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 TRAVELS of the RUSSIAN MISSION through MONGOLIA 
 
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 GIBBONS HISTORY of the DECLINE and FALL of the 
 
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 ^-r::^/ 
 
 / 
 
 /^(^K^l^Cf^ K
 
 ACADEMIC UNITY; 
 
 BEING THE SUBSTANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 A GENERAL DISSERTATION 
 
 CONTAINED IN 
 
 THE PRIVILEGES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 JlS TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN: 
 WITH VARIOUS ADDITIONS. 
 
 By G. dyer, A.B. 
 
 EDITOR OF "the PRIVILEGES OF THE UNIVERSITY OP CAMBRIDGE," 
 
 AND OF " A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES 
 
 OF CAMBRIDGE," &:C. 
 
 WITH A PREFACE, 
 
 Giving some Account of the Dissenting Colleges in the United 
 Kingdom, and of the London University. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN AND GREEN, TATERNOSTER- 
 
 ROW, AND R. HUNTER, ST. PAUl's CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 1827.
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, SHOE-LANE.
 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 It was reckoned more agreeable to the design 
 of the writer of the following pages, to affix a 
 title to them, which refers rather to the object 
 to which they lead, than to the subjects of which 
 they treat. Hence the word. Unity, is pre- 
 ferred to. Polity; which latter word, otherwise, 
 would have been more appropriate to the work ; 
 for it might have comprehended whatever relates 
 to the administration as well of the Literature, 
 as of the Government, of an Academical Esta- 
 blishment. 
 
 It will be seen from the Preface, that the 
 translation was undertaken to accommodate 
 a few readers of " The Privileges of the Univer- 
 sity of Cambridge," who either might not be 
 familiar with the Latin, or have no relish for 
 English Latinity : while the reasons, which ought, 
 perhaps, to have led the writer to publish it in 
 English at first have now overruled the consi- 

 
 IV 
 
 derations which induced him to attempt it in 
 Latin. And it is hoped, that, if readers form 
 their judgment both of the original and the trans- 
 lation not from particular expressions and de- 
 tached passages, but from the general tenour, and 
 ultimate design of the whole, they will perceive 
 a liberality of intention, whatever they may think 
 of the imperfections of the work, or of the ble- 
 mishes of its interpretation.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 JVlOST readers, agreetibly to modern practice, 
 look for a preface to all printed books ; though, 
 perhaps, some may think, none should be 
 printed, which require an apology : an opinion, 
 however, which can only be partially true. 
 
 An apology will certainly be expected for a 
 publication like the present : I feel myself, and 
 very sensibly, thatit is become necessary, though 
 when presented, I fear it will be reckoned a 
 somewhat singular one. For the original it- 
 self being a sort of preface to another work, 
 "The Privileges of the University of Cambridge,'* 
 and though, in the form of a General Disserta- 
 tion, exhibiting, amidst a variety of other par- 
 ticulars, an apology for printing it, — the present 
 prefatory Address must appear as a preface to 
 a preface, as an apology for an apology. 
 
 There might, indeed, have existed, informer 
 times, those who would have insisted, that no 
 apology could be ad mitted for such a publication : 
 the " Privileges of the University," with this 
 " General Dissertation,'' appertaining to it, and 
 here presented in an English dress, contains 
 some matters, which, they might have thought, 
 should not be made public. Both the work 
 
 b
 
 VI 
 
 itselt', and this appendage, niiglit have appeared 
 to tliom, — though much too liastily, — to border 
 on a violation of some Statute, and, intermed- 
 dhng will) estabhshed usages, to savour of indis- 
 cretion and arrogance : ihey might even liave 
 tliought It a crime, and entith^d to punishment. 
 
 But such are not the opinions of these 
 times. The transactions of an En^hsh Univer- 
 sity can have nothing mysterious in them ; and 
 an acquaintance with them may answer many 
 jjurposes of pubhc and private utihty. Under 
 all circumstances, however, an apology must 
 be made ; and the best, the only one, which 
 offers itself, must arise from a statement of the 
 proper origin, and general design, as well of the 
 work itself, as of the following Dissertation. 
 
 Several years ago, after I had been tempted 
 to undertake a short History of the University 
 of Cambridge, I accidentally met at a book- 
 seller's shop with a manuscript, containing the 
 Charters, and present received Statutes, with 
 several other public Instruments and Documents 
 relating to that Institution, all placed in chro- 
 nological order from the earliest times. It had 
 " Statuta et Privilegia Acad. Cantab." written 
 on the back : and on perceiving from a cursory 
 view of its contents, that it might be useful to 
 me, in the work, on which I was then engaged, 
 I purchased it at a venture, without knowing at 
 the time its full value and contents. 
 
 On showing these papers to mv excellent
 
 Vll 
 
 friend, the late Mr. Robert Tyrwhitt of Jesus 
 College, than whom, as I knew well, no man 
 was better acquainted with the Laws and Cus- 
 toms of the UniversitV} he immediately recog- 
 nised the hand-writing, and desired me to leave 
 the manuscript, adding, that when I called 
 again, he would converse with me concerning 
 the contents and the writer. 
 
 On my return to Mr. Tyrwhitt, he produced 
 another manuscript, on the perusal of which, I 
 perceived it was in the same hand-writing as 
 mine. Mr. Tyrwhitt then informed me, that 
 the scribe was Dr. Francis Sawyer Parris, who 
 was formerly Master of Sidney College, and 
 Vice-Chancellor in 1747 ; that it was an Index 
 to the famous Collection of Charters, Privileges, 
 &c. of the University and Town, completed out 
 of the archives of the University by Robert Hare, 
 Esq. in 1587 ; that Dr. Parris employed himself, 
 while in office, in making an Index to that work, 
 bringing it down, with various other documents, 
 to a much later period ; that he afterwards 
 took a few copies for the service of his friends ; 
 that he himself — ^Mr. Tyrwhitt — possessed one, 
 — though nothing near so complete as mine, — 
 and that he was indebted to it for much of his 
 knowledge of the Economy of the University. 
 
 Having thus collected, that this Index had 
 been useful to a gentleman of so much know- 
 ledge, and exact judgement, as Mr. Tyrwhitt, I 
 concluded it would not be less so to other mem- 
 
 b 2
 
 \ 111 
 
 hcv<. of the University ; and being persuaded, 
 also, on a fwrther perusal of it, that it mi^ht 
 assist those who should at any time engage in 
 historical researches, as it had nie, I determined 
 on printing it. And this is a plain account of the 
 proper origin of the Work entitled, " The Privi- 
 leges of the University of Cambridge," which I 
 j)iihlished in two volumes, large 8vo, in 1824, 
 containing, indeed, as it turned out, a variety of 
 my own papers relating to the University, l)ut 
 all, for the sake of uniformity, brought under one 
 and the same title. 
 
 Such having been the proper origin of the 
 book itself, the following epistle, which was a 
 sort of illustration of it, may be said to possess 
 the same. It followed the forincr, as the 
 shadow its substance : and, as the former was 
 written in Latin, it was natural to give the latter 
 the same appearance, particularly, as it was de- 
 signed at first almost exclusively for a learned 
 body, and as some things introduced could be 
 said better, and with more freedom, as I thought, 
 in Latin, than in Eno-lish. But the extreme 
 length of it was unpremeditated ; it was fallen 
 into insensibly : it took in fresh matter which 
 did not enter into the first view of the subject : 
 — but as particulars are detailed elsewhere, they 
 shall not be repeated in this place. 
 
 The above statement, intended for an apo- 
 logy, will serve also for an explanation, and is 
 addressed more to general readers, than to those
 
 IX 
 
 who, to a certain degree, are the subjects of the 
 Dissertation, who are at least addressed in it, the 
 Gentlemen of tlie University : in the present 
 case there is a call for explanation : "the Privi- 
 leges of Cambridge" being frequently alluded to 
 in the Dissertation, and, indeed, giving to it all 
 its form and character; so that it is expedient 
 for readers to come prepared, as it were, at the 
 outset with their instructions, " least by not 
 looking before, they should find themselves 
 behind;" so as not to see the propriety of the 
 pending remarks, nor the force of the leading 
 
 arouments. 
 
 This account of the proper origin of " the 
 Privileges of the University of Cambridge" will 
 lead to an exposition of its General Design, and 
 that of the following Dissertation. For they are 
 both of the same kindred; and utility was the 
 aim of both. I had feelings of respect for 
 the place, not only as one, in which I had 
 passed some years of early life, but where, hav- 
 ing visited it regularly for several years since, I 
 had received personal civilities and many lite- 
 rary favours. I wished to repay them, if I 
 knew how, in the proper coin of the place. 
 And had " the Privileges" been ofiered in pay- 
 ment separate from any allay of iny own, it 
 would, 1 believe, have been acknovvledaed as 
 that proper coin, and obtained currency. 
 However, the primary and more general aim 
 was, on first engaging in the pubhcation, to offer
 
 to the members ot the University what, it was 
 thought, mig'lit prove acceptable to many of 
 them, as being serviceable both for purposes of 
 official business and University History. 
 
 Still the Privileges and Statutes of Universities 
 are but as the badge of an order, or the costume 
 of a limited spot ; and poring over old Charters, 
 at least to those who can derive from them no 
 benefit, a dull, monotonous employment. They 
 point out, indeed, the economy of the Insti- 
 tutions ; but penetrating far into them is like ta- 
 king a course towards a very Northern chmate, 
 during which you must pass through regions 
 dreary and cold, habitable only by afew natives, 
 and to them only delectable. Hence it becomes 
 natural in the following pages, with the economy 
 of such places to combine their literature; and 
 these are of very different qualities; the one 
 general, liberal, intellectual ; the other partial, 
 official, mechanical ; the latter comporting more 
 with the majesty of the mind, as the " Kector 
 humani Generis, qui agit atqiie habet ctmcta, 
 7ieque ipse habetuv," — the former more accord- 
 ing with its state of subordination and depen- 
 dence ; and, accordingly, the one opening into 
 more pleasing views, and exciting the more 
 agreeable sensations ; the other leading by ways 
 less luminous, less alluring, less interesting. 
 But, let these matters be as they may, it being 
 my leading aim to enter more at large on the 
 less pleasing topics, — a wish was entertained
 
 XI 
 
 to bring the two into a sort of union, and, in- 
 deed, according to that leading aim, it seemed 
 not only not desirable, but scarcely practicable, 
 to separate them. 
 
 Hence the General Design of the following 
 Dissertation is rendered twofold ; economical, 
 and literary, — each possessing its pecuhar cha- 
 racter, asserting its distinct claims, and opening 
 its proper arguments ; and it may happen, 
 in such a combination, that we may think one 
 entitled to our confidence and respect, while the 
 other may appear calculated to excite our mis- 
 trust and disapprobation. 
 
 Our University-economy did excite my dis- 
 approbation ; and the more seriously it was re- 
 flected on, the less I approved it. Some pow- 
 erful recollections, too, were soon awakened; 
 recollections of former times, when distrust and 
 disapprobation were not only secretly experi- 
 enced by me, but openly and publicly express- 
 ed. This allusion is made to what happened 
 many years since, when during a residence in the 
 town of Cambridge, I was encouraged by many 
 respectable members of the University, as well 
 as Protestant Dissenters, to expose what was not 
 only reckoned by them a very prominent, but a 
 very offensive, feature in our Academical system. 
 From the opinion I then entertained I have never 
 varied. Many public occurrences have con- 
 firmed me in them. And, though most of the per- 
 sons here alluded to are now deceased or re-
 
 xu 
 
 moved from Cambhdge, still my name, so far 
 as it is known at all there, is connected with that 
 opinion; and I did not choose to be stamped 
 ^vlth the character ot" tergiversator, or to be 
 thought a timeserver and sycophant. Indeed, 
 there is a portion of respect, which every man 
 owes to himself; and, whatever becomes of pub- 
 lic opinion, he should seek to enjoy the satis- 
 faction, which arises from conscientious con- 
 viction and personal consistency. 
 
 A further allusion is made to this circum- 
 stance in a following page. 
 
 Henceforward, then, mistrust settles into a 
 dishke, disapprobation into more confirmed 
 conviction, and the whole system of University 
 Polity undergoes a critical analysis. This ap- 
 pears in the following Dissertation, or Literary 
 Epistle : but this analysis, however strictly pur- 
 sued, is not made without great reservation; with 
 the respect due to the claims of literature, and to 
 the honourable character of learned men. But, 
 indeed, without some such distinction as this, 
 the Privileges of the University could not have 
 been conscientiously published, and ought not 
 to have been favourably received : still the same 
 general design is kept in view, that of utility : 
 that design, is made even still more general : 
 for what appears to be the greatest evil in our 
 Academical discipline, being found to be in 
 opposition to the liberties of the University, at 
 variance with public opinion, and in violation
 
 XIU 
 
 of the national interest, it is opposed with some 
 seriousness; so that I only take higher ground, 
 without losing sight of my object. Utility. 
 
 Whether the above short statement of the 
 Proper Origin and General Design of the follow- 
 ing pages is a proper apology for the publica- 
 tion, must be left to the judgement of others : 
 but I should do justice neither to myself nor to 
 the subject, if this preface were suffered to close 
 without a few additional observations, connected 
 M'ith the object of the publication, and called 
 for by the spirit of the times. 
 
 The remaining pages, then, shall be occu- 
 pied by some remarks on certain facts relating 
 to Academical Institutions; to which an allusion 
 has been made in the following pamphlet, and 
 which naturally presented themselves in the vie w^ 
 taken of Cambridge University : they are pro- 
 perly connected with such facts ; though they 
 may be said not so much to have arisen out of 
 them, as to have been realized and confirmed 
 by them. The remarks are given here as a 
 legitimate part of the subject, and as the proper 
 Jinale of the present work. 
 
 The friends of civil and religious liberty 
 might reasonably wish, that our English Univer- 
 sities were practically, what theoretically they 
 are now pronounced to be in our Law Courts, 
 Civil Corporations, and what they ought to be
 
 XIV 
 
 according to the increased liberality ot public 
 opinion, Natio?jal Instihitiojis. This is the light 
 in which they reallv are now considered ; but 
 this is a false light : Civil or Lav-Corporations, 
 National Institutions they never can be, while 
 Graduates are oblioed to subscribe Articles of a 
 particular Church, and its residing Members to 
 attend its prescribed forms of Worship. Let the 
 friends of civil and religious liberty wish what 
 they may, results favourable to their wishes can 
 be effected only bv abolishing Subscriptions, 
 and allowing more liberty in the choice of reli- 
 gion : the two ideas of liberty and subscription 
 are not the extremes of lines, but o])posites, 
 and like parallel lines, can never meet. The 
 University-polity, adapted to these times, must 
 be one, which provides for the interests of all 
 parties. 
 
 The idea may be thought visionary and diffi- 
 cult of execution ; yet, I suspect, that a plan of 
 comprehension requires nothing but the sacri- 
 fice of a few prejudices, and the renunciation of 
 a little selfishness : the circumstances of our 
 University-Towns are becoming every day more 
 and more favourable to such a plan : for the 
 various religious denominations are increasing, 
 and abound in both towns; and were our Uni- 
 versities, as places of literary instruction, favour- 
 able to them, other denominations would, no 
 doubt, settle there, and would be benefited by 
 the literature; in their religious profession, they
 
 XV 
 
 would follow their own pastors ; but in their 
 literar}', the Universities ; and, though with a 
 few varieties in the texture of their minds, and 
 the visible differences of early education, they 
 might become under a Vice-Chancellor, as, "one 
 fold under one shepherd." 
 
 But be it so : let us continue our systems of 
 restraint; let all plans of comprehension be 
 treated as visionary ; and all opinions but our 
 own as evils, which ought to be crushed. It is 
 unfortunate for this our polity, that it should 
 be so uncongenial with these times, in which a 
 spirit of liberality is pervading the nations of 
 Europe ; and when across the Atlantic, states 
 and empires, just starting into political exist- 
 ence, are securing and consolidating it by fcede- 
 ral unions and treaties of a free commerce: but, 
 be it so. Light will arise out of darkness : and 
 if our system will not concede to the times, the 
 times will supersede the system : if our Univer- 
 sities will not accommodate the nation, the na- 
 tion will accommodate and protect itself. 
 
 These hopes do not arise from simple sur- 
 mises, the mere shapings of the imagination, 
 but out of experience : experience will lead to 
 experiment, and from experiment, meeting in 
 this liberal age with less impediment, whatever 
 may hitherto have occasioned its failure, will 
 arise conciliatory schemes, and permanent esta- 
 bhshments. ' 
 
 It is noticed in another page of this pamphlet,
 
 XM 
 
 that there now exists a College, in the North of 
 Ireland, — sanctioned, too, by the Royal Autho- 
 rity, which admits students of dilFerent denomi- 
 nations, Catholics and Protestants : and many 
 3ears ago there was a project, that loo counte- 
 nanced by hijrh authority, for foundintr a Col- 
 lege, or University, in Norwich, and, if I mistake 
 not, in some other of our j)rovincial towns. 
 
 Indeed, within \\\\ own memory, and know- 
 ledge, the late Rev. Robert Robinson, an inge- 
 nious and highly admired Dissenting preacher 
 in the town of Cambridge, drew up a plan* for a 
 College to be erected in or near that town: it 
 was to have bjeen called, the Baptist College : 
 for, though there have been among the Baptists 
 men of eminent abilities and learnino, such as 
 Drs. Gale, Ward, Foster, and Gill, and, though 
 they have a College at Bristol, and a few exhi- 
 bitions at Aberdeen-University, still Mr. Ro- 
 binson was aware, that they were appropriated 
 to students for the ministry ; and that there was 
 wanting a more general Institution for all the 
 Faculties and Sciences : he wished, in short, 
 that the Protestant Dissenters might enjoy all 
 the literary advantages of a University, without 
 being restricted to its religious forms. But, 
 though the plan was laid with uiuch pleasing 
 care and ingenuity, and under many circuni- 
 
 * inl 78 1 . Tlic Plan, &c. is iji the Meinoiib of Mr. Kubiu- 
 soil; pihUcd in 179().
 
 xvu 
 
 stances very favourable to its execution, it was 
 never realized. , 
 
 Dissenters of a different denomination rea- 
 lized, some years ago, Collegiate Institutions, at 
 Warrington, in Lancashire, and Hackney, near 
 London ; but they were only temporary ; — ^whe- 
 ther the failure was owing to the want of being 
 incorporated; or of something like a foederal 
 union among the different Denominations; or ofa 
 proper Collegiate discipline ; — but whatever the 
 cause of failure might be, where Dr. Aikin, Dr. 
 Priestley, Dr. Rees, Mr. Wakefield, and Mr. Bel- 
 sham presided, it could not certainly be for want 
 of talent and literature. 
 
 The Catholics have now a Collegiate House at 
 Maynooth in Ireland, appropriated entirely to 
 students of their own persuasion. 
 
 The Protestant Dissenters of the Independent 
 denomination have Academies on a College 
 model, at Northampton, Wymingly, Homerton, 
 and Highbury. They are appropriated to stu- 
 dents for the ministry, who are of the Trinita- 
 rian and Calvinistic Faith. 
 
 At York there exists, and has for several 
 years, a Literary Institution called Manchester 
 College. It approaches nearly in its literary 
 pursuits, and the periods of its sessions, to Cam- 
 bridge University : the Directors have lately, 
 August 14, 1826, issued Circulars ; according to 
 which it appears, they have much enlarged and 
 improved their system ; making provision not
 
 xvni 
 
 onlv for the acquirement of literary and scien- 
 titic knowledfre, as tauirht in our Eno-lishUniver- 
 sities, but of the modern languages, French, 
 Italian, Spanish and German ; and for preparing 
 young men for commercial, as well as profes- 
 sional, life : of course, it admits lay students, as 
 well as theological : the circular bears the name 
 of no party; and, of course, though the tutors 
 are principally Unitarians, it seems to hold forth, 
 that the advantages of this College will be ac- 
 cessible to students of all denominations. 
 
 In February, 1825, the Baptists published in 
 London, a new " Prospectus of a College for 
 the Education of Ministerial and Lay Students 
 on a University-System." This was evidently 
 formed on Mr. Robert Robinson's Plan. It was 
 proposed, that the Seminary should receive 
 Protestant Dissenters, Independents, as well as 
 Baptists ; and that Classics, Mathematics, Mo- 
 ral Philosophy, and the Belles Lettres should 
 be taught, together with Theology, Jurispru- 
 dence, and Medicine. Agreeably to the lead- 
 ing object of making it as conformable to an 
 English University, as theirdiflerent circumstan- 
 ces would allow, it provided, that in the choice 
 of Tutors a preference should be given to gen- 
 tlemen educated in our Universities. Thus far 
 this project went : but it appears, that a union of 
 interests, and a partnership in the expenses, were 
 not approved by some gentlemen of each party ; 
 so it was abandoned.
 
 XIX 
 
 The London University, of whicli a Prospec- 
 tus was published, May 6th, 1826, is the last 
 Institution which remains to be noticed : and it 
 is here noticed with more pleasure, as being the 
 realization, the completing, and almost the 
 perfecting of wiiat was best in the preceding 
 plans ; and which, as it treads so closely in the 
 steps of the last mentioned, may seem to have 
 arisen in some measure out of it; and, perhaps, 
 did, so far as the latter aimed to be a College 
 on a University System : — but be that as it may, 
 this scheme is so extended, so various, so free from 
 the image and superscription of all parties ; so 
 easy of access, so simple in its economy, and at 
 the same time so moderate in its expense, so 
 liberal in its arrangements, — in short, so unlike 
 to any thing among ourselves, that it may be 
 deemed an original, and comes forth in all the 
 freshness of a new creation. 
 
 The title, taken by this Institution, is a sign of 
 the times, of the liberality of the present times. 
 Something worse than prejudice and bigotry, 
 intolerance and persecution, had long since 
 raised a party-wall between Churchmen and 
 Dissenters ; the same also was a wall of separa- 
 tion to the Catholics. Indeed, for many years, 
 till the Act of Toleration came, the Protestant 
 Dissenters at Cambridge had been obliged to 
 shut up even their places of worship. 
 
 And, indeed, in no places so much as Univer- 
 sity-towns, had there existed so many violations
 
 XX 
 
 ot* the rules ot decency, aiid of the laws of the 
 land, so many positive insults towards Dissent- 
 ers of all denominations. This matter is ably 
 exposed by Robert Robinson, in "A Lecture 
 on a becoming behaviour in religious assem- 
 blies, preached and published at Cambridge, 
 1776/' This has also been remarked by Robert 
 Barclay, the celebrated apologist for the Qua- 
 kers. Hence, prejudices so strong had sub- 
 sisted with the old Dissenters of Cambridge, 
 against Churchmen and Members of the Uni- 
 versity, that a covenant was entered into by the 
 former, and made a condition of Church Mem- 
 bership, that no intercourse whatever should be 
 held with them. 
 
 But these times are past, and such-Uke pre- 
 judices have perished with the occasions which 
 fostered them : and the facts which gave birth 
 to them, were the intemperate, disorderly prac- 
 tice of young men, in which particular Gradu- 
 ates, and the University as a Body, had no 
 concern. 
 
 Other prejudices originated in a higher source, 
 in the very administration of our Universities: 
 ever since they have been made, what they now 
 are, they have been unfavourable to those sympa- 
 thies, which ought to subsist even between so- 
 cieties, which do not accord in all thmgs. These 
 sympathies did not exist; no spirit of liberality 
 pervaded the Institutions; and, whatever esteem 
 may be due to many learned and good men,
 
 XXI 
 
 whatever respect due to science and literature 
 generally, the ancestors of many ol' the Directors 
 and Subscribers to the new University owed no- 
 thing to the ancient one itself as a Cor/joro^/ow: 
 that has been like most other Corporations, more 
 intent on securing its own privileges, and of 
 guarding its own monopolies, than on promoting 
 the cause of liberty and the general interests of 
 literature. To such persons our English Universi- 
 ties were no almcL matres; on the contrary, their 
 systems of exclusion became oppressive, and, so 
 faras their operation could reach, entailed igno- 
 rance on their posterity. 
 
 But ignorance cannot be so entailed in such 
 a country as this; light and knowledge have been 
 breaking in upon it, like the light of heaven, 
 and with light and knowledge the means of col- 
 lecting and spreading them for the public good. 
 This light and knowledge, too, have proved of a 
 most liberalizing nature ; they have removed 
 prejudice, even while the occasion which gene- 
 rated it remains. Such is the spirit of the times; 
 and it appears on the very front of this new In- 
 stitution, the London University. 
 
 While light has been advancing, prejudice 
 and bigotry have retired. And perhaps this 
 sacrifice of prejudice on the side of the London 
 University may be answered, in the course of 
 time, by some sacrifices on the side of our old 
 establishments. There is, there ought to be, in 
 liberal Institutions a reciprocity of feeling, full of 
 
 b
 
 "XXll 
 
 benevolence, a spirit of generous rivalry stored 
 with usotulness. The Directors of the London 
 University, aware of the respect due to a suc- 
 cession of men of genius, and talents, and learn- 
 ing, in the English Universities^ to the several 
 branches of literature long cultivated by them, 
 to the introduction of many improvements suc- 
 cessively promoted, and the liberal encourage- 
 ment held out to their members; aware of all 
 this, the Noblemen and Gentlemen, presiding in 
 this rising Seminary, seem ambitious to follow 
 their predecessors, so far as is consistent with 
 the claims of a more general liberty, the in- 
 creasing light of the age, the interests of the 
 present and future generations, and the relative 
 situation of a University in the metropolis. Such 
 seems to be the deference paid by the London 
 University to any prior claims of Oxford and 
 Cambridge : and we cannot doubt, that the pe- 
 riod is approaching, when Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge will become more national, and not blush 
 to take a lesson from the silent, but powerful 
 appeal of this new Institution. 
 
 It is here obvious to notice not only the pro- 
 priety of providing such a Seminary in the me- 
 tropolis, but almost the necessity of it, which 
 cannot be better done than in the words of the 
 Prospectus. 
 
 " The City of London is nearly equal in popu- 
 ation, and far superior in wealth, to each of the 
 kingdoms of Denmark, Saxony, Hanover, and
 
 XXlll 
 
 Wirtemburgh, each of which has at least one 
 flourishing university. Supposing the annual 
 rate of increase, in the last five years, to have been 
 the same as in the preceding ten, the present 
 population cannot be less than fourteen hundred 
 thousand souls, of whom there are about forty 
 thousand males, between the age of sixteen and 
 twenty-one, the usual periods of Academical 
 Education. Out of this number, it appears to 
 be probable, from the parliamentary returns of 
 the Property Tax, in the latter years of its du- 
 ration, that from fourteen thousand to sixteen 
 thousand are the children of persons, who can 
 easily defray the very moderate expense of their 
 attendance on Lectures in London. It may be 
 safely affirmed, that there is no equal number 
 of youths in any other place, of whom so large 
 a portion feel the want of liberal education, are 
 so well qualified for it, could so easily obtain all 
 its advantages at home, and are so little able to 
 go in quest of them elsewhere. No where else 
 is knowledge so much an object of desire, either 
 as a source of gratification, a means of improve- 
 ment, or an instrument of honest and useful am- 
 bition. The exclusion of so great a body of 
 intelligent youth, designed for the most impor- 
 tant occupations in society, from the higher 
 means of liberal education, is a defect in our 
 Institutions, which if it were not become fami- 
 liar by its long prevalence, would offend every 
 generous mind. In a word, London, which for 
 
 b 2
 
 XXIV 
 
 its intcllij^ence and wealth, as well as numbers, 
 may fairly be deemed the first city in the civi- 
 lized world, is at once the place which most 
 needs a University, and the only great Capital 
 which has none." 
 
 The knowledge which I possess of the leading 
 views of the London University proceeds from 
 the Prospectus of the Directors, as it appears in 
 the London Magazine, New Series for August 
 1826. I am a mere " Formarum Spectator," 
 not having the honour of even being a sub- 
 scriber. This circumstance is added, though 
 foreign to the purpose of these observations, for 
 an opportunity of adding, that as my admira- 
 tion flows more from pubHc regards, than pri- 
 vate feelings, these expressions of it are the re- 
 sult of disinterested respect and the purest con- 
 viction. 
 
 The system of Education, which is in the 
 contemplation of the London University, com- 
 prehends the several branches of Science and 
 Literature as taught at Oxford and Cambridge, 
 together with those more peculiar to Scotland, 
 or which are rendered necessary bv the exigen- 
 cies of the times, and more accessible to an In- 
 stitution situated in the metropolis. This view 
 of it cannot be unfolded better, than in the words 
 of the Prospectus. 
 
 "The study of the law of England has forcen- 
 turies been confined to the capital, where alone 
 is a constant opportunity of observing its admi-
 
 XXV 
 
 nistration in the Courts of Justice, and of ac- 
 quiring skill in peculiar branches under private 
 instructors. These exclusive advantages of Lon- 
 don for the stud}^ of the Law will be enhanced 
 by combination with Lectures and Examina- 
 tions, while systematic instruction in law, and 
 in general knowledge, will be rendered accessi- 
 ble to those who are now shut out from them, 
 in common with the majority of the other youth 
 of this capital. 
 
 " For the studies which are necessary in all the 
 branches of the profession of Medicine, London 
 possesses peculiar and inestimable advantages : 
 it is in large towns only that Medical Schools 
 can exist. The means of acquiring anatomical 
 knowledge, medical experience, and surgical 
 dexterity, must increase in exact proportion to 
 the greatness of the town : at this moment the 
 great majority of those who are called general 
 practitioners, who take no degree, confine them- 
 selves to no single branch of the profession, but 
 in whose hands the whole ordinary practice of 
 England is placed, receive their systematic 
 instruction from Lectures in London during one 
 or two years ; while many of them are attend- 
 ing hospitals. The annual average of such stu- 
 dents is about seven hundred; many of the 
 Lecturers have been, and are, men of very emi- 
 nent abihty. And the practitioners thus edu- 
 cated are, generally, most respectable for infor- 
 mation and skill. It is no reflection on either
 
 XXVI 
 
 body to aflirm, that medical education would 
 be improved, if the teachers of most (hstinguish- 
 ed abihty, who are now scattered over London, 
 were gradually attracted to one Institution, 
 where they would be stimulated to the utmost 
 exertion of their faculties by closer rivalship, 
 larger emolument, and wider reputation. To 
 what cause, but to the present dispersion of emi- 
 nent teachers, can it be ascribed, that the great- 
 est city of the civilized world is not its first 
 school of medicine ? 
 
 *' The young men who are intended for the 
 scientific profession of a civil engineer, which 
 has of late been raised so high by men of ge- 
 njus, and exercised with such signal advantage 
 to the public, have almost as strong reasons as 
 those who are destined for the practice of Me- 
 dicine, for desiring that a system of academical 
 education should be accessible to them, where 
 they can best be trained to skill and expertness. 
 under masters of the first eminence. 
 
 " To these examples might be added, the ob- 
 voius and striking case of commerce, which 
 would be of itself sufficient to show the advan- 
 tage of bringing literary and scientific instruc- 
 tion to the place where diligence and experience 
 in liberal occupations are acquired. By the 
 formation of an University in this metropolis the 
 useful intercourse of theory with active life will 
 be facilitated ; speculation will be instantly tried 
 and corrected by practice, and the man of busi-
 
 xxvu 
 
 nesswill readily find principles, which will bestow 
 simplicity and order on his experimental know- 
 ledge. No where can every part of information, 
 even the most remote and recondite, be obtained 
 so easily as in a city, which contains cultiva- 
 tors of all branches of learning, followers of all 
 opinions, and natives of every quarter of the 
 globe/' 
 
 What is to form a peculiar feature in this 
 system will be, the provision made in it for reli- 
 gious liberty: forthe Directors, and Subscribers, 
 being of different ranks, and of different deno- 
 minations, most assuredly hold out, that the li- 
 terary advantages of the Institution will be 
 offered to students of all parties, to Catholics, to 
 Protestants, and Protestant Dissenters, to Jew 
 and Gentile, to all alike ; that religious distinc- 
 tion will neither be the ground of admission, 
 nor the cause of exclusion ; and, that as the edi- 
 fice is to be raised for the service of literature, 
 that as the original material out of which it will 
 be composed is of a mixt character, so much the 
 firmer will be the cement, which will bind the 
 several parts together. 
 
 For, as this variety forms the prominent fea- 
 ture in the plan, it also constitutes its principal 
 excellence: where all parties are admitted, and 
 no place is left for shackles and restraint, there 
 will be left more room for principle and love : 
 
 " But let restraint but come, sweet love anon 
 Taketh its nimble wings, and soon away is gon." 
 
 Spenser.
 
 XX Mil 
 
 'I'lie ibiirKlalioM bcino; thus lakl in principles 
 so simple, yet so liberal, the building may be 
 expected to rise up with proportionable dignity : 
 this variety of character combined with a union 
 of feeling will be its strength ; and, while they 
 continue, will require no addition or imj)rove- 
 ment in liberty, and can admit of no debase- 
 ment ; so true is it, that effects really great often 
 proceed from causes apparently small : and as 
 there is such a thing as doing too much, true 
 wisdom sometimes consists in doing nothing at 
 all. 
 
 Agreeably to certain ideas entertained of 
 what a National Institution should be, an exa- 
 mination is made in the following pages of the 
 polity of our English Universities, in reference 
 to the principles of moral, religious, and civil 
 liberty, much too to those of the theory and 
 sometimes to the practice of the English Con- 
 stitution. Liberty is understood to be the fair 
 inlieritance of every Briton; anil, though there 
 exist among us many circumstances, which 
 may cool our zeal, and cause servihty, still 
 those principles, so far as they operate, — and it 
 is to be hoped they do still operate to a consi- 
 derable extent, — will be the sprmgs both of pub- 
 lic and private virtue among us : these will pro- 
 duce, in a natural course, liberty of thinking, 
 and liberty of speaking, on all affairs, which re- 
 late to the administration of government, and 
 even on the defects, as well as the excellencies, of 
 the English Constitution : and if, as Englishmen,
 
 XXIX 
 
 we are justified in examining the theory and 
 practice of our Constitution and Government, 
 we are surely still more to be justified in exa- 
 mining the polity of our Universities, in which 
 we are all, in like manner, interested, but which 
 is not of so high an origin and such paramount 
 distinction. 
 
 These opinions, or some very much akin to 
 these, were imbibed at an early period in Col- 
 lege They were confirmed, as I have elsewhere 
 stated, during a residence for a considerable time 
 in our two University towns, and still further by 
 acquaintance, enlivened by personal civilities, 
 with several inhabitants of the towns, and mem- 
 bers of the University ; they were connected with 
 the idea of a National University combining the 
 i^l^ests of different denominations. This idea, 
 thus connected, as it seemed to be, with a theory 
 of moral, of civil and religious liberty, appeared 
 clear, obvious, unavoidable, so natural, as to be, 
 if not a part of it, which perhaps it is, at least as 
 a corollary, fairly deducible from it. Indeed, the 
 idea of a National Institution — such as an En- 
 glish University professedly is — which does not 
 admit to a participation of its advantages per- 
 sons of different denominations, is a solecism in 
 terms; and without a due consideration of the 
 political and religious character of the times, 
 wherein our Universities were broup[ht into their 
 present state, it must excite a degree of sur- 
 prise, amounting to wonder and amazement.
 
 XXX 
 
 Such a state of things, however, does practically 
 still exist ; though from the liberal inquiries 
 which have been since indulged, from the thirst 
 for knowledge which every where prevails, and 
 from the claims of all parties, which are now 
 better understood and admitted, it requires no 
 stretch of candour to believe, that such a consti- 
 tution of things would not now be proposed, or 
 if proposed, be admitted to be put in execution. 
 But to return to the following Dissertation : 
 The readers of it will easily perceive, that it re- 
 lates entirely to our English Universities, and 
 more particularly to that of Cambridge; that as it 
 arose partly from a relation to that University, 
 humble as it has been, and partly from a former 
 relation and present friendships with several 
 -^vorthy Protestant Dissenters of that town ;«i|^ 
 a wish, at least, that a literary union had existed 
 between them was analogous to the affections en- 
 tertained for them. For our intellectual ideas, 
 if grounded in truth, have a correspondence in 
 our moral and natural feelings, in our sense of 
 justice and benevolence ; and the speculations 
 which arise from them, however romantic they 
 may appear, — and existing circumstances may 
 often render them really so, — will be accompa- 
 nied with their regular, proper, proportionate 
 degree of satisfaction. Now as our Subscrip- 
 tions are in fact those obtruders, which render 
 such hopes delusive, and give an air of romance 
 to ideas the most natural and reasonable, as they
 
 XXXI 
 
 clearly appeared to be the barriers, which some 
 will not suffer to be removed, and which others 
 will never sufter themselves to pass, — it fell in 
 my way, as it has of many others, to remonstrate 
 against them, and — as these are but part of a 
 system — to examine the whole of that system ; 
 though — as subscription to articles is the more 
 serious, prominent, and appalling part of it — to 
 examine that with something of more minute 
 attention, and earnestness of conviction; to con- 
 sider the several branches of it, and the parties 
 concerned in it, the theory out of which it pro- 
 ceeds, the authority which givesit sanction, toge- 
 ther with the powers which ought to remove it, 
 and the obstructions, which prevent its removal. 
 
 But, though this Dissertation had not for 
 its object any newly created Institutions, yet 
 was It accompanied with a strong conviction, as 
 well from the testimonies and protests of former 
 times, as the necessities of the present age, and 
 the evident deficiencies of our endowed Esta- 
 blishments, that others must arise ; and, though 
 it possessed, originally, something local, it be- 
 came natural, in the event, to give it a more 
 general direction. 
 
 And here in taking leave of readers, it is 
 easy to foresee, with respect to the nianJier 
 in which the political and economical part of the 
 following work is treated of, that one class may 
 reckon it forward, petulant, disrespectful, pre- 
 sumptuous ; others may think it uncalled-for,
 
 XXXll 
 
 unnecessary, unprofitable, supererogatory. Even 
 those, who may not altogether disapprove the 
 principles, may not approve so free and ample 
 an exposure of them. They may ask, Cui bono ? 
 For here I am reminded of what a Cambridge- 
 Academic of great talents declared to me, — 
 and it had long been the opinion of many 
 other Cambridge-men of learning, — " that the 
 University stood in need of a thorough re- 
 formation, and that he thought nearly on the 
 subject of subscription to articles as I did ; but 
 that the cause was hopeless." Well, be it so : 
 Say, that our system of economy in all its parts 
 must be persevered in ; suppose it agreeable to 
 the wishes of our Universities and of our Govern- 
 ment, that our subscriptions should be perpe- 
 tuated ; and that as it was in the beginning of 
 James the First, and is now, it ever shall be; — 
 suppose all this, though I am supposing what is 
 impossible, still one aim of this Dissertation 
 would not be wholly defeated ; nor need a failure 
 in a cause so beyond our reach, and which is 
 even deemed hopeless, create either disquiet or 
 disappointment. 
 
 With respect to the London University, to 
 which a reference so direct has been just made, 
 no particular reference could have been made 
 to that before ; for, although the idea may have 
 existed in some minds long since, and some of 
 its peculiarities been generated very naturally 
 from the Scottish UniA crsitics, still no proposals
 
 XXXIU 
 
 relative to it, appear to have been advanced till 
 very lately. The Latin Dissertation, inserted 
 in " The Privileges of the University of Cam- 
 jbridge" was published long before any scheme 
 for a University in the metropolis had been pro- 
 posed, or any thing tending thereto been rea- 
 lized : and even this Eno-lish version was enter- 
 ed on before I heard of any such intention : 
 The Latin Dissertation and English version of 
 it relate entirely to Cambridge. It will, how- 
 ever, easily be credited, that on hearing that a 
 University in the metropolis was actually under 
 consideration, a new spring was given to my 
 mind : for, though on my first appearing on the 
 arena of discussion, my attention was wholly 
 engaged for the honour of my own alma mater, 
 and the zeal displayed in the cause of her Lite- 
 rature may be in the character of her true 
 knight, and to some may even appear sufficiently 
 chivalrous; still with respect to her Politij, I did, 
 as it were, throw back my gauntlet against her : 
 and it now is become matter of joy and triumph, 
 that what may be reckoned visionary and un- 
 manageable at Cambridge and Oxford, is 
 deemed reasonable and practicable in London ; 
 for, as it has already been observed, the pecu- 
 liar feature in the character of the London 
 University, in contradistinction to those of Ox- 
 ford and Cambridge, is, that by the constitu- 
 tion, the very formation of it, literary advan- 
 tages will be open to people of all denomi-
 
 XXXIV 
 
 nations, and that in matters of reliirion, students 
 will be left to parental care, to the instructions 
 of their proper pastors, or the dictates of their 
 own consciences. 
 
 The primary design in printing " The Privi- 
 leges of the University," and the ensuing Disser- 
 tation, has been stated ; still there is one, which 
 may be called a jrerminant one, one which natu- 
 rally and almost necessarily sprang out of it, and 
 which readers, if they please, may consider its 
 final aim. This had in its view not so nmch what 
 is, as what in the revolution of human affairs 
 might be: for "the mind is its own place," and, 
 where it cannot be satisfied with present reali- 
 ties, it is apt to look to remote possibilities, and 
 to refresh itself with its own creations. 
 
 Here, however, there was no occasion to call 
 in the assistance of the imagination. For from 
 what had passed in former times, in this coun- 
 try, as well as from what had passed before my 
 own eyes, it was easy to foresee, without pretend- 
 ing to any extraordinary degree of prophetic 
 vision, that new Institutions would arise in Eng- 
 land, better adapted'to the natural wants of man- 
 kind, to the present state of civil society, to the 
 improvements which have been made in Science, 
 and to the genius of a free government, than 
 our ancient institutions now are ; which amid 
 many things, that are excellent, desirable, and 
 even enviable, are still wanting in others, on 
 which the happiness of such a country as this
 
 XXXV 
 
 materially depends. And here occurred the Ro- 
 man Historian's memento, which, however, for the 
 reasons stated above, could not have been offered 
 to Mr. Brougham, Mr. Campbell, and the other 
 enlio'htened directors of the London University : 
 ''Hoc illud est prcecipue in cogiiitione rerim sa- 
 luhre et frugiferum, omnis te exempli document a 
 in illustri posita monumento intueri : inde tibi 
 tucBque reipnhlicce, quod imitere, capias : inde 
 feodum inceptum^foddum exitu, quod vites." 
 
 A few words remain to be said of the follow- 
 ing Epistle, considered as a Translation. 
 
 It was engaged in, then, in part, during a long 
 and danjrerous illness, from which no one en- 
 tertained any expectation of a recovery ; and it 
 was pursued with feelings corresponding to that 
 conviction, — as being the last tribute of respect, 
 which I was likely to pay to literature, as the 
 last humble offering which I could lay on the 
 altar of hberty. But the ruling passion was so 
 strong upon me, that had I been called to leave 
 my post, I was in hope to have engaged a gen- 
 tleman to take my place: and, as it is, I am in- 
 debted to that judicious person for an entire 
 translation of two sheets, and for other civil at- 
 tentions. 
 
 As to my mode in translating, many liberties 
 are taken in the translation, which, it was con- 
 ceived, an interpreter would be justified in 
 taking with a work of his own. The whole 
 Dissertation has been divided into sections.
 
 XXXVl 
 
 The Latin original was accompanied with very 
 copious notes; for where many discussions were 
 entered on, which admitted of much argument, 
 many positions advanced, which have given 
 hirth to considerable controversy, and, where 
 the cause of liberty might have been endangered 
 by dubious appeals to antiquity, it was reckoned 
 expedient, to accompany the whole with sub- 
 stantial authorities. But, to save time, and for 
 other obvious reasons, it was deemed prudent, 
 and more in character, to leave out the notes in 
 the translation. The few, which are added to- 
 wards the end, w^ere thought necessary in their 
 respective places : great latitude of interpreta- 
 tion is indulged in throughout; omissions and 
 insertions are made as they fell in with my views, 
 or suited my convenience. The additions in the 
 latter part are very numerous, and sometimes 
 of considerable extent. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add the following 
 observation : for it will easily be credited with- 
 out any declarations, — that this Translation was 
 not intended for those gentlemen, to whom the 
 original was addressed. Those learned persons, 
 should they condescend to peruse such a work, 
 do not require a translation, and to propose it to 
 such would be an example of the most futile 
 vanity, of the grossest and the most senseless im- 
 pertinence. It was engaged in, as stated in the 
 Advertisement prefixed to these pages, to ac- 
 commodate a few of the readers, who might
 
 XXXVll 
 
 not understand the original : in general, too, 
 there are gentlemen, who, though not of the aca- 
 demic bodv> are persons of the best learning, 
 and the correctest taste, great admirers of the 
 ancient languiiges, in their classical purity, and 
 who are therefore not over-fond of English Lati- 
 nity. They may, perhaps, give the hearing to 
 a Parr or a Porson ; but such acts of condescen- 
 sion they exercise with caution; and hence, 
 
 " Quis leget heec ? . . . . 
 Vel duo, vel nemo." 
 
 Still the reflections were the result of no little 
 thought, and some, it was hoped, of a useful 
 tendency ; and, though this is not the first time 
 I have attempted to write on certain academical 
 matters, still, as it is likely to be the last, I 
 wished to express myself with all possible ex- 
 plicitness, and the utmost perspicuity. Indeed, 
 I am not sure that the task of translation was not 
 undertaken somewhat in a spirit of mortification, 
 in a way of penance, as an amende honorable 
 to English readers, for covering sentiments, 
 which 1 am willing to hope are strictly British, 
 with a foreign, Roman dress. 
 
 To these reasons for the occasion of the pre- 
 sent version, which are of a more general nature, 
 may, perhaps, be added another, which is of a 
 more particular and private one. 
 
 The " History of the University of Cam- 
 bridge," and " the Privileges*' are not to be con- 
 sidered as complete narratives, nor as uniform 
 
 c
 
 XXXVUl 
 
 biographies, but rather as historical sketches, 
 and loose tragments. Viewed as memorials, 
 they were necessarily liable to tVequent, un- 
 avoidable omissions ; throuiih the successive 
 deaths of the members, requiring constant addi- 
 tion.s; and, through the literary pursuits, the laws, 
 the customs, the manners, the antiquities, exhi- 
 biting regular intermixtures, and endless varie- 
 ties. There are some writings, which in their 
 very nature are miscellaneous; they appeal to 
 the candour of those, for whose service they were 
 more immediately intended, and do not admit 
 of regular, systematic criticism. Such are those 
 of our Woods, Lelands, and Hearnes; and there 
 is no account of Cambridge beyond scraps and 
 fragments. 
 
 And, independently of all this, circumstances 
 occurred in the way of the above works, very 
 unfavourable to uniformity of desiirn, and com- 
 pleteness of execution; and of this an account 
 was given in an "Address to the Subscribers to 
 the Privileges of the University of Cambridge,'' 
 printed in 1823. 
 
 "The Privileges of Cambridge" was, to speak 
 the truth, not one of those compositions, for 
 which are required as a whole, "A Beginning, 
 a Middle, and an End ;" but rather a "Medley 
 or Collectanea, or to take a modern phrase an 
 Ana," which may follow as a rule (quite the re- 
 verse of that laid down by Aristotle for a Trage- 
 dy',) to begin, as "chance may direct, and to
 
 XXXIX 
 
 finisli at the writer's pleasure:" it was brought 
 together, as circumstances achnittecl, as oppor- 
 tunities offered, as leisure and health allowed, 
 and as utility might seem to require. 
 
 But, after all due concessions, and acknow- 
 ledged imperfections, it may be said, without 
 the hazard of a contradiction, that the two 
 works alluded to, when taken together, give such 
 a view of the History and Constitution of the 
 University, as had not been given before ; and 
 that they contain more useful documents than 
 are to be met with in any of its previous Histo- 
 ries; which, indeed, is saying but little, where 
 so little had been done. 
 
 This little flourish of words, however, (as some 
 may call it,) relating to the "Privileges of Cam- 
 bridge'' would certainly not have been ventured 
 on, but for the circumstance, which furnished 
 another occasion for the following translation. 
 
 A friend pointed out to me some time since, in 
 a periodical publication, certain observations on 
 the above-mentioned work, which proceeded, if 
 I rightly recollect, on principles applicable only 
 to regular, uniform, compositions, not to a col- 
 lection of Charters and Statutes, to disjointed 
 remains of academical antiquity, to mere no- 
 tices, and memoranda for biography, with poe- 
 tical sketches, and scraps of criticism ; in short, 
 to a Collectanea, or Miscellanea Critica, a na- 
 tural appendage to the History of a University, 
 such as "the Privileges" professedly is. 
 
