were but injurious remedies for injurious abuses; symptomatic indeed of coming revolution in the State itself. It has been mentioned that the University of Paris never attained the same full measure of corporate independence as other Continental Universities, especially those of royal foundation. But we must turn to the English Universities, which in these matters went beyond any on the Continent; in-that their jurisdiction extended to all cases concerning any person connected with them, excepting possessors of copyhold property held on a free tenure.

CHAPTER II.

THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES BEFORE THE

THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

§ 18. The antiquity of Oxford has been undervalued.

As early as the end of the ninth century, Oxford was the seat of a school of the highest intellectual cultivation then existing. By the end of the eleventh it had as good a title to be called a University, as had that of Paris; whether we regard the quality of its studies, or its inward organization. Nothing of the sort can be shown of Cambridge, till after the twelfth century had begun; but in the thirteenth she takes her place by the side of her elder sister.

Both in England itself, and in Germany, the real antiquity of the English Universities has been rated far lower; as though Oxford had been first founded by a Colony from Paris in the thirteenth century, and Cambridge somewhat later, by migrations

from Oxford.-I am not willing to expose myself justly, to the rebuke which will be thrown on me unjustly, of cooking up old wives' tales. I do not maintain that the English Universities were founded by British or Iberian Princes, by Grecian or Roman Philosophers-nay, nor by King Alfred, in the extent and with the detail which has been pretended. Yet I believe that Meiners's work is the only and the insufficient ground for most of the opinions which I dispute concerning these Universities and Universities in general. Rejecting uncritical pedantry, I believe we can establish the antiquity of the Oxford University by real historical proof.

§ 19. Tradition connecting the University with Alfred.

When our historical researches lead us farthest back into the darkness of ages, then most must we cherish as valuable even insignificant matters, if they are but trustworthy; and this consideration may suffice to give some weight and interest to subjects otherwise tedious. Such moreover is my reverence for the genealogies of the past, that I rather sympathize with our "Foster Mother" of Oxford for her fond clinging to the tale of her descent from Alfred, than blame her clumsy unhistorical defence of it. Both for individuals and for corporate bodies, a sentimental affection for

the past is a valuable set-off gainst a shallow overvaluing of the present. And who may not justly glory in anything that could connect him with such a man as ALFRED! Can history place any name above his, or even at his side? Hero, Statesman and Sage, warmed by humanity, sanctified by religion, eminently cultivated in intellect, and abounding in genuine patriotism ;-the very splendor of such a character tempts us to disbelief: although the newest and most authentic researches* do but add fresh confirmation to the truth of the facts. No wonder that Oxford has held fast by the tradition which unites her to him;-a tradition which has never been disproved. There is no evidence whatever against it: and though we cannot pretend direct historical proof in its favor, indirect proofs exist, adequate to give such a measure of confirmation, as in the darker portions of history satisfies reasonable minds.

20. Literary state of Alfred's times.

It is well known, how the path between Saxon Britain and Rome was first opened by Gregory the Great; and how Apostles of the Christian Faith issued from Britain to convert the Pagans of Germany how England was desolated by the struggles

* See especially Lappenberg's History of England. ↑ See Warton's History of English Poetry, 1st Part, on the Introduction of learning into England.

of Saxon Chiefs, and by inroads of the Sea-kings of the North. Meanwhile, learning was so trampled under foot, that no traces of it were to be found, except in Ireland, and in the North and West of England; when Alfred appeared for his people's rescue. From the less distracted parts of his own kingdom he collected pious and learned men, and brought over others from the Continent; *-a harvest long since sown by the apostolic missions of England and now happily reaped. The will and example of the King gave a vast impulse to learning, and his youth flocked to the newly opened schools.

§ 21. That Oxford was a seat of learning in Saxon times, and probably in Alfred's reign.

The question here arises, whether Oxford was one of the chief seats of learning in that day?

No other place is authentically named. The story given in the biography of Alfred by Bishop Asser, explicitly tells of scholastic institutions at Oxford, not only in his day, but as far back as the fifth century. This absurdity has led to the conviction, that the passage is not authentic: yet we may inquire, whether all of it is an interpolation or a part only. My own mature judgment is, that the * Such as Plegmund, Werfrith, Asser, St. Neot, Johannes Erigena, Johannes de Corvey, Grymbold of Saint Omer.