The National tribune., 1883-07-05

they are able TO pay. The regular teaching In
provided by the association FOR promoting the
higher education of women in Oxford, and the
lectures are arranged to meet the requireuents
of the Oxford University examinations for wo-
men, of which the standard is Identical with
that of the University examinations for men.
This does not mean that the examinations are
identical, or that they lead TO degree. It
means only that the Standard is Identical. There
is always some difference between the mems
and women's papers, and women attain only
q certificate, although fixed degree Of excel
Ience gives them the empty reward Of first
second, or third-cIass bonors. The report for
last year shows that two women received first
class honors one IN physical science and one
IN literature.
THE QUESTION OF COST.
An instructive page Of the report is that
which gives the fees and debts Of the hall.
From this it seems that a year at Oxford with
Its limited University privileges cost far more
than a year at Cornell, where full privileges
are granted to women precisely as 20 men, and
where the work leads 10 full degree. 1t
Someryille, the charge for board and lodging is
$50 or $500 per year -iecture fees are SIS or
$40 more, and tutors fees, which form the
chief item of tuition, are still heavier tax
At Cornell the $40 required for tuition include
all university payments, except for chemical
1LDUEGtpF1 WUTGs SLu2ckto UClH4 Sal EDSFSF TO
board in the town OF at Sage College, and to
make their own bargains according to their
means and tastes.
This greater expense of the English method
IS well worth consideration on the part Of all
American college trustees whO are p0ndering
the question OF admitting women. To open
existing classes to women and to leave stu entS
free to live according to their means, is to ia
crease college classes and college receipts with
the slightest possible corresponding expense.
To bUiId halls. as Oxford has done, and essf5-
lish special lectures is to impose q needless ex-
pense upon students ard 30 add 20 the burden
of financial considerations on the part OF the
administration Of the institution.
+ visit to Oxford, however brief, is rich in
+ interest and suggestion. The most superficial
/ view of the colleges sutlices TO I'll the Ameri-
can mind with envy Of so splendid az inherit
/ ance of architectural beauty. But this same
/ superficial view acts as sermon on the futiEty
of many OF our recent American e9lle giase gifts.
I Men are eager to build college halls which shall
/ bear their names, and slow 10 learn that build
/ IngS do not constitute homes Of learning. We
spend our substance upon bricks. and mortar,
and stint the salaries of faculties, in order 90
I crafty selfish wish for the immortality that
is limited by the durability Of masonry. The
/ sight of Oxford IS a sad reminder Of the brief
tenure of this Immortality under the c0ndi-
/ tions in which we seek to attain it. The Ok
ford colleges were founded when men built for
eternity, and they have mellOwed and ripeaed
and grown venerable in consequence. But how
! many college halls IN America, built IN the
past twenty years to perpetuate the names of
the founders. will serve their purpose Eve hum
dred years hence?
COLLEGE ARCHITECTURE.
The Oxford colleges were built when monas-
tic forms were predominant In education as in
| religion. Students were naturally placed under
Inonastie conditions of life, and the architecture
of Oxford developed under conditions now
obsolete. But the impulse which procured it's
development is not obsolete. It.is on the con-
traTy, more active than ever. Never have
private gifts for educational purposes been 50
generous as in the present century, nor has
the opportunity for perpetuating the memory
Of the giver been more ample. But the form
of the gift and the manner Of perpetuati0n
should change with the changing needs Of our
| times. College architecture is stiIl beautiful
object for the expenditure of wealth, but lee
ture halls, libraries, and laboratories are more
in harmony with present needs than the too
numerous dOrmitOry buildings which are given !;
and, until oar American masonry becomes more
beautiful and more enduring, college architects
ure viii not be an ideal form of monument.
Far better for our present needs would it be
if the generous giyers of collegiate endown1ents
should initiate less conspicuous feature Of the
constitution OF Oxford, and establish funds for
the payment of professors and the maintenance
/ OF feli0wshipS to enable students TO work on, IN
the college atmosphere, after the close of the
usual four years, free rom tae anxiety for sup
port which now sends into mercantile pursuits
| able students whose labors in strictly intel
leetual fields would be Of inestimAble value.
T.. Z.