Terrae-filius, Or, The Secret History of the University of Oxford, 1721-1726Edited with an Introduction and Notes by William E. Rivers In his Terrae-Filius essays of 1721, Nicholas Amhurst describes and satirizes Oxford life as he saw it during the 1710s and early 1720s. Although academic and intellectual issues receive abundant attention, Amhurst devoted even more space to the political, religious, social, and moral issues that often worked to undercut the university's academic goals. Written in an energetic, personal prose style characteristic of the best eighteenth-century essay periodicals, the Terrae-Filius essays provide accessible, entertaining reading for anyone interested in the history of Oxford University, early eighteenth-century British culture, or the close but often tense relationship between the nation and the university during the tumultuous decade following the Whig ascendancy of 1714. This modern critical edition of the Terrae-Filius reprints all the essays (including those omitted in the 1726 collected editions) and provides an introduction and extensive explanatory notes that set the essays in their historical and cultural context. William E. Rivers is Professor of English at the University of South Carolina. |
From inside the book
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Page 24
... leave the Bath , for fear of a broken head , as for a Terræ Filius of Oxford to be expelled . " 35 Amhurst thus had close at hand a pseudonym that fit both his personal experience and his purpose well . The Terræ - filius as Periodical ...
... leave the Bath , for fear of a broken head , as for a Terræ Filius of Oxford to be expelled . " 35 Amhurst thus had close at hand a pseudonym that fit both his personal experience and his purpose well . The Terræ - filius as Periodical ...
Page 64
... leave to observe , that whenever such retrograde measures shall be judged expedient by those in power , it will be ... leaving their late vigorous adherents in the lurch , or , perhaps , giving them up as sacrifices to appease the ...
... leave to observe , that whenever such retrograde measures shall be judged expedient by those in power , it will be ... leaving their late vigorous adherents in the lurch , or , perhaps , giving them up as sacrifices to appease the ...
Page 68
... leave this matter , and doubt not that his memory will be as infamous in the next age , as his name and character ought to be in this . But Secondly , as to the manner , in which I have treated this subject ( which is the next thing to ...
... leave this matter , and doubt not that his memory will be as infamous in the next age , as his name and character ought to be in this . But Secondly , as to the manner , in which I have treated this subject ( which is the next thing to ...
Page 69
... leave , for a conclusion to indulge the natural vanity of an author , by applying to my own performance the self - exaltation of the celebrated Horace ; which may seem the more excusable in me , since the gratification of this human ...
... leave , for a conclusion to indulge the natural vanity of an author , by applying to my own performance the self - exaltation of the celebrated Horace ; which may seem the more excusable in me , since the gratification of this human ...
Page 74
... leave to observe farther ( according to the same supposition ) that you seem to be guilty of some Partiality in thus publickly branding and forbidding my book , as a libel upon the University , and suffering another to be still openly ...
... leave to observe farther ( according to the same supposition ) that you seem to be guilty of some Partiality in thus publickly branding and forbidding my book , as a libel upon the University , and suffering another to be still openly ...
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Common terms and phrases
academical Amhurst Amhurst's note amongst Bangorian Controversy Benjamin Hoadley bishop of Bangor Black Book C1 Number call'd called chancellor Charles Clarendon Press collected edition common constitution club degree Delaune's disputations doctor Drybones eighteenth century F Number famous fellow folio friends gentlemen give governor Hart-Hall heads of colleges Hearne High Church History honour Jacobite James John John's College King George late learning lectures letter Library London Lord manner matriculated Meadowcourt mention Merchant Taylors Merton Merton College Nathaniel Mist never Nicholas Amhurst oath obliged occasion omit opinion Oriel original Number paper persons poem political preached present proctors publick reader reason religion Remarks and Collections Restoration reverend satire Saturday scholars sculls sermon society statute Terræ-Filius thing Thomas Thomas Warton thought Tories truth University of Oxford vice-chancellor Warton Wednesday Weekly Journal Whig William Delaune young
Popular passages
Page 62 - there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.
Page 69 - Exegi monumentum aere perennius Regalique situ pyramidum altius, Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Possit diruere aut innumerabilis Annorum series et fuga temporum.
Page 24 - I am in hopes that we may order our affairs so as to meet this summer at the Bath; for Mr Pope and myself have thoughts of taking a trip thither. You shall preach, and we will write lampoons ; for it is esteemed as 'great an honour to leave the Bath for fear of a broken head, as for a Terrae Filius of Oxford to be expelled.