T ? ^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Ex Libris \ C. K. OGDEN % €pocI)5 of Cfturci) r)i5torp EDITED BY THE PROFESSOR MANDELL CREIGHTOX. THE UNIVEESITY OF CMIBEIDGE "BaQant^ne -press BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EBINBURGH AND LONDON A HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF CAMRRIDGE. BY J. BASS MUL LINGER, M.A. Ill LECTURER IN HISTORY AT ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE. LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND 00. 1888. All rights reserved. PREFACE. Although the present volume appears as one of a series especially designed to illustrate Church History, the writer has not sought to modify the treatment of the subject in order to establish its claim to a place in such a category. The following sketch will suffice to show that it was in the University of Cambridge that the Eeformation in England had its real commence- ment ; that it was there that Puritanism first assumed a distinct organisation, and at the same time encoun- tered the most effective resistance ; that it was there also that a movement which most materially influenced the religious thought of the seventeenth century, — the teaching of the Cambridge Platonists, — took its rise and made its most important contributions to the cause of freedom and toleration. It is not necessary to refer to yet later movements to prove the close connection which has always existed between the vi Preface. Uuiversity and the main current of religious thought and feeling in the country at large, — a connection which becomes more and more apparent in propor- tion as the history of the former is more closely studied. But, notwithstanding the intimate relations which have always, in a greater or less degree, been main- tained between the University and the nation, a re- markable contrast is to be observed in the character of those relations as they existed in mediaeval times and in the first half of the present century. From being at once national and popular, the university had at that time become oligarchical and exclusive ; from a recognised training-school for the professions, and a home for all branches of learning, it had dwindled to little more than a seminary for the Church ; from a munificent endowment for the poor it had been con- verted into something like a monopoly of the wealthier classes. It cannot but be instructive, on the one hand, to note the successive changes and encroachments where- by such a revolution was gradually brought about. It cannot but be of interest, on the other, to observe Preface. vii liow, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the University has once more become national as regards the extent of its action, comprehensive in the range of its studies, and catholic in its sympathies. In the chapter devoted to the times of the Common- wealth it will be seen (p. 152) that, so early as the seventeenth century, the Head of a Cambridge College ventured to put forward a scheme for creating inde- pendent centres of higher education in other English towns. The loss of time, the expense, and the perils attendant in those days upon a journey to either Oxford or Cambridge from the more remote large towns appeared to the author of the scheme suffi- cient reasons for advocating such a measure. It was, however, precisely these considerations, — suggesting, as they did, that the project, if carried out, would result rather in the creation of independent centres than in the extension of university influence, — which con- demned it in the eyes of others. In the present day, when intercommunication is as rapid and easy as it was then slow and difficult, we have seen the project of William Dell to a great extent realised ; and the poor student, who was once under viii Preface. the necessity of journeying laboriously over hill and moor in order to gain the benefits of university instruction, now finds it brought, by the university extension lecturer, almost to his own door. I need oiFer no apology for having devoted a chapter to some account of this important movement, whereby the uni- versity seems destined still further to extend, through- out the nation at large, that influence which, at one time almost lost, it has already more than regained. In my larger work^ I have traced in detail, down to the second quarter of the seventeenth century, the sub- ject of which the present volume offers only the out- line. From that period down to the commencement of the present half- century, the Annals of Cambridge, by C. H. Cooper (vols, iii and iv), and the Scholce Academicce of the Rev. C. Wordsworth will be found to afford the fullest information. On the architec- tural development of the University I have touched only incidentally and very slightly, almost all that is ascertainable on the subject being now before the public in a single work, the admirable ArcJiifcctural ^ The University of Cambridge from the Earliest Times to the Acces- sion of Charles the First. By J. B. Mullinger, M.A. 2 vols. Cam- bridge University Press. 1873-S3. Preface. ix History of the University and Colleges of Camhridge, by Willis and Clark, published in 1886. In the article on " Universities " in the new edition of the Uncyclopcedia Britannica I have endeavoured to give a comparative view of the history of such institu- tions from their first commencement. For the cLart (see p. 212), exhibiting the numbers of admissions to the B.A. degree from the year 1500 to the present decade, I am indebted to Dr. Venn, by whose kind permission it has been prepared from one drawn by him from the data supplied by the original lists. J. BASS MULLIXGER. CONTENTS. rr.EFACE CHAPTER I. The Earliest Universities— Pr^-Academic Cambuidge — ' Beginnings of Cambridge University History. Original meaning of the term ' university ' — Main facts in the history of education subsequent to the fall of the Roman Empire — Distinguishing features of the university move- ment — The University of Salerno — The study of the Civil Law — The study of the Canon Law — The University of Bologna — The study of logic — The Sentences of Peter Lombard — The New Aristotle — Features common to the growth of the early imiversities — Ely and Cambridge — Oxford and Cambridge — Cambridge early in the twelfth century— The Castle— The Church of St. Giles— St. Beuet's Church — First beginnings of the university — Barnwell Prioi-y — The Nunnery of St. Rhadeguud — The Hospital of St. John^The School of Pythagoras — Ely and Cam- bridge — Foundations of the Franciscans and Dominicans — Migrations to Cambridge — Migrations from the univer- sity to Northampton and to Stamford — Town and Gown — Destructive tires ......... xii Contents. CHAPTER II. The University in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries — Foundation of the Earliest Colleges. PAGE Mediseval organisation of the university — The trivium or un- dergraduate course — Grammar, logic, and rhetoric — The quadriv'mm — Course requisite for the theologian — Course requisite for the civilian or canonist — Course requisite for the doctor of medicine — The regents or teacliers — Lec- turing ordinarie and cursorie — Duties imposed upon the ( regents — State of the university in the thirteenth century — Ordinance of Hugh de Balsham — Architectural develop- ment of early colleges — The Hospital of St. John — Foun- dation of Peterhouse — Foundation of Michaelhouse — Foundation of Pembroke Hall — Foundation of Gonville Hall — Foundation of Trinity Hall — Foundation of Corpus Christi College — Foundation of Clare Hall — Foundation of King's Hall — ^Theories of education exemplified in the foregoing foundations . . . , , . . 21 CHAPTER III. The University in the Fifteenth Century— Characteristics of University Medieval Life. Influence of LoUardism and prevalence of ultramontanism at both universities — Antagonism between the ultramontan- ist claims and those of the bishops of Ely — The Barnwell Process — Influences unfavourable to free speculation and philosophy — Foundation of Eton College and King's Col- lege — Foundation of Queen's College — Foundation of St. Catherine's Hall — Foundation of Jesus College — Character of university instruction at this period — The analytical method — The dialectical method — Subsequent career of the master of arts 50 Contents. xiii CHAPTEK IV. The University and the Renaissance. PAGE Bishop Fisher — The Lady Margaret — Foundation of Christ's College — Foundation of St. John's College — Bishop Fisher's different statutes for the college — Residence of Erasmus at Cambridge — Richard Croke — Visit of Wolsey — The early Cambridge press . 66 CHAPTER Y. The Univeksitt during the Reformation. Prse-Lutheran Reformation movement in Cambridge — Its chief leaders — William Tyndale, Barnes, and Latimer — Influence of Cambridge on Oxford — The university and the Royal Divorce — Election of Thomas Cromwell as chancellor — The Royal Injunctions of 1535 — Effects of the dissolution of the monasteries — Leading characters in the university — Thomas Smith and John Cheke — Foundation of the Regius Professorships — Proposed changes in pronunciation of Greek — Foundation of Magdalene College — Designs of the courtiers on the colleges defeated — Foundation of Trinity College — Noteworthy features in its first statutes . . 79 CHAPTER VL From the Fouitoation of Trinity College to the Accession OF Elizabeth. Abuses in admission of students into colleges — State of the university as described by Dr. Caius — The statutes of 1549 — Fagius and Bucer appointed professors — State of the study of the Civil Law — Chief incidents of Mary's reign — Refounding of Gonville Hall by Dr. Caius . . . loi xiv Contents. CHAPTEE VII. The TJniveksitt during the Elizabethan Era. PAGE Cambridge more favourable to the Reformation than Oxford — Increase of numbers in the university — Return of the Marian exiles — Changes in the colleges and the university — Thomas Cartwright and rise of the Puritan party — Appointment of Cartwright to the Lady Margaret profes- sorship — Effects of his teaching — John Whitgift — Measures against Cartwright — Enactment of the Elizabethan Statutes — Persecution of Dr. Cains — Death of Archbisliop Parker — Increased activity of the Puritans — The Disciplina of Walter Travers — Ames, Robert Brown, and John Smith — Foundation of Emmanuel College — Limitation imposed on tenure of fellowships — William Whitaker — Rise of an Arminian party — Arminians and Calvinists — Sir Thomas Smith's Act for the maintenance of colleges — Eoundation of Sidney Sussex College — Relations between the univer- sity and the town . . . . . . . .113 CHAPTER VIIL From the Death of Elizabeth to the Restoration. Expectations of parties at the accession of James — Influence of Eancroft at Cambridge — University receives the right of returning members to Parliament — Arbitrary' rule of colleges — Eminent Heads : Roger Goad, Dr. Neville, Dr. Davenant, John Preston — College plays — Buckingham as chancellor — The university during the Civil W^ar — Imposition of the Solemn League and Covenant — Changes consequent upon its introduction . . . . . . , . .138 CHAPTER IX. From the Restoration to the Accession of George I. Changes at the Restoration — Tlie Crown and the university — Question of mandate degrees— The Cambridge Platonists : Contents. xv PAGE Whichcote, John Smith, Cudworth, and Henry More — Growth of the study of natural philosophy — Barrow and Newton — Attempted reformation of discipline — Monmouth as chancellor — Mandate elections to fellowships — The case of Alban Francis — Changes consequent upon the accession of Mary 11. — Thomas Baker— Richard Bentley — His efforts in the cause of science — His improvements at Trinity — Uffeubach's %'isit and his impressions — Cotes, Whiston, and Joshua Barnes — Controversy revived by Whiston , . 155 CHAPTER X. From tub Accession of George I. to the End of the Eighteenth Century. Later years of Bentley and Xewton — Growth of St. Catherine's College — Dr. Sherlock — Foundation of Regius professorship of History and of Woodwardian professorship of Geology — The Tripos : origin of the term and of the institution — The first Tripos — Proctor's Optimes — Original examination for the Mathematical Tripos — Subordination of other studies to mathematics — Richard Person — Dr. .Jebb's proposal of an annual compulsory examination — Influence of the main study on Cambridge theology — Edmund Law and William Paley — Rise of the Evangelical school — Berridge and the Milners — First publication of the University Calendar . 171 CHAPTER XI. From the Commencement of the Century to the Present Time. Foundation of Downing College — Increase in the numbers of the university— Institution, of the Classical Tripos — Re- striction originally imposed on candidates, and its removal — Sir William Hamilton and Adam Sedgwick on the studies of the universit}' — Proposed revision of the university sta- tutes — Appointment of the Commission of 1850 — Substance xvi Contents. of their Report — Enactment of statutes of 1858 — The Sssays on a Liberal Education — Example set by Trinity College of a reformation of college statutes — Appointment of the Eoyal Commission of 1872 — Memorial to the Prime Minis- ter in 1874 — The Universities Act of 1877- — Institution of the Law Tripos— The Law and History Tripos— The second Law Tripos — The Historical Tripos — Changes in the same — Changes in the Classical Tripos — Changes in the Theo- logical Tripos — Institution of the Semitic Languages, the Indian Languages, and the Mediaeval and Modern Lan- guages Triposes — Foundation of Selwyn College — Founda- tion of Ridley Hall — Growth of the university during the last quarter of a century 187 CHAPTER XII. Cambridge in Relation to National Education. Institution of the Local Examinations — The Syndicate — Original scope of the examinations — Extension of the de- sign to women — Further extension to highest grade schools — The certificates invested with a university value — In- clusion of girls' highest grade schools — The University Extension Movement — Scheme of lectures initiated by Professor James Stuart — Adojjtion of his scheme at Not- tingham — Joint-Memorial to the university — Adoption of the scheme by the Cambridge Syndicate — Its remarkable success, and adoption at Oxford, in London, and elsewhere — Method of instruction introduced with the movement — Method of examination — Further development of the scheme — Conference at Cambridge in connection with the movement 213 INDEX .24 Erratum : p. 58, for 'Chadworth,' read 'Chedworth.' A HISTORY THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. ERRATA. Page lo, line 14, for ' 1109 ' read ' 1009.' ,, 38, „ 8, /or 'religions ' rfacZ ' religious.' ,, 50. ,, x\\t.. for 'four' read 'two.' „ 107, ,. 2, there were th)-ee LL.D.'s between these years, one in 1547, one in 1548, and one in 1549. 152, ,, 2, ^, for 'Parker' 7-ead 'Paske.' 167, ,, I, for 'twenty-three' read ' twenty-.six.' 184, ,, 12, /or ' Norrisian ' /'Cfu^ ' Regius.' ,, ,, 13, /or ' senior ' r(«(^ 'eighth.' ,, ,. 14, for 'Regius' read ' Norrisian. ' itself to denote a corporation of teachers and scholars whose existence had been formally recognised hj legal authority, — by far the more common designation of such a body in medieval times being studiiom geneirde, C. H. A xvi Contents. PAGE of their Report — Enactment of statutes of 1858 — The Essays on a Liberal Education — Example set by Trinity College of a reformation of college statutes — Appointment of the Royal Commission of 1872 — Memorial to the Prime Minis- ter in 1874 — The Universities Act of 1877 — Institution of the Law Tripos — The Law and History Tripos— The second Law Tripos — The Historical Tripos — Changes in the same — Changes in the Classical Tripos — Changes in the Theo- logical Tripos — Institution of the Semitic Languages, the Indian Languages, and the Mediaeval and Modern Lan- guages Triposes — Foundation of Selwyn College — Founda- tion of Ridley Hall — Growth of the university during the last quarter of a century 1S7 Erratum : p. 58, for 'Chadworth,' read 'Chedworth.' A HISTORY THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. CHAPTER I. THE EARLIEST UNIVERSITIES— PR.E-ACADEMIC CAM- BRIDGE — BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVER- SITY HISTORY. The term ' university ' (universitas) originally denoted nothing more than a community or corporation regarded under its collective aspect. When employed Original mean- . , . . ing of the term m its modcm scnse, as denoting a community ' university.' -i ^ • t t • • ^ devoted to learning and education, it required to be supplemented by other words in order to com- plete the definition, — the most frequent form of expres- sion being universitas magistroruin et discipuloruni (or scholarium), ' a corporation of teachers and scholars.' It was not until the latter part of the fourteenth cen- tury that the word universitas began to be used by itself to denote a corporation of teachers and scholars tvhose existence had been formally recognised hy legal authority, — by far the more common designation of such a body in medieval times being studiwm generate, C. H. A 2 The Umversitv of Cambridge. or sometimes siudium alone. It is necessar}', however, to bear in mind that universities, in the earlier times, had not infrequently a vigorous virtual existence long before they obtained legal recognition ; and it is equally necessary to remember that hostels, halls, and colleges, with complete courses of instruction in all the usual branches of learning, as well as degrees and exami- nations, were by no means essential features in the mediaeval conception of a university. The conditions under which the first universities came into being will be more clearly understood if we Main facts in briefly rcvicw the chief causes which served educatio°i7snb. ^^ modify alike the theory and the practice fXof\Ve°wes. of educatlou from the sixth to the twelfth tern Empire, ^eutury. The traditions of pagan education, as preserved in the schools of the Roman Empire, had been almost entirely swept away in the disorganisation that followed upon the barbaric invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries ; and when order was in some measure restored, learning had formed those new asso- ciations which constitute its main characteristics in the Middle Ages. It was the learning of the monastery and the monastic school, as represented by the rule of St. Benedict and the monastery of Monte Cassino. Or it was the learning of the secular canon and the cathe- dral school, such as we find it at Aries in Southern Gaul, or at Seville in Spain, or at York in England. The last-named school was indeed the centre from which a great revival throughout Saxon England drew its chief inspiration ; and the designs of Gregory the Great, as carried out by Theodorus, Bede, and Alcuin, were attended by important results which lasted until The Earliest Uxiversities. 3 the Danish invasious. Througliout the vast territories ruled by the Franks, on the other hand, leaiTiing had everywhere declined under the rule of the Merovingian kings ; and it was not until the reign of Charles the Great, who summoned Alcuin of York to his assist- ance, that a similar revival took place. That revival is especially notable, in that it comprised not only the episcopal and monastic schools throughout the Empire, but was also attended by the introduction of a more secular spirit into learning, such as we find exemplified in the celebrated Palace School, which was founded in connection with the imperial court, and became, for a time, a great centre of literary intercourse. Much of the intellectual activity and care for letters that was thus awakened undoubtedly died out amid the renewal of disorganisation that followed upon the breaking up of the Carolingian Empire and the invasions of the Northmen. Some writers, indeed, go so far as to maintain that no true connection can be traced out between this earlier revival and that which took place in the days of Ab^lard ; and they find in the schools where he taught on the Montague Ste. Genevieve and in the Isle de la Cit^ in Paris the commencement, indeed, of the university era, but a commencement altogether independent of the teaching handed down from the days when Alcuin taught in the famous monastery school of St. Martin at Tours, But whatever may be our conclusion with reference Distinguishing ^0 an obscure and difficult question, it is [Tni'v'^ertity *^^ quito Certain that the university movement uiovement. ^^^ esscutially a new movement, deriving its chief impulse from forces and conditions which 4 The University of Cambridge. had not previously existed. In exploring the earliest records of most of the older universities, we become aware of three new factors in their intellectual activity which clearly distinguish that activity from anything that had gone before : (l) the introduction of new subjects of study, as embodied in a new or revived literature; (2) the adoption of new methods of teach- ing, which these subjects rendered necessary; (3) the growing tendency to organisation which accompanied the development and consolidation of the nationalities. It is a matter of very general agreement that these earlier universities took their rise, for the most part, The University ^^^ eudcavours to obtain and provide instruc- of Salerno. ^^^^^ q|- ^ YmA beyoud the range of the monastic and episcopal schools. The earliest of all, tliat of Salerno in Italy, for example, which rose in the ninth century, had its origin in a more scientific study of medicine, — the result, in all probability, of a certain intercourse with the Saracens who had recently occupied Sicily ; for, although it has been sought to trace out a connection between the university and the teaching at Monte Cassino, it is more probable that the body of instructors and learners at Salerno re- presented, in the first instance, a purely secular community. It was nearly three centuries later, about the com- mencement of the twelfth century, that Irnerius com- The study of meuccd at Bologna his lectures on the civil tbe civil law. \^^^ ^\\\'s> instruction, again, was of a kind which the monastery and the cathedral school could not supply, and it also met a new and pressing want. The states of Lombardy were at this time advancing The Earliest Uxiversities. 5 rapidly in population and in wealth ; and tlie greater complexity of their political relations, their increasing manufactures and commerce, demanded a more definite application of the principles embodied in the codes which had been handed down by Theodosius and Jus- tinian. The distinctly secular character of this new study and its intimate connection with imperial pre- tensions aroused at first the susceptibilities of the Koman see, and for a time Bologna was regarded by the Church with distrust and even alarm. These sentiments, however, were not of long duration. In the year 1 1 5 1 the appearance of the Bccrdum of Gratian, largely compiled from spurious documents, invested the studies of the canonist with fresh import- ance, and the study of the new code gave an impulse The study of ^^ ^^^^ study of the cauou law similar to the cauon law. ^|^g^^ which had recently been communicated to the civil law. It was essential that the Dccre- tum (on which the Popedom was so largely hence- forth to depend for the enforcement of its growing pretensions) should be generally known, recognised, and studied. The wants of the secular student and the wants of the ecclesiastical student were thus brought for a time into notable unison, and from the Tiie University ^^^J s of Imerius, to the close of the thirteenth of Bologna. centuiy, Bologna was the acknowledged centre of instruction in both the civil and the canon law. In the attainment of this pre-eminence she was materially aided by the State. When Barba- rossa marched his forces into Italy, on his memorable expedition of 1 1 5 5 , and reasserted those imperial claims which had so long lain dormant, the jurists of 6 The University of Cambridge. Bologna, professors and students alike, gathered as humble suppliants round the representative of the Empire of the West, and tendered him their allegi- ance. Frederic, who could not but discern both in them and their profession an aid of no slight value to his own authority, received them graciously. He inquired into their relations with the citizens of Bologna, and when he found that they were often subjected to unjust extortion, he determined to take them under his own protection. He bestowed on Privileges them Certain immunities and privileges, — the*un^ve°suy ^ights which Were afterwards incorporated by Barbarossa. -^ ^j^g ^^^^ ^f ^I^q Empire and extended to the other universities of Italy. These privileges may therefore be regarded as the precedent for that State interference in connection with the university which, however necessary at one time for the protection of an academic community and the freedom of its teachers, has often proved very far from an unmixed benefit, the influence which the civil power was thus enabled to exert being not infrequently wielded for the sup- pression of that very liberty of thought and inquiry from which the earlier universities derived in no small measure their iinportance and their fame. The circumstances of the commencement of the University of Paris supply us with a yet more notable The study of iHustratiou of the manner in which the uni- logic. versities first arose. Towards the close of the eleventh century the occurrence of two great theological controversies, — that between Lanfranc and Berengar, and that between Anselm and Roscellinus, — invested the studv of logic, or rather of dialectic, with The Earliest Universities. 7 a new importance in the eyes of the men of those days. It became a widespread conviction that the intelligent apprehension of spiritual truth depended on a correct use of the traditional methods of argumenta- tion. Dialectic was looked upon as the ' science of sciences ' ; and when, early in the twelfth century, William of Champeaux opened at Paris a school for the more advanced study of this science, viewed in its practical application as an art, his teaching was attended with a marked success. Among his pupils was the famous Abelard, under whose influence the study of logic made a still more remarkable advance ; so that, by the middle of the century, we find John of Salisbury, on his return from Paris to Oxford, relating with astonishment, not unmingled with contempt, how all learned Paris had gone well-nigh mad in its pursuit and practice of the new dialectic. Another important event still further fanned the new flame. Almost at the same time that John of Salis- burv was puttincf his observations on record, The Sentences ./ i o j of Peter a former pupil of Abelard, named Peter Lombard, who in i 1 5 9 had risen to be Bishop of Paris, compiled his memorable volume known as the Sentences. It was designed with the view of placing before the student, in as strictly logical a form as practicable, the opinions {senientice) or tenets of the Fathers and other great doctors of the Church upon the principal and most difficult points in the Christian belief. Conceived as a means of allaying and preventing controversy, it in fact greatly stimu- lated controversy. The logicians adopted the volume as a recognised storehouse of indisputable major pre- 8 The University oe Cambridge. mises, on wliicli they hung innumerable deductions carried into endless ingenious refinements. It became the theological test-book of the Middle Ages ; and on its pages the most eminent of the Schoolmen, in their commentaries suiter Scntentias, expended no small share of that marvellous toil and elaborate subtlety which still command the admiration of the student of meta- physical literature. To these new sources of knowledge and incentives to speculation we must also add the introduction of what The New IS kuowu as the New Aristotle. In thetwelfth Aristotle. cButury nearly all that was known of Aristotle was certain portions of the Organon as preserved in the Latin version by Boethius, or as interpreted in a Latin version of the Introduction by Porphyry. But before the close of the thirteenth century the lohole of Ms ex- tant loritings, in translations either from the Greek or from the Arabic, had become known to Latin Europe. The relevance of the foregoing facts to university history will be more clearly understood when we recall that the study of this new literature, pre- Relation be- . . , - . , . , , tween these scntiug itself in cach branch of what then new studies . , . andtheuni- passcd lor Icammg, — that IS to sa}^, m the civil and the canon law, in logic, in theo- logy (with Peter Lombard as a text-book), and in hitherto unknown works of Aristotle, and their count- less commentators, — was not only the influence which may be said to have called the universities successively into being, but comprised also almost the entire range of the intellectual activity (much greater than is gene- rally supposed) which characterised the universities down to the days of the Eenaissance. The Earliest Uxiversities. g It is obvious that communities thus attracted to- gether would have, in a great measure, to organise themselves, and the whole question of the Fctiturcs coTU" mon to the Organisation of the earlier universities, and growth of the . , . , , . . early univcr- the manner m which that organisation was further developed, is one of considerable in- terest and importance. It is also, it must be added, a question involving points of no little difficulty. As, however, nearly all these early universities were modelled either on Bologna or Paris, they present in common certain general features which admit of no dispute and which may be very briefly indicated. Those two great centres attracted students from nearly all parts of Europe. Of these, the majority were raw and inex- perienced youths, who, it is evident, would be apt to fall an easy prey to the extortion of the landlords with whom they lodged, or the traders with whom they dealt, — from extortion, in short, such as that from which Barbarossa is recorded to have sought to protect the students of Bologna. Very early, accordingly, we find students who had come from the same country or pro- vince combining together for mutual protection. These societies or confederations were generally known as ' nations.' We find, again, the students, — either in conjunction with their teachers, as at Bologna, or through their teachers, as in Paris, — gradually obtaining State recognition and special privileges. Then, again, we find the teachers themselves, in turn, combining together into ' faculties,' — that is to say, as associates in one and the same branch of learning and instruc- tion. And, finally, we find these several faculties and nations forming themselves into a collective whole, — 10 The Uxiversity of Cambridge. tlie University, with the rector or cliaucellor at its head. Turning now to our own country, we find the uni- versity movement here in direct connection with the The imiversi- University movement abroad. It had no andcambrid'^e conuection with that earlier learning which NOT-man\n°^ made England famous in the days of Bede Alienees. ^^^ Alcuin, but which had sunk to so low an ebb before the Norman Conquest. As on the Seine in the ninth century, so on the Ouse and on the Thames in the tenth and eleventh centuries, there came the Northman, burning and harrying and laying in ruin both the monastery and the church. Oxford was burnt to the ground in 1 1 09, and a like fate overtook Cambridge in the following year. Never since the days which preceded the arrival of Theodorus had learning sunk to a lower depth than in the days of Ethelred the Unready. A considerable revival, it is true, took place in connection with the restored or newly founded Benedictine abbeys, but it reached no higher than the ancient level. And, just as a certain tradition of education had survived in France from the days of Charles the Great and of Alcuin, so at Oxford there was a certain amount of teaching being carried Ely and Cam- ^n in the days of Edward the Confessor by bridge. j^^ canons of St. Frideswide ; and so, at the conventual church at Ely, where King Alfred is said to have received his education, there was a monastic school carrying on a like work. But this traditional unprogressive labour would never have risen to the level of university culture had it not been for those Norman influences which everywhere found their way The Earliest Universities. ii after the time of Edward the Confessor. And it was on the model of the University of Paris that Oxford and Cambridge were first organised. In the year 1108 Ely was constituted an episcopal see by Pope Paschal II. ; its bishop was invested with peculiar privileges, similar to those possessed by some of the great prince- bishops on the Continent ; the monks were placed entirely under his control ; and as Cambridge lay within his diocese, the relations which, as we shall shortly see, were established between the new epis- copate and the university (which rose about a century jZ^^ later) exercised no little influence on Cambridge and its academic history. Of our two ancient English universities, it is pro- bable that, although both appear to have risen in the Oxford and twelfth contury, Oxford was somewhat the Cambridge. earlier. But the origin of each is recorded only in legend; and in the sixteenth century two antiquarians, representing the two universities, amused the learned world by retailing myths of the foundation of Oxford by King Alfred, and of Cambridge by a fabled Spanish king named Cantaber. Such were the weapons with which Dr. Caius, the founder of Caius College, and Thomas Caius, a fellow of All Souls, carried on the controversy respecting the comparative antiquity of their respective universities. But in the year 1640, when a Bill had been brought into the House of Commons for ' the relief of the King's army and the northern parts,' those members who had received their education at Oxford claimed that in the proviso ex- empting the two universities Oxford should be placed before Cambridge. They gained their point, and the 12 The University of Cambridge. priority thus assigned to tlie former university appears generally to have obtained, in questions of formal pro- cedure, from that time. As at Bologna, and as at Paris, we find evidence of the existence of flourishing schools long before either university received State recognition. If, Bothimiver. . '' ti Tif>i Bities in exist- indeed, we may credit the very doubtful the thirteenth tcstimouy of Gcrvasc of Canterbury, Vaca- rius, a famous jurist from Bologna, was teaching the civil law at Oxford so early as the year 1 149. Bat in the year 1209 we have it upon the authority of a far more trustworthy writer, Matthew of Paris, that there were 3000 teachers and scholars in the university ; and he further tells us that upon the outbreak of a serious disturbance, which led to the university being for a time deserted, a large number of these betook themselves to Cambridge. It seems, therefore, to be a legitimate inference that both Oxford and Cambridge were recognised centres of study before the commencement of the thirteenth century. Various facts and circumstances, again, lend pro- bability to the belief that, long before the time when Cambridge ^® liave Certain evidence of the existence of tweuthcen- Cambridge as a university, the work of in- *"''^- struction was there going on. The Cam- horituvi of the Roman period, the Gi^antebrycgr of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Grcntcbrige of Domesday, must always have been a place of some importance. It was the meeting-place of two great Roman roads, — Akeman Street, running east and west, and the A^'ia Devana, traversing the north and the south. In the new division of Mercia, which took place in the days Pr^-Academic Cambridge. 13 of Edward the Elder, the town gave its name to the newly created shire. Confined at first to the rising ground on the left bank of the river, it numbered at the time of the Norman Conquest as many as four hundred houses, of which twenty-seven were pulled down to make way for the castle erected The Castle. by William the Conqueror. The castles of these days, though often centres of tyranny and oppres- sion, were also of service as strongholds to which the people could resort in times of danger, and the erection of such a structure thus contributed to the sense of security in the neighbourhood. And under the castle walls, with the view, it would seem, of making some atonement for many a deed of violence and wrong, The Church of '^^ Normau sheriff, Picot by name, founded St. Giles. ^|jg Church of St. Giles, and instituted in connection with it a small body of secular canons. The secular canon was neither a monk nor a friar nor a parish priest, but his duties often led to his taking an active part in the instruction of the community among whom he resided. And it is probable that, in this manner, some educational work was going on in the twelfth century at Cambridge which may have been the nucleus which afterwards developed into the university. Gradually (although the stages of the process cannot now be traced) the town on the north bank, ' the St. Benefs borougli,' as it was often termed, overflowed Church. ^Q ^I^Q other side of the river, and became united with what had before been a distinct village clustering round the ancient prge-Norman Church of St. Benet. 14 The University of Cambridge. Sucli are the main features of pr^-academic Cam- bridge as it presents itself to antiquarian research at the commencement of the twelfth century. There stood the Castle, symbolising in singular conjunction both tyranny and security ; there stood the Church of St. Giles, with its canons, who, it is reasonable to suppose, did something for the enlightenment of the inhabitants and the instruction of those designing to enter either the monastery or the Church ; there stood the ancient Church of St. Benet, where the long suc- cession of stolid and imperfectly educated Saxon in- cumbents had probably given place to some more cultured Norman ecclesiastic representing the school of Lanfranc and Anselm. The year 1 1 1 2 was marked by the occurrence of an event of considerable importance in connection with First begin- the Subsequent history of the university, unifereity.^ The cauous of St. Glles, attended by a large Origin of the concourso of the clergy and laitv, crossed earlier founda- °'' " ■" tions. the river, and took up their abode in a new and spacious priory at Barnwell. Their numbers were now considerably augmented, and their founda- tion was subsequently endowed with the forfeited estates of the tyrannical Picot, whose son, after the father's death, had been compelled to flee the realm Barnwell On a charge of treason. The priory at Pnory. Bamwell, which always ranked among the wealthiest of the Cambridge foundations, seems from the first to have been closely associated with the uni- versity ; and the earliest university exhibitions were those founded by William de Kilkenny, bishop of Ely from 1254 to 1257, for two students of divinit}", who Pr/e-Academic Cambridge. 15 were to receive annually the sum of two marks from The nunnery of tlie priorj. In the year 1 133 was founded St. Khadegund. ^^g uunuery of St. Rhadegund, which, in the reign of Henry VII., was converted into Jesus College ; and in 1 1 3 5 a hospital of Augustinian The Hospital cauons, dedicated to St. John the Evange- of St. John. Y\^\,^ -was founded by Henry Frost, a burgess of the town. The hospital had nothing in common with the modern college, save that it was presided over by a head and supported a certain number of brethren, whose duty it was to receive and tend the sick and to visit the poor and infirm in the neighbour- hood. It was, however, a very important foundation, inasmuch as it not only became by conversion in the sixteenth century the College of St. John the Evan- gelist, but was also, as we shall shortly see, the foundation of which Peterhouse, the earliest Cam- bridge college, may be said to have been in a certain sense the offshoot. To some time in the twelfth century we may refer the erection of the mansion known as Merton Hall, The School of wliich, by a tradition now lost to us, was Pythagoras. ^|gQ g^y|g^l ^j^^ . ^c\^.qq\ of Pythagoras.' It was the residence, it has been conjectured, of some Norman country gentleman, induced probably to fix upon the site by the combined advantages which it offered of proximity to the river, the ford, and the castle. Being built of stone, the edifice stood in strik- ing contrast to the surrounding houses and churches, which were mostly of wood, and were nearly all burnt down in the conflagration of the year 1 1 74. The occupier of this stone house, with his servants and 1 6 The University of Cambridge. retainers, could hardly but have been a leading per- sonage in the community, and must have contributed in no slight measure to its importance. The monastery at Ely, some fourteen miles distant, represented another important influence. It had been Ely and refoundcd and richly endowed by King Cambridge. Eclgar, and at the time of the Conquest was one of the wealthiest monastic foundations in England. In the reign of Henry I. Ely became a bishopric, and the control of the monastery was vested in the bishop. As Cambridge lay in the newly created diocese, it is easy to understand that, as a centre of education, it would thus be brought into closer connection with the monastery, while the jurisdiction which the bishops of Ely were now able to assert over the university after- wards developed into an important factor in its history. The reputation of Cambridge as a seat of learning may be farther inferred from the fact that, so early as Foundations ^^ J^^r 12 24, the Frauciscans established ciscans^and' tliomselves here ; and somewhat less than Domuucans. ^^^s^ ^ ceutury later the Dominicans also erected a friary on the present site of Emmanuel. The establishment of these two communities in the university cannot but be regarded as of primary im- portance when we remember that it was the Mendi- cants who chiefly represented the movement by which the earlier half of the thirteenth century was especially distinguished, — namely, that of religious reform com- bined with intellectual progress. From their ranks proceeded those distinguished schoolmen whose influ- ence was so largely afterwards to mould both theo- logical and philosophical thought at the universities of First BeglxnIiXcs. \j Europe, — Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas among the Dominicans, Duns Scotus and Alexander Hales among the Franciscans. In the course of the same century, the Carmelites, who had originally occupied an extensive foundation at Newnham, but were driven from thence by the winter inundations, settled near the present site of Queens' ; while the Augustinian Friars (the fourth mendicant order) took up their residence near the site of the old Botanic Gardens. It indicates the catholic spirit which then prevailed at the two English universities that the members of the religious orders were admitted to degrees, — a privilege which, until the year 1337, was granted them at no other university excepting Pains. In the year 1229 there broke out at Paris a feud of more than ordinary gravity between the students niii'rations to ^^^ ^^ citizeus. Large numbers of the Cambridge. former migrated to the English shores ; and Cambridge, from its proximity to the eastern coast, and as the centre where Prince Louis, but a few years before, had raised the royal standard, seems to have attracted the great majority. Two years later, a royal writ, issued from Oxford, makes reference to large numbers of students who, both from within the realm and * from beyond the seas,' had lately repaired to Cambridge. To this increase in numbers we may partly attribute the fact that about this time it became necessary to take more stringent measures for the maintenance of discipline, and both the bishop of the diocese and the sheriff for the county were instructed to exert their authority for this purpose. It was at the same time decreed that every scholar who had C. H. B 1 8 The University of Cambridge. failed to place liiniself under the supervision of some master of arts should quit the university within fifteen days. In the year 1 240 the university received a farther accession to its numbers, owing to another migration from Oxford. It was not long, however, before Cambridge, in its turn, was visited by intestine commotions. On the Migrations Continent the universities were genei-ally ^^'^^fif^y'^^J"''' divided into 'nations,' the students com- and^o^™'^*^"" bining together for mutual protection, ac- stamford. cording to their nationality. At the English universities this feature was represented by a twofold division according to counties, distinguished as North and South. In the j^ear 1261 an encounter at Cam- bridge between two students, representatives of the opposing parties, gave rise to a general fray. The townsmen took part with either side, and a sangui- nary and brutal struggle ensued. Outrage of every kind was committed; the houses were plundered; the records of the university were burnt. It was in con- sequence of these disturbances that a body of students betook themselves to Northampton, whither a like migration, induced by similar causes, had already taken place from Oxford. The royal licence was even obtained for the establishment of another stu- dium gencrale ; but, to quote the expression of Fuller, the new foundation ' never attained full bachelor,' for in the year 1264 the emigrants were ordered by special mandate to return to the scenes they had quitted. Within three-quarters of a century from this event a like migration took place from Oxford to Stamford, a scheme which was persevered in for a F/KST Begixnixgs. 19 longer period. Tlie conservatism wliicli characterises the English temperament protected, however, both the universities. Every inceptor in any faculty at either university was required, after this time, to bind him- self by oath not to resort to any English university except Oxford or Cambridge. And while Paris and Bologna, and not a few of the other Continental uni- versities, were from time to time seriously weakened, and even their very existence menaced, by like seces- sions, the two English centres continued for centuries to be the only permanent and recognised schools for the higher instruction of our English youth. The growing numbers of the university may be inferred from the fact that we now begin to hear also Town and ^f affray s between the students and the Gowii. townsmen, and the ancient feud between ' town ' and ' gown ' first comes into prominence. In these collisions the hostels, which offered but little pro- tection against organised violence, were often broken open by the townsmen, who plundered them of every- thing which they regarded as of value and wantonh- destroyed whatever bespoke a lettered community. In 1 26 1 the records of the university were burnt; the year 1322 was marked by a similar act of Vandalism ; while in 1381, during the insurrections then prevalent throughout the country, the populace vented their animosity in destruction on a yet larger scale. At Corpus Christi all the books, charters, and writings belonging to the society were destroyed. At St. Mary's the university chest was broken open, and the documents which it contained met with a similar fate. The masters and scholars, under intimidation. 20 The University of Cambridge. surrendered all tlieir charters, muniments, and ordi- nances, and a grand conflagration ensued in the mar- ket-place, where an ancient beldame was to be seen scattering the ashes in the air, as she exclaimed, ' Thus perish the skill of the clerks ! ' The conflagrations resulting from accident were also numerous and destructive, although the university his- Destructive torian, Thomas Fuller, holds it a matter for ^^^^- congratulation that far greater calamity was not wrought by such casualties. ' Whoever,' he says, ' shall consider in both universities the ill-contrivance of many chimneys, hollowness of hearths, shallowness of tunnels, carelessness of coals and candles, catching- ness of papers, narrowness of studies, late reading, and long watching of scholars, cannot but conclude that an especial Providence preserveth those places.' The destruction has, however, been sufficiently ex- tensive to increase considerably the difficulties atten- dant upon the investigation of Cambridge University history. It has been attended also by a positive as well as a negative evil. It is not simply that we are unable to determine many points of interest, owing to the loss of the necessary evidence, but that loss has also afforded scope for the exercise of the inventive faculty to an extent which, to a more critical age, seems almost astounding. And it was easy for anti- quarians like Fuller, when the sceptical demanded evi- dence respecting charters granted by King Arthur and Cadwallader, and rules given by Sergius and Hono- rius, gravely to assert that such documents had once existed, but had perished in the various conflagrations. ( :^i ) CHAPTER II. THE UNIVERSITY IN THE THIRTEENTH AND FOUR- TEENTH CENTURIES— FOUNDATION OF THE EAR- LIEST COLLEGES. It will be seen from the foregoing chapter that the univei'sity existed long before the first college, and that, as an institution, it had an organisa- ganisationof tion quito independent of the colleges. It is desirable that we should understand clearly what that organisation was, in order that we may more distinctly perceive how, in after times, the original intent and meaning of various institutions, ofiices, and ceremonies were disregarded, and their real use and significance was thus to a great extent lost sio^ht of. It must, however, be borne in mind that the organisation we are about to describe was not elaborated in all its details all at once, — its full deve- lopment, as we find it set forth in the ancient collec- tion of statutes known as the Statuta Antiqua, not havino: been reached until some time in the fifteenth century. The university of Cambridge, like that of Oxford, was modelled mainly on the university of Paris the model, t-, . t • • i Pans. Its constitution was consequently oligarchic rather than democratic, the government 22 The UxiVERsiTY OF Cambridge. being entirely in the liands of the teaching body, while the bachelors and undergraduates had no share in the passing of new laws and regulations. The undergraduate of those days generally entered the university when he was fourteen or fifteen years The undergra- ^^ ^o®j ^^^ ^^^ infrequently when he was duate course. g^^|| younger ; and various considerations may be suggested which serve to explain his entry at such tender years. In the first place, it is to be re- membered that the ordinary, that is to say, the arts course of study, was designed to extend over seven years, although the student often left without complet- ing his curriculum. The acquirements which he was expected to bring with him, again, were very moderate, — amounting to nothing more than reading and writ- ing and the elements of Latin, The average duration of life, moreover, was much shorter; while the rude and severe discipline to which a lad was then subjected at home served to inm-e him to some extent to hard- ships like those which then made up the experience of ordinary undergraduate life. In most cases the little knowledge he brought with him had been acquired at a school attached to some monastery or cathedral, or from the priest of his native parish, — in later times at the parish school. But before the foundation of the colleges his acquaintance with Latin would often be acquired in the university itself, and in this manner graimnatica, as it was termed, originally represented the first stage of the trivium or undergraduate course of study. As, however, schools became established throughout the country and colleges multiplied, this branch of instruction demanded less and less of the Medi.-^val Studies. 