All candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts are required to pass an examination in Holy Scripture. The subjects of the examination are (1) the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and (2) either the subject-matter of the Acts of the Apostles or one of the two Books of Kings. Those who may make objection on religious grounds are allowed to substitute the Phaedo of Plato. In either case, a ‘viva voce’ examination follows. This examination in Holy Scripture may be taken before or with the Intermediate Examination; it must be passed before a candidate for the B.A. is admitted to the Final Examinations.

Those who enjoy Senior standing are exempted from the Intermediate Examination—Pass or Honour—altogether, including also the Examination in Holy Scripture.

The candidate who has successfully passed the Intermediate Examination, Pass or Honour, is now prepared to proceed to one of the Final Honour Schools leading to the Bachelor’s degree. Of these there are nine:—

• 1. Literae Humaniores.
• 2. Modern History.

• 3. Mathematics.
• 4. Natural Science.
• 5. Jurisprudence.
• 6. Theology.
• 7. Oriental Languages.
• 8. English Language and Literature.
• 9. Modern Languages.

The names themselves will convey some general idea of the subjects to be pursued for each of these ‘Schools’. A few words about the requirements and work to be done for the Final Examination in each of these nine Schools may not be amiss here.

‘The Final Classical School or the School of Literae Humaniores is the oldest, and is admitted on all hands to be the premier School in dignity and importance.... The course of combined studies for this School is peculiar to ... Oxford. It is believed to confer a fine mental discipline and to favour a catholic and genuine culture.’ The general programme of studies includes the classical languages and literature, Greek and Roman History, and Philosophy. While textual criticism receives due attention, it is literary study and treatment that is emphasized. The study of the classical historians, in the original, forms the basis of the work in history. In Philosophy, which includes Moral and Political Philosophy and Logic, the work is based on Plato and Aristotle, but includes also the general history of Philosophy. The ‘Greats’ man is generally familiar with the works of Maine, Mill, Green, Bryce, and other authorities. He is also expected to be acquainted with the outlines of the Theory of Knowledge from Descartes to Kant, more especially with the philosophy of Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, and the study of Psychology receives some attention. The essay work for and with the College Tutor is especially valuable and a most important part of the classical training received. The subjects of study range far beyond the limits of classical antiquity. ‘The dominant note of the examination is ... general culture upon a firm classical basis.’ Quite a number of University prizes and scholarships are offered in Classics.

This is the first in numbers and the second in importance, of the Final Honour Schools. The reading to be done is very considerable, and a knowledge of French or German is now compulsory. The subjects of the examination include the Political and Constitutional History of England, some special period of European History, Political Science, and Political Economy. Those who aim at a ‘First’ or ‘Second’ in the Class Lists must further select one of a list of special subjects to be studied with reference to the original authorities, e. g. the Crusades, the French Revolution, &c. Certain other subjects connected with the history of Literature and Art are optional. Much stress is laid on Geography—for which special instruction is provided—and on the social and literary history of the period of European History studied. The courses of inter-collegiate lectures are particularly well organized and complete in Modern History, and an adequate teaching force supplies efficient tuition. There is no special training in historical method except as this is incidentally developed by independent work under tutorial supervision. The object of this School, as of most Honour Schools, is not to produce specialists but to lay the foundations of a liberal education. To stimulate and encourage historical study the University offers three prizes—the Stanhope, the Lothian, and the Arnold prizes. Special attention should be called to the splendid library facilities at the Bodleian Library, in addition to the various College libraries.

An inter-collegiate association provides a very complete list of lectures in Mathematics. The subjects of the examination are Pure and Mixed Mathematics. The ordinary Professorial lectures ‘aim more at the introduction of students to advanced study than at preparation for the University examinations’. The Professors and College Tutors and Lecturers are always prepared to give personal advice and instruction. The University awards each year a Senior and a Junior Mathematical Scholarship.

The Natural Science School really embraces seven distinct co-ordinate subjects or courses of study, viz. (1) Physics, (2) Chemistry, (3) Animal Physiology, (4) Zoology, (5) Botany, (6) Geology, and (7) Astronomy.

Special work may be done in any one of these subjects, and combinations of several are possible. The course of study will depend on the student’s choice of subject or subjects for his final examinations. It is impossible to go into all details here. Attention ought, however, to be called to the excellent facilities provided, which are generally underrated. Because of the heavy expenditure which would be involved under the distinctly collegiate system, the University undertakes most of the teaching in Natural Science as well as making provision for the practical work necessary and incidental thereto. Those who intend to take up the study of medicine are recommended to select either Physiology or Chemistry as a preliminary.

