The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-24 00:00:00

the proportion of bad figures to good, and how
nearly this style of dress obliterates all dis-
tinction between them. Besides, however in-
convenient, we do not quite admit that the
" stiff petticoat " is without a certain sort of
attractiveness. " Political Priests" is a good
article, though rather bitter. The review of
Mr. Buckle's " Civilisation in England" is
full of fetid cockneyism, which is excessively
offensive. The review of " Aurora Leigh " is
stale. A paper entitled " The Four Empires"
is full of power, but dangerously extravagant,
and, in our opinion, as much underrates the
strength and stability of Austria as it exag-
gerates the popularity and moral excellence
of the Russian regime. The paper on Mr.
Conington's " Choephorce" is good and tem-
perate—written, we presume, by a sound
scholar, but without dogmatism. The essay on
" Representative Government" is a useful ana-
lysis of the subject ; but there our praise must
stop. It is pedantic and priggish, and at page
469 directly contradicts an article in the West-
minster of last quarter on the political economy
of the ancients, betraying at the same time a
singular ignorance of the value of ancient his-
tory, so ably and lucidly explained by Dr.
Arnold. The article on English jurispru-
dence is able, and paints in vivid colours the
absurdities and complexities of our existing
system. Tho notices of books at the end are,
as usual, highly valuable.
The London Quarterly Review contains a sub•
stantial article on the University of London,
in which the cause of the graduates, in their
present dispute with the senate, is warmly
advocated. The point at issue is whether
degrees shall be conferred on candidates with-
out a certificate of college residence or not.
The reasons alleged by the senate in favour
of this proposal are as follows :

I. The University, though increasing in usefulness,
does not confer more than eighty degrees per annum;
and it is expedient to widen the area of its operations.
2. The B.A. degree now represents two examinations,
with two years of continuous study between them ; it is
still desirable that it should do so, but evidence of such
continuous study can be easily obtained without insisting
on college residence.
3. There is a large number of persons educated pri-
vately, or by erudite parents, to whom the rewards of
learning ought to be rendered accessible, and whose
attainments as fully entitle them to the recognition of a
university as those of persons educated at college.
4. The present system of the University of London
does not guarantee effective collegiate instruction. Con-
sidering the number of the affiliated colleges, the smallest
of many of them, and the diversity of their practce as to
the granting of certificates of studentship, the evidence
which such certificates afford is essentially inconclusive
and fallible. _

5. The sole function of the senate is that of examina-
tion. It is the only one which they have the power of per-
forming well, inasmuch as they have neither authority to
prescribe or control the teaching of the c)lleges, nor
opportunity to verify their superior educational competence
and efficiency. They believe that mental proficiency and
learning are to be satisfactorily tested by examinations
alone; and they rely on the measures they habitually take
in conducting their examinations to maintain undi-
minished the character and value of the University
degrees.
6. It is the especial duty of the metropolitan University
to proclaim, as far as possible, the principle of compre-
hensiveness in education; to cast away all needless re-
strictions ; and "no more to tie down the deserving
student to a few privileged colleges than to a religious
creed."
Our own opinion on this subject we have ex-
pressed on more than one occasion We can-
not help thinking that the senate is funda-
mentally in the right. The peculiar constitu-
tion of the University of London precludes
her members from the enjoyment of those
advantages which a residence at Oxford or
Cambridge undoubtedly confers, while it opens
up to her a wide sphere of usefulness in which
•
the older universities can have little share.
We hold the writer of the present article to be
mistaken both in his remarks on this head as
well as on the subject of cramming, which, to
our certain knowledge, collegiate residence is
powerless to prevent. Other• good papers aro
those on " The Lives of the Lord Chief Jus-
tices" and " Tho Sepoy Rebellion in India."
The former is a very severe castigation of the
noble and learned author, and proceeding, we
should presume, from an impartial pen.
The National Review opens with an article
which wears the appearance of conscientious-
ness, but evinces neither sustained thought
upon the subject, nor any pondering of possibili-
ties The writer draws a plan for the manufac-
ture of good officers, as most educated men but