London University. This consists of a senate, who appoint individuals in the various departments of literature and science, whose duty it is to examine all candidates for degrees educated at University College, King's College, or such other institutions as her Majesty in Council may from time to time choose to specify. On the formation of this new metropolitan university, University College relinquished its former title, which had been from the first a misnomer, and received a charter of incorporation by the name which it now bears. We are inclined to regard the establishment of the University of London as a signal improvement. The entrusting of the examination of candidates for degrees to gentlemen nowise connected with their education, will go far to obviate all chance of improper individuals being graduated because they happen to be educated at certain places, or by certain parties; and will, in this way, be of material advantage. It is difficult, however, to see any good reason why those individuals only, who have been educated at certain specified establishments, should be entitled to appear before the examiners. Provided a person have the necessary information, it is of no importance to the public how he came by it. Make sure, by a searching examination, that candidates are entitled to the distinctions to which they lay claim; but, having done this, it is mere impertinence to inquire how or where they were educated. The University of Durham has been recently founded, chiefly by private endowment from the bishop and wealthy prebendaries of the diocese. The establishment consists of a warden, professors, tutors, readers, and lecturers; its professed object is, the furnishing instruction to students in the north of England, with a view to holy orders. The same object is sought to be accomplished, on behalf of the poorer class of students in Wales, by the modern establishment of the College of St. David's, at Lampeter. Mechanics' Institutes. Exclusive of the instruction at the abovementioned schools and colleges, considerable exertions have been made within these few years to diffuse instruction among tradesmen, mechanics, &c., in large towns, by the establishment of what have been called Mechanics' Institutes. These are supported partly by contributions, and partly by the subscriptions of the members. Short courses of lectures, illustrated with experiments, are given on the most popular and interesting branches of natural philosophy, and occasionally on departments of literature, moral philosophy, political economy, &c. Reading rooms are attached to the greater number of these institutions, which, speaking generally, are well attended. On the whole, we believe these establishments have been productive of considerable advantage. The instruction they supply is, no doubt, very flimsy and superficial. But it notwithstanding serves to expand and inform the minds of the auditors; and is probably the most suitable for them. An improvement in the system of school education, by qualifying the members of Mechanics' Institutes the better to appreciate accurate scientific discussions, would be the most likely, or rather, perhaps, the only means by which to improve the lectures given at the institutions in question. SECT. II. Education in Scotland. Early History of Literature and Education.- Scotland, at an early period of her history, enjoyed comparatively few facilities as to education and literature. Her population being thin, her soil poor, and her position among the nations of Europe remote, she necessarily laboured under many disadvantages with regard to both. Druidism never extended so far north; and the first elements of knowledge which she possessed she owed to the introduction of the Christian religion.— (Irving's Dissertation on the Literary Hist. of Scotland, prefixed to his Lives of Scottish poets.- Murray's Liter. Hist. of Galloway, chap. i.) Some writers have contended that Christianity found its way into Scotland at a comparatively remote period; but Bede, the earliest writer on the subject, and whose testimony has obtained the sanction of Pinkerton and of our best authorities, refers this event to the beginning of the fifth century, and assigns the honour of it to St. Ninian, who died in 432. (Beda Hist. Eccles. Gent. Ang. iii. iv.) This celebrated ecclesiastic founded a monastery at Candida Casa, now Whithorn, in the south of Scotland, and established a bishopric there: both the first known in that country. But it was not till the time of St. Columba, who came from Ireland (565) and settled in Iona, afterwards denominated Icolmkil, a small island on the west of Scotland, that the king and the nobility abjured paganism and became converts to the Christian faith. These two celebrated ecclesiastics, as they were the first to introduce Christianity, were also the first to introduce literature into this country. In their respective seminaries at Whithorn and in Iona, both secular and theological learning were taught; and the scholars and clergymen that issued from these establishments soon spread, not merely over Scotland, but over various countries on the continent.