Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE STATUTES The charter of foundation reserved to the founder the right of altering his own statutes during his lifetime. This right was several times exercised. In their final form they date from the year 1400, and by them the College was (nominally) governed down to the era of modern University legislation. The basis of the code is distinctly the famous ' rule of Merton,' drawn up by Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester, for the typical English College of his foundation. But it is the rule of Merton enormously elaborated. Walter de Merton's statutes occupy thirty-seven printed octavo pages ; William of Wykeham's extend over no less than 117. The Bishop-Chancellor's was no doubt the kind of mind which enjoyed the devising of an elaborate code of laws. He was, though in some ways a reformer, in others a reactionary. He believed in the old regime in Church and State, now rudely assailed by secular lords and heretical Lollards. He believed in the Canon Law and lawyer ecclesiastics ; in tne career which opened to humble youths a road to wealth and position; in going to heaven through the investiture of large moneys mperpetual Masses; and he thought to strengthen the old system by prescribing in minute detail a life which would lead infallibly to the production of such men as he wanted. He knew well enough the kind of abuses which were incident to such foundations; but he thought that his legal acumen was equal to succeeding where other men had failed, and set himself to impose his will upon posterity with all the zest and all the minuteness of a peer tying up his land to checkmate the possible dispersive tendencies of his posterity. And on the whole, from the Bishop's point of view, the statutes are wisely drawn. The College consisted of a Warden and seventy sc... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.