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Hon. Daniel Webster, LL. D.
Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., D. D.
Hon. John Lowell, LL. D.
Samuel P. Gardner, Esq.
Gamaliel Bradford, M. D.
Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood,
Rev. John G. Palfrey, D. D.
Jared Sparks, Esq.
Benjamin Merrill, Esq.
Joseph E. Worcester, M. A.
Joseph Willard, Esq.

Hon. Alexander H. Everett, LL. D. Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn,
Lemuel Shattuck, Esq.
Isaac P. Davis, Esq.
Mr. Alonzo Lewis,
Rev. Joseph B. Felt,

Hon. Lemuel Shaw, LL. D.
Hon. James T. Austin,
Kev. Convers Francis, D. D.
Hon. John Welles,'
Rev. Charles W. Upham,
William Lincoln, Esq.

Corresponding Members.

Rev. Alexander Spark, Quebec, Can.
Noah Webster, LL. D. New Haven, Ct.
Hon. St. George Tucker, Williamsburg, Va.
Phineas Miller, Esq. Savannah, Ga.
James Clarke, Esq. Halifax, N. 2.
Rev. Asa Norton, Paris, N. Y.

Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, LL. D Albany, N. Y.
Ephraim Ramsay, Esq. Charleston, S. C.

Henry W. Desaussure, Esq. Charleston, S. C.
Lemuel Kollock, M. D. Savannah, Ga.
John Dunn, LL. D. Killaly, Irel.
Benjamin De Witt, M. D. Albany, N. Y.
Mr. Thomas Pieronnett, Demarara,
Rev. Thomas Hall, Leghorn,

Rev. Timothy Alden, Alleghany Co. Pa.
John Newman, M. D. Salisbury, N. C.
John Vaughan, Esq. Philadelphia, Pa.
William Barton, Esq. Lancaster, Pa.
William Johnson, New York,

Charles M. Wentworth, Esq. Halifax, N. S.
Robert Anderson, M. D. Edinburgh, Scot.
Hon. Samuel Eddy, LL. D. Rhode Island,
Benjamin Silliman, LL. D. New Haven, Ct.
His Exc. W. Plumer, Epping, N. H.
Jonathan Williams, Esq. Philadelphia, Pa.
Rt. Hon. Earl of Buchan, Edinburgh, Scot.
Rev. John Bassett, Albany, N. Y.
Moses Fiske, Tennessee,

Hon. Timothy Pitkin, Farmington, Ct.

Rev. Eliph. Nott, D. D., LL. D. Schenectady, N. Y. Hon. John C. Smith, LL. D. Sharon, Ct.

John Pintard, Esq. New York, N. Y.

John W. Francis, M. D. New York, N. Y.

Rev. James Richards, D. D. Auburn, N. Y.
Hon. Charles H. Atherton, Amherst, N. H.
George Chalmers, Esq. London, Eng.
Michael Joy, Esq. London, Eng.
Samuel Bayard, Esq. New Jersey,

Baron Alexander Von Humboldt, Paris, France,
Major Hugh McCall, Savannah, Ga.
William T. Williams, Esq.

Hon. Peter S. Duponceau, LL. D. Philadelphia, Pa.
Jonathan Goodhue, Esq. New York, N. Y.

Gulian C. Verplanck, LL. D. New York, N. Y.
Robert Walsh, LL. D. Philadelphia, Pa.

J. Van Ness Yates, Esq. Albany, N. Y.
Hon. Jeremiah Mason, LL. D. Boston,
John Farmer, Esq. Concord, N. H.
William Lee, Esq.

Hon. Frederick Adelung, Berlin, Prussia,
Adm. Sir Isaac Coffin, London, Eng.
Samuel Williams, Esq. London, Eng.
M. Julius de Wallenstein,

George Ticknor, Esq.
Rev. John Codman, D. D.
Mr. George Bancroft,
Hon. Nathan Appleton,
Hon. Rufus Choate,
Hon. John G. King,
Rev. Alexander Young,

Hon. Daniel A. White, LL. D.
William Gibbs, Esq.

Josiah Bartlett, M. D.

