USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Municipal government history and politics, Vol. V > Part 32
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1760-1848.
Lecky, History of Eng. in 18th Cent. Stanhope, History of England. " Life of Pitt.
Martineau, History of England. S. Walpole,
Cornewall Lewis, Essays on the Ad- ministration of Grt. Britain.
Alison, Life of Castlereagh (ch. I-III, XV, XVI).
Burke, Thoughts on Present Discontent- ment.
American Taxation.
" Refl. on the French Revolution.
Letters on a Regicide Peace.
Samuel Baneford (principal passages of his life).
Nicholls, History of the English Poor Law.
Morley, Life of Cobden.
Bancroft, United States.
Payne, History of the Colonies.
Marshman, History of India. Kaye, Life of Metcalfe.
1763-1848.
Heeren, Political Systems of Modern Europe.
Martin, Histoire de France.
Tocqueville, Anc. Rég. et Rév.
Arthur Young, Travels in France.
Von Sybel, French Revolution.
Mignet, French Revolution.
Taine,
Carlyle,
Lanfrey, History of Napoleon.
Guizot, Mémoires.
Alison, History of the French Revolu- tion (from ch. IX). History of Europe (from 1815).
Fyffe, Modern History.
Seeley, Life and Times of Stein.
Häusser, D. G. vom Tode F. d. G.
Napier, Battles and sieges in the Penin- sula.
Finlay, History of Greece.
Rambaud, History of Russia.
I shall be pardoned, I hope, for introducing here the titles of all these works, for it seemed that nothing else would show so well the scope of this examination. It will be ob- served that the list is much longer than the corresponding list at Cambridge. As a bibliographic index it is perfect.
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But is it possible for the student to read all these books ? Evidently not, for care is often taken to indicate chapters and even the pages to be referred to. The science is thus chalked out. But is it wise to say to the student, " Here is a book. Read thirty or fifty pages at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of it?" This method seems to me scarcely scientific. I prefer the precept of Cambridge, " Read as many as you can of the books indicated, but read them well and from cover to cover." Finally, does not the Oxford list contain works somewhat superannuated ?
However this may be, the student at Oxford as well as at Cambridge is urged to read, and to read much ; in reality the serious student does read and read much. The theoretical course happily consumes only a small part of his day (two or three hours), and for the rest of the time he studies at will- to use the authorized expression, he reads. It is much to have established advanced teaching upon such a footing. The judg- ment of the student is developed, independent thinking is induced, above all, self-help must be relied on even in the use of historical text-books.
But the Oxford examination includes also a more scientific test-the special subject studied from the sources. In the prospectus for 1886 I find six subjects indicated, from which the candidates may choose. They are :
I. Hildebrand, according to Lambert de Hersfeld, Jaffé's Monumenta Gregoriana, and Waltram's De Unitate Ecclesia.
II. The first three Crusades, from Gesta Francorum, Rai- mond de Agiles, Fulcherius Carnotensis, William of Tyre (Bk. XVI and XVII, Ch. I-VIII), Itinerarium Regis Ri- cardi, and extracts from Arabian historians cited by Michaud, Bibliothéque des Croisades.
III. Italy from 1492 to 1513, from Machiavelli (Il Prin- cipe), Commines (Bk. VII and VIII), Guicciardini (Storia Florentina) and Da Porto (Lettere Storiche). Knowledge of Italian seems indispensable here, as these authors are referred to in the original.
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IV. The great revolution of England to the death of Charles I (1639-1649), from Clarendon (Bk. I-VIII), the Rushworth collection (part IV), Cromwell (Letters and speeches, ed. Carlyle), the Long Parliament, by May, Baillie's Letters, and Sprigg's Anglia Rediviva.
V. The French revolution to the end of the Convention (1789-1795), from Rabault and Laeretelle (Précis de la Revo- lution Française), Bailly (Mémoires, up to 14th July), the Correspondence of Mirabeau (with Lamarck), Mémoires of Bertrand de Malleville, passages selected from Girondins and Robespierre, Mémoires of Madame Roland, Arthur Young's Travels in France, and Schmidt's Tableaux de la Révolution (Vol. I, Part II).
