XVI.

JESUS COLLEGE.

BY THE REV. LL. THOMAS, M.A., VICE-PRINCIPAL OF JESUS COLLEGE.

Jesus College was the first Protestant Society established in Oxford, and its appearance marks an epoch in the history of the University; for “if Christ Church was the last and grandest effort of expiring Mediævalism, if Trinity and St. John’s commemorated the re-action under Philip and Mary, Jesus, by its very name, took its stand as the first Protestant College.”[279]

It may seem at first sight that there ought to be little difficulty in tracing the origin and settlement of a College which thus came into being in the latter half of the sixteenth century; but, partly because much is obscure in the history of the institution out of which it was erected, and partly because there are practically no College records for the first sixty years of its own existence, the historian of Jesus College has very scanty materials for his account of its foundation and early annals, and has to put down much which rests rather on inference than on documentary evidence.

About the year 1460, John Rowse, the Warwick antiquary, wrote down a list[280] of Halls and other places of study in Oxford. In this four Halls are mentioned, all for “legists,” that is, students of Canon and of Civil Law, viz. White, Hawk, Laurence, and Elm Halls, which stood on the site now occupied by Jesus College. These represented a once greater number of Halls, for Laurence Hall had absorbed Plomer (or Plummer) Hall; and in White Hall had been merged another White Hall,[281] which stood back to back with it, and apparently (but the evidence is hardly tangible) other Halls. In the next century the number of Halls was still further reduced, and by 1552 we find White Hall alone left,[282] having possibly drawn into its own precincts the buildings of its old neighbours. This White Hall stood on the north side of Cheyney Lane (now called Market Street), a short distance from the corner where it enters the Turl. It was a very old place of study, being mentioned as early as 1262, and having a well-marked succession of Principals from 1436 to 1552.

The point of capital importance in view of its relation to Jesus College is whether, about the time of the Reformation, White Hall became distinctly a Hall for Welsh students; but that point cannot be determined. The occasional and imperfect lists of members of White Hall found up to 1552 exhibit only a few Welsh names, from which it may perhaps be inferred that Welshmen were then in a distinct minority in this Hall. The two graduates of White Hall who are mentioned in 1562[283] are both Welsh, as also are their pupils; but these notices are a mere accident. If, however, Jesus College took over the inmates of White Hall, they must have been mostly Welshmen, because the first College list[284] (1572-3, two years after the foundation) exhibits almost exclusively Welsh names. On the whole, it is best to say that the evidence does not justify the belief that White Hall, which Jesus College superseded, was distinctly a Hall of Welsh students.

At the petition of Hugo Price, or Ap Rice, Doctor of Laws, Treasurer of St. Davids, Queen Elizabeth granted the first Letters Patent, dated the 27th of June, 1571, establishing “quoddam Collegium eruditionis scientiarum, philosophiae, bonarum artium, linguarum cognitionis, Hebraicae, Graecae, et Latinae, ad finalem sacrae Theologiae professionem,” and conferring on the new foundation all the lands, buildings, and personalty of White Hall. From these words of the Foundation Charter it appears that the College was primarily intended to be a place of training for theologians; a secondary object is thus summed up, “denique ad Ecclesiae Christi, regni nostri, ac subditorum nostrorum communem utilitatem et felicitatem.”

Soon after the issue of the Letters Patent, but it is not known exactly when, the building of the College began, the first portion erected being two stories of the east front and two staircases[285] of the southern side of the outer quadrangle. For many years, probably till 1618, the work was not extended, and the following story is handed down. A stone was inserted in the wall on the south side of the gateway, bearing this inscription--

“Struxit Hugo Prisius tibi clara palatia, Iesu, Ut Doctor Legum pectora docta daret.”

“Nondum,” laughed a University wit, one Christopher Rainald,

“Nondum struxit Hugo, vix fundamenta locavit: Det Deus ut possis dicere ‘struxit Hugo’!”

Of the first founder, Hugo Price, very little is known. “He was born,” Wood says, “at Brecknock,[286] bred up as ’tis generally thought, in Oseney Abbey, under an uncle of his that was a Canon there;” he did not long survive the foundation of the College, and was buried (August 1574) in the Priory Church at Brecon.

The Letters Patent provide for the constitution of the College to consist of a Principal, eight Fellows, and eight Scholars, nominate persons to fill all these places, and arrange for future appointments.

The Principal nominated was David Powell, Doctor of Laws. Among the Fellows may be noticed Robert Johnson, B.D.,[287] afterwards Archdeacon of Leicester, the founder of Uppingham and Oakham Schools. Among the scholars Thomas Dove, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, and Lancelot Andrews, Bishop successively of Chichester, Ely, and Winchester. The College is then incorporated, invested with corporate legal powers and a common seal, and united with the University “ut pars, parcella, et membrum.” Concession is granted to Hugo Price to endow the College with lands and revenues to the amount of a clear £60 per annum, and to the College to receive further endowments to the extent of £100 a year; and finally an important body of Commissioners is appointed (including Lord Burghley and other magnates, and the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of the University, together with the Principal and two Fellows), to draw up all the necessary statutes for the government of the College. There is also a tradition that leave was given to the College to receive a supply of timber from the royal forests of Stow and Shotover towards the erection of the fabric.

