THE MONTHLY 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
AUGUST, 1879, 
I. ENGLAND’S INTELLECTUAL POSITION. 
S HE Literary and Philosophical Society of one of the 
most important towns in England recently memo- 
rialised the Privy Council against the recognition of 
Owens College as a University. The petitioners professed 
to be alarmed at “the serious risks to which an undue in- 
crease in the number of degree-giving universities would 
expose the whole system of English education.” 
This plea surely insinuates that the English system of 
education, if not absolutely perfect, is to be regarded as 
superior to that of other nations, and that it could scarcely 
be modified except for the worse. Reflecting on the opinion 
thus conveyed, it seemed to us not useless to inquire what 
are the peculiarities of English education as compared with 
the systems established or aimed at amongst our neighbours 
and rivals, and what are the fruits of such distinctive pecu- 
liarites as manifested by England’s share in the advance of 
culture. The foremost characteristic of English higher 
education — for that alone can be meant — is its monastic 
character. In monarchic Germany, as in republican America, 
a college consists merely of class-rooms, lecture-halls, libra- 
ries, laboratories, and other localities needful for research 
and study. The students live in lodgings in the town ac- 
cording to their tastes and means. The professors reside in 
private houses, and, so far from being forbidden to engage in 
any literary work without special permission, the more they 
create a reputation for themselves by the publication of their 
observations and discoveries the more honour they are con- 
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