UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.

Ireland is represented by her native historians as being, in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, the university of Europe; and the manuscript remains of Irish literature belonging to that period, which are still preserved in various libraries, strongly corroborate the statement. During the three succeeding centuries, little is known of the state of learning; and the subjugation of the country by Henry II. in the twelfth century seems to have extinguished the feeble spark which still burned. Soon after the beginning of the fourteenth century, a university was established by a bull from John XXII., in connection with the cathedral church of St Patrick's, which continued for some time to support a feeble existence.

The present university was founded in 1592, through the exertions of Archbishop Loftus, who prevailed on the corporation of Dublin to appropriate for its support the ground and buildings of the dissolved monastery of All-Hallows, on Hoggin Green, in the eastern suburbs of the city, at that time valued at £20 per annum. A charter was soon after obtained from Queen Elizabeth, incorporating the university under the name of "The Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, founded by Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin;" and empowering it to accept such lands and contributions for its maintenance as any of her charitable subjects should bestow, to the amount of £400 a year. This was the extent of the royal bounty; no funds were provided for the erection of buildings, or for the support of the members of the college. The liberality of the Irish gentry was appealed to by circular letters from the lord-deputy, and a sufficient sum of money was by this means raised to enable the archbishop to commence the buildings. The first stone was laid on the 13th of March 1591, and the college was opened for the reception of students January 9, 1593. The whole income of the university, including voluntary and temporary contributions amounted in 1594 to the sum of £174.18s., and in 1600 it was increased by certain allowances granted by the queen to £544.13s. 4d. Such was the foundation of the university of Dublin; and on this scanty provision it had to struggle for existence, often reduced, by the non-payment of rents, to the very brink of dissolution, till the beginning of the reign of James I., when it was endowed by that monarch with lands, which have since become valuable, in the province of Ulster, besides a pension of £388.15s. English, paid annually from the exchequer.

By the charter of foundation, the body corporate was to consist of a provost, three fellows, and three scholars, with power to increase their number as the funds of the college permitted. To the provost and fellows was intrusted the power of enacting statutes for themselves, and of appointing such acts and exercises as they might consider necessary to qualify for degrees. To them also belonged the duties of tuition, the scholarships being intended as foundations for the maintenance of the poorer students. The provost and fellows constituted the only university convocation or senate recognised by the charter, and while they resided exclusively the power of conferring degrees. The fellows were to elect their provost on every vacancy of this office; and fellowships were tenable for seven years only after taking the degree of M.A. William Cecil Lord Burghley was nominated by the charter the first chancellor of the university, with a provision, that on all future occasions, the election of chancellor, vice-chancellor, and proctors, should belong to the provost and fellows.

In this, the original constitution of the university, many obvious defects soon began to show themselves. The election of a provost was a continual source of discord; and the authority of this officer being by the charter scarcely greater than that of the other fellows, was insufficient for the preservation of discipline in the college. The three fellows nominated by the charter were ecclesiastics, whose sacred duties prevented them from engaging in the actual labours of instruction; and accordingly, when the business of education really commenced, it was found necessary to obtain additional aid. The poverty of the society not admitting of their endowing permanent fellowships, an expedient was resorted to which afterwards led to an important alteration in the constitution of the college. About the year 1600, four masters, afterwards increased to seven, were appointed as lecturers of the junior classes, and, about 1610, were regularly constituted, by statute, probationer or junior fellows; from these the senior fellowships, instituted by charter, were filled up on every vacancy. About 1615, the number of senior fellows was fixed by statute at seven, and the number of probationer fellows at nine; the scholars, as at present, amounted to seventy. The junior fellows were to have no part in the government of the college, and were to be considered in every respect as scholars, except that they were recognised as college tutors, and employed in instructing others. This increase in the number of the fellows and scholars was most probably made soon after the income of the college was augmented by the grants of King James I. Though productive of beneficial effects to the college, by increasing the number of its instructors, it was at first the occasion of some very serious difficulties. The junior fellows claimed for themselves an express right by the charter to have a voice in the government and elections of the college; which was resisted by the governing body, on the ground that the title of fellows had been conferred on them, not as a matter of right, but by courtesy and honoris causa, and that their rights, as determined in the charter, were those of scholars only. Accordingly, Bishop Bedell's statutes, framed in 1637, provided against the difficulty, by dividing the scholars into nine socii scholares, or probationer fellows, and seventy scholarae discipluli, or scholars, commonly so called, as being still in statu pupillari.