The second Letters Patent of Queen Elizabeth were issued on the 7th day of July, 1589, eighteen years after the first patent. Their object appears to have been to appoint Francis Bevans to the Principalship, to authorize the College to receive further benefactions to the amount of £200 a year, and to nominate a still more important body of Commissioners to draw up the College statutes. These second Commissioners included several ecclesiastical and legal dignitaries, the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Principal, and apparently three Fellows of the College, and Richard Harrys, Principal of Brasenose College. The presence of the last-mentioned Commissioner probably accounts for the fact that the new statutes were framed upon the model of the Brasenose statutes. There seems to have been some delay in drawing up these statutes, but they were finally completed and ordered to be written “fayre in a Booke.” This “Booke” seems to have been sent from one Commissioner to another for approval and correction, and at least once was reported to be lost; but was eventually recovered and deposited in the College.

The third Letters Patent concerning the College are those of King James I., dated June 1st, 1621, in the fiftieth year of the College. After reciting both the Letters Patent of Queen Elizabeth, the King confirms the establishment of the College; arranges for the addition and co-optation of eight additional Fellows and eight additional scholars; and incorporates the College anew to consist of sixteen Fellows and sixteen scholars. Further, Sir Eubule Thelwall, one of the Masters of the Court of Chancery, is nominated to the Principalship; and vacancies in the Fellowships and scholarships are filled up. It is worthy of notice that two of the original Fellows, Robert Johnson and John Higgenson, and two of the original scholars, Lancelot Andrews and Thomas Dove, are still retaining their places.

It is remarkable that in the three documents above-mentioned there is no word or expression which implies any local limitation of the College. There is no direct or indirect allusion to place of birth or education in the Letters Patent or in the statutes. And yet the founder was a Welshman, and probably intended his new foundation to be a Welsh College. The Tudors were always ready to acknowledge their Welsh origin; hence the readiness of Queen Elizabeth to accede to the request of Dr. Hugo Price, and even to contribute something of her royal bounty. Yet no formal means were adopted to secure and continue the connection of the College with Wales. If we review the lists of the Fellows nominated in the two Letters Patent of Elizabeth, we know by the names only (even apart from our actual knowledge from other sources) that they are not all Welshmen. But it is otherwise with the Principals. Every one of these, from the foundation to the end of the eighteenth century, shows by his name[288] his connection with Wales. The times in which Dr. Hugo Price lived were times of somewhat despotic government; the Principal appointed the Foundationers; and it may have seemed a sufficient safeguard to the first founder if it should become a tradition that the Principal must be a Welshman. At any rate, if it was not his intention to secure the connection with Wales by such means, it does not seem possible that he could have selected any which would have been more successful. From the time of the Restoration it is exceedingly rare to find the admission of any one to a Scholarship or Fellowship who was not qualified for the preferment by birth in Wales. It is only important to notice that this exclusiveness grew up by custom and tradition, but was not ordained by statute or authority. In the time of Sir Leoline Jenkins a fixed system was adopted,[289] and certain Fellowships and Scholarships were assigned respectively to North and South Wales; but it was not so at the first.

Of the first six Principals, five were Fellows of All Souls, and only two in Holy Orders. The diversity in the authority by which they were appointed is to be remarked. The first and third were nominated by the Crown in the Letters Patent; of the appointment of the second there is no record; the fourth was “elected Principal, 17th May, 1602, by three Fellows that were then in the College”; the fifth was nominated by the Chancellor of the University, and admitted, under his mandate, by the Vice-Chancellor, 8th September, 1613, no Fellows appearing or claiming the right of election; the sixth Principal was nominated by the Chancellor, and admitted by the Vice-Chancellor, after a contest with the Fellows, which brought about the final settlement of the dispute in favour of the College by the third Letters Patent.

The cause of this uncertainty is not difficult to discover. Had the College been definitely constituted, the statutes would have provided for the filling up of vacancies in the ordinary way of election by the Fellows. But the Royal Commissioners had neglected to settle the College by statutes, and the Chancellor of the University claimed to appoint the Principal of the College as he had enjoyed the right of appointing the Principal of White Hall.

The question between the claims of the Fellows and of the Chancellor was brought to an issue in 1620. On 29th June in that year the Chancellor (Lord Pembroke) nominated Francis Mansell (his kinsman and chaplain) Principal on the death of Griffith Powell; and on 3rd July the Vice-Chancellor (Dr. John Prideaux, Rector of Exeter) admitted him in spite of the protests of the Fellows who claimed the election. On 13th July, Mansell expelled from their Fellowships three of his chief opponents; and on 17th July the Vice-Chancellor interposed in Mansell’s favour the authority of his office against a fourth.[290]

The subsequent stages in the dispute are not upon record; but that Mansell felt his position insecure is obvious from his resignation of the Principalship and his return to his All Souls Fellowship before his year of grace at that College had expired. His successor, Eubule Thelwall, by what authority appointed is not known, obtained within a year the third Letters Patent under which the constitution of the College was finally determined, and the right of election secured to the Fellows.

