ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF EDUCATION IN OXFORD.

[We print, with pleasure, this valuable communication from one who has a good right to be heard on this subject—of course, without in any way committing ourselves to his conclusions. They at least throw great light on an important subject, which cannot but again draw much attention in the next few years. —En. Spectator.]

Tits Universityand Colleges of Oxford, exclusively of the fees which they receive from students, are supposed to possess an income of from two to three hundred thousand a year, and this by an improved system of management will probably, after a few years, be considerably increased. With such enormous pecuniary resources, with the most magnificent buildings, with a freedom of action which, except on certain rare occasions, has entirely exempted her from State control, and with a history unparalleled by that of any other educational institution in Europe, it might be supposed that the University would exercise an overpowering in- fluence on the education of the country. A priori one might expect to find an army of students within her walls, her press teeming with educational literature, her professors known through- out Europe, and her influence pervading every rank of society. As it is, her students do not exceed 1,500, a number hardly double that of the scholars at some of our larger public schools ; and of these four-fifths are, by the confession of her own professors and tutors, sent away with an education which cannot, in any intel- ligible sense, be said to represent either knowledge or mental train- ing. The professoriate at present includes a few brilliant names, and numbers amongst its ranks several whose industry, talents, and devotion must, in time, win a reputation both for themselves and their University ; but this concession being made, it remains an indisputable fact that the professoriate of Oxford, as a whole, cannot be compared with that of many a foreign University whose income and opportunities are not one-tenth so great. As to the literary activity of Oxford, it is about on a par with its profes- soriate. From time to time a useful, and, at rare intervals, a really good book, appears from the pen of an Oxford resident. But, from one cause or another, the banks of the Cam and the Isis are not prolific in books, and the literary and scientific specu- lation of England are but little influenced, at least directly, by the resident teachers of its two Universities.

It is not our object to join in any vulgar cry against the idle- ness, ignorance, or sensuality of college dons. We believe the professors and tutors of the University to be neither idle, nor ignorant, nor sensual—but, as a body, to be a most industrious, cultivated, and high-minded set of men. They are, however, in common with the students, the victims of a system which seems to paralyze nearly all educational and literary effort within the walls of the University, and are, in fact, themselves the principal sufferers.

The system to which we allude cannot be better described than as the system of monopoly, and we may consider the many-headed monster under three forms, viz., college monopoly, religious monopoly, and educational monopoly.

