1 74 Life ami Letters of Francis Galton 



tliat followed P made a great disturbance — calling out, groaning, etc., etc. in which 



he urjj'cd on 4 or 5 Magdalene men to support him. I on meeting him that evening 

 assuretl him that had I been president I should have fined or expelled him, but he seemed 

 to look upon the whole matter as a joke, and assured me that with 4 or 5 supporters he 

 would break the Union lamps and upset anything like order. The reason of his anger 

 was that a different man was elected President from tiie one he supported. The next day 

 he apologised for the disturbance he had made. When that very evening on Gibbs, the 

 new President taking the chair he was so shamefully uproarious that nothing could go on. 

 At one time I heard him cry out three groans for the President, which he and his men 

 gave. I then went to the President and requested him to censure or expel him for the 

 whole Union was in an uproar. The President shortly after seeing one of his supporters 

 X crying out fined him a sovereign. P rushed across the room crying out "in- 

 famous," and was neither fined nor expelled as he ought to have been. I then spoke to 

 some other members of the Historical about his immediate expulsion out of that society, 

 which they cordially agreed to, but we determined to talk it over next day, Wednesday. 



On Wednesday morning I met P , who told me he was highly vexed at his conduct 



the night before; when by all that is shameful that very night at a lecture which was 

 given in the Union and [at which] Mr Thorp the tutor of Trinity kindly took the chair 



(he had been when an undergraduate a President), P was more uproarious than ever- — • 



urging on several Magdalene men, who stood behind the furthest benches and kept up 

 continually stamping so that nothing could go on. Thorp threatened twice to leave the 



chair and was going to do so, when C jumped up and rushed into the midst of them, 



confronted P — — and told him that his conduct was disgraceful and blackguardly as it 

 had been the night before, he then turned round and said his observations applied to all 



who had assisted in the row. When turned C felt a push on the shoulder of which 



he took no heed, but turning again repeated his observations to P . He then spoke 



to all the men who had left their seats (about 200) and were crowding round, and said is 

 it your wish these men should be turned out; they all cried Turn them out, turn them 



out. Cries of Chair, Chair recalled the men to their places, and P and his associates 



left the room. — I immediately drew up a requisition to P to leave the Historical', 



which was signed by all who saw it about 17, and then began to take steps for expelling 



him the Union ^ When going to C 's room I found him half -mad hearing that P- • 



had spread a report that he had struck C in the Union, who was too cowardly to 



return it. C then put a horsewhip in his pocket and went everywhere in search of 



P , but could not find him. Late in the evening he returned to his rooms with his 



two friends where he found P with X and Y of Magdalene, who said I have 



heard that you have been looking for me all day, here I am. C said he wished to speak 



with him by himself. On his demurring he gave his word that he need be under no 



^ Galton has misplaced the foundation of the Historical in the Memories, p. 76. No 

 doubt the violent behaviour at the Union strengthened the Historical. 



^ On Feb. 20 a motion to expel Mr P was brought forward at a special meeting, 



and on its being carried a poll was demanded; this resulted, next day, in 246 for expul- 

 sion and 76 against. On the report stage another poll was demanded with the result of 

 236 for expulsion and 103 against, so that the motion was lost, a three-fourths majority 

 being apparently needful. 