Excellent facilities for laboratory work are provided for at the University Museum. In addition, there are the College laboratories at Christ Church, Magdalen, Queen’s, New College, Balliol, and Trinity. Others are in course of construction at Jesus College and at St. John’s College (Rural Economy and Forest Botany).

In the Radcliffe Library are to be found more than 600 current scientific periodicals (English and foreign), and some 60,000 volumes dealing with all branches of scientific work. The University Museum contains excellent Zoological, Mineralogical, Geological, Palaeontological, and Petrological Collections. Here are to be found also the Hope Collection of Anthropoid Animals, the second in importance in the British Empire; the Hope Library, containing perhaps the most complete collection in the world on the Arthropoda; the Pitt-Rivers Museum, containing a very comprehensive Ethnological collection; and also the collections in Physical Anthropology, Human Anatomy, and Pathology. The facilities both as regards Working Staff and practical laboratory work deserve special attention.

The curriculum provides for a systematic study of the principles and history of Law. There is no opportunity for practical work at Oxford—‘the case-system’ method is not used. On the other hand, the reading to be done under the direction of the Tutor will afford a very solid foundation of the general principles of Law before entering on the practical and special study in chambers or in court. This School is often taken after Honours have been obtained in some other Final School. The subjects of the Final Examinations are—(1) Jurisprudence, (2) Roman Law, (3) English Law (including the Law of Contract, of Succession, Real Property, and Constitutional Law), (4) History of English Law, and (5) International Law. The courses of lectures are given and arranged to meet these requirements.

Every one who wishes to become a Barrister or Solicitor—the two departments into which the practice of Law is divided in England—must have kept nine Terms at the Inns of Court, or have served five years as an articled clerk in some solicitor’s office, and must pass certain examinations. These are not under the control of the University, though certain exemptions and concessions are granted to those students who have passed examinations at the University.

The subjects of the Final Examination in Theology are—(1) specified portions of the Holy Scriptures based on a study of the original texts, including (a) the history, religion, and literature of Israel, and (b) the history, theology, and literature of the New Testament; and (2) the history and doctrine of the Christian Church till 461 A. D.; this is based mainly on the study of Eusebius and certain Patristic texts. In addition there are certain optional subjects—Hebrew, Evidences of Religion, Liturgies, Archaeology and Textual Criticism of the Old and New Testaments, and certain special subjects. The main subjects of study for this examination are historical. ‘In addition to this training in historical method, the School also affords scope for education in scholarship, in so far as some texts must be read in the original languages.’ The candidate has a choice of texts in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. There is a good course of inter-collegiate lectures, and the Professorial lectures offer a very wide range of subjects. The library facilities are excellent. There are a number of other institutions not directly connected with the University which offer additional opportunities for study and instruction.

The courses given in this School are intended ‘for the most part for the practical acquisition of the language studied’, and are of special value to candidates reading for the Indian Civil Service. ‘The general subjects are Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, and History as connected with the literature of those languages.’ There is a well-equipped library and museum in the Indian Institute.

Though but recently established, the opportunities for special study and for advanced instruction are well organized, and offer the choice of a wide range of subjects. The curriculum provides both for the philological and for the literary study of the English Language. Candidates are examined in (1) portions of certain prescribed English authors, to be studied with reference to the forms of the language; as examples of literature; and in their relation to the history and thought of the period to which they belong; (2) in the history of the English Language and Literature, demanding a thorough study of philology as well as of the history of literary criticism. In addition, the candidate who aims at a first or second class in the Final Examination must offer one of a list of nine or ten special subjects in philology and English literature. The examination requirements demand very wide reading, as well as a thorough study of some special period of English literature, or of some special subject in philology.

Complete courses of instruction are given in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and the Scandinavian languages; instructions will also be provided for in other European languages, if called for. All the Lecturers and Professors are prepared to give special instruction. A recognized authority is appointed from time to time to deliver a public lecture on some subject of modern language or comparative literature. Candidates reading for this ‘School’ are not required to offer more than one language. They will be examined in ‘the language as spoken and written at the present day’, in certain prescribed texts, in the history, philology, and the literature of the language offered. ‘This will include the history of criticism and style in prose and verse, and the history, especially the social history, of the corresponding country or countries of Europe.’ In addition the candidate has the choice of certain optional subjects as prescribed in the Examination Statutes.

