“THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB.”

Cambridge, 1857.

1. Mention any occasions on which it is specified that the Fat Boy was not asleep; and that (1) Mr. Pickwick and (2) Mr. Weller, senr., ran. Deduce from expressions used on one occasion Mr. Pickwick’s maximum of speed.

2. Translate into coherent English, adding a note wherever a word, a construction, or an allusion, requires it:

“Go on, Jemmy—like black-eyed Susan—all in the Downs”—“Smart chap that cabman—handled his fives well—but if I’d been your friend in the green jemmy—punch his head—pig’s whisper—pieman, too.”

Elucidate the expression, “the Spanish Traveller,” and the “narcotic bedstead.”

3. Who were Mr. Staple, Goodwin, Mr. Brooks, Villam, Mrs. Bunkin, “old Nobs,” “cast-iron head,” “young Bantam?”

4. What operation was performed on Tom Smart’s chair? Who little thinks that in which pocket, of what garment, in where, he has left what, entreating him to return to whom, with how many what, and all how big?5. Give, approximately, the height of Mr. Dubbley; and, accurately, the Christian names of Mr. Grummer, Mrs. Raddle, and the fat Boy; also the surname of the Zephyr.

6. “Mr. Weller’s knowledge of London was extensive and peculiar.” Illustrate this by a reference to the facts.

7. Describe the Rebellion which had irritated Mr. Nupkins on the day of Mr. Pickwick’s arrest?

8. Give in full Samuel Weller’s first compliment to Mary, and his father’s critique upon the same young lady. What church was on the valentine that first attracted Mr. Samuel’s eye in the shop?

9. Describe the common Profeel-machine.

10. State the component parts of dog’s nose; and simplify the expression “taking a grinder.”

11. On finding his principal in the pound, Mr. Weller and the town-beadle varied directly. Show that the latter was ultimately eliminated, and state the number of rounds in the square which is not described.

12. “Any think for air and exercise; as the wery old donkey observed ven they yoke him up from his deathbed to carry ten gen’lmen to Greenwich in a tax-cart.” Illustrate this by stating any remark recorded in the Pickwick Papers to have been made by a (previously) dumb animal, with the circumstances under which he made it.

13. What kind of cigars did Mr. Ben Allen chiefly smoke, and where did he knock and take naps alternately, under the impression that it was his home?14. What was the ordinary occupation of Mr. Sawyer’s boy? whence did Mr. Allen derive the idea that there was a special destiny between Mr. S. and Arabella?

15. Describe Weller’s Method of “gently indicating his presence” to the young lady in the garden; and the Form of Salutation usual among the coachmen of the period.

16. State any incidents you know in the career of Tom Martin, butcher, previous to his incarceration.

17. Give Weller’s Theories for the extraction of Mr. Pickwick from the Fleet. Where was his wife’s will found?

18. How did the old lady make a memorandum, and of what, at whist? Show that there were at least three times as many fiddles as harps in Muggleton at the time of the ball at Manor Farm.

19. What is a red-faced Nixon?

20. Write down the chorus to each verse of Mr. S. Weller’s song, and a sketch of the mottle-faced man’s excursus on it. Is there any ground for conjecturing that he (Sam) had more brothers than one?

21. How many lumps of sugar went into the Shepherd’s liquor as a rule? and is any exception recorded?

22. What seal was on Mr. Winkle’s letter to his father? What penitential attitude did he assume before Mr. Pickwick?

23. “She’s a swelling visibly.” When did the same phenomenon occur again, and what fluid caused the pressure on the body in the latter case?

24. How did Mr. Weller, senior, define the Funds, and what view did he take of Reduced Consols? in what terms is his elastic force described, when he assaulted Mr. Stiggins at the meeting? Write down the name of the meeting?

25. “Πςοβατογνώμων: a good judge of cattle; hence, a good judge of character.” Note on Æsch. Ag.—Illustrate the theory involved by a remark of the parent Weller.

