THE MODERN COLLEGE.
Ampelopsis veitchii.
The most distinguishing characteristic, from a material point of view, of Trinity College as it now stands in the heart of the City of Dublin, is perhaps that of spaciousness. It is the College of magnificent distances; for a space of over twenty-eight acres is enclosed by the outermost walls—twenty-eight acres of granite and of green sward, of park and plantation, of shrubbery and wilderness, of noble buildings and of uninteresting enclosures. Like most people and many places, Trinity College has what the French call les défauts de ses qualités. With abundant elbow-room, yet not without a touch of dreariness; with a site unsurpassed in any modern city, and needing nothing but variety in elevation, and running water, to make it unrivalled in the world—its very vastness makes it somewhat bare, its very dignity makes it somewhat cold, its very spaciousness makes it somewhat scattered. The granite of its buildings is grey; the limestone and freestone are grey; the slated roofs are grey. It would require a regiment of scarlet Lancers to give colour to the quadrangle.[144] To compare is usually idle, and is often impertinent; but it is obviously impossible to find, in an enceinte of hard upon thirty acres, the warmth and wealth of treatment, the perfection of finish, the fulness and richness of detail, that are so happily realised when the tender care of half-a-dozen centuries has been devoted to the adornment of a single quadrangle, to the artistic treatment of two or three acres of ground. And it must be remembered that all that we now see in Trinity College is the work of little over a century of most diligent and most faithful care. For some hundred and fifty years after the foundation of the University,
the buildings of the new College seemed to have sufficed for the accommodation of the students; but in October, 1751, a petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of Dublin to the Irish Parliament set forth “That the said College does not contain chambers sufficient for lodging the number of young gentlemen who, for several years past, have been sent thither for education, and that many of the buildings of the said College are, from length of time, become ruinous, and are not capable of being restored; that by the Statutes of the College no provision is made for new buildings, or for any other than the annual repairs of the buildings originally provided, notwithstanding which the petitioners have expended several large sums, which by great care they have saved out of the ordinary expenses of the College, on necessary public buildings, and to increase the number of chambers for the reception of students.” Five thousand pounds were granted by Parliament in response to this petition, and the money was expended on the necessary buildings. Two years afterwards (1753) we find a further sum of ten thousand pounds placed at the disposal of the College authorities by the Irish Government. The money was spent, and well spent, on building. And a further petition, on the 1st of November, 1755, was presented to George II., and a further grant of twenty thousand pounds made to the College to enable them to rebuild the West Front. In 1757, the College authorities appear once more as petitioners to Parliament, stating that they have, with all possible expedition and care, finished the said north side for which former grants had been made, and are now rebuilding the front, for which further funds were needed; and a further and final sum of ten thousand pounds was then placed at their disposal by His Majesty’s Government. And the College accounts show that between 1752 and 1763 a gross sum of £48,820 had been expended on the work of construction.
Ampelopsis veitchii.
The most distinguishing characteristic, from a material point of view, of Trinity College as it now stands in the heart of the City of Dublin, is perhaps that of spaciousness. It is the College of magnificent distances; for a space of over twenty-eight acres is enclosed by the outermost walls—twenty-eight acres of granite and of green sward, of park and plantation, of shrubbery and wilderness, of noble buildings and of uninteresting enclosures. Like most people and many places, Trinity College has what the French call les défauts de ses qualités. With abundant elbow-room, yet not without a touch of dreariness; with a site unsurpassed in any modern city, and needing nothing but variety in elevation, and running water, to make it unrivalled in the world—its very vastness makes it somewhat bare, its very dignity makes it somewhat cold, its very spaciousness makes it somewhat scattered. The granite of its buildings is grey; the limestone and freestone are grey; the slated roofs are grey. It would require a regiment of scarlet Lancers to give colour to the quadrangle.[144] To compare is usually idle, and is often impertinent; but it is obviously impossible to find, in an enceinte of hard upon thirty acres, the warmth and wealth of treatment, the perfection of finish, the fulness and richness of detail, that are so happily realised when the tender care of half-a-dozen centuries has been devoted to the adornment of a single quadrangle, to the artistic treatment of two or three acres of ground. And it must be remembered that all that we now see in Trinity College is the work of little over a century of most diligent and most faithful care. For some hundred and fifty years after the foundation of the University, the buildings of the new College seemed to have sufficed for the accommodation of the students; but in October, 1751, a petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of Dublin to the Irish Parliament set forth “That the said College does not contain chambers sufficient for lodging the number of young gentlemen who, for several years past, have been sent thither for education, and that many of the buildings of the said College are, from length of time, become ruinous, and are not capable of being restored; that by the Statutes of the College no provision is made for new buildings, or for any other than the annual repairs of the buildings originally provided, notwithstanding which the petitioners have expended several large sums, which by great care they have saved out of the ordinary expenses of the College, on necessary public buildings, and to increase the number of chambers for the reception of students.” Five thousand pounds were granted by Parliament in response to this petition, and the money was expended on the necessary buildings. Two years afterwards (1753) we find a further sum of ten thousand pounds placed at the disposal of the College authorities by the Irish Government. The money was spent, and well spent, on building. And a further petition, on the 1st of November, 1755, was presented to George II., and a further grant of twenty thousand pounds made to the College to enable them to rebuild the West Front. In 1757, the College authorities appear once more as petitioners to Parliament, stating that they have, with all possible expedition and care, finished the said north side for which former grants had been made, and are now rebuilding the front, for which further funds were needed; and a further and final sum of ten thousand pounds was then placed at their disposal by His Majesty’s Government. And the College accounts show that between 1752 and 1763 a gross sum of £48,820 had been expended on the work of construction.
Of the buildings that were erected in Trinity College at the end of the sixteenth century, we have neither roof nor foundation now remaining. Of the still older buildings that stood on Hoggen Green in 1583, we have neither trace nor exact record, beyond that they contained a church, a steeple, a building with a vault under it, and the spytor already alluded to.
