lands and grants of money, similar bequests and
mortifications were constantly being made to
provide scholarships or bursaries, as they are
called in Scotland, for the students. Some
were handed over in trust to the college, to be
offered to the competition of all comers; others
were devised to the members of certain families,
or persons of a certain name, or were placed at
the disposal of professors, ministers, or
magistrates of towns. The deeds of "mortification"
executed by Highland lairds are written in quite
a regal style. Thus Mclntosh, or Mclvor "of
that ilk," begins with WE, and goes on to
dispense so many merks, or pounds Scots, to found
a bursary, to be presented by the lairds of that
ilk to youths of their name or clan. Many
bursaries have been founded for the benefit of any
youth bearing a certain name; and such
bursaries may be enjoyed at one time by the son of
a laird, and at another by a cow-boy. Some
have been left without any conditions as to
name or clanship. As, for example, Sir John
McPherson bequeathed two thousand five
hundred pounds of his Carnatic stock to afford an
annual bursary to any Highland student who
might be selected to receive it. And this he
did in gratitude for the education which he
received at the University of Old Aberdeen. The
bursaries range in amount from five pounds per
annum to thirty pounds. Thus it happens that
a poor Scotch boy has several strings to his
Apollonic bow. He can go out to Aberdeen
and enter for the general competition, or it may
be that his name is Mackenzie, or Mac-what-not,
and a bursary is his by right; or he may
have interest with some patron, or he may be
entitled to a scholarship simply because he is
the native of a certain parish. A lad will
sometimes go out to Aberdeen with a presentation
bursary in his pocket, enter the general
competition, and win another. He is not allowed,
however, to retain two, and being obliged to
relinquish one, he, of course, relinquishes the
one of lesser value.

The original constitution of the Scotch
colleges was monastic; that is to say, the students
lived within the precincts of the college, took
their meals at a common table, and were
constantly under the government and discipline of
the college officers. This system was abolished
more than two centuries ago, and the students
now reside where they please, being only
amenable to college authority during the hours of
study. This plan is much more convenient for
students of limited means, whose poverty will
sometimes afford them no better lodging than a
garret. Professor Blackie, who was Professor
of the Latin Humanity in my time at Marischal's,
used to tell a story of a Highland student
who was charged by his fellows with having so
far desecrated the academic gown, as to have
perambulated the streets with a barrow and
cried "'taties." The Highlander admitted
hawking the potatoes, but denied desecrating
the gown. He had been careful to put off his
gown while he cried 'taties. The curriculum of
study at Aberdeen extends over four years, at
the end of which time the student, if he can
pass the examination, receives the degree of
Master of Arts, when he proudly writes A.M.
(not M.A., as in England) after his name.

(And here, I opine, as in the pronunciation
of the vowels, the Scotch are classically correct,
and the English wrong.)

The first session is devoted to Greek and
Latin; the second to Greek and Latin, with
the addition of mathematics and natural history;
during the third session, the classics are
subordinate to mathematics and natural philosophy;
and in the fourth the students, while continuing
the study of mathematics, devote a portion of
their time to moral philosophy and logic. The
matriculation examination is a very easy one;
and there is seldom an instance of a boy being
rejected. It is enough to be able to translate
and construe a chapter in Cæsar's Commentaries.
Less Greek is looked for, and if a boy
have some acquaintance with "tupto," he will
pass. I believe the standard has been raised a
little lately, and perhaps this was necessary for
the credit of the university. It is possible,
however, without going far in this direction, to
go too far. The very essence of the Scotch
universities are their applicability to the wants
of the middle and humbler classes. If the
matriculation examination were raised so much as
to require the poor student to spend another
year at the parochial school, there is no doubt
that many lads would not be able to go to the
university at all.

Student life in Aberdeen runs in a very quiet
current. If it were not that the lads wear
scarlet gowns, their existence in the community
would scarcely be observed. The majority
of them are poor, and they have neither the
means nor the inclination to indulge in the
roystering kind of life which prevails at the
English universities. They are all more or less
impressed with the importance of making the
most of their time and opportunities. They do
not forget that they have fathers and mothers at
home, who have exercised self-denial, and made
great efforts to send them there; nor are they
unmindful of the honour of the parochial school
at which they received the elements of their
education. Above all, they have an ambition
to rise in life, and be something better than
their forefathers.

The expenses of the five months' session at
Aberdeen are exceedingly moderate. A student
may lodge pretty comfortably for five shillings
a week; for this sum he can rent a large room,
with a recess in the corner for his box-bed.
The fees to the professors amount to no more
than seven or eight pounds for the whole session.
Food is comparatively cheap in Aberdeen, and
much is done upon oatmeal and fish. A boy,
with a bursary of twenty-five pounds, can pay
all his expenses for the session, including the
fees. Those who have less, receive what assistance
their friends can afford, and this assistance
generally takes the form of a box (sent in
monthly by the carrier), containing oatmeal,
fowls eggs, &c. What would a fine gentleman