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 sickly existence.

The present university was founded in 1591, through the exertions of Archbishop Lotius, who prevailed on the corporation of Dublin to appropriate for its support the ground and buildings of the dissolved monastery of All-Hallows, on Hoggan 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 1601 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 in the province of Ulster, which have since become valuable, besides a pension of £388, 15s. English, paid annually from the exchequer.

By the charter of foundation, the body corporate was original to consist of a provost, three fellows, and three scholars, constituting a council. The provost and fellows was intrusted 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 with them 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 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 1627, provided against the difficulty, by dividing the scholars into nine socii scholares, or probationer fellows, and seventy scholarae discipuli, 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, undertook to remodel the statute-book which had hitherto been in use in the University of Dublin. The new charter and statutes, after encountering the most violent opposition, were read and published in the chapel of the university on Trinity Monday, June 5, 1637, and the oaths prescribed to the provost, fellows, and other officers, administered by the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, the new visitors of the college. The opposition was not however quieted by the promulgation of the statutes. After Laud had fallen from his power, and was no longer able to protect his favourites, a vigorous prosecution was commenced in the Irish Parliament against Bishop Chappel, the provost, by whose assistance the work of reformation had been carried into effect; but the rebellion of 1641, and the subversion of the British monarchy which so soon followed, diverted the attention of Parliament to more important matters. The clamour appears to have subsided during the commonwealth, when the university became nearly extinct, and it was not revived after the restoration. The Laudian constitution, with some slight modifications, has continued till the present day; and to it the university owes much of its celebrity and usefulness.

The alterations made by the new charter in the constitution and government of the university were important, and had special reference to the dissensions which had been occasioned in the body by its former mode of government. The election of provost, and the power of enacting and repealing statutes, were taken from the fellows, and reserved to the crown. Fellowships, which had hitherto expired at the end of seven years after taking a master's degree, were made tenable for life. The nine probationer fellows were admitted members of the corporation, under the name of "junior fellows;" but the entire control, both as to discipline and finance, was vested in the provost and seven senior fellows, subject to the jurisdiction of visitors nominated by the crown, in whom the right of ultimate appeal was vested. In cases not provided for by the statutes, the provost and senior fellows were empowered to make new statutes not repugnant to those granted by the king, which new statutes were to be confirmed by the visitors, and to remain in force till the enacting body should think proper to rescind them. The election of officers, as chancellor, proctors, &c., was continued in the provost and fellows, the chancellor being permitted to nominate the vice-chancellor.

The number of visitors was reduced from eight to two—viz, the chancellor, or, in his absence, the vice-chancellor, and the Archbishop of Dublin. A special clause provided that no person should profess or teach the liberal arts in any other place in Ireland, without a special licence from the crown. The changes since made in the statutes have consisted principally in the repeal of certain clauses which were found to be inconvenient; the augmentation of salaries; the foundation of professorships; the transference of certain powers from the crown to the board; the opening up of some offices (formerly restricted to fellows), to all members of the university; and the regulation of the library: but few alterations have been made affecting the constitution of the college, except the foundation of additional junior fellowships by different sovereigns, whereby their number was increased from nine to seventeen. By a Dublin statute of Queen Victoria, dated on the 6th of May 1840, the statute of Charles I., enjoining celibacy on the fellows Statute of was repealed, and provision made for founding ten new Victoria fellowships, so that the number now is twenty-seven. The addition to the fellowships, according to this statute, was to be made by the annual election, at the accustomed time and place, of one new fellow in 1840, and in each of the next succeeding nine years, over and above the vacancies which might occur in the subsisting body. Of the ten additional fellows, only the four seniors for the time being were to be appointed tutors; but the remaining six were to enjoy "all the other rights, profits, and emoluments, and perform all the other duties and functions of junior fellows, and to 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 was completed, though no vacancy occurred in the body of fellows, there was still an annual election of one, who succeeded to the first vacancy, unless there were at the same time two or more such persons so elected, in which case the senior of them succeeded to the first vacancy. It was also ordained, "that after the year 1849, there should be no more than two persons elected, whether as fellows or candidate fellows, in any one year, whatever number of vacancies might occur in the body." By a Queen's letter recently obtained, the board are empowered to suppress four of the junior fellowships, by not electing to more than one, whenever it shall happen that two or more vacancies occur at once. The number of junior fellows will thus be ultimately reduced to twenty-three.