 The writer, I think, allowed me (a generous 
 
 c 2
 
 xl 
 
 concession truly, only made for insidious pur- 
 poses) to possess a little of a tame sort of ho- 
 nesty ; and this is more than I can allow hmi. 
 For, when he says, he had exercised his patience 
 by reading through the whole book, I am pretty 
 confident he uttered an untruth. He pays a 
 sort of compliment to mv Latinity, though at 
 the expense of my English. Yet, whether he 
 was competent to criticizing the " T)is^ertatio 
 Generalh" OT not, 1 am confident, he never read 
 it : for had he read it, and been competent to cri- 
 ticizing it, such a critic would, no doubt, have 
 made his attack, thouirh it had been only to 
 show, that he possessed some little dexterity, 
 as well as malignity : nor could hv have failed 
 to censure the political part of it, which is the 
 principal, the largest part, that, indeed, to which 
 the literary is only preparatory : he strains an 
 article of vulgar abuse out of my own con- 
 cession : but I repeat with confidence, this lick- 
 spittle critic ne\er read the " Dissertatio Ge- 
 7ie rails." 
 
 He can return, then, to a task, which he left 
 unfinished. The literature of the University he 
 may venerate as much as he pleases ; he is not 
 called upon to defend that : and, in the present 
 case, merely pointing out blemishes in the wri- 
 ter will only show his own feebleness ; vulgar 
 abuse w ill but prove his cowardice : let him if 
 he has courage and competency defend the sy- 
 stem, which is here assailed ; or, if he has ho- 
 nesty, let him concede, where he cannot defend.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. Page 
 
 I. Introduction 1 
 
 II. Nature of the Privileges of the University of Cam- 
 bridge 3 
 
 III. Ancient History deficient in faithful Chronicles . . 6 
 
 IV. Grecian Chronology 7 
 
 V. Roman History and Chronology 11 
 
 VI. Egyptian Chronology 13 
 
 VII. Hebrew Chronology ib. 
 
 VIII. Comparison between the Hebrew and Egyptian 
 
 Chronology 15 
 
 IX. Relation of the preceding Observations to the pre- 
 sent Dissertation 17 
 
 X. Reply to certain Objections 18 
 
 XI. The History of Cambridge 20 
 
 XII. Appeal to the Candour of Cambridge-men 21 
 
 XIII. Censures which have been passed by some on our 
 
 present Universities 22 
 
 XIV. Defence of our Universities made by others .... 24 
 XV. Greek and Latin Literature 25 - 
 
 XVI. Defence of the Greek and Latin Languages .... 26 " 
 
 XVII. Improvements made in the Universities 30 
 
 XVIII. Objections to the Study of the Mathematics j ac- 
 companied with their Defence 32 
 
 XIX. Theology not to be defended by Mathematical Ar- 
 guments 34 
 
 XX. Objections to certain Parts of the Mathematics, in 
 
 the Way now taught at Cambridge 37 
 
 XXI. TheWriter's Apology for treating so freely on the 
 Mathematics, and the Reasons for dwelling so 
 long on Literary Subjects 39 
 
 XXII. On the Political or Economical State of our Uni- 
 
 versities 40 
 
 XXIII. Men not to be blamed for examining ancient In- 
 
 stitutionSj or even their own particular Com-
 
 11 
 
 Chap. iminitieb : and may censure defects in them, Page 
 without Disrespect to the existing Members. . 42 
 XX I \' Opinions of some Persons on the Political Cha- 
 racter of our Universities 45 
 
 XXV. A (liferent Statement made of the Political Cha- 
 racter of our Universities 4G 
 
 XX\'l. Our University Courts regulated more according 
 to the Forms of the Civil Law, than of the Com- 
 mon Law of England 48 
 
 XX\'I1. Diti'ercnce between the Civil and Common Law ib. 
 XX\'1I1. Incidental Allusions to certain Statutes, and to 
 some other Matters of University Regimen, and 
 
 to Controversies relating to them 50 
 
 XXIX. Further Considerations on the Civil Law, in the 
 
 Polity of the University 53 
 
 XXX. On the Senate and Caj)ut 54 
 
 XXXI. Subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles 58 
 
 XXXII. .V Comparison made between the Modern and 
 
 Ancient Subscriptio ns a nd O aths ... GO 
 
 /^ XXXIII. Our Universities not'Lajvbuf'Ecclesiastical^Cor- 
 
 porations (i7 
 
 XXXIV. Comparison between Modern English Universities, 
 Foreign Universities, and Ancient Academies, 
 
 with respect to Tests — Oaths G8 
 
 XXXV. On tl>e Political and Religious Character of James I. 76 
 XXX\'I. By what Rule James acted in ordering Subscrip- 
 tions to his darlins .Articles 78 
 
 XXX\'II. Complaints, which may be urged by different Per- 
 sons against this Practice of Subscription .... 79 
 XXX\'III. Honorary Degrees, and wherein they differ from 
 
 Literary ones 81 
 
 XXXIX. The present enlightened times require an amelio- 
 ration in our present Tests.— Mr. Tyrwhitt's 
 
 Grace for abolishing Subscriptions 83 
 
 XL. QuiEre, as to tiic Riglit of admini'^toring the pre- 
 sent Religious Test 85 
 
 XLI. On the Powers of the Senate and Heads 87 
 
 XLIl. Office and Duty of the Supreme Visitor 89 
 
 XLIII. A Parenthesis illustrative of some things which 
 have preceded and which may answer the same 
 
 purpose to what will follow 96 
 
 XLIV. Some Things in the Privileges, illegal in their Ori- 
 gin, though since confirmed in the gross by Act
 
 • • • 
 
 111 
 
 Chap. of Parliament. Complaints of many Academics Pa^e 
 against the present Polity. The real Querela 
 Cantabrigiensis — which requires the Interfe- 
 rence of the Supreme Visitatorial Power .... 98 
 XLV. History of Universities. — Short View of the Royal 
 
 Statutes. — Alleviations of their literal Strictness 1 05 
 XLVI. Doubts, relative to the Right of abolishing Sub- 
 scription 112 
 
 XLVll. The Meaning of certain Doctrinal Articles of the 
 
 Church of England 117 
 
 XLVIII. On the Predestinarian Doctrines contained in the 
 
 Thirty-nine Articles 121 
 
 XLIX. Wherein absolute Predestination differs from the 
 Philosophical Necessity, whether of the An- 
 cients or Moderns 1 24 
 
 L. On Titles, and the Writer's opinion concerning 
 
 them 126 
 
 LI. On Degrees 132 
 
 LII. On the RelativeValue of Degrees ; the Advantages 
 and Distinctions which they give in Civil So- 
 ciety, and more particularly in the Universities 138 
 LIII. A few Objections to the Removal of Subscription, 
 at the Time of taking Degrees in any of the Fa- 
 culties, considered 155 
 
 LIV. Testimonies of learned Men, Members of the Uni- 
 versity, against our present Subscriptions .... 168 
 LV, Forged Charters 177 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 Recent Improvements in the Academical Studies of Cam- 
 bridge 1 85 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 Forms of Civil Law in the University Courts 188 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 Duke of Grafton, late Chancellor of the University and Noble 
 Foreigners 190 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 Dr. Paley 191
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Preface; page xvii. line 20, dele Northampton, and insert, line 
 22, " the Methodists also have similar Institutions." 
 p. xxx. /. 17, dele and 
 p. 12, Z. 23, after than, insert //lose 
 p. 48, I. 8, after various, add persons 
 p. 77, for morals, read religion 
 p. 127, should be 12y, &c. to the end 
 p. 145, should be 143.
 
 GENERAL DISSERTATION, cjc. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE GENTLEMEN OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 -«»■ 
 
 I. hitroduct'ion. 
 
 rACTS which are derived from ancient writings, 
 claim their peculiar prerogatives ; and it suits not 
 their gravity to be contaminated with certain modern 
 practices ; such as are exhibited in some of our De- 
 dications, which are too connnonly inflated with flat- 
 tery, and grow wanton with the hope of gain : besides, 
 neither does the present argument admit of such forms, 
 nor does the present occasion require them. He who 
 addresses you is no celebrated author of some original 
 work, nor is he one of the host of compilers, but an 
 Editor only : nor are ye men, willing to be taken, 
 as with birdlime, by the artifices and mere blandish- 
 ments of words. 
 
 Let Rhetoric have its privileges — of enticing men's 
 ears with the smoothness of its phrases, of striking 
 with the splendour of its figures,and, at the same time, 
 of diverting princes and other great men from their 
 ordinary pursuits : — let Logic, also, be allowed its pri- 
 vileges — of encompassing itself with subtle distinc- 
 tions, of making artificial far-fetched syllogisms, and, in 
 its eagerness for victory, rather than for truth, like the 
 
 B
 
 S{)j)liists ineiitloned by Plato, of making the less ap- 
 pear the greater cause. 
 
 Let also Poetry be allowed its liberty— of abounding 
 with delicious thoughts, of being luxuriant in fictions, 
 and of bearing away the admiration of all mankind ; 
 since the Muses, as the ancient poets are accustomed 
 to talk, have a license for acting to the full extent of 
 their powers. 
 
 Lastly, let its proper province be claimed for Hi- 
 story, one more luminous, but at the same time more 
 sober, and more full of authority. Let it in matter 
 be weightv, in reflection serious, in words not redun- 
 dant and lavish, but, like one who points the way to 
 a traveller by his finger, let it rather be stored with 
 examples entitled to credit, and with things worthy 
 of remembrance, than with fictitious arguments and 
 frivolous ornaments. Let this be considered as its 
 immediate office, — to recall past times and past events, 
 and to place them before the eyes ; nor should it be 
 debarred from amusing and delighting, so it be with 
 moderation: but principally, and agreeably to its very 
 profession of relating facts, let its object be, to pro- 
 fit and to instruct ; nay, even when mixing profane 
 with sacred things, — for antiquity in its earliest re- 
 ports has many fables, — to draw out the very strength 
 and marrow, as it were, of words ; to search after 
 truth, and, if it possibly can, to find it ; and, while giv- 
 ing support to truth, to unfold it; to consult rather 
 the public interest than private ; the convictiofi of the 
 wise, than the credulity of the vulgar, and the benefit 
 of future times, than the vanity of living patrons. 
 
 Such are the points, which should be kept in view, 
 and attained by History ; such its supreme laws ; other- 
 wise, while affecting to appear a searcher after real 
 facts and ancient manners, or of being a guide to
 
 philosophy, to virtue, and religion, it must appear to 
 be altogether counterfeit, or a babbler, at once empty 
 and profane. 
 
 II. Natin-e of " The Privileges of Cambridge^'' 
 
 With regard to these poor attempts, they can scarce- 
 ly be considered as even fragments of Histories ; but 
 with respect to you, Gentlemen of the University, the 
 editor feels pleasure in presenting them, such as they 
 are, with due humility to you : and he beseeches you 
 not to treat them rashly, nor to consider them of no 
 account ; but that you would receive them, in some 
 sort, with the same benevolence and liberality, with 
 which you are accustomed to foster the labours of 
 your fellow- collegians, and, indeed, as some of your 
 members formerly treated his : and the more the ob- 
 scurity of his name may sink their value, or diminish 
 their weight, so much the more let the splendour of 
 your own names yield them support, and give them a 
 useful tendency. 
 
 It appeared to the editor, — to speak freely his mind, 
 — that there existed many reasons for presenting 
 these " Privileges" to you : not, because having been 
 formerly fostered in the bosom of Cambridge Uni- 
 versity, and now, at length, returning to it, he would 
 with too much confidence, and with a species of ar- 
 rogance, demand admittance to our ancient Alma 
 Mater, seize her, as it were, with too much famili- 
 arity, and expect in return that she should embrace 
 him and his as her sweetest treasure, after the man- 
 ner in which a former Greek professor, Joshua 
 Barnes, once flattered himself : 
 
 " The venerable Granta call'd me son : 
 Yoii are my fathers, and I call you so ; 
 And now present you with my own dear child." 
 
 b2
 
 lie kiiow.s liiiuself better : and calling to iniml cer- 
 tain opinions of his, which are not now formed for 
 the first time, and which were never propitious to him, 
 together with his manners and habits, wiiich are so 
 little academic ; being, indeed, one who has started 
 aside from his central point of the l^niversity into 
 circuitous regions, — recollecting all this, he can ap- 
 proach you only with the language of your poet, 
 Cowley ; 
 
 " Oh ! Motlicr, feel towards me no stepdame's hate ; 
 Be not thou cruel, but leave that to fate." 
 
 But what shall he say ? AMien some Genius, 
 whether good or bad, — for he knows not what to call 
 it, — first suggested to him, as if whispering in his 
 ear, that these papers should be submitted to you, he 
 was for some time in doubt : he reflected at how 
 great a distance the pursuits of his life threw him 
 from such attempts ; and, indeed, that nothing should 
 be offered to you, but what was wrought up with ge- 
 nius, and replete with learning : yet this same Genius, 
 or whatever it may be called, — so disinclined was he 
 to the task, — seemed to urge him, as though a voice 
 issued from some oracle, that reasons in abundance 
 were favourable to the design, and that nothing, in- 
 deed, forbade it ; for that, in fact, they had in view 
 no private interest ; that they came forward with no 
 personal compUiints ; that they aimed to provoke no 
 theological or political disputes ; that no honours were 
 sought after ; no rewards expected; and, in short, that 
 every thing here related to yourselves ; that what was 
 strictly your own property was but returning to you ; 
 and, that what thus aimed to approach you with re- 
 spect, you would not dismiss from you with illibera- 
 lity.
 
 And, indeed, that this little work is not unworthy 
 of your names, nor unsuited to your offices, nor fo- 
 reign to your studies, appears on the very face of it ; 
 being, as it were, a dish of various sorts of fruits, but 
 exhibiting nothing either of a trifling character, or of 
 an unprofitable tendency. It yields a strong flavour 
 of antiquity ; is now for the first time spread open for 
 every one's inspection ; presents to your eyes the dis- 
 cipline of our ancestors ; brings out the arcana of 
 our University, thoroughly examined, and seriously 
 corrected, as they have been, by learned men ; arranged, 
 too, in proper order for every one's use : in short, what- 
 ever may be thought of the character of the work it- 
 self, and whatever, you yourselves being the judges, ot 
 some of the laws and institutions of the University, 
 promulgated therein, still are they to be confirmed 
 and proved by the testimony and authority of these 
 same learned men. 
 
 That to Cambridge-men, particularly if residing at 
 Cambridge, this book will have its uses ; and with re- 
 spect to others, not residing there, will assist their re- 
 collections, — who will deny ? It calls to mind what is 
 past ; it places in a clear point of view what is pre- 
 sent; to those proposing to investigate what is little 
 known it will render aid ; to those particularly wish- 
 ing at any time to investigate the History of Cam- 
 bridge critically and attentively, it will afford the 
 greatest pleasure and the most solid advantage : for 
 from this spring the whole history of Cambridge is, 
 in fact, derived ; which if you pass by with neglect, 
 where will you find any thing better or more sure ? 
 Nay, in passing by that, truth is immediately lost 
 sight of: you would search for mere cisterns ; and 
 should you find any, they would be empty or broken,
 
 which can hold no water, — nothing, in short, but mo- 
 nastic frauds, and historiettes of fables. 
 
 This volume is entitled, "The Privileges of the Uni- 
 versity of Cambrielge," as relating to its Rights and 
 Laws ; and with no impropriety might have been 
 called, Annals, Chronicles, Fasti, or any other name, 
 more relating to history. For the said volume may 
 be taken as an Historical Index, or Directory, or Uni- 
 versity Register ; and, as you know, true chronicles 
 are the sure clue to history. 
 
 III. Ancient History deficient in faithful Chroriicles. 
 
 ^\'hence is it, that ancient history, as well among 
 the Northern and European nations, as among the 
 Asiatics, overflows every where with coarse deceptions 
 and fabulous prodigies '^. Is it not, because being led 
 astray by genealogical, mythological, and astrological 
 fancies, it hurries on wildly without faithful guides, 
 running every where and at random through inconstant 
 vortices and lawless excursions ? Hence the supersti- 
 tions, and perverse institutions, of the Druids ; at least 
 according to Csesar. " Nor do they — the Druids — 
 think it lawful to commit their customs to writing, 
 though in their other concerns, whether of public or 
 private consideration, they commonly use Greek let- 
 ters." The same writer, speaking of the Gauls, ob- 
 serves: *' They all proclaim themselves to be sprung 
 from Pluto as their father ; which account, as they say, 
 they received by tradition from the Druids." Hence, 
 in like manner, among the Greeks, — to whom, not- 
 withstanding tlve arts and sciences are so much in- 
 debted, — that load of fables, — under which, we must 
 confess, lie buried some serious truths, — that massy 
 heap of devices, running from Ouranos down to Ulys-
 
 ses, as it was made up by the Cyclic and Cyprian 
 j)oet.s, as they are called, though now, their writings, 
 I with the exception of a few fragments preserved by 
 iVoclus, are entirely lost. The truth is, none of these 
 people had annals, or, whatever they had of the kind, 
 was so covered over with traditions, that genuine facts 
 were quite lost sight of : History becomes, as it 
 were, a mere wilderness ; and, should we ever so wish 
 to hunt after truth, we should, — as the proverb speaks, 
 — miss the game. 
 
 With respect to the Grecian states — the people of 
 Athens, indeed, made their boast, that they surpass- 
 ed, by a great distance, all the others in antiquity : 
 and they, perhaps, said what was true ; since they, on 
 account of the narrow limits of their country, the 
 barrenness of the soil, the rare occurrence of sedi- 
 tions and emigrations, had always, — to use their own 
 language, — been possessed of that country. Thus, 
 at least, this eloquent, this inventive people, these ori- 
 ginal inhabitants of the soil, as they called themselves, 
 gave out in their own behalf. Hence it was, that the 
 ancient Athenians used to bind their hair with grass- 
 hoppers made of gold : for the further they could ap- 
 peal to antiquity, the deeper they were involved in 
 mystery ; the more they pretended to be investiga- 
 tors of their own history, the more they proved them- 
 selves to be inventors of fallacies, and believers of old 
 wives' stories. 
 
 IV. Grecian Chronology/. 
 
 Nor, indeed, was Herodotus, the father of history, as 
 he is called, nor Homer, the father of poetry, the first 
 who fabricated and gave out these fictions, — though 
 Herodotus himself does most foolishly ascribe them 
 to Homer and Hesiod. It is, indeed, true, that
 
 8 
 
 Homer did not set these matters riglit: nor, indeed, 
 ciccording to the opinion of Fred. Aug. AVolfius, 
 could lie, because, as tlie same 'W'ollius states, tlie 
 (ireeks had not in Homer's time attained the promjit 
 facuhy, and ready familiar use, of letters, either in 
 reading or writing : and in such-like testimonies, he 
 does but, — as the proverb speaks, — water his own 
 gardens from Josej)hus's springs. 
 
 It might be wished, that this most celebrated man, 
 W'olfius, luid l)een as consi)icuous in his Latinity, as 
 he was luminous in talent, and profoimd in learning : 
 it may be thought too by many, that some of his opi- 
 nions concerning Homer, and the tardy progress and 
 prompt use of alphabetic writing among the Greeks, 
 incline somewhat to heterodoxy, though to us they 
 appear to possess some trutli : but be these things as 
 they may, if in those observations made by him on 
 the common use of the art of writing he is not al- 
 together erroneous, what conclusions are to be drawn 
 on some other matters is pretty plain. 
 
 With respect to the Greeks, then, the case seems 
 to stand thus : This people, at the first, made certain 
 inscriptions on stone and wood : but even this was 
 done later, than some suppose. The most ancient of 
 all the inscriptions, — we are speaking only of the 
 Greeks, — as mentioned by Herodotus, Aristotle, and 
 Pausanias, if we choose to follow the above-mention- 
 ed writer, are later than the age of Homer ; so far 
 were the Greeks, according to him, of having any thing 
 like annals. 
 
 ^\'ith respect to Greek Marbles, we have in Eng- 
 land two remains of venerable antiquity ; of which, 
 one, — called the Sandwich Marble, — belongs to the 
 members of Cambridge University ; the other, — the 
 Parian Chronicle,— to the University of Oxford: botli
 
 9 
 
 far later in antiquity than the Sigean: the former, 
 namely, the Sandwich Marble, is oklor, perhaps, by 
 a hundred years, than the latter, the l^arian Chro- 
 nicle ; and what is written on it is of a much later 
 date than the inscriptions just mentioned ; and to 
 our present subject it but little appertains, —contain- 
 ing an Athenian Bill of Charges for the sacred Feast 
 at Delphos. 
 
 But the Arundelian Marble is professedly a Chro- 
 nicle ; beginning with Cecrops, 1582, though not 
 engraved till 26',^ years, before Christ, according to 
 Selden, long after Homer. We are, indeed, not igno- 
 rant, that some hold the authority of this Parian Chro- 
 nicle to be but small, nay who consider it altogether 
 spurious ; nor, whether it may be spurious, or genuine, 
 has it with our business much concern. Its fidelity 
 we at least by no means assert. It is sufficiently fa- 
 bulous : and, at the same time, contradicts, by its 
 statements, that arch-mystographist, Apollodorus : 
 and as to Apollodorus himself, as the Cyclic writers 
 were fabulous in verse, so was he, — running from 
 Ouranus down to Theseus, — in prose. 
 
 Whence then was this Chronicle, be it what it may, 
 derived ? From others, perhaps, of a superior iige. Do 
 you ask, whence these latter were obtained? We reply, 
 not from writings, of which the Grecians had little 
 knowledge ; but from what greatly preceded all their 
 chronicles, from the traditions of antiquity, and the 
 dreams of their poets : so that Greece, ignorant of its 
 own history and common origin, but endued with a 
 genius pre-eminently subtle, and, imbued, at length, 
 with the arts and sciences of the Egyptians, as it did 
 not want the will, so did it not the power, of fabrica- 
 ting almost every species of invention. Hence sprang 
 that saying of Pliny concerning the Greeks, "There 
 is no lie so impudent, which cannot be borne out by
 
 10 
 
 their te>tiinony ;" a saying whidi at length passed 
 into a proverb, 
 
 " \\halcvor lying Grc(.'ce 
 
 Durst give for genuine History." — Juv. 
 
 The most ancient Greek MSS. which have come 
 to the knowledge of the learned, and which have been 
 accurately examined by them, reach not, in the opi- 
 nion of the most sagacious inquirers into these sub- 
 jects, perliaps, beyond the third century, if so far ; 
 we add, perhaps, for we should not speak of that as 
 a certainty, which is only a probability ; — nor is the 
 age of the Greek language concerned in this dis- 
 pute. 
 
 The question concerning the origin of the Greek 
 alphabet is, indeed, curious, as also is the history of 
 its progress. It is also of considerable length, and be- 
 yond the limits of our present investigation : though 
 we may be allowed to conjecture, that if it was derived 
 from Cadmus, that is, a Phoenician origin, — and that 
 it was so, is very clearly manifest from that most cele- 
 brated, and ancient Sigean inscription, — it would not 
 follow, that Greek annals nmst be traced to the same 
 source. For, if the Greek mythology was in part of 
 foreign extraction, their annals, had they possessed 
 any, would of necessity have been their own. 
 
 In the mean time, it does not escape us, that there 
 are writers, particularly some Platonists, who are 
 disposed to give to Fables themselves a moral and 
 theological, as well as a natural and animal, inter- 
 pretation, speaking as philosophers ; nay, who are 
 pleased to receive them as divine : nor do we mean 
 to disj)ute with such philosophers, nor to pronounce, 
 as from a professor's chair, that they are, totu calo, 
 in a mistake, — this only being granted us, that where 
 mythologies most abound, there faithful annals will 
 be proportionably less : and, that the fact is so, the
 
 11 
 
 course of history very clearly proves : for — and be it 
 observed, that we are not speaking of mythologists, 
 properly so called — even their historians, while treating 
 of matters of antiquity, while professing to give clear 
 narratives of what is past, nay, when desiring to point 
 out the events of their own times, — in short, whatever 
 they attempt, present their readers with little else than 
 reports from ancient tradition, or the results of their 
 own observation and experience ; but they make no 
 appeals to faithful monuments, they gain no credit 
 from chronological arrangement, they confirm nothing 
 from the authority of books antecedent to their own 
 times. Such is the course pursued by their historians; 
 so that, when they write of things which occurred in 
 their own times, and under their own eyes, — being 
 accustomed to proceed in this way from a want, from 
 an ignorance, of annals, — they report nothing from 
 calendars or registers of former times, but every 
 thing is done, if not quite confusedly, yet without any 
 chronological harmony. 
 
 y. Homan History and Chronology . 
 
 The preceding observations relate to the Grecians; 
 and much the same must be made on the Romans. 
 And, indeed, how can it be otherwise.^ Had not the 
 two people the same alphabet, the form, the num- 
 ber, the expression being nearly the same .^ Almost 
 every thing of these as possessed by the Roman 
 language, is common to the Greek, and affords a 
 proof, that they are of one family, that they had a 
 common parent. To every learned person this will 
 be clear, on comparing together the Characters of the 
 Beza MS. — that most ancient Greek MS. of the four 
 Gospels and Acts of the Apostles in the public li- 
 brary of the University of Cambridge — with the
 
 12 
 
 Latin corresponding to them, and placed at the 
 side ; or the Copies of those most celebrated MSS. 
 of X'irgil — Fac Sifui/es as they are called — in the 
 \'atican andMedicean Libraries compared with Greek 
 MSS. Though, indeed, all the ancient Greekand Latin 
 MSS. betray a wonderful affinity one with another, at 
 hast those which are written in capital letters, — as 
 those of the greatest antiquity all are, — most clearly 
 proving, that the original characters of both languages 
 were derived from the same Oriental source. IJesides, 
 the same mythology was common to both nations, as 
 will appear on comparing but cursorily the Scriptores 
 Grcrvi anlK^ui Ilistorite Pott'iccr^ and the Theogony 
 of Hesiod, with the Metamorphosis of the Roman 
 fabulist, Ovid. Did not, too, the arts and sciences, 
 as the best and most accomplished judges have de- 
 cided, flourish later with the Romans, than with the 
 Greeks .^ Nay, were not the Romans borrowers from 
 the Greeks ? and did not the use of letters obtain a 
 later introduction among the Romans .^ 
 
 To which let it be added, that the early computa- 
 tions in the Roman History are little more to be relied 
 on than in the Grecian. It has been deemed surpri- 
 sing, that the most striking, and primary epoch in 
 the history of the Romans, — the time of building their 
 city, — should not have been more clearly ascertained, 
 there being no less than seven opinions among the 
 critics on that subject : on this a learned and grave 
 writer suggests, "that it might have surprised us more 
 had it been otherwise, considering either the darkness 
 of their history, or the unequalness and irregularities 
 of their computations." In truth, what has been said of 
 the Greeks, may in some measure be said of the Ro- 
 mans, — their History comes before their Chronology, 
 and the early part of it is a mere fable.
 
 I -13 
 
 y VI. Egyptian Chronology . 
 
 • But let us take heed, lest we founder in the very 
 port. Perhaps, the Egyptians and Asiatics managed 
 these matters hetter. About the Chald?cans thereis 
 itoo little certainty of information : the spurious Be- 
 ji'osus is no less fabulous : and what is related of the 
 Phoenicians, and ascribed to Sanchoniathon, is equal- 
 ly fallacious. But, indeed, there are some, and 
 those well versed in antiquarian research, who, fol- 
 lowing the Greek and Latin writers, have been stre- 
 nuous in referring to the Egyptians the first prin- 
 ciples of knowledge, and also the commencement 
 of the use of letters and writing, as derived, according 
 to them, from the hieroglyphics : as if that people, as 
 Horapollo says of their country, produced and ani- 
 mated all things. They maintain, that the Egyptians, 
 on account of the peculiarities of their soil, and the 
 periodical overflowings of the Nile, carefully studied 
 astronomy, and were the first who invented the year, 
 which they divided into twelve months, from obser- 
 vation of the zodiacal signs, of thirty days, with five ad- 
 ditional ones every year. They add, that as, from these 
 causes, the Egyptians became the most accurate ob- 
 servers of periods of time, so also, through a long 
 series of dates they were the most faithful chroniclers 
 of events : and that, as to sacred and mystic matters, 
 not only did the Greeks borrow their deities from 
 Egypt, but the Hebrews also took from them their nu- 
 merous rites and ceremonies : so that in this nation 
 at least, they might say, the abundance of mythology 
 was not that, which occasioned a defect in their chro- 
 nology. 
 
 VII. Hebretv Chronology. 
 Such are the things, which we find related of the 
 Egyptians : but no small number of the learned, and
 
 14 
 
 niunv tlu'ologians, unless we are much mistaken, both 
 Jewish and Christian, have lield a very dill'erent opi- 
 nion. These, deriving every thing from the Hebrews, 
 maintain, that, as tlie ancient h\ngiiage of the Phoeni- 
 cians was the same as that of the Hebrews, so also the 
 ancient Hebrew letters were the same as the Phoeni- 
 cian ; that the Egyptians were large borrowers from 
 them, imitating their modes and manners, though 
 but as children do those of men. — They hold, that we 
 must look to Moses for the origin of letters, as first 
 revealed on Mount Sinai, and described by the hand 
 of Jehovai), proceeding from that light which could 
 not be looked upon — from the fiat, " Let there be 
 light, and there was light"- — being evidently — they 
 are ChishuH's words — " of divine workmanship and 
 invention, and worthy of that almighty God, who 
 fashioned our mind, face, and eyes." 
 
 Moreover, according to the opinion of many of the 
 learned, an opinion immediately connected with this 
 last, the Jews have the most authentic chronicles and 
 the most faithful historical records. In the Hebrew 
 annals, therefore, they think, they can make a sure 
 footing : and, in fixing the festivals, the generations 
 of the patriarchs, the sojourning of the Israelites in 
 Egypt, the years of the Judges, nay even the creation 
 of the world, they produce a Sacred Chronology — as 
 Archbishop Usher and Petavius the Jesuit do — from 
 the very beginning, as a faithful guide, a rule or re- 
 gister of dates, and, setting mythology aside, as the 
 sure and only elucidation of ancient history : 
 
 ....♦' Veritatem 
 Dumos inter et aspera 
 Scopulosis seciiti vadis."
 
 15 
 
 VIII. Comparison betiveen the Hebrews and 
 
 Egyptians . 
 
 So these proceed. Others take a different course : 
 for there are some, and those no common men, but 
 writers of great repute, who maintain, in opposition to 
 all this, that the Hebrews derived almost every thing 
 from the Egyptians. They assert that there was a 
 striking agreement between them and the Egyp- 
 tians, in their tenets of belief, in the precepts which 
 directed their actions, in various rites and cere- 
 monies ; and, what is more to the purpose here, 
 as connected with chronology, in their division of the 
 year, months, and days, both the Israelites and the 
 Egyptians having a double year, civil and sacred, — 
 and many other marks of similarity closely connected 
 with this question. At all events, it appears certain 
 beyond doubt, that we must come to one of two 
 conclusions, — either that the Egyptians were, if we 
 may so say, Hebraized, or that the Hebrews were 
 Egyptianized. So Kircher holds : and many Chris- 
 tian theologists agree that It must be so : nor are 
 the learned Jews desirous or able to disprove it. 
 
 But whatever may be the belief of the learned on 
 these points, we cannot directly, of necessity, and, as it 
 were, in argumentative series, hence draw settled con- 
 clusions regarding the Hebrew chronicles. Wlmt has 
 just been said of the Greeks, may almost equally be 
 said of the Israelites : namely, that though they bor- 
 rowed some rites and ceremonies from the Egyptians, 
 their chronicles were necessarily peculiar to them- 
 selves : and if the Egyptian chronology be false and 
 erroneous, it will not thence follow that the Hebrew 
 annals are destitute of truth. This could by no
 
 IC 
 
 means be rightly asserted. The premises maybe good, 
 and yet tht conclusion miglit be false. 
 
 If we are to put faith in the Jews, what is to be 
 said of the other Asiatics, and of the Egyptians . 
 themselves? If the chronicles of tlie former are to beS 
 admitted as genuine and worthy of credit, those of 
 the latter must necessarily be rejected as false. If , 
 one proceed in the straight line of truth, and the : 
 other turn in obliquity from it, as each takes a con- , 
 trarv course, they can never both meet in harmony. 
 In the outset, what discrepancies are found in their ; 
 registers ! In their progress, what discord in their 
 dates ! What an amplitude and extent in the liistory i 
 of j)articular events and single reigns — immense, and 
 almost infinite, far exceeding the bounds- of the Mo- 
 saic account! If yet, notwithstanding all this, from a i 
 very remote period they were acquainted with letters, 
 — and that they were, all antiquity testifies, — if tliey 
 mulerstood the zodiac, and knew the planetary move- 
 ments ; if they possessed all the materials and helps 
 of chronology, and if they a: pointed their priests as 
 the depositaries to guard their sacred writings, — and 
 such advantages have been the boast both of the 
 Chaldeans and Persians, as well as the Indians and 
 
 Egyptians, — what is to be said ? You 
 
 will reply, ''Onuie ignottnn pro niag/tijico.'''' 
 
 That on the above-mentioned points much of 
 the inconsistency and contrariety of opinion has arisen 
 from an ignorance of the most ancient languages, is 
 well known to every academic : of the ancient Egyp- 
 tian — we do not speak of the Cojjtic — and of the 
 Babylonic not a tittle is known ; and, perhaps, not 
 much of tlie hieroglyphic Doubtless you do not 
 forget, that those who treat of Egyptian and Chal- 
 daic matters take very different parts ; maintaining.
 
 17 
 
 that the Egyptian letters, inscribed on the pyramids 
 — at least as Herodotus relates — either never exist- 
 ed, or entirely vanished in later times ; that Chaldaic 
 astronomy savoured more, perhaps, of astrology, as it 
 is called, and imposture, than oi science: and, if it 
 be admitted, tliat there is a certain correspondence 
 and agreement between the ancient cosmogonies, 
 Chaldaic, Egyptian, Persian, Indian, Greek, and He- 
 brew, that still their chronologies vary from each 
 other, and are as difl'erent as possible from the Hebraic. 
 To some, who of late explored Oriental history with 
 great industry, and, perhaps, some success, it has ap- 
 peared probable, after all, that the great periods of 
 time and far-extended histories of the Indians and 
 others, are little more than the revolutions of the sun, 
 the moon, and the planets. 
 
 IX, Relation of the preceding Observations to the 
 present Dissertation. 
 
 But on these points enough : and having, perhaps, 
 transgressed our bounds, we ask pardon. We hope 
 we shall be excused by academics for turning over 
 these matters, so well known to most of them; not 
 mentioned, indeed, so much for their sake, as for the 
 purpose of refreshing our own memory, and as a check 
 against too much forwardness. Indeed, they insi- 
 nuated themselves into our mind gradually, though 
 not unawares, in a natural sort of order, as it appears 
 to us, whilst meditating on the present subject, rather 
 than hastily babbling at a venture, or busying our- 
 selves in useless and ostentatious researches. 
 
 Let then the statements above be taken for ex- 
 amples, that in proportion as the chronicles of ancient 
 nations were more defective, their histories neces- 
 sarily more abounded in fabulous tales ; and, that the 
 
 c
 
 18 
 iiioie authentic and belter proved the chronological 
 materials are, which we possess, so much the deeper will 
 the foundations of true history be laid, so mucli the 
 more majestic the superstructure, which maybe raised; 
 the better will all the parts fit and be jointed together; 
 the examples will be safe and encouraging ; the de- 
 scriptions — not unlike the natural ornaments of edi- 
 fices — clear and beautiful : the whole structure will 
 not be artificial, or dangling, as it were, in the air, 
 but duly and firmly fixed as by some binding law of 
 nature, Truth herself having laid the first stone : and 
 — to return, at length, to what more immediately con- 
 cerns our present business, — while meditating the right 
 way to Cambridge History, we have ourselves been 
 taught thereby, and shall continue to be taught, that 
 it is to be derived from those true chronicles, which 
 are preserved in your own archives ; and that we, in 
 presenting to your fidelity this " Book of Privileges," 
 wholly derived from them, shall make, at least to 
 those Cantabrigians, who either now are, or may here- 
 after become, curious about the History of Cambridge, 
 an agreeable and useful offering. 
 
 X. licphj to art am Objections. 
 
 But, in truth, we fancy, that we hear some starting 
 objections against us in the very outset — that our 
 hopes are disproportionate to our matter — that those 
 are grasping and largely extended, while this is slen- 
 der, little adapted for common use, and more than re- 
 quisitely academic. But we hope it will not prove 
 altogether so. We freely confess, that what we have 
 to offer are but brief notes, or memoranda, marking 
 only points of time, and not, like the Annals of Ta- 
 citus, or the Commentaries of Caesar, giving a full and 
 ample narration: yet still are they such points, from
 
 19 
 
 \\'hich, as a centre, all true histories are drawn, which 
 strike off into the right direction, and take a wide 
 range ; they are of small pretensions, diminutive, even 
 I in appearance, yet they bear with them the most use- 
 1 ful records, the most uncorrupted evidences, so as to 
 be the clearest and the strongest vouchers. They 
 may, indeed, if you like, be called a key, small and un- 
 polished, but which, in the hands of those who know 
 how and when to apply it properly, will open the 
 most directly to the greatest opportunities and surest 
 advantages. 
 
 Nor can it with justice be objected, that these 
 records are not ancient enough to be valuable, like 
 wine, which has more flavour of the wood than of age : 
 for they are most assuredly ancient ; nay some of them, 
 of which we shall give a longer account elsewhere, 
 claim to be older than some of the learned would 
 like, perhaps, to admit. We shall not, on the pre- 
 sent occasion, trouble ourselves with the controversies 
 of Caius of this University, or of Twine and Antony 
 Wood of Oxford, in their disputes about the very early 
 antiquity of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. 
 We shall be satisfied with what Crevier says of the 
 Academy of Paris: *'Il n'est pas possible de fixer 
 par des dates precises les commencemens, soit de 
 rUniversite de Paris en general, soit de parties qui 
 la composent, des magistrats qui la gouvernent, des 
 principaux attributs qui la caract^risent. Les re- 
 serches sur tons ces points ne menent en aucune facon 
 a une origine claire et determinee ; et les premieres 
 mentions que Ton rencontre dans les monumens his- 
 toriques, n'en contiennent point la creation et I'eta- 
 blissement, mais en supposent I'existence." The same, 
 or very nearly so, may be said of our University of 
 Cambridge. The first charter, indeed, which can be 
 
 c2
 
 •JO 
 
 considered true and genuine, clearly appears of the time 
 of Henry the Third. This is still kept in the Tower of 
 London. If any can be produced of an older date than 
 this, we sh(Hild like to see it brought forward. But, 
 this by the bye, and let it suffice : for from this pe- 
 riod the stream of the Charters and Privileges of Cam- 
 bridge flows clear and pellucid, confined within cer- 
 tain bounds and hanks ; and if this be not the ex- 
 treme line and limit, it can nowhere be marked to a 
 certainty. Upon the charters and statutes themselves, 
 whether royal, papal, or academical, we cannot at pre- 
 sent make anv nice disquisitions : some will not be 
 reckoned of any sterling worth, at least by those who 
 think with us : others, on account of the matter 
 itself, will not be much valued by men of sense ; in- 
 deed, not at all, unless, perhaps, as affording some 
 aid to history. Such as are now in use and refer to 
 more modern customs, may, probably, render assist- I 
 ance to those filling public offices ; and such as are 
 no longer observed, and, from a change in times 
 and manners, are now neglected and suffered to 
 fall into disuse, may still gratify the curious, who 
 delight in collecting the fragments of ages gone 
 by. If some are of an uncouth diction, and of 
 a style, necessarily, more official than classical, many, 
 nevertheless, as might be expected, are of a better 
 vein, and having received a more careful polish from 
 very learned men, possess such a spirit of elegant 
 Latinity, that they may please and delight men of the 
 most refined taste. 
 
 XJ. TJif History of Ca?/i bridge. 
 
 And here, if we take occasion to speak a few words 
 — perhaps we may say more elsewhere — about our 
 History of Cambridge, we hope you will pardon us.
 
 21 
 
 Additions and corrections pertaining to it are sub- 
 
 f joined to this vohnne. We confess we have erred in 
 
 some points : and, in sucli a variety of matter, that 
 
 we should have sometimes erred, who can wonder ? 
 
 IThose possess a right of censure, vvlio are fitted by 
 
 [learning to correct or assist others ; and to those 
 
 learned men, who kindly admonish their fellow-la- 
 
 jbourers of their errors, the higiiest respect is due. 
 
 As for those, who from malice, or a vp.ln opinion of 
 
 themselves, or for purposes of gain, are ever eager to 
 
 attack others, let them enjoy the gratification which 
 
 their censures can give them ; — a pitiful set of fellows, 
 
 who the less they have of genius, or learning, or 
 
 industry, or love of truth, or love of liberty, are 
 
 !the more desirous of giving themselves consequence 
 
 by their garrulity and petulance ; — " Let such stay at 
 
 I Jericho, till their beards are grown." By such men 
 
 land their devices we shall not suffer ourselves to be 
 
 i detained, hastening on, as we hope we are, to better 
 
 I matter. 
 
 XII. Appeal to the Candour of Cambridge-men. 
 
 Doubtless, there will be among you, gentlemen 
 of the University, — as we certainly know there have 
 been, — many of a more penetrating judgment, men 
 more studious of good morals, than covetous of 
 emoluments, and of a genius so much the more li- 
 beral and candid, as they are more conversant in these 
 studies ; friends to the University of Cambridge, and 
 to mankind at large, rather than lovers of themselves, 
 who might be considered very honourable opposers — 
 if they chose to oppose at all — who in more serious 
 mood may object to us, having, perhaps, formed some 
 apprehensions, that ensnared by the love of the pre- 
 sent undertaking, or with too much reverence for you,
 
 22 
 
 we are about to become unseasonable and extravagant 
 panegyrists of what deserves no praise ; nay, to turn 
 admirers of some things, entitled to censure : evi- 
 dently forming their opinion by comparing what has 
 been said elsewhere, as they think, sufficiently com- 
 mendatory, with what the title of the present work, 
 "The Privileges of Cambridge," may seem to promise. 
 It is, therefore, our wish to treat of those same things 
 as in their presence : and if, through being limited by 
 the narrowness of the times ; if through being confused 
 by different opinions of different men, who have gone 
 over the same course, — we seem to feed a controversy, 
 or to entertain any doubt, we shall leave it to such 
 men's sober and candid decision. Contentions and 
 barking disputations are but little to our taste : but, 
 as to search after truth *' in the groves of Acade- 
 mus" could formerly give us pleasure, so now, at 
 length, to find it there would be our great delight. 
 
 It is proposed, then, to consider the present sub- 
 ject, — the Privileges of Cambridge, — in a series of ob- 
 servations on its present constitution, its literature, 
 its charters and statutes, and to take a more particular 
 view of some things which concern the discipline 
 and economy of that body, as parts of our civil com- 
 munity, in reference to the theory of the English Con- 
 stitution, and to the guardianship and direction of 
 the British Government. 
 
 XIII. Censures which have been passed by some on 
 our present Universities. 
 
 In the first place, then, it does not escape us, that 
 there have been, and are still, persons, who have much 
 censured such kind of institutions as those now under 
 consideration, at least so far as they are privileged and 
 exclusive establislunents, such as are now those long
 
 Zo 
 
 established in the two counties of Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge. Such men there certainly have been ; and 
 their opinion was formed, if we properly understand 
 them, not from the little regard which they had for 
 science, but from their great desire to see it more 
 generously amplified, and more widely extended ; 
 and further, from their thinking, that such-like pri- 
 vileged institutions favour rather some private, than 
 a public, interest ; the studies peculiar to parties 
 and professions, rather than those arts, which for 
 their liberality and general efficiency should be 
 called the best : but — as they were wont to pro- 
 fess — they were so far from feeling a love for igno- 
 rance, and a reverence for rusticity, that they could 
 have wished to see elegant literature honoured in 
 every place, philosophy rendered accessible, in some 
 measure, to every individual, and colleges raised and 
 established in all the greater cities of Britain. 
 
 The precedingobjections, then, against Universities, 
 have been urged against them not as literary institu- 
 tions, but as too privileged ; — not as insusceptible of 
 much real good, but as in their present state, too re- 
 stricted and confined for the public benefit. 
 
 There may, perhaps, be among you, some ready 
 to say, that this is a picture of a mere monster, the 
 abortion of some unfortunate, diseased times; or a little 
 more politely, a mere new Atlantis, or Utopia. Be it 
 so : this is not the place — whatever our opinion may 
 be — to agitate the question : suffice it, for the present, 
 to have hinted, that such opinions have been thrown 
 out, and by some of your own members, and even pro- 
 claimed at St. Mary's, your own church. But, as 
 some will rejoin ; all this was in tumultuous times, 
 when there is apt to be a certain rush into contro- 
 versies, according to each man's prevailing bias, a
 
 24 
 
 conflict of all sorts of opinions ; and it would be 
 strans:e, if amidst these tumults, inconsistencies did 
 not arise, and extravagancies even abound. 
 
 But, to say the truth, in more tranquil times, — even 
 in our own, — and among those, than whom you will 
 scarcely find any persons more attached to you, there 
 have existed men, who, no less than those just men- 
 tioned, have thought, that our founders would have 
 better consulted the interest of the l^ritish state, 
 in the establishment and proper direction, as well of 
 good learning, as of morals and true religion, had 
 they provided, that the Light and Sacrid Cf/ps now 
 appropriated to these favoured institutions, should 
 have been more widely and extensively diffused, even 
 through all the counties of England ; rather than, as 
 they now are, disposed of, as it were, in a corner, and 
 circumscribed within the limits of one or two places. 
 
 'KlY. Defence of our Un'ivcr skies made by othei's. 
 
 " But proceed," you say; " for what is all this to the 
 purpose of our institutions ?" And we ourselves con- 
 fess, that we are about to contemplate things fixed and 
 determinate, not floating in the clouds, but subjected 
 to this our earth, And you immediately urge. If 
 some things in these foundations were from the be- 
 ginning bv no means perfectly correct, — as human 
 devices are not apt suddenly and all at once to glide 
 into the most exact order ; — if other things are become 
 corrnj)ted and degenerated, — as the very best things 
 sometimes decline to the very worst ; — if many things 
 are antiquated and covered with the rust of age, — as time 
 is ever hastening to spread his rust over everyplace; — 
 if you grant all this, still you, at the same time, strenu- 
 ously insist, that many things, which yet remain, are 
 worthy of praise, and valuable ; many things full of the
 
 26 
 
 wisdoiii and good counsels of our ancestors ; many 
 things improved by the studies of the moderns and our 
 julvancements in science; — if besides, as you, perhaps, 
 may still further urge, a few things less perfect, nay 
 things which clearly call for reformation, still remain, 
 — they may be suffered to remain by the greatest and 
 best Being, to teach us, that, after so many good 
 counsels, which have come to naught ; after so many 
 attempts of the most excellent men, which have been 
 wholly frustrated, — time itself, though working si- 
 lently, is, after all, the best and the most powerful 
 reformer : and amidst all objections we shall pay the 
 respect due to such expostulations. 
 
 XV. Greek and Latin Literature. 
 
 As to what regards our present Universities, as 
 they now exist, there may be possibly some persons 
 ready to object, that they resound with too much 
 Greek and Latin ; that they, at least, are more en- 
 gaged in foreign languages, than is becoming, or 
 than is necessary, in a British Athens. Such object- 
 ors, however, we suspect, are not often found among 
 your own members, or your own students, unless 
 there be some — we hope very few — who, given up 
 to the gratification of their appetites, or the dreams 
 of indolence, must be very incompetent judges of the 
 Greek and Latin languages, and of the method best 
 fitted to the service of the Sciences. To such critics, 
 who have neither eyes nor ears, it would be idle to 
 engage in a controversy upon literature. On the 
 objections of more reasonable men it may not be out 
 of place to offer a few observations. 
 
 It may be objected, then, that the Greek and Latin \ 
 are dead languages ; that for the present times they ] 
 are not necessary, and that for ordinary use they are
 
 2() 
 
 too arlihiial ; much perplexed with then' contortions, , 
 transpositions, and ellipses ; unattainable without 
 great labour; and unproductive of proportionate ad- 
 vantages, when the knowledge of them is obtained. 
 
