European-style tenanted farms

　　European-style tenanted farms

　　Tenanted farms can only generate so much income from rents. With an increase in town size, and an increased demand from industry for agricultural products, it is more profitable to have herds of animals, not a gaggle of tenants. Meat and wool demand increases rapidly as towns grow. Apart from any other considerations, moving people off land also creates large areas where landowners can indulge a passion for hunting. While this generates little income, it does give social status. The “Highland Clearances” are probably the most famous example of a forced change to land usage on a large scale. Contrary to popular belief, Highland clan leaders carried out most of the Scottish clearances, driving their own kinsmen and clans into exile. The chieftains needed to pay for the sophisticated life that they could have in Edinburgh and London by reinventing themselves as Scottish gentry. Sheep simply earned more money than the crofters did

　　University

　　University

　　Education is vital for those who wish to enter the professions, or make their way in government using talent alone. A good, well-trained brain is an excellent substitute for birth and social connections. A young gentleman’s studies can be wide ranging, and need not be tied to any particular faculty or subject area – an awarded degree or doctorate is proof enough of intellectual achievement. Historically, in Europe at least, the established church controlled most universities, either through paying for them or by laws requiring the tutors to take holy orders. Sir Isaac Newton was very unusual in that he didn’t take orders when he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge (a post currently held by Stephen Hawking), arguing that the post required the holder to spend time on science, not the Anglican Church. However, the requirement for teachers to accept Church doctrine did mean that universities had a socially conservative outlook. While scholarships were available, students had to have money to attend, reinforcing this conservatism. While wild, threatening ideas about the world and the way it worked did emerge from universities, the institutions were rarely radical or revolutionary breeding grounds

　　大學(xué):

　　對于那些希望成為學(xué)術(shù)泰斗或靠個人才華步入仕途的人而言，高等教育無疑是極為重要的：榮譽(yù)學(xué)位或博士頭銜是個人智力成就的最佳證明，而一個接受過良好教育的頭腦是顯赫出身和社會關(guān)系的最好替代。與各種?？茖W(xué)校不同，大學(xué)擺脫了具體學(xué)科的束縛，令青年學(xué)子們得以博覽群書，廣納諸子百家之言，深究天人之理。

　　至少在歐洲，古板陳腐的教會通過財政援助或指派大學(xué)教授兼任圣職的方式控制著絕大多數(shù)大學(xué)。不過，艾薩克 牛頓爵士在這一點(diǎn)上十分特殊：當(dāng)他被聘為劍橋大學(xué)盧卡斯數(shù)學(xué)講座教授(現(xiàn)任教授為斯蒂芬霍金)的時候，他并未擔(dān)任任何圣職。牛頓堅持認(rèn)為：這個職務(wù)的要求是任職者必須潛心研究科學(xué)，而非英國國教。盡管如此，由于大多數(shù)教授都接受教會的信條，大學(xué)內(nèi)的風(fēng)氣十分保守。另外，雖然有機(jī)會獲得獎學(xué)金，大學(xué)生還是要自行交納絕大部分學(xué)費(fèi)，為保守的學(xué)校教育買單。因此，雖然有時候瘋狂,危險的想法的確會出現(xiàn)在大學(xué)中，但在絕大部分情況下，大學(xué)并不是一個激進(jìn)或革命的地方。