Cambridge
Situated in a fenny agricultural district, Cambridge owes its chief picturesque attractions to the number and variety, and in several instances the magnitude and beauty, of the buildings connected with the university; and to the walks and gardens attached to them. It is upwards of a mile in length, is one mile in its greatest breadth, and lies chiefly on the south-eastern side of the river: notwithstanding recent alterations, the streets in general are narrow and irregularly formed; but on the whole its aspect has been much improved by many elegant additions to the several colleges and university buildings. The town was paved under an act passed in 1787, and has lately been drained at a great expense: the streets, and many of the public buildings, are well lighted with gas; an act having been obtained, in 1834, to incorporate a company for affording a better supply. Water is procured from a conduit in the market-place, erected in the year 1614, by the eccentric and benevolent Thomas Hobson, carrier, and supplied by a small aqueduct communicating with a spring about three miles distant. Dramatic exhibitions are not permitted, within nine miles of the town, at any other period than that of Stourbridge fair, when, for three weeks, the Norwich company of comedians perform in a commodious theatre at Barnwell. Several public concerts are held in termtime, usually at the town-hall, when the best performers are engaged; and at the Public Commencements, which generally take place every fourth year, grand musical festivals are given. A choral society on an extensive scale has been formed; and there are several book societies, the largest of which has been established many years.
Cambridge has become a considerable thoroughfare, since the draining of the fens, and the formation of excellent roads towards the east and north-east coasts, over tracts previously impassable: the Eastern Counties railway, also, runs by the town, and has a principal station here; and in 1845 an act was passed for making a branch, 17½ miles long, from the town to Huntingdon. There is no manufacture; but a good trade in corn, coal, timber, iron, &c., is carried on with the port of Lynn, by means of the Cam, which is navigable up to Cambridge. A great quantity of oil, pressed at the numerous mills in the Isle of Ely, from flax, hemp, and cole seed, is brought up the river; and butter is conveyed hither weekly from Norfolk and the Isle of Ely, and sent to London. The markets, which are under the control of the university, though the tolls belong to the corporation, are held every day in the week, Saturday's being the largest, and are excellently supplied with provisions: the market-place consists of two spacious oblong squares. There are two fairs: one of them, for horses, cattle, timber, and pottery, beginning on the 22nd of June, and commonly called Midsummer or Pot fair, is proclaimed by the heads of the university, and the mayor and corporation, successively. The other, called Stourbridge fair, anciently one of the largest and most celebrated in the kingdom, is proclaimed on the 18th September by the vice-chancellor, doctors, and proctors of the university, and by the mayor and aldermen, and continues upwards of three weeks: the staple commodities exposed for sale are leather, timber, cheese, hops, wool, and cattle; the 25th is appropriated to the sale of horses. Both the fairs have been for some years declining.
The town is a Borough by prescription: it was first incorporated by Henry I., in the early part of his reign; and 24 other charters, none of which, however, with the exception of that of the 5th of Richard II., caused any material change in the municipal government, were granted previously to the charter of the 7th of Charles I., under which the officers of the corporation consisted of a mayor, four bailiffs, twelve aldermen, twenty-four common-councilmen, and two treasurers. Other officers not named in the charter were, a high steward, recorder, deputy-recorder, four councillors, two coroners, a townclerk, and deputy town-clerk. The government is now, under the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, vested in a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty councillors; the borough is divided into the five wards of East Barnwell, West Barnwell, Market, Trinity, and St. Andrew; and the number of magistrates is twenty-five. The town has returned members to parliament since the 23rd of Edward I.: the right of election was formerly in the freemen not receiving alms, but, by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the non-resident freemen were disfranchised, and the privilege was extended to the £10 householders of the borough, the limits of which comprise 3195 acres; the returning officer is the mayor. The privilege of sending two representatives was conferred upon the university by charter in the first of James I.: the right of election is vested in the members of the senate; the vice-chancellor is returning officer. The recorder holds a court of session quarterly; also a court of pleas, taking cognizance of actions, real and personal, arising within the town; and a court leet is held annually, for the appointment of constables, &c. There are petty-sessions daily. The steward of the university holds a court leet twice a year, for inquiring into matters connected with weights and measures, and for licensing victuallers in the town, and the adjoining village of Chesterton. The Bishop and the Archdeacon of Ely hold their courts and have their registries here; and both the spring and the summer assizes, and the quarter-sessions for the county, are held at Cambridge. The county debt-court of Cambridge, established in 1847, has jurisdiction over the three registration-districts of Cambridge, Caxton and Arrington, and Chesterton.
The shire-hall is in the market-place, containing two courts, and resting upon arches faced with stone, beneath which are shops. The county courts, on the road to Ely, and opposite to the gaol, with which they have a subterraneous communication, form a handsome structure of freestone from the Whitby quarries, erected in the Palladian style of architecture, at an expense of £11,000. The principal front, which projects from the main building, is 102 feet in length, and is divided into seven compartments, by a series of arches, five of which in the central portion form an open arcade, leading to the judges' apartments and to the grand-jury room and other offices, and are separated by single columns of the Tuscan order. The other two compartments, at the extremes, are inclosed with spacious Venetian windows, and ornamented with duplicated columns, together supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, surmounted by a balustraded parapet divided into corresponding compartments by pedestals, of which those in the central portion support emblematical statues, and those of the extremes are crowned with urns. At each extremity of the front are handsome rusticated doorways, leading to the main building, which is 136 feet in length and of higher elevation than the front, and affording an entrance into those parts of the courts which are open to the public; the court-rooms are each 51 feet in length, and 32 feet wide, and are commodiously fitted up with oak. The town-hall, rebuilt in 1782, is obscurely situated behind the shire-hall. A new and commodious town gaol, on the radiating principle, has been erected in the parish of St. Andrew-the-Less, on the north-east of the road to Colchester.
The origin of the University is enveloped in great obscurity; it is, however, probable that Cambridge first became a seat of learning in the seventh century, when, as Bede in his Ecclesiastical History informs us, Sigebert, King of the East Angles, with the assistance of Bishop Felix, constituted within his dominions a school in imitation of some that he had seen in France. It is certain, that at a very early period the town was the resort of numerous students, who at first resided in private apartments, and afterwards in inns, where they lived in community under a principal, at their own charge. Several of these houses were at length deserted, and fell into decay; others were purchased in succession by patrons of literature, and, obtaining incorporation with right of mortmain, received permanent rich endowments. It is believed that a regular system of academical education was first introduced in 1109, when, the abbot of Crowland having sent some monks, well versed in philosophy and other sciences, to his manor of Cottenham, they proceeded to the neighbouring town of Cambridge, whither a great number of scholars repaired to their lectures, which were arranged after the manner of the university of Orleans. The first charter known to have been granted to the university is that in the 15th of Henry III., conferring the privilege of appointing certain officers, called taxors, to regulate the rent of lodgings for students, which had been raised exorbitantly by the townsmen: this was about 50 years before the foundation of Peterhouse, the first endowed college. In 1249, the discord between the scholars and the townsmen had arrived at such a pitch, as to require the interference of the civil power; and in 1261, dissensions arose in the university between the northern and the southern men, which were attended with consequences so serious that a great number of scholars, in order to pursue their studies without interruption, withdrew to Northampton, where a university was established, and continued four years. In 1270, Prince Edward came to Cambridge, and ordered an agreement to be drawn up, by virtue of which certain persons were appointed by the town and the university, to preserve the peace between the students and the inhabitants. In 1333, Edward III. granted some important privileges to the university, making its authority paramount to that of the borough, and ordaining that the mayor, bailiffs, and aldermen, should swear to maintain its rights and privileges. These eminent favours caused the townsmen to be more than ever jealous of its authority; and their discontents broke out into open violence in the succeeding reign, when, taking advantage of the temporary success of the rebels of Kent and Essex, in 1381, the principal townsmen, at the head of a tumultuous assemblage, seized and destroyed the university charters, plundered Benedict College, and compelled the chancellor and other members of the university to renounce their chartered privileges, and promise submission to the authority of the burgesses. These lawless proceedings were put an end to by the arrival of the Bishop of Norwich with an armed force; and the king soon after punished the burgesses, by depriving them of their charter, and bestowing all the privileges which they had enjoyed upon the university, together with a grant that no action should be brought against any scholar, or scholar's servant, by a townsman, in any other than the chancellor's court. In 1430, Pope Martin V. decided, from the testimony of ancient evidence, that the members of the university were exclusively possessed of all ecclesiastical and spiritual jurisdiction over their own scholars. Richard II. restored to the burgesses their charter, with such an abridgment of their privileges as rendered them more subordinate to the university than they had previously been. On the first symptoms of an approaching war between King Charles and the parliament, the university stood forward to demonstrate its loyalty, by tendering the college plate to be melted for his majesty's use. In 1643, the Earl of Manchester, at that time chancellor of the university, came to Cambridge, and, after a general visitation of the colleges, expelled all the members that were known to be zealously attached to the king and to the Church discipline. In March, 1647, Sir Thomas Fairfax visited the university, and was received with all the honours of royalty at Trinity College; on the 11th of June he kept a public fast at the place.
Queen Elizabeth visited Cambridge, Aug. 5th, 1564, and stayed five days, during which she resided at the provost's lodge, King's College, and was entertained with plays, orations, and academical exercises. On the 7th of March, 1615, James I., with his son Henry, Prince of Wales, was here, and was lodged at Trinity College, which has ever since, on the occasion of royal visits, been the residence of the sovereign: King James honoured the university with another visit in 1625; and Charles I. and his queen were here in 1632, when they were entertained with dramatic exhibitions. It was also visited by Charles II., Oct. 14th, 1671, and Sept. 27th, 1681; by William III., Oct. 4th, 1689; by Queen Anne and the Prince of Denmark, April 16th, 1705; by George I., Oct. 6th, 1717; and by George II., in April, 1728; on all which occasions the royal guests were entertained by the university in the hall of Trinity College; and it was customary for the corporation to present them with 50 broad pieces of gold. Her present Majesty honoured the town with a visit, accompanied by his Royal Highness, Prince Albert, Oct. 25th, 1843; and in 1847 the Prince was elected chancellor.
