Part 4

When Gray produced his famous Ode for the installation of his patron, the late Duke of Grafton, a production, it is observed, which would have been more admired, had it "not been surpassed by his two masterpieces, the Bard, and the Progress of Poetry," being possessed of a very accurate taste for music, which he had formed on the Italian model, he weighed every note of the composer's music, (the learned Cambridge professor, Dr. Randall,) with the most critical exactness, and kept the composer in attendance upon him, says Dyer, in his Supplement, for three months. Gray was, indeed, a thorough disciple of the Italian school of music, whilst the professor was an ardent admirer of the sublime compositions of Handel, whose _noise_, it is stated, Gray could not bear; but after the professor had implicitly followed his views till he came to the chorus, Gray exclaimed, "I have now done, and leave you to make as much noise as you please." This fine composition is still in MS. in the hands of the Doctor's son, Mr. Edward Randall, of the town of Cambridge.

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THE MAD PETER-HOUSE POET.

Gray was not the only modern poet of deserved celebrity, which Peter-House had the honour to foster in her cloisters. A late Fellow of that Society, named _Kendal_, "a person of a wild and deranged state of mind," says Dyer, but, it must be confessed, with much method in his madness, during his residence in Cambridge, "occasionally poured out, extemporaneously, the most beautiful effusions," but the paucity of the number preserved have almost left him without a name, though meriting a niche in Fame's temple. I therefore venture to repeat the following, with his name, that his genius may live with it:--

The town have found out different ways, To praise its different Lears: To Barry it gives loud huzzas, To Garrick only tears.

He afterwards added this exquisite effusion:--

A king,--aye, every inch a king,-- Such Barry doth appear; But Garrick's quite another thing, He's every inch King Lear.

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THE GRACE CUP OF PEMBROKE-HALL, CAMBRIDGE.

An ancient cup of silver gilt is preserved by this society, which was given to them by the noble foundress of their college, Lady Mary de St. Paul, daughter of Guy de Castillon, Earl of St. Paul, in France, and widow of Audomar de Valentia, Earl of Pembroke, who is said to have been killed in a tournament, held in France, in 1323, in honour of their wedding day,--an accident, says Fuller, by which she was "a maid, a wife, and a widow, in one day." Lysons in his second volume, has given an engraved delineation of this venerable goblet; the foot of which, says Cole, in the forty-second volume of his MSS. "stands on a large circle, whose upper rim is neatly ornamented with small _fleurs de lis_, in open work, and looks very like an ancient coronet." On a large rim, about the middle of the cup, is a very ancient embossed inscription; which, says the same authority, in 1773, "not a soul in the College could read, and the tradition of it was forgotten;" but he supposes it to run:--

_Sayn Denis' yt es me dere for his lof drenk and mak gud cher._

The other inscription is short, and has an M. and V. above the circle; "which," adds Cole, "I take to mean, _God help at need Mary de Valentia_." At the bottom of the inside of the cup is an embossed letter M. This he does not comprehend; but says it may possibly stand for _Mementote_. "Dining in Pembroke College Hall, New Year's Day, 1773," he adds, "the grace cup of silver gilt, the founder's gift to her college, was produced at the close of dinner, when, being full of sweet wine, the old custom is here, as in most other colleges, for the Master, at the head of the long table, to rise, and, standing on his feet, to drink, _In piam memoriam_ (_Fundatricis_,) to his neighbour on his right hand, and, who is also to be standing. When the Master has drunk, he delivers the cup to him he drank to, and sits down; and the other, having the cup, drinks to his opposite neighbour, who stands up while the other is drinking; and thus alternately till it has gone quite through the company, two always standing at a time. It is of no large capacity, and is often replenished."