26. Give some account of the word “fanteeg,” and hazard any conjecture explanatory of the expression “My Prooshan Blue,” applied by Mr. Samuel to Mr. Tony Weller.

27. In developing to P. M. his views of a proposition, what assumption did Mr. Pickwick feel justified in making?

28. Deduce from a remark of Mr. Weller, junior, the price per mile of cabs at the period.

29. What do you know of the hotel next the Bull at Rochester?

30. Who, besides Mr. Pickwick, is recorded to have worn gaiters?

KEY TO THE ‘PICKWICK’ EXAMINATION PAPER.

1. See Chapters IV., VIII., XXVIII., LIV.

(1), IV., XXX. (twice), XXXIX.

(2), LVI.

2. Two of Jingle’s speeches are here quoted, the first being in Chapter III., and the second in Chapter II. For “Spanish traveller” see Chapter III., and for “narcotic bedstead” see Chapter XLI. “Go on, Jemmy,” is Mr. Jingle’s adjuration to the actor whom he has previously designated “Dismal Jemmy,” urging the commencement of the ‘Stroller’s Tale.’ “Like black-eyed Susan—all in the Downs” has the double application to the stroller’s melancholy and the first line of Gay’s song of ‘Black-eyed Susan’—“All in the Downs the fleet was moored.” “Handled his fives well” of course refers to the “sparring” of the cabman who wanted to fight Mr. Pickwick. “Friend in the green jemmy” refers to Mr. Winkle, who, we are told in Chapter I., “wore a new green shooting-coat,” &c. “Pig’s whisper” is slang for a very brief space of time. Bartlett says the Americans have “pig’s whistle” the same signification.

3. See Chapters VII., XVIII., XIX., XXII., XXXIV., XXXVII., XXXVI., XLIV.

4. See two several parts of ‘The Bagman’s Story’ in Chapter XIV.

5. See Chapters XXIV., XXV., XLVI., VIII,, XLI.

6. See Chapter XX.

7. See Chapter XXIV.

8. See Chapters XXV., LVI., XXXIII.

9. See Chapter XXXIII.

10. See Chapters XXXIII. and XXXI.

11. See the end of Chapter XIX.

12. Illustrations will be found severally in Chapters XXXIII., XXXV., XLVII.

13. See Chapters XXX. and XXXII.

14. See two separate passages in Chapter XXXVIII.

15. See Chapters XXXIX. and XLIII.

16. See Chapter XLII.

17. See Chapters XLIII., XLV., LV.

18. See Chapters VI. and XXVIII.

19. See Chapter XLIII. “You’ve been a prophesyin’ away very fine like a red-faced Nixon as the sixpenny books gives picters on.” The allusion is to Robert Nixon, the Cheshire prophet. See Notes and Queries, first series, vol. viii., pp. 257 and 326; and fourth series, vol. xi., pp. 171 and 265. Nixon’s prophecies have been frequently published in the form of chapbooks, and were probably current at the time with a highly-coloured portrait.

20. The first requisition may be complied with by reference to Chapter XLIII. The following is answered in Chapter X.

21. See Chapters XLV. and LII.

22. See Chapters L. and XLVII.

23. See Chapters XXXIII. and XLV.

24. The first two questions are answered in Chapters LII. and LV. The next is answered at the end of Chapter XXXIII.; where also is the information lastly required.

25. The illustration required is in Chapter LV.

26. See Chapters XXXVIII. and XXXIII. “Fanteeg, a worry or bustle. Also, ill-humour.—Various Dialects.”—Halliwell. “Prooshan blue” probably refers to the colour of dress-coats. “Which gentleman of your party wears a bright blue dress-coat?” enquires The Boots, in ‘Pickwick,’ Chapter II. Thus Sam Weller’s “Prooshan Blue” is a finely-dressed fellow of the Pickwick-Weller period.

27. See Chapter XXIV.

28. See the opening of Chapter XXII.

29. See Chapter II.

30. See Chapter XX.