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sion to, and exercise of, all temporal rights and privileges, and a participation of benefits attached by the will either of the founder or of the State itself, to the profession of a particular creed in religion; nor is it at all necessary to enquire what was the origin of the restriction, provided it be, in the opinion of the governing body, essential to the maintenance of the established religion. The battle between " the Church and its enemies" must be fought on a different ground; and the chief error of some of its most ardent and zealous champions has consisted in taking their stand behind intrenchments which, whatever might have been their original use or necessity, were clearly become no longer advantageous or tenable. Letno unworthy fear of possible consequences de ter from the performance of any act of strict justice. The worst that can ensue is the temporary encouragement afforded by a certain measure of success, to further demands which it may not be either just or expedient to grant; and the more violent the opposition which was made to the first concession, the greater the triumph, and consequently the stronger the excitement to fresh exactions. But this consideration ought, of all others, to lead men who are united in attachment to one common principle, to concert together the best means of defence, and predetermine the line at which concession must end, and a hearty and strenuous resistance commence.

There can be no question, that of all the existing institutions of the country, not merely ecclesiastical in their origin and in the objects to which they are applicable, the two old English Universities are those with which the interests of religion, as connected with the security of the Church Establishment, are most intimately and inseparably bound up and identified. Education is, no doubt, an object of primary importance, of general and even universal concernment, in the promotion and advancement of which, upon the most extensive foundation, Churchmen and Dissenters of all classes and denominations are equally interested; but it does not follow that the design of such an advancement, however meritorious or however

magnificent, is one in which Churchmen and Dissenters can or ought to co-operate. Any system of education which has not Religion for its basis, is not only imperfect, but destitute of the principle which alone entitles it to the name of a system, insomuch that we may as well speak of a system of religion without a God, as of a system of education without religion. But, if religion be admitted to be the basis of education, it seems to be a necessary consequence that the religion taught must be that of the teacher; in other words, that so long as we possess a national religion, there can be no system of na. tional education which has not that national religion for its basis. It is not indeed indispensably requisite that, in order to be admitted to a participation of the advantages of such an education, the party seeking it should be called upon to profess his adherence to the principle upon which it is founded; and the prac tice of the two Universities of Ox. ford and Cambridge is different in this very respect. But the difference between them is in point of practice only. According to the mode of discipline adopted at Cambridge, the Dissenter, although at liberty to en. ter without the formality of any religious subscription, is required, during the whole term of his residence, to conform to the Church, by attendance both at divine worship, and at whatever course of theological lectures the regulations of each particular college may render requisite ; and it is, at least, extremely difficult to determine the precise shade of distinction, in point of hardship, between the sort of conformity thus required, and that which is implied, at Oxford, in the mere act of subscription to the Articles of the Church. This distinction, however, be the value attached to it what it may, exists only during the estate of undergraduateship. The test required, in order to take a degree, is the same at both Universities, and, equally in each, to the exclusion of the honest Dissenter. The question then arises whether these ancient and venerable institutions are or are not an essential part of the Church Establishment?-a question of political expediency, which it is quite absurd to argue on the ground of mere abstract

law or parliamentary enactment, resting, as it does, on the far higher ground of Religion, as a vital branch of the Commonwealth.

In any other point of view than the preceding, the claim of the Dissenters to be admitted to the benefit of degrees at both Universities is a claim, to all appearance, so consonant with every humane and liberal principle, that it is scarce possible to conceive a question on which it would be more painful to a person of enlarged and comprehensive views, unbiassed by the spirit of sectarianism in religion, or by that of party in politics, to find himself at variance with so large a proportion of those amongst whom he is generally proud to be enrolled as a fellow-labourer and associate. Many of the names subscribed to the first petition from Cambridge, are of individuals with whom it is impossible not to feel it as an honour to appear in the same list for any public purpose. The object avowed-which is no less than the absolute freedom of science and literature from every trammel of human imposition is sublime and captivating. The end announced is unobjectionable, provided it could be safely predicated that all who seek the benefit of the proposed abolition are of the same mind with the Cambridge petitioners. But it is impossible for any well-wisher to the Establishment, who is at the same time free in his own person from the bias of party spirit, and placed by residence at a distance from the immediate scene of the movement, not to perceive that the ostensible actors in the drama are nothing more than puppets in the hands of those who seek the overthrow of the Church, and that concession, in this instance, must infallibly, and by direct logical consequence, lead to the total separation of the Universities from the Establishment. The pretence of the advancement of science is too weak and flimsy to deceive the most ordinary capacity, apart from the excitement of political warfare, and the illusions of a self-applauding philosophy. On this subject it is enough that the Dissenters should speak for themselves-they who have been for the last hundred and fifty years clamorous against the corruption and abuses of the ancient seats of learn