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 senate from a list of three names submitted by the provost and senior fellows, and whose office is tenable for life; the vice-chancellor, nominated for life by the chancellor, and having the power to appoint a 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; a senior lecturer, who takes charge of all matters connected with the public examinations; two deans and a censor, whose duty it is to superintend the performance of religious duties, and to inspect the details of moral discipline; a librarian with two assistants; a registrar, who performs the duty of secretary to the board; a registrar for the electors admitted under the reform act; an auditor; six university preachers; five evening preachers; and twenty-eight examiners; besides which there are special courts of examiners for moderatorships. The ordinary affairs of the college are managed by a board, consisting of Board, 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 priest's orders, except five; one of whom is elected Medius by the provost and senior fellows; of the others, two are elected Juratus juris civilis, and two Juratus juris Anglici.

The senate of the university consists of the chancellor, or, in his Senate absence, of the vice-chancellor, or pro-vice-chancellor, for the time being, and of all masters of arts, and doctors in the three faculties, who have their names upon the college books. The Caput Senatus Academici is a council consisting of the chancellor, vice-chancellor, the provost, or, in his absence, the vice-provost, and the senior master non-regent, who is elected by the senate. The chancellor, vice-chancellor, and the provost are members of the caput ex officio. Every grace must first be submitted to the provost and senior fellows, and afterwards 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 professors' and tutors' lectures, and periodical examinations. According to the 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 1761. 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 into holy orders. The increase of students, by augmenting the duties as well as the emoluments of the tutors, has now 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 academic duties. Some general offices, with several professorships, which were formerly held exclusively by the fellows, have recently been given up by them; and the emoluments thus set free, as well as the portion of fees on degrees, appropriated to the provost and senior fellows, have been transferred to the general funds of the college, on condition "that the same be employed for the advancement of learning and education." By recent regulations, some of the junior fellows now hold offices incompatible with that of tutor, and have consequently resigned their pupils; so that the number of tutors is limited to eighteen. It was not till the latter end of last century that the principle was recognised of having professors in the university who were not fellows. In 1761 a statute was passed, which obliged the regius professor of divinity, on his appointment to that office, to resign his fellowship; and in the same year the regius professorship of feudal and English law was founded upon the same condition, if filled by a fellow. In 1774, Provost Andrews bequeathed to the college an endowment for a professor of astronomy. A school of medicine was established by act of parliament in 1785, consisting of three professorships not tenable with fellowships; and besides these, two professorships of modern languages were founded in 1776. These, with the professorships of political economy, moral philosophy, biblical Greek, and most of the more recently founded professorships, can be held by persons who are not fellows.

The following is a table of the professorships and lectureships, with the date of foundation:

| Course | Founded | |---------------------------------------------|---------| | Regius professorship of divinity | 1607 | | ... of civil and canon law | 1668 | | ... of feudal and English law | 1761 | | ... of physics | 1637 | | ... of Greek | 1761 | | King's lectureship in divinity | 1718 | | Lord Donegall's lectureship in mathematics | 1668 | | Royal astronomer of Ireland | 1791 | | Smith's professorship of natural and experimental philosophy | 1724 | | Smith's professorship of oratory and English literature | 1724 | | ... of mathematics | 1762 | | ... of modern history | 1762 | | ... of Hebrew | 1637 | | Professorship of anatomy | 1785 | | ... of surgery (two) | 1849 | | University professor of surgery | 1852 | | Professorship of chemistry | 1785 | | ... of botany | 1785 | | Lectureship in natural history | 1816 | | Professorship of French and German | 1777 | | ... of Italian and Spanish | 1776 | | Whately's professorship of political economy | 1832 | | Professorship of moral philosophy | 1837 | | ... of biblical Greek | 1838 | | University professorship of natural philosophy | 1847 | | Professorship of ecclesiastical history | 1850 | | ... of Arabic | 1856 | | ... of Sanscrit | 1856 | | ... of Irish | 1840 | | ... of geology | 1844 | | ... of mineralogy | 1845 | | ... of civil engineering | 1842 | | ... of music | 1764 |

