bear, not only the edifice subsequently built on them by his greatgrandson, Frederick the Great, but also the imposing structure which has been erected during our lifetime. The history of the Great Elector, like that of so many members of his House, is intimately connected with the history of culture. No family has been more associated with universities than the House of Hohenzollern. Frankfort on the Oder was founded by Joachim the First in 1506; Königsberg in 1594; Duisberg by the Great Elector in 1656; Halle in 1694 by the Elector Frederick the Third, who afterwards became the first king of his house with the title of Frederick the First. Frederick William the Third founded Berlin in 1809, Breslau in 1811, Bonn in 1818, and Kaiser William the First Strasburg in 1871. The University of Duisberg, the foundation of the Great Elector, has its special place in history, because it was from there, under the influence of Clauberg, that the Cartesian philosophy spread over Central Europe. But, in truth, every one of these Hohenzollern foundations has a striking and characteristic history. As regards Königsberg, one has only to remember that it was the University of Kant. Halle and Berlin are of capital importance in the history of culture. Christian Thomasius assisted the Elector Frederick the Third to found the University of Halle. He was the man who gave from his chair in that university the deadly blow to the belief in witchcraft. This degrading and frightful superstition had been attacked previously with zeal by Spee, a Jesuit priest; but this excellent man did not produce much effect by his writings and was not supported as he ought to have been by his own Order. The delusion about nocturnal meetings with demons, enchantments and witchcraft, which was the cause of some of the most frightful cruelties in history, continued to flourish until the great attack on it by Thomasius. The further history of Halle is also interesting. On the 14th of October, 1806, the battles of Jena and Auerstadt took place, and three days afterwards Marshal Bernadotte drove the Prussian rearguard, under Prince Eugene of Würtemberg, out of Halle. Shortly afterwards that university was closed, and at the same time Wittenberg, the university of Luther and Melanchthon. After the fall of Napoleon, Halle was reconstructed on its ancient lines, and it has been, among other things, remarkable for the light it has thrown upon ancient Irish history. It was also the first great seat of learning which established, in connection with general university education, a department for scientific research in connection with agricultural work. Other universities have since followed in its footsteps. Leipzig, Giessen, Kiel, Königsberg, Göttingen, Breslau, and Jena have all similar institutions. The work accomplished by the University of Berlin is so well known that I need not allude to it at length. Notwithstanding the financial difficulties of the State at the time of its foundation, no money was spared to make it a success.

Throughout the nineteenth century it has occupied a position in the world not unlike that which Paris held in the days of its glory. The list of those who lived and worked there, from Fichte, who was its first rector, to the present moment, contains the names of leaders of almost every branch of human thought.

One of those mostly responsible for the constitution of this university was Wilhelm v. Humboldt. He always kept before him the great truth that the end and object of a modern university is the scientific training of educated youth. It was therefore necessary that the Prussian schools should be required to train their youth to profit by university education. This is also the cardinal principle in the whole German system. It was entirely forgotten in dealing with the Irish university question. Döllinger remarked more than forty years ago on the difficulties of Irish university education in consequence of the inefficiency of the schools, and Mr. F. H. O'Donnell, in his recent book on the Ruin of Education in Ireland, explains with great force and clearness how the work of the Queen's Colleges was hampered owing to bad teaching in the schools. The corner stone of the German educational system is the so-called Abiturienten Examen, which has to be passed on leaving school and which is very much higher than any matriculation examination we have. After that, when the student goes to the university, he is free to follow any course of study he thinks fit. No German university will confer, however, any high distinction except for original work, and, for any student who wishes to make his way in the world, this work is the absorbing subject of his contemplation, and thus the mind of the intellectual youth of Germany is occupied with the solution of problems instead of being directed, as with us, to textbooks, often of an inferior character. The consequence is that, when German young men go into business, manufacturers have at their command trained intellects, and this is one of the main causes of German success in business. Industries are now everywhere being transformed by science, and that is a matter to be borne in mind in reconstruction of university education. Polytechnics and technical schools for the multitude will not supply the place of a proper university system. The success and present power of Germany are due to the agencies of her universities.

But if university education is to bring home scientific culture to the great mass of the people, it is impossible for it to do so on centralised lines. Sir Dyce Duckworth, in his address at the opening of the medical faculty at Liverpool last October, says that the century now opening will be remarkable as regards the foundation of several new universities in England. There is no reason why the same policy should not be followed in Ireland. If we bear in mind that culture implies systematic training, and that distinct forms of culture imply independent institutions, we shall arrive at the conclusion that a

6

perfect system for higher education would be one in which, in the words of Professor Cairnes, university degrees would represent, not a mere quantum of uniform attainment, but, along with knowledge, types of culture, and in which the number of distinct universities should correspond with the number of distinct types of culture which mental movement in a country may assume.' Holding this view, any scheme for dealing with Irish university education should, in my opinion, carefully avoid centralisation.

