Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/326

 318

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[2nd s. NO 16., APRIL 19. '56.

arithmetic, catechism, and sometimes the prin- ciples of design, and geometry applied to the arts. At the close of the year there is a public distri- bution of prizes.

The poor schools for girls are chiefly the fol- lowing : Pontifical Schools, so called because in- stituted by Alexander VII., are eighteen, with 400 pupils j Maestre Pie Schools are seven, with 1000 pupils ; Ursulines have one school, with 70 pupils ; Sacred Heart Nuns, two poor schools, with 200 pupils, &c. &c.

The Roman parochial schools are eighteen in number, nine for girls, seven for boys, and one infant school ; all gratuitous, and under the care of the parochial deputies and the respective parish priests. The pupils are 1100, i.e. 600 boys and 500 girls.

A large analytical table, or " quadro sinottico," is added to Morichini's book, in which all these results, and many more, can be seen at one glance.

CETBEP.

ABCHBISHOPS DEGREES.

(2 nd S. i. 271.)

The replies to the questions of W. P. are as follow :

Q. At what period did archbishops assume the prerogative of granting degrees ?

A. The right was conferred on the Primate of all England by act of parliament. Henry VIII., 25 c. 21. Previous to the act of Henry VIII. the archbishop held the right as legatus natus from the Pope ; ever since that time he holds it as the commissary of the sdvereign, who is the fount of all honour and grace in this country, and from whom the archbishop and the universities derive their power to confer degrees. The archbishop of Armagh, by act of parliament, has the same power as the Primate of all England of conferring such honours ; so also the bishop of St. Andrewes, by a bull of the date of 1413, sanctioned by the Scottish sovereigns.

Q. What degrees are so granted ?

A. Every known degree, and all literary honour, possessed at that time and sanctioned by the Pope. A reservation is enacted that the archbishop be- fore granting any dispensation, licence, or faculty unknown to the customs and practice of the court at Rome shall first obtain the consent of the king.

Q. By whom was the prerogative conferred ?

A. By the king in parliament assembled.

Q. Upon what grounds ?

A. Upon the ground that the English arch- bishops should possess every power that their pre- decessors possessed, consistent with the Reformed Church, and not as legates, but as flowing from themselves, and part and parcel of their rights and privileges.

Q. Is any register accessible of degrees so con- ferred ?

A. Yes ; there are registers of the fiats in the faculty office, to which access may be had on pay- ment of the proper fees.

Q. What examination or testimonials are re- quired ?

A. The archbishop may honour whomsoever he delighteth to honour, without examination or tes- timonials. Different arrangements have been made by the high dignitaries who have held the see ; and at the present time, it is understood, when the applicant has not distinguished himself, some- thing should be done on his part before the faculty be given him. There is no such thing as ex- amination for the higher degrees in this country. Those of M.A., D.D., D.C.L., &c. are not certifi- cates of academical progress, and no longer facul- ties for professional use in the universities. They are merely nominal. Lord Eldon, when he went in for his M.A., was asked a question in Hebrew, and one in history. The first was, " What is the Hebrew for the place of a skull ? " To which he correctly answered " Golgotha." The second was, " Who founded university college ? " To which he replied, " King Alfred ! " and was thereupon told he was " competent." I believe for the doc- torate, the "wall lecture," a process of shutting lip a man within four walls for an hour, is still in practice; although the day has departed when the candidate selected his examiners, and all parties settled before the ceremony on what they should dine after it had taken place. Archbishop Whate- ly, when at Oxford, proposed some examination for the higher degrees, but he was told it would not do to test the status of elderly gentlemen, or pluck a dignified clergyman.

Q. What fees are charged?

A. The fees, in the aggregate, amount to some- thing under a hufidred pounds.

Q. To whom are they paid ?

A. To government for stamps ; and to the dif- ferent officers of the court for drawing, en- grossing, stamping, sealing, and enrolling fiat and faculty.

The degrees granted by the Primate of all Eng- land are the highest and most valid that any scholar can hold, next to those granted_ by the sovereign under the great seal. Universities, as communities without charters or incorporation, have no power to give degrees, not being of them- selves founts of honour, seeing that none but the sovereign is this fount. The argument in Dr. Bentley's case (1723) was decided in favour of Bentley, because the university overlooked their creator and visitor, the king. The university pleaded for " time out of mind (.') they used to confer certain academical degrees or titles, viz., as well those degrees in the said writ mentioned as degrees of the like nature in divers other faculties