It is curious to note how great a change has
come over the spirit of Oxford and Cambridge in relation to the endowments of those Universities and their Colleges. Last year we criticised a demand for reform, originating chiefly in Oxford, which seemed to us to go beyond reason in the dimensions of the changes for which it asked. Now it is Cambridge which requests Mr. Gladstone to use his influence as head of the Government to aid in the cause of University Reform. The declaration, which is signed by 142 resident members of the University of Cam- bridge, asserts that no Fellowship should be tenable for life except in return for real academical services rendered actively and directly in connection with the University or the Colleges ; that the Colleges should be enabled to associate for educational purposes, and that the relations between the University and the Colleges should be revised, and "a representative Board of Uni- versity Finance" organised. To what are we to attribute this great revolution in the spirit of our academic bodies ? Partly, no doubt, to the reforms forced upon the Universities by Parlia- ment, partly to the spread of Democratic principles, partly to the infectious influence of a conscientious Government, and partly to "the enthusiasm of humanity."
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