ceases to follow the public lectures at the halls. He then spends two years in the study of his chosen subject, under the tutorial guidance of his late professor, writes a Latin treatise on any thesis he chooses, and finally in the great hall, in presence of a numerous audience, he secures his cap by defending a score of theses against the professors and any ecclesiastic who cares to object. As every religious order, and therefore every school of theology (as was explained in a preceding chapter), is formidably represented in the town, very lively scenes are sometimes witnessed in the discussion of the theses; in fact, certain controversies have had to be practically excluded from the list of debatable questions in order to avoid an undignified delay of the proceedings from the Jesuits and Dominicans in the gallery. The success of the student is, however, practically guaranteed by the mere fact of his presentation by a professor.
The programme of clerical study at the university is practically identical with that of the seminaries, which has been already described: philosophy and theology have the same treatises and the same main problems as in the ordinary course. But they are treated more profoundly at the university: only one treatise is taken each year, and each question is thoroughly exhausted and a large number of subsidiary questions are raised which were crushed out in the briefer elementary course. It is like passing from Huxley’s ‘Elements of Physiology’ to the more
