Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/54

30 Bacon and Newton, of Byron and Tennyson, and other men—men of undying name, who were educated here. In the same college you see the room where Newton stopped while a student, as well as the gateway under which Bacon passed, and connected with which hangs a tradition that it will not fall down till a greater man than Bacon passes under it. With its fine University buildings and college compounds, with the green fields all round, and with the quiet River Cam and its numerous bridges, the pretty little town of Cambridge would be well worth a visit even without its classical reputation.

The other day I went to see the Oxford and Cambridge boat-race. You can hardly imagine what interest people in this country take in these annual races, which are regarded as a sort of national institution. Both shores of the Thames were crowded with people, and as far as the eye could reach there was but one mass of men and hats and bonnets to be seen. The boats are constructed very narrow and long, and fly on the water like arrows. Cambridge won this year after having been beaten for the last nine years consecutively.

The other day I went to Brighton to see the Volunteers' Review. There were 26,000 volunteers and 54 guns. After the "march past" was over, the volunteers divided themselves into two portions; one representing the invaders of England who had just landed on the coast of Sussex, and the other the defenders of the country. The mock battle lasted about three hours in-