long the lawyers’ college, trinity hall maintains a staid legal appearance. its present arrangement is essentially modern, and the earliest remaining portion is the ivy-covered range of chambers forming the northern side of the garden court. this is not earlier than 1560, but, as at caius, much of the interior work of the main court is original. in the upper storey of this range is the primitive library, fitted in the sixteenth century with low bookshelves, the tops of which form a double reading desk. this very comfortable arrangement has been followed in the small bookshelves of many of the other libraries. the bulk of the college, including the entrance courts and the small quadrangle, was entirely remodelled in the last century, during the mastership of sir nathaniel lloyd (1710-35) and sir edward[77] simpson (1735-64). the chapel, south of the large court (an unusual position) belongs to 1729, and the hall on the west side to 1743. its interior is very creditable to georgian taste, although not positively faultless. in 1852, the fa?ade of the college was burned down. the present front is due to salvin, who built the neighbouring hall of caius much about the same time. the old gate of the college, which opened into the smaller court, is still commemorated by an opening in the wall, affording a picturesque view of the ivy-covered interior. to a later period belong the new buildings in the garden court. the tutor’s house, of white stone, by mr w. m. fawcett, is not exactly in harmony with messrs grayson & ould’s brick building on the north side, but the latter has been arranged so as to slope obliquely northward, and front the garden; and a too obvious discord has thus been avoided. in itself, this red-brick work, of a renaissance order, is one of the best things in modern cambridge, and fulfils, at least from an outside point of view, all the ideal requirements of a collegiate building.
canon law, the typical study of the middle ages, is the raison d’être of trinity hall. william bateman, bishop of norwich, founded the college of the scholars of the holy trinity of norwich in 1350, in order to furnish his diocese with secular priests. his college occupied substantially the same ground as it does to-day. the founder, who also has a claim to be one of the founders of caius, did not live long to enjoy his work. he was sent by edward iii. on an embassy to innocent vi., in one of the numerous attempts at arbitration which varied the hundred years’ war. while engaged in these negotiations the bishop died. his death was due to the climate of avignon, which, in that season of plague, was more than ordinarily pestilent. “avenio ventosa,” says the doggrel rhyme, “cum vento fastidiosa, sine vento venenosa.” englishmen, with their usual mistrust of papal honesty, said that bateman had been poisoned. he left his foundations of trinity hall and the new gonville hall in a very incomplete state, and his executor, archbishop simon of sudbury, although he did what he could in the way of building, was too much occupied with his fatal position in the state to attend closely to the condition of the colleges. in fact, trinity hall, composed of a master, twenty fellows and three scholars, was very badly off. early in the fifteenth century they complained to archbishop arundel of the insufficiency of their commons, and obtained a dispensation by which they were empowered to[79] add twopence for each weekday and a groat on the lord’s day.
meanwhile, two of the masters of trinity hall are found among the list of bishops. these were the canonists robert de stretton, bishop of lichfield from 1360 to 1386, and marmaduke lumley, bishop of lincoln from 1450 to 1452. in the year 1525, stephen gardiner* became master. he was a native of bury st edmund’s and was a fellow of the college. in 1531, he was made bishop of winchester, but retained the mastership till his death, esteeming it a refuge to which, in those troublous times, he could always retire. he was, nevertheless, a little out of his reckoning. although a reformer, he was of the conservative type and was not a persona grata to edward vi., who deprived him of both his mastership and bishoprick. his supplanter at winchester was john poynet; at trinity hall he was superseded by walter haddon, reputed to be the best latinist of his time. haddon was professor of law and rhetoric and public orator, and, in addition to this, with the assistance of sir john cheke, compiled a new code of ecclesiastical law. his reforming activities gained him the presidency of magdalen college, oxford, in 1552, from which he retired at queen mary’s accession. he died some years later and is buried in christ church, newgate street.
mary’s reign brought back gardiner to his college and diocese. walter mowse, the second protestant master, was ousted to make way for[80] the bishop. as chancellor of england, gardiner distinguished himself for his reactionary policy, a natural course in one who, having done all he could in the way of reform, knew what gratitude he had to expect from the other side. he died in 1555. there is no doubt that he was an energetic, pushing man who allowed little to stand in his way, and stories were told of how he canvassed for the see of winchester, doing his best to embitter the last days of bishop foxe. he was the bishop who married philip of spain to mary in winchester cathedral; and this, with his acts of persecution, have endeared him to the orthodox english historian. but we must make allowance for protestant hatred, and remember that if such men as gardiner, pole, and gaspar contarini had lived a century before, we should have been spared the irregularities of the reformation, while we reaped its advantages. gardiner’s chantry-chapel is well known to all visitors of winchester cathedral. there are two portraits of him in trinity hall: one in the combination room, another in the master’s lodge. a somewhat less single-minded ecclesiastic was thomas thirlby,* fellow of the college, and first and only bishop of westminster. he was promoted in 1550 to norwich, and to ely in 1554, when he, too, gained some reputation as a persecutor of the new religion. richard sampson, bishop of lichfield, belongs also to this period.
