Rev John Robert Lunn B.D. . . . 727
Our Chronicle ..... 733
The Library . . .760
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NOTES FROM THE COLLEGE RECORDS.
(Continued from p. 510;^
[jO History of a College would be complete
which did not contain some account of the
Statutes by which it has been govefned.
In the case of St John's the materials for
such a sketch are ample and in accessible form. Prof
Mayor has printed the earlier Statutes of Bishop Fisher
(1516 and 1530) and of Henry the Eighth (1545). The
Statutes of Queen Elizabeth (1635) were issued as a
Parliamentary Paper by the House of Commons in
1 818. And the successive Statutes of Victoria of 1847,
i860 and 1882 have been printed by the College.
The earlier Statutes are of interest as shewing the
ideals aimed at by those who directed the affairs of the
newly-founded College, while changes in Church and
State are reflected or illustrated by the subsequent
codes.
The documents which follow shew the care which
was taken, by restricting the number of Fellows elected
from any one county, to ensure that the influence of the
College should be widely felt. On these early Statutes
were engrafted the foundations of private Benefactors,
anxious to further the interests of particular Schools,
Counties, Parishes, or their own families. The inter-
relation of the General Statutes and of these special
VOL. XX. 4 M
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626 Notes from the College Records.
Deeds of Trust were naturally very complicated. The
records of the Bishops of Ely shew that as Visitors
of the College they were frequently called upon to
decide knotty points as to the relative claims of rival
candidates. Some disputes even came before the
Higher Courts. The operation of the county restriction
in the choice of a College is illustrated by the following
extract from the Reminiscences of Henry Gunning : " It
was my father's intention to have me admitted at
St John's ; but my county was at that time filled by the
Bishop of Ely's Fellow, named Hitch, and Zachary
Brooke (son of the Margaret Professor of Divinity) was
already admitted. After some deliberation, my father
decided upon entering me as a Sizar at Christ's College.
. . . There, also, my county was filled; but the
occupant was the Senior Fellow, the Rev Adam Wall^
consequently a vacancy might be expected at no very
distant period."
In the early part of the Century it would seem from
what follows that the county restriction, combined with
the number of "close" Fellowships, had proved bur-
densome at St John's. The Statutes of other Colleges
are not so accessible as our own, but it is believed that
they were freer. Under the Stuart Kings the dispensing
power was not unfrequently used, Royal Mandates
being sent to the College dispensing with such restric-
tions in special cases.
The Seniority, or Governing Body of the College,
kept no Minutes of their deliberations; the result of
them we have to gather from scattered papers. The
present instalment of " Notes " consists of a series of
papers relating to a change of Statute in 1820. It
commences with a "Case" submitted to Counsel,
giving in outline the History of the College, and
drawing attention to the fetters which were felt to gall.
The document is lengthy but not uninteresting. It is
fair to infer that the diflB.culties experienced must have
been great when those who were chosen Fellows under
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Notes from the College Records. 627
existing conditions were dissatisfied with them. It is
but human to think that a system which has produced
Me" cannot be so very bad after all.
«
Case.
In and previous to the early part of the Reign of Henry
the 8th there existed in Cambridge a Religious House, Priory
or Hospital, called St John's.
Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Mother
of Henry the 7th and a great patroness of Religion and
Learning), determined to found a College upon the scite of the
Priory or Hospital of St John's (which was to be dissolved for
the purpose), and to obtain from the Crown a grant of the
revenues of such Priory or Hospital which with other property
she intended for the endowment of the new College. She had
made public her intentions, and is supposed to have obtained
the verbal sanction of her son Henry the 7th and afterwards of
Henry the 8th, But she died before the old Priory was
dissolved or any Grant or Letters Patent obtained from the
Crown for incorporating the new Society or College.
Previous to her death, however, she declared her Intentions
and wishes by a Codicil to her Will, of which the followiog is a
copy.