For the sake of completeness, brief reference may be made to the Final Examinations in the Pass Schools. The subjects of the examination are divided into a number of groups, each containing a certain number of subjects, e. g. one group contains Classical subjects, another Modern subjects, another Mathematics, &c. Candidates must satisfy the examiners in three subjects; as a rule not more than two subjects may be taken from any one Group. The examination in these subjects may be taken separately, i. e. it is not necessary to take all of them in the same Term, and no limitations (except by his College) are placed on the number of the Pass-man’s efforts to pass his ‘Groups’. In the course of time the University examiners are said to be able to recognize familiar faces in the Pass Schools with comparative ease—some cynics say, with ill-concealed pleasure.

The residential feature of the Oxford system, on the one hand, and the stress laid on culture for its own sake, on a liberal education, on the other, has not been very favourable to the growth of special or graduate work. The Oxford life makes heavy demands on the student’s time. An ideal of culture and scholarship (in the English sense of the word) will not have much in common with the demands of technical and professional training, with ‘specialization’ and the scientific spirit. Conservative as Oxford is, it has not shut its doors to the spirit of the times. Despite Ruskin, ‘science’ has made decided inroads and is to-day firmly entrenched in Oxford soil. The new University Professorships and Lectureships were another sign of the times. The extension and perfecting of the examination system to meet the new conditions, and the absence of any demand for ‘research’ work, discouraged the growth and development of the Professorial system, and most of the Professorships suffered by atrophy of functions and became part of the larger inter-collegiate system. This must not be interpreted to mean that all work became undergraduate in character. No greater mistake could be made. As has been said, there is no hard and fast line at Oxford where undergraduate work ends and graduate work begins. But it is true that, apart from the work in Natural Science and Medicine, Oxford makes little pretence of teaching method as method. By an extension of the tutorial system, it substitutes the direct personal contact between the Professor and the student. There are advanced lectures, to be sure, but they are purely formal. Wherever there has been a demand for it, Professors have always been ready to organize small classes for special study—on the model of seminars, or even to accommodate their lectures to the needs of advanced students. There exists to-day a very substantial framework on which is being organized an efficient Graduate School. New departments are not created at Oxford ‘by act of legislature’, nor are they grafted on to the system. They must be a growth—a natural growth from within.

With the institution of the new ‘Research degrees’ in Letters and Science[60], a good beginning has been made in the way of a school of purely post-graduate study. Recently, also, certain endowments for research have been established or reconstituted. The institution of ‘Research’ Fellowships, as apart from the ordinary teaching Fellowships held by College Tutors and Lecturers, is but another indication of this new spirit and of the new demands. Moreover, many College Tutors are working in special fields or engaged in research, and are always ready to advise the student or to give special individual instruction.

The most valuable feature in the new system is that ‘the student enjoys the advantage of being brought into close contact with those who have a first-hand acquaintance with the department of knowledge to which he is devoting himself, and are ready to give him the benefit of their experience in researches similar to his own. Professors and Readers in the University have gained a new responsibility by being brought into relations with the most earnest students in their respective branches of learning.’[61]

But perhaps most important of all for the trained research student is the inexhaustible material to be found in that treasure-house, the Bodleian Library, in the Radcliffe and the various special and College libraries, and in the University Museums.

These new degrees, Bachelor of Letters and Bachelor in Science, are open to all Oxford graduates (i. e. those holding an Oxford B.A.), and also to other students who are twenty-one years of age and who ‘can give satisfactory evidence of having received a good general education’. Rhodes Scholars who have taken their Bachelor’s degree at some Colonial or American University will generally be able to avail themselves of this latter regulation. All candidates for these degrees in Letters or Science—and this applies also to those reading for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law (see p. 93)—should be sure to provide themselves with the necessary credentials. They must be prepared to present:—

These credentials should be supplemented by:—

Once admitted to be a candidate for the degree, the candidate’s work will be under the direction of a Committee of two, one of whom is usually a Professor, appointed by the Board of the Faculty to which his subject belongs. In addition to the residence requirement of eight University Terms (i. e. two years), he must first have ‘satisfied the Board of Faculty, by examination only, or by submitting a dissertation, which, if approved, is necessarily followed by a viva voce examination. The Board may further require the candidate to publish his dissertation or some part of it.’ Any one who has taken an Oxford B.A. has satisfied the necessary requirements as to residence for the Research degree, and, without necessarily residing in the University, he can pursue his special studies in absentia under the direction of the Committee and proceed to his degree at his convenience.

