ts gave us a general idea of each. He stopped at
some of the more noted colleges, where we often found guides who
conducted us about the buildings and grounds. Perhaps Magdalen College
is as interesting as any. Its fine quadrangular tower is one of the
landmarks of the city, and they will tell you of the quaint custom that
has prevailed for many centuries of celebrating May Day morning with
music from the top of the tower by a choir of boys. Magdalen has its
park and gardens, and Addison's Walk--a pathway extending for
considerable distance between an avenue of fine trees beside a clear
little river--is reputed to have been a haunt of the great essayist when
a student at the University. Next to Magdalen, the most celebrated
colleges are New College, Christ Church and Merton. At the first of
these Cecil Rhodes was a student, and the great promoter must have had a
warm feeling for the University, since his bequest has thrown open the
various colleges to more than a hundred students from all parts of the
world, but principally from the United States. Practically all of the
students have their quarters in connection with the colleges and meals
are served in public dining rooms.

Aside from its colleges, there is much else of interest in and about
Oxford. The castle, of which there are scant remains, is one of the very
oldest in England and has a varied and often stirring history. During
the Parliamentary War, Oxford was one of the strongholds of the king and
underwent many sieges from Cromwell's army--which was responsible for
the final destruction of the castle. As a seat of learning, the town
dates from the time of Alfred, who was born at Wantage, only twenty
miles away. Naturally, Oxford was always prominent in ecclesiastical
affairs and during the reign of Mary the three bishops of the English
church suffered martyrdom there. In one of the public places of the city
stands a tall Gothic monument commemorating the services of these men
and incidentally putting severe strictures on the "errors" of the Roman
church. The language in which this latter clause is stated caused a
storm of protest when the monument was erected, but it had no more
effect than did the protest against the iron-clad, anti-Catholic
coronation oath of the king. The Bodleian Library, located in Oxford, is
the greatest in England, with the exception of the library of the
British Museum.

XVII

A CHAPTER OF DIVERS PLACES AND EXPERIENCES

Ten