The dissensions to which we have already alluded continued to increase, and at last rendered the interference of the legislature absolutely necessary. Accordingly, Archbishop Laud, who had been elected chancellor of the university in 1633, and had lately completed a revision of the statutes of Oxford, as chancellor of that university, under-

---

1 From this statute it is obvious that the university of Dublin is simply a college with university privileges and powers, and therefore differs in its constitution from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which are corporations distinct from the colleges or halls founded within their jurisdiction. In Dublin the provost and fellows are invested with the power of electing officers and conferring degrees, which, in the English universities, belongs to a body consisting of masters of arts and doctors in the higher faculties. At an early period forms were instituted for the public conferring of degrees by the vice-chancellor, in a solemn meeting of doctors and masters; and these, sanctioned by time, have long since become the established rule of the university. UNIVERSITIES.

be eligible to all other offices to which any junior fellows may now be elected or appointed." After the year 1849, when the number of additional fellows shall have been completed, though no vacancy should occur in the body of fellows, there is still to be an annual election of one, who shall succeed to the first vacancy, "unless there be at the same time two or more such persons so elected, in which case the senior of them shall succeed to the first vacancy." It is also ordained, "that after the year 1849, there shall be no more than two persons elected, whether as fellows or candidate fellows, in any one year, whatever number of vacancies may occur in the body."

James I., by his charter in 1613, granted to the provost, fellows, and scholars, the right of returning two representatives to the Irish parliament. The act of Union in 1800 restricted this number to one; but by the Irish reform bill, the original number was restored, and the right of election extended to all members of the university of twenty-one years of age, who at that time had, or who should thereafter obtain, a fellowship or scholarship, the degree of master of arts, or any higher degree.

The entire government of the university is vested in the following Officers: the chancellor, who is elected by the provost and senior fellows, and whose office is tenable for life; the vice-chancellor, nominated for life by the chancellor, and who has the power to appoint a pro-vice-chancellor in special cases; the provost, appointed by the crown; the vice-provost, an annual officer, who is usually the first of the seven senior fellows; two proctors, chosen annually, one from the senior and the other from the junior fellows, for regulating the forms for taking degrees; two deans and a sacristan, whose duty it is to inspect the details of moral discipline; two librarians; a registrar, who performs the duty of secretary to the provost and junior fellows; a list of electors admitted under the reform act; an auditor; six university preachers; four morning lecturers; and nine examiners.

The ordinary affairs of the college are managed by a Board, consisting of the provost and senior fellows, who hold a meeting every Saturday. The provost must be in holy orders, and a doctor, or at least a bachelor in divinity, and not less than thirty years of age. The fellows are all bound to enter into priests' orders, except three; one of whom is elected Medici by the provost and senior fellows; the other two are elected Jurista juris civilis, and Jurista juris Anglici, respectively.

The Senate of the university consists of all masters of arts, Senate, and doctors in the three faculties, who have their names upon the college books, and are resident in the university. The Caput Caput. Senators Academici is a council consisting of the vice-chancellor, the provost, or in his absence the vice-provost, and the senior master non-regent, resident in the college. The vice-chancellor and the provost must be in holy orders or in holy orders, and the senior master non-regent is annually elected by the vice-chancellor and provost, with the consent of the congregation. Every grace must pass the caput before it can be proposed to the senate of the university in public congregation, and each member of the caput has a negative voice.

