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"than that it should remain in its present state; best of all, "perhaps, that all should be thrown together. The incon"veniences of the half-and-half condition are obvious, and "there is no one advantage to counterbalance it." Some of these Fellows are mere Exhibitioners, having no voice in the management of the affairs of the Society, and though they may be superior in every respect to the Fellows of the original Foundation, from being chosen under no restrictions, are not eligible to the Headship and other offices. In other cases the line of demarcation is less complete, but the disparity is still an evil. It is not so common to find men of merit to serve College offices, as to render it indifferent that even one Fellow should be ineligible. Entirely concurring with the Archbishop of Dublin, we are of opinion that, on any revision of the Statutes, it should be enacted that all Fellows, as such, should have the same privileges, and be equally eligible to all offices.

Recommendation of the Royal Commissioners on the Ecclesiastical Patronage of the Colleges.

We may here add a few remarks on what is generally regarded as the natural termination to the tenure of a Fellowship; we mean the Benefices in the gift of Colleges. As there is now but little prospect offered of obtaining a permanent settlement in the University, and as the majority of the Fellows are obliged to take Orders, most of them are naturally anxious for clerical preferment. For this reason, Colleges are eager to obtain advowsons, and some of them. set apart a portion of their revenues for the purpose of purchasing them. This patronage is a means of providing permanently for a large number of Fellows; and it is thought that a more rapid succession may thus be caused. But it is very doubtful whether either literature or the Church derive any benefit from the ecclesiastical patronage of Colleges. That a College should be deserted by any of its abler men in their full strength, for a country living, in which they are for the most part lost to learning, is a great evil, even when they are succeeded by young men of promise. It is doubtful, too, whether on the whole the succession is really accelerated. The prospect of a benefice often prevents expectants from exerting their energies, or settling in life as early as they otherwise would. On the other hand, Colleges are not good dispensers of patronage to their own body. It is a "rule of peace" in them to offer vacant benefices in succession to the Fellows according to seniority, without any regard to their qualifications for the office. A very immoral person, if such there were, would be passed over; but the most important livings may be claimed from generation to generation by elderly men, who have lingered in the College for many weary years, in hopes of the particular preferment which they eventually obtain, till they are fit neither

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for the post which they have coveted, nor for any other. If benefactors should be willing to give advowsons to Colleges, it might be inexpedient to forbid the acceptance of their bounty; but, in our opinion, the revenues of the Colleges themselves ought not to be applied to the purchase of preferment. If the obligation to take Orders should be removed, the patronage of Colleges would virtually be increased, and their mode of dispensing it probably improved.

Observations of the Royal Commissioners on an Improved Distribution of the College Revenues.

We have now gone through the various obstacles, the removal of which appears to us essential, to fit the Colleges for taking their proper part in the great work of education. But in order to meet the wants of the University and the country, something more is required than to render it imperative to elect the most able candidates who can be found. This would not render the endowments of Colleges more available than they are at present for supporting actual Students, nor would it give to the University a body of teachers devoted to learning and science. To effect this, however, no violent innovation is required; no invasion of the proprietary rights of Colleges; no application of their revenues to purposes other than those to which they are now, though but partially and incompletely, subservient. The Revenues of Colleges may be regarded, when usefully employed, first, as stimulants and rewards for Students; secondly, as endowments for Teachers. We are of opinion that all that is needed is to alter to some extent the proportion in which the Revenues of Colleges are distributed between these objects.

In discussing this important subject, we purpose first to indicate the extent of the advantages which will be offered to Students by the measures we have already recommended in regard to Fellowships. We will then proceed to show the necessity to which we have already adverted, of setting apart a certain number of Fellowships in every College for the encouragement of those branches of learning which now form part of the University course, but which are not likely to be fostered by the hope of Fellowships, unless such a measure be adopted. We shall next point out how the revenues of Colleges should, in conformity with the purposes

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of Founders, be applied to support actual Students. Finally, we shall suggest how, in conformity with the most useful application of such endowments in modern times, a portion of the College Revenues might be applied to support Instructors of a higher order.

We have to speak first of the advantages likely to be offered to Students generally by the opening of Fellowships.