THE PLACES OF THE DEGREE CEREMONY
The University of Oxford confers its degrees in three rooms, the
Sheldonian Theatre, the Divinity School, and the Convocation House; the
choice rests with the Vice-Chancellor, and now that, in the last year or
so, degree-days have been made less frequent, and there are consequently
more candidates on each occasion, the place is often the Sheldonian.
This is a great improvement on old custom, for it is the only one of the
three buildings which was designed for the purpose, and it is also the
only one which gives room for the proper conduct of the ceremony, when
the number of candidates is large.
[Sidenote: The Sheldonian.]
The Sheldonian, therefore, commonly known in Oxford as 'The Theatre',
will be spoken of first, although it is the last in date of
construction. It is a memorial at once of the munificence of one of the
greatest among Oxford's many episcopal benefactors, and also of the
architectural skill of her most eminent architect, Sir Christopher Wren.
Down to the time of the Civil War, the ceremony of the 'Act' (cf. p. 27
seq.) at which degrees were conferred, had taken place in St. Mary's;
but the influence of the Puritans was beginning to affect all parties,
and was causing the growth of a feeling that religious buildings should
not be used for secular purposes. John Evelyn, who gives us our fullest
account of the opening ceremony at the Sheldonian, notes that it might
be thought 'indecent' that the Act should be held in a 'building set
apart for the immediate worship of God'[30], and this was 'the
inducement for building this noble pile'. Wren had shown his design to
the Royal Society in 1663, and it had been much commended; he was only a
little more than thirty years of age, and it was his first public
building, but he was already known as that 'miracle of a youth' and that
'prodigious young scholar', and he fully justified the Archbishop's
confidence in him. So great was this that Sheldon told Evelyn that he
had never seen the building and that he never intended to do so. Wren
showed his boldness alike in the style he chose--he broke once for all
with the Gothic tradition in Oxford--and in the skill with which he
designed a roof which was (and is) one of the largest unsupported roofs
in England. The construction of it was a marvel of ingenious design.
[Sidenote: Its Dedication.]
The cost of the whole building was L25,000, as Wren told Evelyn, and
architects, even the greatest of them, do not usually over-estimate the
cost of their designs; but other authorities place it at L16,000, or
even at a little over L12,000. At any rate, it was felt to be, as Evelyn
writes, 'comparable to any of this kind of former ages, and doubtless
exceeding any of the present, as this University does for colleges,
libraries, schools, students and order, all the universities in the
world.' We may pardon the enthusiasm of one who was himself an Oxford
man, after a day on which 'a world of strangers and other company from
all parts of the nation' had been gathered for the Dedication. The
ceremonies lasted two days (July 9 and 10, 1669), and on the first day
extended 'from eleven in the morning till seven at night'; we are not
told how long they lasted on the second day. They consisted of speeches,
poems, disputations, and all the other forms of learned gaiety wherein
our academic predecessors took such unwearying delight; there was 'music
too, vocal and instrumental, in the balustrade corridor opposite to the
Vice-Chancellor's seat'. And those who took part had among them some who
bore famous names; the great preacher, South, was Public Orator; among
the D.D.s incepting were Tillotson, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
one of the first to introduce Modern English into the style of the
pulpit, and Compton, who, as Bishop of London, took so prominent a part
in the Revolution.
[Sidenote: The Roof Paintings.]
Not the least conspicuous feature in the new building was the paintings
by Robert Streater, which had been especially executed for it. In
accordance with the idea of Wren, who wished to imitate the uncovered
roofs of Greek and Roman theatres, the building, 'by the painting of the
flat roof within, is represented as open.' Pepys, who went to see
everything, records how he went to see these pictures in Streater's
studio, and how the 'virtuosos' who were looking at them, thought 'them
better than those of Rubens at Whitehall'; 'but,' Pepys has taste enough
to add, 'I do not fully think so.' This unmeasured admiration was,
however, outdone by the contemporary poetaster, Whitehall, who ends his
verses on the paintings,
That future ages must confess they owe
To Streater more than Michael Angelo,
lines in which the grammar and the connoisseurship are about on an
equality. The paintings are on canvas fixed on stretchers, and hence
have been removed for cleaning purposes more than once; this was last
done only a few years ago (1899-1901). There are thirty-two sections,
and the whole painting measures 72 feet by 64. Unfortunately the subject
is rendered difficult to understand, because the most important section,
which is the key of the whole, representing 'The Expulsion of
Ignorance', is practically concealed by the organ; the present
instrument was erected in 1877.