"Be it remembered that it was also the last Will of the
" said ,Priacess to dissolve the Hospital of St John's in Cam-
** bridge and to alter and found thereof a College of Secular
" Persons that is to say a Maister and fyfty scolers with diverse
'* servants And new to build the said College and sufficiently to
'^endow the same with Lands and Tenements after the manner
** and form of other Colleges in Cambridge And to furnish the
"same as well in the Chapel, Library, Pantry and Kitchen with
"Books and all other things necessary for the same, and to the
"performance whereof the said Princess willed among other
"things that her Executors should take the Issues Revenues
" and Profits of her Lands and Tenements put in feoffment in
" the Counties of Devonshire, Somersetshire and Northampton-
"shire, &c. Also the said Princess willed that with the
"Revenues coming of the said lands put in feoffment that
" the said Hospital should be made clear of all old Debts duly
" proved and also that the Lands and Tenements to the same
"late Hospital belonging should be sufikiently repaired and
" maintained."
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62S Notes from the College Records.
In conformity to Lady Margaret's Will Henry the 8th
in the ist year of his Reign by Letters Patent dated the
7th of August 1509 dissolved the old Hospital and incor-
porated a new Society to be denominated The Master Fellows
and Scholars of the College of St Johq the Evangelist in the
University of Cambridge ; directed a College to be bnilt and
endowed the same with the Possessions of the dissolved
Hospital and granted a {.icense for the College to hold further
possessions in Mortm^n.
The following is a summary of these Letters Patent. They
begin by stating that His Majesty had heard from Lady Margaret
as well as from other credible persons, that the |leligions House
or Priory of St John is scandalously governed and its Revenues
delapidated ^c. And that his pious ancestor the said Lady
Margaret has humbly requested him to give the House or Priory
with all its appurtenances to Her, her executors and assigns for
the purpose of founding a Colledge for Scholars to study,
according to Rules and Ordinances {Juxta Qrdinaiionem ei stabi-
limentum) of the said Lady Margaret, her heirs executors and
assigns. He therefore grants to Richard Bishop of Winchester,
John Bishop of Rochester, Charles Somerset Lord Herbert
knight, Thomas Lovell, Henry Marney, John St John knight,
Henry Hornby and Hugh Ashton clerks, her Executors, all
possessions &c of the old House to be converted into a College
for 50 Fellows or there abouts, Students in liberal Sciences,
civil and canon law and Divinity ; and for persons to perform
divine service and pray for the souls of the Foundress &c and
other works of Mercy and Piety, according to Ordinances to be
made and constituted by her Executors and Assigns (Juxta
ordinaliones et stahilimenta praedicforum executorum aviae nosirae
praeclarissimae praedictae vel assignorum suorum). He orders that
the College shall be built and called St John's College, and that
the Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College shall be a Body
Corporate, that they shall enjoy the Lands &c. of the Hospital
tn puram elemosinam for ever. He allows them to hold £^0
a year in addition to the former Revenues, in Mortmain, without
the interference of himself or his successors. Lastly he makes
his Letters, Letters Patent.
It is to be observed that the estates put in feoffment by Lady
Margaret for the purposes of endowing the College as mentioned
in the Codicil to her Will were enjoyed by the Society but a very
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Notes from the College Records. 629
short time. They lyere claimed and seized by Henry the 8th a$
^leir to Lady Margaret his Grandmother, and never restored to.
the College. This is alluded to as well in Bishop Fisher's.
Statutes as in the second Code granted by King Henry the 8th,
and the existing Statutes of Queen Elizabeth in the following
words Ob subiractionem annuorum reddiiuum ad valorem quadrtngen-,
(arum h'brarum. To make some amends to the College for this
great loss of Revenue Henry the 8th (upon the solicitation of
Bishop Fisher) granted to the College in addition to the pro-
perty of the old House in Cambridge, the possessions of the
dissolved Priories of Maison Dieu at Ospringe and of Higham
in Kent and of Broomhall in Berkshire ; and thus the Endow-
pients of the college were principally grants from the Crown.
