In the Convocation of the University of London, on Tues-
day, Mr. Shaen made the rather important announcement that he had received from Sir Roundell Palmer the most explicit assurance that as far as he (Sir Roundell Palmer) was concerned, the notion of a Legal University,—as dis- tinguished from an institution for teaching law, and for certifying that solicitors and barristers have enough knowledge to be admitted to the profession,--in the metropolis had been aban- doned, and would not be resumed. And on the following day, at the public granting of degrees, Mr. Lowe, the Member for the University, in an able speech pointed out why he held it so un- desirable to create a new Legal University, or to multiply Uni- versities at all in the sense of testing and examining Institutions. He pointed out that Universities are not intended to limit them- selves to single subjects like law, but to embrace all the subjects of human culture. Moreover, the multiplication of Universities, in the sense of knowledge-testing and degree-granting institu- tions, like the multiplication of Mints, only confuses the meaning attached to their coins,—diplomas,—and so depreciates the value of the currency they represent. On the other hand, the more teach- ing bodies, and the more competition in teaching, the better the teaching is likely to be. Mr. Lowe declared that the University of London had no objection at all to the creation of a new body which should teach law, and do for lawyers what the Apothecaries' Hall and the College of Surgeons, &c., do for medical men,—declare their qualification to practise their profession.
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