642 C A M BRIDGE. 
Cam. It is of an irregular figure, containing about thirty 
acres, furrounded by a deep intrenchrnent, part of which 
hill remains. The town was originally divided into four 
parts, by two ftreets eroding each other at right angles; 
the one running from fouth-eaft to north-weft paft'ed the 
Cam by a ford, (now the great bridge,) and was continued 
in a ftraight line to Godmanchefter, a ftation of the Ro¬ 
mans; the other palled through the city from fouth-weft 
to north-eaft towards Ely. There is a large fquare near 
the fouth-weft gate, which feems to have been the forum. 
There are few remains of Roman work, except the in- 
trenchments above-mentioned, and coins which have been 
found about the neighbourhood. In the ruins of St. Pe¬ 
ter’s church, within the fouth angle of the fortification,, 
we find fome Roman bricks wmrked into the wall, and it 
is obfervable, that the door is 34-8 inches wide, which is 
exactly three Roman feet. The caftle, which was built 
fmee the conqueft, is entirely demolilhed, except the gate¬ 
way, and a part which is now converted into the county- 
gaol. It is furrounded with a modern fortification, the 
work of the Oliverians in the civil war. Within the in- 
clofitre is an artificial hill of great antiquity, which com¬ 
mands a profpect of the town and county lor many miles 
round. The prefent town is fituated on a perfect level, 
extending a mile from north to fouth, and about half a 
mile in the middle, contracting towards the extremities in 
the form of an oval. It i-s divided into fourteen parifhes, 
and four wards, and is governed by a mayor, high fteward, 
recorder, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four common-coun- 
cilmen, 4 bailiffs, a town-clerk, and other officers. The 
mayor, when he enters on his office, fwears to maintain 
the privileges of the univerlity. The houfes are low, and 
the ftreets narrow. The market-place confifts of two ob¬ 
long fquares united, which form the Greek capita! F ; and 
in the middle Hands a ftone conduit, built by the celebra¬ 
ted Hobfon, the carrier. At the top is the fhire-hal], 
where the afiifes and the feffions both for the town and 
county are holden. Behind the (hire-hall (lands the town- 
hall for the ufe of the mayor and aldermen. A noble road, 
for the benefit of the inhabitants and ftudents, was made a 
few years (ince for four miles, front this town to Gogma- 
gog-hills, purfuant to the will of Mr. Wortes. The late 
Dr. Addenbroke alfo left it 4000I. towards building and 
furniffiing an hofpital for the cure of poor difeafed people 
gratis : of which charity the mafter ot Catharine-hall is a 
truftpe ; which hofpital has been erected at the fouth-eaft 
end of the town. The Cam affords a navigable commu¬ 
nication with Lynn, by which Cambridge is fupplied with 
many conveniences. The market is held every day ex¬ 
cept Sunday and Monday; but Saturday is the chief. 
There are alfo two fairs annually : Midfumvner fair, grant¬ 
ed by king Henry III. to the priory and convent of Barn¬ 
well ; and Stourbridge fair, granted by John, 1200, for the 
benefit of an hofpital of lepers which flood there. It is 
held on the iSth of September, and is proclaimed on that 
day with great folemnity by the vice-chancellor, doCtors, 
proftors, mayor, and aldermen, in their fcarlct robes, after 
which it continues a fortnight. Lat. 52. 25. N. Ion. 70. 
4 J ■ W. \ 
The UNIVERSITY. 
The origin of this famous feat of learning is generally 
aferibed to Cantaber, a Spaniard, who is faid to have 
founded it in the year of the world 3588. This man, 
eminently verfed in all literary accomplilhiuents, fled from 
the civil wars in Spain, and fought an afylum in Britain. 
His learning and eloquence attracted the friendfhip of the 
Britifh monarch, Gurguntius, who gave him his daughter 
in marriage, with a large portion of his kingdom for her 
dowry. In 'gratitude for thefe favours, he built many ci¬ 
ties, and one in particular called Grantcbrigia, where he 
founded a fchool, after the model of the Athenian acade¬ 
mies. This noble city was demolifhed by Maximilian in 
the reign of Dioclefian, and reftored by Octavius, A. D. 
