mandy, or send men-of-war on a mission for the advancement of constitutional principles. Europe seems now to have reached the higher ground of morality which lays bare the maxim that war is just only for self-defence. Whether self-defence relate merely to the repelling of foreign invasion, or have another larger meaning whereby tenfold strength is given to the cause of order the meaning which includes the maintenance of the integrity of each nation by the arms of all in common,—can hardly be questioned by a people which has lately fought and suffered for the cause of the family of nations. But if there is one thing more certain than another in the whole subject of international ethics, if there is one point upon which no dispute can be maintained and no doubt arise, it is that war is an evil which is better, if possible, avoided. Which cardinal fact we are likely, it would seem, either to forget or deny.

The fact is, that all profit, all social advantage, which could have arisen from the late war, was neutralized by its distance. We never saw the enemy's fleet come yonder round by the hill. We never felt the rush of the shot from the three-decker out of the foam. When Philip swore to crush the small proud island, and the great Armada was first descried by the fishing-boat from Plymouth Sound, yeomen assembled, and merchant captains banded, the apprentices of London shouldered the blunderbuss, and the queen came down and reviewed them. Enemies of twenty years shook hands, factions which hated to the death were one again; one heart, one soul breathed through the island, lord and lout, Papist and Reformer. When the last ultimatum was rejected in '54, and her Britannic Majesty's representative at St. Petersburg declared that the violent construction which Count Nesselrode put on the treaty of Adrianople obliged him to request his passports, a slight increase of activity was observed in the neighbourhood of the national dockyards, a rather unusual excitement in the barrack towns; the country at large read with interest and curiosity the reports of the special correspondent; and paid with a grumble of discontent the extra seven-pence in the pound.

So be it. But let us keep the chronology true. If the effect of war is changed, let us confess it. One great influence which used to work upon our people, the uniting and banding effect of a common danger, the brave unanimity inspired by a common mighty enterprise, is nearly gone; and who would wish it back? Let us, if the course of the world so bid, if the lauded work of christianity compel, if the glorious destinies of commerce constrain, let us resign this good, which was then so dearly bought. Has it given way to a better and more elevated influence? Has it left its substitute?

Its substitute is graver, stronger, and better. It is the altered purpose of the man, which may be nobler, if fate so will, than the easy enthusiasm of the child. It is the sense which the prosperous nation, under the new régime, will have, of strength used all for good; of energies which cannot be abused so long as they are used in peaceful self-improvement. That ship is not the more compact which is always beaten by the waves; Hercules had his sinews as firmly braced when he worked at Elis as at Nemea. And perhaps our land may have done enough of late years in the way of slaying lions; and it might not be amiss for it to turn for a short time to the task of its Augean stables. But whether this be its work or no, it will have to learn by some work or other that the calm exercise of the national will even by the modern system, the working for what is right and good by blue-books and reports, debates and diplomacy, taxes and statistical returns, may lift it to as high a pinnacle of social brotherhood and evangelic single-heartedness, as if the cannon were thundering in the Channel, and all Manchester turned out as one man to slay the French. It is not that the nation has changed; it is not that its work has degenerated; it is but that civilization has brought its fruits; and among them we reckon a gravity of political action, which may indeed appear to obliterate the freshness of popular energy, but leaves in its stead the possibility of equal vigor combined with a recognition of the laws which have altered, we believe for good, the relations which we bear, man to man, and nation to nation. We are going on in a path which is not averse to energy, and not repugnant to honesty; we have openings wider and wider every day for the lover of his country to do it what good he may. If we wish this to go on and advance till we approach more nearly, and as nearly as may here be, to the form of a perfect nation, if we desire that

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noble thought be freer under the sun,

And the heart of the nation beat with one desire,"

let us ennoble that desire, and strive to enrich that thought not in a mere outward enthusiasm caught from some instinct of the sinews, but by those means which are prepared by the onward progress of humanity for the use and benefit of nations which recognize their highest happiness in the quiet routine of civilization.