ing-their bigoted adherence to old and exploded forms their blind attachment to useless and obsolete science-while, on the contrary, they have as regularly kept on extolling their own superior lights and attainments-their comparative, if not absolute freedom from error and prejudice and, above all, their great advantages in numbers, wealth, and intelligence, sufficient to render them able, as they are no doubt willing, to compete with the Church in splendour of institutions and liberality of endowment. Why, with the superior opportunities of attaining excellence in all useful knowledge which are thus afforded by their own colleges and academies, seek wantonly to force the unwilling gates, and disturb the lazy slumbers, of our old monastic establishments? Not, surely, for the professed object of participation in a system of learning which they despise, or in the distribution of honours which are to them therefore valueless! Nay, so gross and palpable is the absurdity of such a supposition, that it is almost incon. ceivable by what process of reasoning so many individuals of the first eminence in philosophy, and of the most unquestionable attachment to the Church, as are to be found in the list of subscribers to the Cambridge petition, could have persuaded themselves that in bringing about the concession there sought for, and then stopping short of ulterior concessions, they could satisfy a single Dissenter, or convert a single enemy into a friend of the Establishment; and the fact that they did subscribe it with that view and with that intention, only adds one more to the many instances which experience affords us of the blindness of human nature when under the influence of some ruling passion or principlethat principle being, as in the present case, of no less lofty or honourable a nature than the pure love of science, and the motive, its encouragement to the greatest possible degree of extension.

It does not, however, require the aid of arguments-not even such as are furnished by the admirable Article at the head of your last month's Number, to the truth and justice of which I fully subscribe-to prove

the necessary, the infallible consequence of making the concession thus loudly demanded. The Dissenters themselves-so far as we are justified in giving that general title to the body of men represented by the late deputation, (whose actual force and numbers are probably far from proportioned to the noise they make,)-have, even while I have been occupied in writing these hasty lines, put an end to all such necessity, by a most frank and honest avowal of their true end and objects-objects, to which the mere granting degrees in the Universities would be only as dust in the balance-being no less than the free and equal participation of all academical or collegiate offices and emoluments, and that which they are too clear-sighted not to see, or too honest not to confess, as the direct and immediate consequence the extinction of the Establishment. This, at least, is plain dealing; and I, for one, heartily rejoice that the mask is dropped, and that the enemies of the Church are at length so open and unreserved in the expression of their hostility, that it is no longer possible for any professing themselves friends of the Establishment, to continue in league with them under the shelter of any weak scheme of accommodation or comprehension. Humility, moderation, forbearance, patience, forgiveness, charity-all these are qualities which stand in the highest rank of Christian virtues; but in respect of the great concerns of religion, it is not in the tame spirit of hollow compromise that they ought to be exercised. "HE THAT IS NOT FOR ME IS AGAINST ME." This was the language of the meek and lowly Jesus; and, when engaged in the defence of Gospel truth, it must be that of his followers also or they are no more worthy to be called his disciples. On all points of mere human wisdom and policy men may reasonably and conscientiously differ, and honestly and prudently seek to adjust their differences by mutual concession; but on the ground of religion there must be no wavering, no yielding, no coquetting with those who seek its destruction, and with whom compliance is sinful, and negotiation unsafe and dangerous.

