The Sun. — London, England, 1821-03-26 00:00:00

COURT OF CHANCERY, 'LINCOLN'S-INN IL4LL, 'l'Vl Dal, aLtucu 20,121 THE NIATTEit Or QUEEN'S Cor.L.F.c.E, CAmEnInGE. Loan en aoseE anon—ln the matter of Queen's College s Cambridge, I had entertained a hope that I should be able to travel through the whole of this case to-day—my engagements ha-re been such as to render that absolutely impossible, and to morrow and Friday I cannot attend this Coart. I know of an etsgay,enient on 'Thursday that will prevent my betting to the cad et' this A-35e on that v_ay, but I should hope that if I enter upon it 'pirtly- now I may be able, by giving a portion of this scorning and Satnnlay, to conclude it on Saturday. - The .matter comes before me on two petitions, one presented hY.the Reverend William Mandell and others, against the elec -sein of Doctor •Gollfrey, and the other is presented by a Gen tleman of the name of King. There is this difference between -fen two petitions, that the petition of Mr. Mandell-represents that he ought himself to be considered as the party duly elected, anet et course that hooter Godfrey ought not to be.deemed saresit.ent of the College. Mr. King submits by-his petition • eaat Doctor Godfrey ought not to be considered as duly elected, anti be beirs.that this King would be pleised to declare, that the beee of Prideint is vac ant ; that Doctor Godfrey should be • - iemoved thereftorn, and that a new election should take place • to ;ill the same, or he case it shaill appear, under the cirtann - e:solces of the case, that the - right of uorninafing or appointing is the said offiee brelorfi• , s to the King as visitor, then that his laiajesty would be graciously pleased forthwith th nominate or •.• aaraerint to the same, oathilt he would be pleased's° cause imeh ether order -to be• made in the premises as. to him may appear • jest and pro`pen and that the book of the Statutes of the College . • • wfsght.be prodneceda e • application, you neretive, is made to the as visitor, and the mistake, Yelskti has' arisen out of the circumstance, that in becomes -my duty humbly. to advise his Majesty upon the • - aUbjeet, that incase I- should be bound to represent to his Ma ,:sty that the office was vacant, I had the disposal of it myself, taas-.ed to a communication which, according. to the postamark ear-a:fro:li Cambridge, Which I will now read to you, and which • i 4e eimply for the pitrpose of desiring it to beunderstood, that sae honourable feelings of a Eritish Judge are moat extremely ia estimated indeed by parsons who can ont.ltain such senti ment• as these ; it is apparently in a feigned band, but I think - that if there are any persons who are acquainted with the pro . bahle writer of• it, they will:have very little difficulty to distin guish between what is the feigned hand and what is the ordi • slaty writing of the party. "My Lord,' this University rings •: - with a report highly derogatory to-your honeur and justice ; it la known that there is au appeal before you respecting Queen's College, - and it is generally and confidently affirmed, that you ' mean to appoint a: person 'Who has recent:needed hirnielf tel you and your Colleagues, by an article in " The British Critic," , ten one half of which was composed Icy him ;,' doubtless. you - a - trs complete this job; but mark so fraudulent an act, if perpe teated, shall bernade the subject of public aniritativersio'n. Is it to be borne that you should violate the rights of a College to azoomplish such vile ends by,sueh base-means ?" .1 have vein tared to mention this, ,and I hope those who know me after 1 have sat in this seat foe so many years; will know I can have • - no anxiety about it, except an anxiety to communicate to those whom it may concern, and who, I hope, have observed, during I nry hearing 'of this petition, that at least Ido not deserve such a representation to be made to me,- that wish it to be under stood that ricemah who has the honour of sitting in the higher seats of justice in - this country is capable of such an act as that, that the public may rely on their fidelity as placing them far GibCVe such dishonourable practices. If I have rightly understood F.. 7 own situation in this matter, it is - this, that it is my duty, the King being visitor, humbly to advise his Majesty upon the subject, but that I have not those rights which I inould have, if I were visitor myself, and that the King,. being the visluir, the judicial part of the husiness• devolves upon me; .if there be any •i•tronage I have imagined that it belongs to th e Kin g , a n d th at it is my duty particularly to advise him in the disposal of it. I shalt, by and by, .state it to be a matter of very conside, raTale difficulty, supposing it to be vacant, whether the Col • lege has the right of electing, Or whether it deVolves upon ena Crown ; but, if I had