This is not unlike

THE TERTIAVIT

of the Mertonians, as they call it (says Mr. Pointer,) from a barbarous Latin word derived from _Tertius_, because there are always three standing at a time. The custom, he says, is a loyal one, and arises from their drinking the King and Queen's health standing (at dinner) on some extraordinary days (called Gaudies, from the Latin word _Gaudeo_, to rejoice,) to show their loyalty. There are always three standing at a time the first not sitting down again till the second has drank to a third man. The same loyal custom, under different forms, prevails in all colleges in both Universities. At the Inns of Court, also, in London, the King's health is drunk every term, on what is called _Grand Day_, all members present, big-wig and student, having filled "a bumper of sparkling wine," rise simultaneously, and drink "The King," _supernaculum_, of course.

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A MORE CAPACIOUS BOWL

Than the foregoing is in the possession of the Society of Jesus College, Oxford, says Chalmers, the gift of the hospitable Sir Watkins Williams Wynne, grandfather to the present baronet. It will contain ten gallons, and weighs 278 ounces: how or when it is used, this deponent sayeth not. Queen's College, Oxon, says Mr. Pointer, has its--

HORN OF DIVERSION,

So called because it never fails to afford _funnery_. It is kept in the buttery, is occasionally presented to persons to drink out of and is so contrived, that by lifting it up to the mouth too hastily, the air gets in and suddenly forces too great a quantity of the liquid, as if thrown into the drinker's face, to his great surprise and the delight of the standers by. _Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra._

ANOTHER BIBULOUS RELIQUE

Was the famous chalice, found in one of the hands of the founder of Merton College, Oxford, the celebrated Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of England, upon the opening of his grave in 1659, says Wood, on the authority of Mr. Leonard Yate, Fellow of Merton. It held more than a quarter of a pint; and the Warden and Fellows caused it to be sent to the College, to be put into their _cista jocalium_; but the Fellows, in their zeal, sometimes drinking out of it, "this, then, so valued relic was broken and destroyed."

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A LAUDABLE AND CHRISTIAN CUSTOM,

In Merton College, says Pointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_, &c. "is their meeting together in the Hall on Christmas Eve, and other solemn times, to sing a Psalm, and drink a _Grace Cup_ to one another, (called _Poculum Charitatis_) wishing one another health and happiness. These _Grace Cups_," he adds, "they drink to one another every day after dinner and supper, wishing one another peace and good neighbourhood." This conclusion reminds us of the following anecdote:--

A learned Cambridge mathematician, now holding a distinguished post at the Naval College, Portsmouth, after discussing one day, with a party of Johnians, the propriety of the _Dies Festæ_, _solar_, _siderial_, &c., drily observed, putting a bumper to his lips, "I think we should have _jovial days_ as well." Every College in both Universities has the next best thing to it,--

THEIR FEAST DAYS,

"_In piam memoriam_" of their several founders, most of whom being persons of _taste_, left certain annual sums wherewith to "pay the piper." Besides _minor_ feast-days, every Society, both at Oxford and Cambridge, hold its yearly commemoration. There is always prayers and a sermon on this day, and the Lesson is taken from Eccl. xliv. "Let us now praise famous men," &c. Mr. Pointer says, that at Magdalen College, Oxford, it is "a custom on all commemoration days to have the bells rung in a confused manner, and without any order, it being the primitive way of ringing." The same writer states that there is

A MUSICAL MAY-DAY COMMEMORATION,

Annually celebrated by this Society, which consists of a concert of music on the top of the Tower, in honour of its founder, Henry VII. It was originally a mass, but since the Reformation, it has been "a merry concert of both vocal and instrumental music, consisting of several merry ketches, and lasts almost two hours (beginning as early as four o'clock in the morning,) and is concluded with ringing the bells." The performers have a breakfast for their pains. They have likewise singing early on Christmas morning. The custom is similar to one observed at Manheim, in Germany, and throughout the palatinate.

Whoever was the author of the following admirable production, he was certainly not [Greek: nous]-less, and it will "hardly be read with _dry lips_, or _mouths_ that do not water," says the author of the _Gradus ad Cant_.

ODE ON A COLLEGE FEAST DAY.

I.

Hark! heard ye not yon footsteps dread, That shook the hall with thund'ring tread? With eager haste The Fellows pass'd, Each, intent on direful work, High lifts his mighty blade, and points his deadly fork.