I feel that in making this short and imperfect exposition of my senti

ments on the momentous subject of my present communication, I have added little or nothing in the shape of argument to what has been already, and much more ably enforced by other writers; and yet I hope it may not be accounted mere personal vanity which urged me to make it, under the impression that it may not be altogether useless to record the firm and decided conviction of one who is already known to most of your numerous readers, by his former professions of moderation, if not of neutrality, in matters of party politics. I have also another reason, purely personal, for wishing not to remain a silent spectator of this great controversy. Bred and educated as a Dissenter, I was myself entered as a member of the University of Cambridge, with the knowledge that I should necessarily be excluded from the honour and advantages of a degree-an exclusion which, though I regretted its necessity, I did not even then impute as an act of illiberality or injustice, on the part of the University requiring subscription to the Articles as a condition of admission, because I had never been taught to regard the Church with any hostile feelings, although prevented by scruples of a doctrinal nature from enrolling myself among its children. Those scruples have long since, although not till considerably after the period of my quitting College, given way before gradual, but hearty, conviction; and I am happy to avail myself of this opportunity to state so much of the circumstances of my own case, because I am persuaded that it has its parallel in many other instances, and that there are now, and have always been, numbers, without the pale of the Establishment, who, although Separatists, are not enemies, and who regard it with sentiments of affection and veneration, which, aided by time and reflection, may end in strict conformity. Yet even the chance of increasing the number of those who are thus affected, is a very insufficient reason for doing any act towards weakening one of the Church's strongest defences.

I have only now to add, as one debarred, by the cause already stated, from joining in any public act of the members of either Uni

versity, the expression of my hearty concurrence with the counter-petitions, and my earnest wishes that their prayers may be heard and granted; my opinion on the subject of them being more especially in strict accordance with that of the "Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge," where it sets forth-" that in the event of the Bill being passed into a law, the University will necessarily cease to be an institution for the education of youth in the principles of the Church of England, and thereby its most important object will be frustrated; "as also, "That the open recognition of dissent with in the University will either be a continued source of religious controversy and contention, detrimental to its studies, and destructive of its internal peace, or will introduce an indifference to religion itself, the consequence of which would be still more fatal."

"As to Church matters "-(I am now using the words of a friend and correspondent a very liberal and intelligent member of the sister University, who appears to have taken precisely the view of the case which is most consonant with my own sentiments-)" they are certainly in an awkward state. That the Church will be most strongly supported by almost all the higher and the educated class, is certain. Independent of many other grave reasons, there is one of policy which every day becomes more evident. The Church is in fact now standing in the breach; blow it down, or weaken it very much, and the whole present social system of the empire is desolated and gone, and will probably never be rebuilt in any decent order and proportion under some two or three generations. It is a different thing to subvert that which is, or to do without that which never was"-(as, witness, the different conditions of England and America)-" but even this plainest of axioms seems overlooked by the presumptuous and empty fools who differ from each other in all but in doing mischief one way or other.

"As to the University question, it is a most vital one indeed. I never objected to receiving any Dissenters, nor do I now, provided there is no

claim of exemption from established forms of discipline and instruction. Indeed, so far I hold their admission rather likely to lead to the confor mity of such individuals; and the signature of Articles on matriculation at Oxford-though I fully concur, as do all Oxford men, in the Bishop of Exeter's view of it has never seemed to me a good kind of test. But I hold that the University, from its constitution, has alone the right to alter or modify in these matters, and parliamentary interference is the most unjust, impolitic, and (I may say) wicked thing, I can possibly conceive. If it does not invade the private charter of every college singly, as well as of the University bodily-that is, if it only leads to degrees from some lodging-house, and establishes no right to places of emolument in colleges-it is merely giving the Dissenter a new sore place, exposed to rubbing and chafing worse than he ever had before. If, on the contrary, it says there shall be no difference of creed in our Church nursery, and every thing shall be open to all, which was intended for onee-(that is, for the Catholic before he was reformed, and now for the reformed Catholic)-it is a direct and almost undisguised attempt to upset the whole Church, and, with the Church, all the exist ing State fabric. The weak admis sions which men in office now make, without any consideration, the first time a subject is started-to stick by which is ruin-to escape from which can only be done by paltry subterfuge is the most alarming picture of the times. I am no partyman now-and no wise man is-it is the general aspect which alone occupies the whole mind. And, so much for politics."