Griffith Powell, the fifth Principal, had been a considerable benefactor, and was the first to extend the buildings of the College since the foundation. He began to enlarge it by the addition of the buttery, kitchen, and hall; but dying before they could be completed, he left them, together with the south side of the outer quadrangle, to be completed by Sir Eubule Thelwall, “that most bountiful person, who left nothing undone that might conduce to the good of the College.” Francis Mansell, his successor, was a Fellow of All Souls, but had been a commoner of the College. He was third son of Sir Francis Mansell, of Muddlescomb, in the county of Carmarthen. Of him we have very full information from the _Life_,[291] by Sir Leoline Jenkins, which presents a most interesting and vivid picture of the troublous times in which he lived. Dr. Francis Mansell performed the unprecedented feat of holding the Principalship three times, being twice appointed, and once restored, to the office. He watched the growth of the buildings under the two great benefactors--Sir Eubule Thelwall and Sir Leoline Jenkins; and he himself aided the work by his advice, gifts, and diligence in collecting contributions.

On Mansell’s resignation of the Principalship in 1621 his place was filled by Sir Eubule Thelwall. He was the fifth son of John Thelwall of Bathavarn Park in the county of Denbigh, bred in Trinity College in Cambridge till he was Bachelor of Arts, then coming to Oxford, was incorporated here in the same degree in 1579. Afterwards Master of Arts of this University, Counsellor at Law, Master of the Alienation Office, and one of the Masters in Chancery, he was admitted Principal in the month of May 1621. He procured from King James a new charter (mentioned above), and greatly increased the buildings of the College, not only completing the kitchen, buttery, and hall, but adding a house for the Principal, and the chapel--which, however, was afterwards enlarged by the addition (in 1636) of a sacrarium. He also built a library, “with a walk under,” probably a colonnade, to the north of the Hall and west of his new house; but it is doubtful whether he meant this to be a permanent building. He enlarged the foundation, augmented the endowments of the College, and enriched the library with books. He died October 8th, 1630, and was buried in the chapel.

On the death of Sir Eubule Thelwall, Dr. Francis Mansell was again appointed to the Headship. Encouraged, perhaps, by the example of his predecessor, he, in his second tenure of the office, greatly enlarged the buildings of the College, “for though our Principall had no fonds but that of his owne Zeale, such was the Interest, which his Relation in Blood to the many noble Families and (which was more prevailing) his public and pious Spirit, had procured him, that he had Contributions sufficient in view to finish and perfect his new Quadrangle; S^{r} George Vaughan of Ffoulkston in Wiltshire having declared that himselfe would be at the whole charge of the west end, which was designed to be the Library; but all these pious designes and contributions were lost by the dispersions and Ruines that by the Warr befell those who intended to be our Benefactors.”[292] Notwithstanding, Dr. Mansell was able to effect much, for he pulled down Thelwall’s library, which does not seem to have been a satisfactory building, and erected the north and south sides of the inner quadrangle. He also enriched the College with revenues and benefices, some of which appear to have been since alienated.

Dr. Mansell was obliged to leave Oxford in 1643, owing to “the sad newes of his Brother S^{r} Anthony’s decease, who fell with all the circumstances of signall Piety and Vallor in the first Newbury fight; where he commanded as field-Officer under Lord Herbert of Ragland.” He had to remain in Wales to settle his brother’s affairs, and look after his orphan children for some time; but “the Garrison of Oxon being surrendered in 1646, and the Visitation upon the University coming on, in July 1647, he hastened away from Wales to his station there; and though the Earle of Pembroke (who was chiefe in the Action) owned our Principall as his near Kinsman and had a Favour to the College as the naturall Visitor thereof by Charter, and though the Earles Two younger Sons who had lived severall years Commoners in the College under our Principall’s charge, offered him their Service with all Affection possible, yet neither the Propensions of the Earle, nor the Kind offices of his Sons could bring our Principall to fframe himself to any the least evasion, much less to the direct owneing of that Power. Being ejected out of the Headship, which was not actually done by order of the Visitors till the one and twentieth day of May 1648, he Applyed himself to state all Accompts between him and the College; And having delivered the muniments and Goods that belong to it to the hands of the Intruders, he withdrew into Wales and took up his Residence att Llantrythyd, a House of his Kinsman’s, Sir John Auberey’s K^{nt} and Baronett, which house Sequestration having made desolate, while Sir John was in prison for his Adherence to the King, afforded him the Conveniency of a more private retirement and of having severall young Gentlemen of Quality, his Kindred under his eye, while they were taught and Bread up by a young man[293] of his College that he had chosen for that employment.”

Here he suffered many persecutions and indignities, “for the Doctor’s very Grave and Pious aspect, which should have been a protection to him among Salvages, was no other than a Temptation to those (who reputed themselves Saints) to Act their Insolencies upon him.” At last, driven from his retirement, he returned to Oxford, where, “when our Principall came first to Towne, he took up at Mr. Newmans,[294] a Baker in Holy-well; but the good Offices he dayly rendered to the College disposed the then Society so farr to comply with his Inclinations (which had been allway to live and dye in the College) as to invite him to accept of one Chamber for accommodating himself, where he built severall faire ones for the Benefitt of the College. This motion was accepted, and he Lived in the College, near the stoney staires near the Gate, for eight years where he had Leisure to observe many Changes and Revolutions within those Walls, as without them till that happy one of his majestie’s Restauration by God’s infinite Mercy to the College as well as to the Nation happily came on.”

