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sandbanks, many of which appear above water, at the recess of the tides.

The Thames, between its source and Woolwich, has almost every species of fish found in the British rivers, except the burbot, loche, cobitis tania, or spiny loche, of late years discovered in the river Trent, and the small species of salmon, the samlet.

The fish of the Thames come as low as London, and even beyond it, while the water continues fresh. The barbel, however, is never seen below the bridge; but roch, dace, and bleak, are found plentifully. Eels get pretty far down the river, and small flounders are frequently caught at Fulham.

This queen of British rivers has been frequently celebrated by the poets; and well deserves the highest eulogia that genius can pay it, being richer than the fabled Pactolus*.

For a more particular account of the British metropolis, see MODERN LONDON and that useful annual publication THE PICTURE OF LONDON.

TOUR

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,

BY

THE EDITOR.

THE illustrious universities of Oxford and Cambridge, are of too much importance to be omitted in a work of this nature, or to be cursorily noticed. There are few persons of any condition, who are not in some respects interested in the one or the other; and to such as are wholly unconnected with those seats of learning, a description of them cannot possibly fail to be agreeable. We begin with Oxford, not from any partial design of giving it supereminence over its rival, but because its situation renders it a more common object of attraction.

Oxford lies on the great road from London to Gloucester, Worcester, Birmingham, Holyhead, and other remarkable places. It is distant fifty-four miles from the metropolis by one route, and fiftysix by another; for both the Henley and the Wycombe roads meet here. That through Henley is most admired.

The antiquity of this place is so great as to defy investigation; even in the times of the ancient Britons, it appears to have been consecrated to the muses. From its delightful situation, the Romans

gave it the name of Bellositum*; and after they abandoned this island, it gradually became the seat of learning, and the resort of all who wished to obtain distinction in the ample field of intellectual endowment. Certain it is that, before the time of Alfred the Great, students resorted hither; but that wise and excellent prince gave it a stability and reputation, as a university, which has since been constantly increasing, with little interruption. It is probable, indeed, that Alfred was the first who made any endowments here for the encouragement of students, and we know that he erected certain schools or halls for their accommodation; but we cannot allow him to have been the founder of this seat of learning, in the full acceptation of the term,

Before we enter on a tour of the colleges and academic buildings, it may not be amiss to give a brief survey of the city and its history. When it was first walled does not appear; but its fortifi cations were much strengthened, if not wholly rebuilt, by Robert D'Oyley, one of the chieftains who attended the Conqueror, and who, at the command of that prince, erected a strong castle here in 1071, of which the tower still remains a work of great strength; and the keep, in which a well of great depth was discovered not many years ago. On the site of the decayed building, a county gaol has lately been built, from a plan that does much honour to its projectors.

Before the invention of artillery and the erection of bridges over the rivers, which in a great measure surround Oxford, this place was a principal key of the north-west part of the kingdom.

The modern name, Oxford, seems a corruption of Ouseny-ford, or the Ford over the Ouse, a common name for rivers; or it may be derived from Oseney Abbey, which stood here.

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The walls of the city had bastions at one hundred and fifty feet from each other, and include an area of about two miles in circumference. Part of the walls still remain, but the gates are all pulled down; and the present circuit of Oxford, including the suburbs, is about three miles, containing a population of about 11,000 persons.

The High-street is one of the most beautiful in the world, both for length, breadth, and elegance of sweep. It is adorned with the fronts of three colleges and two churches, besides many handsome private buildings; and every turn presents a new set of objects, till the last terminates in Magdalen College tower, and a magnificent bridge over the Cherwell. This street, under different names, runs the whole length of the city, from east to west; while another, scarcely inferior, intersects it from north to south. Indeed St. Giles's-street, lined with rows of trees in this direction, is the most pleasant part of the city, and has a church in the centre at each end, with roads and streets diverging on each side. Beyond the point of intersection with the high street, is the Town-hall, where the city and county assizes are held, and the magnificent front of Christ-church, with the lofty tower, in which hangs great Tom, one of the most capital bells in the kingdom. Other streets, particularly Broad-street, have their respective architectural ornaments. In Broad-street stands the Museum, the Theatre, and the Clarendon Printing-house, besides the fronts of Baliol and Trinity Colleges. The streets are handsomely paved, lighted, and watched. The new general market corresponds with the grandeur of the place. The principal bridges are Magdalen bridge over the Cherwell, High bridge over the Isis, and Folly bridge over the same river, near the entrance of which from Oxford, formerly stood the illustrious Friar Bacon's

study. All these are built of stone, and form different outlets and communications to and from the surrounding country, which is agreeably varied, fertile and populous.

OXFORD and its precincts contain fourteen parishes: St. Mary's, All-Saints, St. Martin's, or Carfax, St. Aldate's, St Ebb's, St. Peter's in the Bailey, St. Michael's, St. Mary Magdalen's, St. Peter's in the East, Holywell, St. Giles's, St. Thomas's, St. John's, and St. Clement's. The most remarkable of the churches are St. Mary's, AllSaints, and St. Peter's in the East.

St. Mary's, situated on the north of the Highstreet, is a finely-proportioned gothic pile, with some additions in the modern taste. It consists of three aisles and a large chancel, paved with black and white marble. To this church the university resort, to attend divine worship; and every Sunday some master of arts is the preacher, generally in order of degrees; but substitutes are allowed*. The vice-chancellor, who is always the head of some college, has an elevated throne at the west end of the middle aisle, and below him, are accommodations for the different ranks and degrees of the students. The tower and spire form a lofty and beautiful fabric, with a ring of six capital bells, which on all public occasions are put in motion.

All-Saints church, on the same side of the street, from the design of Dean Aldrich, is an elegant modern structure, with Corinthian capitals, both within and without. The spire and the internal decorations are in the finest style, and worthy the taste of this celebrated architect.

By a late judicious regulation, the university appoints the preacher, when the gentleman whose turn it is, declines the duty.

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