SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES.

UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Scotland contained no academical institution in which the higher branches of knowledge were taught. The Scottish youth who wished to obtain a more liberal education than the seminaries of the country afforded, were under the necessity of seeking it in distant universities; in some of which colleges were early endowed for their reception. Soon after the middle of the thirteenth century, Dervorguilla, daughter of Alan, Earl of Galloway, and mother of John Balliol, king of Scotland, founded and endowed a college at Oxford for Scottish students; and, in 1326, the Scottish College in the University of Paris was founded and endowed for a similar purpose by David Murray, bishop of Moray. The inconvenience and risk attending the removal of the youth to foreign schools were long felt; and the discerning part of the community were not insensible of the great advantages which the country would derive from the establishment of an institution within its own limits, where the higher branches of education, in science, philosophy, and theology might be obtained. One of the men who cherished these sentiments was Henry Wardlaw, bishop of St Andrews, who adopted measures to remedy the evil. Having ascertained that his sovereign James I., at that time a prisoner in England, approved of his scheme, he resolved, with the consent and approbation of the Estates of the kingdom, to erect a general study in the ecclesiastical metropolis. The Foundation lectures were begun in 1411; and the bishop, with the concurrence of the Prior of St Andrews and the Archdeacon of Lothian, immediately granted to the masters and students the privileges belonging to a university. Benedict XIII. issued a bull of confirmation on the 28th of August 1413, instituting a studium generale, or university, for instruction in theology, the canon and the civil law, medicine, and the liberal arts; and conveying to the bishop the power of conferring degrees in these faculties, thereby investing him with the power and dignity of chancellor. The pope on the same day signed five other bulls, securing the rights and privileges of the university, which were ratified by James I. in 1432. The king at the same time granted to the members of the university exemption from all the exiguous tributes of his kingdom; an immunity which was confirmed by four of his successors on the throne.

The university was formed on the model of those of Constitute-Paris and Bologna. The members, or suppositors, as they were called, were divided into four nations, those of Fife, Angus, Lothian, and Albany, the last including all students who did not belong to any of the other three districts. The suppositors, at a congregation or general meeting, elected annually four procurators to watch over their interests, and four entrants, or electors, by whom the rector was chosen. The government was vested in the rector, of whom it was required, as a necessary qualification, that he should be a graduate in one of the faculties, and should also be in holy orders. The university was represented in the rectorial court by twelve assessors, three selected from each nation. With the advice and consent of his assessors, the rector possessed supreme judicial power in all causes, civil and criminal, relating to members of the university, with the exception of crimes which inferred the highest punishment. As in other cases which have already been mentioned, the privileges and powers possessed by the university excited the jealousy of the magistrates of the city; till a concordat was entered into by the contending parties, by which their respective jurisdictions were defined and adjusted. The members of the university were divided into faculties, at the head of each of which was a dean, who presided at the meetings of the masters for regulating the course of study, for examinations, and the conferring of degrees. The university was well supplied with teachers even at its commencement. Before the papal bulls were issued, it included a professor of divinity, four lecturers on the canon law, and three who taught the arts or philosophy. The revenues of the institution were at first extremely limited, and for some time consisted chiefly of small sums received from the students at their admission and graduation; but the persons appointed to conduct the different departments of study generally enjoyed endowments from other sources. During the first twenty years of its existence, great inconvenience was suffered from the want of public buildings; and the schools were held in the different religious houses, which in consequence claimed to be considered as constituent parts of the university. In 1430 a Pedagogium was erected for the schools of the faculty of arts, and for chambers for the students of that faculty; while the studies of the faculties of theology and law continued to be conducted in other buildings. The congregations of the university were held for at least 130 years in the Augustinian priory. The university was liberally patronised by James I. after his return from his long captivity in England; and being conducted by an active and devoted priesthood, it soon acquired the confidence and respect of the country, and attracted students from all parts of the kingdom. To provide more effectually for their instruction, James Kennedy, the successor of Wardlaw in the see of St Andrews, established in 1450 the College of St Salvator, which was sanctioned by Pope Nicholas V. about the year 1455, and in favour of which new grants were made by the same prelate, and by Pope Pius II. in 1458. The college was to consist of thirteen persons, all of whom were to live within its walls; a prepositus or provost, who was to be a doctor of divinity; a licentiate and a bachelor of the same faculty; four masters of arts; and six poor scholars. The provost was required to lecture in theology once a week, the licentiate twice, and the bachelor every readable day; the duty of preaching at stated times to the people being also imposed on the two former. Two of the masters of arts were to be annually chosen as regents, the one to teach logic, and the other physics and metaphysics, according to the method of the schools and the statutes of the university. The masters of arts and poor scholars were to be elected by the provost, licentiate, and bachelor. The benevolent founder granted as an endowment the rectorial tithes of four adjoining parishes, constituting the three principal masters of the college rectors of three of them, and reserving the fruits of the fourth as a common fund for the maintenance and support of all members of the foundation, together with their attendants and servants. About the year 1468, Pope Paul II., in consideration of the rising reputation of the college, honoured it with the privilege of conferring degrees in theology and the arts; thereby constituting it a separate university, though with limited powers.

