Letters to His Friends | Page 5

1891, the Carus prize for
Bachelors, the Hulsean prize essay, and the Crosse University
Scholarship in 1892. He took his degree in the first class of the
Theological Tripos in 1890, and obtained a second class in the Moral
Science Tripos of 1891. The year which he spent in reading moral
science he afterwards looked back upon as one of the most useful in his
life. After he had been reading for some time in view of this Tripos, he
wrote to a friend: 'I have come to the conclusion that I know nothing,
and am an awful fool into the bargain. . . . The subject is so utterly
fresh to me, so completely unlike theology of any sort at Cambridge,
that I find it hard to do anything at it. In fact, I chucked it up for about
ten days in the middle of the term, and determined to have nothing
more to {12} do with it; but after that rest I thought better and renewed
the study. It is an excellent training for the mind. I never distinctly
remember thinking at all before this term.'
Having learnt to think himself, his desire was to help others by teaching
them to think. One who came under his influence several years later
says of him: 'I owe so much to him in every way. Above everything
else he taught me to think. I remember so well the first time I went to
him with a difficulty. I expected him to solve it for me, instead of
which, at the end of half an hour, I still found that I had to think it out
for myself. It was a revelation to me, and has helped me in my dealings
with men.' The same friend writes: 'I may mention a conversation I
once had with him. He had in front of him the answers to some
Theological Tripos papers. He took up two of them and compared the
answers given to the same question by the two men. The answer
required was a translation of a passage of Greek with notes. And, as far
as I can remember, his words were these: "Now, W----, this man has
passed over the real difficulty. As far as I can tell, he has not even
noticed that there is a difficulty. I have given him two marks out of a
possible ten. This other man has seen the difficulty and grappled with it.

His solution is without doubt incorrect, but that is quite immaterial.
Result, eight marks out of ten." I cannot but think that this attitude of
mind was largely the secret of his influence.' In another case, when
urging a man to attempt some independent investigation of the
Synoptic problem, he said; {13} 'Your conclusions may be wrong, but
you can correct them, and it will teach you to think.'
One who was an undergraduate with Forbes says of him: He 'did not
take a prominent part in religious movements in the College, such as
the College prayer meeting or Bible readings, though he was
occasionally present at them. In chapel his reverence was quiet, though
in no way obtrusive. I think that by not identifying himself with any
particular religious party he had greater influence with those men
whose minds ran in very different grooves. I always felt when in his
company that I was conversing with one vastly superior to myself in
intellectual powers, and yet he never appeared conscious of it himself.
It is surprising how considerate he was of the feelings of others. I
remember a large print of Pope Leo XIII. which used to hang in his
rooms as an undergraduate, which delighted his gyp, who was a
Romanist, but scandalised his Protestant friends. I begged earnestly for
a copy of one of his prize essays, which had been printed though not
published. He at first consented, but almost immediately asked me to
return it, saying that he did not wish it to go out to the world as
expressing his matured views. He then asked me to accept instead a
small booklet, which he said I should find useful to have in visiting. It
contained the verses called "The Old, Old Story." He also gave me a
copy of the "Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence.'
Before he decided to read for the Moral Science Tripos he had thought
of going in for the Semitic Languages Tripos. With this object in view
he {14} commenced the study of Syriac. Finding that the best Syriac
grammar was written in German and had not been translated, he
decided to learn German also. He was advised that Switzerland was a
suitable place in which to study German, and accordingly, after taking
his degree, he started in