Page:Carroll - Phantasmagoria and other poems (1869).djvu/149

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HEBDOMADAL COUNCIL.
137

Kittens and rats would occupy the throne,
And rule the larder for itself alone[1]!'
So rhymed my friend, and asked me what I thought of it.
I told him that so much as I had caught of it
Appeared to me (as I need hardly mention)
Entirely undeserving of attention.
But now, to guide the Congregation, when
It numbers none but really 'able' men,
A 'Vice-Cancellarius' will be needed
Of every kind of human weakness weeded!
Is such the president that we have got?
He ought no doubt to be; why should he not[2]?
I do not hint that Liberals should dare
To oust the present holder of the chair—

  1. 'Those councils must be freely opened to all who can serve her well and who will serve her for herself.'
  2. 'To preside over a Congregation with full legislative powers, the Vice-Chancellor ought no doubt to be a man of real capacity; but why should he not? His mind ought also, for this as well as for his other high functions, to be clear of petty details, and devoted to the great matters of University business; but why should not this condition also be fulfilled?'