^'■^K L I E. R.ARY OF THE U N I VE.R51TY or ILLl NOIS THE DISESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION IN OXFORD, THE BETRAYAL OF A SACRED TRUST:— arirs tsl Warning t0 tlj^ Enitositg. A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, AT S. MARY-THE-VIRGIN'S, C^n t|j^ ^untJa^ ntxi \stUxt '^h\stni, {NOVEMBER 2V\ i88o,) BY JOHN WILLIAM BURGON, B.D. DEAN OF CHICHESTER. PuljUsfteti in Bequest, PARKER AND CO. OXFORD, AND 6, SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, STRAND, LONDON. PREFATORY. The title originally adopted for the ensuing Sermon, expressive of the occasion for which it was written, (for this is " the Pride Sermon") was— RELIGIOUS OBEDIENCE THE Condition of Intellectual Progress. Another title is substituted, as better expressing the object with which, at the request of many persons, the Sermon is now published. I desire to point out that The Dis- establishment of Religion in Oxford is nothing else but The Betrayal of a Sacred Trust: and I offer these as WoRDS OF WARNING TO THE Uni- versity. Not unaware am I that, as the ages roll out, it will sometimes happen that Endowments left for one good purpose must needs be diverted to another, — or else must be wasted. As when a few years ago it was ordered that a fund anciently created "for the Redemp- tion of Captives" should be applied to some other object of Christian benevolence : the practice of privateering in the Mediterranean having long since ceased. But no such plea can be urged in defence of the pro- posed scheme for the alienation to secular purposes of endowments entrusted to Colleges for the support of Re- ligion. Concerning such endowments, (I say,) no plea of effete or superannuated purpose can be set up ; Religion being every whit as necessary for the soul of Man at the present instant as it was half a thousand years ago. Rather is STfjc ©eanerg L/2- J vv Crx *^_^ .7 «-v^ ^C^r^-M. rvT/-> •^N,'«/^ LAy every whit as necessary for the soul of Man at the present instant as it was half a thousand years ago. Rather is .cX.\x2\\y poorf No doubt, if a youth is able to compete successfully for a Scholarship, the case is different : but how can such a result be expected for one who has enjoyed very little training ; or rather, has had no early advantages at all ? Talk not to me of " merit" therefore. There is no merit at all when a lad from the sixth form of one of our public Schools produces a better Greek or Latin exercise than a youth of 20 or 21 who has scrambled into the mys- teries of Greek and Latin composition with few external helps, or none. 22. The want of cheaper University education which has been in this way created through the wasteful expenditure of the wealthy, — not to say the thoughtless extravagance of many whose parents are the reverse of rich, — has at last asserted itself so imperiously, that at this instant, out of a total of about 2250 resident Undergraduate members of the University, no less than 245 are " Unattached," — that is to say, belong to the University without yet belonging to any College. (The entire aggregate of these gentlemen has already reached 417.) A small proportion, I am as- sured, are men of fortune, — persons, at all events, who be- cause they prefer to live unfettered by restraints of any kind, have adopted the " Unattached" system, of their own free choice. These may be omitted from the account, — with the passing remark that the system was never intended for such as they are : that they ought not to be permitted to avail themselves of it : and that the very existence of such a class of men is its sufficient condemnation. What however is more truly to be said concerning the great bulk of those 417, than that they are a standing witness to the insufficiency of our Collegiate appliances, — a proof of The " [/^ATTACHED," a retrograde system. 31 their manifest inaptitude to meet one of the most press- ing wants of the day ? Nay, the University fails to fulfil the very intention for which it was founded, — fails to justify its very raison d'etre, in suffering such a body of men to exist. For who sees not that we are at this time rapidly drifting back to the very condition out of which Walter de Merton [the originator of our Collegiate system) lifted us in 1264, when he founded and munificently en- dowed the College which still bears his glorious name, confessedly with the object of putting an end to the " Un- attached " system, — which up to his day had prevailed exclusively in Oxford ? . . . The case of the " Unattached," I repeat, beyond all others, is just now clamorous for remedy. Rather does the wro7ig of the "Unattached" cry aloud for redress. They already amount to more than a tithe of our resident Undergraduate body. They will soon have grown into a far more formidable fraction. 