well as Regal, were surrendered into the hands of the King, in the year 1532: two years afterwards a general valuation of the estates of the Colleges in both Universities was undertaken by a Royal Commission; and, in 1535, visitors were appointed by the King for the University of Oxford. Lecturers in Greek and Latin were established by the visitors in several Colleges; the scholastic works of Duns Scotus were scattered to the winds, and a better system of classical instruction was commenced. The reign of Henry VIII. was also remarkable from the first introduction of subscription tests into the Universities in connexion with the following question, which had been sent by the King to the University of Oxford to be discussed in 1534::

"Whether the Bishop of Rome hath any greater juris"diction collated upon him from God in the Holy Scripture, "in this kingdom of England than any foreign Bishop."

This question was answered in the negative, and a similar query was subsequently addressed to each House of Learning in the University, and the authority of the Pope was formally renounced by the majority of the members: they were then required to subscribe to a declaration, that none of them would call the Bishop of Rome by the name of Pope, or Supreme Pontiff, and would only designate him as Bishop of Rome, and Bishop of the Roman Church, in any sermon, whether private or public, and that they would not pray for him as either Pope or Bishop of Rome.* Those members of colleges who would not renounce the Pope were, if on the foundation, turned out of their Fellowships, Scholarships, and Chaplainships.

Royal orders with respect to the election of Proctors, and the delivery of Latin sermons, were sent to the University in 1541: the University privileges were restored in 1543, but the Papal Bulls were not returned. All Colleges were given to the King for his lifetime, by an Act of Parliament passed in 1545, and letters were sent to him from the Uni

* Wood's Annals, A.D. 1534.

versities, submitting to His Majesty's discretion, which were graciously received. A letter from Dr. Richard Cox, the tutor to the Prince of Wales, quoted by Anthony Wood, informs us of an intended plan of Henry VIII. to set apart one College for the students of Civil Law in Oxford, and to appropriate another College for the students of medicine and surgery. This proposed arrangement was far from being satisfactory to the Colleges already established, and the Heads of Houses arrived at Court, to request that it might not be carried into effect; they, also, at the same time, "most humbly thanked the King's Highness for the con"tinuance of their Houses, and desired his gracious good"ness for the confirmation of the same:" the death of Henry VIII. shortly afterwards led to the postponement of the contemplated changes in the Colleges.

Preparations for a Royal Visitation of the University of Oxford were made at an early period in the reign of Edward VI., and in 1549 a Royal Commission was issued, authorising the following ten Commissioners, viz. :-the Earl of Warwick, Lord Lisle, the Bishops of Lincoln and Worcester, Sir William Paget, Sir William Petre, Dr. Richard Cox, almoner and tutor to Edward VI., Simon Heynes, Dean of Exeter, Dr. Christopher Nevinson, and Richard Morison, Esq., or any seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one of them, to visit the University, both in its principal corporation, and in the Colleges, "in capite et "membris," and the visitation was also to extend to the King's Chapel at Windsor, and to Winchester College. Dr. Cox appears to have been de facto at the head of this Commission, and none of the University authorities dared to oppose his wishes with respect to the appointments which became vacant in Scholarships and Fellowships.

Large and important powers were intrusted to the Commissioners; they might inquire into every kind of detail with respect to the Colleges and Halls, and they had even the right of imprisoning any persons who rebelled against their authority. Funds previously devoted to funeral rites

ROYAL COMMISSION.

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and to banquets, or which had been set apart for either public or private lectures, might be appropriated to more suitable uses, and converted into some other form of endowment. Property belonging to the foundation of any College, and intended for ecclesiastical purposes, such as the support of choristers, might be devoted to the maintenance of scholars studying grammar, or to the formation of Fellowships in philosophy and the Arts, either in the same College, or in some other similar institution.

