University of Cambridge Grace - Book F. Edited by William George Searle,
MA. (Cambridge University Press. 21s. net.) —Two earlier " Grace-books " have been published, by way of memorial to Dr. H. R. Luard, sometime Registrar of the University, one by Mr. Stanley Leathes, the other by the lamented Miss Mary Bateson. A "Grace-book" is briefly a record of the public acts of the University. For the most part, though significant enough in the aggregate, they are of little interest individually. "Mr. Roxell, Bachelor in Canon Law, is excused from reading [hii dissertation], so that he pays to the University 10s." "It is allowed to Ds. Aston that three years and a term in Arts and four in Canon Law serve for a complete qualification in the said C. L." Of such entries there are hundreds, the Graces being arranged according to the Faculties. But sometimes we come across interesting items. Under the year 1505-6 we find Desiderius Erasmus permitted to proceed to the degree of D.D. on delivering certain discourses, reading a dissertation on the Epistle to the Romans, and paying fees. (The amount is not stated, the phrase being " ut bedellis1 satisfaciat.") Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer frequently appear. The first is permitted to take the place of Dr. Christopher Lord in preaching the University sermon on Ash Wednesday (1527-28), Dr. Lord having to pay 13s. 4d. before St. John the Baptist's Day. The "chests" occur now and then; they seem to have been abused, as charities have a way of being. The library is another subject of consideration ; it was not unusual for the books to be stolen ; this habit, too, has not been improved off the face of the earth. And the "town and gown" difficulty was often in evidence. The Cambridge "town" never got as far as a St. Scholastica's Day, but it made itself very disagreeable, and the attention was reciprocated. Some of the causes of quarrel seem a little strange nowadays. In 1535-36 the Vice-Chancellor and the Senior Proctor went to London to defend the right of the Uni- versity to inspect the fish exposed for sale at Stirbridge Fair. (No such name occurs in the gazetteer.) Such visits are frequent, and an unpleasant feature is the gifts made to certain magnates to make the course of justice run more smoothly. Francis Bacon was a little after his time, but he could have pointed to many pre- cedents less than a century old. The volume has been prepared with the most scrupulous care.
Previous page
