THE OXFORD UNION. II.

THE government of the Union is intrusted to a President, elected by the members, - perhaps the highest social prize at Oxford, - and to a Board of Directors. The only paid official is the superintendent or steward.

The Club is kept open during the whole year, - in term-time, till 12 at night; in vacations, every week-day, till 9. With the Oxford commons-system, it is not found advisable to have a club-kitchen of any great extent. Here, where there is actually no place where one can be sure of getting a good meal, a club-restaurant might be very successful; to attempt the experiment, however, a club would have to be very strong.

From this sketch some idea may be formed of the comfort and convenience which the Union affords. It seems to me that it is distinctly a step in advance of any thing that we have here, insomuch that it gives to virtually every one who can afford to pay the moderate fee of pound 1 a term (with no initiation fee), advantages offered by none of our institutions, except in part, and then to comparatively few. Having such a large revenue, the club is able to do more than any smaller association could attempt, in the way of enlarging its buildings (which are free from debt), buying books, supplying papers, and the like.

The greatest difficulty in the way of establishing here a club like the Union is, of course, the opposition of existing societies. But such a club might exist without interfering in the least with the two or three old societies that no one wishes to see injured, or with the two smaller ones, of which the counterparts are to be found at Oxford as well. The former are essentially class societies, and, as such, will always be strong; the latter have a limited membership, confined to the most popular men in college; none of them would clash with a club like the Union.

On the other hand, the Union would do away with a number of the small societies, which are now becoming so numerous. While laudable enough in themselves, they necessitate a division of energies, and take up an amount of time that in no way compensates for the advantages afforded by one strong association. Men interested in various subjects might, as now, meet at certain times, but always as members of the Union (in a room corresponding to the English debating-room, for instance), without all the machinery of officers, and without the expenditure of time and money which the separate organizations now require.

Such an institution as the Union is one of the strongest ties for uniting the University.

It will probably be some time before we come to realize the advantages, and to appreciate the comforts which it affords; but I am sure that sooner or later we shall have our "Union," and that it will prove no less successful than its prototype at Oxford.