The University is a society of students in all the liberal arts and sciences, incorporated, in the 13th of Elizabeth, by the name of the "Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge." It is formed by the union of seventeen colleges, or societies, devoted to the pursuit of learning and knowledge, and for the better service of the Church and State; and each college is a body corporate, and bound by its own statutes, though controlled, as in Oxford, by the paramount laws of the university. The present statutes were given by Queen Elizabeth, and, with former privileges, were sanctioned by parliament. Each of the seventeen departments, or colleges, in this literary republic, furnishes members both for the executive and the Legislative branch of its government; the place of assembly is the senate-house. All persons who are masters of arts, or doctors in one of the three faculties, viz., divinity, civil law, and physic, having their names upon the college boards, holding any university office, or being resident in the town, have votes in the assembly. The senate is divided into two classes or houses; and according to this arrangement they are denominated regents or non-regents, with a view to some particular offices allotted by the statutes to the junior division. Masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and doctors of less than two, compose the regent or upper house, or, as it is sometimes styled, the "White-hood house," from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk; and all the rest constitute the non-regent or lower house, otherwise called the "Black-hood house," its members wearing black silk hoods. But doctors of more than two years' standing, and the public orator of the university, may vote in either house according to their pleasure. Besides the two houses, there is a council named the Caput, chosen on October 12th, by which every university grace must be approved before it can be introduced to the senate; and this council consists of a vice-chancellor, a doctor in each of the three faculties, and two masters of arts, the last representing the regent and non-regent houses. No degree is ever obtained without a grace for that purpose: after the grace has passed, the vice-chancellor is at liberty to confer the degree. The university confers no degree whatever, unless the candidate has previously subscribed a declaration that he is bona fide a member of the Church of England, as by law established; for all degrees, except those of B.A., M.B., and B.C.L., it is necessary that persons should subscribe to the 36th canon of the Church of England, inserted in the registrar's book.
The executive branch of the university government is committed to a chancellor, high steward, vice-chancellor, and other officers. The Chancellor is the head of the whole university, and presides over all cases relative to that body; his office is biennial, or tenable for such a length of time beyond two years as the tacit consent of the university chooses to allow. The High Steward is elected by the senate, and has special power to try scholars impeached of felony within the limits of the university (the jurisdiction of which extends a mile each way, from any part of the suburbs), and to hold a court leet according to the established charter and custom; he has power, by letters-patent, to appoint a deputy. The Vice-chancellor is elected on Nov. 4th, by the senate: his office, in the absence of the chancellor, embraces the government of the university, according to the statutes; he acts as a magistrate both for the university and the county, and must, by an order made in 1587, be the head of some college. A Commissary is appointed by letters-patent under the signature and seal of the chancellor; he holds a court of record for all privileged persons, and scholars under the degree of M.A. The Public Orator is elected by the senate, and is the oracle of that body on all public occasions; he writes, reads, and records the letters to and from the senate, and presents to all honorary degrees with an appropriate speech: this is esteemed one of the most honourable offices in the gift of the university. An Assessor is specially appointed, by a grace of the senate, to assist the vice-chancellor in his court, in causis forensibus et domesticis. Two Proctors, who are peace-officers, are elected annually on Oct. 10th, by the regents only, from the different colleges in rotation, according to a fixed cycle. A Librarian, Library-keeper, and Assistant Library-keepers, are chosen by the senate, for the due management of the university library. The Registrar, elected also by the senate, is obliged, either by himself or deputy, to attend all congregations, to give requisite directions for the form of such graces as are to be propounded, and to receive them when passed in both houses. Two Taxors are elected on Oct. 10th, by the regents only: they must be masters of arts, and are regents by virtue of their office; they are appointed to regulate the markets, and to lay the abuses thereof before the commissary. Scrutators are chosen at the same time by the non-regents only; they are exofficio non-regents, and attend all congregations, read the graces in the lower house, gather the votes, and pronounce the assent and dissent. Two Moderators, nominated by the proctors, and appointed by a grace of the senate, officiate in the absence of the proctors. Two Pro-proctors are appointed, to assist the proctors in that part of their duty which relates to the preservation of the public morals: this office was instituted by a grace of the senate, April 29th, 1818, and bachelors in divinity, as well as masters of arts, are eligible. Classical Examiners are nominated by the several colleges, according to the cycle of proctors, and the election takes place at the first congregation after Oct. 4th. There are three Esquire Bedells, whose duty it is to attend the vice-chancellor. The University Printer, and the School-keeper, are elected by the body at large: the Yeoman Bedell is appointed by letters-patent under the signature and seal of the chancellor; and the University Marshal, by letterspatent of the vice-chancellor. The Syndics are members of the senate chosen to transact all special affairs relating to the university.
The professors have stipends allowed from various sources; some from the university chest, and others from her Majesty's government, or from estates left for the purpose. Lady Margaret's Professorship of Divinity was instituted in 1502, by Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., the election to be every two years. The Regius Professorship of Divinity was founded by Henry VIII., in 1540; the candidates may be either bachelors or doctors in divinity. The Regius Professorship of Civil Law was also established by Henry VIII. in 1540; the professor is appointed by the Queen, and continues in office during Her Majesty's pleasure. The Regius Professorship of Physic, instituted at the same time, may be held for life; the appointment is by the Queen. The Regius Professorship of Hebrew was likewise founded at the same time: a candidate must not be under the standing of M.A. or B.D.; but doctors of all faculties are excluded. A Professorship of Arabic was established by Sir Thomas Adams, Bart., in 1632. The Lord Almoner's Reader and Professorship of Arabic is in the gift of the lord almoner, and the stipend is paid out of the almonry bounty. The Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics was instituted in 1663, by Henry Lucas, M.P. for the university; a candidate must be M.A. at least, and well skilled in mathematical science. The Professorship of Casuistry was founded in 1683, by John Knightbridge, D.D., fellow of St. Peter's: a candidate must be a bachelor or doctor in divinity, and not less than 40 years of age. The Professorship of Music was established by the university, in 1684; that of Chemistry by the university, in 1702; of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy, in 1704, by Dr. Plume, Archdeacon of Rochester; and of Anatomy, by the university, in 1707. The Professorship of Modern History was established by George I., in 1724: the professor is appointed by the Queen, and holds the office during Her Majesty's pleasure; he must be either a master of arts, or bachelor in civil law, of a superior degree. The Professorship of Botany was founded by the university, in 1724, and has since been made a patent office. That of Geology was instituted by Dr. Woodward, in 1727; only unmarried men are eligible. The Professorship of Astronomy and Geometry was founded by Thomas Lowndes, Esq., in 1749. The Norrisian Professorship of Divinity was founded by John Norris, Esq., of Whitton, in the county of Norfolk, in 1768: the professor cannot continue in office longer than five years, but may be re-elected; he may be a member of either university, may be lay or clerical, but cannot be elected under his 30th, nor re-elected after his 60th year. The Professorship of Natural and Experimental Philosophy was established in 1783, by the Rev. Richard Jackson, M.A.; a member of Trinity College is to be preferred, and next, a candidate from the counties of Stafford, Warwick, Derby, or Chester. The Downing Professorship of the Laws of England, and the Downing Professorship of Medicine, were founded in pursuance of the will of Sir George Downing, Bart., K.B., in 1800. The Professorship of Mineralogy was instituted by the university, in 1808, and afterwards endowed by Her Majesty's government. That of Political Economy was conferred by a grace of the senate in May, 1828, on George Pryme, Esq., M.A., late fellow of Trinity College, and is to be a permanent professorship.
Lady Margaret's Preachership was founded in 1503; doctors, inceptors, and bachelors of divinity, are alone eligible, one of Christ's College being preferred. The Barnaby Lectureships, four in number, viz., in mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric, and logic, are so called from the election taking place on St. Barnabas' day, June 11th: the mathematical lecture was founded at a very early period, by the university; and the other three were endowed in 1524, by Sir Robert Rede, lord chief justice of the court of common pleas in the reign of Henry VIII. The Sadlerian Lectureships in Algebra, seventeen in number, were founded by Lady Sadler, and the lectures commenced in 1710: the lecturers were required to be bachelors of arts at least; the lectureships are tenable only for ten years, and no one can be elected unless previously examined and approved by the mathematical professor. The Rev. John Hulse, who was educated at St. John's College, and died in 1789, bequeathed his estates in Cheshire to the university, for the advancement and reward of religious learning; the purposes to which he appropriated the income being, first, the maintenance of two scholars at St. John's College; secondly, to recompense the exertions of the Hulsean prizemen; thirdly, to found and support the office of Christian advocate; and fourthly, that of the Hulsean Lecturer, or Christian Preacher. The Christian Advocate must be a learned and ingenious person, of the degree of master of arts, or of bachelor or doctor of divinity, of thirty years of age, and resident in the university; he has to compose yearly, while in office, some answer in English to objections brought against the Christian religion, or the religion of nature, by notorious infidels. The office of the Hulsean Lecturer, or Christian Preacher, is annual; but the same individual may, under certain circumstances, be reelected for any number of successive years not exceeding six: the preacher is afterwards ineligible to the office of Christian Advocate: his duty is, to preach and print twenty sermons in each year, the object of them being to show the evidences of revealed religion, or to explain some of the most obscure parts of the Holy Scriptures. William Worts, M.A., of Caius College, formerly one of the esquire bedells of the university, gave two pensions, of £100 per annum each, to two junior bachelors of arts, who are required to visit foreign countries, to take different routes, and to write, during their travels, two Latin letters each, descriptive of customs, curiosities, &c.: the annuity is continued for three years, the period they are required to be absent.
The prizes for the encouragement of literature, the competition for which is open to the university at large, amount annually to nearly £1200 in value, three-fourths of which are given for the classics and English composition, and the remainder for mathematics. The amount of the annual prizes in the different colleges is upwards of £300, two-thirds of which are for the encouragement of classical literature. Two gold medals, value £15. 15. each, are presented annually by the chancellor to two commencing bachelors of arts, who, having obtained senior optimes at least, show the greatest proficiency in classical learning: these prizes were established in 1751, by the Duke of Newcastle, then chancellor. The members of parliament for the university give four annual prizes, of £15. 15. each, to two bachelors of arts and two under-graduates, who compose the best dissertations in Latin prose: these were founded by the Hon. Edward Finch and the Hon. Thomas Townsend. Sir Edward Browne, Knt., M.D., directed three gold medals, value £5. 5. each, to be given yearly to three undergraduates on the commencement day; the first to him who writes the best Greek ode in imitation of Sappho; the second for the best Latin ode in imitation of Horace; the third for the best Greek and Latin epigrams, the former after the manner of the Anthologia, the latter on the model of Martial. The Rev. Charles Burney, D.D., and the Rev. John Cleaver Bankes, M.A., only surviving trustees of a fund raised by the friends of the late Professor Porson, and appropriated to his use during his lifetime, transferred to the university by deed, bearing date Nov. 27th, 1816, the sum of £400 Navy five per cents. upon trust, that the interest should be annually employed in the purchase of one or more Greek books, to be given to such resident under-graduate as should make the best translation of a proposed passage selected from the works of Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Massinger, or Beaumont and Fletcher, into Greek verse. The Rev. Robert Smith, D.D., late master of Trinity College, left two annual prizes, of £25 each, to two commencing bachelors of arts, the best proficients in mathematics and natural philosophy. John Norris, Esq., founder of the divinity professorship, bequeathed a premium of £12 per annum, of which £7. 4. are to be expended on a gold medal, and the remainder in books, to the author of the best prose essay on a sacred subject, to be proposed by the Norrisian professor. The Rev. John Hulse, mentioned above, directed that, out of the rents and profits of the estates which he bequeathed to the university, an annual premium of £40 should be given to any member under the degree of M.A., who should compose the best dissertation on any argument proving the excellence of the Christian religion. The Rev. Thomas Seaton, fellow of Clare Hall, bequeathed an estate, producing a clear income of £40, to be given yearly to a master of arts for the best English poem on a sacred subject.