M. Barbé Marbois, Paris, France, Gregorio Tunes,

Manuel Moreno,

His Exc. Don José Maria Salazar, Colombia,
Adam Winthrop, Esq. Louisiana,

Rev. John Hutchinson, England,
Hon. Theodorick Bland, Maryland,
Senor Manuel Lorenzo Vidaurre,

Hon. Albert Gallatin, LL. D. Pennsylvania,
Rev. Timothy Flint, Cincinnati, O.
Prof. C. C. Rafn, Copenhagen,

Chev. Pedersen, Minister from Denmark,
Thomas C. Haliburton, Esq. Nova Scotia,
Washington Irving, LL. D. New York city,
James Graham, England,

Rev. Heary Channing, New London, Ct.
Mr. John F. Watson, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. James H. Dean, Vermont,
Charles Fraser, Esq. Charleston, S. C.
Thomas Aspinwall, Esq. London, Eng.
Sir Francis Palgrave, London, Eng.
Hon. Lewis Cass, LL. D. Washington, D. C.
Rev. Jasper Adams, D. D. Charleston, S. C.
Hon. Roberts Vaux, Philadelphia, Pa.
Theodore Dwight, Esq. New York city,
Theodore Dwight, Jr. Esq. New York city,
James Mease, M. D. Philadelphia, Pa.
Hon. William Jay, Bedford, N. Y.
Ch. Just. Juna, Sewall, Quebec, Can.
Sir John Caldwell, Quebec, Can.
Sharon Turner, Esq. Eng.

Francis B. Winthrop, Esq. New Haven, Ct.
Duc de Montmorenci, Paris, France,
M. César Moreau, Paris, France,

J. Smyth Rogers, Hartford, Ct.
Erastus Smith, Esq. New Haven, Ct.
William Schlegel, Copenhagen,
Finn Magnusson, Copenhagen,
Col. Juan Galindo, Copenhagen,
Judge Benry A. Bullard, Louisiana,
Hon. Richard Biddle, Pittsburgh, Pa.
J. K. Paulding, Esq. New York city,
Hon. Henry Clay, LL. D. Lexington, Ky.
Rev. W. Allen, D. D. Pres. Bowdoin College,
Hon. Levi Woodbury, LL. D. Washington, D. C.
Rev. Benjamin Tappan, D. D. Augusta, Me.
J. Francis Fisher, Esq. Philadelphia, Pa.
T. A. Moerenhout, Tahiti, Soc. Isl.
Usher Parsons, M. D. Providence, R. I.
W. D. Williamson, Esq. Bangor, Me.
George Folsom, Esq. New York city,
Peter G. Stuyvesant, Esq. New York city,
Rev. Luther Halsey, D. D. Auburn, N. Y.

Officers of the Society, 1837.

President, Hon. THOMAS L. WINTHROP, LL. D.
Recording Secretary, JOSEPH WILLARD, Esq.

Corresponding Secretary, Rev. CHARLES LOWELL, D. D.

Treasurer, Hon. JAMES SAVAGE.

Librarian, Rev. JOSEPH B. FELT.

Cabinet Keeper, ISAAC P. DAVIS, Esq.

VOL. X.

23

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH UNIVERSITIES.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

THE praise of having originally established schools, belongs to some bishops and abbots of the sixth century. They came in place of the imperial schools overthrown by the barbarians. In the downfall of that temporal dominion, a spiritual aristocracy was raised up, to save from extinction the remains of learning. Some of these schools seem to have been preserved in the south of Italy, though merely, perhaps, for elementary instruction. But in France the barbarism of the later Merovingian period was so complete, that, before the reign of Charlemagne, all liberal studies had come to an end. Nor was Italy in a much better state at his accession, though he called two or three scholars from thence to his literary councils; the libraries were destroyed, the schools chiefly closed; wherever the Lombard dominion extended, illiteracy was its companion. The cathedral and conventical schools, created or restored by Charlemagne, became the means of preserving that small portion of learning which continued to exist. They flourished most, having had time to produce their fruits, under his successors, Louis the Debonair, Lothaire, and Charles the Bald.

