University. I COURSE OF STUDIES. 19
~ ~ ~~ - ~~
Save Glasgow, all the Colleges complied with I translate, in the professor?s hearing, Aristotle?s
this requisition, and at a later meeting of the Commissioners,
drafts of the courses used by the
different teachers were presented and read ; but
the zeal of the Church was not attended with any
permanent effect ; for notwithstanding all their
efforts to introduce uniformity, no particular cursus
was ever distinctly agreed upon, and each University
continued to pursue the method to which it had
been used of old.
The professors, however, were not at liberty to
teach any book, or pursue any system they chose.
On the contrary, these matters came under the
scrutiny of the Senatus Academicus of each university,
and in the case of Edinburgh they were,
strangely enough, under the supervision of the Town
Council.
In 1730, when Dr. Stevenson was appointed to
the chair of logic and metaphysics, we get the next
glance at the system of education pursued there.
This professor, whose merits and memory were
long a tradition of the university, was the first
who, in all our Scottish seminaries, ventured to
question the utility of scholastic logic as a study
for youths, and to introduce, in lieu thereof, lectures
of a more miscellaneous nature. He did
not restrict the work of his students to subtle
subjects connected with the dialectics of Aristotle,
but directed their attention to the principles of
composition, and the laws of just criticism ; while,
that he might comply with the practice of the age,
he continued-rather inconsistently it has been
said-to deliver his remarks on English literature,
and the doctrines of French critics such as Dacier
and BOSSU, in Latin.
At that time the hours of assembling were two
o?clock one day, and three another, alternately;
and in the morning, about the conimencement of
each session, the students generally read a book
of the ? Iliad.? ?? Dr. Stevenson,? says Bower in
his ? History,? ?? had two reasons for this : besides
becoming acquainted with the progress which they
made in the Greek language, he wished to begin
with an easy author, that those who were most
deficient might have it in their power to improve
themselves, and come better prepared to the
perusal of such Greek rhetoricians as were afterwards
to be put into their hands ; and it afforded
him an opportunity of commenting upon the
beauties of Homenc poetry, pointing out the
imitations which Virgil, Milton, and others have
borrowed from the great father of the epic poem,
and giving to his pupils such a specimen as was
calculated to incite them to become more familiar
with his works. They next proceeded to read and
Poetics, and Longinus?s Essay on ;he Sublime.
These exercises formed the business of the morning
hour during the session.?
The forenoon he dedicated to the subject he
was more strictly called upon to teach-logic ;
and he was very attentive to this portion of hi5
duty, conceiving it absolutely necessary to give a
clear account of its history and nature, and to
render intelligible to the students the art which
for ages was deemed the only path to science.
When Dr. Stevenson was admitted a professor
Locke?s philosophy was little known in the Scottish
universities, and he was. the first who attached a
proper value to the speculations of the illustrious
Englishman. These were altogether new to
Stevenson?s Scottish students, and it is said that
it ?required all the familiarity of his illustrations,
and all the forcibility of his address, to enable them
to grasp such abstractions, and to celish inquiries
that explained the operations of the human mind.
He held the chair from 1730 to 1744 He
assembled his students thrice weekly in the afternoon,
and delivered to them a history of philosophy,
using as his text-book the Histurio Ph&
JO&&Z of Heineccius. He also used freely
Diogenes Laertius, Stanley and Brucker?s more
recent works on the same subject. He required
his students to compose a discourse upon a topic
assigned to them, and to contest or define a
philosophical thesis in presence of the principal,
or whoever might be present.
It is necessary to be somewhat minute in some
of these details, as in the history of a university it
is impossible to omit a reference to the method of
instruction adopted at different periods.
In 1695 it was directed that ?the courses of all
colleges (in Scotland) should commence on the first
lawful day of November, and continue to the last
day of January thereafter, and that the magistrand
or senior classes were only to continue till the first
of May.?
This was probably to leave time for the necessary
examinations, prior to the annuaI graduation ;
but for many years after the establishment of the
Edinburgh University, the work of the professors
was a system of perpetual drudgery. The classes
assembled in the gloomy buildings of the old rambling
college at six in the morning in winter, at
five in summer ; and were under the eyes of the
teachers till nine.
At ten they met again, and continued their
studies till twelve. At mid-day the regents attended
to confer or dispute. At six an examination
commenced ; and on days set apart for recreation
