The Tower and Main Building at UT i Adventures with Sir William Blackstone
by Ben Toscher
“The plaza was buzzing with the noise of hundreds of UT students. Frisbees were tossed out to eager freshmen as the University Health Services officials handed out condoms to even more eager freshmen. It was the party on the plaza, and it was a grand occasion. While clubs were giving out goodies left and right, I came upon the ultimate attraction of the party. A comfy-leather seat stood but four feet from the ground suspended by several two hundred foot bungee chords. The Bevo Blaster was designed to provide an intense up-and-down free-fall experience for the rider. I, on the other hand, got more out of it than simple up-and-down slingshot action.
“As the countdown dwindled from four to three, a large gust of wind blew in from the southeast. As I was ascending the two hundred foot climb, several more gusts of wind continued to pummel my backside until the force became unbearable. I was suddenly ripped from my seat and thrown through the air. I feared for my life as a good portion of the forty acres was passing beneath my feet.‘It’s beautiful,’ I thought to myself. The vicious wind carried me farther than I expected and I was soon approaching the tower. However, the velocity of my body was no match for gravity and I was quickly making my descent. I thought I would land on the main building
The Tower and Main Building at UT i
and die; I was partially correct. I landed on an abandoned pile of mattresses that was being stored on the western part of the main building. It was a miracle. I looked for the nearest exit, but one could not be found. I decided I would hang from the western ledge and swing myself onto a nearby tree. As I hung from the ledge, swinging back and forth to build momentum, a blue glow mysteriously surrounded my legs as a swirling sound filled the air. Suddenly, I felt my legs being sucked into the building as if a giant vacuum had been triggered. I resisted for nearly thirty seconds until I finally surrendered by body to the unknown force. And here I am.”
“So you’re telling me,” said William, “that you’re from the future? Not only that, but you’re from America. Some state in America called Texas? I don’t even know of such a place. You’re bloody insane.”
“I’m telling you, old man, I’ve been warped back through time. I insist you believe me.”
Sir William Blackstone,
one of the greatest law commentators of his time, had a hard time believing the young Ben Toscher, a student of the University of Texas and a recent member of the time-travel club. Ben had been transported through the Oxford insignia on the west wall of the main building of his home campus. He never knew those insignias doubled as time portals; a secret only school President Larry Faulkner is aware of.
“If you’re from the future,” poked Blackstone, “then tell me something about myself. Am I famous in the future? And if so, what for?”
Portrait of Sir William Blackstone ii
“You actually are, Mr. Blackstone. I’m well aware of your history as a law commentator. You’re Commentaries were not only popular here in England, but they became immensely popular in America. Your view of the natural, common law got many interested in studying law. Not only that, but your ideas of jurisprudence and natural laws were a strong influence in the creation of our Bill of Rights. The success of your Commentaries continues to my day, as it is a standard book that law students read in school.” iiiObviously, Ben was rather informed on Blackstone and his Commentaries.
“Am I that popular in the future? How did my works make it into your mind?” asked Blackstone.
“Well, you’re not that well known, at least not as well known as your principles. It just so happens that my father, uncle, aunt, mother, and grandfather are all lawyers. Your name is familiar around my household.”
“I stated in my commentaries that ‘Besides these adjacent islands, our more distant plantations in America, and elsewhere, are also in some respect subject to the English laws…Such colonists carry with them only so much of the English law, as is applicable to their own situation and the condition of an infant colony’iv. My theory seems to have upheld.”
“American laws are loosely related to those of England. You could say we have adapted the law to accommodate our situation. Seeing that it is 1779, I’m sure you are aware that we revolted against English authority so we could create our own code of law.”
“Yet principles of English law still remain in the laws of your country. Therefore I remain correct. Regardless, maybe you really are from the future. You’re dressed like nothing I’ve seen before.” Blackstone looked Ben up and down, marveling at his neon-green and purple Nikes, his Lakers jersey and his corresponding Lakers pants. “What is it that you are wearing?”
“It’s just the uniform for my favorite basketball team. Don’t worry about b-ball, I don’t think it’s even been invented yet. What year is it anyways, man?”
“The year is 1779. Do you even know where it is we are?”
“Are those not the tops of All-Souls College over there?” v
“Indeed they are.”
“Then I must be in Oxford, one of the oldest college towns in the world. This isn’t my first time here. I studied at St. Peter’s a couple of summers ago. Now from what I hear, my educational experience is nothing like that of the true Oxonian way.”
“St. Peter’s? I know of the St. Peter’s church, but St. Peter’s college?”