 XVI. Dcjcnce of tlic GrccJx and hat'in Laus^uages. 
 
 But, some of you would reply, Let those who would 
 make this objection, not move too fast. For, how 
 can the Greek language be properly accounted dead, 
 which is still living in the Mediterranean and Ionian 
 Islands, and through the vast regions of European 
 Turkey ? in its grammatical forms, and primitive 
 sense, indeed, somewhat changed ; but with respect to 
 the letters, retaining the ancient pattern, and preserv- 
 ing most of the words in their original signification ; 
 adding to this, that where the Romaic, as the mo- 
 dern Greek is called, is the vulgar tongue, the ancient 
 Greek is by no means lost. And with respect to the 
 Latin, how would they call that a dead language, 
 which in some parts of Europe is more in common 
 / use than among us ? And, when in the languages 
 of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France, the ancient 
 Latin may be so easily discovered, and sensibly dis- 
 tinguished ? 
 
 It is admitted, that these languages do not follow ex- 
 actly the same order and the same logical method, which 
 we and some other Europeans more commonly do ; 
 though this method is not altogether peculiar to them, 
 (the Hebrew uses transpositions and is very elliptical,) 
 and admits of a just defence. For by this method they 
 assist the morals and genius of men, whose wants lan- 
 guages ought certainly to supply. For man is not less 
 an animal, than an intellectual, being : and this very 
 method called artificial, though not so necessary in the 
 daily intercourses of man with man, yet is often found
 
 even in them, and that too in all languages, liut in 
 writings, whether prose or verse, it shines forth most 
 strongly ; and frequently it is not only graceful and 
 elegant, but eminently useful : it exercises and draws 
 out the various powers of the mind; but much more 
 it kindles up or cahns the passions, by turning men 
 aside from ill-boding intentions, or by urging them to 
 pursue any matter of moment with truer endeavour 
 and stronger force ; for the whole power and arrange- 
 ment of language have these ends in view : so that 
 what in this matter is accounted art, is by no means 
 opposed to nature ; it is no impediment, but rather a 
 support ; and while yielding a gracious support renders 
 nature more ample and capacious in the choice and 
 arrangement of words, no less than in the construc- 
 tion of sentences ; so great is the power, so extensive 
 the operation, so beneficial the variety, which are to be 
 found in numbers. 
 
 On the subject of the Latin language, generally, 
 there are some good observations by a person not 
 more fitted to public offices, than practised in the 
 elegant arts, and endowed with probity of morals, one 
 formerly of this University, — Sir William Temple. He 
 speaks to this effect : " The modern languages, the 
 Italian, Spanish and French, are but imperfect dialects 
 of the noble Latin, intermixt at first with the crude 
 words and terminations of barbarous nations, by whose 
 incursions the Roman Empire was overwhelmed, 
 together with the ruins and terminations of the 
 Latin tongue ; while the Latin tongue, decorated 
 with the spoils of Greece, was composed and consti- 
 tuted by the meditations and exercise of the most il- 
 lustrious people, which have been committed to the 
 records of history." 
 
 Who, too, does not feel with our Bacon, " that it 
 would be useful, if all the Academies scattered over
 
 28 
 
 l'>un)j)e would contract a more open alliance and closer 
 intimacy?" And, who does not see, that such a famili- 
 arity and medium of intercourse can be no otherwise 
 formed than by means of a language which is common 
 /to all ? And, indeed, who of you does not, in fact, 
 ■ know, that the learned, who have for many years past 
 i^ been communicating with each other, and consulting 
 concerning the arts and sciences, have entered on this 
 course, and that the Latin language has been consti- 
 tuted, as it were, their Mercury, the messenger of the 
 Gods? ^^1lo, then, you will ask, can hold this lan- 
 guage in lou- estimation ? Or what man, really learn- 
 ed, or desirous of learning, can help judging of it as an 
 acquirement eminently useful, and almost necessary ; 
 and which, as a faithful administratrix, and compa- 
 nion of ihe way, has adapted itself to the various pur- 
 poses of science? 
 
 Nor should we stop here : for to one who diligently 
 weighs this matter it will appear, tliat great acknow- 
 ledgements for great benefits received are due to the 
 Greek and Latin languages : — for, in truth., not only 
 through them, as so many conduits, have the arts and 
 sciences, derived from their Eastern springs, flowed 
 down to us ; but, unless as they go before and point 
 out the course, the ^V^estern nations, even with re- 
 spect to their own history, are all barrenness and 
 dearth: "for everything, perhaps, relating to them," — 
 these are the observations of Sir William Temple, — 
 "which reaches beyond seven or eight hundred years, if 
 those writings were taken away, would have been buried 
 in obscurity." Of matters which run out beyond this 
 space of time, and more particularly of what relates 
 to us Britons, separated from the whole ivorld, all 
 things are less kno'vn to us, in projiortion as they have 
 been less treated of and confirmed by them. 
 
 Such-like \^^Yn'< are general : they are obvious to 
 
 w 
 
 i
 
 29 
 
 i every one; and before academics it is not necessary 
 to dwell on particular points. What need is tiiere 
 of going at large into the innumerable elegances, 
 ithe copiousness, the variety, the sublimity of the 
 Greek language ? of dwelling on philosophers and 
 mathematicians, on poets, orators, and historians; in 
 short, on that long race of distinguished writers on 
 every art and science, who flourished in ancient 
 (rreece? Their praises have been repeated again 
 and again in every university of Europe, over the 
 whole Christian world. You, gentlemen, by your 
 right of office to admonish and exhort the British 
 youth, are in the habit of strenuously urging them to 
 these studies, and of repeating to them, 
 
 " Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna 5" 
 
 And with respect to such-like pursuits, no less delight- 
 some and agreeable, than useful and honourable, you 
 are in the habit, by golden prizes and sacred cups, 
 given to excite emulation and a sense of honour, of 
 stimulating the young men of Cambridge to the study 
 of both these languages : 
 
 "Quamobrem, pergite, ut facitis, atque in id stu- 
 dium, in quo estis, incumbite, ut et vobis honori, 
 amicis utilitati, et reipublicae utilitati esse possitis." 
 
 To these should be added another sort of argu- 
 ment ; since to these more general considerations 
 theologians may offer their particular arguments. For 
 all assemblies of Christians, how divided soever into 
 different parties on their peculiar doctrines, possess a 
 general agreement in the love and respect which they 
 have for the writings called the New Testament, or 
 Covenant : so that of this pursuit — the study of the 
 Greek language — all Christians will be prepared to 
 exclaim 
 
 " Hanc video, sed pukhiu colo, qiue cerno per ipsam."
 
 30 
 
 Thus, then, stands the matter. Had these pursuits 
 been tlie occasions of the neglect and abandonment of 
 others, whicli modern experience may draw forth and 
 teach, which daily practice may approve and require, 
 they would have been entitled to little praise. But this 
 is not the case. Of late years, philosophy has been ap- 
 plied to the service of the arts and manufactures of 
 the country ; while mineralogy and other branches of 
 natural history, political economy, and our common 
 law, have also risen into notice ; to say nothing of those 
 public exan^inations of under-graduates, which are now 
 finally settled in both our Universities. 
 
 X\'^II. Improvements made in the Universities. 
 
 Of some literary improvements, which might natu- 
 rally come under consideration in this place, notice has 
 been taken elsewhere — in the History of Cambridge ; — 
 so, in passing, some hints maybe dropped on what has 
 occurred since that publication. Among the Oxoni- 
 ans, then, their honours and prizes have been bestowed 
 on those who are inquisitive into our ancient mother 
 tongue, the Saxon ; there has been founded among 
 them a Saxon Professorship *; and what that can do, 
 has been done. In like manner among you, a learned 
 person — than whom, while living, no one more ho- 
 noured you, — Mr. Robert Tyrwhitt, has munificently 
 held out encouragement to the study of the Hebrew 
 language; and, what he bequeathed at his death, will, it 
 is to be hoped, by inciting under-graduates to its study, 
 give it firm and durable supj)ort : for the funds, which 
 he with so much liberality bestowed, you have with 
 no less judgment applied. j 
 
 Thus far then as to classical pursuits, and to ob- 
 jections made to the (jreek and Latin languages ^ en- 
 
 * It has since occurred, that notice was taken in the History 
 ol Cambridge, ot the ijuxon prolessorsliip at Oxford.
 
 31 
 
 couraged, as they now are, in our Universities. Still, 
 however, there remain some objections, relating not 
 so much to the Greek and Latin languages them- 
 selves, as to the ivritcrs in them, as being pagans, ex- 
 hibiting, as objectors say, divinities with religious rites 
 and fables, together with lawless amours ; a morality 
 all profane, and contradictory to their sacred books. 
 Hence it was, that the primitive Christians were for- 
 bidden to attend the dramatic representations of such 
 heathen writers : and hence some of the Fathers re- 
 monstrated against their compositions : "Nonneego 
 in te lego tonantem Jovem, et adulterantem ? — Et 
 vide quemadmodum se excitat ad libidinem divine 
 magisterio." Auqust'nius. Hence too in more recent 
 periods, such books in Latin as Terentius Christianus 
 by Cornelius Schoenaeus, and in Greek as the Meta- 
 phrases of Serranus, re-edited by a late student of one 
 of your colleges ; publications made with the direct 
 intention to supply the place of the heathen Greek 
 and Latin authors, with dramatic representations, hi- 
 stories, psalms, and epigrams, versified out of the 
 Jewish and Christian Scriptures : and, on a similar 
 ! principle proceeds Henry Stephens's Address, written 
 ! in Greek to Christian schoolmasters : all, indeed, ap- 
 I proving the Greek and Latin languages, while censu- 
 ring the writers in them ; 
 
 " Non hie amore demens adolescentulus. 
 Pudenda coram jactitabit crimina ; 
 Nee fabulosus quispiam Deus, viri 
 Mentitus formam, amantem fallet conjugem." 
 
 But as such-like things belong rather to mythologies 
 than languages, they do not properly come into con- 
 sideration in this place.
 
 :i-i 
 
 X\'III. Ohjections to the Studtj of the Mathernatics ; 
 accowpanied with their Defence. 
 
 There may be other objectors, who may be equally 
 serious wltli you, oti the subject of Mathematics, 
 — Of those who may object to your Physics and Ma- 
 thematics, there may be some — young men, who talk 
 ignorantly, like young men ; — some, wlio being de- 
 voted to the Muses, as they are called, and the ^Irles 
 humajtiores, if not prompted by the inconstancy and 
 intractability of enthu>iasn^, or the frowardnessof a too 
 delicate genius, may be said to have their minds pre- 
 occupied by other more favourite stndies ; — some, The- 
 ologians, from respect to their creeds, and, as they 
 think, from no ill-tiuied prudence, or an earnest de- 
 sire of abstracting themselves to their study of Divi- 
 nity ; and, lastly, — others, and even some Mathema- 
 ticians, from their regard to Philosophy, from the very 
 love and respect which they bear to Mathematics. 
 Of each of these in order. 
 
 He, who through mere ignorance objects to any 
 })articular studies, does but, — to borrow a phrase from 
 our schoolboy book, — chatter like a magpie, pica 
 garrit ; he utters sounds with his teeth and lips, but 
 gives out no distinct words, none, which can be as- 
 certained by a sure articulation. Now man is cha- 
 racterized not by his voice, but by his reason : but, as 
 it is said of phllosoi>hy, what it knows, it knows well ; 
 so of ignorance it may be said, what it knows not, it 
 knows not at all : and an argument derived from ig- 
 norance deserves only a similar argument, an appeal 
 to ignorance. 
 
 Further, those who form their judgments from 
 some powerful exuberance of poetic genius, from 
 feelings over- delicate, or from minds pre-occupied by
 
 33 
 
 other studies, — what do they say, but, that " the Muses 
 and rural scenes please them beyond everything else ;" 
 or that Logic, Rhetoric, History, Politics, or vvliatever 
 else is preferred by them to Mathematics, is their de- 
 light ? But where a question is started concerning the 
 beauty, the liberality, the respectability, or the utility 
 of any art or science, mere assertion neither proves nor 
 disproves any thing ; and, as there is no disputing 
 about particular tastes, so are no general conclusions 
 to be drawn from them. 
 
 In what some object, in behalf of Theology, we 
 see the less, in proportion to the more ample provision 
 made by your founders for what tends this way. Are 
 not almost all the Heads, and Tutors, and Fellows of 
 your Colleges, Theologians ? Are not the offices and 
 employments assigned to them clerical ; the various 
 benefices bestowed on them ecclesiastical ? The esta- 
 blished lectures, the professorial duties, the public 
 prayers, and the sermons both at the University 
 church and in the College chapels, — do not these, 
 with Mathematics, as it were, interspersed among 
 them, all breathe of Theology ? Nor are we much af- 
 fected by what some object, that Mathematics is apt 
 to lean to Heterodoxy ; and that as some, under this 
 plea, formerly opposed the Aristotelian Philosophy, 
 — as others did afterwards the Cartesian Principles, — 
 so at length on similar ground some opposed even 
 the Mathematical Principles of Newton. Though, 
 indeed, as by the force of Mathematical arguments 
 the gravity of Theology receives but little increase, so 
 neither by the overstrained confidence or absolute im- 
 potence of it, in this case, could the value or the dignity 
 of Mathematics suffer any diminution : nor is it, if 
 we mistake not, more an opposer of truth, than Logic, 
 or Metaphysics, or than History : indeed, by seriously 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 employing itself in reflection, in inquiring, in con- 
 necting together its propositions and arguments, so 
 as to bring out clearly its demonstrations, it gives an 
 evident elevation and powerful direction to the mind. 
 Such, then, isin reality theaim of Mathematics, to direct 
 and to elevate the understanding, so as to give a more 
 ready entrance to truth : this is its method, its pro- 
 fession ; and should a Mathematician, by the force of 
 his arguments, happen to disturb the dreams of su- 
 perstition, the reveries of Metaphysics, or the ravings 
 of enthusiasm, it would not of necessity follow, that 
 he would thereby do any harm to that religion, which 
 has its birth in the understanding, which produces 
 conviction in the conscience, which corrects bad habits, 
 and rests quietly in the heart. 
 
 XIX. Theology not to be defended by Mathematical 
 Arguments. — Other objections to Mathematics. 
 
 But to speak more clearly to this point. Those 
 seem to have wandered wide of the mark, in this ar- 
 gument, who have been for placing the Demonstra- 
 tion of the Existence and Attributes of the Supreme 
 Bein^ on a Mathematical basis ; nor less those, who 
 have been for explaining and illustrating his nature 
 by Algebraic ratios, and Geometric proportions : so, 
 at least in regard to them, have judged many of your 
 own men of learning. Bishop Law and others : for 
 though, say they, this Geometric way of proof, by the 
 analogy of the composition and resolution of ratios,, 
 possesses in matters relating to the arts and' sciences- 
 great force, the nature of God, which surpasses the 
 human sense, is beyond their reach. That cannoti 
 be ascertained by Geometric proportions, — which can; 
 be brought under the laws of sense, — nor be resolved by
 
 35 
 
 ratios and proportions, nor circumscribed and divided 
 by any measures of quantities : and it is not more 
 beyond the reach of Euchd's rules, than of the ar- 
 guments a jrriori. 
 
 By clearly discerning, and seriously weigliing these 
 matters, it was, that a man of great authority in 
 your schools. Dr. Paley, for the demonstrations 
 which he thought should be deduced of the attri- 
 butes of God, marked out a course, as ye know, 
 very different. Leaving the arguments of the high a 
 priori way, as it is called, as not adapted to his sub- 
 ject, he pursued with great skill that broader, safer, 
 and more certain one, called the r) posteriori, which 
 the works of nature point out to us, and which the 
 human understanding can follow and comprehend. 
 
 With respect to another objection to Ma- 
 thematics, viz. that your time is too much occupied, 
 in it, there has been a controversy very lately started 
 among your own Mathematicians, as there had been 
 some time ago, recommending a union of Classical 
 literature with Mathematical. 
 
 The different societies of learned men are agreed, 
 that all the arts and sciences, which relate to human 
 life, have a certain common chain, and are bound 
 together by their relation to each other ; that they 
 mutually support aud assist each other ; and that to 
 each, its appropriate honours are due. This was 
 shadowed forth by the mythologies and hieroglyphics 
 of antiquity ; as where the Muses are made to con- 
 sist of nine, all sisters, as, in like manner, were the 
 Graces ; the leader and attendant of these latter in 
 the dances being Venus, and of the other the God of 
 intellectual and musical harmony, Apollo. The same 
 harmony was pointed out by that most elegant fable 
 of Cupid and Psyche : and, in like manner, among 
 
 d2
 
 30 
 
 tlie Eii:vptiaiis, seven letters inclosed within two fingers 
 indicated the Muses; and theCynocephalus,an animal 
 of a mixed nature, letters and literature : and for the 
 same reason, the Cynocephalus was sacred to the par- 
 taker of all learning, Mercury. 
 
 Some learned men, whom we had lately in our eye, 
 clearly perceived all this ; and, notwithstanding their 
 ardent love for the Mathematics, were unwilling from 
 that other part of literature, called classical and the 
 more elegant, to withhold their homage and respect : 
 they even wished to see it placed, and at no great di- 
 stance, near Mathematics itself ; and with this view, 
 as some thought, most worthy of praise, they wished 
 to offer a Grace, as we have already noticed, to the 
 senate : they, indeed, well knew, that by the munifi- 
 cence of your benefactors, prizes not a few, as well in 
 private colleges, as publicly in the University, were 
 regularly distributed to those, who in poetical, histo- 
 rical, rhetorical, and theological prolusions and ex- 
 ercitations among their fellow students came off the 
 victors ; and this, so far as it went, they much ap- 
 proved. But they looked for greater things : they 
 wished that leave might be given for classical and 
 other branches of useful learning, to sustain its pro- 
 per character, in the public examinations, and to re- 
 ceive their appropriate honours at the time of taking 
 degrees : adding, at the same time, that the two gold 
 medals given by the Chancellor, however honourable 
 they might be considered, could not extend to all 
 graduates, or rather, indeed, had nothing at all to do 
 with Degrees *. 
 
 And, probably, these advocates were led to their 
 
 * While the Latin text of this work was in the press, the im- 
 portant improvements alluded to were actually going on in the 
 University.
 
 37 
 
 opinion by the following, among other, arguments ; 
 that as among the Oxonians many of the fooleries, 
 which had been long practised in their schools, had, 
 at length, been got rid of, and Mathematics been 
 allowed to have an honourable seat near the Huma- 
 nities, it was in like manner to be hoped, that Classic 
 Literature, with those studies which are usually con- 
 nected with it, would among the Cantabrigians, in 
 like manner, and with equal opportunities for suc- 
 cess, be permitted to obtain its distinctions and re- 
 wards ; and, that as the latter softens the manners of 
 mankind, and serves the common purposes of civil 
 life not less, and some think even more by its hu- 
 manity, than the former by its severity, and that as, in- 
 deed. Classical Literature is the support and the orna- 
 ment of mathematical, both, under the protection of 
 their bountiful mother, should be equally cherished, and 
 join hands together ; being, perhaps, almost persuaded 
 that they heard the Muse, the Goddess of the Huma- 
 nities — if in speaking on a classical subject we may 
 be allowed a little classical levity — supplicating the 
 senate in their behalf ; 
 
 " Nolite sinere per vos artes liberates 
 Recidere ad paucos ; facite, ut vestra auctoritas 
 Mese auctoritati fautrix adjutrixtjue sit." 
 
 XX. Objections to certain Parts of the Mathematics 
 in the Jt^ay now taught at Cambridge. 
 
 But to proceed : there have been others, and now 
 are, among your own members, and those, according 
 to your own judgement, men of ingenuity, much 
 commended for their knowledge both of Geometry 
 and Algebra, who, though greatly admiring those 
 branches of science, cannot in all things follow your 
 method in teaching them. They do not object to teach-
 
 38 
 
 ing Mathematics systematically; nay they think, that 
 nothing should he taught in the way ofa course, and in 
 a systematic Older, more than Mathematics, and accord- 
 ing to some system approved of by the highestandmost 
 general opinion of learned men ; at least till some- 
 thing better should be clearly discovered, as being ascer- 
 tained and confirmed by them ; but they fear, that 
 every thing now received systematically is respected 
 too superstitiously, while some things, perhaps, of 
 happy invention, though in a somewhat different di- 
 rection, are passed by without the slightest notice ; 
 wtll remembering how religiously the name, with 
 every opinion, of Aristotle, — a name, within certain 
 limits, still entitled to respect, — was looked up to both 
 by Cantabrigians and Oxonians : these persons, with 
 their admiration, mingling something of censure, 
 and com})laint, acknowledge Geometry to be the best 
 teacher of Logic and the most safe guide in the pur- 
 suit of the sciences ; and Algebra they readily ac- 
 knowledge is a science remarkable for its perspicuity, 
 and full of elegance : but they think, that as well 
 in your explanations of the former as of the latter 
 science, there is more obscuritv in your academical 
 books, than necessity requires, or than decency should 
 permit ; more uncertainty, than suits doctrines to be 
 referred to the senses, and experience, or than is con- 
 sistent with the subjects themselves, and with con- 
 sequently less of pleasure accompanying them, than 
 there ought to be, in things, which should allure and 
 captivate the young mind. Add to this, that they 
 think, the Mathematics, which you teach, attempts some 
 things, which are not of its jurisdiction ; such as 
 whatgoestoexplain the causeof motion and light; with 
 certain other things, which relate to the heavenly bodies. 
 Mathematical demonstrations on subjects which de-
 
 39 
 
 pend on them they greatly approve, and religiously 
 respect ; but such things, they niuintain, are beyond 
 their power. Euclid and Newton they consider as 
 almost divine men ; but not so divine, as not to be 
 liable to err; nor could they over either chant what 
 some poet has over Homer : 
 
 As-pa [jLev YiiJ.avpW(r£y xa« hpa, xoxXa creAijj'Tjf . 
 
 Nor scarcely what another says : 
 
 XXI. The JVr'iters Apology for treating so freely 
 on the Mathematics, and his Reasons for chuelling 
 so long on Literary Subjects. 
 
 But, while addressing Academics on such subjects, 
 we wish the reader to understand, that we are not 
 undertaking to enforce or recommend any thing for 
 ihit practical observation of Mathematicians, nor even 
 of young men, who may incline to Mathematical 
 studies. Let everyone attend to his own department : 
 and us to what we deem ours. We have, indeed, in 
 some sort assumed a character here, and spoken in the 
 person as it were of some of your Mathematicians. 
 This was all which we had in view; to make it appear, 
 whatever some may think of pure Mathematics, — 
 as it is called, — and of those who by their great devo- 
 tedness to the study of it, abstract themselves from 
 human affairs, that we hold Mathematicians in the 
 greatest respect, and according to our sphere. Mathe- 
 matics itself, as explaining and illustrating the works 
 of nature, and as showing and demonstrating its laws 
 and powers, and Physics, as that which assists and 
 promotes the sciences derived from the senses and the
 
 40 
 
 intellect ; always keeping this in mind, that we are 
 not ill this place making a dissertation on Mathe- 
 matics, nor entering into controversies with Mathema- 
 ticians, but that every thing hitherto advanced by us 
 about literature, has only, according to our own man- 
 ner and distinct province, been treated of rather hi- 
 storically, or narratively, than scientifically or disputa- 
 tiously. 
 
 And thus much for literary matters: and, to speak the 
 truth, we have detained the reader so much the longer 
 by our admiration of certain things which have pre- 
 ceded, in proportion as with some things, which follow, 
 we are less pleased: not being altogether ignorant, that 
 there have been persons who consider and describe as 
 oppugners of the truth, and as the spoilers of the inge- 
 nuous arts, those, who on subjects not very certain 
 entertain any doubts, or from subjects not very useful 
 or agreeable make any detraction, confounding toge- 
 ther the TO. ovra, and the ru fi>ri ovtu. 
 
 XXII. On the Political or CEconoinical State of our 
 
 Universities. 
 
 The subject which next oflfers itself to our consi- 
 deration, is of. that kind which is called political or 
 recojioniical, concerning which not many words will 
 be looked for, perhaps, in this place, particularly, as 
 in the Privileges of Cambridge, which this work con- 
 tains, some things of this nature are exhibited much 
 at length, and as it would be prudent — as some may 
 think — to say here nothing at all, lest we should 
 be thought desirous of fishing on the dry earth, or of 
 hunting in theopen sky, or of flyingover the waves of a 
 stormy sea. But, where our destinies seem to lead, we 
 follow, and our mind seems scarce possessed of self- 
 direction. For some Genius, cither good or bad, as
 
 41 
 
 lieretofore, so again, nowcalls us forth, and Conscience, 
 whether well-directed or phrenzy-stricken, urges us on. 
 
 But let that Genius dictate what it may, some di- 
 stinctions should be made by us. We should guard 
 against confounding inquirers with accusers, apolo- 
 gists with enemies, and friendly conferences with the 
 animadversions of malignant censurers, or biting 
 satirists. And why should we not .'^ Who will accuse 
 a person of things transacted many years before he 
 was born ? Posterity must be allowed to examine the 
 acts and institutions of former ages, to compare them 
 together, to weigh them well, and to deliver on them a 
 free opinion, so it be with modesty, with justice, with 
 benevolence, with humanity; but, as every man must 
 be charged with his own faults, and his own virtues, so 
 mustevery age : and as the people of the present times 
 should form their judgement of those who went be- 
 fore, so should such as come after form their judge- 
 ment of us. The law does its work, and in passing, 
 often leaves some bad effects behind : but the ages 
 which succeed may be upright and free from blame ; 
 and unless they refuse to remove the dirt and rubbish 
 collected, to bring accusations against them would 
 be a crime. 
 
 Nor are we altogether ignorant by what a chain 
 men are accustomed to be holden to the schools 
 and academies, where they passed their youthful days, 
 where they cultivated useful learning, where they ob- 
 tained flattering distinctions and proud honours ; af- 
 fections these, which are taught us by nature, are 
 confirmed by experience, and cherished by con- 
 templation : when such-like objects — as our early 
 schools — are present to our sight, they are viewed 
 with a pleasure, which partakes of gratitude ; and, 
 when they are absent, that remains ; the love of
 
 42 
 
 former times even glows to old age ; and if we hap- 
 pen to visit such ahodes, or only as from a distance 
 to contemplate tlieu), we are apt to express ourselves 
 ill the language of religious veneration ; 
 
 " O ! tu severi religio loci, 
 Quocunque gaudes nomine. — " 
 
 XXIII. Men not tube blamed fur examining an- 
 cient Institutions, ur even their oiv?i particular Cuni' 
 7nunities : a?nl may censure deject sin them^ without 
 disrespect to the inembers. 
 
 }5ut to what does all this declamation tend ? To 
 this: to make it appear, that with respect to these af- 
 fections, though they are perhaps, in themselves, and 
 to a certain extent honourahle and pious, it would 
 be rash to say of them, what the proverb says of that 
 wayward, inconsiderate, Fugitive Boy, the Cupid of 
 the Poets, viz : that "Love is blind," and that it is 
 impossible to love and be wise. 
 
 Who of you does not recollect the manner in 
 which Thucydides, the celebrated writer of the Pelo- 
 ponnesian War, conducted himself towards his fellow 
 citizens, the Athenians ? On comparing together the 
 Speeches delivered by the ambassadors of the Corcy- 
 reeans and Corinthians with those of the Athenians 
 and Lacedrcmonians, it will be clearly seen, that the 
 Athenians themselves, seized with a too great lust of 
 government, were the occasion of that most lament- 
 able war, and that with them rested the blame of it : 
 So it apj)eared to Thucydides : and the light of Truth, 
 so resplendent in his history, made it " a perpetual 
 inheritance,"- — x.Tri(jM ic an, to borrow his own phrase, 
 — more than the profundity of its sentiments, and the 
 eloquence of its language. Amidst such avowals can 
 we suppose, that the same Thucydides did not love 
 the Athenians ?
 
 43 
 
 On the contrary, of Athens he seems to have made 
 his boast, and to have forestalled something of glory 
 by prefixing the name of Athenian to his Work, his 
 History beginning thus — "Thucydides the Athenian 
 wrote this history of the Peloponnesian war ;" and in 
 that admirable Funeral Oration, which the said histo- 
 rian puts into the mouth of Pericles, when writing in 
 form, and order, he says every thing agreeable, every 
 thing liberal, every thing benevolent, of Athens. 
 
 On the other hand, DIonysius of Halicarnassus, being 
 a Rhetorician, no less than an Historian, even censured 
 Thucydides, because he rather blamed than praised, the 
 Athenians, because he did not tickle their ears with 
 enticing words, and because he thereby had not con- 
 sulted the true grace of history : as though an histo- 
 rian did not belong to mankind at large rather than 
 to any particular city, or had a province distinct from 
 the delivering of the truth. On this stupid, arrogant 
 censure of Dionysius our Hobbes of Malmesbury has 
 delivered the most merited castigation, and has, in a 
 manner, lashed him almost to death. 
 
 As to these our literary academias, will any one 
 deny, that Francis Lord Bacon, a man, who for sound- 
 ness of judgment was almost without compare, pos- 
 sessed for them a very great love ? Yet did he in 
 all the Universities of Europe existing in his time, 
 our own, as well as foreign, point out many defects and 
 wants. Will any one say, that by Erasmus, who court- 
 ed and visited our English Universities, no less than 
 those on the Continent ; who by his genius, his elo- 
 quence, and his learning, in a great measure put 
 their barbarism to flight ; who, though a foreigner, 
 was honourably adopted by Cambridge as a sort of 
 Fellow and Professor; will any one say, that such seats 
 of literature were not contemplated by him with feel-
 
 44 
 
 ings of clue respect ? Vet did this same Erasmus 
 seriously deplore, and even bitterly attack, certain 
 evils, wiiich were too common among them. 
 
 And, to come nearer our own times, who will sus- 
 pect, that Mr. Robert Tyrwhitt and Dr. John Jebb, 
 with that most respectable assemblage of Academics 
 residing at Cambridge in their time, and petitioning 
 for the removal of Subscriptions to Articles of Faith, 
 at the time of taking Degrees, did not venerate their 
 Alma Mater, and greatly desire to see her in a sound 
 and flourishing condition .^ OrMr.AV^m.Whiston and 
 Mr.W'm. Frend, notwithstanding the serious contests 
 which they had with the Members of the University .^ 
 And who can for a moment suppose, that Mr. Locke, 
 and Dr. Richard Newton, and Dr. Vicesimus Knox, with 
 many others, had not the same feelings and the same 
 sentiments towards their Alma Mater of Oxford .^ Vet 
 did Locke— for to say nothing of the severe things ad- 
 vanced by others, Locke shall speak for the rest — after 
 considering some happy occurrences in his time, under 
 the Revolution of 1088, openly and honestly avow to 
 King William, " If your Majesty does not reform the 
 Universities, every thing will go back again." 
 
 Did not all these distinguished men possess a high 
 love for literature ? Who, indeed, doubts it .^ Nay, 
 further, if we mistake not, they complimented and 
 congratulated themselves with the name of Acade- 
 mic ; and, in proportion as their love of science was 
 more ardent, the greater was their desire to see the 
 seats consecrated to it as perfect as possible. And, 
 indeed, many things which they wished to be cor- 
 rected, have been amended and carried to some height 
 of improvement. Vou, too, have lived to see the 
 fruits of their labours, and the sight has rejoiced you. 
 Such men will live in your affections ; they will live
 
 45 
 
 .igiiin, as it were, in the memory of future ages ; tliey 
 will flourish in the recollections and congratulations 
 of all good men ; they will he ever present with you 
 as witnesses to the truth, as examples of virtue ; they 
 will, at the same time, excite a good hope, that if 
 other such men, in the lapse of years, should arise, 
 they will not be considered as opposers of literature, 
 or as enemies to good order. 
 
 XXIV. OpiJiions of certain Persons on the Po- 
 litical Character of our Universities. 
 
 But to return to our point. To any of you. Aca- 
 demics, who may have seriously considered this sub- 
 ject, the Privileges of Cambridge, and to any others, 
 who having no interest in them, may only cursorily 
 look into them, it will, perhaps, appear, that what we 
 call the political or ceconomical History of Cambridge, 
 is not only of some length, but involved in consider- 
 able difficulties ; and that a thorough examination, 
 or, indeed, a bare enumeration of its several parts is 
 beyond our reach : though, indeed, wliat our powers, 
 or our sentiments may be, is of no great consequence : 
 for we are going to deliver more generally the senti- 
 ments of others. 
 
 In the first place, then, it does not escape you, that 
 Hobbes of Malmesbury, with others, used to assert, 
 that what we call Universities had their origin and 
 derived all their authority from the sacerdotal power 
 of the Popes, being founded at first, so they thought, 
 as castellated towers for the protection and defence of 
 the Romish Church ; nor, that some others, — of the 
 Catholic faith, — long entertained an opinion, that our 
 English Universities would return to the same go- 
 vernment and discipline, from which, under the pre- 
 text of reformation, they had departed. Of the latter
 
 -4(5 
 
 number, it" we are not iiiistuken, was our Hare, the 
 coini)iler of these Privileges : so we conjecture from 
 the manner in whicli he begins, as ye have seen, his 
 Register, "To the honour and gUirvof AhnightvGod, 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, tlie Saviour of tlie world, and 
 of his glorious and most blessed Mother, the Virgin 
 Mary, and of the Saints in heaven, 1, Robert Hare, 
 Esq. dedicate this book of Privileges, and other mat- 
 ters relating to the generous and immaculate Univer- 
 sity." ^^'e infer this, from the zeal which he disco- 
 vered in this work : it was, indeed, no light under- 
 taking, yet he engaged in it without any fee or re- 
 ward, except the thanks of the two Universities ; for 
 he compiled the Privileges of Oxford on the same 
 scale: and in a book, which lies in MS. — in our pos- 
 session — written with great study, about the time of 
 Hare, — as is clear from the hand-writing, — the anony- 
 mous author so expresses himself that he cannot be 
 misunderstood : full of confidence, that the Romish 
 faith and ancient manners would be restored to Eng- 
 land, he lays down and describes, with great effort 
 and much thought, the laws and customs, which would 
 prevail, both in the government of the state and of 
 the Universities, under that imaginary restoration. 
 
 XX X'^. A differ ejit Statement made of the Political 
 Character of our Universities. 
 
 But, in strict truth, we caimot agree with Hobbes, 
 and some others, in every particular on this subject ; 
 but ratherwith Crevier,the Historian of the University 
 of Paris : for on considering the ancient history of 
 Universities generally, and, more particularly, the Pri- 
 vileges and earliest Charters of our own, — whe- 
 ther they are forged or genuine, on which we are not 
 inquiring in this place, — they seem to hold out, that
 
 47 
 
 they were first derived rather from kings tlum popes, 
 and afterwards were made the occasion or pretext 
 ifor obtaining others. Perhaps, the true opinion is, 
 that kings and popes held communications with each 
 other on the subject, each giving, and, as it were, 
 interminghng, his distinct authority, as the greatness 
 jof the occasion required ; kings giving charters and 
 endowments, with the power of holding in mortmain ; 
 the popes confirming them., and granting what are 
 called Bulls, by their sacerdotal authority. With re- 
 spect to those, who think, that these academical 
 establishments will return again to the Catholic party, 
 few, probably, will come to the same conclusions 
 with them, if they consider, how things were settled 
 from the beginning of the Reformation ; and, in- 
 deed, if the unsettled state of things for some time 
 led any to form too great expectations of this kind, 
 they soon vanished into air : and the spirit and 
 temper of the present age, as well as what is called 
 the British Constitution, as fixed and confirmed imder 
 King William, has now left such an occurrence not 
 only improbable, but next to impossible. 
 
 But, if the foundations of Universities are in some 
 degree concealed, the heights which they have reach- 
 ed are easily seen, their manners and customs are 
 known to all ; for it is clear, that these literary insti- 
 tutions were much subjected to the papal See, — so 
 great authority had the religion of our ancestors, — 
 that papal charters — bulls — were thence given, that 
 liberties and indulgences were thence dispensed ; and, 
 as the other universities of Europe had been bound 
 by the double knot of civil and ecclesiastical authority 
 to the pontifical chair, so also were, in some measure, 
 the courts of the University of Cambridge ; for though 
 the royal was the supreme law, still the civil law pos-
 
 48 
 
 sessed its uuthorltv thore, and tlic lloinaii See re- 
 tained the power of imposing its constitutions and 
 scliolastic decretals. 
 
 XX\'^I. Our Univcrsltt/-courts rei^ulated more ac- 
 cording to the Forms of the Civil Law, than of the 
 Commo/i Law of England. 
 
 Such an administration of the affairs of the Uni- 
 versity, — bv its civil law proceedings, — has to various 
 been displeasing ; not because they denied, that many 
 of the principles, reasons, and grounds of the civil law 
 were, in sundry respects, clear, depending on general 
 arguments, and worthy of constituting, as they do, a 
 great part of the law of nations, nor that it is often 
 written with elegance, nor that as a code it is often 
 humane and stored with a variety of learning, nor 
 that its study and proceedings have wonderfully en- 
 gaged the nations of modern Europe ; but because 
 they were not pleased, that the forms and proceed- 
 ings of our common law, of the law of the land, which 
 our great Charter and the British Constitution favour 
 before all others, should give j)lace, in our academical 
 courts, to the forms and proceedings of the civil law ; 
 which being formed into a body, at a time, when the 
 Romans had passed under the yoke of slavery, are 
 less favourable to the cause of freedom : for as time, 
 in his course, often consumes what we could wish to 
 abide, so also do certain forms of our law-courts, some 
 of the best principles of the laws themselves. 
 
 XXVI. Diff'erence hetxceen the Civil and Common 
 
 Law. 
 
 On the nature and principles of the civil law, seve- 
 ral authors of distinguished learning among your own 
 members have, as you well know, written at large ;
 
 4U 
 
 and on tlieir steps it is not necessary to press too 
 closely in the present place. Suffice it just to hint, 
 that the further the forms and proceedings of the civil 
 law recede from those of the common law of England, 
 — and they do very much, — so much the greater 
 praise, on weighing the pretensions of each in an 
 equal scale, have the latter ohtained, and merited, over 
 the former; — an ohservation, however, this, which re- 
 lutes principally to the forms and proceedings in our 
 courts, rather than to many of the English laws them- 
 selves, which are, in truth, bad enough. This has been 
 shewn by many Academics, particularly, in former 
 times, by an honest man, Lord Chancellor Fortescue, 
 and not long since elegantly, and from British history, 
 by Bishop Hurd, formerly of Cambridge. These wri- 
 ters have made it appear, that the English laws have 
 been kept clear of the impure mixtures of the canon and 
 Cccsarean laws, and that of our more ancient English 
 kings, — as well as of the Tudor family, and that of the 
 Stuart line — those who inclined the most solemnly to 
 despotic power, did in proportion favour more earnestly 
 the civil law ; and, in short, that the civil law itself is 
 at variance with those liberties, wont to be claimed, ac- 
 cording to their constitution, by Britons : and, hence 
 it was, that, in reference to the introduction of the 
 'civil law, our ancient barons, with one heart, and one 
 voice, shouted " Nolumus leges Anglia, inutarir 
 
 But, not to seem, — if we may borrow the language 
 of Persius, — to have been dreaming too much on this 
 two-crowned eminence — the «»ftoii and civil law, — 
 or at least, not to appear to make a boast of having 
 dreamt there, we shall but notice here a single cir- 
 jcumstance, which is this, that according to the civil 
 |law, *' the will of the prince gives being and force to 
 jlaw ;" a dictum, which was always grating to the ears
 
 50 
 
 of Ikitons; "for" to borrow Judge Fortescue's words, 
 " the statutes of England cannot be made in that man- 
 ner, they not behig passed at the will of the prince, 
 hut hy the consent of the whole nation." 
 
 Influenced by these, and otl>er considerations of a 
 kind similar to these, there have been some persons 
 among your own members, and others, who were not 
 members, but who have, perbaj)s, voluntarily sepa- 
 rated from your community, or been directly expelled 
 from it, who have thought, that some tilings called 
 l*rivileges of Cambridge, are, with respect to them, 
 Hud others, no privileges at all ; and that, with respect 
 to yourselves, they are dangerous ones, ho^a, uhu^d. 
 ilecollecting these things, and, to speak the truth, 
 not differing from them very widely in opinion, we 
 were desirous of searching into the very marrow, as 
 it were, of truth, on this subject ; at the same time 
 to assure ourselves, in what such a state of things 
 hud its origin; and, beginning in principles and facts, 
 to make the whole business pass before our own eyes, 
 and before the eyes of others, who, if there should be 
 any such, might entertain opinions on these matters 
 not dissimilar to our own. 
 
 XXVIII. Incidental Allusions to certabi Statutes, 
 and some other Matters oj" Universitij-lteg'wien, 
 and to Controversies relating to them. 
 
 While we were revolving these things in our mind, 
 the case seemed brought to this issue. The polity 
 of our Universities is, in some respects, of a nature 
 peculiar to itself, and, indeed, possesses more of law 
 than pproerly belongs to places of literature. But, 
 as we have University courts, it is to be lamented, 
 that, in the constitution of them, the foundation was 
 not laid rather in the principles and forms of the mu-
 
 51 
 
 nicipal law of England, than in those of the Roman 
 civil law. The heights to which these institutions 
 have risen, would thereby have exhibited an aspect to 
 our manners more appropriate, and shone with greater 
 lustre ; the more pleasing to the eyes of Britons ge- 
 nerally, as more resembling the constitution of our civil 
 state ; they would have been less subject to the cavils 
 and complaints of opposers ; would have stood in less 
 need of the flatteries of Academics, because commend- 
 ed and admired, and worthy of being commended and 
 admired, by the prompt assent and cheerful suffrage of 
 all good citizens : the dissensions and contentions, often 
 amounting to warfare, which so abounded in the early 
 part of the history of our University, would not have 
 taken place ; the rights of our Cambridge magistrates 
 could not have been invaded ; the liberties of Acade- 
 mics would not have been violated ; the consciences 
 of students and graduates would have been left un- 
 shackled ; for it was on the authority of a civil law 
 principle, that certain serious impositions were intro- 
 duced : all things, perhaps, to say much in few words, 
 would have redounded more to the glory and felicity 
 of our University, as they certainly would to the 
 true interest and sensible gratification of the British 
 State. 
 
 But, although such-like matters are now only in- 
 cidentally mentioned, it may be proper here to add, 
 that as various objections have been made to our ci- 
 vil and canon law polity, so also serious controver- 
 sies have followed relating to them, and other matters 
 rising out of them ; while some have objected, that 
 what time has antiquated should be seasonably ex- 
 amined, and openly abolished. Such-like controver- 
 sies have been raised, with others of a more literary, 
 academical nature ; and these latter have been carried 
 
 e2
 
 .52 
 
 on with better effect. Others, again, were of opinion,— 
 :is most tliinking men still are,— that certain matters 
 were of too ecclesiastical a cast for academical stu- 
 dents, and were too much pervaded by the spirit of 
 the civil law to be acceptable to the true-born Briton : 
 and on these latter so unfortunate circumstances has 
 arisen what we feel more immediately as our own 
 l)rimary concern, and we might add, personal, were 
 it not at the same time a general, grievance. 
 
 Yes ! these matters last alluded to — we allude to 
 our subscriptions to thirty-nine Articles of Faith, — to 
 many persons engaged in controversies, have appeared 
 the great evil in our present system, though they may 
 wish to be of the number rather of those, who do not 
 forget their own errors, than of those, who are for 
 accusing and condemning others. We are the crea- 
 tures of circumstances ; and as different men's minds 
 become, by their different course of education, their 
 settled habits, their distinct studies, and personal con- 
 nexions, differently constituted, they will form diffe- 
 rent associations in their ideas, receive a different biasi 
 in their actions, and a different rule for their con-| 
 sciences : and, as every man's mind is, as we say, him- 
 self, so must "every man be fully persuaded in his 
 own mind." And, if " it is not in man that vvalketh| 
 to direct his own steps," still less can he the minds, 
 the actions, and the consciences, of others. 
 
 And here a controversy may be conceived to be| 
 started by some persons, relative to the light in which | 
 the violators of certain statutes are to be considered:; 
 to wliich the rej)ly has been ready ; that the vice-chan- 
 cellor at the end of the term, by virtue of his offi-| 
 cial and ecclesiastical oflice, has the power of absolv- 
 ing, — as he does, — at the end of the term, the vio- 
 lators of certain statutes ; that some roval orders and!
 
 53 
 
 acts of the senate are somewhat mitigated by the de- 
 crees of the masters ; that to a principle of civil law 
 is allowed all its force, " that what for many years is 
 not acted upon is rendered obsolete ;" and that in 
 our Colleges, as well as in our Universities, " what 
 the universal consent of those societies allows to fall 
 into disuse, is assigned to oblivion." 
 
 These are understood to be among the privileges 
 of Academics. Although, therefore, certain objectors 
 just alluded to, may not cordially congratulate them 
 on such privileges, they must not hastily, and in the 
 gross, condemn them. Willing, however, as they 
 may be, to enlarge their own views on this subject, 
 and to stretch their candour to the utmost point, it 
 must still be felt, that an apology for men, acting under 
 given circumstances, implies no defence of the erro- 
 neous systems, no approbation of the established 
 forms, which govern them. It is the want of timely, 
 salutary reforms, which gives occasion for tempo- 
 rary expedients ; and it might be devoutly wished, 
 that the discipline of an enlightened body did not re- 
 quire them. At all events, no apology can be intended 
 for the continuation of a practice — our subscriptions 
 to the thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, 
 — which as it will be hereafter made the ground of n 
 distinct, often-repeated, long-continued complaint, 
 so will it be accompanied with the protests of many 
 excellent and learned men. 
 
 XXIX. Further Considerations on the Civil Law^ in 
 the Polity of the JJjiiversity . 
 
 These allusions are, however, many of them, pre- 
 mature ; but the subjects appeared of a nature so se- 
 rious, as to justify a few aberrations. Readers will, 
 therefore, please to consider them as a parenthesis.
 
 54 
 
 Our proscnt business is with the civil law in rela- 
 tion to our iJnivtrsitics : and how much their oeconomy 
 breathes of the spirit of that law, wlmt has already 
 been said, will shew ; what will hereafter follow, 
 will explain more clearly : it will likewise more fully 
 shew the constitution and political state of our Uni- 
 versities. 
 
 Here might be taken into consideration the Ex- 
 ordium of Queen Elizabeth's Statutes, which how 
 much it is both in form and principles after the 
 manner of Justinian's exordium to the Institutes, 
 has been hinted elsewhere. It was enough for her 
 Majesty to say, " mandatum necessitatem facit," and 
 the whole was settled, the whole of the polity, dis- 
 cipline, and literature, of the University, fixed by 
 royal authority. The same view is to be taken of 
 King James's Letters and Orders imposing subscrip- 
 tions, which, though delivered with a semblance of 
 courtesy, possessed enough of the style imperatorial to 
 demonstrate, and they were given, that Academics 
 might understand, — to use his own words on another 
 occasion, — " what a king could do in the plenitude of 
 his power."* 
 
 XXX. ()?/ the Senate and Caput. 
 
 We now turn, and with all due respect, to the Aca- 
 demical Senate. 
 
 There are those who are in the habit of admiring 
 this Academical Senate, which, consisting of two houses 
 
 * While this slicct was in the press, two or three pages of the 
 writer's c:oj)y were mislaid. As they contained matter adapted to 
 this jjhue, particularly the testimonies of Lord Coke, Judge Hales, 
 and Judge HIackstone against the civil law polity of our Universities, 
 they will be given at the end of this pamphlet. In the mean time, 
 i^ec the Introduction to Hlackstone's Commentaries.
 
 55 
 
 of regents and non-regents, with a chancellor or vice- 
 chancellor conjoined to them, resembles, as they think, 
 the British Senate, composed, in like manner, of two- 
 houses of nobles and commons, with a king as su- 
 preme; and hence it is, perhaps, that some accustom' 
 themselves to call our University, a Literary Republic. 
 
