310
NOTES AND QUERIES. [u s. i. APR. ie, 1910.
S. T. COLERIDGE : PHRASES ATTRIBUTED
TO HIM. 1. I understand that the ex-
pression ' ' An owl mangling a poor dead
nightingale " was used by S. T. Coleridge
to illustrate the conduct of Dean Milles
in the Rowley controversy. Where, in
Coleridge's works, is it to be found ?
2. I have seen the following comment as to Walpole's treatment of Chatterton, " O ye who honour the name of man, be thankful this Walpole is called a lord" attributed to S. T. Coleridge, but have failed to find it in his published works. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.* direct me to it ? D. R.
FOSTER'S ' ALUMNI CANTABRI- *
GIENSES.'
(11 S. i. 247.)
MR. STEWART-BROWN asks what T has become of the late J. Foster's ' Alumni Cantabrigienses,' which he supposes to correspond to the well-known ' Alumni Oxonienses.* I feel certain that no such work exists, even in MS. I knew Mr. Foster fairly well, and helped him so far as concerns some of the Cambridge records ; i.e., those dealing with the incorporations. It is probable that he hoped at one time to issue such a work, but any references he may have made to it must be interpreted in the same sense as his references to his general ' Index Ecclesiasticus, 1 namely, as indications of a contemplated work.
Only those who have studied at first hand our Cambridge records can realize the diffi- culties which attend the production of a complete and authentic ' Al. Cant.' I have a very high opinion of Mr. Foster's marvellous industry, and of his general accuracy. But it must be remembered that he enjoyed two great advantages. He had not to undergo the labour of extracting the Oxford materials from the original records. His lists were simply taken from those compiled by, or for, Col. Chester : purchased,
believe, after his death. And, in the second place, no College documents had to be consulted, as the University matriculations give, from a comparatively early date, the principal personal and family facts. At Cambridge these facts can only be obtained from the College registers, so that any similar list of alumni would demand the examination of the admission lists of all the seventeen Colleges. Our total records of admission are, I believe, as early and as complete as those at Oxford; but when complaint is
made as to delay in publishing them, these
facts should be borne in mind.
However, your readers will be glad to know that the preliminary work is now actually in progress. A complete list is being compiled, containing all the matricula- tions from their commencement in 1544, supplemented by the additional names of all those given in the College registers whose matriculation cannot be found. This represents an addition of several thousands. All the degrees conferred on any of these students will be recorded, with indications of the University offices and principal posts of dignity attained in Church or State. The first volume, covering the period 1544 to 1659, is well advanced, and will, it is hoped, be issued in the course of next year. It is undertaken by the University Press Syndicate, and is being compiled by Mr. J. A. Venn, M.A., of Trinity College.
J. VENN.
Caius College.
The MS. referred to by MR. STEWART- BROWN was described in the late Mr. Menken's Catalogue No. 164 (November, 1905). There were two sections to the work, but the two together in no way cover the same ground as the ' Alumni Oxonienses.' It may be interesting, however, to record details of the work as it was left at the late Mr. Joseff Foster's death, and described in the catalogue to which I have alluded :
"82 Cambridge Matriculations. -A MS. List, arranged alphabetically, of some 14,000 Students who have matriculated at Cambridge University within the last 25 or 30 years, specifying in many cases date of birth, and school at which previously educated, and in all instances the particular College and date of matriculation, neatly written out on ruled paper, on one side only, with spaces left under each name for further additions, and filling 4 vols., ob. fol., each of about 240 leaves, compiled by the late J. Foster for his contemplated great work on Cambridge University, 4 vols, folio, hf. bound, unpublished, 6/. 6s."
"83 Cambridge University. Catalogus Artium Baccalaureprum in Universitate Cantabrigise ab Anno Domini 1500 usqz ad Annum 1660 a reverendo et dignissimo Viro Gulielmo Richardson, 2 vols. fol., containing a MS. List of some 18,000 Names of all Students of the various Colleges at Cambridge during the above period. In the first vol. the Names are grouped chronologically, and in the second vol. the Names are arranged alphabetically, the respective dates and Colleges being in each case appended, the whole neatly written and com- piled by the late Jos. Foster. Loosely inserted in the above is a List of 'M.A.'s, Cantab,' written on 45 pp. fol. The Collection is bound in 2 vols. fol., lettered : ' B.A. Cantab., 1500 to 1660. Foster.' Unpublished, 01. 6s."
A. L. HUMPHREYS.
187, Piccadilly, W.
fol.,
ster.' {
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