290 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
of something belonging to the past, grown gray with 
time and softened by age which we expect to find in 
the old university towns of England. To me Cam- 
bridge had a wonderful picturesqueness, and a kind 
of rural quality suggestive of quiet and scholarly se- 
clusion. Oxford is more before the world. You will be 
asked whether you have seen Oxford before you 
are asked whether you have been to Cambridge. Yet, 
to me, the latter had a charm of its own that brings 
it very near to one’s affections. 
The following morning we went early to Girton. 
. .. We were most cordially received by Miss Welsh, 
the Principal or so-called Mistress. . . . The instruc- 
tion in the colleges for women at Cambridge and 
Oxford is by no means given altogether by the 
professors and teachers of the Universities. Much 
instruction is given by ladies, many of whom have 
themselves been educated at the colleges where they 
teach. I must add that the presence of these ladies 
and their relations with the students seemed to be 
extremely pleasant. They shared in their sports and 
recreations and had a very friendly and genial com- 
panionship with their pupils. ... 
You will want me to say something of the girls’ 
personal arrangements. They have generally at Gir- 
ton a sitting-room with bedroom adjoining, occupied, 
as the case might be, by one student or two. The 
rooms looked very pleasant: a certain portion of the 
outfit, as beds, table and desk, all of the simplest de- 
scription, is provided by the college, but the rooms 
are made cheerful by what the girls themselves have 