On the 1 2th of December in the 2nd year of Henry the 8th
(15 10) by Indenture of that date made between Lady Margaret's
Executors of the one part and the Bishop of Ely " Ordinary of
the House or Priory of St John in Cambridge" of the other
part (after noticing that the Pope by his Bulls had suppressed
the said House and Priory and by the said Letters Patent, and
also by the Agreement of the said Bishop of Ely, confirmed by
the Prior and Convent of the Cathedral Church of Ely) It is
covenanted and agreed That the Bishop should before the i6th
of January then next cause the Priory to be vacated, and provide
for the members thereof. That before Lady Day then next the
Bishop should convey the House and Priory and all the lands
and possessions to the said Executors and cause the same to be
confirmed by the Prior and Convent of Ely. So that the said
Executors might found therewith a perpetual College "according
to the Will mind and intent of the said Princess and according
to the Ordinances and Statutes of the said Executors thereof to
be made by virtue and authority of the said Bulls and Letters
patent there perpetually to endure.'* And the Indenture con-
tains other stipulations between the Bishop and the Executors,
as may be seen by referring to a copy of the Indenture set out
at length in 1 BurrelVs Reports 1 65 et seq.
By deed dated the 5th of January 15 10 the Prior and Convent
of Ely confirmed the said Indenture in all respects. A copy of
this Deed also is set forth in t Burrell, 168.
Bishop Fisher (of Rochester) having been Confessor to Lady
Margaret was supposed to be better acquainted with her inten-
tions in regard to the new College than the other Executors,
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630 Notes from the College Records,
and bj Deed dated the 20th of March 15 15 the other Executors
empowered the Bishop (of Rochester) to draw up and give the
Statutes to the College, and appoint the Oaths to be taken and
make other Regulations &c. in their names as well as his own,
and which he accordingly did. This Deed is set forth at length
in the Preamble to the Statutes, and a copy of it may be seen in
i Burrellf 169.
The Bishop in drawing up the Statutes expressly says that he
did so as well as one of the Executors of Lady Margaret, as in the
name and by the autl\ority of his Co-Executors. In short he
acted under the Will &c as well as under the Deed of soth of
March 1515^ The Statutes however have always been called
simply " Bishop Fisher's Statutes " as indeed was natural they
should be. In this code of Statutes that which relates to the
qualification of the Fellows is entitled and expressed as follows.
De Sociorum Qualitatibus.
Nunc itidem et leges dabimus residuo corpori quod nimirum
ex sociiSi quocunque numero eos fore contigeret, tanquam ex
potioribus et solidioribus membris voiumus integrari. Pro
Fundatrice vero, tametsi rex illustrissimus ia carta licentiae suae
quam aviae suae Dominae Fundatrice concessit, mentionem
fecerit de quinquaginta sociis ac scholaribus, nos tamen, quum
ob subtractionem redituum annuorum ad valorem quadringen-
tarum librarum ipsum numerum implere non possumus, quantum
ad praesentem ordinationem spectat (si fieri potest) octo super
viginti deputare voiumus et ordinamus. Et si quis alius propriis
sumptibus plures adjicere volet, cuique licebit, prout convenire
cum magistro possit ac sociis. Eligantur in socios ii semper
de quovis comitatu qui moribus et eruditione fuerint insigniores,
quosque tum Magister tum Socii speraverint firmiterque cre-
diderint in eodem Collegio ad Dei honorem et profectum studii
scholastic! cum efifectu velle et posse proficere, et inter hos, illos
qui magis eguerint. Nam ob inopiam optima simul et pien-
tissima virago coUegii hujus Fundatrix quosdam hujus Regni
comitatus duxit praeferendos, nempe Dunelmiae, Northumbriae,
Westmeriae, Combriae, Eboraci, Richmondiae, Lancastriae,
Derbiae, Nothyngamiae ; e quibus ad minimum medietatem
sociorum semper assumendam iussit, tam in Collegio isto quam
in collegio Christ! per earn ante fundato ; cujus ordinationem
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Notes from the College Records. 63 1
