THE PETERITE Vol. LI
OCTOBER, 1959
No. 352
EDITORIAL In welcoming the Vice-Chancellor of Leeds on Prize Day in 1906, the Dean of York reminded his audience that an effort had been made in 1652 to establish a University in York. The point of his remark was that 250 years later the University had been established—but in Leeds, not York, a matter of some delicacy on that particular occasion. Now, 300 years after that petition to Parliament, York is once again seeking to found a University. On Speech Day this year the Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham spoke of the rapid growth of the English Civic Universities, and it is a remarkable fact that the oldest has been in existence only just over 100 years and all but three have been established in this century. May it be said in passing that the Scots had four before 1600 ! That there is a great need of more Universities is clear from the increased difficulty experienced, in these days of secondary education for all, in obtaining entry to the existing ones, and from the overcrowded conditions already to be found in them. In the petition of 1652 some of the inducements held out were that York was "of healthful situation", that "victual and fuel" were cheap, that it had "some degree of civility" and that a good library (presumably that belonging to the Minster) was already in existence. We hope that at least the third of these inducements still obtains and many others could certainly be added to convince the authorities that York is a fit place for a University. May we also express the hope that the citizens themselves look beyond the possible profit or loss to the city and see the inestimable service they would be rendering the nation by supporting a University of York. 1