shment of an University matriculation
examination. (Things change so fast at Oxford that this may have been
brought in within the last term or two; but, if so, I have not heard of
it.) Secondly, a rational reconstruction of the Schools, so as to have
real schools of history and philology--perhaps better still a school of
history and philology combined--without regard to worn out and
unscientific distinctions of "ancient" and "modern." Thirdly, the change
which alone of the three concerns us now, the establishment of some kind
of standard for the degree of Master of Arts. Through all the changes of
more than thirty years, I have always said, when I have had a chance of
saying anything, Give us neither a resident oligarchy nor a non-resident
mob. Keep Convocation with its ancient powers, but let Convocation be
what it was meant to be. Let the great assembly of masters and doctors
go untouched; but let none be made masters or doctors who do not show
some fitness to bear those titles. Every degree was meant to be a
reality; it was meant, as the word _degree_ implies, to mark some kind
of proficiency; a degree which does not mark some kind of proficiency is
an absurdity in itself. A degree conferred without any regard to the
qualifications of the person receiving it is in fact a fraud; it is
giving a testimonial without regard to the truth of the facts which the
testimonial states. Now this is glaringly the case with the degree of
Master of Arts as at present given. In each faculty there are two
stages: the lower degree of bachelor, the higher degree of master or
doctor. The lower degree is meant to mark a certain measure of
proficiency in the studies of the faculty; the higher degree is meant to
mark a higher measure of proficiency, that measure which qualifies a
man to become, if he thinks good, a teacher in that faculty. The
bachelor's degree is meant to mark that a man has made satisfactory
progress in introductory studies; the master's degree is meant, as its
name implies, to mark that a man is really a master in some subject. The
bachelor's degree in short should be respectable; the master's degree
should be honourable. Nowadays we certainly cannot say that the master's
degree is honourable; it might be almost too much to say that the
bachelor's degree is respectable. I am far from saying that an
University education, even for a mere passman, is worthless; I am far
from thinking so. But the mere pass degree is very far f