Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/888

Rh 850 UNIVERSITIES In 1878 a comparison of the numbers of the students in the different faculties in the Prussian universities with those for the year 1867 showed a remarkable diminution in the faculty of theology, amounting in Lutheran centres to more than one-half, and in Catholic centres to nearly three-fourths. In jurisprudence there was an increase of nearly two-fifths, in medicine a decline of a third, and in philosophy an increase of one-fourth. During the last few years, however, the faculties of theology have made some progress towards regaining their former numbers. The universities of the United Provinces, like those of Protestant Germany, were founded by the state as schools for the maintenance of the principles of the Reformation and the education of the clergy, and afforded in the 16th and 17th centuries a grateful refuge to not a few of those Huguenot or Port-Royalist scholars whom persecution compelled to flee beyond the boundaries of France, as well as to the Puritan clergy who were driven from England. Leyden. The earliest, that of Leyden, founded in 1575, commemo rated the gallant and successful resistance of the citizens to the Spanish fleet under Requesens. Throughout the 17th century Leyden was distinguished by its learning, the ability of its professors, and the shelter it afforded to the more liberal thought associated at that period with Arminianism. Much of its early success was owing to the wise provisions and the influence of the celebrated James Douza : &quot; Douza s principles,&quot; says Hamilton, &quot; were those which ought to regulate the practice of all academical patrons; and they were those of his successors. He knew that at the rate learning was seen prized by the state in the academy would it be valued by the nation at large. .... He knew that professors wrought more even by example and influence than by teaching, that it was theirs to pitch high or low the standard of learning in a country, and that, as it proved easy or arduous to come up with them, they awoke either a restless endeavour after an even loftier attainment, or lulled into a self-satisfied conceit.&quot; Douza was, for Leyden and the Dutch, what Munchausen afterwards was for Gottingen and the German universities. &quot; But with this difference : Leyden was the model on which the younger universities of the republic were constructed ; Gottingen the model on which the older universities of the empire were reformed. Both Miin- chausen and Douza proposed a high ideal for the schools founded under their auspices ; and both, as first curators, laboured with paramount influence in realizing this ideal for the same long period of thirty-two years. Under their patronage Leyden and Gottingen took the highest place among the universities of Europe ; and both have only lost their relative supremacy by the application in other semin aries of the same measures which had at first determined their superiority.&quot; The appointment of the professors at Leyden was vested in three (afterwards five) curators, one of whom was selected from the body of the nobles, while the other two were appointed by the states of the pro vince, the office being held for nine years, and eventually for life. With these was associated the mayor of Leyden Franeker. for the time being. The university of Franeker was founded in 1585 on a somewhat less liberal basis than Leyden, the professors being required to declare their assent to the rule of faith embodied in the Heidelberg Catechism and the confession of the &quot; Belgian Church.&quot; Its four faculties were those of theology, jurisprudence, medicine, and &quot; the three languages and the liberal arts.&quot; l For a period of twelve years (circ. 1610-1622) the reputa tion of the university was enhanced by the able teaching of William Ames (&quot;Amesius&quot;), a Puritan divine and moralist who had been driven by Bancroft from Cambridge and from England. His fame and ability are said to have 1 Statuta, et Leges, Franeker, 1647, p. 3. attracted to Franeker students from Hungary, Poland, and Russia. With like organization were founded in 1600 the uni- Harder- versity of Harclerwijk, in 1614 that of Groningen, and ^ J k -. in 1634 that of Utrecht. The restoration of the House G e r n nin &quot; of Orange, and establishment of the kingdom of the utrecht. Netherlands (23d March 1815), was followed by important changes in connexion with the whole kingdom. The uni versities of Franeker and Harderwijk were suppressed, while their place was taken by the newly-founded centres at Ghent (1816) and Liege (1816). A uniform constitu- Ghent, tion was given both to the Dutch and Belgian universities. Liege. It was also provided that there should be attached to each a board of curators, consisting of five persons, &quot; distin guished by their love of literature and science and by their rank in society.&quot; These curators were to be nomin ated by the king, and at least three of them chosen from the province in which the university was situated, while the other two were to be chosen from adjacent provinces. After the redivision of the kingdom in 1831, Ghent and Liege were constituted state universities, and each received a subsidy from the Government (see BELGIUM). The uni- Brussels, versity of Brussels, on the other hand, founded in 1834, is an independent institution, supported by the liberal party; while the reconstituted university at Louvain represents the party of Roman Catholicism, and is almost exclusively a theological school for the education of the Catholic clergy. The universities of Belgium are, however, somewhat hetero geneous bodies, and present in their organization a singu lar combination of French and German institutions. In Amster- Holland, the foundation of the university of Amsterdam flam - (1877) has more than repaired the loss of Franeker and Harderwijk, and the progress of this new centre during the ten years of its existence has been remarkably rapid, so that it bids fair to rival, if not to outstrip, both Utrecht and Leyden. The higher education of women has made some progress in the Netherlands; and in 1882-83 there were eighteen women studying at Amsterdam, eleven at Groningen, four at Leyden, and seven at Utrecht. In Sweden the university of Lund, founded in 1668 and Univer- modelled on the same plan as its predecessor at Upsala, sities of has adhered to its antiquated constitution with remarkable ^ e tenacity. At both these universities the mediaeval division Norway. into &quot; nations &quot; is still in force among the students, the Lund. number at Upsala being no less than thirteen. The pro- Upsala, fessoriate at both centres is much below the modern requirements in point of numbers. The university of Chris- Christiania in Norway, founded in 1811, and the Swedish tiama - universities are strongly Lutheran in character ; and all alike are closely associated with the ecclesiastical institu tions of the Scandinavian kingdoms. The same observa tion applies to Copenhagen, where, however, the labours of Rask and Madvig have done much to sustain the repu tation of the university for learning. The university of Kiel. Kiel (1665), on the other hand, has come much more under Teutonic influences, and is now a distinguished centre of scientific teaching. In France the fortunes of academic learning were even Univer- less happy than in Germany. The university of Paris was !^y of distracted, throughout the 17th century, by theological f^ the dissensions, in the first instance owing to the struggle i7th that ensued after the Jesuits had effected a footing at the century. College de Clermont, and subsequently by the strife occasioned by the teaching of the Jansenists. Its studies, discipline, and numbers alike suffered. Towards the close of the century a certain revival took place, and a succes sion of illustrious names Pourchot, Rollin, Grenan, Coffin, Demontempuys, Crevier, Lebeau appear on the roll of its teachers. But this improvement was soon inter rupted by the controversies excited by the promulgation