“Bertha, Kate, and Isabel, you have been very good girls, and have written me very nice letters, with which I was much pleased. This is the last letter which I can write in return; and as I happen to have a quiet hour to myself, here at Streatham, on Monday noon, I will employ that hour in relating to you the whole history and manner of my being ell-ell-deed at Oxford by the Vice-Chancellor.
“You must know, then, that because I had written a great many good books, and more especially the Life of Wesley, it was made known to me by the Vice-Chancellor, through Mr. Heber, that the University of Oxford were desirous of showing me the only mark of honour in their power to bestow, which was that of making me an LL.D., that is to say, a doctor of laws.
“Now, you are to know that some persons are ell-
* In both the ten vol. and one vol. edit. of my father’s poems, this poem “On the Portrait of Bishop Heber” bears the wrong date of 1820. It was written in 1830. |
| Ætat. 46. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 39 |
“The ceremony of ell-ell-deeing is performed in a
large circular building called the theatre, of which I will show you a print
when I return, and this theatre is filled with people. The undergraduates (that
is the young men who are called Cathedrals at Keswick) entirely fill the
gallery. Under the gallery there are seats, which are filled with ladies in
full dress, separated from the gentlemen. Between these two divisions of the
ladies are seats for the heads of houses, and the doctors of law, physic, and
divinity. In the middle of these seats is the Vice-Chancellor, opposite the
entrance which is under the orchestra. On the right and left are two kind of
pulpits, from which the prize essays and poems are recited. The area, or middle
of the theatre, is filled with bachelors and masters of arts, and with as many
strangers as can
| 40 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 46. |
“When the theatre is full, the Vice-Chancellor, and the heads of houses, and the doctors enter: those persons who are to be ell-ell-deed remain without in the divinity schools, in their robes, till the convocation have signified their assent to the ell-ell-deeing, and then they are led into the theatre, one after another in a line, into the middle of the area, the people just making a lane for them. The professor of civil law, Dr. Phillimore, went before, and made a long speech in Latin, telling the Vice-Chancellor and the dignissimi doctores what excellent persons we were who were now to be ell-ell-deed. Then he took us one by one by the hand, and presented each in his turn, pronouncing his name aloud, saying who and what he was, and calling him many laudatory names ending in issimus. The audience then cheered loudly to show their approbation of the person; the Vice-Chancellor stood up, and repeating the first words in issime, ell-ell-deed him; the beadles lifted up the bar of separation, and the new-made doctor went up the steps and took his seat among the dignissimi doctores.
“Oh Bertha,
Kate, and Isabel, if you had seen me that day! I was
like other issimis, dressed in a great robe of the finest scarlet cloth, with
sleeves of rose-coloured silk, and I had in my hand a black velvet cap like a
beef-eater, for the use of which dress I paid one guinea for that day.
Dr. Philli-
| Ætat. 46. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 41 |
“Little girls, you know it might be proper for me, now, to wear a large wig, and to be called Doctor Southey, and to become very severe, and leave off being a comical papa. And if you should find that ell-ell-deeing has made this difference in me you will not be surprised. However, I shall not come down in a wig, neither shall I wear my robes at home.
“God bless you all!