Feeling that any farther remarks of my own would only weaken the force of these excellent observations, I shall for the present take leave of the subject; not without the intention, should you deem what I have now written worthy of insertion, to return to it, possibly more than once, should the course of " coming events" be such as their "fore-cast shadows" appear but too clearly to indicate.-I am, Sir, &c. &c. &c. METRODORUS.

May 12, 1834,

THE CÆSARS. CHAP. IV.

THE PATRIOT EMPERORS.

THE five Cæsars who succeeded immediately to the first twelve, were, in as high a sense as their office allowed, Patriots. Hadrian is perhaps the first of all whom circumstances permitted to shew his patriotism without fear. It illustrates at one and the same moment a trait in this Emperor's character, and in the Roman habits, that he acquired much reputation for hardiness by walking bareheaded. "Never, on any occasion," says one of his memorialists (Dio), "neither in summer heat nor in winter's cold, did he cover his head; but, as well in the Celtic snows as in Egyptian heats, he went about bareheaded." This anecdote could not fail to win the especial admiration of Isaac Casaubon, who lived in an age when men believed a hat no less indispensable to the head, even within doors, than shoes or stockings to the feet. His astonishment on the occasion is thus expressed" Tantum estornois:" such and so mighty is the force of habit and daily use. And then he goes on to ask "Quis hodie nudum caput radiis solis, aut omnia perurenti frigori, ausit exponere?" Yet we ourselves, and our illustrious friend, Christopher North, have walked for twenty years amongst our British lakes and mountains hatless, and amidst both snow and rain, such as Romans did not often experience. We were naked, and yet not ashamed. Nor in this are we altogether singular. But, says Casaubon, the Romans went farther; for they walked about the streets of Rome bareheaded, and never assumed a hat or a cap, a petasus or a galerus, a Macedonian causia, or a pileus, whether Thessalian, Arcadian, or Laconic, unless when they entered upon a journey. Nay, some there were, as Masinissa and Julius Cæsar,

who declined even on such an occasion to cover their heads. Perhaps in imitation of these celebrated leaders, Hadrian adopted the same practice, but not with the same result; for to him, either from age or con stitution, this very custom proved the original occasion of his last illness.

Imitation, indeed, was a general principle of action with Hadrian, and the key to much of his public conduct; and allowably enough, considering the exemplary lives (in a public sense) of some who had pre. ceded him, and the singular anxiety with which he distinguished between the lights and shadows of their examples. He imitated the great Dictator, Julius, in his vigilance of inspection into the civil, not less than the martial police of his times, shaping his new regulations to meet abuses as they arose, and strenuously maintaining the old ones in vigorous operation. As respected the army, this was matter of peculiar praise, because peculiarly disinterested; for his foreign policy was pacific;t he made no new conquests; and he retired from the old ones of Trajan, where they could not have been maintained without disproportionate bloodshed, or a jealousy beyond the value of the stake. In this point of his administration he took Augustus for his model; as again in his care of the army, in his occasional bounties, and in his paternal solicitude for their comforts, he looked rather to the example of Julius. Him also he imitated in his affability and in his ambitious courtesies; one instance of which, as blending an artifice of political subtlety and simulation with a remarkable exertion of memory, it may be well to mention. The custom was, in canvassing the citizens of Rome,

And hence we may the better estimate the trial to a Roman's feelings in the personal deformity of baldness, connected with the Roman theory of its cause, for the exposure of it was perpetual.

"Expeditiones sub eo," says Spartian, "graves nullæ fuerunt. Bella etiam silentio pene transacta." But he does not the less add, "A militibus, propter curam exercitûs nimiam, multum amatus est."

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