Hogg, says of their life there: "Oxford is a seat in which learning sits very comfortably, well thrown back, as in an easy-chair, and sleeps so soundly that neither you nor I nor anyone else can wake her." If the picture of his apartment is a correct one, Shelley himself must have had a queer idea of comfort. But for all that, Hogg declares that the residence at Oxford was exceedingly delightful to Shelley; and on all accounts most beneficial. There seems to be no reason now why this beneficial residence should have been so short. And it is a curious commentary upon Oxford ways that his Alma Mater, rejecting him in life, should, to-day, boast of him, in a sculptured way, as one of the most distinguished of her sons. The Hall-porter—for a shilling—will show you the windows of his room (No. One Staircase, First Flight Up). But it has now become part of the junior Common Room; and the tongs and the shovel stand, to-day, on their proper foundation, with no air-pumps or pistols in evidence.
Shelley and Hogg left Oxford together, and it is reported that nobody, then, regretted their departure, although regrets were afterwards expressed—by some! It is also reported that Hogg said to the magnates of University: "If Shelley is an atheist then I am an atheist." And
