the

of our Magazine, we would not imitate the Scythians, who mourned over the infant's birth from a foresight of the perils which awaited its progress through the world upon which it had entered; we would rather take for example the merriment of our Irish christenings, where nothing is heard but prophecies of the future greatness of the little stranger. We feel that we may safely use the language of confidence and hope; and though in giving to our work the name that we have selected, we feel ourselves seriously responsible for its character and merits, yet we trust the lapse of time will show that its sponsors have not promised too much for the DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE. We know and feel that from us will be expected an order of talent different from, though perhaps not superior to, that which is looked for in similar publications that do not appear before the public under such high sanction, or with the impress of so venerable a name. Upon this point we can only promise to bear in mind, and to be influenced by the maxim"Vitavi culpam haud merui laudem." We cannot anticipate that any thing should ever appear under the name of Alma Mater, but what, like the classic pillars of her buildings, is at once elegant and solid, ornamental and yet chaste.

There are, we know, some who conceive we would have consulted better for the dignity of that name, had we not connected it with the politics of the day; who imagine that within the precincts of her peaceful courts, should be heard no sound but the calm voice of science, and that the jarring of discord and the clamour of party should not be permitted to disturb the solemnity of the temple of learning, or interrupt the devotions of her worshippers. But human nature, even in the cloisters of a college, cannot be divested of its attributes; and when the sound of the battle outside has become so loud as even to break upon the silence of our retirement, and when we know that the contest is for all that we are bound to prize, it cannot be expected that we should stand aloof. Nor do we believe that the University ever was intended as a tomb, in which should be buried energies that might be usefully employed in the service of society. That very provision of the Constitution by VOL. I.

which a representation in the legisla ture was given to the academic body, proves that its original founders entertained more enlightened views, and regarded learning and education but as means for the attainment of an endas qualifications for the noble employment of taking a part in the concerns of the state. Why is weight thus given to the opinions of the University if it be criminal in her members to form a judgment upon passing events? And why is that very theatre in which her examinations are held, and her honours are adjudged, made the arena of an election, if the great questions that concern the well-being and the constitution of the country be beneath her dignity to notice? Our legislators were wiser than to establish in the very centre of the land, a great and influential body of men, who should, as it were, be exiled from the sympathies of their fellow citizens; and in conferring the elective franchise as the reward of distinguished proficiency in the students, they seemed to inculcate this lesson on the rising generation, that having a voice in political concerns was an honourable privilege, and that as they progressed in knowledge and information, the state would expect from them a corresponding increase of exertion in her service, and regard them as better qualified to express an opinion upon every thing that concerned her safety or her interest. This certainly was the practical lesson of our constitution, and we cannot yet forget the precepts of that form of government which raised Britain to that height of glory unparallelled in the annals of the world.

To what purpose is it that we examine the volumes of history, if it is not that we may derive lessons from its pages, as to the causes which fostered the greatness, or produced the downfall of empires, and thus bring the experience of past ages to guide our own ignorance and weakness, and employ the observations of other times in enabling us to form a correct estimate as to the results of our own? If the position be at all tenable, that politics are inconsistent with the dignity of the University; then, indeed, may history be regarded as an old almanack, and the time devoted to its study as misspent, and shallow and presuming ignorance be left to settle those ques

N

tions of vital import which are regarded as beneath the notice of intelligence and education. Yet there was a time when even philosophers were not ashamed to bear their part in what so deeply concerns their fellow men, and when it was not considered that deep erudition was mispent, when employed in the settlement of questions that involved the happiness of thousandswhen even a Solon could render himself illustrious as a legislator; and Socrates, the first of heathen sages, bring his energies to bear upon the interests of his country.

These too, be it remembered are no ordinary times. We may say, with the orator of old, that we have not led the life that ordinarily falls to the lot of man, but have been boru for a tale of wonder to those that shall come after us; we have seen the religious and political principles of infidel and revolutionary France, spreading in our own country; nay, and admitted with in the very walls of the senate house of Britain. We have lived to see experiment substituted for experience, and to behold the strange, and yet the solemn spectacle of a great and happy nation voluntarily renouncing that Constitution under which she had prospered, and entering on hazardous speculations, in an untried and theoretical system of representation. We feel as if we were yet but upon the threshold of the change. A spirit seems to have gone abroad of restless and ceaseless innovation, and it is with deep solicitude, that we put to ourselves the momentous question-"What will be the end thereof." Age cannot command respect, or utility ensure protection, while the time-honoured buttresses of our social system are to be given up to the rude assaults of the Goths and Vandals of modern days, that our vain

