new covenant, feel equally the weakness "The exertion of this good will, when once bestowed upon us, must not be neglected, or the Holy Spirit will cease to assist us; for it is the soul of man that must fulfil the terms of his redemption, aided by the Holy Spirit. Now if man did not exert the good will graciously excited in him, he would not be performing the terms of his redemption, but the Holy Spirit alone, which brings contradiction to the Christian scheme. We must give diligence and Be not slothful followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises ¶.' And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end **L Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us! 'Therefore my brethren be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lordt,'That where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty ‡.' Therefore unless the whole Christian scheme is contradicted, we are earnestly required by Christ, and his inspired Apos-✰ tles, to exert the ability graciously given us by God, to attain to faith and good works, and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling §.' "Whatever militates against the express commands of Holy Writ, must be offensive to God, and injurious to ourselves. So if man is declared to be a passive agent in performing those works, to which a strict adherence is necessary in order to obtain the free gift of redemption, he must offend the Saviour, whose t blood was shed to ransom us from the bondage of sin and death, and do injury to his soul in denying revelation, and the earnest exhortations of his God. Since God is the creator of all things, his power is equally manifested in making man a free agent; for to do a thing by another not able to perform it without him, as much demonstrates the existence of the principal cause, as if he did it of himself, without any intervening instrument ||.' And therefore it would be far from promoting the glory of God to deprive man of his freedom of will; since it would be opposing the truths of his Gospel, acting contrary to reason, and raising the voice against the ways of God to man. it "If freedom of will did not exist, may be regarded as proved, that to think otherwise would deprive us of all motives to action, and all sense of right and wrong ¶. Responsibility either stands or falls with freedom: so if man did not believe himself to be a free agent, he could not consider himself a responsible one. And he that does not believe himself responsible, will exercise just as much controul over his appetites, interests, and passions, as will keep him without the pale of human punishments, or not interfere with his worldly advancement. Men are so prone to evil, that they require more powerful excitements to practise virtue, than the mere reflection, that it is produc five of public and private peace. This fact, the page of history, from the earliest records, and events of more recent occur rence, corroborate. And since a disbelief in the freedom of the will would render ea indifferent in their moral conduct, it cannot be a doctrine that comes from God. “ To inquire either into the manner in which the mind is influenced by the Holy Spirit, or when our natural efforts receive divine assistance, would be a waste of time and words, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thon hearest the sound thereof bat canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every one that is barn of the Spirit *.' "God gives his grace according as we can receive it.' At first its progress is slow, because we often fail in our pious resolutions by infirmity, surprize, and the other hindrances of humanity: but an humble and docile mind, desirous of being instructed in the way of God, will find truth enter into the heart when it is pure and still, ‘like a sun-beain, gently and without violence.' Soon its influence teaches us to consider of Heaven, to love the pleasures of the soul, and to loathe the desires of the senses; it discovers that religion is an unfailing source of endless pleasure, and makes us earnest in our prayers, importunate for an increase of grace, and eager in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, until the service of God is perfect freedoin, and we find delight in wearing the yoke of Christ. Then religion bath wings, and moves on wheels of fire,' and the incense of our prayers ascends unto the throne of mercy, and gives joy to the angels of heaven; and that faith which at first was a narrow, slow, and obstructed stream, becomes a broad and hastening flood, flowing onward in its course, and enabled by accumulating and continued help, to overcome every obstacle until it mingles with the waters of everlasting life," P. 27. A Letter to the Right Reverend John, Lord Bishop of Bristol, respecting an additional Examination of Students in the University of Cambridge, and the different Plans proposed for that Pur * John iii. 8. REMEMBRANCER, NO. 40. pose. 8vo. By Philograntus. 68 pp. 2s. 6d. Murray. 