The professorial system is in Dublin more largely combined with the tutorial than in either Oxford or Cambridge; and in late years has been worked with considerable energy. The education of the students in arts is intrusted exclusively to the junior fellows, whether tutors or non-tutors. The lectures for which resident students are liable are of two kinds—tutors' lectures, and honour lectures. The former are intended more particularly for those students whose previous preparation has not been carefully attended to, and who desire merely to pass on to graduation without seeking the distinctions of college life; while the latter are adapted to the wants of those whose scholarship is of a higher order, and who strive for the prizes which the university holds out with so liberal a hand. In order to secure small classes and efficient teaching, the resident students are divided into batches of about twenty-five, each batch being under the daily tuition (during term) of two of the fellows, one for classics, and the other for science. The University professors, and Erasmus Smith's professors, also lecture three times a week to certain classes of alumni.

The academical year is divided into three terms, Michaelmas Terms, Hilary, and Trinity. Terms 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, either by residence at the university or at lectures, as at Oxford and Cambridge, or by answering at the examinations held for the purpose at the beginning of each term. Students of divinity, law, engineering, and medicine, are required to attend the lectures of the professors, and therefore reside either in the college or in the city. The undergraduate 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 becomes successively a junior, middle, and senior Bachelor, when he is admitted to the degree of master of arts. A bachelor in 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 in laws must have taken the degree of bachelor in arts, and must have completed two years in the study of law in the university (attending the prelections of the regius professor of civil law, and of the professor of feudal and English law); or must have passed an examination in the theory and practice of jurisprudence; or must have practised for six years in the law courts. A doctor in laws must be L.L.B. of five years' standing. A bachelor in medicine must be B.A., and must have spent four years in the study of medicine; a doctor in medicine must be M.B. of three years' standing. A bachelor in music must be matriculated in arts, and 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., for (or a pensioner) L.S., 17s. 6d.; for M.A., L.9, 16s. 6d.; for B.D., L.13, 15s.; for D.D., L.28; for L.L.B., L.11, 15s.; for L.L.D., L.22; for M.B., L.11, 10s.; and M.D., L.22.

The students are arranged in four ranks—1. Noblemen, sons of Ranks noblemen, and baronets, styled nobilitas, filii nobilitatis, and equites, the two first of whom are entitled to the degree of B.A. per spectaculum; 2. Fellow-commoners, who are entitled to the degree of B.A., with the terms exemption, i.e., no examination. These two classes pay a high annual stipend, and dine free for B.A., and dine at the same table with the fellows in the commons hall. 3. Penaloner, who constitute the great body of the students. 4. Sizar, who have their commons free, and are exempted from annual fees. The number of sizars is limited to thirty, and admission is obtained after a very strict examination, held annually to supply vacancies, the endowment (about L.37 per annum) being tenable for four years. There are sizarships for classics, for mathematics, for Hebrew, and for the Irish language; classics, however, forming an element in the course prescribed for each. Each of the above ranks is distinguished by a particular dress. The mode of admission is Admission by an examination, held in the public theatre of the college, once in every month, except August and September. The examinations in July, October, and November are public, the others private. The examiners for entrance are the junior fellows.