He was restored to his Headship on the 1st of August 1660, but owing to “the decayes of Age, especially dimness of Sight,” he resolved to resign once more. His first wish was that Dr. William Bassett, Fellow of All Souls, should succeed him, “who would have added to the Reputation of the College by his Government, and to the Revenew of it in all Probability, by his generous minde and ample Fortune; But Dr. Bassett’s want of health not allowing him to accept of the Burthen, it was (by the Unanimous Consent of all the Fellowes at a ffree-election the first of March, 1660,[295] and with the good Liking of Our Common Father) devolved upon Dr. Jenkins.[296] This being done he had no other thought but for Heaven, nor Leasure but for Prayer; he came by degrees to be confined to his chamber and at last to his Bed and upon the first day of May 1665 he changed this Life for a better of Blisse and Immortality.”

The following items from the _Book of Receipts and Disbursements_, in Dr. Mansell’s own handwriting, are of interest as showing some of the charges to which a College was put during the Civil War--

“Other various and Extraordinary Expenses, most of them peculiar to the time.

Put uppon Domus by M^{r} _Evans_ for Bread and Beere to the Kinges Souldiers at their first Cominge to _Oxon_ from _Edgehill_ 01 : 02 : 6

Payd by him the Taxe layd uppon the Coll: towards the works from the beginninge of it to the 28^{th} of _Jan:_ ’43 03 : 16 : 6

More by him for Musquets, Pikes and the like 03 : 14 : 3

Given by him to the Prince his Trumpetters 00 : 10 : 00

Payd by Pole after 12^{d} a head every weeke for all of the Coll. towards the fortifications in _Xst Church_ Meade from the 17^{th} of _June_ to the end of _July_ 02 : 11 : 00

More towards the same in _Aug._ & _Sept._ 02 : 7 : 00

For a little Peece of Plate of another man’s, which was in my Study, and by mistake taken out with the Coll. Plate,[297] and lent to his Ma^{tie}, which weighed some what more than 8 ounces 02 : 00 : 00

Pay’d uppon his Maj^{ties} Motion towards the Maintenance of his Foote Souldiers for one Monthe after fower Pounds by the Weeke 16 : 00 : 00

The Totall of Receipts 95 : 2 : 5

The Totall of Disbursments 341 : 6 : 3

And so the Disbursments doe exceede the Receipts by the Summe of 246 : 3 : 10

Which I the Principall have lay’d out of the Coll. Money remayninge in my hands, mine owne, or what I borrowed of others.

And I disbursed the money lent by Common Consent to his Ma^{tie} 100 : 00 : 00”

In the interval between Dr. Mansell’s ejection in 1648 by the Parliamentary Visitors and his restoration in 1660 by Charles II.’s Commissioners, two Principals ruled the College. Of the first of these, Michael Roberts, Sir Leoline Jenkins uses the words “infamous and corrupt.” Perhaps the words are not to be taken literally; but nothing of the kind is said of his successor, Francis Howell, though he also was a Puritan. It is also on record that in 1656 the Fellows deposed Roberts on charges of embezzling the College funds and corrupt dealing in elections; and that although for the time the Parliamentary Visitors refused to endorse the action of the Fellows, he did vacate his Principalship that year or the next, presumably to avoid expulsion. Afterwards he “lived obscurely” in Oxford, dying on 3rd May, 1670, “with a girdle[298] lined with broad gold pieces about him (100£ they say),” and was buried in St. Peter’s in the East churchyard. The appointment in his place of Francis Howell, Fellow of Exeter, on 24th October, 1657, marks the ascendancy of the Independents over the Presbyterians in Puritan Oxford. The Fellows of the College had elected Seth Ward (afterwards Bishop of Salisbury), but the Independents persuaded Oliverus Protector to appoint Howell, after the fashion already set in Oxford by Elizabetha Regina, and afterwards followed by Jacobus Rex.

In the _Familiar Letters_ of James Howell are some interesting notices of Oxford and of Jesus College during the times of Mansell, Thelwall, and Jenkins. The writer, James Howell, son of Thomas Howell, minister of Abernant in Carmarthenshire, was born about 1594; and entered Jesus College, where he took his B.A. degree, in 1613. During his absence abroad in the diplomatic service he was chosen on the Foundation of his College by Sir Eubule Thelwall; but whether he was actually admitted is not recorded. Space forbids extracting from his letters the entertaining passages about Oxford; but this is the less to be regretted since the letters are found in many editions, the last being issued in 1890.

Some years after Howell had left College, viz. in 1638, Henry Vaughan, “The Silurist,” entered. In early life he does not seem to have written much; it was owing to illness and trouble that he was led to imitate and often to excel the devotional poetry of George Herbert. This is not the place to dwell upon his merits. His works have been little read, but have gradually asserted their claim to an enduring place in English literature.

Soon afterwards his twin brother, Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), an eminent writer, philosopher, and chemist, was educated in the College. In 1644, James Usher, Archbishop of Armagh, was resident in and a member of the College. At a still earlier period (1602), Rees Prichard was a member of the College. He was afterwards Vicar of Llandovery, and became an eminent poet. His book _Canwyll y Cymru_, is the best known and most highly valued collection of devotional and religious poetry in the Welsh language.