VI. History of English India from 1773 to 1805, from Wilson (Mill's India, after Bk. V), Grant-Duff's History of the Mahrattas, Gleig's Papers in Life of Warren Hastings, Wilks' Mysoor, Cornwallis (numerous selections from his Correspondence, referred to with the exact page), Wellesley and Wellington (Despatches, ed. Owen).
I heartily approve the principle of this test, but I question whether the subjects involved are not too vast. How can a student bound to prepare a multitude of other subjects read with any degree of seriousness the documents of the French Revolution from 1789 to the end of the Convention ? The same may be asked of the other subjects. Such study of sources is of necessity superficial ; it must be restricted, in my opinion, to a brief and scarcely reliable verification of what the standard authors assert. Fortunately, the student is not absolutely bound to this list of topics that I have called too vast. He is permitted to choose for himself a special subject, provided he make arrangement with the Faculty six months before the examination. His request must be accom- panied by a list of the books and documents he purposes to use. But this privilege the students almost never avail them- selves of, and, if I mistake not, will neglect no less in the future. It would be better to restrict the topics so as to
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permit deeper, more concentrated, more truly scientific re- search. One other privilege is granted : for the special subject in history an appointed subject in jurisprudence may be sub- stituted ; the latter is, for 1886, history of the law of real property. The course of study prescribed is Blackstone's Commentaries (Bk. II), or Stephen's (Vol. I, Bk. II, part 1st), and Digby's "Introduction to the Law of Real Property." The principal documents cited in the last work have to be studied with care and compared with Williams' " Treatise on the Law of Real Property."
Finally, the candidate may, in addition to the preceding and required papers, present a period of literary history. The following are appointed : I. The Elizabethan Age (the plays of Shakespeare must be carefully studied); II. The Times of Louis XIV (with critical study of Molière); III. The Times of Dante (with special study of his Purgatorio).
Any student wishing to present some other period, must obtain the sanction of the Faculty six months in advance. Up to this time, I am told, no student has ever presented a literary period, either appointed or of his own selection.
Comparing the honor school of modern history at Oxford with the historical tripos at Cambridge, we first observe that the Oxford examination includes no ancient history, this being left to students of the classics. At Cambridge the examina- tion always includes one longer or shorter period of Greek or Roman history. The Cambridge tripos is, therefore, the more complete.1
The study of political theories from the time of Aristotle
1 Two professors at Oxford have lately protested against this exclusion of ancient history : Mr. Burrows, in his lecture on Antiquarianism and History at Oxford (Oxford, Parker, 1885), and Mr. Freeman, in his opening lecture, "The Office of the Historical Professor" (London, Macmillan, 1884), in which he says: " At Cambridge there is one tripos where, conformably to common sense and the interests of true science, Thucydides and Lambert de Hersfeld can be placed side by side. Honor, then, to our illustrious sister, and let us soon have the wisdom to follow her lead."
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is carried further at Cambridge than at Oxford. I have already remarked that Cambridge approaches more nearly than does Oxford the school of political sciences at Paris, and that its aim is chiefly to form statesmen, politicians in the scientific sense. In this tendency the influence of Mr. Seeley is clearly distinguishable. To Oxford, on the other hand, Prof. Stubbs has lent his character and the lustre of his learning. His books, known to all who read the history of English public institutions, have revolutionized that branch of the science and are not surpassed by the masterpieces of criticism and erudition of his German contemporaries.
This great savant has, however, never instituted a practical course, the method that his colleagues beyond the Rhine believe an indispensable accompaniment to theoretical in- struction. In his farewell address, published in the Oxford Magazine for May 14, 1884, at the time of his removal to Chester, Mr. Stubbs said he was quite conscious of what he had Jacked as a professor: he had had much sympathy, but too little of the proselyting spirit; he had not been an organizer, because he hated organization and loved liberty. This argument against the practical course has several times confronted me in England. It surprised me in a country where colleges are emphatically organized communities and where the lecturers are masters with whom the students are not considered able to dispense.
