MR. VERDANT GREEN LEAVES THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS.
THE time till Easter passed very quickly, for much had to be done in
it. Verdant read up most desperately for his matriculation,
associating that initiatory examination with the most dismal visions
of plucking, and other college tortures.
His mother was laying in for him a new stock of linen, sufficient in
quantity to provide him for years of emigration; while his father was
busying himself about the plate that it was requisite to take, buying
it bran-new, and of the most solid silver, and having it splendidly
engraved with the family crest, and the motto "Semper virens."
Infatuated Mr. Green! If you could have foreseen that those spoons
and forks would have soon passed, - by a mysterious system of loss
which undergraduate powers can never fathom, - into the property of
Mr. Robert Filcher, the excellent, though occasionally erratic, scout
of your beloved son, and from thence have melted, not "into thin
air," but into a residuum whose mass might be expressed by the
equivalent of coins of a thin and golden description, - if you could
but have foreseen this, then, infatuated but affectionate parent, you
would have been content to have let your son and heir represent the
ancestral wealth by mere electro-plate, albata, or any sham that
would equally well have served his purpose!
As for Miss Virginia Verdant, and the other woman portion of the
Green community, they fully occupied their time until the day of
separation came, by elaborating articles of feminine workmanship, as
~souvenirs~, by which dear Verdant might, in the land of the strangers,
recall visions of home. These were presented to him with all due
state on the morning of the day previous to that on which he was to
leave the home of his ancestors.
All the articles were useful as well as ornamental. There was a
purse from Helen, which, besides being a triumph of art in the way of
bead decoration, was also, it must be allowed, a very useful present,
unless one happened to carry one's riches in a ~porte-monnaie~.
There was a pair of braces from Mary, worked with an ecclesiastical
pattern of a severe character - very appropriate for academical wear,
and extremely effective for all occasions when the coat had to be
taken off in public. And there was a watch-pocket from Fanny, to
hang over Verdant's night-capped head, and serve as a depository for
the golden mechanical turnip that had been handed down in the family,
as a watch, for the last three generations. And
[22 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
there was a pair of woollen comforters knit by Miss Virginia's own
fair hands; and there were other woollen articles of domestic use,
which were contributed by Mrs. Green for her son's personal comfort.
To these, Miss Virginia thoughtfully added an infallible recipe for
the toothache, - an infliction to which she was a martyr, and for the
general relief of which in others, she constituted herself a species
of toothache missionary; for, as she said, "You might, my dear
Verdant, be seized with that painful disease, and not have me by your
side to cure <VG022.JPG> it": which it was very probable he would
not, if college rules were strictly carried out at Brazenface.
All these articles were presented to Mr. Verdant Green with many
speeches and great ceremony; while Mr. Green stood by, and smiled
benignantly upon the scene, and his son beamed through his glasses
(which his defective sight obliged him constantly to wear) with the
most serene aspect.
It was altogether a great day of preparation, and one which it was
well for the constitution of the household did not happen very often;
for the house was reduced to that summerset condition usually known
in domestic parlance as "upside down." Mr. Verdant Green personally
superintended the packing of his goods; a performance which was only
effected by the united strength of the establishment. Butler,
Footman, Coachman, Lady's-maid, Housemaid, and Buttons were all
pressed into the service; and the coachman, being a man of
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 23]
some weight, was found to be of great use in effecting a junction of
the locks and hasps of over-filled book-boxes. It was astonishing to
see all the amount of literature that Mr. Verdant Green was about to
convey to the seat of learning: there was enough to stock a small
Bodleian. As the owner stood, with his hands behind him, placidly
surveying the scene of preparation, a meditative spectator might have
possibly compared him to the hero of the engraving "Moses going to
the fair," that was then hanging just over his head; for no one could
have set out for the great Oxford booth of this Vanity Fair with more
simplicity and trusting confidence than Mr. Verdant Green.
When the trunks had at last been packed, they were then, by the
thoughtful suggestion of Miss Virginia, provided each with a canvas
covering, after the manner of the luggage of <VG023.JPG> females, and
labelled with large direction-cards filled with the most ample
particulars concerning their owner and his destination.