The above were all Anglican Churchmen and Royalists, but there was at this period some Puritanism in the College. “The growth of Puritan feeling in the city of Oxford is shown by the formation of the first Baptist Society under Vavasour Powell of Jesus College, in 1618. He made many converts in Wales, and in 1657 we hear of John Bunyan accompanying him to Oxford. Powell died at last in the Fleet Prison.”[299]

Among other distinguished members of the College during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may be briefly mentioned Dr. John Davies (1573), a Welsh scholar and grammarian; John Ellis (1628), author of _Clavis Fidei_; Edward Lhwyd (1682), a celebrated antiquary, and keeper of the Ashmolean Museum; Henry Maurice (1664), a learned divine and Margaret Professor of Divinity; David Powel (1571), a learned divine and eminent antiquary; his son Gabriel Powel (1592), considered “a prodigy of learning”; John White, M.P. (1607), a well-known character during the Commonwealth; John Williams (1569), Margaret Professor of Divinity, Dean of Bangor, and author; Sir William Williams, a very eminent lawyer and statesman, Speaker of the House of Commons, Solicitor-and Attorney-General (1688); Owen Wood (1584), Dean of Armagh, a considerable benefactor to the College; with many Bishops, a list of whom is here given:--

_Bishops educated in Jesus College._

1. Richard Meredith Leighlin and Ferns (1589) 2. John Rider Killaloe (1612) 3. Lewis Bayley Bangor (1616) 4. Edmund Griffith Bangor (1633) 5. Morgan Owen Llandaff (1639) 6. Thomas Howell Bristol (1644) 7. Hugh Lloyd Llandaff (1660) 8. Francis Davies Llandaff (1667) 9. Humphrey Lloyd Bangor (1673) 10. William Thomas St. Davids (1677), Worcester (1683) 11. William Lloyd St. Asaph (1680), Lichfield (1698), Worcester (1699) 12. Humphrey Humphreys Bangor (1689) 13. John Parry Ossory (1689) 14. John Lloyd St. Davids (1686) 15. John Evans Bangor (1701), Meath (1715) 16. John Wynne[300] St. Asaph (1714), Bath and Wells (1729)

_Bishops not educated in Jesus College, but who have been members of the Society._[301]

Lancelot Andrews Chichester, Ely, Winchester Thomas Dove Peterborough.

Leoline Jenkins, who succeeded Dr. Mansell in 1661, has been well termed the second founder of the College. He almost completed the buildings, restored discipline, fostered study, augmented the revenues, and at his death left his whole estate to the College. He therefore deserves a somewhat fuller record of his life than any of his predecessors or successors. His charges as a Judge and Commissary of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his correspondence as an Ambassador were published by William Wynne, Esq., of the Middle Temple, in 1734, in two large folio volumes; to this is prefixed a memoir from which we gather the following facts--

“He was born in the year 1625, in the parish of Llanblithian, in the county of Glamorgan, and was the son of Leoline Jenkins, or Jenkins Llewelyn, of the same place, a man of about £40 a year, and who left behind him in that neighbourhood the character of a very honest, prudent, and industrious man. The first Essays and Foundation of his son’s future Learning were laid at Cowbridge School, very near the place of his birth and even then no inconsiderable School, which, as a grateful Acknowledgement of benefits there received, he afterwards liberally endowed.

“He was admitted into Jesus College in the year 1641, not quite 16 years of age. Mr. Jenkins’ behaviour from his first appearance in College was so regular and exact that a good Opinion was soon taken of him. But the Troubles of the Nation soon after coming on, Mr. Jenkins took Arms for the Royal Cause. Thus were his tender years seasoned and exercised not only with Learning and Diligence, but also with an equal Mixture of Adversities, the best Preparatives for the succeeding Varieties of his Life. For the Society into which Mr. Jenkins had been admitted, was not only obliged to give way to Strangers, but also the College itself was dismantled, and became Part of a Garrison by Order from Court; and for some time continued to be the Quarters of the Lord Herbert afterwards Marquiss of Worcester, and of other persons of Quality, that came out of Wales on the King’s Service. The Garrison of Oxford being surrendred in the year 1646, and the Visitation of the University by the two Houses coming on in the following year, this College, among others, soon felt the fatal Effects of it, for of 16 Fellows and as many Scholars, there remained but one Fellow and one Scholar that was not ousted of their Subsistance. Mr. Jenkins retired to Wales and settled not far from Llantrythyd where Dr. Mansell was living at the House of Sir John Auberey who was an adherent of the Royal Cause. The first employment found for Mr. Jenkins was the tuition of Sir John’s eldest son. Being indicted for keeping a Seminary of Rebellion and Sedition, he was forced to leave that Countrey and removed with his Charge to Oxford in May 1651, and settled there in a Town-house belonging to Mr. Alderman White[302] in the High-street, which from him was then commonly called and known by the Name of the Little Welsh-Hall. Mr. Jenkins’s regular and orthodox Behaviour at Oxford was not quite so close and reserved, as to escape all Observation, but he began to give Offence to some of the inquisitive schismatical Members of the University and was obliged to retire from thence, with his Pupils as it were in his Arms, and go beyond Sea, for fear of Imprisonment, or of some worse Disaster. Even this was no unlucky Accident, for it helped to add to his former Acquirements the Knowledge of Men as well as Letters. It gave him an Acquaintance with some eminent and learned Men, particularly Messieurs Spanheim and Courtin; it was the Means of acquiring a great Accuracy in the French and other Languages. It appears by a little Diary that he made a Tour over a great part of France, Holland and Germany, and resided at their famous Seats of Learning, especially at Leyden. He returned to England in 1658, and was invited by Sir William Whitmore, a great Patron of the distress’d Cavaliers, to live with him at Appley in Shropshire, where he continued till the year 1660 enjoying the Opportunities of Study, and a well-furnished Library. As soon as the King was restored to his Kingdom and the University to its just rights, Mr. Jenkins returned to Jesus College, about the 35th Year of his Age, and his Reputation among his Countrymen was so considerable that upon his first Appearance and Settlement of the Society, he was chose one of the Fellows, and his Behaviour gained so fast upon them that he was very soon after, upon the Resignation of Dr. Mansell, unanimously chose Principal of the College, and thereupon commenced Doctor of the Civil Law.

