that hath his hope in heaven and his conversation in heaven; that dare not do an unjust act, though never so much to his advantage; and all this because he sees Him that is invisible, and fears him because he loves Him, fears Him as well for his goodness as his greatness;—such a man, whether he be an Episcopal, or a Presbyterian, or an Independent, or an Anabaptist, whether he wears a surplice or wears none, whether he hears organs or hears none, whether he kneels at the communion or for conscience' sake stands or sits,―he hath the life of religion in him, and that life acts in him and will conform his soul to the image of his Saviour, and walk along with him to eternity, notwithstanding his practice or non-practice of these indifferents.

"On the other side, if a man fears not the eternal God, dares commit any sin with presumption, can drink excessively, swear vainly or falsely, commit adultery, lie, cozen, cheat, break his promises, live loosely,though he practise every ceremony never so curiously, or as stubbornly oppose them; though he cry down bishops or cry down presbytery; though he be re-baptized every day, or though he disclaim against it as heresy; though he fast all the Lent, or fasts out of pretence of avoiding superstition,-yet, notwithstanding these and a thousand more external conformities or zealous oppositions of them, he wants the Life of Religion."

We noticed the tenth and eleventh Tracts in our former Number, p. 97; and though we would willingly give extracts from the latter, which is peculiarly applicable to Scotland, we refrain, from a fear of tiring our readers. The twelfth consists of five small tracts, called "Golden Testimonies on behalf of Religious and Christian Liberty." We thank the editors for the service they have rendered to this great cause by the republication of so much valuable matter, which, though in great part written in a style which may appear antiquated, should be "embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." It is, indeed, delightful to be able, amidst the raging bigotry of the present day, to refer to Milton and Hale and Foster amongst lawyers and statesmen, to Hoadly and Hales amongst Churchmen, not to speak of some distinguished moderns, as favouring the opinion that religion consists not so much in the peculiar doctrines advocated by different sects, as in purity of heart and life, and in enlarged and universal benevolence, which may exist with any of those doctrines, and which are not necessarily connected with any of them. Whilst we feel it a sacred duty to use the light of reason and conscience bestowed upon us, and to seek truth without regard to the authority of Creeds or Churches, we avow there is nothing so odious to us, wheresoever found, as that assumption of infallibility, which leads a man to condemn his fellow-man because, in exercising the same right, he may arrive at a different conclusion.

Δ.

ART. V.-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.

Observations on the Statutes of the University of Cambridge. By the Very Rev. Dr. Peacock, Dean of Ely, Vice President of the Royal Society, and Professor of Astronomy and Geometry in the University of Cambridge. London: 1841. Clerical Education considered, with an especial reference to the Universities. By the Rev. Charles Perry, M.A., Fellow and late Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: 1841.

UNIVERSITY Education is justly regarded with much interest, by the higher classes of Society, in England, at the present day, and the observations of clergymen of learning and practical experience on this department of national improvement, must be received with attention, even when they do not altogether command the unqualified assent of all denominations of the laity to the whole system of changes which is earnestly proposed for adoption.

The ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge are fortunate in possessing the power of instructing a large number of the youthful aristocracy and gentry of this country; they also enjoy the privilege of educating the sons of the clergy of the Church of England, who are compelled to obtain a university degree, as an introduction to episcopal ordination, which can alone qualify them for holding church livings;-students who are intended for the legal profession find it frequently advantageous to pass through the routine of University instruction before they are called to the bar, and several medical students are always found among the resident members of these venerable seats of learning.

In addition to their aristocratical and professional advantages, the universities are also enriched by large sums of money, which are placed at the disposal of the college authorities of Oxford and Cambridge, as the rewards of successful learning.

The total annual value of the pecuniary benefits thus conferred upon learned men, and especially upon learned clergymen, has been recently estimated in the following table, by the Rev. H. L. Jones, M.A., of the University of Cambridge.

A small proportion, comparatively, of this vast amount of college preferment is placed in the hands of the government of the country; and the Mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge, is probably the most valuable and the most influential college endowment in either University, which is held at the disposal of the sovereign: but the pecuniary importance of this Mastership, which is usually estimated at £1,500 per annum, or £2,000 at the very utmost, is of slight consequence, when compared with the educational influence, which may be exercised by the master of such a large and popular institution, as he possesses also the appointment of the college tutors.