henry hervey, who followed gardiner, was a great builder, and we owe the library to him. from his time onward the college was the legal[81] centre of cambridge, and helped to raise english law to a position which fully realised bateman’s desire that england should not be “out-lawed” by other countries. as canon law became superseded by civil law, the original purpose of the college and its connexion with norwich were quite forgotten. john cowell, master from 1598 to 1611, was a great foe, however, to sir edward coke and the common lawyers. his book on the king’s prerogative was burned by order of the house of commons. another legal worthy of the time was sir robert naunton, public orator, and author of fragmenta regalia, who had also some connexion with trinity college. he is memorable for an insulting remark which he made to the spanish ambassador, gondomar, on account of which he was kept a close prisoner in his own house, stoutly refusing to apologise.
the regius professorship of civil law became the practical monopoly of trinity hall in 1666, when dr john clark was elected to the office. it was only on the election of the present professor clark that the succession was broken. of these professors, one, dr george oxenden, held the mastership and professorship together. meanwhile, we find one or two bishops, notably william barlow, bishop of lincoln from 1608 to 1614, whose name is familiar to controversialists on the subject of anglican orders. the beginning of the eighteenth century produced two more, adam otley, bishop of st david’s and richard reynolds, bishop of lincoln. about[82] the same time, trinity hall had the honour of educating philip dormer stanhope, fourth earl of chesterfield (* w. hoare). it would be interesting to know more about the life of this celebrated gentleman at cambridge, but he doubtless employed his time in picking up miscellaneous knowledge and laying the foundations of his delightful style. i forgot to mention that another famous nobleman was a trinity hall man—lord howard of effingham, who commanded the english fleet against the spanish armada. in nathaniel, lord crewe,* bishop of durham, the college produced a devout prelate and jacobite. he died in his ninetieth year (1633).
lawyers of the eighteenth century are absolutely innumerable. sir nathaniel lloyd,* master from 1710 to 1735, was king’s advocate; his successor, sir edward simpson,* was dean of arches. sir john eardley wilmot,* lord chief justice of england, was another noted member of the college. his life nearly spans the last century. dr john andrews,* master of faculties, dying in 1747, left the college ￡20,000, which was to be paid after the death of his two sisters and expended in building new wings to the river. dr samuel halifax,* professor of law from 1770 to 1782, was clergyman as well as lawyer. previously, he had held for two years the two university professorships of arabic. his elevation to the see of gloucester in 1781 was a suitable reward of such versatility. he[83] was followed in his professorship by dr joseph jowett, who made a garden out of the strip of ground at the angle formed by the outer walls of the old court and of the principal quadrangle. it faced the lane east of the cottage, and excited some ridicule. archdeacon wrangham’s epigram has been often quoted:
a little garden little jowett made
and fenced it with a little palisade;
but when this little garden made a little talk,
he changed it to a little gravel walk.
if you would know the mind of little jowett,
this little garden don’t a little show it.
the list of legal celebrities in the last century is also adorned by the name of lord mansfield, whose bust, by nollekens, is in the hall.
we now come to the present century. sir alexander cockburn (* watts), lord chief justice, was a member of the college during the earlier half, and the name of sir herbert jenner fust, master from 1843 to 1852, is also well known. sir henry maine’s reputation is european. this great historian, lawyer and philosopher, occupied the chair of civil law from 1847 to 1854. when, in 1877, dr geldart died, he was elected master, and died in 1888. during the last year of his life, he was whewell professor of international law. there is a portrait of him in the hall, by lowes dickinson. needless to say, trinity hall is represented on the bench of to-day, and the lodge contains two portraits (by dickinson) of mr justice romer.
literature pure and simple has never been well represented at “the hall.” thomas tusser was educated here, but a great gap exists between the old-fashioned bucolic poet and the next writer. the name of sir edward bulwer-lytton (* copy from maclise) is, however, not inconsiderable. his part in nineteenth-century literature may be very largely ascribed to his cambridge associations and friendships. and the growth of an essentially modern science has been stimulated by another trinity hall man, henry fawcett (* rathbone), postmaster general and professor of political economy from 1863 to 1884. there is another portrait of him, by professor herkomer, in the fitzwilliam museum. and, speaking of the fitzwilliam museum, it must not be forgotten that the peer to whom that institution owes its foundation came from trinity hall also.
to the modern undergraduate trinity hall is known chiefly as the head of the river, a position which, until the present year, has been for some time its monopoly. however, it is also well known in the schools, and not only in the school of law. under dr latham (* holl and dickinson) the college has increased in popularity, and, both in size and importance, has attained a place in the first rank of colleges.
