Tom's _admiral_ design'd,
Most dads are blind
To youthful folly,
That Tom should be a man of learning,
To show his parent's great discerning,
A parson rich and jolly.
To Oxford Tom in due time went,
Upon degree D.D. intent,
But more intent on ruin:
_A Freshman_, steering for the _Port of Stuff's_,{22}
Round _Isle Matricula_, and _Isthmus of Grace_,
Intent on living well and little doing.
Here Tom came out a dashing blood,
Kept Doll at Woodstock, and a stud
For hunting, race, or tandem;
Could _bag_ a proctor, _floor a raff_,
Or stifle e'en a _hull-dog's gaff_,
Get _bosky_, drive at random.
21 Eton phraseology--A friend.
22 Oxford phraseology--All these terms have been explained
in an earlier part of the work.
~235~~
[Illustration: page 235]
But long before the first term ended,
Tom was inform'd, unless he mended,
He'd better change his college.
Which said, the _Don_ was hobbling to the shelf
Where college butler keeps his book of _Battell_;
Tom nimbly ran, erased his name himself,
To save the scandal of the students' prattle.
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