Page:A Catalogue of Graduates who have Proceeded to Degrees in the University of Dublin, vol. 1.djvu/14

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INTRODUCTION.

influence, and the Fellows could no longer bring their complaints, in a private way, before their party in the Government, All things were now done openly, in accordance with the Statutes, and the Provost and Senior Fellows, the legitimate Governors of the College, were consulted about all matters of importance.

But in the reign of James II. things began to change. The power of arbitrarily nominating to Fellowships and other offices by mandamus was claimed;^[1] the College plate was carried off; the keys of the muniment room were demanded, and ultimately obtained; the Chapel was desecrated, and the Library^[2] seized. In February, 1686/7 the Provost and Fellows fled to England, leaving only four^[3] in the College, viz. Dr. Kichard Acton, Vice- Provost ; George Thewles;^[4] John Hall; Jeremiah Allen; finally, on the 6th September, 1689, the College was absolutely seized upon by the Government, the students violently displaced, and the buildings converted into prisons for citizens of Dublin who had incurred the King's displeasure, and into quarters for the King's soldiers.

It will easily be understood that the records of the College

↑ It is only fair to say that the power of nominating and restoring Fellows by mandamus was exercised without question by King Charles I. on several occasions ; but those so nominated were men of education, and generally fit for the office, whereas the nominees of King James II. were men of bad character, illiterate (with perhaps one exception), and who refused to take the oath prescribed by the Statutes. See List of Fellows in the University Calendar.
↑ It need scarcely be observed that this was the old Library, which stood in the space between the west end of the present Library, and the Hall. So also the Chapel here mentioned was the old Chapel, which occupied the site where Primate Lord John George Beresford's belfry now stands.
↑ Four was the number prescribed in the Statutes, as the minimum capable of performing legal acts. It will be seen that the attacks of James II. on Dublin University began a year earlier than the similar attempts on Oxford and Cambridge. See notes in University Calendar, on list of Fellows, during the period; and Arch-deacon Rowan's " Brief Memorials of the Case and Conduct of Trinity College, Dublin, A. D. 1686-90."
↑ Thewles died the same day on which King William landed at Carrickfergus, June 14, 1690.

[1] It is only fair to say that the power of nominating and restoring Fellows by mandamus was exercised without question by King Charles I. on several occasions ; but those so nominated were men of education, and generally fit for the office, whereas the nominees of King James II. were men of bad character, illiterate (with perhaps one exception), and who refused to take the oath prescribed by the Statutes. See List of Fellows in the University Calendar.

[2] It need scarcely be observed that this was the old Library, which stood in the space between the west end of the present Library, and the Hall. So also the Chapel here mentioned was the old Chapel, which occupied the site where Primate Lord John George Beresford's belfry now stands.

[3] Four was the number prescribed in the Statutes, as the minimum capable of performing legal acts. It will be seen that the attacks of James II. on Dublin University began a year earlier than the similar attempts on Oxford and Cambridge. See notes in University Calendar, on list of Fellows, during the period; and Arch-deacon Rowan's " Brief Memorials of the Case and Conduct of Trinity College, Dublin, A. D. 1686-90."

[4] Thewles died the same day on which King William landed at Carrickfergus, June 14, 1690.

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