The increasing importance of the January examination naturally diminished the value of the Acts in the eyes of the undergraduates; and, a few years after my M.A. degree, it was found that the Opponents met, not for the purpose of concealing their arguments from the Respondent, but for the purpose of revealing them to him.  This led to the entire suppression of the system.  The most active man in this suppression was Mr Whewell:  its date must have been near to 1830.

The shape in which the arguments were delivered by an Opponent, reading from a written paper, was, “Si (quoting something from the Respondent’s challenge), &c., &c.  Cadit Quaestio; Sed (citing something else bearing on the subject of discussion), Valet Consequentia; Ergo (combining these to prove some inaccuracy in the Respondent’s challenge), Valent Consequentia et Argumentum.”  Nobody pretended to understand these mystical terminations.

Apparently the original idea was that several Acts should be kept by each undergraduate; for, to keep up the number (as it seemed), each student had to gabble through a ridiculous form “Si quaestiones tuae falsae sint, Cadit Quaestio:—­sed quaestiones tuae falsae sunt, Ergo valent Consequentia et Argumentum.”  I have forgotten time and place when this was uttered.

The Senate-house examination.

The Questionists, as the undergraduates preparing for B.A. were called in the October term, were considered as a separate body; collected at a separate table in Hall, attending no lectures, but invited to attend a system of trial examinations conducted by one of the Tutors or Assistant-Tutors.

From the Acts, from the annual College examinations, and (I suppose) from enquiries in the separate Colleges, the Moderators acquired a general idea of the relative merits of the candidates for honours.  Guided by this, the candidates were divided into six classes.  The Moderators and Assistant Examiners were provided each with a set of questions in manuscript (no printed papers were used for Honours in the Senate House; in regard to the [Greek:  hoi polloi] I cannot say).  On the Monday on which the examination began, the Father of the College received all the Questionists (I believe), at any rate all the candidates for honours, at breakfast in the Combination Room at 8 o’clock, and marched them to the Senate House.  My place with other honour-men was in the East Gallery.  There one Examiner took charge of the 1st and 2nd classes united, another Examiner took the 3rd and 4th classes united, and a third took the 5th and 6th united.  On Tuesday, one Examiner took the 1st class alone, a second took the 2nd and 3rd classes united, a third took the 4th and 5th classes united, and a fourth took the 6th class alone.  On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the changes were similar.  And, in all, the questioning was thus conducted.  The Examiner read from his manuscript the first question.  Those who could answer it proceeded to write out their