23 time of tlie academic instructor, and began to be looked upon as scarcely forming a part of the university cur- riculum. Those who required such instruction were handed over to a special teacher, who was styled Magister Glotnerice ; his pupils were known as ' the glomerels/ and their supervision in matters of dis- cipline was entrusted, not to the chancellor of the university, but to the archdeacon of Ely. In the majority of cases, therefore, the undergraduate, on coming up, was forthwith plunged into the myste- ries of the scholastic logic, anci in his second year became a sophister or disputant in the schools. In this capacity, he either himself pi'opounded some affirmative position in a question of theology or philosophy, and defended it against all comers, — in which case he was known as the respondent, — or he challenged the position maintained by some other dis- putant, and was then known as the opponent, — the former being generally regarded as the more honour- able and onerous function. It would be difficult to exaggerate the influence exercised upon the habits of thought of scholars of those times by these disputations, and the extent to which a reputation for skill in such dialectical encounters came to be regarded as the most enviable of all academic distinctions. Although the intellect was undoubtedly stimulated and rendered more acute, there was also generated a baneful ten- dency to suppose that truth might be evolved mainly by such means, rather than by habits of patient inves- tigation and observation and deliberate weighing of evidence. To logic succeeded rhetoric, that is to say, the study 24 The University of Cambridge. of a Latin version of tlie treatise of Aristotle on tliat subject ; to whicli the abler teachers some- times added the reading of one or two of such Latin poets and orators as were known to the learned world of Western Europe before the days of the Renaissance. Ever since the great scliism between the Eastern and the Western Churches in the eighth century, the ecclesiastical use of the Greek language had been abandoned in Latin Christendom, and the Greek patristic literature had come to be regarded as savouring of heresy. In the universities, accordingly, at this period, Greek was but rarely studied and never taught. The reputation gained by a skilful dialectician greatly surpassed in the general estimation any corre- sponding reputation acquired as a Latin scholar, and students consequently concentrated their attention more and more upon logic, and gave less and less atten- tion to rhetoric. Logic thus became the central study with the younger students ; while every teacher who sought to distinguish himself in his vocation taxed his ingenuity to the utmost to produce some new dialectical refinement upon the refinements of his predecessors. When the three years' course of study represented by the trivium had been completed, and the sophister's Thecommenc- ©^ercises in the schools had been duly per- lug bachelor, formed, he entered upon his fourth academic year, and became an ' incepting ' or .' commencing ' bachelor. The commencing bachelor is often also styled, in the ancient statutes, a ' determiner,' because, during the Lent term preceding his admission as full bachelor, Medieval Studies. 25 he was called upon to preside at certain disputations in the schools, and to sum up, or ' determine,' the logi- cal value of the arguments adduced by respondent or opponent. In later times, this period of his academic course was marked by his admission to a degree, — that of bachelor of arts. But originally it is probable that entrance upon the stage of bachelordom meant nothing more than the student's cvpprenticesliip to a master, under whom he was to serve for four years as he passed through the successive studies of the quad- The quadrivium. .. •/\'i j- ji ri'Vium ; viz., (i) arithmetic, or the science of numbers ; (2) geometry (which included geography) as taught in Pliny and Boetbius ; (3) music, by which we must understand the science of harmony and an acquaintance with the system of musical notation ; (4) astronomy, as conceived, of course, in harmony with the Ptolemaic system. Instruction in these four branches extended over the next four years. At the end of that time he was formally discharged from his state of apprenticeship, and by virtue of a licence granted by his preceptor, was admitted to the degree of master of arts, being himself thereby received into the brotherhood of teachers, and authorised to lecture. At a later period in academic teaching this licence was conferred by the chancellor, and each master of arts was not only permitted but called upon to exercise the function ; that is to say, he was called upon to act for two years as a regent or teacher in the schools, and become an instructor in some one or other part of that course of study which he had himself just completed. If he now proposed to enter upon a further course 26 The University of Cambridge. of theological study, and to proceed as bachelor and doctor of divinity, he was still required to Course requi- . ^ . site for the comply With the above obligation to teach, while his own career involved another ten years' attendance upon lectures in the university. He was required to attend lectures on the Bible for two years ; he must himself have lectured ' cursorily ' -^ on some book of the canonical Scriptures for at least ten days in each term of the academical year, and have also lectured on the whole of the Sentences ; he must have preached publicly ad clerum, and have responded and opposed in all the schools of his faculty. The courses for the doctorial degree in civil and canon law were equally laborious. In the former it Course requi- ^as not imperative that the candidate should civilian or*^ have been a regent in arts, but, failing this canonist. qualification, he was required to have heard lectures on the civil law for ten instead of eight years ; he must have heard the Digestum Vetus twice, the Digestum Novum and the Infortiatum once. He must also have lectured on the Infortiatum and the Insti- tutes, must himself be the possessor of the two Digests, and be able to show that he had at his command (either as borrowed volumes or his own property) all the other text-books of the course. In the course for the canon law the candidate was required to have heard lectures on the civil law for three j^ears, and on the Decretals for another three years ; he must have attended cursory lectures on the Bible for at least two years, and must himself have lectured ' cursorily ' on one of four treatises, and on some one book of the Decretals. 1 Ste p. 28. Mediaeval Studies. 27 "With the fourteenth century, the kibours of the canon- ists had become seriously augmented by the appearance of the sixth book of the Decretals under the auspices of Boniface YIII., and by that of the Clementines ; Lollard writers are, indeed, to be found asserting that the demands thus made upon the time of the canonist (demands which he could not disregard, inasmuch as the papal anathema hung over all those who should venture to ignore these additions to the code) was one of the chief causes of that neglect of the Scriptures which becomes more aud more observable with the advance of the fifteenth century. A similarly protracted and laborious course of study awaited the candidate for the degree of doctor of medi- Courserequi- ciuo. It was required that he should have doctorof^^" lectured as a regent in arts, and have, in turn, medicme. attended lectures on medicine either in Cam- bridge or in some other university ; that he should have heard read a series of pi^escribed authors on specific sub- jects; and that he should have lectured cursorily on some ti'eatise on the theory, and on anotlier on the practice, of medicine ; itwas also imperative that he should have been engaged for two years in the actual practice of the art. It is obvious, however, that such protracted courses of study, extending over a period varying from fifteen to The regents or Seventeen years, must have been beyond the teachers. reach of the great majority; and so far as regards the teaching element in the university, we must look upon this as composed mainly of masters of arts, a body which varied in number from one to two hundred, according to the numerical strength of the universitv. The regents and other lecturers gave their 28 The University of Cambridge. lectures in tlie public schools. Bat the earliest portion of these buildings, the north side, was not commenced until the year 1347, and not completed until the year 1400. The entire quadrangle, as it stood, with some slight modifications, down to the reign of George I., was completed in the course of the fifteenth century. Before the year 1400, therefore, the students must have assembled for their lectures in some other build- ings ; often, probably, in the precincts of the houses of the Franciscans or the Dominicans ; while the larger gatherings of the university were generally held in Great St. Mary's. The fact that each master of arts, in turn, was called upon to take pai't in the work of instruction is one of the most notable features in the medioBval universities. His remuneration was limited to the fees paid by the scholars who formed his auditory to the bedells, and was often consequently extremely small. When once, however, he had discharged this function he became competent to lecture in any faculty to which he might turn his attention, and (as we have seen above) when studying either the civil or the canon law, theology, or medicine, might be a lecturer on subjects included in his own course. Lecturing o)'- . m j dinarieand He was tlicu Said to Iccturc cursorily (ciLrso7'ie), and his subject was generally as- signed him by his superior, the lecturer in ordinary. His lectures, however, involved a much smaller amount of preparation and exposition than that which found place in connection with the ordinary lectures. The technical term le upon the much With the View of finding out the regents. i r» i • /. . best talent for teaching, as of securing an adequate supply of instruction to the student. The funds at the disposal of the nniversity being extremely small, while the numbers of the students sometimes [ rose to nearly 2000, — of whom the great majority i were the sons of humble yeomen, of labourers, and of ] mechanics, — some such method was probably abso- / lutely necessary. The hostel, indeed, provided in some branches the requisite instruction, but here the scale of payment was such as often to exclude all but the sons of comparatively wealthy parents. The university, then, in the thirteenth century was but a very slightly and somewhat imperfectly organised community. It possessed only very slender endowments. 30 The Uxiversity of Cambridge. It had no systematic code for tlie government of its state of the members. It was liable, on the occurrence the tMneMith of any sevcre crisis, such as an exceptionally century. violent colHsion with the town, internal strife, or the outbreak of pestilence, to sudden dispersion ; and a dispersion of units thus loosely held together might, as the experience of Continental universities not infre- quently showed, be followed by the creation of a rival centre and the permanent alienation of a greater or smaller section of the community. Nor can we suppose that either teacher or scholar could have felt himself very strongly attached to the Cambridge of that day ; the former found his labours for the most part very poorly remunerated and his livelihood eminently pre- carious, while the poor scholar found himself exposed to the extortion of the townsmen, and without a settled residence or any of the associations of home. Until the year 1276, indeed, he seems to have often wandered about under no supervision whatever. His name was inscribed in no matriculation book, and he had no tutor until he became a bachelor. The authorities had con- sequently no cognisance of him. In the above year, however, the university issued a decree that ' no one ' (by which we must understand neither instructor nor lodging-house keeper) was to receive a scholar unless such scholar ' had a fixed master within fifteen days after his entry into the university.' This ordinance appears to have been issued v,'ith the special sanction of Hugh de Balsham, bishop Ordinance of „ r. ^ n f> t Hughde 01 iLiIy from 1257 to 12 bo, and one 01 the most discerning benefactors that the univer- sity ever knew. It was with the design of providing The Earliest Colleges. 31 some remedy for tlie evils and defects above described that we find liim sliortlj after coming forward as the I'ounder of our earliest Cambridg^e collegfe. It is necessary altogether to dismiss the notion that the original college was an institution modelled on the Architectural monastery, or that it in any way reflected of the^ea'dy* the monastic spirit. Such a notion might, colleges. indeed, seem to be to some extent war- ranted by the fact that the plan and arrangement of a Cambridge or Oxford college often present a striking resemblance to those of a monastery. But a careful study of the architectural history of our colleges has clearly shown that this resemblance is entirely fortui- tous, and was the result of a gradual development, the original design of our earlier colleges having been of the simplest character. Still less did the college reflect the discipline or the theory of education that pervaded the monastic rule. In the case of Peterhouse this may appear somewhat surprising, when we consider that Hugh Balsham was not only bishop of Ely, but was also sub-prior of the monastery in that city. But Hugh Balsham was a Benedictine, and the Benedictines in England at this period were the upholders of a less stringent and ascetic discipline than that advocated by the Mendicant Orders, and were, in fact, endeavour- ing in every way to counteract their influence. The foundations of these latter communities at the univer- sities gave them a great advantage in proselytising, for the younger members of each Order, or rather those intending to become such, were here maintained in comparative comfort and instructed, while those who were designing to become simply clergymen were left 32 The University of Cambridge. to contend witli all the hardships and discomforts of the ordinary student life of the time. It seems to have been the aim of Balsham, in the first instance, to bring about a kind of fusion between the old and the new elements, but this, as we have now to see, resulted in failure. The Hospital of St. John, as we have already noted, was a foundation of the Augustinian Canons, an order especially favoured by the Norman eccle- The Hospital / . '' i • i , t t t of St. John. siastics, and one which had succeeded to a Foundation of .-,.-.. Peterhouse, great cxtent m displacing the secular canons throughout England. They professed a much more stringent rule or discipline than the secular canons, whose mode of life and theory of education more resembled that of the ordinary clergyman. Hugh Balsham, however, who was a man of public spirit and with strong national sympathies, aimed rather at de- veloping the education of the priest than that of the religious orders, and was an advocate of reforms which tended very much towards what, in modern times, we are wont to designate as popular education. With this view, he first of all introduced into the Hospital of St. John a body of secular scholars, providing for their maintenance by an augmentation of the revenues of the foundation. But the elements were too dissimilar to combine. The canons professed an austerer mode of life ; the scholars were governed by a different rule and aimed at a more liberal culture. Differences soon arose ; feuds and jealousies sprang up ; and eventually the good bishop found himself under the necessity of transplanting his scholars to other quarters. ' Much grieved, no doubt,' observes Baker, the historian of St. The Earliest Colleges. 33 John's College, ' bat could he have foreseen that this broken and imperfect society was to give birth to two great and lasting foundations ... he would have had much joy in his disappointment.' The brethren of the Hospital, by way of compromise, agreed to sur- render to the scholars the impropriation of St. Peter's Church, with two adjoining hostels ; and in the year 1 284, with these very slender resources, the long career of Peterhouse began. In the year 1309 its income was augmented with the revenues of a house of the order de, Pcenitentia Jesu, which had been founded at Cambridge, but which fell with the suppression of the order. A foundation thus endowed with the alienated revenues of one religious house and the forfeited re- venues of another must, it is evident, have been con- ceived in a spirit that marked a point of departure both from the traditions of monasticism and those of the Mendicants. When the assent of Edward I. was given to the settlement of Hugh Balsham's ' studious scholars ' as inmates at the Hospital, it was expressly provided that they should be permitted to live under the same rule as the scholars of Merton at Oxford. The code was not, however, drawn up by Hugh Balsham, but given, about the year 1338, by Simon Montacute, his suc- cessor in the see of Ely. It consisted in the adoption, almost in their entirety, of the statutes which Walter de Merton had given in 1264 to his foundation, and it may safely be asserted that no better model could at that time have been found in any university in Europe. ' A master and fourteen perpetual fellows, studi- ously engaged \\\ the pursuit of literature,' represent C.H. C 34 The University of Cambridge. tlie body supported on the foundation ; the ' pensioner * of later times, being, of course, at this period, the in- mate of the hostel. In case of a vacancy among the fellows, ' the most able bachelor in logic ' is designated as the one on whom, ceteris paribus, the choice is to fall ; the other requirements being that, ' so far as human frailty admit,' he be ' honourable, chaste, peace- able, humble, and modest.' The ' scholars of Ely ' — for so they were at first designated — were bound to devote themselves to the ' study of arts, Aristotle, canon law, or theology ; ' but, as at Merton, the basis of a sound liberal education was to be laid before the study of theology was entered upon ; two of the number were to be permitted to study the civil and the canon law ; one, to study medicine. When a fellow was about to incept in any faculty, it devolved upon the master, with the rest of the fellows, to inquire in what manner he had conducted himself, and how he performed his acts in the schools ; how long he had heard lectures in the faculty in which he desired to incept ; and whether he had gone through the forms according to the statutes of the university. The sizar of later times is perhaps to be recognised in the provision that, if the funds of foundation permit, the master and the two deans shall select two or three youths, 'indigent scholars well grounded in Latin,' to be maintained, ' as long as may seem fit,' by the college alms ; such poor scholars being bound to attend upon the master and fellows in church, on feast daj^s, and on other ceremonial occa- sions, and also to wait on the master and fellows at table and in their rooms. In common with four other of the earlier Cambridsfe The Earliest Colleges. 35 colleges, Peterliouse was at first a very simple structure, in the plan of whicli a chapel found no place. Its religious services were held in St, Peter's Church, and its first library was not built until the early part of the fifteenth century, and it was not until 1628 that the construction of its existing chapel was commenced. Some forty years after the foundation of Peterhouse we find Hervey de Stanton, Chancellor of the Ex- chequer and canon of Bath and Wells, Foundation of.. itt •• MicLaeiiiouse, obtaining irom Jidward ii. permission to r found at Cambridge, — where, as the preamble | informs us, ' the labours of a university are well known ^ to shine with lustre,' — the college of the ' scholars of St. Michael.' The statutes of this society, which were drawn / up at the time of its foundation, represent the earliest - Cambridge college code, being anterior to the statutes ) given to Peterhouse by some sixteen years. Michael- j HOUSE, accordingly, which was afterwards merged in Trinity College, may thus claim to be the earliest embodiment in the university of the college conception ; while Trinity College itself may, in a manner, contest with Peterhouse the claim to represent the earliest example of college discipline. The statutes themselves, again, are apparently the independent expression of the founder's theory of such a discipline, for we find no reference to the code of Merton, or to that of any other foundation. It can scarcely, therefore, be a matter for surprise that, as regards both cathoKcity of spirit and attention to matters of detail, they are in- ferior to the statutes which the founder of Peterhouse had so wisely borrowed from the sister university. The two foundations which next claim our attention 36 The University of Cambridge. that of Pembroke Hall in 1347, and that of Gonville Hall in I 3 5 O, afford satisfactory evidence roundation of i i n ^^ Pembroke Hall, that the colicge was not necessarily re- garded as an institution hostile to the religious orders ; the former owed its creation to Marie de St. Paul, a warm friend of the Franciscans ; while the latter was founded by Edmund Gonville, an equally warm friend of the Dominicans. Like many a similar foundation in those times, Pembroke College had its origin in individual calamity; and before its walls arose, the untimely loss of her chivalrous husband had already turned the thoughts of Marie de St. Paul (better known as Marie de Valence) to like acts of penitential bene- ficence, — to the endowment of a nunnery of Minoresses at Waterbeach and the foundation of Deney Abbey. It is much to be regretted that the earliest rule given to the new foundation of Pembroke Hall, — the Aula ^ scu Domus de Valcnccmaric, as it was termed, — is no longer extant. A revised rule, of the conjectural date of 1366, and another of perhaps not more than ten years later, are the data from whence Dr. Ainslie ^ compiled the following abstract : — The college was designed for the support of thirty scholars, more or less, according to the state of its revenues. Of these, twenty-four, denominated fellows, were to be greater and per- manent ; and the remaining six, being students in grammar or arts, to be less, and at the times of election either to be put out altogether or else promoted to the permanent class. If the whole number of fellows was complete, six at least Avere to be in holy orders ; if there were twenty, there were to be at least four ; and ^ ' Aula,' or Hall, was the customary designation of the college at this period. ^ Dr. Gilbert Ainslie, master of the college from 1S2S to 1870. The Earliest Colleges. 37 if twelve or upwards, there were to be two for the performance of divine service. Tliese proportions were altered in the next code, thus : if there were ten fellows or upwards, there were to be at least six in orders ; and four, if the number was less. Tlie fellows were to apply themselves solely to the faculty of arts or theology, and when any one should have finished his lectures in arts, he was to betake himself to theology. There were to be annually elected two rectors, the one a Friar Minor, the other a secular, Avho should have taken degrees in the university. Thej^ were to admit fellows elect, and to have visitorial jurisdiction, w'hich, alter the death of tlie foundress, they were to exercise even over the statutes with the consent of the college. The later code, however, did not recognise the rectors at all, but appropriated their several duties to the master either alone or in conjunction with two or more of the fellows ; saving only the power of con- trol over the statutes, which was vested in no one after the foundress's death. All connection betM'een the Franciscans and the college was consequently now terminated. To return to the earlier code. In the election of a fellow pre- ference was to be given to the most orderly, the best proficient in his studies, being withal free-born and legitimate ; provided he were a bachelor or sophist in arts, or at least had studied three years in that i'aculty ; and he might be of any nation or realm, that of France especially, if there should be found any one quali- fied, as above stated, in either university of Cambridge or Oxford. The fellow elect was reqiiired to swear that he had neither by inheritance nor of his own means above forty shillings a year to spend. By the next code this sum was doubled, being made six marks. The election of a fellow was not confirmed by admission till after the lapse of a year, and then the major part of the fellows might withhold such confirmation. Every fellow before admission pledged himself to vacate his fellowship as soon as ever he was promoted to any more lucrative place, unless previously to such promotion he had become master, for the master was allowed to hold any preferment compatible with his office. The next code did away Avitli the year of probation, and directed that the pledge should be to vacate on the expiration of one year after such promotion as would enable the fellow to expend above six marks, unless promoted in the meantime to the mastership. In 3S The University of Cambridge. the choice of scholars those were to be preferred Avho came duly qualified from the parishes pertaining to the college rectories, but there were not to be more than two of the same consanguinity. And, as her final Fa/e, the foundress solemnlyadjures the fellows to give tlieir best counsel and aid on all occasions to the abbess and sisters of Deney, who had from her a common origin with them ; and she admonishes them further to be kind, devoted, and grateful to all religions, esjKcially to the Friars Minor. The above two codes afford undoubtedly tbe most interesting study tliat has as yet presented itself in connection with our college history, and the points of contrast they present are deserving of close attention, especially that whereby the participation of the Fran- ciscans in the management of the society, secured to them by the earlier statutes, is abolished on a second revision. The scholar, in the sense in which the term is now used in the university, is also here first to be met with ; it being provided that six of the ' scholars ' may be minor scliolars, eligible at elections to major scholarships, i.e., fellowships, or subject to removal. The founder of the next college that claims our attention was Edmund Gonville, a member of an ancient county family, a clergyman, and at one time Foundation of , '' i ,. i t r- -ni i • Gr.nviiie HaU, vicar-geueral oi the diocese ot Jiily ; ins sympathy with the Mendicants is indicated by the fact that through his influence the Earl of Warren and the Earl of Lancaster were induced to create a foundation for the Dominicans at Thetford. In the year 1348, only two years before his death, he ob- tained from Edward III. permission to found in Luth- borne Lane (now known as Freeschool Lane) a college for twenty scholars, dedicated in honour of the Annun- ciation of the Blessed Vircfin. The Earliest Colleges. 39 The statutes given by Edmund Gonville are still extant, but within two years of their compilation they were considerably modified by other hands ; they can- not, therefore, be regarded as liaving long represented the rule of the new foundation. Their chief value, for our present purpose, is in the contrast they offer to the rule of another college, founded at nearly the same time, — that of Trinity Hall, — to the conception of which they were shortly to be assimilated. According to the design of Edmund Gonville, his college was to represent the usual course of study included in the trivium or quadriviuvi, as the basis of an almost exclusively theo- logical training. Each of the fellows was required to have studied, read, and lectured in logic, but on the completion of his course in arts, theology was to form the main subject. The unanimous consent of the master and fellows was necessary before he could apply himself to any other faculty, and not more than two at a time could be permitted to deviate from the usual course. It was, however, permitted to every fellow, though in no way obligatory upon him, to devote two years to the study of the canon law. The foregoing scheme may be regarded as that of an English clergyman of the fourteenth century, whose aim was simply to do something for the encourage- ment of learning in his profession, and who, from long residence in the diocese or in neighbouring dioceses, may fairly be presumed to have been well acquainted with the special wants and shortcomings of his order. It will be interesting to contrast his benevolent and patriotic design with that of another ecclesiastic, reared in a different school. 40 The University of Cambridge. Among the students who were the first to profit by the generosity of Edmund Gonville was William Bate- man, afterwards bishop of Norwich from "Wra. Bateman . and the Caiiou IT, A A. to 13^=^. He had gamed a hiofh Law. J'i-t _ J^J ^ & & reputation m the university by his profici- ency in the civil and canon law, attainments which had been recognised by his promotion to high office in con- nection with the papal court at Avignon ; and it was amid the ostentatious splendour and the glaring profli- gacy which, in the days of Innocent VI., made that court a by-word in Europe that his life came suddenly to a close. By the more enlightened teachers of the universities at this period the studies of the civilian and the canonist were regarded with no friendly eye, owing to the mercenary spirit in which they were generally pursued as the means to the acquirement of wealth and of political influence ; and we find Roger Bacon declaring that men hastened to enrol themselves in these professions just as men hied to some newly discovered gold-mine. The great Plague of 1 349, that terrible visitation which reduced the population from four to two millions, doubled wages, and raised prices all round nearly one-fifth, had fallen with espe- cial severity on the local clergy, and it was with the professed design of seeking to repair these losses that, in the followinor year, Bishop Bateman Foundation of ^ . . o J > l Trinity Hall, founded Trinity Hall. It can hardly, how- ever, admit of much doubt that his real object was the education of canonists and civilians rather than of parish priests ; for, of the twenty fellows whom, together with a master, he proposed to main- tain on the new foundation, ten were required to be The Earliest Colleges. 41 Btudents of tbe civil, and seven of the canon, law. They were, however, prohibited from going about to practise ; and it seems, accordingly, a legitimate in- ference that it was his object to establish a school of legal studies in the university, and thus raise the standard of professional acquirement rather than to augment the numbers of actual practitioners. We would gladly conclude that, as a scheme disinterestedly designed to further the cause of higher education, the foundation of Bishop Bateman might take rank side by side with that of Edmund Gonville, but the evidence will hardly admit of such a conclusion. It would rather seem that it was his primary design to further Ultra- montane interests. It was the time when, both in Teutonic and Latin Christendom, the disposition to resist the papal exactions was greater than it had ever been before ; and it was as an institution calculated to promote the interests of the Church, and to maintain, in defiance of statutes of provisors and prajmunire, the claims of Avignon to levy tribute in England, that Trinity Hall arose. If the design of the foundation, taken by itself, permitted any doubt on this point, that doubt would be set at rest when we turn to note the experiences of Gonville Hall. Shortly before Bishop Bateman's death, a part of his wealth had been devoted to assisting that struggling institution, where the funds left by the founder were found to be so inadequate for the carrying out of his purpose, that the college would probably have become defunct had not the founder of Trinity Hall now come forward to render it the necessary aid. He took the little society under his protection, removed it from 42 The University of Cambridge. the site it originally occupied in Luthborne Lane to that which forms a part of the present site of Cains College, and endowed it with additional revenues. His munificence, however, can hardly be regarded as entirely disinterested, when we observe that he alto- gether set aside the statutes given by Edmund Gon- ville, and substituted for them a code but slightly modified from that w^hich he had given to Trinity Hall. It is true that the fellows of Gonville Hall were not absolutely required to be either civilians or canonists, but the civil and the canon law are placed foremost among the studies to which their attention is especially to be given ; and such encouragement, when held out in connection with subjects already sufficiently alluring from their association with a pro- fessional career, would scarcely fail to determine the choice of those to whom the option was permitted. To return to Trinity Hall, The sudden death of its founder at Avignon frustrated the completion of his designs in connection with his own foundation ; and, for a century after, the society had to contend with diflSlculties scarcely less serious than those which had threatened the existence of Gonville Hall, its revenues barely sufl[icing for the maintenance of a master, three fellows, and three scholars. The buildings rose with corresponding tardiness. First, in the last quarter of the fourteenth century, the principal court, or quad- rangle, arose on the present site (although with a different boundary to the north) ; the chapel, about a century later ; and the present library, a century later still. No college library in the university has better maintained its original aspect, — the ancient desks, The Earliest Colleges. 43 which are still retained, constituting a singularly characteristic and almost unique feature. In 1852, owing to an accidental fire, the front portion of the? quadrangle was burnt down ; it was rebuilt in stone, with a slight increase in the height of the structure. The second college which refers its origin to the great Plague was that of Corpus Christi, founded by the joint efforts of two Cambridge com- Foundatinn of . . i /-i -t t f> /-< r\^ • t- ■^ Corpus Christi munities, — the build 01 Corpus Cnristi and o ege, 1352. ^^ Quild of the Blessed Virgin. The super- stition of the age was a largely contributing cause. Prayers for the dead were held, in those days, to be of efficacy in promoting an earlier release of a soul from purgatory. The fearful mortality had conse- quently given rise to the celebration of an immense number of masses for the repose of the souls of the departed. But among no class had the mortality been greater than among the country clergy themselves, on whom the performance of these services devolved. The diminution in their numbers had thus been coin- cident with a greatly increased demand for their ser- vices. The survivors, however, instead of profiting by the solemn lesson involved in the recent visitation, appear to have exhibited an unbecoming spirit of worldliness in charging exorbitant fees for the dis- charge of their duties as celebrants. The commercial mind of Cambridge was deeply and not unjustifiably incensed ; and in founding the new college, the guilds- men made it a condition that the scholars should, whenever called upon, celebrate masses for the repose of the souls of departed members of the two guilds. Such being the circumstances of its foundation, we 44 The University of Cambridge. sliould scarcely expect to find the statutes of the society reflecting any very original or enlightened conception of education. They appear, indeed, to have been largely taken from the statutes of Michaelhouse, some passages being an almost verbatim reprint of the earlier code of that society. The scholars are described as capcllcmi, though it is intimated that others may be admitted to the foundation. It is required that they shall ' one and air be in priest's orders, and shall have lectured in arts or philosophy, or at least be bachelors in either the civil or the canon law, or in arts, intending to devote themselves to the study of theology or of the canon law, the number of those devoting themselves to the last- named faculty being restricted to four. But although the two guilds evince no breadth of view in their views respecting the education to be imparted on the new foundation, they manifested a commendable promptitude in erecting the buildings. Josselin, the historian of the college, who was secretary to Archbishop Parker, tells us that ' the building of the college, . . . with walls of enclosure, chambers arranged about a quadrangle, hall, kitchen, and master's habitation, was fully finished in the days of Thomas Ellisley, the first Master (13 5 2-1 376), and of his successor, Eichard Treton' (i 376-1 377). Its separate chapel owed its erection to the munificence of Sir Nicholas Bacon, and was brought to completion early in the seventeenth century. After this, no alteration or addition of any importance was made for a lengthened period. The entrance to the premises was from Freeschool La,ne, a row of private dwelling-houses completely separating them from Trumpington Street. The new buildings The Earliest Colleges. 45 were not erected until the present century, and their erection was unfortunately attended with the destruction of much that was most venerable and interesting in the ancient part. In the year 1359 we find Elizabeth de Burgh, countess of Clare, coming, like Bishop Bateman, to the aid of another strusfo-lint)' society. ' Beino^ Foundation of ^ . , oo o .. _ o Clare Hall, desu'ous, says the august lady, m the preamble to the statutes of Clare College given the year before her death, 'being desirous, as far as God has enabled us, to promote the advancement of divine worship, the welfare of the state, and the exten- sion of those sciences, which, by reason of the pestilence having swept away a number of men, are now begin- ning to fail lamentably, and directing our observation to the university of Cambridge in the diocese of Ely, in which there is an assembly of students, and to a hall therein, liiilurto generally called University Hall, now existing by our foundation, and which we desire to be called Clare Hall, and to bear no other designa- tion: we have caused this to be augmented with re- sources, out of the property given us by God, and to be placed among the number of places for study.' The code given by the foundress is chiefly noticeable for a tendency to insist less strongly on requirements with respect to the professedly clerical element. The scholars or fellows are to be twenty in number, of whom six are to be in priest's orders at the time of their ad- mission ; but comparatively little stress is laid, as at Michaelhouse, on the order or particular character of the religious services, and the proviso is made apparently rather with the design of securing the presence of a 46 The University of Cambridge. sufficient number for tlie performance of such services than for the purpose of creating a foundation for the church. The remaining fellows are to be selected from bachelors or sophisters in arts, or from ' skilful and well- conducted ' civilians and canonists, with the restriction that only two shall be civilians, and only one a canonist. Three of the fellows, being masters of arts, are to lecture ; and, on the inception of any other fellow, one of the three has permission to retire from this function, provided he has lectured for a whole year. This ipcr- onission docs not, hoivevcr, imply per7)iission to cease from study ; he is bound to apply himself to some other service wherein, considering his bent and aptitude, he may be expected to make the most rapid progress. Provision is made for ten sizars, — to be educated in singing, grammar, and logic ; and their term of residence is to extend to the completion of their twentieth year, when, unless elected to fellowships, tliey are no longer to be maintained on the foundation. Clare College suffered severely from fires, having, according to tradition, been completely burnt down in the year 1362. In i 5 2 i it suff'ered a yet more irretriev- able disaster, for not only were the master's chambers and the treasury completely destroyed, but the college archives perished with them. In the seventeenth cen- tury, shortly before the outbreak of the civil war, the rebuilding of the entire college was commenced ; the work, however, was brought to a standstill by the out- break of hostilities, and the very materials were carried off by the parliamentary party. It was not until 1 7 1 5? a period of seventy-six years from the commencement, that the present quadrangle was completed, — buildings The Earliest Colleges. 47 which the late Professor WilHs characterised as ' among the most beautiful, from their situation and general outline, that he could point out in the university.' A long succession of distinguished men received their education at this college, or were intimately associated Avith it. The more familiar names include those of Hugh Latimer (a fellow of the society), Nicho- las Ferrar, Abraham Wheelock (the Anglo-Saxon scholar), Ralph Cudworth (master of the college), Arch- bishop Tillotson, Thomas Burnet, Lord Hervey, William Whiston, Cole, the antiquary, and Maseres, the mathe- matician. So early as I 3 26, thirty- two scholars, known as the King's scholars, had been maintained at the univer- sity by Edward II. It would seem that Foundation of . King's Hall, the youug monarch, who was habitually in- fluenced by the advice of foreign civilians, was designing, like Bishop Bateman, to encourage the study of the civil and the canon law, for we find hitn presenting books on these subjects to Simon de Bury, the warden, who was subsequently deprived of them by the order of Queen Isabella. It had been the king's intention to provide his scholars with a hall of resi- dence, but during his lifetime they resided in hired houses, and the execution of his design devolved upon Edward III. By this monarch a mansion was erected in the vicinity of the Hospital of St. John, ' to the honour of God, the blessed Virgin, and all the saints, and for the souls of Edward II., of Philippa the Queen, and of his children and his ancestors.' Such was the origin of the society, which, amid the sweeping reforms that marked the reign of Henry YIII., was, in con- 48 The Uxiversijy of Cambridge. junction with Micliaelliouse, subsequently merged iu the ilkistrious foundation of Trinity College. The statutes of King's Hall were given by Richard II., and have a close resemblance to those of Merton College, a resemblance derived possibly through Peter- house. It is here that we have the earliest evidence respecting the limitation imposed in the colleges as to age at the time of admission, no student being ad- missible under fourteen years, — a point on which the master is to be satisfied by the testimony of trustworthy witnesses. It can scarcely be said that the codes of the seven Cambridge foundations which we have now passed under review present us with any definite Theories of -it p t • t-. education ex- advance in the theory oi education. Peter- emplifled in ■< r^^ -\ tt" tt the foregoing housc, Clare, and King s Hall were content foundations. . . , . , to adopt, without attempt at originality, the main outlines of Walter de Merton's conception. In Trinity Hall and in Gonville Hall (as left by its second founder) we can detect little more than an echo of the traditions of Avignon,— traditions, it need scarcely be said, of which all centres of culture of the higher order have special need to beware. The question whether a university may advantageously concern itself with edu- cation of a purely technical character was one which presented itself to the minds of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as well as to those of the nine- teenth. At Paris it had been decided in the negative. The civil and the canon law had been excluded from her curriculum, for in the hands of the jurist and the canonist they had become a trade rather than a branch of liberal learning ; and it is evident that those who The Earliest Colleges. 49 then prescribecl tlio limits of education at Paris, whatever may have been their errors and shortcomings, saw clearly that if once the lower arts, conducive chiefly to worldly success and professional advance- ment, were admitted within the walls of a university, they would soon overshadow and blight the studies which appealed to a less selfish devotion. The statutes of the other foundations scarcely call for comment. Those of Pembroke are interesting as an illustration of the persevering endeavours of the religious orders to upset what it is no exaggeration to describe as the fundamental conception of the new institutions, — an endeavour which, as we shall shortly see, was prosecuted at nearly the same time with greater success at Oxford. In IMichaelhouse and Corpus Christi we have simply the sentiments of the devout laity, inspii-ed, in all probability, by the priest and the confessor. C II. ( 50 ) CHAPTEll III. THE UNIVERSITY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY- CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIVERSITY MEDIAEVAL LIFE. The fifteenth century, althougli, in connection witli tlie new foundations, a period of considerable interest, was Tnflnence of ^ue of torpor and decline in the history of the bo°'h un'vw-^ university at large. Down to the close of the ®'*''*^®- previous century the mental activity of both Oxford and Cambridge had been quickened by the doc- trinal teaching of Wyclif and his followers. That teach- ing had reference not merely to questions of religious reform and popular rights, but also, to a much greater extent than has generally been supposed, to questions of philosophy, such as were then being hotl}' contested in the universities of Europe, and especially those between the Nominalists and Realists. Wyclif, who in his day was the most distinguished teacher and schoolman in Oxford, espoused the cause of the reactionary party in philosophy, and was known as a leader of the Realists. But after his death the Lollards preached and sought to put into practice doctrines marked by an extrava- gance and b}^ revolutionising tendencies to which his sanction would never have been given. And just as, four The FiFTEEXTH Century. 51 centuries before, Innocent III. had repressed the heresy Its stij-i'res. of t^i® Albigenscs, so the English Church, Archbishop under the guidance of Archbishop Arundel, Arundel. ^^^ p^^^ forth the strong arm for the re- pression of Lollardisni. After this time we hear very little of Lollards at Oxford, and still less at Cambridge. Both universities, seeking to win the favour of the superstitious house of Lancaster, became l?r6VulGIlCG of nitr.moiitaiio distinguished by their advocacy of ultra- atoxiordand moutane doctriucs. Their deputies filled, indeed, no contemptible place at the great Councils at Pisa and Constance, but we have no evidence that their voice was ever lifted in favour of freedom or reform. A notable event in the history of the univer- sity during this period illustrates these tendencies very forcibl}^. It was the theory maintained by the univer- sity itself that, by virtue of certain ancient privileges, it had been set free from the jurisdiction of the bishops of the diocese. Those privileges, however, were derived from somewhat questionable sources, going back for their authentication to the dim days of Pope Honorius, Opposition be- ^^^ ^^ supposed documcnts which it was docrrinwTand pl^usibly alleged had perished in past con- thebi^hops°of flagrations. The bishops of Ely, in fact, '^'^^ altogether refused to believe in them, al- though they appear from time to time to have abstained from the exercise of those visitatorial rights which they maintained in theory. The high-spirited and nobly- born Arundel, who filled the see from 1374 to 1388, had adopted a bolder policy. He cited the chancellor of the university before him to take the canonical oath of obedience ; and when the latter denied his j urisdic- 52 The University of Cambridge. tion, carried tlie question before the Court of Arches, where it was decided in his favour. But such claims were not in harmony with the policy of ultramontan- ism, which habitually aimed at curbing the authority of the bishop in order to assert its own immediate juris- diction. When, accordingly, in 1430, the university appealed to Pope Martin V., and besought him to reconsider the whole question, he willingly responded to their petition. A commission was appointed to inquire into all the evidence. And on the appointed The Barnwell ^^J' ^^^^ prior of Barnwcll, in the chapter- Process, house of the church attached to the priory, having heard the witnesses and weighed the argu- ments of the university, ultimately gave judgment in its favour, thus completely reversing the decision of the Court of Arches. Such was the celebrated Barnwell Process, whereby the claim of the chancellor of the university to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, exclusive of any arclibishop, hisliop, or their officials, was recognised and confirmed ; and so, says Baker, the historian of St. John's College, ' there was an end of ordinary jurisdiction.' Of tbe disfavour with which all tendencies to speculation in matters of doctrine were now regarded, iiifluenocs un- ^^ havc a notablo instance in the case of freTspuiaUon Reginald Pecock, an Oxford scholar, who in philosophy, ^^j^g bishop of Ciiichester from 1450 to 1459. Pecock sympathised with ultramontane theories of Church government, and was one of those who wrote against Wyclif, but, at the same time, he was an ardent advocate of popular education. His views and arguments would lead us, indeed, to conclude that The Fifteenth Century. 53 lie would have been a vigorous supporter of the uni- versity extension movement of the present day. Such opinions would not in themselves have sufficed to expose him to the censure of the Church, for the influence of Italian scholars and the new learning was already beginning to make itself felt in England. But, unfortunately, in giving expression to his views, Pecock exhibited an originality and independence of thought which led to his being arraigned for heresy. He was deprived of his bishopric and placed in con- finement for the rest of his life. The warning was not lost upon the freethinkers whom England pos- sessed in those days ; and, after Pecock's time, nothing that savoured of new doctrine was heard of either at Oxford or Cambridge, until, in the sixteenth century, the minds of their ablest scholars were roused to new activity by the powerful influences of the Renais- sance. This inactivity of thought was rather fostered than dispelled by the prosperity which, until the com- mencement of the Civil War, the country at large enjoyed, and especially by its commercial prosperity, which directed attention more to trade and agricul- ture. This advance in material wealth, however, was not without its good effects on the universities them- selves. The Church shared in the general gain; and not a few bishops, like Balsham and Bateman in the preceding centuries, devoted some of their wealth to founding colleges where youth might be trained in strictly orthodox doctrines. It marks a further de- velopment in the whole conception of education, when we find the charitable and wealthy turning away in 54 The University of Cambridge. despair alike from the monastery and the friary, and transferring their sympathies to those two academic centres where, amid much that was narrow, mechani- cal, and false, a certain amount of genuine and far from useless mental activity was undoubtedly going on. Such were the feelings, such were the sympathies, which had already actuated William of Wykeham when, in 1380, he founded New College, Oxford, — a foundation which, in its organisation and prescribed discipline, resembled a monastery more than any pre- ceding college, but which was itself endowed with lands which the founder had purchased from various monastic societies. The foundation of Eton College and King's College, Cainbridge, marks another stage in this notable change Foundation ^^ public feeling ; for both societies were and Khi*^'L"'^°^ cndowcd with the estates of the alien priories, College. certain ' cells,' that is to say, of different reli- gious orders in England which represented dependencies of foreign monasteries. Henry V. had already appro- priated their revenues in the time of war ; and his son, Henry YI., next proceeded to confiscate them per- manently as an endowment for Eton and King's College. The amply endowed society, the buildings of which now rose on the original site, to the north of the chapel and to the west of the Schools, was superior in wealth and prestige to any preceding Cambridge foundation. Its code was in most respects a simple adaptation of tliat of New College. Theology, the arts, and pliilosophy were to form the ordinary course of study. It is, how- ever, a significant fact that the commissioners who originally received the royal command to prepare the The Fifteenth Century. 