382 LETTER TO 



Whether any body of men would be able to resist 

 such a temptation to restrain the increase of 

 their number, I know not. It is certain, at 

 least, that the college have not been so, but have 

 often adopted measures for this purpose, which 

 are declared, by persons of the highest au- 

 thority, to have been contrary to the laws of 

 our country. " Licences," said Lord Mans- 

 field, while delivering a judicial opinion upon 

 the conduct of that corporation, " probably 

 took their rise from that illegal by-law, now at 

 an end, which restrained the number of fellows 

 to twenty. This was arbitrary and unjustifiable ; 

 they were obliged to admit all such as came 

 within the terms of their charter." 



The effect, which was once derived from re- 

 straining by-laws, is now produced by means 

 less odious in appearance, but not less sure in 

 operation. Though a. degree of doctor in me- 

 dicine, from Oxford or Cambridge, has been 

 demanded by the college, almost from its 

 foundation, as a qualification for a fellowship ; 

 yet, for a considerable time, it was occasionally 

 dispensed with, and when it was not, physicians, 

 who had graduated elsewhere, could for a small 

 sum of money, readily procure such a degree 

 from those universities, by incorporation *. But, 



* The degrees, which students of Oxford and Cambridge 

 receive from their own universities, are conferred by creation* 