II.

But, hark! the portals sound, and pacing forth, With steps, alas! too slow, The College GYPTS, of high illustrious worth, With all the dishes, in long order go. In the midst a form divine, Appears the fam'd sir-loin; And soon, with plums and glory crown'd Almighty pudding sheds its sweets around. Heard ye the din of dinner bray? Knife to fork, and fork to knife, Unnumber'd heroes, in the glorious strife, Through fish, flesh, pies, and puddings, cut their destin'd way.

III.

See beneath the mighty blade, Gor'd with many a ghastly wound, Low the famed sir-loin is laid, And sinks in many a gulf profound. Arise, arise, ye sons of glory, Pies and puddings stand before ye; See the ghost of hungry bellies, Points at yonder stand of jellies; While such dainties are beside ye, Snatch the goods the gods provide ye; Mighty rulers of this state, Snatch before it is too late; For, swift as thought, the puddings, jellies, pies, Contract their giant bulks, and shrink to pigmy size.

IV.

From the table now retreating, All around the fire they meet, And, with wine, the sons of eating, Crown at length the mighty treat: Triumphant plenty's rosy traces Sparkle in their jolly faces; And mirth and cheerfulness are seen In each countenance serene. Fill high the sparkling glass, And drink the accustomed toast; Drink deep, ye mighty host, And let the bottle pass. Begin, begin the jovial strain; Fill, fill the mystic bowl; And drink, and drink, and drink again; For drinking fires the soul. But soon, too soon, with one accord they reel; Each on his seat begins to nod; All conquering BACCHUS' pow'r they feel, And pour libations to the jolly god. At length, with dinner, and with wine oppress'd, Down in their chairs they sink, and give themselves to rest.

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SIR ROBERT WALPOLE AT CAMBRIDGE.

Sir Robert Walpole, the celebrated minister, was bred at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. At the first he raised great expectations as a boy, and when the master was told that St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, had with others, his scholars, distinguished themselves for their eloquence, in the House of Commons, "I am impatient to hear that Walpole has spoken," was his observation; "for I feel convinced he will be a good orator." At King's College his career was near being cut short by an attack of the small-pox. He was then known as a fierce _Whig_, and his physicians were _Tories_, one of whom, Dr. Brady, said, "We must take care to save this young man, or we shall be accused of having purposely neglected him, because he is so violent a Whig." After he was restored, his spirit and disposition so pleased the same physician, that he added, "this singular escape seems to be a sure prediction that he is reserved for important purposes," which Walpole remembered with complacency.

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Dr. Lamb, the present master of Corpus Christi, Cambridge, in his edition of Master's History of that College, gives the following copy of a bill, in the handwriting of Dr. John Jegon, a former master, which may be taken as a specimen of

A COLLEGE DINNER AT THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY:--

"VISITORS' FEAST, AUGUST 6, 1597, ELIZ. 39."

"Imprimis, Butter and eggs xii_d._ "Linge xii_d._ "Rootes buttered ii_d._ "A leg of mutton xii_d._ "A Poulte iii_d._ "A Pike xviii_d._ "Buttered Maydes iiii_d._ "Soles xii_d._ "Hartichockes vi_d._ "Roast [b]eef viii_d._ "Shrimps vi_d._ "Perches vi_d._ "Skaite vi_d._ "Custards xii_d._ "Wine and Sugar xx_d._ "Condiments, vinegar, pepper iii_d._ "Money to the visitors vi_s._ viii_d._ "Money to scholars and officers, cooks, butler, register, Trinitiehall school iiii_s._ viii_d._ "Item, Exceedings of the schollers xx_d._ -------------------- Summa, xxiiii_s._ x_d._ -------------------- "J. JEGON."

The same authority gives the following curious item as occurring in 1620, during the mastership of the successor of Dr. Jegon, Dr. Samuel Walsall, who was elected in 1618, under the head of

AN ACCOUNT OF THE WINE, &c., CONSUMED AT A COLLEGE AUDIT.

