Excerpt from The Quadrangle Book: Being Excerpts From "Q"

Bryce; A. V. Dicey; George Birkbeck Hill; A. G. Grenfell; Reginald Broughton; R. S. Wright; Edward Caird; Walter Pater; R. L. Nettleship; Wm. Berkley; Ingram Bywater. It tells little that seven of them became prominent profes sors, that one was a cabinet minister, that one was a judge of the English High Court, and that two were heads of Oxford colleges. The point to note is, that seven of the nineteen proved to be something like great men, in that they have done much to mould their generation. Nichol and Caird returned to Glasgow, whence they had come, to enter upon a career destined to revolu tionise Scottish thought; Green marked himself the greatest writer on ethics England has had in the nineteenth century; Swinburne beat Arn old out of poetry, and fixed a new star in the mighty Victorian constellation; Bryce interpre tated the United States to itself and to his coun trymen Pater lent England a new style of crit icism; Nettleship, ere his tragic death, wielded the most potent influence in Oxford, and but for his loss, Glasgow would not have had to be moan Caird, who, in his day, was the first personality in his second university. In addition, Mackay, Hoole, Holland, Dicey, Hill, Wright, and Bywater, all distinguished themselves in var ious pursuits; while Luke, who met death by drowning early in his career, was always regarded by his associates as the ablest of the band. It is of more than passing interest to note that five of the men came up from Glasgow - Nichol, Caird, Luke, Mackay, and Bryce - so that the piquancy of inter national discourse was added to their discussions. One of them, the late Master of Balliol, ex presses himself in the connection after a fashion that must be of especial note to American stu dents. He says, By some of the members of the society its meetings are remembered as the very salt of their university life. The free dis cussion of everything in heaven or earth, the fresh enjoyment of intellectual sympathy, the fearless intercommumon of spirits, the youthful faith that the key of truth lies very near to our hands, gave a unique zest and charm to those meetings of students with students, before the inevitable parting of the ways of manhood hascome. And I think that, at least to the older members of the Old Mortality Society, it is im possible to think of it apart from the image of Nichol as one who gave impetus and direction to the debates, who broke the ice and kindled the fire of controversy by the impetuous freedom of his own utterance. The great contest of North and South in the United States was then begin ning, and Nichol and Green showed themselves from the first well informed as to the nature of the struggle, and zealously maintained the jus tice of the Northern cause. They were, I think, among the first in this country to recognize the genius for democratic leadership which lay hid under the rough exterior and Yankee humour of Lincoln. Brethren, do you seek any further reason why' one of your Dons has supported Quadrangle through ill report and good, so that the society might come to the end triumphant?

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.