The university scholarships are as follows. John, Lord Craven, founded two classical scholarships, tenable for fourteen years, of £25 per annum each: by a decree of the court of chancery, in 1819, the income of the scholars has been augmented to £50, and three additional scholarships founded, which are tenable for seven years only. William Battie, M.D., left an estate producing £18 per annum, to endow a scholarship similar to the preceding. Sir William Browne left a rent charge of £21 for a scholarship tenable for seven years. The Rev. Jonathan Davies, D.D., provost of Eton College, bequeathed, in July, 1804, the sum of £1000 three per cents., to found a scholarship similar to Lord Craven's for the greatest proficient in classical learning. The Rev. William Bell, D.D., late fellow of Magdalen College, in 1810, transferred £15,200 three per cents. to establish eight new scholarships, for sons or orphans of clergymen. By a grace of the senate, Dec. 9th, 1813, it was directed that the sum of £1000, given by the subscribers to Mr. Pitt's statue, for the purpose of founding the Pitt scholarship, and afterwards augmented by a donation of £500 from the Pitt Club, should be placed in the public funds until the syndics were able to vest it in land, the clear annual income to be paid to the scholar. The Rev. Robert Tyrwhitt, M.A., fellow of Jesus' College, who died in 1817, bequeathed £4000 Navy five per cents. for the encouragement of Hebrew learning; and in the following year the senate decreed the foundation of three Hebrew scholarships, which number, in 1826, was increased to six, a scholar of the first class receiving an annual stipend of £30, and one of the second class a stipend of £20, for three years. The number of scholarships and exhibitions in the university is upwards of 700.
The annual Income of the university chest is about £16,000, including about £3000 of floating capital: it arises from stock in the funds, lands, houses, fees for degrees, government annuity (for the surrender of the privilege of printing almanacs), profits of the printingoffice, &c. The expenditure is about £12,000, disbursed to the various officers, the professors, the library, and schools, the university press, and in taxes, donations, to charities, &c. The whole is managed by the vicechancellor for the year, and the accounts are examined by three auditors appointed annually by the senate.
There are two Courts of Law, namely, the consistory court of the chancellor, and the consistory court of the commissary. In the former the chancellor, or vicechancellor, assisted by some of the heads of colleges, and one doctor or more of the civil law, administers justice in all personal pleas and actions arising within the limits of the university, wherein a member of the university is a party, which, excepting only such as concern mayhem and felony, are to be here solely heard and decided. The proceedings are according to the course of the civil law, and from the judgment of the court an appeal lies to the senate. In the commissary's court, the commissary, by authority under the seal of the chancellor, sits both in the university, and at Midsummer and Stourbridge fairs, to proceed in all cases, except those of mayhem and felony, wherein one of the parties is a member of the university; excepting that within the university all causes to which one of the proctors or taxors, or a master of arts, or any one of superior degree, is a party, are reserved to the sole jurisdiction of the chancellor or vice-chancellor. The manner of proceeding is the same as in the chancellor's court, to which an appeal lies, and thence to the senate.
The Terms, three in number, are fixed: October, or Michaelmas, term begins on Oct. 10th, and ends on Dec. 16th; Lent, or January, term begins on Jan. 13th, and ends on the Friday before Palm-Sunday; and Easter, or Midsummer, term begins on the eleventh day after Easter-day, and ends on the Friday after Commencement day, which last is always the first Tuesday in July. The terms required by the statutes to be kept for the several Degrees are as follows. A bachelor of arts must have resided the greater part of twelve several terms, the first and last excepted; a master of arts must be a bachelor of three years' standing, and a bachelor in divinity must be M.A. of seven years' standing. A person whose name has remained upon the boards for ten years, is allowed, by the ninth statute of Queen Elizabeth, to take the degree of B.D. without having taken any other. A doctor in divinity must be a bachelor in divinity of five years', or a master of arts of twelve years', standing. A bachelor in civil law must be of six years' standing complete, and must have resided the greater part of nine several terms: a bachelor of arts of four years' standing may be admitted to this degree. A doctor in civil law must be of five years' standing from the degree of B.C.L., or a master of arts of seven years' standing. A bachelor in physic must have resided the greater part of nine several terms, and may be admitted any time in his sixth year. A doctor in physic is bound by the same regulations as a doctor in civil law. A licentiate in physic is required to be M.A. or M.B. of two years' standing. A bachelor in music must enter his name at some college, and compose and perform a solemn piece of music as an exercise before the university: a doctor in music is generally a bachelor in music, and his exercise is the same.
The ordinary Course of Study preparatory to the degree of bachelor of arts may be considered under the three heads of Natural Philosophy, Theology and Moral Philosophy, and the Belles Lettres. On these subjects, besides the public lectures delivered by the several professors, the students attend the lectures of the tutors of their respective colleges. In addition to a constant attendance on lectures, the under-graduates are examined in their colleges yearly or half-yearly, on those branches of learning which have engaged their studies; and according to the manner in which they acquit themselves their names are arranged in classes, those who obtain the honour of a place in the first class receiving prizes of books, differing in value, according to merit. By this course the students are prepared for those public examinations and exercises which the university requires of all candidates for degrees. The first of these takes place in the second Lent term after the commencement of academical residence, at the general public examination held annually in the senate-house, in the last week of that term, and continues for four days; two classes, each arranged alphabetically, are formed out of those examined, the first consisting of those who have passed their examination with credit, and the second of those to whom the examiners have only not refused their certificate of approval. Those who are not approved by the examiners are required to attend the examination of the following year, and so on; and no degree of B.A., M.B., or B.C.L., is granted unless a certificate be presented to the Caput that the candidate for such degree has passed, to the satisfaction of the examiners, some one of these examinations. The student having passed this preparatory step, has next to perform the exercises required by the statutes for the degree which he has in view. The number of members of the university at the present time is 6487, of whom 3451 are of the senate.
Among the principal public buildings are, the senate-house, the schools, and the library; the first forming the north, and the others the west, side of a grand quadrangle, which has Great St. Mary's church on the east, and King's College chapel on the south. The Senate House is an elegant building of Portland stone, erected from a design by Sir James Burrough, at the expense of the university, aided by an extensive subscription; its foundation was laid in 1722, but it was not entirely completed until 1766. The exterior is of the Corinthian order, and the interior of the Doric. Near the centre of one side of the room is a marble statue of George I., by Rysbrach, executed at the expense of Viscount Townshend; and opposite to it is that of George II., by Wilton, executed in 1766, at the cost of the Duke of Newcastle: at the east end, on one side of the entrance, is a statue of the Duke of Somerset, by Rysbrach; and on the other one of William Pitt, by Nollekens, erected by a subscription at Cambridge, amounting to upwards of £7000. The Public Schools, in which disputations are held and exercises performed, were commenced on their present site in 1443, at the expense of the university, aided by liberal benefactions. They form three sides of a small court, the philosophy school being on the west, the divinity school on the north, and the schools for civil law and physic on the south; on the east is a lecture-room for the professors, fitted up in 1795. Connected with the north end of the philosophy school, is an apartment containing the valuable mineralogical collection presented by Dr. Woodward, in 1727. The magnificent Library occupies the whole quadrangle of apartments over the schools, and consists of four large and commodious rooms, containing upwards of 100,000 volumes: at the commencement, it occupied only the apartment on the east side, but it was afterwards extended to the north side. Its most important acquisition was in the early part of the last century, when George I., having purchased of the executors of Dr. Moore, Bishop of Ely, that prelate's collection of books, amounting to upwards of 30,000 volumes, for £6000, gave them to the university, at the same time contributing the sum of £2000 towards fitting up rooms for their reception. The upper part of a mutilated colossal statue, from the temple of Ceres, at Eleusis, the gift of Messrs. Clarke and Cripps, of Jesus' College, by whom it was brought to England, is placed in the vestibule. The rents of the university's estate at Ovington, in the county of Norfolk, are appropriated to the purchase of books, that estate having been bought with money given in 1666, by Tobias Rustat, to be so employed. William Worts, M.A., bequeathed the annual surplus of the produce of his estate at Landbeach, in Cambridgeshire, to be applied to the use of the library; and a quarterly contribution of one shilling and sixpence from each member of the university, excepting sizars, is also made towards its support. The superintendence of the university press is committed by the senate to syndics, who meet to transact business in the parlour of the printing-office, and cannot act unless five are present, the vice-chancellor being one.
Richard, Viscount Fitzwilliam, of Trinity Hall, who died in 1816, bequeathed to the university his splendid collection of books, paintings, drawings, engravings, &c., together with £100,000 South Sea annuities, for the erection of a Museum to contain them; and the collection has since been augmented by many valuable donations. The building was commenced in 1838, from the designs of Mr. G. Basevi, and forms nearly a square of 160 feet; the principal or east front is a rich composition, with 14 columns of the Corinthian order, surmounted by a pediment. The ground floor contains three rooms for libraries, extending along the west front, and communicating with two others, one to the south for medals, and that to the north for terra-cottas, &c.; the upper hall is 70 feet by 46, and will contain casts from the antique, &c. There are also three picture galleries, the floors of which, and also those of the libraries, are of Dutch oak. The Botanic Garden occupies between three and four acres on the south-east side of the town, conveniently disposed and well watered; it was purchased, with a large old building that originally belonged to the Augustine friars, for £1600 by the late Richard Walker, vice-master of Trinity College. The building having been sold, a new one has been erected for the use of the lecturers in chemistry and botany. The garden is under the government of the vice-chancellor, the provost of King's College, the masters of Trinity and St. John's Colleges, and the professor of physic.
