times, Archbishop Warham, Chancellor of Oxford, at his feast of enthronization, in the year 1503, ordered to be introduced in the first course a curious dish, in which were exhibited the eight towers of the University. In every tower stood a bedel, and under the towers were figures of the King, to whom the Chancellor Warham, encircled with many doctors, properly habited, presented four Latin verses, which were answered by his Majesty. The eight towers were those of Merton, Magdalen, and New College, and of the Monasteries of Osney, Rewley, the Dominican, Augustine, and Franciscan Friars, which five last are now utterly destroyed.*

VI. UNIVERSITY DEGREES.

It does not appear that there were any degrees in either the Greek or Roman: Academies; the only distinction was that of Masters and Scholars. The first semi

*Wood-Warton's History of English Poetry.

naries of learning among Christians were the Cathedral Churches and Monasteries,* but in process of time the schools belonging to them were regulated, and the men of learning opened others in places where they could find encouragement. Hence the origin of Universities, which at first were merely a collection of those schools, to which princes and great men gave liberal endowments, and granted particular immunities and privileges. Degrees were not conferred till the Universities were incorporated; a circumstance extremely probable, when we recollect that all civil honours

*Besides the mode of educating youths in religious houses, it was usual to receive them into the houses of the Bishops and Nobility, where they were instructed in learning, and occasionally filled up the retinue of the master. Pace, one of the restorers of letters in England, a friend of Erasmus, imbibed the rudiments of learning in the palace of Langton, Bishop of Winchester. Sir Thomas More was educated as a page with Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, about 1490, who was so struck with his genius, that he would often say at dinner, "This child here waiting at table is so very ingeni ous, that he will one day prove an extraordinary man."

must be derived from the supreme magis

trate.

The most ancient degrees were those of Bachelor and Master of Arts. Before the existence of a certain statute, which obliged the Theologists to be Regents in Arts previously to their ascending the chair of Doctor, they were only Students, and Bachelors, or Masters of Divinity, without reading the Arts. At that time the degrees in arts were held in such estimation, as to be thought superior to that of Doctor in any other faculty.

The Degree of Doctor was not known in England till the Time of Henry II.* It afterwards became common, and was taken not only by Professors of Divinity, Law, and Medicine, but by those of Grammar, Music, Philosophy, Arts, &c. As the Doctors, however, of these professions seldom obtained great honour or riches, they de

Hence the stile or name of the University is, The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford.

clined and fell into neglect. That of Music is the only one which has survived.

VII. UNIVERSITY DRESSES OR HABITS.

The Scholars are supposed in their dress to have imitated the Benedictine Monks, who were the chief restorers of Literature. Their gowns, at first, reached not much lower than their knees. The shoulders were but a little, or not at all, gathered; neither were the sleeves much wider than an ordinary coat, but were afterwards much enlarged. When degrees became more frequent in the reigns of Richard I. and John, other fashions were invented for the sake of distinction, not only with respect to degrees but faculties. The wide sleeves are still worn by Bachelors, and by those undergraduats who are on the foundation at different colleges. The gowns were at first black, afterwards of different colours. In the Chancellorship of Archbishop Laud, all were confined to black, except the Sons of Noblemen, who were allowed to wear

any colour. The gown used at present by Masters of Arts is not ancient, and never known to have been worn before the time of John Calvin, who, as it is said, was the first who wore it. The ancient gown had the slit longways, and the facing lined with fur.

They were such as the

With respect to caps; the square form with the upper part pointed is supposed to have been the most ancient; but on the introduction of the faculties of Divinity, Law, and Medicine, the doctors in them wore round caps. The two latter still retain them. Some years before the Reformation, the Theologists wore square caps, without any stiffening in them, which caused each corner to flag. Judges now use. It was the custom for the Clergy to preach in caps, and for their au ditors, if scholars, to sit in them; which continued till the troubles in the time of Charles I. On the Restoration of Charles II. the auditors sat bare, lest if covered, they should encourage the laity to put on their hats, as they did during the Rebellion