their own expense, or that of the founders; and the stated hours of
the hall and chapel represent the discipline of a regular, and, as
it were, a religious community. The eyes of the traveller are
attracted by the size or beauty of the public edifices; and the
principal colleges appear to be so many palaces, which a liberal
nation has erected and endowed for the habitation of science. My
own introduction to the university of Oxford forms a new aera in my
life; and at the distance of forty years I still remember my first
emotions of surprise and satisfaction. In my fifteenth year I felt
myself suddenly raised from a boy to a man: the persons, whom I
respected as my superiors in age and academical rank, entertained me
with every mark of attention and civility; and my vanity was
flattered by the velvet cap and silk gown, which distinguish a
gentleman commoner from a plebeian student. A decent allowance,
more money than a schoolboy had ever seen, was at my own disposal;
and I might command, among the tradesmen of Oxford, an indefinite
and dangerous latitude of credit. A key was delivered into my
hands, which gave me the free use of a numerous and learned library;
my apartment consisted of three elegant and well-furnished rooms in
the new building, a stately pile, of Magdalen College; and the
adjacent walks, had they been frequented by Plato's disciples, might
have been compared to the Attic shade on the banks of the Ilissus.
Such was the fair prospect of my entrance (April 3, 1752) into the
university of Oxford.

A venerable prelate, whose taste and erudition must reflect honour
on the society in which they were formed, has drawn a very
interesting picture of his academical life.--" I was educated (says
Bishop Lowth) in the UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. I enjoyed all the
advantages, both public and private, which that famous seat of