 
 admissions, 98-99; and Lord 
 
 Sandwich's visit to Cambridge, 
 114; and the legal proceedings 
 connected with the High Steward- 
 ship, 123-124; and his resignation 
 of the Vice-Chancellorship, 127- 
 129; see also 126 
 
 Ely, Bishop of. Mastership of Jesus 
 in gift of, 235 
 
 Ely, Bishop of, see Sir Thomas 
 Gooch and Matthias Mawson 
 
 Ely, Dean of, see Hugh Thomas 
 
 Emmanuel College, and the Duke of 
 Newcastle's election as Chancellor, 
 48; and the election of a High 
 Steward, 104 n. 2; little influence 
 of the Duke of Newcastle in, 233 
 
 Esquire Bedell, 32 n. i, 52, 109 
 
 Euston, Earl of, see Duke of Grafton 
 
 Evans, 92 
 
 Ewer, Rev. John, candidate for the 
 Provostship of King's, 68 and n. 4, 
 316, 317 
 
 Exeter, Bishop of, see Frederick 
 Keppel 
 
 Exeter, Brownlow Cecil, Earl of, and 
 Dr Ridlington, 278 
 
 Eyre, Venn, and the archdeaconry 
 of Carlisle, 238-239 
 
 Fellow-commoners, behaviour of, 
 17, 20-23; usual annual allowance 
 for, 23 n. 2 
 
 Ferris, Thomas, Fellow of St John's, 
 95 and n. 3 
 
 Flitcroft, 150 
 
 Flitcroft, Henry, 150 and n. 2 
 
 Folkes, Major, 17-18 
 
 Folkestone, William de Bouverie, 
 Viscount, 65 
 
 Forster, Ralph, Fellow of St John's, 
 and Lord Sandwich's candidature 
 for the High Stewardship, io6- 
 iio, 113 n. 5, 123; see also 125 
 
 Fountaine, Thomas, Fellow of 
 Trinity, 15, 75 
 
 Frampton, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 John's, a candidate for the master- 
 ship in 1765, 260, 263-265 
 
 Francis, Alban, given a mandate 
 degree, 161 
 
 Francklin, Thomas, Fellow of 
 Trinity and Regius Professor of
 
 336 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Greek, and the dinner of the 
 Westminster Club, 211-213; pro- 
 ceedings against in the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor's court, 2 1 3-2 1 5 
 
 Frederick, Prince of Wales, a candi- 
 date for the Chancellorship, 38- 
 49, 240; and the Leicester House 
 party, 269 
 
 Fuller, John, and the Trinity Fel- 
 lowship election in 1762, 14-15; 
 see also 75 n. i 
 
 Fuller, Rose, and the Trinity Fellow- 
 ship election in 1762, 14 
 
 Gainsborough, Countess of, 94 
 
 Gainsborough, 262 and n. i 
 
 Garnet, John, Fellow of Sidney 
 Sussex, and the new regulations, 
 209 
 
 Gawthrop, William, Fellow of 
 Trinity College, persuaded by 
 James Backhouse to vote for Lord 
 Hardwicke as High Steward, 95- 
 96, 96 n. I 
 
 George H, and the East Front of the 
 Library, 226-227; statue of, 227- 
 230; see also 35 
 
 George III, and Lord Sandwich's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 56-59, 73, 112; see also s^, 
 240 
 
 George, William, Provost of King's, 
 supports the candidature of the 
 Duke of Newcastle for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 44; and the election of 
 Dr Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 182-186; death of, 190, 
 316 
 
 Gisborne, Thomas, Physician in 
 ordinary to the King, asked to 
 vote for Lord Sandwich as High 
 Steward, 73-74; and the election 
 of a Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Gisbourn, see Gisborne 
 
 Glynn, Robert, Fellow of King's, 
 nominated for election to the 
 Caput in 1764, 126 n. 5 
 
 Goddard, Peter Stephen, Master of 
 Clare, and the appointment of the 
 Duke of Newcastle as High 
 Steward, 37, 299; applies to the 
 Duke of Newcastle for church 
 
 preferment, 37-38, 299; elected 
 Master of Clare, 266, 298-304; 
 elected Vice-Chancellor, 304; and 
 the proceedings connected with 
 Hagar's appeal, 304-307; and the 
 address on the Peace of Paris, 307- 
 314; and mandate degrees, 166, 
 168, 170-171, 314; supports Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77, 130 n. 4, 
 315; and the question of re-ad- 
 missions, 80, 97; and the election 
 of a Caput in 1764, 126; pub- 
 lishes a volume of sermons, 315 
 
 Godolphin, Francis Godolphin, 
 Earl of, father in law of the Duke 
 of Newcastle, 50 n. 2 
 
 Gonville and Caius College, in- 
 fluence of Tory party in, 46, 48 ; 
 and the East Front of the Library, 
 225; and Lord Sandwich's candi- 
 dature for the High Stewardship, 
 104; Lord Sandwich entertained 
 at, 115; the election of Dr Smith 
 as Master of, 131; little influence 
 of the Duke of Newcastle in, 233 
 
 Gooch, Sir Thomas, Master of Caius 
 and Bishop of Ely, and the Prince 
 of Wales' candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 40-41, 44; and Dr 
 Parris, Master of Sidney, 46 ; and 
 the appointment of Dr Yonge as 
 Master of Jesus, 235, 236 n. i ; and 
 the question of the right of appeal, 
 207; a loyal supporter of the Duke 
 of Newcastle, 233 
 
 Gould, Fellow of Clare, 302-303 
 
 Graces, method of passing, 31-32, 
 108, I lo-i 1 1 ; see also, 26 
 
 Grafton, Augustus Henry, third 
 Duke of, his good behaviour as a 
 student at the university, 23; his 
 acquaintance with Samuel Peck, 
 Fellow of Trinity, 69; supports 
 Lord Hardwicke for the High 
 Stewardship, 69-71; suggested as 
 a possible candidate for the High 
 Stewardship, loo-ioi, loin. 3; 
 and the election of a Master of St 
 John's in 1765, 251 and n. 3, 252; 
 appoints Dr HinchlifFe Master of 
 Trinity, 327-328
 
 INDEX 
 
 337 
 
 Grafton, Charles Fitzroy, second 
 Duke of, visited by the Duke of 
 Newcastle, 54 
 
 Granby, John Manners, Marquis 
 of, 316 
 
 Grantham, Thomas Robinson, 
 Lord, and the statue of George II, 
 229 
 
 Gray, Thomas, his opinion of Fel- 
 low-Commoners, 17; his account 
 of the Duke of Newcastle's instal- 
 lation as Chancellor, 54; his con- 
 tempt for the Duke of Newcastle, 
 149 
 
 Green, John, Master of Corpus 
 Christi and Bishop of Lincoln, 
 elected Regius Professor of Divin- 
 ity, 184-189; elected Master of 
 Corpus, 236-238; and the new 
 regulations, 199 n. 3, 209; and the 
 question of the right of appeal, 
 220; appointed Dean of Lincoln, 
 1 1, 190-191 ; and the admission of 
 Dr Sumner as Provost of King's, 
 317; and the appointment of Dr 
 Sumner as Vice- Chancellor, 177- 
 178; elected Vice-Chancellor, 13, 
 179; and the Duke of Newcastle's 
 policy of prolonging the tenure of 
 the Vice-Chancellor's office, 179 
 180; and the election of Dr 
 Rutherforth as Regius Professor 
 of Divinity, 192-193, 193 n. i, 
 194; and university addresses, 153, 
 
