it has been said that the decorous quadrangle of st catharine’s gives the stranger the impression of an old manor house rather than of a college; and the trees which guard it on the side of trumpington street are certainly a party to the illusion. the western front of the college, which occupies one side of king’s lane, has a more definitely scholastic air. for the most part the buildings are uninteresting. the tiny court at the north-west angle dates from 1626; the rest of the college is the fruit of a rebuilding which went on slowly from 1680 to 1755. loggan, who published his illustrations soon after the work was begun, figures, with some optimism, an eastern fa?ade with a central cupola. this, however, was never attempted. the chapel is an interesting piece of queen anne architecture, dating from 1704;[136] and lately a fine organ by norman & beard of norwich has been placed in it. in the present century, the hall has been restored in the gothic style, but otherwise no radical alteration has been made.
st catharine’s is, in a certain sense, the daughter of king’s, for its founder was robert woodlark,* provost of the latter college. the reason for its foundation is not very obvious: it was probably merely a pious act on the part of woodlark, of whom we know very little beyond this. the site on which it stood occupied the greater part of that oblong space which still is bounded on the north by king’s lane and on the south by silver (then small bridges) street. even now the space is somewhat cramped by houses; then the college was thoroughly “town-bound,” as fuller puts it. however, although one of the smallest colleges in cambridge, it has given, in comparison with its size, more famous men to england than any college in either university. these men are all clergy, and their names are among the most reverend in church history. seventy-four years after the foundation of the college, edwin sandys* became master. he is chiefly known as archbishop of york and as a translator of the bible, and, while in exile abroad during mary’s reign, he cultivated friendly relations with foreign protestant churches. as master of st catharine’s and vice-chancellor,[139] he went through a critical experience, which is narrated by fuller. the duke of northumberland, who was at cambridge in the hope of intercepting mary’s progress from the eastern counties to london, ordered sandys to preach before him at the university church. sandys was a timid man and had very little faith in lady jane grey’s cause, so that the order caused him some perplexity. he rose at a very early hour next morning, and took the sortes biblicae after the approved manner of the sixteenth century. the text at which his bible opened was the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of the first chapter of joshua, “all that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. according as we hearkened unto moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the lord thy god be with thee, as he was with moses.” he preached from this text in so politic a manner that no one could find a handle of accusation against him. the exacting northumberland came back to cambridge after a short tour in suffolk, well aware that his enterprise was over, and with the forlorn hope that, if he proclaimed mary queen, he might win his pardon. he invited sandys to join in the proclamation with him, but the vice-chancellor refused with an answer that must have been a very cold comfort to northumberland. the duke, however, went through the business mechanically at the old market cross, and was arrested very soon afterwards at his lodgings in king’s. sandys escaped to the netherlands,[140] and returned when elizabeth came to the throne. he is buried at southwell, where the archbishops of york had one of their palaces.
john overall, bishop of lichfield, and afterwards of norwich, another of the translators of the bible, was master from 1598 to 1607. the college leaned throughout its history to the puritanic side of the religious question, and richard sibbes, master from 1626 to 1635, is one of those strongly puritan divines who had the advantage of an university education. his evangelical theology, rich in quaint phrase and full of ingenious learning, is still popular with serious readers, although his fame has been somewhat overshadowed by the greater names of bunyan, baxter, and john owen. in spite of this spiritual activity, it appears that the college was about this time in a very bad and ruinous state, and, on the side of trumpington street, was excessively cramped for room. during the mastership of john hills, sibbes’ predecessor, john gostlin, the eccentric master of caius, gave the bull inn, which was his personal property, to the college, and thus the society was enabled to enlarge its frontiers. nevertheless, the commotions of the civil wars delayed operations until long after the restoration, when dr john eachard, master in 1675, carried out the longed-for improvements. there is no college whose external appearance belies a medieval foundation more than st catharine’s.
side by side with sibbes we may reckon the[141] famous dissenting preacher, edmund calamy, who was also a member of this college and was connected with sidney as well. but, after the restoration and eachard’s improvements, st catharine’s settled down again to its episcopal traditions. sir william dawes, eachard’s successor from 1697 to 1714, was a worthy but in no way remarkable archbishop of york. during his time, however, the society received a famous member in the militant benjamin hoadly,* bishop first of bangor, then of hereford, then of salisbury, and lastly of winchester. it is curious that hoadly, the typical latitudinarian, as the ugly phrase goes, of his age, and his opponent, the no less typical high churchman, william law, were members of the two cambridge colleges which had shown most activity on the puritan side, st catharine’s and emmanuel. hoadly’s book, on the nature of the kingdom and church of christ, is his chief claim to celebrity, as the doctrines which it advocated gave rise to the bangorian controversy and were the cause of many polemical treatises which have a distinct literary rank.
other members of st catharine’s about the end of the seventeenth century were dr john lightfoot,* master from 1650 to 1675, illustrious as an orientalist; john strype, the ecclesiastical antiquarian, who died in 1737 at the advanced age of ninety-four; and john ray,* the naturalist, who died in 1705. in 1704, during dawes’ mastership, the chapel was consecrated by bishop[142] simon patrick of ely, who was a member of queens’ college. in 1714, dawes was succeeded by thomas sherlock,* whose oratorical powers gained him the bishoprick of london. his sermons, which are specimens of a cold and stilted kind of eloquence, are read no longer, but his name survives as that of one of the great preachers of the last century. his successors down to the end of the century have not much interest outside the college. the long mastership of dr procter* covers almost the first half of the nineteenth century. during his time, the versatile dr turton* was fellow of the college and held various professorships. he became dean of westminster and eventually bishop of ely, where he continued till within comparatively recent years. he is perhaps best remembered as the composer of one of the most beautiful hymn-tunes which we possess—the tune called by him “ely.” the college produced yet another bishop in dr procter’s successor, henry philpott, who was made bishop of worcester in 1861. he was succeeded by the present master, dr robinson. the mastership of st catharine’s is one of those pleasant posts, which, like pembroke college at oxford, have a canonry attached to them. the canonry belonging to st catharine’s is at norwich, the pleasantest of all english cathedral cities, and, during the long vacation, the master fulfils his term of residence in the norwich close. among recent distinguished members of st catharine’s we may mention dr george forrest[143] browne, late disney professor of arch?ology, who succeeded dean gregory as canon of st paul’s, and was, in 1897, translated from the suffragan bishoprick of stepney to the revived bishoprick of bristol.
