ame of his victor.

Oxford sometimes contends with Cambridge on neutral waters in an eight-oared
cutter match, but is generally defeated, for a very characteristic
reason--Cambridge picks a crew of the best men from the whole University;
Oxford, more exclusive, gives a preference to certain colleges over men.
Christchurch, Magdalene, and a few others, will take the lead in all
arrangements, and will not, if they can help it, admit oarsmen from the
unfashionable colleges of Jesus, Lincoln, or Worcester!

It is worth knowing that in the long vacation, commencing on July 6, there is
no place like Oxford for purchasing good dogs and useful horses. Oxford
hacks have long been famous, and not without reason. Nothing slow would be
of any use, whether for saddle or harness; and although the proportion of
high-priced sound unblemished animals may be small, the number of quick
runners is large. There is an establishment in Holywell Street which is
quite one of the Oxford sights. There, early in winter mornings, more than a
hundred stalls are to be found, full of blood cattle, in tip-top condition,
and on summer afternoons no barracks of a cavalry regiment changing quarters
are more busy.

We must not leave Oxford without visiting Blenheim, the monument of one of
our greatest captains and statesmen, with whom, perhaps, in genius and
fortune, none can rank except Clive and Wellington. Blenheim should be seen
when the leaves are on the trees. The House is only open between eleven
o'clock and one. The better plan is to hire a conveyance, of which there are
plenty and excellent to be had in the city, at reasonable charges. When we
remember this splendid pile--voted by acclamation, but paid for by grudging
and insufficient instalments by the English Parliament--was finished under the
superintendence of that beautiful fiery termagant, Sarah Duchess of
Marlborough, who was at once the plague and the delight of the great Duke's
life, every stone and every tree must be viewed with interest. We should
advise you, before passing a day at Blenheim, to refresh your memory with the
correspondence of the age of Queen Anne and her successors, including Swift,
Bolingbroke, Pope, and Walpole; not forgetting the letters of Duchess Sarah
herself, and Disraeli's "Curiosities of Literature," for the history of the
building of Blenheim, and how the Duchess worried the unfortunate architect,
Vanbrugh.

Blenheim contains a large number of first