where are you entered 1 we are most of us overflowingly full
here." I quickly satisfied his curiosity upon that point, by informing
him I had been for some time enrolled upon the list of the foundation
of Brazennose, and had received orders to come up and enter myself. Our
conversation now turned upon the necessary ceremonies of matriculation.

Tom's face was enlivened to a degree when I showed him my letter of
introduction to Dr. Dingyman, of L-n college. "What, the opposition
member, the Oxford Palladio? Why, you might just as well expect to move
the Temple of the Winds from Athens to Oxford, without displacing
a fragment, as to hope the doctor will present you to the
vice-chancellor.--It won't do. We must find you some more tractable
personage; some good-humoured nob that stands well with the principals,
tells funny stories to their ladies, and drinks his three bottles like
a true son of orthodoxy." "For Heaven's sake! my dear fellow, if you
do not wish to be pointed at, booked for an eccentric, or suspected of
being profound, abandon all intention of being introduced through
that medium. A first interview with that singular man will produce an
examination that would far exceed the perils of the _great go_{8}-he
will try your proficiency by the chart and scale of truth." "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