Christmastide at Oxford.

There are one or two customs of unique character retained at Oxford during Christmastide. At Magdalen College a quaint and remarkable entertainment is given on Christmas Eve. The company assemble in the college hall about nine o'clock in the evening, and the choir at once proceed to sing part of Handel's "Messiah." Soon after ten o'clock, a short interval is allowed for supper, during which the little candles on the vast Christmas tree are lighted; and then, the gas being turned down, the choir commence singing Christmas carols, until the great bell in the tower booms out the hour of twelve, when Pergolesi's "Gloria in Excelsis" is sung, and the Vice-President bids you a Merry Christmas. The whole scene is striking and unique, and well worthy of its academic surroundings. Queen's College, even more than Magdalen, confers benefit on the public, by the retention of old customs. The large number that flock to the Hall every Christmas Day, to see the Boars head, attest the popularity of that timehonored dish, and the ceremony therewith. In fact, it frequently happens that people are turned away from the College gates from lack of more space within the precincts. Precisely at five o'clock in the afternoon, the long procession begins to wind its way from the buttery up the centre of the Hall towards the high table. In front, the Boar's head is borne aloft, while the choir give the old song, "The boar's head in hand I bring, bedecked with rue and rosemary." S. Black, of Queen's, undertook the solo, which he rendered very well. We believe His Grace the Archbishop of York on one occasion bore the same part. The ceremony concludes with the distribution of holly and other green stuff by the Provost to those who are nearest the eastern end of the Hall. On New Year's Day, another ancient custom prevails in this College. To all the guests assembled on that occasion it is the duty of the Bursar to present a needle and thread, admonishing each recipient with these words, "Take this and be thrifty." The custom is one of great antiquity, and has been deemed to have arisen, perhaps without much authority, in a pun on the founder's name. Aiguille is the Erench for needle, and fill for thread, and the two together have certainly some resemblance to Egglesfield, the confessor of Queen Phillipa, who was the founder of the College. Possibly four or five centuries ago the pronunciation may have been more closely assimilated. Quaint ceremonies, such as those mentioned above, are interesting and pretty in themselves, and provide a happy link with the history of the past.- (Oxford Review.