The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-18 00:00:00

OXFORD UNIVERSITY.

meats which were used to prevent the interference of Par-
liament. Sir the commissioners have pointed out at great
les.gth the defects which they conceive to exist in the Uni-
versity of Oxf'ord, and the remedies which they think it
desirably to apply. But it is not the commissioners only
who have stated that Oxford does not at present fulfil all
the purposes for which it is designed as a national univer-
sity. (Hear, hear.) I find a statement to the same effect
in the very valuable paper laid before the heads of houses
by Dr. Pusey. He has said—
" There is much need of every exertion to extend the old
universities. They have means for sound education, and a
traditional feeling which no new institution can possess ;
means (as our fellowships) which are now often compara-
tively wasted, because no adequate employment is found for
them within the university. But now, instead of extending
our influence, we have been gradually losing the preliminary
education, not only in some degree, of other learned profes-
sions (as the bar and the higher medical profession), but even
of the very clergy. The population of England increases day
and night ; increase of the clergy is not only needed, but de-
mauded."

There cannot be stronger testimony that some reforms are
needed than that so able an opponent of the commissioners
as Dr. Pusey slruld be found saying, that not only is the
education furnished at Oxford not adequate, in extent at
least, to the education required for the bar and other
professions, but that it is not sufficient even for the clergy,
whose education the University of Oxford might be sup-
posed to be fully competent to conduct. (Hear, hear.)
In considering this subject, I propose to take in order the
different subjects which I stated in nay speech last year on
the subject of national education, and which subjects were
then poimed out in a letter to the Chancellor of the Uni-
versity of Oxford by my noble friend the Secretary of
State for the Home Department. The first relates to the
alteration of the constitution of the University, with a view
to the public welfare and to the extension of the useful in-
fluences of the universities. The commissioners have
stated that there are general complaints of the governing
bady of the University. They have stated that the heads
of houses are elected for cther reasons and other purposes,
because, for example, they are supposed to be of concilia-
tory manners as heads of houses, or that they will exercise
a wise superintendence over the revenues of tho college,
or that they have connections of a personal or political
character with those who have the appointment in their
gift ; and that they are not specially qualified to undertake
the superintendence of the studies of the University. That
this is the case is admitted by several of those gentlemen
who have given their opinion on the appointment of heads
of houses. Without now stating to the house what it is
proposed to do on this subject, I proceed with the next
question, on' which there is a great deal of evidence in the
report of the commissioners—l mean the extension of the
University. We are to consider that this is a national in-
stitution—that it is one that ought to supply education for
as many young men as can be expected to require at that
place a liberal system of education. Sir, in look-
ing at the history of the university, it will be found
that in ancient times the university and not the col-
leges was the principal and ruling power—(hear, hear)—
that the congregation of the leading resident teachers,
summoned by a bell, formed the congregation or ruling
body of that university—and that at one time there were
no less than 30J halls to which scholars resorted to obtain
the benefit of the education given by the university. But
in process of time the whole of this system was subverted,
and the commissioners state that for 150 years, and, it ap-
pears, for a considerably longer time, the colleges have sup-
pianted the university, the halls have become altogether
extinct, and that no education has been received by stu
dents except through the medium of thz. tutors of the dif-
ferent colleges. I find that this is stated not only by those
who are in favour of reform, but by those who are against
.it. There is thus now existing quite a different system
from that which was originally established, and the con-
sequence of that difference is that the education given has
beeumti more restricted in its extent, that young men are
obliged to enter a college, and., believing that they are
obliged to receive the education given in that college,
only look to that education, whether they desire to obtain
degrees, or honours, or fellowships, and the more substan-
tial rewards of the university. Now, there is in the
evidence of Dr. Pusey a great deal of very acute discus-
sion upon the question which he puts as an alternative, of
education in colleges, or education by professors of the
university. I own it appears to me in the first place, that
these are not antagonistic questions. (Hear, hear.) It ap-
pears to me that there is nothing more wholesome and
snore advantageous than the existence of colleges, the heads
and fellows of which exercise a certain amount of dis-

fto attend a lecture upon chemistry or mineralogy. It
therefore, necessary that, in some way or other,
there should be a junction betweea the teaching of the
colleges and the duties of the professors. I have mentioned
these matters in order to show how completely the charac-
ter of the university has changed, and one of the con-
sequences of this change is, that there being no longer any
of those hall„ 300 of which existed at an. early period, the
only means of obtaining education at the university is by
becoming an inmate of one of the colleges. The result of
the enjoyment of this monopoly by the colleges, and of the
restrictions which ware established by the Laudian statutes
has been that the cheaper modes of living which were
available in former times, and which enabled numbers of
persons who were comparatively poor to obtain entrance
at the university, have ceasnd to exist, and that the num-
ber of student's at the university has very materially di-
minished. It was stated, I think by the heads of houses
in 1846, that one time the number of undergraduates was
1,460, but that the general number had been about 1,300.
Now, when we consider that there were at one time an
Trinity College, Cambridge, 1,300 inmates of the college,
besides 700 who lived in lodgings and who were held to
belong to that college, we cannot but be satisfied that 1,300
is a very small and insufficient number of persons to be
educated at a great national institution which has 150,0001.
a year of revenue. (Hear, hear.) [Mr. Walpole here made
an observation across the table, but it was entirely inau-
dible in the gallery.] Oneof the defects, therefore, for which
we wish to provide a remedy is this—that there aro no means
of attending the tuition at Oxford except by belonging to
the colleges. The next subject to which I shall call the
attention of the house, and which I mentioned last year,
relates to the restrictions placed upon the various emolu-
ments which are the rewards of learning in the university.
