Part 13 (1/2)
Verdant Green <vg093jpg> became bewildered, and finally entles,” of a neat, quiet, plaid-pattern, in red and green, which, he was infore
When these had been sent hoether with a neck-tie of Oxford-blue frouinea Lincoln-and-Bennett, our hero was delighted with the general effect of the costu in at the tailor's to express his approbation, he at once sallied forth to ”do the High,” and display his new purchases A drawn silk bonnet of pale lavender, frolets, quickly attracted our hero's attention; and the sight of an arch, French-looking face, which (to his short-sighted i lady rustled by, ied hihtest encourageiven him, he stalked this little deer to her lair, and, after some difficulty, discovered the enchantress to be Made Goddesses of a fancy hosiery warehouse There, for the next fortnight, - until which immense period his ardent passion had not subsided, - our hero was daily to be seen purchasing articles for which he had no earthly use, but fully recompensed for his outlay by the artless (ill-natured people said, artful) s, piquant conversation of mademoiselle Our hero, when reminded of this at a subsequent period, protested that he had thus acted merely to improve his French, and only conversed with mademoiselle for educational purposes But we have our doubts ~Credat Judaeus!~
About this tis for a very pro-
[94 ADVENTURES OF MR VERDANT GREEN]
an expensive habit of strolling in to shops, and purchasing ”an extensive assort> every description,” for no other consideration than that he should not be called upon to pay for theree He also decorated the walls of his roo over of portfolios at Ry over of a considerable amount of cash; and our hero had not yet beco-systeives you a fresh set every term, and passes on your old ones to sohtful, when you ad, to be able to say, ”Send that to my room!” and to be obsequiously obeyed, ”no questions asked,” and no payment demanded; and as for the future, why - as Mr Larkyns observed, as they strolled down the High - ”I suppose the bills ~will~ coovernor will see to the face, yet he'll only be too glad you've got your degree, and, in the fulness of his heart, he will open his cheque-book I daresay old Horace gives very good advice when he says, 'carpe diem'; but when he adds, 'qua the least credit to the succeeding day,'
it is clear that he never looked forward to the Oxford tradesmen and the credit-system Do you ever read Wordsworth, Verdant?” continued Mr Larkyns, as they stopped at the corner of Oriel Street, to look in at a spacious range of shop-s, that were croith a costly and glittering profusion of ~papier lass, and every kind of ”fancy goods” that could be classed as ”art-workmanshi+p”
”Why, I've not read much of Wordsworth myself,” replied
---Car i od xi
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 95]
our hero; ”but I've heard reat deal of his poetry”
”Shews her taste,” said Charles Larkyns ”Well, this shop - you see the name - is Spiers'; and Wordsworth, in his sonnet to Oxford, has immortalized him Don't you remember the lines?-
'O ye Spiers of Oxford! your presence overpowers The soberness of reason!'
It was very queer that Wordsworth should ascribe to Messrs Spiers all the intoxication of the place; but then he was a <vg095jpg> Cah, isn't it?
Particularly useful, and no less ornaes of the place Let us go in and have a look at what Mrs Caudle calls the articles of bigotry and virtue”
Mr Verdant Green was soon deeply engaged in an inspection of those ~papier-mache~ ”remembrances of Oxford” for which the Messrs Spiers are so justly fa over tables, trays, screens, desks, albus, - all of which displayed views of Oxford from every variety of aspect, and were executed with such truth and perception of the higher qualities of art, that they forain intentionally deceiving his fresh into our Wordsworth (~Misc Son~ iii 2) we find that the poet does ~not~ refer to the establishment of Messrs Spiers and Son, and that the lines, truly quoted, are,
”O ye ~spires~ of Oxford! doroves! Your presence,” &c
We blush for Mr Larkyns!
[96 ADVENTURES OF MR VERDANT GREEN]
theratuitous Acade the bewildering allurements around him, as to feel quite an ~embarras de richesses~, and to be in a state ofMr Spiers the entleraduate Fortunately for his purse, his attention was so that Mr Slowcoach was at his elbow, looking over ink-stands and reading-la upon hiar-case he had purchased emblazoned with the heraldic device of the Larkyns, or illuminated with the Euripidean ar philo}
When this point had been decided, Mr Larkyns proposed to Verdant that he should astonish and delight his governor by having the Green ar it hoift ”Or else,” he said, ”order one with the garden-view of Brazenface, and then they'll haveat that than at one of those offensive cockatoos, in an arabesque landscape, under a bronze sky, which usually sprawls over every thing that is ~papierhere; so you can't well go wrong, whatever you buy” Finally, Mr Verdant Green (NB Mr Green, senior, would have eventually to pay the bill) ordered a fire-screen to be prepared with the family-arms, as a present for his father; a ditto, with the view of his college, for his h Street view, for his aunt; a netting-box, card-case, and a model of the Martyrs' Me thus bountifully remembered his family-circle, he treated himself with a modest paper-knife, and was treated in return by Mr Spiers with a perfect ~bijou~ of art, in the shape of ”a lories of that city were set forth in gold and colours, in the most attractive form, and which our hero immediately posted off to the Manor Green
”And now, Verdant,” said Mr Larkyns, ”you et a hack, and co, of course”
”Oh, yes - a little!” faltered our hero