48 I AT SERMONS, ADDRESSES, AND REVIEWS. [in. 



bigger boys ; that learned men are not more numerous 

 in them than out of them ; that the advancement of 

 knowledge is not the object of fellows of colleges ; 

 that, in the philosophic calm and meditative stillness 

 of their greenswarded courts, philosophy does not thrive, 

 and meditation bears few fruits. 



It is my great good fortune to reckon amongst my 

 friends resident members of both universities, who are 

 men of learning and research, zealous cultivators of 

 science, keeping before their minds a noble ideal of a 

 university, and doing their best to make that ideal a 

 reality ; and, to me, they would necessarily typify the 

 universities, did not the authoritative statements I have 

 quoted compel me to believe that they are exceptional, 

 and not representative men. Indeed, upon calm con- 

 sideration, several circumstances lead me to think that 

 the Eector of Lincoln College and the Commissioners 

 cannot be far wronsr. 



I believe there can be no doubt that the foreigner 

 who should wish to become acquainted with the scientific, 

 or the literary, activity of modern England, would simply 

 lose his time and his pains if he visited our universities 

 with that object. 



And, as for works of profound research on any subject, 

 and, above all, in that classical lore for which the 

 universities profess to sacrifice almost everything else, 

 why, a third-rate, poverty-stricken German university 

 turns out more produce of that kind in one year, than 

 our vast and wealthy foundations elaborate in ten. 



Ask the man who is investigating any question, pro- 

 foundly and thoroughly — be it historical, philosophical, 

 philological, physical, literary, or theological; who is 

 trying to make himself master of any abstract subject 

 (except, perhaps, political economy and geology, both 

 of which are intensely Anglican sciences) whether he 



