If you go
down for five shillings to look at the 'College Youths,' you may
see one sneaking down the court without a tassel to his cap;
another with a gold or silver fringe to his velvet trencher; a
third lad with a master's gown and hat, walking at ease over the
sacred College grass-plats, which common men must not tread on.
"He may do it because he is a nobleman. Because a lad is a lord,
the University gives him a degree at the end of two years which
another is seven in acquiring. Because he is a lord, he has no
call to go through an examination. . . .
"The lads with gold and silver lace are sons of rich gentlemen,
and called Fellow Commoners; they are privileged to feed better
than the pensioners, and to have wine with their victuals, which
the latter can only get in their rooms.
"The unlucky boys who have no tassels to their caps, are called
sizars--servitors at Oxford--(a very pretty and gentlemanlike
title). A distinction is made in their clothes because they are
poor; for which reason they wear a badge of poverty, and are not
allowed to take their meals with their fellow students.
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