--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Jacobson, B. H. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 11 number: 10 published: 1908-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'B. H. Jacobson, "Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarships," *Improvement Era* 11, no. 10 (August 1908): 793–802.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera11010unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera11010unse start_page: 793 end_page: 802 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1908-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera11010unse publication_year: 1908 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1908, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarships OXFORD AND THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS. BY B. H. JACOBSON. B. A., INSTRUCTOR IN GERMAN AT THE LATTER- DAY SAINTS UNIVERSITY, FIRST RHODES SCHOLAR FROM UTAH. The third Rhodes scholar from Utah will soon be leaving home to spend three years at one of the oldest and greatest uni- versities in the world. Thus the plan of the great founder of -^ ' these scholarships is being slowly but steadily carried out. Only the future, however, will show whether the mag- nificentdream of Cecil Rhodes will come true. His dream was that of a re-united Anglo-Saxon race, — of an English speaking empire, able, if nec- essary, to command the peace of the world ; for his ultimate aim was the establishment of Justice, the en- thronement of Liberty, and the main- tenance of Peace throughout the earth. This was his Millennium, and he hoped to hasten its coming by doing something to remove causes for misun- B. H. Jacobson, derstanding, quarreling and war among First Rhodes Scholar from Utah. all who speak the English language, whether their home be Canada, the United States, South Africa, or Australia. Accordingly he founded about ninety scholarships for the most important British colonies, two for each state and territory of the United States, and finally five each year for the kindred 794 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Teutonic nation of Germany. His thought was that the inter- change of ideas and the living together for three years of this number of young men of promise, at a great institution of learning Egbert Hartley, Frank. E. Holman, Second Rhodes Scholar from Utah. Third Rhodes Scholar from Utah. in the mother country, would at least be instrumental in securing the much desired results. It must not be forgotten that the plan is not temporary but perpetual; — this number of young men are to enjoy the generosity of Cecil Rhodes as long as the English language shall be spoken. The American scholarships amount to three hundred pounds, or nearly fifteen hundred dollars a year, and each one continues for three years. As expenses are high at Oxford, this sum is just about sufficient to enable one to live comfortably and respectably, and have a fair amount left for traveling during the vacations, pro- viding a due degree of economy is exercised To "be eligible for one . of these scholarships the applicant must be at least a sophomore in college, must be between nineteen and twenty-five years of age and unmarried, and must pass an examination in Greek, Latin and Elementary Mathematics. Oxford is beyond question one of the most picturesque and Genera! View of High Street and Some of the Oxford Colleges interesting: cities in Europe, and it is indeed a rare privilege to spend three years among its fine old colleges, replete with associa- tions of great men and deeds, and to ramble during spare hours through the beautiful forests and over the green hills and meadows that surround this choice spot. IMagdalen College Tower, and the River Cherwell. 796 IMPROVEMENT ERA. In a way, the University may be said to consist of twenty-two separate colleges, each with its own name, buildings, and set of instructors or "dons," as the undergraduate calls them. Here the students attend lectures, go to chapel, and do their study- ing. Not only this, but in the same buildings the students actu- ally live during at least their first two years at the University. The colleges are built in the form of hollow squares or quad- A Quadrangle of Oriel College which Cecil Rhodes Attended. rangles, called "quads" for short. Many of them are very pic- turesque and of considerable architectural beauty. Some are sev- eral centuries old, and nearly all look much older than they really are, on account of the effects of the damp climate on the compar- atively soft stone of which they are constructed. The English ivy, which almost covers many of the buildings, adds an inde- scribable charm and beauty, especially in the autumn, when the rich coloring is a delight to any appreciative eye. At regular intervals along the sides of the "quad" are stair- cases with rooms on each side, each student having two rooms, termed his '"sitter" and "bedder" respectively. These are looked after by servants, generally known as "scouts," and their OXFORD AND THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS. 797 assistants; for it would be very debasing for any English college "gentleman" to set his hand to any menial task. Here the scout brings breakfast and luncheon, the latter usually a very light meal, from the college kitchen and ''common room." The princi- pal meal, dinner, all the students and tutors eat together in the college "hall," at one end of which is a low platform for the '.'high table," where the "dons" The "hall" is always dine. adorned with portraits of present and former illustrious members of the college. Exeter College Dining Hall. Each college has its chapel where short services are held twice a day. Students who are members of the Church of Eng- land are required to attend about five or six times a week. Others may go to a morning roll call instead. The chapels are often very beautiful, that of my own college, Exeter, being one of the best. Every evening, shortly after nine o'clock, and as