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The extravagance and other irregularities complained of as ruinous to so many of the undergraduates , establish no special grounds of confidence in the present system of College government . For this we hy no means blame the authorities to the extent to which they Iiave been censured , by some who think that it lies with them to restore the simple and frugal habits of the old time . More than , one House has honestly sought ta check the credit-system , and by abolishing the distinction of gentleman-commoner , to introduce a more
modest style of living and a less ostentatious expenditure . The remedy after all lies with the young men themselves , in the emulation which studies more in harmony with the age will awaken , and the mental vigour which will thus supersede the emasculated tone of thought engendered by a feeble and unreal system of instruction ; and in the imperceptible "but powerful influences of a healthier public opinion , which will refuse to regard as venial that waste of youth and opportunity which renders Oxford life a terror now . A sound
morality is not developed by a system of checks and repression . To those who shake the head at our visionary expectations , no doubt any proposition for University extension that would tend largely to increase the number of students , must appear full of danger . Every man would be a sinner the more ; especially if introduced by what they are pleased to call a " revolutionary" measure . A talisrnanic power must , it would appear , reside in the present system , to judge from the comparative satisfaction with which extension in that direction is regarded , and the impatience or alarm manifested towards a suggestion like that now before
us . To such persons we might apply the tu quoque . You object to the introduction of this class of students mainly , as far as can be seen , on the ground of moral danger ; with Mr . Lake , himself a member of the Committee of tfee Tutors' Association , you fear " the danger of a great increase of immorality . " Why , then , do you now , by infraction of your statute as respects the common gate , permit the existence of a class in every way analogous to that which we desire to introduce ? Or do you assert , and can you enforce , such plenary authority over these as that the dangers you dread have no existence now ? Do vou desire to save the mass of your
students from possible contamination , assuming that the University is unequal to that supervision which the Colleges so well discharge ? But what say those who know something of the going forth and the coming in of Oxford men—something of the " old familiar face " of Oxford ? What says Professor Wall ? " I wish I could say that immorality had yet to be introduced among our students . I believe there would be much less cause to fear the stndents who would come here on tlie scheme proposed than to fear for them There are disadvantages and temptations attending a residence in college which would not belong to a
residence in private lodgings The very congregation of numbers , the facilities of stepping from room to room and of making up pleasure parties , have tlieir evils . One or two bad men may , and often do , work immense mischief in a college . " Nay , what says Mr . Pattison , the almost bitter antagonist of 11 developed Professorial system , and of this particular recommendation which he sees to be so intimately connected with that system ? " The habits and manners which gave the conventual system its good effects , being changed , we must not think any virtue resides in mere forms . If little or nothing of moral influence- is obtained by intramural residence , neither ia
tlie college gate any mechanical security against dissolute habits . The three great temptations of the place I suppose to be , fornication , wine , and cards and betting . Without exaggerating the turpitude of tho firntnumed vice , yet every one who is aware of the amount of moral and intellectual prostration traceable to it here , must wish that every protection against temptation dliould bo afforded to the- weak and unsteady . It may be left to any one to estimate what amount of such protection is given by the necessity of being within doors by midnight . Though hero again the departure which modern habits have rendered necessary from the rule , which is still on the statute book , will exemplify wliiL < i bus been wiid of l . he actual obsoleteness of the
domestic . system . " So , then , having condemned your own out-students by condemning thoHo wo souk to add , you arc abandoned by your own frionds when you would talk of tho excellencies (> f your Collegiate system of discipline . " Your Houses ! " Your argument would abolish Oxford .
[ fere , for the moment , wo quit f ho Tutors' Association . For our part , we believe there is a Hound core iu Oxford . The earnestness of the age is working there , and deep as are tho prejudices of the place , inherited and actual , we < 1 <) not doubt thai , a largo mlvocaey of the principal reforms recommended iu the report of the ( Joinmin . sioncrH , will bo found ready to Kiipport thorn , unchecked liHUe by talk of
contiuniiuvtion , or of vulgarizing the University . That Report ia as honourable to Oxford as to the sincere and able men who have produced it , and they are no true friends to the University who seek to discredit it . The Tutors ' Association points with satisfaction to the fact that the Cambridge Commission has not recommended the introduction of University Students under the conditions we have described . So much the worse for Cambridge and Cambridge Commissioners . We shall resume the subject of this article next week .
