of the new quad was
built, to give Magdalen a splendid specimen of eighteenth century
work, without prejudice to the old. And in our own day, the genius of
Bodley has raised in St. Swithun's Quad a building worthy of the best
days of Oxford, while the hideous plaster roof, with which the
mischievous Wyatt had marred the beauty of the hall, was removed, and
a seemly oak roof put in its place. It is a great thing to be
thankful for, that one set of college buildings in Oxford, though
belonging to so many periods, has nothing that is not of the best.

But the great glory of Magdalen has not yet been mentioned. This is,
without doubt, its bell tower, which, standing just above the River
Cherwell, is worthily seen, whether from near or far. A most curious
and interesting custom is preserved in connection with it. Every May
morning, at five o'clock (in Antony Wood's time the ceremony was an
hour earlier), the choir mounts the tower and sings a hymn, which is
part of the college grace; in the eighteenth century, however, the
music was of a secular nature and lasted two hours. The ceremony has
been made the subject of a great picture by Holman Hunt, and has been
celebrated in many poems; the sonnet of Sir Herbert Warren, the
present President, may be quoted as worthily expressing something of
what has been felt by many generations of Magdalen men:

"Morn of the year, of day and May the prime,
How fitly do we scale the steep dark stair,
Into the brightness of the matin air,
To praise with chanted hymn and echoing chime,
Dear Lord of Light, thy sublime,
That stooped erewhile our life's frail weeds to wear!
Sun, cloud and hill, all things thou fam'st so fair,
With us are glad and gay, greeting the time.
The College of the Lily leaves her sleep,
The grey tower rocks and trembles into sound,
Dawn-smitten Memnon of a happier hour;
Through faint-hued fields the silver waters creep:
Day grows, birds pipe, and robed anew and crowned,
Green Spring trips forth to set the world aflower."

The tower was put to a far different use when, in the Civil War, it
was the fortress against an attack from the east, and stones were
piled on its top to overwhelm any invader who might force the bridge.

Tradition connects this tower with the name of Magdalen's greatest
son, Thomas Wolsey, who took his B.A. about 1486, at the age of
fifteen, as he himself in his old age proudly