I must say I cannot but think, although ancient
statutes are referred to, that, in point of fact, the fellow-
ships and scholarships have been more restricted than they
were intended to be by their original founders. At all
events, there can bo no doubt—for we have one witness
after another stating the fact—that in consequence of the
existing restrictions, especially of the restrictions to the
kindred of the founders and to persons of particular coan-
ties and localities, the ordinary man is very often pre-
ferred, while the man of singular talent and learning, who
has distinguished himself in the university studies,is re-
jected, and thereby, undoubtedly, the field of utility is
narrowed, and the universities do not produce all the ad-
vantages which they are capable of affording. Many fel-
lowships are held by persons who do not live at Oxford—
some of them have been held for many years by persons
who have had no connection with Oxford, and who have
not contributed in any way to the studies of the univer-
sity; and thereby again the means of this great university
are restricted and frittered away by that waste to which
Dr. Pusey has alluded. The next point to which I have
to refer involves a proposal which undoubtedly may excite
some objection, but it is a subject of so much importance
that ‘re could not disregard it in a scheme for the reform
of the university. It appears to us that some part, at
least of the revenues of the richer colleges which are not
now applied to the purposes of learning, or to provide
teaching in the university, ought to be so applied. We
conceived, therefore, that we could not do better than lay
down certain rules under which the profeassors, lecturers,
and others engaged in teaching at the university, may re-
ceive a sufficient income from tam) sources, so that the
future course of education at the university may be im-
proved. Upon this point I may venture to quote the lan-
guage used by Mr. Burke upon another subject; and, al-
though the views he expressed might not perhaps be very
well applied in speaking of the monasteries in Francs, yet
the general rules he lays down with regard to the great
revenues which are not devoted to useful purposes are so
wise and just, that I think the house may well guide them-
selves by his maxims. "A politician," says Mr. Burke—

" To do great things, looks for a power, what our workmen
call a pirchase' ; and if he finds that power, in politics, as
is mechanics, he cannot be at a loss to apply it. In the mo-
nastic institutions, in my opinion, was found a great power
for the mechanism of politic benevolence. These institutions
are the products of enthusiasm ; they are the instruments of
wisdom. Wisdom cannot create materials ; they are the gifts
nature or of chance 1 her pride is in the use. The perennial
existence of bodies corporate, and their fortunes, are things
particularly suited to a man who has long views, who medi-
tates designs that require time in fashioning, and which pro-
pose duration when they are accomplished. He is not deserv-
ing to rank high, or even to be mentioned in the order of
great statesmen, who having obtained the command and di-
rection of such a power as existed in the wealth, the discipline,
and the habits of such corporations as those which you have
rashly destroyed, cannot find any way of converting it to the
great and lasting benefit of the country."

cipline over the young men who may be sent to the
university, who may afford, them the benefit of their so-
ciety, and who bath by their authority and their manners
can put some check upon their excesses and extravagance
and 1110,1 M-eta the passions of young men. I consider it a
great advantage that this country possesses in the. Univers-
ity of Oxford, that there should be colleges, and that edu-
cation should be given within those colleges. (Hear.)
But, sir, if the education given is to be entirely confined
to those colleges, it is obvious that the tendency will be
that those who teach, and the tutors of those colleges, will
confine themselves to certain branches of learning ; and not
only to certain branches of learning, but that in those
branches of learning which they teach they will confine
themselves to certain branches and certain particular classes
of studies with which they are thoroughly acquainted, and
which they find greater facilities in teaching than a more
eulighted and comprehensive scheme of education. On the
other hand, the professorial system, merely considered.alone,
has a tendency—as has been stated by one of those who
have given evidence to the commissioners—to a loose and
somewhat su erficial, and what is called a "hand to
mouth" system of teaching ; and the student, although
ho may hear the lectures of the professor, will not have
the advantage of being thoroughly examined viva voce by
a person in whose room he is sitting, and from whom he is
receiving immediate instruction. (Hear, hear.) But, on
the other hand, it is to be expected that the teaching of
the college tutor should have a tendency to confine
young men to certain branches of study, and that
they should not be able to obtain from the col-
lege tutors that large and comprehensive view of
different sciences which would be obtained from
persons in the station of professors, and who, being gene-
rally men of eminence, and having devoted their minds to
particular branches of study, are able to point out the
various branches of learning that belong to that particular
class of study. Dr. Pusey has drawn a comparison between
the tutorial system of the English universities and the
professorial system of the German universities, and he has
said that the choice is between the tutorial system of Ox-
ford and that scheme of German rationalism which has
been taught by the professors of some of the German uni-
versities. But the logic and the proof of this assertion
are entirely wanting. (Hear.) The system of German
rationalism does not belong to the professorial system, and
if, instead of going to Germany, Dr. Posey had gone to
Scotland, he would have found that the professors in the
universities there were such men as Dr. Chalmers and
others, whose lectures are as far removed as possible from
the views of those German divines whose rationalistic doc-
trines are the dread of Dr. Pussy. It appears to me that
we have an opportunity, and that opportunity we ought
not to lose, of combining the advantage of the collegiate
with that of professorial teaching. (Hear, hear.) And I
should as little listen to a person who said that, because
the tutorial system is excellent and colleges are of the
greatest value, we ought not to have professors to give
young men the benefit of their teaching, as I should
listen to a lecture by an agricultural teacher who should
say that it is very important to prepare the ground
and till it, to plough and harrow it, to break it up and
fertilise it with manure, but that with respect to
sowing the seed it-was a matter of little importance, to
which his hearers might pay little attention. For this
seems to me the argument that is used. The argument is,
that we ought not only to endeavour to strengthen the mind,
but that we ought to throw in all the power we possess to
strengthen and discipline the mind, but not to give it in-
formation. If these ware young men who only st ,yed at
the university until they were 16, I could well understand
that language. But as these young men usually stay un-
til they are one or two and twenty, it seems to me advis-
able that at the beginning of their college tuition they
should have information with regard to those groat
branches of learning and science which of late years, and
not only of late years, but for the last century, have formed
the riches of our modern time, and that the science of New-
tOn and the literature of modern (lays, of England, and
Italy, anti France, ought not to he unknown to those
who receive a liberal education. (Cheers.) It appears to
me that there are two classes of persons for whom this
education is lesirable. The one class is those who are will-
ing to adopt some profession, or who, at all events, expect
to derive great advantage from the learning so acquired in
the pursuits of life. Now, I do not think you give these
young men sufficient education unless you point out the
road by which such eminence can be obtaintd. I observe
that, with regard to the course of studies proposed in the
year 1850, a great advance was made in this respect ; but I
think if that scheme of studies of 1850 is examined it will be
found that even it has not sufficient scope—that it does not
afford sufficient means to young men to obtain that know-
ledge of science, and of the learning of modern times,
which they ought to acquire. I find that at Cambridge
every person who endeavours to obtain honours is obliged
to have some acquaintance with the Principia of Newton.
