To John Russell [10 July 1848]1
To the Right Honorable Lord John Russell, M.P., First Lord of the Treasury, &c. &c.
The Memorial of the undersigned Graduates and former Members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge with some of the Fellows of the Royal Society.
Sheweth,
That the present system of the ancient English Universities has not advanced, and is not calculated to advance the interests of religious and useful learning to an extent commensurate with the great resources and high position of these bodies.2
That the constitution of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and of the Colleges (now inseparably connected with their academical system) is such as in a great measure to preclude them from introducing those changes which are necessary for increasing their usefulness and efficacy.
That under these circumstances, believing that the aid of the Crown is the only available remedy for the above-mentioned defects, your Memorialists pray that your Lordship will advise Her Majesty to issue Her Royal Commission of Inquiry into the best methods of securing the improvement of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.3
N. W. Senior, M.A., late Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford (Master in Chancery).
J. S. Henslow, (Rev.,) M.A., St John’s College, Cambridge (Professor of Botany).
B. Powell, (Rev.,) F.R.S., M.A., Oriel College, Oxford (Savilian Professor of Geometry).
B. Price, M.A., Worcester College, Oxford.
T. J. Phillips, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
James Heywood, M.P., F.R.S., Trinity College, Cambridge.
Edmund Head, (Bart.,) M.A., late Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (Governor of New Brunswick).
T. J. Agar Robartes, M.P., B.A., Christ Church, Oxford.
Ph. Le Breton, (Rev.,) M.A., Exeter College, Oxford.
Nugent, (Lord,)4 M.P., Brasenose College, Oxford.
Chas. Lyell, F.R.S., M.A., Exeter College, Oxford.
Harry Verney, (Bart.,) M.P., Downing College, Cambridge.
P. J. Locke King, (Hon.,) M.P., M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge.
H. R. Yorke,5 M.P., Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Joseph Kay, B.A., Trinity College, Cambridge.
E. F. Percival, M.A., Brasenose College, Oxford.
E. Horsman, M.P., Trinity College, Cambridge.
Erasmus Darwin,6 M.B., Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Charles Darwin, M.A., Christ’s College, Cambridge.
H. Wedgwood, M.A., late Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Thos. H. Farrer, B.A., Balliol College, Oxford.
[and 203 others]
Footnotes
Summary
Ask JR to advise the Queen to issue Her Royal Commission of Inquiry into the best methods of securing the improvement of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1188F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin; Nassau William Senior; John Stevens Henslow; Baden Powell; Bonamy Price; Thomas Jodrell Phillips/Thomas Jodrell Phillips-Jodrell; James Heywood; Edmund Walker Head, 8th baronet; Thomas James Agar Robartes; Philip le Breton; George Nugent Grenville, 2d Baron Nugent of Carlanstown; Charles Lyell, 1st baronet; Harry Calvert, 2d baronet/Harry Verney, 2d baronet; Peter John Locke King; Henry Galgacus Redhead Yorke; Joseph Kay; Edward France Percival; Edward Horsman; Erasmus Alvey Darwin; Hensleigh Wedgwood; Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
- To
- John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
- Source of text
- Cambridge Pamphlets, Folio Series, vol. 4: CUL Cam.a.500.5/124
- Breton, Philip le
- Calvert, Harry
- Darwin, C. R.
- Darwin, E. A.
- Farrer, T. H.
- Grenville, G. N.
- Head, E. W.
- Henslow, J. S.
- Heywood, James
- Horsman, Edward
- Kay, Joseph
- King, P. J. L.
- Lyell, Charles
- Percival, E. F.
- Phillips, T. J.
- Phillips-Jodrell, T. J.
- Powell, Baden
- Price, Bonamy
- Robartes, T. J. A.
- Russell, John
- Senior, N. W.
- Verney, Harry
- Wedgwood, Hensleigh
- Yorke, H. G. R.
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1188F,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1188F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18 (Supplement)