the right of disposing of it mr . eelf, I sincerely believe I could have trusted myself with the decision of that point, without fear of favour or aftee eion, but I shatild not have done it; I should have followed the precedent of my Lord Thurlow,- where it was a question, whe ther he had the right to the patronage of aliving, he would not - decide it himself, though the decisioo in truth must be his; but ,he called. upon one of the Chief Justices and the Chief Baron to hear the matter for hen,' and to state their opinion where the seght was e and then he. acted upon it. I hope ' ,therefore, that venotiver may or may not be affected by my. .decision in this -s .tier, will be pleased to attribute my mistake, it I am wrong, act to my being actuated by a motive tending-.to mislead me, but by my real judgment upon the aiictates of which I am oUined to act. • 'The questions arise out of the circumstances of an election which took place upon the death of the late Doctor Milner; it was the duty of the Fellows of the College, within a limited time, to elect a new President ; we must, of course, have re coarse to the statutes, to ace wnat diameter and what qualifica lions the person to be elected must have, .in order to make his election effectual; and in order to determine who shall elect, we must Bee Who are entitled to be considered a's Fellows, with re •ference to the election of a President, which is to be made with in a certain time. The qualifications is to be found in those wards which I am now about to read:—" Injungo vobis in vir tuteJesu Christi, et sub periculo animaruns vcatraruni, ut virum, magic idoneum vestro judiciopartialitate remote in praesidentein Collegii, eligatis secunduin Deeim, qui sit vir providens, ' diecretus, cornpetenter literatus in Ijniversitate, aliqua hujus regni Doctoratus titulo insignitus- vel ad .minus in liachalau revrum. Theologhe ordine eo-optatus in spiritualibus, et tem poralibus, cireumspectus honestate, nioribus preeclarus, conver uatiools laudabilis, atque fames redolentis, qui et melius scive rit atque potent negatia Collegii promovere, don tarnen sa ne:dos fuent, et expenders poterit annuatim ad minus viginti L?seas." ett tlte time this elecEon took place, there were, As I under stand, four Candidates: Mr. Farish, Mr. Barnes, Doctor God frey, and Mr. Mandell. With respect to Mr. Barnes, his quail tendon was explained; with respect to Mr. Mandell, his • I' collect from the affidavits; with respect to Mr. Farish, he had a paper in his pocket which would have shaven what his alleged qualification was ; with respect to Mr. Gerdfrii, he did not shelf, what his qualification was. What that alleged qualification is, has since been comm un i ca t e d to me ; it has been contended, and it will be a question on Which I shall give my opinion on Saturday; for in the extent to wchel• propose to proeced this morning, it is not necessary for Stssto give it this morning ; that the qualification must be a qualification of a real estate; or something in the natur e o f a real selate; and it has been contended on the other side by these at - E. dav:ts that it was not; that the estate moat be of a real nature,. and, on the contrary, that personal estate would do ; it has tor ture- beer:contended, that these words, "vigintilibra.s;" whether Ley are to be tnleen to mean property or a..real nature, or of a Frational nature, are not at -this day to be understood to mean -fiend libras, but twelve times viginti libras, and that that is to De understood by an analogy to the amouut of property which' loans the qualification of a Fellow to hold his Fellowship sag ronger, with the exception, L think, of some Senior Fel. lows, I wished the Gendemen tot state to me in my room, what was the nature of the property, and the amouht of tite property, which they conceived to be the qualification to be elected.. I did so, because I thought it not a very &forceable thing to have cases of .that kind discussed in Court, and this matter is communicated to me rather as a visitor than- a Chancellor; but if the construction of viginti libras is to be made with reference to the construction put upon dle qualification, I do not go a great length in disclosing that neither-Gentlemen is qualified ; I do not now discuss whether either of the Gentleman was qualified ; but if it was necessary tie-se 5'..0u1,l have twelve. tithes -viginti libress, then neither of them was qsailified. it was further insisted before me, that the be bad, whether it was an election favourable to to Mr. Mandell, or an election favourable to Doctor Godfrey,. it the quantization was not produced And proved at - the time of eiecObn: - I before stated that I think there would be a great convenience in that being done, hut Uthought at first, and I retain that opinion, that that was not absolutely - necessary ; so -1 cinch of the