It had been decided that Mr. Verdant Green, instead of reaching
Oxford by rail, should make his ~entree~ behind the four horses that
drew the Birmingham and Oxford coach; - one of the few four-horse
coaches that still ran for any distance*; and which, as the more
pleasant means of conveyance, was generally patronized by Mr. Charles
Larkyns in preference to the rail; for the coach passed within three
miles of the Manor Green, whereas the nearest railway was at a much
greater distance, and could not be so conveniently reached. Mr.
Green had determined upon accompanying Verdant to Oxford, that he
might have the satisfaction of seeing him safely landed there, and
might also himself form an acquaintance with a city of which he had
heard so much, and which would be doubly interesting to him now that
his son was enrolled a member of its University. Their seats had
been secured a fortnight previous; for the rector had told Mr. Green
that so many men went up by the coach, that unless he made an early
application,
---
* This well-known coach ceased to run between Birmingham and Oxford
in the last week of August 1852, on the opening of the Birmingham
and Oxford Railway.
-=-
[24 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
he would altogether fail in obtaining places; so a letter had been
dispatched to "the Swan" coach-office at Birmingham, from which place
the coach started, and two outside seats had been put at Mr. Green's
disposal.
The day at length arrived, when Mr. Verdant Green for the first time
in his life (on any important occasion) was to leave the paternal
roof; and it must be confessed that it was a proceeding which caused
him some anxiety, and that he was not <VG024.JPG> sorry when the
carriage was at the door to bear him away, before (shall it be
confessed?) his tears had got the mastery over him. As it was, by
the judicious help of his sisters, he passed the Rubicon in
courageous style, and went through the form of breakfast with the
greatest hilarity, although with several narrow escapes of
suffocation from choking. The thought that he was going to be an
Oxford MAN fortunately assisted him in the preservation of that
tranquil dignity and careless ease which he considered to be the
necessary adjuncts of the manly character, more especially as
developed in that peculiar biped he was about to be transformed into;
and Mr. Verdant Green was enabled to say "Good-by" with a firm voice
and undimmed spectacles.
All crowded to the door to have a last shake of the hand;
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 25]
the maid-servants peeped from the upper windows; and Miss Virginia
sobbed out a blessing, which was rendered of a striking and original
character by being mixed up with instructions never to forget what
she had taught him in his Latin grammar, and always to be careful to
guard against the toothache. And amid the good-byes and write-oftens
that usually accompany a departure, the carriage rolled down the
avenue to the lodge, where was Mr. Mole the gardener, and also Mrs.
Mole, and, moreover, the Mole olive-branches, all gathered at the
open gate to say farewell to the young master. And just as they were
about to mount the hill leading out of the village, who should be
there but the rector lying in wait for them and ready to walk up the
hill by their side, and say a few kindly words at parting. Well
might Mr. Verdant Green begin to regard himself as the topic of the
village, and think that going to Oxford was really an affair of some
importance.
They were in good time for the coach; and the ringing notes of the
guard's bugle made them aware of its approach some time before they
saw it rattling merrily along in its cloud of dust. What a sight it
was when it did come near! The cloud that had enveloped it was
discovered to be not dust only, but smoke from the cigars,
meerschaums, and short clay pipes of a full complement of gentlemen
passengers, scarcely one of whom seemed to have passed his twentieth
year. No bonnet betokening a female traveller could be seen either
inside or out; and that lady was indeed lucky who escaped being an
inside passenger on the following day. Nothing but a lapse of time,
or the complete re-lining of the coach, could purify it from the
attacks of the four gentlemen who were now doing their best to
convert it into a divan; and the consumption of tobacco on that day
between Birmingham and Oxford must have materially benefited the
revenue. The passengers were not limited to the two-legged ones,
there were four-footed ones also. Sporting dogs, fancy dogs, ugly
dogs, rat-killing dogs, short-haired dogs, long-haired dogs, dogs
like muffs, dogs like mops, dogs of all colours and of all breeds and
sizes, appeared thrusting out their black noses from all parts of the
coach. Portmanteaus were piled upon the roof; gun-boxes peeped out
suspiciously here and there; bundles of sticks, canes, foils,
fishing-rods, and whips, appeared strapped together in every
direction; while all round about the coach,
"Like a swarth Indian with his belt of beads,"
hat-boxes dangled in leathery profusion. The Oxford coach on an
occasion like this was a sight to be remembered.
