Here the
Balliol men continually, and by perpetuall bubbing, add art to their
natural stupidity, to make themselves perfect sots."
The envy and jealousy of the inferior colleges, alas! have put about
many things, in these latter days, to the discredit of the Balliol
men, but not even Humphrey Prideaux would, out of all his stock of
epithets, choose "sottish" and "stupid." In these old times,
however, Dr. Good had to call the men together, and -
"Inform them of the mischiefs of that hellish liquor called ale; but
one of them, not so tamely to be preached out of his beloved liquor,
made answer that the Vice-Chancelour's men drank ale at the "Split
Crow," and why should not they too?"
On this, old Dr. Good posted off to the Vice-Chancellor, who, "being
a lover of old ale" himself, returned a short answer to the head of
Balliol. The old man went back to his college, and informed his
fellows, "that he was assured there were no hurt in ale, so that now
they may be sots by authority." Christ Church men were not more
sober. David Whitford, who had been the tutor of Shirley the poet,
was found lying dead in his bed: "he had been going to take a dram
for refreshment, but death came between the cup and the lips, and
this is the end of Davy." Prideaux records, in the same feeling
style, that smallpox carried off many of the undergraduates, "besides
my brother," a student at Corpus.
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