At the entrance examinations, candidates are tested in Latin and English composition; arithmetic; algebra (first four rules and fractions); English history; modern geography; and any two Greek and two Latin books, of their own selection, from the following course—

Greek.—Homeric Iliad, books i., ii., iii.; New Testament, Gospels of Luke and John, and Acts of the Apostles; Euripides, Phoenissae; Sophocles, Ajax; Plato, Apologia Socratis; Lucian, Walker's Selections; Xenophon, Anab. books i., ii., iii.; Livy, books i., ii., iii., iv.; Virgil, Aeneid, books i., ii., iii., vi.; Horace, Odes; Horace, Satires and Epistles; Sallust; Livy, books iii. and iv.; Terence, Andrian and Heautontimoromenos.

Those who desire honours are examined for honours at entrance are examined on a subsequent day in passages from classical Greek and Latin authors not previously indicated; and also in general questions in grammar and history, and in Greek prose and Latin verse composition. Besides the honour of "first place" at entrance, prizes of the value of five pounds, and of two pounds, are awarded for excellence in each of the following subjects:—Greek verse, Every student at his admission must select one of the eighteen junior fellows who act as tutors, to be his instructor, and the guardian of his interests during his academic life. A student is not necessarily taught by his own tutor; for in the lectures described hereafter the undergraduates are, by an agreement among the tutor fellows, assigned to lecturers according to the tastes of individual fellows, and the convenience of the university authorities. Each class numbers about twenty-five. The tutors during term deliver lectures on the following subjects:—Mathematics, for the junior and senior freshman classes; logic and metaphysics, for senior freshmen; mathematical physics, for junior sophisters; experimental physics, for junior and senior sophisters; history and political economy, for junior sophisters; ethics, for senior sophisters; classics, for the four undergraduate classes. Besides these, there are special lectures for the candidates for honours, by the honour examiners and their sub-lecturers, on the subjects of the extra honour course, in all the above departments; also for candidates moderators, by the university professors, and by Dr. Smith's professors; and in Hebrew for all students. Courses of lectures are also delivered to resident bachelors of arts, on subjects suited to their state of advancement and their prospects. Freshmen are also required to attend weekly catechetical lectures. The course for all students is as follows:—First year, mathematics, Greek, Latin; second year, mathematics, logic and metaphysics, Greek, Latin; third year, logic and metaphysics, physics, Greek, Latin; fourth year, astronomy, ethics, mathematical physics, experimental physics, classics; but in this fourth year, professional students are compelled to take only three of these courses, astronomy, ethics, and any one of the others which they themselves may prefer. Non-professional students must take four.

An extended course of studies is prescribed for those who aspire to academic honours. These honours are awarded three times in the year during the first three years of the course, prizes of L.4 and L.2 being given at the Michaelmas examination, and parchment certificates on the other occasions. The limit to the number of first honours is one-fourth of the entire class, and of second honours double the former. In the fourth year, the same system is continued, except that at the Michaelmas examination, senior and junior moderatorships, with gold and silver medals, are substituted for the prizes, the number awarded being decided as above. Moderatorships are attainable in (1.) mathematics and mathematical physics; (2.) classics; (3.) logics and ethics; (4.) experimental and natural science (including physics, chemistry and mineralogy, geology and palaeontology, zoology and anatomy); (5.) history, political science, and English literature. 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 science of the freshman classes is not carried beyond the second year. To keep his class, a pensioner must have credit each year for one examination and one term of lectures; for two out of the three examinations of his class, one of which must be the third or October examination, if he is either a senior freshman or a senior sophister. A senior sophister who may not have secured credit for his October examination, may qualify himself for his degree by answering in the same business at any subsequent examination of senior sophisters; and a senior freshman may repair the like omission in the same way at the first examination of the senior sophister year.