 In the mean time there may be others, who equally 
 respect this Academical Senate, according to its pro- 
 per dignity, and even admire it, yet can they not, should 
 they ever so much wish, admire every thing belong- 
 ing to it. For example, the Caput of Five, — as it is call- 
 ed, — consisting of one doctor in theology, one in law, 
 one in physic, one non-regent, and one regent, toge- 
 ther with the vice-chancellor, they cannot altogether 
 approve. Considering them, indeed, as representa- 
 tives of the different faculties and ranks, of which the 
 Senate, in the aggregate, is composed, we, perhaps, may 
 view them in their proper office, as the guardians of 
 the privileges of each, as the watchmen, *• ne quid de=- 
 trimenti respublica capiat." But, in asserting their 
 peculiar privileges, what does this Caput of Five, in 
 fact, assert.^ Thus runs the statute: "These have the 
 authority in every Senate, and in every congregation, to 
 determine with respect to the reception of all petitions 
 before they can be brought before the whole body of 
 the Senate;" so that those Graces only can be approved* 
 and proposed to the regents and non-regents, which 
 these five all give their consent to, and no other ; "and 
 if any thing is prayed, or granted, which is not first 
 approved by their judgement and assent, it is null and 
 of no authority, unless it is otherwise provided for by 
 our statutes." 
 
 From these premises we perceive, that this Caput 
 is what the Grammarians call *' the Verb," wherein 
 lies, as they say, the whole power of speech, and with-
 
 56 
 
 out uliich no sentence can be fonned : for, if the as- 
 sent of eaeli of the Caput is not granted, whatever 
 niav be suppHcated, it is ail over with the (irace ; the 
 congregation is in vain ; there can be nothing moved, 
 nothing done, ^\'hat Ikitish senators would approve 
 such a power ; which, if a similar one was lodged in 
 four or five of their own members, might destroy all 
 their authority ? AVho could be in love with that 
 excess of prerogative, which would go to overthrow 
 entirely his own libcrtv ? Wliat senator, in his in- 
 dividual character, either of the House of Lords or 
 Commons, could extol a council of five, when a single 
 one of them could reduce the whole Senate to no- 
 thing ; not, indeed, by retarding the body, when 
 in motion, but, what is more, by preventing it from 
 beginning to move, and suppressing it altogether? 
 
 Let us not wonder, if there have been, in this Se- 
 nate of most learned and respectable men, those who 
 have con'')idered this Caput, thus acting, as no natural 
 part of their body, but rather as what is called an ex- 
 crescence, swelling and puflV, rather than beautiful, 
 hostile to the liberty of the Academical Senate, so per- 
 fectly hostile to our notions of liberty, that in the 
 Jiritish Senate there is nothing which is like it — nihil 
 sif/ii/e, nut scvundum. 
 
 In the Senate of the British republic each legis- 
 lator claims his peculiar and distinct right of moving, 
 of proposing, of bringing in bills ; the Senate, in its 
 congregational capacity, the right of deliberating and 
 consulting in connnon, as becomes legislators, about 
 to act for the good of the State. If they choose out 
 of their own body to form a connnittee, they can do 
 so : but for what purpose should they constitute one ? 
 Think you, that it would be with a view that such 
 connnittee should be authorized to determine whe-
 
 57 
 
 ther any of them should have the privilege of making, 
 or of not making a motion^ of deliberating, or of not 
 deliberating, of resolving, or of not resolving ? This, 
 assuredly, would ill comport with their dignity. What 
 is, then, the office of such committee ? To make in- 
 quiry into all things which relate to the subject under 
 consideration, to bring forward any facts, with which 
 they may be well acquainted themselves, to give an 
 account of what they may have learned from others, to 
 compare together the result, and, after thoroughly sift- 
 ing the whole matter, to submit it, in its complete form, 
 and the utmost perspicuity, to the House, whether of 
 Lords or Commons. What next ? The House itself 
 forms its own judgement : and, should the business 
 proceed and terminate otherwise, the privileges of the 
 British Senate would scarcely be reckoned among its 
 
 ADMIRANDA ! 
 
 And, in truth, these things, at the very outset, wear 
 an ill-omened aspect. For, what shall we say ? Nay, 
 rather, what have not many of the Senate said ? What 
 if the whole Caput were possessed of integrity ? May 
 it not err in judgement ? Is all wisdom lodged in this 
 Caput of Five ? Is there none in the Senate, in its ag- 
 gregate capacity ? What now if, one of the Caput only 
 prove corrupt ? Would he not perplex and confound 
 all his assessors ? Their councils, though the very best, 
 would he not lay prostrate ? Will men, so prone to be 
 too partial to themselves and friends, always consult for 
 the good of others? May they not be apt to prefer the 
 interest and glory of their own Colleges to the honest 
 counsels and just expectations, though they were 
 even of the great majority, of the Senate ? May they not 
 consult the order of the prince, or the beck and wish of 
 the prime minister for the time being, before the honour 
 of the University, the interest of sound learning, or
 
 58 
 
 eyen the increase (»f virtue and religion ? There are, 
 we well enough know, those, who think, that this very 
 Caput may become the vortex, in which the most de- 
 sirable privileges of the University may be greatly en- 
 dangered, and even quite absorbed. 
 
 It is not necessary to bring fonvard examples of the 
 exercise of this power before Academics. They appear 
 in due course in the public business of the Senate : 
 and it is matter of grief, and a trial of patience, that 
 hence have sometimes arisen obstructions, which have 
 prevented some very serious and learned men from 
 oflering their opinions to the Senate, and debarred 
 them from an opportunity of giving their suffrages ac- 
 cording to their consciences, and on subjects, perhaps, 
 of the greatest consequence, relating either to the pro- 
 gress of literature, or the institution of youth, or the 
 purity of morals and true piety. \\ ith whatever me- 
 ditations they have delighted themselves at home, with 
 whatever good counsels they came stored into the Se- 
 nate, they obtained nothing of their end, although it 
 was well-known to them, that the greater part of the 
 Senate was favourable to their honest endeavours : and 
 thence it came to pass, that, though they felt the grie- 
 vance, they endured it ; much displeased, that no 
 way was left open to their virtuous exertions ; but, at 
 the same time, unwilling to lose their labour and 
 study, they gave up the cause, and became silent. — And 
 thus far of the Senate and Caput. 
 
 XXXI. (hi Subscription to the Thirty -nine 
 
 Articles. 
 
 Concerning those topics, to which some allusions 
 have already been made, and in the continuation of 
 tliis discourse, some further inquiries remain to be
 
 i 
 
 59 
 
 gone into, and which we call political and oeconorni- 
 cal, the matter is various, put together at different 
 times, and to be defended or opposed, should any one 
 choose to defend or oppose them, by different reasons 
 and arguments : part of them is plainly of a higher 
 age, which prudent men, through modesty might not 
 venture to engage, nay, to which, for their antiquity, 
 they may think some respect is due. The other part 
 is manifestly of a later period, which these same wise 
 and liberal-minded men may not think of great value, 
 but rather a great loss, ruinous props, or base conta- 
 minated vessels, or as the dii fictiles of the place, 
 which, although placed in golden temples, ought to be 
 unbound, pulled asunder, and with our utmost strength 
 to be destroyed. 
 
 This, then, we wish to be understood of those 
 subscriptions to certain political, metaphysical, and 
 theological dogmas, about which have arisen — as is 
 customary on obscure and important points — long con- 
 troversies among learned and pious men, vague doubts, 
 wide differences, and subtle distinctions of opinions. 
 But for the truth and authority of these points, all of 
 you must be bound by the solemn obligation of an 
 oath, whether young students taking the first degree 
 of honour, or advancing to the higher distinctions. 
 Indeed, subscription is twice required, if the same gra- 
 duate be elected a Fellow of any of the colleges. And 
 for the degree of Bachelor in Divinity, or of Doctor in 
 any faculty, subscription is likewise repeated. All these 
 subscriptions we owe to the Letters of King James 
 to the University, containing the directions delivered 
 some of them " first with his own mouth, then with 
 his own hand." 
 
 With what term shall we designate such subscrip- 
 tions .^ What opinion have men of high consideration
 
 00 
 
 held of them ? Why, they style these attempts hmova- 
 tiuns. 'i'hev drew their first origin — so, as we remem- 
 ber, they used to declare, and, as it appears from these 
 Privileges, rightly — not from the ancient statutes of 
 our founders, not from the legislative authority of the 
 reahn, nav not even from the public decision and 
 sanction of the Academic Senate, but, as appears 
 from what has been stated above, from the royal plea- 
 sure merely, from the mandate, as we before stated, of 
 James, the tyrant of England — which term, however, 
 wo do not wish to be received in its modern sense, 
 with a notion of cruelty attached to it, but as the 
 rv^uviog of the ancient Greeks, for a sovereign; yet, at 
 the same time, it seems more applicable here, as James, 
 and also all the Stuarts, and the Tudors before them, 
 deserting the usages of liritons, and imitating the Ro- 
 man Emperors, — when the liberty of the Romans was 
 destroyed, — set up their own arbitrary decision in place 
 of the law in matters both civil and ecclesiastical: 
 
 " Hor volo, sic statuo, slot i)ro ratione voluntas." 
 
 And hence those calamities which oppressed and over- 
 whelmed two of James's successors, Charles the first 
 and James the second. 
 
 XXXII. A Comparison made between the modern 
 and ancient Subscriptions and Oaths. 
 
 Those famous Royal Letters, and Three Articles*, 
 
 • As, however, this Address in its present form may be read by 
 some, who are les-s conversant with these matters, or may not have 
 RO ready and easy means of reference, it has been deemed advisable 
 to add the 'Hiree Articles here : 
 
 I. "That the Kings majesty, under (Jod,isthe only supreme Go- 
 vernor of the realm, and all otlier his Highness's dominions and 
 countries, a« well in spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as 
 trm|>ora1,nnd that no foreign prince, person, prelate, or potentate.
 
 61 
 
 it is unnecessary here to set before you, gentlemen 
 of the University ; they are well known to you : there 
 is not much of them, as you well know, but they 
 embrace many points ; inasmuch as they contain not 
 only the oaths of Supremacy and Abjuration, but re- 
 quire an approbation of all matters included in the 
 Church-of-England Liturgy, and an assent to the 39 
 articles (of 1562,) as in all points agreeable to the 
 word of God. The Royal Letters, as we have said, 
 appear in this work ; and, that we may have the king's 
 three darling Articles always in view, they are set forth 
 in our Excerpta from the Cambridge Statutes. 
 
 But, not to lay ourselves open to an accusation of 
 rash assurance, and lest the inexperienced in these 
 matters should think that we indulge in empty decla- 
 matioUj and speak not soberly, it will not be foreign 
 to the purpose to take a review of the Letters of James, 
 and the Three Articles, and search into the ancient 
 customs of our Alma Mater ; that, on a comparison 
 of the more recent wdth the most ancient, it may 
 
 hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, ecclesiastical or spiritual, 
 A^ithin his majesty's said realms, dominions, and countries. 
 
 II. That the book of Common-Prayer, and of ordering of Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons, containeth nothing in it contrary to the word 
 of God ; and that it may lawfully be used ; and that he himself 
 will use the form in the said book prescribed in public prayer, 
 and administration of the sacraments, and no other. 
 
 III. That he alloweth the book of articles, agreed upon by the 
 archbishops and bishops of both provinces, and the whole clergy 
 in the convocation, holden at London in the year I0G23 and 
 that he acknowledgeth all and every the articles therein con- 
 tained (being in number 39, besides the ratification) to be agree- 
 able to the word of God. 
 
 We whose names are underwritten do willingly and ex ani- 
 ino subscribe to the three articles before mentioned, and to all 
 things in them contained. 
 
 Excerp. e Stat. Acad. Cantab, p. 35.
 
 clenrlv ajipi-ar Imvv tl»e matter stands, liefer, then, if 
 vou please, to those doeimients of James's; and do not 
 take it amiss, that we have j)ublished the ancient sta- 
 tutes wliieli bear on the point. They stand thus : 
 
 Of oaths of Scholars on first coming to college, Stat. 
 114. " They shall take an oath of all and each of the 
 scholars of the age of fourteen years, and ui)uards, 
 within the term of their coming to the University, viz. 
 /(I f/it/i/ ubtdicncc to the Chancellor *. 
 
 From inceptors no subscription to articles of faith 
 used to be required. The ancient statute runs thus : 
 A Statute on the presentation of liachelors reading in 
 Civil and Canon law: — "They shall be presented to 
 the Proctors, who shall forthwith take of the same 
 their corporal oath, that they will read and continue 
 the same reading according to established custom." 
 
 Respecting degrees in general, the ancient Stat. 27 
 runs thus : — " lie it ordained that no one hereafter in 
 this University be admitted to any degree, unless on 
 his admission he be willing besides to swear, that he 
 will be obedient to the Chancellor of this University, 
 for the time being, and to the Vice-Chancellor, so 
 long as he shall abide in the same." 
 
 Nor, indeed, from any officer whatever was any other 
 oath required except that which regarded the faithful 
 discharge of his office ; as follows : 
 
 '* In admission to any office whatever we decree, 
 moreover, and ordain, that no privileged person here- 
 after be admitted to any office in this University, un- 
 less j)reviously to his admission he shall, before the 
 Chancellor, or the Vice-Chancellor, and Heads of the 
 University, take oath to this etiect, that he will faithfully 
 
 * It is grievous to sny, that at Oxford subscription to the thirty- 
 lini- Articles is even now required of under-graduates.
 
 63 
 
 execute that office, and will fulfil all matters appertain- 
 ing to such an office effectually and without fraud." 
 
 Such were the proceedings of our ancestors. — But 
 as far as regards modern practice, doubtless, you will 
 say, that we are beside the mark a little, making state- 
 ments which are not strictly accordant with downright 
 truth. And we admit this. A young man, indeed, on 
 taking his first degree at Cambridge is now-a-days 
 only required to subscribe himself a bondjide member 
 of the Church of England. This was from the indul- 
 gent concession of the Academic Senate : and, as some 
 think, the Senate has thereby done all that it could do, 
 and that what it has done is sufficient. 
 
 But to this what do very many rejoin ? They urge, 
 — and we confess that they draw us over to their opi- 
 nion, — that this indulgence savours more of an illusion 
 than of liberality, more of prudence than of mildness, 
 more of wantonness and trickery than of real justice, — 
 that it is, indeed, according to the common saying, 
 a mere distinction without a difference. 
 
 Why, Are not all in statu pupillari — as they are 
 wont to put the question — required to use according 
 to custom the forms, and creeds, and prayers of the 
 Church of England ? Are they not bound to receive 
 the Lord's Supper according to the rites of administer- 
 ing it in the Church of England ? And he who sub- 
 scribes, that he is bondjide a member of the Church 
 of England, what else does he subscribe — only more 
 fully — but that on what as a mere youth he pro- 
 fessed, he is now of an age competent to give his 
 judgement ; that he now in foro conscientice. be- 
 lieves, and in sincere faith professes it.^ To be '■^bond 
 fide member of a church " signifies the same thing as 
 if a person should say, that he entirely receives all the
 
 04 
 
 dognuis of that Church, and approves with his w hole 
 heart its discipline and autiiority : so that what he there 
 somewhat covertly acknowledges is in fact the same as 
 what, on advancing to a higher degree, he is under- 
 stood more clearly and openly for himself to declare of 
 the three before mentioned Articles of James ; — 
 though what heforehe had by a sort of shorthand only 
 hinted, he then brings out with a bolder shading and a 
 firmer outline. Add to this, that each and all of the 
 Thirty-nine Articles are then to be subscribed in the 
 lilcral and grammatical meaning. 
 
 So much for these matters. We hope, that it has 
 been gathered from these observations, that it does 
 not discuss the question with reference to those who are 
 about taking clerical orders: another species of argu- 
 ment should be used in that case. We do not meddle, 
 in the smallest degree, with sacred matters : let those 
 enfrag:e in affairs of the church, whose concern it is. 
 This little discourse is wholly concerned with the Uni- 
 versities. Nor let any one inquire of us how all this 
 can be ? bv what arts and arguments can a young 
 man, employed in other studies from his boyhood to 
 youth, and for the three preceding years with you ; 
 j)ursuing his own or following the pleasures of others, 
 or however else engaged, very little devoted to theolo- 
 gical learning ; how he can become so skilled, so 
 ready, so religious, so expert in unravelling minute 
 theological points, that of a sudden he should start 
 forth, as if Jiewere fit to wield the sceptre in the realms 
 of Theology ? It is not for us to resolve these ques- 
 tions ; but rather to propose another, more simple, 
 but at the same ti(ne more serious : Upon what 
 Ai'THOKiTV are these restrictions imposed.^ A ques- 
 tion to which we fear that Hooker himself, of power-
 
 f)5 
 
 ful judgement, or the great Warburton, or the inge- 
 nious Paley, could not have given a direct, satisfactory 
 answer. 
 
 We, on our part, find an abundant supply of mate- 
 rials, as 'well in the nature of the subject itself, as in 
 the reasonings and arguments of others, not silly up- 
 starts, not worthless fellows and rash disturbers, taken 
 at random and zealously pressed into the cause ; but 
 those who rank amongst the learned and most weighty, 
 the warmest lovers of peace and reHgion : these men 
 seem to stand by us, and voluntarily lend us their 
 friendly aid. Furnished with the arguments, and en- 
 couraged by the authority, of such men, we seem to 
 obtrude nothing from our own scanty stock, but to de- 
 rive all from their abundant stores, to draw from the 
 fountain of their pure consciences. And thus, indeed, 
 near forty years ago, in the days of our youth,'.did we 
 act with these gentlemen of your University. And 
 truly we ought to thank Almighty God, that we made 
 those efforts, with whatever success, at that turn 
 of life, when the conscience is usually more tender, 
 the mind less engaged by worldly considerations, and, 
 if it be worse furnished with experience and example, 
 is more stubborn in its purpose, and not easily shaken 
 and turned from its object. Again, then, we main- 
 tain, that these Subscriptions are neither " Consistent 
 with the Natural Rights of Mankind, nor with the Pow- 
 ers of the Human Mind, nor with the Principles of the 
 British Constitution, nor with the Precepts and Doc- 
 trines of Christianity" *. 
 
 What is strange is often true. To one who recalls 
 ancient practices to mind— of these we; h.ve given 
 examples, — it will appear, that these academic sti- 
 pulations, which are called Subscriptions, were the 
 
 * The title of a book first published in 1789 : 2ncl edition in 1/92. 
 
 F
 
 nu>re wisely settled by our ancestors, the more simple 
 thev were in their matter ; and, when they were less 
 joined and connected with things not generally pertain- 
 ing to arts and faculties. In every thing there is some 
 natural peculiarity, some particular relation, to which 
 appropriate arguments and counsels are to be applied : 
 and it were very much to be wished, that, when any 
 change in customs or mantiers took place, on such 
 occasions a salutary advance had been made, and that 
 admirable course to all excellence pursued, which we 
 arc used to style a Reformation — or, if you like, a dis- 
 union from the sacerdotal dominion of the Pope — 
 and an appropinquation to that true Republic of let- 
 ters, civil, general;, and national, about which we per- 
 ceive that some amongst us make no little bustle. 
 But what is the case? On a close inspection wc fear, 
 that in some of our movements we shall plainly seem 
 to have retrograded, or to have turned from bad to worse;' 
 as though the Reformation looked more at Property 
 than at Religion. Erasmus wasaccustomed to complain, 
 that oaths among the Christians of his time were more 
 rigorous, more abundant, and, at the same time, treat- 
 ed with more levity, than among the Heathens, and 
 that those who took up the profession of the seven 
 liberal arts unbecomingly, swore rather according to 
 custom than according to conscience : and, in his re- 
 proof and condemnation of these tricks he speaks at 
 some length. What would he have said, had he seen 
 ihem grow more abundant in our Protestant Uni- 
 versities, than they were in the Catholic ones of his 
 time ! What if he had minutely dissected our Sub- 
 scriptions, and had weighed them according to each 
 proposition sworn to, with his peculiar sagacity ! Who 
 would not wonder, that our University, at the time 
 when it was more ecclesiastical, nay Popish, was more ■
 
 67 
 
 liberal and more civil ; and, when it became less eccle- 
 siastical, became less civil and less liberal ! The change 
 in ancient practices, in this point of discipline, is to be 
 regretted. For though, we admit, that alert driver, the 
 Pope, always kept the reins in his own hands, still he 
 slackened them as he went over this ground. Might 
 not our Alma Mater, in the presence, as she was, 
 of men well versed in our laws and institutions, have 
 justly answered to King James, attended by his coun- 
 sellors and flatterers, and offering his dearly beloved 
 Articles with his own hand, 
 
 " Moribus antiquis stet res Romana !" 
 
 Might she not, proudly conscious of some of her 
 customs, have indignantly exclaimed for herself and 
 her sons : *' We are unwilling that the Laws of the 
 University should be changed T'' 
 
 XXXIII. The University not an Ecclesiastical ^ hut a 
 
 Lay, Coiy oration. 
 
 In addition, it must be observed, that our University, 
 according to modern opinion, is lay and civil, not 
 ecclesiastical. Nor may it be said of this opinion, that 
 it is unsound — t'lnnit ; inane est. This is no asser- 
 tion of ours : the thing is perfectly clear, and openly 
 declared in the King's Courts. The words of a writer, 
 who at Oxford itself delivered publicly many very excel- 
 lent observations on the English Universities, strongly 
 bear on this point: "All these corporations — Col- 
 leges," — says Blackstone (i. 18.), "are, strictly speak- 
 ing, lay, and not ecclesiastical, even though composed 
 sometimes of ecclesiastical persons only." The same 
 will apply more strongly to our Universities, which are 
 nothing more than a union of colleges. Chief Jus- 
 tice Mansfield makes use of nearly the same words. 
 
 Tliis being the case, why should we force young stu- 
 
 f2
 
 G8 
 
 dents, beiiii; laymen, -ind literary associates, to act as 
 if thev were ecclesiastics ? It is nearly the same as to 
 require of those who apply to be admitted members 
 of the Academy of Painting, to play an air on the hprp, 
 or of the Antiquarian to cut a caper, or of the Theolo- 
 gian to turn an epigram. Let Pythagoras remind those 
 who were going to enter his mathematical school of 
 the principles of (reonietry by his motto : 
 
 Tlie inscription in that case was properly charac- 
 teristic, and placed as a warning ; but such exclusion 
 is improper in the instance before us. Some Demo- 
 critus, if he wished to make us laugh, might com- 
 mend us to the Montpelier College of Physicians, 
 where the students, as we have read, used to be re- 
 quired to declare that they had not been artisans, and 
 to bastardize themselves, l^ut in this business we must 
 act gravely, well knowing what many of the wisest 
 among you, what all belonging to foreign Uni- 
 versities have thought of these Subscriptions — that 
 they are a sort of monster, — the " man's head upon a 
 horse's neck," of Horace, — uell worthy of being ranked 
 among nature's prodigies. 
 
 XXXl\\ doinparlscm between modern English Uni- 
 icrsitics, Foreign Universities, arid a?icient Acade- 
 mies, with respect to Tests — Oaths. 
 
 It appears, then, from our ancient Statutes, — nor 
 docs any thing in these Privileges make against it, — 
 that particoloured, and alien subscriptions were not 
 imposed by our ancestors. Such was formerly the 
 condition in which our Abna Mater stood, as yet a 
 stranger to these oppressive burthens. Those who 
 have toiled in the vineyard here, laborious workmen,
 
 69 
 
 and well experienced in University matters, after hav- 
 ing radically searched all things which hear on this 
 point, and minutely, as one may say, dissected and ex- 
 amined them, seem to have found out and hrought to 
 light nothing which countenances this ruleof discipline. 
 Without doubt it is clear enough, that our Universities 
 had particular powers vested in them, to quiet, put 
 down, punish, and expel, the contumacious and rebel- 
 lious ; but in our search for truth among these theolo- 
 gico-literary thickets, we could not find, thatthey exer- 
 cised the pitiful casuistry, of imposing articles of this 
 sort, or had a sophistical and cabalistical power to con- 
 demn as aliens, and eject from their society, such mem- 
 bers as refused to sign them. The Christian world 
 contentedly, perhaps, and too carelessly, slumbered 
 at ease on the infalhbility of the church ; and before 
 any one was admitted into the priesthood, he would be 
 examined on various points as to life and doctrine ; 
 indeed, a student in Theology would have entered on 
 a particular course of study, as with us ; all which is, 
 perhaps, reasonable and natural, as in that case his 
 views were directed to the church. 
 
 For the regimen and modes of foreign Universi- 
 ties, we instance the French, German, Italian ; and 
 it may be allowable to adduce the Spanish also. 
 Each of these was termed a general place of study, of 
 which, as it seems, the Parisian was the most ancient. 
 With some pride on this score, its learned historians 
 Duboullai and Crevier give their testimony, that this 
 was a national University, and that privileges of the 
 Faculties, as they are called,— namely. Theology, Law, 
 and Physic, — were less ancient than of Arts and Na- 
 tions (so styled), that is, collegiate assemblies from 
 different provinces. And among these you may look 
 in vain for such-like sacerdotal and imperative stipu-
 
 70 
 
 lations, and j)nvileges granted on conditions of sub- 
 scription. 
 
 The same account is given of the University of Vi- 
 enna, which was styled " the Archigymnasium of all 
 Ciernianv, the mother and nurse of the most excellent 
 learning and knowledge," by far the chief of the other 
 l^niversities of that age. On the plan of the Parisian, 
 it had its four Nations, of Austria, the district of the 
 Hhine, Hungary, and Saxony ; each choosing its 
 own Proctors, and voting according to the rank of the 
 Faculties. We have heard similar accounts of Co- 
 logne, the Athens of Germany, the Colonia Agrippi- 
 /ic/isis, where at a remote period — in 1388, — a Uni- 
 versity was erected, " for the common good," formed 
 on the same rules, and endowed with the same rights 
 and privileges, as that of Paris. In like manner, as it 
 appears, the Italian Universities, of Pisa, Bologna, 
 Padua, and Sienna, were founded. On the same plan 
 also were the Spanish, at Salamanca, Seville, and else- 
 where, called Cu//cgf06' nuij/ore^. They were, we 
 confess, afterwards wretchedly subjected to the power 
 of the Inquisition ; their books were exposed to the IjI' 
 ilex iLJ-purgatorius ; and the Universities themselves, 
 as those before mentioned, yielded obedience to the 
 decretals and bulls of the Roman Pontiff. The nation 
 was one, and, as itnow is, Catholic; very different from 
 ours, in its present state, which has been most justly 
 styled by Voltaire a Nation of Sects. 
 
 But, however these evils might exist, — and evils 
 most certainly they were, — they were ecclesiastical, and 
 not academical : — and even we have had our Inqui- 
 sitions for heresy. Courts of High Commission, and 
 Star-Chambers, which have nothing to do with our 
 present question. For unless it appears, that in en- 
 tering upon, and proceeding, in degrees, and undcrtak-
 
 7\ 
 
 ing j)rofessorships, other exercises, other requisitions, 
 other oaths were proposed enjoining what was not ex- 
 clusively proper to each, — as arts to the graduate in arts, 
 laws to the lawyer, medicine to the physician, theology 
 to the theologian, — if this does not plainly appear, the 
 question falls to the ground, and our argument prevails. 
 
 That those matters at the commencement were so laid 
 down as we have said, is confirmed by what afterwards 
 ensued in foreign Universities, and was made known 
 to all. Cardinal Bentivoglio describes the state of 
 the Universities of Douay and Louvain, and calls 
 the latter the most ancient of all in Flanders, and 
 eminently devoted to the Sacred See : of theological 
 compacts of this sort, however, he says not a word. 
 How free the Palatinate was from such discipline is 
 shewn by a letter of Lewis Fabricius of the Academy 
 of Heidelburg to Spinoza, by which the Elector of- 
 fered the Professor's chair in the University to that 
 celebrated philosopher ; and by the answer of Spinoza 
 himself to the illustrious Fabricius : an invitation 
 truly worthy of the Elector ! an epistle worthy of a 
 Christian ! a refusal worthy of a philosopher ! But 
 how idle all this, how fruitless, nay, how nearly unin- 
 telligible, if to obtain the professorship, those impo- 
 sitions must have been submitted to, which are en- 
 forced in this country ! 
 
 Who can be ignorant, that it was customary of 
 old, as well for the English and Scotch, as those of 
 other Protestant countries, to become students in 
 Catholic Universities, and to graduate in them ^ Our 
 celebrated Harvey, at the age of nineteen, was a 
 student of medicine at Padua in the year 1602, 
 and there took his degree of Doctor. In a similar 
 way, Andrew Balfour, a very famous Scotch physician, 
 having devoted himself entirely to medical studies, and
 
 72 
 
 liaviiio- uiider^^one examination by each of the Profes- 
 sors, first took his degree of Ikchelor, then of Licen- 
 ciate, and afterwards the highest, of Doctor, at Caen 
 in tlje year 10(11 . A\'ith what ardour, indeed, and in 
 wluit crowds, students flocked to the University of 
 Paris from all parts of Europe, and how ready the 
 Parisians were to accommodate them in the arrange- 
 ment of their pecuniary expenditure, Crevier clearly 
 and triumphantly informs us. 
 
 Nor was Cambridge less liberal of old : and also 
 at the revival of Utters she invited learned men from 
 other countries, and enrolled them in her records, as 
 well for the sake of receiving their aid in her studies, as 
 giving them a share in her honours, her privileges, and 
 professorships. Such were Bucer, and Fagius, and 
 the learned Erasmus. The latter, as you know, — 
 before the mandates of James had interposed their 
 authority, — was made Margaret Professor of Divinity 
 in the year 1510, and according to custom, had pre- 
 viously taken the degree of Master of Arts, or Doctor. 
 Of the former, one was professor and teacher of 
 Hebrew; the other, of theology : and the bones of 
 both rest in your University. 
 
 And thus iimch concerning the Academies of Eu- 
 rope, and of the course pursued by them in conferring 
 literary advantages, and degrees on foreigners. But, 
 whileweare speakingof ancient Institutions, wecannot 
 but have in our recollection, in what honour both you, 
 and the other European states, hold ancient Greece ; 
 concerning which, perhaps, so far as respects the va- 
 rious fortune of literature and the habits of their schools, 
 we should have known more, if time had not envied 
 us a hook, ascribed to Aristotle. But from that ccle- 
 biated Funeral Oration preserved in Tliucydides, we 
 know enough of Athens, — the most liberal nurse at
 
 73 
 
 least of the Arts and Sciences, if not the inventress, 
 — to be assured, that their academical institutions were, 
 so to speak, general, in the most liberal sense, Uni- 
 versities. With respect to that Athenian Oath, — on 
 which Bishop Warburton has so strenuously exerted 
 himself,- — and the argument dependingon it, they are, 
 if we mistake not, to be referred to magistracies, pub- 
 lic offices, and civil rewards which were to be obtain- 
 ed ; and with respect even to these, as it appears to 
 us, Warburton's argument will not in all things hold 
 good : but with respect to academical honours, and 
 all the advantages, means, and opportunities for lite- 
 rary improvement, it does not aflfect them in the 
 slightest degree. There was a conflux of people of 
 all nations to the public schools of Athens : and, in- 
 deed, having " a (Jiti/ ivhich was common lo all na- 
 tions^ — 7nv 'ToXiv Koivriv TuoiyjjVTzg, — and not excluding 
 even their enemies from their military schools, — 
 wherein they might even have learned arts which 
 they might employ against themselves, — how could 
 they have expelled their own citizens from their aca- 
 demies for the arts and sciences ?" 
 
 Of the Romans, on such particulars, little, per- 
 haps, is to be known, but what we learn from the wri- 
 tings of Cicero. From them we gather, that the first 
 literary exercitations of the Romans agreed with those 
 of the Athenians, the philosophical schools of the 
 former with the academies of the latter ; and the let- 
 ters received so freely and liberally from the Athe- 
 nians, the Romans could never have delivered with a 
 sparing and illiberal hand to their own people. For 
 the Romans were before all things influenced by the 
 love of liberty, a participation of honours and privi- 
 leges was rarely disjoined among themselves, and 
 never to be violated with safety : to foreigners, in-
 
 » .74 
 
 lUetl, they were for i\ long time illibeiiil, but, at length, 
 tljev conferred military rewards on them, and bestowed 
 the rights of citizens. How then could they have denied 
 them academical accommodations ? 
 
 I5ut to what does all this tend? To exhibit, not a 
 levity of words, but the weight of facts; not the rash- 
 ness of athrmation, but the dignity of argument; not 
 the boldness of conjectures, but the force and autho- 
 rity of examples ; not, lastly, to oppose ingenuous men, 
 consulting for the public good, but such as consult 
 for the interest only of themselves and their party, pray- 
 ing, at the same time, the great and good God, that 
 \vo may be able to distinguish between kings merely 
 regal, ruling by their own authority, and kings poli- 
 tical, ruling with a parliament and law ; and that we 
 may rightly discern at how great a distance kingcraft 
 often lies from true wisdom and common experience. 
 
 Let every king and every magistrate governing po- 
 litically a free people have their appropriate authority 
 and honours. But in these, as in all human affairs, a 
 certain moderation ought to be preserved. Though, 
 indeed, we are not ignorant, with what stupefaction 
 kings were accustomed to be approached by their 
 subjects. The French exhibited their king, Louis XIV. 
 as that perfect prince, whose image Xenophon had 
 l)ictured in Cyrus ; and our people proclaimed James L 
 as Solomon, and placed him next to Jesus Christ. 
 Oh! you flatterers, you servile herd, that surrounded 
 majesty! Oh! priests, who offered before it the in- 
 cense of abomination ! Oh! philosophers, who en- 
 snared tlie connnon people with crafty words, causing 
 princes to run mad with high-sounding titles ! James 
 was evidently loo much a mere king, — ruling by his 
 own authority, — not a political king. He lived in those 
 tiuKs, iu which the nations of Europe, having set aside
 
 75 
 
 those illustrious examples of popular liberty, and le- 
 gitimate society, which the Greeks and Romans had 
 set before them, had been reduced to a savage and 
 barbaric polity. What man, with any character for 
 understanding, would now venture to say of such a 
 prince's mandate, as this relating to subscription, 
 that, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, it should 
 never be set aside? 
 
 Of those Oaths, with which, as with so many thorns, 
 these Subscriptions are hedged round, we are unwill- 
 ing to speak, whatever we may think, too seriously, 
 not professing the Cabalistic or Casuistical science. 
 On this subject are pendent many knotty points, 
 of which not choosing to attempt the unravelling, 
 we leave to those who are curious in the civil law, 
 the ancient canons, and the decretals of Gregory. 
 - But we are speaking here as Englishmen ; and, as 
 such we venture to maintain, that an oath, though ta- 
 ken under any particular authority, is not valid ifi 
 prajudicium juris siiperioris, in opposition to, and to 
 the prejudice of, a higher law and authority; that, if it 
 is lawful for any one, in any case, to take an oath 
 from mere form and custom, it is more worthy of 
 endurance in a case, where merely natural and ci- 
 vil rights are sought; and, that if he does not act reli- 
 giously who takes the oath, the authority which im- 
 poses it acts far more profanely, than he who, perhaps, 
 with something of inexperience, complies with the 
 forms of it. We solemnly, and with the strongest 
 feelings of conscience, protest, for ourselves, against all 
 such-like Subscriptions; leaving others, while things 
 continue in their present state, to their own judgement, 
 and to their own way of expressing it. We ask not, what 
 we should think of those who comply with these Sub-. 
 scriptions and O-dihs pro forma, but what of that public
 
 autlioriiv, which suffers civil iiiatteis to be confounded 
 uitli rehgion ? what of that polity, which invites, 
 which urges, which, we had nearly said, in some cases 
 compels, these Subscriptions and ihxths pro fonjui 9 
 
 XXXW ()/ the Political and Religious Character 
 
 of James I. 
 
 And, in truth, these Oaths and Subscriptions will de- 
 rive no weight of authority, were we permitted to look 
 narrowlv into the habits and manners of those who 
 first exacted them. On what James's religion was in 
 foro ro/iscicnticr we form no judgement, and make 
 no inquiry. What he was in the common intercourse 
 of life, his friends were ready to testify; nay, the king 
 himself testified, with what levity, with what familia- 
 rity, with what impiety, he was in the habit of using 
 the sacred name of God, — that name which the Jews 
 thought it almost blasphemy, in their common inter- 
 course, even to mention — a practice, which is held in 
 horror bv most people, became with him an ordinary 
 habit. \\Miat sort of a man he was in the presence 
 of his people, and in the administration of the king- 
 dom, is sufficiently known to every body, by his public 
 acts. While yet in Scotland, he lived in habits of 
 the greatest familiarity with the Presbyterians, and 
 courted the Calvinists; when in England, at a time 
 when Episcopacv was got into vogue, and Arminianism 
 was beginning to be poj)ular, he paid his service to the 
 Episcopalians. Vet did this same man, by commis- 
 sioners sent to the Synod of Dort, persecute the Dutch 
 Arminians with great fury; nay, he would not suffer 
 his own clergy to exi)ound in their literal and gram- 
 matical sense what they had previously with an oath 
 bubscribcd to in that sense.
 
 What must be said of his regard to his coronation 
 oath? It appears to us, if what that good cliancellor 
 Fortescue assigned as the true reason why some of the 
 kings of England made war, as it were, against the 
 laws of the land, was applied to James, that some- 
 thing must be subtracted from his religion and his re- 
 verence for an oath. For as Henry VIII. and Queen 
 Elizabeth had before governed the people of England 
 by proclamations, acts of supremacy and dispensing 
 powers, so did not James by his imperial mandates, 
 by his ecclesiastical courts, his constitutiunes cede- 
 siasticcc, and canons? 
 
 And, further, to one, who seriously considers the 
 state of the kingdom under the Tudors and Stuarts, 
 and with what facility the public religion underwent its 
 changes, we fear it will appear, that the age which we 
 are apt to call the reforming and " fanatic," ought to re- 
 ceive something of the mark of impiety, as ages, which 
 did not " reverence an oath," as ages, which rather 
 trifled with religion. For it is manifest, that the public 
 worship of those times was too political to be called 
 religion, at least such a religion as reigns only in a pure 
 conscience. The public religion had in the course 
 of a few years undergone, as it were, a revolution three 
 or four times, and was soon to undergo other changes. 
 So that, what Erasmus exclaimed of his age, we may 
 recognise as applicable to these : "Sift well the articles 
 which aresworn to, andthepersonswho take upon them 
 a public magistracy, and so conduct themselves in it, 
 as though they had sworn to perjure themselves. How 
 often do emperors swear, before they receive the sa- 
 cred crown! How often do princes engage in leagues 
 under an oath ! And how often are their oaths broken 
 through by perjury!" 
 
 And thus much for James, and the morals of his age.
 
 7S 
 
 WW I. By u'hat RuU' James acted in the above 
 
 Matters. 
 
 As \re have all along spoken of James as the sole 
 author of the Order for all to suhscribe the above- 
 mentioned Articles on taking any degree, — which Or- 
 der was delivered in 1^16, — it may be recollected, that 
 there was another rule for subscription, less extended, 
 which had taken place previously, viz. in 1013, appli- 
 cable only to Bachelors of Divinity, and Doctors in 
 each of the Faculties. The form of subscription 
 was the same in both cases; but there was actually a 
 Grace brought in for the latter, and it passed into a 
 Statute, so as to have, at least, the appearance of the 
 legislatorial authority of the senate. But all this be- 
 gun and ended, as the Grace indeed expresses, in a 
 Koyal Letter. It was all settled under the king's sole 
 authority: the Grace, therefore, and the Statute were 
 matters of course, mere formalities, as the king well 
 knew, and the senate were not ignorant. 
 
 \y\\.\\ respect, however, to theRule for all Graduates 
 to subscribe the three ^/r/;-//';/^'- Articles of James, this 
 seems to rest with the Royal Order exclusively. There 
 does not appear to be the semblance of the legisla- 
 torial authority of the Senate accompanying it. 
 There does not occur, at least, any trace of a Grace 
 or Statute in our Book of Privileges giving it the 
 sanction of the senatorial body, which doubtless there 
 would have been, had any such instrument been no- 
 ticed in the Proctor's Book. 15ut, indeed, James knew 
 that there was no want of it. It was enough : the 
 king had given the Order. 
 
 The truth is, James felt, after all, on what ground he 
 stood, that the University was established in the prin- 
 ciples of the civil law, and was to be governed by its
 
 79 
 
 forms; and he gave ample proof, as well by his public 
 proceedings, as by his private amusements, — as in his 
 encouragement given, before the University, totiieonce 
 celebrated Latin comedy of Ignoramus, — how much to 
 his taste were the principles of the civil law. He felt and 
 acted as king of the University, and thought, that he 
 possessed the supreme visitatorial power of every par- 
 ticular College, and of the University generally. And 
 it is manifest, by his Re<ricc Lilcnc, and Injunctions 
 given to the University afterwards, that he directed the 
 discipline, the literature, the manners, and religion of 
 the place by the same civil law-authority, by which 
 Queen Elizabeth gave the Statutes. On this ground 
 stands the law for Subscription, at the time of taking 
 degrees. 
 
 XXXVII. Cojnplaints that may he urged by different 
 Persons against this Practice of Suhscriptio7i. 
 
 It has already appeared, from what has gone before, 
 on what principles the Universities in general managed 
 these affairs in former times, and more particularly 
 with what liberality the Mater Alma of the University 
 of Paris conducted herself, and how she afterwards 
 exulted and triumphed at her own ceconomy. 
 
 At how great a distance from such liberality do our 
 Matres Alma, the Universities of England, stand ! 
 How serious and just a complaint may be brought 
 against them! 
 
 It might be urged by many, who, though brought up 
 in the church of England, and very fond of its prayers, 
 may have little relish for the five points of Calvinistic 
 doctrine contained in the Thirty-nine Articles ; it 
 might be urged by all classes of Dissenters, to whom 
 the discipline of the church of England in sacred mat- 
 ters is by no means pleasing; it might be urged by
 
 80 
 
 the Catholics, wlio are averse to the supremacy of the 
 kill'' in ecclesiastical matters; and, to say every thing, 
 in one word, it may be urged by all, whether Chris- 
 tians or not Christians, who are estranged from the 
 church of England. 
 
 It might be urged by all such as are resident in the 
 University, whether in the state of undergraduates, or 
 waiting to :..ke a degree ; and by all who have been 
 resident elsewhere, and sojourn in the University at 
 anv time for the purpose of taking degrees; many of 
 whom might complain, that they must subscribe from 
 form what they do not understand, or what, the more 
 thevdounderstand,the less they approve. Lastly, foreign 
 Universities might urge their complaint against it, for, 
 recollecting their own liberality in academical matters 
 towards our countrymen, they might expect a just 
 interchange, a fair reciprocity of advantages. 
 
 Having already reported what we have heard of the 
 Universities in former times, we think it the less ne- 
 cessary to review in this place what concerns the mo- 
 dern: and, indt'c'd, gentlemen of the University, you 
 well know, that things are managed better with them; 
 that licences of this cast are not required in them ; 
 that in taking degrees such theological subscriptions 
 are not imposed on young men, neither in European, 
 nor American Colleges, nay, not in those of Scotland, 
 nor of Dublin. 
 
 And, how justly the nobility of our own country, 
 and even continental princes and nobles might take 
 offence, was sufficiently shewn in two examples, of 
 no very distant occurrence, and which we have often 
 heard mentioned; the one of a noble duke,— the late 
 Duke of (irafton, — to whom when, advanced to your 
 highest office, of Chancellor, the University wished 
 to give, in addition, tlie honorary degree of LL.D.
 
 81 
 
 This honorary degree, however, was rejected by the 
 noble Duke : and why did he reject it? Not because 
 he sHghted academic honours — wliich he shewed at the 
 very time he respected, and had been just even soli- 
 citing — but because he could not approve those too 
 theological subscriptions, imposed on all who are about 
 to graduate. Nearly about the same period, a Polish 
 Prince, — the illustrious Poniatowski, — then a young 
 man, and very desirous of going through a course of 
 honourable studies, visited Cambridge. He was, in- 
 deed, attached to your literature, as well to the more 
 elegant, as the more severe parts of it ; nay, as we have 
 heard, he was even desirous not only of pursuing the 
 studies of this place, but of seeking its prizes and re- 
 wards in academical order, as suited to his age. But he 
 did not reside there long : he left you with reluctance, 
 and returned to his own country, taking with him 
 from among you a teacher of your literature: so greatly 
 delighted was he with your arts and sciences ; so little 
 did he like your polity and theological restrictions ! 
 
 Of the above examples, as we received them from 
 good authority, we cannot doubt the reality; and we 
 are led by them to make a remark or two on honorary 
 Degrees. 
 
 XXXVIII. Ho7iorary Degrees, and wherein they 
 differ from Literary ones. 
 
 And here this deserves to be noticed, that the Sta- 
 tutes concerning the Chancellor relate only to the mode 
 of his election and the nature of his office; that what 
 concerns the Nobles, and the Statutes " concerning 
 Granting Graces," and the Grace "determining who 
 are to be accounted Nobles," relate only to the "Aca- 
 demical Terms " as they are called, to the Forms, Cus- 
 toms, and Exercises in the Schools, in regard to 
 
 G
 
 82 
 
 whicli there is a Dispensation in favour of Nobles. 
 All these Statutes passed in Elizabeth's time before 
 the addition of Jamei^'s Mandate for his Subscriptions; 
 and in those Statutes there is no mention of any such- 
 like subscriptions as those jast mentioned. With respect 
 to James's new Mandate, it should seem, that he meant 
 it to be taken in the most general and unlimited sense ; 
 and that, whatever other new Statutes might afterwards 
 be made, or whatever interpretations were to be put on 
 old ones, this Mandate was to be hedged round with 
 a salvd regid auctoritate, et in qtiemlibet gradum. 
 
 liut it should be understood, that we have been 
 speaking all along of Degrees in general ; and that, how- 
 ever the matter stands with respect to what we have just 
 stated, the question concerning Honorary Degrees is not 
 a very serious one ; nor do such Degrees much interest 
 us. For those who receive them derive no great be- 
 nefit from them ; and those who obtain them not re- 
 ceive no injury. We have been considering such as 
 relate to literary matters, to be pursued according to 
 scholastic discipHne, to Degrees to be obtained in 
 academic order, and the advantages, which are usual- 
 ly connected with them; viz. such things, which not 
 being honorary, are so much the more literary and 
 merelv civil, useful to men for the various purposes 
 of life, and so commonly to be required of some 
 who fill public offices, that they may almost be pro- 
 nounced necessary ; those who receive them obtain 
 with them nnnv facilities and conveniences; those 
 who do not, subject tiiemselves to many impediments 
 and incapacities; so that tlie matter on which our 
 question turns, may be considered to be of the kind, 
 
 of which Cicero speaks; '■'■ Multa enim sunt civibus 
 
 . . . • 
 
 \ntcr se comviuma ; foram, fnna, porticus, vice, leges, 
 
 Jura, Jadicia, suj/'ragia, cojisuctudincs prcdterea, et
 
 83 
 
 familiaritates, multcEque cum iradtu- res rationesque 
 contract^.. 
 
 These things being considered according to their 
 proper dignity, we are persuaded, Gentlemen, that you 
 will not say, these practices liave been handled by us 
 with too much severity, nor in a spirit of bigotry; tliere 
 being, we doubt not, among you now, as formerly, 
 many ingenuous, ingenious, pious, and learned men, 
 who are of the same judgement with us: and on their 
 testimony we might leave our cause to rest. 
 
 XXXIX. The present enlightened times require an 
 amelioration in our present Tests. — Mr. Tyrwhitt's 
 Grace for abolishing Subscriptions. 
 
 It will be readily perceived^ that difficulties meet us 
 in the way, as the matter at present stands, as well 
 with respect to the ground taken in this business by 
 modern subscribers, and the powers of the existing 
 administrators, as to the rule, by which we should 
 examine them. We shall, therefore, presently vary the 
 question, and endeavour, as we proceed, to take a 
 stricter, higher, and more comprehensive view of it.- 
 
 We are convinced, that you have had among you, 
 and still have, many, who have turned these subjects 
 seriously in their minds, being cultivators of a pure con- 
 science, encouragers of good discipline, dispensers of 
 liberal learning, guardians and tutors of our generous 
 youth, who are well assured, that the cause of hberty 
 is at once the cause of God and of virtue; and who 
 admit, with Gregory of Nazianzen, Ne^yv ivTrathzociv 
 6tmi ito(r{jjov avuKaivooaiv : such men will of necessity per- 
 ceive, that the present times not only require, but de- 
 mand, and almost supplicate for, something better, 
 than the present institutions furnish; and yet, as they 
 are well informed, so we are not ignorant, what is once 
 
 G 2
 
 8-1 
 
 iilantcil, :iiul has taken root, is not easily to be plucked 
 III), particularly when having been once established by 
 authority, it becomes sanctioned by custom. 
 
