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Article ON THE DISCIPLINE OF THE UNIVERSITY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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On The Discipline Of The University.
It must , I think , be ascribed to a variety of causes , partly acting upon each other , and some of them total '} " independent . The first cause , which operates -. dike in both Universities ,, is e positive adherence to statutes and customs , which , not according with the present improved state of iearniuj ; , nor with the r . ; aimers of the present timesfatigue and disgtiit the students immediately on their
, admission . Extreme early rising and constant attendance in the chapel , are hardships in which they perceive no utility . They comply with reluctance . They are disgustt-d with an academical life . They reside no longer than is absolutely necessary , and they look forward with impatience to the day of their release . In such a temper little improvement can be expected . No young man will
apply to learning con amore , in a disagreeable situation . I am , nevertheless , far from thinking that young gentlemen should be entirely unrt-strained ; but 1 am of opinion , that these restrictions should be confined to their immoralities , and that , in all other r espects , their residence at the University should be rendered as agreeable to themselves as possible . There is a rincile in human
p p nature so averse to coercion , particularly about the age of sixteen , ' that the lectures of your tutors make very little impressiont because they are attended by compulsion . In every other University in Europe , attendance upon lectures is a voluntary act : no task , no exercises , are imposed . Nevertheless , the public lectures are
universally attended , and the students listen with an eager desire of information ; because their attendance is voluntary . It cannot be denied , that the Colleges in our English Universities retain an obvious similitude to Roman Catholic convents ; and it is very surprizing that the reformation should have produced so little , so very little , alteration in their institutes , habits , and regulations ; many of which are totally indefensible on principles either of policy
or utility . . In these strictures I have told you nothing that you did not know before ; nothing- with which the whole world is not as well acquaint- ? ed as myself ; nor have I discovered any blemishes that are not seen and felt hy every rational member of both Universities . Why then , you will askare no steps taken towards reformation ?
, You remember / Esop ' s fable of the mice and the cat . Who will hang the bell ? A first reformer is sure to create many enemies . It is very difficult to stem and divert into another channel , a torrent of prejudice that has been so many years accumulating , without being carried down with the stream . But such a reformation requires a power which the Universities themselves do not possess . It must be
the act of the legislature ; and the administration in this kingdom is generally too deeply involved in national politics to spare the time and application that a reform of such importance would require . It is possible that , in some future period , a fortunate concurrence of circumstances may produce a rational and uniform system of education in both Universities . There are now resident at Oxford and at Cambridge men fully adequate to the delineation of a com-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Discipline Of The University.
It must , I think , be ascribed to a variety of causes , partly acting upon each other , and some of them total '} " independent . The first cause , which operates -. dike in both Universities ,, is e positive adherence to statutes and customs , which , not according with the present improved state of iearniuj ; , nor with the r . ; aimers of the present timesfatigue and disgtiit the students immediately on their
, admission . Extreme early rising and constant attendance in the chapel , are hardships in which they perceive no utility . They comply with reluctance . They are disgustt-d with an academical life . They reside no longer than is absolutely necessary , and they look forward with impatience to the day of their release . In such a temper little improvement can be expected . No young man will
apply to learning con amore , in a disagreeable situation . I am , nevertheless , far from thinking that young gentlemen should be entirely unrt-strained ; but 1 am of opinion , that these restrictions should be confined to their immoralities , and that , in all other r espects , their residence at the University should be rendered as agreeable to themselves as possible . There is a rincile in human
p p nature so averse to coercion , particularly about the age of sixteen , ' that the lectures of your tutors make very little impressiont because they are attended by compulsion . In every other University in Europe , attendance upon lectures is a voluntary act : no task , no exercises , are imposed . Nevertheless , the public lectures are
universally attended , and the students listen with an eager desire of information ; because their attendance is voluntary . It cannot be denied , that the Colleges in our English Universities retain an obvious similitude to Roman Catholic convents ; and it is very surprizing that the reformation should have produced so little , so very little , alteration in their institutes , habits , and regulations ; many of which are totally indefensible on principles either of policy
or utility . . In these strictures I have told you nothing that you did not know before ; nothing- with which the whole world is not as well acquaint- ? ed as myself ; nor have I discovered any blemishes that are not seen and felt hy every rational member of both Universities . Why then , you will askare no steps taken towards reformation ?
, You remember / Esop ' s fable of the mice and the cat . Who will hang the bell ? A first reformer is sure to create many enemies . It is very difficult to stem and divert into another channel , a torrent of prejudice that has been so many years accumulating , without being carried down with the stream . But such a reformation requires a power which the Universities themselves do not possess . It must be
the act of the legislature ; and the administration in this kingdom is generally too deeply involved in national politics to spare the time and application that a reform of such importance would require . It is possible that , in some future period , a fortunate concurrence of circumstances may produce a rational and uniform system of education in both Universities . There are now resident at Oxford and at Cambridge men fully adequate to the delineation of a com-