In 1512, John Hepburn, prior of the Augustinian monastery, and Alexander Stewart, archbishop of St Andrews, founded the College of St Leonard, which was in the same year confirmed by a royal charter from James IV., accompanied, as in the case of the university and the College of St Salvator, with an exemption to its members and property from all national imposts. The prior granted to this new erection the revenues of the hospital of St Andrews, for the support of the principal master; four chaplains, two of whom were to be regents; six graduates in arts, who were to be diligent students of theology; and twenty scholars, students of philosophy. The principal, who was to be nominated by the prior from the canons of the chapter, was constituted professor of divinity, and was invested with absolute jurisdiction over all the members of the college. In conjunction with the prior, he was to appoint the regents; and candidates for the scholarships, after satisfactory examination by him, certified to the prior, were nominated by the latter, who was enjoined to be influenced in the disposal of his patronage by merit alone, and not by individual solicitation. As in the case of St Salvator's, all the members were to live within the walls of the college, and were bound to conform to certain regulations as to dress, amusements, and general conduct. Delinquencies were to be severely punished; and the power of visiting the college and reforming its abuses was retained by the prior and the chapter of the convent.

Notwithstanding the superior advantages of the two endowed colleges, there were still in the university professors and students who belonged to neither, and who continued to frequent the Pedagogium, although they were supported by but slender funds. The disadvantages to which they were subjected in their competition with the rival colleges induced Archbishop Alexander Stewart to make preparations for giving to the pedagogium a collegiate form, which were frustrated by his premature death on the field of Flodden. The design was resumed by his successor, James Beaton, who, in 1537, founded St Mary's College, or, as it was sometimes called, the New College and in the same year procured for it the confirmation of Paul III. It was founded for all the faculties; and by its charter of erection obtained the power of conferring degrees, thus forming a third independent university. But the college was not finally erected till 1554, when Archbishop Hamilton, under the authority of a papal bull, obtained in the year preceding, extended its constitution, and endowed it with the tithes of six parishes. It was to consist of thirty-six persons; a prefect or principal, who was to be a doctor or licentiate in divinity, and who was to have jurisdiction over all members on the foundation; two professors of divinity, the one a licentiate and the other a bachelor; a professor of the canon law, who was to be in priest's orders; eight students of divinity, whose appointments were tenable for six years, and who, besides attending regularly the lectures of the professors, were themselves required to lecture; three professors or regents of philosophy, who were to teach logic, ethics, physics, mathematics, and the other liberal arts; a professor of rhetoric and one of grammar, who were to be masters of arts; sixteen poor scholars, students of philosophy, who were to be well acquainted with grammar and Latin; a provisor, a janitor, and a cook. The defence and propagation of the Catholic faith being the declared object of the erection of this as well as the other colleges, the principal and professors had certain extra-academical duties assigned to them. The principal was required to lecture on the sacred Scriptures every Monday, the licentiate five times a week, and the canonist to deliver the same number of lectures on the canon law. Appropriate duties were assigned to the other members. The rector of the university, with the principal of St Salvator's College, and some of the highest ecclesiastics of the city, were to elect the principal and the professors of divinity and of the canon law; and they again were to fill up all other vacancies as they occurred in the college. The rector was empowered to visit the college annually, and to see that discipline was duly enforced. The college was to be exempted from all public burdens. All vacations were to be disallowed, and absenteeism for a month in the year, without permission from the principal, were to forfeit their appointments. Nothing, probably, is more remarkable in the establishment of the colleges of St Andrews, than the success of the founders in obtaining for them the most celebrated teachers. Men who had distinguished themselves in the foreign universities were urgently invited as professors, and appear to have willingly embraced the opportunity to diffuse among their countrymen the learning which they had themselves acquired elsewhere.