 155' 157. 158) 307? 309 n- i 31O5 
 312, 313 n. 2; and mandate de- 
 grees, 165; supports Maseres' 
 candidature for the Lucasian 
 Professorship of Mathematics, 197 
 and n. 2, 198; and the examina- 
 tion for the Craven scholarship, 
 12-14; ^nd the appointment of 
 Sandby as Master of Magdalene, 
 319-320; appointed Bishop of 
 Lincoln, 1 1 ; and Hagar's appeal, 
 306; and Lord Hardwicke's can- 
 didature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 61 and n. i, 64-68 70, 77, 
 82, 86 n. I, 87, 90-92, 91 n. i, 99- 
 loi, 104 n. I ; and the question of 
 re-admissions, 97; and Thomas 
 Pitt's vote, 122; and the election 
 
 of Marriott as Master of Trinity 
 Hall, 282; resignation of Master- 
 ship, 129-130; and the election of 
 a Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 128- 
 130, 133; and the election of a 
 Lady Margaret Professor in 1765, 
 249; and the election of a Master 
 of St John's in 1765, 252, 255- 
 256, 262; entertains the Duke of 
 Newcastle, 1 50; the Duke of New- 
 castle's agent at Cambridge, 147, 
 232 
 
 Gremial, 183 n. 2 and n. 3 
 
 Grenville ministry, and Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the office of 
 High Steward, 56, ti2 
 
 Grenville, George, and Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the office of 
 High Steward, 57-59, 89 
 
 Grigg, William, Master of Clare, 
 301 
 
 Gunning, Henry, i, 8, 11; his ac- 
 count of Trinity Hall, 266 
 
 Hagar, Robert, Fellow of Clare, 303; 
 deprived of his fellowship by the 
 Master, 304; appeals against the 
 Master, 304-307 
 
 Halifax, George Montagu Dunk, 
 Earl of, and Lord Sandwich's 
 candidature for the office of High 
 Steward, 57-59; on friendly terms 
 with the Duke of Newcastle, 59 
 n. I ; and Dr Hallifax, 296 
 
 Hall, supports the Duke of New- 
 castle's candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 44 
 
 Hallifax, Samuel, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, elected to a Fellowship of 
 Trinity Hall, 281; supports Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 281; and the 
 election of Marriott as Master of 
 Trinity Hall, 126 n. 2, 282 and 
 n. 2, 284-289, 291-297; nomi- 
 nated for election to the Caput, 1 26 
 n. 2; his life threatened by an 
 undergraduate, 19-20 
 
 Hamburgh, 262 
 
 Harding, supports the Duke of 
 Newcastle's candidature for the 
 Chancellorship, 44
 
 338 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Harding, see Hardinge 
 
 Hardinge, George, an undergradu- 
 ate of Trinity, 118-119 
 
 Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, first Earl 
 of, and the Prince of Wales' can- 
 didature for the Chancellorship, 
 40; appointed High Steward, 54; 
 admitted to the degree of Doctor 
 of Laws, 149; and university ad- 
 dresses, 153, 154, 159, 309 and n. i, 
 311, 313 and n. 2; and mandate 
 degrees, 171; and the election of 
 Dr Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 188 and n. 2, 1895 and 
 the question of the right of appeal, 
 220; and the election of Dr Green 
 as Master of Corpus, 237; and the 
 election of Dr Goddard as Master 
 of Clare, 303; death of, 55, 84-85; 
 see also 150, 234, 315 
 
 Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, second 
 Earl of, his character, 60; a candi- 
 date for the office of High Steward, 
 59-111; his attitude as a candi- 
 date, 60, 64, 78-79, 100, 138; 
 interference in a Fellowship elec- 
 tion at St John's, 95; opposes the 
 suggestion that the Duke of Graf- 
 ton should be a candidate for the 
 High Stewardship, ico-ioi; and 
 the legal proceedings connected 
 with his candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, ni-112, 120-124, 
 137; and the election to the Lady 
 Margaret Professorship in 1765, 
 250; and the election to the Mas- 
 tership of St John's in 1765, 
 255; a candidate for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 139-144; see also 130- 
 131 
 
 Hawnes, vicarage of, and Robert 
 Hagar, 304, 306 n. i 
 
 Hayter, Thomas, Bishop of London, 
 300, 303 and n. 2, 304 
 
 Heads of Houses, Vice-Chancellor 
 appointed from among, 27-28; 
 authority of Vice-Chancellor over, 
 29; as advisors to the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, 28-30; and the election of 
 the Caput, 30; and the Duke of 
 Newcastle's installation as Chan- 
 cellor, 29 ; and university addresses, 
 
 ^9' ^52~^59i ^rid mandate de- 
 grees, 161 and n. i, 162 
 
 Henley, Lord, see Earl of Northing- 
 ton 
 
 Hereford, Dean of, see Edmund 
 Castle 
 
 Herring, of King's, 7 1 
 
 Herring, Thomas, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, and the installation 
 of the Duke of Newcastle as 
 Chancellor, 50 n. i ; and the elec- 
 tion of Dr Green as Master of 
 Corpus, 236-237; and the new 
 regulations, 200, 202 n. 3; and 
 the question of the right of appeal, 
 220 
 
 Hertford, Francis Seymour, Mar- 
 quis of, and the examination for 
 the Craven scholarship, 12-14; 
 and mandate degrees, 165 
 
 Hervey, 23 
 
 Hetherington, William, Rector of 
 Dry Drayton, 42 
 
 High Steward of the university. Earl 
 of Anglesey as, 36; appointment 
 of the Duke of Newcastle as, 36- 
 38; appointment of first Earl of 
 Hardwicke as, 54; appointed by 
 Grace of the Senate, 37, 83; con- 
 test for in 1764, 55-139 
 
 Hildesley, Mark, Bishop of Sodor 
 and Man, 323-324, 326 n. 2 
 
 Hill, Samuel, of St John's, 94-95, 
 
 Hilton, Robert, Fellow of Trinity, 
 
 }^ 
 Hinchliffe, John, Master of Trinity, 
 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 134; and the elec- 
 tion of the Duke of Grafton as 
 Chancellor, 142-143; appointed 
 Master of Trinity, 327-328 
 
 Hitchin, dispute over appointment 
 to living of, 323-326 
 
 Hooper, Francis, Fellow of Trinity, 
 and the election of Dr Ruther- 
 forth as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 193 
 
 Horseman, John, Fellow of St John's, 
 251 and n. 3 
 
 Houghton le Spring, 251 n. 3 
 
 House, of King's, 71
 
 INDEX 
 
 339 
 
 Hubbard, Henry, Fellow of Em- 
 manuel and Registrary of the 
 university, 109 
 
 Hughes, of Queens', 61 
 
 Hume, John, Bishop of Oxford, 304 
 
 Humphreys, Thomas, given a man- 
 date degree, 1 66-1 71 
 
 Huntingdon, Francis Hastings, Earl 
 of, and mandate degrees, 166-168 
 
 Hurdis, Secretary to the Duke of 
 Newcastle, 167-169 
 
 Hutton, John, and Dr Rooke, Mas- 
 ter of Christ's, 20-23 
 
 Hutton, Matthew, Archbishop of 
 York and afterwards Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, 22 and n. 3, 50 
 
