ARTS, DEOREK8 IN. 



ARTS, KINK. 



(or lwlt colt i. neo***mnr. Of the tcnm, Miohalma. and Hilary 

 are eacfc kept by *ix week*' residence, and Eatar and Trinity by three 



, IhoM who proceed to the <Igro of R.A. undergo ft 

 ation (known ordinarily l>y the name of the linlr yo) in 

 the Lent Una next after, or next but one after, that in which they 

 hare kept their firat taroi, aooording a* such finrt term be or be not a 

 Lent term : the subject* of which, for thaw itudenU who are not 

 ftmftfa^ for honour* in the mathematical, classical, and law tripoaw, 

 are one of the Four Oomb in the original Greek, Pale/. ' Evidence* 

 of Christianity,' one uf the Oreek and one of the Lit in claatica, the 

 EhnenU uf Euclid, Book* 1., II., A III. .and arithmetic; whilst all 

 Ihoee (tudeoU who are oandidatei for honour* in cither of the above- 

 mentioned tripoaea have to paa* an examination odditinnal to the orie 

 just described in Euclid, Book* IV. and VI. ; algebra, including quad- 

 ratic equation*, ratio, and proportion ; and elementary mechanic*. 



Between the previou* examination and that fur the degree of B.A.. 

 all ntudenU who are not candidate* for honour* are required to attend 

 the lecture* for one term of one out of a certain number of professors 

 cpedfied by grace of the mate Oct. SI, 1848, and to paa* a satisfactory 

 examination (conducted by cuch prof**or and an assistant examiner) 

 in the mibjecta of *uch lecture*, at any time between the little go and 

 the degree examination. The mode of proceeding to degree* in art* 

 ha* been altered by, and in consequence of, the new itatute* of the 

 mm rnity , which received the royal aasent in August, 1 858. One most 

 important change ha* been made by them in the matter of residence, 

 nine term* being the time now required for the degree of B.A. ; and, 

 in order to keep any of then term*, a residence of two-thirds of such 

 term U exacted. In conaequence of these alteration*, changes have 

 been made in the time* of examination for the B.A. degrc. . In 

 the first place, there U no longer an examination fur the ordinary 

 degree in the month of January ; in the next, there in now in every 

 term an examination for the ordinary B.A. degree on the Thursday 

 before the end of the firat two-third* of each term ; and, in the third 

 place, a* the great majority of candidates will in all probability present 

 themselves at the examination in the Easter term, at that only are those 

 approved to be arranged in four clauses. The subjects of examination 

 for these student* are, the Acts of the Apostles, in the original Greek ; 

 one of the Greek, and one of the Latin classics ; the history of the 

 English reformation ; Kuclid, books I. IV. inclusive, and propositions 

 I ' k V I ; together with certain parts of algebra, mechanics, and 

 hydrostatics. The examination of those who contend for honours is 

 conducted according to regulations confirmed by a recent grace of the 

 xenate, which enacts that questions and problems shall be proposed to 

 the candidates on eight days, the first three being assigned to the more 

 elementary, and the last five to the higher parta of mathematics ; that 

 after the first three days an interval of eight days shall elapse, and on 

 the seventh of these days the moderators and examiners shall declare 

 what persona have acquitted themselves BO as to deserve honours, who 

 are then to be admitted to the examination in the higher jwrts of 

 mathematics. After this examination, the moderators and examiners, 

 taking into account the examination of all the eight days, arrange all 

 the candidates who have been declared to deserve mathematical honours 

 into the three classes of wranglers, senior optimes, and junior optimes, 

 which classes are published in the Senate House at nine o'clock on the 

 Friilay morning preceding the general B.A. admission. The subjects of 

 the examination on the first three days are, Euclid, Books I. VI., 

 Book XI., prop*, i.-xxi.. Book XII. props i. ii. ; arithmetic and the 

 elementary parts of algebra ; the elementary parts of plane trigono- 

 metry ; the elementary part* of conic sections, treated geometrically ; 

 the elementary part* of statics, treated without the differential calculus ; 

 the elementary parU of dynamics, treated without the differential 

 ualcnra* ; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sections of Newton's Principia ; the 

 elementary parta of hydrostatics, treated without the differential cal- 

 . the elementary part* of optic*; and the elementary parts ol 

 astronomy. 



By a comparatively recent enactment, it has been declared that the 

 rumination of candidates for bonouni in the classical tripos shall lie 

 1-n to all student* who are of proper standing, and that .-ill n)i> 

 i Main honour* in the classical tripos shall be entitl. .1 i.. .,<lnu 

 the degree of B.A. 



The examination* for the mathematical and classical triposes, and 

 fur the ordinary degree of B.A., are conducted entirely by pnnt.il 

 pa|n ; at that for the little go, each candidate ha* to pas* a short 

 trifling n'rd ore examination, in addition to that conducted' by printed 



Bachelor* t>f arts in t-ith univerMtiw. though graduates, are con 

 ndered to be in tint* i,,i],illnri. tliat in, they are still under nearly the 

 me discipline and control as the tinder-graduates, except attendance 

 on college lectures. The legislative bodies of the universities con*ist 

 of th<e who are marten of arts or who have taken a higher degree. 



Hasten of arU, in both universities, wear a gown of Prince'* stuff, 

 with a semicircular cut at the bottom of the sleeves. The <>\f,,i,l 

 hood, for a master, w of black nilk lined with crimson. At Cambridge, 

 the imvrter wom a silk hood entirely black ; the distinction between 

 regent* and non-regents is now abolished. 



