made it a rule never to pass over any young man of eminent merit; and in this instance he gave his first nomination to the Rugby candidate, unsupported as he was by any private interest or influential recommendation. Dr. Routh's advanced age at this time prevented him from seeing much of the undergraduate members of his College, or from exercising any important influence on the course of their education. Conington was much impressed by his kindness and old-world courtesy on all occasions when he had to call on him officially; and it would seem that the old man had no difficulty in discerning the true character of his visitor; for instead of exhortations to steadiness of conduct, or encouragement to diligent study, he would give him shrewd lessons of worldly wisdom, and hints as to the best way of succeeding in life.

Conington now finally quitted Rugby, where he had been elected an Exhibitioner for three consecutive years, and commenced residence at Oxford in the October term. In the following Lent he succeeded in carrying off both the Hertford and Ireland scholarships, which are looked upon as the highest classical distinctions attainable by any undergraduate in the University. It was the custom then, much more than it is at present, for young men to read with private tutors; and soon after coming up to Oxford he had the good fortune to become the private pupil of a justly eminent scholar, the Rev. W. Linwood, of Christ Church; and no doubt his early success in these two examinations is in great measure to be attributed to the good use he made of this advantage. He had been unusually anxious about the result; and, conscious that he would not win without a great effort, he had taxed his strength of mind and body to the utmost in order to secure his victory. It is not, therefore, very surprising to find that, when the contest was over, his energies somewhat flagged so far as his university work was concerned. The course of reading required for the final examination was far from enough to find him occupation for the whole of his time. The Greek

and Latin scholarship, which at that time was an essential requisite for a first class, was already at his command in an abundant measure. For history he never had any special predilection, and he used often to say regretfully that he considered himself to be without any natural aptitude for that study. But his gift for reading rapidly, and remembering accurately after the most cursory perusal, made it very easy for him to acquire as much knowledge of ancient history as he needed for the purposes of the schools. In Moral Philosophy, which formed the third, and perhaps even then the most important subject of the examination, he took a livelier interest. His love for the discussion of political and moral questions had here full scope; and under the skilful training of another excellent tutor, the Rev. C. P. Chretien, of Oriel, he soon became a fair Aristotelian. Still, neither Plato nor Aristotle were ever genuine favourites with him; in later years he would refuse to see any merit, sometimes indeed to find any sense, in the Metaphysics of Aristotle; and he used steadily to maintain that the study of ancient philosophy was by no means a necessary, and perhaps not even a desirable, preparation for the pursuits of a scholar.

Before offering himself for his final examination, he quitted Magdalen, having been elected in March 1846 to a scholarship at University, thus returning to the college at which he had been originally matriculated. He took this step, because, having already determined not to take holy orders, he found that there was only a very remote prospect of succession to a lay fellowship at Magdalen. I shall never fail,' he wrote, 'to speak of the authorities there as having been very kind to me personally, and as having made my residence there as comfortable as they could; and it is a satisfaction to me to think that in leaving them I acted with their entire concurrence.' He obtained his first class in December 1846, and his fellowship at University fourteen months later, in February 1848.

In competing for the University Prize Poems and Prize

Essays he was less immediately fortunate than he had been in the examinations for the University Scholarships. The Newdegate Prize for English Verse he never obtained at all, and the Prize for Latin Verse not till 1847, after two unsuccessful efforts. The subject set for the poem in that year was 'Turris Londinensis,' and, perhaps owing to its somewhat trite character, it failed to interest him seriously. There is consequently a certain want of life about his composition, which prevents it, notwithstanding its correctness, from being a very favourable specimen of his powers of Latin versification. He regarded it himself in this light, and thought it not so good as some of his own unsuccessful poems, while with his usual candour he placed it much below the brilliant Numa Pompilius' of his friend, Mr. Goldwin Smith, which he always looked on as one of the very best among recent pieces of Latin verse. Something of the same ill fortune attended him with regard to the English and Latin Essays-the prizes for which he obtained in the years 1848 and 1849, and in each case on his first attempt. But the subjects of these essays, The Respective Effects of the Fine Arts and Mechanical Skill on National Character,' and Quænam fuerit Platonis idea in republicâ suâ conscribendâ ?' were neither of them exactly suited to him, and did not excite in his mind that sort of enthusiasm without which he found it difficult to put forth his full powers. Thus his essays, though they do not fall below, do not rise very much above the standard of merit usually found in compositions of this kind.

