The Washington herald., 1909-04-25

There are go dormitories. no commons. "
no dinner IN hall no rules as 10 hours
outside OF the lecture and class rooms
This greater student population sup
ports a town barely one-eighth the size
Of oxford. built in the main Of frame
houses and growing more slowly than
the university itself ErowS Il is the
solidity. both architectural and CONNER
cial. Of Oxford which astonishes the
American, who Is used 10 seeing his uni
versity. With thousands more students.
clapped down into towns Of a few thou
sand people Ike Ithaca. Madison. Re-ke-
ley, or Paio Alto. California. no one OF
which has fewer than 500 students 7
learn, too. thar an allowance 81 ee10 10
ESQ Csl.0O0 20 S1.25@ IS considered suf-
cient for an oxford undergraduate. In
our larger colleges the student Who as
sociates with the better set''-not scho-
lastically better-will vastly exceed this
expenditure. At Harvard and Yale stu
dents with allowances from c2.009 10
e2,eo0 $1,000 20 sl5.G00l are not uncom-
mon.
Yet they have their poin-s in com
The vail. familiar 10 every resident Of
an American college. that the college
influence destroys the commercial pros
poets Of the town. is one of the frst
things the inquiring stranger in Oxford
hears. There were some ueopIp who
wanted 70 put in a great steelworzs ~
said a querUlous townsman 10 me. The
works would have employed all Oxford's
idie labor. But the university influence
killed IL They won't let Us have a
music hall in tie place tthis was A
grievance I listened 10 more than once).
and only one theater. The university in
terferes with the peoples work and their
pleasure both.
But Il did not seem 70 Us. as we
strolled the ancient streets. that there
was lack Of pleasure. though. indeed as
it was holiday season the UveIinass may
have been only temporary. As for work.
we found one calling so generally fol
lowed and SO seemingly remunerstive
that it suggested the people Of Oxford
we're emuiating Mark Twain's happy
South Sea Islanders. who all earned a
comfortable living by taking in each
others washing.
Indeed. the Oxford guide impressed ne
as phenomenon worth studying. Ours
was astonishingly quick IN catching q
chance literary ailusion. and in Gaping
a phrase with an apt reference 10 the
literary traditions Of the ancient tcwn.
So we conceived a romantic notion that
he was perhaps a latter-day Pendennis
plucked. academicaIly and financially. and
eking out a slender living by lecturine
on the scenes OF his glory and disaster.
To an American the Yankee holders OF
Rhodes scholarships are a source CT con-
stant interest and even curiosity But #
does not appear that they form a very
influential portion Of the student com
munity. We chiefly wonder what effect
Oxford viii have upon them-how their
future lives may be affected BY It's noble
0ld-World culture. its hOary antiquity.
rs picturesque prece6ents. and its de-
tachment from all the merely mundane
and practical things OF life
Il was an American. 10 be sure VINO
laid down the definition that "a university
is a place in which nothing useful is
taught" but, after all James Russell
Lowell was hardly typical American.
and much Of the merit OF his definition
rests on our understanding of the word
useful" Cecil Rhodes, on the other
hand. was an eminently practical man.
It IS hardly probable that the purpose Of
his benefaction was to make OF a set OF
bright American students grubbers in
philosophy OF tutors in the classics And
yet that is exactly what Americans ap-
prehend viii be the final outcome Of the
Rhodes scholarship. Rhodes himself. with
an oxford education. did great things in
the arena OF international politics Yet
we may wonder whether the grating Of
oxford culture upon American prize stu
dents will produce anything except mere
schOIarS-whether out OF all wnL come
q man OF action able 10 conquer the
deserts and pierce the mountains OF lie.