I do not find, however, that any such obligation exists at
Oxford ;-yet it appears to me, whether considered with a
view to forming the mind, whether with a view to
strengthening the intellect for other species of reasoning,
whether with a view to watching the progress of discovery
as continued by one eminent man after another, or whe-
ther, as opening the most sublime views of divine Provi-
dence and divine intelligence, that following geometrical
propositions from the commencement of Euclid to the
third hook of the .Principia would be as good and as use-
ful a study as young men could possibly pursue. It would
appear, however, as if the modern date of Newton's dis-
coveries constituted, be some way, an objection to the use
of his Principia in the University of Oxford. I observe
that Dr. Pusey takes great credit for the instruction which
is given in Butler's Analogy. No doubt Butler's Analogy
is as fit to be put into the hands of men whose minds are
to be exercised and who are to be taught the process of
reasoning, as any book that can well be pointed out; but
I find that it is only for a few years past that that work
has been used at the university. I may read to the house
a statement of the number of pupils who have attended
the lectures of the various professors of the university.
Those numbers have varied, from time to time, during
the last two years, hiving sometimes been, in the case
of the Regius Professor of Divinity, 13, 3,6, 26, 16, 14.
The attendance at the lectures of the Regius Professor of
Medicine was, in former times, rarely more than 10, and
often not above four or five. At the lectures of Savile's
Professor of Geometry the average attendance was not
above three, the numberi having varied from 18 to
none. (A laugh.) The average number attending Sevile's
Professor of Astronomy was about three; White's Professor
of Moral Philosophy, between 40 and 50 ; and Camden's
Professer of Ancient History—for the popular lectures
about aO, for the others, 10. Tile lectures of the Regius
Professor of Modern History having been a great attrac-
tion on their establishment, the attendance for the first
year was 160 on the average, and for the second year 57.
Cho attendance at the lectures of the Earl of Lichfield's
Clinical Professor was, on the average of the last three
'years, 5, and at those of Lord Almoner's Reader in Arabic,
3,4, or 1. The attendance at the lectures of Aldrich's
Professor of Chymistry averaged, from the years 1822 to
183 ' 31 per annum • from 1831. to 1838, 16 per annum ;
and from 1833 to the present time, 12 per annum. The
average attendance upon Lee's Pt aslertot of Anatomy
varied from 12 to 20, upon the Reader in Experimental
Philosophy it wee 30, upon the Reader in Mineralogy and
Geology it was 107 on the average for four years, and upon
Boden's Professor of Sanscrit it was 10. It will he seen,
therefore, with regard to the lectures of these professors,
that they do not in feet form a part of the education of
the university. In some of the publications against the
reports of the commissioners stress is laid upon the circum-
stance that professorships exist at present; but as the
attendance upon 'the lectures of the professors does'not
form any part of the road to the honours and emolu-
ments of the university, the consequence is, as might
naturally be expected, that the studies of the colleges
are preforre ;, anti that young men who devote an hour
to Greek plays, another hour to Thucydide3, and ano-
ther to Aristotle's ,Ethic,s, are not disposed afterwards

Now there is, in the present case, no question as to the de-
struction of these collegiate institutions, or as to any at-
tempt to deprive the country of the benefit of their great
resources ; but the question is as to the application of those
resources to the purposes for which, evidently, they were
originally intended, in a manner suited to the wants of our
own times. I may be told that this is an unhallowed
interference with the disposition of property by will—
that it is a blow at foundations and endowments which
are sanctioned by law, and I find that the Chancellor of
the University of Oxford says that the whole frame and
spirit of the bill I propose to introduce to-night are utterly
subversive of all those privileges of the university which
he is bound to maintain. Of a similar purport have been
other communications which have reached my right hon.
friend the member for the University of Oxford. Now,
this is no doubt a serious question, but I think it is impos-
sible for any man to maintain that we have not the power
—as I think it is our right and our duty—to apply these
great endowments to those purposes of education for which
they were intended. Let us look back to the origin of these
foundations. Has everything been done exactly and lite-
rally according to the statutes of the founders? (Hear.) I
need hardly refer—l do n know whether it is fair to refer
—to suzh an event as the Reformation, but I may observe
that 14 out of the 19 collgges at Oxford having been esta-
blished before the RefornAtion, many of the injunctions of
their founders were changed when that event took place by
the orders of the Sovereign who then reigned. That was
a great change, but it was a change for the national benefit
and it may be said that as there was then a change in the
opinion of the whole nation, it was necessary that these
institutions should be made conformable to that change
in the national faith. Bat that change did not by any
means stop there. That change affected the very question
of the kind of teaching that was to be adopted at the
university. We find that, in early times, certain sums
were set apart in many of the colleges for lectures on
divinity, on the canon law, and on moral and natural
philosophy. What has become of these, foundations?
