The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-07

Mr.. II. r. d. Blakiston. by whom the article Of
this subject is contributed. points out that tn
| University of Cambridge. occupying less cen
| trail and more unhealthy situation, and havin
| less powerful protectors. did not compete in pop
ularity or privileges with the older society befor
| the sixteenth century. TWAS not even formally
recognized until It received the license OF Pop
| John xxi. In 1918. The students were NOR
homogeneous than at Oxford, the religious or
ders less active there. and the number of emf
nent men produced by II Insignificant durini
this period. Oxford schools were renowned a
staple product at a time when Cambridge wa
famous only for ecis.
~.
II appears that the medievsl undergraduate,
were mainly lads of humble origi though man,
older men. such as the monks or friars, sharet
their studies. and in rank they ranged from tn,
poor scholar, who supported himself during
terms by the profits Of mendicancy or manua
labor in the vacation. to the privileged son,
OF earls or nephews Of Bishops. At Oxford
about A. ID. 1900. the number Of students wa,
about 5000; the estimate made by Archbishop
Fltz Ralph before the Consistory at Avignon In
1857. that there had been rs many as $1,000 in
his day. is pronounced rhetorical. With the
exception OF those for whom provision wa.
made in the colleges proper. the undergraduate,
lived in lodging houses known as halls where
the meals were provided from q common
fund, and called commons extra food was
battles. while most scholars could rent a small
chamber as bedroom and study. One of the In
mates, usually a Master OF Art. was the priii-
cipul of the hall, and was responsible for the
financial arrangements and for the maintenance
OF order: the post was not improbable. A
n,a,icip,e catered for the party. and. in most
cases. lectures were provided within the hall.
From wills and inventories may be estimated
the extent OF a clerks possessions, which often
included musical instruments and lethal
weapons. besides a few books, bedclothes. and
some cooking utensils. On full reading days
lectures went on from an early hour in the
morning till some time after the MONDAY
dinner. But there were many non-legible days.
Daily attendance at divine service was n matter
Of course. All the steps In a mans progress to
his degree, especially tho process OF determtnu-
ton to the bachelor and of inception for the
higher degrees, were marked by numerous dis
putations. . sort of viva voce examination, at
tendance at lectures or delivery OF them. H.
censes. oaths, fees, ceremonies. and entertain
ments. Tho shorter vacations were usually and
the long vacation often spent at Oxford and en-
ployed in private study. A university educa-
ton commenced at an early age with the ac-
QUESTION of . working knowledge of Latin
the language Of theology, law, and science. In
the schools Of grammar. where tho text
books used were Terence and Priscian. To OBJ
tain the degree of B. A. required q four years.
course of logic, and mastership was not reached
till after seven or eight years of the seven arts
and three philosophers grammar. dialectics.
rhetoric. music, arithmetic, geometry. and as
tronomy, with physics. meta physcs. and ethics).
while the d. ID. seldom attained his position OF
distinction before the twentieth year from ma
circulation. Up to the middle of the fourteenth
century tho arts course was a severe one. and
the discipline was really testing and the results
brilliant. In the next century students of
the type OF Chaucer's clerks. Hendy Nicholas,
John. and Alen. and the loafers known as
chamberdekyns became more common. The
expenses Of an ordinary university career of ten
years ranged from e35 to four times that sum;
but. no doubt, large numbers never proceeded TO
a degree The more popular of the teaching
masters derived an adequate revenue from their
pupils fees, which were paid terminally and
known collections, word still used for the
examination at the end OF the terms lectures
Though some attempts were made to under
stand Hebrew and Arabic writings. there was,
during this period. nothing resembling tho mod
ern study of literature known as classical schol-
arship. Tho schoolmen wrote in a barbarous
jargon OF Latin, and their arguments were cast
In extremely technical and complicated forms,
derived from the syllogistic method OF Aristotle.
To William Grocyn belongs the honor of first
teaching Greek at Oxford. He had travelled In
Italy in 1883 and had studied under Politian.
He had been q fellow OF New College, but, on his
return, lived In Exeter College. Thomas Lin
acre, who was . Fellow OF All Souls. had also
breathed the atmosphere OF the Florentine
Academy. He was Thomas More's special in
structor, and from him, too. Erasmus FIRST
learned Greek. More was . typical student
OF the English Renaissance, and both his
studies and their earliest fruits belong not to
the period principally dealt with In this volume,
but TO the reign OF Henry VII. He was entered
In 1892 at Canterbury College, one OF the foun-
dAtions which afterward made way for Christ's
Church, and he seems to have occupied rooms
also at st. Mary Hall. As yet the old learning
held the field in England, and there was no such
support for the humAnist as was afforded in
Italy by the circles OF distinguished patrons;
but the attempt TO transplant Italian culture
was entered upon at Oxford with energy and
success. II was not until under Henry VIII.
that Cambridge took . conspicuous part in the
intellectual movement.