 In 1881 Lang made his first trip outside Scotland , to London where he heard the theologian and orator Henry Parry Liddon preach in St Paul 's Cathedral . He also heard William Ewart Gladstone and Joseph Chamberlain debating in the House of Commons . Later that year he travelled to Cambridge to stay with a friend who was studying there . A visit to King 's College Chapel persuaded Lang that he should study at the College ; the following January he sat and passed the entrance examination . However , when he discovered that as part of his degree studies he would be examined in mathematics , his enthusiasm disappeared . Instead , he applied to Balliol College , Oxford , and was accepted . In the summer of 1882 he ended his studies at Glasgow with a Master of Arts degree , and was awarded prizes for essays on politics and church history . 