1822. A CONSIDERABLE proportion of our readers may be expected to take an interest in the proposed additions to the Examinations in the University of Cambridge, and the regret which we have long felt, at being unable to bring the subject before them in an adaquate manner, is fully recompensed and done away by the opportunity that has now occurred. The letter of Philograntus contains an able summary of the whole argument, and is calculated at one and the same time to conciliate and convince. We hasten to extract the principal passages, merely premis. the country, that the Letter is uniing versally ascribed to the pen of Professor Monk, recently and most deservedly preferred to the Deanery of Peterborough, His object is thus stated: for the benefit of our friends in "It is not my intention to enter into the details of the different plans which have been recommended for attaining the desirable objects in view. Such an investiga tion of minute particulars would be invidious towards the gentlemen who have exerted themselves to promote our common object, the welfare and honour of the University: and it would, at the same time, be unavailing; since there will, I think, be no great difficulty in obtaining acquiescence in the details, wben once persons are brought to agree upon the principles of the measure to be adopted. The differences of opinion existing among us on this subject may be reduced to three heads: I speak of, "1. Those who wish for an additional examination of the students, to be followed by Honours, upon a scale of merit, with all its distinctions and gradations, 66 2. Those who contend for such an cluding all honour and distinction of the examination merely as a sine qua non; exmeritorious. "3. Those who wish that no ćliange whatever should be hazarded. "The third class is, as far as I can judge, the least numerous of the three. Yet from the opposition of opinion between the other two, it has hitherto been successful, and threatens to prevent the li meditated improvement altogether. I am convinced that all parties are actuated by the same wish to see our academical system as prosperous and as perfect as possible, though all may not have had equal opportunities of viewing the subject in its different bearings. Several persons, with whom I have conversed, at different times, upon these questions, have experienced a considerable change of opinion, and have gradually become converts to the scheme of distributing classical honours, upon the liberal and unrestricted plan already prac tised in mathematics: and I am inclined to hope, that a calm deliberation on the real merits of the case, may produce the same effect in others. Avowing myself, therefore, to be a decided advocate for the first of the three plans, I shall proceed to examine the arguments which I have heard alleged by the two other parties, in favour of their own particular views." P. 5. Those persons who disapprove of any alteration whatsoever, and (this class is justly surmised to be the smallest of the three) are reminded of the following facts. A bachelor's degree, which generally serves as a passport into the liberal professions, may be obtained at present by a very moderate extent of mathematical and moral knowledge. College examinations, however beneficial, have proved unequal to the task of supplying the deficiency in the minimum prescribed by the University as absolutely requisite for a degree. Cambridge-men are notoriously considered as inferior to Oxford-men in the state of preparation for Holy Orders, which they exhibit when under examination by the bishop. And at Oxford there does exist a regular enquiry into the theological attainments of every candidate for a degree. The second class of objectors to the plan supported by Philograntus are ready to sanction a classical examination; provided, it does not extend beyond that sine quá non without which it is disgraceful to the University to confer a mark of its approbation. To which it is answered, that such a scheme would be a complete subversion of the pre sent Cambridge system; inasmuch as it would banish all rewards to the deserving. The exclusion of all honours, the mixing together the ablest and the most ignorant in one common mass, would bring the whole plan into immediate contempt, and produce few, if any of the advantages which a better scheme may insure. "The plan which was last year proposed to the Senate, enacts a full and ample examination in classical subjects, to be followed by an arrangement of honours in three divisions, exactly similar to those of Wranglers, Senior Optimes, and Junior Optimes. By providing that no person shall have a place among the classical honours, who has not already obtained oné in the mathematical tripos, it secures the University against a neglect of philosophical pursuits and by combining an examination in the Greek Testament, in the history, antiquities, and allusions of the Scriptures, and in the evidences of our Religion, and by making a competent acquaintance with these subjects the indispensible requisite for a degree, it ensures that attention to them which ought to be encouraged by a seminary for Christian education. That the establishment of this scheme will prodigiously increase the amount of study and of intellectual acquirement, can hardly be doubted by any person acquainted with the temper of our academical youth, or, I may say, with the principles of human nature itself. By holding out the certainty of appropriate reward to every description of exertion, in an almost exact proportion to the merit displayed, we shall henceforth supply an unceasing motive to the industry of all our students, whatever be the diversity of their tastes and their capacities; and shall take away those excuses for the neglect of college studies, which too many are in the habit of alleging to their friends and to themselves. The importance of the matter now alluded to, though it will be recognized by your Lordship, and by those who have ever been engaged in university tuition, may not perhaps strike all readers in the same light: it will therefore not be amiss to explain more particularly the nature of a difficulty which frequently occurs, to disappoint the sanguine hopes enter tained of the success of a youth in his academical career.