The Anatomical School, situated near Catherine Hall, contains a large collection of rare and valuable preparations, including the museum of the late professor, Sir B. Harwood, and a set of models beautifully wrought in wax, imported from Naples; it is a small building conveniently fitted up, with a theatre for the lectures on anatomy and medicine, which are delivered in Lent term. Measures for the establishment of an Observatory were adopted in 1820, when a sum of £6000 was subscribed by the members of the university, to which £5000 were added out of the public chest by a grace of the senate. The building was commenced in the year 1822, and completed at an expense exceeding £18,115: it stands on an eminence, about a mile from the College walks, on the road to Madingley, and is in the Grecian style; the centre, surmounted by a dome, is appropriated to astronomical purposes, and the wings for the residence of the observers. The superintendence is vested in the Plumian professor, under whose direction are placed two assistants, who must be graduates of the university, and are chosen for three years, being capable of re-election at the expiration of that term. The Philosophical Society was instituted Nov. 15th, 1819, for the purpose of promoting scientific inquiries, and of facilitating the communication of facts connected with the advancement of philosophy and natural history; it consists of fellows and honorary members, the former being elected from such persons only as are graduates of the university, and no graduate or member of the university can be admitted an honorary member. Attached to the society is a reading-room, supplied with the principal literary and scientific journals, and the daily newspapers.
St. Peter's College, commonly called Peter-house, was founded in 1257, by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. There are sixteen fellowships on the foundation, to which no person can be elected who is not M.A., or of sufficient standing to take that degree; and not more than two fellows can be chosen from any one county, except those of Cambridge and Middlesex, each of which may have four: one-fourth of the foundation fellows are required to be in priest's orders. By Queen Elizabeth's licence the five senior clerical fellows may hold, with their fellowships, any living not rated higher than £20 in the king's books, and within twenty miles of the university. There are ten bye-fellows distinct from the former, and not entitled to any office or vote in the affairs of the college, but eligible to foundation fellowships. There are fiftynine scholarships, of different value, which are paid according to residence; also an exhibition from the Company of Clothworkers, and one from the Ironmonger's Company. The Bishop of Ely is visiter, and appoints to the mastership one of two candidates nominated by the society. The number of members on the boards is 228. The college buildings, which stand on the west side of Trumpington-street, consist of three courts, two of which are separated by a cloister and gallery: the largest of these is 144 feet long, 84 broad, and cased with stone; the least, next the street, is divided by the chapel, and has on the north side a lofty modern building faced with stone, the upper part of which commands an extensive prospect of the country towards the south; the third was completed in 1826, by means of a donation from a late fellow, the Rev. Francis Gisborne, from whom it is called the Gisborne Court. The chapel, a handsome structure, erected by subscription in 1632, is chiefly remarkable for its fine east window of painted glass, representing the Crucifixion. Among the eminent persons who have been members of this society, or educated at the college, may be enumerated Cardinal Beaufort; Archbishop Whitgift; Andrew Perne, Dean of Ely; Bishops Wren, Cosin, Walton (editor of the Polyglot Bible), and Law; Moryson, the traveller; Crashawe, the poet; Dr. Sherlock, Dean of St. Paul's; Sir Samuel Garth; Jeremiah Markland; the poet Gray; and Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough.
Clare Hall was founded in 1326, by Dr. Richard Badew, afterwards chancellor of the university, by the name of University Hall; but having been burned to the ground about the year 1342, it was rebuilt and munificently endowed, through the interest of Badew, by Elizabeth de Burgh, one of the sisters and coheiresses of Gilbert, Earl of Clare, and from her received its present name. The society consists of a master, ten senior or foundation fellows, nine junior, and three bye-appropriation, fellows; the senior and junior fellowships are open to all counties. The master is elected by the senior and junior fellows, and must be either a bachelor or a doctor in divinity; and the seniors must all be divines, except two, who, with the consent of the master and a majority of the fellows, may practise law and physic. Of the nine junior fellowships, two may be held by laymen; the other seven require priest's orders after a certain standing. The three bye-appropriation fellows hold no college office, have no vote in college business, and are ever after ineligible to any other fellowship; they must take priest's orders within seven years after they are bachelors of arts. There are thirtyfour scholarships, eight of which have been lately increased, four of the value of £50 per annum each, and the other four £20 each, besides a weekly allowance in the buttery of three shillings and three pence during residence. Four exhibitions of £20 per annum each were founded by Archdeacon Johnson, with preference to persons educated at Oakham and Uppingham schools. The visiters are, the chancellor, and two persons appointed by a grace of the senate. The number of members on the boards is 199. This Hall, one of the most uniform buildings of the university, is very pleasantly situated on the eastern bank of the Cam, over which it has an elegant stone bridge, leading to a shady walk, opening into a beautiful lawn surrounded by lofty elms. It was rebuilt in 1638, of Ketton stone, and consists of one grand court, 150 feet long, and 111 broad; the front towards the fields is very handsome, being adorned with two rows of pilasters, the lower in the Tuscan, the upper in the Ionic, order. The chapel, the rebuilding of which, from an elegant design by Sir James Burrough, was completed in 1769, at an expense of £7000, is remarkable for the neatness of its stuccowork. Among the Society's eminent members, &c., have been Thomas Philipot, the herald and antiquary; Archbishops Heath and Tillotson; Bishops Hugh Latimer, Gunning, Moore, and Henchman; George Ruggle, author of Ignoramus; Dr. Burnet, author of the Theory of the Earth; John Parkhurst, the lexicographer; Cudworth, author of the Intellectual System; William Whiston; Martin Folkes; Dr. Langhorne; Whitehead, the poetlaureate; Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter; Thomas Holles, Duke of Newcastle; and the late distinguished Marquess Cornwallis.
Pembroke College was founded in 1343, by Mary, Countess of Pembroke, and its endowment greatly enlarged by Henry VI. There are fourteen foundation and two bye fellowships, open to all counties, but no county to have more than three; six of the fellows must be in deacon's or priest's orders. There are twelve scholarships, varying in value from £12 to £50 per annum each; besides several of smaller amount. The lord high chancellor is visiter; the number of members on the boards is 130. The college, or hall, is situated on the east side of Trumpington-street, nearly opposite to St. Peter's College, and consists of two courts of nearly equal dimensions, being each about 95 feet by 55, with the hall between them. On the east side of the inner court is a small detached building, erected for the purpose of containing a hollow sphere, eighteen feet in diameter, turning round with ease, and having the constellations painted inside, the whole constructed by Dr. Long, Lowndean professor of astronomy, and at one time master of the college: the interior is so contrived as to form an excellent astronomical lecture-room, being capable of containing conveniently about 30 persons. Among the college plate is preserved a curious gilt silver cup, the gift of the foundress in the reign of Edward III. The chapel, built by Dr. Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely, from a design by his nephew Sir Christopher, and consecrated by that bishop in 1655, is one of the most elegant and best-proportioned in the university. Of the more eminent members, &c., may be reckoned, Archbishops Grindal and Whitgift; Bishops Lindwood, Fox, Ridley and Andrews; the martyrs, Rogers and Bradford; the poets, Spenser, Gray, and Mason; Dr. Long, the astronomer; Stanley, editor of Æschylus; and the illustrious statesman, William Pitt.
Gonville and Caius College, originally styled Gonville Hall, was founded in 1347, by Edmund, son of Sir Nicholas Gonville, of Terrington, in the county of Norfolk; in 1558, the hall was consolidated with the new foundation by Dr. John Caius, and under the charter then obtained the united foundations received the name they now bear. There are 29 fellowships, of which 21 are open to all counties, and 17 to laymen; two of the fellows must be physicians. The college has 26 scholarships, open to all counties; three are of the value of £56 per annum each, six of £40, six of £36, six of £30, one of £24, one of £22, and three of £20. There are also, a scholarship in chemistry, of the value of £20 per annum; and four studentships in physic, of the annual value of £113 each, founded by C. Tancred, Esq., who died in 1754, and who likewise founded four studentships of nearly the same value, appropriated to law, to be held by students of Lincoln's Inn, who are not required to be members of the university. In addition to these, are fourteen exhibitions of different value. The visiters are, the masters of Corpus Christi College, the senior doctor in physic, and the master of Trinity Hall; the number of members on the boards is 317. The college stands on the west side of Trinity-street, having Trinity College on the north, Trinity Hall on the west, and the senate-house on the south; it consists of three courts. The south court, and three remarkable gates of Grecian architecture, built by Dr. Caius, are supposed to have been designed by John of Padua, architect to Henry VIII., and to be the only works of his now remaining in the kingdom: of the principal court, part has been rebuilt, and the rest cased with stone and elegantly sashed. The chapel, though small, is admired for its beauty: on the south wall is a monument of Dr. Caius, under a canopy; also a monument of Stephen Perse, M.D., a great benefactor to the university, who died in 1615; and in the ante-chapel is the gravestone of Sir James Burrough, Knt., formerly master, an ingenious architect, who designed the senatehouse and other public buildings in Cambridge, and died in 1774. The library is small, but contains some exceedingly valuable books and manuscripts, particularly in the departments of heraldry and genealogy.
The college has been a celebrated seminary for professors of medicine and anatomy, ever since the time of its second founder, the learned physician, Dr. Caius. Of those who have most eminently conferred honour on the society in this faculty, may be enumerated, Dr. Francis Glisson; Sir Charles Scarborough; William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood; and Dr. William Hyde Wollaston. Among other distinguished members, or students, have been Dr. Branthwaite, one of the translators of the Bible; Sir Thomas Gresham; Sir Peter le Neve, the herald and antiquary; Richard Parker, author of the [Skeletos] Cantabrigiensis; Dr. Brady, the historian; Henry Wharton, author of the Anglia Sacra; Sir Henry Chauncy and Francis Blomefield, the historians of Hertfordshire and Norfolk; the celebrated Bishop Taylor; Bishop Skip, one of the compilers of the Liturgy; Jeremy Collier; the learned Dr. Samuel Clarke; Thomas Shadwell, the poet; and Lord Chancellor Thurlow.
Trinity Hall was founded in 1350, by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich. There are twelve fellowships, which are ordinarily held by graduates in civil law; ten of the fellows are usually laymen, and two in holy orders. The lord chancellor is visiter; the number of members on the boards is 149. The Hall stands behind the senate-house, near the river, and on the northern side of Clare Hall: the principal court is very neat, being faced with stone both within and without; the second is a convenient and handsome pile of brick and stone. The chapel is chiefly worthy of notice for its finelypainted altar-piece. The library contains, among other valuable books, a complete body of the canon, Roman, and common law. Of remarkable persons who have been members, or students, may be named Bilney, the martyr; Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester; Bishops Barlow, Halifax, and Horsley; Thomas Tusser, the writer on husbandry; Sir Peter Wyche, the traveller; Dr. Haddon, master of the requests to Queen Elizabeth; Sir Robert Naunton, secretary of state to James I.; Philip, the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield; Sir William de Grey, chief justice of the common pleas; and several other eminent lawyers, who have recently filled distinguished offices.
