MAGDALEN COLLEGE.

In the midst of the noise and bustle of the town of Oxford, and within a stones throw of the classic Isis stands Magdalen College, if not the oldest, at least one of the most celebrated colleges of the "town of learning." The view of the college from the High street on which it stands is disappointing, and it is only on walking out upon the bridge over the river that the beauty of the buildings appears. The most noticeable feature is the Gothic tower rising one hundred and fifty feet from the low lying building that surround it. One of the curious customs of the college, handed down from remote times, is that early Mayday morning the choir ascend to the top of the tower and greet the rising sun with a hymn.

The College was founded by William of Wayneflete, an English bishop, in 1457, but was not erected until between 1475 and 1481. The buildings proper cover about eleven acres, inclosing three quadrangles of unequal size, while the grounds belonging to the institution have an extent of over one hundred acres. passing through a narrow gateway on the High street, the visitor reaches the first quadrangle called St. John the Ba tist's. In this quadrangle an annual service is held from an old altar standing in one corner, on the day set aside as sacred to that saint. The court is strewn with rushes and hung with green stuffs on that day, probably to represent the wilderness in which St. John preached. At one end of the court stands the Monument Tower, where all the college archives are kept, and next to it the Founder's Tower, lately restored and furnished throughout by Sir Gilbert Scott, the mist renowned restorator in England. To the right of these towers stands the chapel, a beautiful specimen of architecture, with its fine entrance porch covered with ivy. The interior, although fine, is not striking; the elaborately carved screen dividing it into two parts spoiling the symmetry of the aisles, while the stained glass windows are not particularly rich, most of the original glass having been broken by the Roundheads during the parliamentary wars. The organ is an excellent instrument and the Magdalen choir is one of the best in Oxford. A stone stairway leads to the Great Hall, which is well paneled with old oak and contains some good pictures by old masters, mostly portraits.-Opposite the hall and just above the cloisters is the library, rich in books and manuscripts, among its most valuable treasures is a manuscript of St. Chrysostom in Greek and some works printed by Caxton. Descending one reaches the cloisters built about the great quadrangle and generally considered the most beautiful portion of the college. The cloister-green with its close-cut grass sets off admirably the moss grown walls which surround it, and is a little bit of nature among the gray time-eaten buildings.

From the cloisters out over a small stone bridge are the water walks and spacious grounds of the college, and nothing could be more charming than the long vista of elms on either side and the little stream. This was the poet Addison's favorite path and it is called after him "Addison's Walk." The broad green meadows stretch out on each side, where the deer are seen grazing in the shade of the old beeches whose boughs have and will shelter generations of noisy rooks.

G. A. M.