(Smith's Life of Columba.) These seminaries, particularly Iona, were the source from which the stream of intellectual attainments was derived and maintained; from which, as Dr. Johnson happily said, "roving clans and savage barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion." It may here be mentioned that the successors of Columba, and those who adopted his theological views, are known in history under the name of Culdees, supposed to be a corruption of Cultores Dei. (Jamieson's Hist. of the Culdees.) Monasteries. - In these rude and unsettled times, Iona and its subordinate seminaries, of which there were many throughout Scotland, could not expect to continue undisturbed. Accordingly, after a brilliant career of about three centuries, Iona, the parent establishment, was rased to the ground by bands of Danish and Norwegian invaders, and its inmates massacred. It recovered, however, from this shock, and new buildings were erected, of which the remains at this day are extensive and magnificent; but it maintained only a sickly existence; and soon after the introduction and spread of the popish faith, it was superseded and fell into disuse. This latter event took place in the 12th century, when the religion of the Culdees, whose tenets and institutions were much simpler than those of the new religion, was entirely displaced by that of popery. One of the great objects, indeed, of the popish clergy, was to gain influence by the establishment of monasteries, and thus to supersede and suppress those of the Culdees. The first establishment of popish monasteries took place in the 12th century: indeed most of them were instituted at that time; and along with these, and under the same roof, they connected seminaries of education, which continued to be, for two or three centuries, the only seminaries in the kingdom. What literature and science prevailed were confined to the monks, and to those, whether laymen or clergymen, who availed themselves of the instruction which monastic establishments afforded. It, was, indeed, a common practice among the barons and higher gentry to board their children with the monks for the advantages of education. (Chalmers's Caledonia, i. 768. - Irving's Dissertation. - Jamieson's Culdees.) Foreign Universities. — It cannot be said, however, that, under the auspices of these monasteries, literature flourished very eminently. The character of these institutions gradually became deteriorated : licentiousness and ignorance usurped the place of religion and knowledge; and the cause of education suffered accordingly. Scotland, in the mean time, produced many distinguished scholars and authors; but most of them owed their chief acquirements to foreign instructors. So little, indeed, was the estimation in which native science was held, that, in 1282, Dervorgilla, the daughter of Allan Lord of Galloway, and wife of John Baliol, founded and endowed a college at Oxford for the reception of Scotch students; and, in 1326, a college, known by the name of the Scotch college, was founded and endowed at Paris by David Murray, bishop of Moray, for a similar purpose. Scotch students also resorted to Cambridge, Salamanca, and other seminaries on the continent. The students of the university of Cambridge were, in 1270, classed by nations, of which five English, three Scotch, three Irish, and two Welsh collegians, were invested with a kind of rectorial power, for the purpose of maintaining order among their respective countrymen.-(Irving's Dissertation.- M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i.) Scotch Universities. But Scotland enjoyed, at length, the advantages of universities founded within the limits of her own territory. That of St. Andrews, the oldest in the kingdom, was founded by papal authority in 1413; that of Glasgow, by the same authority, in 1450; that of Aberdeen, also with the sanction of the pope, in 1494, though education did not commence there till 1500; and that of Edinburgh, the only one instituted since the Reformation, in 1582. The university of St. Andrew's consisted, at one time, of three colleges, instituted at different periods: St. Salvador's, St. Leonard's, and St. Mary's; but, in 1748, the two first were united, and the buildings of St. Leonard's were alienated and converted into dwellinghouses. The university of Aberdeen consists of two colleges: King's, founded, as just stated, in 1494; and Marischal College, instituted and endowed by George Keith, Earl Marischal, in 1593. The universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh contain one college each. None of these colleges or universities can be said to be liberally endowed; and, with the exception afterwards to be mentioned, none of them owe any considerable endowment to the Crown. They all at least owe their origin to the piety or love of learning of individuals, or of public bodies, not to the public spirit of the legislature. In early times the Romish church devoted some means to that purpose; the town council of Edinburgh expended, from time to time, very considerable funds on the university of that city, and a large number of private individuals, at an early period of the history of these seminaries, bequeathed sums for extending the buildings, or for assisting in endowing some particular professorship, or for the general benefit of learning within their walls. St. Andrew's has pretty ample endowments, arising from the original foundation, from lands either gifted to the university, or purchased by its own accumulated funds, from tiends (tythes), royal grants, the donations of private individuals, &c., insomuch that, taking one class with another, the endowment of each professor averages about 230l. a year. The two colleges of Aberdeen possess funds of nearly equal amount, and derived from similar sources. The university of Glasgow is somewhat more richly endowed, being about 3007. on an average to each chair, exclusive of five regius professorships founded by the Crown, the aggregate endowment of which is 400l. On the other hand, the university of Edinburgh is comparatively poor in endowments, the average sum arising annually from this source to each of 24 professors (including the principal,) receiving it, being only 1207.; while there are seven professors (those of Pathology, Chemistry, Materia Medica, Theory of Physic, Practice of Physic, Midwifery, and Clinical Medicine,) who receive no salary. The principals of the different colleges (all of whose incomes are included in the foregoing averages,) receive no fees; but the professors, in addition to the stated, annual endowment, reap the benefit of the fees of their respective classes, which fees range from 2l. 2s. to 41. 