They were intended evidently for the benefit of the whole
university. Have they been so applied? I will read
to the house on this point the statement of a very vener-
able man—not only venerable for his age, but respected
for the valuable contributions he has made to historical
literature—Dr. Routh, the President of Magdalen College,
in his report to the heads of houses. Dr. Routh, in reply
to the questions put to him, says—
"l send, with my respectful compliments, for the informa-
tion of the Committee of the Hebdomadal Board, 'on what are
the particular circumstances respecting readerships or profes-
sorships in Magdalen College, for the service of the University,'
a copy of the college statute relative to our lectures in divi-
nity, and moral and natural philosophy. As to what is the
actual state of such readership or professorship at the present
time,' I answer that the usage has been, ever since and before
I was a member of the college, for our lecturers to read, each
of them, only one lecture at the end of every term."
Now Dr. Routh says, and very truly, confining himself to
the fact, that this has been the usage since he was a mem-
ber of the college, and previously, but he does not say that
it is according to the statute. Indeed it is quite clear that
the usage is not according to the statute. It is quite clear
that these lectureships in divinity and moral and natural
philosophy were intended for the benefit of the university,
and the statute is complied with by reading one lecture at
the end of every term ! Why, here is an abuse ! What
we propose to do, then, is to rectify abuses and not to de-
stroy institutions—to act in the spirit of the founder, and
not contrary to his intentions. (Rear, hear.) Dr. Routh,
however, goes on to say

But it appears by Bishop Morley, our visitor's injunc-
tions, given in 1663, that the lectures were directed by him
to be given once in every week, instead of the times men-
tioned in the founder's statutes. This injunction he sends,
they arJ his own words, 'pro ratione tentporis,' referring, I
apprehend, to the change which had taken place in education,
conducted, as it now is, principally by tutors, persons un-
known to the statutes of Magdalen College."
The President of Magdalen College, then, acknowledges
that these changes were made in a manner unknown to the
statutes, by Bishop Morley, pro ratione temporis. Let us
act pro ratione temporise ; for we in 1854 have as good a
right to consider the ratio tentporis as Bishop Morley had
in 1663. Let us consider what were the intentions of the
benevolent founders of these great institutions, and act as
we suppose they would have been disposed to act, for the
purpose of promoting knowledge and education. I find also
that Walter do Merton, whose statutes, made at a very re-
mote period, have been followed, I believe, by Trinity and
some other colleges at Cambridge, after declaring—" C a 3 -
terum, quia casus omnes futuri ab initio certa, lege includi
non poterant, sen statuto, idcirco volumes," &c., proceeds
to provide that the heads of the college and eight or ten of
the senior fellows shall make statutes from time to time
which shall be obeyed by all those whom such statutes may
concern, thus showing that his view was that with the
change of time changes must be made in the regulations of
the college. If we look, also, to the foundations of William
of Wykeham, William of Waynfleet, and other founders
of colleges at Oxford, we shall find in several cases that
there was an intention to have lectures and professors in
various branches of learning, and that the lectures were
intended for the benefit of the wools university. The
knowledge at the par-
ticularfu
When the earliest of
these colleges were founded. scholastic learning was held in
l founders
m acted e
of
theac according r, 1 ing
foundations. to their
great repute. It was a time when Aristotle was held in
Germany it is said
Gospel, the clergy
Ethics. The founders
of colleges established at that time evidently intended to
promote the study of this species of learning. The revival
suchus that,e
d reverencetionrs
et eaaat
a portion
that
orti readingon o manyf
aA chapterstownsteien of
of learning followed. Greek was introduced at Oxford, as
it was in other universities and schools of learning through-
out Europe, professorships of Greek were founded, and a
new species of learning was adopted with the change of
time. have elapsed since that
y in many of the
sciences. Those sciences have produced. most wonderful
results, and it is desirable that every man should know
he nature of those discoveries and of the
period. ThreeWe hcsevnetu maderies an
gcriemath p alrf o
ticienc_
something of t
fortune laws which apply to them. I conceive that those who
attend the University of Oxford—whether they are in-
tendedl to pursue some profession, o': whether they are
ptheresirmlbresoafd such
byany
that
professional
at a national university, not only instruction in particular
branches of knowledge, but such general information as
will enable them to go into the world, and mix, without
discredit, with persons who are well informed upon these
they are not obliged to earn
pursuit—ought to receive
subjects. (Hear, hear.) I cannot think, then, that, in
proposing to make a change of thiri kind with regard to
part of the revenues of the University of Oxford, we shall
be at all trenching upon the will and intention of the
founders, but I rather think that we shall be acting accord-
ing to the spirit of their intentions. I shall now proceed
to state the general nature of the bill ehich I propose to in-
troduce. In pointing out the defects which I thought ought
to be amended, I have expressed my opinion that the govern-
ment of the university is unsatisfactory. I rely upon the
statement of the commission, that statement, I think,
being corroborated by the testimony cf various witnesses.
What we propose first, then, is to substitute for the heb-
domadal board, consisting of the vice-chancellor, the proc-
tors, and 23 heads of houses, a body consisting of 24 or 2 5
members, to be called the hebdomadal council, and to be
composed in the following manner :—We propose that the
vice-chancellor and the two proctors should always form a
part of that council, and when the vice-chancellor of the
preceding year shall not have been an elected member, that
he also should form part of toe board—that would be three
or four members, as might bs. With regard to the others,
we begin in the first place 1:or forming a body to be called,
in accordance with the ancient name, the " congregation,"
which would in fact consistof all the resident teaching staff
of the university. There vould belong to that body called
the congregation, the head) of houses, the tutors of col-

Lord J. RUSSELL rose to ask leave to bring in a bill'
to make further provision for the good government and
extension of the University of Oxford and of the colleges
therein. The noble lord said—Sir, in rising to lay under
the consideration of the house a most grave and important
subject, I feel peculiar need for your indulgence. I feel
peculiar need for your indulgence, in the first place,' be-
cause I have not had the honour of studying at the Uni-
versity of Oxford, with regard to which I now propose to
bring in a bill ; and, in a second place, because I am la-
bouring under the defect of bodily indisposition. I fear I
may not, therefore, be able to convey amply and fully to
this house the views her Majesty's Government entertain.