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

F half the deliberation that has been expended on the settlement of the affairs of the University of Cambridge were to be bestowed on the more important subject of legislation for our Indian Empire, we might reasonably indulge the expectation that no small degree of statesmanlike wisdom and ability would be shewn in re-organizing the government of that vast and interesting portion of our dominions, even though the task were committed to the hands of Lord Derby and his colleagues. Some time has now elapsed since the expiration of the period given to the Colleges to effect their own reform, so far at least as the result of their deliberations might appear satisfactory to the Commissioners. It could indeed hardly have been expected that the Colleges, acting as they did each on its own account, would originate measures of reform likely to meet the sanction and approval of the Commissioners; since from the diversity of their interests and condition it was not likely that they would coincide in their opinions, whereas the Commissioners are apparently desirous of assimilating in many respects the different bodies which compose this Üniversity. Now with regard to Scholarships, surely the changes suggested by the Commissioners are for the most part unnecessary, and as respects section C. clause 2, somewhat inconsistent. For if all Fellowships are to be thrown open to the whole University, what can it matter whether the Scholarships in any particular College be more or fewer than the Fellowships of that College? but supposing the proportion adopted by the Commissioners to be generally advantageous, it ought rather to be applied to the whole number of Fellowships and Scholarships existing in the University. As the object of Scholarships is to assist deserving students during their Undergraduate career, and to excite a certain degree of emulation, we may perhaps assume with the Commissioners that from £40. to £60. per annum is about the proper amount of emolument that ought to be attached to them, but their number and other considerations connected with them should be determined progressively and according to circumstances by the college to which they belong. That any good can result from either entirely or in part throwing open Scholarships to the competition of the whole University is, to say the least, very questionable; for it must be considered, first,

whether the benefits to be derived from such a course are not equally obtained under the present system; and, secondly, whether some evils would not be attendant on the proposed alterations, from which the present system is free. Now, practically, the scholarships of one college are, by means of migration open to the students of another; and we may safely assume that men will not migrate from one college to another, on this account at least, without a reasonable prospect of success, and that those whose abilities enable them to obtain Scholarships in their own college will not incur the expense of migration to obtain the same advantages elsewhere. So that if we take two colleges A and B, and suppose that the first-year men of B are weak and deficient in their acquirements, the Scholarships at B can be filled by men from A, without draining A of those men whose abilities give the best promise and seem likely to do it most credit; and thus a result highly beneficial to B is obtained without injury to A. But that either the whole number or the majority of Scholarships should be thrown open, must cause prejudice and detriment to the small Colleges, since they individually will be deprived in a great measure of the attractions they offer to their members. If then these arguments be found to hold good, it will be more expedient to retain the present system, than, merely for the sake of saying that we have introduced reform, to bring forward measures not calculated to secure the permanent welfare of the University. Against the last suggestion of the Commissioners, namely, that in all cases where it may be practicable, Scholarships founded in connection with particular schools, &c., shall be thrown open to general competition, we must enter a decided protest; for such a proceeding would be a wilful and unnecessary setting at nought of the founder's express intention and desire. A certain amount is given with a specific object, but if that bounty be diverted from the channel into which it was designed to flow, if the kindly fertilization be alienated from the soil it was originally intended to enrich, a breach of trust is committed deserving the severest reprehension. It may be urged that sometimes the foundations which these Scholarships were designed to accommodate, either do not avail themselves of their privilege, or else send up inferior candidates; but the reply is obvious, that we do not legislate for exceptional cases but for the general good. To take the most notable example, that of King's College, few, we should imagine, few that are actuated neither by sordid and interested motives, nor by that contemptible spirit of levelling, which is unhappily but too prevalent at the present day, would desire to turn out the

common herd to fatten on the rich pasture which it was never contemplated they should enjoy, while those, for whose benefit this ancient and royal foundation was provided, might be excluded from all participation in its advantages. We look forward then with some anxiety to the proceedings of the Commissioners; meanwhile it cannot be expedient, that the present state of uncertainty respecting the tenure of Fellowships and Scholarships should be prolonged further than is absolutely requisite, and we may be permitted to hope that this long preparation may not lead us into a situation resembling that of the Dutchman, who, when about to jump over a ditch, took so long a run, that, when he reached the brink, he was obliged to stop and take breath.

(To be continued.)