The System of Instruction is conducted by means of professor-System of ships, lectures, and periodical examinations. According to the Instruction, statutes of Laud, all professorships were to be held by fellows. The provost was to appoint from the body of fellows, senior and junior, such a number as he thought fit, to be college tutors; and the fees paid by pupils, together with the emoluments of lectureships, professorships, and other offices, were to constitute the salaries of the fellows. At this period the only professorship in the university was that of divinity, which however was not recognised as the regius professorship till the year 1674. Two professorships, of jurisprudence and medicine, were appointed by statute, and the fellows who devoted themselves to these professions were exempted from the obligation of entering holy orders. The increase of students, by augmenting the duties as well as the emoluments of the tutors, has not broken in upon the original spirit of the statutes; and the increased value of the college lands has supplied the means of assigning to the senior fellows ample salaries without subjecting them to the necessity of acting as tutors. Accordingly some annual offices, with several professorships, are now held exclusively by senior fellows, while the duties of tuition have been for many years confined to the junior fellows. By some recent regulations, four of the latter now hold offices incom-

Each master of arts is called a regent during the three years following the time when he took that degree. The name had its origin in duty formerly imposed on such masters, of regulating the disputations of the schools. The professorial system, as established in the university, has never been efficient. Some of the professorships and lectureships are annual offices, and these, with others which are not annual, are all held by persons whose time is occupied by other duties; and besides this, the lectures of the professors are not sufficiently connected with the education of such as are looking for university honours or degrees. The education of the students in arts is intrusted almost exclusively to those of the junior fellows who exercise the functions of tutors.

Terms.

The academical year is divided into three terms, Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity. Those of Michaelmas and Hilary are followed each by a short recess; that of Trinity by a vacation of three months. Terms are kept, during the under-graduate course, not by residence, as at Oxford and Cambridge, but by answering at the examinations held for the purpose at the beginning of each term. Students of divinity, law, and medicine are required to attend the lectures of the professors, and therefore reside either in the college or in the city. The under-graduate course consists of four years, in each of which the students are distinguished by the titles of junior and senior Freshmen, and junior and senior Sophisters. After taking his first degree, the student proceeds successively to a junior, middle, and senior Scholar, when he is admitted to the degree of master of arts. A bachelor of divinity must be M.A. of seven years' standing; a doctor in divinity must be B.D. of five, or a master of arts of twelve; a bachelor of laws must be of six years' standing. A doctor of laws must be L.L.B. of four years' standing, or a master of arts of six. A bachelor in medicine must be B.A. of three years' standing, or M.A. of two; a doctor in medicine must be M.B. of five years', or a master of arts of seven years' standing. A bachelor in music must compose and perform a solemn piece of music before the university; a doctor in music must be Mus.B. of five years, and perform a similar exercise. The fees for B.A. are L7.17s.6d., for M.A. L9.19s.6d., for B.D. L13.15s., for D.D. L26, for L.L.B. L11.15s., for L.L.D. L22, for M.B. L11.15s., and M.D. L22.

Ranks.

The students are arranged in four Ranks: 1. Noblemen and baronets, styled nobles, filii nobilium, and equites, who are entitled to the degree of B.A. per specialiam gratiam. 2. Fellow commoners, who are obliged to graduate at the commencement of their fourth or senior sophister's year. These two classes have a high annual stipend, and dine at the same table with the fellows in the commons hall. 3. Pensioners, who constitute the great body of the students. 4. Sizars, who have their commons free, and are exempted from annual fees. The number of sizars is limited to thirty-six, and admission is obtained after a very strict examination held annually to supply vacancies, the endowment being tenable for four years. Each of these classes is distinguished by a particular dress. The mode of admission is by an examination, held at the beginning of each term, in the public theatre of the college. The examiners for entrance are the junior fellows. The senior lecturer commences the examination by proposing to the candidates a subject, on which they are required to write in Latin, or else by giving them a few sentences in English to translate into that language. After a sufficient time allowed for this exercise, the examination in classics begins. The following is the course appointed.

Greek.—Homer, Iliad, lib. i.-viii.; Walker's Lucian; Nov. Test. the Gospels and Acts; Xenophon's Anab. lib. i.-iii.

Latin.—Sallust; Horace; Virgil; En. lib. i.-vi.; Terence, Andria, and Heautontimoromenos; Juvenal, Sat. lib. x.-xii.; xiv.

