" "Be that as
it may, Tom," said I, not a little alarmed by the account I had heard of
the person to whom I was to owe my first introduction to alma mater,
"I shall make the attempt; and should I fail, I shall yet hope to avail
myself of your proffered kindness."
7 A BIG WIG. Head of a college.
A DON. A learned man.
A NOB. A fellow of a college.
8 The principal examining school.
~122~~
After partaking of some refreshment, and adjusting my dress, we sallied
forth to lionise, as Tom called it, which is the Oxford term for gazing
about, usually applied to strangers. Proceeding a little way along the
high street from the Mitre, and turning up the first opening on our left
hand, we stood before the gateway of Lincoln college. Here Tom shook
hands, wished me a safe passport through what he was pleased to term the
"_Oxonia purgata_" and left me, after receiving my promise to join the
dinner party at Christ Church.
I had never felt so awkwardly in my life before: the apprehensions I
was under of a severe examination; the difficulty of encountering a man
whose superior learning and endowments of mind had rendered him the envy
of the University, and above all, his reputed eccentricity of manners,
created fears that almost palsied my tongue when I approached the hall
to announce my arrival.
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