第 14 节
作者:两块      更新:2021-02-18 22:14      字数:9322
  Hugby cried when Glenlivat apologized; if the young
  nobleman had kicked him round the court; I believe the
  tutor would have been happy; so that an apology and a
  reconciliation might subsequently ensue。  'My lord;' said
  he; 'in your conduct on this and all other occasions; you
  have acted as becomes a gentleman; you have been an
  honour to the University; as you will be to the peerage;
  I am sure; when the amiable vivacity of youth is calmed
  down; and you are called upon to take your proper share
  in the government of the nation。'  And when his lordship
  took leave of the University; Hugby presented him with a
  copy of his 'Sermons to a Nobleman's Family' (Hugby was
  once private tutor to the Sons of the Earl of
  Muffborough); which Glenlivat presented in return to Mr。
  William Ramm; known to the fancy as the Tutbury Pet; and
  the sermons now figure on the boudoir…table of Mrs。 Ramm;
  behind the bar of her house of entertainment; 'The Game
  Cock and Spurs;' near Woodstock; Oxon。
  At the beginning of the long vacation; Hugby comes to
  town; and puts up in handsome lodgings near St。 James's
  Square; rides in the Park in the afternoon; and is
  delighted to read his name in the morning papers among
  the list of persons present at Muffborough House; and the
  Marquis of Farintosh's evening…parties。  He is a member
  of Sydney Scraper's Club; where; however; he drinks his
  pint of claret。
  Sometimes you may see him on Sundays; at the hour when
  tavern doors open; whence issue little girls with great
  jugs of porter; when charity…boys walk the streets;
  bearing brown dishes of smoking shoulders of mutton and
  baked 'taturs; when Sheeny and Moses are seen smoking
  their pipes before their lazy shutters in Seven Dials;
  when a crowd of smiling persons in clean outlandish
  dresses; in monstrous bonnets and flaring printed gowns;
  or in crumpled glossy coats and silks that bear the
  creases of the drawers where they have lain all the week;
  file down High Street;sometimes; I say; you may see
  Hugby coming out of the Church of St。 Giles…in…the…
  Fields; with a stout gentlewoman leaning on his arm;
  whose old face bears an expression of supreme pride and
  happiness as she glances round at all the neighbours; and
  who faces the curate himself and marches into Holborn;
  where she pulls the bell of a house over which is
  inscribed; 'Hugby; Haberdasher。'  It is the mother of the
  Rev。 F。 Hugby; as proud of her son in his white choker as
  Cornelia of her jewels at Rome。  That is old Hugby
  bringing up the rear with the Prayer…books; and Betsy
  Hugby the old maid; his daughter;old Hugby; Haberdasher
  and Church…warden。
  In the front room upstairs; where the dinner is laid out;
  there is a picture of Muffborough Castle; of the Earl of
  Muffborough; K。X。; Lord…Lieutenant for Diddlesex; an
  engraving; from an almanac; of Saint Boniface College;
  Oxon; and a sticking…plaster portrait of Hugby when
  young; in a cap and gown。  A copy of his 'Sermons to a
  Nobleman's Family' is on the bookshelf; by the 'Whole
  Duty of Man;' the Reports of the Missionary Societies;
  and the 'Oxford University Calendar。'  Old Hugby knows
  part of this by heart; every living belonging to Saint
  Boniface; and the name of every tutor; fellow; nobleman;
  and undergraduate。
  He used to go to meeting and preach himself; until his
  son took orders; but of late the old gentleman has been
  accused of Puseyism; and is quite pitiless against the
  Dissenters。
  CHAPTER XV
  ON UNIVERSITY SNOBS
  I should like to fill several volumes with accounts of
  various University Snobs; so fond are my reminiscences of
  them; and so numerous are they。  I should like to speak;
  above all; of the wives and daughters of some of the
  Professor…Snobs; their amusements; habits; jealousies;
  their innocent artifices to entrap young men; their
  picnics; concerts; and evening…parties。  I wonder what
  has become of Emily Blades; daughter of Blades; the
  Professor of the Mandingo language?  I remember her
  shoulders to this day; as she sat in the midst of a crowd
  of about seventy young gentlemen; from Corpus and
  Catherine Hall; entertaining them with ogles and French
  songs on the guitar。  Are you married; fair Emily of the
  shoulders?  What beautiful ringlets those were that used
  to dribble over them!what a waist!what a killing sea…
  green shot…silk gown!what a cameo; the size of a
  muffin!  There were thirty…six young men of the