with regard to this very important matter. On the other
hand, I have had the advantage of having under conside-
ration a very elaborate and copious report from the coin.
missioners appointed by her Majesty to inquire into the
state and condition of the University of Oxford, and I
have likewise had the advantage of the report which has
been made by the committee of the heads of houses, and
the able evidence submitted to them upon the questions
which have been raised. I have had likewise the assist
ance of my right hon friend the member for Oxford Uni-
venity (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) in the prepara-
tion of the bill which I am about to ask the house to give
me leave to introduce. (Hear, hear.) I therefore, Sir,
proceed at once to the question, whether or not it is
desirable to propose to Parliament great changes with
respect to that university. I will no at the present
moment enter upon the objections which have been made
against any interference ,by Parliament with the 'con-
stitution of that university, but, after having stated the
/ views that we take, I wilt endeavour to meet those isrgu-

THE SUN. LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1854.

leges, the urofessOrs. the persons bearing certain offices in
the university, and those who are resident, upon certain
c•mlitious, and complying with certain rules laid down.
That body, which would therefore be numerous, we pro-
pose should elect a certain number of the remaining 21,
who are to form the hebdomadal council. They would elect
six heads of houses, and the seventh head would be named
by the chancellor of the university. To those seven would
be added eight professors. six being chosen by the congre-
gation, one being named by the chancellor, and one being
from the professors of theology of the university. The re-
maining six would be chosen out of the resident members
of the congregation. The greater part would thus be
elected by the congregation under these restrictions and
conditions. There would be the vice-chancellor and two
proctors, the heads of houses named by the congregation,
the head named by the chancellor, the eight professors,
and the six resident members of the congregation. That
we propose as the governing body of the university.
We propose that of those first chosen a certain number
should go out at the end of three years, but that after the
first election the period for which they would be chosen
should be six years. - The next subject which we propose to
insert in the bill has reference to the oaths, and upon that
subject I will observe that it is very clear that we ought
not any longer to permit oaths to be taken by members,
either not to repeal any statutes of the university, or to
obstruct any change of those statutes. Every oath, there-
fore, directly or indirectly binding the juror not to declare
any matter or thing relating to his college, under any in-
quiry appointed by law, to resist or not concur in any
change in the statutes of the university or college, or to do
or to forbear from doing anything the doing or the not
doing of which would tend to any such concealment, re-
sistance, or non-concurrence, shall be an illegal oath.
The next subject is that of which I have already stated the
effect—namely, the exclusive character of the college edu-
cation. We propose, therefore, that there should be a
power to open private halls, which may be done by any
master of arts obtaining a license from the vice-chancellor
for that purpose ; and he will obtain that license only
under certain rules and regulations made in a particular
manner. Those members of the house whe have attended
to the recommendation of the Oxford Commissioners of
Inquiry will recollect that they propose that the under-
graduates should be allowed to live in lodgings with certain
regulations ; but, upon considering that matter, we have
thought it would be a safer plan that those who are not in
colleges should be in private halls, where they can be sub-
jected to some discipline, but where, at the same time,
they can have a more economical mode of living than is to
be obtained at present. Of course this must be a matter
of experiment. Its success will depend very much upon
the means which persons provide for making that mode of
living more economical than it now is ; but I think that
'there is every prospect that such a measure will succeed.
(Hear, hear.) I will here say a few words—and they shall
be but a few words—with respect to a subject which takes
up much attention, and upon which many observations
have been made by all who have written upon this ques-
tion—l mean the habits of expense and extravagance upon
the part of the young men attending the university.
(Hear, hear.) I believe, Sir, that this is a very serious
evil, but that it is not to be corrected by a law passed
for the purpose, but rather that it should be corrected
in the first place, by inducing better manners and morals,
and, in the second place, by the rules and regulations made
by the rulers of the University themselves. (Hear.) Ido
not think that any law which was passed by Parliament
would be likely to be free from the objection that means
might be found to evade its strict letter. When parents
send their sons to Oxford with very considerable incomes
—they having already had some 2001. or 3001. a-year expend-
ed upon their education at schools—l think that in such a
case it is out of the power of the masters, or the heads of
colleges, or the ruling bodies, if they keep such young men
among them, to control their habits of expenditure. It
would require a degree of inspection which is very averse
from the habits of English society, and I think that they
are right in not attempting so inquisitorial a system. I
think, however, that it would be right that the heads of
the university should say to the parents of such young men,
" Ours is a place of education. We want young men to
come here that we may instruct them in learning, and at the
same time give them habits of virtue and religion ; but if
you send your sons here to indulge in extravagant expen-
diture, and to set a bad example to other young men whose
parents, perhaps, can very ill afford such an expenditure,
you are not coming within the scope of the university, and
for no single breach of discipline, or offence, but simply
because your sons are extravagant, and give a bad example
to the university, we must request you to withdraw them
from this university." (Hear, hear.) I think that this sort
of discipline ought to be exercised more frequently, and,
perhaps, I may say, more fearlessly than it has been done.
At the same time, of course, these halLs, under the conduct
of a man whose character is well-known, and who would
preserve a kindly but useful discipline over those committed
to his charge, would be a security for those under him
that no extravagant expense would be incurred. I come next
to a question into which I do not propose to enter at any
great detail—first, because it would lead me too far, and
next, because I think that the house had better wait for

the bill before they form an opinion upon the proposal
of the Government,-1. come to the question, on which I
have already touched, of preferences granted, owing to sta-
tutes arising out of wills, to those who come under one of
these different denominations—that they are related to the
founder, that they come from a particular place or county,
or, lastly, that they belong to a particular school. Now, I
think the house will agree with me that the first two of
these distinctions are very different in their nature from
the last, and that such distinctions, drawn by the founder,
must continually lead to the obtaining of emoluments by
young men who are by no means deserving of them, and
who may be wanting, perhaps, in industry or talent—that
restriction to particular counties must very often lead, as
Archbishop Whately says it does, to consequences directly
opposed to the intentions of the founder, and to lower the
standard of education imparted to the University. Upon the
other hand, the restrictions with regard to schools, pro-
vided that there is fair competition to those schools, and
that the authorities at Oxford always have the power of
choosing persons from among the best, may be very useful.