 Jacobs, Mrs, 19 
 
 James H, and mandate degrees, 161 
 
 Jenkin, Henry, of St John's, 251 and 
 
 n._3 
 Jennings, of Barkway, 251 
 Jenyns, Sir Roger, 134 n. 3 
 Jenyns, Soame, 134 and n. 3 
 Jesus College, and the appointment 
 of Masters, 232, 235-236; and the 
 appointment of a High Steward, 
 104; and the election of the Duke 
 of Grafton as Chancellor, 143 
 Johnson, of St John's, 70 
 Johnson, James, Bishop of Worces- 
 ter, 69 and n. 2 
 Johnson, Samuel, and Dr Barnard, 73 
 Jones, John, Curate at Hitchin, 324, 
 
 326 n. 2 
 Jones, Thomas, Fellow and Tutor of 
 Trinity, his merits as a Tutor, 7; 
 his writings and lectures, 7 
 
 Keene, Sir Benjamin, 58 n. i 
 Keene, Edmund, Master of Peter- 
 house and Bishop of Chester, his 
 character and early career, 58 n. i, 
 210; appointed Bishop of Chester, 
 1 1 ; prolongation of as Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, 172-173; and the riot in 
 1 75 1, 17-18; and the election of 
 Dr Law as Master of Peterhouse, 
 238-239; and the new regulations, 
 202-211; and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 206-219, 221 ; and 
 the East Front of the Library, 223, 
 
 225; recommends Carr for a Fel- 
 lowship of Trinity Hall, 270; and 
 the election of Marriott to a Fellow- 
 ship of Trinity Hall, 274-275; 
 consulted about establishing the 
 Duke of Newcastle's influence in 
 Trinity Hall, 276; and the election 
 of Dr Rutherforth as Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity, 191-192; and 
 Lord Sandwich's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 58; and the 
 election of a Vice-Chancellor in 
 1764, 135; and the election of the 
 Duke of Grafton as Chancellor, 
 140; the Duke of Newcastle's 
 agent at Cambridge, 147; see also 
 148 n. I, 173, 177 
 
 Kelly, of Jesus, supports Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 74 
 
 Keppel, Frederick, Bishop of Exeter, 
 
 64, 
 
 King's Bench, Court of, and the 
 university, 115 n. 3, 123 
 
 King's College, Tory influence in, 
 48; and the new regulations, 208; 
 and the election of Dr Sumner as 
 Provost in 1756, 316-318; and 
 Lord Sandwich's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 104, 253; 
 and the election of the Duke of 
 Grafton as Chancellor, 143 
 
 King in Council, and the university, 
 113, 115 and n. 3 
 
 Kinnoull, Earl of, see Lord Dupplin 
 
 Kirke, Miss, and Dr Newcome, 
 Master of St John's, 248 and n. 3, 
 249 
 
 Ladd, 17-18 
 
 Lady Margaret Professorship, elec- 
 tion to, 246-266 
 
 Law, Edmund, Master of Peter- 
 house, elected Master of Peter- 
 house, 238-239; applies for the 
 Deanery of Ely, 10; elected Vice- 
 Chancellor, 175-177; activities as 
 Vice-Chancellor, 28; and the elec- 
 tion of Dr Rutherforth as Regius 
 Professor of Divinity, 191-192; 
 and university addresses, 153-156, 
 312; asked by Sir James Lowther
 
 340 
 
 INDEX 
 
 to support Lord Sandwich for the 
 High Stewardship, 73; supports 
 Lord Hardwicke for the High 
 Stewardship, 62, 67, 77; visited by- 
 Lord Sandwich, 114-115; a can- 
 didate for the Lady Margaret 
 Professorship, 246-266; see also 5 
 
 Lee, Sir George, Dean of Arches, 
 and the question of the right of 
 appeal, 220; and Sir Edward 
 Simpson, 268-269; and Fellow- 
 ship elections at Trinity Hall, 270 
 -279; death of, 280 
 
 Lee, Sir William, Chief Justice of the 
 King's Bench, 220 and n. 3 
 
 Leicester House party, recruited 
 from Whigs and Tories, 38; and 
 Sir George Lee, 269 
 
 Library, University, erection of East 
 Front of, 223-227 
 
 Lichfield, Bishop of, see Hon. 
 Frederick Cornwallis 
 
 Lincoln, Bishop of, see John Green 
 and John Thomas 
 
 Lincoln, Dean of, see John Green 
 and James Yorke 
 
 Lincoln, Henry Pelham-Clinton,Ear| 
 of, and Dr Goddard, 299, 304, 315 
 
 Lipyeatt, Jonathan, and the question 
 of the right of appeal, 205-206 
 
 Llandaff, Bishop of, see Richard 
 Watson 
 
 Loggan, see Loggon 
 
 Loggon, George, Fellow of St John's, 
 251 
 
 London, Bishop of, see Thomas 
 Hayter, Thomas Sherlock, Rich- 
 ard Terrick 
 
 Long, Roger, Master of Pembroke 
 and Lowndean Professor of As- 
 tronomy, reported to be dying, 
 1 90; and the address on the Peace 
 of Paris, 312 and n. i; and Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 64, 77, 129, 
 130 n. 4 
 
 Longmire, Daniel, Fellow of Peter- 
 house, and Lord Sandwich's can- 
 didature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 106-111; visited by Lord 
 Sandwich, 114-115; and Thomas 
 Pitt's vote, 122; and the legal pro- 
 
 ceedings connected with Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 123; see also 
 125 
 
 Louisburg, fall of, 153 
 
 Lowther, Sir James, supports Lord 
 Sandwich for the High Steward- 
 ship, 73, 115 n. 2 
 
 Lowther, William, 115 and n. 2 
 
 Ludlam, William^ Fellow of St 
 John's, a candidate for the Lu- 
 casian Professorship of Mathe- 
 matics, 196-198; Dr Smith's high 
 opinion of, 196-197; and the 
 question of re-admissions, 82 
 
 Lushington, James Stephen, Fellow 
 of Peterhouse, supports Lord 
 Hardwicke for the High Steward- 
 ship, 74 
 
 Luther, John, 76 and n. 2 
 
 Magdalene College, Master of, not 
 elected bv the Fellows, 232; ap- 
 pointment of Dr Sand by as Mas- 
 ter of, 318-320; and Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 104 n. 2 
 
 Man, Isle of, 323 
 
 Mandate degrees, 131-132, 160-171 
 
 Manning, and the election of a Presi- 
 dent of Queens' in 1760, 234 n. 2 
 
 Mansfield, William Murray, Earl of, 
 and the legal proceedings con- 
 nected with Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature, 124 
 