55 statutes evaded their task by voluntary resignation, and that William Millington, the first provost (as the head of the new foundation was termed), was ejected from his office owing to his unconcealed disapproval of certain provisions of the code. There can be little doubt that the cause of these circumstances lay in the exclusive privileges with which it was proposed to invest the new foundation — provisions which the provost and the commissioners alike regarded as so objectionable that they could not but withhold their concurrence. It was the aim of the royal founder to make the college independent not only of the bishop of the diocese, but also of the university authorities, and for this purpose he applied to Rome. The necessary bulls were granted ; and on 3 1st January 1448—9, the university itself, by an instrument under its common seal, granted that ' the provost, fellows, and scholars, their servants and ministers, should be exempt from the power, dominion, and jurisdiction of the chan- cellor, vice-chancellor, proctors, and ministers of the university ; but in all matters relating to the various scholastic acts, exercises, lectures, and disputations necessary for degrees, and the sermons, masses, general processions, congregations, convocations, elections of chancellor, proctors, and other officers (not being re- pugnant to their peculiar privileges), they were, as true gremials and scholars of the university, to be obedient to the chancellor, vice-chancellor, and proctors, as other scholars were.' In other words, in the highly impor- tant relation of discipline, as distinguished from in- {^truction, the college was made altogether independent of the university. Anotlier grave objection, as it ap- 56 The University of Cambridge. peared at least to Millington, was the limitation of a foundation designed on so princely a scale to scholars coming from Eton, a provision which stands in strik- ing contrast to the catholicity of the designs of some preceding founders. In this manner an exclusive class endowed with exclusive privileges was founded in the university ; nor was it until more than four centuries had elapsed that King's College was eventually libe- rated from the incubus which had so long rested upon it. It is true that during that lengthened period the society could point to not a few distinguished scholars and men otherwise eminent who had been educated within its walls. But the real efficiency of such insti- tutions is to be estimated rather by the average char- acter than the exceptional celebrity of its members ; and the reputation of the society during this time was too generally that of one where the primary designs of academic life were systematically ignored, where elegant amusement took the place of severer studies, and the active duties of the parish priest were evaded for the easy leisure of the college fellowship. It was at the petition of Margaret of Anjou, then scarcely twenty years of age, but ' restless,' to use the expression of Fuller, ' with holy emulation Queen's Col- of her husbaud's bounty in building King's College,' that the ' Queen's College of St. Margaret and St. Bernard in the university of Cam- bridge,' was founded. The charter bears the date i 5 th April 1448, but no statutes were given for more than a quarter of a century after, — the outbreak of the Civil War having probably called away the attention of The Fifteenth Century. 57 royalty to more urgent matters. And when a code was eventually given, in 147S, it was by Elizabeth Wood- ville, the consort of Edward IV. Elizabeth had once sympathised strongly with the Lancastrian party : she had been one of the ladies-in-waiting attached to the per- son of Margaret of Anjou, and her husband had fallen fighting for the Lancastrian cause. It is not impro- bable, therefore, that sympathy with her former mis- tress, then passing her days in retirement in Anjou, may have prompted her to accede to the prayer of Andrew Doket, the first president of the society, and to take the new foundation, the name of which is hence- forth to be written Queens' College,-^ under her protec- tion. By the original statutes, the new foundation was designed for the support of a president and twelve fellows — all of whom were to take priest's orders. A fellow, at the time of his election, might be of no higher status than that of a questionist in arts ; or, if already studying theology, might be chosen from scholars on the foundation. On taking his master of arts degree, he was required either to devote himself to teaching, or further to prosecute his studies in the natural or metaphysical philosophy of Aristotle. Andrew Doket ruled the society of Queens' College for many years, from 1448 to 1 484; but there ai"e no signs that he was in any way a promoter of that new learning which, before his death, was beginning to be heard of at Cambridge. A society of humbler origin was the next to rise after the two royal foundations. Among the first scholars of ^ As distinguishable from Queen's College, Oxford, founded by Queen riiiliiipa, where the s and the possessive are transposed. 58 7^ HE University of Cambridge. King's College was Robert Woodlark, afterwards founder and master of St. Catherine's Hall. In 1452, Foundation of -r -i i-<.-\ -\ ^ ^ -\ St. Catherine's John uhadworth, the second provost, was elected to the bishopric of Lincoln, and Woodlark was appointed his successor ; and it was under his guidance that King's College extorted from the university those exceptional privileges to which we have above referred. That he was an able administrator may be inferred from the prominent part assigned to him on different occasions ; ' but herein,' says I'uller, ' he stands alone, without any to accompany him, being the first and last, who was master of one college and at the same time founder of another.' St. Catherine's HalP was founded in 1475. There is little in the statutes given by Woodlark that calls for comment, beyond the fact that both the canon and the civil law are rigorously excluded from the course of study, and that it appears to have been the founder's design that the new college should be subservient solely to the wants of the secular clergy. The nunnery of St. Rhadegund, whose foundation we have already noted, affords a further illustration of that gradual revolution in the religious Foundation of i- ,^ •, . i Jesus College, Sympathies 01 the community at large ^'*^^' which had paved the way for the Re- formation long before Luther appeared upon the scene. St. Rhadegund was another of those religious Iiouses which were at this time filling the hearts of pious reformers like William of Wykeham with despair. ^ No distinction appears to have been involved by the use of the term aula instead of coller/ium : Woodlark's statutes say, ' Hajus coUegii sive aulae,' The Fifteenth Cextury. 59 lu the reign of Henry YII. it was, in fact, on the verge of a natural dissolution. Its revenues had been squandered and dissipated ; only two nuns remained on the foundation ; so that, to quote the language of the charter of Jesus College, ' divine service, hospitality, or other works of mercy and piety, according to the primary foundation and ordinance of their founders there used, could not be discharged.' In the year 1497, through the exertions of John Alcock, bishop of Ely, the nunnery was suppressed by royal patent. Alcock was a munificent encourager of the arts, and to his liberality and taste the church of Great St. Mary and his own chapel in the cathedral at Ely are still elo- quent though silent witnesses. The historian of the college, a fellow on the foundation in the seventeenth century, observes that it appears to have been designed that, in form at least, the new erection should suggest the monastic life ; and to this resemblance the retired and tranquil character of the site, which afterwards gained for it from King James I. the designation of the ' Muses' haunt,' still further contributed. The first statutes of the college were not given until early in the sixteenth century. Their author was Stanley, the successor, one removed, to Alcock, in the see of Ely, and son-in-law of Margaret, countess of Richmond ; they were also considerably modified by Stanley's illus- trious successor in the same see, Nicholas West, fellow of King's, and the friend of Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More. The most noteworthy feature in these statutes, for our present purpose, is the fiict that, although both Alcock and West were distinguished by their acquirements in the canon law, not one of the 6o The University of Cambridge. twelve fellows to be maintained on tlie foundation was permitted to become a canonist, and only one a civilian. In this proviso we have probably another indication that sympathy with the principles of ulti'amontanism was on the decline ; and although Luther had not yet cimracier of the ^^^iled liis thescs to the door of the church smS''" at Wittenberg, the wiser minds of England this period. were already disposed to think less about Rome and the Roman pretensions, and to direct their efforts towards the promotion of a learning more likely to serve the true interests of the Church and the laity throughout the realm. It is difficult, however, to sup- pose that these efforts would have effected much had they not been aided by those other influences which will shortly demand our attention. How little there was in the teaching of the Cambridge of this period, or in that of any other university north of the Alps, to stimulate a genuine spirit of inquiry will be evident if we simply bear in mind the fact that the function of the lecturer was generally supposed to be limited to the interpretation of the dicta of recognised authorities. The doctrines of Aristotle, whether those which he really taught or those attributed to him by others, the commentaries of Aquinas and Duns Scotus, and those on ' the Master of the Sentences,' such were mainly the sum of the theology and the philosophy which the university lecturer was called upon to make known and to inter- pret to his audience. Owing to the extreme scarcity of text-books, whether in manuscript or printed, the student's first acquaintance with an author was gene- rally made in the class-room. The method employed by the lecturer was of two kinds, — the analytical and Mediaeval Lecturing. 6i tlie dialectical. Of the former, the commentary by The analytical Aquinas Oil the Ethics of Aristotle, — of the method. latter, the Quccstioncs of Buridanus (an emi- nent schoolman of the fourteenth century), may serve as examples. In the employment of the analytical method, the plan pursued was purely traditional, and never varied. The lecturer commenced by discussing a few general questions having reference to the treatise which he was called upon to explain, and in the cus- tomary Aristotelian fashion treated of its material, formal, final, and efficient cause. He pointed out the principal divisions ; took the first division and subdi- vided it ; divided again the subdivision, and repeated the process until he had subdivided down to the first chapter. He then again divided until he had reached a subdivision which included only a simple sentence or complete idea. He finally took this sentence and ex- pressed it in terms, somewhat varied, so as to make the conception more clear. He never passed from one part of the work to another, from one chapter to another, or even from one sentence to another, with- out a minute analysis of the reasons for which each division, chapter, or sentence was placed after that by which it was immediately preceded ; while, at the conclusion of this painful toil, he would sometimes be found hanging painfully over a single letter or mark The dialectical ^^ puiictuatiou. The secoud luetliod, and method. probably by far the more popular one, was designed to assist the student in the practice of cast- ing the thought of an author into a form that might serve as subject-matter for the all-prevailing logic. Whenever a passage presented itself that admitted 62 The University of Cambridge. of a twofold interpretation, the one or otlier interpreta- tion was thrown into the form of a qucestio, and then discussed 'pro and con, the arguments on either side being drawn up in the usual array. It is probable that it was at lectures of this kind that the instruc- tion often assumed a catechetical form, — one of the statutes expressly requiring that students should be ready with their answers to any questions that might be put, ' according to the method of questioning used by the masters, if the mode of lecturing used in that faculty required questions and answers.' Finally, the lecturer brought forward his own interpretation, and defended it against every objection to which it might appear liajble ; each solution being formulated in the ordinary syllogistic fashion, and the student being thus furnished with a stock of qiccestiones and arguments requisite for enabling him to take his part as a disputant in the schools. Hence the second stage of the trivium not only absorbed an excessive amount of attention, but it overwhelmed and moulded the whole course of study. Even the study of gram- mar was subjected to the same process. Priscian and Donatus were cast into the form of qucvstiones, wherein the grammar student was required to exhibit something of dialectical skill. It was undoubtedly from the prevalence of this method of treatment that disputation became that besetting vice of the age which the opponents of the scholastic culture so severely satirised. * They dispute,' said Vives, in his celebrated treatise, ' before dinner, at dinner, and after dinner ; in public and in private ; in all places and at all times.' HIedi/eval Student Life. 6^ When tlie student in arts had incepted and de- livered his lectures as regent his duties were at an end. He had become recognised as one of c.ircei- of tlie the great guild of teachers, and was qualified master of arts. . . . c ^ ^ • to give instruction on any oi the subjects of the trivium and quadrivium in any university in Europe. He had also discharged his obligations to the university in which lie had been educated ; and was henceforth known, if he continued to reside, as a non-regent. If he left the academic precincts and Avent forth into the world, he was certain to be re- garded as a marvel in learning, and he might probably rely on obtaining employment as a teaclier, and earn- ing a modest though, somewhat precarious income. But, as in every age with the majority of students, learning was seldom valued in those days as an ulti- mate good, but for its reproductive capacity, and, viewed in this light, the degree of master of arts had but a moderate value. The ambitious scholar, intent upon worldly and professional success, directed his efforts to theology or to the civil or canon law. And here we must carefully guard against the notion that any mem- ber of the university, in those days, could look forward to the degree of LL.D., D.C.L., D.D., or B.D. as obtain- able by the simple process of retaining bis name on the university register and performing one or two exer- cises. The conditions obligatory upon the theologian, the civilian, or the canonist who aimed at such aca- demic honours involved further residence at the uni- versity for another eight or ten years, during which time he must have attended various courses of lectures, 64 The University of Cambridge. liave given proof of his own acquirements by lecturing on the same subjects to others, and have kept nume- rous oppositions and responsions. It is necessary also to bear in mind that the appearance from time to time of new commentaries, whether on the Scriptures or on Aristotle, the result generally of great labour, and some- times of considerable acumen, often imposed no little additional toil on the university lecturer. The logician was oppressed by the ever-multiplying commentaries on the Or g anon ; the expositions of De Lyra, which appeared in the fourteenth century, alone demanded no slight labour on the part of the professed theo- logian ; the new decretals promulgated by Boniface VIII. and Clement V. added no less to the toil of the canonist. It was a frequent assertion on the part of Lollard vmters, that the demands thus made on his time (demands which he dared not disregard, for the papal anathema hung over all who should neglect the study of these additions to the code of Rome) were one of the chief causes of that neglect of the Scriptures which now began to characterise the labours of the academic divine. But in proportion to the efforts expended in master- ins" the lore thus handed down throuo-h a succession of preceding teachers was the value attached to the labour ; and in justice to the university teacher of this period, whose conception of learning and its aims was conceived solely on the traditional lines, it must be remembered what an amount of self-abnegation was demanded of him when he was called upon to lay aside, as well nigh valueless, the acquirements to which the The Mediaeval Teacher. 65 best part of Lis life Lad been given, — to admit tLat mucL of Lis tLeology was baseless ; tLat Lis pLilosopLy was for tLe most part but ingenious cobweb-spinning ; and tLat Lis canon law was a system of wLicL botL foundation and superstructure required to be almost entirely swept away. C. fl. ( 66 ) CHAPTER IV. THE UNIVERSITY AND THE RENAISSANCE. The remarkable movement known as the Renaissance, which brought back to the knowledge of the scholars of Western Europe the masterpieces of classical an- tiquity, and eventually made them a leading study in the universities, did not reach Cambridge until quite the close of the fifteenth century. It was apprehended in its true significance much earlier by the scholars of Oxford, and the names of William Selling, Linacre, Grocyn, Colet, and Sir Thomas More represent a tra- dition to which, at the same period, Cambridge can offer no parallel. Even William Gray, who was bishop of Ely from 1454 to 1478, and who had studied under Guarino at Ferrara, seems to have done nothing towards promoting a like activity at Cambridge, and his valuable collection of classical manuscripts was be- queathed to Balliol College. With the advance of the sixteenth century, however, this inferiority began rapidly to disappear, and for the remainder of that period it hardly admits of question that Cambridge, when com- pared with Oxford, exerted the more potent influence over the nation at large and commanded the larger share of the national regard. The remarkable progress The Renaissance. 67 which the university now began to make in classical learning must be attributed, in the first instance, to the example and teaching of Erasmus ; while its more general growth in culture, numbers, and endowments must be held to date from the commencement of the untiring exertions of Bishop Fisher. It Bishop Fisher. . , , ^ was m the year 1497 that lisher succeeded to the mastership of Michaelhouse, and it was probably about the same time that he was appointed confessor The Lady ^^ ^^^ Lady Margaret, countess of Rich- Murgavet. mond, mother of Henry VII. This illus- trious lady, distinguished no less by her piety and bene- volence than by her august descent, seems very soon to have discerned the eminent virtues and abilities of her spiritual adviser; and when, in I 5 03, she founded at Cambridge that professorship of divinity which bears her name, she appointed Fisher the first professor. He had already, in i 5 o I , been elected to the office of vice- chancellor, and from 1505 to 1508 he presided over the society of Queens' College ; he was thus well quali- fied to estimate the condition of the academic discip- line, as well as the merits and defects of the theological training, of his time. His individual convictions are clearly to be discerned in the salutary measures which he advised and carried into effect : in his inciting Erasmus to indite a treatise, De Picitione Condonandi {i.e., on the composition of sermons), with a view towards bringing about a less disputatious and more practical kind of preaching than that which then prevailed , in the institution of the Lady Margaret preachership, which his patroness founded mainly by his advice, its object being to provide for the systematic religious 68 The University of Cambridge. iustruction of tlie laity in Englisli, by divines of tlie university ; and, finally, in the foundation of the tv70 societies of Christ's College and St. John's College, and in the codes given for their observance. Christ's College, founded in 1505, rose on a yet earlier foundation, an ancient school for instruction in grammar, known as God's House. ' The new Foundation of. • n ^ ttii Christ's Col- socicty was munmcently endowed by the Lady Margaret ; and in the following year, along with her royal son, she honoured Cambridge with a visit, — a visit attended with memorable results. King's College Chapel, then but half completed, the work standing still owing to insufficient funds, arrested the monarch's attention, and within three years after, shortly before his death, he left those princely bequests which converted a spectacle of apparent failure into one of splendid completion. It has been supposed that Erasmus was in the royal train on this occasion. It is certain that he was already well known to Fisher, whose guest he afterwards became at Queens' College ; and it is in every way probable that in the code of Christ's College, which presents us with the first endea- vour to introduce a new element of culture in the studies of the university, his influence is to be traced. I The new foundation was designed exclusively as a f seminary of theology, the studies of the canon and the civil law and that of medicine being alike unrecognised. Another feature which must not be passed by, as having probably exercised material influence on its sub- sequent history, is a certain preference shown in the election of fellows to those who should be natives of certain northern counties. Of the twelve fellowships, The Renaissance. . 69 nine might be from the counties of Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, York, Richmond, Lancashire, Derby, and Nottingham ; while the remain- ing three were to be taken from any three of the re- maining counties of the realm. It was not obligatory that more than six should be taken from the northern counties, but the permission to extend the number to nine was, in jDractice, generally construed into a pre- cept. No one county, however, was at any time to be represented by more than one fellow. The pensioner, — that is to say, the undergraduate who paid rent for a chamber or a share of a chamber within college pre- cincts, — existed as early as the fourteenth century. In the present code, however, he first appears under the somewhat more comprehensive designation of conviva, ■ — ^the convivoi being students admitted as members of the college on condition of defraying their own expenses, — i.e., both board and lodging. They are required to be of unexceptionable character, and to bind themselves by oath to a strict compliance with the prescribed order of discipline and instruction. But the most significant of all the innovations is un- doubtedly that whereby provision is made for the regular delivery of lectures on the works of the poets and orators, an unmistakable proof of the extending influence of the Renaissance, if not of the personal influence of Erasmus himself. Before King Henry and his noble mother died, they had been induced by Fisher's representations, the one to sanction, the other liberally to endow, a second college, — that of St, John the Evangelist. Christ's College had been partly founded by the 70 The University of Cambridge. incorporation of an older society ; St. John's was formed by the extinction of the ancient Foundation of . St. John's Hospital. Ever since the failure of Huo-h College, 1511. T-* 5 Balsham s well-meant endeavour to amal- gamate that society with a more progressive element, the brethren of the Hospital of St. John had been steadily advancing on the downward path of mis- rule, licence, and profuse expenditure. Like the nunnery of St. Khadegund, the Hospital had become a scandal ; but few of its members remained on the foundation, and, to quote the description of Baker, ' hospitality and the service of God, the two great ends of their institution, were equally neglected.' It was now proposed by Fisher altogether to suppress the society, and to found a college in its place. Not a few difficulties, however, obstructed his design, Stanley, the young and licentious bishop of Ely, opposed the dissolution of the Hospital, and it was only after a peremptory mandate from Pope Julius at Rome that his resistance was overcome. The endow- ment bequeathed by Margaret Richmond would have furnished revenues for the new foundation second only to those of King's, but exceptions were taken, after her death, to the technical validity of her bequest ; Wolsey's all-potent influence (from causes which could only be surmised) was thrown into the adverse scale ; and ultimately it was found necessary to surrender the whole of the noble benefaction. It was only through Fisher's strenuous efforts that, as some com- pensation, other estates, representing a revenue less than one-fifth of the original endowment, were ulti- mately granted for the new society. By the exercise The Renaissance. yi of a rigid economy tliey were, however, made to suffice for the maintenance of thirty-one fellows ; and under the long and able rule of Nicholas Metcalfe, who succeeded to the mastership in 1 5 1 8, the col- lege grew rapidly in numbers and reputation. The Bishop Fisher's statutes givon by Fisher in 1 5 1 6 were tufe'^sforthe identical in their tenor with those of College. Christ's College; but in 1524 he substi- tuted for these another code, and in 1530 a third. The code of 1530 may accoi'dingly be fairly regarded as the final embodiment of his views and aims with respect to college education. It is not difficult to recognise in the different provisions at once the strength and the weakness of his character. His life presents us with more than one significant proof how little mere moral rectitude of purpose avails to pre- serve men from pitiable superstition and fatal mis- takes. As his faith in the past amounted to a foolish credulity, so his distrust of the future became an unreasoning dread. In the 1 30 closely printed pages which these statutes fill, we recognise the vitiating defect of medieval discipline, — the incapacity for re- cognising both the necessity of progress and the wis- dom of conceding that liberty of action on which progress depends. And accordingly, amid many pro- visions, characterised by much prudent forethought, and statutes which really pointed to something like a revolution in academic studies, we cannot but be conscious that it was Fisher's aim to stereotype, as far as possible, the entire constitution of the society, so as to preclude all possibility of further innovation on a code which itself represented no slight modi- 72 The University of Cambridge. fication of that which he had himself given only fourteen years before. How little his purpose, if successful, would have redounded to the advantage of those for whom he legislated may be inferred from provisions such as those which directed that questions from Duns Scotus should always continue to be introduced at every logical discussion, — that undei'graduates under twenty, guilty of breaches of discipline, should be whipped for their offences, — that the permission of the dean should always be necessary before any of their number could pass the college gates, — that recreation in the fields should be permissible only when there were at least three together, — and that no scholar should be allowed to be absent from college more then forty days in the year. It indicates, on the other hand, the change that was coming over the classical studies of the university, that both Hebrew and Greek are indi- cated as fitting subjects of study for a certain pro- portion of the fellows and scholars. It may even be regarded as a provision contrasting favourably with the method of much later times, that only those fel- lows and scholars are to devote themselves to these studies, who, in the opinion of the masters and seniors, evince an aptitude for them. Not less commendable is the obligation imposed upon a fourth part of the fellows to occupy themselves with preaching to the people in English. It was during the interval between the founda- nesidence of tiou of Fisher's two collegcs, about the Erasmus in Cambridge. year 1 5 1 0, that Jirasraus, alter residing for some time at Louvain, and subsequently at The Renaissance. 73 Oxford, came to seek a new field of labour in Cam- bridge. Under Fisher's protection, lie took up his residence in Queens' College, in the turret which rises at the south-east angle of Pump Court. From I 5 ri to I 5 I 5 he filled the chair of the Lady Mar- garet professorship ; and with the chancellor's en- couragement, and aided by the influence of other scholars, he commenced the somewhat perilous ex- periment of forming a class in Greek. His manual of instruction was the little Grammar which Emmanuel Chrysoloras had compiled for the use of the young Italian students who sought his instruction in Flor- ence ; but his experience was a less fortunate one than that which waited on the corresponding efforts of Guarino and Politian. His pupils were few, and paid him little or nothing. By the great majority of the seniors of the university, violently opposed to the new learning, he was regarded with suspicion and dislike. He was the object of malicious annoy- ance on the part of the townsmen, full of brutal contempt for the foreign scholar who was unable to convei'se with them in their vernacular. His class proved a failure ; and, disappointed in the class-room, he took refuge in his study ; and to his labours there, the men of his generation were indebted for his \ two most notable achievements, — the Novum Instru- mentum and his edition of Jerome. By the one he directly paved the way for the Eeformation ; by / the other he guided the student of his ao^e to that juster estimate of the value and authority of medi- aeval theologians, which so largely, though less imme- diately, conduced to the same great revolution. In 74 The University of Cambridge. brief, we carrnot, perhaps, better express the import- ance and significance of his work than when we say that the new Margaret professor, — whom, during the greater part of his residence at Cambridge, we may picture to ourselves as thus toiling away in his lonely college tower, — was mostly engaged in inves- tigations the result of which was to be the eventual consignment to neglect and oblivion of nearly nine- tenths of the literature on which the theologians in the university around him looked with most reverence and regard. It was in the winter of 15 13—14 that Erasmus left Cambridge, — his departure hastened, if not oc- Hisexperi- casionod, by the outbreak of the plague. mat^e of'the'^^'^'' His experiences during his sojourn had not OTUnthe"° been of a character that he could after- univeisity. wards recall with satisfaction, but he did not refuse to do justice to the ability and worth of the leading minds of the university, and readily ad- mitted that it could already compare not unfavour- ably with some of the most distinguished centres on the Continent. To the three colleges which enjoyed the advantage of beiug under Fisher's direct influence and guidance, — Queens', Christ's, and St. John's, — he refers with special satisfaction, as schools where a sounder learning was being fostered and a more truly \ evangelic spirit diffused among their alumni. It is to these colleges, without doubt, that we must turn, if we would follow the main current of the new move- ment in the university. The light which Erasmus had kindled was not extinguished. Among the young scholars whom he The Renaissance. 75 taught and befriended at Cambridge was Eicliard Croke of King's College. Croke subsequently went abroad, and appeared as a lecturer on Greek at Cologne, Louvain, Leipzig, and other centres. In this capacity he achieved a considerable reputation, and when, about the year 1 5 1 9, he returned to the university, he was forthwith appointed public orator for life. On entering upon office, he de- livered an inaugural address, which was shortly fol- lowed by a second, and the two may be regarded as among the most noteworthy compositions in the literaiy history of the time, and especially valuable as showing how closely the new studies for which he pleaded were associated with that revived and more intelligent study of the Scriptures on which it was felt that the education of a more learned and efficient clergy mainly depended. Although it is difficult to suppose that Croke's estimate was quite impartial, it is deserving of note that he addresses his Cambridge audience as composed of those who had hitherto out- stripped the Oxford men in every department of knowledge. Such was the character and such were the ten- dencies of learning at Cambridge, when they suddenly became, for a time, almost lost to view Visit of Wolsey • ^ \ i • to the uuiver- amid the revolutionary changes and the sity. •'. ° ferment of thought which ushered in the English Reformation. During the years which im- mediately preceded the movement, a less benign pre- sence than that of Bishop Fisher, the dread Cardinal himself, by turns excited the hopes and the apprehen- sions of the universitv. It was well understood at yS The University of Cambridge. Cambridge that Wolsey bore their chancellor^ no good- will, and it was believed that this unfriendly feeling extended, in some measure, to the whole community, and had already entailed upon them one serious loss. His munificent endowment of his new college at Ipswich, designed as it was as a nursery for his splendid foundation at Oxford, might well seem likely to divert from Cambridge not a few promising scholars from the eastern counties. The authorities now hastened, accordingly, to turn aside his displea- sure by complete and unqualified submission. When Wolsey visited Cambridge in 1520, the language with which they approached him might compare for adula- tion and self-abasement with that customary in address- ing an Oriental despot. And in 1524, following an example already set by Oxford, the university pro- ceeded to make a complete surrender of its statutes and privileges into the Cardinal's hands, to be altered and remodelled at his pleasure, and beseeching him to continue to exercise these autocratic powers for the remainder of his lifetime. The printing-press, which proved elsewhere such a powerful ally of the Reformation movement, took its The early Cam- ^'i^s in Cambridge soon after Erasmus' bridge press, gojoum. In a letter written to Dr. Robert Aldrich of King's College, on Christmas Day 1525, we find the great scholar sending greetings to old acquaintances in the university, and among them to one John Siberch. Siberch was both a bookseller and a printer, and in the years i 5 2 i and 1522 he printed ^ In 1504 Ksher had been elected, chancellor, and after having been re-elected annually for ten years, was re-elected for life. The Renaissance. yy eigbt different volumes, among tliem a well-known treatise by Erasmus himself, entitled De Conscrihendis Epistolis. In some of these Greek type is used, and, the Cambridge press would accordingly appear entitled to the distinction of having been the first in England ) where this feature in typography was introduced, i Siberch, in fact, speaks of himself, in one of the pre- faces, as ' primus utriusque linguge in Anglia im- pressor,' — that is, the first printer in England to print both in Greek and in Latin. There were other book- sellers and printers at that time in Cambridge, and one of them, Sygar Nicholson, who had been educated at Gonville Hall, was charged in 1529 with holding Lutheran opinions, and having Lutheran books in his possession. In the same year the opponents of the Reformation movement in the university petitioned Wolsey that only three booksellers might be per- mitted to ply their trade at Cambridge, who should be men of reputation and ' gravity,' and foreigners, Avith full authority to purchase books of foreign mer- chants. The petition appears to have received no immediate response ; but in the year 1534 a royal licence was issued to the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university to appoint, from time to time, three stationers and printers, or sellers of books, residing within the university, who might be either aliens or natives. Those thus appointed were em- powered both to print and to vend any books licensed by the academic authorities. In pursuance of this After-effects Hcenco three stationers and printers were ot his labours, appointed, one of the three being Sygar Nicholson, whom it may possibly have been designed 78 The University of Cambridge. to compensate for the persecution and imprisonment to which he had been subjected. It indicates, how- ever, the extent to which the printer's enterprise was at that time associated rather with liberty of thought than university traditions, that the licensed press proved altogether sterile ; and for more than half a century, from the year 1522 to i 584, it would appear that not a single book was printed at Cambridge. ( 79 ) CHAPTER V. THE UNIVERSITY DURING THE REFORMATION. We have already seen how the two great contribut- ing causes to the success of the Reformation, — the degeneracy of the religious orders and of ecclesias- tical institutions, and the more critical and at the same time more liberal spirit generated by the Re- naissance, — are clearly to be discerned as operating with considerable effect at Cambridge. We have now to note how the more direct influence of Luther's writings, combining with these causes, resulted in the formation of a theological school in the university which rendered it for a considerable period the chief centre of Protestant thought in England. It had been the boast of Lydgate in the fifteenth century, that ' of heresie Cambridge bare never blame ' ; in the sixteenth century, how- ever, Cambridge was to become a noted haunt of what, in the eyes of Rome, was regarded as heresy of the blackest dye. The commercial intercourse between Northern Ger- many and the eastern English coast, and especially with the towns of King's Lynn, Norwich, Yarmouth, and Ipswich, was in those days considerable ; Luther's 8o The University of Cambridge. writings frequently found their way across tlie sea con- Pi-ie-Lutiieran cealed in ships' cargoes ; and in this nian- moi°eme^nt°^ i'^®^ ^^^ inhabitants of these districts became Cambridge. ^.j^g g^,g|. ^^ embrace the doctrines of the Reformation. Those of them, again, who designed to pass through a university career naturally resorted to Cambridge, which thus very early became a centre of Lutheran, or at least of Reformation, teaching. But be- fore Luther's name had even been heard at Cambridge, views such as the great Reformer advocated were not unfamiliar to the university. So early as the year I 5 1 7, a young Norman student, Peter de Valence by name, had ventured to impugn the glaring abuse of in- dulgences in a few words of bold denunciation wi-itten over a proclamation of Leo X. which Fisher himself had affixed to the doors of the schools. His daring deed drew down upon him a sentence of excommunica- tion from the chancellor, and resulted in his flight from the university. By this time, moreover, the labours of Erasmus were beginning to bear fruit, and Thomas Bilney, a native of Norwich and a member of Trinity Its chief Hall, who must be regarded as the first leaders. leader of the Reformation in the univer- sity, always referred back the commencement of his spiritual enlightenment to ' even then when the New Testament was first set forth by Erasmus.' An inde- fatigable student, whose high attainments and winning disposition averted the ridicule which some harmless eccentricities and a remarkably diminutive stature might otherwise have evoked, Bilney now became an active proselytiser to the Reformation doctrines, and attracted not a few followers. Anion 2; the number During the Reformation. 8i was Thomas Arthur, master of St. IMary's Hostel, William Paget (afterwards lord high steward of the university), John Lambert, fellow of Queens', Shaxton (afterwards bishop of Sarum), Thomas Forman (after- wards president of Queens'), — all mostly Norfolk men. The house of the Augustinian friars was at this time under the presidency of Robert Barnes, also a Norfolk man, who had studied at Louvain ; in conjunction with William Paynell, who had been a fellow-student with him at that famous school, he also began to venture upon some daring innovations, — to lecture on Latin authors like Terence, Plautus, and Cicero ; and, in the language of Foxe, 'putting aside Duns and Dorbel' (that is to say, the schoolmen and the Byzantine logic), to comment on the Pauline Epistles. Latimer long after described him as one who in power of lucid and effective exposition had no equal in the university. So again at Pembroke, always a home of the best traditions of the university, George Stafford, a fellow of the college, at- tracted, about the years 1525 and 1526, enthusiastic audiences by his lectures on the Gospels and Epistles. The next stage is marked by the introduction of the Lutheran writings. At the very time that King Henry and Bishop Fisher were wielding William Tyn- . . "^ . ^ . ^ . ^ dale, Barnes, their peus iH uusparing condemnation of and Latimer. , -n c i i the great Keiormer, whose works were publicly committed to the flames on Market Hill, a little band of Cambridge scholars were assembling periodically together for the purpose of studying and discussing his earlier treatises; among their number was William Tyndale, who was resident in the uni- versity from I 5 1 4 to 1521. The White Horse Inn, c. H E 82 The University of Cambridge. whicli occiipied at tliat time very nearly the present site of ' The Bull,' was their place of meeting. Steal- ing in by the back entrance from Milne Street, they gradually began to assemble in such numbers that the inn itself was known as ' Germany,' and its devout frequenters as ' the Germans.' It was the taunt of their adversaries that they were mostly young men; but it is certain that they were among the most able and diligent of the student class in the university, and their influence made numerous converts. For a time they appear to have been left unmolested. But in 1526 Barnes, in a sermon at St. Edward's Church, having ventured, with singular imprudence, upon the utterance of words which were understood to glance at Wolsey himself, was called to account by the authorities, and the demonstration which then took place plainly revealed the extent to whicli the move- ment had spread. The prior was eventually arrested and brought to London, where, under the fear of mar- tyrdom, he was induced to sign a recantation. The loss thus sustained by his party at Cambridge was, however, more than made good by the accession to its ranks of the celebrated Hugh Latimer. The appearance of Tyndale's version of the New Testament, a production wliich, on account of its new renderings, was stigmatised by Sir Thomas More as ' the father of all the heresies,' only added strength to the con- victions of the Reformers. Of the extent to which the best scholarship of the university was represented among, their number, we need seek no more decisive proof than the fact that when Wolsey, in 1525, was foundinof Cardinal Colleo-e at Oxford, and was select- During the Reformation. Z^ ino- from Cambridsre the most efficient teachers and lecturers whom he could find to give prestige to the new society, out of the eight thus chosen no less than six were notably supporters of the Eeformation doc- trines. When those doctrines began, in turn, to make their appearance at the sister university, Archbishop Warham, in a letter deploring the growth of the heresy, declared that Cambridge was generally held Influence of , , . . , . -, „ Cambridge on to be tlio Original occasiou and cause or the fall in Oxford.' Latimer was now the leading figure in the movement at Cambridge, and was consequently marked out for the fiercest attacks. By Buckenham, the prior of the Dominican founda- tion, he was assailed with especial vehemence, while Fisher's whole influence was also thrown into the opposing scale. The whole university was divided into two bitterly hostile parties, and signs were not wanting that before long the fires of persecution might be lighted to decide the struggle. In January I 53 I— 2, Thomas Benet, a master of arts of the uni- versity, was burnt as a Protestant at Exeter. And the fate of the movement throughout England might have been prematurely sealed had not the question of the royal divorce suddenly introduced The university '' n r*. and the Koy.d a ucw element which served enectually to Divorce. . ^ n ■, reverse the relative strength of the two parties. For the final solution arrived at in connection with that memorable question Cambridge would seem to have been in no small measure responsible. Thomas Cranmer, a fellow of Jesus College, was at that time living in the house of a Mr. Cressy at Waltham ; and it was there that, in conference with two other 84 The University of Cambridge. Cambridge divines, — Stephen Gardiner, who in 1525 had succeeded to the mastership of Trinity Hall, and Edward Fox, who in 1528 had been elected provost of King's, — he suggested the expedient of referring the question of the legality of Henry's marriage to the universities of Christendom and holding a special court in England. As Cranmer was, at that very time, acting as tutor to Anne Boleyn, it is impossible to regard his position in relation to the question as an impartial one. In the university itself the suf- frages were strangely divided. The academic authori- ties, actuated mainly by considerations of expediency, sought to win the royal favour by an ignoble servility. Croke was especially distinguished by the compliant readiness with which he lent himself to Henry's de- signs, visiting in turn the chief universities on the Continent, with the ostensible object of obtaining the opinions of the most eminent canonists as to the legality of the royal marriage with Catherine, but in reality for the purpose of bribing those whom he professed to consult into giving their subscriptions in favour of the divorce. The younger members of the university, on the other hand, less exposed to temptations like those which swayed the sentiments of their seniors, and partly, perhaps, under the in- fluence of their broader culture and its more generous spirit, displayed a feeling of sympathy with the in- jured queen which it required energetic measures to repress. A decision (9th March 1529-30) favour- able to Henry's design was indeed eventually wrung from the university, but it had been obtained only by the appointment of a Commission which in its During the Reformation. 85 composition was little better tlian a packed jury. The appointment itself had encountered strenuous opposition. The first time it was proposed to the senate it was non-placeted ; when again brought for- ward the votes were equal ; and it was eventually carried only by the device of inducing those hostile to the measure to abstain from voting. Even when thus appointed, the members of the Commission found it necessary, in order to arrive at the foregone con- clusion, to persuade at least one of their number to absent himself. And, finally, their decision, when arrived at, was qualified by an important reservation, which, if Queen Catherine herself was to be believed, involved a conclusion unfavourable to the divorce. After Wolsey's death (November 1530), the pre- cedent which he had set in the foundation of Cardinal Election of College, of confiscating monadic property, weiTas^ban™' "^^^ readily acted upon by those who, while ceiior. they shared his greed of wealth, had none of his regard for learning. The work of spoliation went on apace; and when, on 2 2d June 1535, Bishop Fisher heroically met his death on Tower Hill, the university felt that the last defence which intervened between itself and a like fate to that of the monas- teries had fallen. The election of Thomas Cromwell, the foremost contriver of Fisher's death, to be his successor in the chancellorship must be regarded as an almost despairing efibrt dictated solely by the instinct of self-preservation. The payment of first- fruits and tenths imposed on the university in 1534 was soon found to be a serious burden ; in some colleges it had made it necessary to diminish the 86 The University of Cambridge. number of the fellowships. And it hardly admits of doubt that many of the endowments would now have been snatched away, had not Henry and his minister been able to discriminate between the monastic re- venues wasted by neglect and maladministration, and those of the colleges which from the first had but inadequately subserved the ennobling uses of honest learning. It was in the same year that he himself decreed the despoiling and destruction of Becket's shrine at Canterbury, that Henry uttered his well- known refusal to his courtiers to sanction the plunder- ing of the universities, declaring that he judged no land in England better bestowed than that which had been devoted to such uses. Towards the traditional learning and the ancient text-books the hostility of the new chancellor was, however, shown in an unmistakable manner. The Royal . Injunctions In 15 35 the apprehensions and the hopes of the two contending parties in the uni- versity were alike set at rest by the promulgation of those famous Royal Injunctions which constitute the great boundary-line, in the history of Cambridge learn- ing, between the medieeval and the more modern cul- ture. These Injunctions required, in the first place, an unqualified acceptance of the royal supremacy, to which, as a necessary corollary, was attached the dis- continuance of lectures on the canon law and the conferring of degrees in that faculty. They next enjoined that in each of the colleges there should be ' founded and continued for ever ' ' two daily puUic lectures, one of Greek, the other of Latin.' They abol- ished the Sentences as a text-book, substituting the During the Reformation. Sy Old and New Testaments, and directing that the ex- position on these should be in harmony with the new exegesis. At the same time, it was ordered that students in arts should be instructed in the elements of logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geography, music, and should study Aristotle and logic by the aid of the Humanists, putting aside ' the frivolous questions and obscure glosses ' of the Schoolmen. The college discipline was also found not incapable of amendment. Although, in his anxiety to regulate every detail, Bishop Fisher had carefully Further re- •/ ' i j f..rmsm college excluded 'fierce birds,' — a statute which discipline. . ^ . was subsequently interpreted to include the most harmless of the feathered races, the thrush, the linnet, and the blackbird, — he had altogether failed to guard against the intrusion of a much more dangerous element, — the unqualified pensioner. The statute re- lating to pensioners had required that they should have furnished satisfactory evidence with respect to character, but it had not been deemed necessary to insert a similar requirement with respect to at- tainments, and an inlet was thus afforded at both colleges to a class whose ignorance was only equalled by their disinclination to study, and who, as it was soon found, were a scarcely less formidable element of demoralisation than the riotous and the dissolute. In less than twelve years after Fisher's death we accord- ingly find Ascham, in a letter to Cranmer, observing that, among the evils ' which proved great hindrances to the flourishing estate of the university,' none was more serious than the admission of those ' who were, for the most part, only the sons of rich men, and such 88 The Uxiversity of Cambridge. as never intended to pursue tlieir studies to that degree as to arrive at any eminent proficiency and perfection in learning, but only the better to qualify themselves for some places in the State by a slighter and more superficial knowledge.' Of the general con- currence of the college authorities in Ascham's view, "we have satisfactory proof in the fact that in the statutes given by King Henry to St. John's in the year 1545 an endeavour is made to remedy the above evil (so far, at least, as the college was concerned), by the insertion of a clause requiring that no pen- sioner should be admitted who did not already possess such a knowledge of Latin as would enable him to profit by the regular course of instruction, and prevent his proving an impediment to the progress of others. These changes, necessary and inevitable although they were, did not fail to encounter a large amount Alexander ^^ resistauco. In the same year that poi^ted^KiDg's ^^^ Royal Injunctions were promulgated, scholar. Alexander Alane, the nominee of Cromwell, appeared in Cambridge as duly elected ' King's scholar,' and expressly charged with the office of lec- turing in the university on the Scriptures, and thus instructing his hearers in the theology of the German Reformers. His arguments, however, were at once called in question, and he was challenged to defend them in the schools. The salary which Cromwell had promised never reached him, while the hostility which confronted him in every direction was so marked that he deemed it prudent to quit the university. In the following year he appeared before Convocation and defended the doctrines of the Reformers ; and it was During the Reformation. 