The March number of the Monthly, which came out Friday, is most interesting. The "graduate article" is on Oxford University, and is the joint work of E. P. W., Harvard '83, Oxford '88, and J. M., Oxford '85, and in spite of the formidable appearance of its twenty-one solid pages it is very suggestive and interesting reading. The characteristic of the undergraduate's life at Oxford are vividly brought out, and the many ways in which the life there differs from that familiar to us, are shown and commented upon. The first part of the article describes at length the college course, and the methods of obtaining the A. B. degree. The points here brought out which will probably strike the Harvard undergraduate most forcibly are, first, the absence of afternoon recitations, and, second, the presence of only three examinations during the college course. The second part of the article is devoted to the social side of the Oxonian's life, and the third, to Oxford athletics. The social situation is summed up in the following sentence: "Thus, if there are no societies in the Harvard sense, there is far more society; if there are no all-important clubs, the whole place is like a club;" while the state of athletics may be gathered from these two sentences: "Exercise is thus not confined to an athletic set," and, "In general, one is impressed by the combination of strength and gentle manners in the undergraduates." On the whole, the description of Oxford is very captivating, but it is so different, with its "Responsions" and "Moderations," its "University police" and "gating," its "eights" and "torpids," from the college life with which we are familiar, that it is hard for us to imagine. And there are probably very few Harvard undergraduates who would wish to see Harvard changed into an Oxford.

The fiction of the number consists of "The Mayor of Lyme Regis," by S. P. Duffield, and "Mile. Pourgeot's Cat," by H. P. Dodge. The former is a description of the struggle which the mayor of a sleepy, contented old English village goes through when he is besought by an American cousin to come to the land of "booms" and make his fortune. The peace of mind which comes to the old man when he finally comes to his senses and rids himself of the "latent germ of greediness and ambition," is delightfully portrayed.

"Mile. Pourgeot's Cat" is a mere sketch, but carefully and consistently written. The description of the little old lady is so telling as to be worthy quoting, though it consists of only two sentences. "She must have been about sixty, but her face was one of those so thoroughly good that they almost seem pretty. Her dress was exquisitely neat, and her hair was drawn smoothly back from the forehead and partly hidden by an immaculate white cap."

"The Child in Literature," by S. C. Hart, is an interesting essay on the place of children in literature. The author shows how, from the first appearance of the child in the poetry of Blake and Wordsworth, authors have more and more come to write of children out of interest and sympathy with the very child itself.

Of the poetry of the number, "Verses," by P. H. Savage, is the best. It is simply written, and its metrical qualities are decidedly better than anything by the same author that we remember to have seen before. "The Amber-witch" is not up to Mr. Moody's usual standard. It is admirable in the impression of fantastical wierdness that it leaves, like a strange and unpleasant dream, but the versification is very rough in places, and the words are not always well chosen.