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in which no disagreeable feelings on either side need exist, since all that happened must have been covenanted and foreseen. But the proper reply to the proposal of such a scheme would be, that there are no punishments, which, so administered, can answer the purpose of punishment. For suppose the lighter inflictions to be disregarded; nothing then remains, but to enforce them by heavier severities; and so on, till we come to some punishment which is a real misfortune to the student. And to suppose the teacher indifferent to this, would be to suppose the absence of good-will between him and his pupils, which is a very unfit temper for an English University. The teacher, then, must warn his pupil of the ultimate consequences of transgression, and endeavour to induce him to avoid them; and thus we come back to the plan of personal remonstrance. College rules, and the existence of rule at all, necessarily lead us to this conclusion, whenever the teachers and the pupils are not entirely unknown and indifferent to each other.

But the business of remonstrance and personal intercourse, with regard to violations of rule, is not only irksome and repugnant to those who do not sympathize with the spirit of College institutions ; it is also, in a large body, oppressive and difficult, from the time, and energy, and vigilance which it requires of the officers, and from the solicitude and pain which it occasions to them. And this may be so serious an evil, that it may be well worth consideration whether it cannot be in some measure

alleviated. And especially if the true principles of College government should have been partially lost sight of, or misunderstood, by officers or by pupils, the task of restoring them to their proper authority and efficacy by personal intercourse, would require exertions which it might not be easy to obtain. In such a case, perhaps something might be done by putting upon paper admonitions which are suited to the most common offences, and which might, without trouble, be used when any occasion occurred. For example, a paper to the following effect might be conveyed to the pupil, preceded by a statement of the rules which he was required to observe.

"These are the rules which you are required to observe by the College of which you have been admitted a member. You are to understand that the intention of obeying such rules as exist in the College, was taken for granted by the College in consenting to your admission. You are to understand, also, that the constant intention of obeying such rules is taken for granted so long as you continue a member of the College; and that as soon as it becomes clear to us that you have not such an intention, we cannot permit you to remain among us.

"In case of your deviating from the rules by thoughtlessness or accident, you are liable to such punishment as the officers of the College may impose. And you are to understand such punishment, not as a satisfaction to the College, but as an expression of the disapprobation of the College towards you. If such punishments are repeatedly incurred, you are to

understand that each of them expresses an increasing conviction on the part of the College, that the purpose of obedience and conformity, which is the condition of your being allowed to remain among us, does not exist. If this conviction is not removed or diminished by your own conduct, any additional confirmation of it by future offences will be considered as making your removal necessary.

"You are to recollect that it is the intention of obeying the rules which is your duty, and that the College officers are to judge of this intention. It is therefore no palliation of any omissions to say that equal or greater transgressions are committed by others; or that you are not very irregular; or that you observe some rules though you transgress others; or that you did not expect to have absolute regularity required. The intention of absolute regularity is required.

"Such are the conditions of your position here: without attention to these on your part, we do not hope to be of any use to you; nor can we allow your connexion with us to continue, when that hope is gone. And every occasion which we may have to remind you of these conditions, you must consider as an admonition and a warning, which, if not duly attended to, will be followed by more serious consequences."

Such a paper as this might be conveyed to the student on each transgression; and perhaps it might be useful to mark, in the list of rules, that rule, the neglect of which had occasioned its being sent. Such

a communication would remove all reasonable ground of complaint and misunderstanding; and in all the better disposed, would probably produce the effect of bringing them to a due sense of their position and duty.

There is one mode of influencing the students, which I have not mentioned yet, but which ought not to be overlooked;—I mean the step of the tutor's communicating with the student's parents or friends in serious cases of offence, representing to them his pupil's errors and danger, inviting their aid, or suggesting a voluntary temporary removal. As connected with punishment, this step may be considered as a more forcible remonstrance and warning, and may be very beneficial.

I believe that, in some institutions for education, the difficulty of providing punishments and enforcing rules has been got rid of, by calling in the parent's interposition at the very first. For example, the list of the student's attendance at his teacher's lectures may be sent at once to the parent, and thus the lecturer may escape the troublesome and disagreeable task of compelling attendance from the unwilling student.

This plan appears to me to be one which, from misunderstanding or despairing of the powers of a College, misapplies and throws away the parent's influence. For the remonstrance, displeasure, and pain of a parent might be strong motives with a young man, if they were reserved for very serious cases;-if the mere fact of applying to the parent were evidence how gravely the tutor or the College

looked upon the matter; and if such a step were never taken in consequence of the neglect of rules, till the failure of the lighter forms of remonstrance, the neglect of the common punishments of the College, had aggravated the case. Such an appeal might affect even a stubborn spirit, if it were made the catastrophe of a tragedy of which the previous acts took place in College; but if it appear in the first scene, it is lightly taken. The student may easily satisfy an indulgent parent by excuses which would not satisfy a College officer; or may disregard his dissatisfaction and in either case, not only the rule, which we must suppose a salutary one, is evaded, but also a general habit of disregard, both of regularity and of authority, is nourished.

We must now say a few words of the application of this kind of discipline to particular cases.

SECT. 4.-OF ATTENDANCE AT COLLEGE LECTURES.

It will easily be supposed that constant attendance at the College lectures is one of the rules of such institutions, and is, therefore, enforced by such a discipline as we have described. Express directions on this point are found in the statutes which I have already quoted:" If any one is absent from the lectures, let him be fined; but if he is absent often, let him be brought before the Master of the College."

Since the lectures constitute the teaching in the College, the necessity of their being regularly carried on, both by teachers and pupils, is obvious. But an

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