There are opportunities for research or advanced special work in almost every field of knowledge, but some of them deserve special mention. It goes without saying that the student of the Classics, of Comparative Philology, and of Ancient History will find at Oxford not merely the technical facilities in the way of instruction, libraries, and museums, but an atmosphere particularly favourable to the prosecution of his studies. ‘Every College has one or more classical lecturers on its staff who have usually made a special study of some branch of classical learning.’ A glance at the list of Professors and Lecturers for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores[62] will be sufficient indication and guarantee of the adequacy and efficiency of the instruction provided. Most of the Honour lectures are of an advanced character.

The Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum (Arthur J. Evans, D.Litt.) lectures (generally in Michaelmas Term) on Minoan and Primitive Aegean Culture, or on other prehistoric subjects. There are also opportunities for special work in Archaeology and Geography. Courses are given by specialists in Egyptology, Palaeography, and Numismatics. Dr. Grenfell and Dr. Hunt are continuing their work on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

There is also a special endowment for research—the Craven Fellowship, with an income of £200 per annum for two years; eight months in each year must be spent abroad. The British School of Archaeology in Athens offers (usually every other year) a studentship of £50 to some member of the University. The library facilities are unexcelled: the Bodleian Library with more than 600,000 bound volumes of printed works, and some 30,000 bound volumes of manuscripts; the Radcliffe Camera, in which are kept practically all English books published since 1851, and where most of the leading periodicals may be consulted; the Ashmolean Library, containing most of the works on general archaeology; and the various College libraries; the library of Oriel College containing a special collection of books on Comparative Philology, and Worcester College Library a valuable collection of books on Classical Archaeology. The collections in the Ashmolean Museum present some exceptional opportunities for study in the following departments:—Prehistoric and Early Dynastic Egypt; Primitive Anatolia (Hittite Seals, &c.); Primitive Greece and the Aegean; Greek Vases; Greek and Graeco-Roman Bronzes; Greek Sculpture—collection of casts; Greek and Roman Inscriptions. There is a collection of coins in the Bodleian.

The Pitt-Rivers Museum contains a unique ethnological collection, so arranged and classified as ‘to illustrate so far as possible, by means of synoptic groups of specimens, the actual or hypothetical origin and gradual development of the various arts and appliances of mankind, as well as their geographical distributions’.

The opportunities for advanced and special instruction in Modern History are excellent. There is a good system of inter-collegiate lectures which will be useful even to advanced students. The Regius Professor holds a small class ‘specially designed for students working for the B.Litt. degree’. There are courses in Palaeography and Diplomatic by specialists, and facilities for doing special or research work in Colonial History.

A series of six lectures is delivered by the Ford Lecturer, elected annually, upon some particular period or question connected with British History.

Special work is also offered in Geography.

‘The Bodleian Library and the Taylorian Library of foreign books are open to all matriculated members of the University upon compliance with certain conditions as to introduction. Each College also possesses a library, and books and MSS. in the library of one College can usually be consulted by members of other Colleges by arrangement with the Librarian. The Bodleian Library, and some of the College libraries, contain an immense quantity of MSS. and materials for mediaeval history which have been imperfectly explored. The Bodleian is also extremely rich in collections of MSS. illustrating the history of England during the sixteenth, the seventeenth, and the early part of the eighteenth century, and many Colleges possess important MSS. of the same period which have been but little utilized by historians. The Carter MSS. in the Bodleian are one of the chief sources for the study of Irish History.’ Mention should also be made of the library of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society, and of the special collections in the Ashmolean Museum on Prehistoric Britain (Stone and Bronze and Early Iron Age), Anglo-Saxon Britain, and of the Renaissance Bronzes and Majolica, and of the library of the Indian Institute.

Many of the Honour lectures in Theology are adapted to the needs of advanced students. Seminar classes are also held in several subjects. A special University Lectureship in Assyriology has been established; lectures are given on the bearing of Assyriology upon the Old Testament. The instructional staff is excellent. Two theological colleges, Mansfield College (Congregational) and Manchester College (undenominational), are both well equipped with an efficient staff of lecturers.