` -"Many of our students bring with them to Cambridge a very considerable stock of classical knowledge, as well as much fond ness for ancient literature; but they soon discover that there are among their nume rous contemporaries two or three or more, possessing so decided an advantage in this department, that they cannot reasonably hope to overtake them. Fancying there fore that all avenue to classical honours is closed against them, they feel their ardour damped, and are continually found turning aside from the path of academical study to various trifling pursuits, which are too apt to mislead the taste, and enervate the mind of youth. This is particularly the case with students whose circumstances in life place them above the necessity of obtaining provision by their own exertions: with this description of young men, the authority of their tutor may prevail in procuring attention to mathematical studies during their first year; but after that period, they too frequently discard these pursuits as irksome, merely because they demand steady application; or allege some fancied aversion to such reading, as the excuse for a neglect of the university course. Knowing that they have already obtained a sufficient portion of this knowledge to ensure a degree, and having no other channel of academical distinction open to their ambition, they suffer the greater part of their remaining time to be misspent in useless occupations, or else wasted in idleness, with its usual accompaniments, extravagance and dissipation. There is another description of students upon whom the same cause operates, less disasterously indeed, but still in a manner greatly to be deprecated: I mean the industrious and aspiring scholars, who feel themselves compelled almost to desert those classical pursuits to which their genius and taste are best adapted, and to devote their time exclusively to mathematics, a study less congenial, in which their progress is painful and unsatisfactory. This case likewise may require some explanation. I suppose a young man actuated by laudable ambition, with a determination to realize as far as possible the hopes of his parents and friends, or to acquire those emoluments which are the result of academical distinction; for here it may be remarked, that in the greater part of our Colleges, the fellowships are avowedly held out as rewards to those who have reached the higher class of university honours. Finding, therefore, that there are among his contemporaries, some, whose scholarship he cannot hope with his utmost exertions to surpass, he betakes himself to the only open field, that of mathematics; while it frequently happens that the nature of his talents tend strongly in a different direction. Here he perseveres, invita Minerva, in laborious efforts to ascend the higher eminences of science; and. has finally the mortification to see persons with scholarship and with industry inferior to his own, invested with great honours, and preferred in their society to himself. This is neither an imaginary nor an overstated case: it is one which tutors will acknowledge as of frequent and of painful occurrence; and to which, under the present system, we are unavoidably exposed. "I trust that these remarks will not be construed into a disapprobation of the existing practice of exacting from every student a certain quantity of philosophical knowledge; and that I shall not be suispected of a wish to countenance the childish and unworthy apology for a neglect of such pursuits, that the person "feels no taste for them," "that they are dry and uninteresting," &c. In ascending an eminence, a little perseverance is requisite before we can reach the attractive and interesting parts of the prospect; in the mean time the exercise is beneficial to the health and the animal spirits. In the acquisition of almost every science, a similar degree of labour is demanded, before the promised point of gratification can be attained: but to the mathematics this comparison may be applied most appropriately; since not only is the ascent steep and arduous, but the exertion which it demands is peculiarly invigorating to the mental faculties; and the student, long before he has reached the agreeable part of the science, feels its beneficial effects in his strengthened powers of reasoning, of attention, and of memory. In fact, they who complain most of its irksomeness, are the very persons for whom such a mental discipline is most required: their aversion to close and abstract reasoning being a defect, which it is the special business of education to counteract. The only just matter of complaint is, that while we re. commend and encourage