The Commissioners had farther the right to remove Masters, Fellows, and Scholars, either in accordance with the statutes of their respective Colleges, or for the advantage of the University, and that of learning; and they might appoint other persons in their room. They had the power, if it should seem to them to be for the benefit of the University, to unite two or more Colleges into one, whether such Colleges were of Royal Foundation, or had been founded by other parties. In their visitatorial capacity they might demand and receive, examine and consider any of the incorporations, foundations, statutes, ordinances, privileges, compositions, accounts, and other muniments of the University, the Colleges, and the Halls; and they might alter the existing form, and direct a more convenient arrangement of the religious services, disputations and public lectures, as well as of the conferring of degrees, and of granting rewards to learning. The injunctions and statutes of the visitors were to be delivered in the Royal name; suitable penalties were to be awarded in case of disobedience to them, and any statutes or customs of a contrary tendency were to be entirely abolished. All the members of the University were to take the oath of allegiance to the King, and to renounce the usurped and pretended authority of the Bishop of Rome. Meetings of the Heads of Houses, or of the students, might be summoned or dissolved by the Visitors, and an unlimited privilege was granted to them, of inquiring into and reforming the whole University.

* Commodo reipublicæ et bonarum literarum.-Wood.

The royal scheme of setting apart All Souls College for the use of students in Civil Law, and of devoting New College to the students in Arts and Theology, was also recommended to the Visitors; and, lastly, the King gave them authority to form a College of Medicine in the University, by setting apart any one College which might seem to them suitable for that purpose, with suggestions that they should appoint the Fellows in that College who might be willing to undertake medical studies, to be Fellows of the Royal College of Medicine, providing also that those Fellows who declined to study medicine, or who were deemed unfit for that profession, should be transferred to other Colleges; or, if the Visitors preferred it, salaries might be given to the Master and Fellows of the proposed Medical College.

New academical statutes were soon presented to the University by the Visitors, in place of the old ones, and more liberty was allowed by them to the Students, and particularly to the juniors. The leading academicians who were known to be zealous Roman Catholics were displaced, and Protestants were substituted in their respective offices; injunctions were also prescribed for the government of every College in the University, and the Heads of Houses, as well as the Canons of Christ Church, were allowed to marry, and their wives and families were permitted to reside within the walls of their respective Colleges.

The intended union of several of the Colleges was not carried into effect, nor was the College of Medicine founded, nor were the changes in All Souls and New College realized, on account of the resistance of those Colleges, and the loss of time arising from the absence of many of the Commissioners, who were often engaged with political affairs; indeed the reformation of the University virtually devolved on two or three Commissioners, and sometimes on Dr. Cox alone, who, as Dean of Christ Church, was, in most cases, able to superintend the progress of the work.

Roman Catholic theological manuscripts and the works of Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and other

scholastic writers, were removed from the College libraries, and Protestant books were purchased.

In the year 1552, Archbishop Cranmer wrote the following letter to the Lords of the Council of King Edward VI., concerning the book of the 42 Articles of Religion, in the compilation of which he had been actively engaged. It was manifestly his intention that these 42 Articles should be subscribed only by the clergy and by ecclesiastical persons.

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"After my very humble recommendations unto your good Lordships, I have sent unto the same the book of Articles, "which yesterday I received from your Lordships. I have "sent also a schedule inclosed, declaring briefly my mind upon the said book: beseeching your Lordships to be means unto the King's Majesty that all the Bishops may "have authority from him, to cause all their Preachers, "Archdeacons, Deans, Prebendaries, Parsons, Vicars, Cu"rates, with all their clergy, to subscribe to the said Articles.

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"And then, I trust, that such a concord and quietness in religion shall shortly follow thereof, as else is not to be "looked for, for many years.

"God shall thereby be glorified, his truth shall be advanced, and your Lordships shall be rewarded of him, as "the setters forward of his true word and gospel.

"Unto whom is my daily prayer, without ceasing, to pre"serve the King's Majesty, with all your honourable Lordships.

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"From my house at Ford, the 24th of this present month "of November.*

"Your Lordships' ever to command,

"To my very good Lords of the King's Majesty's

most honourable Council."

“T. CANT.

The King's letters were directed to the official of the Court of Canterbury and the Dean of the Deanery of the Arches, and to their surrogates, deputies, &c., in which he

* Strype's Memorials of Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 905.