A "Wo-ho-ho, my beauties!" brought the smoking wheelers upon their
haunches; and Jehu, saluting with his elbow and
[26 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
whip finger, called out in the husky voice peculiar to a
dram-drinker, "Are you the two houtside gents for Hoxfut?" To which
Mr. Green replied in the affirmative; and while the luggage (the
canvas-covered, ladylike look of which was such a contrast to that of
the other passengers) was being quickly transferred to the coach-top,
he and Verdant ascended to the places reserved for them behind the
coachman. Mr. Green saw at a glance that all the passengers were
Oxford men, dressed in every variety of Oxford fashion, and
exhibiting a pleasing diversity of Oxford manners. Their private
remarks on the two new-comers were, like stage "asides," perfectly
audible.
"Decided case of governor!" said one.
"Undoubted ditto of freshman!" observed another.
"Looks ferociously mild in his gig-lamps!" remarked a third, alluding
to Mr. Verdant Green's spectacles.
"And jolly green all over!" wound up a fourth.
Mr. Green, hearing his name (as he thought) mentioned, turned to the
small young gentleman who had spoken, and politely said, "Yes, my
name is Green; but you have the advantage of me, sir."
"Oh! have I?" replied the young gentleman in the most affable manner,
and not in the least disconcerted; "my name's Bouncer: I remember
seeing you when I was a babby. How's the old woman?" And without
waiting to hear Mr. Green loftily reply, "Mrs. Green - my WIFE, sir -
is quite well - and I do NOT remember to have seen you, or ever heard
your name, sir!" - little Mr. Bouncer made some most unearthly noises
on a post-horn as tall as himself, which he had brought for the
delectation of himself and his friends, and the alarm of every
village they passed through.
"Never mind the dog, sir," said the gentleman who sat between Mr.
Bouncer and Mr. Green; "he won't hurt you. It's only his play; he
always takes notice of strangers."
"But he is tearing my trousers," expostulated Mr. Green, who was by
no means partial to the "play" of a thoroughbred terrier.
"Ah! he's an uncommon sensible dog," observed his master; "he's
always on the look-out for rats everywhere. It's the Wellington
boots that does it; he's accustomed to have a rat put into a boot,
and he worries it out how he can. I daresay he thinks you've got one
in yours."
"But I've got nothing of the sort, sir; I must request you to keep
your dog--" A violent fit of coughing, caused by a well-directed
volley of smoke from his neighbour's lips, put a stop to Mr. Green's
expostulations.
"I hope my weed is no annoyance?" said the gentleman; "if it is, I
will throw it away."
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 27]
To which piece of politeness Mr. Green could, of course, only reply,
between fits of coughing, "Not in the least I - assure you, - I am
very fond - of tobacco - in the open air."
"Then I daresay you'll do as we are doing, and smoke a weed
yourself," said the gentleman, as he offered Mr. Green a plethoric
cigar-case. But Mr. Green's expression of approbation regarding
tobacco was simply theoretical; so he treated his neighbour's offer
as magazine editors do the MSS. of unknown contributors - it was
"declined with thanks."
Mr. Verdant Green had already had to make a similar reply to a like
proposal on the part of his left-hand neighbour, who was now
expressing violent admiration for our hero's top-coat.
"Ain't that a good style of coat, Charley?" he observed to his
neighbour. "I wish I'd seen it before I got this over-coat! There's
something sensible about a real, unadulterated top-coat; and there's a
style in the way in which they've let down the skirts, and put on the
velvet collar and cuffs regardless of expense, that really quite goes
to one's heart. Now I daresay the man that built that," he said,
more particularly addressing the owner of the coat, "condescends to
live in a village, and waste his sweetness on the desert air, while a
noble field might be found for his talent in a University town. That
coat will make quite a sensation in Oxford. Won't it, Charley?"
