fall through the crust into the volcanoes beneath. Everything needs to be reformed and there are no means of reforming it; the natural instruments of reform are in Siberia, and there is no middle party on which to work. There must be great force of character and self-devotion in Russia among these mad patriots, but there is no power of union and concert.

At home, allowing for the bad state of trade and harvests, I do not believe that our condition is so bad. The Liberals are furious and, headed by Gladstone, grow more and more exasperated, but I do not think that they make a great impression. The real enemy to the present Ministry is the depression of commerce and the bad harvest, which throw the minds of people into a sensitive state and make them desire change. 'We are badly off; let us try Gladstone who promises so fair.' The general opinion is that the result of the election will be almost a tie; and that after the next election another will soon follow, probably with a Coalition Ministry. It seems to me that the sooner this last comes the better, for neither party will have a decided majority: they will hang upon the Irish members, perhaps even upon a Tichborne vote-and half the Liberal party are more akin to the Conservatives than they are to their friends below the gangway. It seems to me that politics are not so great or patriotic or chivalrous as they used to be. Either I see things nearer, or they have really degenerated. Gladstone does not appear to me to have gained so much with the mob as he has lost with the upper and educated classes, who after all are still the greater part of politics.

CHAPTER V

1. THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY COMMISSION (1877-81). 2. THE CANDIDATES FOR THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE (1876–78).

1877-1881

1. REFORMS at Oxford-Duke of Cleveland's Commission in 18711874-Results of the Commission-Demand for further reforms: Mark Pattison; Professor Price-Appointment of a CommissionJowett's views as given in his evidence (1) on buildings; (2) on NonCollegiate students; (3) on the extension of the University; (4) on research; (5) on the increase of the Professoriate; (6) on Prize Fellowships-Jowett's views on the Bodleian-His feeling towards books and learning-Revision of the Statutes of the College-New Inn Hall-Effect of the Commission.

2. Proposal to bring the Indian selected candidates to Oxford: Jowett's plan; Dean Liddell's plan-Appointment of Professor G. F. Nicholl.

A

FTER the success of the Commission of 1852, the spirit of University reform was never dormant in Parliament or at Oxford. For some time the proposals in the House led to no definite results-with one great exception, the abolition of Tests in 1871-but at the University a good deal was done1. In two points especially great changes were made, and both were due, directly or indirectly, to Jowett's influence. The system by which residence within the walls of a College or Hall was compulsory was given up, and men could now reside in licensed 1 Cf. vol. i. chap. 6.

lodgings either as 'out-College residents' or as Non-Collegiate students of the University-a return to the ancient practice, designed for the advantage of poor students1. And, so far as their classical teaching was concerned, the Colleges were now collected into two large groups, in each of which the lectures were open to all the members of the group without any additional cost 2.

These were considerable changes, but they were insufficient to satisfy the reforming spirit of the time, and indeed it was impossible for the University to enter on any adequate scheme of reform without assistance from Government. The Liberals again took the matter up, and in 1871, as a preliminary step to further changes, a Commission, of which the Duke of Cleveland was chairman, was appointed to inquire into the amount of the revenues of the Universities and Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and the manner in which they were spent. It was expected that the Report would be published while the Liberals were still in office. Some vigorous measures were anticipated, especially from Lowe, who was known to hold very strong ideas about University and College teaching, and many felt that a great danger had been averted when the Gladstonian Government fell from office before the Report of the Commission was published (September, 1874).

The Commission estimated the income of the Colleges at Oxford, derived from corporate property, at £330,836 168. Id., with an additional £35,417 os. 2d. derived from trust funds. The income of the University was given at £32,151 18. Of the income of the Colleges £101,171 48. 5d. was spent in Fellowships, i. e. in giving rewards to distinguished graduates, and £26,225 128. in Scholarships. 2 See vol. i. p. 376.

1 Vol. i. p. 379.

'In other words,' so it was said in Oxford, 'four times as much is spent in giving rewards to academical success, which rewards are not often used to promote education, as is spent on direct aids to young learners.' Comparisons were made of the work done for education by some of the richer and some of the poorer Colleges; and many felt that the chief result of the inquiry would be to stimulate a great reform in the use of the collegiate revenues, devoting them more exclusively to educational purposes, and especially to bring about a better appropriation of the income now spent in non-educational Fellowships.' But others took a different view. In their opinion the money of Oxford was in danger of being wasted in education. Oxford was a University, not a school, and her chief business was to promote learning and research. If the Colleges were rich the University was poor; the Bodleian Library was in want of funds, the Professors were ill paid and more of them were required. Was it the only business of a University to train men for the professions, or to supply them with means to go to the Bar or enter the diplomatic service? If the Universities neglected learning where was it likely to receive attention? Of this view the foremost supporter was the Rector of Lincoln, the Rev. Mark Pattison, whose writings on University reform gave shape and authority to the agitation in favour of the endowment of research 1.

Reform of some kind was demanded on all sides, and by degrees a number of fixed points began to emerge out of the chaos of opinion. The tenure of prize Fellowships, the increase of the Professoriate, endowment of research, the relation of the College Tutors to the Professors, the

1 Suggestions on Academical Organization, 1868; Review of the Situation, in a collection of Essays

by various writers on the endowment of research, 1876.

election of Professors, the organization of the teaching, became the chief subjects of controversy. It was generally felt that a prize Fellowship, however useful the institution might be, should not be held for life, subject only to the restriction of celibacy. A prize of £200 or £250 a year, for perhaps fifty years, given merely because a man had been first in one examination, was a reward out of all proportion to his industry and ability. The relation of the Professorial and Tutorial teaching was not so easily decided. Was it worth while to organize the Tutorial teaching and leave the Professors no fixed position in controlling and guiding the studies of which they were the most eminent representatives? Was it worth while to increase the stipends of the Professors and enlarge their numbers if it was tolerably certain that many of them could expect very small audiences? A Professor who had the gift of teaching-the late Bonamy Pricetook up a very uncompromising position. He wished to have the undergraduates bound to attend at least one course of Professorial lectures, and to be examined in them at their termination: to take all tuition out of the hands of the Colleges and appoint sub-Professors, to be chosen from the Fellows or graduates in Honours to fill the place of the College Tutors. In the examinations the Professors were to set the papers and decide the result. Such a scheme would have crushed the Colleges into mere boarding-houses, and it naturally found no favour with them. The College Tutors, on the other hand, insisted on keeping the control of the teaching of their pupils entirely in their own hands. They held that they could not be responsible for the position of a pupil in the class list if he were compelled to attend lectures which might not be helpful to him; or if he did attend them, they urged that his attendance would be