 Hence some learned men of the Universities of the 
 same opinion with us on this custom have yet added, 
 " that the cause is hopeless." 
 
 But surely tills ought not to be: surely, if there 
 was not wanting a disposition, in the proper quarters, 
 there could not be wanting power. The way is open: 
 as the constant return of times, and regular opportu- 
 nities of place, often excite us to examine more accu- 
 rately, and review more seriously, the business imme- 
 dlatelv before us; so there is a season, in which men 
 abstract themselves from their ordinary concerns, and, 
 as It were, refresh their minds, by contemplating 
 aiul weighing past transactions ; in which leisure 
 hours, and, if we may so speak, extemporaneous occa- 
 sions, are ofl'ered for lookiuir forward to what may be 
 future, and for devising plans, by wliich such things, 
 as have too long been very badly managed, may be set 
 on a better footing, for the time to come. 
 
 No, Gentlemen, the case ought not to be consi- 
 dered as hopeless. ^A'e seem to see a light breaking out 
 amidst darkness; and, if a " new race of men has not 
 descended from heaven," still the present is an en- 
 lightened age: the spirit of liberal inquiry, which has 
 gone forth in Europe, the ardent thirst for knowledge 
 whleh at present distinguishes our own country, and 
 the manifest disposition for literary improvements, 
 which has lately ap})eared in our two Universities, 
 prove this jrra, not to be one of men ovhzv -ttoiouvtcov. 
 As among the Oxonians, the many fooleries long prac- 
 tised in their schools — already alluded to — have been 
 happily turned into ridicule and banished from them; 
 so also have you recently brought forward reformers ;
 
 85 
 
 and in the same field, In which Dr. .Tebb so bravely 
 and honestly, thouo;h defeated, contended, you have 
 succeeded : all the difficulties, which were formerly con- 
 jured up, have readily given way. How could we wish, 
 that other men may hereafter revive that contest — h^ov 
 ccyaom, if any one is so — in which Mr. llobert Tyrwhitt 
 stood forward so nobly; and that in the progress of 
 time, oii>oOviJjCihov zccorzoouvTig, they may triumph ! We 
 seem to see that excellent man present, with his eyes 
 fixed, and his fine ingenuous countenance, with firm 
 intentions, but the most benevolent feelings, standing 
 now before the Senate, and presenting the Grace — as 
 he formerly did present it — in due order, as follows. 
 
 " Placeat vobis^ ut illi, qui immera schnlast'ica in 
 reg'iis statut'is contenta explcverinty in posterum sihi 
 concessum habeant gradum in aliqua facuUate susci- 
 pienda, etsi tribus articulis in canone tricesimo sexto 
 comprehensis non subscripscrint ;"" a Grace this, well 
 deserving to be written in your Book of Graces, and 
 which, or something similar to it, will certainly be 
 inserted there at some future period. For, though we 
 may not defend any Utopias of our own, and though 
 we are but little skilled in soothsayers' lore, — of some 
 such Grace as this — whoever shall have the honour to 
 introduce it — we venture to speak prophetically : 
 
 " '^ - Venient annis 
 Secula seris, quibus oceanus 
 j Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens 
 Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos 
 Detegat orbes, nee sit terris 
 Ultima Thule " 
 
 XL. QiucrCy as to the Right of administering the 
 present Religious Test. 
 
 Still, however, it does not escape us, that at the 
 time, when the above Grace was agitated, some uni-
 
 Sf) 
 
 versitv-men spread about rumours, that the Senate 
 had not the power entirely to abolish the aforesaid test; 
 although, provided it preserved the spirit, it might 
 somewhat alter the letter ; that it was thought, in this 
 respect, limited in its capacity, being bound under a 
 salvd resrid auctoritate. 
 
 To this it is rejoined by others, advocates for the pri- 
 vileges of the Senate, that either it had no authority for 
 altering the letter of the test, or that it possesses the 
 power of extinguishing the spirit of it, and of annihi- 
 lating it entirely. But, say they, this learned assembly 
 possesses both. They suppose, that the Senate made 
 the antient statutes, and has the power of making new 
 ones : and that, as there is no statute of the Senate — 
 as we have already noticed — which has enjoined this 
 test, on all graduates, no person, acting in anv official 
 capacity, has any right now to administer it. 
 
 Further, it is urged, that as the Mandate was deli- 
 vered by an arbitrary Prince, in times bending with 
 servility, for local and temporary purposes, without any 
 legislatorial sanction, and, apparently, in defiance and 
 mockery of the University Senate, — that such a man- 
 date has not now, and indeed, never had, any legal 
 force; that it should, in the present period, be treated 
 as a mere obsolete form, and ought long since to have 
 been buried in the oblivion, to which other unseason- 
 able practices are now consigned, in the Colleges, and 
 in the University. 
 
 Happy would it be for us, if this public nuisance, this 
 national disgrace, could be disposed of so easily ! But 
 as, notwithstanding the liberal aims, and honourable 
 wishes, of many enlightened, good men, tliereare likely 
 to remain others, who, under pretence of fears for the 
 EstabH.>hed Church, of respect for the Government, 
 ^nd of j^ecuring the Privileges of the Universitv, would
 
 87 
 
 still make objections to any further attempts at refor- 
 mation, we shall proceed to take our more comprehen- 
 sive view of the authorities concerned in it, and inter- 
 ested in its due consideration. 
 
 XLI. On the Powers of the Senate and Heads. 
 
 Certainly the Senate is " the Council of all the 
 Colleges, of all the Arts and Sciences, of the whole 
 University" ; and, as ye know, " the Chancellor with 
 the consent of the whole" — as the Statute, de Officio 
 (Jancellarii^ reads — "has the liberty of making new 
 statutes, for the improvement of learning and the pre- 
 servation of what is becoming and honourable among 
 the students" ; — yet with the proviso, " that they de- 
 tract nothing from the Royal decrees, and impede 
 not the operation of them" : —so that amidst the Act 
 for bestowing privileges on the Senate, the vox impe- 
 ratoria is distinctly to be heard; the claim of the Prince 
 is paramount; and by the spirit of Elizabeth's Charter, 
 her two bodies of Statutes, and all the Royal Instru- 
 ments downwards, including those of Charles the Se- 
 cond, — the Chancellor and the whole legislatorial as- 
 sembly are distinctly subjected to the royal autho- 
 rity. 
 
 With respect to doubtyui md.tttrs, the Statute runs 
 thus : *' If any thing doubtful or ambiguous arises in 
 these our statutes, and sanctions, it shall be explained 
 and determined by the Chancellor and majority of 
 the Heads of Colleges, by whose determination and 
 interpretation we will that all the others abide." 
 
 Hence it is clear, that the Senate can do much, — 
 if the Caput will but give it leave; for, from what has 
 already been said, it appears, that it can do nothing, 
 unless the Caput permit it to consult in common.
 
 88 
 
 Ami \vc have already collected, that the greater 
 part of the Senate was favourable to Mr. Tyruhitt's 
 Grace, that the Vice-Chancellor was certainly not 
 averse to it, and that the Chancellor himself very 
 greatly approved it. But, forsooth, the Caput inter- 
 posed it'< " Veto." In like manner, when Dr. Ed- 
 wards wished to propose in 1787 his Grace for 
 abolishing Subscriptions, that most troublesome Ca- 
 put entirely frustrated his intentions. 
 
 We have thereby been taught, with all due re- 
 spect for that learned body, the Senate, not to rate it 
 beyond its proper faculties and strength. By the Royal 
 Statutes, it is clear, that some things it has no li- 
 cence to do, though it should have the will ; and by 
 the Caput's " Veto," there are others — as we have 
 already said, — nay, that, without the permission of the 
 Caput, it can do nothing, whatever it may wish. 
 Since, then, ihere are some doubts, some difficulties 
 resting on this subject, we leave other persons to form 
 their own judgement upon it : let us only be allowed 
 to admire such academics, as have been for wrenching, 
 as the saying is, the club from the hand of Hercules. 
 In the Government there is certainly an authority, 
 which rises superior to that of the Academical Senate, 
 — the authority of ihe High Court of Parliament of 
 the United Kingdom. This, as they think, can sup- 
 press these indecent restrictions, can remove these 
 most offensive grievances, can entirely unloose these 
 most dishonourable fetters. In that I\Iagjni7ii CoJici- 
 liuin Rcgni, say they, it is certainly vested to support 
 in due form corporations in their just rights ; but, at 
 the same time, it most certainly belongs to that Court 
 to see, that the members of those corporations do no 
 injury to the state. 
 
 There may, perhaps, be among you some, who
 
 89 
 
 from respect to the Academical Senate, and, at the 
 same time, to the Supreme authority of the Em})ire, 
 could, in a spirit of moderation, wish, that the two 
 authorities would combine their individual strength ; 
 and, that after a conference and consent made between 
 them, and the abolition of the present formula, they 
 would supply its place, by one better suited and accom- 
 modated to the nature of the case, referring only, as in 
 former times, to Academical obedience, or to the Arts, 
 Sciences, Faculties, and moral Character. 
 
 XLII. The Office and Duty of Supreme Visitor. 
 
 But, be these matters as they may, every authority 
 claims its proper weight. " In appeals in University 
 causes" — as they are called — they are Judge Mansfield's 
 words, — " after application to the Court of King's 
 Bench, the cause returns to the University Statutes, 
 if it relates to the University ; to the Colleges, if it 
 relates to the Colleges : and the decree of the Visitor 
 is final." So great is the power of the General Assembly 
 of the University, and of the Visitors of Colleges. 
 
 But with submission to this great man, — and it does 
 not escape you, — besides the ordinary authority of the 
 Senate and Masters, or of the Chancellor, Vice-Chan- 
 cellor, or of Visitor, whether he may have been a 
 Bishop, a Legate a latere of the Pope's, — as formerly, 
 — or the Chancellor, or the King himself, in the office 
 of Founder of any particular College, there is a power 
 superior to all these, which does, in fact, give them the 
 faculty of moving at all, and can repair its strength 
 when it begins to fail. This is like the muscles of 
 the human body, which excite the different parts and 
 members to perform the proper functions. This is, 
 as it were, the spirit ; and, when even life seems to
 
 1)0 
 
 fail, this can restore it, as its Creatrix, and last hope ; 
 
 .... opifex rerum, et, — Deo favente, — mundi melioris origo. 
 
 This must be all understood to be spoken of that t\v- 
 traunUnary authority^ which claims to itself the pre- 
 rogative of creating, of reforming, of restoring things, 
 of repressing great injuries, and of removing great 
 opprobriums ; namely, of that last resource, which is 
 called, the authority of the Supreme Visitor. 
 
 There are, doubtless, many now dispersed over 
 Britain, and probably not a few residents in the Uni- 
 versity, according to whose wish it is, that this su- 
 preme authority would honestly and officially apply 
 itself to this course, which has been so long post- 
 poned, and lost sight of. For it can scarcely be ex- 
 pected, that the Caput of Five just now mentioned, 
 which, a few years back, brought forward its most of- 
 fensive " Veto", would act less obnoxiously in future, 
 unless it should please the supreme authority to inter- 
 fere. Should that be favourable to reformation, they 
 think, — nothing is clearer, — that the Caput would soon 
 give their unanimous vote for it: though, indeed, should 
 this authority interfere, it would act without supplicat- 
 ing, and without wanting the good will of the Caput. 
 
 Concerning this authority some disputes were car- 
 ried on formerly. Some affirmed, that as Societies 
 and Corporations derived from the King the origin 
 of all their privileges, so does the office of Supreme 
 Hsifor of right now rest with the King — sitnply 
 regal, or monarchical, not political, with a Parliament, 
 — or a legal, limited, supreme magistrate. To this 
 point go the arguments of a writer, who in defend- ' 
 ing James II.'s proceedings at Magdalen College, 
 Oxford, wrote a long Dissertation entitled, "The 
 King's Visitatorial Power Asserted ;" 1088 : and the
 
 91 
 
 University of Oxford itself had in 1647 enforced the 
 same argument. 
 
 Others thought, that this power belonged of right 
 to the King, hut to a limited one, with a Parliament, 
 not to a simply regal or monarchical one ; while others 
 again, referred it to the Supreme authority of the 
 State, wherever it was lodged. On this latter side of 
 the question was the famous Mr. William Prynne, 
 Barrister of Lincoln's Inn, formerly of Oxford. He 
 laboured to prove, that this authority resided in the 
 Supreme authority of the State — in the Parliament ; — 
 and Prynne himself had been appointed by Parliament 
 Commissioner, for visiting the University of Oxford. 
 Prynne, however, was not averse to a King, so he was 
 not an absolute, but a limited, one, as is clear 
 from his very elaborate speech, delivered in the House 
 of Commons, for entering into a treaty with Charles, 
 and from his Tracts on the Supremacy of Parliament. 
 
 In the Book of Privileges, traces of this power are 
 frequently recurring : the office, indeed, itself is not 
 distinctly mentioned, as the other offices are both in 
 the statutes established, and in the course of the 
 business executed by the officers ; though it is to be 
 known and distinguished in momentous periods and 
 dangerous occurrences. But let us trace the truth 
 of this matter a little more closely to its source. 
 
 It will, perhaps, appear to those, vvho but curso- 
 rily peruse the Book of Privileges, that the Charters, 
 Bulls, Indulgences, Concessions, Letters Patent, or 
 by whatever name the several public Instruments 
 are called, which confer Privileges on the University, 
 are to be derived either from Kings or Roman Pon- 
 tifTs. Of those derived from the Roman Pontiffs, since 
 the Act for the Incorporation of the two Universities 
 has set them aside, we stop to make no remarks, nor
 
 02 
 
 of any created by the University : and of those received 
 from our Kings, ue must speak with some caution. 
 
 Tlic particular period of time, and the course of 
 proceeding, under which many of these Privileges 
 were first granted, cannot be recognized and discern- 
 ed very accurately. Some of them — like other matters 
 which relate to the early beginnings of many human 
 transactions — are involved in darkness, and can be 
 spoken of only from conjecture, and uncertain know^- 
 ledge. This, however, is clearly to be understood, 
 that most of those Instruments were prepared at 
 a period, in which, as is well known, the nations 
 of Europe every where, and among others our own, 
 had been subjected to the Canon and Civil law : for 
 among us, from the time of Stephen for 200 years 
 downward, the Civil law had been in high repute. All 
 that was to be found of learning rested with the 
 priests ; and even that consisted almost entirely of the 
 lloman and Canon laws. Some of them were, how- 
 ever, doubtless formed before the Civil law had been 
 admitted into this country. 
 
 Manv of these Instruments were made in those 
 times, which have been called the irregular periods 
 of the English Constitution. The Privileges shew 
 thcuiselves more clearly in the times of Hen. III., 
 Edw. I., Edw. II., Edw. ill., and Rich. II , but are not 
 spoken of as then first created or bestowed, but as al- 
 ready existing ; relative to which periods, there aremany 
 disputes about Parliaments; periods, in which some of 
 the nobility, wlio had been cited by the King's writs to 
 one Parliament, were, perhaps, not summoned to the 
 succeeding one, and were ever afterward omitted ; and 
 the names of all cited were sometimes omitted, so that 
 their names are not now known. On these and other 
 J>ul)jects many controversies liave been agitated, as
 
 93 
 
 there have been, and still remain with some persons, 
 doubts concerninf!^ the origin and power of the present 
 House of Commons itself. 
 
 It is, liowever, deserving notice, that many things, . 
 which were done by royal patent in those times, as 
 though by the royal authority alone, were really done 
 in parliament, although in the public instruments 
 there is no mention of such acts : but what parti- 
 cular academical privileges might be so granted, we 
 shall not stop to inquire, nor, perhaps, would it be 
 easy to ascertain. This, however, should not be passed 
 unnoticed, that instances occur, in very early times, in 
 which the authority of parliament is more clearly seen 
 in matters relating to privileges, and petitions are 
 presented to parliament from the University, as from 
 a society or corporation ; though for our own parts we 
 confess, that we are not of those who approve all 
 things granted, whether by the royal authority, or 
 en plein parliament. It is, however, certain, that the 
 Act alluded to — 5 Rich. II., and others might be 
 mentioned — was not only passed in full Parliament, 
 but was introduced with the greatest solemnity. And 
 such things seem duly to indicate, that our Univer- 
 sity is not to be considered, so regal, as not at the same 
 time to be parliamentary ; nay, rather that it is, and 
 ought to be, as well under the government and autho- 
 rity, as under the protection and guardianship, of 
 Parliament ; and all this may be equally said of the 
 University of Oxford, and similar examples might be 
 produced relative to it. 
 
 But, with respect to both, we should notice, before 
 all Acts, that for incorporating the two Universities — 
 13Eliz. c. 29. — For it is well known, that Corporations 
 are made by Parliament, as well as by the King : and, 
 indeed, the King himself in creating Corporations
 
 94 
 
 does in reality act not in liis personal and private, 
 but in iiis public and political, character, as a King, 
 with a parliament: otherwise with his i)erson, the King 
 himself — who is also a corporation — would die. 
 
 And this Statute of Parliament is very suited, as 
 an example, to our purpose. For this, indeed, is the 
 act, as things now are, which creates, confirms and 
 perpetuates, in re, facto, et jwviiue, the universities 
 as corporations ; and we have dwelt the longer in 
 disentangling these knots, lest we should seem here, 
 or elsewhere, to favour the arbitrary measures of James 
 II., bv which he attacked the just privileges of the 
 Master and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford — in 
 the exercise, not the violation, of an established duty 
 — that too royal, that simply monarchical principle, 
 in defending which a writer before mentioned calls 
 in this very office of the supre?ne visitatorial power : 
 and we are the more desirous of looking into the sub- 
 ject rather narrowly, to make it the more clear to our- 
 selves, where this supreme visitatorial authority is 
 really lodged, what is its proper character, and what are 
 the services to which it may, and ought to be, applied. 
 
 Many, no doubt, there will be, more prompt than 
 we are in unravelling this gordian knot, nay, who will 
 say, there is none at all in the case. And every one 
 possesses his peculiar faculty. We are somewhat 
 more cautious ; so much the more, perhaps, as having 
 been taught by certain transactions past some years 
 ago; we mean, when to a petition of many undergra- 
 duates of this university to the Vice Chancellor to 
 abolish, or suspend, their subscriptions, it was replied 
 by him, that it exceeded his power; and when gentle- 
 men, also, of the senate seemed to think, that it did 
 not rest with the senate. We are solicitous about 
 the evils ; uncertain, about the remedies ; while, amidst
 
 95 
 
 our much doubting, other cncumstances present 
 themselves to our consideration. 
 
 For certain it is, that our first charters and bulls 
 are forgeries, and these were made a sort of stepping- 
 stones to others ; nor is it clear, at what time, or by 
 what persons, some of the statutes of our several col- 
 leges and of the university were made ; though it is 
 probable the former proceeded from the foimders or 
 persons appointed by them ; the latter, perhaps, by the 
 academical senate : the rule, therefore, of the law, 
 "that the same power is required for dissolving an obli- 
 gation, as for creating it," must not, perhaps, be hastily 
 applied. Nor, are all things advanced by writers before 
 referred to, to be admitted too soon ; indeed, they are 
 not true. For they say, that no one but the King can 
 make a visitation of the universities ; when yet it is 
 abundantly clear, that bishops, archbishops, popes 
 through a cardinal, chancellors, nay the vice-chancel- 
 lor, and the parliament have made visitations : nor, 
 indeed, is it clear, that more Kings of England than 
 two have transacted business in our universities in the 
 public character of supreme visitor, except by Commis- 
 sioners : of private visits, of course, we do not speak. 
 
 Mr. Prynne of Oxford, the barrister, already referred 
 to, who was appointed one of the Commissioners for 
 visiting that university, and for his superior acquain- 
 tance with our public writings made keeper of the re- 
 cords in the Tower by Cha. II., has made some obser- 
 vations on the duty of visitor, as also has Lord Chief 
 Justice Mansfield, as above ; and each according to his 
 respective office. The latter in his "Decisions of Civil 
 Causes," is speaking only of the special and local vi- 
 sitor, who over each college presides as judge. It was 
 not his business to form determinations on the extra- 
 ordinary^ viz. the supreme visitatorial jwiver^ which
 
 00 
 
 rules over, j>i-ovides for, and governs each college se- 
 parately and the university collectively, not less than 
 it does the whole British republic. That is the power, 
 which really creates, confirms, and perpetuates : that 
 is it which removes what is become obsolete, repairs 
 what has fallen into decay, introduces new practices, and 
 can, as it ought to do, adapt all things to the manners, 
 customs, literature, and religion, of an existing people. 
 This authority is discernible in the various pages of 
 the Privileges, but more particularly in those which 
 relate to the abolition of popery in this country, and on 
 its return, durluir the reljrns of Hen.\TII., Edw.VI-./*^ 
 and Elizabeth: aiul, unless we rightly take these mat- 
 ters, we should not be prepared to admit the Legal 
 Uccisio/is cf Lord Mansfield. 
 
 XLIII. ^ Parenthesis, illustrative of some thi?igs 
 which have preceded, and which may answer the 
 same purpose to what will follow. 
 And here, perhaps, it will be correct to take along 
 with us, that, as the giving of Charters and making 
 of Statutes, the issuing of Mandates, Injunctions, and 
 Orders, beyond the due course, and some beyond the 
 reach of academic authority, as these must be all re- 
 solved into so many examples of the exercise of the 
 suj)reme visitatorial power, so is that power the same, 
 and its effects the same, whether administered per- 
 sonally, or by deputation. AMien a Pope's legate a 
 latere, or an archbishop, as alterius orbis Papa, — as 
 in ])opish times — made a public visitation here, still 
 it was under a permission of the royal authority : 
 and, in the instances just mentioned, all was done, 
 under an authority sj)eclfically granted, pro vice Regis. 
 Thus Lord Cromwell, in Hen. VIIL's reign, the visi- 
 tors InEdw. VL's, Cardinal Pole in Queen Mary's, and
 
 1)7 
 
 and Lord Burleigh in Elizabetii's, were all public vi- 
 sitors, for reforming whatever they deemed abuses, 
 whether academical or ecclesiastical. Each did but 
 act as vicegerent of the royal authority, as commis- 
 sioner from the supreme visitatorial authority. 
 
 In Ayliffe's History of Oxford there are three for- 
 mulas relating to that University, or declarations of the 
 exercise of this prerogative ; one respecting a College, 
 the others the University. The former is entitled 
 Prohibitio Regis, 8fc. (Ric. II.) Archiep. Sfc. de 
 CoUegiis Vis'itandis ; in which, in behalf of Queen's 
 College, he forbids any authority to interfere in the 
 statutes of that College, or to depose the archbishop 
 of York, who had, from the foundation of the College, 
 been appointed its visitor. The King speaks in the 
 highest tone, as supreme visitor, and as one defending 
 his royal prerogative, declaring that all interference in 
 these matters from any ecclesiastical authorities, any 
 disobedience to this prohibition, would be juris sui 
 enervatio, et coroiKB su(e exhcEreditas . 
 
 Of the two Commissions for visiting Oxford Uni- 
 versity, one is, '■'Commissio Regis Edvardi Sexti ad 
 visitandam Universitatem Oxon : quibusdam Dele- 
 gatis data et concessa'"' 
 
 This Commission, delivered plcnissima et summa 
 auctoritate per absolutam et regiam potcstatem,'' and 
 executed "■ vice et auctoritate Regis," extended to mo- 
 rals, to the abolition of former Statutes, and to the 
 giving of new ones, to the application of certain of 
 their finances, to the re-establishment of the study of 
 the Civil law ; in short, to every thing implied in a 
 thorough reformation of all the Colleges and of the 
 University. 
 
 The other Commission was issued in the name of 
 the Parliament, and is entitled ''Citatio Delegatorum 
 
 H
 
 98 
 
 Parl'uuncntorum advisilanihna Acadeimmn^' and wns 
 dt'llvered, " v'lgure cujusdam Spec'udis Orduiaiwnis 
 Siij/renur Ciir'uc Par/iamcnti jmn sedeftfis,'' this being 
 tht-Mi the ruling j)o\ver ot the empire, and in that cha- 
 racter possessing the supreme visitatorial power over 
 the Universities. Of these Commissioners the famous 
 William Prynne was one ; and it was in the defence of 
 the Parliament, in this character, that this learned man 
 wrote his Tract on the 6'//yj/*6';/?e Visitatorial Power. 
 
 This Citalio is a summons to the Masters, Fellows, 
 Scliolars, and all the officers of the place, to appear 
 bt^fore the Commissioners in the House of Convoca- 
 tion, ob jiionnn rcfornuitioncm^ ejusdcmque AcadcimcE, 
 dcb'itain rtformat'ioncm. No notice is here taken of 
 any specific alterations, though certain ordinances 
 were made, and it was in the contemplation of Parlia- 
 ment to give a new body of Statutes to both Univer- 
 sities. 
 
 XLIV. Some Things in the Privileges, i?i their 
 Origin illegal, though since conjirmed in the gross 
 by Aet of Parliament. — Complaint of many Aca- 
 demics against the present Polity. — The real 
 Querela Cantabrigiensis — which i^eqidres the In- 
 terference oj the Supreme Tlsitatorial Power. 
 
 But to leave our digression. — You well know, Gen- 
 tlemen of the University, that many eminent men 
 among you, as well of tlie profession of the law as of 
 divinity, and Oxonians as well as Cantabrigians, have 
 thought, after well considering the matter, that some 
 things ordained, both with respect to private Colleges, 
 and the University, were illegal : and they were so 
 unquestionably in their origin : and we should con- 
 sider them so still, did we not recollect, that they
 
 99 
 
 were since confirmed by Act of Parliiunent, and that 
 your literary Corporation possesses some pec?fiia7'iiies. 
 P^or on comparing together what Chief Justice Mans- 
 field advances on Universities specially^ with what he 
 elsewhere decides of Corporations gcneral/ij, in civil 
 causes, we fear it will be found, that there exist, in the 
 courts of the former, some matters, which are scarcely 
 reconcileable with our Common law, or with the Civil : 
 suffice it to refer to him, where he says, " He" — the 
 visitor — " does not proceed by the rules and forms of 
 the Common law, but he suffers a party allcgare non 
 allegata^ probare non prohatar But these, and other 
 things of the like kind, we leave to the judgement of 
 such as excel in juridical literature. 
 
 With respect, however, to such things as fall more 
 properly under our consideration, this distinguished per- 
 son, we confess, places us, — as the saying is — between 
 sacrum et saxum. There were, it seems, certain men 
 of St. John's College, who thought that the power of 
 the visitor of that College had been extended in too 
 arbitrary a manner to two engrafted Fellowships, and 
 it was impeached in the Court of King's Bench. 
 There was another question argued relating to a Fel- 
 low-Commoner, who had been expelled from Queen's. 
 In the arguings on these cases, the advantages of a 
 ^^ Forum Domesticum" the visitor's court, were much 
 insisted on, and the necessity of its powers being 
 absolute, — not, after judgement given, referrible to the 
 King's Courts — "that the Statutes could not be admit- 
 ted as evidence to impeach the sentence, and enter into 
 the validity of it there ; that the King's Courts, if the 
 Visitor does not exceed his jurisdiction, — by which we 
 suppose him to mean, if he acts within the rule of the 
 Statutes, or bye-laws, — have no cognizance, no super- 
 inducement; but that thevisitor is theonly person to be 
 
 H 2
 
 100 
 
 njiplied to, and moreover, tliat his jiulgement is final." 
 'riiis was Lord Mansfield's decision ; and theCourt seems 
 tohave been of the same judgementnith his Lordship. 
 Now Corporations have the power of making bye- 
 laws, which, however, should not be contrary to the 
 Common law, the common benefits of trade, the parti- 
 cular interests of its members, nor to the general rights 
 of the commonalty ; and, if they are, they may be su- 
 perseded by the King's Courts ; and we have several ex- 
 aujples in Lord Mansfield's Decisions, pronouncing 
 bye-laws of Corporations to be null and void. Still it 
 seems to be different with respect to Colleges and Uni- 
 versities. These, as we have seen, are civil Corporations; 
 and theirStatutes, Graces, Decrees, Mandates, and the 
 like, are its bye-laws, by which they are regulated and 
 governed. And, not to notice how the privileges of the 
 L^niversity have encroached on those of the town and 
 Corporation of Cambridge, it would be no difficult 
 matter to produce instances in which some of its own 
 learned members have thought their /^ro/^er/y invaded; 
 in which the right of private judgement has been en- 
 croached on ; in which the liberty of the press has been, 
 in their persons, violated ; and the liberty to instruct 
 youth has been subjected to a licence : of such-like 
 cases examj)les in abundance could be produced, in an- 
 cient as well as more modern times, — to pass over those 
 of more common, more general concern — yet if there 
 should be any Statute or bye-law, shewing it to be of 
 academical usage, and the visitor decides according 
 to that, his decision is final : there is no appealing to 
 the King's Courts, no legal remedy : Lord Mansfield's 
 Decision seems to amount to this, — And here it may 
 not be improper to add, that one of the most pro- 
 minent, and, at the same time, the most objection- 
 able features of the present Academical oeconomy can-
 
 101 
 
 not be reconciled to an Act of PaiTrainent, passed 
 in Edward the Sixth's reign ; yet there is a statute for 
 it, and it is supported by a separate Rule of Elizabeth's, 
 and academical usage *. 
 
 But, as to the manner of managing such arguments, 
 we leave that to other persons ; we leave them to com- 
 plain of those Statutes, — whether in private Colleges 
 or in the University, — which they may have thought 
 to bear hard on themselves as individuals, or on 
 parts only of your literary Corporation ; of Statutes, 
 contradictory to each other ; of some covered with the 
 rust of antiquity, yet many in number, and to be sub- 
 scribed by all, who are members of your Collegiate 
 Corporations, and of the larger Corporation of the 
 University, and at Oxford, even by many Inhabitants 
 of the city, — on these subjects, Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge gentlemen, as already remarked, have written 
 their thoughts. Such matters being too various to be 
 treated of here, we pass them over; as also such things, 
 — whatever they may be, — which being hedged round 
 with a regia auctoritas, may be placed out of the 
 power of the Senate, of the Masters, Visitors, and the 
 King's Courts : passing over such-like matters, we 
 shall confine ourselves within our own limits, which 
 are sufficiently wide. For our cause is that of inge- 
 nuous youth, of Undergraduates in general, and in- 
 deed, of the whole Academical body : it is, or ought 
 to be, the real Querela Cajitabrigieims. For does not, 
 as some of the most excellent men of both Universi- 
 ties have often asked, this question relate to the pro- 
 gress of philosophy and polite literature, to the pre- 
 servation of civil liberty, to the restoration of Univer- 
 sity-discipline, to the probity of the morals in youth, 
 to the grace and majesty of the University, and even 
 
 * For the celibacy of the Fellows : in opposition to the Act of 
 Edw. VI. allowing ecclesiastical persons to marry.
 
 10-2 
 
 to tlio dignity of the state ? finally, does it not, they 
 ask, relate to the authority and strengthening of sin- 
 cere religion, and the purity of conscience, which 
 ought to he consulted, and, hefore all things, to he 
 preserved ? Those persons have not scrupled to call 
 our present Suhscriptions, no less justly, we fear, than 
 emphatically, Q-orj^ccyju kcci \oi?oii.(iyja. And they have 
 further testified, that such impositions do not injure 
 only particular persons, and particular counties,— as 
 Oxford and Camhridge, — hut all the other counties of 
 England ; as, if any one will go over the subject, he will 
 readily perceive. For streams from these English Acade- 
 mies, as from springs, being poured forth, flow widely 
 abroad, and whether salutary, or pestiferous, as their 
 course is daily increasing, overspread the whole nation. 
 
 And, shall we say, that there is no tribunal, before 
 which such a complaint can be heard, where it can 
 be remedied ? But such a power there is, if it 
 would but exercise itself ; and this is what we have 
 called the Supreme Visitatorial Power over Academi- 
 cal Corporations, for the purpose of liberalizing them, 
 according to the light of the times, and of reforming 
 existing abuses. 
 
 Every office hath its peculiar character : and this 
 now mentioned, is that of the judge, whose duty it is 
 to end these strifes If thatQuinqueviral Caput should 
 continue in future to pursue the course, which hitherto 
 it has pursued, it will be an luipcriuni in Iniper'io, 
 a society distinct from the Senate, different from the 
 Corporation, raising itself above them and beyond 
 them ; it will t)e enabled to wrest from the hands of 
 the Senate all liberty of action, so that should they 
 wish to abolish our Subscriptions, they would have no 
 power to do it : but should the Senate have the 
 power and not the will, they would thrust a dagger in 
 tlieir own bosom : and, in either case, it becomes the
 
 103 
 
 duty of the supreme visitatorial power to support the 
 Ropublic of Letters. This power itself should inter- 
 fere in our Academic Councils, not by petitioning 
 and supplicating, but by ordaining and putting an 
 end at once to such abominations. 
 
 And let not these expressions be thought to savour 
 of asperity, and as being those of one who has forgot- 
 ten the respect due to the Senate, and who now grow- 
 ing severe has forgotten also his former concessions. 
 I5y no means. In the present state of things, whatever 
 it may be, — we must repeat, — may he who believes 
 our 39 articles subscribe them, and enjoy the full 
 benefit of them ; and let him who subscribes, without 
 believing them, know how to avail himself of the alle- 
 viations which may be offered to him : but, as we must 
 beg leave also to continue repeating, the thing itself 
 admits of no concessions, is entitled to no indulgence. 
 Whatever respect we may owe, and feel for persons, 
 none is due to injurious usages and arbitrary mandates. 
 
 And, if we are not greatly mistaken, the whole 
 course of the business, in which we are now engaged, 
 involves in it, not only what is an evil in itself, but 
 what is full of mystery and perplexity. For, what if those 
 ingenuous youths, before mentioned, had petitioned 
 that supreme visitatorial power? — with whom, we 
 doubt not. it rests, entirely to abolish these grievances 
 — might not some persons, in their zeal for Acade- 
 mical discipline, have rejoined, that these same young 
 gentlemen should be directed to the Statutes and Aca- 
 demical authority, to which, at their matriculation, they 
 had already subjected themselves ? Add to this, that 
 if any two, or any twenty-two members, of this Aca- 
 demical Corporation should have appealed either to 
 the King's Courts, or to this very suj)reme authority ; 
 might not such persons as are versed in the maxims
 
 104 
 
 of the civil law have iiri^jed, that two, or twenty-two 
 persons, are not the Corporation itself, and that a 
 University or Corporation can only act by its Syndic ? 
 On Well weighing, therefore, these nice points, we feel 
 ourselves to rank with those, who betake themselves 
 to the spontaneous, self-moving energies of this visi- 
 tatorial power, as to a city of refuge. 
 
 Judge Blackstone, as all gentlemen of the Uni- 
 versity know, has written much on Universities and 
 Corporations, and has spoken also of visitations : and 
 how luminou>ly, how elegantly, how copiously, how 
 learnedly he has commented on the Theory of the 
 Enirlish Law, it is not our business to descant : but 
 he was an Academical lecturer, not a reformer, nor 
 an investigator of that peculiar office, which we have 
 called, supreme visitor. This for certain was not 
 the end which that admirable lecturer had in view; 
 nor perhaps did it belong' to his office to consider it. 
 How well soever he has written on our Universities, 
 and however admitting, as he does, the legal defect in 
 its constitution, yet being in the very presence of his 
 yllma Mater ^ it was more to his purpose to admire her 
 learning, and to add to her literary stores, than to revive 
 old Statutes, and impugn her established Privileges. 
 
 Now the present question does not relate, as we 
 have stated already, to the office of the Visitor of 
 Private Colleges, either general, or special, filling the 
 places of their founders, nor of the Metropolitan ; 
 nor would it intrude upon the authority of the Se- 
 nate, in giving some new Statutes, and interpreting 
 others. On these matters it was not meant to raise 
 any doubt ; the visitors have their proper courts, their 
 proper jurisdictions, — as also have the other autho- 
 rities, — and that, provisional causes excepted, as we 
 have seen, is smnmary and final ; though even that
 
 106 
 
 power is conclusiva per legem, iwn contra legem : 
 and there are cases, in which the King, witli his Coun- 
 cil, or the supreme visitatorial power of the kingdom, 
 rises above all visitors, and acts alone. We propose 
 returning to this subject, after some observations to 
 be introduced in the next chapter. 
 
 XLV. History of Universities. — Short View of the 
 Royal Statutes. — Alleviations of their literal 
 Strictness . 
 
 To our Statutes some allusion has been made 
 already, though we pi-ofesscdly abstained from going 
 into details : nor do we propose now to enter into 
 particulars : but they are grounded on a similar au- 
 thority, and are of collateral obligation with our Royal 
 Mandate and 39 Articles. The rules, too, which 
 direct them, are likewise in the Book of JEacerpta, 
 which is in all our hands, and are bound on all our 
 consciences. There appears, therefore, to be a na- 
 tural connexion between them : so, to avoid leaving a 
 chasm in our narrative, and not to fall too abruptly 
 on our main object — on which, when we arrive at it, 
 we shall dwell at some length, — we shall here take a 
 view, though a very short one, of the Royal Statutes. 
 
 Those institutions, which we now call, mysteriously 
 almost, with a charm annexed to the word. Univer- 
 sities, were nothing else in their origin, but societies, 
 to which, according to the Roman civil law, it was 
 permitted to hold certain properties in common, to 
 have a common chest, and a Solicitor or Syndic, 
 through whom, what was to be transacted and done, 
 might be transacted and done : from whence they 
 were called Corporations. Of those Societies, or 
 Colleges, or Corporations, which, when increased and 
 collected into a body, and, as now, by an appro-
 
 106 
 
 prlate and peculiar name denominated, Universities, 
 we have attempted to speak more at large elsewhere. 
 Suffice it to ri-Muark in this place, that such insti- 
 tutions, however at tirst made up, existing, as they 
 did, in turhulent times, and acquiring strength more 
 bv fraud and superstition, than by true religion and 
 just authority, grew up sefisim sine scnsu. For 
 in addition to that influence, wliich the name of a 
 Corporation naturally brings with it, Religioii also 
 added its own proper weight ; and, though antiquity, 
 wliich had involved all things in darkness, may among 
 other things have rendered the first origin of the Pri- 
 vileges, Statutes, and Offices of the Universities ob- 
 scure, this is clear, that certain privileges were 
 granted to ours, and that Statutes were in ancient 
 time given to it bv kings, popes, bishops, chan- 
 cellors, and founders of colleges, or their represen- 
 tatives. These, at least, all had their appropriate 
 prerogatives and jurisdictions ; and the king in a 
 superior, and more emj^hatical sense, had his, as in a 
 certain sense, the founder — he having formed them 
 into Corporations — of them all. 
 
 This state of things went on progressively, in the 
 monastic, and, as they are called, the dark ages, in 
 which philosophy and the elegant arts were in a lan- 
 guisliing state, in which few could either write or read, 
 wh.en even the most learned would say, " It is Greek, 
 we do not understand it," — when the civil and canon 
 laws were in full force in the courts and schools, — till 
 Duns Scotus, the most obscure Doctor, appeared the 
 greatest Theologian ; and Aristotle — scarcely, indeed, 
 to he called Aristotle, being so latinized, mutilated, 
 and corrupted — became the greatest philosopher. 
 From these fountains were derived that learning and 
 tir.it ])hilosophy, together with those Privileges and
 
 ^ 107 
 
 Statutes, corresponding with them, which flowed 
 down to Camhridge ; and she hence seemed to her- 
 self Academ'iarum maxima ; while science, the real 
 science of antiquity, growing pale, as it were, through a 
 length of years, and scared by a dissimilitude of man- 
 ners, — as if a thick body of clouds intervened, — suf- 
 fered a long eclipse. 
 
 This darkness the neiv learning did in part dis- 
 perse. Customs, hitherto held in veneration, fell 
 into disuse ; and thereupon Statutes more accommo- 
 dated to the existing state of things were required in 
 our Universities ; and, as the old ones, so covered 
 with obscurity, and contrary to the new learnings 
 reached the time of the good youth Edward VI., the 
 preface to the Statutes made in his reign rightly begins 
 with declaring, " that the ancient Statutes are ob- 
 scure, unintelligible, se?ni-barba7'oifs ;" and that others, 
 more intelligible, fashioned more according to the 
 condition of the times, and to the practice of the new 
 learning, became requisite. 
 
 All this was agreeable to that natural and just prin- 
 ciple, " that when manners change, the laws also 
 should change," both in our Colleges and Universities. 
 
 Various innovations were accordingly introduced 
 under Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, both in our 
 Colleges and Universities ; and, at length, under the 
 latter, that code of Statutes which now remains en- 
 tire; some old ones having been retained, others purged 
 and new modelled, while other old ones were rendered 
 altogether null and void, and many new ones incor- 
 porated. This code of Statutes, being an improve- 
 ment of her first Statutes given in 15.59, Queen Eli- 
 zabeth put forth under the Broad Seal ; but they were 
 not confirmed by Parliament, as most of our charters 
 are (Eliz. c. 13), supported 7'egia auctoritatc, Eliza-
 
 108 
 
 beth proceedln^^ in this body of Statutes on the same 
 principle, and bv the same rule, as Justinian in the 
 Institutes: '' /// has (jiuititor libros easdcm Listitu- 
 iiones purtiri jussi//N/s ; iit sint legitiincr scitnticc 
 prima ckmenta ; in (juibus breviter cjposituni est, 
 it quad antta obtincbat, ct quod postca desuetudine 
 inuinbratuin impcriali roncdio illusti'atinn est ;" for, 
 adds his annotator, " /ucc clausula conjirniat Insti- 
 tutio7ies, et cas habere vim legisjubet."" 
 
 These Statutes, however, were not properly accepted 
 by the University, they witY^ forced uj)on it. 
 
 From this short view may be seen how great the 
 subject under consideration is. For in this collection 
 of the Privileges of Cambridge, appears the code of 
 Queen Elizabeth's Statutes, together with all the other 
 public instruments relating to the University, and 
 which retain their present authority in it; upon which 
 questions not a U^\\ and some of no light moment, 
 have arisen among many learned and good men, 
 worthy, as they have thought, of the consideration of 
 the supreme authority of the state. We, too, have 
 been sometimes almost led to think, that this little 
 Dissertation ought to have been prefaced in different 
 words, and, however humble our situation maybe, to 
 liave been addressed to that supreme authority. 
 
 Be that as it may, the matter now stands thus. — If 
 in the reign of Edward VI. the existing Statutes of 
 the Univer^ity were thought deserving to be set aside, 
 as being, on account of the change which had taken 
 place in our literature and manners, obscure, scarcely 
 intelligible, and almost barbarous, — do not tlie Sta- 
 tutes given by Elizabeth now nearly come under thq. 
 same predicament ? It must be granted, that there 
 are many things to be fouiid in them, which ought to 
 be still kej)t in view, and are useful still to gentlemen
 
 lOD 
 
 of the University ; being such things as come into 
 daily use, and are necessary in the discharge of public 
 offices and the performance of public exercises ; but 
 with respect to other matters, they are many of them 
 of a very different kind. Are not the studies now to be 
 pursued, the lectures as now read, the manners and cus- 
 toms, together with many things, which relate to forms, 
 to times, and places, very different now from those which 
 are presented in this Book of Privileges — on public 
 lecturers — on the times of lecturing — on the books 
 to be read — on the hearers of public lectures — on the 
 course of studies, — and on many other subjects ? 
 
 But what shall we say ? Oxford and Cambridge 
 writers have again asked, Are there not many things 
 in those Statutes, which, according to modern usages, 
 are now scarcely to be understood, and are in a man- 
 ner barbarous ? Why should we use many words ? 
 There are those, who accuse these very Statutes of 
 levity, as made too much under the influence of pri- 
 vate passions, and as partial, intruding on property, 
 and private judgements, and at the same time as cruel, 
 impracticable, and nugatory, requiringbricktobe made 
 without straw; and of such-like charges the writers al- 
 luded to have given examples in abundance. Thus 
 have argrued many, who have wished to see our Uni- 
 sities thoroughly reformed. But if Statutes which are 
 now become antiquated, cannot be entirely abolished, 
 they ought to be revised and repurged; so that old laws 
 may no longer be at variance with modern manners, 
 like tares among wheat. For admitting, say they, 
 that our ancestors derived those benefits from them, 
 which they had in view, we should consider that which 
 was done, enough, for the time, and well done : but the 
 end being answered, what can be more inopportune, 
 what more absurd, and full of madness, than still to
 
 llu 
 
 offer them to ncceptancf, still to perpetuate them, 
 still to sanctifi/ them ! "They are deair — granted 
 some of tliem are truly so. Should we then say of dead 
 thiui^s, as of dead men ; mortua non conv'it'ianda ; de 
 mortuis nil nisi boman. Hut these dead things can 
 come to life, and, as occasion offers, have sharp teeth. 
 
 As an example of what might be said on this head, 
 we remark, that a member of one of our largest Col- 
 leges observes, "that there was not a single Statute 
 among those of his College, in which there was not 
 some one clause or other, which is not truly, or which 
 can be, observed:" and elsewhere, speakingof the terms 
 of a certain oath, he adds, " that it consists of nine pa- 
 ragraphs, which if you except two, or at the most, 
 three, the verv best men could not fulfill." And this, 
 if we recollect right, was the College, in which one of 
 the Fellows — one of the seniors, if we mistake not — 
 urged, in a sermon * preached in the College Chapel, 
 that there was a Statute of their College in direct op- 
 position to a University Statute, and both given by the 
 same Elizabeth ; so that if he obeyed the College 
 Statute, he incurred the penalty for violating the Uni- 
 versity Statute ; and was, indeed, liable to expulsion 
 both from the College and University. 
 
 Hut with complaints against these Statutes let us 
 unite congratulations. For here, as in the ordinary per- 
 plexities of life, with serious, substantial difficulties, are 
 intermingled temporary, accidental alleviations. No 
 man surely is expected to perform impossibilities: and, 
 in the j)resent case, palliatives have been discovered for 
 the evils, which have not received a perfect cure. Some 
 Statutes are allowed to pass into just oblivion, by long 
 
 • It should be, in Extracts from the University and Trinity 
 CollcGfc Suilutes, prefixed to a Sermon, &c. By Robert Gam- 
 ham. H.D. 'Jndedit. 1794.
 
 Ill 
 
 disuse, and the general consent of these corporate 
 bodies; and others by positive abolition, or by the qua- 
 lifying interpretations of the Masters of Colleges, are 
 now considered either as modernized and ameliorated, 
 or as entirely set aside. In the matriculation oath, there 
 are provisions, somewhat Hberally made — quantum 
 jus fas que est, andquantu7/i in me est, — as also in the 
 oath of the Inceptor in Arts, were it not marred by 
 that senseless, impracticable clause — "Uujus Acade- 
 mics statum et dignitatem /?/6?<^or quoad vivam ; meoque 
 suffragio atque consilio rogatus et non rcgatus defen- 
 dam."" But, to speak the truth, oaths of mere form — 
 as this kind of oaths is commonly made and consi- 
 dered — seldom become the rule of future life. Con- 
 science takes no interest, and feels no trouble, about 
 them ; and, should Subscribers, in some after-period, 
 have any secret misgivings, they may be reminded of 
 that just rule of the civil law— the law of the Univer- 
 sity Courts — that an oath taken in any particular court 
 has no obligation in pnejudiciumcuri^superioris : and, 
 we suspect, that the laws of reason, of common sense, 
 of the civil code, and the law of the British Constitu- 
 tion, will give their verdict against any unintelligible, 
 impracticable law in our Statutes. But, after all, should 
 they at some future period entertain any doubts on the 
 purity of these Statutes, and venture to open their 
 mouths against them, they may take refuge in the Vice- 
 Chancellor's ecclesiastical absolution ; which is here 
 copied from the interesting trial of Wm. Fiend, A.M., 
 who had been accused in the Vice-Chancellor's Court 
 of publishing a libel; and it was delivered by the acute 
 defendant into the same Court in bar of sentence : 
 
 ^^ Absolutio in Fine Termini. — Auctoritate nobis 
 
 co?nmissa, vos absolvimus ab onrni negligentia, foris- 
 
 factione, seu transgressione statutoriun, privilegio-
 
 \V1 
 
 rum, et consuttudinum, ttDco et san-arnentis Ecclesicr 
 vox rfslitfiiniiis in ?w?nlf/e Uci Patris, ct Fil'n, et 
 Spiritus Sancti. 
 