The early history of the university of Paris is involved in much obscurity. Its foundation goes back to a very remote antiquity; but the precise epoch of its establishment as a school cannot well be ascertained. When we consider the barbarous state of letters in the early ages of the French monarchy, and the characters of the princes who then governed France, we cannot hope to find traces of any establishment dedicated to the promotion of the sciences, or to the instruction of those who might wish to advance in the career of literature. Some of the early French monarchs, however, there is reason to believe, had in their own palaces seminaries for the education of the young nobility of their court; but it is to the reign of Charlemagne that we must refer the foundation of what has become the university of Paris. The foundation of Bologna and of other universities soon followed.

I. History of the University of Oxford.

The opinion which ascribes the foundation of the university of Oxford to Alfred cannot be maintained with certainty. Ingulfus, abbot of Croyland, is the only authentic early writer that can be adduced to this point. He declares that he was sent from Westminster to the school at Oxford, where he learned Aristotle, and the first two books of Tully's rhetoric. Since a school for dialectics and rhetoric subsisted at Oxford, a town but of middling size, and not the seat of a bishop, we are naturally led to refer its foundation to one of the kings; and none who have reigned after Alfred, appears likely to have manifested such zeal for learning. The passage of Ingulfus, however, is regarded by some as suspicious; and against it we must set the absolute silence of other writers. Giraldus Cambrensis, about 1180, seems the first unequivocal witness to the resort of students to Oxford, as an established seat of instruction. But it is certain that Vacarius read there on the civil law in 1149, which affords a presumption that it was already assuming the character of an university. John of Salisbury does not seem to mention it. It was a school of great resort in the reign of Henry II., though its first charter was only granted by Henry III. It became in the thirteenth century second only to Paris in the multitude of its students, and the celebrity of its scholastic disputations. England indeed, and especially through Oxford, could show more names of the first class in this line than any other country. Honest Anthony Wood expatiates on what he thought the glorious age of the university. "What university, I pray, can produce an invincible Hales, an admirable Bacon, an excellent, well-grounded Middleton, a subtle Scotus, an approved Burley, a resolute Baconthorpe, a singular Oakham, a solid and industrious Holcot, and a profound Bradwardin ? all which persons flourished within the compass of one century. I doubt that neither Paris, Bo

logna, or Rome, that grand mistress of the Christian world, or any place else, can do what the renowned Bellosite (Oxford) hath done. And without doubt all impartial men may receive it for an undeniable truth, that the most subtle arguing in school divinity did take its beginning in England, and from Englishmen; and that also from thence it went to Paris, and other parts of France, and at length into Italy, Spain and other nations, as is by one observed. So that though Italy boasteth that Britain takes her Christianity first from Rome, England may truly maintain that from her, (immediately by France,) Italy first received her schooldivinity."

The university of Oxford is a corporate body, known for ages by the style or title of "the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford." This title was confirmed by the legislature itself in the reign of Elizabeth, in the following words: "Be it therefore enacted by the authority of this present parliament, that the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Leicester, now chancellor of the said university of Oxford, and his successors forever, and the masters and scholars of the same university of Oxford for the time being, shail be incorporate, and have a perpetual succession in fact, deed, and name, in the name of the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university of Oxford; and that the same chancellor, masters, and scholars of the same university for the time being from henceforth by the name of the chancellor, masters and scholars of the university of Oxford, and by none other name or names, shall be called and named forevermore." Its ancient privileges have been recognized and augmented by a long succession of royal charters from the earliest periods; and these charters themselves have been sanctioned by parliament. In an act entitled “An act for the Incorporation of the two universities," it is expressly declared, that all letters patent of preceding sovereigns granted to the university of Oxford, "shall be good, effectual, and available in law, according to the form, words, sentences, and true meaning, as amply, fully, and largely, as if the same letters patent were recited verbatim," in the act itself. It has always been governed by statutes of its own making; for many centuries indeed by a confused chaos of laws without order or arrangement; but since the chancellorship of archbishop Laud, by a digested code under the appellation of "Corpus Statutorum Universitatis Oxoniensis," which, being at that time by special delegates, was ratified in convocation; and which remains still in force, except upon points where the exigencies of more modern times have pointed out the wisdom of amendment or abrogation.

