The Coolidge examiner., 1933-02-10

medicine, lterae humaniores, mod
ern history, medieval and mod
ern languages, oriental languages,
and natural science. Both the col
leges and the university give lee
lures, and each cO-operates to pro-
mote academic harmony and eff
cheney.
But the academic, vital and funda-
mental as 1t is, is really the reverse
| side of the medal. oxford is more
than classrOoms, and degrees, and
rules and regulations, and their ex-
| ceptions. f. d. How no doubt ex-
aggerates when he says: For
beauty and for romance the first
place among all the cities of the
United Kingdom must be given to
| Oxford" But one must search far
| to find an equal of the mellow
beauty Of its winding streets and
its classic buildings, or of the pas
toral charm of the meadows and
walks along the Cherwell and the
Isis, or of the romantic associations
of the place, from Alfred the Greats
day to the World war.
Beauty Along High Street.
Walking down High street, affec-
tiCnately known in Oxford as 1.-The
High" one catches some of this feel
ing of beauty and romance In the
long curved fronts of the colleges
and churches and other stately
buildings which border it; for High
! street is oxford and. incidentally.
one of the most beautiful streets In
the world.
Beginning at Carfax, the center
of town, it curves gently for half
a mile or more to the Magdalen
bridge, unfolding vistas of spires.
and stout stone walls. and moss-cov-
cred cornices, and towers. and
courtyards. and thousand and
one things, each more lovely than
the last. until one begins to regret
that such delight cannot last and
must dwindle at the end to some
mediOcrity.
But at the end of the High is re-
served the most charming view of
all. Rising gracefully from the
buildings of Magdalen college is
| an exquisite Gothic bell tower. from
which each year Seventeenth cen
tury eucharistic hymn is sung at
sunrise on the first of May.
Directly opposite are the verdant.
spacious grounds of the Botanic
garden, the oldest in England. and,
to close the picture. beyond Is the
River Cherwell, with its screen of
bordering elms and willows and the
stately arched bridge which carries
the High toward London town.
There is yet another spot in Ok
ford where one may feel this age
old unreality. Not far from the
High is round-domed building (the
dome is the entire building) known
as the Radcliffe Camera, the read
ing room of the Bodleian library. A
! small fee will admit one to stair
way which winds up and up to cir
cular outdoor gallery far above the
street.
View From Radcliffe Camera.
Below and all around Is spread
a veritable forest of stone turrets.
towers, arches, battlements, spires.
and delicate tracery. Massive pieces
of masonry they undoubtedly are.
but from this height they seem
light and airy, eXquisltely delicate
and graceful. Refinement of detail
Is lost in the splendid upward sweep
of whole buildings, although one is
conscious of embellishments which
| carry the eye and delight the spirit.
Haphazard as was Oxford's growth,
there is a symmetry in her archi-
lecture which many another city
| of less spontaneous origin might
envy.
Beyond the colleges, to the east.
is the green-forested slope of Head
ington hill: to the south. perhaps
a bit dim in the mist which rises
! from the meadows along the Isis. is
Boars hill. nearest of the gently
rolling Berkshire Downs: to the
west are the railroads and the com
mercial districts: and to the north
are the principal college gardens
and the university parks.
a short cut from the Radcliffe
camera through the old Divinity
school leads to the Bodleian IL
brary, the granddad of all the Eng
fish libraries in the world Over
the entrance doorway is a Latin in
Scription and the worn wooden
SiairS that lead to the library it
self creak as if their last days had
come. But these stairs have creaked
tn the footsteps of countless thou
sands for centuries.
The Bodleiap still clings to the an
cient system OF listing it's volumes
in huge parchment index books,
paStinS in a slip of paper when new
books arrive.