“And indeed the College had never more Occasion of such a Ruler than at this Time, when the former Discipline of it had been so long interrupted by the late distracted and licentious Times, and had suffered so much by the Management of his ‘infamous and corrupt’ Predecessor.[303] Dr. Jenkins did abundantly satisfie the Hopes conceived of him; he made it his first Concern to restore the Exercises, Disputations and Habits, and to review and consider the Body of Statutes. By these prudent Methods he retrieved the Reputation and advanced the Discipline of the College. He busied himself in adding to the Buildings of the College, and completed the Library and part of the western side of the Inner Quadrangle. He was made Assessor to the Chancellor and Deputy Professor of Civil Law. He was also of singular use to the University in maintaining their Foreign Correspondences by his skill in the French and other Languages. He was also very instrumental to his Friend and Patron Archbishop Sheldon in the Settlement of his Theatre and Printing-House. He not only framed the Draught of that Grant with his own Hand, but also the Statute ‘de Vesperiis and Comitiis a B. Virginis Mariæ templo transferendis ad Theatrum,’ that the House of God might be kept free for its own proper and pious Uses.

“The University now became too narrow a Field for such an active Mind and too scanty an Employment for those high and encreasing Abilities which exerted themselves in him. He was therefore encouraged by his Friend the Archbishop to remove to London in Order to apply himself to the publick Practice of the Civil Law. So he resigned his Principality in 1673, and was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Dr.) John Lloyd. The after career of the great Lawyer was successful and distinguished, but it does not lie within the scope of the present work, so it must be very briefly described. He rose to be Judge of the High Court of Admiralty and Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Ambassador and Plenipotentiary for the General Peace at Cologne and Nimeguen, and Secretary of State to King Charles II. He was also made a Knight, and became Member of Parliament for Hythe, one of the Cinque Ports, and afterwards Burgess for his own University. It may, however, be excusable to give the description of his last return to the College he loved so much, when his body was brought to be buried by the side of ‘his dear Friend Dr. Mansell in Jesus College Chappel.’

“The Pomp and Manner of his Reception there and of his Interment is thus described by one that was an Eyewitness. When the Corps came near the City, several Doctors, and the principal Members and Officers of the University, the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens, some in Coaches, some on Horseback, went out to meet it and conducted it to the Publick Schools, where the Vice-Chancellor, Bishop of the Diocese and the whole Body of the University were ready to receive it and placed it in the Divinity-School, which was fitted and prepared for that Purpose, with all convenient Ornaments and Decorations. Two Days after, the Vice-Chancellor, several Bishops, Noblemen, Doctors, Proctors and Masters met there again in their Formalities, as well as many others that came to pay their last Respects to him; and the memory of the Deceased being solemnized in a Latin Oration by the University Orator, the Corps was removed to the Chappel of Jesus College. Where the Vice-Chancellor (who happened to be the Principal thereof) read the Offices of Burial; and another Latin Oration was made by one of the Fellows of the College, which was accompanied with Musick, Anthems and other Performances suitable to the occasion. After which it was interr’d in the area of the said Chappel, with a Marble Stone over his Grave and a Latin Inscription on it, supposed to be made by his old Friend Dr. Fell Lord Bishop of Oxford and Dean of Christ Church.”

Among other benefactions Sir Leoline left his valuable library to the College, only reserving forty law-books to begin the library at Doctors’ Commons in London.

His portrait, painted by Tuer, at Nimeguen, hangs in the College Hall; of this painting there are two replicas, one in the Principal’s Lodgings, the other in the Bursary, both so well executed as hardly to be distinguished from the original. He is represented sitting by the council-table in a chair[304] covered with red velvet and holding a memorial in his hand. His dress is plain, but decorated with rich lace at the neck and wrists; his hair is long and flowing; his features strongly marked and melancholy in expression.

The last Principal of the seventeenth century was Jonathan Edwards, who seems to have been an able man, and was a benefactor to the College. He contributed £1000 to the improvement and decoration of the chapel.

A long list of benefactions might be written down for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; but space allows individual mention of one only. King Charles I. gave (1636) divers lands and tenements in trust to the University, that they with the profits of them maintain a Fellow in Jesus College (as also in Exeter and Pembroke Colleges) born in the Isle of Jersey or Guernsey. To these benefactions conditions were generally annexed, the profits to be paid to Fellows or scholars, frequently with preference for the kindred of the donor, or for natives of particular places and counties, or for certain schools in Wales.

