Page:Angelo's Pic Nic.djvu/120

 ETON MONTEM No GRECIAN. Upon the examination for the Remove at Eton (that part of the school between the fourth and fifth form), which takes place every half year, though I succeeded with my Theme and Verses, I was not so fortunate when tried in Greek. Doctor Foster, who was then head master, having called me up to derivate (Eton term) the Greek word Bαλλω, and the boy before me a Colleger, brother to Sir Hanbury Williams, next to me the Honourable Charles Monson, the two, des ignorans, all three indeed of one feather, I stood no chance of being prompted, or of having a side whisper to assist me; answering Baλλω, Bαλλ6, Ba Eca, instead of Baβλε/ca, I was ordered to sit down-previously, as I surmised, to a good flogging. Charles Monson, who was called up next, replied no better than myself, but, being an honourable, escaped the vapulation. However, as I was the Fencing Master's son (my father at that time attending Eton), I got my remove into the fifth form. " Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit." ETON MoNTEM. One year there was a mock Montem among the inhabitants of the town, at Eton. The elder Williams, the carpenter, was marshal, who strutted at the head of the Hommes de Métier, holding his bâton; who the captain was, I do not recollect; my Dilly Stevens who let horses to the boys, the two Pipers, and Gill their boats, Frank Wetheridge the bricklayer, famous for his slang, were the most conspicuous characters of the motley crew in the procession to the Brocas (those old 42