L—College Monopoly. As no student, whatever his age or attainments, can enter the University except by attaching himself to some college or hall, it becomes of primary importance to inquire into the educational arrangements of a college. The majority of students never attend a single professorial lecture from the moment of matriculation to the day on which they take their degree, except it be some formal course of lectures on divinity at the close of their residence, and there is probably not a single student in Oxford who has not spent more hoursin the lecture-rooms of his college than in those of his University. Add to this, that attendance on college lectures is compulsory, and it will at once be apparent that the real guide to the efficiency of Oxford education is the lecture- list and, the lecture- room of an average college. Waiving at present the question whether it is wise that the University should split itself up, as it were, into four-and-twenty distinct Universities, and thus limit the student to an extremely narrow circle of teachers, it is worth our enquiring how the college system works, what is the constitution of a college, and how far it provides for the educational wants of its junior members ? The income of an average Oxford college is at least equal to that of an average Continental University. It might, therefore, be supposed that it provided the most elaborate and costly education for its sixty or seventy members. But, as a matter of fact, it is only a very small part of its revenues which is applied to any educational purposes. The college revenues, after making the necessary deductions for repairs, and the expenses of the establishment, are divided amongst the Head, Fellows, and scholars. The " head," as be is grotesquely called, is a mere sinecuriat, rarely absorbing less than twelve or fifteen hundred a year, a sum which in some cases is one-quarter of the corporate revenues of the college. This func- tionary is generally inferior, both in character and attainments, to an average college tutor ; his election is almost always the result, of intrigue ; his duties are undefined, and, wisely enough, he ordinarily confines himself to drawing his cheque at the end of the year, taking the chair at an occasional college meeting, and appearing once or twice a day in the college chapel. There are, of course, exceptions to this description. Some heads have been officious, and have ruined their colleges. Two or three at the present time are men of mark, and are probably themselves suffi- ciently aware of the weakness and ignominy of their position. Before 4iRmisetieg this formidable body of sinecurists from our con- sideration, it may be as well to state that their collective income is about 30,0001. a year, and that they occupy the only houses within the walls of the colleges. This is the price which the University sees fit to pay for a sort of clerical squirearchy, utterly alien from the studies and work of the place. Besides the sinecure "head," there is also a large body of sinecure Fellows ; it is not denied that some of these have earned their position by past services, and that others are receiving well-deserved assistance towards their prefers- their way to the bottom of the list. A casual visitor, in an Oxford Before leaving the subject of college monopoly and its conse- common room, might suppose that the main object of every man quences, a word or two may be said on the subject of expenses. It in it is to get away as speedily as possible from the University, and has always appeared to us extremely strange that the Commission to find any employment which comes nearest to hand elsewhere. made no attempt to reduce the expenses of an undergraduate's The most diligent and successful tutors are being continually residence in Oxford. It is well known that it requires econo- drawn off to schools, and, what is perhaps still worse in its effects mical habits in a young man to limit the expenses of his on education and literature at large, the few men who do remain six months' residence even to 1501. Of this sum only twenty are prevented by the unlikelihood of a continued residence in guineas is ordinarily paid for tuition, so that 1301. represents the Oxford, and by their extreme uncertainty as to the direction of expense of board, lodging, dress, books, and amusements for six their future life, from ever seriously and thoroughly devoting months. This amount to a man of moderate fortune is not exces- themselves to any special line of study. After a few years, of sive, but it has the effect of excluding from Oxford the class of college work, a tutor begins to be restless; he knows that, except men who form the staple of the Scotch and Foreign Universities. by some lucky freak of fortune, which may land him either in a A small proportion of this class may possibly be admitted by " headship " or professorship, he has no career open to him in the present system of open scholarships, but it is most insigni- Oxford ; and his only object is to secure a living or a school, ficant as compared with the numbers which might and ought to which may afford him the opportunity of marrying in comfort, be affected by English University education. The scholarships, we though it is at the sore sacrifice of leaving his old friends, his old think, are too numerous and too valuable. There is a point at home, and his old pursuits. Suppose even that be has the extreme which premiums on education impede rather than advance it. It good fortune to obtain a professorship, and thus acquire the right would have been better, we think, to have expended part of the to marry, the probability is that his income is but slightly, sum devoted to scholarships either on improving the education, or if at all, improved, and is consequently, unless increased on diminishing the general expenses of a college. A richly en- from other sources, utterly inadequate to the wants of a dowed institution, beyond charging for its rooms and its tuition, married life in Oxford. Thus it is that the richest Univer- ought to make no profit on its students, and, if the present system sity in Europe paralyzes her education by starving her in- of college monopoly were abolished, we imagine it would soon cease structors. The real marvel is, not that the college instruction is to do so.

so bad, but that it is so good. Three or four tutors, therefore, II.—From the College Monopoly we pass to the Religious Mono- working with ardour, but often with indiscretion when they are poly, which is, in fact, partly a consequence of the former. By young (and a college tutor, when he commences work, is often the present constitution of the University, there is nothing to pre- not more than two or three-and-twenty years of age), flagging in vent a member of any religious communion, or a person professing zeal, and not always improving in discretion as they grow older, any sentiments on religion, from becoming a student, or from are to an average Oxford undergraduate the representatives of taking his B.A. degree. Here, however, his career must termi- Oxford teaching. He may be conscious that his tutors are of no nate, unless he be a member of the Church of England, and be service to him, but he must attend their lectures. 'There may be willing to subscribe to the thirty-nine articles. He cannot take any the most admirable tutors in the neighbouring college, but their part in the government of the University, he cannot assume his M.A.