soon as "Old Tom," the giant bell in "Tom Tower" of Christ Church college, has tolled one hundred and one times, the gates are locked in most of the colleges; and after that, students cannot enter without Exeter College Chapel. incurring: a small fine, the amount varying with the lateness of the hour. A student staying out of college over night without good excuse is pretty certain to be suspended during the remainder of that term. The college terras of only eight weeks each, are but three in number, leaving more than half the year for vacations, which oc- cur at Christmas, Easter, and during the summer. This makes it necessary to do a good deal of studying during these holidays. Nevertheless, the students, and particularly the Rhodes scholars, do considerable traveling and sight seeing, this forming, in fact, the most enjoyable and a very valuable part of a Rhodes scholar's experience. The Briton, as is well known, is a great lover of outdoor sport, and the climate, especially where it is like that at Oxford, to some extent makes this a necessity. We therefore find college sports a very prominent feature in student life. The principal ones engaged in are rowing, rugby and association football, hockey, "beagling," golf, tennis, cricket, la-crosse, and track sports. "Beagling'' is a sort of "hare and hounds" chase, and is excellent practice for the long distance runner. English football is not quite so rough as the American variety, but gives quite sufficient opportunity for skill and endurance. OXFORD AND THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS. 7£9 English college sports are on the whole cleanerjandlbetter than in America. Nearly every one takes part, for, as is too often the case in our schools, athletics are not restricted to one or two dozen men, who perhaps need the exercise much less than the more unfortunate majority. Conditions there, it is true, make this general participation more easily possible than Choir of Christ Church Cathedral. with us. English students have a decided aversion to anything that smacks of professionalism in athletics. They play their games be- cause they love them, and because they realize the importance and value of such sport, when properly carried on. The eminently British idea of fair play is ever present, and the trickery that some- times disgraces American athletics is almost wholly absent. 800 IMPRO VEMENT ERA In this connection, the excellence of the movement recently- started in our midst, of establishing athletic clubs and gymnasiums, may fitly be referred to and commended; for this makes it easier for an ever larger number of young men to get the social and physical benefits to be derived from clean, healthful and pleasant exercise. Rowing, the most prominent and characteristic sport of Ox- ford, deserves special mention. During the year, each college rows several "Fours," and one or two ''Torpids" of eight men each, besides the college "Eight." The sport itself is of course an excellent one for developing almost all parts of the body, and the long and often unpleasant grind of preparation and training for the big races in the spring and early summer is pretty well paid for by the thrill and excitement as well as the honor of row- ing the college boat, when the huge crowds of admiring friends come up to see these events. The "Torpid" and "Eights" races each last one week. The idea is for each boat to try to reach and "bump" the one ahead of it, in which case it takes its position one place nearer the much-coveted "head of the river," in the next race. "Tom Tower," Christ Church College. OXFORD AND THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS. 801 Instruction at Oxford is carried on by means of lectures and a limited amount of class recitation, and by private consultations with tutors, at which papers and questions are presented and dis- cussed. There is thus a large amount of individual work, and a possibility of intimate contact and association with men usually of a very high degree of culture and scholarship. There are two kinds of courses leading to the B. A. degree, ''Pass courses," and "Honor courses," the latter being far the more extensive and rigid, and requiring a five or six day examina- tion at the end of the entire course. These honor courses or "schools" as they are called, are quite narrow in their scope, but thorough. The student confines himself to one field, as history, classics, mathematics, a foreign language and its literature, and so on. It is not to be implied that student life at Oxford is in all re- spects free from reproach. The very general habit of smoking, indulged in by "dons" as well as students, and the frequency of college "wines," at which intoxication is not at all uncommon, are of course objectionable features, nor is the moral atmosphere al- ways what it should be. The student of sound and determined character, however, need not be influenced in the least by these A Moment of Suspense— Waiting for the Starting Gun. A '"Bump'" at the Barges. things. The excellences, and the opportunities for acquiring cul- ture and education, in their highest and most liberal sense, remain the crowning feature of Oxford life; and in conclusion let me call attention again to the excellent chance afforded by the Cecil Rhodes scholarships, and offer a word of encouragement to any young Latter-day Saint, especially, who may have a slumbering ambition for something of this nature; for, after all, the ideals and aims of the worldly-minded colonizer of South Africa were not so very far removed from some of the highest ideals and principles taught in our own faith. Sugar House, Utah. RECREATION. From the prison of anxious thought that greed has builded, From the fetters that envy has wrought and pride has gilded, From the noise of the crowded ways and the fierce confusion, From the folly that wastes its days in a world of illusion, (Ah, but the life is lost that frets and languishes there !) I would escape and be free in the joy of the open air. Heney van Dyke.