The constitutions of the university and the three colleges remained unaltered till the Reformation, with the exception of the appointment of a professor of humanities in each of the colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard, answering to the grammaticus in St Mary's. During the agitation of the civil and vital religious controversy, the academical exercises were interrupted; and in the year 1559 the faculty of arts were under the necessity of discontinuing the public exhibitions usual at graduation. Immediately after the establishment of the Reformation, the laws and practice of the university were accommodated to the change which had taken place in the religious establishment of the country; but the mode of teaching, and the academical exercises, so far as related to philosophy and the arts, continued nearly on their former footing. The students who entered Course of a college at the same time formed a class, and were placed under study, the superintendence and tuition of a regent, by whom their studies were conducted during the whole course. The regular period of the course was four years, but it was more usually finished in three years and a half. The session commenced on the 1st of October, and continued till the end of July, the months of August and September being allowed as a vacation. The regent assembled his class three hours every day, and read and explained to them the books of Aristotle, beginning with dialectics or logic, then advancing to ethics, next to physics, and concluding with metaphysics, which was considered the highest branch of philosophy, and mathematics, which included arithmetic. During their course the students were frequently exercised in disputations and declamations, both privately in their class and publicly before the college and university. The principal frequently read lectures on the higher branches of philosophy, which were attended by all the students of the college.

In the latter part of the third year, the students who obtained from their regent and the principal of their college an attestation of regular attendance and good conduct, were allowed to propose themselves as candidates for the degree of bachelor. In the presence of three regents, annually selected from each college as examiners, the candidates determined a question in logic or morals, and answered such questions as were proposed to them on any of the branches of study with which they had been occupied. Those who acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of the examiners were confirmed bachelors by the dean, the rest were sent to a lower class. A similar form was observed in the act of laureation at the end of the course; except that, on this occasion, the candidates were examined on the whole circle of the arts, and were required to defend a thesis which had been previously affixed to the gates of the different colleges. They were then divided into classes, and their names arranged according to merit, with a certain preference to persons of rank. When the examinations were concluded, the degree of master of arts was solemnly conferred by the chancellor, in nomine Patriae, Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Certain fees were paid by the graduates, according to their rank, to the purse of the university, and of the faculty, to the dean, and to other officers. Small annual fees seem originally to have been paid by the students to their regents.

Soon after the establishment of the Reformation, the leaders of that great revolution proposed a scheme for new-modelling the universities, which, though not adopted by the Legislature, will remain a lasting monument of the enlightened and patriotic views of its compilers. After several other ineffectual attempts, a commission was appointed in 1579, on the petition of the General Assembly, with full powers to consider the foundations in the University of St Andrews, to alter the constitution and form of study, and to introduce such improvements as might appear necessary. The commissioners, finding that all the colleges had departed from their original foundations, agreed upon a new course of instruction, which was laid before the ensuing meeting of Parliament, and ratified on the 11th of November 1579. St Salvador's College was to consist of a principal, and four professors or regents of humanity and philosophy. The first regent was to teach the Greek grammar, and to exercise the students in Latin composition during the first, and in Greek during the second half-year. The second regent, who was also considered as professor of humanity, was to teach the principles of rhetoric, and the practice of it as exemplified in the best Greek and Latin writers. This regent was to spend an hour at least every day in composition; and during the last half-year, the students were to declaim once a month in Greek and Latin alternately. It was the duty of the third regent to teach in his original language, part of the Logic of Aristotle, with the Ethics and Politics; and the Offices of Cicero in Latin. The fourth regent was to teach the necessary parts of the Physics, and the doctrine of the Sphere. Each regent was confined to his own department. Professors of mathematics and law were also established, who were to lecture at least four times every week; and the principal of the college was to act as professor of medicine. Similar arrangements were made in St Leonard's College; with this difference, that no classes of mathematics and law were established in it, and the principal was to lecture on the philosophy of Plato. St Mary's College was appropriated solely to the study of theology, and the languages connected with it. The course of study was to be completed in four years, under the instruction of a principal and four professors, each of the professors having under his care only the students of one year. It embraced, in the first year, the elements of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac; during the next eighteen months, the same languages, with critical explanations of the Pentateuch and historical books of the Old Testament; and during the remaining eighteen months, the prophetical books were examined in the same manner. During the whole four years, the fourth professor was to explain the New Testament, by comparing the original with the Syrian version, and the principal was to lecture on systematic divinity. The students were required to attend the lectures of three professors every day during the continuance of their theological course. Such was the form of instruction drawn up by Melville and recommended by Buchanan, which has been well characterized by Dr M'Crie as "the most liberal and enlightened plan of study which had yet been established in any European university." This destination of the colleges continued till 1621, when, by an act of the legislature, their original constitutions were restored, "in all their heads, articles, and clauses," so far as was consistent with the reformed religion, with the single exception that St Mary's should be confined to the faculty of divinity. Professorships of mathematics and medicine were instituted in 1668 and 1721. We have not the means of ascertaining the precise number of students who belonged to the university at one time. In ordinary cases it appears not to have exceeded 200, and it did not fall much short of that number during the latter half of the sixteenth century. Fewer had attended it during the first half, and still fewer previously to that period.

