that. a claimant foy.admiffion into the.col- 
‘lege, ought to.fhow-fome pretenfions to 
have. his qualifications. even examined: 
fuch.as. having. ftudied a reafonable time 
in approved medical. fehools; and having 
graduated in. a reputable univerfity. 
"Phey only. contend. againft the exclufive 
privilege. of. any. Univerfities, and more 
ef{pecially that ufurped by the graduates 
of, Oxford and Cambridge, which are 
not medical fchools of any repute. In 
Edinburgh, the moft celebrated fchool of 
phyfic ‘in Europe, before a. degree can 
be conferred, at leait three years’ re- 
fidence, and attendance upon all the me- 
dical profeffors, is required. There the 
candidate undergoes three private exa- 
minations.in Latin, on all the branches 
of phyfic; and.is.alfo obliged. to write 
and defend two medical diflertations in 
private, and athefis in public, in the 
fame. language. A degree fo obtained, 
gives an indifputable right to examina- 
tion for admiffion into the, College. It 
was, therefore, not neceflary to ftate the 
additional adyantages of having ftudied 
in. foreign univerfities, which many of 
the Licentiates, as well as the prefent 
¢iaimant, haye enjoyed. That could 
only be inferted to demonftrare the ag- 
gravated hardfhip of fuch men being ex- 
cluded the college, whilft few of the 
aétual members have had fimilar oppor- 
‘tunities of improvement, Mr. Erikine 
next recounted from Dr. Stanger’s afh- 
dayit, ‘“‘ That»he applied to the Prefi- 
dent at his own houle, and to the Prefi- 
dent and Cenfors at the College regu- 
lacly affembled there, to be admitted to 
examinations for the purpofes. before 
ftatcd.” -He then referred the Court to 
the atlidavit.of Sir George Baker, Pre- 
fident of the College, which fets forth 
the bye-law under which this. gentle- 
man’s claim is refifted; namely, “ That 
no perfon fhall be admitted into the or- 
der of vandidates, unlefs he be, created 
a Doétor of Phyfic, in the Univerfity of 
Oxford or Cambridge.” Mr. Ertkine 
proceeded to ftate, fiom the, Prefident’s 
affidavit, “that Dr. Stanger, previous 
to his being admitted a Licentiate, gave 
his faith or promife, that he would ob- 
ferve the flatutes of the faid College, or 
readily pay the fines 1mpoted on him for 
his. cifobeditence thereof.” He then 
added, ‘“¢ The queftion, therefore, as it 
ftrikes me upon this affidavit, is this: 
Whether Dr. Stanger, who applies for 
examination, has a right, notwithftand- 
ing this bye-law of the College, which 
@iigualifes him for that examination, to 
Cafe of the Licentiates, 
[June 
the mandamus which-he prays: and ex- 
preffed a doubt, whether his being “4, 
Licentiate.adyances, or is not. an abfo- 
lute, effopel to his claim?” The Licen- 
tiates founding their claim intirely upom, 
the charter, and,aét of parliament con- 
firming it, only ftate the licence as an, 
evidence of their fitnefs to be examined, 
at a period fubfequent to its being ob- 
tained, for admifiion into an inftitution 
where learning, fkill, and probity ar¢. 
the only legal requifites. The licence 
attefts, that they were men of probity. 
and learning, when it was granted and 
qualified:to exercife all the funétions of 
a phytician. A grant attefting fuch 
qualifications, though it only conveys a 
right to praétife, cannot furely be a bar 
to the attainment of. an additional privi- 
lege at a future period ; whether the 
claimant poffeffed a right to that privi- 
lege, antecedent to the firft grant, or 
acquired it afterwards. In 1582, as ap-. 
pears from. a bye-law ftated by the, Col- 
lege in the prefent conteft, 1¢ was re- 
quired, that no perfon fhould be admit- 
ted into the order of Candidates, unlefs. 
he had firft been in that of Licentiate, 
except Profeffors, Doétors of feven years’ 
ftanding, or the King’s Phyficians. The 
licence cannot now, therefore, be pleaded 
as a bar to that order, for which it was 
formerly a requifite even in the graduates 
of Oxford.and.Cambridge. The Licen- 
tiates allow, that they agreed to fubmit 
to. the bye-laws, or pay the fines; but 
they affert, that th.re is no bye-law 
which prohibits them from applying for 
admiilicn into the College, and that if 
{uch a bye-law really exiited, they only 
render themfelves liable to the mulét by 
breaking it. They cannot fuffer the 
flighteft imputation of a breach of their 
engagement. Befides, obligations of this 
fort can only extend to fuch bye-laws as 
are legal in themfelves4 otherwife, per- 
{ens who enter into them, might be de~ 
prived of their moft valuable rights, and 
fuffer the fevereft hardfhips without any 
means. of redrefs. The bye-laws of the 
College are made without the confeni or 
knowledge of the. Licentiates: they 
-have even no means of being acquainted 
with them without the permillion of the, 
Fellows. The bye-laws have always 
been fluétuating, arbitray, and, fre- 
quently, oppreifive. The Licentiates 
were at one time obliged to pay an an- 
nual tax to the College, without being 
acknowledged as members; and fifty 
pounds is even, at prefent, extorted from 
each of them forthe mere permiflion to 
practife ; 
