Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/805

Rh the midst of a healthy fertile country, which for the most part has been reclaimed from the fens. The trade of the town is derived from its being the centre of an agricultural district, and from the custom of the resident members of the university. The Cam changes its name to the Ouse as the Isis does to the Thames, and Cambridge is the head of navigation for barges from King's Lynn, which before the railways was connected with a very considerable business. Cambridge is now a chief station on the Great Eastern line, and is also connected with the Great Northern, the London and the North-Western, and the Midland lines. A large market is held on Saturdays. The town has returned two members since the time of Edward I. It is a very ancient corporation, and under the Municipal Reform Act is governed by a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty common councilmencouncilmen. [sic] The university, a corporation separate from the borough, also returns two members. The town has an excellent free grammar school, founded by Dr Perse, good public institutions, and endowed alms-houses. The town owes its existence mainly to the university, which overshadows it in importance. In this respect Cambridge and Oxford differ from all other universities, which are generally absorbed in the town in which they are situated. Cambridge, like Oxford, is of a singularly unique character, and affords examples of architecture from the dawnings of authentic history to the more modern structures designed to meet the wants of our own day. The original Cambridge was the ancient Roman Camboritum, a small settlement on the left or north bank of the Cam or Granta. A castle was built to overawe the fen country, of which some ruins may be traced, and Roman coins from the time of Vespasian downwards have been found. In Anglo Saxon times the river was called Granta, and the Roman town Grantchester, a name which still survives in the present village near the town. The modern name was derived from a great stone bridge, the only one in those parts that was thrown across the Cam, probably in old Roman days. Bede gives Cambridge or Grantchester the epithet of "desolate." It was exposed to the assaults of the Danes and repeatedly plundered. In the days of Edward the Elder we find that Grantbridge, a derivation of Cambridge is giving its name to a shire, in a new division of Mercia. In the 11th century the borough began to expand beyond the narrow Roman limits. A population grew up by degrees on the other side of the river. Religious foundations gradually took their place in the borough. We begin to have authentic annals in the 12th century. Learned men came hither anxious to teach, and scholars anxious to be taught. The students first lived in the houses of the townsfolk, as in German and Scottish universities; we afterwards find hostels, where students and teachers lodged together. It is probable that the great Benedictine monasteries of the Fens may have had a part in the origin of the university. We find Henry III. (1231) issuing writs for the regulation of Cambridge "clerks," and making mention of chancellor and masters. A few years later we find the king entrenching the town with two gates, which, however, were burnt by the barons. In Wat Tyler's insurrection the colleges were attacked and ransacked by the rabble, it was supposed with the connivance and assistance of the Cambridge townsfolk, but were repulsed by the young bishop of Norwich. The first two Stuart kings and the first two Hanoverian kings cultivated friendly personal relations with the university. In the Civil War many of the colleges sent their plate to King Charles, but town and university without actual conflict came into the obedience of the Commonwealth. In other respects Cambridge has been so fortunate as hardly to possess any history. EB9 Plan of Cambridge.png Plan of Cambridge. We proceed to notice somewhat in detail the remarkable structures which have now a European reputation. Although there is no street to equal the glorious High Street of Oxford, yet the long street which begins with the Trumpington Road, and then as a narrow lane fronts Sepulchre Church, is lined with the most important colleges. What is called "the backs of colleges," where the Cam wanders beneath frequent arches through groves and gardens, has a more unique beauty than Oxford or any other university town can display. Within recent years there have been constant changes at Cambridge, and the aspect of the place has been materially altered; there have been great demolitions and reconstructions, and some very fine edifices have been added. The Fitzwilliam Museum, as we first enter Trumpington Street, is a very striking edifice, and as large funds from time to time are accumulated for its extension, it will become increasingly valuable. Recently it has at a great expense received a remarkable amount of colour and decoration. The columned façade, with its portico and colonnades, is considered by some the most striking piece of architecture in the kingdom. It was the foundation of Viscount Fitzwilliam, an Irish peer, who bequeathed to the university his picture gallery, including fine examples of the greatest masters, 120 folio volumes of engravings, a valuable library, and £100,000. Various other valuable collections have from time to time been gathered into the Fitzwilliam Museum. The sculpture gallery is peculiarly rich. There are also Colonel Leake's Greek vases, the Disney marbles, the Ellison collection of modern painters, the Mesmer collection. At a short distance from the Fitzwilliam, at the end of a water-course, is Hobson's Conduit, removed here from the market-place, where it stood from 1614 to 1856. Hobson was a great benefactor to Cambridge, and is commemorated by Milton. The Pitt Press is found in this line of street, with a very church-like appearance. It was erected in memory of William Pitt the states man. Adderbrooke Hospital, the Botanic Garden (arranged after De Candolle's system), the Anatomical Museum, and the Observatory, are very much worthy of examination. The renowned Senate-house, the centre of the university, is remarkable for its elaborate finish and perfect proportions.