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expounders are dispersed by judicial sentence , and by emigration , to all ends of the earth , but the principles have been first recognised—more lately accepted and introduced into new combinations . We meet them everywhere under new names , and under new protectors . Our own emphatic adhesion to the broad principles of Enfranchisement and Association we need not reiterate . Every intelligent reader recognises the identity of principles under that diversity of advocacy which the " science of exigencies" and the law of progress impose . We will not continue to repeat cabalistic names which , being now obsolete , call no spirits from vasty
WORKING CLASS QUESTIONS . I . POPULAR VAKIATIONS OF ACTION . Eutkaxchiseitent and Association are the two words of hope which have moved the heart and shaped the destiny of the Working Classes of this country for the past sixty years . All " Political Unions , " all " Trade Unions , " " Rational Societies , " and " Chartist Associations , " have ranked under these two heads . These " Agitations , " long distinct and at last blended , have always meant the same thing . In the long , the uneven and intermittent struggle—badges have rotted ofij watchwords have been worn out—parties themselves have been exhausted—but the ideas have lived on . The
deeps—or , worse than obsolete , call up the wrong ones . Tor when a name of honest and wholesome reform , by any accident of its friends , or artifice of its enemies , has acquired public associations of terror and spoliationits employment calls up a tyrant instead of a patriot , and the only wise course is to disuse it . To fill columns with reports of meetings which nobody attends , or of energetic speeches without echoes — is merely to invalidate the authority of reports of actual movements . A newspaper is necessarily eclectic . A large weekly volume would not contain the narratives of half tho occurrences and events of the seven days . There
must be a selection made : the line must be drawn between the galvanized contortions and the living pulses—between the still and the moving forces of the « ge . As of criticism , so of journalism . That criticism , said Dr . Johnson , which destroys tho power of pleasing , must be disregarded . The purpose of a book is to be read . The same is true of a newspaper . It is published in vain unless it be perused , and nothing- is perused except that in which tho public take an interest . As the parliament ratifies tho public voice , and converts public opinion into law , so the journal interprets aspirations , and diffuses the spirit of movement over the nation . But the
aspiration must exist , ov it cannot bo interpreted—action must bo going on , or it cannot be propagated . Publicists must make events , if the journal is to register them . Discriminating treatment , therefore , of particular topics , it is very well understood , implies no want of inviolable interest in , or attachment to , given principles—but is rather the indication of that watchful fidelity which docs what it can , when all it would in impossible . Let men of movement give interest to their well-considered aims , and tho newspaper will not fail to make those aims a power . Journalists are the auxiliaries of patriotism , not tho substitutes for it . Wo think wo discover a tendency on the part of many excellent reformers to overlook this truth .
The demand for political enfranchisement is less vehement now than it was . () no reason unquestionably is , that the people generally are better off than they were , and the want of redress is less felt . A wider nnd a truer reason is , thab tho exponents of the popular wants havo themselves largely emigrated to other countries , carrying with them their manly spirit and intelligent opinions . Thin is a gain -to the world : a loss to this nation . Tho most intelligent men are the first to emigrate , because they Iiave the most courage , enterprise ,
nnd resolution . That tho rauI < H of reform have thus been thinned of itn pioneers , is a public proof that the cry for political and social change did not emanate from the ignorant ; , tho idle , or tho bane , but from the men of vigour , industry , self respect , of just pride , and iself-Hupporting hahitrf . The attention of the country is a ain being turned , to the extension of the SuIIrage , and statesmen hitherto adverse begin to admit its practical jxwsibility . Let tho politicians of the people do their < hjty , Thin tinio let tjie claim bo grounded ou
the duty of exercising the franchise — a ground of demand by no one earlier or more ably insisted upon than by the Editor of the JSnc / lisJi Republic . Let it no longer be said , that the cry of reform is the cry of pecuniary discontent—that it rises when wages falland falls when wages rise . Let the Suffrage . be no longer a question of the cupboard , but a question of Manhood . The state of the family table among the working class is not to be despised , but let that be kept , subordinate to the noble sense of public duty—a sense which being dead , we do not see how tho right to live can be well defended . Our own views of the new convictions arising , which will lead to the settlement of the great questions cf Enfranchisement and Association in this country , we shall in future papers explain . 102 * .
