OXFORD, BY DAY AND NIGHT. 48-5 



Of these shall after ages sing, 



And to their memories fondly cling, 



Though long they've passed away. 

 Posterity shall oft rehearse 

 Their learned lore, their moral verse, 



And shield both from decay. 



But hark ! this sun-lit " breezy morn" 

 Is usher'd in by twanging horn, 

 By clattering steed and clanging hoof, 

 And guards and coachmen water- proof. 

 "The Alert's" four horses panting stand, 

 When Black Bill takes the reins in hand, 



And to start an effort made is. 

 " Hollo ! stop Bill," the ostlers shout, 

 " This little boy has been book'd out, 



This bull-dog, and these ladies." 



They're up and off, and down the street 

 Ring the high-mettled leader's feet. 

 The sound decays : but ere they're gone, 

 Holmes, with "The Blenheim," dashes on. 

 , Of all the coachmen through this city, 

 No matter who, or where he roams, 



There's none shows a " turn-out" so pretty, 

 Or clears the road so clean as Holmes.* 



Breakfast discuss'd, each lad of college 



Then hastens to the public schools ; 

 Hears there is such a thing as knowledge, 



And feels there are such folks as fools, 

 At length ennuye sallies out, 

 And struts each street and lane about, 

 Assumes a grand and lofty air, 

 Making the simpler natives stare. 



Pleas'd with himself, the youth returns, 

 Enquires the hour, and joyful learns 

 That in some minutes there'll be spread 

 " The lunch"on which such lads are fed ; 



A tit-bit, a gum-tickler, merely 

 To keep the stomach right and steady, 



In case it should feel faint or queerly 

 Before the college dinner's ready. 

 This " Lunch," now it must be confessed> 

 Is of Stilton cheese the ripe and best ; 

 And loaves so delicately brown, 

 A relish fit to be washed down 



By those huge tankards, stiff and stout> 



Which maudlin men for pastime take, 

 Clean at a gulp completely out, 



And wonder why their heads should ache.f 



* Charley Holmes is one of the genteelest of coachmen, and is proverbial for his 

 politeness to passengers. Charley was originally a post-boy* and by attention and per- 

 severance has acquired both respectability and wealth. His deportment is unassuming, 

 and his taste is so refined that he never wets his lips with any thing on his journeys up 

 and down but a glass or two of pale sherry. 



t The ale of all the colleges in Oxford possesses'great strength and body, but that of 



M.M. No. 5. M 