23. For I maintain that a very grievous wrong has been done to men in their position. Robbed, they have been of their rightful heritage through past Legislation, — ever short-sighted when it sweeps ruthlessly away the provision made in former ages for lending educational assistance to the sons of Parents whose circumstances are the reverse of affluent.] And the question I now respectfully ask, is, — What answer do you propose to render poor Scholars when hereafter they stand suppliant at your gates, — sup- pliant for admission to a share of the high privileges which have been so heartlessly monopolized by the rich } Do you mean — (I am addressing myself to the University Com- missioners) — Do you mean still to bid them stand shivering out in the cold, on the plea that this time the surplus re- venues of the place are required for increasing the incomes of an unwieldy aftd a useless Professoriate ^ .'' [Lookers on desire to be informed how you propose to reconcile such a course with your "liberal" professions. More than that. You are reported to advocate the doctrine that our Univer- sities are natioiial foundations, — which is perfectly true : » See Appendix (F). 32 The " Unattached''' system, retrograde: and that their revenues are national property,— which is demonstrably false. But approach the question from either point of view, — yours or mine ; and — May we be told on what principle you propose to defend the alienation from the Poor of what was left expressly for their benefit ? also, on what grounds you sanction the transfer to one pri- vileged class, of endowments which were confessedly in- tended to prove a benefit to the whole Nation ?] If, as is admitted ^ £^0 a-year will suffice to enable a man to get through the University on the " unattached " system, — why is not every College with a surplus, called upon, as far as that surplus goes, to undertake that for the same sum of ;^5o as many as can prove that they absolutely require it, shall enjoy the full benefits of an University education ? That those benefits cart be enjoyed by those who live here in a state of isolation, — ostracized from the society of their fellows, — no one will pretend. Who knows not that it is the daily attending the same lectures, yes, and the sharing in the same manly sports : experience of the same Chapel services, and familiarity with the same routine of daily occupation : the dining in the same an- cient Hall, and associating with the same pleasant com- panions : — who knows not that this it is which makes an University education such a priceless thing, — produces the Man, — as well as causes that these shall be the three brightest years in the retrospect of so many an after-life } You cannot seriously pretend that pacing the same streets and gazing up at the same buildings : submitting to the same repeated Examinations and at last obtaining the right to wear the same academic hood : — you will not try to persuade me that anything of this sort can in any degree achieve the object with which men come up to Oxford ! 24. [It requires in fact little observation and only a slight acquaintance with Human Nature, to be convinced that * " The Censors have collected fresh statistics as to the cost of living. . . . These prove conclusively that the necessary Oxford expeiises of a careful Student need not exceed £^0 a-year.^' — Report of Students' Delegacy (1877-8), —p. 28. an imposture and a sham. 33 such a system can never possibly become a real success. Carried out on a large scale, — (and the " Unattached" sys- tem already bids fair to develope into a lesser University ^,) — it must inevitably prove in the end a gigantic error. The pinch of grinding poverty, unrelieved by social influ- ences, crushes the spirit, and unfits it for noble enterprise. Meals devoured alone do a man wondrous little good. Solitary walks — moral and mental isolation — the undi- vided solicitude to obtain an University degree ; — all this kind of thing is a sorry preparation for the battle and the business of the after-life : is no substitute at all for an University education. Weeds which prove ineradicable are observed to abound in such a soil and to wax wondrous tall and strong. It will be an evil day for England when any considerable proportion of her Clergy shall have been educated under such conditions, — trained under such in- fluences. And yet, " ahnost the whole of those Students who take their Degree with us" (say the Delegates of the Unattached) " become either Clergymen or Schoolmasters, — or both y." .... Quite impossible in the meantime is it that any effectual oversight should be taken of many hundred young men living sparse in a place like Oxford, — any real acquaintance obtained with their individual needs and characters. The Colleges should — they certainly conld — help men to be economical, if the men themselves really desired to be so : should enable one who is very poor, if he honestly gives himself up to his work, to live more cheaply than in a lodging, on the " Unattached " system, would be possible. And not only more cheaply, but a thousand times more happily. For, to speak plainly, no man is able to live alone. Some, if left quite to them- * It has grown steadily from the first. In 1869 the "unattached" num- bered 36: in 1870, — 66: in 1871, — 98: in 1872, — 120: in 1873, — 150: in 1874, — 196 : in 1875, — 229 : in 1876, — 256 : in 1877,-292 : in 1878, — 314 : in 1879, — 339 : in 1880, — 373. They have already (Nov. 24) grown to 417. y " Out of the 62 Graduates on our books, 30 are Clergymen or Ministers of Religion (some being also Schoolmasters) ; 24 are Schoolmasters or Tutors ; two are studying Medicine, one is a Barrister at