We propose, therefore, to do away with the restrictions—
with rare exceptions—as to founders' kindred and particu-
lar localities ; the only exceptions being with regard to
those founded within the last hundred years, to the lineal
descendants of founders, and in favour of large districts,
which on account of their property_or peculiar circum-
stancesmay deserve to be exempted. With respect to schools
we only provide that there must be in every case at least
two scholars from whom the fellows may choose, We go
on to make a further provision with respect to fellowships
—that unless the person holding a fellowship be engaged in
certain employments or occupations, which are stated, he
shall not hold a fellowship for more than one year. The oc-
cupations which we propose that a fellow should hold are,
that he should be habitually engaged in the tuition or dis-
cipline of the said university, or of some colege, hall,
or private hall thereof ; or that he should hold some
one of the offices in the university named in the sche-
dule ; or that he should be the incumbent or licensed
curate of a parish situate within three miles of Cs. fax, in
Oxford • or should hold a certificate of study under this
act. This relates to resident fellows. With regard to non-
resident fellows we provide that he must be the resident in-
cumbent, or licensed curate of a parish within three miles
of Carfax, in Oxford, or of a parish whereof at the time of
the passing of this act the college owned the great tithes,
or wherein at the same period it owned property in land,
such ownership then also continuing ; or, that he shall per-
form some duty requiring his absence from Oxford, the per-
formance of which is now enjoined by statute on the holder
of such fellowship ; or perform some duty, the perform-
ance of which may by some future statute to be made in
pursuance of the powers conferred by this act be declared
to confer on the holder of a fellowship at Oxford the pri-
vilege of non-residence. We likewise provide that, after
holding a fellowship for 21 years, and having been in the
performance of one of those duties, a person shall be free
from the conditions and restrictions which I have laid
down. There is likewise, in certain cases, and for the pur-
poses of study, a proposal to give licenses of non-residence
for a period of five years. I come now to state the powers
which we propose to give of applying part of the revenues
of colleges for increasing the funds for the purposes of
education. And this, perhaps, will be a convenient time
for me to state that, as some f these last provisions and
those which I am about to state require a great deal of
consideration in certain cases—that as the rules must be
adapted as far as possible to the statutes existing, and as
each college will have to consider its statutes very care-
fully—we propose that there should be,, for a certain
limited time, a commission of five persons, who shall have
the power which I will now explain. They shall have the
power, in the first place, of approving statutes in con-
formity with the provisions of the bill proposed by the
university, if they regard the university, or by the col-
leges, if they regard the colleges. We provide that that
power of approving what the colleges may propose shall last
until Michaelmas term 1855, and that after that time, if
the university and the colleges shall not have performed
that which is expected of them, which is within the limits
and compass of this bill, the commissioners shall have
power to enact by statute rules in conformity-with this act
and that those rules, having been laid before the Queen in
Council, having been approved by hor Majesty, and having
been laid upon the table of this house for a certain period,
shall have the force of law, and shall be binding as statutes
upon the university and the colleges. Such being the con-
stitution of the commission, it is proposed that the colleges
should have power to contribute from its annual revenues
any sum not exceeding one-fifth part to the foundation or
better endowment of professorships or lectureships, for
the instruction of the members of the university at large ;
to regulate the tenure of such professorships or lecture-
ships, and provide for the discharge of the duties thereof ;
to diminish the number of fellowships belonging to such
college, or suspend payment of the emoluments of any of
such fellowships, with a view to the foundation of such
professorships oriectureships ; or to the supply of pensions
upon retirement therefrom of the professors or lecturers,
or to the foundation of scholarships in the college : or to
raising the income of the remaining fellowships to any sum
not exceeding 2531. a-year ; or to the erection of new
buildings for the purpose of accommodating an increased
number of inmates ; or to the establishment of halls, to be
affiliated to such college, and the acquisition of grounds
and buildings for the same. We propose, also, that
they shall have various powers, to which I have already
referred, with respect to the grounds of preferences, and
that they may appropriate any number, not exceeding
one-fourth, of the fellowships belonging to any college to
the encouragement of the special studies of the schools
of mathematics, natural science, or modern history, or of
any other studies recognised or to be recognised by the uni-
versity. These are undoubtedly very large powers, but
they are powers which it is proposed to give entirely for
the benefit and improvement of the university. The re-
maining parts of the bill I think only refer to that to which
have already alluded—the statutes to be made in future,
and some other provisions which it is not necessary to
trouble the house with at this time. I have now gone
through the statement which I had to make, including the
proposals for a change in the constitution of the governing
body of the university, the change proposed to be made
with a view to the extension of the benefits of the univer-
sity by the erection anti maintenance of private halls; the
abrogation of oaths which are contrary to public policy and
to the public welfare, and the abrogation of those prefer-
ences which now exist by law, and which so much limit
the advantages which are to be derived from the university.
