UNIVERSITY REFORII IN 'BRIAN D.
Dublin, 13th September 1850:- Sin—A hint thrown out for the benefit of the University of Dublin, in ar leading article of a recent number of the Spectator, encourages me to hope that you will not object to allow your columns to be used for a further con- sideration of that most important subject. Acting under this impression, I take the liberty of submitting to you, and through you to the notice of many learned and worthy members of our national Alma Mater, whom I knew to be zealous advocates of her improvement, a portion of a "Memorandum on the Extension of Collegiate Education in Ireland," written five or six years since, apropos to the then designed foundation of the present Queen's Col- leges. I omit arguments that have lost their force by the completion of that design; and I shall not trespass on your space by recounting circumstances of recent occurrence that render an intervention in the great cause of Light v. Darkness, now pending' an imperative duty upon all who value the of civilization and freedom.
The objects to be held in view in making any alteratione in the system of collegiate education in Ireland appear to be- 1. 'To supply to the entire &matey the means a sharing in the advantages- and honours of a national university en sufficiently easy terms :
2. To remove any grievance, real or imaginary, that may be felt by the Ro- man Catholics as dependent upon the exclusively Protestant character of the University of Dublin : • 3. To avoid giving reasonable ground of offence to the Protestants, by making the required alterations in such a way as to preserve a Pratetont character to a portion of the University, without sanctioning a monopoly that could be truly designated as unfair. • *
It appears to me that all these objects could be safely effected by the esta- blishment of a new College in the University of Dublin : a fair share in the- honours and emoluments of an old establishment could thus be offered to all, and all grievances removed from the Raman-Catholics without giving any reasonable ground of offence to the Protestants. I would propose that the new College, which, for the sake of distinction I will eau King's College should be composed of Faculties of Arts, Philosophy, Law, a,id Medicine, and that the Professorships in these faculties, as well as the Fellowships of the College, should be open to persons of all religious denominations ; that Trinity College should be suffered to remain as at present, retaining its pro- perty and its Theological Faculty, and admitting persons of all religious de- nomination's to study in it, and proceed to degrees in Arts, Medicine, and Law. That the University Caput Should be in &tare considelvd as separate from Trinity College, and should consist of the Provosts and a defined num- ber of the Yellows and Professors of Trinity and King's Colleges. That a Convocation of Doctors and Masters of both Colleges should be established, with powers similar to those enjoyed by the Convocations of Oxford and Cambridge ; all degrees to be conferred by this Convocation, it being provided that applications for degrees in Theology should be decided upon separately and absolutely by the Doctors in that Faculty.. That any property or pa- tronage now belonging to the University of Dublin, in contradistinction to- Trinity College—as, for example, the Whately Professorship of Political Eco- nomy, with its endowment, the Regius Professorship of Physic, &c.—should
in 'future be open to the participation of the members of both Colleges. That the electoral franchise of the University should in like manner be en- joyed by the Doctors and Madero of the two Houses.
In the act of the Irish Parliament 14 and 15 Oar. H. c. 2, commonly called the " Act of Settlement," the 219th section enacts as follows—
"That the Lord-Lieutenant, &c. for the time being, by and with the con- sent of the Privy Council, shall have full power and authority to erect ano- ther eolledge to be of the University of Dublin, to be called by the name of the King's Colledge ; and out of all and every the lands, tenements, and heri- ditaments vested by this act in his Majesty; and which shall be settled or restored by vertue thereof, to raise a yearly allowance for ever, not exceed, lag 2,0001. per annum, by an equal oharge upon every one thousand acres or lesser quantities proportionably, and therewith to endow the said colledge ; which said colledge, so as aforesaid to be erected, Shall be settled, regulated, and governed by such laws, ordinances, aod constitutions, as his Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall under his or their great seal of England or Ireland declare or appoint." This is still the law of the land; and the first step in the required altera- tion might be taken by the Lord-Lieutenant in Council, without an applica- tion to Parliament. King's College might thus be founded and constituted.
A very important point now requires to be considered; viz, the first con- stitution of the new body. It Would probably be well to make it as like in all points as possible to Trinity College ; and to vest the government in a Provost, to be appointed by. the Crown a Board of Senior Fellows, - who should attain their position by standing, and a body of Minor Fellows and Scholars, to be admittod by examination, together with Professors in the several faculties, to be elected by the Senior Fellows. So far the primary organization of the new College could be easily effected ; but a very small portion of the work would then be accom- plished. The College would, indeed, be. ready to receive students and M educate them ; but it would be a staff without an army, and, in the ordi- nrry course several generations must elapse before a constituency of Doctors and Masten: could be provided, or before the clamour of the Roman Catholics for the spoils of Trinity College could be ailenclit In the eyes of the present generation of Roman Catholic aspirants for University honours and emolu- ments, the grievance would still remain unabated.
It appears to me that this evil might be avoided by providing a con- stituency for the new College, simultaneously with its foundation, in the following manner. The Board of Senior Fellows being in the first instance constituted by the charter, of discreet men both Protestants and Roman Catholics, special power might be given to them during one year, to grtust degrees, of Doctor and
Master only, in the several faculties, to persons of certain defined standing and qualification ; and to those graduates so incorporated, all the academical
privileges belonging to their class, including the electoral franchise, ought to be granted. Their number could be limited by obliging each to pay a cer- tain moderate fee, and by a sufficiently high definition of the qualification and standing necessary to entitle them to incorporation.
In Arts, the Graduates of other Universities might be admitted of euticlem. In Philosophy, a small constituency might be formedby giving the choice of incorporation to Civil Engineers and Architects.
In Medicine, there would be numerous eligible candidates among Doctors of Other Universities and Fellows of Colleges of Phyaidans and Surgeons. In the Faculty of Law, Barristers of a defined standing might in like man- ner be incorporated.
The remit of this arrangement might be calculated upon as certain of af- fording to the College a constituency of five hundred Masters and Doctors during the first year, who would to a man be interested in its future success : 50001. at least would at the same time be brought to the funds ; and no plea of grievance would be left to Roman Catholics, as all qualified would have the option of at once obtaining a participation in the honours, emoluments, and privileges of the national University of Dublin. Neither would the Pro- testants have any right to complain' as the exclusive possession of the eccle- siastical property and patronage of Trinity College, compared to which the possessions of the University are a mere trifle would still be secured to them. It may be said, that conferring the electoraefranchise upon the members of King's College would have the effect of swamping the present Protestant constituency of the University : but this would not be so, as the men newly incorporated would be of mixed politics, and could not be expected to be so -numerous or so revolutionary in spirit (if their standing and qualifications were properly defined) as to effect any dangerous change in the representa- tion. I do not enter into a consideration of the funds of the new College ; but there is no reason why the original design of King Charles's Parliament should not be carried out, and 2000/. a year allotted from the Crown and quit-rents of Ireland. If mum started, the society would soon not only be- come self-supporting, but add wealth, strength, and dignity, to its academic foster-mother.
Previous page
