The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-14 00:00:00

THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD

AND CAMBRIDGE.

Two questions were involved in Mr. Christie's motion
respecting the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge on
Thursday evening; one was their system as to those
whom they admit within their pale, the other their
system as to those whom they exclude. Both have been
negatived for a time ; but a warning has been repeated.
It now amounts to an historical fact that the Reform
Bill was hastened by the high-handed refusal of those
in power to rectify " some few proved abuses ; in the
same way the Universities may be assured that if they do
not exert themselves to correct what is amiss within
their walls, they will by-and-by be reformed with a
vengeance from without.
The wider question of the admission to Oxford and
Cambridge degrees of Catholics and Dissenters
we do not enter upon at present ; we propose only to
notice some points of discipline and rules of practice,
which, as real well-wishers of the two sister Universities,
we should desire to see amended. We are not here
speaking of such matters as caps and hats, or stuff and
silk gowns ; indeed, we do not object to a reasonable
deference to rank at college, since rank is a thing that
will be, and ought to be, deterred to in after-life. We
are alluding to essentials—to such vital matters as the
course of study and the pecuniary outlay of students.
And first, with respect to the course of study; we find
from the returns of the various Professors, and more
particularly from the statement of Dr. Daubeny,
that of late years the attendance upon public lec-
tures has so fallen off and declined that it is now
almost entirely discontinued. Twenty or thirty is
the maximum of an audience, while some of the
professors are without so much as the humorous Dean's
" dearly beloved Jonathan," and are reduced to empty
walls, silence, and sinecure. All the instruction now
supplied is furnished by the private or the College
tutor. The effect of this is to alter the
nature of the Universities, and to degrade it—to
make them mere clusters of contiguous schools, instead
of being what they were designed to be—comprehensive
and harmonious machines on a grand scale, for giving to
the minds, sent up to them in stares of greater or less
preparation, the last polish and perfection. Under the
tutorial, as distinguished from the professional, regime—
under the College as distinguished from the University
education—what does a student gain more than he did
at a public sell°. 1 ? Does he, except so far as ht• himself
brings maturer faculties, gain so much instruction ? At
school, after Darning his lesson, he rehearses it to his
tutor, and was examined in it daily in public by the
master. At the University he has two examinations in
four years 1 We are well aware that eminent men issue
from our Universities ; but they take much of their
learning with them to those seats of the Muses, and they
would bring yet more away if the system were improved
and enlarged.
With respect to the expense, we are well aware of
the difficulty of sumptuary laws, and of the ease with
which restrictions on the purse, or rather on credit, are
evaded ; but sure we are that with the large authority
of proctors, tutors, and heads of houses, much more
might be done to prevent the years of a university career,
which ought to be happy and useful, from being the
source of ruin and misery for life. Thoughtless as
young men too often are, there yet are ways of deal-
ing with them that might be tried with much success ;
to reasonable restraint might be added friendly remon-
strance, an appeal to parents, an appeal to their own
feelings and better judgment. The hundreds which
are wasted in riot, have often been raised for the young
academic by the denial of comforts at home • to re-
mind him of this, to point out to him how valuable to
himself at some not distant day, how productive of much
more real enjoyment, what he is throwing away would
be, might be tried oftener than it is, and with much
success. Our pages have frequently recorded trials where
young men have been sued, by those who smiled and
trusted, for articles which no jury could construe into
necessaries—for items lavished by an extravagance that
would be ludicrous if it were not melancholy. This
evil might be easily redressed : it might be provided
that no tradesman residing in or within a certain dis-
tance of Oxford or Cambridge should be entitled to sue
for, and recover from, any undergraduate any debt of
above one year's standing, or of above 5/. or 101. in
amount, except there were a previous written order
from the tutor of the undergraduate's college, without
any inquiry in Court whether the goods were necessaries
or not. At present a very largo majority of the students
of our two leading Universities are sent to them to be
prepared for admission into the Cnurch ; and of these a
majority again are persons in such circumstances that
3001. or 400/. a year for four years are sums which they
cannot very well afford. Still less can they afford to
acquire habits of extravagance—habits which they must
unlearn afterwards by a painful process.
The legitimate expenses of a college career need and
ought not to be heavy, even if the colleges had not Veen
amply endowed. In a German University a moderate
yearly payment to the tutor, the fees to the various
professors, and the cost of board, are covered by a com-
paratively small sum. In the English Universities the
tutors have their college endowments, the professors
enjoy the ample liberality of the founders, the colleges
have space for students: why should there be a ruinous
expense? Surely, with their ample means, their enor-
mous revenues, our Universities might afford to supply
all educational wants at the lowest charge. Why should
an institution by far the wealthiest not produce the most
liberal programme of instruction? We do not under-
value classical learning; but we contend that for modern
times it is not sufficient for a man to know Latin and
Greek alone. Of modern languages at the present Jay-
a gentleman is expected not to be utterly ignorant; but
these are things which Oxford and Cambridge do not
profess to teach, which, in limiting their honours and
degrees to other acquirements, they virtually exclude.—
Times,