I have also stated, iu the last place, the powers which it is
proposed to give with the view either to endow new fel-
lowships or to increase the salaries and endowments of
existing ones. I cannot but believe, if a measure of this
kind should pass into a law, that the University of Oxford
would derive very great advantages from these proposals,
and that the nation at large would also derive very great
advantages, because they would tend to bring a far greater
number of young men to enjoy the opportunity of study-
ing at the university, and to obtain the rewards of learn-
ing. (Rear, hear.) It is obvious, at all events, that the
fellowships and other emoluments which were intended
as a reward and encouragement to learning would thereby
be given to men who have qualified themselves for
them, and that they would not be disposed of in the
present unsatisfactory manner. There remains one ques-
tion upon which there is no provision in the bill ; but
upon which I shall be ready at any time to give my
opinion, and my vote in conformity with the opinion
which I have always given. (Hear.) I cannot think that

• the purposes of the university are advanced while there is
a test at the cemnicuccment of entrance, into the university
j —The noble lord, at this juncture, turned co:npietely
round to the moaibers behind him, who cheered so lustily
in the mi bile of the sentence that the concluding portion
of it was entirely lost.] I never would consent to any
measure by which the discipline of the colleges, or the
conduct of the religions instruction in the colleges, or the
attendance upon Divine worship was in any way inter-
fered with; but I do expect certainly that by the addition
of these new halls facilities will be afforded which induce
Parliament not to interpose the obstacles which have
hitherto been interposed to the enjoyment of the benefits
of those great schools of learning by a far greater portion
of her Majesty's subjects than now enjoy them. (Hear,
hear.) Ido not think that it would be wise, and her Ma-
jesty's Government have decided accordingly, to insert any
provision upon this subject in the present bilL It is a sub-
ject which divides both this and the other house of Parlia-
ment, and it should be, I think, a subject reserved for a
separate measure, and for separate consideration. I cer-
tainly shall be always prepared at any time to give my
vote in the same manner that I gave it 20 years ago. That
vote I gave in company with the present Chancellor of the
University of Oxford. I am afraid that I shall no longer
give it with the sanction and countenance of such autho-
ritv ; but I shall be quite ready, nevertheless, to give my
vote in favour of the admission of Dissenters. As I have
already said, however, that forms no part of the present
bill. Still, I think no one will deny that this is a large
and comprehensive measure of reform. (Hear, hear, and
a laugh from the Opposition.) No one will dispute that we
have not undertaken this question in any narrow spirit; no
one will dispute that we have not listened to those objec-
tions which we thought were founded in prejudice or error, •
but I trust all will admit that we have introduced this mea-
sure with the view of rendering those two groat universities
of Oxford and Cambridge worthy of the nation, and that,
while we preserve the spirit of the forinders of those rich
endowments, we at the same time are determined, as far as
possible, to allow the people of this country to have the
benefit of a sound, a religious, and a liberal education.
Mr. BLACKETT regretted that the bill contained no
provision for the admission of Dissenters.
_ _

- Mr. MALL had heard with deep pain the announcement
that the advantages, emoluments, and honours of the uni-
versities were still to be withheld from the Dissenters. Ac-
cording to the last census, the population of this country
divided, generally speaking, into three classes—the absen-
tees, the Dissenters, and the Church of England people,
each numbering about 5,000,000 ; yet, according to this
bill, all the advantages of the universities were to be mono-
polised still by one only of these classes. He begged em-
phatically to enter his protest against this one-sided legis-
lation. The noble lord, indeed, said that his inclination
was to abolish the test by which Dissenters were excluded.
If the noble lord was sincere in this declaration, let him in-
sert a clause in the bill to carry it into effect. Should such
a clause procure the destruction of the bill elsewhere, the
responsibility then would lie on those who had resisted the
concession, and not on the noble lord and the Government.
Mr. WALPOLE said the noble lord had characterised
his bill as a large and comprehensive measure of reform.
That it was a large measure no one could deny ; whether
it was a comprehensive measure of reform remained to be
seen. In his opinion, the course should have been
to remove by statute those disabilities which, under
various charters and statutes, now prevented the colleges
and universities from effecting those improvements in
their system of education which they were most competent
by their knowledge and experience to introduce and to
carry into effect. The noble lord might be assured that it
would be far better, by consulting the wishes and feelings
of the university governing bodies, to conciliate their wil-
ling co-operation iu the development of any sound prin-
ciples that might be laid down than arbitrarily to impose
this extreme external force and pressure upon them. The
constitution of the university was one of the points which
he should especially consider it most expedient to leave to
the university itself rather than to have settled by the
House of Commons—an ever fluctuating body—where the
plan of to-day might be considered quite unwise five years
hence. There could be no doubt that it was well univer-
sity statutes should be revised periodically pro ration
teinporis ; the universities themselves were loud in their
enunciation of this proposition, and all they asked
was that they might be enabled by Parliament to
make the changes which were required ratione tem-
poris. (Hear, hear.) Free them from the disabilities
which statutes and charters imposed upon them,
and they were quite willing, as they had manifested,
to make the requisite improvements in their system of edu-
cation. With regard to the principle that the universities
should be opened to persons not annexed to any particular
college, this question was most ably discussed in the Cam-
bridge University Report. At Oxford, indeed, undergra-
duates must re
side in the university, but at Cambridge
they might reside in lodgings without the university. There
was no doubt that by such a relaxation generally the
amount of education at the universities might be enlarged
indefinitely, but this one guard must be rigidly enforced,
as the Cambridge Report pointed out, that, wherever they
resided, the student must be under the superintendence
and control of the governing body, or the discipline of the
university would be at an end. (Hear.) With regard to
the extension of the professorial system, as distinguished
from the tutorial system, there were already professors in
almost every class of instruction ; the defect was that the
young men had no inducement to attend these professors
by the prospect of such prizes and honours as attended the
meritorious frequenter of the more special courses of uni-
versity study. It should be recollected that the great ob-
ject of education at the university was not to oppress the
young mind with indigestive heaps of incongruous matter,
but to train and discipline the moral feelings for the after
purposes of life. It had hitherto been found that, to culti-