 Markham, William, Headmaster of 
 Westminster School, 65 
 
 Markland, Jeremiah, 4 
 
 Marriott, Sir James, Fellow and 
 afterwards Master of Trinity 
 Hall, hi? eaHy career, 271-272; 
 elected to a Fellowship of Trinity 
 Ha'l, 272-276; supports the in- 
 terest of the Duke of Newcastle in 
 Trinity Hall, 276-281; and the 
 appointment of William Ridling- 
 ton as Regius Professor of Civil 
 Law, 278-279; agent for New- 
 castle at Cambridge, 232; sup- 
 ports Lord Hardwicke for the 
 High Stewardship, 66-67, 281; 
 deserts the Duke of Newcastle for
 
 INDEX 
 
 341 
 
 Lord Sandwich, 129, 130 n. 4; 
 elected to Mastership of Trinity- 
 Hall, 129, 130, 282-297, 316; and 
 the election of a Vice-Chancellor 
 in 1764, 130-132; and the election 
 of the Duke of Grafton as Chan- 
 cellor, 141; see also 267 
 
 Martyn, Thomas, of Sidney Sussex, 
 125 
 
 Maseres, Francis, awarded the first 
 Chancellor's medal, 196; a candi- 
 date for the Lucasian Professor- 
 ship of Mathematics, 196-198 
 
 Mason, William, composes the ode 
 for the Duke of Newcastle's in- 
 stallation, 51 
 
 Masters of Colleges, see Heads of 
 Houses 
 
 Mawson, Matthias, Bishop of Ely, 
 and the appointment of Dr Caryl 
 as Master of Jesus, 235-236; and 
 Lord Sandwich's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 115 n. 3; 
 advocates the prolongafon of 
 Elliston as Vice-Chancellor, 180; 
 and the election of Dr Powell 
 as Master of St John's, 251, 
 262 
 
 May, of Pembroke, 71 
 
 Mease, Michael Driver, Fellow of St 
 John's, 94 
 
 Meredith, Moore, Fellow of Trinity, 
 76, 117 
 
 Metcalfe, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 John's, 251 and n. 3 
 
 Milles, Edward, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, and the election of Marriott 
 as Master, 286-288, 290 and 
 n. 2, 291; see also 269, 275 
 n. 2 
 
 Milles, Richard, nephew of Edward 
 Milles, 286 
 
 Milton, Joseph Damer, Lord, 251 
 and n. 3 
 
 Milton Abbas, 251 and n. 3 
 
 Moderator, George Mounsey, Fel- 
 low of Jesus, as, 9; Pretyman as, 
 19; and the house of regents, 
 32 n. I 
 
 Monson, Henry, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall and Regius Professor of Civil 
 Law, and the electi(jn of Marriott 
 
 to a Fellowship, 274-275; death of, 
 277-278; see also 269 
 
 Montagu, Frederick, the first Fellow- 
 Commoner to receive a mandate 
 degree, 163 
 
 Morgan, John Pilkington, Fellow of 
 Trinity, 325 
 
 Morgan, William, Fellow of Trinity, 
 
 6-7 
 Mounsey, George, Fellow and Tutor 
 
 of Jesus, 9 
 Murhall, Thomas, Fellow of Christ's, 
 
 Murray, Dr, Vicar of Gainsborough, 
 
 262 and n. i 
 Murrey, see Murray 
 
 Newbon, Richard, Fellow of Trinity, 
 1 17 and n. i 
 
 Newcastle, Henry Pelham-Clinton, 
 second Duke of Newcastle, see Earl 
 of Lincoln 
 
 Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 
 first Duke of Newcastle, his charac- 
 ter and ability, 35 and n. i, 36, 
 145-146; his influence and interest 
 in the university, 54-55, (>(>, 144, 
 152-153' 198-199^ 230, 328-329; 
 rebukes Dr Yonge, 148 ; appointed 
 High Steward, 36-38; elected 
 Chancellor, 38-47; installed as 
 Chancellor, 49-54; resigns the 
 office of High Steward, 53; an- 
 xious for Lord Hardwicke to suc- 
 ceed him as High Steward, 54; his 
 use of ecclesiastical patronage, 10 
 -12; and the examination for the 
 Craven scholarship, 12-14; and a 
 Trinity Fellowship election, 14- 
 15; anxious to prolong certain 
 Vice-Chancellors, 128, 171-180; 
 founder of the Chancellor's clas- 
 sical medals, 222-223; and the 
 statue of George H, 227-230; and 
 the building of the East Front of 
 the Library, 223-227; and the 
 question of the right of appeal, 
 211, 213, 217, 220-221; and the 
 new regulations, 199-21 1; his 
 visits to the university, 148-152; 
 and university addresses, 155-159, 
 307-314; and mandate degrees.
 
 342 
 
 INDEX 
 
 160-171 ; and professorial appoint- 
 ments, 18C-199, 278-279; his 
 difficulties in controlling the col- 
 leges, 231-233, 235, 239; and 
 Gonville and Caius, 233; and 
 Emmanuel, 233; and Christ's, 
 234; and St Catharine's, 234; and 
 Queens', 234; and Jesus, 235-236; 
 and Corpus Christi, 236-238; and 
 Peterhouse, 238-239; and St 
 John's, 240-266; and Trinity 
 College, 240 and n. i, 322-328; 
 and Trinity Hall, 268-298; and 
 Clare, 298-304; and King's, 316- 
 318; and Magdalene, 318-320; 
 his dislike of Goddard, 315-316; 
 and Hagar's appeal, 304-307; and 
 Dr Sandby, 320-321, 321 n. 3; 
 and Lord Hardwicke's candida- 
 ture for the office of High Steward, 
 59-1 1 1, 138-139; and the legal 
 proceedings connected with Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature, 1 1 1- 
 112, 115 n. 3, 120-124, 137; and 
 the appointment of Proctors and 
 Scrutators in 1764, 125; and the 
 election of the Caput in 1764, 124 
 127; and the election of a new 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 124- 
 137; driven into parliamentary 
 opposition, 307-308, 318; his 
 death, 140, 142; see also i, 11 
 Newcome, John, Master of St John's 
 and Lady Margaret Professor of 
 Divinity, his election as Master, 
 254; appointed Dean of Rochester, 
 12; supports the Duke of New- 
 castle's candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 39, 44, 47-48, 240; 
 asks for ecclesiastical preferment 
 for Birkbeck, 45 ; and the election 
 of Dr Green as Regius Professor 
 of Divinity, 182, 186, 187; and 
 the election to the Lucasian Pro- 
 fessorship of Mathematics, 197; 
 and the address on the Peace of 
 Paris, 312 and n. i; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 61, 64, 77, 95 
 and n. 2; and the election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 133; 
 desires to resign the Lady Mar- 
 
 garet Professorship, 246-250; and 
 Dr Squire, 146; illnesses and death 
 of, 241, 243, 244, 246-257, 261; 
 see also 173 
 
 Non-Gremial, 52, 183 n. 2 and 
 
 . n. 3 
 
 Non-Regents, and the Caput, 30; 
 and the passing of Graces, 31-32, 
 io5_ 
 
 Northington, Robert Henley, Earl 
 of, and Lord Sandwich's candida- 
 ture for the High Stewardship, 73, 
 96; see also 77 n. 5 
 
