The National tribune., 1883-07-05
A DAY At OXFORD.
Something About the Great English
University.
speoiaI Correspondence National Tribune

hawthorne anu washington IRVING nave called
it, and more. The most charming regions OF
Chester county in Pennsylvania, if traversed
by fine roads and sweet with countless miles of
hawthorne hedge in profuse bloom would much
resemble the English country between London
and Oxford; but Chester county has neither
admirable roads nor hawthorne hedges, where
fore there is truth in the exclamation OF an
enthusiast. England, in May, is the prettie5t
country God has made"
OF the country about Oxford this is especially
true, for the ThameS-here called the Isis
and the Chevweil, its little tributary, add the
charm of flowing water TO a landscape rich in
long avenues Of els and oaks, in fields of clover
interspersed with fiery peoples, and other fields
of deep-green wind-bIown grain.
In the midst of this abundant pastoral beauty
the University seems as spontaneous q growth
as the oaks in Christ Church meadow, and IN
all England there IS probably no spot where
man and nature are so harmonious rs here. In
London the atmosphere is polluted by smoke,
and in many cities hideous architecture de-
stroys all beauty, but in Oxford the quaint
gabled houses make pictures IN every light,
and the stately architecture of the colleges
possesses beauty as harmonious with its sur
roandings as it is majestic.
THE GROWTH OF YEARS.
1t is no mere fgure of speech to call the Uni
versity growth. History does not go back
far enough to tell from what seed it sprang,
was reigning In the year 1902, the foundation
of ST. Trideswide's priory, and it is supposed
s that Oxford grew up and clustered, as it were,
around that old foundation" The Cathedral.
a beautiful specimen of Norman architecture
belonging to the same foundation, was finished
| in the twelfth century, and its thorough ineor-
poFatiOn into the university lie OF to-day strikes
the Imagination most foreibly. / went to the
/ Cathedral on Sunday morning and found the
service wonderfully beautiful; but the history
( embodied IN the church was for me, q stranger,
/ almost as full Of awe as the service itself.
/ Through seven hundred years tins building
I had been the nucleus of the learning Of Eng
| land, and as / looked at its massive walls and
heard the fervent responses OF the multitude
who filed it, there seemed a promise of future
! o. q thousand years before il. Unlike the other
/ cathedTals which | have seen, this is not SOM
ber it is built of cream cOlOred stone lighted
/ by many windows, and its Norman columns
and arches and the presence OF quaint mOnu-
ments alone beaE witness to its antiquity The
i position of the Cathedral as an early and essen
| tial member of the University is emphasized
| by its relation to Christ Church College, which
| is so built about ii that the college quadrangle
serves as q vestibule, which must be crossed
before the Cathedral can be entered. Next in
antiquity comes University College, whose en-
/ d0wnent dates from 1873. Tine history Of
/ Oxford dates from the tenth century; in the
/ itary fort and as the scene OF great national
gatherings. But it Is not until the twelfth
that we get the first hint Of the Corning uni
versity the first glimpse of schools and scholars
aud lectures; and it IS not until the thirteenth
that we get our first glimpse of anything like
colleges IN the modern sense. In that age, too,
comes not, indeed, University College, but the
benefaetion out of which University College
/ grew In 1919 William, archbishop of Durham,
bequeathed $40 marks for tine chancellor, mas
tiers aud scholars of the University; for the en-
dowment OF mastership several ancient schools
or halls were III course OF time acquired, and
| early in the fourteenth century the society
found a local habitation on its present site, its
title being then Great or AliekIe' University
Hall" In the next twenty years BalliOl and
Merton were founded, and college has followed
college, and hall after hail has grown up until
there are to-day nineteen majestic college
buildings and nine halls with church that
dates back to King Alfred, and other churches,
all of less degrees of antiquity.
These halls aud colleges are dark, massive
structures, which would be sonber but for the
bright sunshine and one oft-repeated, charm
ing decoration. The whole city IS brilliant
with window boxes in full bloom, and the col
leges are especially frightened by these simple
ornaments Geraniums, lobelias and hardy
roses bloom freely, and the dark background OF
stone saves their brilliancy from garishness.
The somber fronts Of the colleges are broken
by wide arches that give entieing glimpses OF
wide quadrang giles carpeted with turf and bathed
in sunshine.
STREET SCENES
On Saturday afternoon the streets were filed
with students in blue coats, white knee
breeches, straw hats and long blue stockings,
Carrying tennis bats or strolling up from the
lighthouses on the Isis. Sometimes q staid
!, person, in black gown and square black cap,
strobe along, and every statiOner's window had
group OF students reading titles or looking at
the last etching of the Thames or the newest
University earicature in sepia, until Great
Tom of Christ Church tolled euTfew, at nine,
when the college gates shut before it was quite
; dark. On Sunday morning the town was mu-
steal with chimes and sweet-toned church bells
The streets, deserted until church time, swarm
ed suddenly with students in robes and out OF
, them, with women in bright summer dresses
ON their way to the cathedral with here and
there college dignitary in white and scarlet
, making a brilliant bit of color" against the
dark background of the college masonry.
The Church Of England service is used Of
course; and service is a specified part of stu
i | dent life In England, beginning at Eton, Har-
. row, Rugby, ali the great schools, aud cOntinu-
ing through the seven years of University resi-
, dence that lead to the decorate. Twice q day
! ia every school and college chapel, the stu
dents attend, and the service is wisely made
: short and very beautiful. The founder d
. Magdaien College, indeed, thought the beauty
of the service so important that he provided
) for the maintenance of the choir at its max
imum, however it might be necessary to re
; trench in other departments Of college expendi
ture, and he could not well have made for him
self more beautiful memorial than the daily
choral service that is held.
The ancient foundation Of Oxford and thG
fact that it is the stronghold of the Church o
4 England lead to the expectation that is vii
prove most conservative. 1t is, therefore,
e surprise to find music included as one OF ths
studies leading to degree, or to see the equip
ment for scientific work most elaborate. 1t i
E claimed that the University museum is "abouf
the most comprehensive and complete iRstitu
: ton in the world for the teaching and tint
! study OF the natural sciences" One archi
tectural feature of the museum is worthy o
note. There is q central court surrounded b,
r an arcade supported by piers and shafts Tn
2 shafts were constructed under the direction d
the professor of geology and are collection o
: examples OF the most important rocks of tht
: British Islands and the capitals Tepresen
natural objects. Thus" in the words of thl
professor, F." this is not a h2p-hazard collection
, of pretty stones crowned with pretty flowers
but collection of marbles and sculptures in
{ tended to illustrate points of some interest an,
| importance in science and art" Herein lies
valuable hint for our own school and coiIeg
architecture, and most suggestive modern
application in conservative Oxford OF beauti
a fui medieval idea