THE WEALTH OK NATIONS.

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If the authority to which lie is subject resides in the bodycorporate, the college, or university, of which he himself is amember, and in which the greater part of the other membersare, like himself, persons who either are, or ought to be teach-ers; they are likely to make a common cause, to be all veryindulgent to one another, and every man to consent that hisneighbour may neglect his duty, provided he himself is al-lowed to neglect his own. In the university of Oxford, thegreater part of the public professors have, for these manyyears, given up altogether even the pretence of teaching.

If the authority to which he is subject resides, not so muchin the body corporate of which he is a member, as in someother extraneous persons, in the bishop of the diocese for ex-ample; in the governor of the province; or, perhaps, in someminister of state; it is not indeed in this case very likely that,he will be suffered to neglect his duty altogether. All thatsuch superiors, however, can force him to do, is to attendupon his pupils a certain number of hours, that is, to give acertain number of lectures in the week, or in the year. Whatthose lectures shall be, must still depend upon the diligenceof the teacher; and that diligence is likely to be proportionedto the motives which he has for exerting it. An extraneousjurisdiction of this kind, besides, is liable to be exercised bothignorantly and capriciously. In its nature it is arbitrary anddiscretionary, and the persons who exercise it, neither attend-ing upon the lectures of the teacher themselves, nor perhapsunderstanding the sciences which it is his business to teach,are seldom capable of exercising it with judgment. From theinsolence of office too they are frequently indifferent how theyexercise it, and are very apt to censure or deprive him of hisoffice wantonly, and without any just cause. The person sub-ject to such jurisdiction is necessarily degraded by it, and,instead of being one of the most respectable, is rendered oneof the meanest and most contemptible persons in the society.It is by powerful protection only that he can effectually guardhimself against the bad usage to which he is at all times ex-posed ; and this protection he is most likely to gain, not byability or diligence in his profession, but by obsequiousnessto the will of his superiors, and by being ready, at all times,to sacrifice to that will the rights, the interest, and the honourof the body corporate of which he is a member. Whoeverhas attended for any considerable time to the administrationof a French university, must have had occasion to remark the

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