89 on that occasion that Edward Fox, bishop of Hereford, when seeking to exculpate Alane, made his memor- able admission that the laity were already more familiar with the Scriptures than the majority of the I professed divines whom he addressed. In other words, the middle lay class now knew their Bible better than most men of university training and education. It is evident, however, that it was to theologians who had been educated at Cambridge that the nation now looked for authoritative guidance in matters of re- ligious belief, wdien we note how largely the univer- sity was represented on the board of forty-six divines to whom was entrusted the compilation cf the famous manual of theological doctrine of that time, — Tlie In- stitution of a Christian Man. So far as regarded the studies and discipline of the universities, the final dissolution of the monas- Effectsofthe teries and friaries was attended with but tb?monas"°' unimportaut results. The latter were in- tenes. stitutious, for the most part, out of all sym- pathy both with the new learning and the new belief, and they fell lamented only by the indigent and the superstitious. At Cambridge, however, the outward and visible traces of their overthrow were visible lono- o afterwards. The map executed under the direction of Archbishop Parker in the year 1574 shows the sites and surrounding orchards of three out of the four foundations of the Mendicant Orders still un- occupied, — the house of the Augustinian Friars near the old Botanic Gardens, looking on to what is now Pembroke Street, — that of the Dominicans standing where Emmanuel Colleo-e, with its yrardens, was 90 The University of Cambridge. shortly to appear, — while a solitary small tenement in one corner of a broad expanse of orchard ground, traversed by the King's Brook, alone represents the once splendid buildings of the Franciscans. The apprehension of being involved in a some- what similar fate now gradually gave place at the Gains of the universities to feelings of lively expecta- coiieges. tion. Just as the most influential among the nobility and gentry had been bribed into acquiescence by the promise or the actual bestowal of the richest abbey lands, so the scholar and the Churchman were now induced to keep silence by the hope of seeing new and splendid homes of learning endowed from the monastic spoils. And as the confiscation of the estates of the alien priories under Henry V. had given birth to Eton and King's College, — while that of the lands of the smaller monasteries ^^nder Wolsey had resulted in the foundation of Cardinal College and of the grammar-school at Ipswich, — so, it was ima- gined, the final abolition of the monasteries would prove to the universities a yet more splendid gain. Nor were these hopes destined to be altogether dis- appointed. Queens' College, under the able rule of Dr. Mey, acquired for a small payment the site and somewhat ruinous premises of the Carmelites. Mag- dalene College was endowed partly from the property which Sir Thomas Audley had acquired by the con- fiscation of monastic lands, and partly from those which Hugh Dennis had designed for monastic use ; while the very fabric of Trinity College was largely constructed out of the materials obtained by the demolition of the stately church and cloisters of the During the Reformation. 91 Frauciscans. That there was much to be deprecated in the aims whereby these momentous changes were brought about, and in the manner in which they were carried out, seems scarcely to admit of denial. But, on the whole, it seems no less undeniable that their preponderating result was for good rather than Leading char- ^^r Bvil, and a Consideration of some of the uufvMsity'al chiof characters who were largely formed this period. under the influence of these changes can hardly fail to confirm us in such a conclusion. At St. John's, the names of John Madew, master of Clare Hall, — of John Eedman of King's Hall, for a short time public orator, and the first master of Trinity, — of Robert Pember, the tutor of Ascham, — and of William Bill, who succeeded Redman in the master- ship of Trinity, would alone have sufiiced to establish the reputation of the society for scholarship and enlightened faith. But the two brightest ornaments of the college at this time were undoubtedly Roger j Ascham and John Cheke. Of these, the former, ' renowned in his own day for his classical learning, still survives in the pages of his Scholemaster as one of our most sagacious and original thinkers on the subject of education ; while the latter, who succeeded Alane as King's scholar, rendered a yet more direct service to the university by the energy and ability with, which he revived the study of Greek, — the interest in which, since the time of Erasmus, seems at one time almost to have expired. Among those who shared his enthusiasm was "William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, for a short time college lecturer on Greek. With such ardour, indeed, did these three pursue 92 The University of Cambridge. the study of the masterpieces of Athenian eloquence, that, as we are told, they often lit their lamps before four o'clock, unable to await the break of day. Esti- mated by its services to learning, Queens' College might claim at this period a place second only to St. John's. Its most distinguished member and John was Sir Thomas Smith, whose services as a CUeke . scholar to Greek learning and to constitu- tional history might seem as of but minor importance when compared with those which he subsequently ren- dered as a financier to the colleges at large. Like Cheke, he obtained the distinction of being appointed King's scholar, and a friendship was gradually formed between the two young scholars, which Smith himself on one occasion thus described to Gardiner : — ' We are of the same age, and of like condition in life ; our studies have been the same, and we are recipients of the same royal bounty; we have been engaged in a continual emulation with each other in the arena of intellectual achievement, but this rivalry, which is wont to kindle envy and strife between others, has hitherto only bound us more closely to- gether in fraternal affection.' Among Smith's pupils were two who afterwards attained to high distinction, — these were John Ponet of Queens' and Walter Haddon of King's. Among members of other societies who afterwards rose to eminence, two names seem especially to call for note. The one was Nicholas Ridley, the newly elected master of Pembroke, often at that time to be seen pacing the orchard walk of his college, and sedulously committing to heart passages from a volume of the Pauline Epistles. The During the Reformation. 93 other was Matthew Pai'ker, fellow of Corpas, who as a preacher had ali-eady gained a reputation second only to that of Latimer, but was now temporarily with- drawn from Cambridge, and filling the office of dean at the College of Stoke-by-Clare, — a foundation (long since extinct) for the education of the secular clergy. But although the standard of scholarship was rising, and the promise of not a few of the younger students was singularly hopeful, the recent Less favour- . ai)ie aspects cliangcs Were telling with serious effect of the pei'iud. , • f> i i • on the general prosperity 01 both univer- sities. At Cambridge the embarrassment resulting from the decline in numbers was so serious that, in February 1538, a statute was promulgated whereby the students were required to discharge their func- tions in the schools for two years instead of one, — a measure rendered necessary by the fewness of those who were both of the requisite standing and in other respects qualified for the performance of these duties. Other measures plainly indicate the pressure result- ing from an impoverished exchequer. The office of taxor to the university was abolished, his functions being superadded to those of the proctors. The ' use- less books ' in the library were sold. The amount contained in the ' common chest ' of the university was found, on one occasion, to be less than ;!^2 0, and it was necessary to borrow from other sources. The Hebrew and Greek lecturers in the university were, on two occasions, paid only by the expedient of suspending the mathematical lecturer for the current year, and ap- propriatiug his salary. It marked the turning-point in this depressing experience, when, in 1540, the five 94 The University of Cambridge. Regius professorships were fouuded, representing tlie Foundation of several subjects of Divinity, Civil Law, Phy- Profesfor-^ sic, Hebrew, and Greek, and each endowed ships. with a salary of £^^0. Ascbam, writing to a friend only a few years after, gives an enthusiastic description of the change brought about by the crea- tion of these august chairs. ' Cambridge/ he says, * is quite another place, so substantially and splendidly has it been endowed by the royal munificence.' Aristotle and Plato are being read even by ' the boys,' although this, indeed, had already been the case at St. John's for some five years. ' Sophocles and Euripides,' he goes on to say, ' are more familiar authors than Plautus was in your time. Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon are more conned and discussed than Livy was then. Demosthenes is as familiar an author as Cicero used to be ; and there are more copies of Isocrates in use than there formerly were of Terence. Nor do we disregard the Latin authors, but study with the greatest zeal the choicest writers of the best period.' The first Regius professor of Greek was Clieke, and in conjunction with Proposed Smith he now proceeded on a somewhat pronunciT-*^° ^^Id inuovation, namely, that of endeavour- tion of Greek, '^g .j.^ fj^troduce a new method of pronounc- ing the language, — an idea for which Erasmus had already published suggestions. The method at that time in vogue was singularly monotonous and unpleas- ing, resulting, according to Ascham, either in ' a feeble piping like that of sparrows, or an unpleasant hissing like that of snakes.' ^ The new method was undoubt- ^ On the method then in use, see author's Eistorij of the University of Camhridcjc, vol. ii. p 54, During the Reformation, 95 edly a great improvement. It was warmly sanctioned by the best scholars, and was already just making its way in the university, when Gardiner, who had suc- ceeded to the office of chancellor, suddenly issued a decree, in May 1542, imperatively enjoining a return to the ancient practice. An animated pamphlet con- troversy, between Gardiner on the one hand, and Ascham and Smith on the other, now ensued. For a time, however, the chancellor's mandate prevailed, although not infrequently disregarded in actual practice. But, after his death, the voice of reason carried the day, and the Erasmian mode of pronunciation became generally adopted. In England, in the course of the seventeenth century, this method was, in turn, abandoned for the method now in use, which differs alike from that of Erasmus and that by which it was preceded. During the academic year 1543—4, the office of vice-chancellor was filled by Smith, and to his prac- tical ffood sense we may probably refer statute for . ° . . . "^ .^ "^ . matriculation the passmof lu that year 01 a statute lor of students. ^ \ . , . t . . „ the due matriculation and registration 01 students. Prior to that time the only formality ob- served had been that of an oath administered to all students above the age of fourteen by the head of the college or hall to which they belonged, whereby they pledged themselves to obey the authorities, pre- serve the peace, and defend the interests of the university. By the statute of 1 5 44 the student was required to go before the registrary and give in his name, together with that of his tutor and that of his college, to pay the matriculation fees, and then, if of the required age, to take an oath binding him 96 The University of Cambridge. to the observance of the laws, statutes, and privileges of the university, and to the maintenance of its honour and dignity. On the present site of Magdalene College there formerly stood an ancient house, known as Bucking- ham College, which itself stood in the place Foundation of , . _. _, , Magdalene 01 a yet oidcr toundation designed by the Benedictines for the reception of members of their Order studying in the university. In the year 1542 Buckingham College was converted by Sir Thomas Audley into Magdalene College. Few courtiers or politicians had profited more largely by the plunder of the monasteries, and the original en- dowment was ample ; but, from various causes, the revenues for some time proved insufficient for the maintenance of a master and eight fellows, as con- templated by the founder, and it was only by suc- cessive subsequent bequests that, in the course of the seventeenth century, the number of fellowships was raised to sixteen, and that of the scholarships to thirty-one. The original statutes of the college were first sanctioned by Philip and Mary in the year 15 54' and, as may be easily conjectured, reflect none of that regard for the new learning which we find in the statutes of Christ's College and St. John's. Their most noteworthy feature is the powers and the large discretion which they assign to the master, and the almost entire freedom which he thereby acquires from responsibility to the governing body, it being apparently the design of the founder to place the college practically under the control of the successive owners of Audley End. DuRixG THE Reformation. 97 The return of Parker to Cambridge, to succeed to the mastership of Corpus, and his election to the riesicTis of the vicc-chancellorship in the following year, t°e'coi[ege3 wero evcuts of no ordinary importance in defeated. ^j^q history of the university. To his tact and good sense, in conjunction with the judicious advocacy of Smith and Cheke at Court (where the latter was now acting as tutor to Prince Edward), we must mainly attribute the fact that the ominous ' Act for the Dissolution of Colleges ' passed so harm- lessly over the Cambridge foundations. Fortunately the university managed to secure the appointment of not only Parker, but also of the wise and able Redman and good John Mey upon the Commission, both of whom proved no unskilful advocates. It was, however, a critical day for Cambridge when their whole number were summoned to Hampton Court to hear the royal decision. Along with the courtiers, some of whom Parker, in his description of the event, does not hesitate to characterise as ' ravening wolves,' they took their stand round the royal chair. King Henry, who, when not blinded by passion or pre- judiced by personal dislike, could approve himselt a capable and impartial judge, had already looked through the financial statement of each foundation with care. The indisputable evidence exhibited only a series of struggling societies, for the most part very inadequately endowed, where unobtrusive merit and genuine desire for learning were already too often robbed of a modest reward by the partialities of some too potent courtier or ecclesiastic. Henry him- self was fain to confess that ' he thought he had not C. //. G 98 The University of Cambridge. in his realme so many persons so honestly mayntayned in lyvyng bi so little lond and rent.' Something, indeed, he let drop about the necessity he found him- self under of rewarding the servants of the State. But he added, says Parker, that ' he wold put us to our choyce wether we shulde gratifie them or no, and bad us hold our owne. With which wordes we were wel armyd and so departed.' Although Trinity College claims King Henry as its founder, it probably lies under a far greater debt of obligation to Katherine Parr ; and as Foundation of Trinity the Lady Mai'garet had been moved by the representations and pleadings of John Fisher, so the employment of like means by Thomas Smith aroused the sjmipathies of Queen Katherine. In the year 1546 it became known that the master and fellows of the ancient foundation of Michaelhouse, and the master and scholars of the aristocratic society of King's Hall, had alike been summoned to deliver up their respective houses into the royal hands. And on the iptli of December i 546, the royal letters were granted for the foundation of a college of literature, the sciences, philosophy, good arts, and sacred theo- logy ; consisting of one master and sixty fellows and scholars, to be called ' Trynitie College, within the towne and universitie of Cambrydge, of Kynge Henry the Eights foundacion.' No academic institution in Europe furnishes a more striking example of the change from the medigeval to the modern, from the Catholic to the Protestant, conception of education and learning. But not even in this instance could the courtier's greed be altogether evaded ; and we During the Reformation. 99 learn from a sermon by Thomas Lever tliat a con- siderable sum designed by tlie royal bounty for the college was, in this manner, diverted from its original purpose. Unlike Wolsey's great foundation at Ox- ford, Trinity could claim that its original society was composed exclusively of members of its own univer- sity. The mastership was bestowed on John Red- man, who for the preceding four years had held the mastership of King's Hall ; while several of the most distinguished fellows, and especially those best known as Greek scliolars, came from St. John's. features in its The first statutes, wliicli wcrc given in first statutes. . ^ -n- i -n- i > 1552, much resemble Joishop Jbishers later codes in their attention to points of detail ; and in addition to this minuteness with respect to college discipline, and many unnecessary and irksome restrictions on the daily conduct of the students, there is also to be noted the large amount of attention given towards defining more accurately the duties ot the numerous college officers. In one respect the code contrasts favourably with most other sixteenth century college statutes, in that the restriction where- by it was usually sought to maintain the balance be- tween ' north ' and ' south ' does not appear, the only limitation of this character being of that more com- mon kind requiring that not more than three fellows at any one time shall be natives of the same county. In the requirements with respect to the admission of scholars, a regulation, similar to that contained in the Johnian statutes of 1545 with reference to the admission of pensioners, is laid down ; and the two provisions may probably be regarded as the earliest 100 The University of Cambridge. traces of the existence of an entrance examination. Candidates must possess such a knowledge of Latin and polite learning as will enable them to stand the test of the examinations in the hall, and to take part in the college disputations. The general scheme of study corresponds in the main with that laid down in the Edwardian statutes for the university. ( loi ) CHAPTER YI. FROM THE FOUNDATION OF TRINITY COLLEGE TO THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. The dimiuution of numbers which followed upon the expulsion of the religious orders from the universities Abuses in the was in a great measure repaired by the suTSsTii'to increase in another class, which at first the colleges, seemed likely materially to affect the general standard of attainment. The monk and the friar gave place to the schoolboy. Parents belong- ing to the more opulent classes began to send their sons as pensioners, feeling confident that they would now no longer be exposed to the proselytising acti- vity of either Franciscan or Benedictine ; knowing also that they would be watched over and cared for in the colleges ; and, reassured on these points, not especially solicitous that their lads should become either accomplished scholars or profound theologians. ' There be none now,' said Latimer in 1 549, ' but great men's sons in college, and their fathers look not to have them preachers.' Patronage now began also to exert its most pernicious influences. The acquirement of wealth had become more than ever a passion with the aristocracy ; while with the mar- 102 The University of Cambridge. ried bishop it was too frequently his first thought how to provide for his own descendants. Ascham, in a letter written two years before the delivery of Latimer's sermon, declared that 'talent, learning, poverty, and discretion all went for nothing in the college, when interest, favour, and letters from the great exerted their pressure from without.' While Thomas Lever, preaching at Paul's Cross in 1551? declared that one courtier was worse than ' fifty tun- bellied monks,' and that those who possessed influential connections were now not ashamed to usurp the college endowments and ' to put poore men from bare lyvynges.' It was only natural, accordingly, that men of mature years and ripe attainments should have begun to seek other spheres of labour ; weary of a field where merit was becoming rare and rarer, chiefly owing to the fact that when it made its appearance it met with no reward. So, indeed, mat- ters appear to have remained throughout the troub- lous times which preceded the accession of Elizabeth. Down to that date, says Huber in his well-known work on the English universities, the Eeformation had inflicted on both Oxford and Cambridge ' only injury, both outward and inward.' More than one thoughtful contemporary observer would seem, in fact, to have been much of the same opinion. When, in the year of Elizabeth's accession, after a lengthened State of the abseuco from Cambridge, Dr. Caius re- descHbed'by^ visited the university, his surprise at the Dr. Cams. changes that had taken place, and his sense of the evils which had accompanied them, in- duced him to give them formal record in his history. A.D. IS 46 TO IjjS. 103 He missed, he tells us, the dignified elders of former times, proceeding with sedate countenance and stately mien to the disputations in the schools, attended by the chief members of their respective colleges, each in his distinctive academic dress, and preceded both going and coming by heralds. The under- graduates no longer respectfully saluted their seniors from afar and made way for them in the streets ; many seemed to have altogether discarded the long gown and the cap. Their pocket-money, he learned, was no longer spent on books, their minds were no longer given to study, but both were alike devoted to dress and the adornment of their persons. They wandered about the town frequenting taverns and wine-shops ; their nether garments were of gaudy colours ; they gambled and ran into debt. Expul- sions were not infrequent. Students, he was told, complained loudly that the generous patrons of learn- ing of former times no longer existed ; but he takes occasion to observe that it is first of all necessary that the requisite merit should make itself apparent, whereas many students only bring discredit on the university and load their patrons with shame. Although Dr. Caius' description is characterised by something of exaggeration, it evidently points to a condition of things which no well- Loss of the . ^ . university's wishcr to the uuiversity could reofard with satisfaction. Nor can we doubt that this demoralisation was largely due to the circum- stance which Ascham and Lever agreed in deploring, — namely, that the enthusiastic little band of scholars of which Cheke and Smith had been 104 ^^^ University of Cambridge. the leaders was broken up, and that no worthy suc- cessors were now forthcoming who by their attain- ments and example might stimulate others to hon- ourable exertion. In no sphere of labour, indeed, as academic history again and again shows us, is personal influence more potent for good or for evil than in universities. The enactment of the statutes of 1549 effected some material changes in the constitution of the Tiie statutes University, but they also deserve the praise of 1549- bestowed upon them by Dean Peacock of being ' brief, distinct, and reasonable.' They were the result of the labours of men well acquainted with the state and needs of the whole community, among whom were Bishop Ridley, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir John Cheke, and Dr. ]\Iey. To these statutes were added certain ' Injunctions,' or additions made by the commissioners in concert with the academic authorities. They are mainly devoted to defining with greater precision the duties of the university lecturers and the text-books to be used. The ancient triviuin was completely recast, while grammar was alto- gether discarded, — Jesus College being the only founda- tion where it was still permissible to give instruction in the subject. In its place ' mathematics ' appear as the initiatory study for the youth fresh from school ; they were to be succeeded by dialectic, and this again by philosophy. Further instruction in philosophy, pei'spective, astronomy, and Greek took the place of the subjects of the old quadriviiLin or bachelor's course of study ; while the master of arts, after the time of his regency had elapsed, was re- A.D. IJ46 TO IS5S. 105 quired, unless intending the study of law or medi- cine, to devote his attention solely to theology and Hebrew, Bachelors of divinity were required to hear a theological lecture daily ; to respond once and dis- pute twice in theological questions ; and to preach twice in Latin and once in English in St. Mary's Church. It was not until the student had attained to the full-blown dignity of doctor that the decision as to whether he should or should not continue to add to the stores of his already acquired knowledge was confided to his own discretion. A large num- ber appear to have generally decided this question in the negative, but their conduct, as we shall shortly see, was regarded with much concern, if not actual dis- approval, by the mentors of the university. The low state of learning, and especially of theo- logical learning, was regarded with much concern by Fagiusand Cranmer, and with a view to bringing poufted^' about some improvement, he had recourse professors. ^^ ^|^g expedient of inviting over learned foreigners, especially those of the Zwinglian per- suasion. Among their number was Paul Fagius, a divine of considerable eminence, who, through Cranmer's influence, was appointed reader in Hebrew to the university. He was carried off by death, in November 1549, a few days after his arrival in Cambridge. A somewhat longer tenure of office awaited Martin Bucer, who at the same time was ap- pointed Eegius professor of divinity, and whose incidental criticisms of what he observed in the university are valuable as those of a candid and judicious foreigner of unquestionable honesty of purpose. Bucer him- io6 The Uxiversity of Cambridge. self was in some measure an eclectic, and lie Lad been untiring in his efforts to reconcile the two con- tending parties of Protestantism abroad. From the tone of his observations while in Cambridge, it is evident that he looked upon learning in the uni- versity as at a low ebb, and that he regarded the indolent fellows who were growing old on the diffe- rent foundations as an incubus from which it would be well if the colleges could be relieved. His brief labours as a professor gave proof of no ordinary learn- ing, and were characterised by a genuine modesty \ but they were not suffered to pass unchallenged by theologians of the opposite school, and involved him in more than one painful controversy. It was per- haps well for his fame that he was carried off by sudden death within little more than twelve months after his arrival, and while a sense of his worth and learning was still the prevailing conviction of the university and the Church at large. ' The master workman,' exclaimed Parker, ' has fallen.' The reappearance of Smith in Cambridge as Regius professor of the civil law was hailed with no little expectation by the students in that faculty, state of the ^ . \ , /' study of the couscious as they probably were that the civil law. ^ study was already on the wane, not merely in the university, but as the means to a profes- sional career in the wider world without. The two orations which he delivered upon entering upon office, although characterised by his usual ability, could not impart new life to a branch of learning which was already, in a great measure, doomed. The students of the civil law continued to be but few, and those A.D. IS ^6 70 1558. 107 who embraced the profession of a civilian yet fewer. From the year 1544 to 1551 only one graduate proceeded to the degree of LL.D., and only eight to that of bachelor of laws. An endeavour was, indeed, made to give further encouragement to the study by the formation of a new legal college, which it was pro- posed to found by an amalgamation of Trinity Hall and Clai'e; but the scheme was strenuously and success- fully opposed by the members of the latter society and ultimately abandoned. Both the Protector Somerset and his rival, North- umberland, filled in succession the office of chancellor, but under neither did learning flourish. Chief incidents , , , . . whicii foiiflwed A schemo, it IS true, was proiected during upon tlie ^ ^ • o n t ■, n 1 accession of the briei supremacy 01 the latter for the foundation of a college to be designated ' Edward's College,' and to be munificently endowed, but it never came to accomplishment. In the poli- tical commotion which followed upon Northumber- land's endeavour to divert the crown from the rightful succession, Cambridge had its full share. It was in King's College that he was arrested, and it was from Cambridge that, along with Dr. Sandys, the master of St. Catherine's and vice-chancellor, who had im- prudently advocated the cause of the usurper from the university pulpit, he was conducted in ignominy to the Tower. Thither, too, were conveyed John Bradford and Eidley ; while Norfolk and Gardiner, liberated at the same time from their cajotivity within the same walls, resumed together with their liberty the offices they had formerly filled in connection with the university, the one as high-steward, the latter as loS The University of Cambridge. cliancellor. The repeal of the Edwardian statutes fol- lowed almost immediately ; and before another sis months had passed, all the colleges, with the excep- tion of Gonville Hall, Jesus, and Magdalene, had seen a change of heads. Parker, at Corpus, antici- pated expulsion by resignation, and throughout Queen Mary's reign remained hid from the pursuit of his enemies in obscure retirement, — a leisure which he devoted to congenial studies, which afterwards bore good fruit for the Church. If, indeed, we were prepared to give unqualified acceptance to the asser- tions of Protestant writers, the ' Marian quinquen- nium ' would appear to have been a period of almost unmitigated disaster for learning, and scarcely less detrimental to the material interests of the university. ' The two faire groves of learning in England,' wrote Ascham long after, ' were eyther cut up by the roote or troden downe to the ground and wholelie went to wracke ' ; while, with respect to his own college, he affirms that ' mo perfite scholars ' were dispersed from St, John's ' in one moneth, than many yeares could reare up againe.* It is impossible, however, to con- clude that these, and similar statements with which we meet in other writers, are not exaggerations, when we find that, according to the statistics of the Grace, Booh, there was at Cambridge a considerable increase in the number of those proceeding to the degrees of master and bachelor of arts. During the last five years of Edward's reign the aggregate number had been only 90 and 167 respectively; during the five years from 1553 ^^ 1558 the corresponding numbers were 125 and 195. On the other hand, it A.D. IJ-/.6 TO IjjS. 109 cannot be denied that tlie changes introduced were retrograde in character and unfavourable to a real advance in knowledge. The old pronunciation of Greek was again prescribed, and probably for a time more successfully enforced. In the place of the Forty- two Articles, a syndicate, appointed by the senate, proceeded to draw up a series of fifteen articles em- bodying the distinctive tenets of Catholicism and the recognition of the papal supremacy, and condemning as ' pestiferous heresies ' the dogmas of Luther, ffico- lampadius, Zwinglius, and Bucer. The new articles were forthwith subscribed by the great majority of the resident electors in the university, and during the reign of Mary a like subscription was an indis- pensable condition of admission to degrees. Gardiner had scarcely carried these changes into eflFect, when he was carried oflP by death, 12th November 1555. He was succeeded in his office as chancellor by Car- dinal Pole, who in the following year was also elected to the chancellorship of the university of Oxford. It does not appear that Pole ever visited Cambridge, and his interest was naturally more active in Oxford, where, as a student of Magdalen, he had passed some years and gained considerable credit. Both universities were in the following year subjected by him to another visitation, having for its express object the more complete establishment of the Catholic religion. In the meantime the burning of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ptidley at Oxford, and that of John Hullier, a Pro- testant scholar and conduct of King's Colleo-e, on Jesus Green at Cambridge, had brought home to both communities with terrible vividness the stern no The University of Cambridge. realities of tlie religious crisis. The Cambridge mar- tyrs, one and all, died with a fortitude worthy of their cause ; and many as have been the passages notable for their touching pathos which men of lofty nature have penned in the anticipation of death, the fare- well to which Ridley gave expression, as his univer- sity and his ancient college of Pembroke, with its orchard walk, came back to his memory, is unsur- passed in its kind. In January 1557 another visita- tion of the university took place, the details of which have been preserved to us in a quaint and interesting account by John Mere, the registrary, and one of the esquire bedells of the university. They are chiefly noticeable as illustrations of the ceremonial and proce- dure observed by the visitors in carrying out their main object. One act, however, conspicuous from its wanton indecency and barbarity, cannot be altogether passed by. The remains of Bucer and Fagius were exhumed, chained like the bodies of living heretics to the stake, and publicly burnt on Market Hill. The chief result of the visitation was a new body of statutes, generally known as those of Cardinal Pole. They were, however, designed to be only temporary, and proved in their actual result almost inoperative. From these and similar reactionary or vindictive measures, it is a relief to turn to the one act which, Dr. CaiuKre- during the reign of Mary, conferred a real vdiieHiuP' ^^^ permanent benefit on the university. 1558. This was the refounding of Gonville Hall by Dr. Caius, an eminent scholar and physician, who, by the practice of his profession, had acquired a considerable fortune. Althouo-h a Catholic, his A.D. Ij^6 TO 1338. Ill religious prejudices were tempered by long residence abroad, by a wide erudition, and by much observa- tion of men and affairs. He had studied anatomy under Vesalius at Padua, and had himself taught Greek at that famous university. "With many of the most eminent scholars of France and Germany he was personally well acquainted. Dr. Cains had re- ceived his Cambridge education at Gonville Hall, and by his munificence the college was now reconstituted so as to consist of a master, thirteen fellows, and twenty-nine scholars. Of the fellowships, three re- presented the original foundation of Edmund Gonville and Bishop Bateman, three the new foundation of Dr. Caius, while the remaining seven derived their endowment from the joint bequests of the other minor benefactors. Himself a native of Norwich, it was his design chiefly to assist Norfolk and Suffolk men ; but in other respects the statutes which he gave to the college in 1572 were equally distinguished by liberality and good sense, although, indeed, many of the regulations with respect to general discipline and pastimes must appear, like those of St. John's and Trinity, singularly irksome to a later generation. The three gateways, of Humility, Virtue, and Honour, which adorned the new buildings, were designed by Dr. Caius himself, — the last, in all probability, being in imitation of the ornamental designs of the silver- smiths of Italy, with whose work he had become familiar during his residence in that country. The royal favour, during the reign of Mary, was bestowed chiefly on Oxford ; Trinity College, however, received a benefaction, and the building of its chapel 112 The University of Cambridge. was commenced. The queen's death, succeeded within a few hours by that of Cardinal Pole, ushered in a new state of things, and with the acceptance of the chancellorship by Sir William Cecil, it was felt that a new era had begun, and that the period of mere reaction was at an end. ( il.S ) CHAPTER VII. THE UNIVERSITY DURING THE ELIZABETHAN ERA. That the larger share of patronage bestowed on Oxford during Mary's reign was the result of the greater degree of favour with which Catho- niore favour- Hc doctrines Were there regarded admits Reformation of no questiou. The special reputations of the two universities had greatly changed since the time when Lydgate boasted that 'of heresie Cambridge bare never blame.' The fame of Oxford, as a great centre of theological science and specula- tion, had long ago departed ; while Cambridge, as a home of Reformation doctrine, might rival Wittenberg or Marburg. John Burcher, writing to Bullinger a few months after Bucer's death, and recommending Musculus as his successor, intimates that ' the Cam- bridge men will not be found so perversely learned as Master Peter found those at Oxford.' By ' not so per- versely learned,' he explains, it is his design to indicate that tendency to so-called ' heretical ' doctrine evinced by the rising scholarship of the university, which it had been Gardiner's first aim to repress and trample out. It might well appear only natural that Eliza- beth should have been inclined to regard with marked C. H. H 114 The University of Cambridge. favour that university where the doctrines which she and her adherents supported found their earliest re- cognition and their ablest exposition in England. ; But the preference which she showed for Cambridge is really to be attributed to the good offices of Wil- liam Cecil, — an influence not less productive of abiding benefit to the university than had been that of Bishop Fisher with the Lady Margaret. It is to Cecil's wise counsel and judicious co-operation from without, com- bined with Matthew Parker's untiring and unselfish labours within, that we must, in a great measure, attri- bute the steady, although not altogether Increase of . n i • i • • numbers in the uninterrupted, advauce which the statistics university. > i • • i -i • t 01 the university exhibit down to the close of the century, — an advance which may be broadly illustrated by a comparison of the number of those proceeding to the degree of B.A. in the academic year 1558-9 with that of the years 1570 and 1583. In the first-named year the number w^as only 28 ; in the latter years it was 114 and 277 respectively. The return of the Marian exiles could hardly fail to be attended by circumstances of some difficulty. Return of the Their terms of expatriation had been passed Marian exiks. g^jjjj^] privatious and sufferings which gave peculiar intensity to their sense of wrong ; and their conduct, when reinstated in office in their own country, was too often such as to suggest that a desire for retaliation, — to use no stronger term, — was their pre- vailing sentiment. They had also formed associations which affected not a little their theological sympathies. At Frankfort and at Strassburg, at Basel and at Ziirich, they had received hospitality and aid which The Elizabethan Era. 115 ■u-ere long remembered witli gratitude, and wliicli cemented still fui'tlier their friendship for the theo- logians of Germany and Switzerland ; while, with respect to not a few moot points iu the Anglican ritual and the Anglican liturgy, they had exchanged views and arrived at conclusions which served still farther to alienate them from all that savoured of the Roman doctrine. Of those w^ho had formerly been active in the university, some of the most eminent, among whom were Sandys, Grindal, and Lever, came back to England, but not to Cambridge. But the two brothers, James and Leonard Pilkington, who had been members of the little church at Frankfort, and Roger Kelke, who had been residing principally at Ziirich, together with many others of minor note, were once more to be seen in their former seats in hall and chapel, or moving through the streets of the university, with a sense of recovered influence and Conflict of possessed by yet more ardent convictions opuauus. than before. Some of them w^ere avowed disciples of the doctrines taught at Geneva; others had espoused the less gloomy tenets of Zwinglius : both these sections now came more directly under the influence of the Scotch Presbyterianism ; and from these several elements our English Puritanism arose. At Cambridge, however, they soon became aware of an opposing force which itself also represented three distinct elements : the influence of Elizabeth, desirous of holding the balance between contending parties, and with a real predilection for the Anglican ritual ; that of Cecil, who, though not unfriendly to the more moderate Puritanism, drew back when he clearly saw ii6 The University of Cambridge. to what lengths the growing demands of that party would lead ; and that of a large proportion of the mem- bers of the university who supported from genuine conviction the newly defined doctrine and discipline of the English Church, or who were really secretly inclined to Catholicism. The administering of the oath of supremacy was almost immediately followed by the expulsion of most of the college heads. Three notable ex- Chiinges in the • i t-. t-. government of ceptious, liowever, remained. Dr. rory the colleges. . -y ' o r\ managed to retain the mastership of Cor- pus, and subsequently became an active participant in the management of university affairs ; Dr. Caius was suffered to remain unmolested at the head of the society which he had himself reconstituted ; while at Peterhouse, Dr. Perne once more contrived to find the requirements of commissioners not beyond his conscientious compliance. A divine who, after acting as chaplain to Edward VI., had assented to the Catholic Articles of the year 1555, and who now was willing to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles of the English Church, could not, however, altogether escape the imputation of insincerity. The wits of the university coined a new Latin verb, jycrno, pernare, which meant, they aflarmed, ' to change often.' It may perhaps be pleaded, in extenuation, that Dr. Perne, throughout the remainder of his career, — that is to say, until his death in 1589, — showed himself an able and judicious administrator ; and that his thirty-six years' tenure of the mastership of Peterhouse was marked by a series of genuine services not only to his college and to the university, but also to the The Elizabethan Era. 117 town and to the wider community of learning- at large. A series of politic measures on the part of the Crown reassured the moderate party in the university, and were approved by all but the most f.ivomab'ie advanced section of reformers. The use of chiefly to tho . . c ^ t • t i-i study of theo- a Latin version or the authorised i rayer- Book in the college chapels was sanctioned. It was announced that, in order to give encourage- ment to meritorious students in theology, all pre- bends in the royal gift, or in that of the Keeper of the Great Seal, would in future be set apart for bestowal in the universities exclusively. The rights and privileges of the academic community in relation to the town authorities were renewed and extended. It became evident, in every way, that it was the design of Elizabeth and her ministers to make both universities efficient training schools for the clergy, and at the same time to bring them into close con- nection with the Crown. Such a design was in no small measure justified by the condition of the whole country, for learning in the Church had sunk to its lowest ebb. It was rarely at this time that the coun- try rector or curate understood Latin, while the art of catechising and the cultivation of preaching talent were equally neglected. We have it on the high authority of Lever, that scarcely one in a hundred among the clergy was ' able and willing to preach the Word of God.' Nor was this neglect the result of the distracting influence of other studies. The study of the civil law, as we have already seen, was almost dying out ; while the fast-increasing study of the com- ii8 The U.viversjty of Cambridge. nion law found larger opportunities and encourage- ment in the capital. Medicine, also aided by new foundations in London, was in like manner attracted to the chief centres of population. Theology, with an adequate preparatory arts course, became accord- ingly the chief concern of the universities ; and to train and send forth the well-instructed divine, learned in the original tongues of the Old and New Testa- ments, and competently read in the most authori- tative patristic literature, became for the next three centuries almost the sole professed aim of either Oxford or Cambridge. In August 1564, the queen's interest in the uni- versity was further indicated by a visit extending Visitor Queen ^ver five days, and characterised by a series Elizabeth. ^1^ quaint ceremonies and not a few amus- ing incidents. In one of the ' acts ' or disputations performed in the royal presence, a disputant took pai't who was destined to exercise no small influence over the subsequent history of the university. This was Thomas Cart- Thomas Cartwright, afterwards Lady Mar- rise^o/the'^ garct profcssor, to whom the distinction Puritan party. ^^^^ fairly Jbe conceded of having been the founder of the Puritan party in England. The j)re- judices and antipathies of that party were now be- ginning to find very marked expression. Under their influence the ' superstitious ' painted windows in the college chapels, whereon the use of prayers for the dead was enjoined, wei'e pulled down ; and on the appear- ance of Parker's celebrated Advertisements, designed to enforce a uniform church discipline (especially in the use of vestments) a considerable proportion of the The Elizabethan Era. 119 societies of St. Jolin's and Trinity sought to bring about the disuse of the surplice in the college chapel. These demonstrations were, however, sharply rebuked by Cecil, and Cartwright, the suspected ringleader, thought it prudent to retire for a time to Ireland. On the other hand, those suspected of Romanism were treated with yet greater severity. Dr. Baker, the provost of King's, on being detected harbouring a store of mass-books and Popish vestments, was arraigned before the Visitor of the college, and ulti- mately compelled to flee from the university. After the massacre of St. Bartholomew the aversion to the Catholic culminated. The acceptance of the oaths of supremacy and uniformity was rigorously enforced where before a merely external compliance had been all that was demanded. The English Catholic was compelled to seek for a university education abroad : at Louvain, or in the rising Jesuit school at Douay, or in the English College in Rome. With Avhat results, as regai-ded his sympathies not only as a theologian, but as a patriot and a loyal subject, it is not necessary here to explain. Some time before the j-ear 1569 Cartwright re- turned to Cambridge. It appears to have been the Cartwright wish of all parties to condone his past jEuKaret\)ro- imprudeuce in consideration of his gener- fessor. ^^ admitted learning and ability, and in that year he was elected Lady Margaret professor. His convictions were, however, as strong and his feelings as ardent as ever ; and in his capacity as professor his leanings soon became unmistakably manifest. Elected to his chair in order that he 120 The University of Cambridge. miglit defend the principles and discipline of the Re- formed Church of England, he availed himself of the vantage-ground thus afforded him to impugn alike those principles and that discipline. Such conduct was at variance with the conditions implicitly in- Effectsofhis volvcd in his acceptance of his office, and teaching. ^|^g effects Were immediate and deplorable. The younger and more enthusiastic members of what we may now term the Puritan party rallied round him as their leader, while the seniors of that party signified their concurrence in his teaching by their discourses in the university pulpit or in the college chapel. In a very short time it became only too evident that it was the design of this party to bring about the overthrow of that Church of which Eliza- beth and her ministers designed that the universities should be at once the nurseries and the bulwarks. They derided the use both of the surplice and of the square college cap ; they refused to kneel at com- munion ; they challenged the interpretation placed by the liturgy on the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; they inveighed against university degrees, and more particularly against theological degrees, declaring it to be an unwarrantable assumption on the part of academic authorities to profess to determine who should and who should not be the religious instruc- tors of the laity ; and, finally, while denouncing the whole order of ecclesiastical dignities, themselves put forth theories which glanced not obscurely at the spiritual supremacy of Elizabeth herself as Head or Governor of the Church. The chief authorities in Church and State could not disguise from themselves The Elizabethan Era. 121 tlie fact that it