University

UNIVERSITY, a name applied to an establishment for a liberal education, wherein professors in the several branch es of science and polite literature aro maintained, and where degrees or honors attached to the attainments of scholars, are conferred. Such an establishment is called a university or universal school, as intended to embrace the whole compass of study. The universities of Great Bri tain are seated at Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrew's, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edin burgh. They are governed by chancel lors, vice-chancellors, proctors, and bea dles ; and every college has its master and tutors ; these are also public lectures of professors in every established branch of knowledge. The students and all the members wear an ancient costume con sisting of trencher-caps and gowns, varied according to their degrees, which are bachelors of arts, divinity, law, music, medicine ; masters of arts, and doctors of divinity, law, and physic. The London University and King's College, are two collegiate establishments in the metropo lis, of recent foundation, which may prob ably be the precursors of others. Univer sities in their present form, and with their present privileges, are institutions comparatively modern. They sprang from the convents of regular clergy or from the chapters of cathedrals in the church of Rome, where young men were educated for holy orders, in that dark period when the clergy possessed all the little erudition which was left in Europe. Probably in every town in Europe where there is now a university, which has any claim to be called ancient, these convents were seminaries of learning from their first institution ; for it was not till the more eminent of the laity began to see the importance of literature and science, that universities distinct from convents were founded, with the privilege of ad mitting to degrees, which conferred some rank in civil society. These universities have long been considered as lay corpora tions ; but as a proof that they had this kind of ecclesiastical origin, it will be suf ficient to observe, that the pope arroga ted to himself the right of vesting them with all their privileges ; and that, prior to the Reformation, every university in Europe conferred its degrees in all the faculties by authority derived from a papal bull. The most ancient universi ties in Europe are those of Oxford, Cam bridge, Paris, Salamanca, and Bologna, and in the two English universities, the first-founded colleges are those of Uni versity, Ballot, and Merton, in the fOr met., and St. Peter's in the latter. Oxford and Cambridge however, were universi ties, or, as they were then called, studies, some hundreds of years before colleges or schools were built in them ; for the for mer flourished as a seminary of learning in the reign of Alfred the (treat, and the other, if we may credit its partial histo rians, at a period still earlier. The univer sities of Scotland are four, St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh. In Ireland there is but one university, viz., that of Dublin, fumilled by Queen Elizabeth, and very richly endowed. The University of Oxford, in England, is an establishment fur the purposes of educa tion, which corresponds to a federal body united for political purposes. As, in this latter case, the several states have separ ate jurisdictions, separate duties, and to a certain extent separate interests, so the several colleges and halls which compose the academical body, have each its own private regulations fur the education of its members, but all contribute to the uni versity education. This may be brought under the heads of public examinations and college preparation. In its early constitution, and in the gradual additions which for many ages were made to it, the system now followed in the German universities was kept in view, and pro fessorships or readerships in the different arts and sciences were established ; but these university officers are no longer the main sources of instruction. The demand for instruction created by the degree examination, is met almost exclusively by lectures delivered in the several col leges and halls, or rather, by private tu tors in the colleges and halls ; so exclu sively indeed, that, although some knowl edge of Greek is essential for a degree, and a considerable proficiency for the higher class degrees, the Greek professor has no lectures. What is actually re quired for a degree of bachelor of arts is, that the student should display some ac quaintance with the facts and doctrines of the Christian religion, and especially with the peculiar tenets of tho church of England, as set forth in its articles ; some proficiency- in the Greek and Latin lan guages, in one or more of the ancient philosophical treatises, or, in lieu of this, in a portion of ancient history : some knowledge also, either of the elements of logic or of the elements of geometry. The statute, however, eonternplates the probability- of a much higher standard of qualification in a portion of the students; and for these it provides honors addition al to that of it nacre degree. Their names are printed, arranged in four etas sex, according to a fixed standard of for each class. The candidate is permitted to name the book in which lie wishes to he examined : and the examiners arc, besides, at liberty to exa mine in any books which they may select. The mathematical examinations are con ducted principally by means of printed questions, answered in writing. A candi date for the first class may be stated gen erally to have acquired a knowledge of, 1. the elements of analytical geometry and trigonometry ; 2. the differential and integral calculus and its applications ; 3. mechanics, including the principles of its application to the solar system, embracing the substance of the three first sections of Newton's Principia, which arc also read in the original forms ; 4. the princi ples of hydrostatics, optics, and plane as tronomy. The examinations take place twice a year. Prizes are given fur the encouragement of compositions in prose and verse, in Latin and English. There are also public scholarships, which ope rate as rewards and encouragements of general proficiency or particular acquire ments. These include classical literature, mathematics, Hebrew., and the law. The university also affords facilities for the acquirement of various branches whia: do not enter into the qualifications for is degree. Thus the several professors of geology, chemistry, and many other branches of science, are always provided with classes, often with numerous ones. We now proceed to the college prepara tion for the public examinations. It is this that really constitutes the Oxford education. The process of instruction in the college is by no means of recitations. Every head of a house appoints a certain number of tutors for this purpose. Ques tions are put by the tutor, and remarks made by him on the book which is the subject of study. Ito also gives direc tions respecting the proper mode of study ing. The students usually attend two, three, or four tutors. why thus give in struction in different branches. The col lege tutor, moreover, has interviews, from time to time, with his pupils, separately, for the sake of ascertaining the indi vidual's state of preparation for the pub lie examination, assisting hitn in his difficulties, &e. Besides these college