lecture-rooms are sealed to him. Or, again, he may require instruc- degree, and consequently cannot, even if elected Fellow of a college, tion in some branch of knowledge which the college does not teach, retain his fellowship for more than a year or two. These dis- and he is driven either to the professorial lecture, which may be so qualifications undoubtedly have the effect of excluding Dissenters large that he can obtain no individual superintendence, or to the from Oxford, and, till they are swept away, must effectually pre- private tutor, who may possibly be a mere neophyte, and to whom vent the University from becoming a national institution. But, he must in any case pay 101. a term for his assistance. even if Parliament were, as it some day undoubtedly will, to open But in the college system of instruction there is a tutor's as well as University degrees to all British subjects, a Dissenter would still an undergraduate's grievance. A tutor in one college may have ex- experience considerable difficulty in fighting his way into Oxford. pended a vast amount of time and labour on the study, say of To become a member of the University he must become a member Ancient History, and may be compelled to lecture to a class of of some college or hall. Now, any college or hall may refuse to three men. A tutor in a neighbouring college, who has spent an receive a candidate for matriculation on any reason, or without equal amount of time and labour on the study of Mathematics, even assigning a reason at all ; and at the present time probably may not be able to induce more than two men to read for mathe• not more than two or three colleges would accept a student who matical honours. There may be a tutor in a third college, who was avowedly not a member of the Church of England. Even has devoted himself to the study of Aristotle and Plato, and who is these colleges would probably throw difficulties in his way, and if lecturing to four men. It is obvious how vast an amount of time the number of applications were to become large, would probably might be saved, and how considerably the efficiency of the lectures find it necessary to lay down some rules which would prevent their might be increased, if all three colleges were lectured by the societies from being " overrun with Dissenters." But, then, why first tutor in Ancient History, by the second in Mathematics, should not any body of Dissenters establish a hall of its own? and by the third in Philosophy. It is no exaggeration to The proprietor and responsible manager of such a hall must be a say that even so slight a modification of the college system Master of Arts, and be licensed by the Vice-Chancellor. Now, a as this would be a saving to tutors of at least one third of their ;vaster of Arts must be a member of the Church of England ; and time, and would enable them to devote the greater part of their even if any one were found sufficiently liberal to undertake such a attention to a single subject, instead of being diffused, as they now charge, and sufficiently acceptable to a body of Dissenters to be are, over three or four. As the tuition is at present worked, the entrusted with it, it is extremely doubtful whether any Vice- staff of tutors is utterly inadequate even to the teaching of the Chancellor (who, it must be remembered, is always a " head of three lines of study which a college usually undertakes, viz., Clas- a house ") would . be possessed of sufficient boldness and hide- sics (in its wide sense, as including Ancient History and Philosophy), pendence to grant the licence. At the present time it is known