 This Absolution does not occur in our Book of Pri- 
 viKp;es, nor in owv Ed cerpta e Stafiilis ^^IrademicrCan- 
 tabriij^ieKsis, nor in some otlier books of Ceremonies, 
 relating^ to Cambridge : this we must consider a de- 
 fect ; but, as is well known, it is regularly and offi- 
 ciallv delivered. The provisional grace 171 cautclarn 
 jurantiiint ct levamc/i is found in most of tliem. 
 
 But enough of the complaints against Statutes ; 
 and, perhaps, more than enough, though in their pre- 
 sent state they are a great evil. Our complaint is of 
 the greater evil ; which being more prominent in ap- 
 pearance, and more pernicious in its influence, ought 
 to receive our primary regard and most conscientious 
 consideration : 
 
 " Why should we sin, and mangle ev'ry line 
 
 In rev'rence to the sins of thirty-nine ?"' Pope. 
 
 But, before we take a view of the specific na- 
 ture of this evil, — by an investigation of the meaning 
 of certain articles contained in the Rcgiinn JManda- 
 tinii — let us briefly consider the doubts and difficul- 
 ties, which are in the way of removing it. 
 
 XL\ 1. — Doubts, relative to the Right of abolishing 
 
 Subscription. 
 Here it does not escape us, that our observations 
 on the supreme visitatorial power have already run 
 out to a disproportionate length, and, perhaps, may 
 be a little circuitous : but, as we have confessed, that 
 they were entered upon more with a view to satisfy 
 ourselves, than to inform others, there will be less call 
 for apologies. W'e are for ascertaining where the 
 jurisdiction resides which is capable of suppressing an
 
 113 
 
 evil: and it already lias appeared, tliatuVice-Chancellor, 
 — in the case of petitioning undergraduates, — declared 
 it did not rest with him — that certain of the Senate 
 have insinuated, it was not vested in them — and, that 
 the Caput — as we have seen — has the statutable pre- 
 rogative of coming forward in limine with precocious 
 resolutions, and positive preventions. Hence, then, 
 doubts may have arisen in our minds ; and, if there 
 is any room for them, they have not been removed, 
 nor diminished, by what a learned academic, the late 
 Dr. Parr, by letter, not long since avowed to us, — 
 '* Our Universities require a thorough reformation — 
 I think as you do on the subject of Subscription — but 
 the cause is hopeless^ 
 
 Now where any doubts may exist, on the right of 
 interference in correcting abuses, there may naturally 
 arise difficulties and delays in the way of removing them . 
 
 But whatever doubts there may be as to the limits 
 of the Senate's rights, and whatever difficulties from 
 the obstructive prerogative of the Caput, there can 
 be none on the absolute, independent right of the su- 
 preme visitatorial power, however faint the expecta- 
 tions in any quarter may be, or whatever difficulties 
 may be thrown in the way of its timely regard and 
 successful application*; for, as formerly brought pro- 
 minentlv forward to public view, it bore on it the 
 stamp of royal authority. 
 
 Further: The civil law principle — Initium et Finis 
 legwn a voce prhicipali procedit — is certainly the basis 
 of our present Statutes as a code of royal law, and the 
 civil law process predominates in our Courts, with the 
 exception of some things peculiar to these singular 
 establishments: still on considering, that an Eriglish 
 King was one, who did not act without, but under, 
 the authority of law, who ruled not mera regia pates- 
 
 I 
 
 <
 
 114 
 
 tate that this nation had from time immemorial its 
 
 ConcUiurn Magnatum, its ConrU'ium Rcgni — that, in 
 the Saxon times, this Council sat in the same house 
 with the King, — and that, after the Conquest, the 
 greater harons still continued to form the King's 
 Great Council, though called up then hy a particular^ 
 as they had formerly heen by a general, writ ; — taking 
 all these circumstances into consideration, we may pre- 
 sume, that our ancient Kings, in adopting any great^ 
 measures relating to such-like literary Institutions, 
 would act not altogether in their own name, but with 
 the advice of this their great Hereditary Council. 
 
 Further : Although the word. Parliament, is com- 
 paratively of late usage, the thing was of very remote 
 antiquity ; and our Universities come into clear light 
 under the third Henrv, though their origin is veiled in 
 some obscurity : but in the reign of Edw. I., — Henry's 
 immediate successor, — that is, when towns and bo- 
 roughs were first directed to send Kej)resentatives to 
 the Great Council — as the Knights of the Shire did — 
 two for each County, there is then fall proof of the 
 Parliament's jurisdiction in academical transactions; 
 as particularly in the ''Petitio Unive7'sitatis in Par- 
 liaiucnlo facta,'' Sec. ; and even accompanied with a 
 non obstante Prohibitione ; cui 7'espon.su7n est, sicut 
 habct Universitas Oxoniensis, sic habcant. In the 
 reigns next following of Edw. II. and Edw. III., we 
 have various Aria in Parliamcnto, relating to the 
 University, coram nobis ct Concilio nostro, &c. 
 These were issued with the usual royal signature, 
 Literrr Patentcs, teste ?neij)so ; and, as it appears 
 that letters so signed were yet frecpiently passed in 
 Parliament, though not declared to have been so, it is 
 probable, that other royal instruments relating to the 
 University were of a similar kind. And the Act for
 
 115 
 
 incorporating the two Universities passed in the reign 
 of Queen Ehzabeth, — who yet made such a flourish 
 with the royal prerogative, — fully shews, that in lega- 
 lizing and protecting these literary establishments, she 
 knew the weight, and felt the force, of an Act of Par- 
 liament. This, too — a Parliament — the good people 
 of England have always been accustomed to assert, 
 and to this in their emergencies and difficulties have 
 been proud to appeal ; and, since its boundaries 
 have been more clearly marked out and its powers 
 are more distinctly ascertained, it now stands on 
 its proudest eminence, in the progress of the British 
 Constitution, as, the three estates, of King, Lords and 
 Commons, as the supreme authority of the State. It 
 might, therefore, be inferred, that the supreme visita- 
 torial power in our Universities now, in facto, as well 
 as dejure, resides there : and that on any great occa- 
 sion, which would justify their interference, it would 
 be the joint duty of the High Court of Parliament to 
 appoint Commissioners, wise and good men, who 
 might advance such improvements as from the light 
 of the times, and the present state of our Universities, 
 might be thought expedient. 
 
 Finally: As it appeared, that the University's inter- 
 ests, and the nation's interests are so materially af- 
 fected by things, as they now are ; and, that as corre- 
 spondent duties are incumbent on the legislature ge- 
 nerally, so are there some more particularly attached 
 to the House of Commons. This is, avowedly, a 
 House of the Representatives of the People, and, as 
 such, is, and ought to be, the protector of the rights 
 of every member of the British empire. The Uni- 
 versities, too, send up Members — two for each place — 
 to this House. On recollecting all this, it was natural 
 to presume, that there were some peculiar claims on 
 
 I 2
 
 IIG 
 
 lluit House, to consider any mutters, which might be 
 a stigma on their Universities, and a disgrace to the 
 country ; the present Suhscriptions being, we must 
 continue to insist, hostile to the Hberties of their 
 constituents, creating an invidious and injurious mo- 
 nopoly — conferring only on privileged persons lite- 
 rary accommodation and nmnicipal advantages, which 
 ought to be common to all good citizens ; derogatory 
 to the spirit of a free people, destructive of pure and 
 undefiled religion, as being productive of insincerity, 
 and obstructive of private judgement and the rights of 
 conscience. Such are the Subscriptions imposed by 
 an arbitrary prince, and unsanctioned by parliament. 
 Now in the same manner as the Common Law of En- 
 gland takes the precedency of the Civil, where, other- 
 wise, there might be a danger of their clashing, it 
 might seem just, and legal, and constitutional, that an 
 Order of the House of Commons, as representatives of 
 the people, and protectors of their interests, should 
 supersede the arbitrary Mandate of a too imperatorial 
 king. 
 
 After all, should it be thought, that a mandate, 
 which a King issued, a King only can annul, and 
 that the abolition therefore of Subscription requires 
 the exclusive exercise of the Royal Prerogative, still 
 there might retnain one course to be pursued by a 
 House of Commons, which would be, as in similar 
 cases, to introduce a Hill, for a Petition to be presented 
 to the Sovereign, for a Commission to be appointed 
 to take this matter into serious consideration, and to 
 follow it with proper regulations. For, if an entire re- 
 novation of our Universities may not be expected 
 (though they unquestionably require new Codes of 
 Statutes), still this reformation ought not to be de- 
 layed : this long-continued tax on the human under-
 
 117 
 
 standing ought to be immediately repealed : it is im- 
 periously called for : and it may be thought, by what- 
 ever means it should be effected — whether the royal 
 mandate should be suffered to pass into silent neglect, 
 and to rest with the bats and the moles, or be oblite- 
 rated by a Grace of the Academical Senate, or, at 
 once, strangled by an Act of Parliament, or an Order 
 of the House of Commons, or the interference of the 
 Royal Prerogative — whatever course should be taken, 
 if the good work were but effected, there would be 
 left room for mutual congratulations, and the appro- 
 bation of the lovers of truth, of the friends of liberty, 
 of all honest and good men. 
 
 And these our doubts and difficulties, if they have 
 not brought our feet to stand on holy ground, neither 
 have they led us into the land of Faery : — we have 
 been led by sincerity, and are in search after reality. 
 
 XLVII. On the Meaning of certain doctrinal Ar- 
 ticles of the Church of England. 
 
 But, to return to our Subscriptions. Such is the 
 course, which things had taken for some time back — 
 we wish they were now much better — and those who 
 please may call them trifles; but, indeed — nothing is 
 plainer — these trifles lead to great and very serious 
 consequences. 
 
 Our argument, as it will appear, is but little con- 
 cerned in the truth or falsehood of the propositions to 
 be subscribed : — Why, then, it may be asked, jieed we 
 hold a conflict, concerning the literal, grammatical, 
 and theological sense of the Thirty-nine articles ? 
 And it might be justly asked ; the matter turning upon 
 this ; to wit, that the propositions to be subscribed 
 are out of time and place ; to the condition of the 
 subscribers, and the occasion of subscribing, not at all
 
 118 
 
 — to bori ou' a tenii from logic — correlative : or what 
 neccssitv, they might continue to ask, for insisting on 
 the formula to be subscribed, when, as we have shewn 
 above, whether we swear, that we are in truth mem- 
 bers of the Church of Enijland, or to the authoritv of 
 the King's Letters, or to the truth of the Thirty-nine 
 articles, it leads to the same result ? But, whatever 
 course we take, whatever our opinions may be on that 
 subject, let us beware, lest we rather prompt young 
 minds to turn away from the study of truth, than to 
 be forward in the pursuit of it; for, as the proverb 
 says, the well, which is often stirred, and out of which 
 water is frequently drawn, becomes better; but stag- 
 nant waters become putrid : let us beware, too, gene- 
 ral! v, lest we commit an injury on the genius of Bri- 
 tons, who, though at first so covetous of liberty, are 
 not less prone to error ; their genius being not unlike 
 their climate ; ^^Anglia si non venlosa, venenata" 
 
 But, thus much concerning these matters, which so 
 far as we have hitherto treated of them, have been 
 questions connected rather with economy and polity, 
 than with metaphysics or theology. Yet, though it may 
 not be expedient to divide and nicely cut into parts 
 all the Thirty-nine articles, — which, too, are not con- 
 tained in the Book of Privileges, — and to search into 
 the meaning of each of them, nothing need prevent 
 us from subjoining what follows, which, if considered 
 as an episode in a poem, will, we hope, obtain indul- 
 gence from the reader. 
 
 The dogmas, contained in these articles, are either 
 doctrinal, disciplinarian, ecclesiastical, or political. Of 
 the disciplinarian, ecclesiastical, and political the sense 
 is sufficiently clear: and, though some of the doctrines 
 are pr(»found and difficult of comprehension, yet the 
 terms of them are simple and one; though, at the same
 
 119 
 
 time, it is easily to be perceived, that these, when divi- 
 ded into their various propositions, are not for everyone 
 to understand correctly, and to subscribe heartily, ex 
 animo : this requires a good stock of theological know- 
 ledge, a prompt acquaintance with history, the acute- 
 ness of a critical judgement, and a strict exercise of 
 an upright conscience. 
 
 But the argument is very different concerning some 
 other of the articles. In these the controversy turns 
 on the very meaning of the terms : for while some 
 persons derive from them the doctrine of Free-will, 
 others can perceive nothing in them but absolute 
 predestination ; while others, leaning to the two doc- 
 trines, use so to interpret them, that those, who are 
 now called by divines Arminians and Calvinists may 
 be held bound and join hands on the same doctrines. 
 
 In examining this matter, we beg leave to solicit, 
 as before, the reader's candid interpretation of our 
 aims, and not to condemn us too hastily : we must 
 repeat "we judge no man ;" we censure only injurious 
 customs ; we oppose only irrelative impositions. And 
 as illiberality is not the character of the present times, 
 so is it not consonant with our own dispositions, nor 
 with the object, which we had originally, and have 
 still, exclusively in view : the various persons, who re- 
 ceive these Articles, taking different views of them, 
 will, according to their different interpretations and 
 modifications, take a different course, in satisfying 
 their own minds. 
 
 For certain it is, that different persons have formed, 
 and do still form, very different opinions of the terms 
 of these Subscriptions ; and of the stipulations thereby 
 made. Some have supposed them merely articles of 
 peace, to be taken in a general way, for personal ac- 
 quiescence, and political expedience ; not necessarily
 
 1-20 
 
 involving considerations on their truth : others con- 
 sider theni as designedly left o])en, for the discretional 
 interpretation of persons of various sentiments ; others 
 have maintained, that several meanings mav be put 
 on one article, — as, for instance, "On the Descent of 
 Christ into Hell," — which are all true; some insist, 
 that the articles, comprehending what are called, the 
 "five points," are to be understood as Arminian, 
 Free-will (l(>ctrine ; others, receive them, asCalvinistic, 
 Predestinarian ; others again, as just hinted, as a two- 
 fold doctrine, embracing both Free-will and Predesti- 
 nation : some contend thev are to be admitted not, as 
 originalU, ex amnio iniponentis, hut according to the 
 present times, ex aniino administrantis; while others 
 thiidv themselves justified in taking their own interpre- 
 tation of them, whatever that may be. W*i may have 
 occasionally met with persons possessed of religious 
 affections, and favouring peculiar opinions — which 
 too they maintain to be those, which they are re- 
 quired to subscribe who vet have not heartily approved 
 subscribing them. ]5ut they subscribe they sav, with 
 a view to ministerial usefulness, not from a feeling of 
 worldly interest or of political expediency. They think, 
 they can be more useful in a professional line, as 
 public teachers in the Church, by subscribing, than by 
 rejecting, them. 
 
 The number of those who, as things now are, will 
 take these articles inthegross, as a mere matterof form, 
 will unquestionably be very considerable; nor do we 
 mean to interfere with the rule by which they act, or 
 by which they evade all responsibility and obligation. 
 
 ^^'e profess ourselves to be of the number of those, 
 who think, as will appear, the Articles more imme- 
 diately under consideration — the "five points" — to be 
 Calvinistic : and so far we consider doctrinal mat-
 
 121 
 
 ters ; though we wish it to be understood, that we are 
 I entering on the following statement not so much 
 in a spirit of mere curiosity, not so much from a 
 fondness for disputation, not so much from a desire 
 to elucidate any particular dogmas, as with a view 
 more strongly to enforce, what has been already 
 suggested incidentally, the impropriety, the inexpe- 
 diency, the impolicy, the incompetency and total ir- 
 relevancy of the present tests ; the utter inconsistency 
 of subjecting lay corporations to these theological 
 restrictions ; of entangling the candidates for honours, 
 merely literary, or privileges merely civil, with condi- 
 tions so irrational and disproportioned, with doctrines, 
 so foreign to the occasion, and, in our judgement, so 
 rigid and barbarous. But, leaving others to their own 
 judgement, and not presuming to scrutinize into 
 their consciences, we proceed to our statement. 
 
 XLVIII. On the Predeatinarian Doctrines contained 
 in the Thirty-nine Articles. 
 
 In proof, then, that the doctrinal articles on the "five 
 points" are to be taken with a meaning of absolute 
 predestination, or in the Calvinistic sense, as it is now 
 called, we beg leave to submit to our readers the fol- 
 lowing statement. 
 
 The writings of Archbishop Bradwardin and Wick- 
 liffe, the precursors of the English Reformation, 
 clearly deliver this doctrine. Many controversies, in- 
 deed, they maintained against theauthorityof the pope, 
 indulgencies, transubstantiation, and the frauds of the 
 monks ; but, at the same time, they defended absolute 
 predestination against the free-will of Papists and Pe- 
 lagians ; and from their springs, as is well known, our 
 reformers watered their gardens. No book breathes
 
 122 
 
 this doctrine more strongly, than Archbishop Brad- 
 wardin's famous book '' dc Causa Dei." These two 
 tinineiit men were for certain Predeslinarians ; as no 
 less certainly were tliose after them, whom we more 
 peculiarly call, the Reformers. The celebrated Cate- 
 chism put forth by Dean Ponet, under Edw.VL, and 
 sanctioned by the authority of the King and Prelates, 
 gives its testimony to this ; and the Latin version of 
 this Catechism by Dean Nowel under Elizabeth, bears 
 the same testimony. This is also proved by the "//or- 
 muinj^'' and '■'■ Concord^' of Confessions ; namely, that 
 chain of doctrines, by which the reformed Churches 
 mutually bound themselves to unity and unitor- 
 mity of the Faith : all and each of these Confessions 
 breathe the predestinarian doctrines ; and the Creed 
 of the English Church is to be seen among them. 
 This is further confirmed by the very writings of the 
 men, who, under Edward and Elizabeth, were received 
 as the exemplars of orthodoxy: such were, not to pro- 
 duce too many exaniples, that Column of the English 
 Church, Bi!>hop Jewel, under Edw. VI., and that 
 Malleus Ilccrclicorutu, both Popish and Puritan, Ri- 
 chard Hooker, under Elizabeth. Calvin himself does 
 not follow more closely the principles of Predestina- 
 rians in his Inslilutiuncs, than Hooker does in his 
 Sermons at the end of his Ecclesiastical Polity. ^\'hy 
 need we appeal to other examples ? — though others, 
 and those in abundance, are at hand. We have the 
 Thirty-nine Ai tides and Calvin's Institutions now 
 before us. And, as it appears to us, no two eggs can be 
 more like one anotlier, than the doctrines contained 
 in these two compositions. 
 
 Hume, the historian, one in theological matters, 
 certainly, allied to no sect, speaking off-hand, as itwere, 
 though not without having well weighed the subject
 
 123 
 
 before, confesses, that the Reforii^ers were Piedes- 
 tinarians : and most assuredly he is right : nor is 
 Bishop Burnet Jess so : it is, however, in his History of 
 the Reformation, where the latter acknowledges this. 
 For the same writer elsewhere, viz. in his Exposition 
 of the Thirty-nine Articles, holds out — for he was a 
 man of a liberal turn of mind — that the doctrine of 
 Reprobatioi}., however, is not contained in the Article 
 on Predestination : he should have said, ought not to 
 be contained in it. For, good Sir, how will you se- 
 parate Reprobation from Predestination ? As a sha- 
 dow follows its substance, so is Reprobation insepa- 
 rable from Predestination. Calvin acknowledges this 
 himself: "therefore," says he, " if we can assign no 
 other reason, why God condescends to shew mercy to 
 his favourites, than that so it has pleased him ; neither, 
 in the reprobation of others, is any other reason to be 
 looked for, than his pleasure. For when God is said 
 to harden, or to shew mercy on whom he will, men 
 are admonished by this to seek no other cause besides 
 his pleasure." 
 
 Right, therefore, and prudent, was the supplication 
 of the poor sorry Fellow of Gonville andCaius College, 
 who, after a concio ad clerum preached by him at St. 
 Mary's church, renounced quickly the doctrines con- 
 tained in it, among his other recantations and peniten- 
 tial confessions before the Consistory of Doctors, de- 
 claring "that he was of the same mind, and of the same 
 faith, as the Church of England holds and teaches, on 
 the doctrine of Election and Reprobation, in the Chap- 
 ter on Predestination in the Book of Articles." Fuller 
 has given — in his History of the University of Cam- 
 bridge — this mosthumiliatingConfession at full length, 
 asdelivered inthe pulpit of St. Mary's church, A. 1595. 
 
 Now, as we have before intimated, this is not the
 
 124 
 
 place, either to defend or oppose scholastic and theo- 
 logical dogmas, nor to investigate, whether Predes- 
 tination and Reprobation can be reconciled with the 
 doctrines of Christ and his Apostles, and of the Fa- 
 thers of the primitive Church : willingly shall we now 
 leave the Defence and Refutation of Calvinism to 
 others. But, away with those arguments, which de- 
 rived, as they must be, from the iinperatorial will 
 of James I., the arbitrary decision of Archbishop 
 Laud, and the too prompt interpretation of some 
 learned n)en of that age, would tear away Absolute 
 predestination from the Articles of the Church of En- 
 gland I A\'hat might liave been most agreeable to 
 their wishes, is clearly nothing to the purpose. The 
 Articles to be subscribed, and which were, and are, 
 subscribed are the Articles of 15fi2, which are unques- 
 tionablv Calvinistic. 
 
 XLIX. IJ'ficrein ahuolutc Predestination differs from 
 thePhilosojildcal Neeessily ^whether of the moderns 
 or (iiu-icnts. 
 
 flobbes, the great advocate of philosophical neces- 
 sity, as it is called by the moderns, gives the following 
 dtfuiition of it : his arguments we pass. " It is," he 
 says, "the meeting of causes producing an efiect : of 
 which tlie last is, the deliberation and final determi- 
 nation ot tlie understanding concerning good and 
 evil. 
 
 Among the ancients, Zeno and the Stoic philoso- 
 phers introduced great disputes and diHicult argu- 
 ments concerning Kate, raising clouds, which Plato 
 \\ as not willing to hide, nor was able to break through. 
 He in a manner defended two Fates ; of which one 
 was •' the Soul of the World," ruling all things in the 
 universe, and in the Heavens themselves; the other,
 
 125 
 
 that divine, iininutuble law, given for the administra- 
 tion of all things, and not subjecting the human will 
 to necessity. But Aristotle seems to have subjected 
 the Heavens, and even Man, according to his nature, 
 to the laws of necessity. These philosophers endea- 
 voured to untie the foldings of these knots in a man- 
 ner somewhat different. Cicero, inclining rather to 
 Plato's doctrine, admired the divine mind, which rules 
 all things, and, at the same time, defended the freedom 
 of the human will. 
 
 Those philosophers, who in a later age mixed 
 Platonism with Christianity, made many distinctions 
 and various kinds of arguments concerning Providence 
 and Fate ; concerning the foreknowledge of God, and 
 human liberty, on the divine justice, on the origin of 
 evil, on the present state of pious and impious men ; 
 questions, concerning which, as Boethius remarks, "it 
 is not possible for man to comprehend all the divine 
 proceedings in his understanding, nor to explain in 
 language :" But those Christians, who introduced into 
 their Creeds, a Predestination, which, of necessity, 
 draws after it Reprobation, those Christians, we fear, 
 greatly multiplied the difficulties of these doctrines; 
 among other things, making God himself the author 
 of sin, and at the same time, the inflictor of everlast- 
 ing punishment on sinners, mountains of difficulties, 
 in fact, not to be overcome but by such as can defend 
 the " Justice of God," perhaps his mercy, " in the 
 Damnation of the World*." 
 
 But so it is. These, forsooth, are the dogmas — sub- 
 
 * The title of a Sermon published in New England by the ce- 
 lebrated Predestinarian, Jonathan Edwards, and jjroperly enough, 
 surely, republished by an A.M. of the University of Cambridge — 
 Charles Decoetlogon, A.M.-^who once threatened to publish a De- 
 fence of Subscription to the 39 Articles, in the Calvinistic sense.
 
 1 ln; 
 
 ject to such difficulties and severities, to such doubts, 
 and objections of the most learned men, — these are the 
 dogmas, to which Subscription is to be required : and 
 for what purposes, think ye ? ^Vhy, for admission 
 into an Academy of General Literature*, for obtaining 
 Academical degrees, for the fruition and administra- 
 tion of civil offices. — And of whom are they required? 
 Why, trulv, of youths, but justleaving school, of beard- 
 less boyst, of Inceptors in Arts (A.Ms), in Physic, in 
 Law, in Music ; — ridiculous enough in truth, if it 
 should not be rather called, monstrous ! ^Vhy does 
 not the Professor of Music rather ask his Inceptor to 
 set the Thirty-nine Articles to some learned tune — 
 say, some Grecian measure — than to subscribe them.'^ 
 This would be less irrelative and absurd. 
 
 But, as the proverb has it, " the bow, if too much 
 bent, may be broken :" or, perhaps, some one may 
 rather choose to say, " that we are for shooting our 
 arrow beyond the mark," concluding from the prece- 
 ding remarks, that we hold Academical honours, that 
 is. Degrees, in too great admiration, estimating them 
 far beyond their real dignity and value. With the 
 permission, then, of our readers, we will briefly ex- 
 j)iain, what good is to be looked for from these Aca- 
 demical Degrees, after saying a few words on Titles. 
 
 L. On 7^i//cs; and the Jf'ritcrs Opinion of them. 
 
 Doubtless, it must have appeared to the reader of 
 this Dissertation, so far as it has hitherto proceeded, that 
 it is frequently much out of character, and altogether 
 inappropriate; too free and unrestrained in its style, 
 
 * It is so at present, at Oxford. 
 
 t In the liini' of James I. students were admitted of Colleges, 
 and matrinilatc d in the University much earlier, than they are 
 rotnmonlv now.
 
 127 
 
 too explanatory and minute in its observations. 
 And so it must unquestionably have appeared to 
 the writer himself, had the learning and intelligence 
 of those gentlemen only been contemplated, to whom 
 these pages are primarily and principally addressed. 
 In an address to such gentlemen, if separately consi- 
 dered, the language should have been modest and un- 
 assuming, the observations more cautious, and less 
 explicatory, the various matters, so familiar to them, 
 being left to explain themselves. But the truth is, 
 although these gentlemen, as being more immediately 
 concerned in the Privileges of Cambridge, were pri- 
 marily, they were not exclusively, in view. It was sup- 
 posed possible, that other readers might peruse these 
 remarks; such as, without any personal interest in the 
 Privileges of theUniversity, or, perhaps, much acquain- 
 tance with them, and other matters arising out of 
 them, might yet entertain kind wishes, and feelings 
 of respect, towards its members, such as, with those 
 affections and sympathies would associate the prin- 
 ciples of justice and liberality, of truth and bene- 
 volence — and combine a regard for the particular pri- 
 vileges of a learned institution, with the general bene- 
 fit of civil society. With this complex object in view, 
 it became necessary not merely so to write, as to be 
 understood, but so as to render it impossible to be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 The following observations too on Titles and De- 
 grees, though, it is hoped, not so much out of place and 
 character, still require some apology, as being, in part, 
 addressed to persons different from those, to whom 
 the Dissertation was originally submitted ; and, fur- 
 ther, as being, also designed to serve a purpose diffe- 
 rent from the leading one ; viz. : to defend the writer, to 
 whatever censure on other accounts he may lie ex-
 
 posed, against the charge of a chaiigeableness in opi- 
 nion, and inconsistency in conduct. For it may pos- 
 sibly Imppen, tliat these pages may fall in the way of 
 some old acquaintance, who may recollect a time 
 when Titles were held in no estimation by the writer, 
 when, indeed, both in theory and practice he disclaim- 
 ed them. 
 
 It appeared tohim, indeed, that Titles originated in 
 despotical usurpation, in magisterial self-appropriation 
 of authority, or feudal oppression. 
 
 It occurred to him, at the same time, that however 
 they origina.ed, they were not necessary for any of 
 the useful purposes of natural and civil life ; that they 
 destroyed the unity and harmony and strength of po- 
 litical societies; further still, that, metaphysically 
 and religiously considered, they were, frequently, the 
 very reverse of what is true; and, historically, that they 
 were not countenanced by those who are deemed the 
 most enlightened and polite nations of antiquity, the 
 Greeks and Romans ; always distinguishing, however, 
 such titles as are artificial and factitious from those, 
 whieli are natural and civil ; the merely personal, lio- 
 norary, hereditary, and feudal, from magistratical, 
 official, relative, and professional ; to which might 
 be added such as are occasionally, and incidentally, 
 pro tt')iij)orc, referrible to character : and as these 
 ideas d d not go to exclude that of sovereignty — by 
 whatever name it may be called — in the constitution 
 of governments — neither do they those of true nobility 
 and gentry. 
 
 The iiiconsistency, then, of the writer, will be 
 thought to consist in a want of conformity of his prac- 
 tice to his tlieoiy. liut, on striking the balance of 
 comparison, it appeared to hiniself, that it would be 
 less inconsistent for one, living, as it were, alone, or
 
 127 
 
 filling a very humble place in society, unconnected 
 with any particular sect, to retain the established forms 
 of speech, than, by assuming the language peculiar to 
 a sect, to have made an habitual profession of his ad- 
 herence to that sect, when in reality he did not belong 
 to it, and had no connexion with it: and he must 
 content himself now with hitching himself by the side 
 of poor Erasmus, who could not always make his 
 practice conform to his theories: 
 
 *' But without joking," says he, " I approve the sim- 
 *' plicity of the ancients, which I wish the very cor- 
 '* rupt manners of our times would suffer us to imitate, 
 " so that we might address each other with the simple 
 ** titles of names ; Cains Plinius to his Calvus wishes 
 " health. What," adds he, " can be more consenta- 
 *' neous with truth and purity ?"....*' So that I am 
 ** the more surprised at those who receive the name 
 ** given to them at their baptism into their ears, as if 
 *' some violent insult was forced into them*." 
 
 Selden, who has written so learnedly on Titles of 
 Honour, — though, indeed, the history and peculiari- 
 ties of them rather than their defence, — refers to Plato, 
 
 P * " Sed extra jocum, niihi probatur veterum simplicitas, quam 
 utinam per nostrae tempestatiscorruptissimos mores ubique liceret 
 aemulari, ut nos invicem nudis nominum titulis saliitaremus : 
 
 Caius Plinius Cnlvo suo S.D. Quid enim erat veiius et purius ? 
 
 Quo magis istos admiror, qui vocabulum suum, quod ir.ditum est 
 in baptismo, non aliis auribus accipiunt, quam si atrox inge- 
 reretur convitium." 
 
 Erasmus is elsewhere in the same work — de Conscribendis 
 Epistolis — very sarcastic, though of the Catholic Church himself, 
 on the superstitious titles given to Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, 
 Bishops, Abbots, &c. down to Dominus and Magister ; where, 
 playing off a good deal of wit, he closes with, " Quid, dicent, fa- 
 ciam, si quis, honoris gratia, me vocat Magistrum? Ride, move 
 caput, et desinent te sic honorare, si senserint, aures tuas non 
 delectari titulis ineptis." 
 
 K
 
 128 
 
 Aristotle, and Plutarch, as having written on nobility : 
 the several j)assages he refers to are quoted at large by 
 StobaDus. And it is certain that the Greeks had their 
 j)ride of ancestry, their titles of magistracy, their in- 
 signia of office, their honours, crowns or chaplets 
 of myrtle — and privileges, with right of inheriting 
 estates, and the like. But after all, their noble or well- 
 born — their iuyevug and evTrur^ihg, — were those related 
 rather to good families, who had served and benefited 
 the state, than to merely privileged ones, who had 
 received hereditary titles from their ancestors, and 
 which followed, in the line of succession, to their 
 posterity. 
 
 Indeed, the principal magistrates of Athens, — the 
 Archons, Sec. — were not only elected by the people, 
 but chosen out of the people. So that, after all, the 
 well-born or noble Athenians stood more distinguished 
 from sojourners and slaves, than from Athenians ge- 
 nerally, who were Citizens or Gentlemen of Athens, 
 \\()'/jTui, A'vh^zg AOr,vuiou Indeed, had they possessed 
 any of those merely artificial and factitious titles alluded 
 to above, it is extraordinary, that they should never 
 occur in those j)hilosophers j ust mentioned ; — the three 
 most copious, yet precise, of all the Greek writers. 
 
 The same learned person — Selden — also refers to 
 Philo the Jew, as having written a treatise on nobili 
 — •Tif/ JLvyivsiag — but, indeed, it is a merely moral dis- 
 sertation, maintaining, that true nobility, — the same 
 as the wStoical, j)hilosophical, and Christian Nobility, 
 
 NobilitcLS sola est atque unica virtus 
 
 Is not derived from rich or illustrious ancestry, but 
 from personal and moral excellence : "For it becomes 
 us," says he, " to reckon those only noble, who are 
 " wise and just, even though they should be born
 
 120 
 
 *' of menial servants and slaves bought with money : 
 *' but to those who, though born of good parents, are 
 " themselves bad, let the region of nobility be con- 
 " sidered as inaccessible : for every wicked person is 
 " without a house, and without a city, being banished 
 " from virtue, his proper country, which, and in reality, 
 " is a country of wise men," -/jrig, kui rco ovri, no<tojv 
 avh^oov Z5i -TraT^ig. This appears to be said in contra- 
 distinction to the zvyzviig and ivrar^ihig of the Greeks. 
 He refers also much to the Jews ; but he says nothing 
 about titles : and though we frequently meet, in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, agreeably to the more pompous 
 style of the East, with such words, as My Lord — 
 Adoni — it appears to have been used, among the Jews, 
 not as a permanent, ordinary, or hereditary title, but 
 as an occasional one, as a term of respect. The nobles 
 mentioned, Exod. 24, 1 1, — more properly the select- 
 ed — etzilee ; — are the same personages as those de- 
 scribed as chosen from among the tribes for particular 
 official purposes, — the 70 Riders. See Deuteron. 
 chap. i. 
 
 The Romans under their Kings had but one name, 
 or, at most, but two. When they were afterwards 
 classed according to their tribes, they could have four, 
 and sometimes five, as Publius Cornelius Scipio Afri- 
 canusiEmilianus. A slave could have only one. The 
 Senate, the highest legislatorial assembly, as a body, 
 received the most magnificent titles ; and the Con- 
 suls, with the men of consular dignity, the Equites, 
 and all the Nobiles, had peculiar badges, privileges, 
 and honours. But during the Republic they had no 
 such generic, factitious titles, as those mentioned by 
 Erasmus, which have been introduced into Christen- 
 dom, and which frequently convey ideas the very op- 
 posite to the characters of those who bear them. It is 
 
 k2
 
 I3U 
 
 to be reiniuked, tliut the word Doni'uius ainonp; the Ro- 
 mans, and K'j^/oj among theGreeks, though hi common 
 use among them as appelhitive nouns, do not appear 
 to liave been used as a form of address, or as adjuncts 
 to a noun, by the writers, who were of those pe- 
 riods which we call the Classical ages of Greece and 
 Home*. 
 
 It is well known, that many of our — the English — 
 titles of honour came from our Saxon ancestors, from 
 whatever source some of the appendages, which have 
 been since superadded to them, were derived: Thus 
 King— Kilning; Earl — Eorle or Earle ; Alderman 
 — Ealdcrman ; Mayor — INleire ; Sheriff — Gircfa ; 
 Knight — Cnyte; and the like terms, are all expressive 
 of dignity, but of dignity attached to offices. It does 
 not, however, appear,tliat our Saxon ancestors had those 
 
 • Yi'jpis, — whence our Sire, and Sir, — is perpetually used in the 
 writings of the New Testament, and generally refers to Christ, 
 and as applied to him, seems tantamount sometimes to the Hebrew 
 Hdlilii, and sometimes to Moii%: but it was also certainly applied 
 to him by his disciples in a much higher sense, refeniHgto him, as 
 possessed of a superior, divine power. Sis. rr/V Byy.eiiievr,v SeoTTjra : 
 and so it has been received, from them, through every age of the 
 Christian Church. The adjective also Kvpiaxr] has the same refe- 
 rence ; as, r^aepx Kvpicturj, Ssnrvov KvpiXKOv, rpcLirsC^oi Ku/Jiaxij, &c. 
 And it is, perhajjs, for tliis re;ison, that the Society of Friends, 
 called Quakers, object to making use of the word Sir, Sire, Kvpis. 
 But tiiough generally referred to Christ in the New Testament, — 
 and exclusively to him in the higher sense, — it is not exclusively 
 referred to him in the common sense of, Sir. — Augustus, accord- 
 ing to Suetonius, forbad the ])eopIe to call him Dominus. — Domi- 
 niis, among the Romans, like Kvpios, became a term of civility or 
 respect, but it seems never to have been used under the Common- 
 wealth : and even .Augustus, and afterwards Tiberius, as we are 
 told by Suetonius, in VUis duodccim Caisanan—{orhiu\\.\\Q ])eople, 
 in the most autlioritativc manner, to call them Dominus. Aure- 
 lius Victor says, that Caligula was the first of the Roman Empe- 
 rors who received the title of Dominus.
 
 artificial, factitious distinctions, to which the allusions 
 above have been made. Indeed, the highest offices in 
 the state were elective — as was also, that of the King 
 himself, — and though a Ceorle might acquire pos- 
 sessions, which would qualify him to be made a 
 Thane, as a Thane might, in the same way, be qua- 
 lified to become an Earl ; still, their lands were here- 
 ditary, not their dignities : and the persons possessing 
 the latter were removeable from them by the King, 
 or by the ^Vittenagemot. The King, however, had 
 his high honours, privileges, and revenues ; the Wit- 
 tenagemot were the Principes, Primates, Majores, 
 Seniores Regni ; and the Ecclesiastics had their oi'di- 
 nal'ionSy which were called \\\^\x Consecrations i and it 
 might happen, that the King might be addressed, 
 JRex gloriose, as a Pope once addressed one of our 
 Saxon Kings, — or an Earl, as dig?iissime, — or an 
 Archbishop, Bishop, Abbot, or even a priest, as 
 venerahilis, as Bede has been handed down to us, 
 as the venerable Bede : but such like addresses were 
 made on the supposed respectability and gravity and 
 worth of their characters, not as badges of an order, 
 or as the heir-loom of a family. 
 
 Ideas much akin to these engaged the writer's at- 
 tention full forty years ago. What his theory or 
 practice may be now, matters but little. Suffice it to 
 say, that he retains enough of them to respect the 
 testimony of the Society of Friends*, and to repeat the 
 wish before quoted, of Erasmus : " Sed extra jocum 
 mihi prohatur veterum simpiicitas, quam utinani per 
 nostrcB tempest atis corrupthsirnos mores ubiqueliceret 
 (Emulari, ut nos invicem nudis nominum titalis salu- 
 tarenuisr 
 
 But, though he conforms to the accustomed usages 
 * The Quakers.
 
 132 
 
 of speech in this part of the world, he should think it 
 a great perversion of language, to address the Pope, 
 His Holiness, at the time, — as it seems he is now, — he 
 may be endeavouring to drive — by his bulls, — all civil 
 and reliirious libcrtv from the face of the earth ; as he 
 should also the present King of Spain, as His Most 
 Catholic Majesty, who never possessed one liberal 
 opinion, and has proved so treacherous to the most 
 faithful of his Catholic subjects. It would, in like man- 
 ner, have been a perversion of all meaning in language 
 to have addressed a King, as Most Christian King, 
 at the time he was terribly persecuting all his Protes- 
 tant subjects. AVe allude to Francis I. King of France. 
 So much for Titles. — Degrees may, perhaps, be 
 considered by some as akin to Titles : but they are, in 
 fact, of a ditierent family. The former were consi- 
 dered by the writer as arbitrary, technical distinctions; 
 and, considering the persons they are frequently be- 
 stowed on — whether Sovereigns, Popes, Cardinals, 
 Archbishops, and downward — with all patent, here- 
 ditary titles, these — to say the least — are often inap- 
 propriate to the persons who wear them, and inappli- 
 cable to the useful, honourable purposes of life : the 
 latter, on the contrary, are literary testimonies, civil 
 distinctions, professional commendations, and have 
 a considerable influence in the employments and 
 offices of real active life, with advantages which among 
 citizens ought to be left common, accessible to merit, 
 and open to competition, liut even of Degrees it is 
 not intended to speak extravagantly, but according 
 to tiit'ir (hie proportion of personal dignity, and posi- 
 tive utility. 
 
 LI. ')n Degrees. 
 W'iiat we call (jiO(j(1 is to be taken in a twofold
 
 133 
 
 sense: for there is that, which is good in itself; and 
 there is that, which is good extrinsically, and, as they 
 speak in the schools, accidentally. That, which is good 
 in itself, is virtue, knowledge, religion, and a pure con- 
 science. What is good externally, and only by accident^ 
 affects principally the body, namely — riches, public 
 opinion, honours, power, and other things which are 
 not in our own power. 
 
 With respect to Degrees, concerning which such 
 great things are said, it is manifest, that they possess 
 something of a mixt nature. They may, perhaps, be 
 spurs to an honest ambition ; they may, perhaps, be 
 testimonies to parents and relations of the industry of 
 young men, — often, indeed, fallacious ones; — but 
 with respect to those, who In the progress of years 
 proceed — as the saying is, in the Faculties, — it is plain, 
 that the good arising from them is to be measured 
 by the positive advantages and real pleasure which 
 may be reaped by those who proceed. Flowers, in- 
 deed, they may be considered, apt and convenient in 
 forming a chaplet for science : yet are they often like 
 some mandrake, — which being mixt with wine is said 
 to cause somnolency, — and have always that pestife- 
 rous herb planted near them, which, according to cus- 
 tom, is placed in the vestibule, and always thrown in, 
 - — this, without a figure, we call. Subscription : and, 
 perhaps, we have brought to our memory somewhat 
 too hastily our old opinions concerning these Degrees, 
 powerfully imbibed, as they were, in our youth, — and 
 yet not so antiquated, as not to be capable of being 
 supported by some modern arguments ; — so that we 
 fear, lest, through these inveterate recollections, we 
 may not hold these dignities in so much admiration, 
 as some other persons do. 
 
 That Theological Degrees were opposed, and con-
 
 134 
 
 (leinned, as the marhs of Antichrist , both by those of 
 our countiyiiien, and of foreigners, who led the way 
 in a reformation from Popish practices, is well known 
 to every one. This is demonstrated by the writings 
 of our Lollards, in verse, as well as prose, and parti- 
 cularly bv those of the most celebrated Theologist, 
 John ^^'^icklif^e, who was himself a Doctor and a Pro- 
 fessor of Oxford. Among the foreign lleformers, 
 John IIuss, Zuinglius, and Martin Luther, all main- 
 tained, that Magistri, Ductoi'es, ct Uaccaluurei in 
 Thculogia, were engaged /// si/nplici scientia hnjus 
 iiiunili. Luther, more particularly, in his liesponsio ad 
 Cutliannum Jisconem, describing the last mark of 
 Antichrist, describes Universities, and Theological 
 J)efrrees, in terms too severe — according to his and 
 Calvin's manner — to be copied into these pages. Eras- 
 nms took his Masters' Degree, in Theology, at Cam- 
 bridge, pro forma, and yet we see, from what we have 
 before quoted from him, how lightly he treated it: nay, 
 how little value he put on the seven sciences of the 
 Graduates : how farcically, how seriously, at different 
 times, he treated their oaths, another book of his, 
 already cited, will shew. And, indeed, this subject 
 not only met with the disapprobation of the more se- 
 rious reformers, but the banter of some eminent wits 
 of that age: we allude more particularly to the cele- 
 brated work of Erasmus's friend, Ulric Ilutton, enti- 
 tled, ICpistolcc obsciiroruni J iroru?/i. 
 
 Such was the opinion of those Reformers, who so 
 eminently ])roffssed themselves to be Evangelical !nen, 
 concerning Masters' and Doctors' Degrees in Tiieo- 
 logy *. 
 
 But as the Facultii's in the humanities, and Degrees 
 
 * Passages, relating to this subject, are quoted at large in the 
 I/itiin text of our Oencralis Disherlatio.
 
 13/ 
 
 ) 
 
 merely literary, are not, in all respects, to be assimi- 
 lated to Theological and Evangelical ones, neither are 
 they to be measured nor restrained by the same rules. 
 And on these matters we might consult the Historian 
 of Oxford, Anthony Wood, — though a writer not to 
 be followed so much in his Historia et Aiit'iquitates 
 Occonuc, as in his AthentE Oxomenses^ — who says 
 every thing, which is great, every thing, which is ho- 
 nourable, every thing, which is favourable to the an- 
 tiquity, of these Faculties and Dignities : nor would 
 we wish to detract any thing from the worth of lite- 
 rature, or from the dignity of learned men. Honour 
 gives support to the arts and sciences : and respect, 
 with appropriate rewards, is due to every man, whe- 
 ther graduate, or non -graduate, who by useful know- 
 ledge is capable of assisting individuals, or of bene- 
 fiting the community. 
 
 But, with the good leave of so great a man, if many 
 things were not bad from the beginning, many things 
 degenerated into what was very bad, in the progress ; 
 and silly forms took the place of real science. Who 
 is unacquainted with the genius of the Scholastic age^ 
 and how easily little vulgar arguments and sleepy re- 
 citations taken from Thomas Aquinas, Albertus, Jo- 
 hannes Scotus, or ex Partibus Alexandri — that 
 crajube repetita of the Schools — were taken up, and 
 repeated over and over again by those about to gra- 
 duate, who thus carried off' Masters' and Doctors' De- 
 grees "^ Vv'hile the poets of those times exclaimed, 
 
 " Doctores et Magistri nihil sciunt* 
 
 f" 
 
 * We allude again to the " E-pistolce obscurorum Firorum," in 
 which the author, in the most studiously barbarous Latin, both in 
 verse and prose, is full of banter against the Professors in the fo- 
 reign universities, and is more particularly sarcastic on their Doc- 
 tors in Theology.
 
 Tlie!«e times, indeed, are past; but not long since, 
 Strii^n/tinta Si/Uogismoruni, as they were called, were 
 handed about, cut and dried, by those about to gra- 
 duate at Oxford, from one to another, and supplied 
 thousands of men, in succession, with formulae for 
 disputation, to be barely recited memoriter : and such 
 things as these bore away the honours of the Schools*. 
 
 Those times, also, are past : but others still remain, 
 in which, with money in the pocket, Masters' and 
 Doctors' Degrees are to be obtained, without any ge- 
 nius or learning or industry. Who need be told, 
 how many Degrees, and of what kind, and at how 
 small price, were lately to be purchased, and by those 
 who never saw their Alma, who were never likely to 
 see her ? These itinerary diplomas, performed won- 
 ders. The honours of Oxford and Cambridge are 
 not to be au purchased : none of these itinerary degrees 
 issue from them. 
 
 But even in our Universities, Degrees may be ob- 
 tained by men, whose principal exercises are, dis- 
 charging the money for obtaining them, paying fees 
 to tlie Officers, Subscriptions, and Oaths f. 
 
 Hut these things have not been said in a way of 
 jesting, or mockery, of ambition or envy, of severity 
 or wantonness; nay rather with the highest respect for 
 
 *" An ample account of these Academicul exercises, as lately in 
 practice at Oxford, may be seen in Dr.Viccsimus Knox's "Li- 
 beral Kducalion," vol. 2nd. 
 
 t As such a.ssertions oupjht not to be made without proofs, the 
 writer be^ leave to offer the followinj^; j and in giving which, he 
 is sorry to be obliged to add, t7 (fuornin pars magna fiii. When 
 he took his degree of A. 13. he liad a very slight knowledge of the 
 mathematical sciences, though the examinations were then almost 
 exclusively in them, — and had he been ever so well read in them, 
 from the state of his mind at the time he should have been little 
 qualified to |)aKs a Senate Examination : yef Alma Mater was very 
 CTucious, and gave him his Degree of A. 15. A very great mrt/o-
 
 137 
 
 that great company of learned men, whether imme- 
 diately residing in these Universities, or living in the 
 different counties of England, who have obtained these 
 dignities, and who have more than merited them; and 
 who, if they receive what they deserve, may, perhaps, 
 obtain more than these Degrees can bestow on them. 
 But let readers notice, to what point our discourse is 
 tending: — which is this: to shew, that these Degrees, 
 which the most common men, nay which deceivers 
 and impostors can obtain, if they will but subscribe, 
 cannot be enjoyed by men of the best principles, of 
 the most accomplished characters, and the greatest 
 literary attainments, without Subscriptions and Oaths. 
 
 ritij were in a similar predicament : those who obtained what are 
 called. Honours, were comparatively very few. 
 