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
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be:ti

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salty house, Sheerness, on view of the body of Vice-Au-
miral Sir J. C. White, Commander in Chief at the
Nore, who died very suddenly on Friday last. From the
evidence of the secretary it appeared that the deceased ad-
miral had been complaining for several days previous, but
not to excite any apprehensions of a fatal termination.
On Thursday last he bad so far recovered as to be able
to have a party at dinner with him. On Friday fore
noon, about eleven o'cleck, he was seized with a return of
the pain in h:s chest while putting his signature to
official papers brought into his room by the secretary, aid
expired in a few moments. Dr. Miller, the surgeon of
the flag ship, attributed his death to an affection of the
heart, ar.d the jury immediately returned a verdict
" That the gallant officer had died from a disease of the
heart." The Trafalgar, 120, Captain Murtin, is painte d
black, and all the ships in commission and in ordinary
have their colours half-mast high.

DEATH OF ANOTHER FLAG OFFICER.—Admiral of the
Blue Henry Raper, Esq., of South Audley-street, Gros- ,
venor- quare, and of Inner, Bucks, has departed this life ,
in the 78th year of his age. Although p'ain Admiral Ra-
per, the deceased was a most gallant officer, and served with
great distinction, but his services must have been too an-
cient to be remembered in the more recent distribution of
honours and additions to a name. Admiral Paper was
second on the list of Admirals of the Blue. The precise
date of his entry into the navy is not known, but he
was midshipman of the Cambridge at the relief of Gib-
raltar, and was wounded in the actions off the Dogger
Bank, in 1781. He was made a Lieutenant on the
22d November, 1790, and was Flag-Lieutenant of the
Queen Charlotte on the glorious Ist of June. He ob-
tained his promotion to a Commander for that service
on the 4th of July, and was made a Post-Captain on
the Ist of February, 1796. He commanded the
Champion in the unfortunate expedition to Os-
tend, in 1798. He afterwards commanded L'Aimable,
and in that ship, in 1799, gallantly engaged the French
frigate Syrene and the Bergere corvette. He obtained
his rank of Rear-Admiral at the general 'promotion of
the 12th August, 1819, that of Vice-Admiral on the
22d July, 1830, and Admiral on the promotion in
honour or the birth of the Prince of Wales on the 231
November, 1841.
THE NOTORIOUS SLAVE FELUCCA—TI-
lucca that beat off the Growler's boat ae slave fe-
manded by Lieutenant
...a-, has escaped no less
than six times from `:.tr men-of-war cruisers—once
than the c,cleb".:,.ed Waterwitch, 10, commanded by
Captain (*.Alen Lieutenant) Matson ; once from a
prize of the Waterwitch ; twice from the
When commanded by Captain Tucker ; once from
the Kite, steam-vessel ; and once from the boat
of the Growler, steam-sloop. She is well known to
all the men-of-war officers, and there is not a
man on the coast who would not be delighted to
give that account of her punishment and capture
which we hope soon to record. She is a long, low,
sneaking craft, with a stump of a mast not six feet
above the deck, but having a yard running up at an
angle of 45 degrees above 180 feet long, with a sail that
propels her through the water at such a rate as to dis-
tance the swiftest cruiser. We have heard that she was
built at Barcelona, and has a crew of between sixty
or seventy of the worst description of • men-
stealers. Captain Matson, we believe, captured a
sister vessel to her, which for a long time had
been notorious on the coast of Africa for her impunity
and success. The Waterwitch came within range,
and, by a well-directed shot through the slings of her im-
mense yard, knocked it about their ears, and thereby the
slaver became entirely at her mercy. On this occasion the
semi-pirate captain seized a musket and shut dead the man
whom he had placed on the top of the mast to
look out. The escapes of the felucca that beat off
the Growler's boat have been very narrow. On one oc-
casion she was almost caught by a tender of the Water-
witch, named the Pretty Pi.liy. This vessel e a a
beautiful little end', and, on being captured, was
manned from the kV aterwitch, and sent into a slave-
dealing port, to lie in wait fur this felucca. Not
aware of the capture and altered chat acter of this

vessel, but deeming her to be still in the iniquitous
pursuit, the felucca stood into the place within a quar-
ter of a mile of the Pretty Polly, and, v‘e believe, had
nearly got down her large sal, when she discovered
she was in the vicinity of an enemy. She iminenia.te,y,
by great exertions of a numerous crew, got up her sail
again, the Pretty Polly tiring at her, and endeavouring
to get nearer ; but, having such few hands, and
the felucca being so fully manned—the wind also
falling, and the felucca, capable of being rowed
with ease—the tender had no chance with her.
When the felucca got out, and perceived her
advantage over the Pretty Folly, she several times most
impudently bore down on her, tired a shot, and then ran
away in no time. The Waterwitch was only about
fifty-en miles off; and the tender made all haste to com-
municate with her ; but when the Waterwitch and the
Pretty Polly arrived at the slave port the next morning,
they found that the felucca bad been in, and by force of
arms had seized a cargo of slaves, and had departed.
Her escapes from the Iris were almost miraculous. It
is generally believed that nothing but a steamer will
catch her.
FRENCH AND ENGLISH NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.-
We have received the following letter from a naval
officer who is intimately acquainted with the French
and English navies, and, the state of naval architecture
in both countries:—

" Le Havre, April 3,.1845.