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SUNDAY EEFOEM PETITIONS . We beg to invite the special attention of our friends of the working class to the advertisement in another part of our paper , of a meeting of delegates to be held at Anderton ' s Hotel , Fleet-street , on Thursday next , to organize the agitation in favour of opening the Crystal Palace on Sunday . The question , of Sunday Ileform is , perhaps , the most important in its many social and moral bearings , of all the domestic questions ( not political ) now in . course of agitation . Let it not be forgotten that the Sabbatarian party is very strong in rank , property , and influence ; that it appeals to prejudice , to intolerance , to pusillanimity , for support ; that it has already intimidated the directors of the Crystal Palace Company , and swamped the
shareholders ; that the directors have determined to remain per . fectly passive , and to leave to public opinion and popular agitation to decide the question in their favour ; that tho Government , the Company , and the House of Commons await the deliberate decision of tho people . The feelings and opinions of the working classes , in two hundred localities , in favour of Sunday Ileform , have been already ascertained . The besfc form of agitation is by petitions duly attested . Let meetings be held in every town and village throughout the kingdom , committees organized , petitions signed , attested , and presented through the parliamentary representatives of the petitioners . Forms of petitions are to be obtained by application to the committee sitting weekly at Anderton ' s Hotel , Fleet-street .
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ME . ROEBUCKS HEALTH . We have received with very sincere satisfaction a communication in comment upon tho reference made- by " The Stranger in Parliament , " last week , to the state of Mr . lloebuck ' s health . We hasten to lay before our readers a report that relieves us from the most desponding apprehensions . We are now enabled to state , on the best authority , that tho able and esteemed representative of Sheffield , though still ill , and under strict medical
treatment , is steadily , if not rapidly , recovering ; and it is confident ^ hoped that ho may be able to resume his seat in Parliament , in time to take an activo pnrt in the debates upon the Reform measures which are promised for 1854 . Wo need hardly way how heartily we are rejoiced at this assurance . No mania inure wanted in Parliament at this moment . Through all his protracted sufferings , Mr . Itocbuck will havo enjoyed ono rare compensation—tho consciousness that ho lias been missed .
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March 26 , 1853 . J THE LEADER . 301
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[ IN TUIH I ) 1 : 1 'A ! 1 TM 1 : NT , ANAIJ . OI'INIONM , IlOWHVKIi KXTHKMK AltH AM . OWI ' . I ) AN K X I'KKKSIO tt , Til K V . I ) IToJt N lUJHKNA 1 ( 11 . 1 T J 1 OI . D . 4 HIM . SKI . K ItlCSI'ONHIIiMC l'OIC WONK . J There in no lrnrnrd ni ; in l . ul . will c . i > ui \ -r . » he lnil . h murh profil . ed hv rr ! idim ; r . > iil . r < . v « t ; hcm , Iiim mciimc'i uwik i'iiciI . and mi : < jwd . ' . miMil . mIihi | m .-ik' < I . I f , I . Ik'm , illir |> r < . lit . a > o Cor him l . <> read , wli . v ;> linuM il . not ., id . Icuil , , ix : l . ulcniblu for Inn iidvri-Miiry t . o wnl . c . Mii . ton . '
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SUNDAY IlKKOICM . ( To tho lift tor of tho leader . ) DkakSiu ., -Within the hist i . en dnys two nieeUn ^ n Irive been culled of the young men ol London , at tho In : ••••() hull ut tho London Tavern , to trivo their opinioii }
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Leader (1850-1860), March 26, 1853, page 301, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1979/page/13/
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