Law, one a Law Student, and five only are, (so far as we know), of no profession." — Report of Students' Delegacy (1877-8),— p. 5. C 34 Wky are not ^^ Poor Scholars^' now selves, are pretty sure to subside into low company, — or else to prove moody and melancholy ; to acquire a moral, or a mental twist : most likely, both. . . . The case of the 417 "Unattached ," — (and they will soon grow into 1000^,) — claims attention, I repeat, at the hands of the Commis- sioners infinitely more than an enlargement of the Profes- soriate^. High time is it that they were all gathered in, — folded like the rest ; and admitted to a share of those priceless benefits which at present are monopolized by a class : reserved in fact for those who are able to pro- duce no other claim for what they enjoy, but that they can afford to spend yearly at least three — if not four — times as much as their less-favoured brethren, 25, There is nothing novel in the remedy proposed above, viz. to connect with the Colleges the " Unattached " mem- bers of this University. It is found that in the year 161 2, the "pauperes Scholares" were a recognized body of men who were distributed over the several Foundations in very various proportions. Ten Colleges ^ are discovered to have supported, on an average, thirty poor Scholars each, — the average number of Commoners in those Col- leges having been only double that number, viz. 59 ^ By now assigning an average of 12 poor Students to every College, the whole of the " Unattached," actually resident, would be gathered in, 26. But by lu hat precise means the benefits of Collegiate training can best be brought within the reach of men of small means, — I presume not further to indicate. Enough, to have respectfully warned the Commissioners that, merely to tax certain of the Colleges, — and then to hand over the ' 417 is the total number of the "Unattached," — Graduate and Under- graduate, — on the books of the Delegates. — I am indebted for the information to the courtesy of their Censor, — the Rev. G. S. Ward. » The reader is again referred to Appendix (F). *> viz. Merton 29, Balliol 22, Exeter 37, Oriel 24, Corpus 14, Magdalen 76, Lincoln 27, Brasenose 17, Trinity 31, S. John's 20. *= Gutch's Collectanea Ciiriosa, 1781, vol. i. p. 196. ns anciently y attached to every College? 35 funds so raised, or part of them, to the Delegates of the " Unattached," — would be only to aggravate one of the most crying of our local evils ; not at all to remedy the urgent want complained of. To render eleemosynary relief to " Unattached " Students, I repeat, is not to ex- tend to " poor Scholars " the benefits of an University Education. It is, on the contrary, effectually to withhold those benefits from them. It is to raise up in the place an altogether inferior class of men ; and to stereotype, as an abiding feature of our system, what was only ad- vocated in the first instance as a temporary measure of expediency. The " unattached " system is an essen- tially retrograde movement, where we ought to be aiming at Progress : is simply indefensible and intolerable : cannot be too strongly denounced as an imposture and a sham. And it is for Commissioners invested with almost absolute powers to discover the best remedy, before it is too late, for a rapidly growing evil which threatens in the end to affect the character of the entire University of Oxford. They are solemnly implored, — in the sacred Name of Him who enriched the estate of Poverty with a special Beati- tude, — to do this thing ; and to do it now.'] 27. Let me in conclusion, rising up above all this, freely admit that what is at present befalling this loved place, — (my words concerning Oxford have been wrung out of a very full heart,) — that it is but one aspect of a problem with which we have become but too familiar ; one more outcome of the prevailing godlessness of the age. " The beginning of Pride " (says the son of Sirach) " is when one departeth from GOD, and his heart is turned azuay front his Maker ^y The words seem to go to the root of the matter. Pride, — the sin through which the apostate Angels fell^ — is rebellion against GOD, — the rebellion of the in- tellect, or the rebellion of the will : the setting up of self, in some way, against — in the place of — GOD. This is, at all events, the end to which Pride moves ; though it may not be the object which Pride proposes to itself at ** Ecclus, X. 12. • * I Tim. iii. 6. C 2 36 Pride is Enmity against God. the outset. The restraints which Law imposes on the ex- orbitancy of the affections, — the limits which Truth pre- scribes to the speculations of the understanding : — what else are these but other names for checks administered by the Divine will ? GOD, — the Eternal, Invisible, Al- mighty God, — as He is the first Author of Law, so hath He also chosen Truth to be but another name for His own perfections. And it is Man's resistance of the Divine Law — Man's rebellion against some aspect of Divine Truth it is — which constitutes the sinfulness of Pride. 