The three colleges continued without further alteration till the Union of year 1747, when, in consequence of the inadequacy of the provisions St Salvator's for the principals and professors of the two colleges of philosophy, torn and a union of them was effected by parliamentary enactment, which St Leonard enabled them to consolidate their endowments, and to make pro-nard's vision for a more extended course of instruction. By this statute the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard was to consist of a principal, a professor of Greek, three professors of philosophy, professors of humanity, civil history, mathematics, and medicine, and sixteen bursars on the original foundations. The same statute regulates the patronage of the professorships and bursaries, and makes provision for the disposal of the funds of the college.

In the present position of the Scottish universities (September 1869), it is impossible to offer a complete account of the constitution of any one of them. A feeling had long prevailed that they were failing to supply the increasing demands of the intelligence of the day, and that some improvement in their constitution, as well as additional means of obtaining instruction in the more modern departments of literature and science, were imperatively required. The system of instruction pursued in them, though well suited to the wants of the community a century ago, had ceased to meet the requirements of the present age. In consequence of this a royal commission for visiting the Scottish universities was appointed in 1826, which, after an extensive and minute inquiry, issued in 1831 an elaborate report containing many valuable suggestions for their improvement. In this able document a separate constitution was sketched out for each; and additional professorships suggested where these were deemed necessary. But public expectation was excited only to be disappointed. Not a single suggestion contained in the report was carried into effect; and with the exception of the institution of a few chairs, chiefly medical, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Marischal College, Aberdeen, the universities have, till the present year, remained in the same condition. Meanwhile, the demand for renovation continued to gather strength, and being increased by the improvements so happily effected in Oxford and Act of Cambridge, at last induced the government to take up the question; 1858, and accordingly, in 1858, an act was passed "to make provision for the better government and discipline of the universities of Scotland, and improving and regulating the course of study therein; and for the union of the five universities and colleges of Aberdeen."

The act appoints twelve gentlemen and gentlemen as commissioners, with ample powers to carry its provisions into effect; and these are at present occupied in preparing rules and instructions to regulate the proceedings of each university separately. In all the universities the act has come into operation, but in none of them have the necessary details been arranged. One object of the act is to introduce a uniform system of government and instruction in all the universities, and accordingly the same constitution is pro-constituted for all. In each there are three governing bodies, namely, the Senatus Academicus, the University Court, and the General Council; and the chief officers are the chancellor, the vice-chancellor, the registrar, and the rector.

The Senatus Academicus consists of the principal and professors, Senatus possesses and exercises the powers previously belonging to it in so academi- The University of St Andrews consists of a chancellor, rector, constellate two principals, and twelve professors and students. The University Court consists of the rector, the senior principal, an assessor nominated by the chancellor, an assessor nominated by the rector, an assessor elected by the General Council, and an assessor elected by the Senatus Academicus, with four as a quorum. The rector is elected by a general poll of all the matriculated students. The meetings of the General Council are held on the first Thursday of March and the last Thursday of November. The Senatus Academicus consists of the two principals and twelve professors; the senior principal being president, and having both a deliberative and a casting vote. The length of the session, course of study, class fees, revenues, bursaries, &c., are at present under the consideration of the Universities Commissioners.

