have come down to us; and do not remember the perils all that remain have passed through.

Under the protection and care of Elizabeth Oxford revived, and, as Hallam observes ('Hist. of Lit.' ii. 258), "continued through her reign to be the seat of a progressive and solid education." James I. was equally anxious for its welfare, and it was in his reign that it received the privilege of returning two representatives to Parliament. At the breaking out of the Civil War the members of the University warmly espoused the royal cause. When the Parliament had gained the ascendency, as might be expected, it was not very well treated; but in truth the entire devotion of the University to Charles had already nearly destroyed it. All its wealth had been given to the King; its members had engaged in his service, the business of education had been neglected; and during the long occupation of the city by his troops, most of the halls and public buildings had been used as barracks and greatly injured. The Puritans com

pleted the work of destruction so far as regarded the defacing of all "Popish adornings," but they went no further. The University remained depressed, but it was not destroyed: and Cromwell deserves gratitude for preserving it from utter ruin. There were many who looked with glad anticipation for the entire abolition of all such institutions, as useless, or worse. That learning was unbecoming in a minister of religion-inasmuch as it was a looking to the wisdom of men-was a common and popular opinion, perhaps that of the majority of the dominant party; and, however mistaken, there can be no question as to the honesty of those who held it. The sentiment is oddly expressed in "The Spiritual Verses of James Hunt, Minister of the

Gospel, dedicated (in 1643) to the most honourable and high court of Parliament.' A learned clergyman among his books, he says, is like "the owl in the ivy-bush sitting in the dark,” for

"You plainly may see

The owl's ivy signifieth her library,

By which she hath blinded all the dark angels* with the black evil,

That they do not know the true God from the false devil!"

And now that such are done away with, he exclaims, in the longest and worst line ever written seriously,

"Now God of his great power (all people shall make see) That he doth not tie himself to the art of scholarship

which the clergy have been taught in the University! "+

The excellent John Owen was in 1651 made ViceChancellor of the University, and though the students laughed at his strictness, and quizzed the "scruple-shop" that was set up, and after the

* i. e. the surpliced clergy.

†This tremendous line is only surpassed in length by that which Tom Brown ( Dialogues,' p. 44) quotes as "the longest line in Christendom :"

'Why was not he a rascal

Who refused to suffer the children of Israel to go into the wilderness with their wives and families to eat the Paschal?"

which he says "is just thirty-four foot of metre, no more and no less;" Master Hunt's is only twenty-eight feet, but it more than makes amends in the melody: of course it utterly distances the line of Dryden's, which Brown gives as the "second longest line." Brown says he found his line on an engraving, but he probably manufactured it for the occasion. Hunt's volume is preserved among the fifty thousand pamphlets of the Commonwealth period in the British Museum.

Restoration many said bitter things of him, he appears to have acted with moderation, and, considering the difficulty of his position, in such a manner as to have gained a claim to praise. Clarendon honestly admits that in this period the University "yielded a harvest of extraordinary, good, and sound knowledge in all parts of learning." At the Restoration it was restored to all its privileges, and soon grew to be as great as ever. There is little more to add to its history. Its opposition to the encroachments of James II. is well known; its subsequent "high" principles have been mentioned. The only other event of public interest in connexion with it is the origin of Methodism by Wesley and Whitefield. It is worthy of notice that the three most remarkable religious movements in English history proceeded from Oxford-that of Wiclif in the fourteenth century, that of Wesley in the eighteenth, and the smaller, but not unimportant, opposite one in our own day. Whatever may be thought of any of them, there can be no doubt of their influence on the public mind, and their influence is a sufficient rebuke to the flippancy of those who sneer at the "thoughts of cloistered theologians."

There are nineteen Colleges and five Halls in Oxford; these are quite distinct institutions from the University, with which it is not unusual to confound them. The Colleges are incorporated bodies endowed by the founders and benefactors with property, as much in order to afford peaceful abodes to men who should devote themselves to meditation and study in connexion with religion, as for the education of youth. The Halls only differ from the Colleges in not being incorporated.

The number of public buildings in Oxford is so great, that to describe them is impossible, and to give a mere catalogue of them would be useless. The University has several belonging to it; each of the Colleges has its separate edifice, many of which are of considerable extent; and there are a Cathedral and a great many churches and all of these are of more or less grandeur or interest. They are in every style of architecture which has prevailed from Norman times to the present, and several of them are admirable specimens of their respective styles; and almost all of them contain some matters that possess an additional claim to our regard. A few of the most interesting may be named. The first place perhaps is due to the buildings of Magdalen College, which cover a space of above eleven acres, and would alone require some hours to inspect at all adequately. The interior of the chapel, well restored by Mr. Cottingham, is especially deserving of regard. It is of the fifteenth century, as are also the tower, one hundred and eighty feet high, the cloisters, and the hall. The new buildings, three hundred feet long, are modern" classic,' and of stately appearance. There is also a singularly rich gateway, which has been recently erected from a design by Mr. Pugin. quadrangle of Queen's College is imposing from its size, and not without interest in other respects. New College should be noticed for its chapel, the noblest in Oxford; as should also the very beautiful chapel of Merton College; and there are some ancient portions of this College of a very fine character. The Cathedral serves as the chapel of Christ Church, the largest college in

The