302 Analyses of Books. [Ocr. 
On mineralogy. 
On anatomy. 
On domestic medicine. 
On theology. 
Such, then, is a view of the knowledge which may be acquired 
at Cambridge: and every person will readily acknowledge that it 
is very considerable, and that a young man in such an University 
may very well lay a sufficient foundation for future eminence. One 
advantage must be still added, which I consider as more important 
than all the rest put together. Every student has free access to a 
library containing above a hundred thousand volumes, from which 
he may borrow ten books at once, merely by obtaining a Master of 
Arts’ order. This advantage must give Cambridge a prodigious 
superiority over Oxford. 
Had I not already extended this article beyond the requisite 
length, I should have wished to have noticed a few particulars 
which have always struck me as disadvantages attending the English 
Universities, though it would scarcely be possible to remove them, 
without introducing changes which could not easily be acceded to. 
I shall barely hint at one or two circumstances. 
The English Universities were established during the dark ages 
when learning was confined entirely to the clergy. The consequence 
was, that the sole object in view seems to have been to form clergy- 
men. Hence the numerous regulations which assimilate these 
Universities to Monasteries. A dissenter, I understand, cannot be 
admitted into them. Now though I admit that the education of the 
clergy is a very important point, yet I think that the education of 
the rest of the community is of at least equal importance. It is 
preposterous to give all mankind the same education exactly, be- 
cause they are intended for different professions; and what is of 
first rate importance to one man is of no use whatever to another. 
Human life is too short to enable every individual to run the com- 
plete career of the sciences ; yet it is of infinite importance that a 
young man should be made acquainted with the first principles of 
the profession to which he is to devote himself. The lawyer re- 
quires one education, the physician another, the clergyman a third. 
Where in England can a merchant or manufacturer go to acquire 
those branches of knowledge which he ought to possess ? 
At the University of Edinburgh there are lectures delivered on 
the following subjects, which I divide into sets for the greater per- 
spicuity :— 
I. General Literature and Science. 
J. Greek. 6. Mathematics. 
2. Latin: 7. Natural philosophy. 
3. Logic. 8. Astronomy. 
4. Rhetoric. 9. Natural history. 
5. Moral philosophy. 10. Agriculture. 
