G0717'ile and Caius College, or, as it is usually called, Key's College, was originally founded in 1348 by Ed mund Gonvile, near the gardens of St Bcne't's ; but this gentleman dying soon after it was begun, left a sum of money at the disposal of Bishop Bateman, for finishing and endowing it. The Bishop, who was then engaged with his own foundation of Trinity Hall, deferred. for a time, the completion of his friend's plan ; and afterwards, having removed its site, he fixed it near his own, and endowed it with lands and tenements for a master, four fellows, and two scholars. It formerly consisted of only two courts ; but, in 1557, Dr John Caius, physician to Queen Mary, built a third, and procured a charter of in corporation under its present name. He also erected an elegant gate to each court. The first, which is opposite the street, is very simple, with the inscription, " Hunii /Rotas ;" the second, in the middle of the college, is in a very fine style of architecture, and has on one side, the inscription " Virtu/is," and on the other, "Jo. Caius Posuit SaJiientis ;" the third, which leads to the senate house, is more ornamented, exhibiting specimens of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, and has " Honoris" inscribed upon it. In the chapel is a grand tomb, erect ed to the memory of Dr Coins, with the following epi taph : Fut viviT POST FUNERA VIRTUS.
frinay-Hall, as we have already observed, owed its foundation as a college, to William Bateman, bishop of Norwich, who endowed it for a master, three fellows, and two scholars, to be students in the canon and civil law, and one fellow to study divinity. This college was ori ginally one of the hotels for the accommodation of the students. It consists of a large court, and other build ings, and is handsomely built with stone, and uniformly sashed. Among the benefactions made to Trinity-hall, is one of 20,0001., left in 1747, by Dr John Andrews, for the erection of two spacious wings, which are to extend from the present building towards the river ; but the ap propriation of the money to this object, awaits the decease of two maiden sisters. In the chapel is a fine painting of the " Presentation in the Temple," by Stella.
King's College owes its origin to the piety and litera ture of Henry VI. who in 1441 instituted a small semi nary for a rector and 12 fellows, which he dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St Nicholas. About two years after, he laid the foundation of the present building, and en dowed it for a provost, 70 fellows and scholars, to be supplied from Eton, 3 chaplains, 6 clerks, 16 choristers and a music master, 16 officers of the foundation, 12 servitors for the senior fellows, and six poor scholars. Had this building been finished according to its original plan, it would have equalled, if not surpassed, the most splendid palaces in Europe. But as completion was de
layed by the disturbances of the state, which diverted the attention of the monarch to more important concerns, and was at last prevented by his death, and the injustice of his successor. For though Henry left bequests suffi cient for the complete execution of his plan, Edward 1V.
deprived the college of many valuable estates, from which the expellee of the building was to be defrayed. As it at present stands, however, it sufficiently evinces the munificence of its founder, and its chapel displays, perhaps the most perfect specimen of Gothic architec ture now remaining in Europe. This building, so justly admired by every artist for the sublimity, elegance, and Ingenuity of its construction, is 316 feet in length, and 84 in breadth. On each side are eleven immense but tresses, terminating in elegant pinnacles ; and on each corner is an octangular tower,'146A feet high, and crown ed with a beautiful dome. Its open worked battlements also give an airiness and elegance to its appearance, and exhibits a fine contrast to the massive materials of which it is composed. The interior of the building is yet more striking, and its vast stone roof, unsupported by a single pillar, is an object of astonishment to every beholder. It is in the form of a Gothic arch, but somewhat flatten ed at the centre, and is divided into twelve parts, separa ted from each other by the eleven principal arches, which spring from the buttresses. Each division of the roof • formed of elegant groined arches of beautifully carved work, and in the centre is suspended a massy stone, of above a ton in weight, and finely ornamented with roses and portcullisses. The inside walls are also wholly co vered with numerous sculptured ornaments of exquisite and almost inimitable workmanship. These chiefly re present the arms of the houses of York and Lancaster, with a vast number of crowns, roses, portcullisses, and fleurs de lis. Some of the supporters, though cut in stone, display the hand of a skilful master, and equal in expression and character almost any marble sculpture. On a pannel, at the upper part of the screen which separates the anti-chapel from the choir, is a small piece of sculpture, in very hold relief, representing the Al mighty hurling the rebel angels from Heaven, which is universally admired ; and on the altar-piece, is a fine painting of the " 'faking down from the Cross," which was presented by the Earl of Carlisle, and is supposed by some connoisseurs to be a production of Raphael, though his Lordship purchased it on the continent as the work of Daniel de Volterra.