 Again : with respect to other Degrees, Law-Degrees for exam- 
 ple. Many years after this, the son of a gentleman very high in 
 the Law, called on him in London, with a most earnest request, 
 which was, to make a Latin Law-Thesis, for a friend of his, the son 
 of a Dignitary in the Church, who was about to keep an Act in the 
 Law-Schools, but who without a Law-Degree could not hold two 
 livings, which were offered him. The gentleman's importunity pre- 
 vailed over all excuses and remonstrances : the writer had but three 
 (lays to perform this task in : and owing to shortness of time, and 
 a slight knowledge of the subject, this Law-Thesis was, it maybe 
 supposed, very imperfectly executed. But the Degree was ob- 
 tained. Transactions of this kind are considered private; and in 
 giving publicity to this, the parties alluded to may be assured, 
 that their names never have passed the writer's lips, and never 
 shall. But Degrees in all the Faculties are thus easily to be ob- 
 tained, and frequently are : so that a solitary example would be 
 no discredit, and could create no surprise. 
 
 Dr. Brown, the celebrated author of the Brunonian system, got 
 a very handsome livelihood at the University of Edinburgh, by 
 what was called grinding ; that is, by preparing medical students 
 for their probationary examinations, and composing, if necessary, 
 their medical Theses, on their taking the Degree of M.D. 
 
 In our Latin text we spoke of Degrees as saleable, in certain 
 cases, in the North. But these Diplomula Itincraria, it appears.
 
 138 
 
 1,11. On t/ic relative lvalue of Degrees. 
 
 ^^'e have hitherto considered Degrees abstractedly, 
 or according to the philosophy of Epictetus, in refe- 
 rence to those things, which are within our own power ; 
 in uhicli point of view, they may have their worth, 
 although thev cannot be hastily pronounced posi- 
 tively good things ; and our admiration of them is of 
 a nature cjualihed and mixt. We shall now consider 
 their relative value ; in which j)oint of view they may 
 be greatly advantageous, from the influence which 
 they possess in the affairs of civil society. 
 
 Our argument, moreover, tends to this. These 
 (general Academies, or Universities, — which, though 
 when the Statutes were made underEdw.VI.andEliza- 
 heth, they were, perhaps, considered as ecclesiastical — 
 are now to be taken, through the progress of liberal 
 opinion, and the judgement delivered in the King's 
 Courts, for Civil Institutions, and are, and ought to 
 be, national. Thev are Corporations too; and as other 
 Corporations they possess the power of making Bye- 
 have been lately abolished, and, consequently, our English text 
 reads diH'ercntly. We arc not aware, that the Americans have 
 evor, properly, sold I)iplom:us. But the truth is, A.M.s, and D.D.s 
 and the like, are found to have weight in society ; and we believe 
 they are generally sent, through Litcra CommendatoruE, to respec- 
 table and learned Dissenting Ministers, who, on account of Sub- 
 s(ri))tions and Oaths, cannot procure tlieni in England. 
 
 It is possible, however, certainly, that these Diplomas may 
 have bc<'n sometimes given to dull preachers and bad ])hvsicians. 
 Hut do dull parsons and bad physicians receive Diplomas no 
 where else ? ^V'e^c the mischiefs and crimes occasioned by the 
 Diplomas given by all the Scottish and American Universities 
 united put into a scale, and weighed against those arising from 
 our SaI)scriplions and Oaths, how light and inconsiderable would 
 thc-y appear !
 
 139 
 
 laws, whicl), however, ought not to be repugnant to 
 the law of the land, either in its letter or spirit. Like 
 other Corporations, also, they duly and rightly receive 
 their privileges ; but they cannot rightly so take to 
 themselves those profits and those benefits, which are 
 common to all citizens ; they have no right so to take 
 them, as to draw them oft' from others, and to absorb 
 them altogether in themselves. But academical De- 
 grees, which are dignities not absolutely complete, do 
 confer such profits and such benefits ; which they either 
 ought not to confer, or the Degrees themselves ought 
 to be common to all citizens, — without any distinc- 
 tions of parties, or irrelative subscriptions : otherwise, 
 the matter is not equally balanced ; and, in the same 
 proportion as you elevate one scale, you depress the 
 other. 
 
 The advantages, profits and facilities, besides the 
 privileges, which are properly academical — are such 
 as are of weight and efficacy, in discharging the duties 
 of private or public life. Formerly no one could 
 teach a school, but those who graduated at one of our 
 universities in Grammar : and, at the present, acade- 
 mical Degrees confer their peculiar powers, and ex- 
 clusive privileges, on all the Faculties', as for example : 
 the higher branch of the civil law is to be reached only 
 by Graduates of our Universities : for none, but such 
 as have graduated either at Oxford or Cambridge, are 
 advanced to be advocates in Doctors Commons. With 
 respect to the Common Law, though gentlemen some- 
 times distinguish themselves in it, and have even risen 
 to the bench, who have not been at either of our English 
 Universities ; yet, as a university-education is by most 
 considered as almost an essential accomplishment for 
 an English gentleman, so is it generally made by 
 them a preparatory step to the Bench and Bar ; and,
 
 NO 
 
 though :i Deg:ree may not be a sine (jua fioji, yet is 
 it :iii ini[)()ilunt recoiinneiulation in tlie legal protes- 
 sioii. An English J)egiee entitles u student of the law 
 to an abatement of the number of terms to be kept, 
 previouslv to his being called to the bar. In the Royal 
 College of Physicians, in London, a person is scarcely 
 ever admitted a Fellow, unless a Graduate of the 
 English Universities, and, though he can practise 
 as a licentiate, yet the youngest Fellow takes prece- 
 dency of him, and, to judge from what one sometimes 
 reads or hears, is entitled to a greater fee*. In the 
 clerical profession, graduating confers great advan- 
 tages. For, although an Academical Degree does not 
 absolutely and necessarily give a right to ordination, 
 nor a title to a Church living ; yet is it a sort of letter 
 of recommendation, and in many cases an indispen- 
 sable requisite; as some Bishops, it is well known, will 
 ordain none but graduates : a Degree in Law too, as 
 we have already seen, empowers a clergyman to hold 
 two livings. And the Degree of D.D. or LL.D. 
 seems as naturally attached to the higher dignitaries 
 of the Church, as the title of Reverend does to the 
 Order. Indeed, a Degree in one of our Universities 
 possesses an evident value in all the professions, and, 
 as it may be said, in one point of view, that it 
 ascends, by carrying its influence through the higher 
 departments in Church and State, so in another it 
 may be said to descend, by aflfecting some of the or- 
 
 * As where it is said, in ' Practical Directions and Remarks to 
 Solicitors in matters of Lunacy,' «fv:c. on a Physician's being called 
 in to give his opinion, <S:c. " If he is a regular physician of the En- 
 glish Universities, and admitted a Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Physicians of London, his fee should be liberal; if he is only a 
 licenciate, a gratuity ; but a regard is to be had to the description 
 and rank in their professions," &c.
 
 141 
 
 dinaiy engagements and employments of private life : 
 thus Masters and Fellows residing in College are ex- 
 empted from poor-rates ; and if we mistake not, ail 
 graduates are exempted from being drawn for the 
 militia. 
 
 Hitherto we have contemplated this principle as 
 spread abroad, in its progress through society. There 
 is, however, a way of tracing it, as it were, to its source : 
 and we have sometimes aimed to make it clearer to 
 ourselves by some such example as the following. 
 
 Eugenius had a family consisting of several sons. 
 He was nota rich man ; but he possessed a decent 
 property, acquired by his own industry, sufficient, at 
 least, to enable him to give his sons an useful educa- 
 tion, and to furnish them severally with the means of 
 setting them forward in the world. His youngest he 
 took, from his childhood, for a genius ; and his friends 
 considered him a boy of fine parts. Him, therefore, 
 Eugenius destined for one of our Universities, con- 
 ceiving them to be — though without speculating 
 about them — what they are now acknowledged to be, 
 by men who have, — civil corporations, academies for 
 general literature, preparatory schools, as it were, for 
 the great world ; in short, as national institutions, ac- 
 cessible to any one, coming properly prepared, and 
 capable of supporting, for three years and a quarter, the 
 academical expences. He had, indeed, heard of such 
 things, as degrees, honours, fellowships, tutorships, 
 professorships, good livings, and the like. But his 
 primary feelings were of a more general, generous 
 nature, prompted more by a desire of his son's ad- 
 vancement in useful knowledge, than of his obtaining 
 academical honours ; of his being better prepared for 
 the purposes of civil life, than of his becoming meta- 
 physical and disputatious ; of his being independent
 
 14-2 
 
 iind honourable in his pursuits, however, or wherever, 
 stationed, ratlier than of his sighing primarily, and 
 instinctively, for the quiet and literary indulgence of 
 a college life. 
 
 Eugenius studied to distribute in equal propor-- 
 tions his property to his sons, in settling them. He 
 gave his other sons an education suitable for trades; 
 and, when they were out of their time, after making 
 them free of different companies in London, settled 
 them in business. *' It now becomes me," said Euge- 
 nius, "to think of placing my youngest son at one of 
 our Universities." He accordingly consults his son's 
 tutor, being a member of one of our Universities ; who, 
 judging from what he knew of the abilities, learning, 
 and character of the youth, — whom we shall hence- 
 forth call Aspasio, — congratulates Eugenius on his 
 choice ; and concludes, by advising him to send As- 
 pasio to a college, wliere every thing, without regard 
 to particular counties, being open to competition, 
 merit might reasonably expect to meet with its due 
 reward. 
 
 A\'e will suppose, then, the young man, after pass- 
 ing his examination, to be entered in such a college, 
 and after swearing obedience to the statutes, and 
 paying the fees, to be matriculated in the University, 
 and made a member of it. 
 
 Aspasio, while an under-graduate, fully answered the 
 expectations of his father and tutor : — he is of studious 
 habits, regular in his conduct, exemplary in morals, 
 and amiable in his disposition ; very punctual in his 
 attendance on all the accustomed lectures of the col- 
 lege, and, moreover, most assiduous in the prosecu- 
 tion of studies peculiar to his own taste ; much re- 
 spected by the tutors and fellows, nor less esteemed 
 by all his fellow-students : nor may we suppose, that
 
 145 
 
 uiiile Aspasio is thus looked to as one likely to do cre- 
 dit to the Colles^e, and to bear awav some of the first 
 honours of the University, he is altogether insensible of 
 his o^vn superiority, nor devoid of every portion of 
 ambition ; nor, that, when brought to know the good 
 things which the College and University have to bestow, 
 he felt no desire to possess them : but, previously to 
 his being able to enjoy any of these, even to his taking 
 his first Degree, this often-lamented Subscription is to 
 be gone through. At this the conscience of Aspasio 
 revoked, and a dark cloud overhuno; all his future 
 prospects. 
 
 We have supposed a case, which does not, perhaps, 
 often occur ; but it may, and does, sometimes. And, 
 althou2:h vouns: mt?n are but rarely very curious or 
 scrupulous on the topics which our Subscriptions in- 
 volve, yet Aspasio's was the case of one who was : he 
 had turned the subjects seriously in his mind ; and 
 they presented difficulties, which his conscience could 
 not surmount, and to which it would not bend. 
 
 Now in a case like this, one example is as good as 
 a thousand. For this one example shows the hinge 
 on which the whole svstem of the Rights and Privi- 
 leges of our Universities turns. "We have seen, that 
 at Oxford every young man on his entrance at Col- 
 lege subscribes to the Thirty-nine Articles ; and at 
 Cambridge, what amounts to it, on taking his first 
 Degree, — " a bond fide member of the Church of En- 
 gland" meaning nothing more nor less, than that the 
 person so subscribing believes all the doctrines and 
 discipline contained in the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 And, as we have already seen, of what value an En- 
 glish Degree is in the several Professions, and under 
 what disadvantages and incapacities, with respect to 
 
 L 
 
 I
 
 tliein, a Xoii-grailuate lies, how well-qualifiecl soever 
 lie may be in every tiling, properly appertaining to 
 tliein, we may now see the value of Degrees in the 
 Universities, by considering the credit which is at- 
 tached to them, and the academical advantages, which 
 are exclusively bestowed on them. 
 
 When a young man has been three years and a 
 quarter at College, to come away without a Degree is 
 generallv considered disreputable ; being commonly 
 ascribed to extreme idleness, to the grossest ignorance, 
 or to the greatest immorality ; Alma Mater having 
 been hitherto, as we have seen, in the distribution of 
 these her first favours very gracious and indulgent. 
 Aspasio's, indeed, is the case of a youth which is not 
 discreditable. Yet, how is that to be known ? What 
 testimonial has he to produce ? But at all events, how 
 distressing it must be to Eugenius to find, that after 
 he has been expending the better part, perhaps, of 
 two thousand pounds in preparing his son for College, 
 and seven or eight hundred pounds to support him 
 during his undergraduatesliip, he must leave his Col- 
 lege and the University, without the recommendation, 
 the common benefits, of a Degree ! 
 
 Aspasio, then, cannot have the credit and benefit 
 of this Degree in the great world : still less within the 
 bosom of the University, where the value of a Degree 
 is more palpably felt at every step. \Mthout a first 
 Degree, a person cannot proceed and become A.M. ; 
 he can obtain no fellowship, no public tutorship, no 
 professorship, no College nor University living, no 
 office whatever in the University ; every officer, from 
 the Vice-Chancellor to the gentleman who carries 
 the mace before him, being, of necessity, a graduate. 
 Further, unless he is a Master of Arts, he has no aca- 
 deniical right of access to the treasures of her public
 
 147 
 
 Library, nor to consult its stores of valuable Manu- 
 scripts, which privilege, of itself, to some scholars, may 
 not only afford very much pleasure, but be productive 
 of very great advantages. 
 
 Thus is a Degree, as it vvere, the golden key, which 
 unlocks the gates of the University, and gives the right 
 to her sons to become candidates for her favours. But 
 without a Degree, a man becomes there a non-entity : 
 let his scholarship be what it may, were he an angel 
 from heaven. Alma Mater does not know him. 
 
 And in estimating the value of an English Univer- 
 sity-Degree, we must not overlook the case of our 
 great Public Schools. The masterships of these 
 Foundations, at least those which are classical, are, if 
 we mistake not, always given to graduates of the 
 English Universities. And the salaries are of them- 
 selves, for the most part, very decent provisions ; but 
 when connected with the privilege of taking boarders, 
 — as most of them are, — they are made very lucrative 
 concerns ; more profitable, than some inferior 
 bishoprics. Indeed, a Degree possesses a value, ge- 
 nerally, in the business of education, as well in private 
 as public education, in accrediting a seminary, or giv- 
 ing respectability to a teacher : for the tinsel of his 
 Degree may chance to possess — as with the bulk of 
 mankind it often does — as great an influence in pro- 
 curing him scholars, as the gold of his literature. 
 
 Finally, we would not quite forget the high consi- 
 deration, which a Degree may hold, and the prompt 
 services, which it may render, in contested elections 
 for the high offices of the University ; such as those of 
 Chancellor, High Steward, and Member for the Uni- 
 versity, which are to be obtained by persons, who 
 usually have great influence in Church and State : 
 and, although neither Eugenius nor Aspasio might 
 
 l2
 
 148 
 
 reckon it a grievance not to possess the power to act 
 corniptlv, vet many graduates would think it one, to 
 lose a privilege, which, on such elections, they might 
 exercise very advantageously : all these elections are 
 made by Masters of Aits, and the superior Gradu- 
 ates, and may, therefore, often afford members of the 
 Universities very favourable opportunities for obtain- 
 ing patronage. For, although it may frequently hap- 
 pen, that some gentlemen, either through remote- 
 ness of situation, or other unavoidable impediments, 
 may be willing to forgo their privilege, others will 
 find ample reason for availing themselves of it. Such 
 seasons are, no doubt, the harvest-times of many gra- 
 duates : an opportunity may be afforded them of 
 creating a patron, of establishing a valuable interest ; 
 an interest, which may extend itself either to them- 
 selves, or their family, perhaps, to both. There is no 
 doubt, that many a good piece of preferment in the 
 Church, and many a profitable appointment in our 
 public offices, is the fruit of a happy use of the pri- 
 vilege of voting on these great occasions. 
 
 Such, then, are some of the advantages, such is the 
 relative value, of University-Degrees, from all which 
 Aspasio, to the great mortification and disappoint- 
 ment of his father, by an early conscientious revolt 
 against our Subscriptions, had cut himself entirely off. 
 
 Eugenius was a plain man; and his observations 
 corresponded to that character. But his observations 
 were not the less significant and true, because they 
 were obvious and natural, nor the less generally ap- 
 plicable, because primarily referrible to himself. 
 
 " I was instructed," said he, " by my father to think 
 myself happy, in being born in Britain ; to feel venera- 
 tion for her laws and institutions, and to consider them, 
 wliether relating to commerce, to literature, or to 
 
 J
 
 149 
 
 govermnent, as fruitful scions of the same tree, as 
 made for the protection, the support, and comfort of 
 all. I endeavoured to instill the same ideas, and to 
 enkindle the same feelings, in my own family : and, 
 as my father had given me before, so I gave to them, 
 an useful education, adapted to the station they were 
 designed to fill in life : and I have the pleasure to 
 perceive them rising up in the world, if not splendid 
 or public characters, at least, honourable men, and 
 useful citizens. 
 
 *' By the same principles did 1 aim to conduct my- 
 self towards my younger son. I gave him also an 
 education, suited to the situation in which he was to 
 be placed in society, — that of a scholar : and as much 
 property as was expended in the education of each of 
 my other sons, and in settling them in business, and 
 indeed more, has been expended in my younger son's 
 education, preparatively to his going to College, and 
 during his stay there for three years and a quarter. 
 The property, which might have been successfully 
 employed in settling him in business, has been other- 
 wise employed ; and, in consequence of his being set 
 apart for a scholar, he is become less fit for a trades- 
 man. 
 
 " My father taught me to admire the English Con- 
 stitution, — and I did admire it : I taught my sons to 
 do the same ; and, indeed, our Public Institutions, at 
 least our Universities, I have been in the habit of 
 considering as parts of it. I have heard each of them 
 called, a modern Athens, not more on account of 
 their literature, than of their belonging to all the ci- 
 tizens, of their being accessible to all who wished to 
 participate in their literary advantages. How have I 
 heard them extolled, as free Communities, as Schools
 
 of General Literature, as llepubllcs*, as lay and civil 
 Corporations, — in short, as places, in which freedom 
 niiiilit rest secure, and the human understandinir re- 
 ceive no shackle. But, hou- contradictory, how false, 
 how injurious, have been all these representations ! 
 \Mien my son was entered in College, and inatricii- 
 lated in the University, I considered him as bound ap- 
 prentice, and taking a Degree I thought to be the same 
 thing as taking up his freedom in one of our City-Cor- 
 porations. 15ut, why are such heterogeneous alliances 
 to be formed, as are formed by these Oaths and Sub- 
 scriptions ? Why are such preposterous stipulations 
 to be made, as are comprehended within your .39 Ar- 
 ticles ? A\ by, where we expected to find liberty, 
 should we meet with slavery ? Why, when we ask for 
 a fish, are we presented with a serpent ? 
 
 " This is an age of inquiry : We have of late years 
 been looking into many an Augean stable, which re- 
 quired cleansing. We are becoming, after many years 
 of woeful experience, great political economists; we 
 have found out at last that a free trade is the strength 
 of states, that monopolies weaken and divide them. 
 We have endeavoured to remove abuses from our 
 parliamentary representation, to improve the admini- 
 stration of justice in our Courts of Law, to unshackle 
 our commerce, to loosen the chains of our poor Negro 
 slaves, to amend our Corn Laws ; and we have shown 
 dispositions for other reforms. Evil as the times appear, 
 there is itill much, which is good in the English cha- 
 racter: corrupt as our parliauient is, still there remain 
 in it many sincere advocates for our country's liberties. 
 Pity, there should not have been found among men of 
 learning those who consulted more for the honour of 
 
 * So calkd in the Profaro (o Queen Elizabeth's Statutes.
 
 151 
 
 literature ; Pity, there should never have been found 
 in the legislature those, who wished to rescue our 
 Universities from much obloquy and disgrace*! 
 
 * Eugenius was unacquainted with the efl'orts, which had been 
 made at Cambridge, in 1771 and 1/87, to procure tlie aboli- 
 tion of Subscriptions on taking Degrees, and with the cause of 
 their failure ; and that, about the same time, a similar attempt was 
 made at Oxford, as we have heard there was, though that also 
 failed, and from o similar cause. 
 
 Nor does Eugenius seem to have been aware, that the subject 
 of Subscriptions in our Universities engaged the attention of the 
 House of Commons in the year 1773, when many serious, and 
 some sarcastic, remarks were made on it. But the evil was not 
 probed to the bottom ; and therefore it is not surprising, that no 
 remedy was provided : the bill was thrown out, and the debate 
 closed. 
 
 It, however, deserves to be noticed, that the advocates for Sub- 
 scription in the House at that time did not defend their cause on 
 the proper grounds, as, either that the Articles were in themselves 
 true, or, that the University, as a corporation, had a right to im- 
 pose such a Subscription as the present, — a bye-law foreign to the 
 nature of their association, and the intentions of the founders — 
 they defended it, on the ground, that the circumstances of the times 
 required some legal restraints " though accompanied," as it was 
 admitted by them, " with some hardship." 
 
 These Subscriptions were improperly called by the advocates 
 for them, legal restraints. For never having been sanctioned by 
 the legislature, they make no part of parliamentary law ; and, 
 indeed, considering how the vvliole business was contrived, 
 conducted, and settled, it was a direct imposition, an illegal re- 
 straint; and as still administered, it is often -an imposition in an- 
 other sense ; as the person about to graduate is often not aware 
 of the serious nature of the business in which he is engaged. For, 
 though all about to graduate, whether Noblemen or Commoners, 
 make the customary oaths and subscriptions, they frequently do 
 not know what they put tlieir names to when they kiss the book. 
 They may suppose, probably, and often do, that they merely enter 
 their names in a book, as members of the University about to gra- 
 duate 3 whereas there is attached to the signature, either that they 
 are " bond fide members of the Church of England, as by law es- 
 tablished," or else, that larger form, which, amidst other things, 
 includes a profession of belief in all the 39 Articles.
 
 152 
 
 UIV mT). 
 
 These reflections I am led to make by the case of 
 In regfard to what occurred to him at Cam- 
 
 hridire, I thought at first, as I told him, that he was 
 
 In the Education-Committee, wliich sat in ISIS, composed of 
 members of the House of Commons, when the intelligent Mr. 
 Brougham was in the chair, various questions relating to the 
 Statutes, and the original intentions, of the founders, were put to 
 Dr. Wood, the Master ot St. John's College : but it does not ap- 
 pear that any were proposed relating to the evil here complained 
 of. .An acute writer in the London Magazine has proposed an- 
 other string of (piestions for the consideration of the Education- 
 Committee, should it meet again : but neither does he propose 
 any question on this subject ^ nor liave any of those writers, who 
 liave lately considered .some topics connected with University- 
 literature ; nor any of the critics, who, in the ?3dinburgh, Quar- 
 terly, or \\'estminster Reviews, have made observations on them. 
 
 But, indeed, though the gentlemen, who vvere zealous about 
 reform at Cambridge and O.xford, in the last centun,-, combined 
 the two subjects, it may be thought by some, tliat questions about 
 Subscription to .Articles of Faith did not pro])erly bk-long to those, 
 which entered into the views of Education-Committees, nor of those 
 who were considering the subject of University-literature: — though 
 oome of the above gentlemen most assuredly could not approve 
 of the present Subscriptions, whatever tiie others might do : — they 
 might think it perhaps a matter rather of discipline and oeconomy, 
 than of literature, and entitled to a separate consideration : and 
 indeed, it is a pity, tliat they should be made ever so little a branch 
 of academical literature, except for such as may be intended to 
 be ministers of the Church of England ; and even for such, the 
 present Subscription to the 39 Articles in their literal and gram- 
 Tiiatiail sense is a most improper test ; as many of the petitioning 
 clerLry in \77'2 and 1773, and the authors of " Free and Candid 
 Disquisitions relating to the Church of England, addressed in 1 "oO 
 to the Governing Powers in Church and State," have abundantly 
 proved. 
 
 Whatever may have been the rea.son for the omission mentioned 
 above, the time will, we hope, arrive, when this subject will be 
 thought wortliy of serious consideration, and obtain the distinct, 
 undivided attention of all men of literature, who may be interested 
 in it, whether as members of an English University, or of the 
 British Legislature.
 
 153 
 
 more scrupulous, than was necessary, having been 
 given to understand, that the first subscription required 
 at that university was not so particular and compre- 
 hensive, as that at Oxford, nor a very serious one, 
 if not even a matter of form. To which my son, who 
 was a very thinking young man, replied, ' there was 
 
 * more implied in the subscription for the first De- 
 
 * gree than I might be aware of; that he had been 
 
 * taught to respect the authority, which said, "swear 
 ' not at all :" that he did respect it; and he chose to stop 
 ' in the first stage of this business, lest he should be 
 ' tempted to go further. For,' continued he, ' had I 
 ' proceeded to a Master of Arts' Degree, and succeeded 
 
 * to a Fellowship, (as I might have done with ease,) I 
 
 * must have subscribed over and over again, what 
 
 * would have amounted, with my convictions, to a sur- 
 
 * render of all intellectual and religious liberty.' Thus 
 said my son ; and according to his representation, of 
 his own state of mind, I must think him right. And 
 for my own part, I must add, that after the expense 
 of his learned education, after his preparatory disci- 
 pline, after his passing creditably through all his Col- 
 lege studies, not without considerable expense, after 
 being matriculated as a member of the University, 
 after having performed all the exercises required in the 
 public schools of the University, — surely, after going 
 through all this academical course, and on giving public 
 proof at last of his high literary attainments, and pos- 
 sessing every qualification for obtaining distinction, — 
 he had a natural right to his Degree, without sub- 
 scribing to any particular creed. And to speak, what 
 1 now think and feel, to me it appears, there is as 
 great an inconsistency in imposing it, as there would 
 be in making the members of the different Companies 
 in London swear to the bye-laws of a particular cor-
 
 l.->4 
 
 poratloi), to whicli tliose different Companies had no 
 relation." 
 
 Euffenius liavins here accidentahv used tlie word, 
 Corporation, liad some recollections hronght to liis 
 mind, and lie proceeded : "As to Corporations, gene- 
 rally," said he, "time was, in the earlier periods of com- 
 merce, when they migiit he useful provisions, by 
 giving protection and support to trade in its infant 
 state, when ))rotection and support were required : hut 
 a corporation spirit was in itself never good ; and in 
 ihls more advanced age of socit.tv, instead of afl'ording 
 protection and support, may act a contrary way : it 
 may, and too often does, narrow endeavour, and check 
 improvement: it may, and too often does, break the re- 
 gular links of society, and prove inimical to the natural 
 and civil rights of free-horn citizens; — monopolies, how 
 beneficial soever to some favoured individuals — are, by 
 the operation of restraints imposed on others, public in- 
 juries; and the mischiefs which they occasion, will be 
 in proportion to the extent, in which they shackle or 
 corrupt their own members, and the encroachments, 
 which they make on the natural and civil rights of the 
 community. Never, till nou', did I consider our Uni- 
 versities as endued with a Corporation spirit : but I 
 find they possess a Corporation spirit of the worst 
 kind. I see, in short, clearly enough, that they area 
 too exact copy of our system of government, which is 
 a system of exclusions, according to which, men of 
 the highest rank, of the most extensive property, and, 
 indeed, of all ranks and conditions, are deprived of 
 tlieir hereditary honours and just distinctions, of many 
 natural and civil rights, unless by professing them- 
 selves menjbers of the Church of England, they sacri- 
 fice their own principles, and betray their own con- 
 sciences ; a system of exclusion, which, I fear, we
 
 155 
 
 carry further than any nation of Europe, unless, per- 
 haps, we except the miserably degraded Spain. Yet we 
 are a distinguislied people : and considering the high 
 rank we hold among the nations of civilized Europe, 
 we may be in danger of being looked up to as ex- 
 amples ; and our system of exclusions would certainly 
 hold out a very bad example to infant states, such as 
 those which are now forming in South America." 
 
 LIII. A few Objections to the Removal of Subscrip- 
 tions, at the Time of taking Degrees in any of the 
 Faculties, considered. 
 
 With a thorough knowledge of the above particu- 
 lars, what are the objections, which men reasoning 
 from prudential considerations are apt to make against 
 the removal of these Subscriptions ; against entirely 
 bursting asunder these chains ? These and other such- 
 like questions we have endeavoured, in our humble 
 manner, to discuss at large elsewhere * ; and it does 
 not suit us to enter fully on the same subject here : 
 we will only now, with the reader's leave, briefly no- 
 tice one or two difficulties, which men are apt to start 
 on this subject. 
 
 Some are ready to ask those, who are for looking 
 too narrowly into these matters, to consider, how very 
 difficult, how perilous, — nay, in some measure, how 
 impious and profane it would be, to move these ancient 
 Foundations, or so nmch as to touch them with their 
 finger ; and how hard it must be for Academics to 
 weave the web of Penelope, — a work which must surely 
 be, in a manner, one of supererogation, — to give 
 back Donations, to restore Grants, to abdicate Privi- 
 leges, to renounce Charters. But, on the other hand, 
 
 * Inquiry into the Nature of Subscription^ '2d edition^, 1792.
 
 156 
 
 and, lis a previous question, may it not be asked, — dis- 
 misNin^, at the sametinie, thequestion concerningDo- 
 natlons, and Benefactions, and Benefices, which certain 
 persons, whom our objectors mav, probably, have in 
 view, neither covet, nor envy — By wliat law, by what 
 right, could the Founders and Benefactors of Colleges, 
 rush in upon, and appropiiate to their own particular 
 party, — over and above the privileges properly acade- 
 mic, — those advantages and accommodations, which 
 should be common to all good citizens ? And by ask- 
 ing further, whether, indeed, these societies, anciently 
 called Houses of General Literature, were not accord- 
 ing to the state, condition, and opinions of the times, 
 actually national? and with respect to the aforesaid 
 Subscriptions, it has already been demonstrated from 
 our ancient statutes, that our Founders, and our an- 
 cient Alma Mater, imposed no such conditions as are 
 now required. 
 
 Yet here, perhaps, may be proposed by some Mem- 
 bers of the University, that old inveterate question — 
 which ought long since to have been put to rest, — 
 How, as things are noiv settled, they should be able to 
 defend their Privileges without Subscriptions ? 
 
 If Degrees, say they, should be conferred without 
 Subscriptions, would not the sons of Protestant Dis- 
 senters, and of Catholics, and sects of all sorts soon 
 make inroads into our Universities ? Such is the pre- 
 vailing opinion now, and was, from the beginning of 
 this imposition. But let us inquire, whether this 
 opinion does not, in the present day, savour more of 
 prudence, than of wisdom. 
 
 And a distinction should be here made. For the 
 question, which regards the perpetuating of Subscrip- 
 tion differs very much from that concerning its first 
 imposition The Protestant Dissenters, who either
 
 157 
 
 send, or wish to send, their sons to these General Aca- 
 demies, are very few : and were you to remove Sub- 
 scriptions at the time of graduating, they would not, 
 ill our opinion, increase much in number, and for 
 this reason, because to most of the Protestant Dissen- 
 ters the prayers, the creeds, and forms of the Church 
 are as little pleasing as your Subscriptions and Aca- 
 demical Oaths. Consider further then. 
 
 These Protestant Dissenters have had among thein 
 — as they still have — men who love philosophy ; who 
 cultivate polite literature : they have also had very 
 celebrated Academies ; though of these, some, not 
 being collegiated and incorporated, have died with their 
 presidents and tutors, and have altogether vanished. 
 What then if those Protestant Dissenters, those very 
 few, whom we have just supposed — should wish their 
 sons to be admitted into these British Colleges, and 
 proceed in due order through the Academical Degrees? 
 Perhaps, such an intermixture would cause — as it 
 happens in the engrafting of trees — an amelioration 
 of the fruit. For certain it would not injure, but ra- 
 ther benefit, our English Universities. Such an inter- 
 mixture would not draw off from the members of the 
 Church of England what is theirs, and transfer it to 
 the Protestant Dissenters, but would rather draw ad- 
 ditional support from them ; and the revenues of the 
 University might thereby experience rather increase, 
 than diminution ; for, the Protestant Dissenters, who 
 at any time might be desirous of studying In these 
 Public British Academies, are not of that description 
 g{ poor Scholars^ who migrate to our Alma Mater, 
 allured by the hope of Fellowships, Benefactions, and 
 Benefices. Young men of this description, who may 
 be set apart to preach the Gospel, are admitted, ac- 
 cording to their particular creeds, into their appropriate
 
 158 
 
 Colleges, or Academies, as into so many distinct hos- 
 tels : and they are there educated and supported at 
 other people's expense. The Dissenters who hecome 
 students in our Universities consist rather of the sons 
 of the wealthy, who, perhaps, may be allured by their 
 love of philosophy, of polite learning, and academical 
 discipline ; whose parents, in favour of their children, 
 may seek to obtain for them a certain privileged fitness 
 for civil and learned professions, an accession of weight 
 and celebrity : for, as they may think, academical dis- 
 tinctions may have their advantages in the state ; and 
 besides this, their property empowers them to become 
 the companions of noblemen and gentlemen : being 
 born therefore in the same condition, they may wish, 
 that their sons may be instructed in the same studies, 
 in the same morals, and the same discipline, to which 
 the gentlemen and noblemen, their companions and 
 particular friends, may have been accustomed. In this 
 order, if we mistake not, has the aforesaid business 
 proceeded, and would proceed again. And what hin- 
 ders, but such persons might form new endowments ? 
 Emmanuel College was, from the beginning, a Puri- 
 tan College. 
 
 The same things nearly might be affirmed with re- 
 spect to the Catholics. Were you to abolish to-mor- 
 row the present oaths and subscriptions, the Catholics 
 who would enter into these General'ia Studia would 
 be very few. This is obvious from the genius and 
 character of their religion, and for the some reasons 
 nearly as we stated in the case of the Protestant Dis- 
 senters. At the same time what some very learned 
 men have said on this subject, — if we would but listen 
 to them, — cannot be too much admired. They won- 
 der, and truly not without reason, that that very de- 
 scription of men, for whose accommodations those
 
 159 
 
 Universities weie intended, and from their very origin, 
 are now, by our irrelative subscriptions and unseason- 
 able oaths, entirely prevented from entering them. 
 
 Our argument embraces the claims of all dissen- 
 tients, as such, whether Jew or Gentile, and more 
 particularly of those of a religious character. In es- 
 timating the advantages to be derived from our Uni- 
 versities, these considerations should be taken into 
 the account, viz. : that there are certain advantages, 
 which are common among citizens, or which ought to 
 be so ; and yet, that religious men, at least if they are 
 sincere, think that every thing should be sacrificed 
 for religion : to expect, therefore, that such men, for 
 the sake of temporal advantages, should renounce 
 their sacred concerns, is plainly as futile on one side, 
 as actually to renounce them on the other would be 
 greatly injurious : The line of true policy is obvious : 
 it would be found in concession, candidly and volun- 
 tarily made by the reigning party ; not in requisitions, 
 or expecting a surrender of principle, from the more 
 subjected one. This can be done only by abolishing 
 subscription. 
 
 To one, who looks around him, and observes what 
 on all sides is passing in society, it will appear, that 
 the Protestant Dissenters of the present day are very 
 wealthy : and, not many years since, one sect had it 
 in contemplation to found at Cambridge an Academy 
 or College, if we may adopt that word — which they 
 proposed to consist of a master or president, tutors, 
 and students ; and, as we understand, another sect, 
 very lately formed a similar design in favour of their 
 own party. Whence it happened, that the design of 
 the first was frustrated, and, whether the latter is 
 likely to proceed, has nothing to do with our present 
 business. But, what shall we say ? There are those, —
 
 IGO 
 
 and not of the number of those called nowa-days Ra- 
 dicals — who are persuaded, that liberality on the part 
 of those, u'iio now appropriate the Universities to them- 
 selves alone, would not only tend to their own increase 
 and majesty, but even — that we may not be too full 
 of horrors — to the decrease and weakening of a dis- 
 senting interest*. But, however this might be, those 
 
 * Among dissentients, — whose cause we have been pleading, — 
 there are some we believe, both Catholics and Protestants, 
 who are themselves no hearty advocates for the removal of 
 Subscriptions in our Universities, nor of the sacramental and 
 test laws, nor of the subscriptions required of the clergy, and of 
 the candidates for Orders : and the reasons are these : they suppose, 
 that these Subscriptions, being a circumvallation round the Church, 
 serve at the same time, for the line of separation to the Dissenting 
 Interest, and that many dissentients would, but for them, go over 
 to the Church of England. 
 
 In these words. Church of England, Alma Mater, and Dissent- 
 ing Interest,with many others, though of ordinary occurrence, there 
 is something of figure, and a little of mystery. Every conscien- 
 tious Dissenter, as such, is entitled to great respect ; and ought 
 to have no interest but that of truth and justice : and as all honest 
 dissenters ought to be zealous in the defence of their own rights 
 (the rights of conscience;, so ought they to be (and certainly will be) 
 hearty advocates for those rights in others. But the Dissenting In- 
 terest, as it is called, may be sometimes little more than a combi- 
 nation against other interests ; a mere worldly combination, per- 
 haps, in which conscience and principle and religion may have but 
 little concern. 
 
 No one can plead the cause of civil and religious liberty, with- 
 out pleading that of all Dissenters ; and no Dissenter can plead the 
 cause of civil and religious liberty in his own behalf consistently 
 or Conscientiously, unless he is prepared to plead for it in behalf 
 of members of other communities. We have been pleading the 
 cause of the Dissenters, but we have also been pleading the cause 
 of other persons, and those members of our Universities. And 
 as the great aruumcnt in favour of an enormous evil is the ap- 
 prehension arising from the Dissenters, it became necessary to 
 wrench the club from Hercules's hand, by asserting that such ap- 
 prehension was groundless.
 
 161 
 
 same men think, that what is true and just ought to 
 be done, — that universities ought not to have their 
 ports shut, as it were, but, like the sea, should be open 
 and free ; for that " divide and rule*' is the exhor- 
 tation not only of philosophy, but of true policy. 
 
 There have been other learned men — members, too, 
 of the University — who derive arguments for calling 
 forth liberality, from the nature of these Foundations, 
 from the very quality and condition of the Donations, 
 bestowed on them : for these societies derive their 
 origin, and owe their increase, partly, to public money, 
 that is to say, to the abundance of princes, of nobles, 
 of prelates, — whose property all flowed from the pub- 
 lic stock, — who while living, or when about to die, 
 consulted the public utility ; partly, to the spoils of the 
 dissolved monasteries : many, too, were owing to the 
 beneficence of private citizens, who, having enriched 
 themselves by their own industry, might wish to 
 show favour to the republic of letters, and, perhaps, 
 not be unwilling, after their death, to be publicly 
 recorded among your benefactors*. And why should 
 
 The Dissenters alluded to above are, perhaps, correct, viz. in 
 supposing that by removing subscriptions from our universities, the 
 dissenting interest vi^ould be weakened, that is to say, that a few 
 sons of rich dissenters,— we have, however, shown, that they would 
 be very few, — would, probably, be entered at our Colleges. But 
 what then ? Is the dissenting interest to be weighed against eter- 
 nal trutli and justice, and the general interests of the country ? 
 And what is the evil of a few sons of our rich dissenters being en- 
 tered in our universities, compared with that mass of bigotry, im- 
 morality, impiety, hypocrisy, and perjury, which by our present 
 system of subscriptions is carried from our universities, and spread 
 all over the country. 
 
 * We have made it almost a matter of conscience, to say no- 
 thing about the Donations, and Possessions, whether ecclesiastical 
 or secular, of private Colleges, or of the University. But there 
 lately came into our hands a MS. book, giving a full account of 
 
 M
 
 162 
 
 they not have an opportunity of behig so recorded ? 
 A\'hy should not other churches, as well as the es- 
 tablislied Church of England, be permitted to favour 
 their peculiar sect, and, at the same time, either 
 
 all the estates and possessions belonging to Emmanuel College, 
 Cambridge. This boolv we purchased out of the library of the 
 Rev. Mr. Meen, formerly Fellow of the same. A few things, 
 which we could collect from this book, are noticed here, not 
 through any evil spirit of levity, but for the sake of illustrating 
 and confirming the present argument. 
 
 Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and one of 
 Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, was a Puritan, and intended 
 Emmanuel College, as the Queen well knew, to be an accommoda- 
 tion, at least, to the Puritans. Sir Walter, himself, gave some things; 
 his brother, Sir Henry Mildmay, others ; some others. Sir Francis 
 Walsingham ; and others,Queen Elizabeth herself : the three prin- 
 cipal Ecclesiastical Benefices — which are valuable ones — were given 
 by that noble person, the Earl of Huntingdon, which, on the dis- 
 solution of Monasteries, fell to the Crown, from the Crown passed 
 to the Earl, and from the Earl to Emmanuel College. Many be- 
 nefactions were afterwards conferred on it by Archbishop Sancroft 
 and by others ; to whicli many additions were made by private 
 citizens. By what right, then, hath any subsequent custom pre- 
 vailed, which, with respect to a private College, is as much as if it 
 should be said, " Let no Puritan enter here ;" and with respect to 
 the University, as much as if it should be said, " Let no Puritan 
 receive Academical Honours ?" 
 
 With respect to those Colleges, which were founded in Popish 
 times, those without doubt were consecrated to the Cat!:olics. By 
 what right have you, as it were, alienated them ? or, as the Ca- 
 tholics ask, profaned them ? Why have you diverted such waters 
 from their natural course, and inclosed them, as it were, in pri- 
 vate cisterns ? 
 
 Once more : the English Colleges are a great deal richer, than 
 the other European Colleges. Even of that of Paris Monsieur Cre- 
 vier thus speaks ; " I have said, that the University is poor. Du- 
 ring the course of a long series of ages, it had in common no other 
 possessions, than the Vrt aux Clcrcs, so called, because a part of 
 the same extent of the meadows belongs to the Abbey of St. Ger- 
 main, and was named, in consequence, le Pr^ aux Moines. The 
 University attended so little to any thing which concerned its pe-
 
 103 
 
 in life, or at death, to consult for the good of the 
 state ? 
 
 The principal difficulty in the above theory, and 
 which erects itself so high, as to appear to some 
 Academics insuperable, ought not, as it appears 
 to us, to arise in the minds of members of the es- 
 
 cimiiiry interest, that it derived no emolument from tliis meadow, 
 which served only for the amusements and sports of the scholars. 
 The city would of course extend itself 5 and the citizens of Paris 
 would in time come to build on this meadow, on finding that it 
 could be made useful to them. Still it consented with regret. Its 
 indifference, however, did not render it negligent in claiming the 
 possession of the bottom of the meadow -. and it has not been less 
 curious in preserving to itself this ancient patrimony, than it has 
 of taking to itself the glory, of holding it by the liberality of 
 our kings." Those who wish to see more on the ceconomy of the 
 University of Paris, may consult Crevier, Hisf. Univ. Par. vol. ix. 
 p. 152. 
 
 But, it may be asked, if the University of Paris was so poor, 
 whence were the professors and tutors supported ? F'rom the pay 
 derived from the national students ; " d'une multitude jeune gens 
 curieux de s'instruire, qui accourit a Paris des toutes les parties de 
 I'Europe." For the University was not hedged round with Sub- 
 scriptions, and seems to have consisted entirely of a Rector, Proc- 
 tors, Professors, Tutors and Students j — there is no mention of 
 Fellows. 
 ■ With respect to the superior wealth of our Colleges, the pre- 
 sumption is, that a more liberal policy on our parts would rather 
 increase than diminish it. A new interest would be created by it ; 
 whence, it is probable, new endowments of Scholarships and Fel- 
 lowships, &c. would be created. But with respect to the present 
 state of our Universities, it happens unfortunately, that they are 
 less liberal, in proportion to their greater wealth. Yet surely it 
 cannot be reckoned right, to permit one sect only, viz. the Church 
 of England, to enjoy Scholarships, Fellowships, and other Aca- 
 demical advantages, and to eject all the rest from philosophy, 
 from good learning, from Academical Degrees, and the other ad- 
 vantages, connected with them. This cannot be liberal. Nor 
 would it be safe to say, that Catholics and Puritans have thus acted 
 formerly towards Episcopalians. " Si Christianus es, non valet ar- 
 gumentum." 
 
 M 2
 
 104 
 
 tablished Cliurcli, who may be willing to aelinit other 
 sects to the participation of their advantages ; but 
 rather in the scruples of the sects themselves, who 
 may desire their own party to be made partakers of 
 some academical privileges ; who may think, for 
 example, that the liturgy, by which all students and 
 graduates now pay their devotions, is not according to 
 their consciences. But, indeed, there ought to be no 
 difficulty here at all ; in some foreign universities it 
 does not exist ; it does not exist in the Scottish. 
 
 Do not, therefore, say, that this is a mere sectarian 
 machine ; — for it differs as widely as possible from sec- 
 tarianism, — or some Utopia, which exists only in the 
 clouds ; or a poetical (iurou-/^o[jjvo[jjuyjoi^ a small incon- 
 siderable dispute on a small inconsiderable subject. 
 For, as we have already shown, a true scene is repre- 
 sented; to be viewed both at home and abroad; which 
 leads to matters of the greatest moment : and, as we 
 have heard, there is in the north of Ireland a literary 
 Academy — by whatever name you may choose to call 
 it — honoured, too, with a rinjal grant, with this pro- 
 fessed object in view, that every one should preserve 
 his own religion, and, at the same time, enjoy, without 
 interruption, the fruits of philosophy and good learn- 
 ing. Indeed, there are those, who think, that this 
 difficulty might be easily renioved from onr English 
 Universities, if our acadeuiics would but be just to 
 themselves, and to the state. 
 
 By any one who looks about the town of Cambridge 
 it will be seen, that many of the sects have their ap- 
 propriate Chapels there. Indejiendents, Baptists, Me- 
 thodists are numerous ; and very lately a new sect 
 built themselves a chapel. The Quakers, as they are 
 called, have a meeting-house there ; though it is now 
 deserted, except at their annual visitations. \Ve also
 
 165 
 
 remember, when the Jews held then- little synagogue 
 in a private house. So that every academic might here 
 enjoy, according to his conscience, his own religion, 
 and, at the same time, his own College. Nor should 
 any citizen be deprived of his academical civil privi- 
 leges, though he should not be a Christian. 
 
 The case is much the same at Oxford. Independents, 
 Baptists, and Methodists abound there. The Catho- 
 lics, too, have a neat little Chapel at Oxford. 
 
 But, whither are we at length carried ? With what 
 expectations are we impelled ? Or, why are we torment- 
 ing ourselves with fallacies ^ Why are we for deriving 
 our arguments from non-expediency, when that from 
 expediency, as some think, scarcely now-a-days ap- 
 pears ? Or, why are we making complaints and ex- 
 postulations in favour of those, who are without the 
 pale of your church, — the sectaries, as you call them, 
 — when even with respect to those, who are within, 
 to members of the established Church, to academics 
 of the same literary body, we might collect a very 
 ample crop of arguments ? 
 
 "And, away from you," some one may exclaim, " with 
 idle dreams, with vain and transitory hopes ! What 
 can the questions of such humble persons, as you are, 
 avail, when those of men of high consideration have 
 failed ?" If we have mistaken our object, let it rather 
 be ascribed to our credulity, than to a bold self-confi- 
 dence, or a wanton liberty in the use of language. 
 We have, perhaps, been too much taken with the as- 
 pect of the times, with the fitness of the things them- 
 selves, and the liberal purposes of some ingenuous 
 men, who have wished to benefit, as far as they could, 
 the state. 
 
