R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

Lord Houghton and his Circle 3and W. H. Thompson, presents such a constellation ofnames as it would be difficult to equal. Most of these wereat Trinity, and it would be possible to mention a goodmany others who made their mark in one direction oranother. I have heard my father say that Arthur Hallamstood easily first of them all. With one or two exceptions,all those of whom he, in later life, delighted to speak ashis ' playfellows' are to be found in this list. He thoroughlyenjoyed Cambridge, and he worked hard, though on toowide a field to admit of distinction in a tripos, even if hislife-long aversion from mathematics had not tended tobar that particular door. But he won some prizes, tookpart in the theatricals which were then becoming popular,spoke at the Union (though expressing doubts whetherthis might not be in reality damaging to the correctparliamentary manner), and entertained his friendslargely. He headed, with Arthur Hallam and that mostbrilliant of failures, Thomas Sunderland, the famousexpedition to the Oxford Union, in which Cambridgeargued the claims of Shelley against Oxford's championshipof Byron. In his letter to his mother, describing theOxford hosts, of whom Manning was one, he said: ' Theman that took me most was the youngest Gladstone ofLiverpool, I am sure a very superior person'. The lastphrase was used, one may be certain, without the ironicalsuggestion that later attached to it at Oxford.Richard Milnes was no athlete, and in those daysorganised games and sports only attracted real devotees;but his nerve was good, and he distinguished himself bythe then uncommon feat of a balloon ascent, from whichhe landed miles off at Castle Ashby. His exeat wascouched in the form ' Ascendat R. Milnes'.It is clear from the correspondence of that period thathe had expected to pass straight from the University intoParliament. But for the time being these hopes were1-2