“ "Forgive me, I believe it wasn’t, or won’t get built until the 1960’s. It’s located where the New Inn Hall is.”
“Well how about we walk about and I can tell you about my experience here in Oxford?”
“Sounds great. I’ve got some good stuff to tell you about Austin, too. I think you’d love it there.”
The two of them walked down High Street under the gloomy summer sky of June. The cobblestone road provoked some recent memories in Ben’s mind.
St. Peters College
“Before I start,” said Blackstone, “I’ve got a quick question for you. In the future, does Britain eventually take control of the American colonies?”
“Quite the contrary. We are very strong allies to this day. We have a good relationship, like Sonny and Cher.”
“Who?” asked Blackstone.
“Never mind.”
“Right. Initially, I attended the prestigious Pembroke College as a commoner. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. At the time, John Ratcliff was the master of the college. I was considered a very diligent reader as well. With the help of my tutor, I studied Greek and Roman poets, along with creating Latin themes. At the same time, I managed to study the art of mathematics as well as logic. I eventually dabbled with Architecture and the college was so proud of my hard work, that I was awarded a scholarship. I’m just that damn good. My social life was pretty standard; I joined the Shakespeare club, played billiards, cards, drank wine on occasion, thoroughly enjoyed chess, and did my fair share of punting.”vii
“Oh how I loved punting under Magdalen Bridge during my stay. We even got a hookah in our punt.” interrupted Ben.
“I can’t disagree with you, young Benjamin. We seem to have a lot more in common than I initially thought when you fell from the sky and landed at my feet. I shouldn’t have been so skeptical of your magical journey, considering your entrance. But hey, it just didn’t seem logical.”
“I didn’t think time travel was logical either, until I was sucked into a wormhole. I’m still freaking out.”
“Anyways, I then became a distinguished member of a college you mentioned earlier, the grand All-Souls college. Elected as a fellow, I was one of forty bright individuals who had a large desire to learn. One could call my college the graduate school of Oxford. It was quite an honor to be a fellow there.” viii
“Enough of the fellows, what about the ladies!” joked Ben. “Hush. Although attending All-Souls was time consuming, I still was able to make it to London to practice one of my passions: law. If it wasn’t told to you earlier, by your books in school or by myself, I have many passions; law is just one. I’m a fan of poetry, politics, and the arts.” ix
“I must say, Mr. Blackstone, I’m thoroughly impressed with your academic history. It’s only appropriate that a man of your brilliance studied with such vigor.”
“Stop it, you’re making me blush.”
“I can’t help it. The red on your face is so very complimentary to your wig.”
The two of them finally reached New Inn Hall. A glazed look covered Ben’s eyes. The awesome sense of deja-vu encompassed his entire body as he stood motionless. Memories of ultimate frisbee in the courtyard and hackeysack in front of the dining hall stairs filled his mind. Two hundred years prior to his experience, there was no hackeysack or frisbee being tossed. Instead, students diligently read books on the rich green lawns.
“You know they wouldn’t let us cross the lawns when I was here. There were big signs that said ‘KEEP OFF THE GRASS!’”
“What would you be doing that would harm such fertile grass?” asked Blackstone.
“Have you ever heard of a Frisbee? Hackeysack?”
“Huh?”
“I thought so.”
“Don’t just say I thought so, explain.”
“Basically, a hackeysack is a little bag, about two inches in circumference, filled with tiny beads. We arrange ourselves in a circle with the bag, and the object is to keep it from hitting the ground. And then Frisbee, well, Frisbee is just awesome. It’s a disc that you toss and it cuts through the air as smooth as a bird.”
“You played games here in Oxford? What about your studies?”
“Oh I studied, good buddy,” replied Ben. “But nowhere near the extend of your arduous labor. Film, Politics, and Economics were the materials I focused my studies on. But when I wasn’t studying me and my buddies would smoke cigars at the Randolph, a first class hotel.” Click to see Cigar Smoking in Action
“Film?”
“Damnit! I feel like I’m teaching a baby everything there is to know. Can’t you know anything about the future!”
“I’m not Nostradamus, and please, be generous. I’m just as curious about your life in Austin, Texas as you are of my life here. Correction, I am more curious. You have the advantage of having history behind you, readily available for examination. I have no clue what is in store for our kind in the future. All I ask is that you are patient.”
“And it is a more than fair request. Forgive my impatience.”
“Forgiven. So this Film thing, what is it?”