6

During his undergraduate career, and for two or three years after taking his degree, he took an active part in the discussions of the Union Society, of which he was secretary in 1845, president in 1846, and librarian in 1847. He had not in those days as yet abandoned the ambitious desire-a desire which is probably never wholly absent from the mind of any young Englishman-of entering some day on public life; and he naturally regarded the Union as the best available school of

preparation for such a career. The debates of that society, though never at any time intermitted, have not always been equally popular with the undergraduate members of the university. In Conington's time they were in great favour, and it was quite the fashion to attend them. The 'House,' always crowded, was often stormy and uproarious, and, not unfrequently, it required some tact and management to get a hearing from it at all. It had strong Tory convictions, which it did not like to have contradicted; it exhibited an intolerance of bores which cannot be too strongly commended to the imitation of other popular assemblies; and altogether it presented as good a practising ground for mimic political warfare as a young orator could desire. Conington had some personal difficulties to contend against, among which his near sight, and an occasional hesitation in speaking, were not the least. But, in spite of them, he soon established for himself a good position with his audience; and obtained as much control over them as any of his contemporaries. There was sense and sound reasoning even in his most unprepared speeches; and he always, in speaking no less than in writing, had at his command a copious supply of polished language. His delivery was never free from embarrassment; but, notwithstanding this, there was something fine and classical in his way of speaking. Unlike some orators of much greater note, he finished every sentence which he began; and, in his speeches, just as in his conversation, or in his most careless and hastily written letters, it would have been hard to find an ungrammatical turn of expression, or a phrase of questionable English.

Some of the subjects which were uppermost in his mind during this period are referred to in the following extracts from letters to his father and mother:

Magd. Coll., November 7, 1844.

The favourite passage of Arnold, I suppose, is 'Ex0iorn odú vn πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδένος κρατέειν, which occurs several times in the course of his correspondence. It may mean either that it is

a most grievous curse for a man, who sees much truth, to influence no one, or (instead of the last four words) to realise nothing. Either way the sense is the same-the question is whether undévos refers to a person or a thing. Apart from verbal points, the observation is most true, and most painful, and must come home to every one who thinks at all.

us.

Magd. Coll., April 30, 1845,

I scarcely know how the Maynooth question is regarded among The opinion of the generality of the undergraduates is, as you may imagine, not worth having, and even if it were, it would still be a difficult matter to test it. In February I brought forward a motion against the grant at the Union, which I carried after an animated debate by about three to two, in a house of about forty members. At present, however, we have a debate pending, which has already continued a fortnight-'That Sir Robert Peel's Government has forfeited the confidence of the country,' and the question of Maynooth of course enters very largely into it. There have been several good speeches both from the friends and the enemies of the grant; nor can I tell from the feeling expressed which way the general opinion really is. The attendance is much larger, averaging, I believe, between 200 and 300 each night. Even after the division has taken place, it will be hard to tell the feelings of the men on this particular subject, as many who would oppose the Government thereon, will vote for them on a broad general question, myself among the number.

Magd. Coll., May 3, 1845.

The question now before the Union is not the grant to Maynooth, which, as I told you, was discussed last term under my auspices, but the confidence of the country in Sir Robert Peel's Government, and this is what I mean to affirm by my vote, as I suppose you would do yourself. My objections to the Maynooth grant continue in full force, and had I had a seat in the House of Commons I should have certainly voted against it, though I knew that my vote would endanger Peel's continuance in office; but as to objecting to his continuance in office, when that is the question to which you must say aye or no, I should be one of the last persons in the world to do so. I do not agree with many of his opinions, but I respect him nevertheless. A statesman, according to my view, ought to make right his exclusive standard of action; but the man who makes expediency his exclusive standard-expediency, I mean, in the wide