Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/893

Rh UNIVERSITIES 855 exercised a beneficial discretion by appointing professors of ability whom the senate might have regarded as ineligible on the ground of their religious tenets. The Disruption of 1843 emancipated the lay professors from subscription to the Established Church of Scotland, and resulted in many of the important changes which were subsequently introduced in the Universities Act of 1858. On the 28th October 1859 the town council, notwithstanding that their powers were already terminated by the provisions of the Act, availed themselves of a technical right to appoint a principal, their choice falling upon Sir David Brewster. The great landmark in the history of the Scottish as in that of the English universities is represented by the remodel ling of the several constitutions of these bodies in the year 1858. The commissioners of 1858-62 left the university of Edinburgh in the possession of constitutional autonomy, with its studies and degrees regulated by ordinances. The students also received the rectorial franchise, but were not, as at Glasgow and Aberdeen, divided into nations. In arts the B.A. degree was abolished, the M.A. representing the only degree in this faculty, as at the other Scottish universities. The course of study was divided into three departments: (1) classics; (2) mathematics, including natural philosophy ; (3) mental science and English liter ature. In each department it was required that there should be an additional examiner besides the professor, so that the candidates should not be entirely examined by their own teachers. It was also provided that, instead of one examination for the degree at the end of a student s course, examinations in each of the departments might be passed separately. In the twenty years beginning with 1863, 1400 M.A. degrees have been conferred, as against 250 in the twenty years preceding. In the faculty of medicine, the original single degree of doctor of medicine gave place to three classes bachelor of medicine (M.B.), master in sur gery (C.M.), and doctor of medicine (M.D.). In 1866 it was further laid down that theses should no longer be de manded from candidates for the lower degrees of M.B. and C.M., and, on the other hand, that the degree of M.D. should not be conferred on persons not showing any evidence of medical study after leaving the university, but that a thesis should be invariably required. Since the enactment of these ordinances the number of the medical students has increased from about 500 to over 1700. In the faculty of law the title of the degree was to be LL.B., and it was to be conferred only on those who had already graduated as M.A. But the minor degree, that of &quot; bachelor of law &quot; (B.L.), might be conferred if the candidate had attended one course of lectures in the faculty of arts, and passed a preliminary examination in (1) Latin, (2) Greek, French or German, and (3) any two of the three subjects logic, moral philosophy, and mathematics. The chair of public law, which had fallen into abeyance in 1832, was recon stituted, and the chair of universal civil history was con verted into a professorship of history and constitutional law. The degree of doctor of laws was left, as before, a purely honorary degree. Chairs of Sanskrit, engineering, geology, commercial and political economy, education, fine art, and the Celtic languages have also been founded. By the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1868, the universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews were empowered to return jointly a member to the House of Commons. Parlia- A parliamentary return for the ten years ending 30th mentary March 1883 showed that the sums voted annually by l parliament or chargeable on the consolidated fund to the univer f ur universities had amounted during that period to sities. 65,821 for Aberdeen, 85,906 for Edinburgh, 66,182 for Glasgow, and 38,111 for St Andrews. In addition to these sums Edinburgh had received 80,000 and Glas gow 20,000 in the form of special grants in aid. Trinity College, Dublin, was founded in 1591, under Trinity the auspices of Sir John Perrot, the Irish viceroy. A College, royal charter nominated a provost and a minimum number L)u &quot; lm - of three fellows and three scholars as a body corporate, empowered to establish among themselves &quot; whatever laws of either of the universities of Cambridge or Oxford they may judge to be apt and suitable ; and especially that no other persons should teach or profess the liberal arts in Ireland without the queen s special licence.&quot; The first five provosts of Trinity College were all Cambridge men, and under the influence of Archbishop Loftus, the first provost, and his successors, the foundation received a strongly Puritan bias. Prior to the year 1873 the pro- vostship, fellowships, and foundation scholarships could be held only by members of the Church of Ireland ; but all such restrictions were abolished by Act 36 Viet. c. 21, whereby the requirement of subscription to any article or formulary of faith was finally abrogated. As at present constituted, the ordinary government is in the hands of the provost and senior fellows in conjunction with the visitors and council, the supreme authority being the crown, except so far as limited by Act of Parliament. The first departure in Ireland from the exclusive system Queen s of education formerly represented by the foundation at Univer- Dublin, dates from the creation of the Queen s University, sity&amp;gt; incorporated by royal charter 3d September 1850. By this charter the general legislation of the university, together with its government and administration, was vested in the university senate. In 1864 the charter of 1850 was superseded by a supplementary charter, and the university reconstituted &quot; in order to render more complete and satisfactory the courses of education to be followed by students in the colleges &quot;; and finally, in 1880, by virtue of the Act of Parliament known as the University Education (Ireland) Act, 1879, the Queen s University gave place to the Royal University of Ireland, which was practically a Royal reconstitution of the former foundation, the dissolution of Univer- the Queen s University being decreed so soon as the newly constituted body should be in a position to confer degrees at the same time all graduates of the Queen s University were recognized as graduates of the new university with corresponding degrees, and all matriculated students of the former as entitled to the same status in the latter. The university confers degrees in arts (B.A., M.A., D.Litt.), science, engineering, music, medicine, surgerj T, obstetrics, and law. The preliminary pass examinations in arts are held at annually selected centres, those chosen in 1885 being Dublin, Belfast, Carlow, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Londonderry. All honour examinations and all exam inations in other faculties are held in Dublin. The Queen s Colleges Colleges at Belfast, Cork, and Galway were founded in atBelfast December 1845, under an Act of Parliament &quot;to enable Her Majesty to endow new colleges for the advancement of learning in Ireland,&quot; and were subsequently incorporated as colleges of the university. Their professors were at the same time constituted professors in the university, and conducted the examinations. But in the reconstruction of 1880 the chief share in the conduct of the examinations and advising the senate with respect to them was vested in a board of fellows, elected by the senate in equal numbers from the non-denominational colleges and the purely Catholic institutions. The colleges retain, however, their independence, being in no way subject to the control of the university senate except in the regulations with respect to the requirements for degrees and other aca demic distinctions. On the other hand, the obligation formerly imposed of a preliminary course of study at one or other of the colleges before admission to degrees was abolished at the foundation of the Royal University, the examinations being now open, like those of the university