ient past should be retained and
understood. It is to explain what is said and what is done on these
occasions that this little book is written.

[Sidenote: Notice of Degree Ceremony.]

Degrees at Oxford are conferred on days appointed by the
Vice-Chancellor, of which notice is now given at the beginning of every
term, in the _University Gazette_; the old form of giving notice,
however, is still retained, in the tolling of the bell of St. Mary's for
the hour preceding the ceremony (9 to 10 a.m.)[1]. The assembly at
which degrees are conferred is the Ancient House of Congregation (p.
93). The old arrangement of the Laudian Statutes is still maintained, by
which the proceedings commence with the entrance of the Vice-Chancellor
and Proctors, while one of the Bedels 'proclaims in a quiet tone',
'Intretis in Congregationem, magistri, intretis.' The Vice-Chancellor,
when he has formally taken his seat, declares the 'cause of this
Congregation'. It will be noticed that both the Vice-Chancellor and the
two Proctors, as representing the elements of authority in the
University (as will be explained later), wear their caps all through the
ceremony.

[Sidenote: Other business beside Degree giving.]

Degree giving, however, is sometimes preceded and delayed by the
confirmation of the lists of examiners who have been 'duly nominated' by
the committees appointed for this purpose; it is of course natural that
the same body which gives the degree should appoint the examiners, on
whose verdicts the degree now mainly depends. A less reasonable cause of
delay is the fact that the 'Congregation' is sometimes preceded by a
'Convocation' for the dispatch of general business, as a rule (but not
always) of a formal character; the two bodies, Convocation and
Congregation, are usually made up of the same persons, and are the same
in all but name; the change from one to the other is marked by the
Vice-Chancellor's descending from his higher seat, with the words
'Dissolvimus hanc Convocationem; fiat Congregatio'.

[Sidenote: The Registrar's Declaration.]

The degree ceremony itself begins with the declaration on the part of
the Registrar that the candidates for the degrees have duly received
permissions (_gratiae_) from their Colleges to present themselves, and
that their names have been approved by him[2]; he has already certified
himself from the University Register that all necessary examinations
have been passed, and has been informed of