28. At the root of all is discovered to lie a disinclination to conform to the revealed Will of GOD. It invents for itself many excuses, — assumes to itself many names, — puts forth many pleas : but it is still Enmity against GOD. To take up certain of our periodicals and to open certain popular books, — to listen to not a few of the discourses of men whose views are just now very much in vogue, — it might really be supposed that in consequence of some wonderful discovery recently made, — ancient beliefs have become exploded : the Faith of the Church Universal for 1800 years is becoming, somehow, a thing of the past. That it is out of gear with " modern Thought ;" — out of harmony with the spirit of the age, we do not require to be informed. It seems to be pretended that a new Gospel is dawning on the world : that we are about to enter on a new order of things. But I have inquired in vain for any solid substance which is casting all these fantastic shadows. — We are again and again assured that some reconstruction or readjustment is absolutely necessary to enable the old organization to continue to do its work in regulating men's thoughts and in evangelizing the World. But no proof of this is so much as attempted : no reason for so wild an imagination has yet been furnished, — no, nor ever will be ! 29. The one thing needed, friends and Brethren, — (I especially address myself to you younger men, on whom the hopes of England are fixed, — and with whom it rests to determine of what description the Oxford of the future A last Appeal. 37 shall be !) — the one thing required, on your part and on mine, is a renewed and a sanctified will. This is God's own appointed guide to the attainment of intellectual Truth. That beatitude of the Gospel which promises the Vision of God as the peculiar reward of " the pure in heart V conveys by implication the assurance that the highest Knowledge shall be the privilege of those who have lived the holiest lives. The desire to do God's will, as we have seen, is destined to result in the knowledge whether or no the Doctrine be indeed from GoD. . . . Let tJiis then be your practical reply to every solicitation of the Enemy of your soul ! Brace yourselves up, on your knees, with the stern resolve to be faithful soldiers and servants of your Lord ! Pray, in the language of this day's Collect, for the gift of a stirred-up will : and remember that the very condition of Intellectual Progress in the case of every one of you must still be — Religions Obedience. 30. [But I cannot make an end until I have addressed yet a few earnest words to the elder sort, — with whom exclusively rests the grave responsibility of the pending Legislation. — O beware ye of giving irrevocable effect to the thing which ye have seemed hitherto to be bent on doing, but which has not yet reached that stage when it will be quite beyond your power of recal. In your calmer moments you cannot fail to perceive that the course to which you are being hounded on by the enemies of all Religion, — urged by the Enemy of your souls, — is a down- ward, an impious, a deadly course. For God's sake then pause ! Have the Christian manliness to make a stand, even at this, the latest minute of the latest hour ! Have the courage to refuse to be a consenting party to the ruin of your College ; which, remember, is to incur the wrath of Him who describes Himself as a jealous GoD. If others insist on betraying a Sacred Trust, yet do not thou ! (" O my soul, come not thou into their secret ! ") Not in vain, be sure, hath it been recorded in the sacred page that terrible remorse seized the traitor Judas — when it was all f S. MaUh. V. 8. 38 The last Appeal. too late. God avert from thee the guilt of complicity in a crime like his, — the misery of becoming a partaker of his anguish ! 31. Regard the thing I am saying as you will ; I am far too thoroughly convinced of its gravity and importance, as well as of the truth of it, to withhold a single word. To me — who am approaching the end of life — I cannot ex- press how mad they seem who are engaged in the present endeavour to de-Christianize Oxford : for surely the veil has but to be rent away — (it is a wondrous thin one, and must be rent away in a few short years !) — and we shall stand face to face with GOD. You cannot affect to doubt how the de-Christianizing of an University must appear in His sight ! And O the anguish throughout the long ages of Eternity which must follow, — O the gnawing worm, the fiery anguish, — of remembering that in our lifetime, — the days of our probation here on Earth, — we took our stand among the enemies of GOD ; threw in our lot with the Un- believers ; were helpful in promoting the designs of those who were for the Disestablishment of the Religion of the God of Truth ! ... If there be the shadow of a lingering doubt in any heart, — if the faintest suspicion makes itself felt in any quarter that the sober verdict of old Age will reverse the judgment of early Manhood, — O, as thou valuest thine eternal peace, let the cause of CHRIST and of His Truth have the benefit of that lingering doubt, — that faint suspicion ! .... So may one thorn the less dis- turb thy dying pillow! So mayest thou not be disap- pointed in thy trembling hope of finding mercy in that tremendous Day when it shall be said by every one of us — " I have heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear : but now — mine eye seeth Thee ! "] I HAVE BEEN VERY JEALOUS FOR THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS. APPENDIX (A). Recent action of '*the University of Oxford Commis- sioners." Effect of their Proposed Statutes. Referred to at p. 24 .