And when Charley, quoting a popular actor (totally unknown to our
hero), said, "I believe you, my bo-oy!" Mr. Verdant Green began to
feel quite proud of the abilities of their village tailor, and
thought what two delightful companions he had met with. The rest of
the journey further cemented (as he thought) their friendship; so
that he was fairly astonished, when on meeting them the next day
they stared him full in the face, and passed on without taking any
more notice of him. But freshmen cannot learn the mysteries of
college etiquette in a day.
However, we are anticipating. They had not yet got to Oxford,
though, from the pace at which they were going, it appeared as if
they would soon reach there; for the coachman had given up his seat
and the reins to the box-passenger, who appeared to be as used to the
business as the coachman himself; and he was now driving them, not
only in a most scientific manner, but also at a great pace. Mr.
Green was not particularly pleased with the change in the
four-wheeled government; but when they went down a hill at a quick
trot, the heavy luggage making the coach rock to and fro with the
speed, his fears increased painfully. They culminated, as the trot
increased into a canter, and then broke into a gallop as they swept
along the level road at the bottom of the hill, and rattled up the
rise of another. As the horses walked over the brow
[28 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
of the hill, with smoking flanks and jingling harness, Mr. Green
recovered sufficient breath to expostulate with the coachman for
suffering - "a mere lad," he was about to say <VG028.JPG>
but fortunately checked himself in time, - for suffering any one else
than the regular driver to have the charge of the coach. "You never
fret yourself about that, sir," replied the man; "I knows my
bis'ness, as well as my dooties to self and purprietors, and I'd
never go for to give up the ribbins to any party but wot had showed
hisself fitted to 'andle 'em. And I think I may say this for the
genelman as has got 'em now, that
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 29]
he's fit to be fust vip to the Queen herself; and I'm proud to call
him my poople. Why, sir, - if his honour here will pardon me for
makin' so free, - this 'ere gent is Four-in-hand Fosbrooke, of which
you ~must~ have heerd on."
Mr. Green replied that he had not had that pleasure.
"Ah! a pleasure you ~may~ call it, sir, with parfect truth," replied
the coachman; "but, lor bless me, sir, weer ~can~ you have lived?"
The "poople" who had listened to this, highly amused, slightly turned
his head, and said to Mr. Green, "Pray don't feel any alarm, sir; I
believe you are quite safe under my guidance. This is not the first
time by many that I have driven this coach, - not to mention others;
and you may conclude that I should not have gained the ~sobriquet~ to
which my worthy friend has alluded without having ~some~ pretensions
to a knowledge of the art of driving."
Mr. Green murmured his apologies for his mistrust, - expressed perfect
faith in Mr. Fosbrooke's skill - and then lapsed into silent
meditation on the various arts and sciences in which the gentlemen of
the University of Oxford seemed to be most proficient, and pictured
to himself what would be his feelings if he ever came to see Verdant
driving a coach! There certainly did not appear to be much
probability of such an event; but can any ~pater familias~ say what
even the most carefully brought up young Hopeful will do when he has
arrived at years of indiscretion?
Altogether, Mr. Green did not particularly enjoy the journey.
Besides the dogs and cigars, which to him were equal nuisances,
little Mr. Bouncer was perpetually producing unpleasant post-horn
effects, - which he called "sounding his octaves," - and destroying the
effect of the airs on the guard's key-bugle, by joining in them at
improper times and with discordant measures. Mr. Green, too, could
not but perceive that the majority of the conversation that was
addressed to himself and his son (though more particularly to the
latter), although couched in politest form, was yet of a tendency
calculated to "draw them out" for the amusement of their
fellow-passengers. He also observed that the young gentlemen
severally exhibited great capacity for the beer of Bass and the
porter of Guinness, and were not averse even to liquids of a more
spirituous description. Moreover, Mr. Green remarked that the
ministering Hebes were invariably addressed by their Christian names,
and were familiarly conversed with as old acquaintances; most of them
receiving direct offers of marriage or the option of putting up the
banns on any Sunday in the middle of the week; while the inquiries
after their grandmothers and the various members of their family
circles were both numerous and gratifying. In
[30 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
all these verbal encounters little Mr. Bouncer particularly
distinguished himself.