Each term commences with an examination, not only of the Examinations 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 they receive. We have already alluded to that peculiarity of discipline by which residence is not enforced on under-graduates. Any student, 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 is extended to a large number of individuals by whom, if residence were enforced, not even that 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 one at least of the objects proposed by a university education, namely, the power of acquiring knowledge. The examiners are the fellows. The students of the same class or year assemble together for examinations, and are separated into divisions not exceeding forty, to each of which one examiner is assigned for each subject of that year's course. The examination of each class occupies four or more days—the first two days being devoted to the determination of judgments, and the remaining two or more to the separate examination of honour-men. The students on 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 a third day the candidates selected for honours in science are examined by a separate court of examiners; on a fourth day, the candidates for honours in classics; and, on future days, those who seek honours in the other subjects of the term, each subject being assigned a separate day, and the examination, as in the former case, being conducted partly vivæ voce, and partly by written papers. 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, three times a year—on Shrove Tuesday, on the last Wednesday in Trinity term, and on the last Wednesday in Michaelmas term. The grace of the caput for a degree in any faculty must first be granted by the provost and senior fellows before it can be proposed 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 conferred; 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 plebiscit by the majority, the candidates kneel before the vice-chancellor, who confers the degree, according to a formula fixed by the university statutes.

There are two classes of scholarships, for merit (1.) in classics; Scholar-ship (2.) in science. The examinations for classical scholarships is held ship annually on Friday and Saturday of Ascension week, and on Monday and Tuesday of the week following; and that for science scholarships on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Ascension week. The examiners are the provost and senior fellows. Scholarships are open to all students, being or becoming members of the Established (i.e., Episcopal) Church, and are tenable till the holder is entitled to the degree of master of arts. Students of higher standing are also permitted to become candidates, but an extended course of reading is required of them. The course appointed includes all the classics read for entrance, and in the extended course for under-graduates, to the end of the second examination of the In the year 1845, an act passed the Imperial Parliament "to enable her Majesty to endow new colleges for the advancement of learning in Ireland;" and in the end of the same year letters patent were issued, incorporating three such colleges, one in Belfast, one in Cork, and one in Galway, under the title of "Queen's Colleges." At the same time a president and vice-president were appointed to each college, and the six gentlemen thus selected were formed into the "Board of Queen's Colleges," for the purpose of drawing up the statutes, and arranging the system of education to be pursued in them. In August 1849, the professors were nominated, and the colleges were opened for the reception of students on the 30th October following.

The patent constituting the "Queen's University in Ireland," of which the institutions in Belfast, Cork, and Galway were to be affiliated colleges, was not issued till 1850. The seat of this university is in the city of Dublin, where all meetings of the senate for conferring degrees, and for other purposes, are held in a place fixed by warrant of the Lord Lieutenant. The control and government of the university are vested in a chancellor, vice-chancellor, and Chancellor a senate of not more than twenty persons, three of whom and senate are the presidents of the three colleges, for the time being, the other members to be nominated by the sovereign, and to be removable at pleasure. The vice-chancellor is elected by the members of the senate from their own number; the appointment, however, being subject to the approval of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland for the time being. His term of office is one year.

And, proceeds the patent, "we reserve to ourselves and Visitors our successors, and to those whom we or they may think fit to appoint for the purpose, to be the visitors of the said Queen's University in Ireland, with full power and authority to do all those things which pertain to visitors, as often as to us and our successors shall seem fit." A visitation is held every three years, or oftener, if necessary.

The chancellor and senate of the university have power to ap-point and direct the examination for all degrees, to confer such degrees, to sign certificates for the same, and also to make such arrangements as may be expedient for examination for such university scholarships and prizes as may be hereafter founded. They have also power, with the approbation of the lord-lieutenant, to make such alterations in the course of studies as shall seem fit to them from time to time; but the several colleges are not in any way under the jurisdiction or control of the university senate, further than as regards the regulations for qualifications for the several degrees in the faculties of arts, medicine, and law, the said colleges being only subjected to the charters, statutes, rules, ordinances, issued and approved, or hereafter to be issued and approved of, by the sovereign.

