to three or four of the principal colleges. A glance at the accompanying plan will show the position of all the colleges, and the best route to follow. The tourist is advised to begin his tour of inspection at Christ Church, which is a little way to the right of the High Street, going from the railway station, then, continuing on eastward, to visit Corpus and Merton Colleges, and the Mag. dalen, which is at the foot of the High Street. Returning toward the railway station, Queen's College, NEW COLLEGE (with its fine gardens), All Soul's, Brazenose, and Jesus Colleges, all on the return route to the station, or such of them as he desires to visit, may be included. There is always a porter who will show the halls and chapels (should the latter be closed) for a small fee. The Kitchens, particularly that of Christ Church, should be seen.

The Bodleian Library, over the schools between the Radcliffe and the Sheldonian Theatre, and its Picture Gallery, should be visited.

The Christ Church Meadows, in the rear of Christ Church College, form the fashionable promenade, and are well worth seeing.

Guides or valets-de-place abound in Oxford, but beyond pointing out the way, they are of little use. To those who prefer to visit the Colleges by cab, the cabman will answer as guide.

In point of architectural effect and the extent and grandeur of its buildings the most remarkable of the Colleges is CHRIST CHURCH, its chapel being the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford. This church dates from 1154, and is principally Norman-Gothic, with additions in later styles. The style is generally Norman, and the cathedral consists of choir, nave, aisles, and transept. The elaborate roof, the oak pulpit,

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and the carved wood and iron work in the choir, are noticeable. Several of the tombs are interesting. The hall is the finest in Oxford. Its carved oak roof, and the two splendid bay windows, are greatly admired. King Charles I. once held a Parliament in this hall. Cardinal Wolsey was the great benefactor of this College, as another great prelate, William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, was of New College, founded in 1386. The last named is a good example of a college as originally built and in the best style of English architecture. In the chapel is preserved the jewelled crozier of its founder.

MAGDALEN COLLEGE was founded in 1456 by William of Waynfleet, a predecessor of William of Wykeham in both his offices. Its buildings are some of the most striking in Oxford, and its grounds, which include a deerpark, the most extensive and beautiful. "If any one thing can be said to be the best in such a wonderful collection of combined architectural and natural beauties as is presented by Oxford, Magdalen College has certainly the right to the first place. Its situation is perfect, its buildings are most beautiful and interesting, and among all the spires of Oxford there is not one so graceful as the tower of Magdalen." Here is an avenue known as "Addison's Walk," the favourite resort of the great essayist whilst a student at this college.

The complete list of Colleges and Halls is as follows, in the order of their foundation :—

University, Balliol, Merton, Exeter, Oriel, Queen's, New, Lincoln, All Souls', Magdalen, Brasenose, Corpus Christi, Christ Church, Trinity, St John's, Jesus, Wadham, Pembroke, and Worcester

Colleges; St Mary's, Magdalen, New Inn, St Alban, and St Edmund Halls.

The most important adjuncts to the University are the Bodleian Library and Picture Gallery, Theatre, Ashmolean Museum, Radcliffe Library and Observatory, University Galleries and Museum, Botanical Gardens and the Taylor Institute (opened only in 1848) for the culture of modern languages. A conspicuous object is the "Martyrs' Memorial" in St Giles' Street, erected to Archbishop Cranmer, and Bishops Latimer and Ridley, who were burnt near the spot where it stands in 1555. The University is represented in parliament by two members.

About eight miles north-west of Oxford is BLENHEIM PALACE, near Woodstock (Hotel: Bear), the most magnificent seat in the county, presented by the nation, with the honour of Woodstock, to the first Duke of Marlborough. The sum allotted for the building was £500,000. It contains, amongst other art treasures, paintings by Raphael, Murillo, Rubens, Titian, and Vandyck. The grounds are extensive and beautifully laid out. Woodstock contains a handsome Town Hall, built from the designs of the celebrated architect, Sir W. Chambers. Glove-making is carried on extensively. Henry I. and Henry II. used frequently to reside at Woodstock, and it was here that the latter had a Maze constructed called "Fair Rosamond's Bower," for the purpose of concealing Rosamond Clifford from his wife, Queen Eleanor. The tourist will remember this place as the scene of Sir Walter Scott's romance.

