People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — Correspondence. [ARTICLE]

Correspondence.

ACROSS THE DEEP. A Ramble among Hie Halls of Oxford University. From our Special Correspondent. Oxford, Eng., July 20, ! 93. Within a short distance of Stratford-on-Avon is a little village which ought to command the attention of Americans more than it does. And we, like our predecfessors, followed the main stream of travel and left the place unvisited. It is the place of the Washington family from which George Washington descended. Some of the monuments of the family before leaving for America are there. A short ride found us in the ancient town of Woodstock, which has been woven into romance by the prolific pen of Scott. It was once manor residence of the English kings, but no trace now remains of their residence. The early English poet, Chaucer, is said to have once lived there. But one does not visit Woodstock for any of these things. The feature of Woodstock is the beautiful park that lies neaV it known as Blenheim. It contains some 2,000 acres of genuine English rural beauty.. An English park is so different from an American park that there are not many points of likeness, only that they are both parks. As I have said before the park of England, especially the country park, has an air of quiet beauty in it, all that is not easily reduced to words. There seems to be no special effort manifest in getting them in shape, but everything seems to have taken shape and place by the “eternal fitness of things.” I should say that broad, green lawns or more nearly meadows, cut up into pleasant walks, avenues, and retreats by the majestic old oak, is the prevailing characteristic of the English park. This park in its name, Blenheim, fixes one of the great victories of England as achieved by the Duke of Marlboro, and was given him as a reward for his services and achievements. At the same time Parliament voted him 500,000 pounds for the purpose of constructing a palace. It is all a wonderful expression of what a great nation is willing to do when her destinies are dependent upon the genius of one man. But, however much the future greatness of England was assured by the achievements of the Duke of Marlborough, the question naturely arises, should, in justice, a long line of mediocre successors be allowed to take possession of a gift set aside to commemorate the deeds of one man. It is the finest specimen of a park I have so far seen.

A brisk walk of some three miles in the evening under the somewhat embarassing circumcircumstances of a drizzling rain, brought us into the city of that renowned seat of learning, Oxford University. Nearly every boy has followed Tom Brown through his school days and then at Oxford. The two great Universities of England that have no superior, in many ways, in Europe are Cambridge and Oxford.' These Universities are much different than an American University in organization. They are nothing more than an aggregate of colleges having their seat in one city, united by an organization. Our colleges are situated in different parts of the states and this gives opportunities for attendance that the English universities cannot do. At Oxford there are •situated 21 colleges and 3 halls. All of these colleges, with exception of one or two, bear a very old date. Merton College being the oldest, dating from 1264. It would be beyond the purpose of this letter to attempt to enter into detail, in describing this

wonderful maze of venerable structures dedicated as the workshop and habitation of }he seeker of truth. We were unfortunate in visiting the place when the university was not in session, and so we were content to ramble around among the old buildings and try to picture to ourselves the life that must animate them in the college year. I was pretty well convinced that an English university was, in one respect, like our own and that in the fact that a university town is likely to be dead when the university is not in session. Of course, in the English university you have a long and eventful past to call to life as you walk among the shadows of old buildings and picturesque towers. Some of these colleges are very wealthy, while others are not. The number of students at Oxford is about 3,000. And, as a matter of course, many of England’s great men are to be found among her graduates. Each college may and does instruct, so far as I know, in any of the departments of knowledge, but by course of development and character of instructors they are known for strength in some particular line of Work. So that when a student seeks to enroll he selects that college strongest in his work, w T hile some of the colleges are more the center of aristocracy than others and this decides the selection of the wealthy. The least cost of a student at Oxfofd is about SSOO. The students of of each college receive two rooms and they eat at the same table, and attend chapel in their gowns which are worn on other occasions.

The history of Oxford and Cambridge is intimately connected with the intellectual life of England, and many of the great movements have first had their birth in these centers of learning, and have gradually spread over England and even the world. One notable instance was the work of the Wesleys, in the founding of Methodism. John Wesley was a Fellow of Lincoln College, of Oxford, and the movement was agitated and begun in the city, and the room is still to be seen where the first lessons of Methodism found public expression. The next interesting movement was the series of discussions carried on principally through pamphlets and ending in the conversion of two powerful thinkers to the Roman Catholic faith. These men were Manning and Newman, who afterwards became Cardinals in the church. The latter is author of, “Lead! Kindly Light,” in which he gives expression of the feelings of one searching for truth. The hymn is used more in Protestant worship than in Catholic worship, although it was written as an expression of his conversion to the latter faith. It is a hymn of the soul struggling for truth. It will be chanted for time to come. It has not so much fire in it as Luther’s “Muser Gott,” but will be loved and used by Protesttants.

Many other interesting controversies and movements might be noticed but space forbids. One notices, in the street, near Bocardo gate, a stone cross. This marks the spot where Cranmer and Ridley were burned for holding opinions concerning the sacrament contrary to those of the church. This occurred in 1555. Latimer, another of the condemned, witnessed the burning of his friends from the prison of Bocardo. A beautiful monument commemorates the martyrdom of these men. . After we had arrived in the evening, and were quietly resting, and, from our windows, observing the people below and the many dark towers in the dim twilight, the various college and city clocks began to peal forth the hour of nine. Everything

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had settled into quiet when another began to strike. One of the party observed that in a multitude of clocks we might have the time at any moment. So we counted to see what the result might be. We came to nine, on to twelve. We examined our watches. It still pealed forth in solemn but decided tones and soon arrived at 25. It would likely strike out all the hours at once and be done with it. We soon arrived at fifty strokes and no sign of weariness on the part of the clock, but decided impatience on our part. Evidently an invention that the Yankees had not learned. Sev-enty-five fell with a triumphant peal. It seemed to speak with clearer tones as if it told a peculiar and interesting story. The history of England is locked up in those old towers and walls. Ninety re-echoed through the evening air and in stately succession one hundred followed. Mechanism run mad! The tower fairly shook from the reverberation and disturbed the night birds that sought a temporary shelter. One hundred and one fell and we waited again for its successor, but it did not follow and the echoes soon died away and silence, save the patter of feet below, began her rightful reign. Our curiosity was aroused more than you doubtless are to learn the cause of such an extraordinary occurrence. We consulted our guidebook and found that the bell from which the strokes proceeded passed under the name of ‘ ‘Old Tom,” w T ho weighed some 18,000 pounds, and that the strokes were 101 in commemoration of the number of students enrolled at the founding of the college, and that the gates must be closed at that hour. Aside from the historic surroundings I believe the American university is more efficient than the system of Oxford and Cambridge, with their noble array of cold, dark buildings, without much to illuminate them, save the rays of a receding past, which glimmers from the fagots of burning martyrs or the heat of religious disputes, but more nobly from the flames of truth that have guided the destiny of England and her dependencies.