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

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

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

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Cambridge <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 'Seventies 251of <strong>the</strong> hour, said, 'Oh, has that already got downhere?'But for those who were to play <strong>the</strong> part of residentreformers patience <strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong> first necessity. If new Statuteswith far-reach<strong>in</strong>g changes were to be <strong>the</strong>ir aim (andnoth<strong>in</strong>g less <strong>was</strong> of any use) <strong>the</strong>y had to wait on <strong>the</strong>convenience of statesmen. Meanwhile it <strong>was</strong> desirable bywrit<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong>tercourse to weaken <strong>the</strong> resident opposition.For <strong>the</strong> practical work<strong>in</strong>g of new Statutes would largelydepend on <strong>the</strong> state of op<strong>in</strong>ion prevalent among thosewho would have to work <strong>the</strong>m when passed. NowCambridge had not been asleep. Before 1870 new subjectshad been recognised <strong>in</strong> Triposes lead<strong>in</strong>g to HonourDegrees <strong>in</strong> Moral and Natural Sciences (1851), and someColleges had even provided Lecturers, St John's, Tr<strong>in</strong>ityand Caius <strong>in</strong> particular. The names of Venn, MichaelFoster, Henry Sidgwick, and Alfred Marshall, taken from<strong>the</strong> Calendar for 1873, will show that this new move <strong>was</strong>a real advance. The old Philist<strong>in</strong>e attitude—one ofShilleto's stray pieces spoke of 'this Natural rot, thisMoral bosh'—had lost some of its appeal <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> age ofDarw<strong>in</strong>.And <strong>the</strong> <strong>year</strong> 1869 witnessed some events dest<strong>in</strong>ed tobe of signal importance <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> time of struggles now athand. It <strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong>n that Sidgwick resigned his Tr<strong>in</strong>ityFellowship, refus<strong>in</strong>g to be bound any longer by <strong>the</strong> religiousTest; an act followed by his pamphlet on <strong>the</strong>Ethics of Conformity and Subscription <strong>in</strong> 1870. In 1869J. R, Seeley returned to Cambridge, and with him <strong>the</strong>movement for <strong>the</strong> establishment of a real History Schoolbegan <strong>in</strong> earnest. But <strong>in</strong> my judgment as important, ifwe look forward to <strong>the</strong> results achieved <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 'eighties,<strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong> appo<strong>in</strong>tment of G. F. Browne as Secretary for<strong>the</strong> Local Exam<strong>in</strong>ations. This post offered open<strong>in</strong>gs forga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> various ways. By tak<strong>in</strong>g over <strong>the</strong>

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