ease, therefore, think it to declare ony opi-, nines upon at present... Then the statute goes on to state the ceremonies that were • to take Iris the election-of a President e -each individual is take his pen aed write " Ego," such a one, " eligo," such a one, " ad officium Prxsidentis-hujus Coilegri qiiiblis sic con -scrps ire one seliednla s prmfatis senior, vel allis quisquam trium suffragia eadem aperte et destinete legat comm emnibussisciis pemsentibus, et ingnem major pars Sociontin cmrzinna tam praisentiam quam absentiem consens;:rint Me pro elect° habeatur abque - contradiefone cujuseunque. •Quam ' election= dirties senior anteq it am recedat sub hae forma pronim tiara teneatur. In noinine Patris, et et Spiritus •Sane t S • Ego," such a one, " senior S3ZiLLi hajus no:nine me° et nomine otnnium Sociorure meorum, sive. ruejoris partis' eon s uhdem, eligo et eleettirn pronuncio" such one ; " prTsiden tun hujus Collegii." You observe from this passage it is no.. c - i.lsary-that some one . of those who are proposed to 'oe Pregis dean, shouldhave the major part of - all the FelloWs to vote for tun, present and absent ; the Senior Fellow of the whole body, , if he has the major part of'i the whole .body, is then - to pro s nounce him elected, taken along with that, that ia-this paraiage • there is nothing about aintitting, but he is-to ptonounce'him aiectid ; but if no party have - the major part, then theie is no election made by, that scrutiny, and if that-happened to be the char., the statute then proceeds to state what is io be done, .till at-length the niattn- is to conclude by the five Senior Fellows, I tbin nuking tae elwtion. Air. Mandell atitm, that in the first scruemy, Doetot Godfrey and he had zquai numbers, but that that equality of numbers was accomplished by the -circvm- I stance of Doctor Godfrey vesting for-himself, and he insists that Doctor Godfrey did ;—tlutt is so; is it not 'e • ' • 31r. A 11011.14 EY-tirNEUAL:—Yeis, my Lord. Doc Ton GODFILEY.—Not as to numbers. • . • - Mr. MoNTAd tr.—Dr. Godfrey had. eight. Loki) CH A3iCEL t of them had a majority. MoNTAOIS.—Ner, my Lord. . • ' • LORD (AU-mem Loit:—lt is enough to illustrate the position t. which 1 hlude, thet Mr. Mandell insists that Doctor God- trey ought not to have been reckoned as a voter, being, as he contends, ncPrelloW, for the reason I shall state by and by, and he contends that in consequence of that, he (linAlandell) ought to be considered as elected. When an election is made (which they are boundunder very severe penalties to snake before they part), the Senior, under the pain o: incnring manifest perjury, and under the pain of per petual expulsion from the College, is bound to pronounce the election, and the pers o n , so e l ec t e d to admit "et porsonam sic electam admittere. ' Then. the question is, woether these words do not include this proposition, that thug may be a per son elected who is not yet admitted, and that adniission is some thing distinct from election, a question may arise in that. case of very considerable impo i t ance , what that word admittere means in statutes ef this sort. I think there is a passage in Lord Coke, speaking of institution and induction, where he's.ays, that if you speak of institution and induction,. you sometimes include in, that expression the notion of .admission ; but that admission is h distinct thing from NA., institution and induction, and if you will take' the trOuble to look at what is to be found in the Appendix to Gibsoti's Codex, with respect to the instruments which peaswhen Bishops, Deans, and Prebends are created, you will, I think; have. an inclination to aeriree with me in. the opinion I am inclined to form, that the word. admittunt has in the Law of England, with respect to. bodies of this kind, a particular appropriate signification belonging to itself, as' denoting an act .distinct froM other acts which go to the cOmplae 'investiture of a person in an ' office cf thin kind.— Here I stop for a single moment to say that an admission may , be contended-to have more or lass of ceremonial about it; it may be a mere expression that the party who is called to the duty of admitting, in obedience to the law, which I shall call a statute law fur this purpose, has nothing more to do than to say he ad 'nuts, as the Ifiallop says to the Clergyman "Admit to," &c.; or there may be more of ceremonial, because wishing to express my obligations the communications made from Cambridge in affidavits; here 1 find that in one College a person elected head of a College till not like the notion of being ailinittcd by a person who was of lower degree than himself; with Certain ceremonies. But whether the word admittere here, if it haw apeculiar sig nification, denoting something different from election and if it has a peculiar signification, denoting something different from takmg