Mathematics, and Modern History. that the Roman Catholics are anxious to open a hall in Ox- But if the college systim fails in giving adequate instruc- ford, but that hitherto their efforts have been unavailing. tion, it may be supposed that it compensates for this defi- The religious monopoly, however, is not only injurious to those ciency by the moral control which it exercises over its members. whom it excludes, but it reacts with terrible force on the best sional education outside the walls of the University ; but, at the We question whether the opportunities afforded for gossiping, same time, there remains the fact that not more than one-fifth of idleness, and amusement, by congregating a number of young the Fellows of colleges are engaged in, the work of education. men within the same walls, do not really outweigh the advan- These are the college tutors and lecturers. Besides their fellow- tages of moral supervision which. are supposed to be secured ships, they receive in certain proportions the fees paid by students, by the same means. There is many a hard-reading man who looks and occasionally hold in addition certain small college offices. The forward with anxiety to his emancipation from residence in college, whole income of a tutor from all sources, however, seldom exceeds and his removal to lodgings, as the only means of escape from the 6001. a year, and that of a lecturer is considerably less. As the tyranny of the loungers and gossipers of his staircase. Then, fellowships may be held independently of the tutorships, and with again, if the university tie could be strengthened and the college almost any other employment, it would, however, be fairer to state tie relaxed, there might be some hope of diminishing, or at least of that the maximum income of a college tutor, as such, is about 3001. preventing the increase of, those numberless institutions, the College or 3501. a year. Even this income is received subject to the Eight, the College Torpid, the College Eleven, the College Pool, the restriction of celibacy. It will, therefore, create no surprise, when College Sports, &c., &c., &c., which appear now-a-days to absorb we state that there is a great difficulty in inducing Fellows of all the thoughts and energies of half the undergraduates in the colleges to become tutors, and that the tutorships generally find University.

interests of the University itself. On the ground that Oxford is, par excellence, the " Church of England " University, it has for many years been the acknowledged area for the protracted and discreditable struggles of the various parties within that Church. The theological party, which happens to be in the majority, regards itself as bound to exclude from University office any member or suspected member of the theological party which happens to be in the minority. The simplest educational change, the merest detail of an examination statute, or, as we have recently seen, even the payment of a salary, is at once associated with some theological cry, and fought over by rival theological leaders. Take away this pretence of the University being the theological school of a 'particular sect, and being bound to defend and propa- gate particular theological opinions, and there might be some chance of its attending to its proper work.

111.—We have to discuss one more monopoly; and this, like the second, is to a great extent a result of the first. As by far the great majority of the Fellows of Colleges are selected for proficiency in the subjects of the classical schools, and the education of the University is practically in the hands of the colleges, it follows that education in Oxford is practically limited to classical education. The mere handful of men who go up for honours in mathematics and natural science hardly bears any proportion to the whole number of students, and though the Modern History class-lists are larger, it is mainly because, the subjects being of a more popular character, they may be prepared with twelve or eighteen months' reading. In fact, though the new statute of 1850 appeared to be based upon a liberal appreciation of non-classical studies, it in reality discouraged the very schools it had created, by enacting that no one should enter them till he had previously passed no less than three classical examinations. Add to this absurd enactment the extreme diffi- culty, under existing circumstances, of providing adequate in- struction in the new studies, the prejudices which in some colleges are still felt against them, and the very scanty rewards with which they are endowed, and you have the reasons for the attenuated class lists, which from time to time seem to be issued, as if in derison of the subjects of the examination. The Physical Science Professoriate is probably unsurpassed in Europe, the new museum offers every facility for the study, and still the examination regulations of the University and the traditions of the colleges exert so strong a counter-influence that not more than ten men on the average offer themselves for honours in the course of a year. In Modern History the candidates are mainly drawn from a single college, and in Mathematics the numbers of men in the class-lists have for some years been on the diminution, rather than on the increase.

The first remedy for all these evils is very obvious—viz., to in- crease the influence of the University, and diminish that of the colleges. If the University is ever to be commensurate with the educational wants of the nation, the college monopoly must be abolished—that is, it must be possible to attend the lectures and pass the examinations of the University without incurring the expenses or being subject to the regulations of a college. We believe that, even under these altered circumstances, the colleges, if properly conducted, would always be full, but they would be subordinated to the University, instead of the University being subordinated to them. The introduction of free-trade in education, together with the abolition of necessary residence in college would, we believe, very sensibly diminish the expenses of an Oxford resi- dence ; and cheaper living, an improved education, and the abolition of all religious disqualifications, would soon double or treble the number of students. It might be wise, perhaps, to fix an age, below which no student could be admitted who was not a member of a college or hall; but we regard it as absolutely essential to the success of any scheme for the wide extension of the University, that the present restriction should, either in whole or in part, be abolished.