After the experience of a residence of nearly a quarter of a century in Trinity College, Cambridge, as a fellow and tutor of the college, and after a minute and searching examination into the ancient statutes of the University, and the principal colleges of Cambridge, the Dean of Ely has recently published a very interesting work, at the commencement of which he declares his opinion, that very few vestiges remain, at the present time, either of the former system of University Education, which was prescribed in the old statutes, or of the practical regulations which they enforce.

The learned Dean also states, in the same volume, that the task of reform has either been considered hopeless and impracticable in the University itself, or that it has been checked by the VOL. III. No. 12.-New Series.

apprehension of incurring the charge of attempting innovations, whose ultimate consequences the reformers could not foresee. The great majority of the members of the University are likewise supposed by the Dean to have considered that the safety of that institution might be endangered by any attempt at reform or reparation, "which could expose and make manifest the rotten timbers, which were concealed in its structure: and that, remembering the indignation and ridicule which had generally attended all previous attempts at innovation, they have been contented to rest satisfied with the continuance of a system which had been acquiesced in, for so many generations, without remonstrance or complaint."

After giving the example of the antiquated form of supplication which is still used for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the Dean of Ely says, "In whatever direction we examine our academical proceedings, we shall meet with similar consequences of the discrepancy which exists between the written law and the practice of the University; our oaths and formulæ refer to the written law, while our real transactions, and more especially those which involve the conditions of graduation, refer to the practice of the University."

The Dean judiciously recommends a general revision of the College Statutes, and he appears to wish that the Elizabethan code of the University laws should be remodelled under the joint authority of the Crown and the University.

Mr. Perry, in his pamphlet on Clerical Education, views the present state of the University under a different light, and he openly accuses the University of a breach of trust in not providing a system of theological instruction adapted to the wants of the present age, as the ancient divinity course of education, which is now obsolete, was probably adapted to the wants of the majority of the students, in the age when the University statutes were originally framed.

Both the Dean of Ely and Mr. Perry are earnestly desirous to establish a regular system of theological instruction for the divinity students of the Church of England, at Cambridge, and sanguine hopes are entertained, that the Senate of the University will appoint a committee on this important subject.

The great object of the examinations into intellectual attainments, which are required at Cambridge, for the divinity students, in common with the lay students, appears to be to maintain and increase worldly credit and intellectual power by suitable rewards; and as knowledge on theological subjects is now gradually spreading throughout society in England, the rising generation of the clergy will probably be required by the Bishops

to place themselves in advance of the laity, by their proficiency in Theological studies.

The ancient Universities are described by Mr. Perry as in strict connexion with the Established Church; and the greater number of the Heads of Houses, professors, fellows, and tutors of colleges, resident within those Universities, are undoubtedly clergymen, and clergymen are considered the proper persons to superintend the professional education of those students who intend to enter the Ministry, and who now constitute nearly one half of the total number of the resident students in the University.

But there is another subject to be considered; Is it just and fair, that nearly the whole of the political power of the ancient Universities should be monopolized in the nineteenth century by any one profession? or that nearly all the best pecuniary rewards of Oxford and Cambridge should now be held by clergymen?

In 1727, Dr. Woodward founded a Professorship of Geology at Cambridge, and he then gently expressed his sentiments on the vast preponderance of the preferments of the clergy, in the following words of his will:

"My will further is, that if a divine shall at any time happen to be a competitor with a layman for this lectureship, (of Geology,) in case the latter shall be as well qualified, he shall ever have preference of the former; not out of any disrespect to the clergy, (for whom I have ever had a particular regard,) but because there is in this kingdom better provision, and a much greater number of preferments for the clergy, than for men of learning among the laity."

A principal reason of the extraordinary disproportion between the rewards of learning for the clergy and the laity, which was thus mentioned by Dr. Woodward, may probably be found in the warm and enthusiastic attachment which was formerly manifested towards the Roman Catholic Church, in England, in those ages which succeeded the crusades, and which are remarkable in English history, from the misery and confusion occasioned by the sanguinary civil wars of the rival families of York and Lancaster.

Superstitious feelings were at that time aided by the political advantages which were gained from the good will of the powerful aristocracy of the Roman Catholic clergy, and the representations of general weakness in the Church militant were consequently answered by generous donations, from sovereigns and other illustrious personages, who founded and endowed large colleges, in both the Universities of Oxford and Cam