[Sidenote: The Sheldonian Press.]
Sheldon's building was designed for a double use. It was to be at once
the University Theatre and the University Printing Press, and it was
used for the latter purpose till 1714, when the Oxford Press was moved
across the quadrangle to the Clarendon Building, designed by Sir John
Vanbrugh. The actual printing was done in the roof, on the floor above
the painted ceiling. The Theatre is for this reason the mark on all
Oxford books printed during the first half-century of its existence. In
one respect Archbishop Sheldon was so unlike most Oxford benefactors
that his merit must be especially mentioned. Men are often willing
enough to give a handsome sum of money down to be spent on buildings;
they too often leave to others the charge of maintaining these; but
Sheldon definitely informed the University that he did not wish his
benefaction to be a burden to it, and invested L2,000 in lands, out of
the rents of which his Theatre might be kept in repair. The Sheldonian,
thanks to its original donor and to the ever liberal Dr. Wills of
Wadham, who supplemented the endowment a century later, has never been a
charge on the University revenues.
[Sidenote: The Restoration of the Sheldonian.]
Unfortunately these repairs have been carried out with more zeal than
discretion. Even in Wren's lifetime the alarm was raised that the roof
was dangerous (1720), but the Vice-Chancellor of the time was wise
enough not to consult a rival architect but to take the practical
opinion of working masons and carpenters, who reported it safe. Nearly
100 years later the same alarm was raised, whether with reason or not we
do not know, for no records were left; all we do know is that the
'restorers' of the day took Wren's roof off, removed his beautiful
windows, inserted a new and larger cupola, and generally did their best
to spoil his work. It is only necessary to compare the old pictures of
the Sheldonian with its present state to see how in this case, as in so
many others, Oxford's architectural glories have suffered from our
insane unwillingness to let well alone.
[Sidenote: The History of the Sheldonian.]
The Sheldonian was not in existence during the period when University
history was most picturesque. Its associations therefore are nearly all
academic, and academic functions, however interesting to those who take
part in them, do not appeal to the great world. Perhaps the most
romantic scene that the Sheldonian has witnessed was the Installation of
the Duke of Wellington as Chancellor in 1833, when the whole theatre
went mad with enthusiasm as the writer of the Newdigate, Joseph Arnould
of Wadham, declaimed his lines on Napoleon,--
And the dark soul a world could scarce subdue
Bent to thy genius, chief of Waterloo.
The subject of the poem was 'The Monks of St. Bernard'.
But the enthusiasm was almost as great, and the poetry far superior,
when Heber recited the best lines of the best Newdigate on record:--
No hammer fell, no ponderous axes swung;
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.
Majestic silence.
This happy reference to the manner of building of Solomon's Temple was
suggested by Sir Walter Scott.
Another almost historic occasion in the Sheldonian was when, at a
Diocesan Conference, the late Lord Beaconsfield made his well-known
declaration, 'I for my part prefer to be on the side of the angels.' But
these scenes only indirectly touch Oxford. More intimately connected
with her history are the famous Proctorial Veto of 1845, when Dean
Church and his colleague saved Tract No. 90 from academic condemnation,
and the stormy debates of twenty years ago, when the permission to use
Vivisection in the University Physiological Laboratory was only carried
after a struggle in which the Odium Scientificum showed itself capable
of an unruliness and an unfairness to opponents which has left all
displays, previous or subsequent, of Odium Theologicum far behind.
[Sidenote: Commemoration Scenes.]
