which you apprehend, from the abuse of the power possessed by members of the senate, depends entirely on this contingency. We may after all be battling about a straw. We are not, however, left in such utter uncertainty on this point, as not to be able to form even a probable conjecture, within limits sufficiently precise for our present purpose. The proportion of Dissenters to Members of the Church of England at the University, cannot be expected to exceed that of the former body to the latter in the country; but there is reason to think that it will fall far short of this proportion. It is not, however, the proportion of the whole numbers of the two bodies that we have here to look to, but it is the proportion between the educated and affluent classes among them. We Churchmen commonly believe that in this comparison at least we have an immense advantage over the Dissenters. If we are not entirely deceived in our calculation, we must always form the preponderant, the overpowering body here: if we should have any thing to fear from the Dissenters, it would certainly not be from their superiority in numbers; and we shall surely not give them credit for any other.

"For my own part I am not one of those, if there are any such, who only consider this measure as one of policy, or of liberality, or of justice, but care little about its operation. I heartily wish that, if carried, it may have the effect of attracting many Dissenters to receive an University education. I wish it not for their sakes

only, but for our own. I think the substantial interests of the University, literature and science, morality and religion, would all gain by such an accession to our numbers. This belief is more than a vague surmise. It is grounded on facts which no candid observer can dispute: it is grounded on experiment, which, though limited, is applicable as far as it goes. All observation and all analogy lead us to expect that the sons of Dissenters of the middling class, and it is such alone that we have to look for here, would add strength to that part of our students which we desire to see growing till it absorb all the rest: to that part which includes the quiet, the temperate, the thoughtful, the industrious, those who feel the value of their time, and the dignity of their pursuits. Such

Dissenters we have had, and have now among us; I wish we had more of them; I should think the advantage of their presence cheaply purchased by any share of our endowments, which, if all were thrown open to competition, they would be able to obtain."

8. Remarks on University Education, from the North American Review for October, 1842, and from the American Notes of Mr. Dickens.

"THE immediate advantages of a good system of College education affect but a small part of the community, though its more remote and equally certain results are felt throughout the social and political system. These touch the welfare of men, who never heard the lecture of a professor, and who hardly know what a University means. In the Colleges is determined the character of most of the persons, who are to fill the professions, teach the schools, write the books, and do most of the business of legislation, for the whole body of the people. The general direction of literature and politics, the prevailing habits and modes of thought throughout the country, are in the hands of men, whose social position and early advantages have given them an influence, of the magnitude and permanency of which the possessors themselves are hardly con

scious.

"How much, for instance, of the present aspect of English literature, of the conservative tone of British politics, of the actual direction of the wealth and power of the mother country, is to be ascribed to the influences at work within the walls of the two great Universities of England, and to the nature of the education which is there given. We do not refer merely to the number of authors, politicians, and public men, who were educated at Oxford and Cambridge. It is rather the great body of the English gentry, the wealthy, influential, and intelligent classes, who really hold the reins of power in the country, and to whom books and speeches are addressed; who hear what authors, politicians, and reformers have to say, and then decide upon the character of what they have heard. The tendency of national literature, the tone of public sentiment, is rather determined by people who read books, than by those who write them; by men who vote, rather than by those who speak in Parliament or Congress. The nature of the supply

will always be directed by the demand. It is by overlooking this important distinction, and by attending only to the alleged fact, that the graduates of Colleges do not, after all, monopolize the prizes in science, literature, and public life, that men are led to underrate the influence of the great seminaries of learning. A cultivated taste, a fine appreciation of scholarship, a regard for scientific pursuits, a nice sense of honour, an attachment to existing institutions, are some of the qualities which English gentlemen acquire in these venerable establishments; and, though the education there given is far from being the best possible one, though the alumni may often win less distinction in after life, than men of ardent temperaments and brilliant talents, but of irregular training, who start forth from the mass of the people, yet these last would find their progress impeded and their efforts fruitless, if they were not understood, encouraged, and supported by the wealthy graduates of the Universities. A century ago, the aid, thus given, assumed the offensive form of individual patronage, which it has now happily lost, because a taste for literary and scientific pursuits has spread through a larger number, and manifests itself in a more delicate and effectual way.

"In this country, the want of an influential and highly educated class, able to appreciate the studies and productions of scholars, discoverers in science, and laborers in the less popular departments of literature, is likely to be felt in a serious degree. Such a body of men can be trained only in Colleges deserving of the name, where a large and generous scheme of instruction is prosecuted with ample means and lofty aims. An institution, which is intended to be popular in the lowest sense of the term, which is dependent for support on the majority of the people, and must therefore flatter the prejudices and follow the guidance of that majority, cannot send forth graduates, whose acquirements, tastes, and opinions will tend to elevate and refine the feelings and judgments of the community. The utmost they can do will be to preserve the standard of taste and learning where it is; they cannot raise it."

ones.

"American legislatures are far more willing to found new Colleges, than to make any attempt to improve the condition of old Public aid is loudly invoked in the outset; but, as soon as the institution is fairly under way, any censorship, any criticism on its management, any suggestion for its improvement, is apt to be resented as officious intermeddling with the concerns of a Corporation or a Board of Trustees. The establishment ceases to be a public one. Commonly it is in the hands of a sect, or a party. It is supported by their donations, and filled by their children, and any efforts of the public to control it are successfully resisted;supposing always, that the public ever makes the effort, which it is not likely to do, because no pecuniary or political gain can be expected from the interference. A German University, on the other hand, is the child of the state. It is a great public institution, in the welfare of which the government and the people are as deeply interested, as in the good condition of the finances, the laws, the schools, or the roads. A constant oversight is maintained, and such changes are made in the constitution of the seminary, and such persons appointed to office in it, as the altered circumstances of the times, and the public voice, may require. Though the creature of a despotic government, the institution is eminently a popular one, and as such is controlled by public opinion; for there are no politics in learning and science, and the interests of the constituted authorities, in regard to such establishments, must coincide with the views and feelings of that portion of the people, who are competent to consider and decide upon such matters. Thus the prosperity and the sphere of action of the University are coextensive with the liberal spirit, the enlightened mind, and the powerful resources of the nation to which it belongs. American colleges are generally close, private corporations. Each institution is controlled entirely by its private board of trustees or other officers, and this board is responsible only to the clique, the district of country, the political party, or the religious sect, which called it into being. The interests of this party or denomination form the leading object of effort, and to this end the more general and lofty aims of a University are sacrificed. No wonder, that the