However this may be, in accordance with a new regulation introduced in October, 1883, Mr. Stubbs had organized in picturesque Kettle Hall a special class for " informal instruc- tion." Here several times a week he received the students one by one, to give advice about their lectures and to examine and correct their papers; more frequently, however, they would seek the aid of the lecturers of their college. These elective pupils would certainly have derived inestimable profit from intimate intercourse with so eminent a master as Mr. Stubbs, had the Church not withdrawn him from the uni- versity so soon after the commencement of this undertaking.
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In his course at the university he explained English Char- ters and laws of the Middle Ages. The students took notes, which the professor would at request inspect. Out of seventy auditors in 1884, a dozen gave their note-books to the pro- fessor, who took the trouble to correct them carefully. His object was to rouse in his pupils a critical spirit with regard to the study of original sources without any direct application to politics. His method tended to form scholars, not future statesmen, and no one could pretend to guide better than he to disinterested and scientific historical erudition.
Not finding at Oxford a practical course in history, the students recently took it upon themselves to supply the want. The idea had its birth in the brain of an American, Mr. Brearley. He had, before entering Balliol College, Oxford, spent some years in Germany as tutor to American students and had heard of the historical seminaries there, without having admission to them. At Oxford he found no such institution. He related what he had heard of it in Germany, gained the cooperation of his fellows and founded in 1882 the " Historical Seminary," numbering at the time only fifteen members, and in 1884 thirty-five-an average of two to each college. They hold three or four meetings in a term, lasting from eight to ten o'clock in the evening. After one of the members has read a paper of which the hearers take notes, five or six who have read up the same subject then debate the question with the leader. Sometimes the discussion becomes very earnest. The presidency is given, not to a student, but to a professor, formerly to Mr. Stubbs or, if convenient, to Mr. Bright or another lecturer as a substitute. The presi- dent calls attention to the defects of the paper read and gives the résumé at the close of the debate. At one time the argument was prolonged till midnight, the question under discussion being the High Church of the seventeenth century. The meetings are held in the studies of the various members, the one who entertains furnishing coffee, tea and cigarettes.
The subjects of discussion always bear upon the matter of
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the examinations. The members receive at the beginning of each term a printed program, so that each one may, if he chooses, seriously prepare for the debate. Below is the list for the Summer term of 1884: I. Monday, 28 April, Thesis by Mr. J. Wells on the influence of France upon the politics and social life of England during the reign of Charles II. II. Monday, 12 May, Thesis by Mr. H. Hutton upon Wil- liam III. III. Monday, 26 May, Thesis by Mr. G. Saun- ders upon the campaigns of Marlborough.
I regretted extremely the impossibility of attending one of these meetings ; for the novel institution greatly interested me on account both of the original style of its establishment and of the good grace with which the venerable Mr. Stubbs and his colleagues followed the lead of their pupils in supplying the desideratum at Oxford.
Lately a second historical club has been formed there, named the Stubbs Club, where theses on English History are read. At Christ Church College, too, there is a small his- torical society. In the Oxford Magazine for 25th February, 1885, I read that the club met in the study of one of its members and that a paper was read upon the deposition of Edward II, of Richard II and of Henry VI, seven members taking part in the discussion.
The Historical Seminary devotes itself to the study of modern History ; its success suggested to students of the classics the founding of an Ancient History Seminary. By this time it must be in full operation as it had been definitely projected in April, 1884. I said above that ancient history was united with study of the classies. Surely students of this class will find it pleasant to be organized into a historical seminary and thus to emerge from the seclusion that has hitherto weighed upon the history student of scientific aims at Oxford.
Another institution, already old, contributes much to en- courage the study of history. I refer to the prizes offered to students or graduates, for the best essay upon given topics.