was theories such as these, and the controversies by which they were attended, that had already imperilled the interests of more than one Con- tinental university. Before, indeed, Elizabeth's reign was over, the same theories proved almost fatal to the interests of several more. They drove a whole body of professors from Konigsberg and seriously diminished the number of its students. They filled Heidelberg with tumult, not unaccompanied by actual bloodshed. They rent Hesse into two rival factions, each with its own university. They entailed scarcely less disastrous results upon the universities of Paris, Marburg, Jena, and Frankfort. Examples such as these, though present to the minds of only a certain proportion of the seniors of John Whit- Cambridge at this period, could not fail, ^^^'^- wherever recognised, to furnish an argu- ment of considerable weight, the cogency of which it is impossible even now to deny. Among those to whom they seem to have appealed with special force was Whitgift, whose experience of academic life and discipline was considerable. Originally a member of Queens' College in the time of Dr. Mey, he had migrated from thence to Pembroke, where he had been a pupil of John Bradford. From Pembroke he had been elected to a fellowship at Peterhouse, where, under the kindly protection of Dr. Perne, he had suc- ceeded in escaping molestation during the reign of Mary, and ever since the restoration of Protestantism, had been rising steadily in the good opinion of the university and in favour with its all-potent chancellor. A sermon which he pi-eached at St. Mary's, in 1560, 122 The University of Cambridge. seems to have first brouglit liim into general notice, and attracted no little admiration. In 1563 lie was appointed to the Lady Margaret professorship ; and after a brief tenure of the mastership of Pembroke, was promoted, in 1567, to that of Trinity. In the same year he vacated the chair of the Lady Mar- garet professorship for that of the Eegius professor of divinity. A sermon which he subsequently preached at Court so effectually won the queen's approval that he was forthwith sworn in as one of the royal chap- lains. His own religious views at this time seem to have inclined him to Calvinism, and there appears to be no reasonable doubt but that he and the party whom he led were actuated more by a desire to keep the university free from religious controversy than by any arbitrary notion of imposing their own religious views on others. The constitution of the Church having been definitely framed, and the doctrinal teach- ing of the university being assumed to be in harmony therewith, they foresaw nothing but harm as likely to result from a reopening of those numerous questions which a discussion of the Puritan standpoint involved. Cartwright's conduct was, in the first instance, made a matter of formal complaint by Chaderton, the pre- sident of Queens'. It next met with severe against Cart- Condemnation from Grindal, the archbishop of York, whose sympathy with Puritan views was generally admitted. Ultimately, in order to mark the dissatisfaction of the authorities, when Cartwright himself sought to proceed to the degree of D.D., it was decided by a vote of the Caput, or governing body, that he should not be admitted. On The Elizabethan Era. 123 tliis, CartwrigLt appealed to Cecil, and although that eminent statesman was far from unfriendly to the Puritan cause, he declined actively to intervene as chancellor. Tlie authorities next proceeded to sus- pend Cartwright from his office as professor, and to withhold the payment of his salary. The final mea- sure was his deprivation, in September 15/1? of liis fellowship at Trinity by Whitgift. This rigorous action on the part of the university authorities had, however, been carried into effect in Enactment of direct Opposition to tlie views of the ma- hethwr'*' jo^ity of voters in the regent-house, — in statutes. other words, of the younger masters of arts, — and in order to avert a like contest on future occasions, tlie Heads now proceeded to introduce into the statutes two innovations of primary importance. By the first the election of the Caput, by the second the election of the vice-chancellor, were practically withdrawn from the regents and non-regents, and vested in the Heads. After this almost decisive vic- tory over the Puritan party, the authorities and their supporters further proceeded to remodel the statutes of the university. Their innovations were not carried into effect without strenuous opposition on the part of their antagonists, who addressed more than one remonstrance to the Crown ; but eventually, in Sep- tember 1570, the code known as the Elizabethan statutes received the royal assent, having been, as the preamble explicitly declares, designed and framed ' on account of the again increasing audacity and excessive licence of men.' The whole tendency of these statutes was to substitute for what had before been a liberal 124 The University of Cambridge. and fairly representative academic constitution one whicli practically transferred the administration into the hands of an oligarchy. This is especially to be noted in the new regulations introduced for the election of the proctors, — functionaries of far greater importance in those days than in the present, and at that time invested with powers and duties which have led to their being styled ' the tribunes of the people.' Before 1570 their election had been, like that of the Ca'put^ entirely in the power of the regents. It was now enacted that they should be nominated accord- ing to a cycle of colleges, the regents retaining only the right of approving the candidates thus brought forward. At the same time, the functions of the proctors themselves were so materially circumscribed that their office henceforth lost much of its ancient importance. The order of studies, and the succes- sion of lectures and exercises for different classes of students and graduates, were left in nearly the same state, though somewhat more strictly defined, as in the statutes already in force. But the conditions of graduation, at least for the superior degrees, were made generally more severe, both with respect to time and exercises. All graces for dispensations with re- spect to these latter points were not only forbidden, but declared to be null and void if passed, — a proviso which threatened to deprive the university of what, it can scarcely be doubted, is one of the most graceful and appropriate functions of such a body, namely, that of extending recognition to distinguished merit, in whatever quarter it may present itself. The period of the necessary regency of masters of arts, — that is, The Elizabeth ax Era. 125 the time during- which they were required to be actu- ally engaged in teaching, — was extended from two to five years, after which time they became iipso facto non-regents. The powers and jurisdiction of the chancellor were but little modified. It was, how- ever, enacted that the proceedings of his court should be regulated by the principles of the civil law ; that they should be prompt and expeditious ; and that all cases should, if possible, be decided within five days. He possessed the power of punishing all members of the university, whether graduates or undergraduates, by suspension from their degrees, imprisonment, or any lighter punishment, at his sole discretion ; but he could not expel a scholar or student, or imprison a doctor or head of a house, without the concurrence of the major part of the heads of houses. Five years after these statutes had become law, the requirements with respect to time and exercises, in cases where degrees were to be conferred on non- residents, came again under consideration, and were so far modified that it was decided that dispensations might be granted from such requirements in the case of those who were already masters of arts or bachelors of law or physic, ' whose learning and probity of life were known to the university,' but who, ' being hin- dered by their various employments,' could not be present at the examinations required by statute. Had this concession received no wider interpretation than its authors designed, it would probably have proved a judicious and beneficial enactment ; but, as it proved, its permissive character was gradually wrested into a general proviso whereby the requirements for the 126 The University of Cambridge. higher degrees lost nearly all their value and signi- ficance. In the case of members of the other univer- sity, or of eminent foreigners, the difficulty was met by the expedient of ' mandate degrees,' or degrees conferred by the royal command in response to the petition of the university that the requisite dispensation might be granted, ' any statute to the contrary notwithstanding.' With this and a few other unimportant exceptions, the Elizabethan statutes continued to be the governing code of the university for nearly three centuries ; too often arresting, by unwise and arbitrary restrictions, the progress of improvement in the system of aca- demic instruction ; and occasionally, where their pro- visions stood too manifestly in conflict with external requirements and changes of thought, becoming a dead letter, formally accepted, but practically ignored. The new statutes were not imposed on the univer- sity without demonstrations of the strongest dislike and dissatisfaction on the part of the minority ; and Whitgift's position, as their chief promoter, was ren- dered for a time so irksome and difficult that be even conceived the design of resigning his mastership and quitting the university. Counter-influences, however, and the intervention of Cecil (now Lord Burghley) induced him to forego his purpose, and his residence at Cambridge was prolonged for another six years, greatly to the advantage of the society over which he ruled and of the university at large. The disposition towards toleration received a further Persecution of chcck whcn the news of the massacre of Dr. caius. g^_ Bartholomew arrived in England. It had for some time been rumoured that Dr. Caius, like The Elizabethan Era. 127 Dr. Baker, had in his possession, in his rooms in Caius College, a collection of ornaments, books, and vestments, such as were used in the celebration of the Roman religious services. Respect for his character, attainments, and position had probably hitherto led the authorities to overlook the matter ; but he was now compelled to submit to the indignity of having his privacy forcibly invaded by the vice-chancellor and other of the Heads, and seeing the whole collection brought forth and publicly burnt in the court of his own college. That he felt this treatment keenly is plain from his own account of the occurrence ; and grieved, as he also appears to have been, at the prevailing indifference to learning that characterised the younger students generally, he retired to London, where he beguiled the closing months of his life (he died 29th July 1 573) by writing his History of the Univcrsitij. The death of Parker, in May 1575, was a yet more signal blow to Death of . -^ . , t i • i Archbishop the Community. JNotwithstandmg the toils Parker. . . „ , . -, , . and anxieties 01 the primacy, and the viru- lent attacks of the Puritan party, his care for Cam- bridge had remained undiminished. It was visibly proved by the altered aspect of one of the principal academic thoroughfares, and by a noble benefaction to the public library. On the site now occupied by the senate-house and the open space in front there stood at that time a number of humble tenements, the resi- dences of townsmen, which altogether intercepted the view of the Schools from Great St. Mary's. Of these the greater proportion remained standing until the erection of the senate-house in 1722. By Parker's 128 The University of Cambridge. generosity, however, a sufficient number were now purchased from the authorities of King's College and Corpus to admit of the opening up of a new street, known as University Street, and also as the Reerent Walk, which from that time until 1722 formed the main approach to the Schools. In addition to this, says Strype, he repaired the Common Schools, ' greatly fallen then into decay, and wanting both lead, timber, and roofing.' Yet another two years and Whitgifb exchanged Cambridge as a sphere of labour for the diocese of Worcester. His departure was sincerely lamented by not a few ; and it says much for the general impression produced by his administration, whether as chancellor or as a college head, that on his departure he was attended from the gates of Trinity to the end of the first stage of his journey by a lengthened cavalcade, consisting, according to his bio- grapher, not only of the heads of houses and chief members of the academic body, but, if the narrator may be trusted, of every gownsman or townsman who could manage to borrow a horse. It was not until after Whitgift's departure and his elevation to the primacy in 1583 that the activity of the Cambridge Puritans reached its cul- activity of the miuatiug point. There were those among Puritans. . . them who were still not without hopes of being able to carry into effect, within the Church itself, those modifications and changes Avhich they after- wards embodied in their own organisations as Sepa- ratists. Such was at first the design of Walter Travers, a fellow of Trinity, and one of those whom Whitgift had deemed it imperative, for the interests of the college The Elizabethan Era. 129 and its peace, to compel to witlidraw from residence. In 1574 Travers published his celebrated treatise, the Disciplina, which Cartwright, upon his retirement to Geneva, proceeded to translate into English. The Disciplina went through numerous edi- The Disciplina . , . - , ^ of Walter tious, and m 1044, under the name of Travers. _ the Directory, reappeared as a recognised manual of Puritan church government ; its primary object was to set forth a system of Church discip- line such as the writer conceived was in harmony with Scriptural teaching. That it was a direct blow at the existing organisation of the Church of Eng- land and at the Royal Supremacy itself admits of no question. Another member of the university who, like Cartwright and Travers, was compelled to seek William Ames, Safety in exile, was William Ames of fnd Tcha"'"''"' Christ's College, a scholar whose doctrinal Smith. tenets alone, if we may accept the state- ment of his biographer, prevented his election to the mastership. He retired eventually to FranekCr, where he was appointed professor of theology, a post which he continued to hold for a space of twelve years, teach- ing with so much success that students were attracted to that remote university not only from all Flanders, but also from Poland, Hungary, and even Russia. Others withdrew, not, indeed, under compulsion, but from a sense of being out of sympathy with the prescribed order of things and seeking a freer atmosphere. Among them was Robert Browne, a nephew of Lord Burghley's. He was a member of Corpus College, and along with Harrison, another member of the same society, he emigrated to Mid- c. //. J 130 The University of Cambridge. delberg, in Zealand, and on his return to England became the founder of the sect of the Indepen- dents. But even at Middelberg the right of pri- vate judgment, which Browne had so dogmatically asserted, was turned against himself, and his fol- lowers separated into two distinct bodies. Such, again, were John Smith, a fellow of Christ's Col- lege, and George Johnson, another member of that foundation, who initiated conjointly a similar move- ment at Amsterdam, To the former belongs the distinction of having founded the sect known as the Genera] Baptists, Between him and Johnson there soon also arose irreconcilable differences of opinion, and agreement was only restored by the expulsion of the latter from the church at Amsterdam. Of the potency of the disintegrating forces which Cart- wright's influence and example had set in motion few at Cambridge could, by this time, have felt much doubt. In 1584, the appearance of an edition of Travers' Disciplina (as translated by Cartwright) from the University Press itself, filled Whitgifb with alarm and indignation, and he caused the whole impression to be forthwith seized and destroyed. The foundation of Emmanuel College by Sir Walter Mildmay gave further evidence that the more moderate Puritans, however much Foundation of . -p. Emmanuel they might dislikc the use ot Latin College, 1584. •' ^ . ,-,..,, , prayers, despise degrees m divinity, and object to the surplice, were not altogether prepared to desert their university. Sir Walter was a diplo- matist of approved fidelity and discretion. He was also treasurer to the royal household, and in the year The Elizabethan Era. 131 1566 succeeded to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had been educated at Christ's Col- lege, and although he left Cambridge without taking a degree, he appears to have retained throughout his life a love for classical learning and a warm interest in the welfare both of his college and of the univer- sity. In the month of January 1584 we accord- ingly find Elizabeth granting to her trusted adviser a charter empowering him and his heirs 'to erect, found, and establish for all time to endure, a certain college of sacred theology, the sciences, philosophy and good arts, of one master and thirty fellows and scholars, graduate or non-graduate, or more or fewer, according to the ordinances and statutes of the same college.' Subsequent reports which reached the ears of Elizabeth roused her suspicions as to the designs even of one whose loyalty had been so long approved. When Sir Walter presented himself on one occasion at Court, his royal mistress openly taxed him with having been engaged in founding a Puritan college. He gravely protested that nothing could be further from his design than to countenance aught which contravened the established laws. He had, he said, but ' set an acorn,' and ' God alone knew what would be the fruit thereof when it became an oak.' The statutes of the new foundation, to which Elizabeth gave her sanction, cannot be said to betray any such design as that imputed to Sir Walter. The conception is that of a training school for the ministry exclusively; while, as regards discipline, the provisions are little more than a transci'ipt of those for Trinity College. That the prevailing tone of the college 132 The University of Cambridge. was intensely Puritan admits, however, of no question. The first master, the eminent Laurence Chaderton (one of the translators of the Bible), who filled the ofiice for thirty-six years, gave on more than one occasion ample proof of his sympathies with the Puritan party. Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, Thomas Shepard, and not a few other names which occupy a conspicuous place in the pages of Cotton Mather's New England, — among them the founder of Harvard College, — were some of the earliest who received their education within its walls. At the commence- ment of the seventeenth century, the practical exem- jDlification which the college gave of the principles laid down in the Disciplina was so marked as to evoke a formal protest. The chancel of its uncon- secrated chapel looked north. The society used its own form of religious service, discarded surplices and hoods, was neglectful even of the cap and gown, and had suppers on Fridays ; while the devout Angli- can was scandalised by the reports that reached him of the manner in which its members celebrated the most sacred of all the sacraments. One novel feature in the statutes, especially introduced by the founder himself, was probably a wise innovation. Fel- lows of the society were forbidden to hold their Limitation fellowships for more than a year after teini°re of°^ admissiou to their doctor's degree. ' We fellowships. ^ouia not; were the words of Sir Walter, as embodied in the statute, ' have any fellow suppose that we have given him, in this college, a perpetual abode.' In the reign of King Charles, John Pres- ton, the master, aided by the duke of Buckingham, The Elizabethan Era. 133 succeeded in getting this statute repealed. It was re-enacted by the Long Parliament, but finally set aside after the Eestoration. Under Preston's ad- ministration, the college enjoyed, in the early part of the seventeenth century, a high reputation for its studious and somewhat austere discipline, and ap- pears to have received the main support of the Puri- tans. The entries ranged from fifty to seventy per annum, a larger admission, whether relatively to the university total or to subsequent times in the history of the college itself, than has ever been the case since. No English theologian at this period enjoyed a higher reputation among Continental scholars than William Whitaker, the master of St. John's, and Re- Villiam Whit- . ' „,... ' -irr. aker, master of gius proiessor 01 divinitv, althouo'li camed oil St. Jolm's. / -11 P P at the comparatively early age oi forty-six. His reputation rested to no small extent on his writings against Bellarmine, — performances which elicited the highest praise from scholars like Joseph Scaliger and theologians like Andrew Melville. His sympathies were mainly with the moderate Puritans ; and St. John's, throughout his mastership, continued to be a noted centre of that party. Secret synods, it was rumoured, were held within its walls, designed for carrying into practice the principles of the Bisd'plina^ and attended by Cartwright himself and other nonconforming minis- ters from Northamptonshire and the adjacent counties. Within the universities, however, Puritanism had Eiseofan ^^ow to contc-nd uot Only with the Angli- h'S^^'u^?''*^ can party which supported the Church versity. discipline, but with a growing Armi- nian party, which, sometimes in alliance with the 1 34 The University of Cambridge. Anglican discipline, and sometimes in opposition to it, disavowed the tenets of Calvinism. Foremost among tlie assertors of these new doctrines was Peter Baro, a Frenchman by birth, who, on the joint re- commendation of Burghley and Perne, had been appointed to the Lady Margaret professorship. One of his foremost supporters was William Barret, a fellow of Cains College, who, by a bold attack in a university sermon on Calvinistic doctrine, evoked a Contest be- memorable discussion, which resulted in iilx^u^iitd"'' ■tJ^e Lambeth Articles. Another eminent caivimsts. member of this party was Richard Ban- croft, who, after filling for some time with consider- able success the office of tutor in Jesus College, was appointed chaplain to Whitgift. As yet the Cal- vinistic party was sufficiently strong, not only to carry the promulgation of the Lambeth Articles, but also to oust Baro from his professorship. But the latter measure was not carried without a strong protest from Burghley, and also from Harsnet, afterwards archbishop of York, and the celebrated Andrews, both fellows of Pembroke. Such are the chief features in the history of the university in the reign of Elizabeth. It had been decided that Cambridge should be mainly oftheEiiza- a school of diviuity, and it had also been in the univer- decided that the doctrine taught in her ^' ^' schools should be defined and prescribed beforehand. The results of this policy were such as we can now see to have been inevitable. The main interest having centred in the discussion of theo- logical questions, whatever was taught of liberal learn- 7 HE Elizabethan Era. jj ing sank to an almost lifeless tradition, while the fetters placed upon such discussion provoked from time to time a more or less stubborn resistance and bitter controversies. To silence these controversies, deprivation and expulsion were the ordinary expedients, the victims of which, betaking themselves to distant towns or to the Continent, became the founders of organisations whose whole spirit was conceived in opposition to the creed and teaching of the two Eng- lish universities. It afforded but a slight counter- balancing influence to these unfriendly communities, that Trinity College, Dublin, founded in 1591, was, as Fuller terms it, colonia deduda from Cambridge, its statutes being modelled on those of the parent uni- versity, while its first five provosts were all Cambridge men. From such a retrospect, it is a relief to turn to one ably devised measure which, by its operation, so materially improved the condition of the Sir Thomas 11 Smith's Act colleges, that the strugglmg communities for the mam- -, -,. . -^ . °'^ ° ^ ^ teiianceof whoso conditiou Latimer and Lever had colleges. . depicted with so much pathos appeared to Peter Baro and other writers towards the close of the century as already in the possession of abun- dant revenues. For this change the university was mainly indebted to the foresight and ingenuity of Sir Thomas Smith, who, by the Act for ' The Maintenance of the Colleges in the Universities,' made it lawful that in all new leases issued by the colleges it should be made obligatory on the lessee to pay ' one-third part at least' of the old rent ' in corn or in malt' At the same time, the wheat was never to be reckoned as 136 The University of Cambridge. equivalent in value to more than 6s. 8cl. per quarter, nor tlie barley at more than 5 s. The subsequent depreciation in the value of the precious metals, and the rapid rise in the price of corn, — changes which Smith, who was a sagacious economist, had probably to some extent foreseen, — combined to render this proviso an important means of revenue, — the one-third rental payable in corn (which, in conformity with the Act, could only be assessed at a fixed value) rising in time to be a much more fruitful source of income than the remaining two-thirds. The foundation of Sidney Sussex College in 1596, by Frances, countess of Sussex, the aunt of Sir Philip Sidney, afforded another outward sim of Foundation of "^ ' . ° Sidney Sussex the great revolution of the century, the college having been built on the site of the ancient friary of the Franciscans. In the year 1599 the buildings were completed, and eleven fel- lows, chosen from different colleges, were appointed. The original statutes were little more than a transcript of those of Emmanuel ; but it must not be left un- noted that Sidney was the first Cambridge college which opened its fellowships to students of Scottish or Irish birth, — requiring only that such candidates should previously have studied six years in the university, and should not bo below the standing of bachelor of arts. The death of Burghley in the year 1599 deprived Relations ^^ University of its best protector ; and unStfand though neither Essex nor Robert Cecil the townsmen. ^^^ wanting in solicitous care for its in- terests, the loss remained irreparable. The promul- The Elizabethan Era. 137 gation of the Lambetli Articles of 1595 tad been followed by a brief lull in tlieological controversy, succeeded, however, by a long and bitter contention between the academic and the town authorities. The vice-chancellor, Dr. John Jegon, and the Mayor be- came involved in a singularly undignified dispute concerning precedence. The ill feeling thus excited found notable expression on the part of the students in a college play, entitled Chih Laio, lampooning the Mayor and the burgesses. If the formal plaint of the latter to the Privy Council is to be trusted, they were not only ridiculed on the stage, but also singled out by the graver members of the community as objects of sarcasm and innuendo in the pulpit, — ' in publick sermons.' But from these and similar manifestations of feeling, which reflected but little credit on either party, the attention of both the university and the town was now called away by the accession and arrival of the new monai'ch, and the fresh hopes and expecta- tions to which that event gave rise. ( 133 ) CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH TO THE RESTORATION. The lively expectations formed alike by the Catholic and the Puritan on James' assumption of the royal Expectations authority in England were equally doomed thJ'acceTsfon ^^ disappointment ; but for a few weeks of James. ^]^q feelings of the Anglican party at Cambridge were those of considerable anxiety. Dr. Neville, the master of Trinity College, who bore the congratulations of the archbishops and bishops to the king in Scotland, was outstripped by the Puritan deputation ; and although James' answer was re- assuring, there was no little misgiving as to how far other influences might not jorevail when he had crossed the Tweed. If the 750 ministers who signed the so-called Millenary Petition could have gained their object, the policy which Whitgift and Burghley had striven to carry into effect would have been re- versed, and the colleges at both universities would have suffered a serious diminution in their resources by the restoration of the impropriate tithes to their original use. It was not until after the Hampton Court Conference that the Church party at Oxford and at A.D. l6oj TO 1660. 139 Cambridge felt tliat the clanger tliey appreliendeJ was at an end. The death of "Whitgift, in February 1603—4, was a signal loss to Cambridge, but his place was in a Influence of g^'eat measuro supplied by Bancroft, be- Bancroftat tween whom and James a perfect under- Cambndge. standing appears at this time to have existed. The appearance, in August, of a series of new canons ecclesiastical, imposing uniform com- pliance in the wearing of the surplice on all colleges and halls, was among the earliest indications of the ascendency of Bancroft's influence. Both Emmanuel and Sidney, sorely against the will alike of their Heads and of the majority of their members, were constrained to give way, ' God grant,' wrote Samuel Ward, the Puritan master of Sidney, in his Diary, ' that other worse things do not follow the so strict urging of this indifferent ceremony ! ' In the follow- ing year, a further step in the requirement of strict theological conformity was made by the demand of a solemn declaration of adherence to the episcopal form of government, and to the liturgies of the Church of England, from all proceeding to any univcrsiiij degree; while, in 161 3, a royal mandate made sub- scription to the Three Articles peremptory on the part of all admitted to the degree of B.D., or to that of doctor in any faculty. The primary design of these several measures was undoubtedly to strengthen the connection between the Crown and the universi- ties, and to constitute the latter the special guardians of the theory of the royal supremacy in matters of religious belief In harmony with this aim was the 140 The University of Cambridge. view that tlie direct representation of the universities in Parliament was both necessary and desirable. It Theunivei- "^^^ chieflj through the efforts of Sir Ed- tifirigTrdr ward Coke that, in March 1603-4, this members^to privilege was first conferred, — Oxford and Parliament. Cambridge each receiving the right of re- turning two burgesses, whose special function it was to be to inform Parliament ' of the true state of the university and of every particular college.' The conduct of the Heads in relation to this new and important privilege exposed them to no little un- popularity. According to the terms in which the privilege had been accorded to the university, it was beyond question that it was designed that the election of the university representatives should be more 'biir- gensium ; but in the year 16 14, the privileges of the general body were audaciously challenged, and it was determined by the vice-chancellor, Dr. Corbet, master of Trinity Hall, in conjunction with nine other Heads, that ' every election and nomination of burgesses of the parliament then and thereafter, should be made according to the form of election of vice- chancellor, after tlie delivery of the king's writ by the sheriff to the vice-chancellor.' In other words, just as the members of the senate had already been virtually deprived of the privilege of choosing the candidates for the office of vice-chancellor, so it was now sought to deprive them of their new privilege of choosing the candidates for the honour of repre- senting them in Parliament. It was not until three successive communications had been addressed to them by their chancellor, at this time the earl of North- A.D. 1603 TO 1660. 141 ampton, that the Caput wa,s at length compelled to recognise the fact that the original conditions of the privilege were incompatible with their design. When the next election took place, the prevailing sense of the constituency with respect to the conduct of the Heads found free expression ; and as the result, Sir Francis Bacon, the attorney-general, and Sir Miles Sandys were returned by a large majority, while the two Heads who ventured to appear as candidates obtained only seventy-four and sixty-four votes respectively. The great name of Bacon thus stands associated with the political rights of the uni- versity, although the services he rendered in this capacity seem insignificant when compared with those which the publication, some ten years later, of his De Augmentis rendered to the cause of intellectual freedom and education at large. Much, indeed, as he deprecated the contentions prevailing in the univer- sity concerning non-essentials in doctrine, and the narrow spirit of her studies, his loyalty to Cambridge and his zeal for her interests are matters which admit of no question. The rebuff which the Heads received in their endeavour to tamper with the newly conferred fran- Arbitrary rule chise was, howcvcr, an exceptional ex- of colleges. perieuce, and the despotic spirit which they thus collectively exhibited in relation to the university reappears, in not a few instances, and sometimes in a yet more marked degree, in their J individual rule of their respective colleges. Occasion- ally, indeed, a Head's sense of irresponsibility was shown in his supine neglect of the interests of the 142 The University of Cambridge. society over wliicli be ruled, but far more frequently by the inquisitorial severity with which he sought to impress his own views on all beneath him. Accord- ing as he was a north or south countryman, a Cal- vinist or an Arminian, a supporter of the Court and the royal prerogative, or of the still growing Puritan party, his predilections would be manifested with but little reserve. It was thus that each college too often became a narrow exclusive community, where local antipathies and religious or political ani- mosities were fostered and developed, and that catholic interchange of thought and feeling which it is the first function of a university to promote was effectually checked. A passing tribute is consequently all the more due to those few eminent men who, while their rule of the several societies over which they ruled was characterised neither by indifference nor fanati- cism, were also distinguished by their care for the general interests and well-being of the whole univer- sity. Among their number was Koger nminent heads: tip , ^ i in ji Roger Goad, Goad, who, irom 1570 to 10 10, held the provostship of King's. In the earlier years of his long rule he had been fiercely assailed by some of the younger fellows who represented the Puritan faction in that society. He proved, however, com- pletely victorious in the struggle, and his subsequent rule was attended with the utmost advantage and credit to his college and to the university. Dr. Neville, who held the mastership of Trinity from 1593 to 1615, reaped the fruits of the judicious administration of Whitgift and Still. The society was free from domestic dissension. The finances A.D. l60J TO 1660. 143 ^yere in a satisfactory condition. Theological con- tention was discouraged and kept in check. On suc- ceeding to his new post, Neville very soon conceived, and lived to see carried to successful completion, the grand design (on which he himself expended no less than ;^3000) whereby, for a mass of irregular and unsightly buildings, was substituted an erection which an Oxford contemporary somewhat hyperbolically de- scribed as — 'the wonderment or Cliiistendom and eke of Kent.' The more general effects of Neville's administration are to be recoo^nised in the o-i^eat increase which took place in the numbers of the college. In 1 6 1 7 they had risen to 340, while those of St. John's were only 205, — a disparity much beyond that which obtained towards the close of the century. From this time, however, Trinity may be looked upon as taking up that leading position among the Cambridge societies which only one other society had ever been able even to contest. ' Neville,' says one who was an under- graduate of the college during his mastership, ' never had his like in that orb for a splendid, courteous, and bountiful gentleman.' Dr. Davenant, at Queens' College, and John Preston, who, after an eminently successful career as a college Dr. Davenant, tutor On the Same foundation, succeeded johu Preston. ^^ 1 62 2 to the mastcrship of Emmanuel, were also able and successful administrators. Not less so were Andrewes and Harsnet at Pembroke, — of whom the former was early distinguished by his 144 The University of Cambridge. singular ability as an instructor of theological students in the special duty of catechising ; while the latter, equally noted for capacity, earned no less distinction, on the one hand by his courageous advocacy of Arminian tenets against the prevailing Calvinism, on the other by his equally courageous denunciation of the spreading belief in witchcraft in opposition to the gloomy creed of Puritanism, Of the great influence for good or evil wielded by men invested with such authority, we have examples of a very different kind in the rule of Dr. Kelke at Magdalene (1559-1575) and that of Dr. Barwell at Christ's ( I 5 82— 1 609). The misrule of the former nearly brought about the financial ruin of the college. The inefficiency and supineness of the latter would probably have been attended by yet graver consequences, had it not been for the respect and popularity commanded- by the teaching of the celebrated William Perkins, who about the same period filled the offices of tutor and lecturer at Christ's College, and was also a much admired and eminently successful preacher. Although the state of studies throughout the uni- versity was such that it could not fail to evoke the censure of the great philosopher of the CoUege plays: -^ <> \- -^ i Ignoramus: time, as at oucc defcctive and wrongly Pilgrimage to . -, ., , , , . „ ^ and iJc«u>-n/;o))i conceived, it sccms to have been in perfect agreement with the views of the pedantic monarch. James delighted in theological disputation ; and in such logomachies the Cambridge schoolmen were, from long practice, accomplished adepts. His admiration of these encounters in the schools was, however, surpassed by his delight in witnessing the A.D. 1 60 J TO 1660. 145 dramatic performances in the colleges. AVith one of these performances, entitled Ignoramus, given in Clare Hall on the occasion of a royal visit in March 1 6 1 5 , he was so well pleased that he paid the university another visit two months later, in order to witness the play a second time. Most of these compositions veiled a somewhat deeper design than that of mere amuse- ment ; and Ignoramus seems to have been conceived by its accomplished author as a means of casting ridicule on the profession of the Common Law, the rapid growth of which was regarded by the civilians of that day with undisguised alarm and jealousy. The common lawyer, with his barbarous dog-Latin and want of all scholarly culture, caring only for gain, and squandering his ill-gotten wealth on sen- sual pleasures, is the chief character of the piece, the real merits of which but imperfectly atone for its coarseness and vulgarity, its Equivoques and broad obscenities. It must, however, be admitted that these compositions often afford us an insight into the pre- vailing tendencies of academic thought and feeling which we should vainly seek elsewhere, — an obser- vation which applies with especial force to one notable trilog}^, the Filgrimage to Parnassus and the Edurn from Parnassus, acted in St. John's College about the commencement of the seventeenth century, wherein the ambitions, hopes, hardships, and disappointments of the student life of those days are depicted with considerable force and humour. But, generally speak- ing, these entertainments were regarded with much dislike by the Puritan party, owing to the gross and licentious tone by which they were often characterised, C. //. K 146 The University of Cambridge. find which elicited Milton's well-known censure, in his Apology for Smectymmms, on such j^erformances, as singularly unbecoming for youths and men destined to the service of the Church. Few of the great synods of Protestantism excited more interest at Cambridge than the Synod of Dorfc The Synod ( 1 6 1 8— 1 9), — an interest awakened partly ofDort. i^y ^Y\Q theological feeling attaching to the questions there debated, and partly to the considerable share which the university obtained in the represen- tation of the English Church on that occasion, no less than four out of the five delegates from Great Britain (viz., Davenant, Samuel Ward, Joseph Hall, and Walter Balcanqual) being Cambridge men. The theological intolerance manifested by that notable assembly had its counterpart in the burning in the Regent Walk,-^ in 1622, of the works of Parasus, an eminent divine of Heidelberg, who had ventured to advance doctrines which impugned the theory of the divine right of kings. Before, however, King James died, signs were not wanting that both the doctrines expounded in the Buckingham Lambeth Articles and the doctrine of aschauccUor. tjiyj^e right Were alike destined before long to be rudely challenged. The election in 1626 of the duke of Buckingham as chancellor of the uni- versity diverted for a brief period the attention of the community from these questions. The duke was at this very time under impeachment, and his election was accordingly looked upon as dictated by a spirit ^ The main approach to the Schools, a street built iu Parker's time, was thus called. A.D. 1 60 J TO 1660. 147 of servility to the Crown which was warmly resented by Parliament. He evinced his sense of the poli- tical service which had been rendered him by offer- ing to rebuild the university library, but his munifi- cent project was frustrated by his assassination. The scheme accordingly remained altogether in abeyance until the present century, when the old quadrangle of King's College was purchased in 1829 for the sum of ;^ 1 2,000, and the new buildings, — known, from the name of the architect, as Cockerell's buildings, — were commenced in I 837. Numerous signs now gave evidence of the approach- ing change. In 1628 the king found it necessary to Signs of the suppress Manwariug's sermons, in which chan°eiii''^ tlio attributes of the royal prerogative were andVotiUaxr asserted with imprudent boldness ; and in opinion. ^i^Q following year it was found politic also to suppress the celebrated Apdlo Cccsarem of Mountague, bishop of Chester. Mountague had pub- lished his book four years before, and had received his bishopric from Charles mainly as his reward. The treatise had given rise to a complete controversial uproar, owing to the manner in which the writer sought to combat the Calvinistic tendencies of the Thirty-Nine Articles, maintaining that Calvinism was not the true doctrine of the Church of England. His book was now declared to be the chief cause of the disputes then troubling the Church, and disputations on the Thirty-Nine Articles were forbidden henceforth to be held at either university. In this manner it was sought to arrest all progressive speculation in relation to those studies around which the chief 148 The University of Cambridge. mental activity both at Oxford and at Cambridge re- volved. The freedom with which Dr. Dorislaus of Leyden, on his appointment by Lord Brooke to lecture in connection with the new professorship of History/ enlarged upon the political rights and privileges of the people, was another significant symptom. In August 1628, the news arrived of the assassination of the chancellor. It was, apparently, not without misgiving that Henry Rich, Lord Holland, acquiesced in the petition of the university that he would consent to occupy the vacant post, — ' the condition of man,' he observed in the letter conveying his assent, ' is so frail, and his time so short here.' Within less than a month, Lord Brooke also fell by the hand of an assassin ; and it is remarkable that Dr. Dorislaus him- self met with a similar fate some twenty years later in Holland, owing to the fact that he was accessory to the proceedings which resulted in the death of Charles I. Other symptoms, and more especially a disregard for the prescribed Anglican discipline, induced Laud in 1636 to declare his intention of visiting both universities by virtue of his right as metropolitan. His assertion of such a right was contested in both cases, but eventually enforced by the royal decision. His visitation of Cam- bridge, however, never took place, and before long legislation itself pointed in a totally opposite direction. By two enactments, passed in January and April 1640, the House of Commons decided that neither from graduates nor undergraduates should subscrip- tion any longer be required. 1 The persecution to which Dorislaus was subjected induced Lord Brooke to suspend the lectures for a time. A.D. l6oj TO 1660. 149 In June 1642 there arrived a royal letter, inviting the university to contribute to the king's defence University against Parliament, — such contributions to in"a^d'^"«Te^ ^^ repaid with interest at eight per cent. Royal cause, 'justly and Speedily as soon as it shall please God to settle the distraction of this kingdom.' The appeal met with a fairly general, although not an enthusiastic, response. St. John's College sent £\^o \ Sidney College, ;^ioo; the other colleges, certain sums the amounts of which are not recorded. The townsmen, who mostly sided with the parliamentary party, indulged in reprisals, and fired at the windows of some of the collegians. The colleges sent to Lon- don for arms, which, on their arrival, were seized by order of the Mayor. A report became current that Parliament designed a raid upon the colleges for the purpose of depriving them of their plate. Under the pretext that it was desirable to place it in safe custody, they were invited by royal letter to forward it to tlie headquarters at Leicester. Some of it arrived safely ; but the greater portion was intercepted by Cromwell, who forthwith committed three of the Sufferings of Cambridge Heads, — Dr. Beale of St. John's, iurinShf '^ Dr. Martin of Queens', and Dr. Sterne. Civil War. qI" jggus^ — ^q prison, on account of their complicity in the transaction. In January 1642—3, a parliamentary decree abolished the compulsory wearing of surplices. In the spring of the same 3'ear, Cromwell, fearing that the town might be seized by the royalists, occupied it with an army of nearly 30,000 men, and when the panic was over, retaiued a permanent force of a thousand men to 153 The University of Cambridge. serve as a garrison. In the Querela Cantahrigiensis, the composition of an ardent royalist, published in 1647, the sufferings of the scholars and the wanton mischief inflicted by the soldiery during this episode are described in pathetic terms. But the writer's account is unquestionably greatly exaggerated ; and as early as March 1642, the House of Lords, at the instance of Lord Holland, and the House of Com- mons, at that of the earl of Essex, had combined by express edict to shield the university from all spoliation and harm whatever. Oxford, during its occupation by the royalist forces, probably suffered much more severely. As, however, it was decided to make Cambridge a military centre for the par- liamentary forces, the customary preparations for defence necessarily involved some encroachment on the college grounds and property. A large quantity of timber and stone, designed for the rebuilding of Clare Hall, was lying near the site ; this was now seized and used as material for additional works about the castle. The trees forming the grove about Jesus College, and a considerable portion of those in the other college walks, were felled ; the bridges connecting the grounds of St. John's, Trinity, King's, and Queens' with the opposite bank of the river were pulled down; and in January 1643, a large amount of real and irreparable injury was effected by the destruction of a large number of ' superstitious images and pictures' in the halls and chapels of the different colleges. The story of the removal of the glass from King's College Chapel, in anticipation of its destruc- tion by the soldiery, appears to have no founda- A.D. l6oj TO 1660. I 5 [ tion in fact ; but if the statements of the royalist journalists are to be credited, Lord Grey and Crom- well resorted in 1643 to something like compulsion to induce the Heads to contribute funds ' for the public use.' In the month of May in the same year, Dr. Richard Holdsworth, the vice-chancellor, was committed to prison for having authorised the reprinting at the university press of the Royal De- clarations, which had been already printed at York. After this, we hear of but few instances of contu- macy ; but a petition to Parliament in the following June represents the condition of the university as pitiable in the extreme, ' the numbers grown thin and the revenues short.' The general state of both Oxford and Cambridge appears, indeed, to have been so unfavourable to the pursuit of study that the Assembly of Divines petitioned Parliament that a college might be opened in London, where students might for a time receive instruction under more desirable conditions; and in 1649 ^ ^®^ Academy was actually inaugurated in Whitefriars by one Sir Balthazar Gerbier for the teaching of all manner of arts and sciences. In the same year, Cromwell gave his sanction for the foundation of the University of Durham, but this design was not carried into effect for nearly two centuries. In February 1643-4, it was ordered by both Changes con- Houses of Parliament that the Solemn the'impcXon League and Covenant should be teu- LeSueand"" tiered and accepted in the university. Covenant. fpj^g measuro resulted in the expulsion of a majority of the Heads and fellows of colleges. Among 152 The University of Cambridge. those thus ejected were Dr. John Oosin, master of Peterhouse (afterwards bishop of Durham) ; Dr. Par- ker, the master of Clare ; Pichard Crashaw, the poet, fellow of Peterhouse ; Cowley, the poet, fellow of Trinity ; and Seth Ward, fellow of Sidney, and after- wards bishop of Salisbury, Among- their successors, one or two acted with exemplary moderation ; as, for instance, the celebrated Cudworth, who was appointed to the mastership of Clare Hall, and in 1654 to that of Christ's ; while the scarcely less eminent Which- cote, who was now made provost of King's, not only himself declined to take the Covenant, but suc- ceeded in obtaining a like exemption for all the fellows on that foundation. With characteristic liberality, he also allowed his predecessor, Samuel Collins, a stipend from the dividend which he himself received. Others, however, like Thomas Hill, the master of Trinity, and William Dell, the master of Caius, not only sought to give an exclusively sectarian char- acter to the societies over which they ruled, but advocated changes which would have resulted in a complete modification of both the teaching and the organisation of the university. Dell, indeed, not only disapproved of university degrees, but considered that it would be much better if the instruction given at Oxford and Cambridge could also be imparted in the large towns of the west and the north, so that students might no longer be under the necessity of undertaking such long and perilous journeys in the pursuit of knowledge. His project, if carried into effect, could hardly in those days have failed to denationalise the two universities and narrow the ^.D. 1 60 J TO 1660. 