in various reports, by the Board over which he has had the honour to preside. An apology may also be due to the general reader, for a degree of technicality in speaking of University arrangements. Some acquaintance, however, with the system referred to must unavoidably be presumed, as, without such acquaintance, the bearing of this paper would be scarcely intelligible.

Two general questions-whether law can be successfully taught at all in Oxford and Cambridge, and whether examination is a good or bad medium of education-may be noticed here, but must be passed over very briefly. The first has been, and probably will be, often debated as a matter of argument: as a matter of practice, it seems to be, for the present, taken as settled, by the decided encouragement accorded to University Law Students on the part of the London authorities who control the entrée to both branches of the legal profession in England. I do not think this encouragement is to be entirely accounted for by the feeling which I may broadly term a "preference for gentlemen," in the production of whom the old Universities of course claim no monopoly. The case, I hope, rather is, that some amount of previous University culture, intellectual as well as social, is found desirable, even by the strongest advocates of a practical legal education, and even at the cost of a little time and money.

The recognition, to which I am here referring, by the profession, is duly valued at Cambridge and

Oxford, and the practical character which it tends to impress upon the University study of law has undoubtedly added a great interest and stimulus to the latter. It must not however be forgotten that the proper function of a University is, according to the old theory—not yet, I hope, exploded— first, to educate its students, and second, to prepare them for their special business in life. This principle is implicitly recognised by the London authorities just referred to, in their selection of the subjects upon which they do and upon which they do not delegate their examination tests to our provincial tribunals. The same principle has been fully taken into account in the present scheme for the Law Tripos. One of the chief results contemplated by the division of the examination into two parts is the suggestion of a normal course of reading, wherein the subjects which may rather be considered as forming part of a high class general education will come first, and those which approximate to actual practice last.

Of examinations in general an old ex-officio labourer in that field is not always found to speak with much enthusiasm. Since, however, there is no substitute which is in the slightest degree likely to be accepted in their stead, we must obviously endeavour to make the best of what some among us regard as a necessary evil. Whether we like them or no, examinations are an accomplished fact, and a great part of our educational system. Equal, or greater, in importance is the proper

organisation of a teaching staff: but that subject, rendered, as it is, very difficult from the number of independent authorities whose cooperation is necessary, lies still, for the most part, in futuro.

The connexion of the teaching with the examining body is not looked upon with so much favour at Cambridge as in some other Universities, and it has been thought desirable, on the whole, to abolish the standing ex-officio examinership of the Regius Professor of Civil Law. On the other hand, the office of examiner has been thrown open to persons not members of the Senate. It may be observed that the power to nominate such persons for election would give the Cambridge Law Board an opportunity of requesting and considering recommendations, for examinership, from the Council of Legal Education and the Incorporated Law Society. This is merely thrown out as a suggestion; but I certainly think that any such recommendations would be well received by the Cambridge Board. If thereby any joint arrange

ment could be made between the London and University examining bodies, it might not be unreasonable to hope for slightly improved terms of admission, in the case of University candidates, to the respective positions of Barrister and Solicitor.

In passing from these general observations to the scheme itself, it must be first of all observed that no new subjects are introduced into the Law Tripos. The principal changes are, the division of the examination into two parts, the more searching

treatment of Roman and English law by an increased number and more definite assignment of papers, and the fuller recognition of original thought and literary power, in the addition of a second essay paper besides that already devoted to essays and problems. Moreover, General Jurisprudence as a whole, and English Constitutional Law and History as a whole, will henceforth be standing subjects for the students of every year; their previous treatment in variable portions not having been considered satisfactory.

The intention of the scheme throughout is to define and assort the subjects in the most general terms, specifying no books but the Roman Institutes and Digest, and leaving a very free power of making special arrangements for each particular year to the Board. It is competent to the members of this body to emphasise particular portions of any subject, if they think fit, for more detailed preparation. They are also, as before, expressly empowered, from time to time, to limit any of the subjects to a department or departments of the same; and the Roman Digest must, from its great extent, be always represented by selected portions. It is not, however, apprehended that the power of exclusive limitation will be very extensively employed. Its use has been expressly deprecated in the case of Jurisprudence and English Constitutional Law; and it has always been avoided in the case of English Property Law, in consideration of the admission of Certificates on

that subject by the Inns of Court, in lieu of part of their own examination.

What further guidance is required, by the student or examiner, beyond the yearly regulation of subjects by the Board, will be found in the list of books recommended from time to time by the same body. Amongst these, bold type is employed to indicate which are to be read as text books, or as books of principal importance, and which are rather to be consulted for purposes of reference. The last editions of all, as of the Law books in general belonging to the University, are retained, for consultation, in the Law Reading Room of the Library, which is furnished with a special catalogue, besides being roughly divided into compartments under the leading heads of Jurisprudence, Roman, International, Foreign and English Law. Further local subdivision by subject-matter is found incompatible with the continual addition of new books; but an index of subjects, printed at the end of Sweet's Law Catalogue, is kept in the room. By means of this the authors' names can be found, under which the Library catalogue is alphabetically arranged.

Before considering the subjects of the Tripos in detail, it may be well to add a few practical remarks to what has been premised above, on a point sometimes too much lost sight of in new schemes of examination. With the two exceptions of Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law-both of which subjects it was perfectly competent to the