ANDREWS, ST, an ancient town of the county of Fife in Scotland, formerly the seat of the archbishop, and the ecclesiastical metropolis of the kingdom. It stands on the sea shore, in North Lat. 56° 19', and West Long. 2° 50', at the bottom of the large bay of the same name, on the south side of the frith of Tay ; 38 miles north from Edinburgh, and 13 south-east from Dundee. It consists of three principal streets, North street, Mar ket street, and South street, which run nearly parallel to one another, or rather slightly diverge towards the west from the ruins of the ancient monastery. The principal streets are intersected at right angles by nar rower ones. Formerly there was another large street, of which no vestige now remains, running westward from the castle. The town stands on a rock or pro montory projecting into the sea, with a bold steep cliff in front; but at a small distance, on the right and left, are large flats of sand, and of that sort of ground formed by the sea, called links in Scotland. The country around is fertile and beautiful. The houses are built of stone, and those in the principal streets are mostly three sto ries high. Their antiquity gives them in general a sombre but the reviving spirit of the inha bitants is fast remedying this defect; for in numerous parts of the town, the light modern edifice is seen ra pidly to arise from the ruins of ancient piles. It dis plays the ruin of a tower and church, belonging for merly to the ancient Culdees ;—of an extensive monas tery of Augustinian monks ;—of a magnificent cathedral church ;—of a convent of Dominican, and of Observan tine friars ;—and of a castle, noted in Scottish history, as the residence and place of the assassination of the fa mous cardinal Beaton. It is the seat of a university, which is the most ancient of the four Scottish ones; and there are two public schools, mostly paid by the town-council and under their patronage, viz. a gram mar-school, and one for English, writing, and arithme tic. There are two churches of the established reli gion in the town, an English chapel, and a burgher dis senting meeting-house.
The university consists of two colleges, one on the north side of the town, called St Salvator's, the Old, the Philosophy, or the United College ; the other on the south side of the town, called St Mary's, the New, or the Divinity College. In the former are taught lan guages, mathematics, philosophy, and history ; but in the latter divinity only, and the co-relative branches. This is the only college in Europe, it is believed, where theology is the sole study. The number of students at both together, do not in general greatly exceed one hundred ; a circumstance which may be thought sur prising, considering the attention and ability of the teachers, and the many local advantages of this town as a place of study. Indeed these are by no means few.
The society is so small, that the character and conduct of every individual is known; and while diligence, at tention, and good behaviour on the part of the student are encouraged, every tendency to idleness, to riot, and dissipation, is immediately checked.
The university library is well stored with excellent books, and every student has easy access to it for a tri fling annual payment. The avocations from study are few, as the university is situated in a peninsulated coun try, equally remote from the gross luxuries of commer cial, and the dissipating gaieties of fashionable life. At the same time, the youthful mind and body are by no means left destitute of the invigorating influence of in nocent amusements, these being deemed quite neces sary to both health and morals. The situation of the place is uncommonly salubrious ;—the walks are always dry, the air pure, the streets spacious and open, and the water, which is conveyed in pipes from adjacent springs, peculiarly excellent. Putrid or malignant diseases very rarely occur, or if they do, are much less destructive here than in most other places of the same population. A public examination of each class at the termination of the session, excites and maintains a spirit of industry and emulation. In each college there are apartments, rent free, for lodging the students, and a public table is kept for the bursars as they are termed, on the founda tion. In the philosophy college, there is a separate table for such students as choose to board themselves, at about 101. or 121. during the session, consisting of 61 months. A professor presides at each table. The two colleges are entirely independent of each other in their revenues and discipline. Each of them is go verned by its own principal, and the university is go verned by a chancellor and rector. The chancellorship was an office intended to have been perpetually vested in the archbishop; but since the Reformation, the chan cellor has been elected by the two principals and the professors of both colleges. The rector is chosen an nually by the principals and the professors of both col leges, the students of divinity, of moral, and of natural philosophy ; and none but the two principals, and the professors of theology are eligible to this office. The rector is prmses of the Senatus Academicus, or univer sity meeting, consisting of the principals and professors of both colleges. This meeting confers the higher aca demical degrees, and has a common interest in the li brary. To the care of the rector are committed the privileges, discipline, and statutes of the university.