4s. for each student. The above endowments of the principals and professors include an allowance for house-rent to those of them whose predecessors at one period had lodgings within the precincts of the different colleges. The town council of Edinburgh, who were from the first the patrons of the university of that city, and the Crown are the only parties authorized to found new professorships in that seminary. If a private party wish to found a chair, either by bequest or otherwise, the object cannot be attained without the sanction of the town council, which sanction, however, has never hitherto been refused. The first regius chair in Scotland, or the first chair founded and endowed by the Crown, was that of Church History in the university of Edinburgh, in 1695; and while there are several other chairs in the other colleges, there are no fewer than ten in this university. Of these ten chairs, six enjoy an endowment of 1007.; three above that sum; while one of them is unendowed altogether. Of the other chairs in the same university, scarcely two are endowed alike; a circumstance that arises from the different periods at which they were severally established, and from the taste or partiality of the various founders. (Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the State of the Universities of Scotland, 1831.) Bursaries.-Bursaries are endowments bequeathed for the support of students attending college. Of these bursaries, some are enjoyed by the students only for a single year, and others for a longer period, generally for four years. Some of them, according to the will of the testators, are in the gift of private individuals; others of public bodies: some of them cannot be given but after a comparative exa mination of candidates; while persons of a particular name, or from a certain district of the country, have a preference to others. Bursars, also, according to the same authority, are not unfrequently required to follow a particular course of education, or must be at a particular stage of their college studies before they are eligible to receive the benefit of such endowments. The conditions, in short, under which bursaries can be given away, or held, may be said to be as numerous as the number of their founders. It is very questionable if the influence and effects of bursaries are in general beneficial. Much of the money that has been left for this purpose has been alienated or misapplied; and instead of the existing bursaries being given to poor but meritorious students, the very reverse has at least as often been the case: bursars are not in general found the most assiduous or successful students; and many persons attend college solely because they can command a bursary, and not because they have any desire for learning, or wish to follow any other learned profession. Bursaries thus factitiously add to the number of students, without adding materially to the amount of learning in the country. At King's College, Aberdeen, there are 32 foundations for bursaries; their benefits are extended to 134 students: their aggregate value amounts to 1,771. a year. There is here about one bursary to every third student. In Marischal College, there are 41 foundations for bursaries, whose benefits are extended to 114 students, being also one to about every third student. The annual aggregate amount is 1,150l. a year. In the United College of St. Andrew's, there are 21 foundations for bursaries, whose aggregate value is about 8007. a year; and the number of students who receive the benefit of them is 55, being at the rate of one bursary to every fourth student. In Glasgow College, the number of foundations is 29; their benefit is extended to 71 students; their aggregate value is about 1,2877. a year. In the university of Edinburgh there are 34 foundations for the benefit of 80 students; and the annual value of the endowment to the bursars will appear from the following table. We may mention that there are no bursaries about 50l. in any of the other universities; but all the bursaries vary in amount in a way somewhat similar to those here specified : Number of Bursars in Edinburgh College, as above stated Of the annual value of 1001. each Ditto Ditto Between 80 3 ditto ditto Ditto ditto Ditto ditto 157. and 107. Ditto 51. Classes. The number of professors in the different universities was originally very small. In the university of Edinburgh, for example, there was at first only one; a second was soon afterwards added; then a third; but there were not above six till nearly a century after its institution; these were, the principal, who was also professor of divinity; four regents, or professors of philosophy; and a |