154 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



projections, may still be seen. Broad lawns surround the old towers and gabled 

 buildings witli pointed windows, fountains send forth jets of sparkling water 

 in the centre of the courts, statues decorate the streets and open places. The city- 

 walls, dating back to the eleventh century, can still be traced through almost the 

 whole of their course ; but the remains of the castle are reduced to a solitary 

 tower, the Norman buildings which occupy its site being of modern date. From 

 the banks of the Cherwell or Thames, where the rowing clubs engage in their 

 trials of strength, the domes, spires, and stately towers of colleges and churches, 

 rising behind masses of dense foliage, form a picture of incomparable beauty. 

 The panorama to be enjoyed from the roof of RadcHtfe Library is unique of its 

 kind, for we look down upon what aj)pear to be the palaces, monasteries, and 

 churches of a mediaeval city. Each of the twenty-five colleges and halls which 

 cluster in this seat of learning leads a life of its own, whether it be University 

 College, whose fo\indation dates back to J2G4, or Keble College, only opened in 

 1870. Each has its special history, and boasts of the possession of ancient charters, 

 precious works of art, valued libraries, or other treasures. The buildings occupied 

 bv several of the colleges are remarkable as works of architecture, foremost in this 

 respect being Christ Church, which boasts the noblest hall, and has attached to it 

 the cathedral church of Oxford. Each college glories in the men of mark whose 

 names appear upon its roll of members. Oxford, more than any other town of 

 equal size, has shaped the common destinies of the nation, and many men, illus- 

 trious as statesmen or in the history of art and science, have been trained there. 

 Yet the power of the ancient university has in most instances been exercised in 

 resisting the march of progress. Not a stone can fall at Oxford but is religiously 

 replaced by another of exactly the same shape. Similarly there exists not an 

 ancient idea or a custom of the olden time which the learned dons, in the retire- 

 ment of their time-blackened colleges, do not seek to perpetuate through their 

 influence and erudition. Although Wickliffe was one of the professors at Oxford, 

 the university ofiered a most powerful resistance to the spread of Protestantism in 

 Eno-land, and the learned Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer were burnt to death in 

 front of one of the colleges, that of Balliol, in the reign of Queen Mary. At the 

 time of the Revolution Oxford took the side of the Royalists, and it was within its 

 walls that Charles I. established his head-quarters during the war. Since that time 

 Oxford has taken a pride in being looked upon as the stronghold of Conservatism. 

 Of late, however, its traditions have received a rude shock. Some of its professors 

 and students are being carried along by a current of new ideas, and Oxford may 

 now be said to send forth champions who ably represent the most extreme views 

 of either side. Nor is there another town where, thanks to the labours of the 

 past, arguments in favour of the most opposite views can so readily be commanded ; 

 for nowhere else, not even in London, are similar facilities for study concentrated 

 within so small an area. Laboratories, libraries, and scientific collections are 

 attached to every college, and, in addition to these, there are the ever-increasing 

 collections of the university. The new Natural-History Museum — it was only 

 built 1855-60 — is rapidly growing into importance. The " Taylor Buildings " 



