Cambridge Days. 83 



little with his work at Cambridge, where he 

 was haunted by perpetual regret that he had 

 not been permitted to matriculate at Oxford, 

 rather than at the head-quarters of Mathe- 

 matics. To this, however, his father would 

 not consent, as Oxford was at that time 

 infected with the High Church doctrines of 

 Dr. Newman and Dr. Pusey. Under these 

 discouraging circumstances Henry Dixon 

 addressed himself to the uncongenial task of 

 preparing to pass for his mathematical de- 

 gree. It cost him no ordinary effort, and 

 in the end he had to content himself with 

 the humble place of " wooden spoon." This 

 degradation, as he regarded it, preyed on 

 his sensitive mind ; but the prospect of doing 

 himself more credit in Classics and retriev- 

 ing his comparative failure in Mathematics 

 buoyed him up with hope and eager expec- 

 tation. At this critical moment he made an 

 offer of marriage to the young lady who 

 subsequently became his wife, and was met 

 in the first instance with a refusal. Miss 

 Caroline Lynes, third daughter of Thomas 

 Lynes, Esq., of Hackleton House, North- 

 ampton, had long been the object of his 