" Sir,—The naval officers of the old school, living in
retirement at this port and its environs, have read with
much pleasure the constant and judicious views
which the Morning Herald has taken in its columns of
the momentous subject of naval architecture, hitherto so
ueaccountably neglected in a country where the perfec-
tion of this art, from our insular position and its
immense commercial operations, ought to be considered
of paramount importance. When, Sir, we contem-
plate the lofty structure of a first-rate man of war,
made to encounter and resist the wildest elements of
heaven, we must concur in the soundness of the
remark made in this country, that ship-building is a
Carriere qui exige tout ce que les connaissances humaines
ont de plus abstrait,' and the precaution and means taken
by the French in selecting the best builders, fully
account for the superiority their ships have ever
retained, both in sailing and beauty, over our own.
Indeed, so important is held the value of mari-
time genius and naval architecture in this country,
so superior are they considered to those talents
requisite to navigate or fight, that in the reign of Napo-
leon a Monsieur Fortait, of the building department,
was intrusted with the administration of the French
navy, as was also M. Charles Dupin, who about eight
years ago was promoted from a teat at the French
Admiralty Board to the office of Minister of Marine.
Every impartial naval man, from the last debates
in the House of Commons, will see the ne-
cessity, if we desire to preserve our superiority
over the French, and keep inviolable our shores
from French invasion, of reviving the school
of naval architecture, and of emancipating a
science, so important to our very existence, from the
trammels of political interest and of ignorant prejudice.
Some of your readers, Sir, may nut be acquainted
with the means employed by our neighbours to
obtain efficient ships. The following are the plans
which the French Admiralty adopt for this
important aim. When the Government want a Alp built
they make it known in all the naval ports ; and the
ship-builders, who are a talei.ted and well educated
emus', are invited to send to the Admiralty model;-,
perfect to the smallest minutiae, and drawings, sections,
and specifications, extremely minute in their details ;
these, it is understood, ere re ferred to a committee,
who examine them, and, if necessary, have the
ship builders before them, to answer any question, that
may be deemed advisable. 'When the model most
approved of is agreed to, the builder is informed that
the Admiralty have chosen his model and plans, and
he is directed to commence building a vessel in ex-
act accordance therewith, the Government furnish-
ing every material requisite ; and during its con.
sti tution, a Member of this Committee frequently
visits the port, to verify that she accords with the
model and specifications. The builder receives a present
fur his model, which becomes Government property, and
is paid quaniurn mei uit, which is agreed upon before her
keel is laid, the builders having, as I understand, no
yearly salary as ours have.
"'Thanking you, Mr. Editor, with my brother officers
here, for the great interest with which the Herald has
espoused the naval service, I have the honour to be, Sir,
your obedient servant, EPAULETTES."
—Herald.

(Abridged from the Hampshire Telegraph.)
Her Majesty's ship Eurydice, Captain George Elliot,
was at Sacrificios on the 3d of March, and also two
Spanish and one French vessel of war. Her Majesty's
ships Illustrious, Inconstant, Spartan, Hyacinth, Persian,
and Hermes steamer, were at Bermuda on the 23d of
March. The Inconstant had arrived there with specie
from Tampico.
The Pique, 36, left Barbadoes for Demerara, on the
sth of March.

The Espiegle, 12, Commander Thompson, sailed from
Devonport on Thursday, for the East Indies and China.

The Actaeon, 26, and Firebrand, steam-frigate, both on
their way to the Brazils, and the Lily, 16, for the coast
of Africa, were at Madeira on the 7th of March.

The Espoir, 10, Commander Hand, was at St. Helena,
all well, on the Ist of February. On the morning of the
sth of January (says a private letter just received from
her), while cruising off Cape Lopez about daylight, the
signal-man at the mast-head announced a suspicious-
looking craft, when, the wind being light, the gig and
cutter were ordered to give chase. They returned about
noon, with a fine schooner of 100 tons, named the Casem.
When taken the prize had 41 leaguers of water and a
cargo of rice on board, and her slave deck laid. The
Espoir took her prize into St. Helena, where she was
condemned. _ _ _ _ _ . _

Vice-Admiral Sir Edward King, K.C.8., is appointed
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, vice Sir J. Chambers
Whitt', deceased.
Admiral Sir John West, K.C.8., is to succeed Sir 1).
Milne as Commander-in• Chief at Plymouth.