443; The Saxons, on their arrival in Britain, gave it a 
fecond overthrow', when it was afterwards re-built by Ed¬ 
ward, fon of Alured king of the Weft Saxons; the ftu. 
dents were again expelled by the heretic Pelagius and his 
difciples, and the univerlity became defolate, till Vortimer 
fon of Vortigern, and the great king Arthur, relieved the 
city, and confirmed its original immunities. After the 
death of Arthur, it was a fourth time laid wafte by the 
Ambrones, the Pifts, and the Saxons, and was a vain re¬ 
vived by the exertions of Sigebert king of the Eaft An¬ 
gles, about the year 630. At this period the univerfity 
was celebrated for its great learning, and it then produced 
the venerable Bede, whofe Ecclefiaftical Hiftory and other 
works have been handed down to us. Cambridge expe¬ 
rienced another overthrow by the Danes in 872, but was 
reftored and admitted to many privileges by Cadwallus. 
At the opening of the nth century, all the eaftern part 
of England was ranfacked by the armies of Sweyn king 
of Denmark; and, from this period to the time of Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror, its hiftory is uncertain. At the clofc 
of his reign, his youngeft fon Henry, afterwards Hen. I. 
ftudied at Cambridge with fuch fuccefs, that he was fur- 
named Beauclerk, or the good (Indent. During the civil 
wars in 1215, the city was again deftroved ; but it foon 
flouriflied again, and its ancient privileges were reftored 
by a charter of Henry 111 . 1264; by Edward II. 1318; 
and by Richard II. 1383. In 1388, Richard II. held a 
parliament here. In the rebellion of Wat Tyler and Jack 
Straw againft that prince, the univerfity records were taken = 
and burn? in the market-place. The Jews, being encou¬ 
raged to fettle in England by William I. and II. were ve- 
ry populous here for feveral generations, and inhabited 
that ftreet now called the Jewry. They had a fynagogtte, 
fince converted to a parifli-church, called from the fliape 
of its tower Round Church ; though others are of opinion 
that it was built by the Knights Templars, it bearin? a 
refeniblance to the Temple church in London. 
Previous to the foundation of colleges, tlie ftudents 
boarded in the houfes of tradefmen, and the profeffors. 
hired barns for the reading of public lectures and the per¬ 
formance of academical deputations. The encreafe of 
ftudents, however, at length compelled them to eredt more, 
commodious houfes, which were called hojlels, or inns; 
the only one of thefe remaining is Pythagoras’s School, an 
ancient building, fituated weft of the river, and occupied 
by a tenant under Merton-college, Oxford. In this build¬ 
ing Erafmus is faid to have read his firft Greek lectures in 
England. Dr. Caius, in his Hiftory of Cambridge, has 
given a lift of thefe hoftels, or intis, with their refpeCtive 
fituations, mod of which he fays were in his remembrance. 
The firft college was founded about the year 1257, by 
Hugh de Balfam, Rib-prior of Ely, who purchafing two • 
halls, or hoftels, near St, Peter’s church, united them, and 
called it Peter’s Houfe, or St. Peter’s-college ; and, being, 
made biftiop of Ely, in the year 1282, he obtained a char¬ 
ter from Edward I. and endowed his college for the main¬ 
tenance of a mafter and fourteen fellows. The number of 
fellow.ftiips is now encreafed to twenty-two; eight are bye- 
fellows, and eligible to no office in the fociety. The foun¬ 
dation fellowftiips are appropriated to north and fouth can¬ 
didates. 
Clare-Hall is built on the Rite of Univerfity-hall,. 
anciently called Soller or Scholar Hall, which was founded,, 
in 1326, by Dr. Badew or Badow, of Great Badow, near 
Chelmsford, in Effex, then chancellor of the univerfitv. 
This houfe being deftroyed by fire, it was re-built by lady 
Elizabeth, fitter of Gilbert earl of Clare, and wife of John 
de Burghe lord of Connaught, in Ireland, and was by her 
endowed, in 1347, for the maintenance of a mafter, ten 
fellows, and ten fcholars. Thefe fellowftiips are open to 
all counties, but no more than two of the fame county 
can be of the feniority, nor muft there ever be a majority 
of men born north of the Trent. The fcholarflrips have 
been encreafed to thirty, befides four exhibitions by diffe¬ 
rent benefactors. ' 
Pembroke-Hall was founded by Mary de St. Paul, 
daughter of Guido de Chaftillion earl of St. Paul in 
3 France, 
