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HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE

arts was understood to comprehend the whole of theliberal sciences as then known ; after passing throughthis the student might advance into the superior facul-ties of law, theology, and medicine.

Remarks nearly similar will apply to the probableorigin of the other universities of Europe . It was nottill from various causes they had become places of resortfor learning, that they were regularly constituted asuniversities, and had privileges conferred upon them bythe sovereigns of the respective countries in whichthey were situated. Thus, Paris had probably beenlong a seat of science before it was partially organisedas an university in 1101, and subsequently more fullyrecognised, and a charter granted to it, by Philip Au-gustus about 1200. It long maintained a more distin-guished reputation than any other European school.The universities of Bologna , Padua, Salamanca, and afew more, trace their origin to about the same date.Various others, especially those of Germany , wereerected about a century later. The original plan andconstitution of all these universities bore a generalresemblance, as to the faculties recognised, and the de-grees conferred. The annexation of colleges appears tohave been almost peculiar to the English universities;and has since, probably, exercised a considerable influ-ence over their condition, and the progress of sciencein this country.

The studies pursued in the universities of Europe ,from these ages down to a comparatively recent period,comprised hardly any thing but servile comments uponAristotle ; and the school exercises consisted of frivo-lous verbal disputes raised with endless ingenuity out ofevery subject which could supply matter capable ofbeing so perverted; each branch of knowledge beingvalued precisely in proportion to the degree of per-plexity in which it could thus be involved. The mostfavourite subjects were, of course, metaphysics andtheology.

Students absorbed in such puerile discussions were