19 JULY 1845, Page 15

THE UNIVERSITY IN FURNISHED LODGINGS. LAST century., the attic was

notoriously the natural domicile Of "the man of letters " ; at present, we find an " University " inhabiting a "second floor back." The curious inquire; who seeks to discover the local habitation of the London University, is directed to Somerset House ; and there, on entering a door in an out-of-the-way corner, he sees written up in large characters- " University of London on the second floor." Oxford University with its Colleges makes a goodly town of itself, and Cambridge is not far behind it : even the little Northern University of St. Andrew's has halls and courts of its own. But the Metropolitan University occupies apartments on the same floor with Poor-law Commissioners and Admiralty Clerks. Its lodgings are too narrow to see company in ; for a greater number of students than usual having announced themselves for matriculation, the Uni- versity has been obliged to apply to its neighbour, King's Col- lege, for the use of a reception-room. Surely, since private lit- terateurs have for the most part evacuated the " first floor down the chimney," the literary corporation of the Metropolis ought in common decency to have a house of its own.