Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... XII SOCIAL LIFE AT CAMBRIDGE: *'TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE' In our previous articles we have given a series of historical notices concerning the most important colleges. These have related chiefly to the buildings, though from time to time we have had occasion to mention the social life and studies of the place. We now propose to say something more about this department of University History; for just as the records of a nation are incomplete when they treat only of public affairs, so any account of Cambridge would be imperfect if the writer did not try to describe some at least of the changes that have taken place, from time to time, in the habits, the tastes, and the pursuits of the academic body. The Universities must always reflect the tastes and opinions of the country, and therefore we find that these changes have been more rapid and more thorough Passenger traffic was by coaches, which were numerous and well appointed, but slow; goods traffic by waggons, or by barges on the Cam, which was still, as in the Middle Ages, an important highway, along which all the fuel-- coals, sedge, and turf--as well as a considerable quantity of provisions, was brought to the town. A long frost, therefore, meant death by cold, aggravated by hunger; and instances are on record of the burning of every article of furniture that could be dispensed with. The shops were exceedingly primitive. Most of them were open, like stalls, and closed at night with a single wide shutter that let down, and was used to display the goods on during the day. The principal purchases of stores of all kinds were made at the two great annual fairs, Midsummer Fair and Sturbridge Fair. The latter was by far the more important of the two, and until the introduction of railways must...