Woodstock was reached: "Four-in-hand Fosbrooke" gave up the reins to
the professional Jehu; and at last the towers, spires, and domes of
Oxford appeared in sight. The first view of the City of Colleges is
always one that will be long remembered. Even the railway traveller,
who enters by the least imposing approach, and can scarcely see that
he is in Oxford before he has reached Folly Bridge, must yet regard
the city with mingled feelings of delight and surprise as he looks
across the Christ Church meadows and rolls past the Tom Tower. But
he who approaches Oxford from the Henley Road, and looks upon that
unsurpassed prospect from Magdalen Bridge, - or he who enters the
city, as Mr. Green did, from the Woodstock Road, and rolls down the
shady avenue of St. Giles', between St. John's College and the Taylor
Buildings, and past the graceful Martyrs' Memorial, will receive
impressions such as probably no other city in the world could
convey.
As the coach clattered down the Corn-market, and turned the corner by
Carfax into High Street, Mr. Bouncer, having been compelled in
deference to University scruples to lay aside his post-horn, was
consoling himself by chanting the following words, selected probably
in compliment to Mr. Verdant Green.
"To Oxford, a Freshman so modest,
I enter'd one morning in March;
And the figure I cut was the oddest,
All spectacles, choker, and starch.
Whack fol lol, lol iddity, &c.
From the top of 'the Royal Defiance,'
Jack Adams, who coaches so well,
Set me down in these regions of science,
In front of the Mitre Hotel.
Whack fol lol, lol iddity, &c.
'Sure never man's prospects were brighter,'
I said, as I jumped from my perch;
'So quickly arrived at the Mitre,
Oh, I'm sure, to get on in the Church!'
Whack fol lol, lol iddity, &c."
By the time Mr. Bouncer finished these words, the coach appropriately
drew up at the "Mitre," and the passengers tumbled off amid a knot of
gownsmen collected on the pavement to receive them. But no sooner
were Mr. Green and our hero set down, than they were attacked by a
horde of the aborigines of Oxford, who, knowing by vulture-like
sagacity the aspect of a freshman and his governor, swooped down upon
them in the guise of impromptu porters, and made an indiscriminate
attack upon the luggage. It was only by the display of the greatest
presence of mind that Mr. Verdant Green recovered his effects, and
prevented his canvas-covered boxes from being
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 31]
<VG031-1.JPG>
carried off in the wheel-barrows that were trundling off in all
directions to the various colleges. <VG031-2.JPG>
[32 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
But at last all were safely secured. And soon, when a snug dinner
had been discussed in a quiet room, and a bottle of the famous
(though I have heard some call it "in-famous") Oxford port had been
produced, Mr. Green, under its kindly influence, opened his heart to
his son, and gave him much advice as to his forthcoming University
career; being, of course, well calculated to do this from his
intimate acquaintance with the subject.
Whether it was the extra glass of port, or whether it was the
<VG032.JPG> nature of his father's discourse, or whether it was the
novelty of his situation, or whether it was all these circumstances
combined, yet certain it was that Mr. Verdant Green's first night in
Oxford was distinguished by a series, or rather confusion, of most
remarkable dreams, in which bishops, archbishops, and hobgoblins
elbowed one another for precedence; a beneficent female crowned him
with laurel, while Fame lustily proclaimed the honours he had
received, and unrolled the class-list in which his name had first
rank.
Sweet land of visions, that will with such ease confer even a
~treble~ first upon the weary sleeper, why must he awake from thy
gentle thraldom, to find the class-list a stern reality, and
Graduateship too often but an empty dream!
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 33]