Each college is constituted a body politic and corporate under the name and title of "The President, vice-president, and professors of colleges, the Queen's College," Belfast, Cork, and Galway respectively. The number of professors was at first fixed at twelve, but by a patent granted in 1849, leave was given to increase this staff to not more than thirty. The affairs of each college are managed by a council, consisting of the president, vice-president, and the four deans of faculty; viz. the dean of the literary division of the faculty of arts, the dean of the science division of the faculty of arts, the dean of the faculty of medicine, and the dean of the faculty of law; the dean being elected by the professors of each faculty from among themselves. The college council has power to make regulations for the government of the college in cases not provided for by the statutes, rules, and ordinances; also to arrange the courses of instruction to be pursued in the college, and to prescribe the matriculation, scholarship, and other examinations of the college; also to make regulations for the maintenance of discipline and good conduct among the students, in cases not provided for by the statutes, rules, or ordinances, and to fix the penalties and punishments which shall be attached to the violation of the same. The library and the museum, and the offices connected with each, are under the charge of the council, and the common funds for the maintenance, cleansing, heating, and lighting of the buildings are managed by it.

Upon the president are devolved those duties which usually fall to the head of such an establishment. He is the mouthpiece of the college, and has the management of communication with the government—he presides at all college meetings—reports annually to the lord-lieutenant on the state of his college—he appoints the porters and servants, and regulates their duties—he visits the class-rooms, and remonstrates, when necessary, with negligent professors—he grants leave of absence to professors, and other officers of the college—he makes arrangements for the holding of visitations, and can call extraordinary meetings of the visitors, when necessary.

The vice-president, besides the usual duties of such an office, Vice-pres has power to visit, at any time, any class-room, or hall, or office, in said the college; he exercises a constant supervision over all depart-ments, and especially has charge of the maintenance of discipline and order.

Each professor, on his appointment, makes a declaration, that in Professors all his engagements in the college he will refrain from making any statement derogatory to the truths of revealed religion, or disrespectful to the religious convictions of any portion of his class.

There are thirty junior scholarships of £24 each, which are awarded by examination to matriculated students of the faculty of arts, ten to students of the first year, ten to those of the second, and ten to those of the third. Besides which, there are two scholarships of £20 each, awarded to engineering students, of the first and second year respectively; and four of £15 each in the department of agriculture, two to students of the first year, and two to those of the second. Of the ten junior scholarships of each year, five are set apart for the literary division of the course, and five for the science division.

There are six junior scholarships of £20 each in the faculty of medicine, and three of the same value in that of law, two of the former and one of the latter being appropriated to students of the first, second, and third year respectively. All these scholarships are awarded by examination at the beginning of each session, and are tenable for only one year, but former holders of them are admissible for re-election by examination, in each succeeding year of the course. The junior scholars in arts, medicine, and law take charge of the rolls of the classes, note the attendance of students at lecture, and assist the professors in the arrangements for lectures; they pay the same fees on behalf of the college as other matriculated students, but a moiety of the class fees is remitted during their term of office.

There are ten senior scholarships of £40 each, which are tenable for one year, and which are open to bachelors of arts of the Queen's University. Seven of these are given to the faculty of arts (one to classics and ancient history, one to modern languages and modern history, one to mathematics, one to natural philosophy, one to metaphysics and economical science, one to chemistry, and one to natural history); two to the faculty of medicine (one to anatomy and physiology, and one to therapeutics and pathology), and one to the faculty of law. The senior scholars assist the professors in the matriculation and class examinations, and in conducting the business of the special departments of literature of science to which their scholarships severally belong.

Besides the regularly matriculated students, there are private or non-matriculated students, who pay the usual class fees, and are permitted to attend any separate course of lectures without submitting to a preliminary examination. They cannot be candidates for scholarships or other prizes, and do not enjoy the other privileges of matriculated students.

Every matriculated student under twenty-one years of age must reside during the college terms either with parents or guardians, or with some friend or relative, to whom he shall be committed by his parents or guardians, and who shall be approved of by the president, or in some boarding-house, licensed and approved of by the president. Clergymen of the different religious denominations are appointed by the Queen, as deans of residence, to visit the boarding-houses, and take the superintendence of the moral and spiritual training of the students of their respective creeds. No clergyman is allowed to hold the office of dean of residence, unless he be approved of by the bishop, moderator, or constituted authority of his church.

