THE SCHOLAR'S GHOST.

AN OXFORD LEGEND.

"TWAS the blithe Christmas tide, when the high stately feast
Of the boar's-head is held in Queen's hall;
Nor yet had the banqueting trumpet blast ceased,
But, aye, you might see how the scholar and priest
Came trooping and blithe at the call.

Not much did it want then, I trow, of delight,

To make it like feast of old time,

But a glimpse here and there, of a high-plumed knight,
And a smile, all between, of a lady so bright,

Or a minstrel, with rebeck and rhyme.

Young Edric the gallant and Edwin the gay
Stood the old stately portal beside,

When they saw, from a high-tower'd cell take his way
A pale graceful youth in a scholar's array,

And begin through the archway to glide.

Fair, fair was the youth, as a form in romance;
But a mother had sighed for her child,

For his eye was as dull as if lost in a trance,
Wan and wasted his cheek, and his sorrowful glance
Was all that was fearful and wild.

Said Edric to Edwin, "What youth is this same,
So wasted, and mournful, and pale?"

"Oh! he dwells in these towers, Hugh Chorley his name,
And he comes of a race that have fortune and fame,

Far off in a Derbyshire dale.

“And ever, 'tis said, that in Cumnore's sweet vale

His vows to a fair girl are paid;

Perchance he hastes now with the same tender tale,
And if he be wasted, and mournful, and pale,

It is love for the beautiful maid."

With a curious eye did they watch his retreat,
From the boar's feast, and banquet of wine;

They might see him still wind down the stately High-street,
But to none whom he chanced in his passage to meet
Gave he greeting, or token, or sign.

But the trumpet had ceased; to the banquet they go,
Gallant Edric, and Edwin the gay;

I pass how the Queen's ale foamed free in its flow,
And how on each sleek Fellow's cheek a rich glow
Did the power of the wine-cup betray.

It chanced, in a pause of their uproar and glee,
Young Edwin of Chorley 'gan speak:

"It is strange," said the youth, "that such striplings there be, Who to beauty, from mirth and the goblet, can flee,

But love makes the mind strangely weak."

Much marvelled each Fellow, and shook the learned head,

When spoke out a student, so sad :

You jest; Chorley lies, a cold corse, in his bed;

On the morrow at noon-tide they carry the dead

To the grave, in a winding-sheet clad."

Young Edwin's glance blanked with wild marvel and fear;
But he swore by his honour and truth,

By all he deemed holy and all he held dear,

He had seen at the portal, at noontide, appear
The pale ghastly form of the youth.

"Now vain 'twere this secret, poor Chorley to hide,"
Said a youth, and he sighed heavily;

"But ever he said, on this high holy tide,

He was bound by his promise, to fetch home a bride,
And a maiden of Cumnore was she.

"Dead or living, he murmured, I'll be her true knight,
And claim my betrothed one, full soon;"

He struggled to leave his sick bed, day and night,
And in uttering these last words his ghost took its flight:
"To-morrow, my Agnes, at noon!"

You may guess how the revel broke up in dismay,
As each Fellow and Scholar turned pale ;

There was nought that the bravest or wisest could say,
That could banish those terrors, but e'en to this day
The students of Queen's tell the tale.

They add too, at morn, one with bugle and hound,
The corse of a maiden espied;

A mark, that they said was a spectre's, was found
On her lily-white hand, as she lay on the ground,
But none e'er might tell how she died.

But e'en to this day, through the wild winter's gloom,
That pale form through the High-street will glide;
It issued at noon from the same haunted room,
And it strides as it goes, with the haste of a groom,
Who would fetch home a beautiful bride?

Literary and Scientific Institutions.

LIVERPOOL MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.-ANNUAL MEETING. THE annual meeting of the friends and subscribers to the above institution was held on Wednesday evening last, in the Lecture-room. The chair was occupied by Henry Booth, Esq., president, and on the platform we observed the following gentlemen:-William Brown, Esq., Richard Sheil, Esq., William Rathbone, Esq., R. E. Harvey, Esq., Sir A. Knight, S. Hobson, Esq., G. Sumner, Esq., Thomas Bolton, Esq., G. Holt, Esq., Walter M'Gregor, Esq., &c. &c.

Mr. Thomas Hogg, the secretary, then read the report, from which we have made the following extracts :

Although your committee have not in the present, as in the last, report, to congratulate the members; upon any great extension of the sphere of the institution, by the opening of a new school, or any addition to the funds from an exhibition, or any increase in the number of members and subscribers; yet they feel confident that the report which they have now to present, will show that, during the past year, the educational efficacy of the institution has been not only sustained, but considerably promoted, while, at the same time, the number of pupils has proportionally increased.

The balance in hand at the date of last report was
The receipts during the past year (exclusive of the Girls'
School) have been

And the expenditure has been

Thus leaving a balance of..

£. S. d.

