collegiorum et aularum et aliarum in eadem domorum quarumcunque et pro felicissimo statu invictissimi domini nostri regis ac dominæ Annæ ejus legitimæ conjugis hujus regni reginæ summique eorum honoris incremento maximo sub quorum auspiciis vera religio christiana jam reflorescit uni missæ in ecclesia beatæ Mariæ infra mensem proxime sequentem publice celebrandæ intersint."

At this visitation the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors on the part of the University, and the Head of each College, were called upon to send in their charters, deeds of foundation and gift, and other muniments, together with their bulls and papal grants of every kind. The former, the charters, deeds, and muniments, were restored to the respective parties, but the bulls and papal grants, it is generally supposed, were retained by the King, and have been thus totally lost to the University*.

In 1546, after the passing of "The Act for the Dissolution of Colleges, Chantries, Hospitals, &c.t" the King was solicited by his courtiers to send commissioners to the Universities, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature and extent of the property belonging to the Colleges, in hopes that they might obtain some of their lands, either as grants from the Crown or in exchange for impropriated tithes. The friends of the University, aware of this attempt, made interest at court, and succeeded in having Dr. PARKER, Master of Corpus Christi and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Redman, Master of Trinity, and Dr. MEYE, President of Queen's,

* From the journal of Queen Mary's visitation (December xxviii) we find that the Proctors went to town, among other objects, to obtain possession of these bulls; they returned on the vi of January, but whether they succeeded in their commission does not appear.

+ 37° Hen. VIII. c. 4.

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appointed the commissioners, pleading the great expense it would put the University to if his Majesty sent down "any of his cortly officers for that purpose." These commissioners made an inventory of all the possessions belonging to the Colleges, with the revenues and expenses of each, and repaired up to court with a summary, written "on a fair sheet of vellum." They had an interview with his Majesty, who, when he had carefully perused their statement, turned to his courtiers, and said to them; "that he thought he had not in his realme so many persons so honestly maintained in living by so little land and rent;" and added: "Pity it were these lands should be altered to make them worse." "At which words," adds PARKER," some were grieved, for they disappointed QUOSDAM HIANTES LUPOS." "In fine," he continues, "we sued to the King's Majesty to be so gracious Lord, that he would favour us in the continuance of our possessions, such as they were, and that no man by his Grace's letters should require to permute with us to give us worse; he made answer and smiled, that he could not but write for his servants and others doing the service of the realm in wars and other affairs but he said he would put us to our choice whether we would gratify them or no and bad us hold our own for after writing he would force us no further. With these words we were well armed and so departed*."

And thus by the management of PARKER, and through the goodwill which HENRY entertained towards the University, the possessions of the Colleges were preserved from these "HIANTES LUPOS," who had already swallowed

up the lands and possessions of the religious houses throughout the kingdom. This was the last act of Henry as regarded the Universities.

In January, 1547, EDWARD VI. succeeded his father. The advisers of this young prince lost no time in commencing the work of reformation for which his father had prepared the way, and they soon turned their attention to the Universities. In April of the following year a letter was sent, signed by the KING, and subscribed by SOMERSET, to the Vice-Chancellor and Heads of Houses, stating, "We do intend very shortly to visit our University of Cambridge, and all the Colleges of the same, to set some godly direction and order there;" and commanding them under these circumstances to fill up no Mastership, Fellowship, Scholarship, etc., which might now be or hereafter become vacant, before the conclusion of the same visitation. The visitors appointed upon this occasion were GOODERICK, Bishop of Ely, RIDLEY, Bishop of Rochester, SIR W. PAGET, SIR T. SMITH, SIR J. CHEKE, DR. MAYE, and DR. WENDIE.

The Royal Commission is addressed to the ViceChancellor and Proctors of the University, and invests the visitors with full power and authority to visit and reform the University and Colleges. The visitors did not arrive at Cambridge till May, 1549, although they had been appointed as early as the preceding November; but during this interval they were engaged in drawing up a body of statutes for the governance of the University. All the visitors arrived at Cambridge on or before Sunday the 5th of May, except the Bishop of Ely, who joined them by nine o'clock on Monday. On which day all the members of the University having been cited to

appear at St. Mary's church, the Bishop of Rochester preached a sermon, after which they adjourned to King's College chapel, where they read their commission. Then the Proctors delivered up the statute book of the University, and the Masters of the Colleges their respective statutes. All present were called upon to take an oath for the abolishment of the authority of the Bishop of Rome, and for the supremacy of the king. Sir J. Cheke then produced the book of the NEW STATUTES signed with the king's hand, and subscribed by the council, and read every word therein, and delivered it to the ViceChancellor. After which the Bishop of Rochester exhorted all present to be obedient to the king's orders, to renounce papistry and superstition, and to bring in every man bills of those things, which they thought worthy of reformation. The visitors then proceeded to St. John's College, where they dined with the Master, Dr. Bill, who was Vice-Chancellor. They employed the next and following days in visiting the different Colleges, removing from them all vestiges of the Roman Catholic religion.

Upon the 20th of June, a grand disputation was held in the schools upon the subjects of Transubstantiation and the Lord's Supper. Dr. Madew maintained the propositions: I. Transubstantio non potest probari scripturæ verbis etc. II. In cœna nulla est alia Christi oblatio nisi mortis ejus commemoratio etc.; and was answered by Dr. Glyn, Dr. Sedgewick, Dr. Young, and Mr. Parker of Trinity College. The Bishop of Rochester presided and determined the question more scholastico. On the following Monday, being Midsummer day, Dr. Glyn maintained the contrary part of the two propositions, and was answered by Mr. Perne, Mr. Guest, Mr. Grindale,

and Mr. Pilkington. Another disputation was held upon the same subjects on Tuesday, and when all the respondents had finished, the Bishop of Rochester, at the request of the other visitors, determined the truth of the above questions, "by manifest scripture and conferences of the same with the authority of the most ancient Doctors, both wise and learnedly concluding that there was not transubstantiation to be proved nor gathered by scripture or ancient Doctors in the sacrament as touching the first, nor yet that there was any other oblation in the sacrament of the supper of our Lord, but a commemoration of his death and a thanksgiving as touching the second."

The Visitation was concluded on the fourth of July: on this day the visitors accompanied the Bishop of Ely to Jesus Green, whence his Lordship proceeded to Ely by water. They left behind them certain INJUNCTIONS which they determined upon and signed a few days before their departure, and which were publicly read to the Senate on the following day by the Junior Proctor. And these, together with the NEW STATUTES, delivered to the Senate at the commencement of the visitation, formed a complete and well-digested code of laws for the government of the University and Colleges. Those of the ancient statutes which were useful were retained, some that were antiquated were revised and accommodated to the altered state of the University, others that were barbarous or papistical were abolished, and care was taken by new provisions for the establishment and security of the Protestant faith*.

* After this visitation the king and council sent to the University, "Ordinationes de tollendis dubitationibus ex statutis ortis:" these, toge