tudes, and mixed so much with all ranks and modes of life, he was most modest and unassuming, retaining in his manners the gentleness and simplicity of a child. He thus passed many tranquil and happy years with relations, who looked up to him with the deference and affection of children, and old friends, who respected him for his worth, admired him for his talents, and loved him for his benevolence, and he calmly terminated a meritorious and active life at his house on Summer-hill, Dublin, in February, 1832, leaving behind him, as a writer justly observes, "the character of a man who so passed through the world as to attach many warm friends, and was never known to have an enemy."* • Biographical Notice in the United Service Journal. COME AWAY! SONG FOR MUSIC, BY MRS. HEMANS. Come away!-the child, whose flowers are springing "Come away!" H ACADEMICAL REFORM.* THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF EDUCATION CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO ITS PRACTICABLE AND PROBABLE REFORM. The subject of education, especially the education of the higher classes, is one of such vast and vital importance to the community at large, that we feel no apology to be necessary for calling the attention of our readers to the system of instruction that is pursued in our only Irish University. Perhaps we should rather apologise for having hitherto directed to it so little of our own. At a time when that system is canvassed and examined in the pages of English periodicals, by writers who seem perfectly at home in the discussion, it cannot be amiss that a journal, which bears her name, and emanates in some degree from her walls, should devote some space to its honest and impartial consideration. We gladly, then, embrace the opportunity which the appearance on our table of the proof sheets of the second University Calendar affords us, to revert to a subject which surely must be interesting to the politician and the patriot. Since public attention has been called to the recent changes, by a correspondent in our Number for August, we have had many opportunities of hearing the expression of opinion upon his views. We have heard enough to satisfy us that discussion has been excited by his remarks; and perhaps at a period like the present, which seems a crisis in the history of our University, and when her governors seem actuated by a large and liberal spirit of reform; in examining the system as it is, and pointing out the defects that remain, after all the improvements that have been made, we may not be altogether unprofitably employed. We do this the more readily, because we believe there is a disposition in the heads of the University to pay attention to any reasonable suggestions, and we flatter ourselves that perhaps the views expressed in our pages may at least be admitted to a share of the consideration of those who have the power to carry them into effect. Whatever degree of ability we may bring to the execution of the task, of one thing we are sure, that we bring honesty. Our opinions are free and uncontrolled; we have nothing either to gain or to lose by their expression; and as our only object is our country's good, so our only motive is our desire to advance the cause which for that good we have at heart-the cause of ACADEMICAL RE FORM. The opinions we shall advance may, perhaps, to many, appear novelties, and our plans of improvement mere innovating speculations. That our notions upon the subject differ very widely from those that are generally entertained, and that the institutions we would recommend would exhibit no inconsiderable deviation from established usage, we are ready to admit. But while we give our ready assent to the general wisdom of the maxim that is the first article of our political creed." "Be not with those that are given to change," we yet feel that this, like every thing else, may be carried too far. There are times when change is not only expedient, but necessary. The part of wisdom is to preserve a happy medium between too rash a rejection and too easy an adoption; between a blind attachment to what is old, and an immoderate passion for what is new. Change must not be regarded as identical either with deterioration or improvement-must neither of itself be sought after as a good, nor avoided as an evil. But on one point all persons, • The Dublin University Calendar for 1834: Dublin, Wm. Curry jun. and Co. Observations on the Course of Science taught at present in Trinity College, Dublin, with some Improvements suggested therein. By the Rev. Robert Burrowes, D.D. F.T.C.D. Printed by George Grierson, 1792. VOL. III. L we imagine, will be agreed, and that is, that when alteration is determined on, it is well that it should effect an extensive improvement. If there be an inconvenience in casting aside what is old, that inconvenience, when submitted to, should be compensated by as many advantages as possible. No institution can bear to be eternally tampered with, and wisdom will ever be averse to meddle with that which has been recently remodelled. Thus alteration that is not improvement, is an evil, inasmuch as it tends to throw difficulties in the way of that which is. While change can and ought to occur but seldom, every reform is, as it were, a substraction from the fund which is the treasury of opportunities of improvement; and it becomes those who undertake the reform to see that the draft is turned to good account. We are anxious, then, at a time when many changes have already been effected in the discipline of Trinity College, and still more are spoken of as intended, to submit to the serious consideration of all persons interested in the University, a few remarks upon the faults and defects of her system; and to suggest those means by which it appears to us that those faults can be remedied, and those defects supplied. The pamphlet, whose title we have united with that of the forthcoming calendar, is one which, though old in years, is yet, probably, new to most of our readers. The copy at present in our possession is, we believe, the only one in existence. Some of our