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts is chosen annually by the Dean, members of the faculty, who are the principal and professors of the United College. He presides in the meetings of the faculty, and communicates with the senatus respecting applications for degrees.

In the original charters of all the Scottish universities, the four Faculties, Faculties of Arts, Laws, Medicine, and Divinity, are either expressly enumerated, or, as is the case with Glasgow, are implied in the expression quaeque alia Rota faciatur; and in all of them, with the exception of St Andrews, is instruction given in these faculties. Here there are professors of medicine and chemistry, but there is no medical school; and there is no representative of the faculty of laws. The only faculties therefore which are in operation, are the faculty of arts in the one college, and that of divinity in the other.

The curriculum of arts extends over four sessions, and includes Curriculum attendance on the classes of Latin, Greek, mathematics, logic (in-lum of including rhetoric and metaphysics), moral philosophy and political arts, economy, and natural philosophy.

In the United College the session or annual term of attendance Session for the Latin and Greek classes begins at present on or about the 20th of October; for the other classes, on the first Thursday of November; and closes on the last Friday of April. In St Mary's College it commences about the end of November, and terminates in the beginning of April.

The revenue of the university, as distinct from the colleges, is Revenue small; and the endowments of the colleges have been much curtailed by the augmentations of the stipends of those parishes the tithes of which were granted to them by the original founders. The revenue of the United College is derived partly from the funds of the original foundations, from the donations of private individuals, and from property purchased by the college itself. St Mary's College was originally endowed with tithes only, to which additions were made by James VI. and William III. Both colleges receive an annual grant from Parliament.

There are 67 bursaries connected with the United College, varying Bursaries in value from about £30 to £65. Of these, 25 are open to public competition; the others are in the gift of private patrons or public bodies. There is also a Ramsay fellowship of the value of from £100 to £120, tenable for four years by a student who has completed his curriculum in arts. The aggregate annual value of the funds is about £800. In addition to the bursaries five valuable prizes of £25, £20, £15, £14, and £10 are assigned by public competition at the end of each session. In St Mary's College there are 12 divinity bursaries in the gift of the college, of the average aggregate value of £160, which are awarded by public competition, besides 3 which are in the gift of private patrons; and 4 of the aggregate annual value of £90, which are administered by the Presbytery of Perth.

The number of matriculated students in 1859-60 was, in arts, 110, and in divinity, 35. The number of graduates was 102; namely, in arts, 9 (A.M. 6; A.B. 3); in divinity, 0; in laws, 0; in medicine, 93.

Discipline. As none of the students live within the college walls, the discipline in the Scottish universities is limited chiefly to the class-room. Delinquents are punished by admonition or fine; and on a repetition of the offence, or when the offence is of a grave character, are brought before the Senatus Academicus, which possesses the power of justification and expulsion. Regular attendance on the classes is strictly enforced, and various means are used to stimulate the industry of the students. At the close of the session prizes are awarded to those who are most distinguished in their respective classes. The students in arts wear particular dress, which varies with the rank of the wearer, and differs as he is a prizor, secondor, or terior. The students of both colleges are required to attend divine worship in the college church, except such as obtain dispensations from the principals and professors.

The following table contains the several professorships, with the patronage:

| United College | Office | Patronage | |----------------|--------|-----------| | Principal | Crown | | | Humanity | Duke of Portland | | | Greek | University Court | | | Mathematics | Crown | | | Logic, Rhetoric, and Metaphysics | University Court | | | Moral Philosophy and Political Economy | University Court | | | Natural Philosophy | University Court | | | Civil History | Marquess of Alls | | | Anatomy and Medicine | University Court | | | Chemistry | Earl of Leven | |

| St Mary's College | Office | Patronage | |-------------------|--------|-----------| | Principal and Primarius Professor of Divinity | Crown | | | Second Master and Professor of Divinity | Crown | | | Ecclesiastical History | Crown | | | Oriental Languages | Crown | |