proportion, and standing
just where the Cherwell is spanned by the well-known bridge, is in the
opinion of many the fairest sight in Oxford. The way in which it springs
from a pile of embattlements, and the grace of its pose and form, claim
for it more than a word of admiration for its share in the adornment of
Oxford.

So far the view of the town was dependent for beauty upon its spires and
towers. To-day it would be allowed by all that a great deal has been
added to this beauty by the domes, which have brought their dignity and
rounded lines to the general scenic effect.

It was not till two centuries had passed from the creation of Magdalen
Tower that the central gateway into Christ Church was surmounted by the
well-known Tom Tower, erected by Sir Christopher Wren to hold "Great
Tom", a mighty bell which once belonged to Osney Abbey. This was the
first of the domes to rear its head. But it was not long left solitary.
Seventy years afterwards the great dome of the Radcliffe Camera rose up
in the space between All Souls and Brasenose colleges, and was
thenceforth the first object to take the eye of one who looks on Oxford
lying glorious in her meadows.

And so we come to one aspect of the place. For him who wants to look
upon her as a whole, to realize at once that he is drawing near to one
who is all beautiful, everything depends upon the manner of his
approach.

It is probably true that the people of a hundred years ago had the best
of it. In very early days, when men rode on pack horses or were drawn
thither in wains, or tramped through marshy tracts and by evil roads,
their eyes were apt to be fixed upon the ground lest they or the horse
they rode should put foot in a hole. Then, too, the view they obtained
was not at first so beautiful as it has since become.

To-day the disadvantages are greater still. Far the larger number of
people approach Oxford by train, and although on drawing near the city
from the south a sight is obtained of towers and spires, it is by no
means a happy point of view; and the visitor is probably engaged in
getting his bag out of the rack and collecting his papers and umbrella,
when he might be obtaining a first impression, though a poor one, of
Oxford. Should he be more fortunate, and approach by motor car, again
he loses much. A vision, perhaps, for a moment, as he tops some rising
ground, and then, before he has had time to gasp his admiration, he
finds himself bounded on either