Page:University Reform - Two Papers.djvu/7



HE Prime Minister has declared that no Government that is not prepared to deal with University Reform can stand for a session. The " Times" has indicated vaguely and tentatively, as is its wont, some of the directions that University Reform may profitably take. The Cambridge folk have been convoked to discuss some questions of University Reform, on which their discussions were thought likely to be helpful to the powers that be. It is rumoured that a small but influential meeting has sent word to the Chancellor of the University, that (Heaven save the mark!) the Liberals of Oxford desire the present Government to issue an executive Commission to reform the University; and rumour adds, that the Chancellor has checked the vigour of the knot who are so suddenly inclined to commit the future of the University to the care of those whom all their political life has been spent in opposing. So it may be considered that University Reform is a tolerably pressing question, as it is one which, in its various branches, this Society has always delighted to consider.

As we shall see further on, it is a tolerably wide question. If our discussions to-night are to be fruitful, we must limit their scope. A few aspects may be sufficient for our discussion of the subject. I propose to limit ourselves tonight to considering what is best for the immediate future.