The third qualification resolves itself into honest manhood and good-fellowship, and is closely linked with the fourth, which insists upon moral force of character and the qualities of leadership. These requirements do not mean that one shall play the ‘lion in society’ any more than that he shall attempt to dominate in the activities of his College. They mean that he shall possess the moral and social qualifications, the personality that will make him fit into the Oxford system; it means that he shall be a straightforward, enthusiastic, ‘social animal’; that he shall enjoy, and find interests in, and improve by, comradeship and mutual friendships. If an Oxford student neglect the ‘social side’ he will have lost some of the best opportunities which Oxford life affords.
Rhodes on one occasion defined a University education as the ‘education of rubbing shoulders with every kind of individual and class on absolutely equal terms’; and it was this education of which he wished the Rhodes Scholars to partake.
Moral force of character is a qualification which cannot be too much insisted upon. Cut off from home ties and home influences for three years, with six months of each spent in travel and among strangers, with the opportunity and at the same time the necessity to decide nearly all questions which arise without check and with little counsel, moral force and will power are not only invaluable, but indispensable assets. The question of age has here an important bearing. No definite age can be set as absolutely the best, but the general experience so far would seem to point to a desirability that the men be mature. By that we mean that a man should have arrived at a point where his experience, his knowledge of himself and of men, and his knowledge both of books and of business, render him capable of forming quick, accurate, and independent judgements, of choosing his work, of initiating and pursuing his own plans, of working without a task-master and independent of mere textbooks; of carrying his plans to fulfilment, and of accomplishing his work in spite of a multitude of distractions and side interests which will make constant bids for his attention.
There is, however, danger in choosing too mature a man. He may be so advanced in his studies or so old in his habits as to find Oxford unprofitable or uncongenial. He may be so deeply interested in his definite line of work, or ‘take himself so seriously’, as not to ‘mix’ well. He may be so set in his ways as to be unadaptable to Oxford ways. There is such a thing as too much self-reliance. The Rhodes Scholar should have ‘independence of character’ and should have ‘principles’, but he should not assert an aggressive individuality. He should be able and ready to get into sympathy with English life and English ideals; he should remember ‘when in Rome to do as the Romans’, in so far as the customs of the Romans do not conflict with his principles and ideals; he should ‘catch on’, be able if necessary to rearrange his wardrobe and his vocabulary, and to readjust his political and social vision. All this a man may do without losing one particle of his own local or national patriotism.
Rhodes’s favourite maxim was ‘do the comparative’. That would perhaps be his first injunction to Rhodes Scholars. He asked for men—the greater their ability the better; he did not demand the superlative; but he did object to less than the ‘comparative’ in any respect.
Choice of a College.
It must be plainly evident from what has preceded on the subject of Oxford, that the choice of a College is a matter of very considerable importance. Although in some ways not of so much consequence to students from abroad as to Englishmen, yet in others it is even more desirable that the foreign student be satisfied with his College environment. An English student, no matter what his College, will probably have a number of friends and old ‘school-fellows’ in other Colleges. A student from abroad, an American for instance, will be more limited to chance acquaintances among the students outside his own College. Moreover, to the Rhodes Scholar Oxford becomes in a sense ‘home’ during his three years. And when all points are considered, one’s impressions of Oxford and of Oxford men—and to that extent of England and Englishmen—are bound to be influenced predominantly by the character of his immediate surroundings.
Englishmen are influenced in their choice of a College by several motives: family associations, ‘school’ traditions, scholastic reputation, social character, athletic fame. Some men go where their fathers went; others where their school-fellows go; others to Colleges which are ‘high’ on the river; others to ‘football’ Colleges; others where ‘Honour men’ are sought; others where they happen to obtain or expect to obtain ‘scholarships’ or ‘exhibitions’; and still others—where they can.
The Rhodes Scholars will not ordinarily be so directly affected by these considerations, but will be no less inclined to look to the traditions and history of the College and the character and personnel of its past and present student body and the ideals which the College represents. The names on the tutorial list will be of decided interest, especially to the man who contemplates advanced work; but this consideration should weigh even more with the student who is going to do undergraduate work for the reason that in the former case the man who is doing research work will very possibly work under a ‘Tutor’ outside his College, while nearly always those doing undergraduate work are under Tutors of the College to which they belong.