ralph symons, the great cambridge builder whose name deserves to be more widely known than it is, was the architect chosen to superintend the works at sidney. he was employed on nevile’s court at trinity, and was, a year or two later, to begin operations in the second court of st john’s. sidney, which was ready at the beginning of 1599, was quite comparable with those famous works of art. as usual, the architect did not attempt to manage a street-front. here, however, instead of turning the back of his buildings to the street, as at emmanuel, he constructed an oblong three-sided court, whose eastern side directly fronted the street. in 1628 sir francis clerke of houghton conquest completed a second court on similar lines. the south side of one court thus became the north side of the other. this[257] common side, which exactly bisects the building, was terminated by a gateway opening on the street and into either court. in this original plan the entrance to the hall was immediately in the centre of the eastern range of the north court; the entrance to the chapel occupied a similar position in the south court. we are still able to admire this graceful and simple plan. but of the original buildings the only remaining traces are the oriels in the garden-front of the master’s lodge. in 1776 essex, who had for the last ten years been “improving” cambridge out of knowledge, built a new chapel; and in 1830, while dr chafy was master—the names of these masters deserve to be handed down—it was decided to thoroughly remodel the college in the new gothic style. this step was prompted simply by the admiration which wilkins’ doings at corpus, trinity, and king’s had excited. each college glowed with pious emulation, and sidney chose for its destroyer sir jeffrey wyattville, who had gothicised a great part of windsor castle. wyattville overhauled the college in the vandal manner; removed all traces, save those i have referred[258] to, of symons’ obsolete work, and replaced it by the present pretentious and insipid structure which adorns the eastern side of sidney street. it is a comfort to know that a later generation has made amends for this criminal error of taste. a court, or rather two sides of a court, with cloisters, have been added in recent years by the late mr john loughborough pearson. this range of buildings, not very obvious owing to the high walls behind which it stands, is of red brick, and, like many other new buildings in cambridge, is in the style of the french renaissance with english modifications. it is certainly one of mr pearson’s great successes, and is, moreover, a success in a line which he seldom attempted. the court—which contains, by the way, a very fine combination room—is one of the most retired spots in cambridge, and in its studious shades it is possible to forget wyattville’s ravages.
in 1589 died an excellent lady, frances lady sussex, widow of the second earl. she was the daughter of sir william sidney, and would in any case have achieved a negative distinction as the wife of thomas radcliffe and the aunt of sir philip sidney. but in her will[259] she left a legacy of five thousand pounds, to be employed by her executors in the foundation of a college at cambridge, or, in case the bequest were insufficient, in enlarging clare hall. six years later, the executors bought a site from trinity college. when henry viii. founded trinity, he made over to it the lands of the franciscan friary which, until the dissolution, had occupied the space between the modern sidney street and the king’s ditch. the buildings were apparently taken down and used as a quarry for henry’s new college. thus the site was vacant, and the executors, after making a preliminary payment of a hundred marks, took over the ground on a perpetual lease, and engaged to pay a rent of ￡13. 6s. 8d. yearly. these executors, the actual founders of sidney, were the earl of kent and sir john harrington, the translator of ariosto. the college was called the college of the lady frances sidney sussex, and took her arms, radcliffe impaling sidney. the pheon, the heraldic symbol of the sidneys, is the badge of the college, and, like the eagle of st john’s and the silver crescent of trinity hall, has given its title to the college magazine of our own days.
the first master was appointed in 1598. he was dr james montagu,* and became bishop of winchester, where he died in 1618. but, in spite of this augury, the history of sidney is the reverse of prelatical. of late years, the college has somewhat retrieved its past record, but, on the whole, its distinction is[260] puritan. it is, however, a college whose history finds its centre in one event, and that event is vague and shadowy. in the college books, under the date april 23rd, 1616, is the following inscription, “oliverus cromwell, huntingdoniensis, admissus ad commensum sociorum aprilis vicesimo sexto; tutore mag? ricardo howlet.” few colleges boast such a fellow-commoner. the note which follows, written in after years by a good royalist, is worth transcribing: “hic fuit grandis ille impostor, carnifex perditissimus, qui, pientissimo rege carolo primo nefaria caede sublato, ipsum usurpavit thronum, et tria regna per quinque ferme annorum spatium, sub protectoris nomine, indomita tyrannide vexavit.” vexavit, as polonius would say, is good. no language is more abusive than aptly handled latin! this “big impostor and most damn’d butcher” stayed at cambridge till july, 1617, and then, like many great men, left without taking his degree. his contribution to the social life of his college has been stigmatised as discreditable, but this is probably invidious rumour and nothing more. the window of his room—which, by the way, dates from 1827 or thereabout—is still shown to the credulous. there is an admirable portrait of him in the hall, which was presented to the college, with a rather unnecessary parade of anonymity, by mr holles of the hyde in essex.
the great name of cromwell must not, however, suffer us to forget the names of the good[261] and pious men whom sidney has nurtured. dr edmund calamy, the famous nonconformist divine, was a member of the college. so was thomas wilson, bishop of sodor and man. so, too, were jones of nayland, the revivalist and hymn-writer, and an even more famous evangelical preacher, thomas cecil. sidney had, indeed, a very conspicuous share in the revival of spiritual life at the end of the last century. on the other hand, the college produced, by way of an anomaly, sir roger l’estrange, the royalist pamphleteer, whose sympathies were certainly apart from his education. the laborious antiquary, thomas rymer of the f?dera, was also a sidney man. in our own century it has been recorded that—
there was a young man of sid. sussex
who stated that w + x
was the same as xw!
so they said, “we will trouble you
to confine those ideas to sid. sussex.”
but any such misconception has been rectified by the present master, mr charles smith, whose mathematical text-books are classics in their own branch of literature. and, among living members of the college, we may notice the present bishop of bloemfontein, dr john wale hicks, who is not only celebrated for his equal skill in medicine and divinity, but, as tutor of his college and vicar of little st mary’s, has had perhaps the greatest spiritual influence on modern cambridge life. although sidney is a small college, there is none which is so remarkable[262] for the patriotism and good-fellowship existing among its undergraduates; and, within very recent years, it has supplied the university with excellent athletes, and one of its members has become president of the union.
