officers, called the Regent Mafter of the Schools, who fubfcribes his name to the questions, and receives fix-pence as his fee. When the important day arrives, the two doughty difputants go into a large dufty room, full of dirt and cobwebs, with walls and wainfcot decorated with the names of former difputants, who, to divert the te dious hours, cut out their names with their penknives, or wrote verfes with a pencil. Here they fit in mean defks, oppofite to each other, from one o'clock till three. Not once in a hundred times does any officer enter; and, if he does, he hears one fyllogifm or two, and then makes a bow, and departs, as he came and remained, in folemn filence. The difputants then return to the amufement of cutting the desks, carving their names, or reading Sterne's Sentimental Journey, or fome other edifying novel. When this exercife is duly performed by both parties, they have a right to the title and infignia of Sophs; but not before they have been formally created by one of the regentmafters, before whom they kneel, while he lays a volume of Ariftotle's works on their heads, and puts on a hood, a piece of black crape, hanging from their necks, and down to their heels; which crape, it is exprefsly ordained by a ftatute in this cafe made and provided, hall be plain, and unadorned either with wool or with fur.

And this work done, a great progrefs is made towards the wishedfor honour of a bachelor's degree. There remain only one or two trifling forms, and another difputation almoft exactly fimilar to doing generals, but called anfwering under bachelor, previous to the awful examination.

Every candidate is obliged to be examined in the whole circle of the fciences by three mafters of arts, of his own choice. The examination is to be held in one of the public fchools, and to continue from nine o'clock till eleven. The mafters take a moft folemn oath, that they will examine properly and impartially. Dreadful as all this appears, there is always found to be more of appearance in it than reality; for the greatest dunce ufually gets his teftimonium figned with as much eafe and credit as the fineft genius. The manner of proceeding is as follows: The poor young man to be examined in the fciences often knows no more of them than his bedmaker, and the mafters who examine are fometimes equally unacquainted with fuch myfteries. But fchemes, as they are called, or little books, containing forty or fifty questions on each science, are handed down, from age to age, from one to another. The candidate to be examined employs three or four days in learning thefe by heart, and the examiners, having done the fame before him when they were examined, know what quellions to afk, and fo all goes on fmoothly. When the candidate has difplayed his univerfal knowledge of the fciences, he is to display his fkill in philology. One of the mafters, therefore, defires him to conftrue a paffage in fome Greek or Latin claffic, which he does with no interruption, juft as he pleafes, and as well as he can. The ftatutes next require, that he fhould tranflate familias English phrafes into Latin. And now is the time when the mafters new their wit and jocularity. Droll queftions are put on any fubject, and the puzzled candidate furnishes diverfion by his aukward embarraffment. I have known the queftions on this occafion to confift of an enquiry into the pedigree of a race-horfe. And it is a common quellion,

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question, after asking what is the fummum bonum of various fects of philofophers, to ask what is the fummum bonum, or chief good, among Oxonians; to which the anfwer is fuch as Mimnermus would give. This familiarity, however, only takes place when the examiners are pot-companions of the candidate, which indeed is ufually the cafe; for it is reckoned good management to get acquainted with two or three jolly young mafters of arts, and fupply them well with port, previously to the examination. If the vice-chancellor and proctors happen to enter the fchool, a very uncommon event, then a little fo. lemnity is put on, very much to the confufion of the mafters, as well as of the boy, who is fitting in the little box opposite to them. As neither the officer, nor any one elfe, ufually enters the room (for it is reckoned very ungen:eel), the examiners and the candidates often con verfe on the last drinking-bout, or on horfes, or read the newspaper, or a novel, or divert themfelves as well as they can in any manner, till the clock ftrikes eleven, when all parties defcend, and the teftimonium is figned by the masters. With this teftimonium in his poffelfion, the candidate is fure of fuccefs. The day in which the honour is to be conferred arrives; he appears in the Convocation house, he takes an abundance of oaths, pays a fum of money in fees, and, after kneeling down before the vice-chancellor, and whispering a lie, rifes up a Bachelor of Arts.

And now, if he afpires at higher honours (and what emulous fpirit can fit down without afpiring at them?) new labours and new difficulties are to be encountered during the space of three years. He muft determine in Lent, he must do quodlibets, he must do auftins, he muft declaim twice, he must read fix folemn lectures, and he must be again examined in the fciences, before he can be promoted to the degree of Mafter of Arts.