There is no doubt that the organized medical vote on that occasion holds
the record for noise in the Theatre. And the competition for the record
has been and is still severe; every year at Commemoration, we have a
scene of academic disorder, which can only be called 'most unbecoming of
the gravity of the University', to use John Evelyn's words of the
performance of the Terrae Filius at the opening of the Sheldonian. It is
true that the proceedings of the Encaenia have been always able to be
completed, since the device was hit on of seating ladies freely among
the undergraduates in the upper gallery; this change was introduced in
1876. The disorder of the undergraduates' gallery had culminated in
1874, and in 1875 the ceremony was held in the Divinity School. But the
noise is as prevalent as ever, and it must be confessed that
undergraduates' wit has suffered severely from the feminine infusion.
However, our visitors, distinguished and undistinguished alike,
appreciate the disorder, and it certainly has plenty of precedent for it
in all stages of University history.
But the Sheldonian has more harmonious associations. Music was from the
first a regular feature of the Encaenia, and compositions were written
for it. The most famous occasion of this kind was in July, 1733, when
Handel came to Oxford, at the invitation of the Vice-Chancellor, to
conduct the performance of some of his works; among these was the
Oratorio _Athaliah_, especially written for the occasion. Handel was
offered the degree of Doctor of Music, but (unlike Haydn) declined it,
because he disliked 'throwing away his money for dat de blockhead wish'.
[Sidenote: Convocation House.]
Till quite recently the degree ceremony was usually held in the
Convocation House, which lies just in front of the Sheldonian, under the
northern end of the Bodleian Library (the so-called Selden Wing). This
plain and unpretentious building, which was largely due to the
munificence of Archbishop Laud, was begun in 1635 and finished two years
later. It cost, with the buildings above, about L4,200. Its dreary
late-Gothic windows and heavy tracery, and the Spartan severity of its
unbacked benches, are characteristic of the time of transition, alike
architectural and religious, to which it belongs. It has been from that
time to this the Parliament House of the University, where all matters
are first discussed by the Congregation of resident Doctors and Masters;
it is only on the rare occasions when some great principle is at stake,
and when the country is roused, that matters, whether legislative or
administrative, are discussed anywhere else; a Sheldonian debate is
fortunately very rare.
[Sidenote: Its History.]
The building is well suited for the purpose for which it was erected,
and so has not unnaturally been used as the meeting-place of the
nation's legislators, when, as has several times happened, Parliament
has been gathered in Oxford. Charles I's House of Commons met here in
1643, when Oxford was the royalist capital of England; and in 1665, when
Parliament fled from the Great Plague, and in 1681, when Charles II
fought and defeated the last Exclusion Parliament, the House of Commons
again occupied this House. It was on the latter occasion just preparing
to move across to the Sheldonian, and the printers there were already
packing up their presses to make room for the legislators, when Charles
suddenly dissolved it, and so completed his victory over Shaftesbury and
Monmouth.
A less suitable use for the Convocation House was its employment for
Charles I's Court of Chancery in 1643-4.
For the reasons given above, degree days are now much more important
functions than they used to be, and the Convocation House, never very
suitable for the ceremony, is now seldom used.
[Sidenote: Divinity School.]
But the Divinity School, which lies at a right angle to the Convocation
House, under the Bodleian Library proper, is a room which by its beauty
is worthy to be the scene of any University ceremony, for which it is
large enough, and degrees are still often conferred there as well as in
the Sheldonian.
The architecture of the School makes it the finest room which the
University possesses. It was building through the greater part of the
fifteenth century, which Professor Freeman thought the most
characteristic period of English architecture; and certainly the
strength and the weakness of the Perpendicular style could hardly be
better illustrated elsewhere. The story of its erection can be largely
traced in the _Epistolae Academicae_, published by the Oxford Historical
Society; they cover the whole of the fifteenth century, and though they
are wearisome in their constant harping on the same subject--the
University's need of money--they show a fertility of resource in
petition-framing and in the returning of thanks, which would make the
fortune of a modern begging-letter writer, whether private or public.
