OCR Text |
Show OXFORD UNIVERSITY LIFE. "Personal appearance is an important element," says a writer in the Boston Herald, "in one's social consideration at Oxford University. Etiquette insists upon cautious reserve, and a certain freedom from novelty, show or demonstration of any kind. Shaking hands, taking too high a seat at the table, over-familiarity, are unpardonable sins. It is ‘bad form' to allow one's words or acts to be a reflection of self. No one is to infer from a man's conversation or manner whether he is a good scholar, oarsman, or cricketer, though the same individual would be disappointed not to have his merits recognized. Oxford differs strikingly from Harvard, in that social intercourse at the former university is entirely confined to undergraduates and dons. Such things as commerce parties, germans, game clubs, and so forth, do not and could not exist, and commemoration alone serves to break the monotony of bachelor society. Eligible young ladies are either kept or sent out of sight during the greater part of the year, and appear like blossoming flowers at certain seasons, when gayety and fashion are attracted to the river or college rooms and the Sheldonian Theater. Though London is really but a short distance away, yet the undergraduate cannot go there with the impunity that a Harvard man enjoys in taking a horse-car into Boston. The Oxonian is manly, good-tempered, and free from that coldness, or so-called ‘Harvard indifference' that makes American students so isolated and unsympathetic in their college life. Exclusiveness may be at first very noticeable, but this is lost sight of so soon as one experiences the culture, refinement, politeness and courtesy of those among whom he associates. No closer bond of friendship could be found than that which unites the undergraduates together, nor does a man, as freshman, lose any of the social advantages of the university, or experience any discomforts at the hands of his seniors. Drinking and smoking are indulged in to a much less extent than formerly when athleticism had not yet come to be so profitable a form of recreation in undergraduate life. Whatever bad results might now come about from such habits are entirely counteracted by systematic exercise, cold baths and the nature of the climate. Undoubtedly most Americans would be surprised at the quantities of wine and beer consumed at Oxford, but it is really remarkable that men so constituted, and living in so pampered an atmosphere, should exercise such moderation in drinking, or at all events should preserve so enviable a state of health. A healthier, hardier and more energetic body of men could nowhere be found. Exercise seems to be recognized as a principal part of their existence, and the progress of physical development is particularly observable. Every one takes some form of exercise. To remain within doors a whole day would be absolutely immoral."-N.Y. Home Journal. |