different species of study, we afford an open and liberal scale of rewards only to one: and by this means, the greater part of our students must either be distinguished as mathematicians or as nothing. That the other studies are important and essential to a system of university education, we are all agreed: and it cannot be denied that there are in the nature of young men's minds and capacities very considerable differences, which make a particular pursuit less eligi ble for one, than for another, Were students more generally encouraged to dedicate their principal attention to those subjects in which each is most calculated, to excel, it is hardly possible to doubt that a twofold result would ensue: a much greater number of students would employ their time in the ardent pursuit of knowledge; and their respective acquirements would become more beneficial to them. selves, to their professions, and to their country." P. 15. Of the arguments that have been commonly urged against this proposal, the principal is refuted in the following terms: “In the first place, let us admit that some persons may be induced by this additional, system to read somewhat less of mathematics, while they devote the time, which would otherwise have been so employed, upon other academical studies more suited to their genius and taste. In what respect is the pursuit of science prejudiced thereby? What injury arises to the individuals themselves? What loss. results to their college, or to the professions for which they are designed? I declare myself utterly unable to imagine the least; while it is morally certain, that those very persons will become better informed than they now are, in the most important, of all human studies; and it is equally clear, that many other students will, by the same institution, be impelled to efforts in literature and science, who, at present, neglect both the one and the other; and the dominion of idleness and dissipation will be proportionably, contracted. But to return to the main ground of alarm, that the study of mathematics will be injured—The proposed plan makes it an indispensable condition, that the student who aspires to a place in the Classical Tripos, must have previously obtained some mathematical honour; and by this provision, it is certain that this species of reading will be promoted; and that, too, in a way peculiarly desirable: inasmuch as many persons of talent will be under the necessity of carrying away with them from Cambridge, a pretty fair kuowledge of the more useful parts of mechanics, optics, hydrostatics, and astronomy, as well as the elements of the Newtonian Philosophy; too many of whom, under our present system, would probably limit their scientific acquirements to the solution of an adfected quadratic, or, at most, to the extraction of a binomial surd. This result is not, and cannot be disputed: and it may be added, that the order of Junior Optimes, which is at present rather shonned, than courted, will rise in respectability, when it becomes a passport to the highest classical distinctions. Every one must perceive how important it is that all our honours should be deemed respectable ES objects of ambition. "But if I am not greatly mistaken, the real apprehensions of those who dread injury to mathematical studies, apply only to the high Wranglers, to those who pursue their researches, with so much energy and success, into the arcana of science, and who learn to what extent Analysis may be applied to the advancement of Philosophy. Let this fear once be removed, and the point is carried. That the proposed plan will have an effect at all prejudicial to such students, is a position which I strenuously resist. The argument, indeed, were it valid, would tend to prove, that the two classical medals are injurious; since of the persons who have obtained these honours, how large a proportion may be found among our highest Wranglers. That great attainments in the classical and philosophical departments may be, and frequently are united, no oue is ignorant and I appeal to your Lordship, as well as to other persons who have excelled at, the same time in both these studies, whether the perusal of the finest writers, during a part of each day, be not a relief to the mind and spirits, which prevents the fatigue, resulting from uninterrupted exercise in the severer discipline of science. The young man, whose ambition and energies are wholly directed to the acquirement of academical honours, (and to no others is this part of the subject applicable,) will feel himself. constantly refreshed and invigorated by this. change of pursuit ; the alternation of studies is as wholesome to his mind, as that. of solid and of light food is to his bodily constitution. "Further to allay the apprehensions of a defalcation in mathematical reading, I beg leave to suggest that, under the joint system, some young men. will carry that branch of study much farther thau at present. Many will, by taste and previous scholarship, naturally be drawn for the most part to classical pursuits; they, on the other hand, who owing to smaller advantages of school education, or from other causes, find themselves, on their arrival in the University, less able to cope in this field, will continue, as now, to seek distinction in the more exact sciences; |