Corpus Christi College was founded in 1351, by the brethren of two guilds in Cambridge, bearing the names of Gilda Corporis Christi, and Gilda Beatæ Mariæ Virginis. There are twelve fellowships, four of which are appropriated, two for pupils from the school at Norwich, and two for natives of the county of Norfolk; the rest are open, with the restriction only that four of the candidates shall, if possible, be natives of Norfolk: all the fellows are required to take orders within three years after their election. The visiters are, the vicechancellor, and the two senior doctors in divinity; in extraordinary cases the sovereign is visiter. The present number of members on the boards is 283.
This college, frequently called Bene't College, from its proximity to the church of St. Benedict, is situated opposite to Catherine Hall: the extent and magnificence of its buildings give it a high rank among the recent improvements which have added so much to the splendour of the university. It consists of two large courts, the old and the new, the latter having been lately erected out of the funds which had accumulated for that purpose, from the munificent bequests of Archbishop Herring, and Bishops Mawson and Green, formerly masters of the college. The new buildings were commenced in July 1823: the grand west front is 222 feet long, with a lofty massive tower at each extremity, and a superb entrance gateway, in the centre, flanked by towers corresponding with the former; the court is 158 feet long, and 129 broad, having the chapel on the east side, the library on the south, and the hall on the north. The chapel, begun in 1579 by the Lord Keeper Bacon, is 66 feet long, and its exterior is richly adorned with sculpture. The library is a fine lofty room, 88 feet long, and contains the valuable manuscripts bequeathed to the college by Archbishop Parker, comprising a collection of papers upon ecclesiastical affairs, made on the dissolution of religious houses by Henry VIII., with other interesting documents relating to the Reformation, and the original record of the Thirty-nine Articles. The old court, situated behind the hall, is a very ancient pile of building, entirely appropriated to the students. Among the college plate is a curious drinking-horn, which belonged to the guild of Corpus Christi.
Of the distinguished members may be reckoned Archbishops Parker, Tenison, Herring, and Sterne; Bishops Allen, Fletcher, Jegon, Greene (Thomas), Bradford, Mawson, Green (John), Ashburnham, and Yorke; Sir Nicholas Bacon; Roger Manners, fifth earl of Rutland; Philip, second earl of Hardwicke; his brother, the Right Hon. Charles Yorke; Sir John Cust, Bart., speaker of the house of commons; Fletcher, the dramatic poet; Stephen Hales, the natural philosopher; Nathaniel Salmon, the topographer; and Dr. Stukeley, Robert Masters (the historian of the college), and Richard Gough, celebrated antiquaries.
King's College was founded in 1441, by King Henry VI. The society consists of a provost and seventy fellows and scholars; the latter are supplied by a regular succession from Eton College, and, at the expiration of three years from the day of their admission, are elected fellows. The college possesses some remarkable privileges and exemptions. By charter it appoints its own coroner, and no writ of arrest can be executed within its walls; the provost has absolute authority within the precincts. By special composition between the society and the university, the members are exempt from the power of the proctors and the university officers, within the limits of the college; by usage they keep no public exercises in the schools, nor are they in any way examined for the degree of bachelor of arts. The Bishop of Lincoln is visiter; the present number of members on the boards is 121.
The Buildings stand on the west side and near the centre of King's Parade, between it and the river, over which is a handsome stone bridge, communicating with the shady walks on the other side. They consist principally of the old court, now uninhabited, and purchased by the university to be taken down, in order to enlarge the public schools; and the grand court, lately completed, having Gibbs' building on the west, the magnificent chapel on the north, the library and hall on the south, and a grand entrance from Trumpington-street on the east; forming altogether the most superb group of buildings in Cambridge. The old court, built of stone, about 120 feet by 90, appears to be coeval with the foundation. A little to the south of it stands the chapel, the chief architectural ornament of the town, and one of the finest specimens of the later style of English architecture in the kingdom: it was begun by Henry VI., in 1441; continued by Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII.; and completed, with money bequeathed by the last-named king for that purpose, in the year 1515. Its extreme length is 316 feet, its breadth 84 feet, its height to the summit of the battlements 90 feet, to the top of the pinnacles 101, and to the summit of the corner towers 146 feet. About the middle of the interior is a wooden screen, supporting the organ gallery, and separating the ante-chapel from the choir, erected in 1534, and very curiously carved: the choir is paved with marble; the present altar-piece was erected about the year 1780. One of the most striking features of the edifice is the magnitude and beauty of its painted windows, twelve in number on each side, nearly fifty feet high, and, together with the east window, enriched with various subjects from Scripture history: this beautiful glass was put up in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII. On each side are nine small chapels, seven of which on the south contained, until lately, the college library, to which the learned Mr. Bryant bequeathed his valuable collection, in 1804. It was the intention of the royal founder that the chapel should form the south side of a large court; and for this purpose he granted two quarries of stone, in Yorkshire, besides £1000 per annum, payable out of the duchy of Lancaster, until the college should be completed. But Edward IV. deprived the college of this money, together with nearly two-thirds of its possessions; in consequence of which, nothing further was done towards completing the design, until an edifice of Portland stone, 236 feet long, and intended to form the west side of the great court, was begun in 1724, and completed from a design by James Gibbs. The provost's lodge, adjoining the bridge leading to the college walks, is very spacious and magnificent.
Amongst the eminent members and students may be enumerated Archbishop Rotherham; Bishops Fox, West, Aldrich, Cox, Guest, Wickham, Montagu, Pearson, Fleetwood, Hare, Weston, and Dampier; the martyrs, Fryth, Saunders, Glover, and Fuller; the statesmen, Sir John Cheke, Dr. Thomas Wilson, Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Walter Haddon, Sir William Temple, Sir Albert Moreton, Sir Robert Walpole, Horatio, first Lord Walpole, and Lord Chancellor Camden; Anthony Wooton, provost of Eton; Edward Hall, the historian; William Oughtred, the mathematician; Dr. Cowell, the civilian; Dr. Castell, author of the Heptaglot Lexicon; Waller; Dean Stanhope; Christopher Anstey; Jacob Bryant; and Horace, Earl of Orford.
Queen's College was founded by Margaret of Anjou, consort of Henry VI., in 1446, and refounded by Elizabeth Widville, consort of Edward IV., in 1465. There are eighteen foundation fellowships, which may be increased or diminished in number according to certain circumstances declared by the statutes. In general only one fellow can come from a county, and two from a diocese, the diocese of Lincoln excepted, from which there may be three; there may also be one fellow beyond the prescribed number from Middlesex, Essex, Cambridge, and Kent, in which the college has property sufficient for the maintenance of a fellow: two fellows may remain laymen, and within twelve years from M.A., one of the two must proceed to D.C.L., the other to M.D. The vice-president and the five senior fellows hold their fellowships with property; the others quit the society when possessed of a stated annual income. The five senior divines may hold livings rated in the king's books at not higher than £20 per annum, and within twenty miles of Cambridge. Every other fellow must resign his fellowship at the expiration of a year after he has become possessed of preferment rated in the king's books at £10 per annum or upwards, or of real property producing an income of £100 per annum, clear of all deductions. There is one byefellowship, which is perfectly open, may be held by a layman, and is tenable with any property or preferment; but the holder has no vote in the society. The scholarships have been consolidated into twenty-six, and augmented by college grants, many of them having previously been inconsiderable: they are payable weekly according to residence. The president must be elected by a majority of the whole existing body, must have graduated B.D. at least, and must possess property to the amount of £20 per annum. The sovereign is visiter: the number of members on the boards is 339. The Buildings are situated to the West of Catherine Hall, on the banks of the Cam, and consist of three courts of considerable magnitude. The entrance to the outer or principal court, which is 96 feet by 84, is through an elegant tower gateway; the inner court is furnished with cloisters about 300 yards in circumference, and extends to the bank of the river: Walnut-tree court has buildings on one side only. The front of the college, next the Cam, was rebuilt a few years since, in an elegant style. The grove and gardens are particularly beautiful, and, lying on both sides of the stream, are connected by a wooden bridge of one arch, built in 1746, and much admired for the ingenuity of its construction. Amongst eminent members, or students, of the college, have been Archbishop Grindall; Bishops Fisher, Davenant, Sparrow, and Patrick; Sir Thomas Smith, the statesman; Dr. Thomas Smith, the ecclesiastical historian; Thomas Brightman, author of a treatise on the Revelation; John Weever, author of the Funeral Monuments; Thomas Fuller, author of the Worthies of England, and other works, historical and ecclesiastical; and Dr. John Wallis, the mathematician. The celebrated Erasmus, also, was for some time a student.
Catherine Hall was established in 1475, by Robert Woodlark, D.D., chancellor of the university, and provost of King's College. There are six fellowships on the foundation, which may be increased or diminished in number, in proportion to the revenue of the college: there cannot be more than two fellows from any one county at the same time; and two of them at least must be in priest's and one in deacon's orders. There are eight other fellowships, in filling up six of which, "a preference is to be given to persons born in the city of York, if duly qualified." The scholarships are 43 in number, varying in value from £2 to £35 per annum each; thirteen are appropriated, and to several scholarships chambers rent-free are attached. The number of members on the boards is 223. The Buildings form three sides of a quadrangle, 180 feet by 120, the fourth side being open towards Trinity-street, and having iron palisades, and a piece of ground planted with lofty elm-trees; the front is towards the west, and has an elegant portico in the centre. The library, a very handsome room, was fitted up at the expense of Dr. Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London, who bequeathed to the college his large and valuable collection, and also left a stipend for the librarian. Amongst eminent members and students have been Archbishops Sandys and Dawes; Bishops Overall, (who compiled a work called "The Convocation Book," wrote the sacramental part of the Church Catechism, and assisted in the translation of the Bible,) Brownrigg, Leng (author of the Cambridge Terence), Blackall, Hoadley, and Sherlock; John Bradford, the martyr; John Strype, the ecclesiastical historian and biographer; Ray, the naturalist; and Dr. John Lightfoot, the orientalist, and author of the Horæ Hebraicæ.
Jesus College was founded by John Alcock, Bishop of Ely, in 1496, on the site of a Benedictine nunnery, established about the year 1130, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, and the Virgin St. Rhadegund, the endowment of which was augmented by Malcolm, fourth king of Scotland, and the possessions of which, on its dissolution in the reign of Henry VII., were granted to the bishop. There are sixteen foundation fellowships: eight of the fellows are to be natives of the northern, and eight of the southern counties, and six in priest's orders; and by a late statute, granted by the Bishop of Ely, and with the king's licence, the society has been empowered to elect fellows from any part of England and Wales, without restriction. On each vacancy the master and fellows nominate two candidates, of whom the Bishop appoints one. There is one fellowship to which the bishop has an exclusive right both to nominate and appoint; he is also visiter, and appoints the master. The college has 46 scholarships and exhibitions, varying in value from £9 to £70 per annum, and of which 27 are appropriated. The number of members on the boards of the college at the present time is 197.