“Imagine you in motion, walking down the street. Now imagine there is a third- person perspective of you walking down this street. Technology has advanced to the point where we can record your actions. It’s actually an optical illusion. Thirty frames of photography are taken each second, and when the human eye views these frames in succession, a real time recreation of what was filmed occurs. Are you familiar with persistence of vision?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, well that’s how it works.” Ben looked around once again and couldn’t believe he was once again at St. Peter’s. All this talk of Frisbee reminded him of his Frisbee games in the Christ Church meadow. It gave him an idea. “Why don’t we walk to Christ Church meadow and I can tell you about my educational experience. You might consider some of my collegiate activities immoral according to your beliefs; but believe me, they are fun as hell.”
“Hell is not fun, my friend.”
“It’s a modern idiom, forgive me.”
The two of them made their way across the medieval town. The pitter-patter of their feet against the cobblestone filled the small alleys that are so abundant in Oxford. While a group of pigeons was maniacally feasting on an old loaf of bread, Ben slowly crept up on them to do what he does best: observe. The both of them stood silent and observed the pigeons go after the bread pluck after pluck. They both enjoyed the animosity that these birds demonstrated. The bond that the two shared for observation of nature brought them together closer than anytime before.
“It’s funny,” Ben said, “these pigeons don’t have any order or rules. Whoever eats the bread first gets the bread. If one is eating a piece and another steals it from them, there is no higher authority to punish the thief. The pigeon must take it into his own hands to fight for his property.”
“They are creatures in the state of nature. They were not endowed with the gift of reason that humans have been blessed with, thus putting them into a state of freewill and chaos. As I stated in my Commentaries, ‘And consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his maker for every thing, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his maker's will.’x Pigeons do not realize any presence of a maker or higher authority, thus feel free to act on their own accord. However, their survival is completely up to them.”
“And because of laws and society our survival is guaranteed?”
“Provided that you follow the laws of the higher authority.”
“That was a nice bit of philosophical conversation, Mr. Blackstone.”
“As all philosophical conversations are.”
“I’m actually thinking of majoring in philosophy at the University of Texas. I value the process of reason rather than the conclusions we derive from it. I also want to eventually become a lawyer, so I figure understanding the basis of argumentation would be helpful for a career in the field of law. I think I could maybe stay here, you know, in medieval Oxford.”
“Maybe stay here? I’m not quite sure how you’re going to get back home. Are you familiar with building time machines? I’m certainly not.”
This was the brutal truth, and it was frightening to Ben.
“No… I don’t. Enough of this worrying about the future, we’re both here right now. You may be old, you may be fragile, but you’re a legend. The name Sir William Blackstone lives on to this day as a legend. You are the creator of the common law. Over one thousand students at my alma mater’s law school study your works. That’s just in one city in one state in one country in the entire world. You are the definition of a legacy. I will never be immortal like you. It looks like I’ll be stuck here in Oxford for the rest of my life. That’s the dreary realization of this journey I’m on. I’ll be considered a loony if I go around this town, or this world, claiming to be from the future. I’ve found one person who truly believes me, and he’s one of the greatest minds in the history of the world.”
“You’re too much, you.”
“So let us walk. I’ll talk, and you’ll listen. I’ve got good things to tell you, I will explain them so you can understand. You’re in for a surprise. All I ask is I can spread my legend, the legend of Ben Toscher, a longhorn, to one person. Are you with me, William?”
“Ben, I got your back.”
i The Tower and Main Building at UT
http://www.utexas.edu/research/rsc/images/Main-Bldg.-&-Tower-plaza.jpg
ii Portrait of Sir William Blackstone http://www.kirkcenter.org/burke/images/blackstone.jpg
iii Lockmiller, David A. Sir William Blackstone. Chapel Hill: the University of North Carolina Press, 1938 pg 27
iv Blackstone, William. Commentaries. William Young Birch, 1803. http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-1104.htm
v Gaunt, William. Oxford. New York, Hastings House, 1966.
vi All-Souls College http://www.astoft.co.uk/Dscn1971-u2-405-u0.5-q60.jpg
vii Lockmiller, David A. Sir William Blackstone. Chapel Hill: the University of North Carolina Press, 1938 pg 55 ; Macleane, Douglas. University of Oxford: College Histories, Pembroke College. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1897. pg 30 ; Boase, Charles W. Historic Towns: Oxford. London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1887.
viii Lockmiller, David A. Sir William Blackstone. Chapel Hill: the University of North Carolina Press, 1938 pg 67
ix Lockmiller, David A. Sir William Blackstone. Chapel Hill: the University of North Carolina Press, 1938 pg 64
x Blackstone, William. Commentaries. William Young Birch, 1803. http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-1104.htm
xi Christ Church Meadow http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/oxford/ChristChurch/Ccmeadnow.jpg
Word Count: 2,571