But, quits independently of this alteration, and even if the numbers of the University remained what they are, it would be possible, by a slight modification of the present system, vastly to improve the quality of the instruction. It seems absurd that in one college there should be, for instance, no lecturer in Modern History, while in the next there may be a man of considerable repu- tation giving lectures to classes of three or four. An amalgama- tion of neighbouring colleges for tuitional purposes is so obvious a remedy for the inconveniences from which many of the smaller colleges are at present suffering, that no one but an Oxford resident, acquainted with the paltry jealousies of the colleges, could understand why it is not adopted. It would save time and labour to the tutor; it would often enable the student to have the advan- tage of first-rate instead of second or third-rate instruction; and by enabling the tutors to devote themselves, each to a special line of study, it would contribute in no slight degree to the formation of a class of learned men in Oxford. This would at least be a good temporary arrangement, and without any express legislation might be negotiated amongst the colleges themselves. Even if per- manent, it would be a most decided improvement on the present system of strict monopoly—though for ourselves, we must confess that we should prefer, for all the higher work of the University, the gradual absorption of the tutorial into the professorial system. The creation of a sub professoriate appears to us the true and permanent remedy for the many evils and short- comings of the present mode of instruction. The sub-professors in each subject ought to be sufficiently numerous to provide for all the class-work of the University. They might deliver catechetical lectures on books fixed by the professor, leaving to him the more formal and general treatment of the subject. As their income might entirely, or to a great extent, be made to depend on their number of pupils, there would be a motive to exertion which in the present system of college tuition is entirely wanting. On the disputed question of professorial appointment we shall not enter, but recent experience has in two or three notable instances shown how professors ought not to be appointed, and we do not doubt that in the light of recent failures some scheme might be devised by which the sub-professoriate would be recruited from the ranks of the ablest teachers and the best scholars in the University. If, occa- sionally, some non-Oxford man were imported, we should ourselves regard it as an advantage.

One thing at least is clear—that whatever scheme of instruction we may devise, if we would retain men of age, experience, and learning in the service of the University, we must make academical instruction a definite and permanent profession. The sums which in Oxford are squandered over sinecurists, the scanty pay- ments which are made to tutors and professors, and, above all, the restriction of celibacy, are facts which to an intelligent outsider must be almost incredible. The first duty of a University is to provide for the efficient education of its students ; and this, its primary end, we have shown that Oxford, notwithstanding ita enormous revenues, fails in accomplishing. A University town possesses many attractions, and in order to secure the highest talent of the country in the service of academical education, it is not necessary that the incomes should be very large, but it is necessary that they should be permanent and sufficient. They can only be rendered permanent by abolishing the absurd restriction of celibacy. A sufficient income is a very ambiguous expression ; but in Oxford it is obvious that an income could not be regarded as sufficient unless it were such as to enable a man of literary tastes, with no private fortune, to live in easy circumstances and on equal terms with the learned world outside the University. No one acquainted with a University town will suppose that we are adopting too high a standard, when we state that on these prin- ciples no professor or college tutor of any standing ought to receive less than 8001. a year. This sum should be capable of increase by extra exertion ; but we think that the prospect of a permanent income to this amount would be regarded by many of the ablest and most accomplished men as a sufficient inducement to continued residence in the University. But can such an income be supplied from any available funds ? In answering this question, it must be borne in mind that a considerable amount of educational power would be economized by either of the schemes we have suggested above, viz , either by the creation of a sub-professoriate, or by the amalgamation of colleges for tuitional purposes. The saving thus effected, together with the practical abolition of the headship (i.e., the conversion either of the " head" into a tutor, or of a tutor into the " head"), would at once enable most colleges to secure to their tutors an income equal to that we have proposed. It is one of the evils of the college system that it subjugates the teachers to a theory of academic communism. The income of a college tutor does not in the least degree depend either upon his attainments, or upon the work which he does, or upon his success as a teacher. Let two men become at the same time tutors of a college ; the one may give himself, heart and soul, to his work, the other may simply deliver a couple of lectures a day in the most perfunctory manner ; but their incomes will be equal. Now, in a body of sub-professors, which was partly maintained by fees, the incomes would neces- sarily bear some proportion to the abilities and energies of the teachers, and to the amount of work actually done by them. A man might thus to-some extent regulate his income at pleasure. The internal arrangements of a college would not, to any great extent, be modified by the changes which we have suggested.