None but the initiated can know what determining, doing quodlibets, and doing auftins mean. I have not room to enter into a minute defcription of fuch contemptible minutia. Let it be fufficient to fay. that thefe exercifes confift of difputations, and the difputations of fyllogifms, procured and uttered nearly in the fame places, time, and manner, as we have already feen theis in doing generals. There is, however, a great deal of trouble in little formalities, fuch as procuring fix-penny liceats, flicking up the names on the walls, fitting in large empty rooms by your felf, or with fome poor wight as ill employed as yourlelf. without any thing to fay or do, wearing hoods, and a lttle piece of lambskin with the wool on it, and a variety of other particulars too tedious and too trifling to enumerate.

The declamations would be an ufeful exercife, if it were not always performed in a careless and evafive manner. The lectures are always called Wall Lectures, because the lecturer has no other audience but the walls. Indeed he ufually feels a fheet or two of Latin out of fome old book, no matter on what fubject, though it ought to be on natural philofophy. Thefe he keeps in his pocket, in order to take them out and read away, if a prostor fhould come in; but, otherwife. he hts by himself, and folaces himself with a book, not from the Bodleian but the circulating library.

The examination is performed exactly in the fame manner as before described; and, though reprefented as very formidaule, is fuch

an one as a boy from a good school juft entered, might go through as well as after a feven years refidence. Few however refide; for the majority are what are called term-trotters, that is, perfons who only keep the terms for form-fake, or spend fix or eight weeks in a year in the university, to qualify them for degrees, according to the letter of the ftatutes.

After all these important exercifes and trials, and after again taking oaths by wholefale, and paying the fees, the academic is ho noured with a Master's degree, and iffues out into the world with this undeniable paffport to carry him through it with credit.

Exercises of a nature equally filly and obfolete, are performed, in a fimilar manner, for the other degrees; but I have neither time nor patience to enter into the detail.

And now I feriously repeat, that what I have faid proceeds from no other motive than a wish to fee the glory of the universities unfullied by the difgrace of requiring, with ridiculous folemnity, a fet of childish and ufelefs exercifes. They raife no emulation, they confer no honour, they promote no improvement. They give a great deal of trouble, they wafte much time, and they render the university contemptible to its own members. I have the honour, fuch as it is, to be a member of the univerfity of Oxford, and a master of arts in it. I know the advantages of the place; but I alfo know its more numerous and weighty difadvantages; and the confidence the public has already placed in me, makes it a duty to inform them of every thing, in which the general state of morals and literature is greatly concerned. I have done this duty; nor fhall I regard the difpleafare of all the doctors, both the proctors, nor of all the heads of colleges and halls, with their respective societies.'

On reviewing this picture, we fcarcely know whether to grieve or fmile. It is in itself abfurd and farcical; and yet, when we reflect on the confequences, we fee fomething too ferious for a laugh; and, with mingled aftonishment and concern, we are ready to cry out, "Are these things fo?"—And yet though things are indeed fo, an attempt to reform would in all probability be treated as a piece of officious zeal. Amendment would be called innovation :-and old MUMPSIMUS, as ufual, would carry the day!

ART. VII. The Hiftory of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 8vo. 4 s. Boards. Kearsley. 1783.

IN

this performance we meet with fome entertainment, but with little information. It is not a history drawn from any curious or hidden fources; but a declamation founded on events recorded in the common regifters of the day. The reflections of the Writer are in general trite and fuperficial; but a certain pomp and elevation of ftyle difguifes the poverty of fentiment, and gives the air of novelty to what is hacknied, and of dignity to what is vulgar. And yet this affected brilliancy often obfcures the sense: and defcription, fwelling itfelf beyond the juft limits of grace

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and

and decorum, under a violent emotion to ftretch into the fub lime, finks beneath its own efforts, and degenerates into bombaft. There are however in the work before us fome noble and elevated thoughts: and where the Writer doth not too much labour at loftiness of expreffion, he is nervous and elegant.

