A.S.P. Woodhouse: Teacher and Scholar

HUGH MACCALLUM A.S.P. Woodhouse: Teacher and Scholar 'A.S.P. Woodhouse: Teacher and Scholar' was originally delivered, on 28 September 1983, as part of a lecture series at University College in the University of Toronto. A well-known figure in the College's past, Woodhouse had held the position of Head of English for two decades, but his reputation extends far wider than either College orUniversity: he was a tireless and influential champion of the Humanities in North America, and for many years served as editor of the University of Toronto Quarterly. It is therefore fitting that Professor MacCallum's lecture should be made available to a larger audience and doubly appropriate that it should appear in this journal. (WJK) When Principal Richardson told me ofthe plan to include some lectures on former teachers and scholars ofUniversity College in this series, Iheartily agreed with him that A.S.P. Woodhouse should take his place among such notables. Born in the lakeshore town of Port Hope, Woodhouse was - to use a phrase he enjoyed applying to others - 'a son of Ontario.11 He took his BA at the University of Toronto, graduating from University College, and went to Harvard to take the AM. He subsequently taught for five years in Manitoba, and then returned to Toronto to become a member of the Staffin English at University College, where he taught for thirty-siX years - from 1928 until his death in 1964 - and where for twenty years he was Head of the college department. He became widely respected as a teacher and scholar, and he received many honours, including a number of degrees from North American universities. At his death he left his estate to the college (where the funds continue to be used for scholarships thatbear his name), and this is only one among many signs ofhis devotion to its traditions, goals, and continued well being. Obviously a career of this prominence and dedication is worthy of public attention. It was only when the Principal suggested that I undertake the lecture myself that my reaction was mixed and tinged by misgiving. I thought of others who knew Woodhouse in ways which I, first as a graduate student and later as a junior colleague, could not, others with sharper Boswellian eyes,2 and better able to draw on a fund of illuminating memories, anecdotes, and observations. Then, too, there was the problem of speakingabout someone to whom lowe so much, debts beyond measure, both intellectual and academic, some lying at such a depth that they are UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY, VOLUME 54, NUMBER 1, FALL 1984 2 HUGH MACCALLUM difficult to articulate. Nevertheless resolving to accept the Principal's kind offer, I decided that my best approach would be to spend as much of my hour as possible recalling not only the man, but also his ideas and convictions. Ifthese are already familiar to you - as I am convinced that for many they are - I can only hope that you will share my pleasure in bringing them back to mind. My plightis rather like thatwhich BenJonson described as he celebrated his old master, William Camden: Many of thine this better could than I; But for their powers, accept my piety. In the Woodhouse Collection on the thirteenth floor of Robarts Library there hangs a picture which was taken by Time magazine in 1964. It is a good study of Woodhouse, catching something of his authority and vigour - the head tipped back, and the large chin raised pugnaciously, the smile genial but a touch sardonic, the face creased by time and service, and the deep-set eyes alert and quizzical. Itis a fitting reminder of the man who governed the graduate department of English for seventeen years, and who made such an immense contribution to English studies and the humanities in Canada during the critical middle years of this century - 'a towering figure in his field,' said Time.} Here is the academic statesman, the formidable debator, the accomplished conversationalist. The strength is perhaps a bit overpowering, leading me to recall Woodhouse's response when he saw himself on CBC television: 'now I know why students are frightened of me!' It also...