medals were given, viz., one in science, and one in classics; and improvements, equally great, have been most liberally added to every other part of the College course, and receive the benefit of innovations equally desirable and judicious; and the entire system has been beautified, as well as essentially improved, by an effective alliance with that polite literature which diffuses round learning a grace and amenity, and which makes the hoarded treasures of the cloister increase the embellished acquisitions of the world. And to promote this very desirable object, the library has been placed on quite a new footing, and is now one of the best ordered and best furnished to be found in Europe; and to make it so, not less than £18,000 have been expended on it, within the last few years, from the funds of the University.

But, in whatever way its future operation may be directed, it is certain that what has been already done by the University of Dublin affords much matter for encomium. It preserved from extermination that learning which political events had almost driven out of Ireland. It incited to literary pursuits that genius which might have been otherwise lost in obscurity or been actively engaged in a less ingenuous ambition. It collected, from the most distant parts of the island, that class of youth who were to be entrusted with the highest offices in society, and associated them in preparation for those duties which it was for the interest and honour of their country that they should harmoniously fulfil; and it relieved those of the highest birth from the alternative of either remaining at home in ignorance, or emigrating for instruction. As a subject of literary curiosity, it is true, that extreme antiquity does not give it the charm of its perspective; but yet it is not so modern as to be identified with the novelties of the times. It has age enough to make inquiry interesting, and sufficient moral circumstance to render its history instructive. The fame of great men has given it splendour-the tuition of the young mind has created towards it affection. In In every walk of liberal exertion, in the pulpit, in the senate, at the

bar, and in the field, those whom it has educated for distinction are to be found; and wherever philosophy has a name, the labours of those whom it has given to her cause must have a remembrance. But this asylum of letters did not always enjoy that serene and tranquil station which such a name would imply. Its fate sympathized with the vicissitudes of the country; and the political misfortunes which disturbed the repose of Ireland, frequently menaced it with ruin. Yet it will be found, in proportion to its resources, to have given the world as many eminent scholars, divines, and philosophers, as any that have the advantage of the most ancient fame and munificent protection.

The great duties of an historian are selection of authentic materials and fidelity in narration. As to the first, the author wishes to observe that he has consulted all the authorities to which he had access, more especially such as were preserved in the College Library and in the British Museum, and he has not selected any, the character of which was not unquestionable. As to the second he is not fearful, in the discharge of such a duty, of offending any well-regulated understanding. Whenever party prevails, misconception may be expected; but to the malevolent who falsify, and to the prejudiced who will not understand, he makes no appeal. Whether within the walls of college or without, he is not conscious of affording to one candid mind a cause for ungracious observation; and he is equally certain that he has not, by any sacrifice of truth, endeavoured to avert the unjust sentence of the illiberal, or conciliate the favour of the interested.

THE

HISTORY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.

CHAPTER I.

SECTION I.

THE state of learning in Ireland, for some time prior to the foundation of the existing University, appears to have been upon the decline. At a very early period, however, the cultivation of the current literature of the age gave to that island some celebrity". It is not

therefore to be inferred, from the lateness of the æra at which their great scholastic institution arose, that the Irish were slow to apprehend the advantages of a liberal education; on the contrary, their love of learning has been always so general and ardent as to form a part of the national character; but the unhappy circumstances of their political history sufficiently account for the depression which literature suffered, and the unprotected state in which it continued to remain until the accession of Elizabeth. That Sovereign, whose policy was of a grand and comprehensive kind, attracted round the throne men whose natural powers and liberal attainments conferred upon her govern

a

Bede, Eccles. Hist. lib. 2, 3, and 4, &c. Alcuin, lib. 2, c. 4. Eric d'Auxerre, lib. 1, &c.

b Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. 8th century, &c.

B

ment the character of security and honour, and extended the benefits of her parental sway to its remotest dependencies. Her statesmen were equally well versed in books and the world; and to the sentiments of philosophers they united the practical qualifications of civil wisdom hence they were at the same time the patrons of learning and the preservers of an empire. In a reign so distinguished for the labours of a wise and humanizing policy, it is not surprising that the plan of connecting Ireland with the sister kingdom, by an identity of sentiment and an assimilation of moral character, should be adopted; and that, as a preliminary step, some authentic protection should be given to learning, and a place fixed for the seat of letters and the sciences. The lateness of the period was greatly compensated by the splendour of the æra; and it is no small honour to the University of Dublin, that it was founded by a monarch who saved Europe from the aggression of a Gothic dominion, and confirmed to her people the inestimable benefit of a free press. However, it was not the first collegiate establishment which that country had seen. Long before its existence some attempts had been made to erect one, the last of which was attended with partial success.

We find that, at so early a period as the year 1312, Pope Clement V., then in the seventh year of his pontificate, issued a bull, upon the application of Archbishop Lech, as it was expressed, "for the foundation of a University for Scholars in Dublin;" but the premature death of the archbishop prevented the plan from being carried into execution. In the year 1320, however, Alexander De Bicknor did actually found an university in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and obtained for it, as was at that time necessary, the confirmation of the reigning pontiff, John XXII.; but the state of the country having at first precluded the appropriation of funds adequate to its maintenance, it soon declined, and was eventually overthrown. Thus at a time when the revival of letters was agitating the elements of genius in Europe, Ireland could only boast the memory of plans devised for instruction, but never