The Life of Lord Chatham, as this publication is entitled, is only a diffufe account of his political exiftence. We look in vain for any anecdotes relative to him as a husband, a father, or a friend. None of his domeftic habits, none of his tranfactions in the leffer circles of life, are here recorded-thofe habits and tranfactions which make biography fo pleafing, by introducing us to the hero's acquaintance in his more relaxed and familiar hours; and which, if well felected, and faithfully delineated, convey a jufter idea of his real difpofition and character, than the most minute relation of his conduct in the higher departments of the ftate, and the tranfactions of public life, where a man feels himself before the awful tribunal of the world. Nothing in Plutarch entertains and amufes the reader more than his familiarizing, by the incidents of common life, the characters of the heroes whofe exploits he celebrates. It may, however, be pleaded in favour of this Writer, that Lord Chatham's mind feems to have been fo totally abforbed in political fpeculations, that fcarcely any other paffion could obtain even a tranfient pofleflion of it. His hiftory therefore is almost neceffarily confined to intrigues of ftate, parliamentary debates, ministerial arrangements, and the other great fcenes of the political drama. In delineating it, fome of the more illuftrious actors are brought forward; and their characters are, we think, juftly marked and difcriminated,

The work before us is divided into nine chapters. We shall give a short sketch of their contents, that the Reader may form an idea of the entertainment he is likely to meet with from the perufal of the whole.

William Pitt was born Nov. 15th, 1708. His grandfather was Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, commonly called Diamond Pitt, on account of that extraordinary jewel which he fold to the King of France. His family was of Boconnoc, in Cornwall. His original deftination was the army, and a cornetcy of horfe was his first and only commiffion. His allowance was fcanty. An hereditary gout attacked him very early. His youth was marked by fevere temperance. He took his feat in the Houfe of Commons to oppofe the corrupt adminiftration of Walpole; and diftinguished himself by the boldnefs and fervour of his fpeeches. The firft chapter treats of his oppofition to the Spanish convention, and of Lord Carteret's adminiftration, Chap. II. Adminiftration of Mr. Pelham: Mr. Pitt is appointed Paymafter-General: His verfatility: Origin of the war of 1755;

Death

Death of Mr. Pelham: Inftability of his fucceffors, the Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. Fox [late Lord Holland]: Mr. Pitt appointed Secretary of State: His difmiffion. Chap. III. Coalition of parties: Mr. Pitt's adminiftration: Progrefs of the war : Campaign of 1759: Fruitlefs negociations of peace. Chap. IV. Origin of war with Spain: Death of King George II.: Cabals of Lord Bute: Mr. Pitt's refignation: Critique of his adminiftration. Chap. V. Hiftory of the GREAT COMMONER: Adminiftration of Lord Bute: Campaign of 1762: Peace of Paris: Mr. Grenville's adminiftration: Lord Rockingham's: Affair of General Warrants: Of the Stamp-Act. Chap. VI. Mr. Pitt Lord Privy Seal, and Earl of Chatham: His coadjutors in adminiftration: Meafures of government: Lord C. withdraws: American taxation renewed: Middlesex election: Shelburne and Chatham refign: Subfequent tranfactions. Chap. VII. Lord C. takes the lead of Oppofition: Appointment of Lord North: Falkland Islands: Imprisonment of the Lord Mayor: Encroachments of the Eaft India Company: Riot at Bofton: Penal acts of parliament. Chap. VIII. Meeting of the General Congrefs: Lord C.'s conciliatory plan: Coercive meafures purfued: Commencement of the American war: Declaration of independency: Campaign of 1776: Expedition from Canada. Chap. IX. Fourth feffion of the 3d Parliament of George III.: Addrefs to the throne: Enquiry into the state of the nation: Tranfaction with Lord Bute: Lord North's conciliatory bills: Treaty between France and America avowed: Debate concerning the independency of America: Lord C.'s death and character.

The extracts we fhall make from the prefent performance are thofe which we think will fhew the Writer to the best advantage, and at the fame time afford most entertainment to our Readers. The following is his delineation of the characters of fome eminent ftatesmen:

Lord Carteret. He was poffeffed of the finest abilities, the most elegant tafte, the most fplendid eloquence. All the treasures of polite literature were his own; and he perfectly underflood the interefts and politics of every court of Europe. In a word had his integrity kept pace with his talents, he was formed to be the brightest ornament of the court in which he lived. His patronage might have given new vigour to the literature, and his political kill new luftre to the annals of Britain.'

The Duke of Newcastle. His abilities, perhaps, were of the flendereft form that were ever hazarded in fo important a ftation. He was chiefly diftinguifhed for his unfeigned attachment to the house of Brunfwic, and as one of the leaders of the Whig party. He was not however deficient either in pride or ambition. It was his delight to be furrounded with a crowd of dependants, and to appear distracted with a multiplicity of bufinefs. His manners were thofe of butiling importance.

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