and self-confident speculators in novelties, may erect an edifice of their own upon its ruins. If ever there was a period when circumstances practically enforced the Lacedæmonian law, that every man should be of some party in the state, that period is the present, and we confess, that we think little of that man's patriotism, who can view unmoved the aspect of the times, and wrapping himself in the narrowness of selfish apathy, slumber on in undisturbed indifference, while the storm is shaking the social fabric to its base. Surely, then, in taking our stand by the side of order, and the settled Institutions of the country, we are not acting in a manner unworthy the name we bear, nay, perhaps, we may be enabled to contribute to the defence of the University itself. The war that is waged against every thing great and venerable in the land, may not cease until she is among the number of the aggressed. If concession is continued, demand may be encreased, and the yawning chasm of democracy be like that gulph in the Roman Forum, which it was predicted, would close only upon that which Rome held the most precious.

But it is time that this article should be drawing to a close. We must conclude by expressing our unfeigned gratitude to those who have evinced, by their kind and active support, a more than ordinary anxiety for the ultimate success of our enterprize; hazardous it must be, but that it should prove utterly unavailing, we will not allow ourselves for a moment to anticipate. We wish then, in all sincerity of heart, to our readers, and we trust we may be allowed to hope for ourselves, many a happy anniversary of "our opening day."

It is not our intention to enter into the details of this subject, which have already been submitted to the public through the medium of the press, and ably commented upon by that portion of it which is most competent, from its constant and unflinching advocacy of truth, upon the ground of enlightened principle, to pro

nounce a steady, impartial, and incontrovertible judgment. We cannot, however, remain altogether silent upon a theme of such general triumph; we must speak, if it were but to congratulate those, with whom we are proud to be identified, in the utter discomfiture of a party which is only sheltered from the severity of the

most unlimited obloquy by its having become the object of the most merited contempt.

The representation of our University in parliament, has at all times been considered as the most honorable seat to which, in this country, any candidate could aspire to attain; we presume it was for this reason that, as far as our recollection serves, there never was an occasion in which the government of the day did not use the most extraordinary exertion to secure, at a contested election, the return, either of an actual officer of the existing administration, or at least a strenuous advocate of the ministerial measures. What our opinions or feelings were, at the period to which we allude, upon the courses so invariably adopted, it is not necessary now to repeat; suffice it to say, that it was not to be wondered at, if the influence and interference of government proved generally successful, whatever the complexion of its politics, when the constituency was so limited, as it was previous to the passing of the Reform bill, and when, as could be proved beyond dispute, but a few of the individuals who composed it were permitted to act as independently as good principle, if left unbiassed, could not have failed to prompt them.

So far as it is possible to feel grateful for a favour which never was intended to be conferred, even so far are we ready to acknowledge ourselves indebted to his Majesty's ministers for that enlargement of the elective franchise, which has secured to this University a constituency that, at once from its nature, character, and extent, must ever continue, what late events have proved it to be, incapable of being either cajoled by their instruments, or controlled by themselves. The great, we must add, the noble, use which the great body of the Irish clergy have made of this their investiture with political power, was only what might in fairness have been expected from a class of men, whose reputation for learning and ability, the most spotless conduct, a meekness almost proverbial under the most wanton persecution, a devotion to the great cause of which they are the solemnly ordained advocates, from which tyranny cannot deter, nor privations distract them, has deservedly placed them, we will not say on a level with, but far above the Protestant clergy of any country, who have not yet been, and we trust may never be destined to experience that degree of poverty and affliction to which our own have been reduced, and which would al

most exceed belief. Would that it had never been in our power to attest it! and that in the history of a nation which boasts of being civilized, there never had been unfolded that dark page, which speaks of the unbridled and malicious cruelty exerted without ceasing to wear down the firmness, the fervour, and the faith of the labourers in the vineyard of peace, the fact of whose being repaid for their sound doctrine and salutary example, almost ever with unthankfulness, and often with assassination, loudly proclaims that boast to be a lie. Whether his Majesty's Solicitor-general for Ireland, Mr. P. C. Crampton, who ought to be as fully at least aware of the truth of the facts above stated as we are, supposed that he was either showing sympathy for their sufferings, or bearing testimony to their long-tried and unshaken integrity, when he obliged the ministers of the Gospel, in an electionbooth, to call God to witness that they served Him and not Mammon: or whether Mr. Crampton, in so doing, has not displayed a more virulent malignity than the most bitter of their professed enemies, inasmuch as to be sullied in character is worse than to be deprived of life, is a matter upon which we cannot believe that he is so utterly bereft of all conscience as to be unable to decide, and that too directly against himself.