nos neqnaquam decet infringere. Ceteram e reliquis comita-
tibus praeferri censemus Lincolniam, Norfolchiam, Estsexiam,
Middelsexiam, Kanciam, Cantabrigiam, ceterosque in quibus
collegium praedia seu fundos habituram sit. Neque tamen
permittimns, ut vel de his, vel de illis coxnitatibus, aut alio
quovis hujus regni comitata, Sociorum numerus ex lis qai pro
fundatrice deputantur excedat binarium, nisi forsan sociorum
numerus pro fundatrice institutus augeatur ex collegii pro-
ventibus, aut forsan ex ante dictis novem comitatibus idonei
defuerint ad numeri destinati complementum ; nam pientissimam
illam principem fraudari nolumus instituto suo. Quamobrem
et in utroque casu, hoc est sive numerus sociorum excesserit
viginti octo, sive non satis idonei reperti fuerint in singulis
dictorum novem comitatuum qui pro tempore deputenter, licere
volumus ut plures duobus ex quolibet illorum novem comitatuum
eligantur, et idoneorum inopia ex reliquis illis comitatibus
suppleatur. Sed et ne quavis arte frustretur pium fundatricis
institutum semper ex singulis novem illorum comitatuum sit
ad minimum unus qui fuerit idoneus, sive Cantabrigiae sive
Oxoniis seu quavis alia fuerit educatus universitate, in ipso
Collegio socius. Per hoc tamen piis aliorum votis viam prae-
cludi nolumus, quo minus ipsi possent praedia conferre ad
quemcunque sociorum sustentandorum maluerint numerum et
de quocunque comitatu.
This first Code, or Bishop Fisher's Statutes, was accepted
by the College and acted upon from its foundation to the 36tb
of Henry the 8th.
In the 36th year of that King*s Reign several of the Statutes
were, in consequence of the Reformation, found to be inappli-
cable and the regulations appeared in other respects defective &c.
and therefore His Majesty granted another (the second) Body
of Statutes to the College in lieu of the first (or Bishop Fisher's
code) nearly ressembling the Statutes of Queen Elizabeth after-
wards noticed and referred to. At the foot of the preamble to
this second Code of Statutes the power of the Crown to make
alteration &c. is reserved in the following words: Restrvai
semper nobis et sucsesson'bus nosiris etc. And in one of the Statutes
(cap. 53) intitled "De ambiguis et obscuris interpretandis "^
there is a more full reservation in the following words : " Reser-
vata nobis nihilominus potestate vel adjiciendi vel minuend!
seu reformandi, interpretandi, declarandi, mutandi, derogandi^
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632 Notes from the College Records.
tollendi, dispensandi, novaque rursus alia si licebit statuendi
et edendi, non obstaDtibus lis statutis factis et juramento
finnatis."
The second code of Statutes just noticed continued in force
and to be acted upon until the Reign of Queen Maiy, when
considerable changes again took place in the University.
Several Masters and Fellows of Colleges were ousted, and
Roman Catholics appointed to supply their places. The then
Master of St John's College and twenty-four of his Fellows were
ejected. Upon this the second or reformed code of Henry
the Sth's Statutes were laid aside, and the original Code drawn
up by Bishop Fisher, was again brought forward and acted
upon. But it is not believed that any Letters Patent or other
Instrument emanated from the Crown to impeach the body of
Statutes granted by Henry the 8th in the 36th year of his Reign.
The Succession of Queen Elizabeth to the Throne caused a
sort of counter revolution in the University. On her accession
Bishop Fisher*s Statutes were laid aside and the second code
granted by Henry the 8th were again acted upon until the
granting of the third code about to be mentioned. The Queen
in the i8th year of her Reign issued a Commission ad visitandum
ColL Si Johan, dated the 13th of July 1576 directed to Lord
Chancellor Burghley (then Chancellor of the University) the
Bishop of Ely and others : and the Code of Statutes (the 3rd)
signed by such Commissioners were sent down to the College
in 1580, and are the Statutes by which the Society has ever
since been, and is still governed, with the exceptions presently
noticed.