The Buildings, which are situated at the extremity of the town, consist of a principal court, 141 feet by 120, which is built on three sides; and a small court surrounded by a cloister: an addition has lately been made to the eastern side of the college. The grand front looks towards the south, and is 180 feet long, being regularly built and sashed. Both the master and fellows have spacious gardens. The library contains many scarce and valuable editions of the classics. The chapel, anciently the conventual church of St. Rhadegund, exhibits, particularly in the chancel and the interior of the tower, considerable remains of the original structure; the altar-piece, representing the Presentation in the Temple, was given in 1796, by Dr. Pearce, master of the college. In the south transept of what is now the ante-chapel are the tombs of one of the nuns, named Berta Rosata, and of Prior John de Pykenham, the latter of which is supposed to have been removed hither from the neighbouring convent of Franciscans: in the north transept is the monument of Tobias Rustat, yeoman of the robes to King Charles II., a benefactor to the college, and who was equally remarkable for his great wealth and his extensive charities.
Amongst eminent members and students may be reckoned Archbishops Cranmer, Sterne, Herring, and Hutton; Bishop Bale, the biographer; Dr. John Nalson, the historian; Roger North, the biographer; John Flamsteed, the astronomer; Fenton, the poet; Dr. Jortin; the witty Lawrence Sterne; Tyrwhitt, the founder of the Hebrew scholarships; Gilbert Wakefield, the classical editor and critic; and the celebrated traveller, Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke.
Christ's College was originally founded in 1456, by Henry VI., under the name of God's House; but in 1505, the Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, changed the name, incorporated the former society with the present college, and endowed it liberally for the maintenance of a master and twelve fellows. This foundation is for divinity, and the fellows are required to take priest's orders within twelve months after they have attained the requisite age. The only appropriation is to the counties of England and Wales; the restrictions are, that there shall not be two of the same county, and that there shall be six, and only six, from nine specified shires in the north of England collectively. Edward VI. added another fellowship, the holder of which participates in the emolument of the original foundation; he may be from any county, and is not obliged to take holy orders. Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas Baines founded two more fellowships unappropriated as to county, but with preference to the kindred of the founders: the revenues are independent of the college. These fifteen fellows have an equal claim to the college patronage, and are allowed by the statutes to hold preferment with their fellowships, provided it does not exceed the value of ten marks, after the deductions found in the king's books. Lady Margaret founded 47 scholarships, now augmented to 15s. per week during residence; there can only be three scholars of one county. Three were added by Edward VI.: various other scholarships and exhibitions have been founded by private benefactors; and four divinity studentships, the present value of which is £113 per annum each, were established by C. Tancred, Esq., who also founded a scholarship, value about £35 per annum, with preference to a native of Newmarket, secondly to the county of Cambridge. The visiters are the vice-chancellor and the two senior doctors of divinity; or, if the vice-chancellor be of this college, the provost of King's. The number of members on the boards is 301.
The Buildings stand north of Emmanuel College, and opposite to St. Andrew's church; and consist of the principal court, a handsome quadrangle, 130 feet by 120, and a second court, built on two sides, of which that next the garden and fields is an elegant and uniform pile of stone, about 150 feet long. The chapel is 84 feet long, with a floor of marble: in the east window are portraits of Henry VII., and some others of the family of the foundress; and within the rails of the altar is the gravestone of Dr. Ralph Cudworth, author of the Intellectual System, and master of the college, who died in the year 1688. The garden has a bowling-green and a cold bath, and contains a large mulberry-tree, planted by Milton, when he was a student here.
Besides the great poet just mentioned, the following eminent persons have been members of the society, or students at the college: Leland, the antiquary; Archbishop John Sharp; Bishops Latimer, Law, and Porteus; Hugh Broughton, and Dr. Lightfoot, the orientalists; the poets, John Cleland, and Francis Quarles; Dr. Joseph Mede, an eminent divine; Dr. Thomas Burnet, author of the Theory of the Earth; Dr. Lawrence Echard, the historian; Dr. Saunderson, the mathematician; and Archdeacon Paley.
St. John's College was founded in 1511, by the executors of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby: the original endowment was for 50 fellows, but part of the foundation estates having been seized by Henry VIII., the funds were found to be sufficient only for 32 fellowships. These, by letters-patent from George IV., are now open to natives of England and Wales, without any restriction or appropriation whatsoever; one of them is in the appointment of the Bishop of Ely. Candidates must have taken the degree of B.A. at least; and none are superannuated, provided they have proceeded regularly to their degrees. This being a divinity college, all the fellows are obliged to be in priest's orders within six years from the degree of M.A., except four, who are allowed by the master and seniors to practise law and physic; and the others must proceed to the degree of B.D. at the regular time: the electors are the master and eight senior resident fellows, in whom is vested the entire management of the college concerns. There are also 21 appropriated fellowships, which have all the privileges of the foundation fellowships, and an equal claim to the college patronage; and besides these, are three fellowships founded by Mr. Platt, and subsequently increased to nine by the society, which are open to all candidates; but the fellows are not allowed to hold any college preferment. Of the 114 scholarships, nine, founded by the Duchess of Somerset, have been augmented by the society to sixteen, which are appropriated to Manchester, Hertford, and Marlborough schools; and four, founded by Mr. Platt, have been increased by the college to nine, tenable, like the above-mentioned fellowships founded by him, by candidates born in any county. There are numerous exhibitions, varying from £70 each downwards. All livings under £30 in the king's books are tenable with the college preacherships, of which there are thirteen. The Bishop of Ely is visiter; the number of members on the boards at the present time is 1318.
The older Buildings are situated to the north of Trinity College, and occupy the whole space between Trinity-street and the river, consisting of three courts, built for the most part of brick. The first, which is the most ancient court, is about 228 feet by 216, and is entered from the street by a handsome gateway, with turrets coeval with the foundation; the second court, about 270 feet by 240, built by the benefaction of Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury, is very handsome, and chiefly consists of fellows' apartments; the third, next the river, is of smaller dimensions than the others. The north side of the first court is occupied by the chapel, that of the second by the master's lodge, and that of the third by the library; extending altogether, from east to west, about 480 feet. The chapel is 120 feet long: in the ante-chapel is the tombstone of Thomas Baker, D.D., commonly called "Socius Ejectus," some time fellow of the college, and who wrote its history; and in the chapel is a tablet in memory of the learned Dr. Whitaker, master, who died in 1595. In the master's lodge is a spacious ancient gallery, nearly 155 feet long, with a richly ornamented ceiling, now divided into a suite of rooms, containing numerous portraits of benefactors and members of the college. The library, built by Archbishop Williams, contains one of the most valuable and extensive collections of books in the university, among which are those left by Dr. Baker, and those presented to the college by Matthew Prior, consisting chiefly of the works of the French historians. The spacious gardens and walks lie on the west side of the river, over which is a stone bridge of three arches, leading from the inner court: the fellows' garden has a bowling-green. A large and splendid addition to the college has been lately completed, from a design by Rickman and Hutchinson, on the western side of the river, consisting of a spacious court, united to the three ancient courts by a covered stone bridge. The inner and the eastern and western fronts are all varied; the cloister extends from the east to the west wing, and has a lofty entrance in the centre: this building affords additional accommodation for one hundred and seven students, including ten suites of apartments for fellows of the college.
Amongst eminent members, &c., have been Roger Ascham; Sir John Cheke; Sir Thomas Wyat; Lord Treasurer Burleigh; Lord Keeper Williams; Dr. John Dee; Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford; Lord Falkland; Dr. William Whitaker; Dr. William Cave; Archbishop Williams; Bishops Day, Gauden, Gunning, Jeremy Taylor, Stillingfleet, and Beveridge; Dr. Jenkins, who wrote on the reasonableness of Christianity; Dr. Powell; Dr. Balguy; Dr. Ogden; Thomas Stackhouse, author of the History of the Bible; Dr. William Wotton, and Dr. Bentley, the critics; Ben Jonson; the poets, John Cleland, Ambrose Philips, Prior, Otway, Broome, Hammond, Mason, and Henry Kirke White; Martin Lister, the naturalist; Francis Peck, and Thomas Baker, the antiquaries; the late Dr. Heberden; and Herschel, the Queen's astronomer.
Magdalen College was begun in 1519, by Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, by the name of Buckingham House, but was not completed at the time of his attainder, after which it was granted to Thomas, Baron Audley, lord high chancellor, who, in 1542, endowed it for a master and four fellows. There are thirteen bye-fellowships; two of them are appropriated, one of the two being a travelling fellowship, founded by the Rev. Drue Drury, and worth upwards of £200 per annum, but tenable for only nine years, and appropriated to the county of Norfolk: the master has the sole appointment to this fellowship, and the person must either be in holy orders or designed for such. The other was founded by Dr. Millington, for the benefit of Shrewsbury grammar school. All the fellows, except those of the two lastmentioned fellowships, must take orders within three years after election, if the master think fit. The mastership is in the appointment of the possessor of the estate at Audley-End, now Lord Braybrooke. There are 42 scholarships, varying in value from £3 to £70 per annum each; 12 of which are appropriated. The possessor of Audley-End is visiter; the number of members on the boards is 207. This is the only college which stands on the north side of the river; it consists of two courts, the larger being about 110 feet by 78. On the north side of the second court is a stone building, the body of which comprises the Pepysian library, given to the college by Samuel Pepys, secretary to the admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., and which contains many valuable curiosities; in the wings are the apartments of the fellows. Among distinguished members, &c., may be named Archbishop Grindal; Dr. Thomas Nevile, who erected the beautiful court in Trinity College which bears his name; Pepys, the founder of the library; Dr. Duport, the celebrated Greek professor; the Lord Keeper Bridgeman; Bishop Walton, editor of the Polyglot Bible; Bishop Rainbow; Dr. Howell, the historian; Bishop Cumberland; Dr. Waterland; and Professor Waring.
Trinity College stands on ground formerly occupied by seven hostels and two colleges, Michael House and King's Hall. The former college was established in 1324, by Hervey de Stanton, chancellor of the exchequer to Edward II.; the buildings of the latter, founded by Edward III., in 1337, for a master and 32 scholars, are said to have been of sufficient magnitude to accommodate Richard II. and his court, when he held a parliament at Cambridge, in 1381. Both these colleges were suppressed in 1546, and in the same year the present magnificent one was instituted by Henry VIII., for a master, 60 fellows, and 69 scholars, whose endowment was considerably augmented by his daughter, Queen Mary. The fellows are chosen from the scholars, ineligible if M.A., or of sufficient standing to take that degree; they are all required to go into priest's orders within seven years after they commence masters of arts, except two appointed by the master, one of whom is supposed to study law, the other physic. The scholarships, except four or five, are open to persons of any county. The government is vested in the master and eight seniors; and to so many of these as are absent the resident fellows next in seniority act as deputies: the mastership is in the gift of the sovereign, who is visiter. The number of members on the boards at the present time is 2044.
