220 BODLEIAN AND RADCLIFFE LIBRARIES.
ries, the former of which contains 400,000 volumes, with countless manuscripts, delighted us exceedingly ; as did also the architecture of those time-honored struc tures, in which, and in the illustrious men nurtured within their walls, Oxford so justly glories. The even ing before our departure, after listening to the sublime chants in the beautiful chapel of New College, we went to stand on the spot, near Baliol, where, on the 16th of October, 1555, Latimer, bishop of Worcester, and Ridley, bishop of London, expired at the stake. It seemed, if not a natural combination, surely a touching climax, for thought to rise from the deep historical as sociations that cluster around the fanes of learning and piety, to the unshrinking faith of that " blessed com pany of martyrs," who, through much tribulation, en tered into eternal rest.
The spot, rendered so sacred by the sufferings of these two prelates, is now designated by a noble monu ment, more than seventy feet in height prepara tions for the erection of which were in progress at the time of our visit to Oxford.
��Turret, and spire, and dome !
How proud they rise, Clasped in the arms of elmy avenues, Each with its robe of wisdom or of power Around it, like a mantle. Glorious thoughts, Born of the hoary past, and mighty shades Nurtured in silence, and made eloquent
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