_l._ _s._ _d._ "Imp. Tuesday night, a Pottle of Claret and a qt. of Sacke 0 2 6 "It. Wednesday, Jan. 31, a pound of sugar and a pound of carriways 0 2 11 "It. Three ounces of Tobacco 0 4 6 "It. Halfe an hundred apples and thirtie 0 1 6 "It. A pottle of claret and a quart of sacke, Wednesday dinner 0 2 6 "It. Two dousen of tobacco pipes 0 0 6 "It. Thursday dinner, two pottles of sacke and three pottles and a quart of claret 0 9 4 "It. Thursday supp. a pottle of sacke and three pottles of claret 0 6 4 "It. Satterday diner, a pottle of claret and a quart 0 2 0 --------------- "Sum. tot. _l._ 1 14 7 ---------------

"Hence it appears," observes Dr. L., "sack was 1_s._ 2_d._ a quart, claret 8_d._, and tobacco 1_s._ 6_d._ an ounce. That is, an ounce of tobacco was worth exactly four pints and a half of claret." Oxford, more than Cambridge, observed, and still observes, many singular customs. Amongst others recorded in Mr. Pointer's curious book, is the now obsolete and very ancient one at Merton College, called

THE BLACK-NIGHT.

Formerly the Dean of the college kept the Bachelor-fellows at disputations in the hall, sometimes till late at night, and then to give, them a black-night (as they called it;) the reason of which was this:--"Among many other famous scholars of this college, there were two great logicians, the one _Johannes Duns Scotus_, called _Doctor Subtilis,_ Fellow of the college, and father of the sect of the Realists, and his scholar _Gulielmus Occam,_ called _Doctor Invincibilis,_ of the same house, and father of the sect of the Nomenalists; betwixt whom there falling out a hot dispute one disputation night, _Scotus_ being the Dean of the college, and _Occam_ (a Bachelor-fellow therein,) though the latter got the better on't, yet being but an inferior, at parting submitted himself, with the rest of the Bachelors, to the Dean in this form, _Domine, quid faciernus?_ (_i. e._ Sir, what is your pleasure?) as it were begging punishment for their boldness in arguing; to whom _Scotus_ returned this answer, _Ite et facite quid vultis_ (_i. e._ Begone, and do as you please.) Hereupon away they went and broke open the buttery and kitchen doors, and plundered all the provisions they could lay hands on; called all their companions out of their beds, and made a merry bout on't all night. This gave occasion for observing the same diversion several times afterwards, whenever the Dean kept the Bachelor-fellows at disputation till twelve o'clock at night. The last black-night was about 1686."

* * * * *

THE FORCE OF IMAGINATION.

A learned Cantab, who was so _deaf_ as to be obliged to use an _ear trumpet,_ having taken his departure from Trinity College, of which he was lately a fellow, mounted on his well-fed Rosinante for the purpose of visiting a friend, fell in with an acquaintance by the way side, with whom he was induced to dine, and evening was setting in ere he pushed forward for his original destination. Warm with T. B., he had not gone far ere he let fall the reins on the neck of his pegasus, which took its own course till he was suddenly roused by its coming to a stand-still where four cross roads met, in a part of the country to which he was an utter stranger. What added to the dilemma, the _direction-post_ had been demolished. He luckily espied an old farmer jogging homeward from market. "Hallo! my man, can you tell me the way to ----?" "Yes, to be sure I can. You must go down _hin-hinder_ lane, and cross _yin-yinder_ common on the left, then you'll see a _hol_ and a _pightal_ and the old mills, and ----" "Stop, stop, my good friend!" exclaimed our Cantab; "you don't know I'm _deaf_," pulling his _ear-trumpet_ out of his pocket as he spoke: this the farmer no sooner got a glimpse of, than, taking it for a pistol or blunderbuss, and its owner for a highwayman, he clapped spurs to his horse, and galloped off at full speed, roaring out for mercy as our Cantab bawled for him to stop, the _muzzle_ of his horse nosing the tail of the farmer's, till they came to an opening in a wood by the road side, through which the latter vanished, leaving the Cantab _solus_, after a chase of some miles,--and upon inquiry at a cottage, he learnt he was still ten or twelve from the place of his destination, little short of the original distance he had to ride when he first started from Cambridge in the morning. This anecdote reminds me of two Oxonians of considerable celebrity, learning, and singular manners. One was the late amiable organist of Dulwich College the Rev. Onias Linley, son of Mr. Linley, of Drury-lane and musical celebrity: he was consequently brother of Mrs. R. B. Sheridan. He was bred at Winchester and New College, and was remarkable, when a minor canon at Norwich, in Norfolk, for