The whole business of the university in its corporate capacity is transacted in two distinct assemblies, technically termed HOUSES; viz. the House of Congregation and the House of Convocation. The chancellor, or the vice-chancellor, or in his absence, one of his four deputies, and the two proctors, or, in their absence, their respective deputies, preside in both houses, where, on all occasions, their presence is indispensably requisite.

The House of Congregation consists wholly of regents; either of necessary regents, or regents ad placitum. By the phrase necessary regents, the statutes designate all doctors of every faculty and masters of arts, during the first year of their regency, that is, from a period commencing at the act subsequent to their respective degrees, and terminating at the succeeding act, though anciently the necessary regency included the space of two entire years, a space, which custom, previously to the original digest of the statutes, had long consented to abridge. By regents ad placitum are meant all persons of the following descriptions, who have gone through the year of their necessary regency in arts; viz. all doctors of every faculty, resident in the university; all heads of colleges and halls, and in their absence, their deputies; all professors and public lecturers; the masters of the schools; the public examiners; the deans and censors of colleges; and all other masters of arts, during the second year of their regency; a general dispensation annually passing to conclude all necessary regencies with the first year.

The House of Convocation, or, as it is sometimes called, the Great Congregation, consists both of regents and non-regents. But the right of sitting and voting in that House is confirmed by the statutes to persons of the following descriptions: 1. The chancellor, or vice-chancellor, and the two proctors, or

their deputies. 2. Doctors in divinity, medicine, or civil law, who are necessary regents, and masters of arts during the first year of their necessary regency. 3. Heads of colleges and halls, and their deputies, and members of the foundation of any college who have at any time been regents. 4. Doctors in divinity, medicine or civil law, living with their families within the precincts of the university; and professors and public lecturers, who have at any time been regents; provided always, that they have performed the exercises required of them by the statutes, and paid all the fees which are due to the university and to its officers. These conditions are, indeed, in all cases indispensable, and without fulfilling them, no one, be his situation what it may, can exercise the right of voting in convocation. 5. Convictores, as the statute calls them, that is, all persons not belonging to the foundation of any college or hall, who have at any time been regents, and whose names have been constantly kept on the books of some college or hall, from the time of their admission to the degree of master of arts, or doctor in either of the three faculties, respectively. Persons who have removed from one college or hall in the manner prescribed by the statutes, and have been admitted in some other college or hall, within the space of three months, are deemed to have had their names constantly on the books, provided that during this interval, they have not avoided any exercise, or other burden which the university requires to be borne by its members. Doctors and masters of arts, who have ceased to be members of the university, and afterwards return to it, or who have been incorporated from Cambridge or Dublin, after a personal residence of 180 days within the year, on producing to the vicechancellor, in congregation, or convocation, a certificate of such residence from the head of their college or hall, may claim to be admitted into the house; and, after their admission, may continue to enjoy the privilege of voting, so long as their names remain on the books of some college or hall, and they comply with the conditions above stated. The same privilege may also be enjoyed, on the same conditions, by persons who have been admitted to the degree of M. A., D. D., M. D., or LL. D., by diploma or by decree of convocation; but not by those who have been admitted merely to honorary degrees.

The number of regents required to make a convocation is nine, at the least, besides the vice-chancellor and proctors; but for a convocation no particular number of members is required. The business of congregation is principally confined to the passing of graces and dispensations, and to the granting of degrees. Upon all questions submitted to the house, the vice-chancellor singly, and the two proctors jointly, possess the power of an absolute negative. In the sole instance of supplicating for graces, every member of the house is invested, in addition to his general right of suffrage, with a suspending negative upon each grace for three times, as the grace is proposed in three distinct congregations; but previously to the fourth supplication, he is required to state privately to the vice-chancellor and proctors the ground and proof of his objections, which are subsequently submitted to the judgment of the house for approbation or rejection. All suffrages for or against graces and dispensations in congregation, are to be whispered secretly in the ear of the proctor; by a majority of which, given in the words placet, or non placet, the fate of the measure is ultimately determined.