The first time that Mr. Crampton came forward as a candidate here, it cannot be denied that there was a very strong feeling in his favour-public affairs wore not the fearful aspect that they now pre

sent.

The fatally destructive mischiefs of Reform were tolerably well concealed, except to the more acute glance of experienced politicians, under the mask of public advantage and utility: almost all agreed that some change was necessary, and the attention was willingly diverted, from gloomy reflections upon probable and apparently but partial evil, to the cheering anticipations of positive and general good; in short, the delusions of Twenty-Nine were revived: may we not add that they have now at least been similarly dispelled? We were aware that Mr. Crampton had been highly distinguished here, and, not being much concerned at that time in what was going on elsewhere, we took it for granted he was a lawyer in good repute and practise at the bar. In private life we knew him to be eminently remarkable for every quality that could reflect honor upon the conduct and principles of any; he was further, the able and unceasing advocate of the designs and projects of several societies that had for their object

the enforcing of practical religion, and the diffusing of a stricter morality, and more salutary discipline, than the lower orders of this country are naturally willing to observe. In fact, at the period in which Mr. Crampton accepted office under the present governmeut, such was the influence of the considerations already stated upon many, that they could not believe he would abandon his character and respectability, the comparatively quiet and probably more lucrative walk of his profession, together with all the claims which he appeared so justly to possess upon general regard, for the sake of attaching himself to the Grey administration, with the visionary prospect of legal advancement, unless that administration, which it has never done, nor is it now in its power to do, were likely to disprove and falsify all the ill-omens and prophecies of evil that attended its formation. We were then far from being surprised at the encouragement which, during his first canvass, Mr. Crampton received; fortunately it was not sufficient to secure him against a defeat which, though equally decisive, was not so signal as the last; the reason is obvious, the designs of government were rapidly unmasked and unfolded; the goodly towers of church and state, so long the efficient and impregnable bulwarks of British liberty, were soon marked out for demolition, not alteration; and great as the zeal, and warm as the ardour was, with which the sapient architects of modern constitutions hastened on their work of destruction, with the silly and unfounded confidence that they should be able to rebuild, with better workmen, upon the same site, a fairer and more faultless structure; still the enthusiasm of Mr. Crampton far surpassed that of all: to work with the slow and steady line and plummet of our forefathers, appeared a contemptible prejudice in favor of antiquated superstitions in the wise judgment of this political Aladdin, who certainly ought not to have depended upon a natural genius for such sudden inspiration as would enable him to construct an empire in a day; his very colleagues in office were ashamed of his intemperance, and condemned him for his ignorance; he plainly showed that he did not possess the tact and experience requisite for an honest statesman, nor the ability, however competent in inclination, for the opposite; we cannot in short pronounce a more decisive or intelligible opinion upon his official career, than by asserting it to be toto cœlo' the reverse of that of his predecessor, whom he certainly followed 'non passibus

æquis' in the most unlimited sense of the phrase. It is no donbt true that he has one or two divines on his side in supporting the orthodoxy of the new education system, upon which he dwelt largely and forcibly in his speech on the late occasion, unavailingly howeveras the event proved: for, with the exception of the one or two whom we have alluded to, and the scanty number of his other adherents, who may probably have been confirmed in error, the arguments of the learned gentlemen failed to produce an effect upon any, so far as to cause a shadow of conviction. There are many other points connected with Mr. Crampton's canvass previous to his conduct during the election, and to which we early intend to pay a marked attention, not with the impression that the censures we may pronounce, or the ad vice we may offer, can be of any use to Mr. Crampton, who of course will never again attempt the representation of the University. We have the strongest grounds for believing, that overwhelming as the late majority was, in favour of Messrs. Lefroy and Shaw, it will be likely to bear the proportion of Mr. Crampton's minority when compared with the numbers which shall be added to the present adherents of the former gentlemen at the succeeding commencements. However the precepts we intend to give, founded upon the conduct of all parties at the election, may, we trust, be considered so deserving of notice and adoption, as to check the insolence of an opposition which would make up for the fruitlessness of hope by the audacity which would disguise despair, and may encourage at all times such an unwavering adherence to high principle, such an uncompromising regard to the honor and character of gentlemen, and such a persevering advocacy of the sacred cause of religion, truth, and justice, as secured, and shall continue to secure, to Messrs. Lefroy and Shaw, the affectionate regard, as well as the never failing support of a numerous and enlightened constituency. Of the merits of these gentlemen, and their worthiness of the high trust and confidence which has been reposed in them, we shall speak more at length hereafter: it is a subject which will not admit of being hastily glanced at, or carelessly dismissed; it is one which affects the interests of the country at large, as well as our own, too deeply to discuss it "currente calamo." We hope to be soon enabled to treat of it with the justice our feelings would demand, and close for the present with once more congratulating the Conservative body upon their triumphant