The earliest reference to the building of the proposed new School of
Divinity is in 1423, when the University picturesquely says it was
intended 'ad amplianda matris nostrae ubera' (so many things could be
said in Latin which would be shocking in English). In 1426 the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Chichele, is approached and asked 'to open
the torrents of his brotherly kindness'. Parliament is appealed to, the
Monastic Orders, the citizens of London, in fact anybody and everybody
who was likely to help. Cardinal Beaufort gave 500 marks, William of
Waynflete lent his architectural engines which he had got for building
Magdalen--at least he was requested to do so--(1478), the Bishop of
London, by a refinement of compliment, is asked to show himself 'in this
respect also a second Solomon'. [The touch of adding 'also' is
delightful.] The agreement to begin building was signed in 1429, when
the superintendent builder was to have a retaining fee of 40_s._ a year,
and 4_s._ for every week that he was at work in Oxford; the work was
finally completed in 1489. And the building was worthy of this long
travail; its elaborate stone roof, with the arms of benefactors carved
in it, is a model at once of real beauty and of structural skill.
[Sidenote: History of the Divinity School.]
The Divinity School, as its name implies, was intended for the
disputations of the Theological Faculty, and perhaps it was this special
purpose which prevented it being used so widely for ordinary business,
as the other University buildings were. At any rate it was this
connexion which led to its being the scene of one of the most
picturesque events in Oxford history; it was to it, on April 16, 1554,
that Cranmer was summoned to maintain his theses on the Blessed
Sacrament against the whole force of the Roman Doctors of Oxford,
reinforced by those of Cambridge. Single-handed and without any
preparation, he held his own with his opponents, and extorted their
reluctant admiration by his courtesy and his readiness. 'Master Cranmer,
you have answered well,' was the summing up of the presiding Doctor, and
all lifted their caps as the fallen Archbishop left the building. It was
the last honour paid to Cranmer.
In the eighteenth century, when all old uses were upset, the Divinity
School was even lent to the City as a law court, and it was here the
unfortunate Miss Blandy was condemned to death. But as a rule its
associations have been academic, and it is still used for its old
purpose, i.e. for the reading of the Divinity theses. It is only
occasionally that University functions of a more general kind are held
there, e.g. the famous debates on the admission of women to degrees in
1895. So splendid a room ought to be employed on every possible
occasion, and happy are they who, when the number of candidates is not
too large, take their degrees in surroundings so characteristic of the
best in Oxford.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 30: The buffooneries of the Terrae Filius, who was a
recognized part of the 'Act', would be even more shocking in a
consecrated building than merely secular business.]
APPENDIX I
THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
I. Degrees are given and examiners appointed by the Ancient House of
Congregation. This corresponds to the 'Congregation of Regents' of the
Laudian Statutes. Its members are the University officials, the
professors, the heads and deans of colleges, all examiners, and the
'necessary regents', i.e. Doctors and Masters of Arts of not more than
two years' standing; it thus includes all those who have to do with the
conduct, the instruction, or the examination of students. The 'necessary
regents' are added, because in the mediaeval University the duty of
teaching was imposed on Doctors and Masters of not more than two years'
standing; others might 'rule the Schools' if they pleased, but the
juniors were bound to discharge this duty unless dispensed.
II. Congregation consists of all those members of Convocation who reside
within two miles of Carfax, along with certain officials. This body has
nothing to do with degrees; it is the chief legislative body of Oxford.
III. Convocation is made up of all Doctors and Masters whose names are
on the University's books. It confirms the appointment of examiners, and
confers honorary degrees at Commemoration.
It is also the final legislative body of the University, and controls
all expenditure.
APPENDIX II
THE UNIVERSITY STAVES
The old University staves, which are now in the Ashmolean Museum at the
University Galleries, seem to date from the reign of Elizabeth; they
have no hall-marks, but the character of the ornamentation is of that
period. No doubt the mediaeval staves perished in the troubles of the
Reformation period, along with other University property, and the new
ones were procured when Oxford began to recover her prosperity.
Two of the old staves were discovered in 1895 in a box on the top of a
high case in the Archives; their very existence had been forgotten, and
they were covered with layers of dust. The legend that they had been
concealed there by the loyal Bedels must be given up; no doubt they were
put away when the present staves were procured in 1723. The third staff
was in the keeping of the Esquire Bedel, and was brought to the
University Chest, when that office ceased to exist.