The eighteenth century presents a great contrast in interest to its predecessor. In Jesus College it was exceptionally uneventful. The buildings of the College were complete, the north-west corner of the inner quadrangle being finished in 1713. Since then the College has not been altered in form nor enlarged. Several valuable benefactions were received, but there was none of the vigour or enthusiasm of the sixteenth century. The most considerable endowment was what is now called the Meyricke Fund, left in trust to the College by the Rev. Edmund Meyricke. Meyricke was, like the original founder of the College, treasurer of the cathedral church of St. Davids. He was one of the Ucheldre family, a branch of that of Bodorgan, in Anglesey. He declares in his Will--“as for my worldly estate, which God Almighty hath blessed me with above my merits or expectation, I dispose of in manner following: Imprimis, whereas I always intended to bestow a good part of what God should please to bless me withall for the encouragement of learning in Jesus College, in Oxford, and for the better maintenance of six of the junior scholars of the foundation of the said College out of the six counties of North Wales; I doe give devise and bequeath all my real and personal estate,” &c. The property thus left became very valuable, and a number of Exhibitions were established, strictly confined to Welshmen, with a preference for natives of North Wales. It has been questioned by some whether this fund has been beneficial to the College. There is no doubt it made a University education possible to many Welshmen who would otherwise not have thought of an Oxford Degree. These new students, drawn from the middle and lower classes in Wales, soon formed a majority of the undergraduates. It therefore became customary for the sons of Welsh gentry to resort to other Colleges in Oxford, and to some extent the old connection was broken. This was a decided loss to the social status and prestige of the College; but it is probable that the compensating gain was greater. The young squires who resorted to the University in the eighteenth century were not as a rule students, and formed an element in a College requiring much discipline and toleration. On the other hand, the students, encouraged by the new endowment, if not intellectually very distinguished, owing to lack of early advantages, generally made good use of the privileges afforded by the University, and did solid work for the Principality in after life. When the endowments of the College were strictly and by statute confined to Welshmen, it is in Wales that we must look for educational results. And it must be confessed that when we do look, we are not disappointed. In every department of civil life, but especially in the Church, we find sons of the College occupying posts of usefulness and dignity. Even for the highest posts in the Church there was no deficiency of native talent, but it was the mistaken policy of the Government under the Georges to make use of the Welsh Bishoprics as rewards for English ecclesiastics, who were ignorant of the language and characteristics of the people whom they were supposed to guide--a policy which is now admitted to have inflicted serious, and it is to be feared permanent, injury on the Church in Wales. Thus in the eighteenth century the College was debarred from furnishing occupants of the four Welsh sees, though many of her sons may be pointed out as worthy of the mitre. Soon after the mistaken policy was discontinued we have seen half the Welsh sees occupied by ex-scholars of the College.[305]

Among the distinguished men of this period may be mentioned Thomas Charles, B.A., 1779, commonly called Charles of Bala, founder of the sect of Calvinistic Methodists, and author of the _Geiriadur_, a book still much used. He was a man of great piety and learning, and did not secede, but was driven out of the Church by the injudicious treatment of his ecclesiastical superiors. His name is still a “household word” in Wales. David Richards (Dafydd Ionawr), an eminent Welsh poet, author of _Cywydd y Drindod_; Thomas Jones, 1760, a painter of considerable merit, a favourite pupil of Wilson; Evan Lloyd, 1755, a poet, and friend of Churchill, Garrick, Wilkes, &c.; Goronwy Owen, a celebrated Welsh poet and scholar, one of the great names in Welsh literature; John Walters, Master of Ruthin School, 1750; James Bandinel, the first Bampton Lecturer (1780); and William Wynne, 1704, a Welsh poet. We may also mention as a contrast to the above, who are chiefly ecclesiastics, Richard Nash, best known as “Beau Nash,” for fifty years the celebrated Master of the Ceremonies at Bath, whose smile or frown proclaimed social success or ostracism in fashionable life.

Towards the middle of the eighteenth century the College became in a peculiar degree connected with the Bodleian Library. In 1747 Humphrey Owen, Fellow and afterwards Principal, was elected Librarian. After some years he made John Price, a Fellow of the College, Janitor, and in 1758 Adam Thomas, M.A., Sub-Librarian; when Thomas quitted the Library in 1761 his place was taken by Price, John Jones becoming Janitor. In 1768, on Owen’s death, Price was made Librarian, and held office for forty-five years. From 1758 to 1788 all the Sub-Librarians in succession were members of Jesus College, and nearly all the persons who are found otherwise employed in the Library--no full or official list exists--bear Welsh names.

Dr. Johnson in one of his frequent trips to Oxford made Jesus College his head-quarters. This fact has been recently ascertained by Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill, the well-known authority on Johnson and his times, in preparing for publication the great lexicographer’s letters. His host was his “convivial friend,” Dr. Edwards the Vice-Principal of the College, the editor of Xenophon’s _Memorabilia_, who gave up his rooms to his guest. These were, probably, situated in the south-western corner of the outer Quadrangle on the first-floor. It was early in June 1782 that Johnson came into residence in the College, at a time when he was broken in health. Nevertheless, as we learn from Miss Hannah More, who was at the time the guest of the Master of Pembroke College, he did what he could to spread cheerfulness around him. The Fellows of Jesus College were to give a banquet in his honour and hers, to which “they invited Thomas Warton and all that was famous in Oxford.” Unfortunately she does not give us any account of the banquet. Doubtless it was held and the old Hall rang with the sound of Johnson’s deep voice, but not an echo has been caught. The fact of his residence is curiously confirmed by the Battel-books, which show that at the time when he was in Oxford the Battels of Dr. Edwards and other members of the College were unusually high. In fact, everybody in the College seems to have indulged in hospitality, no doubt being anxious to let his friends see the great man whose sun was now supposed to be so rapidly setting.