• see also p. 19. The draft of the Statutes proposed for Magdalen College by a majority of the Commissioners, was actually in print when Lord Selborne withdrew from the Commission. It provided that if, at the time of holding an election to a Tutorial Fellow- ship, the number of Fellows in Holy Orders holding such Fel- lowships should be reduced below one half of the whole number of such Fellows for the time being, no person should be eligible but one in — or intending to take — Holy Orders. — This would have secured to the College five Clerical Fellows ; and saved the Religious character of the Foundation. The vacancy caused by the retirement of Lord Selborne from the Commission was supplied by the appointment of Dr. Bradley, Master of University. The Rt. Hon. Mountague Bernard now became Chairman, Whereupon, the Secularists instantly re- opened the entire question : recalled the draft Statutes already in print ; and the next time the College came before the Com- missioners (2 Nov.), by a majority of ojie vote (5 against 4) re- duced the number of Clerical Fellows to two. The evil aiiimus which, in a matter of so much gravity, could thus, per fas et nefas, pursue its unholy advantage to the bitter end, — must strike every fair looker-on with astonishment and displeasure. Can it be right, I ask, on the strength of a single vote, to go back and inflict a deadly injury on an ancient Society, — against the will of the College itself, and in plain defiance of the ascertained intention of its Founder : especially after it had in some degree survived the ordeal of the Commission ? While these pages are passing through the press, a copy of the " Statutes proposed to be made by the University of Oxford Commissioners for" eight of the Colleges, has been sent to every Member of Congregation. They realize the worst fears of the friends of Religion and of Oxford. They reduce the number of Fellowships to be held by Cler- gymen, to two, one, or none. They often contemplate the possi- bility of there 7iot being a singk Fellow of the College in Holy Orders. They universally abolish "Clerical Headships:" thereby removing the only remaining guarantee that the Head of a Col- lege shall be a Christian. Henceforward, there is nothing what- ever to prevent a College from being presided over by an avowed Infidel, or by a Papist. — Have English Parents nothing to say 40 Appendix (A). to all this ? Are Christiaji Parents prepared to send up their sons to Oxford without any guarantee tvhatever that those sons shall be Christianly brought up ? True, that in every instance the formula (descriptive of the purpose of the College) — " a place of Religion, Learning, and Education " — has been retained. But I take leave to point out that after carefully eliminating from the Statutes of a College the only remaining guarantee that the " Religion " taught in that College shall be the Religion of Jesus Christ (Whom to know, alone, " is Life ! "), — thus to profess loyalty to His cause, — to put forward this barren, outward symbol of affection for His person, — is nothing else but to betray the Son of Man with a kiss. The case of Lincoln College is sufficiently remarkable to merit independent notice. In the Royal Charter of Foundation, confirmed by Parliament in 1427 (13 Oct.), Richard Flemming, Bp. of Lincoln, is em- powered "unire, annectere, et incorporare" the three neighbour- ing Churches of All Saints', S.Mildred, and S. Michael; _" et easdem Ecclesias sic unitas, annexas, et incorporatas, Ecclesiam Omnium Sanctorum nominare : et eandeiii Ecclesiam in Ecclesiam Collegiatam sive Collegium erigere." — Lincoln College is therefore something more than a College of Priests. It is a Collegiate Church. Every Fellow accordingly has his " stalhmi in choro et vocem in capitulo'\- College meetings are called Chapters; and the days of meeting are called Chapter-days. Will it be believed that, by the proposed new Statutes, no provision is made that a sitigle Fellotv of Lijicoln College shall be i?i Holy Orders 1 APPENDIX (B). Efforts of the Secularists to disestablish Religion IN Oxford. Referred to at p. 18. I HAD proposed to myself to introduce in this place several details indicative of the spirit of undisguised Secularism which of late years has prevailed in Oxford ; but the length to which this Sermon has already grown, and the advanced period of the Term, warns me that I must be briefer than I had intended. I proceed to make some extracts from an Address " To the Non-Resident Members of Convocation," bearing date "Jan. 1872," which was circulated at the time among the Oxford Residents : — "Gentlemen, " Certain alterations in the Statutes of the University, which had become necessary in consequence of the passing of the Uni- Appendix {B). 