THE LONDON UNIVERSITY.
'WE are gratified to find that our remarks on this institution have been taken in the spirit in which they were made—as amicable cen- sures, wrung from sincere friends, jealous of its fame, and anxious for its prosperity. The following letter, which comes not only, as its sig- nature bears, from a Proprietor, but from one whose word is worthy 'of all acceptance and respect, is meant to correct an error of•fact into 'which we are supposed to have fallen. We need not say that we 'cheerfully and readily give it place, and that we hope our readers will pay to it the same attention that we have done.
"TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
"SIR,—In your paper of yesterday, you have made some observations upon this institution, with the best intentions, I have no doubt ; but had you been more accurately informed than you appear to have been, your conclusions would have been somewhat different. The object of my present letter is to set you right where you have been led into an error; which, if uncontra- dieted, is calculated to do serious injury to the University. I speak of your statement of the expense of the lectures as compared with other places of in- struction in London. You say that the sum is three times as large as is demanded by the Royal Institution, or any of the public schools of instruc- tion in London." The words "courses of lectures" are, it is true, used in both cases; but at the University-the courses are of nearly nine months dura- tion, and in all the classes where the highest fee is charged, there is instruc- tion given five days in every week. Let us, for the sake of a comparison, take the course of Natural Philosophy at the University, and that now delivering at the Royal Institution. Dr. Lardner lectures five days a week for about thirty-six weeks, exclusive of the short vacations at Christmas and Easter— equal to 180 lectures : the fee to those not nominated by proprietors is SI. 11./s.,—which is less than a shilling an hour. Mr. Ritchie lectures at the Royal Institution once a week, from the beginning of February to the end of the season ; and if that should be the end of June, he will have given about twenty lectures: the fee is two guineas to non-subscribers,—which is more than two shillings an hour, that is, double the expense of the University. As to Latin and Greek, and the Modern Languages, if you will take the trouble to make the calculation, you will find, from the printed documents issued by the University, that in the junior classes of Latin and Greek, the expense is eightpence an hour ; and that French, German, Spanish, and Italian, are taught at the rate of eighteen lessons of an hour for a guinea—to all who are not nominated by a proprietor: I am at a loss to know where such education can be had in or near London, at so cheap a rate ; and it can only be because the fact of the cheapness of the University is not known, that the rooms of the teachers of languages are not crowded to the door..-.I could enter into many more particulars, but am unwilling to en- croael upon the limited space you can devote to such subjects.
"I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Now, we were not wholly unaware last week, although our know- ledge is now more accurate, that the duration of the lectures in the London University is longer than at the Royal Institution. But we were not then, nor are we yet, inclined to draw from this fact the same conclusion to which the very respectable Proprietor has come. With respect to the junior classes—the Latin and Greek, and perhaps the Mathematical—we admit that shortness of vacation may be, at least in some instances, an advantage. The time of the greater number of the pupils is not so engaged, nor is the subject of the lectures so com- plex, that they may not attend upon and benefit by so lengthened a course as nine months. But in the higher classes—in those which are to distinguish the University from a respectable grammar-school—we cannot concede that so large a portion of the year as nine months can be usefully set apart for one course. In the University of Edin- burgh, to which that of London bears the nearest resemblance, the course is only five or six months ; and we should unhesitatingly pro- nounce that time to be amply sufficient, not merely from the example of Edinburgh, but because the most moderately-gifted professor can fur- nish enough of matter in six months' lectures for the strongest-headed student to digest in twelve. But if this hold true where the student has nothing whatever but his books to attend to, afortiori must it hold true in this great and busy metropolis, where hardly one indi- vidual of the permanently resident population, that has attained to
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sixteen or eighteen years of age, s without some employment that calls for more or less of his time. To such an individual—and it was chiefly -with a view to accommodate these that the University was founded—it is no answer' when he complains of the amount of the fees, to say, "You shallhave nine months' lectures, instead of six." His reply will be, "Six months are more than I can conveniently compass." Indeed, we have been informed, that the difficulties which the students find in overcoming the nine months' course, have been practically felt ; and an attempt, not very efficient, but without which the classes would- have been attended still more poorly than they are, has been made to meet them. The long course of Dr. LARDNER, in Na- tural Philosophy, has been split into four (Mechanics, Astronomy, &c.); the Chemical Professor has split his into two or three ; and the same process has commenced in the English Literature course. Not the least evil of this frittering method is, that the student may by an in- judicious selection of a portion of a course, the whole of which he cannot attend, miss the only part that his prospects in life might render of value. Many particulars, doubtless, may be included in a nine months' course of four hours a day, that must be omitted in a six months' course of two hours a day ; but the purpose of a lec- ture is to open grand views—to state important facts only—minute investigation is best left to private study. We submit, therefore, that even to the small number who can, and :to the still smaller number who will go into the Proprietor's calculations, the conclusion which he rests upon them will appear any thing but self-evident. But the University must take the world as it is, until by its labours it has made it wiser. The Managers wish, we believe most honestly, that the fact of its real cheapness were generally known. It may be known, but it will never be regarded. All that the multitude, by which the University must be content to stand or fall, will ever look at, is the cost of a course. If they find the University's charge greater than that of other seminaries, they will not attend it. Again, therefore, we earnestly press on the proprietors our recommendation of last week—to put the fees, not on a comparison of hours and minutes, but on a comparison of courses, on something like a level with those of other institutions in London. If they do, they may rest assured that their increasing numbers will speedily justify and com- pensate the reduction. As the Managers desire discussion, we may add, that the affairs of the University are at present very much dis- cussed by literary men, and that the proceedings of the meeting to be held on the 24th will be regarded with more interest than those of any meeting since the foundation.
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