NA TURE 



49 



THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1879 



T 



THE VICTORIA UNIVERSITY 

 HE movement for founding a new university in the 

 -L north of England has progressed considerably since 

 the question was discussed in these columns in July, 1876. 

 It has now shaped itself into a final memorial to the 

 Privy Council, which will be presented to the Lord Presi- 

 dent by a peculiarly powerful deputation this very day. 

 Let us hope that the reply will be a favourable one, 

 Relieving as we do that the educational welfare of the 

 country demands an increase in the number of its uni- 

 versities. It may be desirable to say a few words about 

 the progress of this movement. 

 ! On July 20, 1877, a memorial addressed to the Privy 

 I Council was presented to the Lord President praying that 

 I Her Majesty should be advised to grant a charter to the 

 '■ Owens College, Manchester, to be thenceforth called the 

 , University of Manchester, with power to grant degrees in 

 j Arts, Science, Medicine, and Law. 



; A slight modification of the original programme has 

 \ now been made with the view of providing more effec- 

 \ tually for two of the objects contemplated in the for- 

 \ mer memorial, viz. (l) for an ample and sufficient 

 control over the proposed university, as a national place 

 of education and learning, by the Government of the 

 country ; and (2) for the incorporation in the proposed 

 university, on equitable t.rms and on satisfactory con- 

 ditions, of other colleges besides the Owens College. 

 This is not the place in which to discuss in detail the 

 constitution proposed. We may, however, remark that 

 Owens College is to be named in the charter as the first 

 college of the new university, and that Manchester is to 

 be the local centre of this institution. 



In consequence of this modification the support to the 

 memorial will be, we believe, even more powerful than 

 that formerly given and may be taken as fairly represent- 

 ing the opinion of two great counties in the north of 

 England. The Lord President has consented to receive 

 simultaneously two deputations, one headed by the Duke 

 of Devonshire, president of the Owens College, and the 

 Other from the Yorkshire College, Leeds, headed by the 

 Archbishop of York. 



Since this scheme has been before the public the most 

 persistent objection urged against it has been advanced 

 by those who maintain that the teaching and examining 

 functions of a university should be perfectly distinct. 

 It may be worth while to discuss this objection from two 

 points of view, endeavouring to ascertain in the first 

 place what is the present practice in this country of the 

 existing universities, and then to find what course is best 

 in principle. 



Let us begin with the London Examining Board, which 



has no teaching staff connected with it, and ask ourselves 



whether its machinery secures an absolute separation 



between the examining and teaching elements. There 



can only be a negative reply to this question. The Senate 



of the London Board frequently select examiners who are 



teachers in one of the two London colleges or in Owens 



College, Manchester ; that is to say, in institutions which 



^ send numerous candidates to the London examinations. 



The result of this system must inevitably be that (with- 



VoL. XX.— No. 498 



out any blame being attributable to any one) the pupils of 

 such an examiner have an advantage over other candi- 

 dates whose teachers are not so represented. Thus, with 

 respect to this Central Board, only a partial separation 

 between the teaching and examining elements has been 

 found practicable, and a very questionable advantage has 

 been given to certain candidates in the examinations. 



Let us next take Cambridge, as representing one of the 

 great English Universities. Here it is the practice that 

 the Committees who arrange the branches of study for 

 the various examinations should consist very largely of 

 professors and lecturers, who likewise form a large portion 

 of the examining body. Occasionally a private tutor is 

 chosen as an examiner, in which case, for a few months 

 preceding the examination, he is expected or required to 

 give up those of his pupils who are coming forward as 

 candidates. 



Now, while this system is infinitely preferable to that of 

 the London Board, yet even here the former pupils of the 

 private tutors who have been chosen examiners must, we 

 think, have a small advantage over the others, which is, 

 however, reduced to a minimum inasmuch as the Boards 

 of Examiners for a subject consist of four men at least. 

 In the Queen' s Colleges, Ireland, the practice is different. 

 Here there are four colleges, which form together one 

 University, and it is, we believe, the custom that, in con- 

 ducting examinations for degrees in any college, the pro- 

 fessors of that college should associate with themselves an 

 outside element consisting of certain professors from the 

 other colleges of the same University. 



The practice in Scotland is somewhat similar to that in 

 Ireland, the chief difference being that, whereas in Ireland 

 the external element consists, we believe, of members of 

 the teaching staff of one of the other colleges, in Scotland 

 it consists of graduates of some one of the Scotch univer- 

 sities who are not engaged in university teaching in 

 Scotland. Should the Victoria University succeed in 

 obtaining a charter, its practice will be very similar to 

 that in Scotland, and it must, we think, be owned that 

 one advantage of this system is that by it all candidates 

 are placed upon precisely the same footing. 



All this, however, might be freely allowed by those who 

 advocate an entire separation between teachers and 

 examiners. They might reply that any such advantage is 

 more than overborne by the manifest tendency to lower 

 the standard of efficiency when the teacher is permitted 

 to take any part in the examination of his pupils. 



This subject has been very fully discussed in a recent 

 report of the Royal Commissioners appointed to inquire 

 into the universities of Scotland, one of whom was the 

 well-known author>f the "herring-brand" comparison. 

 The following is a quotation from this report (page 49). 



" The examination of the students of a university for 

 their degrees by the Professors who have taught them, is 

 sometimes spoken of as an obvious mistake, if not abuse : 

 but those who are practically acquainted with university 

 work will probably agree with us that the converse pro- 

 position is nearer the truth. In fact, it is hard to conceive 

 that an examination in any of the higher and more 

 extensive departments of literature or science can be 

 conducted with fairness to the student, unless the 

 examiners are guided by that intimate acquaintance with 

 the extent and the method of the teaching to which the 

 learner has had access, which is possessed only by the 