 Norwich, Bishop of, see Philip 
 Yonge 
 
 Norwich, Dean of, see Edward 
 Townshend 
 
 Ogden, Samuel, Woodwardian Pro- 
 fessor of Geology, his appetite, 8 ; 
 Dr Johnson's opinion of his ser- 
 mons, 8 n. 2; his epistolary style, 
 1 1 ; anxious to be appointed Mas- 
 ter of Magdalene, 318-319; and 
 Fellowship election at St John's in 
 1764, 95; and the election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 134; a 
 candidate for the Lady Margaret 
 Professorship, 249-250, 257; and 
 the Mastership of St John's, 257- 
 259, 260, 264 
 Onslow, George, 75 n. 3 
 Ordinances of the university, 26 
 Oxford, Bishop of, see John Hume 
 Oxford, University of, Jacobite sen- 
 timent at, 199 
 
 Paris, Peace of, university address 
 on, 307-314 
 
 Parris, Francis Sawyer, Master of 
 Sidney Sussex, and the Duke of 
 Newcastle's candidature for the 
 Chancellorship, 41-43, 45-47 
 
 Peck, Samuel, Fellow of Trinity, 
 and Lord Hardwicke's candida- 
 ture for the High Stewardship, 69 
 and n. 3; appointed a Scrutator, 
 
 Pedley, Stanhope, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, 281; and Marriott's election 
 as Master, 288-289, 291, 293- 
 297
 
 INDEX 
 
 343 
 
 Pelham, Henry, and the Duke of 
 Newcastle's candidature for the 
 Chancellorship, 41, 44; see also 
 240 n. I, 284, 320 
 
 Pelham, Henry, and the election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Pembroke College, Tories at, 48; 
 and Lord Sandwich's candidature 
 for the High Stewardship, 104; 
 Duke of Newcastle's little influence 
 in, 234 
 
 Peterborough, Bishop of, see Richard 
 Terrick 
 
 Peterhouse, Tories at, 48 ; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 104; the Duke 
 of Grafton replaces his name on 
 the books of, 140 and n. i ; and the 
 election of the Duke of Grafton as 
 Chancellor, 141, 143; influence 
 of Duke of Newcastle in, 238- 
 239 
 
 Physicians, College of, and mandate 
 degrees, 162 
 
 Pigott, John, FeUow of Trinity, 75 
 and n. 3 
 
 Pinfold, Charles, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, 269, 273-275 
 
 Pitt, Thomas, afterwards Lord 
 Camelford, 120 and n. i, 121-122, 
 
 137 
 
 Pitt, William, afterwards Earl of 
 Chatham, his reputation for finan- 
 cial disinterestedness, 35 n. i; and 
 the parliamentary opposition, 308 ; 
 and the address on the Peace of 
 Paris, 309-311, 314 
 
 Place, Marwood, Fellow of Trinity, 
 117 and n. i 
 
 Plucknett, William, Fellow of St 
 John's, 64, 262 and n. i 
 
 Plummer, and the dispute over the 
 living of Hitchin, 326 n. 2 
 
 Plumptre, Robert, President of 
 Queens', election of as President, 
 234 and n. 2; and Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 77, 82-83, 94; offers 
 to place Charles Townshend's 
 name on the books of Queens', 80; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 1345 and the elec- 
 
 tion of the Duke of Grafton as 
 Chancellor, 140-143; on intimate 
 terms with the Yorke family, 78; 
 see also 150 
 
 Plumptre, Russell, Regius Professor 
 of Physick, attends the Master of 
 St John's, 241 
 
 Politicians, interest in university of, 
 10-16, 34-36, 48-49 
 
 Porson, Richard, 4 
 
 Porteus, Beilby, Fellow of Christ's, 
 109 
 
 Portmore, Charles Colyear, Earl of, 
 251 n. 3, 252 
 
 Portsmouth, Ladv, and the Master- 
 ship of Magdalene, 318-321 
 
 Powell, John, Fellow of Trinity, 117 
 and n. i 
 
 Powell, William Samuel, Master of 
 St John's, opposes Waring's elec- 
 tion to the Lucasian Professorship 
 of Mathematics, 197-198; anxious 
 to become Master, 241-244; and 
 Lord Hardwicke's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 72, 88-89, 
 100, 245; and the legal proceed- 
 ings connected with Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature, 124; election 
 to the Mastership of St John's, 245 
 -266; introduces annual college 
 examinations, 25; and the election 
 of the Duke of Grafton as Chan- 
 cellor, 143 
 
 Pratt, Sir Charles, afterwards Earl 
 Camden, 118-119 
 
 Pratt, Sir John, 115 n. 3 
 
 Prescot, Kenrick, Master of St 
 Catharine's, applies for the Dean- 
 ery of Ely, 10 ; and Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 130 n. 4; and the 
 question of re-admissions, 97; 
 Lord Sandwich sups with, 115 
 
 Preston, William, Fellow of Trinity, 
 and Lord Hardwicke's candida- 
 ture for the High Stewardship, 75, 
 76 and n. 3 
 
 Pretyman, George, afterwards Bishop 
 of Winchester, 19 and n. i 
 
 Privy Council, and the Prince of 
 Wales' candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 40
 
 344 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Proctors, and the Caput, 30; and 
 installation of the Duke of New- 
 castle, 51; and the regents' house, 
 31, 32 n. I, 105-108; appointment 
 of, in 1764, 124-125 
 
 Public Orator, and installation of the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 51 ; Dr Yonge 
 appointed, 183 
 
 Pyle, Edmund, and the election of 
 Dr Green as Master of Corpus, 237 
 
 Quebec, fall of, 155 
 
 Queens' College, and Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 104; Duke of New- 
 castle's influence in, 234 
 
 Ragdale, given a mandate degree, 
 166-170, 314 
 
 Read, John, Fellow of King's, 317 
 
 Re-admission, question of, 79, 80 
 and n. i, 81, 82 and n. 2, 96-99 
 
 Regents, and the Caput, 30; and 
 Graces, 31, 105; see also 27 n. i, 32 
 
 Regulations, the new, 199-2 11 
 
 Richardson, William, Master of 
 Emmanuel, his Tory principles, 
 38, 233; and the Prince of Wales' 
 candidature for the Chancellor- 
 ship, 38, 41, 43, 47; and university 
 addresses, 153-156, 312; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77 and n. 5, 
 130 and n. 4; and the election of a 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 136 n. 3 
 
 Ridlington, William, Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall and Regius Professor 
 of Civil Law, his cure for the 
 dropsy, 8-9; and the question of 
 the right of appeal, 217, 278; and 
 Fellowship elections at Trinity 
 Hall, 275, 277; appointed Regius 
 Professor of Civil Law, 278-279; 
 and Lord Sandwich's candidature 
 for the High Stewardship, 66 and 
 n. 3, 281; and Marriott's election 
 as Master of Trinity Hall, 282, 
 284-290, 293, 295-297; see also 
 282 n. 2 
 
 Roberts, John, secretary to Henry 
 Pelham, 284-285 
 
 Robinson, 240 n. i 
 
 Robinson, John, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, 269, 270, 275 n. 2; and 
 Marriott's election to the Master- 
 ship of Trinity Hall, 290-291, 294 
 
 Robinson, Matthew, Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall, and Fellowship 
 elections, 269-270, 274-275, 277; 
 and the election of Marriott as 
 Master, 289-291, 293, 295 
 
