( 410 ) 



REFORM YOUR UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. 



BY this title, the self-created Conservative will, no doubt, read the 

 destruction of institutions, and the plunder of " vested rights ;" the 

 timid but conscientious advocate of " things as they are," discovers the 

 dangerous hand of restless innovation ; the man who contemplates pub- 

 lic institutions only as the means of public good, and computes their 

 value in proportion to the general benefit produced, is reminded that 

 the Universities halt somewhat behind the demands of the age. We 

 marvel not at all this. It is beyond the reach of human ingenuity to 

 frame institutions which shall adjust themselves to the variations of 

 society ; and it is now upwards of twp hundred years since the Univer- 

 sities of England began to exist in their present form. If we were in- 

 clined to pursue the inquiry, and to analyze the component parts of the 

 system, as adapted to a period so far remote, we question if it would 

 appear to be a system the best fitted, even at that time, to the purposes 

 of a national education ' ' in all and every of the liberal arts and 

 sciences :" encumbered with a mass of monkish ceremonies ; and ren- 

 dered difficult of access by the fierce restrictions of political and religious 

 zeal. We shall content ourselves, however, with confining our inquiry 

 to the present day, as it is that which concerns the present generation. 

 Our inquiry will comprise two subjects: 1. The subscription to articles, 

 or the declaration of uniformity, demanded of all candidates for de- 

 grees. 2. The expenses of a University education. The first will 

 occupy our present consideration the second we shall defer to a future 

 number. Many years have now elapsed, since this important question 

 was last agitated and discussed. It then met with the support of the 

 most distinguished advocates of civil and religious liberty :* an un- 

 daunted few, who, regardless of the pains and penalties which in those 

 days awaited the profession of such principles, kept alive the sacred fire 

 upon the altar of freedom, amidst the thick darkness which clouded the 

 political horizon. It is no wonder that, in such times, their efforts 

 should have proved unavailing. 



But although, since that period, various classes of the community 

 have been relieved from grievous and heavy burthens, which they were 

 condemned, for conscience sake, to bear, the fountains of science and 

 literature still remain inaccessible to thousands. Though a University 

 education has become more desirable, and more necessary among the 

 middle classes of society, the Universities still continue disfigured by 

 the barbarous restrictions of a barbarous age ; converting those institu- 

 tions, which were intended for the common benefit of society, to the 

 advantage of a comparatively small portion of the community. In the 



Parliamentary Debates, vol. 17, p. 245, 742. 