readers may, probably, imagine that we are rather late in our review; but the "Observations" are of too valuable a nature, for us to permit them to be forgotten. The production of a scholar and a gentleman, they bear the traces of his elegant and classic pen; and while the justice of his views, and the liberality of his sentiments, bespeak a mind superior to scholastic prejudice, and above a blind attachment to ancient systems, discretion tempers the zeal of innovation, and moderation and caution are the characteristics of the author's reform. But praise to any production of the present Dean of Cork, is, from us, but superfluous panegyric. His name is the highest recommendation that the "Observations" can receive; and we call attention to the pamphlet, not for the sake of adding our humble tribute of respect to talents which have been long since appreciated, but because we are anxious to obtain the sanction of a great name for speculations that might otherwise appear too bold. In another way, too, the recollection of this pamphlet may be useful. It may inculcate practically, the lesson which we have endeavoured to convey theoretically; and teach those to whom is committed the management of public institutions, not to be too rash in rejecting, any more than in adopting, plans of improvement, especially when they emanate from a quarter which entitles them to respect. Forty years ago, Dean Burrowes, at that time a Junior Fellow of Trinity College, proposed alterations, in effect identical with those which have earned for the present heads of the University so much deserved applause.* It was reserved for another generation to carry his suggestions into effect. Thank God, this venerable man has been spared to witness their adoption; and we trust that many years are yet in store for him, and that he will live to witness the complete triumph of the principles he so ably advocated. But other The pamphlet before us embraces a very wide field of Academical Reform, aud there are many things proposed in it, which, we regret to say, have not yet been adopted. As our object is to be useful, it is upon these points, in this article, we will dwell. But we were not a little astonished to find in the "Observations," a recommendation of changes equivalent to the recent ones. To expatiate upon these is not our intention. Those who wish to see them fairly discussed, may consult the letter on the subject, which appeared in the University Magazine for August last, Vol. II. p. 214, to which we shall have occasion by-and-by to refer. We shall, therefore, employ the Dean's powerful essay with reference to what is future, not to what is past; as a means of pointing out the necessity of further reform, not of showing the utility of what has been already effected. Suffice it then to say, that the institution of moderatorships, or honours equivalent to them, the abolition of the old system of divisions, and the equalizing of the terms, are all urged in this interesting pamphlet. reformers may not be so fortunate. Suggestions may now, perhaps, be contemptuously rejected, which succeeding generations will act on and improve; and plans that are now hardly honoured with a notice, may be put into effect, when their originators are forgotten in the grave. Universities were originally established for the simple purpose of qualifying men for the various professions and duties of life-they were instituted to impart to the youth of the country that knowledge which would enable them to serve that country with effect, and form in them those habits which would make practical virtue easy in after years; in a word, to furnish to the community, useful and respectable nembers of society. This, and this alone, is the legitimate object of every such institution. To this every part of its machinery should be adapted; and even the advancement of science, and the improvement of literature, are only to be sought after as they are subservient to this; as science and literature are not to be prized for their own sakes, but because their cultivation tends to humanize the minds, and con sequently improve the happiness, of the community. But the objection is as old as the days of Adam Smith, that this object is forgotten within the walls of colleges-that from their monastic cloisters almost every study of practical utility is banished, while industry is confined to the musty records of cumbrous and antiquated knowledge, which will never be available in after life. Dean Burrowes notices this ob jection, upon which he makes the following admirable remarks "In answer to this if it be said, that alterations in established modes of general education should not be lightly or too frequently made, such assertion may be admitted to be true, but it is not a sufficient answer to the objection. On comparing what is taught at most universities, with the knowledge most valuable to the community, and most reputable in the world, the attachment to established modes of education would appear to have been carried further than the just apprehensions of imputations of levity or fickleness would warrant; and too great a dread of innovation would seem to have excluded much improvement. Universities should steer a middle course, between that cumbrous learning, which was consigned in the days of our fathers, by the world, to oblivion, and the literary frippery which will not live to descend to our sons. They should not be repositories for the half-formed theories of the day, nor should they be the mausolea of deceased pedantry. The great seminaries of public education should certainly teach that knowledge which is attended with substantial practical advantage to the community at large; and when the quantity of this necessary knowledge is considered, together with the shortness of the time in which it is to be acquired, it must appear that there is but little room for teaching anything else." This is very just, and very philosophical-it lays down a broad and intelligible principle, upon which the superstructure of the system should be raised-it furnishes a ready criterion by which to estimate the claims