tutors, however, there are private tutors, who superintend the studies of individu als, and prepare them for attendance on the exercises of the college tutors. These private tutors are particularly useful to that large class of students who come to college insufficiently prepared. The college instruction closes at the end of each term, with a formal examination of each member separately, by the head and tutors, who attend for this purpose. This summing up of the business of the term is called, in the technical language of the place. collections or terminals. Each student presents himself in turn, with the books in which he has received instruction during the term, and, in many colleges. with the essays and other exercises which he has written, his analyses of scientific works, abridgments of histories and the like. In some colleges the students are required to present, for their examina tion. some book also, in which they have not received instruction during the term. Besides the other studies pursued in the colleges, the students write weekly short essays on a given subject., occasionally interchanged with a copy of Latin verses, for those skilled in versification. The liberality of donors has enabled the col leges to provide indirectly for the pro motion of study by means of exhibitions, scholarships, and fellowships. Every col lege and hall examines, if it thinks fit., its own candidates for admission, and pronounces, each according to a standard of its own, on their fitness or unfitness for the university. The first universities mnded in Germany were those of Prague, 1313, and Vienna, 1335, both after the model of that of Paris : in both the divi sion into four nations was adopted. This circumstance caused the decline of the former, and the foundation of a new one. The emperor Charles IV. had divided the teachers and students, when the univer sity of Prague was founded, into the Bo hemian, Polish, Bavarian, and Saxon nations. The Germans. therefore, (as the Polish nation consisted chiefly of German Silesitens,) had the advantage over the Bohemians; and, as these were unwilling to suffer their oppressions, John Huss and Jerome of Prague induced the em peror Wenceslaus to make three nations of the Bohemian and one of the two Ger man. Several thousand students and teachers withdrew immediately, and gave rise to the university of Leipsie, in 1409, where they were divided into four na tions, the Misnian, Saxon, Bavarian, and Polish. None of the other German uni versities, roundel in the fifteenth centu ry. adopted the division into nations. Universities were now expressly estab lished, and not left to grow up or them selves, as before. For almost three cen turies, the popes continued to erect these institutions, and exercised the right of protecting and of superintending them. Monarchs who wished to establish a uni versity, requested the papal confirmation (which never was denied,) and submitted to the authority which the Roman see arrogated over them. Wittenberg, was the first German university which re ceived its confirmation (in 1502,) not from the Pepe, but from the German emperor ; but even this institution eventually re quested the papal confirmation. Marburg was established in 1525, without papal or imperial confirmation : the latter, how ever, was subsequently given. Even Gottingen, founded in 1734, obtained im perial privileges, after the model of those of Halle. The unhappy thirty year's war did lunch injury to the German uni versities ; hut since that period, they have advanced beyond those of any other coun try; and it may be said that the principal part of the liberty left to the Germans has been academical liberty; hence, also. their abuse of it ; hence, too, the fondness with which a German recalls his life at the uni versity ; and hence the students' jealousy of their privileges. Germany has more universities than a.ny other country. The general organization of a German univer sity is as follows ;—A number of proles sores ordinarii are appointed for the va rious branches. They divide themselves into four.faeulties, each having a dean an nually chosen by themselves from among their number. All these professors gen erally form the senate, at the head of which is the rector, who is chosen an nually. They have jurisdiction over the students, in regard to small offences and matters of police, and make the general provisions respecting instruction, with the consent of the government. Professors in most universities are appointed by the government. Besides these professors, there are an indefinite number of profes cores extraordinarii, for the same branch es, or for particular parts of them. They receive small salaries, and are the persons to whom the government look to fill va cancies. They are generally persons who have distinguished themselves. and whose talents the government wishes to secure. In Berlin, there are a great many of these extraordinary professors. The last class of lecturers are the docentes, or licentiates, who, after undergoing an examination, have obtained permission to teach (licen tia doeendi.) They receive no salary. Any person can request to be examined by the faculty in this way, and thus ca pacitate himself to teach. From them the professore& extraordinarii tire ordi narily taken. Every person in these three classes can lecture upon whatever tubjeet he limy choose, the professors being only obliged to deliver lectures also on the branches for which they iw.e particu larly appointed Thus we constantly find theologians lecture on politics, philoso phers bn theological subjects and statis tics; theologians on philology, &e. Very often three or four courses are delivered on the Caine subject. The German stu dent, in the Protestant universities, is left at full liberty to choose the lectures which he will attend. No official exami nation takes place during his term of study. The only regulation is that, in the ease of most sciences, he is required to attend certain lectures, and study full three years, if he wishes to obtain an ap pointment, practise a profession, &e., if he is not specially exempted from so doing. If he wishes to practise medicine, he must study in Prussia four years. The German student. usually divides his term of study among two or more universities; but whilst he is thus left almost at full liberty while at the university. he must go lltrough a severe examination, particu larly in Prussia, if he wishes to become a clergyman, statesman, practise as phy siean, lawyer, or teacher in a superior school. These examinations are both oral and in writing, and the successive steps of promotion are attended with new examinations. In the United States, the word university has been applied to Har vard College at Cambridge, and other smaller literary institutions. but not with exact propriety, as those seminaries arc usually devoted to t he elementary studies of an academical course.