The examination is conducted viva voce; each examiner takes a separate book, and goes round the hall, requiring from the candidates separately an oral translation of a few lines of a sentence, and asking some grammatical or historical questions. After the examination, places are determined by the reports of the examiners. Entrances are also held on the first Monday of every month during terms. Those who enter after November, and propose to go on with the junior freshman class, must pay a year in advance, instead of half a year, and their names must be on the college books at latest before the eighth of July. The examination for sizarships is held annually on the first Tuesday and Wednesday after Trinity Sunday; and the candidates, together with the ordinary entrance course, are examined in all the additional classics read in the first two terms of the junior freshman year.

The following is a table of the half-yearly charges, including tuition, but exclusive of rooms and commons.

| Entrance, including the first Half Year | |----------------------------------------| | Noblemen | L60 0 0 L30 0 0 | | Fellow-commoners | 30 0 0 15 0 0 | | Pensioner | 15 0 0 7 0 0 | | Sizar | 5 0 0 - |

Every student at his admission must select one of the fourteen junior fellows who act as tutors to be his instructor, and the pur-

---

1 This was the number previous to the statute of Victoria. When the additional fellows provided for by this statute are elected, the number of tutors will be increased to eighteen.

2 A bachelor of arts may take this degree in three years, and a master of arts in two. The tutors deliver lectures to the first three classes, each to his own pupils. The subjects of these lectures are the science, and sometimes also the Latin book, appointed by the college for the examination of the ensuing term; and they are conducted in the same manner as in the English universities. Besides the lectures of the private tutors, all undergraduates who reside in the college or in Dublin are bound to attend the lectures on science and Greek delivered by the college lecturers. Freshmen are required to attend weekly lectures on science. Three distinct courses are instituted, one in mathematics and physics, another in logic and metaphysics, and a third in classics, in any one or more of which a student, according to his taste and inclination, may contend for honours at his degree examination. In each course two ranks of honour-men are formed, called senior and junior Moderators, the number in each rank being limited to one fourth of the entire class. The science taught in the first year of the course is mathematics; in the second, logic; in the third, astronomy and physics; in the fourth, ethics; in addition to which the student must be prepared to answer in a certain portion of Latin and Greek, selected from the classical writers. An extended course of studies is prescribed for those who aspire to academic honours. At the examinations, senior and junior freshmen are accountable for the science taught in all the preceding terms from the beginning of the course; senior and junior sophisters, for the science taught from the beginning of the third or junior sophister year; but except for honours at the degree examination, the teaching of freshmen classes is not carried beyond the second year. To obtain a degree, a candidate must have credit for at least the three examinations of that class, one of which must be the third or older examination, if he is either a senior freshman or a senior sophister. A senior sophister who may not have secured credit for the October examination, may qualify himself for his degree by answering in the same business at any subsequent examination as a senior sophister; and a senior freshman may repair the like omission in the same way at the first examination of the senior winter year. Fellow-commoners and sizar students subject to the same rule, with some slight exceptions.

