mells past many interesting buildings, such as the Senate House, King's College, Library, the gateway of Trinity, etc.

In the market-place he pointed out where Hobson's conduit formerly stood. "Hobson," he said, "was mentioned by Milton. He was a carrier, and very kind to his horses. He made it a rule that every animal should have an equal portion of rest and labor. If a man who came to hire a horse would not take the one assigned to him, he had to go without, hence the saying, Hobson's choice;' i.e., this or none."

6

In the afternoon the carriage was exchanged for boating on the celebrated river, the Cam. They found that it wound through the town, and by several of the colleges, with their ivied walls, splendid towers and buttresses. Along its banks they saw many smooth lawns, shelving to the water under venerable trees. Now and then they passed under some gray old bridge.

During the evening, Mr. Cartmell called the children about him, and Nellie found her favorite seat on her father's lap. "What is a university?" Fred inquired.

"Well, my boy, it is in England a collection of colleges, just as a county is a collection of towns. A college is like a

town, a university like a nation; or the colleges are the different States, and the university the Union."

"Who is this fellow called the senior wrangler?" George asked.

"He is the one who passes the best examinations in mathematics. The candidates for examinations meet in the Senate House some time in January. The papers, wet from the press, are handed to the men, who work on them for three days. About the last of January the students assemble in the same hall; a proctor appears with a list of those who have gained honors. As soon as the clock strikes, he reads, 'Senior Wrangler, Strutt of Trinity.' Then the friends shout, cheer, and fling up their hats, and some go rushing out upon

There is Then the

the street calling out Strutt, Strutt!' When order is restored, the name of the second wrangler is read. another burst of cheering and shouting, and so on. printed lists are freely scattered about by the proctors from the galleries, on the heads of those below. After this follows a great rush and scramble, to get possession of one of these lists."

The following day Miss Gray was anxious to visit the college where Milton, Newton, and Bacon graduated. They all followed her to Trinity, one of the noblest of colleges. Passing beneath the portal, she pointed out to them the statue of Henry VIII., and then they came into the most spacious quadrangle in the world. On the north side of this interior court stood the chapel, with several tall windows; on the west side they saw the master's lodge, and the lofty Gothic hall with a high-peaked Flemish roof. The other spaces are filled in with dormitories.

George learned that one single staircase in this court leads to six sets of rooms, in which have lived and studied such noted men as Newton, Lord Lyndhurst, Macaulay, Thackeray, and Tennyson. In the centre of this quadrangle was the stone fountain, near which stands a curious sun-dial. The lawn was smooth and soft as velvet.

All the grounds of Trinity College were especially beautiful. In one place they saw a fine avenue of lime-trees, so high and gracefully arched as to suggest Gothic art; in another a splendid row of chestnuts.

Tennyson wrote of his college :

"I passed beside the reverend walls

In which of old I wore the gown;

I roamed at random through the town,

And saw the tumult of the halls."

They visited the hall where the men are obliged to dine, with portraits of noted graduates looking down upon them.

They also visited the university library, which contains important manuscripts as well as books, and King's College Chapel, with the vast nave and soaring roof and colored glass.

On their way to London Mr. Cartmell told some anecdotes about college honors which interested the children very much :

Senior wrangler is given almost entirely for successful examinations in the higher mathematics. Many noted men have carried off this prize, such as Paley, Herschel, and Adams. Martyn, who gained the honor at twenty, said, "I obtained my highest wishes, and was surprised to find that I had grasped a shadow." Another one said that the principal element in his satisfaction was the thought of the pleasure it would give his family and his father. It is said that one senior wrangler, upon entering a place of amusement at the same time as George IV. and hearing a cheer, rose up and bowed, taking it as a compliment to himself.

In 1845 there were two candidates for senior wrangler; but the favorite was Thomson of Peterhouse, a noted scientific man even when in college. At last a new man was talked about, and it was thought strange that he should have the courage to appear in opposition to Thomson. The new man, Parkinson, had been practising in reference to speed, or space, for six months. At the trial the latter performed so many more problems than the former in the allotted time that he won the great honor of senior wrangler. But afterwards Thomson carried off the Smith prize, beating Parkinson three to two.

LANGUAGE LESSON.

WRITE ABOUT THE IDEAS REFERRED TO IN THE FOLLOWING POEMS:

"The Groves of Blarney," by Miliken; "Sweet Innisfallen," by Moore; "The Bells of Shandon," by Mahony; "The Harp," by Moore; "The Trossachs," by Scott; "Lord Ullin's Daughter," by Campbell; "Melrose Abbey," by Scott; "My Heart's in the Highlands," by Burns; "The Seven Sisters," by Wordsworth; "Banks of Ayr," by Burns; "Abbotsford," by Smith; "Tam O'Shanter," by Burns ; "Lochinvar," by Scott; "The Well of Loch Maree," by Whittier ; Logie," by Laing.

"Lass of

LESSON VIII

LONDON, FROM CHARING CROSS TO
TEMPLE BAR

THE Cartmells stopped in London at the Metropole, an elegant hotel near Charing Cross, in the very centre of the great city. In this class of English hotels, there is more of style than of home comfort.

When Mr. Cartmell led his family into the sumptuous dining-room for the six o'clock table-d'hôte,

he was not surprised to find the tables handsomely set with flow

ers, glass, and elegant china, the ladies and gentlemen in full evening dress as if ready for a ball, the menu in French, and the servants most obedient and well-trained, while the food was of the best quality.

There were eight courses, and eight changes of dishes, lasting one hour and a half. In the evening all the Cartmells gathered together in their private parlor to consult maps, and make plans for the morrow.

"Now, children," said Mr. French, "I will give you a sketch map of this big city. Let that dot near the centre of this piece of paper represent the situation of our hotel, which I show by the letter M. A short distance from here flows the Thames River, curving away towards the east. The historical, commercial, and most interesting part of London is north of the river; the much less important, the portion for residence and small industries, is south of the river.

"The northern part may be subdivided into the East End and the West End, Temple Bar being the dividing line. Each

of the Ends is again subdivided so as to make an East Central and a West Central part. The East Central is the moneymaking section, where we shall find the Port, the Docks, the Custom House, the Bank, Exchange, etc. The East End contains Whitechapel, Mile End Road, and the submerged poor of London,'