The business of convocation is unlimited, extending to all subjects connected with the credit, interest, and welfare of the university. In the exercise, however, of one particular branch of its privileges, and that certainly a very important one, viz. the enacting of new, or the explaining of old statutes, some restriction is prescribed. If the statute to be explained be a royal, or, as it is commonly called, a Caroline statute, the royal permission is first to be obtained. If it be deemed advisable to enact de novo, or to explain, any, except a royal statute, it is ordained that the measure shall be previously referred to the hebdomadal meeting of the heads of houses; and this meeting, if on deliberation, it approve of the measure, draws up the terms in which it is to be promulgated in the House of Congregation, and three days after proposed in convocation. As in congregation, so also in convocation, the chancellor, or vice-chancellor, singly, and the two proctors jointly, are officially invested with an absolute negative upon all proceedings, except in elections. In both houses, when the negative of the chancellor, or

the vice-chancellor, or of the proctors, is not interposed, (an interposition almost as rare as the royal veto in parliament,) every question is decided by the majority. All elections (except for members of parliament) are made by a private scrutiny in writing, in which the vice-chancellor presides, and the two proctors are scrutators; and before they proceed to an election for any professor, lecturer, or officer, the act of the 31st of Elizabeth is read, and the vice-chancellor administers an oath to the proctors that they will make a faithful scrutiny; that they will not influence the nomination of any one; and that they will pronounce the person elected, on whom the major part of the votes shall happen to fall. Then each elector takes an oath, that he will vote once only in the scrutiny, and that he will nominate a person whom he knows, or firmly believes to be duly qualified for the office; and that he will do this without any reward, or expectation of reward. After the vice-chancellor and proctors have voted, all doctors and masters are admitted to poll according to seniority, if possible; the proctors sitting on each side of the vice-chancellor, and receiving the votes. When the poll begins to slacken, the superior bedel of arts makes three proclamations, one at the end of each quarter of an hour, and then the poll is cast up by the proctors, and after they have burned the papers, the election is pronounced. Should there be two or more who have an equal number of votes, the senior of them is elected, if they are graduates; but if not, the chancellor's or vice-chancellor's approbation decides the election, and the person elected, if present, is immediately admitted.

For the better government of the university, there is also an hebdomadal meeting of the heads of houses, who meet every Monday, and at other times when convened by the vice-chancellor. This meeting consists of the vicechancellor, heads of houses and proctors, who are empowered to deliberate on all matters relating to the preservation of the powers and liberties of the university, and to inquire into and consult respecting the due observance of statutes and customs. And in all cases, whenever it appears to them that any particular measure would contribute to the literary improvement, the good government, the credit or the advantage of the university, they have authority to deliberate upon it, in order that it may undergo a grave and serious discussion before it be proposed in congregation, and decreed in convocation. All the letters likewise of the chancellor, in the case of dispensations which are addressed to convocation, must, previously to a recital in the house, be sanctioned by their approbation. [To be continued.]

NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

1. Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society. Vol. I. 1824, pp. 336; II. 1827, pp. 300; III. 1832, pp. 302; IV. 1834, pp. 302; V. 1837, pp. 307. The Massachusetts Historical Society was instituted in Boston, in January, 1791, and was incorporated Feb. 19, 1794. It was the parent of all similar institutions in the United States. The New York Historical Society was instituted in New York city, Dec. 10, 1804, and was incorporated Feb. 10, 1809. The Essex Historical Society, Mass. was incorporated June 11, 1821; the Maine Historical Society in 1822; and the Rhode Island in June 1822. The New Hampshire Historical Society was instituted May 20, 1823, and incorporated June 13, 1823. In Vermont, no society of the kind, so far as we know, exists. In Connecticut, the objects of Historical Societies have been accomplished, in part at least, by the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Historical Societies exist, we believe, in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio, possibly in one or two other States, besides those already mentioned.

The New Hampshire Historical Society was formed in Portsmouth on the 20th of May, 1823. The publications of the Society now amount to five volumes, containing in all more than 1,500 pages octavo. While various gentlemen have contributed much time to the interests of the Society, and valuable documents to the published volumes, to John Farmer, Esq. of Concord, the indefatigable corresponding secretary, especial credit is due. In these researches, is his congenial element. To his accurate and laborious investigations, not New Hampshire alone, but the whole country will always be under great obligations.

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