Oxford Days; or, How Ross Got His Degree — John Shaqi
Oxford Days; or, How Ross Got His DegreeWeatherly, F. E. (Frederic Edward)
History
Oxford Days; or, How Ross Got His Degree
Weatherly, F. E. (Frederic Edward)
University of Oxford
At 10.30 precisely the procession entered at the north door: the
vice-chancellor, preceded by his mace-bearers, the esquire bedels and
marshals, and followed by the heads of houses, the preacher, and the
proctors. Then the whole congregation rose and, led by the choristers,
sang the hymn appointed. Afterwards came the quaint “bidding prayer,”
still used in most cathedrals, but made especially quaint in a
University city by the long lists of founders and benefactors; and then
the sermon. At a quarter to twelve all was over, and Frank was sitting
in the window of Crawford’s rooms in Brasenose; and as he looked out
on the sunny Radcliffe Square, with St. Mary’s graceful spire, the
black frowning “schools,” and the pepper-box towers of All Souls, he
heard with reverent admiration (for he was, in his way, somewhat of
a poet) that these were Bishop Heber’s rooms, that here he must have
sat, and here he must have written that famous Newdigate prize-poem,
“Palestine,” by which he will always be remembered.
Over the chimney looking-glass hung a gilded face, with an enormous
nose, the emblem of the college. The pictures on the panelled walls
Frank soon became more intimately acquainted with, for he found copies
in most of his friends’ rooms. There were “The Huguenots,” “The Black
Brunswicker,” Landseer’s “Challenge,” “Retreat,” and “Monarch of the
Glen,” of course, and many others of a more recent date. Three or
four pairs of boxing-gloves lay in one corner, dumb-bells in another.
Against the wall, in racks, pipes of various descriptions, from the
short briar-root to the china bowl of the German student (for Crawford
had spent six months once upon a time in Heidelberg), racket-bats,
and an oar, fondly cherished, that had helped to bring victory to the
Brasenose “four” a few years back at Henley.
At one o’clock Crawford’s scout appeared, and almost at the same moment
three invited friends, strangers to Frank. At Oxford luncheon or
breakfast parties, etiquette does not require that the guests should
arrive late. The lunch was as follows:--
Leg of lamb.
Couple of chicken.
Ham cut in huge slices.
Salad.
Lumps of bread.
Lumps of butter.
Lumps of cheese.
Celery.
Three pots of jam.
“French pastry” (in reality, English tarts).
Cyder cup.
Sherry and claret.
Fish, meat, and marmalade at nine that morning, and a prospective
dinner in Hall at six that evening, did not prevent Frank’s four
companions from doing ample justice to the fare. He himself was as yet
unused to these meals, by which circumstance Crawford’s scout profited.
After lunch, pipes. At three the guests dropped off; and the two
school-fellows walked to Cumnor--as a result of which Frank wasted
three hours on Monday evening, writing a poem about Amy Robsart’s tomb.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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