467
ST. JOHN BAPTIST COLLEGE.
468
first opposition to the prevalent opinions came,
and it was thus that William Laud first became
famous.
His work belongs to the history of England. ' He, with Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, forms the triad of persons who have had the largest share in giving to the momentous changes of the sixteenth century so much of their form as is strictly and specifi- cally British. ' Again, to quote Mr. Gladstone, ' He was the patron not only of the saintly and heroic Bedell, but on the one hand of Chillingworth and Hales, on the other of Usher, Hall, and Davenant, of names sharply severed in opinion but unitedly known in the history of ability and of learning. It is again directly to the present purpose to compare the Calvinistic Oxford, to which Laud came as a youth, with the Anglican Oxford which he quitted to pass out into the government of affairs. The change in this place almost equals what was said of Augustus, that he found Rome brick and left it marble.' He was President from 1611 to 1621 ; and his bene- factions to the College did not cease even with his life.
The new quadrangle, which was begun in July, 163 1, when the King gave two hundred tons of wood from the royal forests of Stow and Shotover to aid in the building, was a magnificent expression of the donor's generosity and love for the College. It was completed in 1636, and Laud, now Archbishop of Canterbury, having assigned by special direction the new rooms to the library, to the President, and for the use of commoners, made elaborate preparations to
CROZIER. — From Lascelles,
receive the King and Queen when they "invited
themselves " to him. They brought with them the
King's nephews, the Elector Palatine and Prince
Rupert, who were entered on the books of St. John's.
Laud's College and his new library were the centre of
the entertainments that marked their stay in Oxford.
By this time Laud had not only given to his own
College a notable position in the University, but had
reformed and legislated for the University itself. The
statutes had long been in confusion. Convocation in
any case of difficulty passed new rules which
frequently conflicted with the old statutes, and the
government of the undergraduates seems to have been
very lax. The University submitted its laws to the
Chancellor, who, with the aid of a learned lawyer of
Merton College, revised and codified them. How he
desired that the students should be ruled may be seen
by his careful direction to the heads of Colleges, that
" the youths should conform themselves to the public
discipline of the University. . . . And particu-
larly see that none, youth or other, be suffered to
go in boots or spurs, or to wear their hair undecently
long, or with a lock in the present fashion, or with
slashed doublets, or in any light or garish colours ;
and that noblemen's sons may conform in everything,
as others do, during the time of their abode there,
which will teach them to know the difference of
places and order betimes ; and when they grow up to
be men it will make them look back upon that place
with honour to it and reputation to you." So suc-
cessful was he in impressing the spirit of discipline
and self-restraint, that Sir John Coke was able to
congratulate the University in 1636 that "scholars
are no more found in taverns, nor seen loitering in the
streets or other places of idleness or ill-example, but
all contain themselves within the walls of their
Colleges, and in the schools or public libraries,
wherein I confess you have at length gotten the start,
and by your virtue and merit have made this
University, which before had no paragon in any
foreign country, now to go beyond itself and give
a glorious example to others not to go behind."
By his example of conscientious perseverance, by his devotion to learning, and by his munificent build- ing and endowment, Laud had brought both his College and the University to a high standard of culture and research. These were indeed the halycon days of St. John's, when Laud, its "second founder," was Chancellor of the University and Primate of all England ; Juxon, his pious and sagacious successor as President, was Bishop of London and Lord Treasurer ; and Dr. Richard Baylie governed the College, whose annalist says that never was there more diligent Scholar, more learned Fellow, or more prudent Head. But the University soon fell on evil days ; discipline was dissolved, teaching and learning were alike sus- pended, and the streets rang with the summons to arms. The city bore for several years the aspect at once of a camp and of an exiled Court. In these troubles St. John's had its full share. Scholars joined the King's troops, Fellows were driven from their country livings, the College gave up its treasures to the Royal cause. (See English Historical Review, October, 1892.)
Juxon, " that good man," as Charles I. called him, had worthy successors. After Baylie, who had married Laud's niece, and was restored in 1660, died, Peter Mews, a former fellow of the College, who had led an adventurous life during the Rebellion as a Royalist agent in Scotland and Flanders, was nominated by the King and elected by the College. He ruled well