 With respect to the present aspect of things, any 
 one, who looks around him will perceive, that various
 
 160 
 
 circuinstances in the administration of public affairs 
 have within these thirty years last past been sub- 
 jected to a strict inquiry ; ahnost every place looked 
 into. Our academics have effected some changes, 
 evidently for the advantage of literature, which had 
 been predicted repeatedly, and in praise of which every 
 body now speaks: our legislators have attempted many 
 things for the benefit of the state, and carried some 
 of them into effect : the public records of the king- 
 dom, that great work, have been reduced into order : 
 the military and naval discipline has been examined ; 
 the returns of the public treasury have been subjected 
 more to economy: the secrets of the public offices 
 have been thrown open ; the burden of taxes has been 
 somewhat relieved and diminished ; places full of 
 poverty, wretchedness and crimes, — prisons, bride- 
 wells, hospitals, orphan and lunatic asylums, — have 
 been inspected, and somewhat improved ; the Courts 
 of Justice themselves, not forgetting the Court of 
 Chancery, nor the departments of the first judges, 
 and magistrates, have been explored ; nay, the slip- 
 pery and indeterminate course of Parliament has 
 been again and again exposed, in questions, in pe- 
 titions, in arguments, in speeches. What has not 
 been attempted ? Most things, which seemed to re- 
 quire reformation, and which, within the limits of the 
 l^ritish Constitution, would admit of it, — almost all 
 have either received some positive improvements, or, at 
 least, have passed under a serious examination. Such- 
 like matters have already been briefly alluded to. 
 
 What then shall we say ? We seem to have fallen 
 on those times, which, if they present us with a mighty 
 nuiss of troubles, present us, at the same time, with 
 men, who have their loins girt around them, and are 
 })ropHrcd, to the utmost of their strength, to repair and
 
 167 
 
 restore the republic. It could, therefore, scarcely hap- 
 pen, that we, gliding along with the course of the 
 times, should not, at last, have arrived to that plain, 
 in which we now stand, till we seem to ourselves to hear 
 the voice of that celebrated Locke repeated round us 
 on all sides ; " If Your Majesty does not reform the 
 Universities, every thing will go back again." 
 
 Besides, there was presented to our minds, that per- 
 plexing, that turbulent, that most calamitous state of 
 things, for many years, among the nations of Europe, 
 in which ours also engaged, and not without great pe- 
 rils ; nor did it recede from them without great inju- 
 ries. We also recollected that solemn appeal; "When 
 thy judgements, Jehovah, are abroad in the world, the 
 inhabitants will learn justice." We have heard, too, 
 the censors and reformers of the times complaining of 
 the public and private morals of Britain, a nation, say 
 they, once the most honourable, the most flourishing, 
 the most happy ; but now terribly fallen ; as though, 
 that which was formerly reputed the best of all, was 
 now, from its corruption, become the worst : — which 
 insinuation, whether true or false, let our reformers 
 tliemselves determine ; but for ourselves, we must 
 say, that the memorable sentiment of Machiavel came 
 into our minds ; " The Prince, who wishes to erect 
 to himself a monument of eternal fame, should choose 
 a period replete with miseries and crimes; that he may 
 apply remedies to those parts, where the disease 
 presses most heavily." 
 
 And thus far has proceeded our General Disserta- 
 tion ; in the framing of which many things have been 
 advanced with freedom, nothing, we hope, with illibe- 
 rality. Some of them have been derived from our own 
 meditations ; some from the testimonies of others, 
 particularly, of university-men and Cantabrigians; and
 
 108 
 
 with this avowed ohject, to speak the truth, that our 
 complaints may seem to have proceeded, not from 
 ourselves merely, but to have arisen in the convictions 
 of academical men, and to have been supported by 
 just and legitimate authority. 
 
 LIV. Testimonies of learned Men against our pre- 
 sent Subscriptions. 
 
 To these observations, as also to others, which have 
 gone before, we subjoin, by way of a shield, as it were, 
 the names of some academics, who appear to favour 
 our argument on this subject; among whom are many 
 of great account. Nor can it escape us, how few really 
 eminent men have existed, who, either on account of 
 our ecclesiastical discipline, or the abstruseness of the 
 established doctrines, or in order to preserve a pure 
 conscience, or on account of the soundness and vigour 
 of their understandings, or, lastly, from their love of 
 liberty, have been able heartily to approve such-like 
 formulas; though, indeed, we only seek protection for 
 ourselves : the cause will defend itself. 
 
 It is clear from the first page of this Book of Privi- 
 leges*, what Hare, who compiled it, with those of his 
 party, would of necessity have thought of our present 
 Subscriptions, had they lived under James; and what 
 that other Cambridge antiquary, Thomas Baker j", did 
 
 * The inscription to the Index Collcclionum llobcrli IJcirc, Ar- 
 mig.: prefixed to the First Volume of our " I'rivilogi-s of llie Uni- 
 versity of Cambridge." 
 
 •j- It may by some be considered rather remarkable, that the 
 two learned persons, to whom before all others Cambridge-Uni- 
 versity is indebted for its History and Antiquities, were either es- 
 tranged from its disci])line, or averse to its politics. Mr. Hare was 
 a Catholic ; Mr. Bal.er, a Nonjuror : and even Mr. Cole was said 
 to be more of a Catholic, than a true Protestant 3 and was, there- 
 fore, called by some. Cardinal Cole, somewhat, perhaps, in allite- 
 rative allusion to the celebrated Cardinal Pole.
 
 101) 
 
 really think, appears not only in those principles, for 
 which he was rendered a Sociiis ejectun, but more in 
 those general ones, which show themselves in certain 
 annotations of his, written with his own hand, in MS. 
 Mr. George Cranmer in his Letter to Mr. Hooker, 
 affixed to Hooker's Life*, says : "the greater part of 
 the learned of the land were either eagerly affected. 
 
 Of all these we have spoken much and often, in our " History 
 of the University of Cambridge," and in the " Privileges of the 
 University of Cambridge." We beg leave to recapitulate here a 
 few things relative to the two former, for the sake of such readers 
 as are unacquainted with those works. 
 
 " In the year 15S7, Robert Hare, Esq. formerly of Caius Col- 
 " lege, completed his famous Register of all the Cliartei-s, Liber- 
 " ties, and Privileges of the University and Town, of which the 
 " original is in the University chest. The Vice- Chancellor and 
 " Registrar too have each a copy made by Hare himself." Hare 
 was a Catholic in Queen Elizabeth's reign, when the University 
 was Protestant ; as Baker was a Nonjuror, at the time when the 
 University had sworn allegiance to King William. 
 
 " Baker left behind him (in his own hand-writing) forty- two 
 " volumes in all; of these 19 were left to the University j to 
 " the Earl of Oxford he left, or, as matter of form, sold, 23 vo- 
 " lumes, which are now made public property, and are in the 
 " British Museum." These are in general mere transcripts. 
 His succinct and impartial account of St. Johns House and St. 
 John's College, &c. must be excepted, which was composed by 
 himself, and with great liberality. His printed books he left to St, 
 John's College Library : among which is a copy of Calamy's "Ac- 
 count of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters, and Fellows of Col- 
 leges, and Schoolmasters, who were ejected or silenced after the 
 Restoration 1660." In this there are numerous notices of Mr. Ba- 
 ker's, made with peculiar care. In his printed Books left to this 
 College Library, — St. John's — and in all his MSS., he always 
 styles himself, " iSocius ejectus," ejected Fellow 3 and he seems, 
 if we may hazard an opinion, to have been fond of his title, priding 
 himself, probably, rather on his being a man of conscience, than a 
 man of learning. 
 
 * In the large folio edition of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, of 
 1723.
 
 J 70 
 
 or favourably inclined the other way," that is, the Puri- 
 tanic. What induced many of them afterwards to 
 go back, has nothing to do with our present business : 
 what the rest, who persevered in their principles, 
 thought, is very clear : and when Milton asserted — 
 and he was at the time, both with respect to the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity and other doctrines, what was 
 called orthodox — that "he would not subscribe, be- 
 cause he would not subscribe, slave,"" he expressed the 
 deliberate opinion of many learned men of his age. 
 
 With respect to Bacon, we could scarcely affirm 
 any thing, which could be more true, and clearly ma- 
 nifest, than that he was the flatterer of James, and 
 too great a favourer of the doctrine of Expedience, to 
 speak freely and openly : so that if we can collect any 
 thing from him on this subject, it must be rather from 
 the general profundity of his principles, than from any 
 clear declaration in his writings ; though at the same 
 time, it must be admitted, that many defects in our 
 Universities were acknowledged by Bacon himself, to 
 whose authority we shall presently appeal. 
 
 What direct testimony Newton has given on this 
 question, it is not necessary to investigate. It is as 
 clear as light, what must of necessity have been thought 
 of the creeds themselves, — and, consequently, what of 
 the o9 Articles, — by him, who professed himself an 
 Unitarian, in the Socinian sense, as he did, — which 
 we beg leave to say under leave of Bishop Horsley* 
 
 * " The insinuation contained in this expression ; — that theTri- 
 " nity is not to be derived from the words prescribed for the b.ap- 
 " tismal form, — is very extraordinary to come from a writer who was 
 " no bocinian." Bishop llorsley's note on a passage in Sir Isaac 
 Newton's Ilistoraal Account of two notable Corruptions of Scrip. 
 Iure,viz,: \Joli.v.7. I Tunotliij'ni. ]G. In Bishop llorsley's Edition 
 of Sir Isaac Neiv ton's U'orks. 
 
 Now it is certain, that Newton was no Trinitarian according to
 
 171 
 
 — and it is no less clear, what Dr. Clarke and his 
 Arians thought on this subject : how far Whiston, 
 while yet a youth, was from approving Subscription 
 appears from *' the Memoirs of his Life and Writings, 
 written by himself," A.D. 1749; and what he after- 
 wards thought, his own writings abundantly testify. 
 What were the opinions of Bishop Hare, of Dr. Jor- 
 tin, of Dr. Sykes, and Dr. Middleton, with other 
 learned men about that period, of kindred genius, 
 it is easy to conjecture, nor would it be difficult to 
 prove. 
 
 Locke — though indeed of Oxford — who penetrated 
 the most secret recesses of the human understanding, 
 manfully opposed himself — and, indeed, how could 
 he do otherwise ? — to all those fetters, with which inqui- 
 sitorial men, with more cunning, than wisdom, have 
 been accustomed to torment and confine it. What 
 he thought of such torturings of the human under- 
 standing sufficiently appears from his "Letters on 
 Toleration." From his school proceeded many Cam- 
 
 what is called the Athanasian doctrine ; nor would even Bishop 
 Horsley have asserted, that he was : and it is equally certain, that 
 he was no Arian, according to what he himself said of Dr. Clarke 
 and the Arians, as may be seen in Mr. Hopkin Haines's " Preface 
 to a Tract on the Existence and Attributes of God." Taking what 
 Sir Isaac Newton there says in connexion with his famous Scho- 
 lium Generale at the end of his "Principia," it should seem to be 
 declaratory of the faith of a simple Unitarian — in the Socinian sense 
 of the word, — though Newton might not choose to be called after 
 the name of any head of a sect. But if he was no Athanasian, no 
 Arian, no Socinian, what was he ? Suppose him a Nestorian, or 
 Sabellian, it would be coming to nearly the same thing. It would 
 be impossible for him to have approved the co-equality of three 
 divine persons, the doctrine, according to Athanasius, contained in 
 the first article, or the other articles connected with that. Still 
 less, if his apprehension of Deity was, even as a philosopher, — as 
 probably it was,— more a matter of feeling, than of speculation.
 
 172 
 
 bridge-men, — Hartley, Law, Paley*, Jebb, and Tyr- 
 vvliitt, tbe last of whom, as we have already shown, 
 was desirous of proposing, and of having confirmed 
 bv the Senate, a Grace for having Snbscription en- 
 tirely abolished, at the time of taking Degrees. 
 
 Nor should that company of ingenuous undergra- 
 duates be passed bv, who about the same time sur- 
 rounded the Academical Senate, supplicating, that they 
 should not be too hastily hurried to subscription, till 
 they had seriously considered the subjects, in which 
 they were required to express their belief ; not because 
 they rejected the Articles of Faith, through infidelity, 
 but because they had not possessed leisure, nor learn- 
 ing, nor experience, sufficient to examine the argu- 
 ment in its full weight and force. 
 
 Nor have those several venerable meetings of Clergy 
 and Laity escaped usf, who, at dift'erent times have 
 petitioned the British Parliament for relief from these 
 oppressive burdens, nor the British House of Com- 
 mons itself, in which were many, formerly University- 
 men, who strenuously supported the same cause: — 
 and what learned and clerical men wished to obtain for 
 themselves, they surely would not have refused to young 
 men, and laics, and plain citizens — Of this number, 
 was Edm. Law, D.D. Master of Peter-House, with 
 most of the Fellows, and the Chancellor himself, at 
 
 * See Appendix II. 
 
 t " Free and Candid Disquisitions relating to the Church of 
 Enc;land, and the Means of advancini; Ilelij^ion therein ; address- 
 ed to tl>e (jovcrning Powers in Churcli and State, and more imme- 
 diately directed to the two Houses of Convocation." '2d edit. 1/50. 
 — Subsequently to that work, viz. in 1/72 and 17/3, there have 
 been two Assemblies, consisting of clergy and laity, who met to 
 petition on the same subject, one at the Feathers' Tavern, Fleet- 
 street, the other at Archbishop Tennison's Library, in Westminster. 
 These Disquisitions and Assemblies have been already alluded to.
 
 173 
 
 the time, who had been formerly of this College ; 
 Robert Plumptre, D.D. President of Queen's College; 
 Peter Peckard, D.D. Master of Magdalen College ; 
 William Elliston, D.D. Master of Sidney College; 
 with many others, among whom must be reckon- 
 ed some, who afterwards became bishops, — Law, 
 Watson, Porteus, and York. 
 
 Nor have the names of many other learned men 
 escaped us, some of more modern date and within our 
 own memory : such as Mr. Archdeacon Blackburn, 
 A.M. Catharine Hall ; David Hughes, S.T.B. Fell, 
 of Queen's Col. ; Samuel Blackall, S.T.B. Fell, of 
 Emmanuel Col. ; Mr. Baron Maseres, A.M. Fell, of 
 Clare Hall ; Mr. Serjeant Heywood, A.M. Trin. 
 Col.; Owen Manning, S.T.B. Peter-House; Theo- 
 philus Lindsey, A.M. St. John's Col. ; Edward Evan- 
 son, A.M. Emmanuel Col ; Sanmel Parr, LL.D. 
 Emman. Col. ; John Baynes, A.M. Trin. Col. ; 
 James Lambert, A.M. Fell, of Trin. Col. ; Thomas 
 Fishe Palmer, S.T.B. Fell, of Queen's Col. ; John 
 Disney, S.T.P. Peter-House ; Robert Barker, S.T.B. 
 Queen's Col. ; William Frend, A.M. Fell, and Tutor 
 of Jesus Col. ; Matthew Raine, S.T.P. Trinity Col. ; 
 Thomas Jones, A.M. Fell, and Tutor of Trinity Col. ; 
 Richard Porson, A M. Trin. Col. ; Thomas Clark- 
 son, A.M. St. John's Col.; John Hammond, A.M. 
 Fell, of Queen's Col. ; Robert Edward Gurnham, 
 A.M. Fell, of Trin. Col.; David Simpson, A.M. St. 
 John's Col. ; M. J. Naylor, S.T.B. Queen's Col. ; 
 Thomas Northmore, A.M. Emmanuel Col.; William 
 Burdon, A.M. Fell, of Emmanuel Col. ; John Twed- 
 dle, A.M. Fell, of Trinity Col. ; James Losh, A.M. 
 Trin. Col. ; Christopher Wyvill, LL.B. Queen's Col. ; 
 Francis Blackburne, LL B. Peter-House ; Richard 
 Elliot, A.B. CaiusCol.; Gilbert Wakefield, A.B. Fell.
 
 174 
 
 of Jesus Col. ; Mr. Capel Lotft, Barrister, Peter- House; 
 Mr. Thomas Manning, Caius Col. ; Mr. Philip Mal- 
 let, Trinity Col. ; Mr, Samuel Peck, Trinity Col. ; 
 Mr. Hen. Parnell, Trinity Col.*. A long list might 
 be made out of gentlemen, who never graduated, 
 because they did not at the time choose to subscribe, 
 and of those who have subscribed, at the time of gra- 
 duating, and afterwards disapproved of their subscrip- 
 tion, it would be easy to furnisb a far more extended 
 list — even a host. Nor can we doubt, judging from the 
 spirit which was formerly manifested, and from the libe- 
 rality of the present times, that there are still many re- 
 sident members in both universities, who are secretly 
 friends to the cause we are advocating, and who, on any 
 proper occasion, would give it their best support. 
 
 To these might be added the names of some, who, 
 as we have heard, seceding from the established com- 
 munity, have chosen to themselves their proper places 
 
 • This list is composed of the names partly of gentlemen, who 
 either by their writings, or some other public testimony, have ex- 
 pressed their disapprobation of the practice here complained of; 
 and partly of gentlemen, known to the writer at different periods 
 of life, and with whose sentiments on the subject he wa.s well ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 It may, however, be thought, perhaps, by some, no good policy 
 to produce the names of gentlemen as witnesses against Subscrip- 
 tion, who. as graduates, must have subscribed themselves. And 
 this would be rightly thought, if the question concerning this 
 matter was like ordinary questions : but, 
 
 1st. The business of Subscription is often a mere hocus-pocus 
 matter, as we have occasion to show elsewhere. Gentlemen are 
 frequently taken by surprise, particularly those about to graduate 
 in law and physic, often not knowing, nor wishing to know, what 
 they subscribe. 
 
 2dly. There is a previous question, which gentlemen may feel, 
 without putting it into words " have we not a right to a Degree 
 without these extraneous subscriptions ?" Tliose who thus feel, — 
 and it i<i a correct feeling, — will sometimes treat these formularies
 
 175 
 
 among the Dissenters ; not because they set at naught 
 these five points — as they are called — but because they 
 placed a higher value on their own Christian faith, 
 and the authority and commands of Christ, "to call 
 no man master on earth," on the principle of the old 
 Reformers, separatists from the Church of Rome, and 
 of the Puritans, who separated from the Church of 
 England, The subjection of their understandings and 
 consciences to such formularies of faith they reckon 
 inconsistent with their Christian liberty. 
 
 And here, indeed, it should be noted, that the gen- 
 tlemen above mentioned, although they have not made 
 use of the same arguments, have yet advocated the 
 same cause, — that of liberty ; some considering the 
 subject as philosophers and metaphysicians, or perhaps, 
 in part, as critics; others as politicians, and others 
 simply as Christians ; all of them, however, offering 
 themselves to us as our companions on the way; and 
 
 of faith, as a mere form, or perhaps, a piece of gross ignorance 
 and impertinence. 
 
 3dly, Although the formularies to be subscribed contain very 
 numerous propositions, yet they are taken by many, who graduate, 
 as merely general declarations, as simple professions, that the 
 persons so subscribing belong to the established church j and 
 they may have subscribed to these formularies at the time in that 
 general sense, conscientiously, being members of the Church of 
 England, as established by law, and of no other. 
 
 4thly. But although persons may at one time seriously and con- 
 scientiously subscribe a given number of propositions, they may as 
 seriously and conscientiously disapprove such subscriptions at 
 another. There is no law either of common sense or of religion 
 which binds a man to say, " Because I believed so oyiccy I will 
 h&ViQve so always." And those, who have passed through these 
 changes may be the best arbitrators in such a controversy, as 
 the present, their judgement being the result of cool examination 
 and serious conviction. 
 
 5thly. Such a list, therefore, as the preceding one, of upright 
 and learned men, will supply the place of many arguments.
 
 170 
 
 fo'tliem, as witnesses for the trutli, we most cheer- 
 fully appeal. And all professed unbelievers, whether 
 Jew or Gentile, must, if consistent, give the same 
 testimony. 
 
 Bacon — being himself a Cantabrigian — was a man 
 of sufficient prudence, too much, perhaps, of a poli- 
 tical philosopher, as before observed, to be admitted 
 among the witnesses cited above, — yet a man he was 
 of great intellect ; and his judgement on the state of 
 our ancient universities may be consulted with ad- 
 vantage, since it is equally fitted to their present, as 
 their former, condition. 
 
 That restorer, therefore, as he is called, of philoso- 
 phy. Bacon, thus speaks : "That defect is yet to be 
 " noticed by us — one certainly of great moment — in 
 " the Governors of Universities, of consuUations ; in 
 " Kings or other superiors, of visitations; in order di- 
 '* ligently to consider, and well weigh, whether the 
 " Lectures, Disputations, and other scholastic Exer- 
 *' cises, which were instituted of old time, it might be 
 " more useful still to continue, or to treat as anti- 
 " quated, in order to substitute some better things in 
 " their room." Nay he more happily expounds those 
 memorable remarks of King James, who — among his 
 iAinons at least — speaks wisely as follows ; " In every 
 *' custom, or example, the times should be considered, 
 " when the matter was first undertaken ; in which, if 
 "confusion prevailed, or ignorance, at the very outset' 
 " it derogates from the authority of the tilings, and 
 " brings the whole into suspicion." 
 
 " Wherefore," adds Bacon, "since the Institutions 
 " of the University had their origin in times, some- 
 " what darker, and more unlearned, than our own, it 
 " becomes so much the more necessary, that they 
 " should be subjected again to examination." These
 
 177 
 
 words of that great man ought to be referred now to 
 those barbarous innovations, Subscriptions, equally as 
 to those things, which, in the present day, are anti- 
 quated : the older Charters are silent about such 
 Subscriptions : silent also are the Charters of Eliza- 
 beth : and let any one weigh the Statutes ever so well — 
 we mean those more ancient ones before mentioned — 
 in them, as we have shown, there is not a single word of 
 this subjection of Lawyers, and of Physicians, and of 
 Logicians, and of Metaphysicians, and of Mathema- 
 ticians, and Musicians, to such-like theological Sub- 
 scriptions. Will you say, that when our Colleges were 
 first founded, the Catholic religion held sway among 
 us? Granted : and, at the same time, you must grant, 
 that Catholicism then was national, and that religion 
 was not, as now, divided into different sects. *' There 
 was, therefore, then, you may say, no occasion for such 
 subscriptions." What will you say of our more recent 
 Statutes, under Elizabeth, when the sects were in- 
 creasing, and divided among themselves ? Did even 
 they impose such-like doctrinal Subscriptions ? 
 
 LV. Forged Charter's. — Conclusion. 
 Do you ask, with respect to the subject, in which 
 our question is engaged. Why, when Charters and Sta- 
 tutes are silent, we are so clamorous ? We are clamo- 
 rous, because they are silent. For we cannot help sus- 
 pecting, that, King James and the Academical Senate 
 transgressed their just bounds, when they contrived 
 these Graces, or Letters — or whatever you call them, 
 — and which, overwhelming, as they do, the human 
 understanding, disturbing and confounding the com- 
 mon rights of citizens, opposing the principles ot 
 the British Constitution, and of Christianity, and 
 being, at the same time, not agreeable to the in- 
 
 N
 
 178 
 
 tentions of the ancientFounders, — we suspect to have 
 been really and altogether illegal ; for the Institutions 
 uhicii our Founders and Benefactors intended to 
 constitute general and national, we their posterity 
 have rendered particular and sectarian : we have riveted 
 fetters on our Universities, which were never dreamt 
 of by the Founders, while, at the same time, we neither 
 follow Elizabeth's nor the old Statutes. We, there- 
 fore, fear, as things now are, for the safety of these 
 our boasted rights ; and that, were we permitted to 
 decide of Universities, as we do of other Corpora- 
 tions, in similar circumstances, we should be obliged 
 to say, " they iiad forfeited their privileges." 
 
 But for certain, as to the matter, on which our 
 question principally turns, we must afftrm with 
 more confidence, that what James, a despotic king, 
 decreed without a Parliament, the academical Se- 
 nate could abrogate by its own authority, or still 
 more certainly, a constitutional King, that is, a 
 King witli his Parliament, or the Parliament itself, 
 and that without any severity, nay, with the greatest 
 humjmity. 
 
 A few things would be sufficient for the produc- 
 tion of this great public good. There would be re- 
 quired no grandis epistola from the prince, or the su- 
 preme authority of the kingdom, no rhetorical argu- 
 ments, nor high-sounding oration. James was suffi- 
 ciently concise, and sufficiently authoritative, in im- 
 posing these Subscriptions ; and the two words, " sic 
 voliimus,"' so often sounded tyrannically, would be 
 enough in the present case ; for under the power of a 
 just authority, the monster Subsci'iption would im- 
 mediately fail. But, whether this emancipation 
 should be introduced by the Academical Senate, or 
 by the King, or by the Parliament, all who wished
 
 179 
 
 to further the human understanding, or to advance 
 the cause of liberty, or to promote the cultivation 
 of useful learning, would applaud, and exult on 
 its account. — And thus much concerning our Sub- 
 scriptions.. A'word or two on Charters, though but 
 generally. 
 
 On the public Charters themselves of the Univer- 
 sity we have said enough, and, perhaps, more than 
 enough above — in this Dissertation, and elsewhere, 
 in the History, and in the Privileges, of the University 
 of Cambridge — and for what has been there said, an 
 apology may seem to be required : and we were in 
 hope, in some respects, of pruning our own vines. 
 But this was prevented as well through our hastening 
 the publication of a work, which had been too long 
 delayed, as by the loss of papers and emendations, 
 which were never recovered. In the mean time, how 
 imperfect soever the work may be, whatever difficulties 
 or doubts we may feel on some points, we can feel 
 none on the spuriousess of ow more ancient Char- 
 ters ; so that we need make no recantation. We are 
 alluding to some of te Charters of Cambridge Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 To the Latin original of this General Dissertation 
 we had subjoined a few more observations on Char- 
 ters. But these were taken, for the greater part, from 
 an Oxford writer, and they related principally to Ox- 
 ford University. We, therefore, on reconsideration, 
 omit such observations here, and supply their place 
 with some of a more general nature, and, at the same 
 time, though given more at large in another place *, 
 not altogether foreign to our present views. 
 
 When there is mention made, then, oi forged Char- 
 ters^ those who have heard of them only for the first 
 
 * Second Dissertation in "the Privileges of Cambridge." 
 
 N 2
 
 time will be more struck with the boldness of the as- 
 sertion, than the grossness of the fact; they will, in- 
 deed, scarcely be brought to believe the fact. But 
 those who have attended to the subject ever so little 
 will feel no surprise ; well-knowing, that nothing is 
 better ascertained, than the practice of forging Char- 
 ters, in the sixth, ninth, and eleventh Centuries, to a 
 very large extent, and that a great part of the diplo- 
 matic art, as well as the medallic, consists, in distin- 
 guishing the true from the false. 
 
 This is the professed object of the learned Benedic- 
 tine, Mabillon, in his Treatise, de He Diplojuaticd. 
 His inquiries are directed to certain Diplomas of the 
 Merovingian and Carlovingian Kings of France, in the 
 Gth and 8th centuries, and those immediately following. 
 Many of these he proves to be spurious : and a learned 
 Jesuit, P. Bartholomceus Germon, — in a Disser- 
 tation, de Veterihas Reginn Frnncorinn Diplomati- 
 hus * — carries his ideas much further, and, criticizing 
 Father Mabillon's book, maintains, that <7//the Mero- 
 vingian and Carlovingian Charters are of doubtful 
 authority. Another learned Jesuit, Philip Labbe, 
 also, has pointed out many spurious Charters among 
 those ascribed to the ancient Kings of France. 
 
 Mr. James Anderson also in his Diplomata Scotitz, 
 and Mr. Tliomas Ruddiman in his elaborate Preface 
 to that work, have pointed out several forged Charters 
 among the Diplomata Scoticr. English and Saxon 
 forged Charters are in like manner noticed by the 
 
 • 'I'liis practice of forging Charters, which sprang up in the 6th 
 century, had arisen to such a height in the 1 1th, that Mabillon — 
 de Re Diplomaticd — says : " fuisse falsafores ajmd omnes — fuisse 
 etiani saeculo undecimo, uti apud Clericos, sic et apud Monachos, 
 quales sunt illi, de quibus conqucstus est Baronius ; nee Clericos 
 tantum, et Monachos, sed Notarios, Scribas, Paedotribas, Sscu- 
 lares, imo etinm Foeminas, in illud facinus incidisse."
 
 181 
 
 author of Monasticon Anglicanum, and the learned 
 Dr. Hickes; and Bishop Nicholson, in the first part of 
 his *' Historical Library," speaking of some of them, 
 says, " The most ancient of them, which we meet 
 with, are those which are said to have been granted 
 byEthelbert, King of Kent, about the year GOf), and 
 some of them have such marks of forgery upon them, 
 as would make a man jealous of meddling with other 
 of the like kind." The author of "The Annals of Uni- 
 versity College, Oxford," who had every opportunity of 
 access to the archives of the University and of his own 
 College, thinks it to the honour of that University, 
 that it possesses in its archives but one spurious Char- 
 ter ; but, he adds, Thesaurar'imn Collegn Univcrsi- 
 tat'ts talihus Comment'is scatet. He shows, also, that ' 
 the same observation applies to Merton and Baliol 
 Colleges. One, therefore, need not be confounded 
 at the strange things, which occur in the Black Book 
 of Cambrideje, nor at the charge of inauthenticity 
 which may be brought against any of its Charters and 
 Bulls. 
 
 Those who have written on the Diplomatic Art 
 have noticed the advantages of ancient Charters, when 
 they are authentic, for illustrating some points in 
 History and Chronology ; nor have they failed to ob- 
 serve, that the exposure of those, which are inau- 
 thentic — as most of the very ancient ones are — can 
 be attended with no disadvantages ; for that it is of 
 little or no moment, whether such charters are true 
 or false, since Churches, Monasteries, and Universi- 
 ties, hold their possessions and privileges now more 
 from the security of long possession, than the anti- 
 quity of doubtful charters. With respect to our Uni- 
 versities, it is of still less consequence, because their 
 rights, howcAer obtained at first, are now secured to
 
 182 
 
 them not only by long possession, but by the sanction 
 of the legislature. 
 
 But, although such ancient instruments, in the pre- 
 sent day, may be more matters of curiosity than of 
 direct authority, still they may be used on some oc- 
 casions, directly, for the purpose of argument. Such 
 is the use we are desirous of directing them to here, 
 with respect to what constitutes the main object of 
 consideration in the present tract, — the abolition of our 
 Subscriptions. For, if our more ancient Charters, on 
 which others more recent have been formed, — as from 
 the latter have at length arisen a Parliamentary Act, 
 confirmatory of certain privileges, — if those more an- 
 cient Charters are not merely doubtful, but demon- 
 strably spurious and false, privileges, which they 
 sanction, should be held with moderation; the tenure 
 should not be hedged round with thorns ; and, if 
 hedges of thorns have been since planted there, the 
 proper authorities should root them out. 
 
 And now, at length, after much anxious thought, 
 and many turbulent cares, our mind reposes in its 
 proper resting place, by the sacred side of Liberty. 
 There returns, also, to our memory the most agree- 
 able recollection of many Academics endowed with 
 learning and virtue, whose benevolence through a 
 series of years bound them to us by kind actions ; 
 some of whom have now finished their short course of 
 life; others are dispersed through the different coun- 
 ties of Britain ; others continue at Cambridge and 
 Oxford to the present day. It is pleasant to record 
 the liberality of such men, to which we have been in- 
 debted for opportunities of access to the libraries of 
 l)rivate Colleges, as well as of the Universities, of con- 
 sulting books and manuscripts, and of seeing some of 
 their more secret deposits, to which it has not been
 
 183 
 
 the lot of every one to have access ; benefits, very 
 favourable to digesting this miscellany*, and to com- 
 pleting some works, in which we have been, and still 
 are, engaged. Such services, which were great, we 
 can only repay with humble acknowledgements. This 
 little work, however, such as it is, we wish partly to 
 be placed, as it were, on the tombs of many good 
 men, as a monument sacred to their ashes ; and 
 partly to be left as a testimony of friendship and gra- 
 titude towards several learned men still alive ; not 
 without prayers to the Greatest and Best of Beings, 
 that those things, for which we are indebted to pri- 
 vate friendship, may, in some measure, be directed to 
 the public good. As to others, whatever they may 
 think of us, it is our business to wish every thing really 
 good to Oxford and Cambridge, and to the British 
 Community at large. 
 
 * The History, and the Privileges, of the University of Cam. 
 bridge.
 
 185 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX I. {See page 36.) 
 
 Present Improvements at Cambridge. 
 
 IN the preceding pages, allusions have been occasionally 
 made to the Exercises of the Public Schools at Cambridge, 
 and to the Senate House Examinations ; (these, it is well 
 known, were a little time smce almost exclusively in Mathe- 
 matics): — 'and very serious complaints had been for a long 
 time back urged against them ; — concessions, however, were 
 made in behalf of such improvements, as were then making, 
 and of which some were carried into effect, while the Latin 
 text of the above Dissertation was in the press. 
 
 It may be added in this place, that although so much has 
 not been done as many wished, there was enough to show, 
 that certain objections of long standing were, at length, 
 thought reasonable ; that it was deemed absolutely necessary 
 to do something: and a just value will, no doubt, be set on 
 the reformation, calculated as it was, to promote more of 
 general reading among the majority of the Students, and, at 
 the same time, to carry something more of literature into the 
 higher regions of the mathematicians. 
 
 Still a circumstance now occurs, which had escaped our 
 notice at the time : so that although we shall not sing a pa- 
 linodia, we must make a sort of compromise : for, without 
 stripping off the merit of the new arrangement, there are 
 still those, who cannot put on it a title to unqualified praise. 
 
 Respect and admiration, indeed, have their natural limits 
 and proper objects : and it is felt by us, that while the 
 greatest praise must always be due to the subject matter (the 
 Sciences and Literature) taught at Cambridge, something must 
 be detracted from it on account of the ends too generally pro- 
 posed, and the persons, who are principally benefited, by it. 
 
 To the objections then already stated to the studies of 
 Cambridge — meaning more particularly the mathematics — 
 it has been urgetl, that they were calculated rather to excite
 
 180 
 
 a tliirst after lionours, than habits ot regular reading, and a 
 taste for general knowledge ; rather to raise a few men of 
 superior abilities to notice, than properly to instruct the bulk 
 of the students, — that tlie quantity of knowledge absolutely 
 necessary for a bare degree was almost nothing ; and that 
 while on the one hand, some gentlemen, often of good abili- 
 ties and excellent learning, through want of a taste for the 
 mathematics, were left without the smallest means of distinc- 
 tion, at the time of taking their degrees^ others, who obtained 
 all the honours, were often merely crammed (to use a Cam- 
 bridge word) with many useless problems ; — useless, at least, 
 for any of the future services of literature, and still more for 
 any of the substantial purposes of civil life. 
 
 But, although the alterations lately introduced into the 
 preparatory Exercises and Examinations in the Senate 
 House will certainly be considered as an improvement on 
 the former plan, being more favourable to classical and ge- 
 neral literature, as also better suited to the business of gra- 
 duating, still there are those who think it a defective plan, 
 liable too much still Uj the old objection, as being less fa- 
 vourable to the instruction and general interests of the many, 
 than to the honours and particular advantages of the few. 
 
 There is, they think, much of the old leaven in the new 
 system ; and besides that, some new matter is added, whicii 
 is by no means of a salutary character, nor adapted to gene- 
 ral usefulness. 
 
 Leaving the other objections to the responsibility of those 
 gentlemen who have urged them, wc just notice one, as form- 
 ing an objection, Avhich seems properly to belong to this place. 
 
 To the new literary airangements, say they, — we are 
 speaking of certain Cantabrigians, — is superadded something 
 of a system partial, and i^rofessional ; which, however requi- 
 site it may be thought for those preparing for the Priesthood, 
 should not be forced on those, w ho are preparing for Law, 
 Physic, and other civil offices in the state. Such things, 
 however, it seems, do make part of the present new regula- 
 tions, — and, is it reasonable, they ask, to suppose, that to the 
 latter such a training can be delectable r that they should 
 wish to imbibe more of lectures on subscription, whether by 
 Burnet, or Welshman, or Paley, or Hey, or Preltyman, 
 (whatever class of expositors may he followed,) than they are
 
 1S7 
 
 obliged to take in — and that they, therefore, will not lose 
 nuicii precious time, in attending them, in the same manner as 
 those who have little taste for Euclid and Newton dream over 
 the expositions of them in the Mathematical Lecture-room f 
 
 The objection seems well grounded ; although the reasons 
 for the present course were obvious, and, at the first view, 
 laudable. 
 
 The gentlemen who attend College- lectures are supposed 
 to be Members of the Church of England, and, if they take 
 Degrees will be required to subscribe on oath, that they ARE 
 bond Jide members of the Church of England : it might, 
 therefore, undoubtedly, be tliought proper that so serious a 
 profession should be preceded by some acquaintance with 
 the doctrines and discipline of the Church — the subjects to 
 which the profession relates — and that it should not be made, 
 as it more generally was, without any previous knowledge, 
 or the least examination. 
 
 Another reason was, no doubt, founded in the complaints, 
 which were made by the bishops and their examining chap- 
 lains of the utter ignoiance of many Cantabrigians who came 
 for ordination, and those often reckoned excellent scholars, 
 and profound mathematicians, with respect to theological 
 matters generally, and particularly of such as relate to the 
 doctrines and discipline of their own church, which they 
 were called on to subscribe, and were expected to teach. 
 
 Subscriptions then — u serious evil, on the principle, ac- 
 cording to which \ye have reasoned the subject in the pre- 
 ceding Dissertation — are still continued under the present sy- 
 stem in our Universities in all their force : If any new light 
 may chance to be thrown in upon them, there may, perhaps, 
 be more let in than some may be willing to receive. For 
 under our recent improvements, as no new, at least, no sa- 
 tisfactory, reasons can be given for their continuance, so no 
 attempts have been made for their removal. 
 
 As to the complaint of the Bishops and their Chaplains, 
 relative to any deficiencies of the Cambridge- students, who 
 applied for ordination, — xi alma mater is understood to keep 
 a preparatory school for the priesthood, she should have a 
 separate class, and her a|)i)ropiiate lecturers. This natural 
 course is follow^ed in other Universities.
 
 18S 
 
 But ^hould even the wisdom of this new course be ad- 
 mitted as a part of Univcrsiiy education, not the shadow o. 
 a new argument is furnished to the adv(jcales for Subscrip- 
 tion at the time of taking Degrees; while the old arguments 
 tor their abolition retain all their force : the old questions 
 i^uu jurcY and cid bono? remain unanswered, and unan- 
 swerable, under the new system, as well as under the old. 
 
 APPENDIX II. (.See page 54.) 
 Forms of Civil Laze in the Lniversitj/ Courts. 
 
 AVe have noticed in the text some resemblance which 
 exists between the exordium to Queen Elizabeth's statutes, 
 and that to Justinian's Institutes ; and we think justly. There 
 is some resemblance in the style, but more in the principles ; 
 in both, the great imperatorial civil law principle prevails, 
 PiiixcipuM Dicta Legis Auctoritatem apud 
 SUBDITOS RETINENT. But the latter possesses more 
 dignity, the former more severity. The truth is, the Queen 
 strove to subdue some stout spirits ; and some, with all her 
 authority, she could not subdue. And what Lord Mansfield 
 says about the Universities receiving these Statutes, and what 
 Dr. Fuller says in his History of Cambridge concerning the 
 Queen's visit to the University, after giving the Statutes, is 
 not the strict truth. These Statutes were rather FORCED 
 on the University, than received by them : they were never 
 properly acknowledged, nor have ever been uniformly acted 
 on. Mandatuin necessilatetn jacit, was the Queen's rule in 
 enforcing them. They occasioned some learned men of the 
 University to leave it, and their country at the same time; 
 and among the MSS. in Bene't College Library there is a 
 protest against them. 
 
 The rules and forms, therefore, of the civil law, intermixed 
 with some called the Cnsto//is of the i niversifi/ prevail in the 
 University Courts, which take cognisance in a/l civil suits, 
 where privileged persons are parties,— except in suits relating 
 to freehold i)roperty. The Chancellor's Courts are all made 
 Courts of Record, whose decisions are absolute and final, 
 as also are the Visitor's Courts of the several Colleges, from 
 which likewise there is no appeal. Agreeably to the forms
 
 189 
 
 of the Civil Law, they have no Juries. In the High Stew- 
 ard's Court, indeed, persons have been tried by a jury, — one 
 half privileged persons, the other half not privileged. But as 
 no cause has been tried in this Court for more than a cen- 
 tury, it may be said now not to exist ; and as it is not likely 
 ever to be revived, and even while it did exist, — though 
 sanctioned by Elizabeth's Charter, — was contrary to the old 
 Customs of the University ; such being the case, all the 
 University Courts may be said to have no Juries. 
 
 In the text we have alluded to common lawyers, who have 
 disapproved these civil law forms in our University Courts. 
 With respect to Coke, however, I was misled by Blackstone's 
 manner of quoting him : for I quoted him from Blackstone. 
 
 The privilege of trying and determining Causes in a Forum 
 domesticum is possessed also by foreign Universities, and the 
 reasons for granting them have been vindicated on the plea, 
 that students should not be distracted from their studies, by 
 applying to distant courts, nor the funds of the Societies be 
 wasted by expensive legal processes; considerations, more 
 applicable to the convenience of place, than to the propriety 
 or necessity of the forms, and still more applicable to coun- 
 tries which had not the benefit of common law, but were 
 governed on the principles of the Roman Civil Law, than to 
 England, where the Common Law is interwoven in the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 These proceedings, so contrary to the rules of English Law, 
 have been noticed by our Common Lawyers, Coke, Hale, and 
 Blackstone, who have admitted, that this privilege, although 
 derived from remote antiquity, and confirmed by Charters, 
 from the time of Hen. HL to Queen Elizabeth, were not- 
 withstanding invalid, and must have been considered illegal, 
 till they were all legalised in a mass by the memorable act, 
 for the incorporation of the two Universities, 13 Eliz. c. 29. 
 
 " This /;/e6sec? act — as Sir Edw. Coke entitles it — established 
 this high privilege without any doubt or opposition." These 
 are Judge Blackstone's words; and, as he has in the clearest 
 manner expressed his disapprobation of this Civil Law pro- 
 ceeding in our English University Courts, and puts the word 
 blessed in italics, we thought that he insinuated, that Sir Edw. 
 Coke spoke ironically. But, on turning to Coke, we found
 
 1!)U 
 
 that he spoke seriously : still — if indeed Coke was in sober 
 earnest — Sir Ed\vardCoke,widi Judges Hale and Blackstonc 
 — all admit, that till the passing of that Act 13 Eliz. o. 129, the 
 abovesaid privileges, though enjoyed for some hundred years, 
 were illegal and unconstitutional. And that honest old 
 Chancellor in Henry VI.'s reign, Sir John Fortescue, who, 
 in his famous book, de Laudibus Legiiin Anglic, makes such 
 nice distinctions between the Civil and Common Law, and 
 gives such a decided preference to the latter, must unques- 
 tionably have given the same judgement, had he been led to 
 speak on that subject: for that fundamental princij^le of the 
 Civil Law, Regis Voluntas Legis Auctoritate]m 
 APUD SUBDITGS RETINET, insisted on with such an air 
 of dignity by Queen Elizabeth, when addressing the Univer- 
 sity on her visit, is quoted by Fortescue for the very oppo- 
 site purpose, viz. to express his utter dislike to the principles 
 of the Civil Law, when compared with those t)f the Common 
 Law of England. 
 
 APPENDIX IIL (See page S\.) 
 
 Duke of Grafton, Inie Chancellor, SjX. 
 
 As the name of the late Duke of Grafton may probably 
 occur in some list of noble peisonages with LL.D. annexed 
 to it, as being Chancellor, it may be proper to add here, that 
 if it does, it is a mistake : when the officer approached him, 
 on his being installed Chancellor, to put on him the Doctor 
 of Laws Robe, the Duke declined putting it on, adding, that 
 a Chancellor's robe was superior to a Doctor's, and that — 
 through not subscribing — he could not be a Doctor of Laws. 
 
 I have been also informed, by a friend of the Duke's, who 
 accompanied him on his installation, that when the Statutes 
 of the University were presented to him, he was visibly 
 much confused: and when he returned to the Lodire of Tri- 
 nity College, that he expressed him<;elf greatly disjilcased 
 with Dr. HinchdiflFe, the Maskr, who was the Vice Chan- 
 cellor, for not having ac([uainted him with a custom, which 
 was for the Chancellor to address the Body on the Statutes 
 being presented to him. 
 
 The jMcsumption is, that, although the Duke might not 
 have expressed his disapprobation of those .Statutes, he would
 
 191 
 
 have somewhat told his zcorcln; for liis Grace approved some 
 of the Statutes as Httle as he did the Thirty-nine Articles. 
 
 The following particulars I received from a friend, aad 
 they are inserted here in his own words, by way of illustra- 
 ting some things stated in the text relative to the economy of 
 the University. 
 
 "Grebenhohoff'was one of the gentlemen sent by Queen 
 Catharine of Russia for education in other countries. He 
 resided between three and four years a Fellow Commoner, 
 at Christ College, Cambridge, and at the proper time ap- 
 plied for his Bachelor's degree, and in consequence was re- 
 quired to subscribe to the usual form, * I do declare that I 
 am bondjide a member of the Church of England as by law 
 established.' How can I do this, said the Russian, since I 
 am a member of the Greek Church ; and what will the em- 
 press and my countrymen say, if I thus disavow my faith ?" 
 In consequence he could not be admitted to his degree ; but 
 to reconcile him in some measure to his loss, a certificate 
 was given to him of approbation of his conduct and studies. 
 
 "At Oxford, another occurrence manifests the folly of their 
 subscription. The son of the present King of Holland was 
 placed under the tuition of the present Bishop of London, 
 and on that account resided in the city of Oxford ; and he 
 would have been a member of a College, but the subscrip- 
 tion required as a previous ceremony to admission deprived 
 the University of the honour of this royal pupil." 
 
 APPENDIX IV. (Seepage 172.) 
 
 Dr. Fahy. 
 Those acquainted with the principles and character of Ur. 
 Paley will not be surprised to find his name in this list of our 
 Testes Libevtatis, notwithstanding what he says on Religious 
 Establishments and Subscripcion to Articles in B. 3. c. 2. 
 and B. 6. c. 10. of his Morr^ Philosophi/. Indeed, over all 
 that he advances on Tests and Subscriptions, the veil thrown 
 is so flimsy, that every body sees through it: he does not 
 say enough to convince any one of the truth of the articles to 
 be subscribed, but more than enough to convince every one, 
 that he did not believe them himself. What, however, he 
 does say, relates not to candidates for Degrees in our Univer-
 
 192 
 
 sity, but to those for the ministry in the Church : an J even 
 for them it is clear he does not approve of the present form 
 of numerous articles to be subscribed, but wishes for one 
 more simple : he is, therefore, in short, reduced to the neces- 
 sity of considering the present articles merely as Articles of 
 Peace. As to Subscription for Degrees, on that he says not a 
 word : but by his friends — and we have had the honour lo 
 know some of his most intimate friends, — it was well-known 
 that he sided in the University with Mr. Tyrwhitt, Dr. Jebb, 
 Bishops Law and Watson, who were for the abolition of 
 Subscriptions for the purpose of Degrees : and all advanced 
 by him on the present form of clerical Subscriptions is a 
 string of sophisms, which was unravelled by himself in a 
 pamphlet vindicating Bishop Law, who had written against 
 subscription, and published by Dr. Falcy himself, though 
 without a name, in 1774. 
 
 The high estimation, however, in which the principles of 
 Dr. Paley are held in the University of Cambridge, is a proof, 
 that the age of bigotry, at least, is gone by, and that this is 
 the age of liberality, though it may be difficult to foresee, 
 when that of reformation, which Mr. Locke and others might 
 look for, will arrive. 
 
 Dr. Paley closes the pamphlet just alluded to as follows : 
 "After returning thanks in the name of the fraternity, to him* 
 and to all who touch the burden of Subscription with but one 
 of their fingers, I would wish to leave with them this obser- 
 vation, that as the man who attacks a flourishing establish- 
 ment writes with a halter round his neck, few ever will be 
 found to attempt alterations, but men of more spirit than 
 prudence, of more sincerity than caution, of warm, eager, 
 and impetuous tempers; that consequenUv, if we are to wait 
 for improvement till the cool, the calm, the discreet part of 
 mankind begin it, till church governors solicit, or niinislers 
 of state propose it, I will venture to pronounce, that (without 
 His interposition with whom nothing is impossible) we may 
 remain as we are, till the renovation of all things." 
 
 * To Dr. Randolph, who had written, A Reply to Bishop Law. 
 
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