Excerpt from The Older Universities of England: Based Upon a Course of Lectures Delivered on the Lowell Foundation, Boston, U. S. A., March 1922Oxford and Cambridge, despite occasional proddings from kings, prelates, and parliamentary commissions, have done most of their reforming themselves. They have Shown the same adaptability to the needs Of successive ages that has made the British Constitution and the Catholic Church endure. Certainly nowhere else but at Oxford and Cambridge is there such an irresistible mingling of the Old and the new, of ancient fabric and youthful spirit. The secret of this principle Of self-renewal, I think Mr. Mansbridge has revealed in Chapter XV, where he speaks of the single-minded men who have never been disloyal in their search for truth, no matter where it might lead them, and who have counted all else well lost if only they did not falter in their difficult way.'About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.