Each term commences with an Examination, not only of the studies of that immediately preceding, but, with the exceptions already stated, of the substance of most of those which had been previously gone over. These examinations are of peculiar importance in the university of Dublin, from their effect upon the students generally, and because they constitute, to a very large proportion of those who graduate there, the only university education which they receive. Frequent residence and peculiarly discipline by which residence is not enforced on undergraduate students, unless he be a scholar, is permitted, at his own discretion, to prepare himself for the examinations without residing in the college or in the city; and on his being represented by his tutor as a resident in the country, no other academic duties are required of him. The expense of residence would be an insuperable obstacle to many who are at present in the university; and therefore, by the admission of non-resident students, some part of the advantages of a university education are extended to a larger number of individuals by whom, if residence were enforced, not even the part would be attainable. Thus, while five or six hundred students annually receive at Dublin all the advantages that residence and college discipline can communicate, about an equal number are induced to study, and are furnished with the means of attaining at least of the objects proposed by a university education, namely, the power of acquiring knowledge. The examiners are the fellows masters of arts, or doctors, resident in the college, who are selected from the provost and senior fellows. The students of the same class for the year assemble together for examination, and are separated into divisions not exceeding forty, to each of which three examiners are assigned, one in logic, one in Latin, and one in Greek. The examination of each class occupies four days; the first two days being devoted to the determination of judgments, and the remaining two to the separate examination of honour-men. The examiners of the first two days select from their divisions such as they deem qualified to become candidates for honours or prizes, and return their names to the senior lecturer. The examination of those who have not been selected for honours is then concluded; but on the third day the candidates selected for honours in science are examined by a separate court of examiners; and on the fourth day, the candidates for honours in classics; the examination, as in the former case, being conducted partly vis vis, and partly by written papers. The prizes, during the first three years, are books of the value of L4 and L2, given at the close of the year to the best answers during the three examinations. The number of prizes is subject to the same limitation as the honours. At the Michaelmas examination of the fourth year, the examiners of the first two days select from among the candidates for degrees those whom they deem qualified to become candidates for honours in any of the three departments of the academical course. These candidates of the same department are then examined together by a body of examiners during two days, by whom they are arranged in two divisions of senior and junior moderators. The limit to the number of moderators of each division is determined, as in the case of honours and prizes, at the previous examinations. At the conclusion of each examination, lists of the successful candidates for prizes, honours, or moderatorships, are made out by the senior lecturer, who is required to insert them in his book, and also to have them affixed to the college gates, and published in the newspapers. The successful candidates of each rank are arranged according to the order of their standing on the college books, excepting only the senior moderators, who, at the degree examination, are placed according to the order of merit.

The Comitia, or commencements, for conferring degrees, are held Comitia. on Shrove Tuesday and the Tuesday next before the eighth of July. The notice of the house for a degree in any faculty must first be granted by the provost and senior fellows before it can be presented to the caput. Those who have been admitted to a degree at the board are then presented to the vice-chancellor and the whole university, at a public congregation, by the regius professor of the faculty in which the degree is to be taken; or if it be a degree in arts, by one of the proctors. If no member of the caput objects, the presenting officer supplicates the congregation for their public grace, and collects their suffrages; if the places be the majority, the candidates kneel before the vice-chancellor, who confers the degree, according to a formula fixed by the university statutes.

The examination for Scholarships is held annually on the Thursday-Scholar-day and Friday before Whitsunday. The examiners are the pro-vost and senior fellows. Scholarships are open to all students, being Protestants, who have reached their third under-graduate year, and are tenable till the holder is entitled to the degree of arts. Students of higher standing are also permitted to become candidates, but an extended course of reading is required of them. The examinations include all the classes read for entrance and in the extended course for undergraduates; to the end of the second examination of the junior sophister year; or, should the candidate be of higher standing than that of junior sophister (reckoned from the time of his entrance), to the end of the last examination which he might have answered had he proceeded regularly with his class. The examination is conducted entirely vis vis. The scholars have their commons free of expense, and their rooms for half the charge paid by pensioners; they pay for tuition, but are exempted from college charges or decrements, and receive from the college an annual salary.

The Fellowship examination, when a vacancy occurs, is held by Fellow-the provost and senior fellows, on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday preceding Trinity Sunday. Two hours are devoted to each subject, and two subjects occupy a day. The examination continues from eight to ten a.m., and from two to four p.m. each day. The following is the order in which the subjects are taken.

| Morning | Afternoon | |---------|-----------| | First day | Logic | Mathematics | | Second day | Physics | Ethics | | Third day | History and chronology | Greek, Latin, and Hebrew | | Fourth day | Latin verse composition | Latin prose |

The terms first class, second class, &c., in Dublin, mean students who are in their first, second, &c., year.

