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ST. JOHN BAPTIST COLLEGE.

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first opposition to the prevalent opinions came, and it was thus that William Laud first became famous.

His work belongs to the history of England. ' He, with Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, forms the triad of persons who have had the largest share in giving to the momentous changes of the sixteenth century so much of their form as is strictly and specifi- cally British. ' Again, to quote Mr. Gladstone, ' He was the patron not only of the saintly and heroic Bedell, but on the one hand of Chillingworth and Hales, on the other of Usher, Hall, and Davenant, of names sharply severed in opinion but unitedly known in the history of ability and of learning. It is again directly to the present purpose to compare the Calvinistic Oxford, to which Laud came as a youth, with the Anglican Oxford which he quitted to pass out into the government of affairs. The change in this place almost equals what was said of Augustus, that he found Rome brick and left it marble.' He was President from 1611 to 1621 ; and his bene- factions to the College did not cease even with his life.

The new quadrangle, which was begun in July, 163 1, when the King gave two hundred tons of wood from the royal forests of Stow and Shotover to aid in the building, was a magnificent expression of the donor's generosity and love for the College. It was completed in 1636, and Laud, now Archbishop of Canterbury, having assigned by special direction the new rooms to the library, to the President, and for the use of commoners, made elaborate preparations to

CROZIER. — From Lascelles,

receive the King and Queen when they "invited themselves " to him. They brought with them the King's nephews, the Elector Palatine and Prince Rupert, who were entered on the books of St. John's. Laud's College and his new library were the centre of the entertainments that marked their stay in Oxford. By this time Laud had not only given to his own College a notable position in the University, but had reformed and legislated for the University itself. The statutes had long been in confusion. Convocation in any case of difficulty passed new rules which frequently conflicted with the old statutes, and the government of the undergraduates seems to have been very lax. The University submitted its laws to the Chancellor, who, with the aid of a learned lawyer of Merton College, revised and codified them. How he desired that the students should be ruled may be seen by his careful direction to the heads of Colleges, that " the youths should conform themselves to the public discipline of the University. . . . And particu- larly see that none, youth or other, be suffered to go in boots or spurs, or to wear their hair undecently long, or with a lock in the present fashion, or with slashed doublets, or in any light or garish colours ; and that noblemen's sons may conform in everything, as others do, during the time of their abode there, which will teach them to know the difference of places and order betimes ; and when they grow up to be men it will make them look back upon that place with honour to it and reputation to you." So suc- cessful was he in impressing the spirit of discipline and self-restraint, that Sir John Coke was able to congratulate the University in 1636 that "scholars are no more found in taverns, nor seen loitering in the streets or other places of idleness or ill-example, but all contain themselves within the walls of their Colleges, and in the schools or public libraries, wherein I confess you have at length gotten the start, and by your virtue and merit have made this University, which before had no paragon in any foreign country, now to go beyond itself and give a glorious example to others not to go behind."

By his example of conscientious perseverance, by his devotion to learning, and by his munificent build- ing and endowment, Laud had brought both his College and the University to a high standard of culture and research. These were indeed the halycon days of St. John's, when Laud, its "second founder," was Chancellor of the University and Primate of all England ; Juxon, his pious and sagacious successor as President, was Bishop of London and Lord Treasurer ; and Dr. Richard Baylie governed the College, whose annalist says that never was there more diligent Scholar, more learned Fellow, or more prudent Head. But the University soon fell on evil days ; discipline was dissolved, teaching and learning were alike sus- pended, and the streets rang with the summons to arms. The city bore for several years the aspect at once of a camp and of an exiled Court. In these troubles St. John's had its full share. Scholars joined the King's troops, Fellows were driven from their country livings, the College gave up its treasures to the Royal cause. (See English Historical Review, October, 1892.)

Juxon, " that good man," as Charles I. called him, had worthy successors. After Baylie, who had married Laud's niece, and was restored in 1660, died, Peter Mews, a former fellow of the College, who had led an adventurous life during the Rebellion as a Royalist agent in Scotland and Flanders, was nominated by the King and elected by the College. He ruled well