THE UNIVERSITY SEAL _To face p._1 (The seal dates from the fourteenth century and is kept by the Proctors.) THE CHANCELLOR RECEIVING A CHARTER FROM EDWARD III _To face p._19 (From the Chancellor's book, circ. 1375.) MASTER AND SCHOLAR _To face p._34 (From the title-page of Burley's _Tractatus de natura et forma_.) THE BEDEL OF DIVINITY'S STAFF _To face p._50 PROCTOR AND SCHOLARS OF THE RESTORATION PERIOD _To face p._64 (From _Habitus Academicorum_, attributed to D. Loggan, 1674.) THE INTERIOR OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL _To face p._79 [Illustration] CHAPTER I THE DEGREE CEREMONY The streets of Oxford are seldom dull in term time, but a stranger who chances to pass through them between the hours of nine and ten on the morning of a degree day, will be struck and perhaps perplexed by their unwonted animation. He will find the quads of the great block of University buildings, which lie between the 'Broad' and the Radcliffe Square, alive with all sorts and conditions of Oxford men, arrayed in every variety of academic dress. Groups of undergraduates stand waiting, some in the short commoner's gown, others in the more dignified gown of the scholar, all wearing the dark coats and white ties usually associated with the 'Schools' and examinations, but with their faces free from the look of anxiety incident to those occasions. Here and there are knots of Bachelors of Arts, in their ampler gowns with fur-lined hoods, some only removed by a brief three years from their undergraduate days, others who have evidently allowed a much longer period to pass before returning to bring their academic career to its full and complete end. From every college comes the Dean in his Master's gown and hood, or if he be a Doctor, in the scarlet and grey of one of the new Doctorates, in the dignified scarlet and black of Divinity, or in the bold blending of scarlet and crimson which marks Medicine and Law. College servants, with their arms full of gowns and hoods, will be seen in the background, waiting to assist in the academic robing of their former masters, and to pocket the 'tips' which time-honoured custom prescribes. Presently, when the hour of ten has struck, the procession of academic dignity may be seen approaching across the Quad, the Vice-Chancellor preceded by his staves as the symbol of authority, the Proctors in their velvet sleeves and miniver hoods, and the Registrar (or Secretary) of the University. Already most of those concerned are waiting in the room where degrees are to be given: others still lingering outside follow the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctors, and the ceremony of conferring degrees begins.