vate the intellect, to develop© the moral feelings, and to
improve the heart, that training had been most effective
which relied mainly upon the severe but unerring rules
of mathematics, and upon the study of those ancient
classics in which we possessed the noblest thoughts
clothed in the noblest language that ever emanated
from the mind of man. (Hear.) The study of these, he fer-
vently trusted, would ever continue, as they had ever been,
predominant and pre-eminent at our universities. The pro-
position to extend endowments from limitation of foun-
ders' kin and particular localities, he entirely approved of,
with one qualification, satisfied as he was that the founders
themselves would be the first to apply that extension to
the altered circumstances of the time. (Hear.) He was
afraid that if they took away endowments made by parti-
cular people for particular purposes, they would put an
oud to the inducement to make such endowments--(hear,
hear)—and he trusted that the bill of the noble lord would
be guarded in that respect. If he followed the noble
lord's words rightly, it was not his intention to interfere
with endowments which had been made within the last
100 years. Possibly that might prevent the evil he antici-
pated, but he hoped they would never by any legislation
put a stop in the slightest degree to that charity and that
voluntary benevolence that liberal people showed not
merely for the benefit of the present but succeeding gene-
rations, which he trusted might reap the fruits of such
endowments undisturbed by anything that might be done
by that house. But the point on which he entertained
the most serious apprehensions was the compulsory ap-
plication of the college funds. The noble lord gave colleges a
year's grace to dispose of one-fifth of their annual revenues to
the foundation or better endowment of professorships or lec-
tureships for the instruction of the members of the university
at large, whatever might bo their demands or wishes or the
objects to be accomplished, and if within that year they
did not alienate a fifth part of their revenues, certain com-
missioners were to be appointed who were to take away,
whether the colleges consented or not, that portion and
apply it to the purposes in question. Surely the university
should be consulted on such a matter as that. The 'wheal
defect of the Government measure was that, instead of re-
moving disabilities, they were forcing alterations upon col-
leges and universities, and they could not judge whether
such alterations would be for their benefit, or whether
Parliament five years hence, considering them not beneficial,
would not make the greatest alterations at some future
period. Feeling strongly on these points, he could not help
calling the attention of the Government to them, for he
had always been of opinion that the proper way to deal
with the report of this commission would be, as it was an-
nounced in the speech from the Throne in 1852, to pass au
enabling bill defining the points on which universities and
colleges might be empowered to alter their statutes, pot
with a view of leaving them unreformed, but of making
them, as national institutions, as largely beneficial as they
could be to the people of this country. (Cheers.)
Sir W. lIEATHCOTE said, he had given every consid-
eration to the question, whether the bill should be made
an enabling bill, or one of a compulsory character—and he
confessed that the more ho had considered the point, time
more he was convinced that the passing of merely au
enabling bill would be to do nothing at all. (Hear, hear.)
He should observe that this bill might be divided into two
distinct parts for consideration. The one relating to the
university, and the other to the colleges. With respect to
the university, the question was not whether there should
be an enabling or a compulsory bill—but there was a prior
question which was a grave one—namely, whether they
should legislate upon the subject at all, (Hear, hoar.)
It was quite clear that the university, with the consent
of the Queen upon one statute, and without the Royal
consent on others, could legislate already for itself, except
upon some minor points. (Hear.) With respect to the
constitution of the uuiversity—with the consent of the
Crown, and by previous arrangements, a new constitution
might be framed. And if it had been so framed under
such circumstances, all the questions of form, and. all ar-
rangements of the university might be settled without the
necessity of consulting Parliament. He thought that there
had been a most unfair obloquy thrown upon the govern-
ing authorities of Oxford in respect to a plan brought for-
ward for amending the constitution of the university. At
the same time, he did not think it was wise for them to
have so long delayed suggesting an arrangement upon
which the whole plan was to hinge. When the plan pro-
jected by the heads of the house was charged with not
being boon fide, ho must say that such an assertion was a
hard one to make, and was not justifiable. Now, it was
consistent with all their legislation in that house, that
there should not boa waste of legislative power, and that
they should not attempt to apply remedies whore no evils
existed. But to return to the question whether the act
should be enabling or compulsory. The case of the colleges
was no doubt different to that of the university. The cor-
respondence which was published on the subject showed
how anxious all the colleges were to improve their own
statutes. There were three or four colleges which had
power to amend their own statutes, and to apply them to
the existing state of things. The rest of the 19 colleges
were all bound by statutes, and about one-half by such
stringent rules, that whatever statutes they possessed in
respect to thorn they would have no effect. He hoped that
this house would not. arrogate to itself the power to declare
oaths void. Even if the house assumed such a power, the
conscientious men connected with the university would
never consent to such an arrangement, but would still feel
themselves bound by their oaths. Well, then, the form of
proceeding in reference to this subject must bo compulsory
As to many of the colleges their proceeding must be by the.
influence of external power ; certainly not by any hostile
proceeding. Until the names of the commissioners were
placed upon the biil, this point could not be ascertained
satisfactorily, for it would turn upon th© particular names
themselves whether this proceeding should be viewed as
hostile or otherwise. There was one proposition of the
noble lord which he confessed he felt as much di diculty or
doubt about as the the right lieu. gentleman the member
for illidhurst. He alluded to the proposal to dives t from the
colleges the funds that had been given them by their foun-
ders for certain defined objects, and to apply them to the
purpose of establishing professors. Now ho looked upon this
proposition with great suspicion. Surely the colleges were en-
titled to as much protection as any other charitable funds.
If the colleges insisted pertinaciously upon extending the
university beyond its limits, there would, perhaps, be
some justification for adopting some such proposition as
that of the noble lord. If they were going to endow pro-
fessorships to which the appointments were in the hands
of the Crown, or some other authority than that from which
the money was to come, then he considered that such a
course would be nothing but confiscation. (Hear.) Ho
was not contostiug their power. Ho knew that Parliament
had powers absolute and despotic. Ho was aware that
they had passed acts of confiscation and attainder, and
they might do so again, but those were acts of uncontrolled
' 1 power, not legislation. They were pllvitegim, not laws,