"I venture but once again to trouble you with a few remarks; and, as I am looking forward to my lad matriculating this next October, I shall be glad of your speedy advice as to whether I ought to send him to a place where he will have to swear to observe Statutes like those I have spoken of, and those I am now about to mention. "The next Statute after 'the herb Nicotiana,' is about the closing of the College gates at 9 o'clock, and says, that if circumstances should call for it (_si res ita postulet_), the Heads of the Houses shall then go round to each chamber (_perlustratis singulorum cubiculis_), to see if their tenants are there. This is a delightful rule; and, if circumstances do _not_ call for the Heads to make their rounds, it only shows that the Statute is obeyed without such supervision. Early to bed, you know, _Mr. Punch_, not only leads to salubriousness of body and purse, but also conduces to wisdom of intellect; and, doubtless, much of the success of the 'Oxford discipline' that we hear so much about may be traced to this 'early-closing movement.' I am glad to find that my son PETERLOO will not have to carry out the popular idea of a student, by burning 'the midnight oil'--which you and I, as men of the world, know is a mere figure of speech, and only leads to biliousness of body and cutting of morning chapels--but that he will have to be in bed by 9 o'clock, and, possibly, may be tucked up by the Head of the College himself, attended, of course, by bedels and 'holy pokers,' and all the paraphernalia of Collegiate grandeur. And, _Mr. Punch_, what an instructive subject 'Alma Mater putting her children to bed' would be for MR. TENNIEL to turn into a cartoon for the new Houses of Parliament; where, in spite of the exertions of MRS.--I mean MR.--BROTHERTON, the Members _will_ waste the gas and their health in keeping late hours--a thing they were plainly never allowed to do as long as they were at Oxford! [Illustration: NOBODY MUST BE OUT OF HIS CHAMBER AFTER NINE O'CLOCK IN THE EVENING.]