The college session is divided into three terms:—The first extends from the middle of October to the end of December; the second from the beginning of January to the beginning of April; the third, from the middle of April to the end of the first week in June.

The mode of admission to the Queen's College is by an examination held annually at the beginning of the first term. The students in the faculties of arts, law, and medicine are examined in the English, Greek, and Latin languages, and the elements of history and mathematics. The examinations, both matriculation and others, are conducted partly viva voce, and partly in writing. Besides the above general matriculation examination, there is an additional matriculation examination in the second week of November, for those students who have not presented themselves at, or who have not passed, the general examination.

All matriculated students are ranged in the following classes:—

I. Those intending to proceed to the degree of A.B. and A.M. II. Those intending to proceed to the degree of M.D. III. Those intending to proceed to the diploma of elementary law. IV. Those intending to proceed to the degrees of LL.B. and LL.D. V. Those intending to proceed to the diploma of civil engineering. VI. Those intending to proceed to the diploma of agriculture.

For each of these classes there is a special course of study prescribed. Candidates for the degree of A.B. must attend three sessions at any one of the Queen's colleges. In their first year they must study the Greek and Latin languages, three terms; the English language, one term; the modern languages, three terms; and mathematics, three terms. SECOND YEAR, logic, one term; chemistry, three terms; zoology and botany, three terms; the higher mathematics, or Greek and Latin, three terms. THIRD YEAR, natural philosophy, three terms; history and English literature, three terms; Colonial physical geography, one term; metaphysics, two terms; jurisprudence and political economy, one term each. There are also special courses for the other departments, which will be found in the college calendar. The education in the Queen's College is carried on by lectures, and by daily oral examinations in the class-room. There are general class examinations at the end of each session, in the subjects on which lectures have been delivered during that session. There are also supplementary examinations in the same subjects at the commencement of the following session, one or other of which must be passed before the student gets credit as having completed the session.

After completing the course of three years, candidates for the degrees of A.B. are obliged to pass an extended examination in classics, mathematics, and some modern language, besides some departments of science chosen by each student from a specified list of subjects. Graduates of arts are admissible to the degree of master of arts at the expiry of one year from the time of their obtaining their junior degree, provided they have attended, for at least two terms subsequent to graduation, a course of lectures on some one of the subjects of the course of study which they may have selected. The degree is conferred after an examination in any one of four courses—(1) Greek and Latin classics, literature, prose composition in Greek, Latin, and English; a modern foreign language. (2) English philology and criticism, logic, metaphysics, or (in place of metaphysics, at the option of the candidate) political economy and jurisprudence. (3) Mathematical and physical science. (4) Experimental natural sciences.

The degrees of M.D. and LL.B. are obtained on examination at the end of the fourth year from entrance. LL.D. may be gained by examination three years after LL.B. All these degrees are bona fide tests of merit, ascertained by a searching examination.

For an arts' student proceeding to the degree of A.B. and A.M., Fees, the aggregate of fees for the first year is £8.10s.; for the second, £8.5s.; and for the third, £5.5s. The fees for other courses vary according to the number of classes required. The above charges include the fee for graduation.

The officers of the colleges are paid partly by a government endowment, and partly from the fees of the students. The salary of the president is £300; of the vice-president (who is also a professor), £500, besides fees; the professors of Greek, Latin, Endow-history, and English literature, mathematics, natural philosophy, logic, and metaphysics, £250 each, besides the class fees. The professors of natural history, modern languages, mineralogy, geology, and medical physiology, £200 each; the others £150 or £100, and all of course with class fees besides. The sum of money granted by parliament for the university in 1860 was £2371; and for the colleges, £4900.

The following are the number of the students (matriculated and non-matriculated) attending the three colleges in 1859-60.

| Arts | Medicine | Law | Total | |------|----------|-----|-------| | Belfast | 154 | 91 | 17 | 262 | | Cork | 91 | 84 | 4 | 179 | | Galway | 64 | 54 | 7 | 125 |