 Rochester, Dean of, see John Newcome 
 
 Rockingham, Charles Watson-Went- 
 worth. Marquis of, and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 67, 94; see also 
 321 
 
 Rooke, George Henry, Master of 
 Christ's, and the Duke of New- 
 castle's candidature for the Chan- 
 cellorship, 39, 44, 47 n. 5; and the 
 election of Dr Green to the Regius 
 Professorship of Divinity, 182, 
 184-189; appointed Prebendary 
 of Lincoln, 189; and John Hutton, 
 20-23; and the new regulations, 
 203, 207-208; see also 234 
 
 Roper, Robert, 161 n. i 
 
 Rose Inn, 102 
 
 Royal Letters, 26 
 
 Royston, Lord, see second Earl of 
 Hardwicke 
 
 Rutherforth, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 John's and Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, and the Prince of Wales' 
 candidature for the Chancellor- 
 ship, 41, 43, 47-48; a candidate 
 for the Regius Professorship of 
 Divinity 1748-1749, 184-185, 
 187; reconciled with the Duke 
 of Newcastle, 189-190, 245-246; 
 anxious to be elected Lowndean 
 Professor of Astronomy, 190; 
 elected Regius Professor of Divin- 
 ity, 190-194; and the examination 
 for the Craven scholarship, 12-14; 
 desirous of becoming Master of 
 St John's, 241-244, 245-266; and 
 Lord Hardwicke's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 131, 245; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 131; and the elec- 
 tion of the Duke of Grafton as 
 Chancellor, 142 n. 3, 143; as agent
 
 INDEX 
 
 345 
 
 for the Duke of Newcastle at 
 Cambridge, 232; see also 5 
 Rutland, John Manners, Duke of, 68 
 
 St^ Catharine's College, and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 104; and the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 234 
 
 St David's, Bishop of, see Samuel 
 Squire 
 
 St John's College, state of parties in, 
 241-244; and Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 104 n. 2; Fellowship election 
 at, 95; and the election of a Lady- 
 Margaret Professor, 246 and n. i; 
 and the election of a Master, 245- 
 266; introduction of annual col- 
 lege examinations at, 25; Tories 
 at, 48; the Duke of Newcastle 
 stays at, 315 
 
 St Sepulchre's, 11 
 
 Salusbury, Thomas, Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall, 269-270 
 
 Sand by, George, Master of Magda- 
 lene, appointed Master of Magda- 
 lene, 320; his enthusiasm for Cam- 
 bridge, 320-321; relations with 
 the Duke of Newcastle, 320, 321 
 and n. 3; appointed Chancellor of 
 Norwich, 321 n. 3; his disposal of 
 Fellowships, 321; and the uni- 
 versity address on the accession of 
 George HI, 157-159; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 61 and n. 4, 
 62, 77, 109; and the legal pro- 
 ceedings connected with Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature, 112; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 133; see also 104 
 
 Sandwich, John Montagu, Earl of, 
 and Dr Sumner, 316, 318; a can- 
 didate for the office of High 
 Steward, 56-1 11, 138, 329; de- 
 nunciation of John Wilkes, 56-57, 
 74; and nickname of Jemmy 
 Twitcher, 57; and the question of 
 re-admissions, 98-99; and the 
 legal proceedings connected with 
 his candidature, 1 1 2-1 15, 1 1 5 n. 3, 
 120, 137; and the election of 
 
 Marriott as Master of Trinity 
 Hall, 129, 289 and n. 2, 290, 293 
 n. 2, 295-297; his visit to Cam- 
 bridge, 113-115; and the election 
 of the Caput in 1764, 125-127; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 131 137; and the 
 election of a Lady Margaret Pro- 
 fessor and a Master of St John's in 
 1765, 246, 249, 252, 253, 257, 259, 
 260, 263-266; see also 321 
 
 Scrope, Andrew, Provost of King's, 
 ii5n.3 
 
 Scrutators, and the election of the 
 Caput, 30; and the house of non- 
 regents, 31, 105-106; appointment 
 of, in 1764, 124-125 
 
 Seeker, Thomas, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, and Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 65; and the election 
 of a Master of St John's, 262-263 ; 
 and civil law preferments, 282 
 and n. i, 283 n. i ; and the Master- 
 ship of Trinity, 327-328 
 
 Sedgwick, William, President of 
 Queens', 45, 234 
 
 Senate, limitation of its power, 26; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, 27; the two houses of, 27 
 n. I, 31-32; and university ad- 
 dresses, 29 
 
 Senate House, erection of, 223 and 
 n. 3 
 
 Shaftoe, Captain, 17-18 
 
 Sherlock, Thomas, Bishop of Lon- 
 don, and Duke of Newcastle's in- 
 stallation, 50 ; and the new regula- 
 tions, 200, 202 n. 3; and the 
 question of the right of appeal, 220 
 
 Sidney Sussex College, and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stt.vardship, 104 n. 2 
 
 Simpson, Sir Edward, Master of 
 Trinity Hall, his influence in the 
 College, 66-67; ^i^d elections to 
 Fellowships, 268-280; and the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 280-281; and 
 Hagar's appeal, 306; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77, 109, 281; 
 death of, 129, 281-282
 
 346 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Simpson, Francis, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, elected to a Fellowship, 270; 
 and Fellowship elections, 274-275, 
 2775 and Lord Hardwicke's can- 
 didature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 66 and n. 4; and Marriott's 
 election as Master, 282, 286, 
 291, 293, 295-297; and the elec- 
 tion of a Vice-Chancellor in 1764, 
 
 134 
 Skottowe, Charles, President of 
 
 Corpus, declines the Mastership, 
 
 236 
 Skynner, John, Fellow of St John's, 
 
 a candidate for the Mastership, 
 
 260-261 
 Smith, of King's, and the question 
 
 of the right of appeal, 220 
 Smith, Dr, of Westminster School, 
 
 134 
 
 Smith, John, Master of Gonville and 
 Caius, elected Master, 131, 233; 
 created doctor of divinity by 
 royal mandate, 1 31-132; and the 
 election of a Vice-Chancellor in 
 1764, 131-137 
 
 Smith, Robert, Master of Trinity, 
 and the Duke of Newcastle's can- 
 didature for the Chancellorship, 
 39, 44; and the election of Dr 
 Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 184-187; and the elec- 
 tion of Dr Rutherforth as Regius 
 Professor of Divinity, 193; and 
 the election of Waring as Lucasian 
 Professor of Mathematics, 195- 
 198; and the Trinity Fellowship 
 election in 1762, 14-15; and Lord 
 Sandwich's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 62, 74-77, 95- 
 96, 103 and n. i, 104, 108-109, 
 III, 130 n. 4; and the question of 
 re-admissions, 97 n. i; and Lord 
 Sandwich's visit to Cambridge, 
 113, 115; his tyrannous treatment 
 of his undergraduates, 116-119; 
 and the election of the Caput in 
 1764, 126 n. 5; his opinion of 
 Johnian examiners, 16; his rela- 
 tions with the Duke of Newcastle, 
 151, 152, 323-326; his death, 327; 
 see also 5, 173, 240 n. i 
 
