Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/402

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OXFORD


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OXFORD


entirely extra-collegiate; but women receive on exami- nation certificates testifying to the class gained by thi'in in such honour-examinations as they choose to undergo.

V. Expense op the University Course. — It is difficult to fix this even approximately, so much de- pends on a student's tastes, habits, and recreations, and also on the question whether the sum named is to include his expenses for the whole year, or oidy for the six months of tlie uni\ersity terms. £120 a year ought to ro\('r the actual fees and cost of board and other necessary ctiarges, which are pretty much the same at all the colleges; and if another £100 or £120 bo added for the supplementary exTJenscs of college life, and vacation expenses as well, we arrive at what is probably the average annual sum expended. A man witii expensive tastes or hobbies may of course spend double or treble that amount, whereas members of some of the smaller colleges may do very well on much less; while the emoluments of the numerous college and university scholarships and exhibitions lessen the expenses of those who hold them by a cor- responding amount. The Rhodes Scholarships, open to Colonial and American students, are of the an- nual value of £300 each; but it is to be considered that their holders have as a rule to make this sum suffice for all their wants, in vacation as well as in term-time.

VI. UNn-ERSITY AND COLLEGE BulLDINGS. — The

chief university buildings are grouped round the quadrangle of the Bodleian Library, founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, and first housed in the room (built in 1480) known as Duke Humphrey's Library. Since 1610 the Bodleian has received by right a copy of every book published in the kingdom, and it now contains more than 500,000 books and nearly 40,000 manuscripts. In the galleries is an interesting col- lection of historical portraits. West of the Bodleian is the beautiful fifteenth-century Divinity School, with its elaborate roof, and further west again the Convocation House, built in 1639. Close by are the the Sheldonian Theatre, built by Wren in 1669, where the annual Commemoration is held, and honorary de- grees are conferred; the Old Clarendon Printing-house, built in 1713 out of the profits of Lord Clarendon's " History of the RebeUion " ; the old Ashmolean Build- ing, and the Indian Institute, built in 1882 for the benefit of Indian students in the university. South of the Bodleian rises the imposing dome of the Rad- cliffe Librarj', founded in 1749 by Dr. William Rad- cliffe for books on medicine and science, but now used as a reading room for the Bodleian. The Examina- tion Schools (1876-82), a fine Jacobean pile which cost £100,000, are in High Street; and the chief other uni- versity buildings are the New Museum (1855-60), an ugly building in early French Gothic, containing splen- did collections of natural science and anthropology, as well as a fine science Ubrary; the Taylor Buildings and University Galleries, a stately classical edifice con- taining the Arundel and Pomfret Marbles, a priceless collection of drawings by Raphael, Michelangelo, Turner, and other masters, and many valuable paint- ings; the Ashmolean Museum, behind the galleries, containing one of the mo.st complete archEeological collections in England; the new Clarendon Press (1830), and the Observatory, founded in 1772 by the Radcliffe trustees.

Taking the different colleges in alphabetical order, we have: All Souls, founded by Archbishop Chichele in 1437, in memory of those who fell in the French wars. Its features are the absence of undergraduate mem- bers, the magnificent reredos in the chapel, re-dis- covered and restored in 1872, after being lost sight of for three centuries, and the splendid library, es- pecially of works on law.

Balliol, founded by Devorgilla, widow of John Balliol, about 1262, and distinguished for the brilliant


scholarship of its members, and the liberality and tolerance of its views. The buildings arc mostly mod- ern and of little interest; in the fini' hull (1S77) is a striking portrait of Cardinal Manning (a scholar here 1827-30). Opposite the Master of Balliol's house a cross in the roadway marks the spot where Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer were burned in 1555 and 1556; and the so-called Martyrs' Memorial (by Gilbert Scott, 1841), opposite the west front of the college, commemorates the same event; it was erected chiefly as a protest against the Tractarian movement headed by Newman.

Braaenone. founded in 1509 by Bishop Smyth of Lincoln and Sir Richard Sutton, as an amplification of the much older Brasenose Hall, a knocker on the door of which, in the shape of a nose, is the origin of the curious name. In the chapel, a singular mixture of classical and Gothic design, are preserved two pre- Reformation chalices. A magnificent new south front in High Street (by Jackson) was completed in 1910.

Christ Church, the largest and wealthiest college in Oxford, founded as "Cardinal College" by Thomas Wolsey in 1525, on the site of St. Frideswide's sup- pressed priory, and re-established by Henry VIII as Christ Church in 1546. Wolsey built the hall and kitchen (1529), the finest in England, and began the great ("Tom") quadrangle, which was finished in 1668. The old monastic church, dating from 1120, serves both as the college chapel and as the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Oxford, erected by Henry yill; in Cathohc times Oxford formed part of the immense Diocese of Lincoln. Peckwater Quad was built 1705-60, and Canterbury Quad (on the site of Canterbury Hall, a Benedictine foundation), in 1770. The hall and library contain many valuable portraits and other paintings.

Corpus Chrisli, founded in 1516 by Bishop Richard Foxe of Winchester, and dedicated to Sts. Peter, An- drew, Cuthbert, and Swithin, patrons of the four sees, (Exeter, Bath, Durham, and Winchester), which he had held in turn. The buildings, though not exten- sive, are of great interest, mostly coeval with the founder; and the college possesses some valuable old plate. Angels bearing the Sacred Host are depicted in an oriel window over the great gateway. Corpus Christi has always maintained a high reputation for sound classical learning.

Exeler, founded in 1314 by Bishop de Stapledon of Exeter. Most of the buildings are modern ; the chapel (1857) being an elaborate copy by Gilbert Scott of the Sainte Chapelle at Paris. There is a charming little garden. Exeter has of recent years been more fre- quented by Cathohc students than any other college.

Hertford, revived in 1874, having been originally founded in 1740 but dissolved in 1818 and occupied by Magdalen Hall. A handsome new chapel by Jackson was opened in 1909.

Jesus, frequented almost exclusively by Welsh stu- dents, was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1571; and more than half the scholarships and exhibitions are restricted to persons of Welsh birth or education. Sir John Rhys, the eminent Celtic scholar, is the present principal. The buildings are modern, or much re- stored.

Keble, founded by subscription in 1870 in memory of John Keble, and now the only college whose members must, by the terms of its charter, all be members of the Anglican Church. It is governed by a warden and council (there are no fellows), and one of its prin- ciples is supposed to be special economy and sobriety of hving. The buildings of variegated brick are quite foreign to the prevailing architecture of Oxford, but the chapel is spacious and sumptuously decorated.

Lincoln, founded by Bishop Richard Fleming and Thomas Rotherham, both of Lincoln, in honour of the B.V.M. and All Saints, specially to educate divines to preach against the WycUffian heresies. The buildings