The present staves are six in number, three silver and three
silver-gilt. The three former are carried by the Bedel of Arts and the
two sub-bedels, the three latter are carried by the Bedels of the three
higher faculties, Divinity, Law, and Medicine. All of them date (as is
proved by the hall-marks) from 1723, except one of the silver staves,
which seems to have been renewed in 1803. The three silver staves bear
the following inscriptions:--
No. I. On the top 'Ego sum Via'; on the base 'Veritas et Vita'.
No. II. On the top 'Aequum et Bonum'; on the base 'Iustitiae Columna'.
No. III. On the top 'Scientiae et Mores'; on the base 'Columna
Philosophiae'.
The inscriptions are the same on the silver-gilt staves, except that the
staff of the Bedel of Divinity has all the mottoes on it--'Ego sum Via',
'Veritas et Vita' on the top, and the others on the base.
The letters on the bases of all the staves are put on the reverse way to
those on the tops; this is because the staves are carried in different
ways; before the King and the Chancellor they are carried upright,
before the Vice-Chancellor always in a reversed position, with the base
uppermost.
It should be noted that they are staves and not maces, as the University
of Oxford derives its authority from no external power, but is
independent.
The arms on the tops of three of the staves present a very curious
puzzle; one roundel bears those of Neville and Montagu quarterly, and
seems to be a reproduction of the arms of the Chancellor of 1455, George
Neville, the Archbishop of York; another bears the old Plantagenet
'England and France quarterly' as borne by the sovereigns from Henry IV
to Elizabeth; a third the Stuart arms as borne from James I to Queen
Anne; yet the work of all three roundels seems to be seventeenth century
in character, and does not match that of the rest of the fabric of the
staves.
INDEX
'Act,' meaning of, 27;
term, 28;
confused with Encaenia, 31-2.
Aristotle, portions read of, 18, 37.
Arnould, J., 85.
Bachelor (of Arts), etymology of, 24;
in France, 47;
dress of, 69, 78;
hood of, 66, 71, 78;
when taken, 35, 43.
---- of Divinity, qualification for, 30;
dress of, 77.
Bands worn, 68.
Beaconsfield, Lord, 86.
Beaufort, Cardinal, 91.
Bedels, history of, 54 seq.;
caps of, 72;
at degrees, 4, 17.
Bodleian, 88, 89.
Boots to be worn, 65.
Caius, Dr., 61.
Cambrensis, G., 22.
Cambridge, dress of Vice-Chancellor at, 69;
degree ceremonies at, 28-9;
King's College, 40 _n._;
gowns at, 68.
Candidates (for degrees), dress of, 1;
presentation of, 11;
oath of, 13;
admission of, 15, 17.
Cap, 71 seq.
_Cappa_, 69, 70.
Chancellor, origin of, 22, 26;
authority of, 50;
non-resident, 51.
Chichele, Archbishop, 90.
Church and University, 25.
Church, Dean, 86.
_Circuitus_, 44.
_Collecta_, 37.
'Commencement' in American Universities, 23.
Commemoration, origin of, 31;
description of, 32-3;
noise at, 86-7;
music at, 87.
Compton, H., 82.
Congregation, 88, 93.
---- Ancient House of, 93;
degrees conferred in, 4, 5;
nominates examiners, 4.
Convocation, 93;
business in, 4.
---- House, 88 seq.
Cranmer, Archbishop, 92.
Crewe, Lord, 32;
oration of, 32.
Degrees, meaning of, 24;
order of taking, 6-7;
elements in, 27;
requirements for, 34 seq.;
in absence, 18;
_ad eundem_, 18;
Lambeth, 27;
honorary, 32.
---- ceremony, admittance to, 2;
notice of, 3.
D.C.L., 32; dress of, 75.
D.D., first, 22;
qualifications for, 30;
dress of, 69, 75-6; cap of, 72;
theses for, 30, 92.
_Depositio_, 45.
Divinity School, 87, 89 seq.