153 general standard of culture. Oliver Heywood, at that time an undergraduate at Trinity, tells us with much complacency how, under the influence of his Puritan instructors, he had already come to prefer writers like Perkins, Preston, Bolton, and Sibbes to Aristotle and Plato. The contempt of the soldiery for ' carnal learning ' became more and more marked ; and in the month of July 1652 Cromwell found it necessary to forbid the qviartering of soldiers in the colleges, and also ' the offering of injurie or violence to any of the students.' The Barebones Parliament even went so far as to discuss the question of suppressing the universities altogether. During the Protectorate, when, the university was represented in Parliament by Richard Cromwell, a more tolerant spirit prevailed ; and on 2 I st May 1659 it was resolved, in response to a petition from the army, that 'the universities and schools of learning shall be so countenanced and reformed as that they may become the nurseries of piety and learning.' The Presbyterians in London and elsewhere also sub- scribed for the maintenance of forty scholars in each university. On the removal of Richard Cromwell, however, another reaction took place. It was pro- posed to remodel the universities ' after the Dutch fashion ' ; to reduce the colleges to three in each uni- versity, for the respective faculties of divinity, law, and physic, each with its own professor ; and to require ' all students to go in cloaks.' The alarm created by these proposals was dissipated by the news of Monk's march for London ; and on the 2 3rd January 1 659-60 Parliament published a Declaration to the effect that ' they would uphold the public universities and schools 154 The University of Cambridge. of the land, and not only continue to tliem the privi- leges and advantages they then enjoyed, but would be ready to give them such further countenance as might encourage them in their studies, and promote godli- ness, learning, and good manners among them.' As regards the prevailing tone within the university itself, it would appear that Puritanical strictness was already on the wane ; and Samuel Pepys, who entered as a sizar at Trinity in 1 650, mentions in his Diary that, when revisiting Cambridge in February 1659— 60, he was informed that the ' old preciseness ' had almost ceased to exist. ( 155 ) CHAPTER IX. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. The Restoration was hailed by both the university and the town with sisrns of g-enuine enthusiasm and Changes at the delight, and was commemorated by the for- Ecstoiation. j^g^. -^^ ^j^g publication of a volume of con- gratulatory verses.-^ In May and June i66o, two successive orders of the House of Lords restored the earl of Manchester to the chancellorship, and the ejected Heads to the rule of their several colleges. The fee-farm rents, which had been purchased in order to supply the deficiency caused by the stoppage of the pensions from the royal treasury, were presented to King Charles with fervent assurance of ' the tender care and loyal affection' of the university. The use of the surplice in College chapels was enjoined by a royal manifesto ; but it was ordered that subscription to the Three Articles should not be made compulsory on admission to degrees. It is evident, indeed, that ^ Compositions of this kiuil had before this time become customary in the university on the occurrence of any especially noteworthy event ; it was in a similar collection (on the death of Edward King) that the Lycidas of Milton first appeared. 156 The University of Cambridge. considerable freedom in such matters still prevailed ; for at Emmanuel the surplice was not resumed, while the Liturgy and the Directory were used on alternate weeks in the chapel services. In the House of Commons, on the occasion of pass- ing a bill for the establishment of a General Letter The Crown and Office, an amusiug discussion took jDlace as the university, .j.^ ^i^g^j^gj, \)^q name of Oxford should con- tinue to have precedence over that of Cambridge. The difficulty of deciding the question was ultimately met by passing the proviso without naming either, but referring to them simply as ' the two universi- ties.' Li 1662 the Act of Uniformity was again put in force, by requiring that all Heads, fellows, chaplains, and tutors of colleges, and all professors and readers in the university, should subscribe a declaration to the effect that they held armed resistance to the Crown to be unlawful under any pretext whatever, and also promising conformity to the Liturgy of the Church of England as by law established. It soon became evi- dent that it was by no means the royal intention to look upon these expressions of loyalty and submission as merely formal, and the use made by Charles of the universities as a means of gratifying his supporters and favourites was marked and frequent. Between the 25th June 1660 and the 2nd of the Question of . mandate loUowmg March mandate degrees, — i.e., degrees. ^ degrees conierred, at the royal request, on those who wore academically unqualified through not having fulfilled the statutable conditions of admission, — were bestowed as follows : — D.D., 121; D.C.L., 12; D.M., 12; B.D., 12; M.A., 2; B.C.L., i. In A.D. 1660 TO 1714. 157 May 1662 a yet more arbitrary exercise of the pre- rogative took place. The fellows of Queens' College had elected Symon Pattrick, afterwards bishop of Ely, to the presidency of their college, but the election was nullified by a royal mandamus, which called upon them to accept Dr. Sparrow, a man of inferior ability and reputation. In the year 1665 the two universities, together with the royal library, acquired by Act of Parliament the right of receiving a copy of every book printed within the realm. Side by side with the disputatious theology and the political vicissitudes of the age, two movements were now ffoing on which were destined Eiseofthe • n • n ^ t pi Cambridge materially to influence the studies 01 the Platonists: . . /-^p^ .i ^ • ^ j,j_i whichcote, university. Ut these, the one which, at the John Smith, . ^., . cudworth,and time, Undoubtedly attracted the larger snare of attention was the rise of that remark- able school of divines since known as the Cambridge Platonists. Among its most eminent representatives were Benjamin Whichcote (16 10-1683), whose ap- pointment to the provostship of King's has been already noted ; John Smith, a fellow of Queens' (1618— 1652), who, although dying at the early age of thirty-four, left behind him a volume of Discourses which are still read and admired for their eloquence and superiority to the narrow formalism of his time ; Ealph Cudworth (16 17-1688), master of Christ's College, the author of the once well-known Intellectual System of the Universe; Henry More (16 14—1687), a fellow of the same society, in whom the Platonising influences of the school reached their fullest develop- 158 The University of Cambridge. ment ; and Culverwell (b. circa 161 7), a member of Emmanuel College, and author of the eloquent Dis- course of the Light of Nature. Others of the same school, and scarcely less distinguished, were Worthing- ton, Rust, Patrick, Fowler, Glanvil, and Norris. In most cases, the inspiration and tendencies of this re- markable school would appear to have been derived from the Cartesian philosophy ; and a pamphlet pub- lished in 1662, professing to give some account of the movement under the designation of ' the new sect of Latitude men,' refers expressly to Descartes as the philosopher who had been most successful in the en- deavour to explain ' that vast machine, the universe.' While repudiating the scholastic Aristotle, these Cam- bridge thinkers sought, much like the Christian Plato- nists of the second and third centuries, to prove that religion and philosophy were perfectly reconcilable. So far were they from placing themselves in opposition to the scientific tendencies of their age, — tendencies to which the foundation of the Poyal Society had given a remarkable impulse, — that it was their aim to show that these tendencies, if rightly controlled, might be made eminently serviceable, by being regarded as auxiliary to revealed religion. ' God,' said Whichcote, ' hath set up two lights to enlighten us in our way : the light of reason, which is the light of His creation ; and the light of Scripture, which is after-revelation from Him. Let us make use of these two lights, and suffer neither to be put out.' Whatever may be our estimate of the method of these several thinkers, it must be admitted that they rendered a genuine service to their age by the example they one and all gave of A.D. 1660 TO lyi^ 159 a, spirit wliicli stood in marked contrast to the in- tolerant sectarianism by which they were surrounded. Their hope for humanity was associated not with the triumph of any one religious sect, but with the uni- versal diffusion of Christian principles, as exemplified in a virtuous life, and in mutual charity, forbearance, and toleration. ' There is nothing more unnatural to religion,' was one of Whichcote's aphorisms, ' than contentions about it.' On the other hand, their own example was often of a kind tending rather to the encouragement of the contemplative than of the prac- tical virtues ; and the life of Henry More at Christ's College was that of an amiable recluse. His writings, largely tinged with mysticism, are of a purely specu- lative and somewhat morbid character. They are animated, however, by a gentle glow and fervour of thought, which appealed with considerable effect to the religious public of his day, and his Divine Dia- logues, more especially, attained to a wide popularity. A leading London bookseller declared that, for twenty years after the return of Charles II., More's works ' ruled all the booksellers in London.' More's admi- ration of the Cartesian philosophy was expressed in characteristically enthusiastic terms. ' All the great leaders of philosophy who have ever existed,' he wrote to Descartes himself, ' are mere pigmies in comparison with your transcendent genius.' More was buried in the chapel of his college, where, in less than a year, Cudworth was laid beside him. The second movement, which though less noted in its commencement was far more permanent in its after effects, was that associated with the increased i6o The University of Cambridge. attention now given to natural pliilosophy, which paved Growth of the way for the rejection of the Ptole- Xa\uraf^°^ maic thcorj and changed the conception of Philosophy. |-|jg universe. As early as the year 1639, Horrocks, a young sizar of Emmanuel, had written in favour of the Copernican theory and had watched the transit of Venus. Ou2:htred, a fellow of Kinc^'s College (who, in 1647, published his Easy Method of Geometric Bialling), Seth Ward, a fellow of Sidney, and Wallis, a fellow of Queens', both of whom became Savilian professors at Oxford, were also avowed Co- pernicans. The year 1663 was marked by the foun- dation of the Lucasian professorship of mathematics by Henry Lucas, who had formerly represented the university in Parliament. During the first five years Barrow and ( 1 664— 1 669) the chair was filled by Isaac Newton. Barrow, and for the next thirty-three years by Isaac Newton. Both Barrow and Newton were fellows of Trinity College, where the former succeeded, in 1673, to the mastership. At the time when New- ton entered, the college appears to have been, like the other foundations, at a low ebb, and in 1664 there were no less than forty-four vacancies in the scholar- ships. To one of these he was elected, Barrow being his examiner in Euclid. In the following year, the Great Plague of London extended to Cambridge, compelling not only the abandonment of Sturbridge fair at Mid- summer, but also the discontinuance of sermons at St. Mary's and of the customary acts in the Schools. The admissions to the degree of B.A. fell this year to the lowest point reached throughout the century. Among those who thus involuntarily quitted Cambridge A.D. 1660 TO lyi^. 161 was Newton, who retired to liis home at Woolsthorpe, an episode in his career rendered memorable by the well-known incident of the falling apple, and his consequent generalisation of the law of gravity. Barrow, in his lectures on optics, published in 1669, acknowledges the aid he received from his friend and fellow-collegian. In the course of the next fifteen years Newton's reputation became widely spread ; and Halley of Oxford, in pursuing his investigations in connection with Kepler's law, found, on visiting Cam- bridge in August 1684, that assistance from the Lucasian professor which he had failed in obtaining in any other quarter. On the death of Charles II. and the accession of his brother, the double event was celebrated, according to Attempted custom, in a collection of verses by different discipline^ members of the university. Among the con- r"i™of ''^ tributors were Thomas Baker, the eminent Charles II. antiquary, and Matthew Prior, the poet, both fellows of St. John's College ; Joshua Barnes of Em- manuel College ; and Charles Mountagu, afterwards earl of Halifax. The reign of Charles was not unmarked by various measures designed to raise the standard of discipline in the university, and concurrently the education of the clergy at large. Archbishop San- croft, formerly a fellow of Emmanuel, whose efforts on behalf of learning were both constant and judicious, ordered that no one should be ordained a deacon or a priest who had not taken ' some degree of school ' in one of the universities of the realm. In 1674 a royal injunction censured the custom, prevalent among the clergy, of dressing the hair in the manner then C. H. L 1 62 The University of Cambridge. fashionable, and of wearing perukes. It was also ordered that the practice of reading sermons should ' be wholly laid aside,' and that preachers should deliver their sermons, whether in Latin or English, by memory and without book. At the desire of Charles himself, the university in the same year elected the duke of Monmouth to Monmouth as ^^^ chancellorship. Monmouth was de- chauceiior. posed from his office by his father in 1682 ; and after his rebellion, in 1685, his picture was burnt by the yeoman bedell and his name erased from all the lists of university officers. ' Fickle Cambridge ' was taunted for its servility by one of its own members, George Stepney of Trinity College, who recalled ' With wliat applause they once received his Grace, And begged a copy of his god-like face.' The disposition shown in the preceding reign to assert the royal right of interference was carried by James to a point which eventually roused both JIandate elec- ... . tions to fellow- univcrsities to strenuous resistance. At Trinity College, every fellowship), as it fell vacant, was regularly filled by some royal nominee. In December 1686, the death of Dr. Minshull caused a vacancy in the mastership of Sidney College. It was forthwith filled up by the appointment, by virtue of the king's mandate, of Joshua Bassett, a fellow of Caius College, and a reputed papist, who at the same time received the royal dispensation from the oath re- quired by college statute. In the next year matters reached a climax. The occasion arose out of another mandate calling upon the university to admit a Bene- A.D. 1660 TO I J 1 4. 163 dictiue monk, one Alban Francis, a mau of no ac- ThecMseof quirements, to the degree of master of Alban Francis. ^j.|.g_ j^ ^^^ Urged in James' defence, that his design in thus bringing Catholics into the university was simply -to bring about a better feel- ing between Protestants and Eomanists ; that such mandates were very rarely refused ; and that quite recently a Mahometan, the secretary of the ambas- sador from Morocco, had been admitted without hesitation to a like distinction. On the other hand, it was contended that an important difference was involved in the bestowal of degrees on strangers not designing to reside, and on such as, like brother Francis, were proposing to take up their abode in the university, and who, by virtue of their degree, would acquire the right of voting in congregation. The general alarm seems to have been greatly en- hanced by the belief that these steps were only the prelude to the introduction of the Jesuits into the university. And when we consider what had been the experiences of Paris and other universities conse- quent upon the intrusion of that Order, the distrust and the alarm of Cambridge will scarcely appear unreasonable. It was held by some that compliance might in this instance be yielded to the royal man- date, if it were at the same time expressly declared that the admission of Francis was not to constitute a precedent. But eventually it was decided by the Caput not to bring the question before the university, but simply to advise the vice-chancellor not to admit Francis, and in the meantime to petition the king to recall his mandate. James, with his habitual 164 The University of Cambridge. obstinacy, having refused to do this, tlie question was at length referred to the regents and non-regents (as the electoral body of that time was designated), and by that assembly it was decided that the ' ad- mission of Mr. Francis without the usual oaths was illegal and unsafe,' and their decision was forthwith forwarded to London. The result of this courageous demonstration was, that the university authorities were summoned before the Lords Commissioners in London. They were represented by a deputation, consisting of the vice-chancellor (Dr. Peachell) and eight others, which appeared before the Commissioners on 2 1st April 1687. They were cross-questioned and brow-beaten by the Lord Chancellor Jeffreys, and then dismissed ; and, in the course of a few days, Peachell was called upon not only to resign the vice- chancellorship, but also the mastership of Magdalene. At the same time, certain clauses in the statutes of Sidney College, requiring that the master should ' detest and abhor Popery ' were struck out. The dis- senters of Cambridge did themselves little credit on this occasion by openly applauding James' tyrannical con- duct. In the following year, after the Prince of Orange had already landed at Torbay, the king endeavoured, when it was too late, to re-establish friendly relations with the university, by annulling the foregoing acts. The accession of Queen Mary called into promi- nence opposition of another kind. Sancrofb, after Changes con- baving declined the chancellorship of the tf,'^"'o'Jessm°n u^iversity, was deprived of his archbishopric of Queen Mary. -^^ cousequcnce of his rcfusal to take the oath of alles'iance. The office of chancellor was now A.D. 1660 TO 1 7 14. 165 filled by the duke of Somerset, known in liis own day as tlie ' Proud Duke,' who held the office con- tinuously for the lengthened period of sixty years. In March 169O— I a royal letter, addressed to the vice-chancellor and senate, directed that all persons admitted to degrees under letters mandatory should pay fees, subscribe the common form and words, and perform (or give sufficient caution for the per- formance of) all statutable acts and exercises. In 1689, the oaths of supremacy and allegiance were abrogated by Act of Parliament, and others substituted for them. The new oaths met, however, with con- '| siderable opposition, and at St. John's College no less than twenty of the fellows refused compliance. A mandamus issued in 1693 ^o^ their removal from their fellowships was for a long time evaded on various pleas; and it was not until the year 17 17 that twenty-two fellows of this single college were eventually deprived. Among their number was Thomas Baker, who continued notwith- Tliomus Baker. .-,. ,, ,.,., standing to reside m college, his high character and eminent services to learning pleading effectually in his favour. During his lifetime he presented twenty-three volumes of his manuscript collections to Harley, earl of Oxford, which are in- cluded in the Harleian collection now preserved in the British Museum ; eighteen others were bequeathed by him to the university library in Cambridge, and the whole series is of the highest value in relation to the history both of the university and the colleges at large. Baker died suddenly in his college rooms on 2d July 1740. His History of St. John's College, 1 66 The University of Cambridge. since edited and published by Professor John E. B. Mayor, is a highly valuable contribution to our know- ledge, not only of the history of the college, but of the universit}^ and learning at large. The central figure in the university, from his ap- pointment to the mastership of Trinity in 1700 down to his death in 1742, was Richard Bent- riicbard Bent- , m, . i i i r» ley, master of ley. That society, towards the close 01 the seventeenth century, had somewhat declined from its original reputation. In the earlier part of the century, it had supplied from among its resident fellows no less than six of the translators engaged upon the Authorised Version, and had edu- cated a larger proportion of the episcopal bench than any other society. In polite learning it had pi'oduced John Donne, the most admired poet of that century, and also Abraham Cowley. The adminis- tration of Pearson, who was master from 1662 to 1673, and that of Barrow, who held the same office from 1673 to 1677, had contributed in no slight degree further to raise the college in the general estimation. Their successors, the Hon. John North and the Hon. John Montagu, were less successful ; and the effects of mandate elections, which Charles and James II., presuming on the fact that the col- lege was a royal foundation, had almost systematically enforced, had lowered the standard of attainments among" the fellows. In numbers the college was at this time below St. John's.^ Bentley himself had been educated at the latter foundation, where his ^ The university at large appears to have declined in numbers ; in 1622 the total number of residents was 3050 ; in 1672, it was 2522. A.D. 1660 TO IJI4. 167 name appears as last of twenty-three sizars wlio matriculated 6tb July 1676. But the proviso in the statute relating to elections to fellowships, -which limited to two the number of fellows from any one county, excluded him as a Yorkshireman from a fel- lowship. He retired from the university ; and it was not until he had been appointed King's Librarian at St. James's, that his valuable services in aiding and advising in the restoration of the University Press, and his Dissertation on Fhalaris, re-established his connection with Cambridge. In 1699, on the unani- mous recommendation of the University Commissioners, he was appointed to the mastership of His efforts iu ™ . . 'x , ^ ,_ \ the cause of irmitv. He undoubtedly presented a science. " . , . ^ . rare combination or qnalincations for the office. He had from the first taken the warmest interest in Newton's epoch-making discoveries, and had publicly extolled them in his Boyle Lectures delivered in London in 1692; and he now sought by every means to stimulate the exertions of Cotes, of Whiston, and other rising disciples of the great philosopher. Through his interest, Cotes, who had been elected to a fellowship in 1705, was appointed first Plumian professor, while still only bachelor of arts ; and to aid him in the prosecution of his re- searches, Bentley caused an Observatory to be erected over the King's Gate (as the chief entrance His improve- ° ^ Tiiemsintiie to the coileofe was then termed), and fur- College. ... ^ . nished it with the best astronomical in- struments obtainable.-^ It was mainly owing to his persuasions, again, that, at an interval of twenty-seven ^ The Observatory was taken down in 1797. 1 68 The University of Cambridge. yeai's from tlie first appearance of the work, Newton was eventually induced to publish, in 17 13, a second edition of the Princi'pia. The inaprovements effected by Bentley in the external appearance of the college were also considerable. Writing in 1 7 1 o to the bishop of Ely, he says : — ' It has been often told me by persons of sense and candour, that when I left them, I might say of the College what Augustus said of Rome, Lateritium inveni, marvioreum rcliqui. The College chapel, from a decayed, antiquated model, made one of the noblest in England ; the College hall, from a dirty, sooty place, restored to its original beauty, and excelled by none in cleanliness and magnificence.' uffeubach's I^ ^^ singular to note that Uffenbach, the oTthrilwies German savant, who visited the university of the colleges. ^^ ^^g samo year that Bentley wrote his letter, should have described the hall of Trinity as ' very large, but ugly, smoky, and smelling so strong of bread and meat, that,' he says, ' it would be im- possible for me to eat a morsel in it.' The same keen-eyed traveller, in visiting the other colleges, could not but be struck by the indifference evinced for the higher interests of learning. At Caius Col- lege he found the manuscripts placed in ' a miserable garret under the roof,' and lying ' thick with dust ' on the floor. At Magdalene all the books were ' entirely overgrown with mould.' At St. John's the collection of coins was lying covered with dust in ' a poor drawer, unlocked, and left open.' At Trinity Hall, the library appeared to him ' very mean, consisting only of a few law books.' At Emmanuel, the books, though ' respectable in number,' stood ' in A.D. 1660 TO 171-/.. i6g entire confusion.' At PeterLouse, the manuscripts were ' buried in dust ' and in the greatest disorder. At the University Library, a rare codex of Josephus being ' torn at the end/ the library-keeper obligingly presented him with a leaf! In the libraries of Trinity, St. John's, and Corpus Christi, on the other hand, Ufienbach found something that repaid him for his toil and even commanded his admiration. Notwithstanding, however, this too prevalent apathy, WG find the reputation of the university at this period upheld by names which, in the re- Cotes, VThiston, ^ . ^ . „ . ^ . Joshua Barnes, spective proviuces 01 scicuce and learning, were inferior only to those of Newton and Bentley. Cotes, although carried off at the early age of thirty-four, lived long enough to leave behind him the impression of rare ability, and also some important contributions to mathematical knowledge. Whiston, notwithstanding the vagaries which charac- terised his Theory of the Earth (an attempt to har- monise the Bible and the Newtonian discoveries), discharged his duties as Lucasian professor with credit, even though appearing as the successor of Newton. Joshua Barnes, who filled the chair of Greek from 1695 to 17 12, has, although exposed to Bentley's severest criticism, probably rather gained than lost ground in the estimation of scholars since his own day. Davies, the president of Queens' and the editor of Cicero, — Sike, who through Bentley's interest was appointed to the Regius professorship of Hebrew, — and Wotton, a fellow of St. John's, a scholar gifted with a marvellous memory and of varied attainments, — were also of more than usual I/O The UxivERSiTY of Cambridge. eminence. Laugliton, who in 1694 was appointed tutor of Clare Hall, materially contributed to the reputation of that society by the ability with which he enforced discipline, and by the success which at- tended his efforts to promote the study of the New- tonian philosophy. Covel, the octogenarian master of Christ's College, was equally distinguished by his acquirements as a linguist, his urbanity, and his knowledge of the world. Religious controversy, which at Cambridge would appear to have slumbered for a time, was revived in the reign of Queen Anne by the disputa- Controversy . . . „ .^^y, . -,-, revived by tious Spirit 01 Whiston. He commenced as a champion of orthodoxy, denouncing the chief divines of the university as sceptics, and putting forth with overweening confidence the results of his own investigations in Church history. His conclu- sions, as unfolded in his Primitive Christianity Ee- invcd, seem to have landed him, in the first instance, in Arianism, but finally led him to join the General Baptists. His Arian tenets led to his banishment from the university in 1 7 1 0, and his deprivation of his professorship. He was subsequently prosecuted for heresy in the Court of Arches, but pardoned after the accession of George I., although he persistently refused to retract any of the opinions which he had advanced ; while the controversies which his writings had evoked long continued to agitate the university and wider circles beyond. ( I/I ) CHAPTER X. FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Neither Newton's later career nor that of Bentley can be held to have added to the estimation in which both are rec-arded by posterity. The for- Later years of ^ -n ■, -i -, Newton and mer, although hardly to be considered men- tally unsound, was subject for some years to a melancholy which impaired his intellect, and his Ohscrvations on Daniel and the Apocalypse can scarcely be looked upon otherwise than as a misapplication of his powers. Bentley published in 1 7 1 1 his ill- considered edition of Horace, aboundincr with un- justifiable 'emendations,' and in 173 1 his almost ludicrous edition of ParadisG Lost; while his over- bearing conduct towards the other Heads and some of the officers of the university led to his arrest in his own Lodge (23rd September 17 18), at the suit of Middleton, and to his deprivation of his degrees by the senate of the university. In 1720 an un- successful attempt was made, by an application to the King's Bench, to deprive him of his professor- ship. He was restored to his degrees after five years' and a half deprivation; but in 1729 articles were 172 The Univrrsity of Camdridgr. preferred against him, as administrator of the college, by the Visitor, Dr. GIreene, Ijishop of Ely. Although Bentley succeeded in frustrating the design of the bishop, new articles were preferred against him by Colbatch, a fellow of the college, whereby it was sought to bring about his removal from the master- ship. A memorable struggle, extending over ten years, thereupon ensued ; and it was not until Bishop Greene had died, at the age of fourscore, and Bentley was himself in his seventy-seventh year, that these proceedings were brought to a conclusion. Bentloy contrived to throw his own legal expenses, amount- ing to ;6^4000, entirely on the college, and the society became for a time considerably embarrassed in con- sequence. Although the coolness and consummate ability with which he fought the battle moved the admiration even of his antagonists, it was impossible to deny that his administration was in some respects highly culpable. Under the pretext of liability to catcli cold, ho scarcely ever appeared in college chapel, where the attendants at length discontinued lighting the candles in his stall ; and he appropriated with- out scruple the college funds to his personal use and advantage. His desire, indeed, to set himself above the laws was sufficiently shown in another capacity, for, as archdeacon of Ely, during the thirty-seven years that he hold the office, he never once person- ally inspected the churches and parsonages of the diocese. Among the smaller foundations, St. Catherine's, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, had gained considerably both in numbers and reputation owing A.D. lyi./. TO iSoo. . 173 to tlie iuflnence of John Lig'hlfoot, wlio was master from 1650 to 1675. In 1672 its num- Orowtli of ,. , ,. , f. 1 11 \ St. catheriue's bci's (mcluuing tlio sci'vants or tliG college) amounted to 150. Thomas Sherlock, who held the mastership for the brief period 17 14 to 1719, was at that time one of the most Dr. Sherlock. . , , . . mlluential members 01 the university, liy his opposition to Bentley, however, he seems to have incurred the bitter hostility of the latter, who was wont to designate him as ' Cardinal Alberoni.' Sher- lock's controversial writings, chiefly against Hoadly, Collins, and Woolston, characterised as they were alike by breadth of judgment and yet firm adlier- ence to the orthodox standpoint, have caused him to be termed ' the representative Churchman of his age.' In his capacity as vice-chancellor, it devolved upon him, in 171 5, to present to George I. the address of the senate, conveying the thanks of that body for the royal munificence, whereby the library of Dr. John Moore, bishop of Ely, had been pur- chased, after his death, and bestowed on the univer- sity. By this means the University Library was augmented by some 30,000 volumes. In 1 724 King George, having observed that ' no encourage- ment or provision ' had hitherto been made in the Foundation of ^^livcrsity for ' tlio study of modern his- piofcs'sOTship tory or modern languages,' founded the o[thowm.d-"^ Regius professorship^ of History. The ^'sorshiP office was first filled by S. Harris, a- Geology. master of arts of Peterhouse, and from 1768 to 1 77 1 was held by the poet Gray. The Woodwardian professorship of Geology, founded in 1/4 Th£ University of Cambridge. 1727, was first filled by the celebrated Conyers Middleton, another of Bentley's antagonists, who pub- lished in 1 7 1 9 his ' Full and Impartial Account ' of the proceedings which led to Bentley's deprivation of his degrees. Bentley afterwards prosecuted Middle- ton for libel ; but although he gained a verdict, the sympathy of the university with his antagonist was shown by the latter being appointed in 1 7 2 1 prin- cipal university librarian. On the 6th July 1730 the new Senate House, which had occupied eight years in construction, was opened by the ceremonies of a Public Com- The Tripos : ^ "^ origin of the meucemcnt, aud m the course ot another term. . , , „ , . ten years it became the arena lor the uni- versity examinations, and especially for the Tripos. The origin of this name is somewhat peculiar. The very different notions which prevailed among the Reformers had led to a singular travesty of the ancient observance of Ash Wednesday. In medi- eval times, the expression stare m quadragesima, — to stand (as a determiner) in Lent, — denoted a solemn ordeal. Among the Protestants of the days of Eliza- beth, — who lost no opportunity of evincing their con- tempt for the notions which had found favour among their Catholic forefathers, — the grave ceremony was converted into a ludicrous farce. The questionists who aspired to the dignity of bachelor of arts, found them- selves, on repairing to the Schools, confronted by a certain ' ould bacliilour ' (old, that is to say, in aca- demic status rather than in years), to whom the university for the nonce delegated its functions. The ' bachilour ' was seated on a thrcc-leg(jcd stool A.D. lyi-f- TO 1800. 175 (from whence the term tripos), and it was his func- tion to dispute not only with the ' eldest son ' (the foremost of the questionists), but also with the ques- tionists' ' father,' the delegate of the college, on whom it devolved to present the candidates. As the united ages of the three disputants often failed to repre- sent a total of threescore years and ten, the levity of youth availed itself, only too readily, of the recognised licence of the occasion, — especially as the examiner himself, on his stool, invariably led the way in the congenial task of giving vent to gibes, personalities, and general opprobrium. Even amid the mai'ked absence of restraint which characterises the earlier years of the Restoration, the senior proctor some- times found himself called upon to exhort the Tripos to remember, while exercising his privilege of humour and satire, ' to be modest withal.' Long after ' Mr. Tripos ' himself had been abolished, the tripos-verses, — which were originally compositions in Latin verse, having reference to the quccstiones propounded for disputation, — were recognised in his place, as an authorised observance, and preserved the tradition of his Fescennine freedom of criticism. In 1740, the authorities, after condemning the excessive licence of the Tripos, announced that the Comitia at Lent would in future be conducted in the Senate House, and all members of the university, of whatever order or degree, were forbidden to assail or mock the disputants with scurrilous jokes or unseemly witticisms. About the year 1747—8, the moderators (i.e., the two mas- ters of arts selected to supervise the disputations) ini- tiated the practice of printing the honour lists on the 1/6 The University of Cambridge. back of the sheets containing the tripos-verses, and after the year 1755 this became the invariable prac- tice. By virtue of this purely arbitrary connection, these lists themselves became known as the Tripos, and eventually the examination itself, of which they rej)resented the results, also became known by the same designation. About the same time, the ques- tions propounded for the examination appear to have been restricted to mathematics, and before the year 1770 Latin liad given place to English both in the paper work and in the mva voce. The establishment of the first Tripos is itself a matter requiring explanation and involved in some obscurity. It would seem that for some Establishment ^ „ . . . . of the first years, at least, alter its institution, the sole test of a candidate's qualifications still con- tinued to be that afforded by his performance in the Schools as a disputant, — as participant, that is to say, in a public Act. The abler and more ambitious students who sought to acquire a reputation in this way habitually frequented the Schools, taking part in a mucli larger number of disputations than were required by statute ; and the distinction they had thus already acquired made it a matter of no great difliculty, when Lent approached, for the examiners to draw up a first list of Wranglers and Senior Op- times/ whose seniority, or order of merit, as bachelors, was thus ' reserved ' (to use the technical expression) from the first Act (or Comitici), which was always 1 The Senior Optimes were first placed in a separate division from tlie Wranglers in the Tripos of 1753, — but the reasons which led to this alteration are not on record. A.D. lyi^. TO iSoo. 177 lield on Ash Wednesday, — tlie questionists having previously sworn to abide by the decision of the pi'oc- tors with respect to their order of merit. Then followed the Lenten disputations, and every day saw certain selected disputants (the ' respondents ') defend- ing a chosen thesis against the ' opponents,' who were generally four in number.^ It does not appear that the performances of the Wranglers and Senior Op- times during this time in any way affected their position on the published list, but at the conclusion of the exercises the examiners drew up a second list, in which the Junior Optimes were assigned their order of seniority according to the manner they had acquitted themselves in their respective acts. And at the conclusion the senior proctor announced that all the determiners (as the questioners were called) had finally determined and were actually bachelors of arts. The ttoXXoI or Poll Men had no seniority reserved to them until the Great Com- mencement. On that occasion, which was on the first Tuesday in July, the bachelor (in common with the masters of arts and doctors in each faculty) was admitted to his degree and became fall bachelor. Apart from the crude and superficial manner in which the merits of candidates were thus tested, — 'Procfor's succoss in a disputation being frequently optimes.' gained by assurance and ready invention, rather than by genuine attainments, — the earlier 1 ' I was third opponent only, and came off with " optime quidem disputasti," i.e., " You've disptited excellently indeed " (quite as much as is ever given to a third opponency '). (W. Goode to his parents, 6th November 1790.) From this conventional use of opliinc the name of the second and third divisions arose. C. H. M i/S The University of Cambridge. Tripos lists were subject to another disturbing influ- ence which still further detracted from their value as a trustworthy gauge of merit. This arose from the practice of inserting names, known as ' proctor's optimes,' which were assigned a place in the honour list by mere favour, the candidates not having really undergone any examination whatever. The injustice thus done to the best men was often singularly glaring. Bentley, for example, who was third wran- gler in 1680 (the examination, at that time, was not limited to mathematics), appeared as sixth in the official list, three proctor's optimes having been placed above him. This peculiar exercise of the proctorial prerogative does not appear to have been had re- course to after the year 1797, although it was not formally abolished until 1827. In the printed Calen- dars, the names of the Honorary Senior Optimes from 1747 were inserted in the first three issues, but dis- continued in the fourth. Originally the examination for the mathematical tripos was limited to two days and a half; while The original ex- 't^® maximum numbcr admissible to rank the'jhJthema'^ as wrauglers and senior optimes was ticai Tnpos. twcuty-four, — a limit not invariably ob- served. The examination commenced before break- fast, and after half an hour had been allowed for that meal, was resumed at half-past nine, and continued until eleven. Then ensued an interval of two hours, after which the examination was resumed from one to three, and then again, after half an hour's interval for tea, until five. The Senate House examination then terminated, but in the evening the more pro- A.D. lyi^ TO iSoo. 179 mising candidates were invited to a furtlier exhibi- tion of their powers in the rooms of the senior ' proctor. Here problems were set, and the overtaxed powers of the competitors were stimulated, not very judicioLisly, with fruit and wine. It was probably the severity of the brief contest, while it lasted, which led Sir William Hamilton, himself a student of extra- ordinary powers, to condemn the ordeal as imposing too great a strain upon the brains of the examined. Otherwise, the character of the competition would appear scarcely to bear comparison with that of the present day ; Paley is said to have gained his senior wranglership in 1 763 on little more than twelve months' reading-. A distingruished writer on the subject of university education (himself a senior wrangler) has observed that in these times a student might ' not infrequently have entered the university quite ignorant of mathematics, his training having been obtained in other branches of learning, and yet have ultimately obtained the highest place in the examination. Thus Atwood, who came from West- minster School, was third wrangler in 1769, and Pollock, who came from St. Paul's School, was senior wrangler in 1 806; it can scarcely be doubted that both of these before they entered the university must have been almost exclusively engaged in the classical studies which were characteristic of their famous schools. . . . For ten years prior to 1847 the examination for the mathematical tripos continued six days. A change then took place, it being deter- mined that the duration should be extended to eight days. The first three days were to be devoted to the I So The University of Cambridge. elementary subjects ; then an interval of rather more than a week was interposed, after which those who had passed in a satisfactory manner through the three days' test were examined during five days in the higher subjects.' ^ Although the emulation excited and developed by the institution of its earliest tripos was undoubtedly Subordination ^ho source of the reputation which Cam- o£ otlier studies to m; athema-"^^ bridge had by this time acquired as a ^'°^- school of mathematical science, there were those, even in the last century, who from time to time clearly perceived and lamented some of the collateral results of this exclusive devotion to one particular study. The Craven scholarship, founded in 1647, ^^'^ t^6 Battle, founded exactly a century later, represented at this period the only channels whereby the classical scholar could obtain recognition of his attainments. Those who possessed no aptitude for mathematics, however studiously inclined, found, accordingly, so little encouragement to exert their powers, that they were too often content to join the throng of idlers. The proportion of these was ab- normally large, the conditions imposed for obtaining the ordinary degree affording scarcely any guarantee of attainment. So late as 1822, the Calendar gives ' the statutable exercises before admission ad responden- dum qucestioni ' as ' two acts and two opponencies ' ; ' these,' it adds, ' in part are sometimes dispensed with, and kept by what is termed " huddling." ' The signal merit of Person, who was first chan- cellor's medallist and third senior optime in 1782, ^ Todhunter, Conflict of Studies, pp. 194 and 202. A.D. lyijj. TO iSoo. i8r was recognised by his election to a fellowsliip at Tri- nity in the same year, — at that time an almost unpre- cedented distinction. His scruples with regard to taking holy orders did not, however, suffer him long to retain the emolument, and his extraordinary merit as a scholar obtained but inadequate recognition by his appoint- ment, in 1790, as Eegius professor of Greek, — the salary amounting only to some ^40 a year. It was not, indeed, until he obtained the post of librarian to the London Institution that he found himself in cir- cumstances of comparative comfort. The Porson Prize was founded after his death from the residue of a sum which had been collected for his support during his lifetime by some of his warm admirers. Of his attain- ments as a scholar it is unnecessary here to speak, and the remarkable elegance with which he wrote the Greek character is well known. A Greek fount, cut at the University Press under his directions, still exists, and was used so recently as in printing Dr. Lightfoot's edition of Galatians. So early as the year 1772, Dr. Jebb of Peterhouse had sought to raise the average standard of attain- ment by proposing to make it compul- Dr. Jebb pro- •' f ^ ° . . ^ poses to insti- sory On all students, without exception, to tute an annual • r- t i • • compulsory pass a Specified annual examination. Ihe examination. subjects were to comprise ' the law of nature and of nations, chronology, set periods of his- tory, select classics, metaphysics, limited portions of mathematics and natural philoso|)hy, moral philoso- phy, and metaphysics. In their final examination all were to be required to show a knowledge of the four Gospels in Greek and of Grotius' De 1 82 The University of Cambridge. Veritctte,! ^ The sclieme was opposed on various grounds, and especially by Dr. Powell, the master of St. John's, who had recently set an excellent example by insti- tuting examinations in his own college. Another critic characterised the new proposals as 'tending to reduce the whole university into the state of one vast and unwieldy college.' Eventually Dr. Jebb's scheme was completely defeated ; and the unpopu- larity he incurred by bringing it forward was such that in 1776 his vote, as a member of the Senate, was declared to be forfeited, and he eventually quitted the university. Efforts at reform in other directions gave, however, promise of being attended with better success. In the same year that Dr. Jebb brought forward his proposals, questionists were released from the obligation to sign the Thirty-nine Articles ; and in 1787, Dr. Priestley, the philosopher (who had not at that time embraced the Unitarian persuasion), in a letter to Mr. Pitt, expressed himself sanguine as to the result of an endeavour which was then being made in the university to bring about the admission of Dis- senters into the colleges. The conservative reaction which, when the French Revolution had run its course, set in all over Europe, did not fail, however, materially to influence the universities; and both at Oxford and Cambridge there now ensued a spirit of syste- matic opposition to all reforms and innovations what- ever. 1 In order to obviate one difficulty, Dr. Jebb proposed that noble- men and fellow-commoners should be allowed to pass a different ex.amination, — a proposal which necessarily drew down a good deal of criticism on his whole scheme. A.D. 171 4. TO ISOO. 183 It can hardly be doubted that the tendencies of theological thought in the university, throughout the Influence of the eighteenth century, were to a great extent camwge^"'' affectcd by the bias given to its studies, theology. They were characterised by that spirit of ' common sense ' and those somewhat mediocre aims which prevailed in society at large, and also by that dislike of enthusiasm and of all beliefs which did not commend themselves to the practical reason, which especially distinguished the school of Sherlock, Ed- | mund Law, and Paley. Appeals to the emotional I nature on the part of the divine, and the setting up ' of too lofty ideals of life and conduct, whether in reli- gion or in morality, were alike discouraged. These views found marked expression in the writ- and William iugs of Edmund Law, originally a member of Christ's College, but who from 1756 to 1788 was master of Peterhouse, and from 1764 to 1769 professor of casuistry. In most respects he was an avowed disciple of Locke, whose influence is plainly manifest in his Considerations on the Theory of Religion^ which he published in 174-S- The work went through numerous editions, and although marred by some singular puerilities and defective critical knowledge, is notable as putting forward a philosophic conception of humanity, which it exhibits as subject to laws of development and divinely destined to be continuously progressive. Among the young students of Christ's College was one whose merits Law seems early to have discerned, and whom he warmly befriended and aided. This was William Paley, who entered the college as a 184 The University of Cambridge. sizar, and became senior wrangler in 1763, and sub- sequently fellow and tutor of his college. His Moral and Political Philosophy was published in 1785, his Horce Paulince in 1790, his Evidences of Christi- anity in 1794, and his Natural Theology in 1802. In these writings, especially the first and last, the influence of his patron is frequently discernible ; while the influence which they in turn exercised over the character and tendencies of Cambridge thought and education for nearly a century can scarcely be over- estimated. Eichard Watson, who was second wrangler in 1759, and afterwards Norrisian professor, and John Hey, who was senior wrangler in 1755, and was appointed Regius professor of divinity in 1 7 7 i , were also divines of the same school. It was in no small measure as a reaction against this class of thinkers that the Evangelical school, the school of Toplady and John Newton, took Biseofthe . . „ , "^ , ' Evangelical its rise. iiiat movement somewhat re- Berridg'eand sembled the earlier Puritanism, although trllB MilUGl'S. wanting alike its grandeur of conception and intellectual force. Berridge, a fellow of Clare Hall, was distinguished by his aversion from the new studies, declaring that the cultivation of human science involved the neglect of the Bible. The two Milners, however, represented a somewhat less narrow spirit. Joseph Milner, of Catherine Hall, who was gold medallist in 1766, published, between the years 1794 and 181 2, his History of the Church of Christ. The work was modelled, it is said, on a Plan of Ecclesiastical History previously put forth by John Newton, and althouo'h the result of considerable A.D. IJI^ TO ISOO. 185 labour, was rendered almost wortliless by the sin- gular canon of treatment laid down by the writer, who declared at the outset his determination to re- coo-nise no elements save those which he recrarded as genuinely religious. His uncritical deference to patristic authority was also another serious defect. Joseph's brother, Isaac, of Queens' College, who was senior wrangler in 1774, and subsequently president of his college and Lucasian professor of mathematics, held very similar views. In the year 1 769 a change was made in the cos- tume of the undergraduates. Down to that time they Introduction ^^^^ woru round caps lined with black silk, fov'l^Iev-^^'^ and with a brim of black velvet for pen- graduates. siouers, Or black silk for sizars. At their own petition, they were now allowed to adopt a square cap, the duke of Grafton, who was chancel- lor, having given his consent, with the concurrence of the Heads. The innovation, which in the days of Cartwright and Whitgift would have thrown the whole university into an uproar, seems to have been effected in the quietest manner possible. In the year 1796 there appeared the first Univer- sity Calendar. Its publication was not ofiicial, but First pubiica- represented the private venture of one G. univevs^'Jy Mackeuzle, a bachelor of arts of Trinity. cuiendiir. j^ ^^^^ preface he modestly characterises the volume as one which, it might be presumed, would be ' neither useless nor uninteresting to the members of the university.' ' The public,' he goes on to say, ' has not sufficiently been made acquainted with the emoluments to be obtained at the several colleges ; 1 86 The University of Cambridge. tlie priucipal object of the Cambridge Calendar is to supply this defect, by stating the number of the fellowships, scholarships, and exhibitions at each, with their respective endowments ; to render which com- plete, a list of the livings belonging to each college is added, the values of which are taken from Bacon's Thesaurus! In giving an outline of the origin of the university, Mackenzie inclines to the belief that it had been founded by ' one Cantaber, a Spaniard, about 370 yeai's before Christ;' and he regards it as be- yond . dispute that it was restored by King Sigebert in the year 630. In the following year tlie volume was edited by J. Beverley, one of the esquires bedell. The project would seem to have been at first regarded with little favour by the authorities, and was but languidly supported by the university at large, for in 1798 the Calendar failed to appear. Isaac Milner, in his capacity as president of Queens', was uncour- teous enough, on one occasion, to withhold the requi- site information. But in 1799 the volume reappeared, and ever since that time has been published with due regularity, although never invested with official authority. The earlier editions were in paper boards, with a bluish-grey cover, bordered by a running pat- tern of arrow-heads. A comparison of the volume for 1887 with that of the first issue, ninety-one years before, brings home to us with singular force the remarkable progress of the university during the present century. ( i87 ) CHAPTER XI. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CENTURY TO THE PRESENT TIME. The commencement of the century saw the foundation of Downing' College. Its founder, Sir Georsfe Downinof died in 1749, and, having no leo-itimate Foundation _. ;^f'' . '=' ?., of Downing oiispring, dovised extensive estates m uam- bridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Suffolk to a cousin, with remainder in trust for other relatives. In the event of there being no succession, by issue, to these other relatives, the devised estates were to be appro- priated to the foundation of a college in the university of Cambridge. The contingency contemplated having actually occurred, a charter was obtained in the year 1800 for the foundation of a college for students in law, physic, and other useful arts and learning, such college to be called Downing College, and to consist of a master, two professors, and sixteen fellows. In pursuance of these instructions, a site near Maid's Causeway, known as Doll's Close, was originally pur- chased, but was subsequently exchanged for the pre- sent grounds. In 1805 statutes were given for the college, which were superseded by another code in i860. The carrying out of the entire scheme was attended with costly litigation, and only two sides of iS8 The University of Cambridge. the handsome quadrangle contemplated in the original plan have as yet been erected. The great struggle in which England was engaged on the Continent told unfavourably on the numbers of stu- increasein dcuts at both universities during the earlier *f ^h^^iJiv?!- years of the century ; but between 1 8 i 2 and ^^*^- 1822 the number of names on the boards at Cambridge increased by considerably more than a third, — an increase much beyond what had taken place in the preceding half-century. The authorities, who were little disposed to initiate reforms, gladly construed the fact into evidence that the condition of the university was regarded by the public at large with satisfaction. ' The question of utility/ wrote Dr. Monk, the Regius professor of Greek, in 18 18, when repelling the sug- gestion that Cambridge would do well to profit in certain respects by the example of other universities, ' the question of utility must be determined in a great degree by the opinion of the public, which is shown pretty clearly in the increased numbers of students who have, of late years, flocked to this place.' The efrowinof sense that classical studies demanded further recognition was shown by the institution of two additional scholarships, — the Davies in Institution of t i -n- • r> a t i the Classical 1 804, and tlic ritt in 1813. And al- though a scheme brought forward by the master of Trinity (Dr. Wordsworth) in 1 8 2 1 for examining the students in classics and the elements of theology was rejected in the Non-Regent House, on the 28th May 1822 a grace passed the Senate for the establishment of an annual voluntary classical examination. The scheme provided that the examina- The Present Century. 1S9 tion should last for four clays, — from lialf-past nine to twelve in the morning, and from one to four in the afternoon. Translations were to be required of pas- sages selected from the best Greek and Latin authors, as well as written answers to questions arising immedi- ately out of such passages. No original composition, either in Greek or Latin, was to be required. The beneficial operation of this scheme was, how- ever, to a great extent marred by the condition im- posed on all candidates, that they should Eestriction f , i • t i i , originally im- have 'obtained an honour at the mathe- posed on can- . . . didates, and matical examination of the preceding Janu- its removal. ^ ^• ary. When, accordingly, the class-list of the first examination, held in 1824, was published, out of seven names that appeared in the first class,- three were wi'anglers and four were senior optimes ; of the four who obtained a second class, two were senior and two were junior optimes ; of six who ob- tained a third class, three were wranglers and three were junior optimes. For more than a quarter of a century, — that is, until its abolition in 1850, — this unwise restriction continued in force, and in some instances efiectually prevented classical scholarship of no common order from obtaining due recognition. It serves to illustrate the influence which tradition and custom exercise over even very vigorous intellects, that Whewell, at that time fellow and tutor of his college, and afterwards the advocate of numerous and important innovations and reforms, put forth, in I 83 5, a pamphlet,^ in which he dwelt with complacency on ^ Tkovghls on the Study of Mathematics as a Part of a Liberal Edu- cation. By William Whewell, M.A. 1835. iQO The University of Cambridge. the condition of studies at Cambridge, and insisted on tlie value of mathematical studies as ' the principal means in the cultivation of the reasoning faculty.' His yiews were controverted with much force and some acrimony by Sir William Hamilton in Sir W. Hamil. -i- -m ■ i 7-r.- ton and Adam a notable article m the ijdinourqh Reviciv. Sedgwick on . . r^ ■, • n the still exist- whereiu the writer declared that (Jambridge ' stood alone,' in making, ' in opposition even to the intentions of its founders and legislators, mathe- matical science the principal object of the whole liberal education it afforded,' — that ' the stream of opinions and the general practice of the European schools and universities allowed to that study, at best, only a subordinate utility as a means of liberal educa- tion,' — and finally denounced the existing system as ' leaving the immense majority of the alumni with- out incitement, and the most arduous and important studies void of encouragement and reward, and main- taining a scheme of discipline more partial and in- adequate than any other which the history of education records.' Such strictures, proceeding from a Scotch professor of logic and metaphysics, would probably not have sufficed, unaided, to produce much effect. But the passing of the Reform Bill had awakened a widespread desire for the removal of palpable defects and obsolete restrictions in connection with institutions of every kind, and it was impossible for the more liberal ele- ment in the university not to be aware that there was much in the existing discipline and organisation that called for amendment. Adam Sedgwick, the Wood- wardian professor, a fellow of Trinity College, pub- The Present Century. 191 lished ill 1833 liis Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cambridge. In the preface, lie criticised with considerable freedom the narrow spirit in which both mathematical and classical studies were pursued. In the one case, he adverted in terms of undisguised disapprobation to ' those severe physical studies, during which the best faculties of the mind are sometimes permitted to droop and wither;' in the other, he de- murred to the amount of attention devoted to mere verbal criticism, and ventured to think that ' in strain- ing after an accuracy beyond our reach students were taught to value the husk more than the fruit of ancient learning ; while he had even the rare cour- age to ask whether 'the imagination and the taste might not be more wisely cultivated than by a long sacrifice to what, after all, ended but in verbal imita- tions.' He pleaded also for more systematic attention to the lessons of ancient history as distinguished from its literature, and urged, with arguments much re- sembling those employed about the same time by Arnold of Rugby, the general advantages of historical studies. In referring to philosophy, he criticised with considerable effect the unfavourable results which ap- peared to follow from a too exclusive attention to the utilitarian teaching of Locke and Paley. In the meantime, as the requirements of the older tripos became more and more severe, partly from the Removal of increasing competition, partly from the de- tiTeciasskaT vclopmeut that was taking place in every Tnpos. branch of mathematical science, the restric- tion imposed on candidates for classical honours was found proportionably more irksome. In each of the 192 The University of Cambridge. 3'ears 1849 and 1850 there appeared in tlie first class of the classical tx'ipos no less than six names for which, in the preceding mathematical tripos, it was necessary to seek low down among the junior optimes, — a significant proof either of the perfunctory man- ner in which the prescribed condition had been com- plied with, or else of the inaptitude of the candidates for their enforced curriculum of study. At last, in 1850, the restriction was altogether removed, and the only mathematical attainments required from classical students were those imposed as ' additional subjects ' at the previous examination. And since 1885 these also have practically been no longer imperative, owing to the admission of French or German as an alterna- tive. With this change, the number of classical students presenting themselves at the mathematical examination, or %%c& versd, became gradually fewer. In the years i860, 1870, and 1880 the numbers of the classical tripos were 62, "/G, and 75 respectively; and of these, the numbers of those who had already obtained mathematical honours were 1 1, 5, and 2. A certain reaction against these exclusive tendencies is, however, already discernible, owing to the recent divi- sion of the respective triposes into parts. -^ Concurrently with this growth of a more liberal conception in relation to the studies of the university Movement in Came the revival of the movement for the abolition o?uni-6^ti^6 o^ partial abolitiou of religious tests, versity tests, j^ 1 834, a petition signed by sixty-two of the leading resident members of the university was sent up to the House of Commons, suggesting ' the expedi- ^ See infra, p. 20S. The P res EXT Century. 193 ency of abrogating, by legislative enactment, every religious test exacted from members of the university before they proceed to degrees, whether of bachelor, master, or doctor in arts, law, or physic' The peti- tioners recalled the ' informal and unprecedented man- ner in which these restrictions had been imposed on the university in the reign of James I., and urged that, just as the Test Act had been recently repealed by the legislative bodies of the United Kingdom, so a corresponding measure seemed imperative in order to bring the university, as a lay corporation^ into harmony with the social system of the State,' This appeal was met by a counter protest, signed by 258 members of the Senate (the great majority of whom were non-residents). A bill was subsequently, how- ever, brought into the House of Commons for the ' removing of religious tests upon the taking of degrees in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,' which passed the house by a majority of 174, but was thrown out in the House of Lords, on the second reading, by a majority of 1 02. It is to be observed that the proposed measure affected only the univer- sity, — the petitioners disclaiming all intention of there- by ' interfering, directly or indirecth', with the private statutes of individual colleges.' Among its most dis- tinguished suppoi'ters w^ere the historians, Thirlwall and Kemble, the former at that time fellow of Trinity ; Dr. Lee, the professor of Hebrew, Adam Sedgwick, Babbage, the Lucasian professor, and Peacock, after- wards dean of Ely. It was opposed by nearly all the Heads of Houses, the master of Caius (Dr. Davy) and the master of Corpus (Dr. Lamb) being the only c. H. N 194 T^^ University of Cambridge. two vrlio signed the original petition ; and it was unanimously opposed by the theological professors. The advocates of the measure were, however, san- guine of success ; and Dr. Lamb, in the preface to his volume of Documents, published four years later, declared it to be ' evident to all who observed the signs of the times that these religious tests could not long be retained in the universities.' But it was not until another generation had passed away that, in the year 1 8 7 1 , religious tests were finally abolished alike in the university and in the colleges. Although Whewell's name does not appear in con- nection with the above movement, and the views to Dr. wheweii which he gavo expression in his pamphlet as a reformer, ^f jg^S indicated a far too complacent estimate of the condition of Cambridge studies at that time, he was a steady promoter of reform in other directions. When acting as Moderator in 1820, he had succeeded in introducing the Continental form of mathematical notation.-^ On being elected, in 1838, to the professorship of Moral Philosophy, he made what had before been regarded as a sinecure a chair of active teaching associated with examinations. He subsequently appears as taking an active part in bringing to successful issue the measures which will shortly demand our attention, — the institution of two new Triposes, In the year 1 846, the whole scientific world received with interest the intelligence of the discovery of the planet Neptune by Mr. (now Professor) Adams, — a ^ A compai-ison of the paper.s get in the mathematical triposes of I Si 8, 1 819, and 1820 will illustrate this statement. The Present Century. 195 like result having been obtained almost simultaneously, although quite independently, bv Leverrier. Foundation of „„ . t .,,. , . ./ ' ^ theAdama iliis brilliant achievement was comme- morated soon after by several members of St. John's College (of which Mr. Adams was at that time a fellow) by the foundation of the Adams Prize. Within four years from the publication of Sedg- wick's Essay, a criticism of similar design, but con- ■waish's flisto- ceived in a very different spirit, appeared ricai Account, ^^.q^j^ ^])q pgj^ of another fellow of the same society.'^ Obscui'ity has since overtaken both the writer and his treatise ; and it must be admitted that his arguments are urged with an acrimony which probably contributed not a little to deprive them of their legitimate effect. When, however, we take into consideration the fact that this expression of opinion appeared just half a century ago, the discernment with which it sino-les out the defects in the range and character of the existing course of studies must be considered not a little remarkable. Whether it be in dealing with the obsolete and useless restrictions which demanded abolition, or with ancient rights and privileges which had unwisely been permitted to fall into disuse, or with the branches of learning which called for encouragement and development, the writer urges his views with a cogency of argument and breadth of judgment which leAve it to be regretted ^ A Historical Account of the Univenitij of Cainhridgc and its Col- Icrjes, in a Letter to the Earl of Radnor, By Benjamin Dann Walsli, M.A., Fellow of Trinity Collejje. 1837. 196 The University of Cambridge. only that liis language was not at the same time more guarded and conciliatory. In advocatino^ a considerable extension of the ranofo of studies, Walsh recommended the institution not of His proposals ^^o, but of fivo ncw triposes : ( i ) ancient for the future. ^^^ modem history, political economy, moral and political philosophy, and the history of the human mind ; (2) natural history in all its branches ; (3) geo- logy, mineralogy, chemistry, electricity, &c. ; (4) the principal Oriental languages; (5) the principal lan- guages of modern Europe. We have now briefly to point out how all these studies have since received the recognition demanded by the writer, although not precisely in the Appointment . . . of a syndicate Same connectiou as that which he suo-o-ests. in 1848. On the 9th February 1848 a grace was carried in the Senate, by a majority of 26 to 7, for the appointment of a Syndicate ' to consider whether it is expedient to afford greater encouragement to the jDursuit of those studies for the cultivation of which professorships have been founded in the uni- versity.' As the result of their deliberations, the Syndics, in a report published on the Stli of the following April, ' while admitting the superiority of the study of mathematics and classics over all others as the basis of general education, and acknowledging, therefore, the wisdom of adhering to our present system in its main features,' gave it nevertheless as their opinion ' that much good would result from affording greater encouragement to other branches of science and learniug which were daily acquiring more importance and a higher estimation in the The Present Century. 197 world.' They accordingly recommended tlie establisli- institution of i^^nt of two ncw Ilonour Triposes : tlie scfenceslnd 0^6 to Include Moral Philosopliy, Political scfenc^es Economy, Modern History, General Juris- Triposes. prudenco, and the Laws of England ; the other, Anatomy, Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, and Geology, Among those com- posing the Syndicate appear the names : AV. Whewell, H. Philpott, Henry S. Maine, James Challis, J. J. Smith, C. Merivale, and W. H. Thompson. Such were the circumstances under which the Moral Sciences Tripos and the Natural Sciences Tripos were founded, the first examination in connec- tion with each being held in the year 1 8 5 i . Of the movement to which these triposes owed their origin, Whewell undoubtedly represented the leading spirit. His influence was described by Sir James Stephen, writing in the same year, as that of ' one dominant mind, informed by such an accumulation of knowledge and experience as might have become a patriarch, and yet animated by such indomitable hope- fulness and vivacity as might have been supjoosed to be the exclusive privilege of boyhood.' ^ These important extensions of the curriculum of study were accompanied by efforts in the direction of reform with respect to general discipline Movements in . . , favour of fur- and Organisation. Dean Peacocks Ooser- ther reforms. , i r, /■ 7 t-t • • fcUions on the htatutcs oj tlie University, published in 1841, supplied an admirable elucidation of the existing code, regarded from a historical point of view, together with a masterly criticism of actual ^ Preface to Lectures on tlic History of France. 198 The University of Cambridge. defects and practical suggestions for tlieir remedy. In 1 844 the society of Trinity College obtained, at tlieir own instance, new statutes from tlie Crown. Their example was followed, with a like result, in 1849, by St. John's ; and it now began to be very generally recognised that the time had come for a broader and more thorough reform both of the colleges and of the university at large, — a view which was shared with an influential minority within the academic community by a considerable proportion of the educated classes without. The increase in the numbers of the students at the two universities, although considerable at Cam- bridge, had not been commensurate with tbe growing wealth and population of the nation. Tbe Dissenters, now that religious disabilities had been abolished in almost every other quarter, demurred at an exclusive- ness which debarred them from the substantial rewards of academic success and from all share in the academic government. On the eve of the E,oyal Commission of 1850 one of their principal organs drew attention to the fact that while the undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge scarcely numbered 3000,'^ there were, in the two universities of Valencia and Valladolid, which together represented little more than a fourth of the university students in Spain, nearly the same number. In other words, the most bigoted and un- progressive country in Europe, with but half the population, could reckon very nearly four university students to every one that was to be found in liberal and enlightened England ! The growing feeling was marked by the appoint- 1 The number of undergraduates in Cambridge in 1S50 was 1742. The Present Century. igg mcnt of a Syndicate (/tli March 1849) for the Proposed re- purposG of revising the statutes of the uni- universfty^^ vcrsitj ; and in June 1850 a memorial, statutes. signed by many distinguished graduates of Oxford and of Cambridge, and by some of the most eminent members of tlie Royal Society, was addressed to Lord John Russell, First Lord of the Treasury, setting forth 'that the present system of tlie ancient English universities had not advanced, and was not calculated to advance, the interests of religious and useful learning to an extent commensurate with the great resources and high position of those bodies, — that the constitution of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and of the colleges (now inseparably con- nected with their academical system) was such as in a great measure to preclude them from introducing those changes which were necessary for increasing their usefulness and efficacy,' — and under these cir- cumstances, believing that the aid of the Crown was the only available remedy for the above defects, the memorialists prayed that his lordship would advise Her Majesty to issue Her Royal Commission of In- quiry into the best methods of securing the improve- ment of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. On the 31st of the following August, the Com- mission petitioned for was appointed ; and on the 30th August 1852, the Commissioners pre- Appointnient ^ . , of the commis- sontod their report, m which they recom- mended the codification of the ordinances of the Senate, and drew attention to the fact that the sta- tutes of Queen Elizabeth contained many directions which had become obsolete, as being no longer suited to the 200 The University of Cambridge. existing course of study. The printing and publica- tion of the ancient statutes of the university, and also those of most of the colleges, which took place during the labours of the Commission, have since proved of material service in connection with the investigation of the history of the university. The main features of the reforms advocated were thus summed up by the Commissioners themselves : — ' We have proposed the restoration in its integrity of the ancient supervision of the university over the Substance of studies of its members, by the enlargement their report. ^^- ^^g profcssorial system, — by the addition of such supplementary appliances to that system as may obviate the undue encroachments of that of private tuition, — by opening avenues for acquiring academical honours in many new and distinct branches of knowledge and professorial pursuit, — by leaving to more aspiring students ample opportunity to devote themselves to those lines of acquirement in which natural bias lias given them capacity, or in which the force of circum- stances lias rendered it urgent upon them to obtain pre-eminence ; while yet not denying to the less highly gifted the social advantage of a university degree. Still following the same lead, though here, no doubt, passing beyond the immediate limits marked out by internal reformations, we have recommended the removal of all restrictions upon elections to fel- lowships and scholarships, and we have pointed out the means by which, without any real injury to the claims of particular schools, all fellowships and scholar- ships may be placed on such a footing as to be brought universally under the one good rule of unfettered and The Present Century. 201 open competition. In a like spirit we have regarded the existing distribution of collegiate emoluments. We recognise the prevailing practice by which fellow- ships are looked upon as just rewards of eminent merit, and as helps and encouragements to the further prosecution of study or general advancement in life. But, at the same time, bearing in mind that the fellows of colleges were by the original constitution of the university in the position of teachers, and had laborious duties assigned to them, arising out of the old scheme of academical instruction, while in modern times the fellowships are frequently held by non- residents, and rarely contribute in any direct way to the course of academical instruction, though their emoluments far exceed their original value, we have thought, that in consideration of this practical exemp- tion from the performance of such educational duties, it is no more than reasonable and equitable, in return, that an adequate contribution should be made from the corporate funds of the several colleges towards rendering the course of public teaching, as carried on by the university itself, more efficient and complete.' The scheme of reform thus described was for the most part embodied in the new statutes which came into operation in 1 8=; 8, whereby the uni- Consequent _ ^ . -^ ' •' enactment of versity was liberated from the obsolete and statutes of 1858. "^ irksome restrictions to which for nearly three centuries it had been subjected by the Eliza- bethan code. But notwithstanding this important advance, it soon became apparent that more was still required to satisfy the growing demands of the age, and that, in the 202 The University of Cambridge. opinion of some of the ablest judges, much still re- mained to be effected, in relation to the Reforms in the t t r> /^ n i cnrricuium of studics pursucd. in I ho/ there appeared, studies advo- catedintiie under the editorship ot Ur. rarrar, the now Jissays on a -. Liberal Educa- well-knowu Assttj/s Oil a Liocrat LduccUion. The volume was essentially a Cambridge manifesto, all save one of the seven writers being mem- bers of the university,^ and well qualified by practical experience as teachers both in the university and at the public schools to form a competent opinion with respect to the subjects of which they severally treated. Their condemnation of the existing system of education, and especially of the method pursued in classical studies, was unanimous. The traditional arguments in favour of these studies were called in question with unpre- cedented freedom. It was denied that the training afforded by the study of the classics was the best aid to the mastery of English. It was suggested that the analysis of language, involving as it did a considerable strain on the reflective faculty, would be best taught in the most familiar language, and therefore in the vernacular. The discontinuance of both Greek and Latin verse composition, and of Greek prose, was strongly urged, as the time hitherto devoted to such attainments, it was maintained, would be far more advantageously given to natural science and the study of the chief models o£ English literature. In the following year (1868) a volume put forth by Mr. Mark Pattison, and another by j\Ir. Goldwin ^ The contributors were C. S. Parker (Oxfoi-d), H. Sidgwick, John Seeley, E. E. Bowen, F. W. Earrar, J. M. Wilson, J, W. Hales, W. Johnson, Lord Houghton. The Present Century. 203 Smith, advocated furtlier measures of reform for Ox- ford ; and in the same year appeared the pressions of Report drawn up by Mr. Matthew Arnold on Schools and Universities on the Continent, — all alike pointing to the conclusion that, in the opinion of these writers, it would be well if the two great English universities were more closely assimilated to the universities of Germany. In 1869 some advance was made in this direction by the enactment of a statute admitting students as members of the univer- sity without making it imperative that they should be entered at any hall or college. It was, however, still required that they should be resident either with their parents or in duly licensed lodgings — the authorities thus retaining a certain control and supervision, the absence of which in German universities is a generally admitted defect. In framing the new college codes, which were intro- duced coincidently with the new statutes of 1858, the Example set Commissioners had encountered consider- couigeofa ^^^^ opposition within the university, and ofcoiilg'^e°'^ the changes introduced by them were con- Btatutes. sequently in some cases only tentative and generally incomplete. In the autumn of 187 1 a committee of the fellows of Trinity College was formed for the special purpose of considering all those portions of the statutes which dealt with elections to fellow- ships and with their tenure. A fatal accident, in 1866, had deprived the society of the guidance of Dr. Whewell, but his successor. Dr. Thompson, well supplied his place. He supported the committee in their work with firmness, and with admirable skill 204 The University of Cambridge. and tact. Their scheme, when submitted to the general body of fellows, met with almost entire ap- proval, and was finally adopted at a meeting on i 3th December 1872. The meeting, as described by one who took part in the proceedings, ' lasted, with two short adjournments, from I I A.M. to midnight, and was one which those who were present will not easily forget. . . . Almost the first act of the governing body of the College, in November 1877, was to adopt the draft statutes of 1 872 as the basis of their work. The result was, that the settlement of the various questions respecting elections to fellowships and their tenure, adopted by Trinity in 1872, are now the basis of the statutes of all the colleges in the university.' ^ The committee at Trinity had commenced their investigations about the same time that a more Appointment general inquiry into the administration of commi^si^on ^he rcveuucs was initiated from without, of 1872. j^^ October 1871 the advisers of the Crown having made known to Parliament their opinion that a complete inquiry ought to be instituted into the revenues and property of the two universities, a Royal Commission (5th January 1872) was appointed for the purpose of cai-rying out the proposed inquiry. The general results of the labours of this Com- mission are to be found embodied in the first volume Memorial to of the Unvvcrsitics Commission Rciwrt, "^wh- MinSer'in Hshed iu 1 874. Prior to its publication, ^^'^^- the evidence brought to light had induced a highly influential body in the university to assume ^ The late Rev. Coutts Trotter, vice-master of Trinity, in the Cam- hridge Review. The Present Cextury. 205 the initiative by memorialising the Prime Minister. The memorial was signed by only 2 of the 1 7 heads of colleges, but it included 26 of the 33 professors, 20 out of 26 college tutors, 66 out of 84 lecturers, and 28 out of 57 resident fellows, — the total number of signatures being 1 42, or nearly half the electoral roll. The memorialists, under the conviction that the following reforms would ' increase the educational effi- ciency of the universitv, and at the same Recommfenda- . " ^ . tionsofthe time promote the advancement 01 science memorialists. . and learning, recommended that : 1. No fellowship should be tenable for life, except only when the original tenure is extended in con- sideration of services rendered to education, learning, or science, actively and distinctly in connection with the university or the colleges. 2. A permanent professional career should be as far as possible secured to resident educators and stu- dents, whether married or no. 3. Provision should be made for the association of the colleges, or of some of them, for educational pur- poses, so as to secure more efficient teaching, and to allow to the teachers more leisure for private study. 4. The pecuniary and other relations subsisting between the university and the colleges should be revised, and, if necessary, a representative board of university finance should be organised. It was mainly on the basis of the foregoing recom- Universities mcndations that the Universities of Oxford Actofis?;. ^^^^^i Cambridge Act of 1877 was drawn up, and, as approved by the Queen in Council in 1882, 2o6 The University of Cambridge. became the Code under wliicli both universities and their colleges are now regulated. By its provisions all restrictions in elections to fellowships have been finally removed, but fellowships are no longer tenable for life unless associated with some college or uni- versity office ; the colleges have been required to contribute a specified percentage of their incomes towards the funds of the university, and the incomes of' fellows under the new statutes have been subjected to a corresponding reduction. A system of inter- collegiate lectures has greatly extended the usefulness of the collegiate instruction, and also led to its in- creased efficiency. Contemporaneously with these several stages of reform, the studies of the university itself have been to a great extent remoulded and new triposes have been established. The examinations for the Civil Law Classes had been held so far back as 1815, but in 1858 these were superseded by the institution of a Law Institution of i • /• i the X((?o 2Vi- iiiiPOS. i he advantages resulting from the 2WS in 1858. . . c ■^• extension thus given to the range of studies had by this time become too patent to be called in question even by those who had originally been dis- posed to resist such innovations. A Quarterly Re- viewer, writing in 1868, was fain to admit that 'a too luxuriant growth of mathematical competition . . . had been checked by a series of successful efforts to give vigour and reputation to classical and other subjects.' ' The Classical Tripos,' he observed, 'already contains nearly as many names as the mathematical, and its value is rising every day,' The marked sue- The Present Century. 207 cess tha,t had attended tlie institution of a school of Changed totiie ^aw and Modern History at Oxford partly ^"r^vt'l-in suggested tliat of the Law and History 1S70. Tripos in 1870, when the final examination in these subjects was for the first time accepted as qualifying for the degree of B.A. or LL.B. As thus constituted, the Tripos was not, however, of long duration, for a Syndicate having been ap- pointed, 23d May 1872, to take into con- This divided . ■^• c • t-ii in 1S72 into sidcratiou what modifications were desirable, the Law Triyios andthe//;s- iiitimately decided to recommend the estab- iofical Tripos. ^., „ , lishment or two iriposes, one to be called the Law Tripos, the other the Historical Tripos. They also gave it as their opinion that History, ' as the subject of an independent Tripos, required to be placed on a wider basis than its subordinate joosition in other Triposes had hitherto allowed,' and accordingly pro- posed that ' Ancient and Medieval History should have their due place in the Tripos, as well as Modern His- tory, so that History might be placed before the student as a whole.' They further recommended that the study of history should be accompanied with the chief theoretical studies which find their illustration in history. These proposals having received the sanction of the Senate, the first examinations for the two Triposes were held in 1 87 5. The subjects for the Historical Tripos included English History, three special periods, selected respectively from the divisions known as Ancient, Mediasval, and Modern, the principles of Political Philosophy and General Jurisprudence, Con- stitutional Law and Constitutional History, Political 2o8 The University of Cambridge. Economy and Economic History, and International Law in connection with selected Treaties. Ten years' experience, however, led those who had the best opportunities for forming a competent judgment as to the practical working of this scheme to advocate certain changes which were embodied in a Eeport (27th October 1885) and adopted by the Senate. By these new regulations the number of subjects was reduced from eight to seven, and greater stress is now laid on a knowledge of Original Authorities, Changes in the ■^ f ^ r~i • • ^ ^t • r> -n Historical and of the Constitutional History of Eng- Tripos, to take , t . ,. . , , effect after land. According' ag-am, as the tastes and 18S8. &' O J aptitudes of the student incline him either to fuller research or to the study of theoretical generalisations, he is permitted to choose between a second special subject and the alternative papers on (i) Political Economy, and (2) the General Theory of Law and Governnient and the Principles of International Law. By a scheme which came into operation in 188 1, the Classical Tripos also underwent material modifi- Changesin cation, — the examination being divided into ^T^ipfslrom ^^wo parts, to be taken in different years. ^^^^' Of these, the first part represents an exa- mination similar to that of the original tripos, but includes questions on Greek and Roman antiquities. The second part is subdivided into five subjects, of which the first represents pure scholarship and is com- pulsory, while a selection of one (or two) is admitted in relation to the other four, which consist of Philo- sophy, ancient Greek and Roman History and Law, Archeeology, and Comparative Philology. The Present Century. 209 The requirements for the Theological Tniros (first held in I 874) have, in like manner, undergone certain Changes in modifications, which first came into effect ivlp^ffrom'"^ in 1884. The general tendency of these 1884. changes has been : first, a reduction of the required amount of reading, which had before been of too heterogeneous a character ; secondly, the provision for further special study in certain specified subjects, viz., the Old and New Testaments, Church History, and Doctrine ; thirdly, to both enable and induce those who had already taken honours at other triposes to present themselves for examination in the second part of this tripos. In 1878 the Semitic Languages Tripos first came into operation, having as its main subjects Arabic, Hebrew, Svriac, Biblical Chaldee, and the Institution of ^ . " „ r» i o • • x the nemitic Comparative Crammar of the feemitic Lan- languages Tri- t j.i _£■ n • i i t y,os, the ind:an guao'es. in the foliowmg' vear was held LanyuaqesTH- , ° . . . ", -, -^ ■pes, and the the farst examination for the Indian Lan- Jleiliceval and i • i i • r^ ^ • Modern Lan- GUAGES IRIPOS, which, taking iSanski'it as • its basis, IS restricted mainly to Persian and Hindustani and the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages ; and in 1886 was held the first examination for the Mediaeval and Modern Languages Tripos, which, after testing the candidate's acquaintance with French and German, gives alternative papers in (B) French, with Pro- vencal and Italian ; (C) German, with Old Saxon and Gothic ; (D) English, with Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic. In connection with the growth of the studies fostered by the Natural Sciences Tripos, it remains to note the C.N. 210 The Uxiversity of Cambridge. remarkaLle increase in the activity of the medical school during the last ten years. In 1865 the number of M.D. and M.B. degrees conferred was 6, in 1875 it was 12, in 1887 it was 57. The university has recognised and furthered this increase by the founda- tion of new professorships in Physiology, Pathology, and Surgery, and of lectureships in other branches of professional study. Clinical lectures at Addenbrooke's Hospital, first introduced by Dr. (Sir George) Paget in I 841, furnish the necessary element of practice; and if we may judge from a Eeport of the Visitors of Uni- versity JExaminations ajJjJoi'ited liy the General Medical Council (1886), the medical degrees and examinations of the university now stand second to none in the kingdom as regards professional repute and distinction. In the present year (1888) over 300 undergraduates are pursuing medical study in the university. The fundamental changes introduced into the con- stitution of both the university and the colleges has not failed, as might have been anticipated, Foundation , ', ^ .,.'•. ofseiwyn to give rise to counter enorts, indicating on the part of their supporters a desire to retain to some extent the principles of the older system. In 1882 Selwyn College was founded, in memory of the eminent bishop of Lichfield, better known by his zeal and self-devotion as bishop of New Zealand. The design of the foundation, as set forth in its charter, is to provide persons ' desirous of aca- demical education, and willing to live economically, with a college wherein sober living and high culture of the mind may be combined with Christian train- ing, based upon the principles of the Church of The Present Century. 211 England.' At the close of 1S86 there were ninety-five undergraduates in residence, and it was in contem- plation to build additional rooms, so as to enable the College to receive 120, the number for which it was originally planned. Thirty-seven of its members had graduated, of whom fifteen had gained honours. The foundation of Ridley Hall, in 188 1, by mem- bers of the Evangelical Church party, may be looked Foundation of upou as an extcusion of the same idea, the Ridley Hall. jJaH being designed to supply residence and tuition in theology for those who have already graduated in the university, and are intending to enter holy orders. The students are thus enabled to con- tinue to reside in Cambridge instead of entering at one of the various theological colleges in other parts of England. Although many of the changes above described were regarded with much apprehension by not a few sincere well-wishers to the university, and Growth of the . . . "^ university encountcrcd no little opposition, it cannot during the last •ii ^ ^ -i • -i ^ quarter of a bo Said that the alarm they excited has century. .. ia -t been justihed by the sequel. At no period in its history has the reputation of the University of Cambridge stood so high as it now stands. At no period has discipline been maintained with so little difficulty, or the general conduct of the students been so satisfactory. While as regards the evidence afforded by the test of mere numbers, it is sufficient to note the steady increase that has taken place during the past quarter of a century. In the year 1862—3, '^'^ total number of undergraduates (which had been on the decline for some years previously) was 1526; 212 The U.yiVERSiTY OF Cambridge. in 1886—7 it was 2979; in tlie former year, the number of matriculations was 448 ; in the latter, 1009. The accompanj'ing chart is designed to represent the number of B.A. degrees conferred in the university since the year 1500. It is to be observed, tlaat the ordinate corresponding to any particular j-ear represents, not the actual number of degrees conferred in that year, but the average number for five consecutive years of which that year is the middle. ■■■■■^■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■B iBBBBriBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHBB IBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB IflBBBBMBBBBBBBBBBBBB iBBBBBBBBBBBBflBBBBBB 18 BBBBHBBBIBBBBBBBBBB ~1BBnBBBBBBBBBBBBr~ IBBBBUBBBBBBBBBBBBBB ~1BBKBBBBBBr !! iiri BBBB BBBfli BBBB Si ,_JBBHBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHL_ iBBBBflBBBBfliBBBBBBBBBBBB IVI IBBBBBBBBBKBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBI IflBBBBBBBBBSBBiBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBl IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbiIbbbbbhbbbbbbbbbI IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbhbbbbbbbbbI JBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaaHBBBBBBBBBl iBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBSrlBBBBBBBll iBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaHBBBBBBBBBl iBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBilBaHBBBBBBBBBi IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbkbbbbbbbbbbbbbbI ibbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbejbbbhbbbbbbbr bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbhbbbbbbbbbbl^, Ibbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbesbbbbbbbbbbbbbi ibbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbkbbbbbbbbbbbr IB! 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CAMBRIDGE IN RELATION TO NATIONAL EDUCATION. The facts contained in the preceding chapter are suf- ficient to show the advance which the university has made during the last half-century towards Institution of .... • t i the Local regaining its ancient national character anet Examinations. . . „ . -_ extending the range or its culture, it now remains to give some account of two concurrent move- ments which have served to bring the university into- closer connection with education generally throughout the country. By the one, the Local Examinations, it has performed a national service by gradually raising the standard of instruction, alike in public and private schools ; by the other, the University Extension Lec- tures, it has rendered no less service by placing instruc- tion, after the standard and method which belong to academic teaching, within the reach of students of all classes and ages throughout the land. The Local Examinations was the earlier movement, having received the sanction of the Senate in the year 1858. On the I ith of February in that year a Grace Avas passed to the following effect : — I. That there be two Examinations in every year, commencing at the same time, one for students who 214 ^^^ University of Cambridge. are of not more tlian fifteen (raised to sixteen, 19th Marcli 1858) years of age, and the other for students who are of not more than eighteen years of age. 2. That the Examinations be held in such places as the Syndics, to be appointed as hereafter mentioned, may determine. 3. That the subjects of examination be the English language and literature, History, Geography, the Latin, ^French, and German languages. Arithmetic, Mathe- matics, Natural Philosophy, and such other branches of learning as the Syndics may determine. 4. That every candidate be examined also in Eeli- gious Knowledge, unless his parents or guai'diaus object to such examination. A Syndicate was appointed, 17th February 1858, for the purpose of carrying the foregoing scheme into effect. The design of the Examinations thus instituted, as originally conceived, was to provide an adequate test and stimulus for the schools which lie Original scope t> i t n i i t ^ oftheExami- bctwccn the great Public Schools and the National Schools, and to raise their standard of instruction. For some years they were accordingly known as the Middle Class Examinations. Their success, however, has been greater than pei'haps even the most sanguine supporter of the scheme ventured to anticipate, and the range of their influence much beyond what was at first contemplated. An eminently beneficial competition of one school with another, and one scholar with another, has been evoked, which has served not only to raise the whole standard of national education, but also to bring a large number of schools The Local Examlwatioa's. 215 directly under tlie influence of the universities. The certificates granted to successful candidates have also been recognised by other educational bodies as satis- factory tests of efficiency, and are accepted by several professions in lieu of their own preliminary examina- tions, and also by the university in lieu of the Previous Examination. The growth of the movement has been steady and continuous. The number of boys present- ing themselves for examination in December 1858 was 370; in December 1878 it was 3916, that of girls (to whom the scheme had subsequently been extended), 2480; in December 1887 the number of boys was 5630, that of girls, 3976. Centres have now been established in countries as remote as New Zealand and Trinidad. Ten years after the commencement of the above movement {29th October 1868) the sanction of the Senate was given to a similar scheme for the Extension of . , ° the design to examination of women who should have com- older students. f • ^ pleted the age of eighteen years, the carrying out of the design being entrusted to the same Syndi- cate as that already appointed in connection with the original scheme. To the stimulus thus imparted to female education must be attributed, in no small measure, those projects which soon after came into operation for a more thorough and extended scheme of education for women. ' The certificates ' (the Sec- retary to the Examinations reports) ' are of great value to governesses and teachers, and are becoming almost indispensable for those who purpose making tuition their vocation, and the careful training the candidates have gone through cannot but have a 2i6 The University of Cambridge. beneficial effect on the character of the instruction they give.' In 1873 ™en above the age of eighteen were also admitted to these examinations. In 1 87 1 another Syndicate was appointed for the purpose of concerting arrangements, in conjunction Further ex- witli the Masters, for the examination of Highest Grade those schools which wore professedly pre- Schoois. paratory for the universities. In their Report the Syndics recommended that the University should undei'take the examination of the Highest Grade Schools, as they were termed, in a twofold manner : first, by an examination which would enable the examiners to report on the general character and efficiency of the teaching ; secondly, by examining individually all boys who should offer themselves for the purpose on leaving school, and grant ' leaving certificates,' which should certify, in the event of the examination having proved satisfactory, that the can- didates had reached a standard adapted (i) for boys under nineteen, (2) for boys under sixteen. The case of those leaving school early in order to enter into business, and that of those remaining later with the intention of entering the professions or proceeding to one of the universities, would both, it was considered, thus be met. In June 1873 a Joint Board, composed of mem- bers of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, was Tiiecertifi- formod for the purpose of agreeing upon wuh i'^unfver- some general plan of examination, and also sity value. securing a certain uniform standard for the ' leavino^ certificates.' In tlie following year it was The Extension HIovement. 