The extensive Buildings of the college are situated between those of St. John's and Caius Colleges, occupying the space between Trinity-street and the river, and consisting of three quadrangular courts. The first court, which is the largest, forms a magnificent assemblage of buildings: on the north side is the chapel; on the west, the hall and the master's lodge; while the other two sides comprise apartments for fellows and students. The south end of the west side has been rebuilt in a handsome style. The second court, called Nevile's Court, built in 1600, chiefly by the benefaction of Dr. Thomas Nevile, master of the college and Dean of Canterbury, is more elegant than the former, though less spacious. The library, forming the west side, is of later date, having been built chiefly through the exertions of Dr. Barrow; and the north and south sides, containing fellows' and students' apartments, have been almost wholly rebuilt: the library, and the cloisters which extend along the north, west, and south sides, were designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Beyond Nevile's Court is a newly erected quadrangle, called King's Court in honour of George IV.; the building of which was commenced in 1823, and completed in 1825, at an expense of upwards of £40,000, partly defrayed by a subscription, headed by a donation of £2000 from that monarch. It is from designs by William Wilkins, Esq., M.A.; and the principal front, with a tower gateway, faces the College walks, in a line with the library. The Chapel, upwards of 200 feet long, and in the later style of English architecture, was begun by Queen Mary, and finished by Queen Elizabeth: on each side of the choir are rows of very elegant stalls for the masters and scholars, with carved work by Gibbons; and the thrones for the master and the vice-master are remarkably grand. Among the monuments in the ante-chapel, the most interesting are, a statue of Bacon, by Weekes; a statue of Sir Isaac Newton, by Roubilliac, presented to the society by Dr. Robert Smith, master of the college; a tablet in memory of the eminent mathematician, Roger Cotes, Plumian professor, who died in 1716; another in memory of Isaac Hawkins Browne, celebrated for his poem on the Immortality of the Soul, and other works, who died in 1762; and a bust and tablet, by Chantrey, in memory of Professor Porson. The Hall, built in the later English style, is about 100 feet long, and 50 high. The Master's Lodge, which contains some magnificent apartments, has, since the reign of Elizabeth, been the residence of the sovereign, when the university has been honoured with a royal visit; and the judges always reside in it during the assizes. The Library, a splendid room, 200 feet long, and proportionately lofty, was built by subscription, amounting to nearly £20,000. The collection of books is large and valuable, and among the busts are those of Bacon, Newton, Ray, Willoughby, Roger Cotes, and Edward Wortley Montagu: there is a statue of Byron, by Thorwaldsen; also a statue of Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset, for sixty years chancellor of the university, executed by Rysbrach in 1754; and at the upper end is a curious statue of Æsculapius, found at Samæ, about fourteen miles from Rome. Of the portraits, the most interesting is an original half-length of Shakspeare, by Mark Garrard, The room is paved with marble; and at the south end, opposite to the entrance, is a window of painted glass, from a design by Cipriani, representing the presentation of Sir Isaac Newton to George II.; for the execution of which, £500 were bequeathed by Dr. Robert Smith.
Amongst eminent members and students of the college have been, Archbishops Whitgift and Fowler; Bishops Powell, Wilkins, Hacket, Pearson, Pearce, Hinchcliffe, and Watson; Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; Sir Francis Bacon; Sir Edward Coke; Fulke Greville; Lord Brooke; Charles, Earl of Halifax; Sir Isaac Newton; William Outram; Dr. Barrow; Dr Bentley: Ray, the naturalist; Roger Cotes; Dr. William Whitaker; the poets, Dr. Donne, Cowley, and Dryden; Nathaniel Lee, the dramatist; George Herbert, Richard Duke, Lord Lansdowne, Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Henry Spelman, Dr. Gale, John le Neve, Francis Willoughby, Philemon Holland, Andrew Marvell, Robert Nelson, Dr. Samuel Knight, Conyers Middleton, Professor Porson, and Byron.
Emmanuel College was founded in 1584, by Sir Walter Mildmay, chancellor of the exchequer and privy councillor in the reign of Elizabeth: it occupies the site of a Dominican friary, established before the year 1275, and enriched by Alice, widow of Robert Vere, second Earl of Oxford, which, after the Dissolution, was purchased by Sir Walter, prior to the institution of the college. The number of foundation fellowships is twelve; besides one the holder of which receives a dividend arising from a distinct estate, though he is in most respects on an equality with the foundation fellows. These thirteen fellowships are open to Englishmen of all counties, but there cannot be more than one from the same county: all the fellows must proceed to the degrees of M.A. and B.D., as soon as they are of sufficient standing; and the four seniors must take priest's orders. In addition to the above, there are two fellows on the foundation by Sir Wolstan Dixie, Knt., who must proceed in their degrees, equally with those on the original foundation, but have no vote in the society, nor any claim to the offices or dividends of the college. There are likewise four scholarships of the same foundation, and subject to the same restrictions. The foundation scholarships are open to Englishmen of all counties, but there can only be three from the same county: the scholars receive upwards of £12 per annum, in addition to the weekly payment of 7s. 6d. during residence. Besides these, there are many scholarships and exhibitions, founded by various benefactors, to be given to the candidates most distinguished for learning and exemplary conduct. The visiters are, in some cases, the vice-chancellor and the two senior doctors in divinity; in others, the master of Christ's College and the two senior doctors. The number of members on the boards at the present time is 261.
The college is very pleasantly situated in St. Andrew's street, near the south-eastern entrance into the town; the greater part of it is modern, and elegantly built of stone. It has one principal court, 128 feet by 107, to which a range of buildings for the accommodation of students was added a few years since, forming, with the library and the north side of the hall, a second court. The chapel, which is 84 feet long, and has a marble floor, was designed and commenced by Archbishop Sancroft, in 1668, and completed in 1677; the principal contribution being £1040, by Sir Robert Gayer, K.B. The old chapel is fitted up for the library, to which Sancroft gave his own collection of books. The hall is furnished with great elegance; at the upper end is a fine painting of Sir Wolstan Dixie, founder of the fellowships.
Among eminent members have been, Archbishop Sancroft; Bishops Hall, Bedell, Kidder, Hurd, Percy, and Bennet; Matthew Poole, author of the Synopsis Criticorum; Joshua Barnes; Dr. Wallis, the mathematician; Sir Robert Twiston, the antiquary; John Morton, the historian of Northamptonshire; Sir Francis Pemberton; Sir William Temple; Anthony Blackwall, author of The Sacred Classics Defended and Illustrated; Dr. Farmer, to whose memory there is a tablet in the cloister, near the chapel; and Dr. Parr.
Sidney-Sussex College was instituted in 1598, pursuant to the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex, who died in 1589. It has nine foundation fellowships, open to natives of any part of her Majesty's dominions; besides which there are two established by Mr. Peter Blundell, and appropriated to his scholarships in the college, and one the nomination to which is vested in the Company of Fishmongers, London. No fellow derives any benefit from his fellowship unless he be M.A. complete; and this being a divinity college, all the fellows must take orders within three years from the time of their election, and the degree of B.D. at the regular period. There are twenty foundation scholarships, value 7s. per week during residence; and two founded by Mr. Blundell, appropriated to Twerton school. Sir John Shelley Sidney, Bart., is visiter, as the representative of the foundress; but, by the statutes, the vice-chancellor and the two senior doctors in divinity are visiters in some cases, and the vice-chancellor, with the masters of Christ's and Emmanuel Colleges, in others. The number of members on the boards is 118. The buildings are situated on the east side of Sidney-street, and consist of two courts built of brick, and completed in 1598. The chapel and the library were rebuilt in 1780; and the hall and the master's lodge have lately been cased with stone, and greatly improved. The grounds are spacious, and the fellows' garden has a large bowling-green. Amongst eminent members or students may be recorded Oliver Cromwell; Archbishop Bramhall; Bishops Seth Ward, Montagu, and Garnet; Thomas Fuller, the historian; Lord Chief Baron Atkins; Sir Roger L'Estrange; Gataker, the critic; Dr. Comber, Dean of Durham; Thomas Woolston, who wrote against miracles; and William Wollaston, author of The Religion of Nature Delineated. In the master's lodge is a portrait in crayons, of Cromwell, by Cooper; and in the library, a bust by Bernini, from a cast taken after the usurper's death.
Downing College was founded by Sir George Downing, Bart., of Gamlingay Park, Cambridgeshire, who, by will dated in 1717, devised his estates in the counties of Cambridge, Bedford, and Suffolk, first to Sir Jacob Garrard Downing, and afterwards to other relatives, in succession, and, in failure thereof, to found a college in the university, upon a plan to be approved by the two archbishops and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall. Sir Jacob died in 1764, the other devisees having died previously without issue; but the estates being held by Lady Downing, and afterwards by her devisees, though without any real title, the university was obliged to sue in Chancery for the establishment of the college, in favour of which a decree was obtained in 1769, and, after much litigation, a charter in Sept. 1800. A piece of land comprising nearly thirty acres, situated between Emmanuel and Pembroke Colleges, having been purchased for the site, the first stone was laid on May 18th, 1807, since which time the building has proceeded at intervals, at an expense of more than £60,000. The object of the foundation is stated in the charter to be the study of law, physic, and other useful arts and learning; and the society will consist of a master, professors of law and medicine, sixteen fellows (of whom two only are to be clerical), and six scholars. At present, however, only the master, the professors and three fellows are appointed, to take possession of the estates, administer the revenues, and superintend the erection of the college; the appointment of the remaining fellows is reserved until the completion of the buildings. The scholars will also be elected after that period, but not more than two in each year. There are two chaplains nominated by the master, who is directed to be chosen, by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, from amongst those who are, or have been, professors or fellows. The visiter is the sovereign, by the Lord Chancellor; the number of members on the boards is 53. The whole buildings, when finished, will form a quadrangle, larger than the principal court of Trinity College, in the Grecian style, and faced with Ketton stone; the master's lodge is of the Ionic, and the entrance to the college will be of the Doric, order: the designs are by Mr. Wilkins. Mr. John Bowtell, of Cambridge, bequeathed to the college a collection of books, manuscripts, and antiquities.
