The Further Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Under-Graduate

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Bede Cuthbert. The Further Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Under-Graduate

PART II

CHAPTER I. MR. VERDANT GREEN RECOMMENCES HIS EXISTENCE AS AN OXFORD UNDERGRADUATE

CHAPTER II. MR. VERDANT GREEN DOES AS HE HAS BEEN DONE BY

CHAPTER III. MR. VERDANT GREEN ENDEAVOURS TO KEEP HIS SPIRITS UP BY POURING SPIRITS DOWN

CHAPTER IV. MR. VERDANT GREEN DISCOVERS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOWN AND GOWN

CHAPTER V. MR. VERDANT GREEN IS FAVOURED WITH MR. BOUNCER'S OPINIONS REGARDING AN UNDERGRADUATE'S EPISTOLARY COMMUNICATIONS TO HIS MATERNAL RELATIVE

CHAPTER VI. MR. VERDANT GREEN FEATHERS HIS OARS WITH SKILL AND DEXTERITY

CHAPTER VII. MR. VERDANT GREEN PARTAKES OF A DOVE-TART AND A SPREAD-EAGLE

CHAPTER VIII. MR. VERDANT GREEN SPENDS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

CHAPTER IX. MR. VERDANT GREEN MAKES HIS FIRST APPEARANCE ON ANY BOARDS

CHAPTER X. MR. VERDANT GREEN ENJOYS A REAL CIGAR

CHAPTER XI. MR. VERDANT GREEN GETS THROUGH HIS SMALLS

CHAPTER XII. MR. VERDANT GREEN AND HIS FRIENDS ENJOY THE COMMEMORATION

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The intelligent reader – which epithet I take to be a synonym for every one who has perused the first part of the Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, – will remember the statement, that the hero of the narrative "had gained so much experience during his Freshman's term, that, when the pleasures of the Long Vacation were at an end, and he had returned to Brazenface with his firm and fast friend Charles Larkyns, he felt himself entitled to assume a patronising air to the Freshmen, who then entered, and even sought to impose upon their credulity in ways which his own personal experience suggested." And the intelligent reader will further call to mind the fact that the first part of these memoirs concluded with the words – "it was clear that Mr. Verdant Green had made his farewell bow as an Oxford Freshman."

But, although Mr. Verdant Green had of necessity ceased to be "a Freshman" as soon as he had entered upon his second term of residence, – the name being given to students in their first term only, – yet this necessity, which, as we all know, non habet leges, will occasionally prove its rule by an exception; and if Mr. Verdant Green was no longer a Freshman in name, he still continued to be one by nature. And the intelligent reader will perceive when he comes to study these veracious memoirs, that, although their hero will no longer display those peculiarly virulent symptoms of freshness, which drew towards him so much friendly sympathy during the earlier part of his University career, yet that he will still, by his innocent simplicity and credulity, occasionally evidence the truth of the Horatian maxim, —

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"Ah, sir," continued his tormentor, "I see that you will not do for us yet awhile, and I am therefore under the painful necessity of rejecting you. I should advise you, sir, to read hard for another twelvemonths, and endeavour to master those subjects in which you have now failed. For, a young man, Mr. Pucker, who knows nothing about the Fourth Punic War, and the constitution of ancient Heliopolis, is quite unfit to be enrolled among the members of such a learned college as Brazenface. Mr. Pluckem quite coincides with me in this decision." (Here Mr. Verdant Green gave a Burleigh nod.) "We feel very sorry for you, Mr. Pucker, and also for your unfortunate family; but we recommend you to add to your present stock of knowledge, and to keep those visiting-cards for another twelvemonth." And Mr. Fosbrooke and our hero – disregarding poor Mr. Pucker's entreaties that they would consider his pa and ma, and would please to matriculate him this once, and he would read very hard, indeed he would – turned to Mr. Bouncer and gave some private instructions, which caused that gentleman immediately to vanish, and seek out Mr. Robert Filcher.

Five minutes after, that excellent Scout met the dejected Mr. Pucker as he was crossing the Quad on his way from Mr. Fosbrooke's rooms.

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