The sun shone warmly, and most of
the casements were open. From one came curling a whiff of tobacco;
from another the hum of conversation; from a third the tones of a piano.
A couple of undergraduates sauntered on the shady side, arm in arm,
with broken caps and torn gowns--proud insignia of their last term.
The grey stone walls were covered with ivy, except where an old dial
with its antiquated Latin inscription kept count of the sun's ascent.
The chapel on one side, only distinguishable from the "rooms"
by the shape of its windows, seemed to keep watch over the morality
of the foundation, just as the dining-hall opposite, from whence
issued a white-aproned cook, did of its worldly prosperity. As you trod
the level pavement, you passed comfortable--nay, dainty--apartments, where
lace curtains at the windows, antimacassars on the chairs, the silver
biscuit-box and the thin-stemmed wine-glass moderated academic toils.
Gilt-backed books on gilded shelf or table caught the eye,
and as you turned your glance from the luxurious interiors
to the well-shorn lawn in the Quad., with its classic fountain
also gilded by sunbeams, the mental vision saw plainly written
over the whole "The Union of Luxury and Learning."
Surely here, thought I, if anywhere, the old world literature
will be valued and nursed with gracious care; so with a pleasing
sense of the general congruity of all around me, I enquired
for the rooms of the librarian.
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