THE THIRD CENTURY
1716-1815
T
he third century of the College history coincides roughly with the eighteenth century. It was not a period of very high ideals, and "privilege" was in full force. For the first time in the College registers men are entered as "Noblemen." These were allowed to proceed to the M.A. degree direct in two years without passing through the intermediate stage of B.A. The College was also full of Fellow Commoners, who sat with the Fellows at the High Table in Hall; until the close of the century these do not seem to have proceeded to any degree. The other two classes were the pensioners, who paid their way, and the sizars. A sizar was definitely attached to a Fellow or Fellow Commoner, and in return for duties of a somewhat menial character passed through his College course on reduced terms. Among other duties, a sizar had, with some of the scholars, to wait at table, a service not abolished until 6th May 1786.
The Chapel Tower from the River.
Speaking in general terms, the College seems gradually to have acquired the reputation of being the Tory College in the Whig University; it became exceedingly fashionable, and towards the end of the century had more students in residence than any other College. At the same time its reputation for efficiency was very high. This was due to the policy of Dr. William Samuel Powell, Master from 1765 to 1775. He introduced various administrative changes on the financial side of College management, and also started annual examinations in the College, then a novelty in the University. These examinations were not very severe, and to the somewhat overtaxed undergraduate of the present day might seem almost trivial. They were not competitive, there was no order of merit, but no one seems to have been exempt; their object was simply to test the knowledge of the students. The success of the plan attracted much attention; it was proposed to institute similar examinations for the University at large, but Powell opposed this on the ground that candidates ought to be examined by those who taught them. From this date it would appear that Fellow Commoners, at St. John's at least, began to take degrees in the University.
During Powell's mastership an observatory was established on the top of the western gateway of the Second Court, and regular astronomical observations taken. Two sets of observations there made by Fellows of the College have been published; one set made by William Ludlam in 1767 and 1768, the other by Thomas Catton between 1796 and 1826, the latter being published by the Royal Astronomical Society in 1854.