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There are at least three prizes each year at Oxford : the Stan- hope prize for a subject in modern history is restricted to undergraduates ; the two others are especially sought by the graduates ; the Lothian prize is also for modern history, while the Arnold prize is given alternately to ancient and modern history. There is also an annual prize, appointed by the chancellor of the university-sometimes for a historical sub- ject. The topics for the prize essays are given out a year in advance. Judges are chosen from the professors and other dignitaries. Professors and lecturers stand ready to give the aspirants all advice and references, but they can have no fur- ther knowledge of the essays which are sent anonymously to the judges. Usually there are many contestants-for the Stanhope prize sometimes forty. The prizes are of some value : £20 for the Stanhope essay, £40 for the Lothian, and £42 for the Arnold essay. These contests are perquisites of the ablest students, furnishing opportunity for individual work and tempting them to prolong their stay at the university and their pursuit of history. Mr. Stubbs and several of his colleagues spoke to me with enthusiasm of this style of encouragement, and I agreed with them in view of the very substantial results it has produced. Mr. Stubbs, who was naturally one of the judges in 1884, assured me that for the Stanhope prize-History of Montenegro-he had received among the eleven essays offered, drawn from original Slavic as well as Latin sources, several of solid merit, filling when printed no less than two hundred pages. For the Lothian prize-The Art of War in the Middle Ages-were written four voluminous papers, and for the Arnold prize-Life of the Chancellor Thomas More-six of equal merit. Mr. Stubbs pronounced the successful essays works of real value.
This statement I could easily credit, as I had seen some of the essays, and among them the one that took the Lothian prize in 1882, a truly remarkable paper. It was "James and Philip van Artevelde," by Mr. W. J. Ashley, B. A., former scholar of Balliol College, whom I met at Oxford. . This
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young savant, a man of great promise, was then a candidate for the chair of history in a school of high grade in Wales. According to custom his application was accompanied by cer- tificates from specialists, among whom were Mr. Stubbs and my compatriot Mr. Léon Vanderkindere, professor at the free university of Brussels and author of Le Siécle des Artevelde. In addition Mr. Ashley sent flattering testimonials from former pupils, among which were two from young ladies. All these certificates, prepared for the officials in charge of the nomina- tion, were bound in a pamphlet and accompanied by reviews of his book taken from the Pall Mall Gazette, Saturday Review, Contemporary Review, the Guardian and the Literary World. I may notice here in passing, as related to my subject, this novel manner, at once scientific and practical, of applying for a vacant chair. Each candidate follows the same course and thus their various claims are publicly submitted to competent judges. It seems to me it would be well to introduce this custom on the Continent.
I am happy to greet in Mr. Ashley a brilliant disciple of Oxford's historical methods. He won in 1881 first rank in the history examination, and his prize essay of the follow- ing year marks the excellence of the method he has followed, showing that though Oxford still lacks a practical course, the prize-system, for the chosen few at least, supplies the deficiency.
Another encouragement to original research is found in the newly established historical society at Oxford, devoted to local history and the history of the university, and purposing to publish its most interesting documents. Here a vast field is opened to young investigators, furnishing immediately at hand abundant and well-defined materials.
I ought here to thank Mr. Stubbs for his extremely kind reception of me at Oxford. Although he was on the point of departure, he put himself at my disposal, graciously furnish- ing me the information I asked, and permitting me to note down his replies. The venerable man, like Prof. Beets, of Utrecht, the great writer of Holland, seemed to me the per-
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sonification of his serene science. In him Oxford loses much. I wish also to thank Mr. Lodge and Mr. George for the many useful hints which they have given me, by no means forgetting my excellent friend, Mr. Charles H. Firth, correspondent of the Revue historique of Paris.
V .- HISTORICAL INSTRUCTION IN LONDON.
When the traveller leaves Cambridge and Oxford, where the universities with their splendid Gothic architecture con- stitute the town, for London, the busy metropolis, he finds it difficult to discover there the seat of learning, so small are its pretensions. Moreover, the University of London, which occupies a palace in the rear of the Art Academy, is not a university. It is only fine quarters, where twice a year exam- inations are held for degrees in philosophy, literature, sciences, law and medicine, before a board of examiners appointed by the State. The instructing is done in several private estab- lishments called colleges, the principal ones being University College and King's College; both of these are almost univer- sities in the Continental sense.
