HERTFORD COLLEGE, OXFORD.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " spEcreroR.1 SIR,—I see by an article in the last number of the Spectator that you accept Mr. Lyulph Stanley's dicta respecting the Church Fellowships at Hertford College as incontrovertible. It seems to me, however, from a careful study of the University Tests Act, 1871, that that Act is only retrospective, not prospective,—i.e., that while it throws open all existing Fellowships, Scholarships, &c., it does not forbid the foundation of Fellowships, &c., which shall be confined to one particular sect.
More than this, had the Act attempted to restrict future foundations, it would have been extremely mischievous to the unsectarian as well as the sectarian party. The more sectarian foundations there are, the more limited will be the competition for unsectarian ones, and this, in the present state of University education, cannot fail to be a great advantage to all parties. Fellowships limited to particular sects are, I think, to be placed in the same category with Fellowships limited to natives of cu• tain counties ; they both benefit directly those whose qualifies.. tions enable them to hold them, and also indirectly those who though unable to compete, find thereby a more limited field in other competitions. In short, Sir, to paraphrase a very trite saying, " They hurt nobody, and are of service to the cause of education."—I am, Sir, &c.,
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