288 



CAMBRIDGE. 



Cambridge, chancellor, who is, in' general, one of the principal 

 J nobility, and possesses the sole executive authority 

 tvithin the limits* of the university, except in matters 

 of felony ; the high steward, whose duty is to assist 

 the chancellor and other officers when requisite, and 

 to hear and determine capital causes ; the vice-chan- 

 cellor, who is always a master of some college or 

 hall, and upon whom the management of the univer- 

 sity devolves in the absence of the chancellor ; two 

 proctors, who must be regent masters of arts, attend 

 to the discipline of the bachelors and under gradu- 

 ates, and read the graces and register the votes in 

 the White Hood House ; two taxors, who regulate 

 the markets, and take cognisance of weights and 

 measures ; two moderators, who superintend the ex- 

 ercises and disputations on philosophical questions, 

 and also the examinations previous to conferring the 

 degree of bachelor of arts ; two scrutators, who are 

 non-regents, and who read the graces and collect the 

 votes in the Lower House ; the public orator, who 

 Is the mouth of the seriate on all public occasions, 

 reads and writes all its letters, and presents to all ho- 

 norary degrees, with an appropriate speech ; and the 

 commissary, who is assistant, or assessor, to the vice- 

 chancellor. Here are also a registrar, three esquire 

 bedells, and two librarians ; besides a number of in- 

 ferior officers, who are appointed by the vice-chan- 

 cellor, and hold their offices for life. 



Besides the fellows and scholars, who are main- 

 tained upon the foundations, there are two other 

 classes of students, called Pensioners and Sizars. 

 The greater pensioners, who are generally the young- 

 er sons of the nobility, or young men of fortune, 

 have the privilege of dining at the fellows' table, and 

 are also called Fellow Commoners ; while the others 

 dine with the scholars, but both live at their own ex- 

 pence. The sizars are commonly men of inferior 

 fortune, who are assisted in prosecuting an expensive 

 education, by exhibitions and other benefaction*. 

 These, however, frequently succeed by merit to the 

 highest honours and emolument of the university ; and 

 it is from this class that most of the dignitaries of the 

 church of England have been taken. 



Several prizes, to the value of 639, 5s. are an- 

 nually distributed for the encouragement of science 

 And classical literature. Those who are open to the 

 whole university, amount to 353, 5s. ; the rest are 

 confined to individual colleges. 



Cambridge possesses several charitable institutions, 

 among which the principal is Addenbrooke's Hospi- 

 tal, which is the general infirmary for the town and 

 country. It received its name from John Adden- 

 brooke, an eminent physician, who bequeathed, in 

 1719, about j4000 for its erection, and was first in- 

 tended merely for the gratuitous cure of the indigent 

 sick. Its original design, however, was changed in 

 1766, when it was converted into a general hospital ; 

 and since'that time it has been calculated, that 700 

 persons have been annually admitted and relieved. 

 The free grammar school, which was founded in 

 1613, in pursuance of the will of Stephen Perse, for 

 the accommodation of 100 boys, is now so miserably 

 mismanaged, that the school is deserted, and two or 

 three scholars receive their lesson at the lodgings of 



the master. There are, however, a number of cha- Cambridgr. 

 rity schools in Cambridge, which are well supported ' 

 by endowments, benefactions, and voluntary subscrip- 

 tions ; and several alms-houses have been endowed by 

 generous and humane individuals, for the reception 

 of the aged and infirm poor, who are comfortably 

 lodged and maintained. 



On the site of the old castle of Cambridge, a 

 county jail has been lately erected, from a convenient 

 and extensive plan of the celebrated Howard. This 

 castle was built, or, according to Fuller, " re-edified,'* 

 by William the Conqueror, in order to ensure the 

 submission of the monks of Ely, who had attempt- 

 ed to resist his authority. The gate-house is the 

 o.nly part now standing, the rest of it having been 

 demolished in the reigns of Henry IV. and Queen 

 Mary, and its materials appropriated to other build- 

 ings. Near it, and within the bounds of the intrench- 

 ments, is a high artificial hill, which is supposed by 

 many to have been raised by the Britons before the 

 Roman invasion. It commands a fine view of the 

 town and the surrounding villages ; and the prospect is 

 terminated by Ely cathedral, which is about 17 miles 

 distant, and oan be clearly distinguished by the na- 

 ked eye. The town jail, with a bridewell contiguous 

 to it, stands on the opposite side of the town. 



Cambridge has no manufactures of any conse* 

 quence, and very little business is carried on here, 

 except what is immediately or remotely connected 

 with the university. Its numerous shops furnish the 

 different colleges with every necessary ; and the tu- 

 tors are answerable for the payment of the bills of 

 their respective pupils. The markets are abundantly 

 supplied, and are under the jurisdiction of the uni- 

 versity. From its convenient situation, however, as 

 the head of inland navigation from Lynn, it has a 

 considerable trade in oil, iron, coals, and corn. Great 

 quantities of butter are brought every week from 

 Norfolk and the Isle of Ely to this city, from whence 

 it is sent to London. What is sold in Cambridge is 

 made up in rather a singular way, every pound being 

 rolled out to the length of a yard, for the conveni- 

 ence of dividing it into small portions, called sizes> 

 for the use of the students. It has two annual fairs: 

 Midsummer, or Pot Fair as it is called, from the 

 great quantity of earthen ware which is then exposed 

 to sale, is held on a common, near Jesus' College ; 

 it commences on Midsummer day, and continues a 

 fortnight. Sturbridge Fair begins on the 18th of 

 September, and continues the same time. It is held 

 in a field, about a mile from the city, and was for- 

 merly a celebrated mart of trade, and the largest fair 

 in England. Though greatly declined, it still re- 

 tains a large trade in wool, hops, leather, cheese, and 

 iron ; and two days are appropriated to the sale of 

 horses. 



Cambridge, since its first establishment as a seat of 

 learning, has been exposed to various changes of for- 

 tune. The first school for the instruction of youth 

 in this place, is supposed to have been instituted by 

 Sigebert, king of East Anglia, about the year 631. 

 It would appear, however, that in the time of Al- 

 fred, this institution no longer existed, as that prince 

 complained, " that he could find no teachers when he 



* The jurisdiction of the university extends a mile every way round from any part of the suburbs. 