of any particular science to a place in the course of university education. No study is to be encouraged which is not practically useful, and the importance of each study is in proportion to its practical utility. By practically useful, we mean available for the purposes of common life. "Our University was not," as the Dean truly observes, "instituted for the purpose of educating ecclesiastics, but of civilizing, generally, the inhabitants of a country, supposed, at the time of its foundation, to be in a state of barbarism." And now, when we flatter ourselves that Ireland is no longer barbarous-when our gentry, at least, will not lose by a comparison with those of any nation upon earth, her duties do not terminate, else were maintenance unjustifiable. She is still to furnish to the community a succession of men qualified to bear their part in the private and the public relations of social life-she is to throw open her portals to all those who are in a condition of life to aspire to the advantages of a liberal education, and place its benefits and its honours within their reach. And this she is to do, not that one or two of the students may leave her precincts with an ability to work out abstruse Algebraic problems, or investigate the complicated formula of analytical contrivance, but that all of them may be better citizens and wiser men-better qualified for the duties, the franchises, and the dignities of British freemen-better able to serve their country in their several capacities, and to form an opinion upon her interests. How best she may effect these great, these glorious objects, is the only problem to be calculated in the formation of her system of instruction; and every study, and every occupation, that does not tend to this object, is but a childish and a miserable waste of precious time, and still more precious energies, that should be profitably employed. This principle may appear simple, but it is one from which many and important deductions may be drawn, and, confident in its correctness, nay well assured, that it must commend itself to every reasonable mind, we will proceed to examine the system at present pursued in the Dublin University, and try the merits and defects of the improved course, as laid down in the recent regulations of the board, by the single standard of practical utility. The whole subject matter of the science of academical instruction has been divided into four courses, each of which is to occupy, nominally, a year. The first year is devoted to Mathematics; the second, professedly, to Logics; the third to Physics; and the fourth, professedly, to Ethics. We use the words, nominally and professedly, because, while the science of the first year is retained in the second, and that of the third in the fourth, it must be evident to every one acquainted with the practical part of the examinations, that the Mathematical Sciences will receive an undue proportion of attention, and influence, almost exclusively, the decision of honours. The great importance which has been attached to these studies is, perhaps, the most solid objection that can be urged against the system pursued in our University; and it is one that cannot be too often urged, while there is a hope of reformation. It is only as a mental discipline that these sciences can be of any value, as a part of general education. No one will pretend to say that the lawyer, or the clergyman, or the physician, will avail himself, in the discharge of the duties of his profession, of the theorems of Euclid, or the formulæ of Lagrange. But the question may be, and has been,. asked: : are the habits of thought, which are induced by their cultivation, those which are most likely to be advantageous in after life? Mathematics, when not exclusively studied, may be useful in forming the reasoning powers to precision, and accustoming us to trace the necessary connection between abstract truths; but in life we are to deal with probabilities, and in the power of balancing these it is that almost all mental excellence consists. While mathematics train the mind to rigid demonstration, they are, unfortunately, the only science in which this can be attained. Their utility, then, is at best circumscribed by the narrowness of the application of their principles; and while we would never wish to see these studies banished from our College, nay, while we would provide liberal encouragement for those whose taste would lead them to their prosecution, we cannot but question the expediency of permitting them to monopolise every avenue to distinction. It is true, something lately has been done, that provides rewards for merit of a different and not inferior order; and, in this point of view, the institution of Ethical moderatorships may be regarded as a most valuable improvement. But still time is expended on these unprofitable pursuits, while many important branches of knowledge find no place at all in the University, or, at best, are relegated to the vacant benches of the lecture room of a sinecure professorship. Mathematics occupy the chief attention of the teachers and the taught, to the exclusion of studies far more practically usefulmore congenial to our national tasteand, above all, more calculated to forward the objects for which Universities were instituted. And we confess that, Tory as we are, we would begin to put less faith in the wisdom of our ancestors, did we believe that the founders of the University bestowed her ample revenues that Mathematicians might be trained-that one, or perhaps two, in a century, might rise to eminence in the science of lines and angles, and a few more acquire an ephemeral distinction within the walls of the College; while very few, if any, of those subjects with which it most imports an Irishman and a citizen to be acquainted, form a part of the education she bestows. We were well pleased to meet in the pages of Blackwood's Magazine, an allusion to our University that exactly accords with our own views upon this subject. The writer of those elegant papers upon Edmund Burke, which have lately appeared in that periodical, |