COLLEGE LECTURES.

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To prevent the same Lectures from being read over and over again every year, all written Lectures might be required to be printed at the end of the year in which they were given.

It would be very inexpedient to make the Professors useful by forcing men to attend their Lectures. A Professor cannot be a Tutor; he cannot in the least judge who ought and who ought not to come to his Lectures; nor whether a man will not acquire the knowledge better without his aid. The studious men can judge for themselves on that point; the idle men are much better left to the control of the Tutors.*

* Page 123.

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tory.'

"Mr. John Scott took his Bachelor's Degree in Hilary "Term, on the 20th February, 1770. An examination "for a Degree at Oxford,' he used to say, was a farce "in my time. I was examined in Hebrew and in HisWhat is the Hebrew for the place of a skull?' "I replied, Golgotha.' Who founded University College?' I stated (though, by the way, the point is some"times doubted) that King Alfred founded it.'Very "well, Sir,' said the Examiner, you are competent for your Degree.'"†

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Every Candidate is obliged to be examined in the "whole circle of the sciences by three Masters of Arts, of "his own choice. The examination is to be holden in one "of the public schools, and to continue from nine o'clock "till eleven. The Masters take a most solemn oath that they will examine properly and impartially. Dreadful as "all this appears, there is always found to be more of appearance in it than reality, for the greatest dunce "usually gets his testimonium signed with as much ease and "credit as the finest genius. The manner of proceeding is "as follows: The poor young man to be examined in the "sciences often knows no more of them than his bed-maker, "and the Masters who examine are sometimes equally unacquainted with such mysteries. But schemes, as they are called, or little books, containing 40 or 50 questions "in each science, are handed down from age to age, from "one to another. The Candidate to be examined employs "three or four days in learning these by heart, and the “Examiners, having done the same before him when they "were examined, know what questions to ask, and so all

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* Report, p. 59.

+ Life of Lord Eldon, by Horace Twiss, vol. i. p. 57.

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THE LAUDIAN SCHEME.

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"goes on smoothly. When the Candidate has displayed "his universal knowledge of the sciences, he is to display "his skill in Philology. One of the Masters, therefore, "desires him to construe a passage in some Greek or Latin classic, which he does with no interruption, just as he pleases, and as well as he can. The Statutes next require "that he should translate familiar English phrases into "Latin. And now is the time when the Masters show "their wit and jocularity. Droll questions are put on any subject, and the puzzled Candidate furnishes diversion in "his awkward embarrassment. I have known the questions "on this occasion to consist of an inquiry into the pedigree "of a race-horse." *

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It might have been added that at this time the Examiners were chosen by the Candidate himself from among his friends, and he was expected to provide a dinner for them after the Examination was over.

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From the first, there were not wanting indications that the Laudian scheme would fail. In the very year in which the Examination was put in force, two Bachelors were deprived of their Degree, and the Regents who examined them were called in question by the Vice-Chancellor "for going directly against their oaths in giving testimony to such "ignorant men."† In the following year the Vice-Chancellor, having been absent from Oxford for a fortnight, the Examinations " were at a dead stand." It was necessary to take measures 66 to prevent collusion between Examinants "and Candidates." ‡

Causes of the Failure of Laud's Examination.

Experience enables us to discern some at least of the causes of this failure. There were no substantial benefits to be gained, even by the most brilliant success at the

The Works of Dr. Vicesimus Knox, vol. i. pp. 377-380. No. 77, of Essays, Moral and Literary. 8vo. London, 1824.

+ Laud's Chancellorship, p. 180.

† Ibid., pp. 195, 211.

Public Examinations. It has been found in our own time that the attempt to encourage the study of Mathematics in Oxford has hitherto failed, in a great measure, because Mathematicians, as such, are rarely elected to open Fellowships. The honours, however, awarded to this study in the Public Examinations, with the Scholarships founded to encourage it, do secure its being pursued by a small number of Students. But there were no honours awarded in the Examination instituted by Archbishop Laud; and the failure of his scheme was eventually as complete as the attempt lately made to promote the study of Theology by a mere Examination without honours or advantages; an attempt which has resulted in the annual appointment of three Examiners, but which has produced little more than three Candidates in the ten years which have passed since its establishment. Again, while the Laudian scheme offered no inducement to do more than could be achieved by Students of very inferior ability, even this low standard was not kept up, and the fear of failure soon vanished. Farther, the Examiners held office for three days only, and were appointed without regard to their qualifications. They received no payment; they were under no responsibility to public opinion; in some cases, perhaps, they knew less than those whom they examined; and, if they knew more, the difficulty of discriminating between Candidates who were probably more nearly on the same level of ignorance than is the case in our own day, must have made even resolute Examiners shrink from the task of rejection. To render a system of Examinations effectual, it is indispensable that there should be danger of rejection for inferior candidates, honourable distinctions and substantial rewards for the able and diligent, with Examiners of high character, acting under immediate responsibility to public opinion. In the scheme of Laud all these things were wanting.

Studies of the University, as reformed in the present Century. Examination Statute of 1800.

We proceed to consider the Studies of the University as regulated by the new system, which dates from the commencement of the present century.

The Studies of the University were first raised from their abject state by a Statute passed chiefly at the instance of Dr. Eveleigh, Provost of Oriel College, in 1800. The new system of Public Examinations then instituted* was based on that of Laud; and was, like that of Laud, intended to apply to the Degree of Master as well as to that of Bachelor of Arts. The subjects for the first Degree were Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Moral Philosophy, and the Elements of Mathematics and Physics; and especial stress was laid on a knowledge of the Greek and Latin writers. Every Candidate was to be examined in at least three authors of the best age and stamp. For the Master's Degree, the Bachelor was to be examined in Mathematics and Physics, in Metaphysics, History, and Hebrew. Candidates for the Degree of Bachelor in Civil Law were to be examined in all the subjects prescribed for the Degree of B.A., with the addition of History and Jurisprudence. Permission was given to examine Candidates either in English or Latin; translation from English into Latin was required; and a knowledge of the Elements of Religion and the Thirty-nine Articles.

Two great improvements were effected by this change in the Statutes. First, distinctions were awarded to the ablest Candidates. Twelve of these were to be classed in order of merit; and in case more than twelve were found worthy of distinction, a second list was to be drawn up on the same principle. The lists were to be made public. Thus the University acknowledged that Degrees were not of themselves adequate honours for Students of merit. The second