The examiners are required to fix the merit of every candidate in each subject appointed for the examination, according to a scale of six degrees, technically called judgments, which has been long in use for this purpose. The highest degree of merit is marked by the judgment sine, which however is very rarely given, and is therefore regarded as a very high honour. The remaining degrees are valida bene, bene, auta bene, moderata bene, and mix moderata bene. The student who receives this last judgment loses his examination, or, in technical language, is discarded; that is to say, the examination in which he is thus disgraced is not suffered to count in the number required for keeping his year, or for his degree. If he have received two or more such judgments, besides losing his examination, he is turned down to the bottom of his class; if continued again, on the succeeding examination, he is put down into a lower class. The classical examiner gives three judgments, one for Greek, another for Latin, and another for a theme. The number of judgments given by the science examiner varies from one to four, according to the subjects read by the class. CONTINENTAL UNIVERSITIES.

The following is a list of the existing European universities, exclusive of those of Great Britain, Ireland, and France. The number of students for the years previous to 1840 has been taken chiefly from the "Genealogisch-historisch-statistischer Almanach für das Jahr 1840," published at Weimar. When the year is not mentioned, the number of students given may be taken as the average attendance.

| Universities | Country in which situated | Year | Total Number of Students | Number of Professors | |--------------|---------------------------|------|-------------------------|---------------------| | Alcala | Spain | 1499 | 364 | | | Athens | Greece | 1459 | | | | Basel | Switzerland | R.1562 | 1828 | 114 | | Berlin | Prussia | 1810 | 1840 | 1778 | 86 | | Berno | Switzerland | 1834 | 1834 | 208 | | Bologna | Papal States | 1119 | | | | Bonn | Prussia | 1790 | 1840 | 648 | 42 | | Breslau | Prussia | 1702 | 1840 | 631 | 49 | | Brussels | Belgium | 1834 | 1838 | 210 | | Cagliari | Sardinia Island | 1764 | 1832 | 250 | | Camerino | Papal States | 1824 | | | | Catania | Two Sicilies | 1445 | 1831 | 500 | | Cervera | Spain | 1717 | | | | Charloff | Russia | 1893 | 1838 | 315 | 81 | | Christiania | Norway | 1811 | 1838 | 600 | | Coimbra | Portugal | R.1818 | | | | Copenhagen | Denmark | 1438 | 1838 | 1301 | | Corfu | Ionian Islands | 1823 | 1839 | 60 | 10 | | Cracow | Republic of Cracow | 1835 | 1839 | 259 | | Dorpat | Russia | 1632 | 1838 | 563 | 74 | | Erlangen | Bavaria | 1743 | 1840 | 325 | 34 | | Ferrara | Papal States | 1824 | | | | Florence | Tuscany | 1433 | 1836 | 200 | | Freiburg | Baden | 1457 | 1840 | 315 | 35 | | Genoa | Sardinia | 1812 | 1832 | 500 | | Ghent | Belgium | 1816 | 1837 | 292 | | Giessen | Hesse-Darmstadt | 1607 | 1840 | 377 | 39 | | Göttingen | Hanover | 1734 | 1840 | 675 | 89 | | Granada | Spain | 1531 | | | | Grätz | Austria | 1586 | 1828 | 321 | | Greifswald | Prussia | 1456 | 1839 | 217 | 30 | | Gröningen | Holland | 1694 | 1839 | 625 | 64 | | Halle | Prussia | 1386 | 1840 | 622 | 55 | | Heidelberg | Baden | 1620 | 1833 | 422 | | Helsingfors | Russia | 1354 | | | | Huesca | Spain | 1672 | 1828 | 332 | | Innsbruck | Austria | R.1625 | 1828 | 332 | | Jena | Weimar | 1587 | 1840 | 450 | 51 | | Kasan or Oson| Russia | 1803 | 1838 | 179 | 76 | | Kiel | Denmark | 1665 | 1838 | 300 | 26 | | Kiev | Russia | 1833 | 1835 | 203 | 83 | | Königsberg | Prussia | 1544 | 1839 | 405 | 23 | | Leipzig | Saxony | 1409 | 1840 | 925 | 81 | | Lemberg | Austria | R.1817 | 1833 | 1311 |

1. The university of Wittenberg was united with it in 1815. 2. Transferred from Abo after the fire in 1827. 3. Founded by the removal thither of the former university of Landshut. UNIVERSITIES.