UNIVERSITY. 



ledge, it fhould be the praAice of organized learned bodies to . 

 diredl the youthful mind in the bed and readieft way to learn- 

 ing ; to point out the path that (hould be purfued, rather than 

 follow in a beaten track. An univerfity has been long re- 

 garded as the fountain of fcience and literature, and hence 

 it becomes an imperious duty of its guardians to preferve its 

 ilreams frefh and pure. 



Within the laft half century many great revolutions and 

 changes have been produced in the civilized world. Em- 

 pires, kingdoms, and fubordinate ftates, have been created 

 and have "fallen ; have been difmembered, torn afunder, 

 overrun with armies, and, in various degrees, affeCled by 

 political caufes. Univerfities and academies mail have been 

 materially influenced by thefe evunts : and hence it is not 

 the leaft difficulty of the hiftorian to afcertain their recent 

 and prefent ftates. In fome of the cities on the continent 

 they have been entirely altered. Their old foundations have 

 been either abrogated, or remodelled on a new and broader 

 bafiS. The revolution of France was not merely political, 

 but it produced extenfite effefts on the old eilabhfhments in 

 arts, fcience, and literature. Many pamphlets and eflays 

 were, foon after that event, publilhed on the latter fubjecls : 

 fome vindicating and recommending the old fyftems, others 

 urging the neceffity of modifications, and others contending 

 for the adoption of entirely new eilabhfhments. Thefe 

 controverfies produced the " National Inftitute," the confti- 

 tution and novelties of which have excited much general at- 

 tention, and produced great changes in the dilcipline of 

 pubhc fchools. (See Paris, Literary Injl'ttutlons.) Other 

 univerfities on the continent have been roufed by the fliock 

 of that revolution, and have endeavoured to adapt their 

 routine of ftudies, and the fubjefts of them, to the demands 

 of the age. " All the north of Germany," obferves baronefs 

 Stael, in her recent work on Germany, " is filled with the 

 moft. learned univerfities in Europe. In no country, not 

 even in England, have the people fo many means of in- 

 ftrufting themfelves, and bringing their faculties to perfec- 

 tion. Intelleftual education is perfeft in Germany ; but 

 every thing pafles into theory : praftical education depends 

 folely on things adlually exifting : it is by aftion alone that 

 the character acquires that firmnefs which is necefiary to di- 

 reft the conduft of life. The German univerfities polTcfs 

 an ancient reputation,, of a date feveral ages antecedent to 

 the Reformation. Since that epoch the Proteftant univer- 

 fities have been inconteftibly fuperior to the Cathohc, and 

 the literary glory of Germany depends altogether upon thefe 

 inftitutions. A fketch of thefe is prefented in a work juft 

 publifhed by M. de ViUers, an author who is always found 

 at the head of all noble and generous opinions. The Eng- 

 liih univerfities have fingularly contributed to diffufe among 

 the people of England that knowledge of ancient languages 

 and literature which gives to their orators and ftatefmen an 

 information fo liberal and fo brilHant. It is a mark of good 

 tafte to be acquainted with other things befides matters of bu- 

 finefs, when one is thoroughly acquainted with them ; and, be- 

 fides, the eloquence of free nations attaches itfelf to the hiftory 

 of the Greeks and Romans, as to that of ancient fellow- 

 countrymen. But the German univerfities, although 

 founded on principles analogous to thofe of Oxford and 

 Cambridge, yet differ from them in maoy refpefts : the 

 multitude of ftudents aflembled together in Gottingen, 

 Halle, Jena, &c. formed a kind of free body in the ftate : 

 the rich and poor fcholars were diftinguilhed from each 

 other only by perfonal merit ; and the ftrangers, who re- 

 paired from all parts of the world, fubmitted themfelves 

 with pleafure to an equality which natural fuperiority alone 

 eoulddifturb." 



Although there are no univerfities in Belgium, yet tlie 

 college of Ghent is inftituted for the fame purpofe, and cal- 

 culated to produce very beneficial effefts. Its plan of edu- 

 cation, and general regulations, are worthy of imitation. 

 The funftionaries confift of a regent, two fub-regents, and 

 fix profeffors in Greek and Latin poetry, and in rhetoric ; 

 befides fix other profeffors in French, Euglifh, German, 

 drawing, and mathematics. Thefe have not only the charge 

 of educating the pupils, but of watching their morals and 

 manners. They are required to make monthly reports to 

 the mayor, and to the parents of the refpeftive children. 

 See a full and interefting account of this feminary in Mit- 

 chell's " Tour through Belgium," &c. 8vo. 1816; in 

 which work is alfo contained, a review of the fyftem of 

 education in the college of Bruffels, the central fchools of 

 France, the univerfity of Ley den, and the univerfity of 

 Utrecht. 



In Great Britain, fome ufeful and effential improvements 

 have been adopted in the prefent century : but they do not 

 appear to have been produced fo much from rivalry with fo- 

 reign fchools, as by the general emulation excited by metro- 

 politan and provincial inftitutions. Within the laft twenty 

 years, London has prefented nearly all the advantages, with- 

 out any of the fetters, of eftablifhed univerfities ; for in this 

 vaft city, many hterary and fcientific inftitutions have been 

 formed, and many courfes of leftures delivered, all calcu- 

 lated to improve the rifing generation. ( See London, Li- 

 terary Injlitutions ; Liverpool, and Manchester.) Hence 

 the emulous mind has exhauitlefs fources of learning : and 

 hence a new era has been created in the annals of England. 

 In no one fubjeft, perhaps, is the advantage of a free 

 prefs more apparent than in that now under confideration. 

 But for this, many ufeful plans would never have been car- 

 ried into effeft ; many errors of the dark ages would have 

 continued and increafed ; many eftablilhments would have 

 defcended in utility, whilft they afcended in wealth and 

 power. Pubhc difcuffion on thefe fubjefts occafioiis a mi- 

 nute inveftigation into the principles and praftices of old 

 eftabhfhments ; places them in a ftate of comparifon with 

 new ; and caufes a deliberate enquiry into the utility and 

 prafticability of new theories, before they have gone 

 through the routine of experience. Many authors have 

 thus been induced to publifh their opinions and animadver- 

 fions on the difcipline and praftices of the old univerfities of 

 England ; and thefe have produced ufeful effefts. Still, 

 however, fome of the writers contend that the old cfta- 

 blifliments do not fufficiently attend to the demands and im- 

 provements of the age : but that they perfift in ftudies 

 which are ufelefs and obfolete, to the negleft of thofe which 

 are neceffary, and which are calculated to be praftically 

 ufeful. Gibbon, in his " Life and Opinions," fays, " The 

 fchools of Oxford and Cambridge were founded in a dark 

 age of falfe and barbarous fcience ; and they are ftill tainted 

 with the vices of their origin. Their primitive difcipline 

 was adapted to the education of priefts and monks ; and the 

 government ftill remains in the hands of the clergy, an order 

 of men whofe manners are remote from the prefent world, and 

 whofe eyes are dazzled by the hght of philofophy." The 

 fame learned and eloquent writer enters into a difquifition on 

 the prejudices, errors, and wrong difcipline of thefe fchools. 

 Dr. Knox alfo, in his " Moral and Literary Effays," 

 the Edinburgh Review, vol. xvi. and other writers, have 

 publiflied their opinions on the fame fubjeft. In reply to 

 which, and in vindication of the prefent praftice, Mr. Cop- 

 pleftone of Oxford pubhfhed a pamphlet in 18 10. Other 

 members of the refpeftive univerfities have alfo come for- 

 ward in defence of their fchools : and hence the fubjeft is 



brought 