  University in love at one time with Emily Blades: and no
  words are sufficient to describe the pity; the sorrow;
  the deep; deep commiserationthe rage; fury; and
  uncharitableness; in other wordswith which the Miss
  Trumps (daughter of Trumps; the Professor of Phlebotomy)
  regarded her; because she DIDN'T squint; and because she
  WASN'T marked with the small…pox。
  As for the young University Snobs; I am getting too old;
  now; to speak of such very familiarly。  My recollections
  of them lie in the far; far pastalmost as far back as
  Pelham's time。
  We THEN used to consider Snobs raw…looking lads; who
  never missed chapel; who wore highlows and no straps; who
  walked two hours on the Trumpington road every day of
  their lives; who carried off the college scholarships;
  and who overrated themselves in hall。  We were premature
  in pronouncing our verdict of youthful Snobbishness  The
  man without straps fulfilled his destiny and duty。  He
  eased his old governor; the curate in Westmoreland; or
  helped his sisters to set up the Ladies' School。  He
  wrote a 'Dictionary;' or a 'Treatise on Conic Sections;'
  as his nature and genius prompted。  He got a fellowship:
  and then took to himself a wife; and a living。  He
  presides over a parish now; and thinks it rather a
  dashing thing to belong to the 'Oxford and Cambridge
  Club;' and his parishioners love him; and snore under his
  sermons。  No; no; HE is not a Snob。  It is not straps
  that make the gentleman; or highlows that unmake him; be
  they ever so thick。  My son; it is you who are the Snob
  if you lightly despise a man for doing his duty; and
  refuse to shake an honest man's hand because it wears a
  Berlin glove。
  We then used to consider it not the least vulgar for a
  parcel of lads who had been whipped three months
  previous; and were not allowed more than three glasses of
  port at home; to sit down to pineapples and ices at each
  other's rooms; and fuddle themselves with champagne and
  claret。
  One looks back to what was called a 'wine…party' with a
  sort of wonder。  Thirty lads round a table covered with
  bad sweetmeats; drinking bad wines; telling bad stories;
  singing bad songs over and over again。  Milk punch
  smokingghastly headache frightful spectacle of
  dessert…table next morning; and smell of tobaccoyour
  guardian; the clergyman; dropping in; in the midst of
  thisexpecting to find you deep in Algebra; and
  discovering the Gyp administering soda…water。
  There were young men who despised the lads who indulged
  in the coarse hospitalities of wine…parties; who prided
  themselves in giving RECHERCHE little French dinners。
  Both wine…party…givers and dinner…givers were Snobs。
  There were what used to be called 'dressy' Snobs:… Jimmy;
  who might be seen at five o'clock elaborately rigged out;
  with a camellia in his button…hole; glazed boots; and
  fresh kid…gloves twice a day;Jessamy; who was
  conspicuous for his 'jewellery;'a young donkey;
  glittering all over with chains; rings; and shirt…studs;…
  …Jacky; who rode every day solemnly on the Blenheim Road;
  in pumps and white silk stockings; with his hair curled;…
  …all three of whom flattered themselves they gave laws to
  the University about dressall three most odious
  varieties of Snobs。
  Sporting Snobs of course there were; and are always
  those happy beings in whom Nature has implanted a love of
  slang: who loitered about the horsekeeper's stables; and
  drove the London coachesa stage in and outand might
  be seen swaggering through the courts in pink of early
  mornings; and indulged in dice and blind…hookey at
  nights; and never missed a race or a boxing…match; and
  rode flat…races; and kept bull…terriers。  Worse Snobs
  even than these were poor miserable wretches who did not
  like hunting at all; and could not afford it; and were in
  mortal fear at a two…foot ditch; but who hunted because
  Glenlivat and Cinqbars hunted。  The Billiard Snob and the
  Boating Snob were varieties of these; and are to be found
  elsewhere than in universities。
  Then there were Philosophical Snobs; who used to ape
  statesmen at the spouting…clubs; and who believed as a
  fact that Government always had an eye on the University
  for the selection of orators for the House of Commons。
  There were audacious young free…thinkers; who adored
  nobody or nothing; except perhaps Robespierre and the
  Koran; and panted for the day when the pale name of
  priest should shrink and dwindle away before the
  indignation o