CAMBRIDGE
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CAMBRIDGE
sics, theology, law, history, medieval and modern
languages, Oriental languages, moral sciences, natural
sciences, mechanical sciences, and economics. Nearly
all these tripos examinations are divided into two
parts, with an interval between them; and only those
who have obtained honours in the first part may pro-
ceed to the second. The three classes into which the
successful candidates in the mathematical tripos are
divided are called respectively wranglers, senior and
junior optimes. The names in each class are placed
in alphabetical order, the distinction of "senior
wrangler", long the blue ribbon of Cambridge scholar-
ship, having been abolished in 1907. The prominence
formerly assigned to mathematics at Cambridge is
shown by the fact that up to 1851 no candidate could
obtain classical honours without previously gaining a
place in the mathematical tripos. Although this rule
no longer exists, the Cambridge theory remains on the
whole the same, that mathematical studies form the
most perfect course of intellectual training. Cam-
bridge scholarship is sometimes said to derive its ac-
curacy from mathematics; but the complete course
of mathematics at Cambridge demands different and
higher qualities than mere accuracy, namely breadth
of reasoning, readiness to generalize, perception of
analogies, quickness in the assimilation of new ideas,
a keen sense of beauty and order, and, above all, in-
ventive powers of the highest kind. This is the spirit
of the typical Cambridge scholar, and it has produced
and fostered some of the keenest intellects and bright-
est geniuses in the world of science, using that word
in its widest and most general sense.
The instruction in preparation Tor the manifold examinations which are the gates to degrees in arts and other faculties, is derived from three sources: the university professors, the college tutors, and private instructors, usually known as ' ' coaches ' '. Least im- portant, strangely enough, are the lectures given by the five-and-forty highly-paid professors, some of whom lecture very infrequently, while others may be themselves sound and even brilliant scholars, without being competent to impart the knowledge which they possess. The provision made by each college for the instruction of those residing within its walls consists of a system of lectures given by the college tutors, and annual or terminal examinations of all its own members. These lectures include every subject com- prised in the university examinations, both pass and honour; attendance at them is compulsory on the students, and they are often of high excellence. Nev- ertheless the main work of tuition of serious and most successful students is done by the entirely extra-offi- cial private tutors, who are in no way publicly recog- nized as part of the university staff, but who under- take the greater part of the strenuous task of prepar- ing their pupils for the various examinations. The position of these tutors is, in fact, in entire consonance with the general university system, the object of which is to ascertain, at stated intervals, and in the most thorough and searching manner, what a young man knows, without seeking to inquire how he knows it, or from what source, public or private, official or unofficial, his knowledge is derived. Under recent statutes, "advanced students", over twenty-one years of age, may be admitted as members of the university (their name being placed on the books of some college or hostel), may enter in their third term for certain honour examinations, and after six terms' residence proceed to the B.A. degree. They may be students either of the arts course or of law, or may pursue a course < > f research, and | resent a dissertation
embodying the results of such research, as a qualifica- tion for their degree. These students can afterwards proceed t<> the degree of M.A., or to other degrees, under the usual conditions.
(B) Discipline.— The general discipline of the uni- versity, fur which the senate is responsible, is in the
hands of the proctors, two members of their body
nominated annually by the different colleges in turn.
The disciplinary powers of these officials, which for-
merly extended to the townsmen as well as to the
students, have become decidedly restricted in recent
years, and would be difficult accurately to define; but
they may be said to be generally responsible for the
good order and morals of the younger members of the
university outside the college walls, and have author-
ity to punish in various ways public breaches of
discipline or of the university statutes. Within the
college the discipline is in the hands of the tutors and
the dean. Every undergraduate on his arrival is as-
signed to a particular tutor, who is supposed to stand
in loco parentis to him, and exercises more or less
control over every department of his undergraduate
career. Both cleans and tutors have punitive powers
of different kinds, including pecuniary fines, admoni-
tions, varying in seriousness, "gating", or confining
within college or lodgings at an earlier hour than
usual, and (as a last resource) "rustication", i. e.
sending down for one or more terms, or even for good.
In serious matters there is of course an appeal to the
head, whose authority is absolute within his own col-
lege walls. On the whole, the system, though cer-
tainly framed for the control of youths considerably
younger than the average undergraduate of to-day,
works satisfactorily; and though minor breaches of
discipline are numerous, grave delinquencies are hap-
pily rare.
IV. University and College Buildings. — It is a commonplace remark that Cambridge as a town con- trasts unfavourably with Oxford, and an acute Ameri- can writer, himself an alumnus of Trinity College, has gone so far as to describe it as, of all English provin- cial towns, the most insignificant, the dullest, and the ugliest. Certainly there is nothing at Cambridge comparable to the unrivalled High Street of Oxford. The street architecture is mean, dingy yellow brick being the chief material of the houses, and the site, on the edge of the chalk and fen country, is as dreary- and uninteresting as anything in England. But the glory of Cambridge is of course its group of colleges, whose varied beauty is rivalled only by Oxford; and the Can- tab will not easily allow that anything at Oxford, even Magdalen itself, is finer than Trinity, King's, or the FitzWilliam .Museum. Of the university build- ings, the last-named, founded by Viscount FitzWil- liam, who died in 1816, is one of the noblest classical buildings in England, and contains valuable books, paintings, prints, and sculpture. The Senate-house, opened in 1730, is a building of admirable propor- tions, with a richly-decorated interior. Near it are the schools and the University Library, containing about 400,000 books and MSB., and entitled (like three or four other libraries) to a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. Other buildings are the Pitt Press, conspicuous with its lofty tower, erected in 1831 in memory of William Pitt; the 1 1< o- logical Museum, containing the Woodward collection; and the excellently equipped Observatory, about a mile outside the town. Among the colleges. Trinity holds the premier place as the largest in any English university. Its great court covers more than two acres of ground; the splendid library was designed by Christopher Wren; the hall, 100 feet long, contains many interesting pictures; and the chapel, dating from Queen Mary's reign, has within the last genera- tion been restored and elaborately decorated. Kings College, founded by Henry VI, in connexion with Ins famous school at Eton, is celebrated for its chapel, unquestionably the finest building in Cambridge. It was finished in 1536, and ranks with St. Georges Chapel, Windsor, among the most perfect existing specimens of perpendicular architecture. The other buildings of the college are of little interest. Third in architectural importance is St. John's, with its four