Most of the courses in the School of Oriental Languages are for the practical acquisition of the languages offered. There are also some advanced lectures, and all members of the teaching staff are prepared to give instruction and advice to students taking up any special line of Oriental studies. There is a very complete collection of works on Egyptology in the Bodleian Library and in the libraries of the Ashmolean Museum, of Queen’s College, and of the Indian Institute. ‘The Indian Institute Library contains about 23,000 volumes intended to represent very fully the languages, the literature, the religions, the institutions, the geography, the history, the ethnology, the archaeology, and the administration of ancient, mediaeval, and modern India.’ Very considerable opportunities and facilities are here afforded for the study of Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, and Burmese. The library contains a collection of 162 Sanskrit and Prākṛit MSS., and 64 Persian MSS., as well as a large number of maps of official publications of the Indian Provincial Government. All the leading Oriental Journals in English, French, and German are kept here. The Museum of the Indian Institute is a great aid to the historical study of Indian subjects.

Though but very recently established, the work in the Schools of English Language and Literature and of Modern Languages calls for special consideration. The facilities for research in the Bodleian, and especially in the Taylorian Library, are very considerable.

‘The Taylorian Library contains about 40,000 volumes, representing the languages of Modern Europe, English (Anglo-Saxon, Early English), French, German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Modern Greek, Polish, Bohemian (Czech), Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian. The chief subjects are the philology and literature (mainly poetry and drama) of these languages, and historical memoirs and biographies written in them. The Library is specially strong in the literature of Dante, Molière, Goethe and Schiller, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon, Camoëns, and Old Norse Sagas. The Finch Collection forms a special library of works on the Fine Arts, written in French, German, Italian, and other European languages.

A special Seminar-Library contains the leading literary and philological periodicals on modern European Languages, the books prescribed for the Honour School of Modern Languages, and a selection of dictionaries, grammars, and works of reference connected with the study of modern languages.’

There are also abundant opportunities for research and for special work in Natural Science. The laboratories in the University Museum, at Christ Church, Magdalen, Balliol, and Trinity are well equipped. At the Oxford Museum are laboratories equipped for special study leading to research work in Physics, Electricity, Chemistry, Comparative Anatomy, Mineralogy, Geology, Physiology, Human Anatomy, Pathology and Bacteriology, each under the direct charge of the Professor of the subject. The teaching in Pathology, Comparative Anatomy, and Physiology is adapted to the needs of those preparing for Medicine. Special rooms have been set apart for original research work in experimental Pathology and Bacteriology, in Pathological Chemistry and Histology.

Special work may also be done along certain lines for which diplomas are granted by the University. These have been only recently introduced. ‘At present they are given for a course of work extending over a year or more in such subjects as Education, Geography, Economics, Engineering and Mining, Anthropology, and Forestry, the object being to supplement the ordinary curriculum for the B.A. degree by providing for more special lines of study.’ There are seminar-classes in Geography and Economics.

The advanced work in Law is of a very special character. Most of the lectures in Law are intended for those reading for the Jurisprudence School, so that the candidate for the B.C.L. is thrown largely upon his own resources. Prof. Vinogradoff lectures on the History of Law and Comparative Jurisprudence, and also holds a seminar-class along these lines. But the bulk of the work for the degree must be done in private under the direction and supervision of the College Tutor. The examination for the B.C.L. is one of the most difficult University examinations. It covers a very wide field and the standard required is very high. Candidates must possess a fair knowledge of Latin, as certain special subjects in Roman Law are studied in the original. The subjects studied are concerned in the main with the theoretical side of legal study, with the general principles and the history of Law.

Students from the Colonies who are intending to enter at one of the Inns of Court will find no difficulty in keeping their Terms during their residence at Oxford. The residence requirements at the Inns of Court merely consist in eating three dinners during each Term.

The library of All Souls—the Codrington Library—contains a very complete collection of works on Law and the history of Law—Roman, English, and foreign. The English Law Reports of all periods, as also the principal American and Colonial Reports, are to be found here.

Several Scholarships are offered by the University for proficiency in legal studies.

The degree of B.C.L.—like the Research degrees of B.Litt. and B.Sc.—is open to all who have taken an Oxford B.A., and to persons above twenty-one years of age who have obtained a degree in Arts or in Philosophy or in Science in some other University, and who have satisfied the Board of the Faculty of Law that they will be qualified to pursue an advanced course of legal study.[63] Honours can be obtained only by those candidates who at the time of examination have not exceeded twelve Terms (i. e. three years) from the date of their matriculation. The minimum residence requirement is eight Terms.

The examination for the B.C.L. includes the following subjects:—

1. Jurisprudence (and Theory of Legislation).

2. Roman Law:—

3. English Law:—

4. International Law or the Conflict of Laws.