The bachelors of both unirerntie* wear black gowns of Prince's 

 -tuff; that of Oxford is with a full sleeve. 1.>ts-d np at the ellsiw, and 



terminating in a point. At Oxford, the bachelor's hood is edged with 

 fur : at Cambridge, it i* lined with lamb's ! 



Kor further information on the education of Oxford and Cambridge, 

 particularly with reference to the degree of B.A., the fees, Ac., see 

 Journal of Education,' No*, i. Hi. IT. viii. x. xiii. xv. ; on 

 of Dublin, No*, xi. xii. ; and on the Scottish universities, No*, vii. 

 viii. ix. ; the Oxford, Cambridge, and Dunlin 'Calendar*;' and also 

 Occasional papers on university matten ' publi-h.-d at Cambridge by 

 Macinillan A 



AHTS. KINK. The Fine Art* are generally undent - 

 [irrhend thoee production* of human genius and skill which, through 

 the medium of the beautiful, more or less address themselves to the 

 sentiment of taste. Art was first employed in embellishing object* 

 of mere utility ; but art *o employed i* now distinguished a* Orna- 

 mental Art ; the office of the Fine Arts is to meet our impression* of 

 beauty or *ubliinity, however acquired, by imitative or adequate 

 representation. The capacity of the human mind for receiving such 

 impressions, whether directly from nature or through the medium of 

 the art*, depends greatly on civilisation, and that leisure 

 poses that first wants are satisfied ; but there exists no state of > 

 however ignorant, in which some symptoms of taste and some att. 

 to arrest the beautiful are not to be met with. The difl. 

 between such efforts and the most refined productions i* a difference 

 only in degree. The fact of the existence of the arts in some i"ti,i 

 may be always token for granted, and it would only remain to regulate 

 their influence and direct their capabilities aright. 



The arts are peculiarly interesting a* human creations. They are 

 composed of nature operating on human sympathies, and reflected 

 through a human medium ; and as nations, like individuals, present 

 ever-varying modifications, so the free growth of the fine arts par- 

 takes of all these varieties, and may be compared to the bloom of 

 a plant, true to its developing causes whatever they may IK 

 nurtured in the first instance by the soil from which it "prim 

 barbarous or degenerate nations, the sentiment of the Ix-amiful h.i.- 

 ever been attained only in the lowest degree, while a false excitement . 

 founded on the suppression of the feelings of nature, may be said to 

 have usurped the place of the sublime. We smile at the simple 

 attempt of the savage to excite admiration liy the gaudiness of his 

 attire; but we should shudder to contemplate the scenes which lii^ 

 fortitude or obduracy can invest with the attributes of sublimity. 

 The just value of life, the characteristic of that civilisation wfako 

 reduces the defensive passions to their due limits, at the same time 

 naturally elevates the sources of gratification by pointing out the 

 pleasures of the mind as distinguished from those of sense ; and the 

 perception of the beautiful is in its turn the cause, as it is in mime 

 degree the result, of the ration. il enjoyment of life. 



.The great use of the arts is thus to humanise and refine, to purify 

 enjoyment, and, when duly appreciated, to connect the perception of 

 physical beauty with that of moral excellence. But it will at once I* 

 seen that this idea of usefulness is in a great measure distinct from the 

 ordinary meaning of the term as applicable to the product i< 

 human ingenuity. A positive use results, indeed, indirectly from the 

 cultivation of the formative arts, precisely in proportion as their 

 highest powers are developed : for it will be found that at all times 

 u hen the grandest style of design has been practised with success, and 

 particularly when the human figure has been duly studied, the taste 

 thus acquired from the source of the beautiful has gradually influenced 

 all kinds of manufactures. Again, as illustrating science, the fine arts 

 may be directly useful in the stricter sense, but this is not the appli- 

 cation which best displays their nature and value. The essence of the 

 fine arts, in short, begins where utility in ii.-n.iii.,wvr acccputioh 

 The abstract character of ornament is to be useless. That th:- 

 ciplc exists in nature we immediately feel, in calling to mind the 

 merely beautiful appearances of the visible world, and particularly the 

 colours of flowers. In every case in nature, where litne-s or utility 

 can be traced, the characteristic quality or n/W,, . beauty of the 

 is found to be identified with that fitness; a union imitated as far as 

 jNnwrible in the less decorative parts of architecture, furniture, Ac. ; 

 but where no utility save that of conveying delight ip 

 highest of all) exists, we recognise the principle of alttolatc beauty. 

 The fine arts in general may be considered the human reproduction ,'.f 

 this principle. The question of their utility therefore resolv. 

 into the inquiry as to the intention of the' beauties of nature. The 

 agreeable facts of the external world have not only the : 

 of adding a charm to existence, but they ap|H>.il to tliom- lusoeptibilitic* 

 which are )>eculi;vrly human, and it becomes necessary to se]rate the 

 instinctive feelings which we possess in common with the ic-t ,if the 

 creation, from that undctinahlc union of sensibility ,<ml reflection 

 which constitutes taste, and which, while it enlist* the imagination 

 as the auxiliary of beauty, is, in it* highest influence. lcs allied to 

 lore than admiration. It i this lost feeling which the noblest efforts 

 of J the art* aspire to kindle, \\luch not only elevates the beautiful, 

 but reduces ideas of fear ami datu;. r to the lofty sentiment of the 

 sublime, which, OH its objects become worthier, is the link l>, 

 matter and mind, and which tends to ennoble sympathy and inn**** 

 self-respect. 



With regard to the classification of the arts, those are generally 

 consul, , thy in which the mental Inbonr employed and 