658 2 4

7,327 10 5

7,985 12 9

7,364 4 8

621 8 1

in hand at the present time. It must, however, be borne in mind that, as all the fees of the institution are paid in advance, and though all the accounts have been paid up to the present date, yet it is estimated that the whole of this balance, and all the receipts for the ensuing five months, will be required to meet the liabilities which will become due between the present time and the next Midsummer holidays. The balance sheet, which will be read this evening, shows that, during the year just concluded, the only departments of the institution that have paid their expenses have been the High School and the Day School book account, and that, in the receipts, are included sums to the extent of £210, which are not to be regarded as part of the ordinary revenue. In the evening department, embracing the lectures, library, and evening schools, there appears a loss on the year of £221 2s. 11d.; and as there is no reserved fund to meet any deficiency of this kind, the necessity for obtaining additional revenue becomes the more urgent, in order to sustain the institution unimpaired in all departments. There appears, likewise, a balance against the Lower School. It is expected, however, that when the scale of fees adopted some time ago, and which applied to new pupils only, shall have come into full operation, this school will be self-supporting. The total number of members and subscribers to the Institution is 3,598.

EVENING SCHOOL.

THE evening school contains at present 18 departments, which are conducted by a superintendent and 26 masters. During the past year 926 class cards have been issued, and the average attendance of pupils each evening has been 314 during the summer, and 360 during the winter months. On several occasions, the number present on one evening has exceeded 420. A great and marked improvement has taken place in this department of the institution since the establishment of the office of superintendent.

For several years past many applications have been made by sailors for admission to the evening school for a shorter period than twelve months, and your committee, taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances in which this class of the community is placed, and the great importance both to themselves and the public that they should be well instructed, now recommend that a clause should be inserted in the rules, by which sailors should have the privilege of attending the ordinary evening classes for the sum of 5s. per quarter.

J. Hasler, Printer, Crane-court, Flect-street.

THE STUDENT.

THE STUDENT IN BUSINESS.

SOXE few months back, we endeavoured to urge upon Young Men the importance of a strict attention to the duties of life which, by God's providence, they are called to fulfil; and the necessity of resisting any insinuations as to their sphere of life, from peculiar talents lying in a different direction. Our readers will, we hope, pardon us for returning to the same subject. We are very anxious to impress upon the mind of the Student the strict harmony between thought and labour, between the daily avocations of an active commercial life and the morning and evening studies of his own closet. There is a generally-entertained idea that the man of study is unfitted to grapple with the difficulties of business; and we have ourselves witnessed, with much pain, young men of superior minds compelled to submit to the dictatorship and censure of men decidedly their inferiors, merely because the latter exerted all their limited powers in the work before them, while the attention of the former was divided and destroyed. A thorough man of business is, undoubtedly, a man of great intelligence; but we shall find that that intelligence is directed exclusively to the affairs of the world. Beyond this range he possesses no power, because no inclination and aptitude. Just as the studious man cannot endure the turmoil and labour of business, so he cannot conceive how gratification is to be experienced from the pursuits of philosophy. He takes things as they are, and does not perplex Limself about the why or wherefore. Such a man, however, in one point of view, is a wise man. He sees distinctly what is required of him, and he acts accordingly, adapting his energies

N

Mr. Thomas Hogg, the secretary, then read the report, from which we have made the following extracts:

Although your committee have not in the present, as in the last, report, to congratulate the members, upon any great extension of the sphere of the institution, by the opening of a new school, or any addition to the funds from an exhibition, or any increase in the number of members and subscribers; yet they feel confident that the report which they have now to present, will show that, during the past year, the educational efficacy of the institution has been not only sustained, but considerably promoted, while, at the same time, the number of pupils has proportionally increased.

The balance in hand at the date of last report was
The receipts during the past year (exclusive of the Girls'
School) have been

And the expenditure has been

Thus leaving a balance of...

£. s. d.

658 2 4

7,327 10 5

7,985 12 9

7,364 4 8

621 8 1

in hand at the present time. It must, however, be borne in mind that, as all the fees of the institution are paid in advance, and though all the accounts have been paid up to the present date, yet it is estimated that the whole of this balance, and all the receipts for the ensuing five months, will be required to meet the liabilities which will become due between the present time and the next Midsummer holidays. The balance sheet, which will be read this evening, shows that, during the year just concluded, the only departments of the institution that have paid their expenses have been the High School and the Day School book account, and that, in the receipts, are included sums to the extent of £210, which are not to be regarded as part of the ordinary revenue. In the evening department, embracing the lectures, library, and evening schools, there appears a loss on the year of £221 2s. 11d.; and as there is no reserved fund to meet any deficiency of this kind, the necessity for obtaining additional revenue becomes the more urgent, in order to sustain the institution unimpaired in all departments. There appears, likewise, a balance against the Lower School. It is expected, however, that when the scale of fees adopted some time ago, and which applied to new pupils only, shall have come into full operation, this school will be self-supporting. The total number of members and subscribers to the Institution is 3,598.

EVENING SCHOOL.

THE evening school contains at present 18 departments, which are conducted by a superintendent and 26 masters. During the past year 926 class cards have been issued, and the average attendance of pupils each evening has been 314 during the summer, and 360 during the winter months. On several occasions, the number present on one evening has exceeded 420. A great and marked improvement has taken place in this department of the institution since the establishment of the office of superintendent.

For several years past many applications have been made by sailors for admission to the evening school for a shorter period than twelve months, and your committee, taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances in which this class of the community is placed, and the great importance both to themselves and the public that they should be well instructed, now recommend that a clause should be inserted in the rules, by which sailors should have the privilege of attending the ordinary evening classes for the sum of 5s. per quarter.

J. Hasler, Printer, Crane-court, Fleet-street.