Beneath the breezy battlements of Troy;
Or if the fair broad-streeted city yet
Hath fallen, or the noble Hector died;
For there went many thither whom I loved-
Divine Achilles, and the wise old king
That ruled o'er sandy Pylos; do they still,
Chanting the pean, fight with gods and men,
Or are they nothing but an empty name
For wandering bards to sing of? Oh, for me
No famous exploit, mighty deed of arms
Shall ever show me worthy to have held
His weapons, who, from oft the sacred pile
That flaming far on Eta lit the sea,
Rose to his place among the mighty gods:
Nor even may I in paternal halls

Dwell, mated with a loving wife, whose smile
Might cheer my hearth, and train a race of sons
To keep alive the glory of their sires.

But yet if patience, and to suffer pain

With firm endurance, meet a due reward,
For me, who all these years have dwelt alone
And suffer'd daily from a grievous wound,
Far higher glory may I reach than they
Who fight, whirl'd on amid a multitude
That praise them, and exhort to noble deeds,
And half-inspire the valour they applaud.

And still, however little, there is hope:
There yet may come a time when I shall see
The faces I have loved in olden time,
And with the spring my hope buds fresh again.
The sea is still, the breeze across the bay
Blows softly, and upon my couch of leaves
May sleep-who drowns alike lost hopes and fears,
Refresh me with the shadow of his wings:
Perchance a ship may touch the coast at morn.

"H."

DOUBLE HONOURS.

000

IT was my intention to have submitted to the Editors of The Eagle, with a view to their finding a place in their last Number, a few additional remarks on University Studies, supplementary to, and on some points corrective of, those which have already appeared in Nos. VI. and VII. of The Eagle. I was prevented from doing so by other duties which called me away from Cambridge: an interruption which I the less regret, because the experience of one who has tried "double reading" may be of service to some new Candidate for University Honours, who is at present in doubt as to his future course. I shall therefore endeavour as briefly as I can, to state where I differ from your previous correspondents, and what are my own views on the subject.

The remarks of "Ne quid nimis" of course claim my first attention. I differ with him on three points: 1st, I maintain that it may be laid down as a general rule, that all "really great works" have been achieved by men who have made one study, one pursuit, their sole object and aim. There is more force in his remark, that whatever tends to give a man one-sided views, is prejudicial to the formation of a sound judgment.

2ndly, I consider the study of Mathematics to be the best possible training for a man intended for Holy Orders. At any time he requires the power of sound reasoning which he may gain from their study, for the arguments

of theoretical Divinity;* and, in our own day above all, he needs the same power to enable him to detect every sophistry and fallacy, that will meet him in his contact with the growing infidelity of our large towns. Practical observation is strengthening this power daily in the mind of the thoughtful mechanic. The constant tracing of the links between cause and effect in the several parts of the machine on which he works cannot fail to develope in him an inductive power which may make him a dangerous combatant to meet, to one who lacks such training.

3rdly, I cannot assent to the theory advanced in p. 36. It appears to me to strike at the root of a belief in peculiar talents, and to an unwarrantable extent to apply the Jeffersonian Canon, that "all men are born free and equal." At any rate, in my own case, and with reference to my introduction to Latin, experience points to a different conclusion.

To all that your second correspondent advances, I can subscribe, save to that which at first sight appeared to myself, and will doubtless appear to many, his strongest argument: I mean that which he derives from the moral value of the fourth or fifth hour's work. My own experience and that of others, whom I have consulted, go to prove that your "double man" does not take up his Horace at the end of a hard evening's work at Mathematics: that on the contrary, with the exception of the necessary preparation for College Lectures, one branch of study or the other will occupy his whole attention. In this sense alone I believe the maxim to be true-"Change of work is as good as play." It appears to me that such a process of "change" as that to which your correspondent alludes, cannot fail to unhinge and unsettle the mind, and cause a man to realise the truth of that other proverb about falling between two stools. The zest and freshness with which a man returns to a branch of study which he has laid aside for a time, is quite a different thing, and has formed one of my own greatest pleasures in my course as an Undergraduate.

Thus much for the opinions of our friends. My own

I have heard it remarked ere now, that we should not have had so much of the mists of German Neology, had Mathematics been more studied in German Universities.

experience points to somewhat different conclusions. With regard to the generality of knowledge of which "Ne quid nimis" speaks, the history and poetry, the newspapers and novels, the "single" reader has decidedly the advantage over his more ambitious confrère. I am convinced that, if a man aims at a high place in both Triposes he must be endowed with very brilliant parts to be able to devote any time to such reading. He may manage a newspaper or a serial at the Union after hall, but the rest of his time is too precious to be spent thus. Even the history which your Mathematician can take pleasure in, and your Classic provide for in his hours of study, becomes irksome to him from the knowledge that what forms his light reading must be reproduced on the sixth morning of the final examination. "Ne quid nimis" is, however, somewhat hard on the Mathematical men, in putting them all down in the same Category, as wholly absorbed in their favourite pursuit with neither heart nor head for aught else.

There are two classes of men, as I conceive, who should read for both Mathematical and Classical honours: those whom early preparation or mental capacity assures of a high place in each-and those who, having thoroughly tested their own powers, know that they would be unable to secure such a place in either; men who, unable to achieve a Wranglership or First Class, can attain to a Double Second. Ordinary men will do best to confine their attention to the one branch, to which their inclination leads them.

But though I would check the aspirations of our juniors in University standing, who dream of the double laurels of Senior Wrangler and Senior Classic, I would remind them that they have in our two new Triposes a preventive of the one-sidedness which your correspondent so much dreads. The studies which they involve afford sufficient variety from the severer pursuits of the candidate for other honours, and cannot be accused of any want of practical bearing on life and conduct. At the same time, either party will find, if he prefers them, studies which, while affording him change and recreation, will at the same time by mental training, aid his other studies. The Mathematician may profit by the analysis of Chemistry, the inductions of Geology, the classifications of Botany and Zoology: whilst the Classic can only gain a thorough knowledge of his Plato and Aristotle by a deep study of their moral meaning. Or if it be more consistent with the Student's ideas of

preparation for Holy Orders, let him set about divinity reading, and increase the scanty number of those who seek honours in the Theological Tripos.

But these remarks have already extended beyond the limits which I proposed to myself. I hope that the importance of the subject to so many of your readers may be my