41 versities Tests' Act (34 and 35 Vict), having been proposed by the Hebdomadal Council, — advantage was taken of the occasion by the Secularist party in Oxford to attempt to bring about other changes in our Academical system beyond the intentions of the Legislature. Those changes, involving in principle the secular- ization of the University, are of so serious a nature, that it is desirable you should have a more particular account of them than has appeared in the ' Times.' "1. Let us consider in the first place what the intentions of the Legislature were. Of these we can have no more competent witness than Sir Roundell Palmer, from whose speech in the House of Commons, as reported in the Ti/nes of June 14, 1870, the following is an extract : — ' Sir Roundell Palmer said, — ' There could be no doubt that there were in University Statutes, and in College Statutes, provisions which would go a long way towards excluding any teaching which was in- consistent with their Christian character ; and it was to be assumed that all who wished to see Nonconformists ad- mitted into the Universities would regret if the effect of this Legislation were that the Christian Religion was set at naught, a?id made the subject of attack by Persons holding Offices in the Universities. Nothing would have induced him to acquiesce in this legislation if he believed that the effect would be the Secularization of University teaching, or the production of that licence which would admit of attacks being made, as it were by authority, by those who should be the Teachers of it, upon that Religion which was professed by the vast majority of all denominations in this country. He thought it was a defect in the Bill that it did not deal more boldly with this matter, because the tests and restrictions which the Bill abolished had prevented embarrassment in the Past. He would have endeavoured to offer to the Committee some form of proviso, which without entrenching at all upon the general principle of comprehension, to give effect to which was the essence of the Bill, would have given Additional Guarantees against the possibility of a School given to Irre- ligious Proselytism rising up in the Universities, — a danger which he was bound to add was 7iot in these days wholly imaginary or chimerical. Nothing more mischievous could arise, not only upon Religious, but also upon civil and moral grounds ; for if any succeeded in an attempt to in- troduce into the minds of the people of this country Hea- thenism as to Religious Belief, he was sure that Heathenism in Morals would follow at no great distance.' " 2. Let us now consider the changes attempted in Congrega- tion beyond the intentions of the Legislature. The Hebdomadal 42 Appendix [B). Council proposed to alter the following important Statute,— by- leaving out the words printed in italics : — "■ Item statutum est quod nullus Professor aut Prelector pub- licus quicquam directe vel indirecte doceat, vel dogmatice asserat, quod Fidei Catholicae vel bonis moribus ulla ex parte adversetur. \_Sed contra, quilibet eorum, qtwties opportuna ei inter iegendum offej-efur occasio, aiiditores sues ad Sacram Dodrinavi ampleden- dam et tuendatn, atqne ad honeste pieque vivendum, adhortetur. Et siqtiis eorum SchoJares sive auditores suos aliquid 7ninus sane et sincere de Fide sentire cognoverit aut suspicetur, eos admoneat atque ab erroribus ad veritateni revocare studeat. Quod si quis obstinate in aliquo error e perseveraverit, id Vice-Cancellario denunciare te- neatur.Y Tit. iv. sect. ii. § 3 (p. 60). But in Congregation, a further Amendment to leave out also the words ^^ Fidei Catholic i vel,'' was proposed by the Rev. E. Hatch, M.A., Vice-Principal of S. Mary Hall, and seconded by J. R. Thursfield, Esq., M.A., Tutor and Dean of Jesus College. Mr. Hatch, in moving the Amendment, remarked that '■'■ the ti^ne was come for the disestablishment of Religion in the Uni- versity." ('Times' Report.) The Amendment was happily re- jected by 56 votes to 20. 3. The next change attempted in Congregation was, if pos- sible, of still greater importance. The Vice-Chancellor is re- quired by the Statutes to confer Degrees in the following form : — " \Ad honoj-em Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et ad pivfectuvi Sacro- sanctcB Matris Ecclesice, et studii^ ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis do tibi licentiam incipiendi in facultate Artium, &c. \in Nomine Domini Fatris, Filii, et Spiritus Saficti,] haec postrema dum pronunciat, debita cum reverentia, caput aperiendo." The Hebdomadal Council had proposed that in the case of Jews, Unitarians, or others who might express a wish to that ef- fect to the Vice-Chancellor, the Name of the Trinity should be omitted, and the form run thus : — " Ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis do tibi licentiam, &c. cum ea completa sint, qu^e per Statuta requiruntur." This seemed fully to meet the requirements of the Legislature ; but did not satisfy the wishes of what is called the advanced party in Congregation, who accordingly brought forward the fol- lowing Amendment,— " To omit from ' ad honorem' to ' et studii,' and from 'In nomine' to 'Spiritus Sancti' inclusive. The effect of this alteration would have been to deprive the degree of its Religious character /;/ ail cases, whether parties ob- jected to the Name of the Tritiity or not ; and was urged by Mr. Thorley, (Sub-Warden and Tutor of Wad ham College,) on the ground that ' Dissenters' (i.e. Unitarians, the only Non-conform- ists who would object to the Name of the Trinity) 'disliked declarations.' Whereupon, Mr. Neate (Fellow of Oriel) had the manliness to declare that "This was a change compared with which the Reformation was merely a verbal alteration. It as- serted the secular character of the University, and the mention Appendix {C). 