HIS ABSENT HABITS,

And the ridiculous light in which they placed him, and for carrying a huge snuff-box in one hand, which he constantly kept twirling with the other between his finger and thumb. He once attended a ball at the public assembly rooms, when, having occasion to visit the temple of Cloacina, he unconsciously walked back into the midst of the crowd of beauties present, with a certain _coverlid_ under his arm, in lieu of his opera hat; nor was he aware of the exchange he had made till a friend gave him a _gentle_ hint. He occasionally rode a short distance into the country to do duty on a Sunday, when he used compassionately to relieve his steed by alighting and walking on, with the horse following, and the bridle on his arm. Upon such occasions he frequently fell into what is called "a brown study," and arrived at his destination dragging the bridle after him, _minus_ the horse, which had stopped by the way to crop grass. He was one day met on the road so circumstanced, and reminded of the fact by a gentleman who knew him. "Bless me," said he, with the most perfect composure, "the horse was with me when I sat out. I must go back to seek him." And back he went a mile or two, when he found his steed grazing by the way, bridled him afresh, and reached his church an hour later than usual, much to the chagrin of his congregation. The late Dr. Adams, one of the first who went out to Demerara after the established clergy were appointed to stations and parishes in the West Indies by authority, was a man of habits very similar to those of Mr. Linley, and very similar anecdotes are recorded of him, and his oddities are said to have caused some mirth to his sable followers. He died in about a year or two, much regretted notwithstanding.

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THE EARLY POETS BRED IN THE HALLS OF GRANTA,

"_Semper--pauperimus esse_," were nearly all blest with none or a slender competence. But what they wanted in wealth was amply supplied in wit. Spenser, Lee, Otway, Ben Johnson, and his son Randolph, Milton, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, and Kit Smart, poets as they were, had fared but so so, had they lived by poësy only--and who ever dreamed of caring ought for _their_ posterity.

SPENCER was matriculated a member of Pembroke College, Cambridge, the 20th of May, 1569, at the age of sixteen, at which early period he is supposed to have been under his "sweet fit of poesy," and soon after formed the design of his great poem, the _Faery Queene_, _stanzas_ of which, it is said, on very good authority, were lately discovered on the removal of some of the old wainscoting of the room in which he _kept_ in Pembroke College. He took B.A. 1573, and M.A. 1576, without succeeding to fellowship, died _in want of bread_, 1599, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, according to his request, near Chaucer. Camden says of him--

"Anglica, te vivo, vixit plautisque poesis, Nunc moritura, timet, te moriente, mori!"

In the common-place-book of Edward, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, preserved amongst the MSS. of the British Museum, is the memoranda:--"Lord Carteret told me, that when he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a man of the name of Spenser, immediately descended from our illustrious poet, came to be examined before the Lord Chief Justice, as a witness in a cause, and that he was so entirely ignorant of the English language, that they were forced to have an interpreter for him." But I have no intention to give my readers the _blues_. "NAT. LEE" was a Trinity man, and was, as the folk say, "as poor as a church mouse" during his short life, four years of which he passed in Bedlam. An envious scribe one day there saw him, and mocked his calamity by asking, "If it was not easy to write like a madman?" "No, Sir," said he; "but it is

VERY EASY TO WRITE LIKE A FOOL."