82 Charles G. Osgood, 



The reference to Cambridge, like that in stanza 26, is alto- 

 gether in the spirit of Camden, who pauses in his description to 

 glorify the town and the university. His words are in one or 

 two details close to Spenser's : 'Cis pontem, ubi urbis pars longe 

 maxima jacet, platearum descriptione, templorum frequentia et 

 quatuordecim pulcherrimis Musarum sacrariis, sive CoUegiis 

 omnia nitent, in quibus eruditissimi viri magno numero aluntur' ; 

 cf. Spenser's 'With many a gentle muse, and many a learned 

 wit' ; 'maximarumque artium scientia, et linguarum cognitio ita 

 fiorent, ut literarum, religionis, et totius doctrinas fontes jure Op- 

 timo censeantur, qui ecclesiae et Reipub. hortos salutaribus aquis 

 suavissime irrorant' (1590, p. 384)."* In stanza 26 Spenser calls 

 Cambridge the 'elder sister' of Oxford. The phrase had more 

 significance than a casual reader might suspect, prompted as 

 it doubtless was by the contest for seniority then raging between 

 the two universities.^^ Camden says (1590, pp. 344-5) : 'Verum 

 ne in optimos illos literarum patronos, imo (ut cum Eumenio 

 loquar) liberorum nostrorura parentes pessime ingrati videamur, 

 ipsos et Collegia, quae bonis literis consecrarunt, honoris caussa 

 ex historia Cantabrigiensi summatim memoremus. Cantabrum 

 Hispanum anno ante Christum natum 375. Academiam banc 

 primum instituisse, et Sebertum Orientalium Anglorum regem 

 post Christum 630 restituisse perhibetur.' In Holland's transla- 

 tion, which Camden is thought to have overseen, the author 

 discredits this tradition, and fears to become involved in the 

 controversy. The question is also raised by Holinshed in his 

 chapter on the Universities (Bk. 2, chap. 3, p. 249), who seems 

 to favor the seniority of Cambridge. 



And after him the fatall Welland went, 

 That if old sawes prove true (which God forbid) 

 Shall drowne all Holland with his excrement. 

 And shall see Stamford, though now homely hid, 

 Then shine in learning, more then ever did 

 Cambridge or Oxford, Englands goodly beames.*" 



°* For Cambridge as a crown to the river, see above, comment on st. 28. 



*'An account of this controversy is given in J. Parker's The Early 

 History of Oxford, pp. 20 ff. It began as early as 1566, or even earlier 

 (cf. Polydore Vergil, Historia, Basel, 1555, p. 107), and was very lively 

 when Spenser died. 



" St. 35. 