Perhaps the first half of the nineteenth century is remote enough from our times to warrant the mention of a few names of distinguished men who have been removed by death. Here, as in the preceding century, we must look chiefly to Wales, where we find among Welsh poets, Daniel Evans (Daniel Ddu); John Jones (Ioan Tegid), a well-known writer and editor of Welsh books; John Blackwell (Alun), one of the most pleasing and attractive of Welsh poets; Morris Williams (Nicander), well known as poet, preacher, and writer in Welsh; and last, but not least, John Richard Green, the brilliant historian. We must not omit to mention the late Principal, Charles Williams, D.D., who was well known in the University for his love of his country, his hospitable social qualities, and his acute and elegant scholarship.

In 1857 the University Commission, which made such changes in Oxford, dealt with Jesus College, but forbore from adopting the sweeping measures at one time threatened. The chief change made was that half the Fellowships were declared for the future to be open to general competition. This declaration did not excite much opposition or remark in Wales, though great indignation was expressed when more than twenty years later another Commission dealt in the same way with the scholarships. It should be remembered that the principle was sacrificed in 1857, and that the opposers of the last Commission could only advance arguments of expediency, on which Commissioners are apt to have their own opinions. Whether the change is likely to be for the good of the College and of Wales is a point much disputed, and this is not a place where it can be discussed.

We have seen that the buildings of the College have not been enlarged in extent since 1713; many structural alterations have, however, taken place. The upper story throughout the College, except on its extreme western side, consisted of attics with dormer windows, which in old pictures gives the College a picturesque appearance. The roof has, however, been raised, and in the outer quadrangle battlements surmount the walls; in the inner quadrangle gables mark the points where the dormer windows formerly existed. The dining-hall, which once had a fine open oak roof, was, in the time of Principal Hoare, fitted with a plaster ceiling, in order that the space above might form attics to increase the accommodation of the Lodgings. Since the enlargement of the Principal’s house in 1886 the accommodation is no longer needed, and it is to be hoped that the hall may soon regain its original proportions.

The chapel, which was consecrated in 1621, has been frequently altered, and at least once (in 1636) enlarged. The doorway, with its picturesque porch, bearing the scroll, “Ascendat Oratio, Descendat Gratia,” is not the original entrance. When the south wall was being re-faced some years ago, another doorway of older workmanship than the present one, was discovered. The change was probably made when the massive Jacobean screen was put up, which now separates the chapel from the ante-chapel. In 1864 the whole interior was restored. Of the success of the restoration there may be two opinions; but there is no doubt that the widening of the chancel-arch was a mistake, as it has permanently dwarfed the proportions of the building. The woodwork substituted for what existed previously, though good of its kind, presents too violent a contrast with the screen already mentioned. The east window is a painted one of some interest, though not of high artistic merit. In the ante-chapel is an excellent copy of Guido’s picture of “St. Michael triumphing over the Fallen Angel.” The original is in the Capucini Church at Rome. The picture was presented by Lord Bulkeley of Baron Hill in Anglesey.

In 1856 the whole eastern front of the College was re-faced, and a tower built. The work was carried out under the superintendence of Mr. Buckler, architect, Oxford, and is admitted to be very well done. There are, however, some who think that the old Jacobean gateway was more in harmony with the domestic architecture of the College, and more suitable to its position in a narrow street.

The library contains a considerable number of volumes which are not of great interest to the student of the present day, but is exceptionally rich in pamphlets of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and in works on Canon Law. A valuable and numerous collection of manuscripts has been removed to the Bodleian Library for safety. The best known of these is the _Llyfr Coch_, the famous Red Book of Hergest, containing a collection of Welsh legends and poetry, which is gradually being edited by Professor Rhys and Mr. Evans.

The College is not exceptionally rich in portraits, but possesses two of great merit--a portrait of Charles I. by Vandyke, and of Queen Elizabeth by F. Zucchero.

Like many other Colleges, Jesus College sacrificed its original plate, of which a goodly inventory exists, to the needs of the Royalist cause in 1641; but has since been presented with a fair collection, of which the most remarkable piece is a very large silver-gilt bowl,[306] given by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn in 1732.

Nothing has been said above of the Church patronage of the College, which is considerable, advowsons being a favourite form of bequest with the donors already mentioned, and with others. Unfortunately, few of the livings are situated in Wales. Thus many able Welshmen have been withdrawn from the service of their national Church to their own loss and that of their country.

It is to be remarked that no considerable benefaction has been given to the College during the present century. The history of Jesus College has thus been brought down to living memory, which is the limit of this work. Perhaps more space has been taken up than an existence of little over three hundred years deserves. But the College holds a unique position in Oxford as having a strong connection, notwithstanding much alienation, with a Principality which is not yet English in language or feeling. Such a connection has many advantages, and perhaps some drawbacks. It is to be hoped that the College will be left undisturbed long enough to prove that the latter are altogether outweighed by the former.