The following is the preamble to the Statutes thus granted
to the College by Queen Elizabeth :
Elizabetha Dei gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberniae Regina,
Fidei Defensatrix &c. dilectis nobis magistro, sociis, et scho-
laribus Collegii Sancti Johannis Evangelistae in Universitate
Cantabrigiae. Quum nobilissima et clarissima foemina Domina
Margareta Comitissa Richmondiae et Derbiae proavia nostra.
Collegium hoc Divi Johannis Evangelistae quod inchoarat morte
preventa, bonis legibus et statutis fundare et absolvere non
potuit : et quae statuta postea sancita sunt, ea partim temporis
cursu imperfecta, partim quorundam audacia, sive malicia mutata,
mutilata, inducta, interlineata, dispuncta, ac in margine anno-
tata, eo rem deduxisse, ut quid in Statutis praedictis retinendum
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Notes from the College Records, 633
Vel renovandum, quid pro antiquato aut expungendo sit haben-
dum, in quamplurimis locis dictorum statutorum sit incertum ;
unde non solum omnia ambiguitatis controversariumque plenis-
sima dcprehendebantur verum etiam magna impedimenta et
graves perturbationes per multos annos studiis allatae sunt.
Visum est nobis ut meliores scientiarum et linguarum progres-
siones fierent et sedatis dissensionibus concordia teneretur ; non
modo quae obscura et ambigua erant patefacere et explicare,
sed etiam quae iniquiora fuerant, et de justa rerum descriptione
paululum deflexerunt ad moderatiorem omnino formam revocare.
Nihil enim homines virtutis ac literarum studiosos magis decere
arbitramur quam perpeluam in omni vita ac moribus turn re
tum verbo consensionem et factiosarum turbarum ac conten-
tionum constantem depulsionem : ut et ad optimam vitae viam
ingrediendam, et ad rectissimum scientiarum cursum confici-
endum, linguarumque trium facultatem comparandam, et
quotidianis vitae laboribus et assiduis studiorum occupationibus
iter caeteris atque aditus patere possit. Itaque multis superio-
ribus Statutis abrogatis, multis mutatis et emendatis, nonnullis
que novis additis: Haec authoritate nostra inviolabiliter ab
omnibus, qui in hoc Collegio commorantur et commoraturi
sunt, custodiri et observari volumus ; quemadmodum uniuscu-
jusque of!icium,in Statutis sequenlibus descriptum designatumque
fuerit. Reservat semper nobis et successoribus nostris &c.
The following is a Copy, from this third Code of the Statute
entitled
De Sociorum Qualitatibus.
Nunc itidem et leges dabimus residuo corpori ; quod nimirum
ex sociis tanquam ex potioribus et solidioribus membris (quo-
cunque numero eos fore contigerit) volumus integrari praeter
peculiares fundationes aliorum quae in Collegio sunt benefac-
torum. Quanquam praeclarissimus pater noster Henricus Oclavus,
in charta licentiae suae, quam Domina Margaretae proaviae
nostrae concessit, mentionem de quinquagenta sociis schola-
ribus pro ea fecit ; quoniam tamen hie numerus e bonis ipsius
expleri non potest ob subtractionem annuorura redituum ad
valorem quadringentarum librarum : idcirco quantum ad prae-
sentem ordinationem spectat, triginta duos nee pauciores,
deputari volumus et ordinamus nisi (id quod Deus avertat)
contigerit ea Collegium inopiapremi ex subtractione reddituum,
VOL. XX. 4N
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634 Notes from the College Records.
