New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-09
COMMEMORATE
THE GLORIES OF THE OXFORD FES-
TIvAL HAVE SOMEWHAT WAVED.
From The London Globe.

from older generations and in university az 10
school life a generation Is wohderluNy sn'l.
suace Of time Bachelors Of Arts VINO IN o'her
rIaces would be considered TO nave scdIt
emerged from boyhood have already attainei
enough antiquity to give them the prNlest %
finding fault with things as they are, ana 81
deporing with lofty bitterness the falling on
which they observe since their own days. ~ -,
indeed amazing, almost Illuminating 70 hhu y'I
places so quickly filed by others. and 70 ma
also that society at large Il 50 purDllnd as posi-
lively TO be satisfied with such inadequate sue
cess0rs of ourselves. Yds ii must be confessed
even on a fair and unlmpassiohcd we" 81 INC
case that the glories Of "COmmem.' nave some
what waned. There has grown up another SUM
mer term festival whose centre IS not a GIVE
university ceremony. but a contest for the h'a'
ship Of the river-the festival Of the eghts, ana
this has attracted TO itself some Of the balls anu
concerts which in days gone by were part Oh ne
celebrations Of Comment Fights Week IS per
hans a time Of peculiar delights it is, perhaps
the best river festival in existence, not "Nc'pt-
ing even Henley. but 1t IS purely uhIeIetaNu-
ate festival; the Undergraduate aDahuyiiS mn
self TO making pleasure Tor hiInSelI ana loi H'5
people" and he prevails The dons are redu'ed
perforce to acquiescence in haif-empty le''IIe
rooms and even the proctors seem 20 'edi.17
that their authority would be out OF place pN-
ford contrives with conspicuous success 10 COM
ceal the fact that it was ever intended 10 pe a
seat of learning; the cap and gown suHer an az
most total eclipse; there is realized the exquisite
ideal Of a university where work is suppressed
NO LONGER THE ONLY TINE.
a T.
ration has decreased: it has suffered some
changes. and those changes are toward deSener-
alton. 1t is no longer the one ana only umc iy'
visitors; the university worn out with the t'!ls
of he summer term. whether on the river OF N
the schools has largely gone down. Inc process
sion Of boats has c. ased TO be, II became scarce
ly possible to find even men, mucn less oarsH'rh,
10 sit in them and the salute 70 the Head OF tiie
River led but to capsiZlng and unseemly laush-
ter, and so the old ceremony struggled on a. 4
mere mockery Of its former self Tor some yed'9'
lid han
longer the Sunday promenade IN Chrlstchui'h
meadows, where the black gowns OF the felio"s
and undergraduates used 10 mingle with me
many -colOred dresses OF their falr SISTERS an
cousins It is. indeed a lamentable thing thdt
this ceremony should have vanished; 1t was 1
fine and stately pageant, and was, moreover the
one occasion except in the very earliest days -
freshmanhocd) on which proud parents could be
escorted by their son in cap and gown
But the other features Of Commemoration sun
remain modified in some respects. IL is true. but
essentially the same. There are still balls and
concerts in plenty. three balls night as rule.
for those who like variety. and-so inadequate
are these June nights for the purpose-oroai
daylight To dance in for the last few hours; ana
10 finish with there arrives, about in the morn
ing a brisk photographer 10 take the ruins of
such dancers as are left. Dresses and 'horresco
referens) complexiOns do not look their best az
) o'clock on a June morning, but in this respect
a camera is merciful. and its records not I'M
kindly perfect. Nor does marquee harmonic
INTELLECTUALLY with the features OF a college
quad and the older Fellows lament that the
modern undergraduate is not satisfied. as they
were in their time. with the resources Of the coll
lege as it is but in these days We demand such
wondrous perfection Of appliances for dancing
in the way Of floors and bands-and meanwhile,
the art Of dancing bids fair 70 become extinct
UNDERGRADUATE HOSPITALITY
The undergraduate is a wonderfully hospitable
person. He spares no expense in balls. suppers
or uncheOns. or picnicS. for these luxuries will
go down in his bates. and be paid for at the be-
ginning of the following term 10y more or less
complaining father. and it *. as policy. highly
desirable that some OF them should be due To the
Very'rea sOnable and sufficient cause Of his "peo-
pie" having been up at "Commem.' There IS
nothing 50 crampng TO the mind as the payment
Of ready money. Moreover it makes such holes
in an allowance that the practice should be set
aside an unjustfable extravaganza The UNI
dergraduate is, as a rule. freed from such re-
StrictionS he Will entertain anybody at any
time: he has even made some attempts % make
breakfast a social meal. He that has not "pe0-
pie" up will borrow from him who has and Will
feed them and take them about in punts. and
make for their edifcation somewhat daring an
tiquarian statements about colleges and chapelS.
All as if he had come into the world and 70 the
university for this special purpose When one
him at his best. in Fights Week Or Com
men," it seems incredible that in a few short
years he viii be quite an ordinary being earning
living. pc. maps, or making attempts in THAI
direction. Cr even paying his debts.
But although il is largely the Undergraduate
who is responsible for the jOty OF "COmmem.."
the festival is not wholly his. His balls and his
entertainments are mere eXCrescences on the
great ceremony OF the EncTna. At that he Is
not supreme: he is merely Junior member ~
the university" An EncPna is a sight not 20 be
forgotten; the vice chancellor and the doctors
in their scarlet the proctOrs who. on their entry.
are annually greeted by a half-frendly. half
revengeful hiss. the public orator. with his
Latin speech. the honorary ID. c. LIS in their
new spendor of scarlet and crimson the prize
men i'm their pulpits declaiming their own poems
in English or Greek or Latin; the undergNadu-
ates in the gallery shouting. interrupting \.ith
sublime irreverence. making jokes good. bad al
Indifferent, and the feminine belongings OF al
these in their finest summer dresses-such Is the
scene in the ShedOnian Theatre on the morning