The town is divided into four distinct wards, named respectively Bridge ward, Market ward, High ward, and Preacher's ward; and contains the fourteen parishes of All Saints, in which are 1231 inhabitants; St. Andrew the Great, 1983; St. Andrew the Less, 9486; St. Benedict, 1022; St. Botolph, 723; St. Clement, 1039; St. Edward, 619; St. Giles, 2087; St. Mary the Great, 1013; St. Mary the Less, 704; St. Michael, 432; St. Peter, 627; St. Sepulchre, 638; and the Holy Trinity, 2189. The university, by custom and composition, is exempt from episcopal and archidiaconal jurisdiction. The living of All Saints' is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 3.; net income, £120; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Jesus College. The church contains a fine bas-relief, by Chantrey, to the memory of Kirke White. The living of St. Andrew's the Great is a discharged vicarage; net income £120; patrons and impropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Ely: the tithes were commuted for land in 1807. The church was repaired, and a great part of it rebuilt, in 1643, chiefly by aid of a benefaction by Christopher Rose, and has lately been rebuilt and enlarged; in the north transept is a cenotaph in memory of the celebrated navigator, Captain Cook, and his three sons. The living of St. Andrew's the Less, or Barnwell, is a donative; net income, £48; patron, the Rev. C. Perry: the tithes were commuted for land in 1807. The old church stands eastward from the town, and is supposed to have been built from the ruins of the priory at Barnwell. The village of Barnwell has suffered from repeated fires, the last and most destructive of which was on the 30th of Nov. 1731, when the greater part of the houses were consumed. A chapel of ease was erected a few years since; and an additional church, dedicated to Christ, a handsome edifice in the later English style, and now used as the parish church, was consecrated on the 27th of July, 1839: it contains 1400 sittings, of which 700 are free. At New Town, also in the parish, a church was erected in 1841, at an expense of £5180, in the same style of architecture as the former, and containing 900 sittings, half of which are free, the Incorporated Society having granted £450 in aid of the expense. The living of St. Benedict's is a perpetual curacy, valued at £4. 7. 11.; net income, £151; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College. In the church was interred Thomas Hobson, the well-known Cambridge carrier. The living of St. Botolph's is a discharged rectory, valued at £2. 14. 4½.; net income, £87; patrons, the President and Fellows of Queen's College. The living of St. Clement's is a perpetual curacy, valued at £4. 5. 7½.; net income, £102; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Jesus College. The church stands a little south of the great bridge. The living of St. Edward's is a perpetual curacy, valued at 3s. 4d.; net income, £66; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity Hall. The church is to the west of Trinity-street. The living of St. Giles' is a vicarage not in charge, to which the perpetual curacy of St. Peter's is united; net income, £170; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Ely: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1802. St. Giles' church stands at the north end of the town; St. Peter's, opposite to it, has been disused for many years.
The living of St. Mary's the Great is a rectory not in charge; net income, under £100; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College: the tithes were commuted for land in 1807. The church, commonly called the University church, is situated nearly in the centre of the town, on the east side of Trinity-street, and opposite to the public schools and library; it is in the later English style, and consists of a nave, the dimensions of which are about 120 feet by 68, two aisles, and a chancel with a lofty tower surmounted by pinnacles, and containing twelve bells. The rebuilding of the church, by contribution, was begun in 1478, and finished in 1519, except the tower, which was not completed until 1608. In it was interred the celebrated reformer, Martin Bucer, whose body was taken up in the reign of Mary and burned, with that of Paul Phagius, in the market-place. Academical exercises were anciently performed, and public orations delivered, here; and, in 1564, Queen Elizabeth was present at the disputations held in it: the university sermons are still preached here. William Worts, Esq., who died in 1709, left the sum of £1500, to accumulate for the purpose of building the galleries, and £20 per annum for keeping them in repair. The living of St. Mary's the Less is a perpetual curacy; net income, £95; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of St. Peter's College, whose tithes were commuted for land in 1807. The church was built in 1327, on the site of a former edifice, dedicated to St. Peter, which gave name to the adjoining college. The living of St. Michael's is a perpetual curacy; net income, £95; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College. The church stands on the east side of Trinity-street, opposite to Caius College: in the spacious chancel are held the bishop's visitations and confirmations. In 1556, it was placed under an interdict, as being the burial-place of Paul Phagius, then esteemed an arch-heretic, and was re-consecrated by the Bishop of Chester, acting as the deputy of Cardinal Pole.
The living of St. Sepulchre's is a vicarage valued at £6. 11. 0½., and in the patronage of the parishioners; net income, £123. St. Sepulchre's, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is on the east side of Bridge-street, and is remarkable for the peculiarity of construction of the more ancient part of it, which is believed to be the oldest remaining specimen of the circular churches erected by the Knights Templars on the model of that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and to have been built in the reign of Henry I. The building is 41 feet in diameter, and has a peristyle of eight rude massive pillars supporting circular arches with chevron mouldings; it contains a tablet in memory of Dr. Ogden, the eminent divine, who died in 1778. This church having been restored, was re-opened in August, 1845. The living of Holy Trinity parish is a perpetual curacy, valued at £7. 6. 8.; net income, £96; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Ely. The church, situated at the south end of Bridge-street, was some years since enlarged by the addition of 540 sittings. The new cemetery of Cambridge, which comprises three acres of ground, is a little to the north of the town, on the Histon road: the entrance lodge and gates are of brick, with Caen stone dressings; and in a direct line with the entrance, and in the centre of the area, is the chapel, standing east and west, and raised somewhat above the general level on a low terrace: the walls are of rubble, but all the quoins, copings, and windows, of Caen stone. There are meeting-houses for Baptists, Friends, Independents, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists.
The Free Grammar School, situated near Corpus Christi College, was established in pursuance of the will of Stephen Perse, M.D., senior fellow of Caius College, who in 1615 bequeathed property, producing £180 per annum, for its erection and endowment. The General hospital or infirmary, commonly called Addenbrooke's hospital, situated at the entrance into the town from London, was founded by John Addenbrooke, M.D., fellow of Catherine Hall, who, in 1719, bequeathed about £4000 to erect and maintain a small physical hospital: the building was begun about 1753, and opened for the reception of patients in 1766, when, the funds being found insufficient for its support, an act of parliament was obtained to make it a general hospital. Mr. John Bowtell, of Cambridge, by will dated in 1813, bequeathed to the institution £7000 three per cent. consolidated Bank annuities, between £3000 and £4000 of which were appropriated to the addition of two extensive wings. The annual income, from rents, stock, and contributions, is upwards of £3000. There are almshouses in the town for upwards of fifty poor persons, founded and endowed by different individuals. John Crane, apothecary, who died in 1654, bequeathed money to purchase an estate, now producing upwards of £300 per annum, to be settled on the university of Cambridge, and the towns of Wisbech, Cambridge, Lynn, and Ipswich; the rents to be received in rotation, and to be applied by the university, in its turn, towards the relief of sick scholars. The gift to the town was to accumulate until it amounted to £200, which sum was to be disposed of in loans of £20 each, bearing no interest for twenty years, to ten young men, to set them up in trade. After the sum of £200 had been set apart, the donor ordered that the rents of the estates should be applied to the relief of persons confined for debt, and of poor men and women of good character. Cambridge is also one of the twenty-five cities and towns to which Sir Thomas White gave, in rotation, the sum of £104, of which £100 were to be lent, in sums of £25 each, to four young freemen for ten years, without interest, preference being given to clothiers. Thomas Hobson, by will dated in 1628, left houses, and £100, to purchase land for building and maintaining a house of correction, and workhouse for setting the poor to work; which bequest has been increased by several others.
The Religious Houses at Cambridge were numerous. The most ancient was that of Augustine canons, founded near the castle in 1092, by Picot, the sheriff, and augmented, and removed to Barnwell, by Payne Peverel, standard-bearer to Robert, Duke of Normandy; its revenue, at the Dissolution, was valued at £351. 15. 4. Some remains of the buildings have been converted into farm-offices. The Benedictine nunnery of St. Rhadegund appears to have been established about the year 1130, and was originally dedicated to Mary, but was re-dedicated to Rhadegund by Malcolm IV., King of Scotland, who augmented its revenue, and about the year 1160 rebuilt the conventual church, the remaining portion of which forms the chapel of Jesus College. For the purpose of founding that college, the nunnery was granted to Bishop Alcock by Henry VII., having escheated to the crown in consequence of its being deserted by the nuns. The monastery of the Grey friars or Franciscans, the site of which is occupied by Sidney-Sussex College, was instituted about 1224, and was very flourishing. The Bethlemite friars settled in Cambridge in 1257, in a house in Trumpington-street, of which they had procured a grant: the friars De sacco, or De pnitentiâ Jesu Christi, whose order was suppressed in 1307, settled in the same street in 1258; and the brethren of St. Mary, in the parish of All Saints, near the castle, about 1274. The priory of the Black friars, the site of which is occupied by Emmanuel College, was founded before 1275. The Augustine friars are supposed to have settled here about 1290; and their convent, which was in the parish of St. Edward, was established by Sir Geoffrey Pitchford, Knt. The White friars, or Carmelites, the site of whose convent is occupied by the garden of the provost of King's College, settled first at Chesterton, and afterwards (about 1249) at the adjoining hamlet of Newenham, from which they removed, in 1316, to a spot of ground just within the walls, given them by Edward II. A small priory of Gilbertines was founded by Bishop Fitzwalter, in 1291: the society occupied the old chapel of St. Edmund, opposite to Peter-House.
The Castle, built in the reign of William the Conqueror, on the site of a Roman station afterwards occupied by a Danish fortress, was, in early times, an occasional residence of the English sovereigns: after it had ceased to be so occupied, the buildings, which were extensive, went to decay; though, during the civil war, it was made a garrison for the parliament. The county was in possession of it, subject to a fee-farm rent, so early as 1660; and the quarter-sessions were regularly held here from that time until after the building of the shire-hall. The remains of the ancient building, consisting of a gate-house, which was long used as a prison, until the erection, about forty years ago, of a county gaol within the limits of the castle, were levelled with the ground, to afford space and supply materials for the new county courts. Some of the earthworks that surrounded it are undoubtedly Roman. A somewhat curious piece of architectural antiquity exists in the mansion-house of Merton Hall, in the parish of St. Giles, which has long borne the name of Pythagoras' School, though for what reason is unknown: the most remarkable part of the building is a large hall, measuring 61 feet by 22, and which had formerly an undercroft, with circular arches and plain pillars, apparently constructed in the early part of the twelfth century.
Amongst Eminent Natives of Cambridge have been, Sir John Cheke, tutor, and afterwards secretary of state, to Edward VI.; Dr. Thirlebye, first and only bishop of Westminster, and afterwards, successively, bishop of Norwich and of Ely; the eloquent Jeremy Taylor; Dr. Goldisborowe, Bishop of Gloucester; Dr. Townson, Bishop of Salisbury; Dr. Love, Dean of Ely; Thomas Bennett, who suffered martyrdom at Exeter, in 1530; and Richard Cumberland, the dramatist. Prince Adolphus Frederick, fifth and youngest surviving son of King George III., was created Duke of Cambridge, November 27th, 1801.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.