t success where their principles and objects could be best appreciated, and imploring them to continue to preserve amongst them that union of wealth and intelligence upon which they may rest assured ere long the government shall be obliged

wholly to rely for the safety of the empire, endangered as it has been, by the opportunities and encouragement so unsparingly yielded to the tyranny of an unawed democracy.

The title of this article, we feel convinced, will surprise many of our readers, to whom the existence of a law school in the Dublin University must have been more than a matter of doubt. But if any ex-scholar chance to turn his attention to this article, he will recollect the old mode, so pleasant and improving, of escaping the horrors of learning Hebrew, by dozing away for half an hour two mornings in the week during term, instead of listening to the professor of common law solving the enigmatical definition of "fee simple" and "fee tail." Wishing, however, to enlighten the uninitiated, we state it as a positive and solemn fact, which, if necessary, we can prove by evidence the most incontrovertible, that there has existed in our college, for many years past, a professorship of common law, it is true, somewhat in a torpid state, which, however, we ascribe to the delightful fact, that it was unnecessary for learned men to dilate upon the laws in a country where they were so thoroughly understood, and what is infinitely better, so universally and so evidently obeyed. We go farther, the institution has not only existed but exceedingly flourished. Some five and twenty years ago, an accomplished scholar, by name O'Sullivan, filled that chair, he delivered lectures, left us printed, which for depth of research, beauty of arrangement, and eloquence of expression are second only to the commentaries of that matchless juris-consult Sir William Blackstone. The lustre of his writings shed a light upon the noble science he assumed to teach, and his exertions, as unprompted as they were successful, will preserve his name in honour, safe from that oblivion in which the indolent and the unconscientious are deservedly buried. From the death of that eminent person, till a recent period, we heard little of the professorship of common law. Legal education ceased in the Dublin University, and hardly existed in England since, in the practical business of the pleader's office. In that dark interval no doubt, great lawyers practised at

the bar, and adorned the bench, but a sound and judicious inculcation of principles-a useful direction in their early studies, might have lightened their labours; at all events, the efforts of genius cannot be repressed, it delights in battling with difficulties, and in overcoming them triumphantly.

The Inns of Court, once so famous for legal education, where centuries ago Coke and Bacon searched out and settled the deepest principles, astonishing while they instructed by their luminous expositions, degenerated into taverns, and the science of the law became proportionably degraded. There was nothing to keep alive the active spirit of enquiry, or to sharpen by collision the youthful understanding; the student was left to plod his weary way as best he could through masses of decisions which confounded and perplexed him-to ponder over old folios, and guess at their meaning-to bewilder himself by acts of legislation, incomprehensible to the sapient framers-and finally, unless stirred on by poverty and ambition, to abandon, in despair, a hopeless and heart-breaking pursuit.

Something excellent was at last found to have existed in the institutions of our ancestors; the good old custom of teaching law by oral instruction, has been revived, and with signal success. The London University set the exampleKing's College followed; both institutions are supplied with professors of consummate learning, deep sense, and mature judgments; their lectures attracted large classes, and have rendered essential service, as well to the private gentleman as the professional student. Fortunately, at this period, for the Dublin University, the numerous engagements of Mr. Crampton, compelled him to resign into the able hands of Dr. Longfield, the fulfilment of those important duties incident to the professorship of common law, and which Mr. Crampton had not time to discharge himself. Mr. Longfield being thus appointed deputy profeslike a conscientious man resolv

sor,