 Sodor and Man, Bishop of, see Mark 
 Hildesley 
 
 Somerset, Charles Seymour, Duke of. 
 Chancellor of the university, 36, 
 38, 41 ; and mandate degrees, 162; 
 appoints to Mastership of Clare, 
 301; his death, 41, 42, 45-47 
 
 Sondes, Lewis Watson, Lord, 94 
 
 Squire, Samuel, Bishop of St David's, 
 supports the Duke of Newcastle's 
 candidature for the Chancellor- 
 ship, 44; as Chancellor's secretary, 
 146, 147 and n. i, 148 and n. i, 
 302 n. 5; and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 221; and the ad- 
 mission of Dr Sumner as Provost 
 of King's, 317 and n. 3 
 
 Statutes, Elizabethan, 26 ; and earlier, 
 26; and the question of the right 
 of appeal, 206 n. i 
 
 Steeple Bumpstead, Vicarage of, 239 
 
 Stonehewer, Richard, 251 n. 3 
 
 Story, of Magdalene, 95 
 
 Stuart, Charles, Fellow and Tutor 
 of Peterhouse, 239 
 
 Summersham, Rectory of, and 
 Regius Professorship of Divinity, 
 182 
 
 Sumner, John, Provost of King's, 
 elected Provost, 28, 316-318; 
 elected Vice-Chancellor, 28, 176- 
 179; and the election of Dr 
 Rutherforth as Regius Professor 
 of Divinity, 178 n. 3, 192, 193 and 
 n. i; entertains the Duke of New- 
 castle, 150, 151 n. i; asks for a 
 bishopric, 10; and the address on 
 the Peace of Paris, 312; relations 
 with the Duke of Newcastle, 318; 
 deserts to Lord Sandwich, 321; 
 and Lord Sandwich's candidature 
 for the High Stewardship, 61 and 
 n. 3, 65, 77, 109, 130 n. 4; and the 
 question of re-admissions, 97; 
 Lord Sandwich dines with, 115 
 
 Talbot, William, Fellow of Clare, 
 appointed the Chancellor's secre- 
 tary for university business, 146, 
 147 and n. i, 302 n. 5; and the 
 election of a Master of Clare in 
 1762, 298-304; and Hagar's ap-
 
 INDEX 
 
 347 
 
 peal, 305; and Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 93 and n. 2, 97, 102 and n. 2; 
 and Thomas Pitt, 1235 and Dr 
 Newcome, 248 and n. 3, 249, 257; 
 views on the Lady Margaret Pro- 
 fessorship and the Mastership of 
 St John's, 258; see also 232 
 
 Tarrent, Charles, Dean of Carlisle, 68 
 
 Tatham, John, scholar of Christ's, 2 1 
 
 Taxors, 32 n. i 
 
 Taylor, Dr, 43 
 
 Temple, Richard Grenville-Temple, 
 Earl, 308 
 
 Terrick, Richard, Bishop of Peter- 
 borough and afterwards Bishop of 
 London, and Dr Goddard, 299- 
 300; and Lord Sandwich's candi- 
 dature for the High Stewardship, 
 73 ; and the Mastership of Trinity, 
 328 
 
 Thomas, Hugh, Master of Christ's, 
 elected Master, 234; attempts to 
 prolong his Vice-Chancellorship, 
 174 and n. 2; appointed Dean of 
 Ely, 12; and the East Front of the 
 Library, 2265 and the election of 
 the Provost of King's as Vice- 
 Chancellor, 178; and the election 
 of Dr Rutherforth as Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity, 191 ; entertains 
 the Duke of Newcastle, 150, 151 
 n. i; reports on the health of Dr 
 Newcome, 241 ; and the address on 
 the Peace of Paris, 312; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 77; and the 
 question of re-admissions, 97; and 
 the election of Marriott as Master 
 of Trinity Hall, 282; and the elec- 
 tion of a Lady Margaret Professor 
 in 1765, 249; see also 173 
 
 Thomas, John, Bishop of Lincoln, 
 and the living of Hitchin, 325 and 
 n. 3 
 
 Three Tuns Tavern, and the West- 
 minster club, 211-212 
 
 Todington, Thomas, Fellow of St 
 J(;hn's, 251, 259 n, 3 
 
 Tomline, Sir George Pretvman, 
 Bishop of Winchester, see Prety- 
 man 
 
 Tories, influence of in university, 38; 
 and Leicester House party, 38 ; and 
 Duke of Newcastle's candidature 
 for the Chancellorship, 46, 48 ; and 
 the new regulations, 201; and the 
 question of the right of appeal, 208 
 
 Townshend, Charles, second Vis- 
 count Townshend, 35 n. i 
 
 Townshend, Charles, third Viscount 
 Townshend, 90 and n. i 
 
 Townshend, Charles, and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 71 and n. 3, 
 72, 88-90, 91 and n. i, 92 and n. 3, 
 96, 100, in; and the election of 
 Dr Powell as Master of St John's, 
 255-256 
 
 Townshend, Charles ("Spanish 
 Charles"), and Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 71 and n. 3, 80, 81, 100 n. 5; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Townshend, Edward, Dean of 
 Norwich, 134-135 
 
 Townshend, George Townshend, 
 fourth Viscount, and Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 96, ic8; a possible 
 candidate for the High Steward- 
 ship, 100; visits Cambridge with 
 Lord Sandwich, 11 3-1 15 
 
 Townshend, Thomas, university 
 representative in parliament, 44 
 n. I ; and the Duke of Newcastle's 
 candidature for the Chancellor- 
 ship, 44, 46; and the address on 
 the Peace of Paris, 310, 312 
 
 Townshend, Thomas, junior, and 
 Lord Hardwicke's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 92,94, 96-97 
 
 Trinity College, and the installation 
 of the Puke of Newcastle as Chan- 
 cellor, 51-53; and the election of 
 Dr Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 182, 184, 187-188; and 
 the new regulations, 208; and the 
 Vice-Chancellor's term of office, 
 174-176, 17S; and the election of 
 the Provost of King's as Vice- 
 Chancellor, 178; and the election 
 of Dr Rutherforth as Resjius Pro-
 
 348 
 
 INDEX 
 
 fessor of Divinity, 191-193; and 
 the dispute over the living of 
 Hitchin, 323-326; Fellowship 
 election at, 14-15; and Lord Sand- 
 wich's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 62, 74-77, 104; and 
 Lord Sandwich's visit to Cam- 
 bridge, 113-115; disciplinary- 
 measures taken against under- 
 graduates at, 116-119; the Duke 
 of Newcastle and, 149-151, 192, 
 322-323; rivalry with St John's, 
 240 and n. r, 322; appointment of 
 Dr HinchlifFe as Master of, 327- 
 328; see also 48, 232, 253 
 
 Trinity Hall, constitution of, 266- 
 268, 279-28 1 ; Fellowship elections 
 at, 269-281; election of Marriott 
 as Master of, 129, 281-297 
 
 Twells, 70 
 
 Undergraduates, disorderly behav- 
 iour of, 16-23, 199 and n. 3; in- 
 dustry of, 23-25; and Lord Hard- 
 wicke's candidature for the High 
 Stewardship, 104-106, no; and 
 the question of the right of appeal, 
 218-219 
 
