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Show SOAPY SAM. The late bishop of Winchester, Samuel Wilberforce, better known as the Bishop of Oxford, who lost his life by being thrown from his horse, was a constant rider, and his favorite quotation was, "How blest is he who ne'er consents, by ill advice, to walk!" About this same prelate an amusing story is told. His influence which ranked him with Mr. Gladstone and the old Lord Derby is among the greatest of living orators in England, had gained for him, by its mellifluous character, the nickname of "Soapy Sam." While he was Bishop of Oxford, Cuddlesdon College was consecrated in his diocese, and the principal proposed that their connection with it should be recorded by a monogram somewhere about the building combining their initials. Now, the Bishop signed himself Samuel Oxen, and the principal's name was Alfred Potts. "No, no," said the Bishop, "that won't do [at] all;" and anyone who will combine those four initials will see why. |