The Washington herald., 1912-08-09

Oxford. the ancient English city ol
learning. is 1000 years old. and IL celebrat
ing its anniversary with fun and feasting
with pageants and professions. with lee
lures and even with dancing and all thu
delight OF a millenarian with well-line<
pockets. But II is not the Oxford Uni
versity. but Oxford City. which begar
Its career many years before the schol
ars came to begin, the contests between
town" and gown"
The celebration has been arranged
thoughtfully, for the month when the un
ldergraduate may not appear In the uni
versity city. except by special leave. HI
has no part in the commemoration. TIT
city is a thousand years old. but the uni
lversity which so often has quarrelleC
with the city, is not.
/ 1t is not true that Oxford University
was founded by Oxford the Great. But
II appears to be true that the city wa.
there and place of some Importance
| In 9l2. For Oxford has its documentary
evidence in the English Chronicle al
! follows:
Died Aelthered. Eardorman of the
Mercians. and King Eadweard took to
himself Lundenbyrg and Oxnaford and
all the lands that were obedient thereto.
Oxford was settled place long before
the students came to It as to a refuge
The city in fact was the mother of the
unruly student. And when the visitor
makes his tour through Oxford. he should
notice on his journey from the railway
station to High Street that conical
mound which still stands there. 1t is just
like the mound in the Dane John at Can
terbury. / never could understand why
there was any mystery about 1t. That
mound was the outpost OF the men OF
commerce and peace against the forces
OF oarbarism. men with pens behind their
ears and daggers under their doublets.
as II were.
In 1912. therefore. Oxford is quite ius-
titled in celebrating her millennium. For
II was the earliest outpost OF safety that
brought the scholars.
1t had the advantage of situation. 1t
was AT the confluence of two ricers, and
one Of those rivers was the Thames. with
outlet TO the sea. 1t was also at the
natural crossing OF the roads of COM
merce. and the tower of Carfax still re-
minds us of those -four ways" the old.
through dangers and were about to face
safe center for traders who had Travelled
more. II you wish to get the three
periods of oxford into a nutshell, you
should note the cOnical mound where
they fought: CarfaN. which was the CEN
ter of trade; and. just down High Street,
st. Marys, the University Church. which.
with some difficulty and fights implant-
ed itself under the shadow OF a munich
pality.
oxford City cannot forget that il has
a history apart from the university which
has always tried to overshawod it: that
the students from the Continent first
rhifhar hecansa nxfnrd SOItld
fend itself against pikestaffs and long
bows: that IL has given hospitality to
Parliament when King Charles was hard
pressed: that ii gave refuge In its castle
you may still see the jagged teeth of II
to Matilda. whom Stephen the King was
Observation-Disclosures who, while the bridge
which oxford had built was guarded.
draped herself in white. and stole un-
observed across the frozen and snow
bound river; that 1t has been there as a
village, a town, a city for at least 1000
years, and that II has a right to a cele-
bration.
The contest between town and gown
has been long. Look at the records of
Oxford and you will find the same strug-
gle that has produced the students
card at all German universities. You
disobey the law. You are student. You
produce your credentials And you are
dealt with by the university authorities
Herein lies the quarrel between town"
and gown, since the town said that
the students were inside the municipal
law and the gown protested that they
were outside that pale.
There came the sordid case of a woman
of the town-murdered-and two innocent
students were collared and hanged with
the consent of King John. then at Wood
stock. The university protested il de-
serted its halls hnf he inSs of la nd
a strong hint from the Pope brought the
town to performance of a public penance.
Stripped and barefooted. they went daily
TO the churches carrying scourges in
their hands.
Thus was established that dual con-
troll which gave immunity from lay juris-
diction to resident members of the uni
which enabled the vice chan
cellor to commit disorderly women to the
Spinning House. to organize his own
Proctorial system of police, and to rescue
all undergraduates from the civil autho-
rity and punish them IL malefactors aca
with exclusion from the area
The undergraduate could be sent down"
But II must not be forgotten that OK.
ford City produced the women cham
pions of Queen Catherine when the di-
vorce question was afoot among the King
his consort. the Pope, and those women
OF Oxford-thirty of them. who were
clapped into prison for three days and
three nights for their claim of womens
rights some centuries ago. And that is
the town side of Oxford. the Oxford
which received Anne the Queen, with
bread, cheese, tobacco pipes, music and
two links Two pounds and a third
stands on the books of the city. and a
Bible and some Woodstock gloves seem
10 have been thrown in.
The struggle between town and gown
asted through many political crises. and
the row" was kept up on special ami
versaries and on special occasions. At
he visit of the Prince OF Wales to Ok
'ord Che was afterward Edward VID, and
Tor some reason or other there was a
outburst of enthusia SIN.
There was an objection OF the university
% the city's street cars. But the gown"
urned out and stopped the cars in the