Mr. Larkyns put matters in a new light; and Mr. Green began to think
that a university career might be looked at from more than one point
of view. But as old prejudices are not so easily overthrown as the
lath-and-plaster erections of mere newly-formed opinion, Mr. Green was
not yet won over by Mr. Larkyns' arguments. "There was my father,"
he said, "who was one of the worthiest and kindest men living; and I
believe he never went to college, nor did he think it necessary that
I should go; and I trust I'm no worse a man than my father."

"Ah! Green," replied the rector; "the old argument! But you must not
judge the present age by the past; nor measure out to ~your~ son the
same degree of education that


[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 17]

your father might think sufficient for ~you~. When you and I were
boys, Green, these things were thought of very differently to what
they are in the present day; and when your father gave you a
respectable education at a classical school, he did all that he
thought was requisite to form you into a country gentleman, and fit
you for that station in life you were destined to fill. But consider
what a progressive age it is that we live in; and you will see that
the standard of education has been considerably raised since the days
when you and I did the 'propria quae maribus' together; and that when
he comes to mix in society, more will be demanded of the son than was
expected from the father. And besides this, think in how many ways
it will benefit Verdant to send him to college. By mixing more in
the world, and being called upon to act and think for himself, he