43 of the Dissenters was merely a blind." The amendment was lost by 63 votes to 27. This must suffice. He who would know more of the matter, is invited to refer to the University Gazette for Jan. 1872, pp. t^t, and 50, with a copy of the Statutes of the University (ed. 1S70) open before him. He will find that, whereas it was deemed " ex- pedient, in consequence of the passing of the Universities Tests^ Act, 187 1 (34 and 35 Vict. c. 26), to amend various Statutes respecting the duty of conforming to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, and the Statute prescribing the Forms of Ad/nissiofi to Degrees;'"— the changes actually made in the University Statutes (Feb. 1 7 ) y<7/- exceeded what the requirements of the Tests' Act implied : and that the animus of the Legislation was unmistake- ably to get rid of every safeguard ; every recognition of the Re- ligious character of the University, — every admission that there are such things as Truth and Falsehood in Religion. APPENDIX (C). Professor Bryce, M.P., and the " Liberation Society." Referred to at page 26, — §§ 16 and 18. The following is a condensation of the report given by The JVojiconformist of Professor Bryce's Speech at a meeting of the Liberation Society, — copied into the Guardian Newspaper of 2 June, 1880, p. 707. I simply omit the less interesting pas- sages : — *' Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — I shall go perfectly straight to the point to which I am directed by Mr. Richard to address my remarks. " The question of University Reform, in its connection with the application of the principles of Rehgious Equality, has got a particular interest for us at this monent. . . . The position of things, to put it in the shortest words, is this : — At the present moment the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are passing — as they are almost always passing — through the crucible of Reform. The Oxford Commission unfortunately was never as liberal in its composition as we could have wished. . . . " Now, the question which the Commission has been address- ing itself to, so far as it concerns us here, is this. There are in the Colleges of the University, a large number of Fellowships, offices, and emoluments. In time past a great many of these were open only to Clergymen. By the last Commission a great many were thrown open ; but a great deal too many still remain 44 Appendix {C). dosed — that is to say, no one can be elected to them who either is not already (in what are called in the Anglican Church) Holy Orders, or prepared to give a pledge that he will take those Orders at a specified time. . . . " Well, we have laboured very much for the total abolition of Clerical Headships and Fellowships ; and you will be glad to hear that in most Colleges the Liberal majority among the Fel- lows is so strong that they have represented to the Commissioners the desirability of throwing open the Headship, and all, or very nearly all, of the Fellowships. Their representatives have in most cases been so strong that the Commissioners have gene- rally acceded to their wishes ; . . . but I believe it is no secret that in three colleges at least — Christ Church, Magdalen, and St. John's — a very considerable proportion of clerical Fellowships has been retained. " Now this is felt by the Liberal party, and by those whom we ought more particularly to pity, the libe7-al inembers in those colleges who are going to be handed over, bound hand and foot, to the mercies of a Clerical majority, — to be a grievous wrong, and entirely contrary to the whole current and spirit of modern legislation. They, therefore, appeal with confidence, as they did in the days which ended in the abolition of University tests, to the sympathy of the great Nonconformist body of this country to help them in their struggle. (Cheers.) . . . " One question only remains, and that is one about which very little has been said heretofore, but with regard to which also I hope you will give us your support when the time for actioji arrives. " The Theological Faculty in the Universities is entirely con- fined to Clergymen of the Established Church. I do not mean to say that the titne is yet come when we can have a purely un- denominatio7ial Theological faculty. Therefore, as regards Dog- matic and Pastoral Theology, possibly the only way of keeping up such chairs at present is to allow them to be occupied by one particular denomination ; and that denomination which has them has the best claim to keep them. " There are, however, two chairs, two Professorships in the University, both of the highest importance, with regard to which a vigorous eftbrt ought to be made to liberate them from this Clerical restriction — the chairs of Hebrew and Ecclesiastical History. " And about Ecclesiastical History I go so far as to say that it ought to be, if not a positive disqualification, at any rate a dis- advantage, to a ma?i who stands for a chair of that kind, to be a Cletgymafi of any religious body. (Cheers.) The subject of Ecclesiastical History is one of so much importance and so much difticulty, requiring a mind so absolutely fair and impartial, that it would be 7nore safely intrusted to a learned and judicious layman than to any Clergyman tvhatever ; and, therefore, I hope that Appendix {D). 