Founded in 1828, chiefly by the efforts of Lord Brougham, University College is open to all sects ; consequently its teach- ing is unsectarian. To offset this liberality, the partisans of the Anglican Church established King's College, where each day opens with prayers at which all students must be present. The State does not directly support either of these institutions, but it favors the latter by granting its very desirable site in the Strand. In other respects the two colleges are entirely independent.
History plays but a secondary part and boasts but one professor in each institution. In University College, Mr. E. S. Beesly, one of the most distinguished of English positivists, teaches general, ancient, mediæval, modern, and contemporary history. In 1883-1884, he devoted to these subjects one hour a week, on Thursdays. Of these, ten lectures were given to
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Roman history, from the death of Sulla to that of Cæsar ; fifteen to tracing in broad outline the history of Europe from the close of the Middle Ages to our own day. In accordance with the positivist doctrine, the program was inscribed "The object of this course is to represent the history of the West as a continuous and natural evolution."1 About twenty-five students attended Mr. Beesly's course.
At King's College there is a professor of modern history, Mr. S. R. Gardiner, whose books are deservedly well known, and a lecturer, Mr. Sidney J. M. Low ;2 the latter has charge of the first year pupils. He teaches them general English history up to the end of the seventeenth century. Mr. Gardi- ner provides a more advanced course, embracing only a shorter period of national history, usually about fifty years, which he presents in detail. Ancient history is joined with the classics.
Mr. Gardiner's lectures, one of which I attended, take an hour and a quarter twice a week. The professor and students are dressed in their black gowns, their square caps laid on the desk beside their note-books. Before the lecture an officer carefully calls the roll-a formality not observed at Uni- versity College, where attendance is not compulsory. There were twelve students present at the lecture I attended. Mr. Gardiner's subject was the state of the English Church under Queen Elizabeth. He spoke simply and clearly, without attempt at eloquence, reminding me of a German professor, the resemblance being heightened, no doubt, by the somewhat Teutonic cast of the professor's features and his expression of learned candor and almost anxious good will. From time to time he readjusted his eyeglasses and polished his nose with his large colored handkerchief, like Droysen of Berlin. He related quietly and clearly and without euphemism the his- tory of the dissolute clergy of the sixteenth century, especially
1 See prospectus of University College, London, Session 1883-1884, pp. 18 and 19.
2 See prospectus of King's College, London, 1883-1884, pp. 10 and 11. 4
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in Great Britain. The five hearers in the first row of seats took notes most conscientiously and some of the others lis- tened attentively ; but those behind seemed occupied with other matters and eager for the lecture to close; they were little pleased when explanations detained Mr. Gardiner beyond the allotted time. In a word the audience was a mixed one. Mr. Gardiner gave very detailed and interesting explanations, but without referring his pupils to books or documents.
I have been told that the men of the London colleges are younger and not so well prepared as for Oxford and Cam- bridge. They appear to be collegians rather than true students. At King's College they are treated like students of a middle, not an advanced, grade. For instance, at the end of each term they have to pass an easy written examination and the first in rank receives a book as a reward of merit. There is for history a more important incentive, a scholarship of £40, awarded yearly at the Easter examination. The test consists of two essays upon periods of history previously appointed. In 1884 the subjects were : for English history, the period from 1603 to 1649, and for Continental history the corres- ponding period from 1610 to 1648. If two contestants are equally deserving, the scholarship is divided between them.
I wish to thank Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Beesly for the kind reception they accorded me.
VI .- CONCLUSION.
So far as I can judge, advanced instruction in history is still in an embryonic state in London, a condition not shared by Cambridge and Oxford. The Scottish universities with their almost utter poverty in the science are still farther behind than the London colleges. The interest of my investi- gations has therefore centred in Cambridge and Oxford. I have risked wearying the reader by giving so detailed an account of the examinations at these two universities; I will add but a few general observations.
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The strain upon memory, implied by the number of books prescribed and the questions given, is appalling. The reading required is of so vast extent that the student cannot thor- oughly grasp any part of it; but the correction is doubtless found in the English tradition that the pupil will assimilate to himself, chiefly by his own reading, material enough to meet the tremendous examinations. It is evident he can only skim so many vast subjects ; but at least he must work almost entirely by himself.
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