GERMAN UNIVERSITIES. 



245 



III. Fnvatissima. — These are delivered to a 

 select number, in the private houses of the pro- 

 fessors, on terms settled between them and their 

 hearers. 



No single thing has contributed more to in- 

 jure the reputation of the German universities in 

 the eyes of our countrymen than the unprincipled 

 manner in which some of the most insignificant 

 of them have exercised their right of conferring 

 degrees. Those who are unacquainted with Ger- 

 many naturally involve all her universities in the 

 same condemnation with the two or three dishon- 

 orable corporations who have virtually sold their 

 worthless honors Xp aspirants as base as them- 

 selves. A short account of the manner in which 

 degrees are obtained in the more respectable uni- 

 versities of Germany may help to rescue them 

 from unmerited reproach. 



Each Faculty has the exclusive right of grant- 

 ing degrees in its own sphere, although this pre- 

 rogative is exercised under the authority of the 

 whole university. The Theological Faculty grants 

 two degrees, those of Licentiate and Doctor. The 

 Philosophical Faculty also grants two, " Master of 

 Arts " and " Doctor of Philosophy," which are 

 generally taken together. The Medical and Judi- 

 cial Faculties give only one degree each, that of 

 Doctor. 



Whoever seeks the degree of Licentiate in 

 Theology, and of Doctor and Master of Arts in 

 Philosophy, must have studied three years at a 

 university, and must signify his desire to the Dean 

 of his Faculty in a Latin epistle, accompanied by 

 a short curriculum vitce. Before he can be ad- 

 mitted to the viva-voce examination, he is expected 

 to send in a Doctordissertation, an original trea- 

 tise, generally written in Latin, in which he must 

 manifest not only his proficiency in the subjects 

 in which he intends to graduate, but some power 

 of original thought and independent research. 

 The dean sends this treatise round to the other 

 members of the Faculty, who have to declare in 

 writing their opinion of its merits. If this be 

 favorable, a day is appointed for the grand ex- 

 amination, which is generally carried on in Latin, 

 and which all the members of the Faculty are 

 expected to attend as examiners. The Doctor- 

 ayulus is then subjected to a viva-voce examination 

 by each professor in turn, after which it is de- 

 cided by simple majority whether the candidate 

 has satisfied the examiners or not. If he suc- 

 ceeds, he is directed to hold a public " disputa- 

 tion " (in Latin), in presence of the dean and 

 Faculty, on theses of his own selection, which are 

 posted at the gates of the university. After the 



disputation the dean addresses the corona, in a 

 Latin speech, and hands the diploma to the new 

 graduate. 



To obtain the degree of Doctor of Theology, 

 the candidate must have finished his academical 

 studies six years, and have written some work, 

 which, in the opinion of the Faculty, is a valuable 

 contribution to theological literature. 



The degree of Doctor utriusque juris is taken 

 in nearly the same way as those in Theology and 

 Philosophy, except that the law-student is some- 

 times subjected to a written examination previ- 

 ously to the oral one. 



The Medical Faculty is the only one in which 

 it is imperative on the student to take the degree 

 of Doctor. In the other Faculties admission to 

 the privileges and honors of a profession is ob- 

 tained solely by passing the so-called state or 

 government examination. 



The foregoing outline may suffice to show the 

 world-wide difference between the academical 

 institutions of England and Germany in external 

 form ; yet they differ far more essentially in the 

 spirit which animates them, in their modus ope- 

 randi, and in the objects which they respectively 

 pursue. The term university is hardly applicable 

 to our great academies ; for they do not even 

 profess to include the whole circle of the sciences 

 in their programme, and their mode of teaching 

 differs in hardly any respect from that of a school. 

 The German university, on the other hand, looks, 

 at first sight, like a mere aggregate of technical 

 schools, designed to prepare men for the several 

 careers of social life. Something analogous would 

 result from bringing together in one place our 

 universities of Oxford and Cambridge, our the- 

 ological training-schools, Inns of Court, medical 

 schools and hospitals, and our British and Ken- 

 sington Museums, with their schools of art, and 

 then dividing the whole body of teachers and 

 students into four faculties, and bringing it under 

 the control of her Majesty's Government. Yet 

 such mere juxtaposition would not alone suffice 

 to form a German university. Such a collection 

 in one place of professional training-schools, 

 whose only object is the rapid preparation of 

 young men for their future callings, does exist 

 in Paris ; and yet Gabriel Monod could say, with- 

 out contradiction, that, with the exception of 

 Turkey, France was the only country in Europe 

 which possessed no university in the proper sense 

 of the word. The German Faculties are also 

 technical schools, but they are intimately and in- 

 separably united by a common scientific method, 

 which makes the practical studies of each a me- 