 Upton, John, Fellow of King's, 317 
 
 Vane, Frederick, Fellow-Commoner 
 of Peterhouse, 17-18,212, 214-215 
 Vanneck, Sir Joshua, 94 
 Vernon, Lord Hardwicke's solicitor, 
 
 123 
 Vernon, James, Fellow- Commoner of 
 
 Trinity, and the Westminster club 
 
 212, 215 
 Vice- Chancellor, method of electing, 
 
 27-28, 30 n. I, 127-128, 131-133; 
 
 and Heads of Houses, 28-29; 
 
 judicial functions of, 29; and the 
 
 Caput, 30, 3 1 and n. i ; a member 
 
 of the house of regents, 32 n. i; 
 
 influence of in the election of a 
 
 Chancellor, 42; prolongation of 
 
 term of office of, 28, 128, 171-180; 
 
 and university addresses, 153-159; 
 
 election of in 1764, 124, 127-137; 
 
 and rioting, 16-19; incapacity of 
 
 Regius Professor of Divinity to 
 
 serve as, 27 n. 2 
 
 Wadeson, Richard, Fellow of St 
 John's, 64 
 
 Wales, Princess of, and Sir George 
 Lee, 279 
 
 Walker, Richard, Vice-Master of 
 Trinity, and Dr Green's election 
 to the Regius Professorship of 
 Divinity, 182, 184, 187-188; and 
 the Vice-Chancellor's term of 
 office, 174; and the dispute over 
 the living of Hitchin, 325; and 
 the Fellowship election in 1762, 
 14-15; and Lord Sandwich's can- 
 didature for the High Stewardship, 
 62; and William Preston, 75, 76 
 and n. 3 ; and the election of the 
 Caput in 1764, i26n.5; death of, 9 
 
 Walpole, Sir Edward, 76 and n. 5 
 
 Walpole, Horace, and installation of 
 the Duke of Newcastle, 49; and 
 Edmund Keene, Master of Peter- 
 house, 58 n. I 
 
 Walpole, Sir Robert, and Edmund 
 Keene, Master of Peterhouse, 58 
 n. i; see also 35, 37, 76 n. 5 
 
 Waring, Edward, Fellow of Magda- 
 lene and Lucasian Professor of 
 Mathematics, election of as Pro- 
 fessor, 194-198; see also 6 
 
 Warner, Dr, 65 
 
 Watson, Richard, Bishop of Llan- 
 daff, academic career of, 5-6, 16; 
 his opinion of Fellow-Commoners, 
 23-24; his tribute to the industry 
 of undergraduates, 23-24 
 
 Wentworth, Sir Thomas, 67 
 
 Westminster club, dinner of, 211 
 213 
 
 Westminster school, the Duke of 
 Newcastle's affection for, ir, 298; 
 and the Duke of Newcastle's candi- 
 dature for the Chancellorship, 44 
 
 Weymouth, Thomas Thynne, Vis- 
 count, his good behaviour as a 
 student at Cambridge, 23; and 
 Lord Sandwich's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 108 
 
 Whalley, John, Master of Peter- 
 house, 182 
 
 Whichcot, 251 
 
 Whigs, influence in Cambridge of, 
 37; and Leicester House party, 38;
 
 INDEX 
 
 349 
 
 and the Duke of Newcastle's can- 
 didature for the Chancellorship, 
 
 46, 54 
 
 Whisson, Stephen, Fellow of Trin- 
 
 ity, and the Fellowship election in 
 1762, 14-15; see also 119 
 
 Whiston, 90 
 
 White, Mr Serjeant, 97 
 
 Whitehall, James, Senior Fellow of 
 Trinity, and the election of Dr 
 Green as Regius Professor of 
 Divinity, 182, 184, 187-188 
 
 Wilbraham, 121 
 
 Wilcocks, Joseph, 68, 69 and n. 2 
 
 Wilcox, John, Master of Clare, and 
 the appointment of the Duke of 
 Newcastle as High Steward, 37 
 and n. i; and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 219-220; and the 
 Duke of Newcastle, 298; death of, 
 298, 302; see also 173 
 
 W'ilkes, John, 56, 57, 74 
 
 Wilson, Dr, 240 n. i 
 
 Wilton, Joseph, and the Statue of 
 George II, 227, 228 
 
 Wimpole, 234 
 
 Winchester, Bishop of, see Pretyman 
 
 Worcester, Bishop of, see James 
 Johnson 
 
 Wortham, of Royston, 95 
 
 Wright, Stephen, and the East Front 
 of the Library, 223-225, 227 
 
 Wynne, William, Fellow of Trinity 
 Hall, and Fellowship elections at 
 Trinity Hall, 274, 275, 277; and 
 Lord Hardwicke's candidature for 
 the High Stewardship, 66, 281; 
 and Marriott's election as Master, 
 282, 286, 288-297; nominated for 
 election to the Caput, 126 n. 5; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 134 
 
 Yeoman Bedell, 52 
 
 Yonge, Philip, Master of Jesus, 
 appointed Public Orator, 183; a 
 candidate for the Regius Pro- 
 fessorship of Divinity, 182, 183 
 and n. 2 and n. 3, 184-187; ap- 
 pointed Master of Jesus, 235, 236 
 n. I ; appointed Bishop of Bristol 
 
 and afterwards Bishop of Norwich, 
 11-12; and the question of the 
 right of appeal, 221-222; and the 
 East Front of the Library, 225- 
 226; and prolongation of as Vice- 
 Chancellor, 173; and university 
 addresses, 157, 310, 314; and man- 
 date degrees, 163, 164; and the 
 election of Dr Sumner as Provost 
 of King's and Vice-Chancellor, 
 178, 316, 317; and the election of 
 Dr Goddard as Master of Clare, 
 298; and Lord Hardwicke's can- 
 didature for the High Steward- 
 ship, 60, 61, 64, 66-70, 75-76, 79, 
 81, 82 n. 2, 83; and the legal pro- 
 ceedings connected with Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature, 120; 
 and the election of Marriott as 
 Master of Trinity Hall, 282-283, 
 296; and the election of a Vice- 
 Chancellor in 1764, 134-135; and 
 the Mastership of St John's, 243, 
 244, 255, 256; and the statue of 
 George II, 228-230; and the 
 Mastership of Trinity, 328; and 
 the Duke of Newcastle, 147 and 
 n. I, 148, 232 
 
 York, Archbishop of, see Robert 
 Drummond and Matthew Hutton 
 
 Yorke, Charles, relations with the 
 university as Solicitor General, 29; 
 and Dr Richardson, Master of 
 Emmanuel, 77 and n. 5; and 
 mandate degrees, 171; and Lord 
 Hardwicke's candidature for the 
 High Stewardship, 60, 100, 10 1 
 and n. 3 ; and the legal proceedings 
 connected with Lord Hardwicke's 
 candidature, iii, 112, 115 n. 3, 
 121; and the election of Marriott 
 as Master of Trinity Hall, 290 n. 2; 
 and the election of a Vice-Chan- 
 cellor in 1764, 136 n. 3, 142 n. 3 
 
 Yorke, James, Dean of Lincoln, 92, 
 134 and n. 4 
 
 Yorke, John, 92, 134 
 
 Yorke, Philip, 23 n. 2, 24-25 
 
 Zouch, Thomas, Fellow of Trinity, 
 15
 
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