D.M., dress of, 75.
D.Mus., dress of, 76;
Haydn, 76;
Handel, 87;
Richter, 76.
Doctorate, German, 47;
qualifications for, 76;
presentation for, 11, 63.
Eglesfield, R., 68, 70 _n._
_Encaenia_, see Commemoration; etymology of, 31 _n._
Evelyn, J., 28, 80, 81, 87.
Examinations, mediaeval, 41 seq.;
control of, 52.
Fell, Dr., 53.
Friars at Oxford, 46.
Gibbon, E., quoted, 24.
Gowns, 69, 75 seq.;
proposed abolition of, 54.
'Graces,' college, 5, 6;
University, 38 seq., 59.
Green, J.R., quoted, 33.
Heber, R., 85.
Hoods, 70-1, 75 seq.
'Inception,' 19, 29, 31.
Key, T., 60.
Laud, 'Grace' for, 39;
and Proctorial election, 59;
portrait of, 72;
munificence of, 88.
Laudian Statutes, quoted, 4, 6, 18, 40;
oath in, 13;
greater strictness of, 67.
Lectures required for degree, 36;
rules as to, 36-7;
fees for, 37;
cutting of, 38;
college, 37.
'Licence,' origin of, 26;
conferred, 27.
London, J., 60.
Margaret, the Lady, 55.
Master of Arts, admission of, 15;
association of, 23;
old qualifications for, 29, 43, 47;
modern, 49;
privileges of, 31;
M.A.s term, 48;
gowns of, 64, 69, 77;
hood of, 71, 74, 77.
Master in Grammar, 28.
Masters of the Schools, 42.
Matriculation, 25.
'Nations,' divisions into, 58.
Neville, G., Chancellor, 51;
arms of, 95.
New College, privilege of, 40.
Paris, University of, 23;
examinations at, 41;
Oxford and, 26 _n._
Parliaments at Oxford of Charles I and Charles II, 89.
Parvis of St. Mary's, Examinations in, 42.
Pepys, S., 82.
Pig Market, the, 57 _n._
'Plucking,' 10.
Pope and universities, 26.
Printing Press, 83, 89.
Proctors, history of, 57 seq.;
walk of, 9;
charge by, 12, 14, 17;
'books' of, 19 _n._;
dress of, 77.
Professor, original meaning of, 75 _n._;
presentations by, 11 _n._, 62-3.
Queen's College, customs of, 70 _n._
Rashdall, Dr., quoted, 40 _n._, 55.
Registrar, history of, 60 seq.;
duties of, 5, 61.
Residence for degree, 34;
relaxations as to, 35, 47.
Responsions, 42.
Rich, E., 22-3.
St. Mary's, 80;
bell of, 3.
Scott, Sir W., 86.
Sheldon, G., 80, 84.
Sheldonian, history of, 79 seq.;
dedication of, 31, 81;
roof of, 82;
organ, 83;
alteration of, 84.
Sophisters, 65.
South, R., 82.
Staves, description of, 94;
Puritan 'Visitors', 55-6.
Streater, R., 82.
_Studium Generale_, 21 _n._, 26.
_Supplicat_, 8, 9.
Tailors, Oxford, 66, 74;
statute as to, 64.
_Terrae Filius_ at 'Act', 33, 54, 80 _n._
_Testamur_, 61.
Tillotson, J., 82.
_Tom Brown_, quoted, 48.
Tract No. 90, 86.
Tufts on caps, 72,
tuft-hunting, 73.
University, meaning of, 20;
oldest charter of, 22;
colonial and foreign, 35.
Vanbrugh, Sir J., 83.
_Verdant Green_, quoted, 10.
Vice-Chancellor, history of, 51 seq.;
admission by, 17, 25.
Vivisection, debate on, 86.
Wellington, Duke of, 85.
White ties, 68.
Wills, J., 84.
Wood, A., quoted, 53, 54.
Wren, Sir C., 80, 81, 84.
Wykeham, W. of, 40.
Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press by HORACE HART, M.A.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Oxford Degree Ceremony, by Joseph Wells