Symonds said, a 'laughing' rather than a 'weeping' philosopher, inclined rather to the tenets of Democritus than those of Heraclitus, to the ancients than to the moderns, to Aristotle than to Plato, to Bacon than to Berkeley. In his younger days an Hegelian, he became, as time went on, more and more attracted to Bacon and Newton. He wrote a preface to an edition of Bacon's Advancement of Learning, and contributed a lecture to Lectures on the Methods of Science (1906). As a teacher Case was distinguished by the lucidity and brevity with which he defined, and the courage with which he defended, a philosophical position which he had made his own by independent thinking. To be courageous in the maintenance of doctrine once reached by one's own hard thinking, and to be clear in the expression of it-that was the lesson which many generations of pupils learnt from him as college tutor and professor. His teaching of Aristotelian and modern philosophy was always ' useful for the schools', going systematically into the minute details without which the wide conspectus is empty. But it was, after all, the personality of the man behind it that made the teaching effective, as it undoubtedly was. 'Get it clear,' he seemed always to be saying to his pupils, and then stick to it; it is worth getting clear and sticking to, because it is true.' But if his influence as a teacher of philosophy was chiefly due to what may be called the dogmatic side of his personality, the artistic side of his personality also contributed a quality which made a great difference between his dogmatism' and the dogmatism of others. His pupils and other personal friends always felt that the uncompromising defender of logical consistency was also master of the arts of music and of architecture, and-it ought to be added-of cricket. Case's published contributions to philosophy are contained in his volume Physical Realism (1886), in his articles 'Metaphysics', Aristotle', and ' Logic' in the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911 edition), and in his translation of the Posterior Analytics' in the Oxford series of translations of the works of Aristotle. His Aristotelian work is of a high order, exact in detail and comprehensive of the whole, and even those who think it wrong have probably a good deal to learn from it. It was a bold thing in 1886 to tell the disciples of the popular idealism that logic and scientific fact are against them, but it is now seen that Case then took a position antagonistic to that of Green which is not far removed from that now occupied by the bulk of the younger philosophers in England-men who have passed beyond the attraction of Green's sphere and come within the direct influence of the scientific system of the great biologists and physicists. However, Case was no mere abstruse or recluse philosopher, but a man of eminent practicality and most varied interests. Chief among these were music and architecture. Both he could enjoy as a Fellow of Magdalen, and he did not a little in that college for the cause of the latter, taking infinite pains to secure that the restoration of the hall roof by Mr. G. F. Bodley should follow sufficiently closely the old lines of Waynflete's structure, and in so doing rediscovering and restoring, at his own expense, the beautiful west window of that chamber. At Corpus he constructed, as was said, 'major premises', rebuilding, in handsome style, the very inadequate President's Lodgings, and in his 'St. Mary's Clusters' (1893) he did his best to keep Sir T. Graham Jackson within due bounds in his restoration of the noble spire and statues of the University Church. He was a great admirer of Nelson, and possessed a number of letters and other relics of the hero. Of his musical gifts a small volume of songs set by himself and published towards the end of his life is permanent evidence. Politics, those of the State until he came to despair of stemming the swelling tide of democracy, and those of the University, were to Case an absorbing interest. His frequent and characteristically vigorous letters to The Times on current topics of importance exercised a real influence on the formation of educated opinion. Some years ago he took up his pen again to attack the theory of Relativity, and early this year he was criticizing in our columns Dr. Jeans's theory of the universe. He was a close and cogent reasoner and a clear exponent. As one of his friends said, if you once admitted his premises you could not escape his conclusions. In his youth he was a Liberal, but Jowett, he said, ' taught him to think for himself,' and by degrees he became the leader of the Academic Conservatives, though remaining always something of a free-lance. More and more he became opposed to large changes. Though he had originally favoured Lord Curzon's appointment as Chancellor, and though they remained excellent friends, he opposed most of the 'Reforms ' of the 1908 programme. In particular, he led, with his usual indefatigable and inimitable diligence, the fight against the relaxation of 'Compulsory Greek', and, after the final defeat of the proposals had been secured in Convocation, was presented by his party with a piece of plate for his services. Even his antagonists recognized that his opposition was always good-natured and unselfish. In 1920, when the new Responsions Statute was passed, Case was still a leader of the opposition. In 1870 Case married Elizabeth Donn, daughter of Sir William Sterndale Bennett, the composer, and had two sons, who were both in the Winchester Eleven-Mr. T. B. Case, who also obtained his Blue for cricket at Oxford, and Mr. W. S. Case (the latter died in March, 1922)—and one daughter, who married the second son of his old friend and brother Waynflete Professor, Dr. Odling. As President of Corpus, which office he resigned last year [1924], Case proved very successful.... He had strong views as to the importance of the head of a college to his house. An old and experienced tutor, he knew how to put his finger on any weak spot in the system of instruction, and by his shrewd and practical advice and his own example of diligence to stimulate alike the tutors and the undergraduates. By these last he and Mrs. Case were greatly likedindeed Tommy Case', as his friends, young and old, delighted to call him, will be mourned by many friends, and by innumerable grateful pupils, of all ages. He was also singularly successful in attracting "Benefactions', and when this story is made public, as it will be some day, it will astonish the world. He was for two periods a member of the Hebdomadal Council. In 1914 Magdalen College elected him an Honorary Fellow. Both at school and at Oxford Case gained much distinction in the cricket field, and might easily have become a really great player had he devoted all his time and energies to the game. Nothing, however, was seen of him in important matches after he had completed his twenty-fourth year, but he always took a keen interest in cricket and football and served as treasurer of the Oxford University C.C. with great success. He even introduced cricket and football into the University Parks against a good deal of opposition from the older and stiffer dons. The chapters on ' Oxford University Cricket' which he contributed to The Jubilee Book of Cricket, first published in 1897, are of much historical interest and value. Copy of Letter in the Chancellor's Handwriting. DEAR PRESIDENT OR EX-PRESIDENT, I am not sure which is the correct designation. It would be very distasteful to me, and I think also very wrong, if I were to allow your impending retirement from Oxford-after a career of such prolonged service and so great distinction-to take place without a few lines of sincere and respectful valedictions, and in the interests of the University of genuine regret. You have filled so large a place in the public eye there, and have touched so many points of academic life with an individuality that has never failed to impress and has left so many marks of good, that Oxford will seem a different, a less interesting and less vivid place without you. I do not know whether the University, or your College, or your countless friends and admirers will miss you most. The secret of your success, I suppose, has been that you have always remained young; perhaps too you have been more consistent than most, and have not made many genuflections in the Temple of Rimmon. In your retirement the good wishes of thousands will follow you, and your career will always stand out as one of the memorable achievements of Oxford. I am, Yours ever, |