Leaving Oxford, we pass Woodstock Road (69 miles), Banbury (86 miles), celebrated for its manufacture of plush, also for its

cakes, cheese, and ale, and presently reach

LEAMINGTON (105 miles) (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST"): one of the prettiest and most fashionable watering places of its class in the kingdom. Its waters are of three kindssulphurous, saline, and chalybeate. There are fine bathrooms, and the bathing facilities are quite perfect. The public promenades are very agreeable. From Leamington the tourist may continue on by rail to Stratfordon-Avon, returning to Leamington by Warwick and Kenilworth, as suggested above, or may reverse his route, first visiting Warwick. The former is recommended as the most convenient and interesting.

STRATFORD-ON-AVON (Hotels: See "HOTEL LIST").

It is a municipal borough, its privileges in that respect being the only relics of its ancient consequence, which has long departed, and it attracts the tourist only as the birthplace and place of burial of the "Bard of all Time," whose works will endure as long as the language in which they are written. The house in which he was born has been purchased by subscription, and will no longer be exposed to the caprices of its possessors as that in which he passed his declining years was allowed to be, but religiously preserved for the reverence of posterity.

The church is a large handsome cruciform structure, situated near the Avon, its more ancient portions in the Early English style, but the chancel in which the poet is buried and where his bust is placed is Late Perpendicular. The church presents many features of architectural and antiquarian interest. The old halftimber house in the High Street, of which frequent mention is

made in guide books, is only one of many in the neighbourhood with which Shakespeare must have been familiar. The thatched cottage of his wife, Anne Hathaway, is still to be seen in the neighbouring parish of Shottery, and the old mansion-house of Charlcote is still in the possession of Sir Thomas Lucy's descendants. In the Town Hall are portraits by Wilson and Gainsborough, of Shakespeare and Garrick. There is a curious old bridge of 14 arches, built in the 16th century, over the Avon, by which the town is approached from London.

Still, while in Stratford, one idea overpowers all others in the mind of the tourist; he is in "Shakespeare land." As no visit to this spot, and the feelings which it excites, have ever been described more vividly or in a more genial spirit, than by Washington Irving, we cannot do better than present that description for perusal :-"Shall not I take mine ease in mine inn?' thought I, as I gave the fire a stir, lolled back in my elbowchair, and cast a complacent look about the little parlour of my inn at Stratford-on-Avon. The words of sweet Shakespeare were just passing through my mind as the clock struck midnight from the tower of the church in which he lies buried. There was a gentle tap at the door, and a pretty chambermaid, putting in her smiling face, inquired, with a hesitating air, whether I had rung. I understood it as a modest hint that it was time to retire. My dream of absolute dominion was at an end; so, abdicating my throne like a prudent potentate, to avoid being deposed, and putting the Stratford Guide Book under my arm as a pillow companion, I went to bed and dreamt all night of

Shakespeare, the Jubilee, and David Garrick.

'The next morning was one of those quickening mornings which we have in early spring; for it was about the middle of March. The chills of a long winter had suddenly given way; the north wind had spent its last gasp; and a mild air came stealing from the west, breathing the breath of life into nature, and wooing every bud and flower to burst forth into fragrance and beauty.

I had come to Stratford on a poetical pilgrimage. My first visit was to the house where Shakespeare was born, and where, according to tradition, he was brought up to his father's craft of wool-combing. It is a small, mean-looking edifice of wood and plaster, a true nestling place of genius, which seems to delight in hatching its nestlings in bycorners. The walls of its squalid chambers are covered with names and inscriptions in every language, by pilgrims of all nations, ranks, and conditions, from the prince to the peasant; and present a simple but striking instance of the spontaneous and universal homage of mankind to the great poet of nature. The house is shown by a garrulous old lady, in a frosty red face, lighted up by a cold blue anxious eye, and garnished with artificial locks of flaxen hair, curling from under an exceedingly dirty cap. She was peculiarly assiduous in exhibiting the relics with which this, like all other celebrated shrines, abounds. There was the shattered stock of the very matchlock with which Shakespeare shot the deer on his poaching exploits. There, too, was his tobacco-box, which proves that he was a rival smoker of Sir Walter Raleigh; the sword also with which he played Hamlet; and the identical lantern with