Even if all the tutors were to avail themselves of the privilege of marrying, there would still always be one (whether he were called

"head" or not would be perfectly immaterial) who could reside within the walls of the college. He would, of course, have the charge of the discipline, and for this additional trouble a good house, rent-free, together with a small annual payment, such as is now made to the Dean, would be a sufficient remuneration. The money saved by the abolition of the sinecure " headships " would in the smaller colleges at once raise the tutorships to at least eight hundred pounds a year. In the larger colleges one or two of the sinecure fellowships might, without injury, be applied to the same purpose. There would still remain a large, and, we think, quite sufficient number of fellowships available, as at present, for the reward of academical merit, as tested in the University and college examinations. We consider the restriction of celibacy in all cases injurious, and should, therefore, propose that the non-tutorial fellowships should, in order to secure a succession, be limited to a period of eight or ten years. In peculiar cases—as, for instance, where a man was devoting himself to some special line of study, and had no other means of subsistence—a college might have the power of rendering his fellowship permanent. A tutor, tired of his work, would, as at present, have the power of taking a college living, and, after a certain number of years' service, he might have the option of retiring upon a permanent fellowship.

If the scheme of a sub-professoriate were adopted, the sub- professors would, in most instances, be college tutors. In that case, they might be expected to give up part of their college work, and, of course, part of their income, as derived from college tuition. This would be a positive advantage to a college, as it would enable it to employ a larger number of persons in giving instruction.

The questions connected with the professoriate we shall refrain from discussing at any length. Almost every legitimate subject of University education is already represented by a professor. In some cases, it is true, there might be a better division of subjects, and one or two additional professorships might, perhaps, be instituted with advantage ; but, on the whole, there is not much to complain of on these heads. The Oxford professoriate has during the last few years made vast strides, but there are still various circumstances which prevent it from becoming a source of any great strength to the University. These are mainly the want of assistance, which would be supplied by a body of sub-professors ; the not infrequent intrusion of incompetent persons on the pro- fessorial chairs, one result of which is to lower in public estimation the entire body; and, lastly, the inadequate remuneration. A dis- cussion on the best mode of appointment would far transcend our present limits, but it may be confidently asserted that the University revenues, if properly husbanded, and not alienated as they con- stantly are, to non-academical purposes, would be amply sufficient to raise the income of all the more important professorships to a thousand a year. Even if the University revenues were insufficient, the larger colleges might fairly be called on to contribute a quota.

The great objects, then, we conceive, at which the University should aim, are (1) its numerical extension, (2) the improvement of its education, and (3) the creation of a learned and efficient body of teachers. To effect these purposes, we believe that the most direct and feasible means are (1) the abolition of the college monopoly by the admission of students not belonging to any college or hall, (2) the abolition of all religious disqualifications, (3) the fuller and freer recognition of the new studies, (4) the practical abolition of the sinecure " headships," (6) the permanent and sufficient endowment of those who take part in instruction, and (6) the creation of a sub-professoriate, or, as a temporary measure, the amalgamation of colleges for tuitional purposes.

If these changes could be successfully carried out, we believe that, before twenty years had elapsed, Oxford would influence the thought and culture of England to an extent which has never been equalled either in any other European University or in her own eventful and illustrious history. The changes are not difficult to effect, and we wish earnestly to direct to them the attention of all those, whether members of the University or not, who are interested in the higher education and in the literary and scientific progress