St John's College
He returned to Oxford in 1909 as President of St John's College (having been made an honorary fellow in 1895) and held this position until his death in 1931. He was regarded during this time as a leader for the causes of the church and the Conservative Party, and was described as "winning all hearts with his geniality, his good sense, and his readiness to help all with whom he was brought into contact." In 1918, during his time as college President, his photograph was taken for inclusion in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.
He was made a Companion of Honour by King George V in the Birthday Honours List of 1926. On 15 October 1926, over two hundred friends and former students attended a dinner held in his honour at the Hotel Victoria to celebrate the award, with Viscount Cave (who was Lord Chancellor and also Chancellor of Oxford University) presiding. Other guests included Viscount Lee, Sir Maurice Hankey (the Cabinet Secretary), the sculptor Sir George Frampton, the civil servant Ernest Gowers (who had been educated at Rugby when James was headmaster) and the MP Sir James Agg-Gardner. Austen Chamberlain (the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and a governor of Rugby School) spoke, along with representatives of the other schools with which he had been associated. Lord Cave praised James's directness in his opinions and decisions, his weighty judgment, his high character and his kindly nature. He said that membership of the Companionship of Honour had been given only to a few who had rendered "special social service" to the country, and he rejoiced that James had been "enrolled" in this "select band". He added that St John's College and Oxford University owed James a "debt of gratitude" for his "wise advice and guidance". James, he said, "had never dealth in the fine shades, or in the analysis of tendencies, or the exploration of avenues. Whatever was right had to be done. Whatever was wrong he fought with all his might."
Marlborough School paid tribute to James through a poem by Charles Larcom Graves. One stanza was later quoted in the obituary of James published by The Times:
| “ | Unversed in any of the arts That aim at winning mass approval, He found his way into our hearts From which he still defies removal. He played our games; he gained our trust; He was both honoured and respected, For he was vigorously just, And absolutely unaffected. |
” |
Chamberlain said that James had had a "remarkable scholastic career" and had exercised a "great and powerful influence" in the schools that he had served, leaving behind "a memory dear to all who had known him". He said that James was regarded as "one of the greatest and most forceful characters who had ever devoted himself to education." The dinner itself was reported as a news item in The Times on the following day, with a list of the principal attendees and summaries of the main speeches, and of James's response, in which he said that he regarded the honour he had received as one bestowed on teaching.
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