AN ECCENTRIC 95 



men, some boys, and a few women — congregated round 

 a figure of a grotesque and extraordinary appearance, 

 who stood in front of a butcher's shop, gesticulating and 

 loudly haranguing, as I thought, the motley group. 



I stopped for a minute to scan this eccentric personage, 

 who it seemed Avas a familiar object to all but myself. I 

 wondered why the authorities did not prevent the collect- 

 ing of such an assemblage in the streets, particularly as it 

 comprised many gownsmen, young and old. I, however, 

 supposed that it must be an exhibition peculiar to this 

 University. 



The man had on a blue dress coat with gilt buttons, 

 which were not altogether disposed in regular order, nor 

 was the garment itself free from those gaps which time 

 and use had created. The colour of his waistcoat, from 

 the accumulation of snuff and other impurities, it would 

 have been a difficult matter to define. Nothino- in the 

 shape of linen was visible about his person ; his head was 

 surmounted by a large cocked hat, which he wore ath wart- 

 ships, as the sailors term it, with a cockade and a gold 

 loop in front ; while his nether extremities — his limbs 

 being partly enveloped in tattered inexpressibles — dis- 

 daining any covering — corresponded in their hue with his 

 unwashed and half-shaven visage. Round his neck he 

 wore what was intended to represent a massive gold 

 chain, to which was appended an eye-glass, which " ever 

 and anon " he would apply to his organ of vision, although 

 it was evident enough it did not need that assistance, for 

 he had a fine full eye, which might have lit up large and 

 intelligent features, had the organ not been dimmed by 

 perpetual sotting. In his hand he carried an immense 



