tzsch, "Uber die Census"
in _Neues Jahrbuch f. Phil._ lxxiii. 730 (Leipzig, 1856); Zumpt, "Die
Lustra der Romer" in _Rhein. Museum_, xxv. 465, xxvi. i.
(A. H. J. G.)
II. In modern times the word "censor" is used generally for one who
exercises supervision over, or criticizes, the conduct of other persons.
In the universities of Oxford and Cambridge it is the title of the
official head or supervisor of the non-collegiate students (i.e. those
who are not attached to a college, hall or hostel). In Oxford the censor
is nominated by the vice-chancellor and the proctors, and holds office
for five years; in Cambridge he is similarly appointed, and holds office
for life. The censors of the Royal College of Physicians are the
officials who grant licences.
_Council of Censors_, in American constitutional history, is the name
given to a council provided by the constitution of Pennsylvania from
1776 to 1790, and by the constitution of Vermont from 1777 to 1870.
Under both constitutions the council of censors was elected once in
seven years, for the purpose of inquiring into the working of the
governmental departments, the conduct of the state officers, and the
working of the laws, and as to whether the constitution had been
violated in any particular. The Vermont council of censors, limited in
number to thirteen, had power, if they thought the constitution required
amending in any particular, to call a convention for the purpose. A
convention summoned by the council in 1870 amended the constitution by
abolishing the censors.
For the censorship of the press, see PRESS LAWS; for the censorship of
plays, THEATRE: _Law_, and LORD CHAMBERLAIN.
CENSORINUS, Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer, flourished during
the 3rd century A.D. He was the author of a lost work _De Accentibus_,
and of an extant treatise _De Die Natali_, written in 238, and dedicated
to his patron Quintus Caerellius as a birthday gift. The contents are of
a varied character: the natural history of man, the influence of the
stars and genii, music, religious rites, astronomy, the doctrines of the
Greek philosophers. The second part deals with chronological and
mathematical questions, and has been of great service in determining the
principal epochs of ancient history. The whole is full of curious and
interesting information. The style is clear and concise, although
somewhat rhetorical, and the Latinity, for the period, good. The chief
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