45 some action will be taken to throw open these Professorships to laymen, and that we shall have your support. (Cheers.) " In the University of Cambridge the Commission has been composed of more liberally minded men, and the prospects of secularisation appear to be better. It is possible, however, that there also your help may be required. . . . " I beg you to bear in remembrance that it is not only the question of the Burials Bill, but also oi the complete liberalisation of the Universities, by which you may give effect to the principles of religious equality. (Cheers. ) " It is convenient to know beforehand, at the hands of distin- guished and influential members of our own body, what awaits us. From what goes before, it appears that we are some day to have "<7 purely undenominational faculty of Theology''^ imposed upon us : though, happily, " the time is not come for it yet." Interesting meanwhile it is to be made aware of the estima- tion in which such an one as the Regius Professor of Law holds the English Clergy. Fairness and Impartiality, (it is to be in- ferred from his remarks,) are qualities to be simply despaired of at their hands : nay, at the hands of " any Clergyman whatever." But in fact the preceding can hardly be an adequate expression of Professor Bryce's distrust of the race. In three out of the whole number of the Colleges, he thinks, " a very considerable proportion of Clerical Fellowships has been retained." " Now this is felt by the Liberal party to be a grievous wrong." ( IVhy^ the learned Professor has omitted to explain.) But his pity is di- rected in particular to " the Liberal members in those Colleges : who are going to be handed over, bound hand and foot, to the mercies of a Clerical majority " — which "tender mercies" (we are left to infer) are " cruel " indeed. Are we then to understand that fve Clerical Fellows out of a total oi thirty, constitute "a Clerical majority V APPENDIX (D). The Colleges, essentially Religious Foundations. Referred to at pages 19 and 27. It will not perhaps be a waste of time that I should lay before the Reader some evidences of the truth of the often-repeated statement, that " The Colleges of Oxford are essentially Religious Foundations." Few, unacquainted with our College Statutes, are probably aware of the extent to which those ancient documents, (which I observe with regret it is now proposed to repeal and 46 Appendix {D). set aside entirely,) witness to the Religious Spirit which is found to have invariably actuated our Founders. I have therefore made a few hurried excerpts, — the passages, in short, which caught my eye in hastily turning the pages of the College Sta- tutes ; — and I now^ recommend them to the attention of as many as they may concern : apologizing for the many imperfections of my work, and wishing that there had been time for me to make it more complete. But I cannot dismiss these pages without one solemn Word of Remonstrance addressed to those who are displaying so much impatience to get rid of the record of the Intentions of the pious Founders and Benefactors whose bread they are nevertheless not ashamed to eat ; whose bounty maintains them ; and to whom they are indebted for every blessing they enjoy in this place. Why disguise the Truth? It is, because the periodical ret?ii?tder of those Intentions, — (for our College Statutes, by the Founder's express command, have until lately been read over in the hear- ing of the assembled body, twice if not three times every year,) — It is, I say, because to our modern Secularists the frequent re- minder has proved unwelcome that the College was founded " ad hojwrejn Dei, et in aug7ne7itationem cultus Divifiiy It was incon- venient, {to use no stronger expression), to hear the echo of a human voice, and that the voice of the Founder of the College — borne across the gulph of upwards of half a thousand years — addressing the men of the present generation after the following (or some similar) solemn fashion : — " Dum labentis sseculi corruptelam in mente discutimus judicio rationis, et quanta velocitate mundana pertranseant solicita meditatione pensamus, certo videmus certius quod fragilitatis humanse conditio statum habet instabilem, et quae visibilem habent essentiam tendunt visibiliter ad non esse. Ad Ipsius ergo misericordiam qui regit quos condidit, cujus Regnum fine non clauditur, nee ullis limitibus coarctatur, oculos mentis erigimus, et qu£e sibi placentia sestimamus, votis amplectimur, et desiderio exsequimur vigilanti : Ejus clementiam totis cordis viribus efflagitantes, ut nobis in presenti gerumna laticem suse pietatis aperiat, et diriget se- cundum suum beneplacitum actus nostros." After this solemn preamble, follows the declaration of the Founder's intention : — " Cum itaque ad laudem Nominis sui, et decorem et utili- tatem sacrosanctce. Ecclesice sp07is^ JJ