1803. | 
This principle of an exaét divifion of la- 
bour, a principle which has been often 
abufed in political ceconomy, has only for 
its object a greater perfection in mechani- 
cal arts; but when the queftion relates to 
the cultivation of the human mind, this 
divifion, were it realized, would introduce 
a fyftem prejudicial to the culture of the 
fciences. Experience proves this affertion. 
Mott of thefe partial inftitutions are fallen 
to the ground, and their utility has not 
been found proportioned to what they coft. 
There are fome branches of human know- 
ledge, it is true, which require a fixed 
{pot, and praétical experiments often re- 
peated, in order to apprehend them per- 
teStly. By confequence, fome inititu- 
tions of initruction for thefe {ciences are 
very important for the ftates that have 
need of them; fuch as the exploitation, 
or working of mines, the fuperintendance 
of forefts, &c. &c. 
The author, after having thus de- 
clared againft f{pecial {chools, neither 
would have univerfities to be infticu- 
tions of educaticns, properly fo call- 
ed: they ought, he fays, to be inftitutions 
of inftruétion in the elements of the {ci- 
ences. As the mode of inftruétion in 
{chools ought to be different from that of 
univerfities, in like manner, and {till more, 
a univerfity ought to differ from an infti- 
tute of education. This difference is 
founded on human nature, on the differ- 
ence of age which muft neceflarily take 
place between ftudents and {cholars, and 
on the more or lefs of culture and of in- 
telleétual force refulting from that differ- 
ence. We may command and forbid ma- 
ny more things to children, than to young 
perfons already formed. A univerfity 
thould have an infpeétion and a difcipline 
peculiar to itfelf. We cannot fubject ftu- 
dents to the ordinary rules of the civil law ; 
if fo, order and difcipline would be quick- 
ly banifhed from the univerfity. ‘There 
come to univerfities a great number of 
young perfons, who find themfelves for 
the firft time difembarraffed from the in- 
{peétion of their relations, and the reftraint 
of {chools, at an age when the pafficns 
are impetuous, and reafon has little force 
to manage them. The municipal, or 
common-law, wouldjudge or punifh with 
too much lenity or too much feverity, 
young perfons, whofe manners are often 
rude, and whole minds are not yet formed. 
On the other hand, to introduce into our 
univerfities the reftraint and domeftic in- 
{pection of {chools, would be to afk too 
much, as the young man, no longer a 
child) fhould now Jearn to walk alone, to 
a&t for himfelf, and anfwer for his own ac- 
Ew 
Univerfity of Gottingen. 
35 
tions. Some follies he will doubtlefs flide 
into ; but let thofe full-grown fages who 
never commit any, caft the firft ftone at 
young perfons. The author next proceeds 
to expatiate on anotheridea, which is, that 
an univerfity fhould not only be 2n intitu- 
tion of national infiruction for the fubjects 
of the country, but fhould be an inftitu- 
tion formed on a large fcale, and calculat- 
ed forall nations. ‘This was the idea en- 
tertained by the founder of the univerity 
of Gottmgen. M. Munchaufen perceived, 
that if the eftablifhment was only for the, 
country, the inftru&tion would be only fu- 
perficial. He wifhed to form for the coun- 
try firft-rate theologians, iawyers, phyfi- 
cians, financiers, and men of bufinefs ; and 
that to be able to formthem, it was nece{- 
fary to eftablifh a vaft plan, and to orga- 
nize inftruction, as it were, for all na- 
tions, ina ftate that of itfelf contained 
near a million of inhabitants. On any 
other plan, M. Munchaufen might have 
formed certain preachers, judges, phyfi- 
cians, whofe fervices might be ufed when 
wanted—the inftitutions would have been 
pitiful—the profeflors indifferent—In faét, 
the idea of. making Gottingen a literary 
inftitution for all nations, was nothing 
lefs than new. Such were Bologna, Pa- 
ris, Salerno, Leyden, even fo low as the 
firft half of the laft century. All the 
German univerfities have more or lefs of 
this charaéter; but among them all, Got- 
tingen is the molt diftinguifhed, having 
always had the greate(t number of foreign 
ftudents, who generally form about two. 
thirds of its academical population ; an 
inftitution, fays the author, very proper to 
banifh national prejudices, and to intro- 
duce what he calls the cofmopolite-{pirit, 
i.e. the liberal fentiments of a citizen of 
the world. In his choice of cities, the au- 
thor declares againft thofe where there is a 
Court, and againft great commercial cities. 
He gives the preference to a moderate ci- 
ty, where the profeflors ought to form the 
fiift clafs of the fociety. In Courts and 
commercial cities, objects of comparifon 
would, perhaps, ‘excite difguft. After 
thefe general remarks, the author proceeds 
to a particular examination of what has 
been done at Gottingen in refpect to the 
moft important purpoles of an univerfity. 
Every thing, he fays, has been done, 
which was poffible for the curators to per- 
form, with the means they had in their 
hands, to ameliorate the condition of the 
profeflors. At the head of the public in- 
ftitutions is, doubtlefs, the rich library, 
confifting of about two hundred thoufand 
volumes, and arranged in fuch a manner as 
to be, perhaps, the moft uftful eftablith- 
tg, 
mone 