217 decided that a certain university value should be assigned to these certificates, by excusing successful candidates from the whole or part of the Previous Examination. In 1876 it was decided to extend the operations of the Joint Board so as to include Girls' Inclusion of n i tt • i /-. i Girls' Highest bchools 01 the Highest Grades, and also Grade Schools. . ,. ._ ., girls individually. The Univeesity Extension Movement originated in a course of lectures delivered in 1867 by Pro- TheUNivER- fessor James Stuart to women in Liver- sIonmove'' pool. Manchester, and Sheffield. The lec- MENT. tures were first delivered in connection Its first origin. ^]^}^ ^ society tlicu recently started, called ' The North of England Council for the Higher Edu- cation of Women,' the president of which was Mrs. Josephine Butler, and the secretary, Miss A. J. Clough. The subject was ' Natural Philo- Professor James Stuart's sophy,' and the lectures were eight in Lectureships. number, ihese were lollowed by a course by the same lecturer at Crewe in 1868, and a third course at Rochdale. Syllabuses were given out, to which weekly papers of questions were ap- pended, the written answers being examined and cor- rected by the lecturer. The experiment was attended with signal success. The women who joined the classes in 1867 were in all about 600; the work- people at Crewe about 500 to 800; those at Roch- dale about 1000. Other courses, on Meteorology and Political Economy, followed, in which Professor Stuart was aided by Mr. T. Aldis and Mr. L. 2i8 The University of Cambridge. Camming. These courses were held in the same four towns, or sometimes iu connection with different groupings of towns. In 1 8 7 1 the success of the movement had become so evident that certain gentle- men at Nottingham (Mr. R. Enfield, the Rev. F. Morse, the Rev. J. B. Paton) were in- Adoption of , his scheme at duccd to placc thcmselvcs m communica- Nottingham. . • i t-» f> n tion with Professor fetuart on the subject. His observations had already suggested to him the necessity of ensuring continuity of effort in order to render success permanent, and the desirability, for that purpose, of forming a sort of ' peripatetic univer- sity ' ; and eventually four memorials (from Joint Memo- pt-i -\ -\ r^ -i -y r~\ rial to the the \Vest ot England Council, the Co- Unlvei'sity. . o- -oitt operative bociety at Rochdale, the work- men at Crewe, and the Committee at Nottingham), together with a fly-sheet drawn up by Professor Stuart, were forwarded to Cambridge. The ground taken by the memorialists assumed that education, as carried on at the universities, is not necessarily re- stricted to high and abstruse subjects, but is capable of being applied to all subjects alike ; that although in its completeness the university curriculum calls for the devotion of the whole time and energies of the student, there is no reason why a less amount of the knowledge and mental discipline which is thus offered should not also prove highly useful when brought within the reach of those who cannot attain to these advantages by residence in the university ; and finally, that it is a matter of national importance that such instruction should be so brought within the reach of all classes. As the result of these memorials a Syndi- The Extension Movement. 219 cate was appoiutecl by the Senate to take tlie whole Adoption of matter into consideration. They ultimately thecanibHdJe I'ecommencled that the scheme proposed Syndicate. shoukl reccivc a probationary trial for three years ; and as the result three lecturers were ap- pointed, the Rev. V. H. Stanton, Mr. Birks, Mr. T. 0. Harding, to lecture at Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester. After this the utility of the movement and its success seemed to be placed beyond doubt, and the Extension Lectures have developed into what has been described as an * itinerant teaching organisation,' connecting the chief centres of our higher education with the nation at large. By this means it has been sought to educate the adult as well as the young ; to bring instruction home to those whose avocations preclude their gaining it in the busy hours of the day; and not merely to jDrovide the instruction, but systematically to superin- tend it, and to test its value by regularly ascertaining the results. That these aims have corresponded to a real and widespread want is suflSciently proved by the extent to which individuals of all classes of society Its remarkable li^ve availed themselvcs of the advantages buccess. thus held out. Although mainly designed for adults, the lectures have, in many places, been largely attended by the senior pupils in schools, especi- ally in girls' schools ; while young people who have recently left school, ladies, persons of both sexes engaged in business, artisans and labourers, have all, in greater or less proportion, been represented in the classes, and in some instances an enthusiasm has been excited greatly beyond the most sanguine expectations of the lecturers themselves. So early as the year 2 20 The University of Cambridge. 1877 tlie present bisliop of Chester (Dr. Stubbs) augured ' very great things ' from the movement, if it were only conducted ' on sound principles, apart from party organisation, and in the hands of competent teachers ' ; and it may safely be asserted that the success since realised has been largely owing to the strict observance of these principles. The genuine character of the work is attested by the manner in which the other universities have followed Its adoption ^he example thus set. The university of London'li'ud Oxford has adopted a like scheme on indepen- eisewhere. ^^^^ Y\v.Q^. The Londoii SocicUj foT the Ex- tension of University Teaching is a direct offshoot from the Cambridge scheme. The university of Durham has, at its own instance, been associated with Cam- bridge in the work carried on in the north. The universities of Glasgow and Victoria, and the three local colleges in Wales, have initiated corresponding organisations. While Firth College, Sheffield, and University College, Nottingham, owe, in a great measure, their existence to the desire for higher educa- tion thus awakened. It may also safely be asserted that the experience gained since the commencement of the movement has Method of in- hecn of the highest value in relation to the duced with the theory and practice of education, and it has movement. ^q|. ]^qq^ without a reflcx influence on the work of the universities themselves. Foremost among these results we must place the development of a special method. The lectures have generally been delivered once a week, and the adoption of a printed and inter- leaved syllabus has now become an almost invariable The Extension Movement. 221 rule. The learners have tliiis been furnisliecT ■with an outline, to which they have been able to add their own notes from the lecture. At the foot of the out- line of each lecture questions have been appended, and the written work in answer to these has supplied, at the conclusion of the following lecture, the subject- matter for a conversation class, — the instruction of the previous week being thus driven home in a less formal but not less effective manner. In the opinion of the most experienced lecturers, indeed, this portion of the work constitutes the most vital part of the system. Another feature is the improved method which has gradually obtained of conducting the examinations. Method of ^^ Order, as far as possible, to check the examination, practice of Cramming, no student is per- mitted to enter for the examination whose work with the lecturer has not reached a certain standard of merit. The result of the examination has also invari- ably represented the twofold impression of the lecturer and of the examiner. It has been the practice for the former to send in an alphabetical list, distinguishing by an asterisk the names of those who have done good work on the weekly papers ; while the latter has drawn up a corresponding list, placing an asterisk against the names of those who have acquitted themselves most creditably in their work on his independent examina- tion paper. The order of merit has then been finally decided by a comparison of the work of those whose names are thus distinguished in loth lists. It can hardly be doubted that the general adoption of a like plan would go far towards preventing those disheart- 222 The University of Cambridge. ening failures wliicli sometimes almost suffice to pro- duce a feeling of mistrust ^Yitll respect to examinations altogether. A further development of the whole scheme has recently received the sanction of the Queen in Council, whereby students at an affiliated lecture Further de- '' veiopment of centre are placed on the same footing as the scheme. f>-.T t n i students at an amliated college ; so that those who have passed through a continuous course of study extending over three years, together with cer- tain prescribed examinations, will be excused the Pre- vious Examination at Cambridge, and be admitted to a tripos or degree examination after two years' residence. In the session 1885—6 over eight thousand stu- dents attended the lectures at about fifty centres. In March 1887, a largely attended Conference Conference at i • t t Cambridge in was convcned at Cambridge to discuss the connection . r« rvi- • i ■with the move- Questioii 01 aifiliating these centres to the university, together with other matters. The Conference assembled in the Senate House ; and the vice-chancellor (Dr. Taylor), in opening the pro- ceedings, adverted to the largeness of the gathering, and observed that the day would be ' a memorable one in the records of the university, and perhaps in the annals of the education of the country at large.* Professor Westcott, in a speech of remarkable interest, noted that the movement ' had begun wisely and vigorously, had progressed steadily, . . . and had now found acceptance in every other English university.' The marquis of Pipon instituted a felicitous contrast (which the earlier pages of the present volume will The Extension Movement. 223 serve to illustrate) between those mediasval times when ' there was gathered round this university a vast multi- tude of poor students who came from various parts of the country/ and the present day, when we see the university ' endeavouring to take its best teaching into every part of the countr}?", to the homes of the people.' INDEX. Ab^lard, schools taught by, 3 ; a pupil of William of Champeaux, 7. Act for the matntenauce of colleges, 135 ; imiversities, of 1877, 205. Adams. Prof., discovery of the planet Neptune by, 194. Adams prize, institution of 193. Age of students on admission, earliest evidence respecting limitation on, 48. Ainslie, Dr., abstract by, of early code of Pembroke Hall, 36-38. Alane, Alex., elected King's scholar, 88 ; persecution of, on account of his lec- tures, ib. Alcock, Jo., bp. of Ely, founds Jesus Col- lege, 59 ; his character, ib. Alcuin of York, assistance rendered by, to Charles the Great, 3. Alfred, King, said to have been educated at Ely, 10 ; mythical founder of Oxford University, 11. Ames, Wm., compelled to quit the uni- versity, 129; becomes a professor at Fraueker, ib. Andrewes, Lane.,bp. of Winchester, pro- tests against expulsion of Baro from his professorship, 134 ; his success as in- structor in the art of catechising, 144. Aquinas, Thos., study of, at Camljridge, 60, 61. Aristotle, the New, 8 ; study of the origi- nal, 94. Aries, school at, 2. Arminiauism, growth of, in the university, 133- Arthur. Thos., a leading Reformer, 8r. Arundel, Archbp., suppression of Lol- lardism by, 51 ; refusal of, to credit the alleged privileges of the university, il: Ascham, Roger, testimony of, 87; Schole- master of, gi ; description by, of im- provement in Cambridge studies, 94 ; description by, of customary pronuncia- tion of Greek, ib. ; controversy of, with Gardiner, 95 ; testimony of, on evils of patronage, 102. Audley, Sir Thos., endows Magdalene College, 90 ; founds the same, 96. Aiigustinian friars, establishment of, at Cambridge, 17. Avignon, Wm. Bateman an official at the papal court at, 40, Bacitelor, meaning of the terra, 25 ; ' commencing,' meaning of term, 24 ; B.A., smallness of number of admis- sions to, in 1665, 160; B.D., require- ments imposed on those of status of, 105- Bacon, Lord, returned as representative of the university in Parliament, 141 ; attachment of, to tlie university, ib. ; cen.sure of, on academic studies, 144. Bacon, Sir Nich., benefactor of C. C. College, 44. Baker, Dr., provost of King's, compelled as a Catholic to flee, 119. Baker, Thos., ejection of, from fellowship, 165 ; manuscript collections of, ib. ; death of, ib. Balsham, Hugh de, ordinance of, 30 ; sympathies of, 31 ; introduces secular scholars into tlie Hospital of St. John, 32. Bancroft, Ri., archbp. of Canterbury, a leading member of the Arminian party in the university, 134 ; understanding between, and King James, 139. Barbarossa, privileges bestowed by, on universities of Italy, 5. Barnes, Robt., prior of Barnwell, a lead- ing Reformer, 81 ; his sermon at St. Edward's, 82; his arrest and recanta- tion, ib. Barnes, Josh., reputation of, as a Greek scholar, 169. Barnwell, foundation of priory at, 14. Barnwell Process, the, 52. Baro, Peter, ejection of, as an Arminian, from the Lady Margaret professorship, '34- Barret, Wm., f. of Caius, attack on Cal- vinism by, 134. Barrow, Isaac, master of Trinity, examines Newton in Euclid, 160 ; aided by Newton in his work on optics. 161. Barwell, Dr., maladministration of, as master of Christ's CoUege, 144. Bassett, Josh., f. of Caius, appointed to mastershiii of Sidney College. 162. Bateman, Wm., bp. of Norwich, career and character of, 40; Trinity Hall founded by, 40 ; death of, at Avignon, 42. Battie scholarship, foundation of, 180. Benedictines, foundation of, in Cam- bridge, 96. Index. 225 Beuet, Thos.,M.A.,burutas a Trotestant martyr, 83. Bentley, Ri., influence of, as master of Trinity, 166 ; formerly of St. John's, ib. ; career of, prior to his appointment to the mastership, 167; encouragement extended by. to scientific studies, ib. ; improvements effected by, in Trinity College, i5S ; criticism of Barnes by, 169; misplaced literary activity of, 171; contentions of, with the university, ih. ; deprivation of, of his degrees, ih. \ con- tentions of, with fellows of Trinity, 172 ; Buit gained by, ih. ; faults of, as adminis- trator, \h. ; prosecution of Middleton by, 174; position of, in tripos, 178. Berridge, .To., dislike of, to Bcientilic studies, 184. Bill, Wm., master of Trinity, a leader in the university, 91. Bilney, Thos., the first leader of the Ee- form.ation in Cambridge, 80. Boethiu.'J, knowledge of the Organon of Aristotle preserved by writings of, 8. Bologua, origin of university of, 4; be- comes a centre for the study of law, 5 ; obtains State recognition, 9. Books, presentation to university library of all, printed within the realm, see Parliament. Browne, Robt., of C. C. College, quits Cambridge, 129; becomes the founder of the sect of Independents, 130; schism among his followers, ih. Bucer, Martin, appointment of, to Regius professorsliip of Divinity, 105 ; character of his theology, 106 ; his death, ih. ; ex- huming of remains of, no. Buckingham College, convereion of, into Magdalene, 96. Buckingham, fourth duke of, election of, to the chancellorship, 146; proposal of to rebuild university library, ih. ; assas- sination of, 148. Burchcr, Jo., account by, of 'Cambridge men' in letter to Bullinger, 113. Burghley, Lord, protests against ejection of Baro from his professorship, 134 ; loss to the university by death of, 136. See also Cecil. Bury, Simon de, first warden of King's Hall, 47. Caius College, founding of, in 1558, no; statutes of, m ; gateways of, ih. Caius, Dr., maintains superior antiquity of university of Cambridge, 11 ; descrip- tion by, of state of the university at ac- cession of Elizabeth, 102 ; refounds Gou- ville Hall, no; not molested on acces- sion of Elizabeth, 116 ; harsh treatment of, as a suspected Catholic, 127 ; retire- ment of, to London, ih. ; death of, ih. Caius, Thos., maintains superior antiquity of university of Oxford, 11. Calendar, University, first publication of, 183. Cambridge, town of, burnt, 10 ; early im- portance of, 12; early reputation of, for learning, 16; townsmen, dispute of, with the university, 137 ; occupation of, C. H. by Cromwell, 149 ; selection of, as a military centre in the Civil War, 150. Cambridge, university of, alleged founda- tion of, by Cantaber, 11 ; placed after Oxford by Parliament, 11 ; migration to, from Oxford, 12; introduction of the Mendicants at, 16 ; migrations of students to, in thirteenth century, 17 ; riots between students in, 18; destruc- tion of original documents of, 20; modelled on the university of Paris, 21 ; organisation of, in thirteenth century, 30; alleged ancient privdeges of, 51; these called in question by the bishops of Ely, ih.', character of the teaching in, at close of fifteenth century, 60 ; never chargeable with heresy, 79 ; becomes a chief centre of the Reformation, 8i ; impoverished state of, 93 ; improved condition of, 94; unsatisfactory con- dition of, at accession of Elizabeth, 103 ; increase of, during reign of Mary. 108; visitation of, in 1557, no; less favoured than Oxford during Mary's reign, 113; less 'perversely learned' than Oxford, ih. ; progress of, during reign of Elizabeth, 114; three religious parties in, 115; chief aim of, for three centuries, 118; chief features of, during reign of Elizabeth, 134; compelled to contribute in aid of Parliamentary forces, 151 ; state of, during the Civil "War, 151 ; dangers of, under the Com- monwealth, 153 ; depressed state of, in i66s; increase in numbers of, after 1812, 188; different views of studies of, 189- 191 ; recent growth of, 211. Canon Law, mediaeval course of study in, 26 ; study of, discom-aged at Jesus Col- lege, 59- Cap, square, objected to by the Puritan party, 120; when first worn by under- graduates, 185. Caput, the, decision of, against Cart- wright, 122; election of, withdrawn from the regents, 123. Carmelites, establishment of, at Cam- bridge, 17; their premises purchased by Queens' College, 90. Cartesian philosophy, influence of, on the Cambridge Platonists, 158. Oartwright, Thos., Margaret professor, the Puritan party founded by, 118; retire- ment of, to Ireland, 1 19 ; return of, to Cambridge, ib. ; elected professor, ib. ; effects of teaching of, 120 ; deprivation and departure of, 122. I 'astle, the, at Cambridge, 13. Catholic party at the universities, flight of, to the Continent, 119. Cecil, Wm., lectures at St. John's College on Greek, 91 ; election of, to chancellor- ship of the university, 112 ; good offices of, with Elizabeth, on behalf of the university, 114. Chaderton, Wm., pres, of Queens', com- plaint of, against Cartwright, 122. Champeaux, Wm. of, his school at Paris, 7. Chancellor of the university, the, autho- rity of, as defined by the Elizabethan statutes, 123. ^ , 226 Index. Charles the Great, restoration of educa- tion by, 3. ..... Charles I., college contributions in aid of, 149. Charles II., university verses on death of, 161 ; abuse of mandate degrees by, 156. Chedworth, Jo., second provost of King s College, .=;8. , . , r ^ , Cheke, Sir Jo., revives the study of Greek, 91 ; friendship of, with Smith, 92 ; ap- pointed first Regius professor of Greek, 94 ; advocates a changed pronunciation of Greek, ih. ; protects the university at Court, 97 ; one of the commissioners of 1549, 104. Christ's College, foundation of, 68 ; early statutes of, ih. Civil law, alleged tuition of, by Vacaruis at Oxford, 12; mediaeval course of study in, 26; foundation of Regius professor- ship of, 94; decline of the study of, 106; proceedings of chancellor's court regu- lated by, 125. , TT • •» Clare, Countess of, refounds University Hall. 45- „ , . .- Clare Hall, foundation of, 45 ; destructive fires at, 46; modern buildings of, tb. ; distinguished members of, 47 ; proijosed amalgamation of, with Trinity Hall, 107 ; material for rebuilding of, seized by Parliament, 150. . Classical authors, study of, in sixteenth century, 94. „,.,,, ^ , Clergy, the, design of Elizabeth to make the university a training school for, Clxih Law, a college play lampooning the townsmen, 137. Coke Sir Edw. , obtains for the universities the privilege of returning two burgesses to Parliament, 140. Colleges, early architectural development of, 31 ; introduction of sous of the weal- thier classes into, 100 ; Act for the main- tenance of, 135 ; description of, by IJf- fenbach in 1710, 168. Collins, Sam., provost of King s, liberality shown to, by Whichcote, 152. Commission of 1547. 97; of 1549. 104; of 1850, 199; of 1872, 204. , . , .. Common Law, jealousy with which it was regarded by the civilians, 145- . Controversy, theological, effects of, in the universities, 121. „ . . „ ,, . Corbet, Dr., master of Trinity Hall, in- vasion of the electoral privileges of the university by, 140. . Corpus Christi College, destruction of do- cuments at, 19 ; foundation of, 43 ". early statutes of, 44 ; buildings of, ih. Cosiu, Jo., master of Peterhouse, ejec- tion of, 152. .„, Cotes, Roger, election of, to Plumian pro- fessorship, 167. , ^, . „ .n, „ Covel, Jo., master of Christ s College, character of, 170. Cowley, Abr., ejection of, from fellow- ship, 152. , ,. .^, Cranmer, Archbp., his suggestion with respect to the Divorce, 83 ; his position nut impartial, 84; burning of, at Oxford, Crashaw, Hi., ejection of, from fellow- ship, 152. , . . „ Craven scholarship, foundation of, 180. Croke, Ri., of Kings College, early career of, 75 ; appointed public orator, io. ; ad- dresses delivered by, if). ; visits the Con- tinental universities to obtain opinions on the Divorce, 84. . „ , Cromwell, Oliver, commits certain Heads to prison, 149; occupation of the town by, ih.\ forbids the quartering of soldiers in colleges, 153. ^ ^, ... Cromwell, Ri., represents the university in Parliament, 153. , , ,, Cromwell, Thos., succeeds to the chancel- lorship, 85 ; motives which led the uni- versity to elect him, ih. Cudworth, Ra., appointment of, to mas- tership of Clare Hall, 152; Intellectual System of, 157. . , , t,, . • i o Culverwell, a distinguished Platonist, 158. Cursory, see Lectures. Davenant, Dr., his successful adminis- tration of Queens' College, 143. , . , Davies, Jo., pres. of Queens', classical scholarship of, 169. Davies scholarship, foundation of, 188. De Burgh, see Clare, Countess of. Degrees, statistics of, illustrating the pro- gress of the university, 114; mandate, 126; conformity to Church of England required on admission to aU, 139. Dell, Wm., master of Caius, scheme of, for the instruction of the large towns, 152. Descartes, extravagant estimation of, among Cambridge Platonists, 158, 159. 'Determining,' meaning of the expres- sion, 24. Dialectic, see Logic. Directory, the, see Travers. Discijylina, the, of Travers, translated by Cartwright, 130; seizure of, at Uni- versity Press, ib. Dispensations from exercises prescribed by statute, 125. Disputations, effects of, 23. Divinity, foundation of Regius professor- ship of, 94. „ , . , Divorce, the royal, effects of ,at Cambridge, 83; irregular means by which the de- cision of the university was obtained, 84. Documents, consequences resulting from destruction of, 20. ^ Doket, Andrew, first president of Queens College, 57. , . ^ Dominicans, establishment of, at Cam- bridge, 16 ; Edmund Gonville, a friend of, 36 ; foundation of, at Thetford, 38. Dorislaus, Dr., appointment of, to pro- fessorship of history, 148 ; assassination of, ib- Dort, synod of, delegates to, from Cam- bridge, 146. Downing College, foundation of, 187. Durham, university of, foundation of, sanctioned by O. Cromwell, 151. Index. 227 Education, theories of, at the earlier colleges, 48. Edward I., assent of, to introduction of secular scholars at .St. John's Hospital, 33- E(hvard II., assent of, to foundation of Michaelhouse, 35 ; designed foundation of King's Hall by, 47. Edward III., assent of, to foundation of the College of the Annunciation, 38; building of King's Hall by, 47. Edward IV., Ehzabeth AVoodville, con- sort of, gives a code to Queens' College, 57. Edward's College,' proposed foundation of, 107. Elizabeth, Queen, visit of, in 1564, 118. EUisley, Thos., first master of C. C. College, 44. Ely, early education at, 10; made an episcopal see, 11, 16; relations of, to Cambridge, 11; influence of monastery at, on Cambridge, i5; monastery at, controlled by the bishop, 16. Ely, archdn. of, supervises 'the glome- rels,' 23. Ely, bishops of, claim of, to visitatorial rights over the university, 51. 'Ely, scholars of,' fellows of Peterhouse originally so termed, 34. Emmanuel College, foundation of, 130; code of, 131 ; Pui-itan character of, 132 ; limitation of tenure of fellowships at, ib. ; reputation of society of, 133 ; state of discipline at, after the Restoration, 156. Erasmus, influence of, at Cambridge, 67 ; residence of, at Queens' College. 73; patronage of Ri. Croke by, 74 ; effects produced at Cambridge by publication of his New Testament, 80. Essays on a Liberal Education, publica- tion of, 202. Eton College, foundation of, 54. Examinations, first efforts to Introduce general, 181, 182. Eagius, Paul, appointed reader in He- brew, 105 ; death of, ib. ; exhuming of remains of, no. Fellows of colleges, earliest mention of, 33 ; required to study, 46. Fellowships, limitation imposed on tenure of, at Emmanuel College, 132. First-fruits, payment of, a serious burden on the university, 85^^ Fisher, Jn., bp. of Rochester, debt of Cambridge to, 67 ; academic career of, ib. ; entertains Erasmus at Queens' Col- lege, 68 ; his efforts on behalf of St. Jolm's College, 70 ; his statutes for Christ's and St. John's Colleges, 71 ; excommunication of Peter de Valence by, 80 ; feeling of the university after execution of, 85. Forman, Thos., pres. of Queens', a leading Reformer at Cambridge, 81. Fox, Edw., bp. of Hereford, joins in dis- cussion on the Divorce, 84 ; memorable admission made by, 89. Francis, Alban, contest respecting con- ferring degree on, m obedience to royal mandate, 163 ; dacision against admis- sion of, 164. Franciscans, establishment of, at Cam- bridge, 16; befriended by Marie de St. Paul, 3b ; materials from their house taken to build Trinity College, go. Franks, the, decline of learning among, 3. French, admission of, as an alternative for mathematics, 192. Frost, Hy., founds the Hospital of St. .John, 15. Fuller, Thos., on fires in the university, 20. Gardiner, Ste., joins in discussion on the Divorce, 84 ; prohibits changed pro- nunciation of Greek, 95; restored to chancellorship of the university, 107 ; death of, 109. Geology, Woodwardian professorship of, filled by Conyers Middleton, 174. Gerbier, Sir Balthazar, inauguration of new Academy by, 151. German, admission of, as an alternative for mathematics, 192. 'Germany,' name given to the meeting- place of the Cambridge Reformers, 82. Goad, Rog., provost of King's, able rule of, 142. Gonville, Edm,, founder of GonvilleHall, 36 ; descent and character of, 38. Gonville Hall, foundation of, 38 ; early statutes of, 39 ; removal of, from origi- nal site, 41 ; new code given to, by Bp. Bateman, 42; refounding of, no. See also Caius College. Gratian, appearance of Decretum of, 5. Gray, Wm., bp. of Ely, his collection of classical manuscripts, 65. Gray, the poet, Regius professor of His- tory, 173. Greek, study of, discouraged in the Latin Church, 24 ; institution of daily public lectures on, 86; expedient for paying the lecturer, 93 ; proposed change in pronunciation of, 94; its final adop- tion, 95. Greek type, first use of, in England, at Cambridge, 77. Grindal, Archbp., censure of, on Cart- wright, 122. Guilds at Cambridge, foundation of C. C. College by, 43. Haddon, Walter, a distinguished mem- ber of King's College, 92. Hall, early use of term as synonymous with college, 36. Halley, Edm., aided by ITewton in'hil researches, 161. Hamilton, Sir Wm., strictures of, on ex. amination for the mathematical tripos, 179- Harsnet, S., archbp. of York, protest of, against expulsion of Baro from his pro- fessorship, 134 ; liberal-mindedness of, 144. Harvard College (U.S.), founder of, edu- cated at Emmanuel College, 132. Heads of colleges, attempt of, to deprive the university of the suffrage, 140 ; arbi- trary rule of, 141. 228 Index. Hebrew, university lecturer on, how paid, 93 ; study of, enjoined on masters of arts, 105. Henry V., appropriation of revenues of alien priories by, 54. Henry VI., foundation of King's College by, 54- Henry VII., bequest of, for completion of King's College chapel, 68. Henry VIII., refusal of, to sanction plun- der of the universities, £6 ; decision of, at Hampton Court, in favour of Cambridge, 97 ; nominal founder of Trinity College, 98. Hey, Jo., theological sympathies of, 184. Hey wood, Oliver, prefers the Puritan writers to Plato, 153. Hill, Thos., master of Trinity, illiberal rule of, 152. History, foundation of professorship of, by Lord Broolie, 148; foundation of Regius professorship of, 173 ; first pro- fessors, 173 ; study of, advocated by Sedgwick, 191. Holdsworth, Dr. Ei., vice-chancellor, committal of, to prison for reprinting the Royal Declarations, 151. Horrocks, Jer., watches the transit of Venus, 160. Hullier, Jo., conduct of King's, burning of, on Jesus Green, 109. Irjnoramus, performance of, before King James, 145. Injunctions, the Royal, of 1535, 86. Institution of a Christian Mmi, The, chiefly a Cambridge production, 89. Intercollegiate teaching, first proposal for, 205. Irishmen, first admission of, to fellow- ships at Sidney College, 136. Irnerius, teaching of, at Bologna, 4. James I., expectations at accession of, 138 ; deputation of the university to, ih. ; delight of, in theological disputa- tion, 144 ; and in college plays, 145. James II., pushes exercise of royal right of interference to extremes, 162 ; re- tracts when too late, 164. Jebb, Dr., proposal of, to institute annual examinations, 181. Jegou, Dr. Jo., vice-chancellor, dispute of, witli the Mayor, 137. Jesus College, foundation of, 59; first statutes of, ib. ; the only college where, after 1549, grammar was still taught, 104. Johnson, Geo., of Christ's College, expul- sion of, from Church at Amsterdam, 130. Josselin, secretary to Archbp. Parker, 44 ; his history of C. C. College, ib. Kelee, Rog., master of Magdalene, a Marian exile, 115; maladministration of, as master, 144. KUkenny, Wm. de, foundation of first university exhibitions by, 14. King's College, foundation of, 54; early code of, ib. ; exceptional independence which its founder seeks to secure for it, 55 ; completion of chapel of, 68. King's Hall, foundation of, 47 ; statutes of, 48 ; dissolution of, 98. Lamb, Dr., prophesies the abolition of tests, 194. Lambert, Jo., a leading Reformer, 81. Lambeth Articles, controversy generated by the, 134. Latimer, Hugh, joins the Reformers at Cambridge, 82 ; becomes a special ob- ject of attack, 83 ; bui-ning of, at Oxford, 109. Latin, knowledge of, where first acquired in mediasval times, 22; institution of daily public lecture on, 86; gives place to English at examinations, 176. Laud, Archbp., design of, to visit the uni- versity, 148. Laughton, tutor of Clare Hall, a pro- moter of the Newtonian philosophy, 170. Law, Edm., master of Peterhouse, char- acter of his theology, 183. Lectures, ' cursory,' meaning of the ex- pression, 28 ; meaning of ' ordinary,' ib. ; twofold character of, in mediasval times, 62. Leo X., proclamation of, affixed to doors of the Schools, 80. Lever, Thos., testimony of, respecting alienation of funds designed for Trinity College, 99; respecting the rapacity of the courtiers, 102. Library, see University Library. Lightfoot, Jo., influence of, as master of St. Catherine's, 172. Local Examinations, institution of, 213 ; extension of scope of, 215 ; extension of, to highest grade schools, 216. Logic, the study of, acquires new im- portance, 6 ; attention devoted to, by William of Champeaux, 7 ; importance attached to, in mediseval times, 23. Lollardism, presence of, in the iniiversi- ties, 50 ; repression of, by Arundel, 51. Lombard, Peter, a pupil of Ab^lard, com- piles the Sentences, 7. Lucasian professorship, foundation of, 160. Lutheran books, evidence of existence of, at Cambridge, 77 ; importation of, into the eastern counties, 80 ; biu"ut on Market Hill, 81. Lydgate, Jo., vindication of Cambridge from heresy by, 79. Mackenzie, G., of Trinity, starts the University Calendar, 185. Madew, Jo., master of Clare, a leader in the university, 91. Magdalene College, endowed from mon- astic property, 90 ; foundation of, 96 ; original statutes of, ib. ; losses of, 144, Magister GlomericB, function of, 23. Manchester, earl of, restored to the chancellorship, 155. Mandate degrees, royal abuse of, 156 ; royal letter respecting, 165. Map of Cambridge in 1574, 89. Margaret of Anjou founds Queens' Col- lege, 56. Margaret, the Lady, couutess of Rich- Index. 229 mond, appoints Bishop Fisher her con- fessor, 67 ; founds professorship of Divinity, i&. Margaret, Lady, preachership, foundation of, 67. Margaret, Lady, professorship, foundation of, 67. Marie de St. Paul, foundress of Pembroke Hall, 36. Marian exiles, the, sentiments with which they returned to Cambridge, 114. Martin v.. Pope, supports the university in its repudiation of the jurisdiction of the bishops of Jjly, 52. Martin (St.), monastery of, at Tours, 3. Mary I., Queen, state of university during reign of, 108. Master of arts, original significance of the term, 25 ; studies of, 57 ; usual career of, 63. Mathematics take the place of grammar in the Triviuvi, 104. Matriculation of students, statute requir- ing, PS- Mayor, Prof. J. E. B., edition of Baker's History of St. John's College by, 165. Medicine, the study of, promoted by the Saracens, 4; original course requisite for degree of doctor of, 27 ; development in the Cambridge school of, 210. Mendicants, the, influence of, at the uni- versities, 31 ; traces of their overthrow at Cambridge, 89. Mere, Jo., registrary of the university, no. Merton College, Oxford, early statutes of, 33- Merton Hall, probable date of, ig. Merton, Walter de, code given by, 33. Methods of instniction and examination, new, introduced in connection with uni- versity extension movement, 220, 221. Mey, Jo., services of, as member of Uni- versity Commission, 97. Michaelhouse, foundation of, 35 ; Fisher appointed to mastership of, 67 ; dissolu- tion of, 98. Middelberg, a centre for Puritan seces- sionists from the university, 130. Middleton, Conyers, relations of, to Bentley, 174; appointment of, as uni- versity librarian, ib. Mildmay, Sir Walt., foundation of Em- manuel College by, 130 ; his motives questioned by Elizabeth, 131 ; limita- tion imposed by, on tenure of fellow- ships, 132. Millenary Petition, the, scope of, pre- judicial to the universities, 138. Millington, Wm., first provost of King's College, 55; his ejectment from his post, ih. Milner, Isaac, theological views of, 185. Milner, Joseph, History 0/ the Church, by, 184. Milton, Jo., his censure on college plays, 146. Monasteries, dissolution of, a gain to the colleges, 90. Monk, Dr., on the increasing numbers of the university, 188. Monmouth, duke of, election of, to chancellorship, 1C2; deposition of, ib. Montacute, Si., bp. of Ely, gives statutes to Peterhouse, 33. Monte Cassiuo, teaching at monastery of, 2, 4. Moral Pliilosophy, activity of AVhewell as professor of, 194. More, Hen., a distinguished Platonist, 157 ; popularity of works of, 159. Mountague, Ja., suppression of the Apello Ccesarem of, 147. ' Nations,' division of Continental uni- versities into, iS. Xeville. Dr., master of Trinity, deputed to congratulate King James I., 138 ; munificence of, as master, 143. New College, Oxford, code of, a model for that of King's College, 54. New England, early divines of, educated at Emmanuel College, 132. Newton, Sir Isaac, early Cambridge career of, 160 ; retirement of, on the outbreak of the plague, 161 ; growth of academic reputation of, ib. ; publishes second edition of Prhicipia at Bentley's per- suasion, 167; later career of, 171. Nicholson, Sygar, early printer in Cam- bridge, 77. Nonjurors, mandamus for ejection of, from fellowships, 165. Norfolk, natives of, prominent among the Cambridge Reformers, 81. Norfolk, ninth duke of, restored to high- stewardship of the university, 107. ' North and South,' division of the Eng- lish universities into, iS. Northampton, migrations from Oxford and Cambridge to, 18. Northampton, earl of, discountenances the pretensions of the Caput, 140. Northumberland, first duke of, arrest of, in King's College, 107. Numbers, decline of, in the university, in latter part of seventeenth century, 166, note. Oath of supremacy, consequences of ad- ministering of, 116. ' Opponent,' the, in disputations, 23 ; four in number, 177. Optime, senior and' junior, explanation of term, 177 ; senior, when first divided from wranglers, 176, note; proctor's, 177. Orders, religious, early admission of, to degrees in the university, 17. Oughtred, Wm., f. of King's, a supporter of the Copernicau theory, 160. Oxford, town of, burnt, 10; schools at, i&. Oxford, university of, probably older than Cambridge, 11; placed before Cam- bridge by Parliament, ib. ; influenced by the Kenaissauce earlier than Cam- bridge, 66; decline of, during the Re- formation period, 113. Paget, Wm., high steward, a leading Reformer, 81. Paley, Wm., befriended by Law, 183 ; writings of, 1S4. 230 Index. Paraeus, burning of the works of, 146. Paris, commencement of university of, 6 ; teachers of, obtain State recognition, 9 ; model for Oxford and Cambridge, 11 ; migrations from, to England, 17. Paris, schools of Abelard at, 3 ; study of logic at, 7. Paris, Matthew, statements of, respecting Oxford, 12. Parker, Matt., archbp. of Canterbury, his secretary, Josselin, 44 ; map of Cam- bridge executed by direction of, 89; appointed dean of college at Stoke, 93 ; election of, to mastership of C. C. College, 97 ; services of, to the uni- versity, ih. ; resignation of headship, by, 108 ; death of, 127 ; benefactions of, to the university, ih. Parliament, university acquires the privi- lege of returning members to, 140 ; Act of, requiring presentation of printed books to the university, 157. Parr, Kath., the real foundress of Trinity College, 98. Paschal II., Pope, constitutes Ely an episcopal see, 11. Pattrick, Symon, election of, to presidency of Queens', 157; the same nullified by the Crown, ih. Paynell, Wm., innovations on subjects for lectures by, 8r. Peachell, Jo., master of Magdalene, ex- amined before Commissioners, 164 ; de- privation of, ih. Peacock, Dean, publication of Obstrva- tions of, 197. Pecock, Reginald, illustration of fifteenth century tendencies afforded by, 52. Pember, Robt., tutor of Ascham, 91. Pembroke Hall, foundation of, 36; earliest extant statutes of, ib. Pensioner, the college, early existence of, 69 ; enactment of restrictions on ad- mission of, 87, 99. Perkins, Wm., ability of, as tutor at Christ's College, 144. Perne, Dr., master of Peterhouse, manages to retain his post, 116; his character, ib. Peterhouse, foimdation of, 33 ; earliest code of, ib. ; original buildings of, 35. Physic, foundation of Regius professor- ship of, 94. Picot, the Norman sheriff, founds the church of St. Giles, 13. Pileirimaae to Parnasstis, performance of, in St. John's College, 145. Pilkington, Jas., one of the Marian exiles at Frankfort, 115. Pilkington, Leon., one of the Marian exiles at Frankfort, 115. Pitt scholarship, foundation of, 188. Plague, Great, of 1349, effects of, 40 ; ex- tension of, to Cambridge, 160. Platonists, the Cambridge, 156 ; charac- ter of tlieir philosophy, 158. Plays, college, dislike with which they were regarded by the Puritans, 145. Pole, Card., elected chancellor of the university, 109; statutes of, no. Poll men, 177. Ponet, Jo., a distinguished member of Queens' College, 92. Porson, Ri., election of, to fellowship at Trinity, 181 ; appointment of, to pro- fessorship of Greek, ih. Porson prize, foundation of, 181. Pory, Dr., permitted, though a Catholic, to retain the mastership of Corpus, 116. Powell, Dr., institutes examinations at St. Jolm's, 1S2. Prayer-Book, a Latin version of the, used in college chapels, 117. Precedence, question of, between the two universities, how solved, 156. Preston, Jo., successful rule of, at Em- manuel College, 133; success of, as college tutor at Queens', 143. Proctors, the, 'the tribunes of the people,' 124 ; nominated by a cycle of colleges, ib. ; curtailment of functions of, ib. Puritanism, takes its rise at Cambridge, 118; design of, in the university, 120; increased activity of, 128 ; development of, at Emmanuel College, 132; and at St. John's, 133 ; decline of, in the uni- versity, noted by Pepys, 154. Pythagoras, School of, 15. Qi(adrivinm, the, course of study com- prised in, 25 ; modification of, 104. Queens' College, first foundation of, 56; original statutesof, 57 ; Fisherappointed president of, 67 ; purchases the pre- mises of the Carmelites, 90 ; services of, to learning, at the time of the Refor- mation, 92. Querela Cantahrigiensis, the, a royalist manifesto, 150. Redman, Jo., first master of Trinity, a leader in the university, 01 ; services of, as commissioner, 97; master of King's Hall, 99. Reformation, the, unfavourable effects of, on the university, 93, 102. Reformers, the, in the university, 81; in- clude many of the best scholars, 82 ; invited to Cardinal College, ib. ; their influence at Oxford, 83. Regent Walk, the, the chief approach to the Schools, 146. Regents, the, the teachers of the uni- versity, 27 ; extension of period of their teaching, 125. Regius professorships, foundation of, 94. Renaissance, the, earliest influences of, at Cambridge, 66; further progress of, 69. ' Respondent,' the, in disputatious, 23. Return from Parnassus, performance of, in St. John's College, 145. Rhetoric, study of, in mediseval times, 24. Ridley Hall, foundation of, 211. Ridley, Nich., bp. of Loudon, when master of Pembroke, learns by heart the Pauline Epistles, 92 ; one of the commissioners of 1549 ; burning of, at Oxford, 109 ; his pathetic remembrance of his college, no. Salerno, university of, its origin, 4. iSalisbury, John of, his surprise at exces- sive attention given to study of logic, 7. Bancroft, Archbishop, efforts of, to pro- Index. 2.^1 mote university education among the clergy, loi ; chancellorship declined by, 164. Sandys, Dr., bp. of London, arrest of, as vice-chancellor, 107. Saracens, the, originated a more scientiiic study of medicine, 4. Scholar, earliest vise of the term in its modern academic sense, 38. Scholars required to place themselves under supervision, i8, 30 ; complaints of, of absence of patrons, 103. Schoolmen, abolition of the, as text-books, 87. Schools of the Roman Empire, disappear- ance of, 2. Schools, the university, when built, 2S. Scotchmen, first admission of, to fellow- ships, at Sidney College, 136. Sedgwick, Adam, Discourse of, 191. Selwyn College, foundation of, 210. Senate House, the new, building of, 174 ; examinations first held in, ib. Seyitences, the, of Peter Lombard, 7 ; abo- • lition of, as a text-book, 86. Sermons, reading of, forbidden to the clergy, 162. Seville, school at, 2. Shaxtou, bp. of Sarum, a leading Re- former at Cambridge, 81. Sherlock, Thos., bp. of Loudon, master of St. Catherine's, influence of, in the uni- versity, 173 ; writings of, ib. Siberch, Jo., first printer of Greek at Cam- bridge, 76. Sidney Sussex College, foundation of, 136 ; original statutes of, ib. ; first Cambridge college to admit Irishmen and Scotch- men to fellowships, 136 ; contribution of, in aid of Charles I., 149; vacancy in mastership of, filled up by royal man- date, 162 ; clauses in statutes of, against Popery struck out, 164. Sike, H., appointed through Bentley's in- terest professor of Hebrew, 169. Sizars, earliest apparent institution of, 34. Smith, Jo., f. of Christ's, becomes founder of the General Baptists, 130. Smith, Jo., f. of Queens', Discourses of,i57. Smith, SirThos., friendship of, with Cheke, 92 ; pupils of, ib. ; advocates changed pronunciation of Greek, 94 ; contro- versy of, with Gardiner, 95; elected vice-chancellor, ib. ; protects the uni- versity at Court, 97 ; brings about the foundation of Trinity College, 98 ; ap- pointment of, as Regius professor of Civil Law, 106 ; Act of, for the mainte- nance of colleges, 135. Somerset, eleventh duke of, election of, to chancellorship, 165. Somerset, the Protector, chancellor of the university, 107. Sophister, meaning of the term, 23. Sparrow, Dr., imposed as president upon Queens' College by the Crown, 157. Stafford, Geo., success of his lectures on the New Testment, 81. Stamford, migration from Oxford to, 18, Stanley, Jas., gives original statutes of Jesus College, 59. Stanton, Hervey de, founds Michaelhoose, 33- Stare iti quaaragesima, explanation of ex- pression, 174. Statutes (of the colleges), reformation of 204. See also under names of colleges. Statutes (of the university) : Statuta Ati- tiqua, 20; statute of 1276, 30; of 1538, 93; of 1,44, 93; statutes ol 1549, 104; repeal of same, 108 ; of 1557, no; Eliza- bethan, of 1570, 123 ; revision of, peti- tioned for, 199; of 1858, enactment of, 201. St. Benet, praj-Nornian church of, 13. St. Catherine's Hall, foundation of, 58 ; statutes of, ib. ; reputation of, in seven- teenth century, 173. St. Giles, foundation of church of, 13 ; canons of, move to Barnwell, 14. St. John the Evangelist, foundation of Hospital of, IS ; introduction of secular scholars at, 32 ; suppression of, 70. St. John's College, foundation of, 70 ; alienation of estates bequeathed to, ib. ; different codes of, given by Fisher, 71 ; eminent members of, at the time of the Reformation, 91 ; Puritan synods secretly held at, 133 ; contribution of, in aid of Charles I., 149 ; History of, by Baker, 165 ; new statutes granted to, by the Crown, 198. St. Mary's (Gt.), destruction of documents at, 19 ; university gatherings held in, 28, St. Rhadegund, nunnery of, foundation of, IS ; suppression of, 59. Stephen, Sir Jas., description of Whewell by, 197- Stuart, Prof. Jas., lectures by, the origin of the University Extension Movement, 217. Students, non-collegiate, statute for ad- mission of, 203. Stadium generate, generally used to de- note a university in mediaeval times, i. Subscription, abolition of, by Parliament in 1640, 148 ; again required in 1662, 156. Supremacy, oath of, abrogated by Parlia- ment, 165. Surplice, the, opposition to, in the uni- versity, 119, 132 ; wearing of, enjoined, 139; compulsory wearing of, abolished, 149 ; wearing of, enjoined at the Restora- tion, 155. Tests, movement for the abolition of, 192 ; rejection of Bill for, by the House of Lords, 193; chief supporters of the Bill, ib. : final abolition of, 194. Theology, course of study in, in medieval times, 26. Thompson, Dr., master of Trinity, service rendered by, in preparation of improved college statutes, 203. Three Articles, the, subscription to, re- quired on admission to the doctorate, 139 ; not to be compulsory on admission • to degrees, iss. Town and gown, earliest frays between, 19. Travers, Walt., designs of, as a moderate Puritan, 128; expulsion of, from his fellowship, by AVhitgift, ib. ; the Dis- ciplina of, 129 ; reappearance of same, as the Directory, ib. 232 Index. Trinity College, claim of, to represent the earliest Cambridge college, 35 ; partly built out of materials from the Franciscan precincts, go ; foundation of, q8; first fellows of, partly from St. John's, gg ; original statutes of, t'). ; benefaction to, from Mary I., 11 1; in- crease iu numbers at, during Neville's administration, 143; rebuilding of, ih. \ state of, at time of Newton's entry, 160 ; improvements effected in, by Bentley. 168 ; new statutes granted to, by the Crown, ig8; statutes of, further re- modelled, 203. Trinity College, Dublin, modelled on the university of Cambridge, 135. Trinity Hall, foundation of, 40; early buildings of, 42 ; fire at, 43 ; proposed amalgamation of, with Clare Hall, 107. Tripos, the, origin of the term, 174 ; estab- lishment of first, 176 ; mathematical, original examination of, 178; classical, foundation of, 188; changes in examina- tion for classical, igi-2 ; moral sciences, foundation of, ig7 ; natural sciences, foundation of, ih. ; law, foundation of, 206; historical, foundation of, 207; changes in same, 208 ; changes in classical, ih. ; theological, foundation of, and modification of, 2og; Semitic languages, foundation of, ih. ; Indian languages, ih. \ mediaeval and modern languages, foundation of, ih. Tripos verses, origin of, 175. Trivium, course of study included in, 22; modification of, 104. Tyndale, Wm., a leader of the Reformers in the university, 81. Uffenbach, description of Cambridge colleges by, in 1710, i58. Undergraduate course of study in medi- Eeval times, 22. "Undergraduates, numbers of, in 1850, 198, note; recent increase in, 211. Uniformity, Act of, again put in force, 156. Universities, features of the earliest, 9. University Extension Movement, origin of, 217; growth of, 218; new methods introduced by, 220; conference in con- nection with, 222. 'University,' original meaning of term of, I. University Hall, Clare Hall originally so called, 45. University Library, the duke of Bucking- ham offers to rebuild, 147 ; enlargement of, in 1837, ih. ; right of, to copies of books printed within the realm, 157 ; presentation to, by George I., of library of Bishop Moore, 173. University Press, the, first publications of, 77 ; royal licence given for, ih. ; sub- sequent inactivity of, 78; seizure of Travers' DiscipUna at, 130. Vacarius, alleged teaching of, at Ox- ford, 12. Valence, Peter de, attack on doctrine of indulgences by, 80. "Verse composition, discontinuance of, recommended, 202. Verses, occasional, production of, a common practice, 155. Vice-chancellor, election of, vested In the Heads, 123. Vives, Lud., on academic disputations, 62. "NVallis, Jo., f. of Queens', a supporter of the Copernican theory, 160. Walsh, B. D., Historical Account of, 195 ; innovations advocated by, 196. Ward, Sam., master of Sidney, deplores the requirement to wear the surplice, 139- Ward, Seth, ejection of, from fellowship, 152; a supporter of the Copernican theory, 160. Warham, Arch., testimony of, respecting influence of Cambridge at Oxford, 83. Watsou, Bi., theological sympathies of, 184. West, Nich., f. of King's, modifies early statutes of Jesus College, 59. Westcott, Prof., speech of, at University Extension Conference, 222. Whewell, Dr., views of, controverted by Sir W. Hamilton, 190; reforms intro- duced by, 194 ; influence of, described by Sir James Stephen, 197 ; death of, 203. "Whichcote, Benj., provost of King's, re- fusal of, to take the Covenant, 152 ; a representative of the Cambridge Platon- isra, 157 ; notable sayings of, 158, 159. "Whiston, Wm., encouraged by Bentley, 167 ; his Theory of the Earth, 169 ; his dis- charge of duties of Lucasian professor, ib. ; theological controversy raised by, 170 ; his Primitive Christianity, ih. ; banishment of, from the university, and final career, ih. Whitaker, Wm., master of St. John's, European reputation of, 133 ; Puritan sympathies of, ih. White Horse Inn, the, a meeting-place of the Reformers, 8i. Whitgift, Archbp., early academic career of, 121 ; deprives Cartwright of his fellow- ship, 123; proposed retirement of, from Cambridge, 126 ; departure of, for Wor- cester, 128; orders seizure of Travers' DiscipUna, 130 ; death of, 139. Wolsey, Card., visit of, to Cambridge, 73; surrender of the university statutes to, 76 ; founds Cardinal College, 82 ; invites thither some of the young Cambridge Reformers, 83. Woodlark, Robt., founds St. Catherine's Hall, 58; rule of, as third provost of King's College, ih. Woodville, Eliz., first code of Queens' College given by, 57. Wotton, Wm., remarkable attainments of, 169. Wyclif, influence of, at Oxford, 50. See also iioUardism. Wykeham, Wm. of, his despair of the monasteries, 59. YoKK, school at, 2. PRINTED BY BALLANTVNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON. -A.TJC3-TJST 1889. GENEEAL LISTS OF WOEKS PUBLISHED BY ]\iESSKS. LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. LONDON AND NEW YORK. HISTORY, POLITICS, HISTORICAL MEMOIRS, 8iC. Abbey and Overton's English Church in the Eighteenth Century. Cr. 8vo. It, 6d. Amold'a Lectures on Modem History. 8vo. 7s, 6d. Bagwell's Ireland under the Tudors. Vols. 1 and 2. 2 vols. 8vo. 32i, Ball's Legislative Systems in Ireland, 1172-1800. 8vo. 6^. — The Reformed Church of Ireland, 1537-1886. 8vo. 7s. Sd, Boultbee's History of the Church of England, Pre-Reformation Period. Svo. 15i. Buckle's History of Civilisation. 3 vols, crown 8vo. 24j. Churchill's (Lord Randolph) Speeches. 2 vols. 8vo.24j. Cox's (Sir G. W.) Greneral History of Greece. Crown 8vo. 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