With regard to the changes that might be made in Cork, an obvious one would be the creation of double chairs for certain subjects, as is the case in universities in Germany. But there is no use in attempting any scheme of reform as regards Cork unless it is approached with the determination to place that college on a sound scientific footing. Laboratories would have to be built and large additions made. But what is of all things necessary if Cork is to be made an intellectual centre is that a really great library should be formed which should be at the disposal, with certain restrictions, of anybody who wished to use it. The latest of all the German foundations is the University of Strasburg. About 800,000l. has been spent on building since 1871, and 51,000l. a year on teaching. Besides this large expenditure 6800l. a year is spent on the library. There is a head librarian highly paid, several sub-librarians, and a large number of assistant librarians, all highly educated men whose business is to give their attention to any one who presents himself for the purpose of reading or research. This great expenditure, moreover, occurs in a place close to Freiburg, where there is another university and library, and not far from Heidelberg and Tübingen, to which the same observation applies. Altogether in Germany the State expends on universities about eight times as much as the universities derive from students' fees. According to Paulsen, the average cost of a student to the State in the kingdom of Prussia is 31. In Strasburg I make it out to be nearer 601. These facts alone will indicate what Germany does for the advancement of learning and science, and although so large a scale of expenditure would not be at all necessary in Ireland, they show the line that must be followed if any attempt to reform the Irish university system is not to add another failure to the numerous attempts which have been made in the past to develop university education in Ireland.

The main lines, then, to follow in any scheme of Irish university reform would seem to me-leaving Trinity to shake off all remaining trammels connected with its origin and become the great national University of Ireland-to reconstruct a university on the lines of the old Queen's, and to reform the Royal so as to enable it to meet wants not met either by Trinity or by a reconstructed Queen's. These universities should all be as free as possible of

State control and preserved from the blighting influence of official interference. Such a scheme would, I am sure, commend itself to the Irish people, and have a most stimulating effect on national life, and on the formation of a sound public opinion. Mr. Goldwin Smith, writing about Ireland in the year 1867, said that the chief malady of the country was the void in the national heart caused 'by the want of any institutions commanding the reverence, love, or confidence of the nation.' Notwithstanding the share which the Irish possess in the privileges of British citizenship, the majority of them feel no concern about the greatness of the Empire. They take no pride in the long list of Irishmen, from Wellington to Roberts, who have rendered brilliant services to the Crown. If they are ever to be turned into citizens, taking active and sympathetic interest in the affairs of the Empire, it will be necessary to infuse into them new political ideas and to awaken new political life. This can be done, slowly but surely, by the steady, silent work of efficient universities in guiding national sentiment and forming national character.

ROWLAND BLENNERHASSETT,

President, Queen's College, Cork.

THE HISTORY OF PORT ARTHUR

THE history of Port Arthur may be said to date from 1870. In the summer of that year an outbreak of anti-foreign fanaticism occurred at Tientsin, culminating in the hideous massacre by an infuriated mob of Chinese of a large number of French Roman Catholic nuns and native converts. Before the news of the massacre could reach Europe, which was not then in telegraphic communication with the Far East, the Franco-German war broke out, and France had soon other things to think of than of exacting reparation by military force for wrongs suffered in the Far East, however great, and China escaped the usual penalty of the misdeeds of a section of her people. But the Government recognised the necessity of instituting a strong control over the disorderly population in Tientsin, and Li Hung Chang was the one man in the Empire whose previous record pointed him out as qualified for the task. He was accordingly appointed Viceroy of the province of Chili, in which Tientsin lies, and he continued to hold the office for nearly a quarter of a century, directing in connection with it the whole foreign policy of the Empire. He speedily stamped out anti-foreign rowdyism, and, having succeeded in establishing thorough order throughout the whole province, he gave his attention to the development of the military resources of the Empire. Among his efforts in that direction, which included the equipment and training of an army on European principles, the creation of a navy, and the fortification of Taku, at the mouth of the Tientsin river, not the least was the foundation of the fortress of Port Arthur. The important strategic position of this port, commanding as it did to a great extent the approach by sea to Taku and the capital Peking, was pointed out to Li Hung Chang by his foreign advisers. His own military experience and skill enabled him to see quickly the soundness of their advice. The design and carrying out of the fortifications, on the construction of which huge sums of money were spent, were entrusted to an able German officer of artillery, Major von Hannecken, and so efficiently carried out by him that, in 1884, when China became involved in hostilities with France on account of Tongking, both the land and sea defences were already