aut aliquo alio magno infortunio, ut hie triginta duorum
sociorum numerus ex judicio et scntentia ipsius magistri et octo
seniorum eoramque singulorum secundum ipsorum conscientias,
diminuendus esse videatur. Eligantur autem in socios hii
semper de quovis comitatu qui moribus et eruditione fuerint
insigniores quosque cum magister, tum seniores speraverint,
iirmiterque crediderint, in eodem Collegio ad Dei honorem,
et profectum studii scholastici, cum e£fectu velle et posse
proficere ; et inter hos illi qui indigentiores fuerint. Statuimus
autem et ordinamus, ut univcrso sociorum numero in duas
aequales partes diviso tantum dimidia pars et non plures e
novem trans Trentam comitatibus, viz. Dunelmiae» Northum-
briae, Westmeriae, Cumbriae, Eboraci, Richmondiae, Lancas-
triae, Derbiae, Nottinghamiae, assumantur; caeteri socii e
reliqua Anglia eligantur. Plures autem quam duo e nullo
comitatu accipiantur, nisi ubi subfundatores ultra binarium
numerum ex illo privatim comitatu societates fundavere. Tum
enim tot accipiantur quot illi suis fundationibus decreverunt,
et pro Domina Fundatrice nullus inde socius assumatur. Alias
nequaquam hie binarius numerus sive socii Fundatricis, sive
aliorum fuerint, ulla ratione transeatur, sive hii comitatus citra
Trentam, sive ultra Trentam fuerint. Neque universi hi novem
comitatus ultra dimidiam partem totius sociorum habeant.
Proviso semper ut illi comitatus per totam Anglian caeteris
praeferantur in quibus Collegium fundos et possessiones habet.
E Wallis autem non plures quam ex singulis diacesibus unus in
sociorum numerum cooptentur. Hoc statutum integrum non
modo in sociis verumetiam in discipulis eligendis ad hunc
modum perpetuo observetur, et nequaquam a praescripta forma
dectores ulla de causa decedant. Porro civitates et oppida qui-
buscunque privilegiis exempta fuerint, ad ilium tamen pertinere
comitatum intelligimus, intra cujus fines situantur. Richmon-
diam vero cum suis adjacentiis, cujus et pientissima Fundatrix
nuncupationem gesset, juxta ejusdem fundatricis intentionem
tanquam privatum comitatum, et ab Eboracensi separatum
volumus accipi et idcirco parem inde sociorum numerum atque
ex alio quolibet comitatu praedictorum eligendum decernimus.
Ex Canlio etiam si qui fuerit idonei reperti, caeteris praeferri
volumus modo numerum antedictum non excesserint ; Caeterum
qui eligendi sunt praeter eruditionem et bonos mores sint etiam
iu artibus ad minimum bachalaurei antequam in sociorum
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Notes from the College Records, 635
numerum assumantur. Praeferantur etiam in hac electione
post alumnos proprius hii, qui fuerint in Collegio Christi, si
magis idonei videantur. Sed et sacerdotes quoque caeteris, qui
sacerdotes non fuerint, pcaeponantur. Caeterum neminem in
socium unquam admitti volumus qui ex instituto secum jam
ante decreverit aliam quam theologicam facultatem finaliter
profiteri. Plures autenv in socios Collegii praedicti, aut in
discipulos ejusdem omnino non elegantur pro Domina Funda-
trice quam in his nostris slatutis respective praescripsimus.
The following extract from the Statute De ambiguis et obscurts
inierpretandis^ chapter 50, as weH as the extracts already made
from the Statutes of Henry the 8th clearly shew that the Crown
assumed and exercised the sole and uncontrolled right to annul
the existing Statutes and to impose new ones in their stead;
and power is in those new Statutes reserved to the Crown again
to add or diminish, reform, interpret, declare, change, alter or
dispense &c. with any of them, and all others are forbidden from
80 doing &c.
The words are :
Abrogatis igitur quibusvis aliis statutis pro hujtis Collegii
gubematione prius excogitantis haec presentia cum vera turn
salubria pronuntiamus. Quibus observandis tam magistrum
quam socios et discipulos astringi volUmus reservata nobis
nihilomiims potestate vel adjiciendi vel minuendi seu refor-