the oaths- and the• keys of the chest,. which I shall mention by and by; whether it does, .or• does not can sist of more of ceremoniel, ,does not signiep, because it is clear that the President, who. is to be elected, whatever is the form of admission, is to have the form administered by an inferior, namely, by the Seeder Fellow ; and another view of the case is, that if a person is pot complete President of the college till he is elected, it is running a little too fast forward to. say, that the Senior Fellow is his inferior, for till he becomes completely his superior, the comparison cannot be made. ' After this the statute goes oil to say, " faciatqae electum preesidentein inquiri." • It spews that a President might be elected. who 'is not present; then he is to be brought." coram .communitate collegii in capella ejusdem," and a question ltas . arisen, what communitate collegii, here means ? If this Statute Book had been put into my hands, or rather if I had existed at that period when this Statute Book was formed, I confess, that on reading the whole of these Statutes, I should have Said, that the Cornmunitate Collegii did not mean merely the assembly of Fellows, but that it meant the assembly of the whole body at the usual time of assembling in the Chapel; but it would be greatly too much. to quarrel with any election on that ground, after a practice and.a consuetudo has prevailed so long as it has in this College. .Then the President is to take an oath, the Senior Fellow administering the oath. Ido not think it neces sary, at present, to state any thing further than that, under the attribute. effect of the last-passage in this Statute, it has been contended (and that .is one of the questions to be decided) that what is done by virtue of the exigency , of this last passage in the Statute, is that which these Statutes mean by the words, " ad mittere qui facto- senior socius librum statutorum. claveaque cistarum qua: ad officium prsidentia pertinere noscuntur ii hco tradere non "estponat." the fact is; as I collect from these affidavits, that a Book of Statutes, for the Book of Statutes which was meant by this oath, is matter of question, and must be matter of decision. I observe upon the book' that has been given me, that I think that in all probability this book Was the bookmade a present of by one Doctor Fulk, a•Doctor of Physic, to a Gentleman of theiname of Chttigan, and that this I do not think originally was an authenticated Book of the Statutes. Mr. HopNE—That was not the book delivered. .. . Loan CHANCELLOR—I know it was not the book delivered. Then there is a subsequent Statute which speaks of the diffe rent Statute Books of the President, of the one that ie to be chained in the Chapel, and another to be kept under a different sort of deposit oncustotly, but which expressly speaks of one Statute Book belonging to the President, and it is material to' attend to that. Then the next Statutes are only about the re sidence of the President, the office anti authority of the Pre sident, : the supervision of lands and the expencea of the Pre sident.; upon which no other observation seems to me to arise than this, and that I think is a very fair observation, that as the President is now and' then to travel with more of splendour and retinue than, the. Fellows, as he is likewise to live with more of splendour in his College, though the allowances made to him in this chapter - would make it very difficult to him to give his horses any thing, if he meant to eat himself', yet I think that the general tenor of these Statutes proves, that the authoress of the foundation meant, that the Master of the College should be in circumstances considerably above the Fellows of the College. Such being the manner of electing a President, and the sup posed qualifiteation of the. President, of which we have heard so much, it becomes necessary not only to consider who can be elected, - but likewise to consider, and particularly in respect of Mr. Mandell's Petition,_ who are the persona to make the election, and that is'to be collected from the Statutes relative to the Fellows... The first Statute relative to the Fellows in this hook, is chap. 9.—The form of proceeding is this—" In jungat prtesidens singulis soeiis prasentibus in virtute jure mend Collegio exhibiti quail nomment talent vel tales quern vel otIOS magis sciunt idoneurn vel idoneos 'secundum istas conditiones berm in scholia, proficientenr non habentem untie suffinienter vie‘ere valeat, • et se, aut parentibus luis, sine status eorum, laosiooe nec aliqua communitate.expulsue, propter sua demerite, nec aliqua incurabili inftrmitate apparerente et manifesta detentus, et quod ad minus sit questiorasta in arti bus out supra Electio, autern sociortim erit .ad hone too durn. - The Election is to be in this mannar—" Prexsitlens et duo seniores Socii prorsentiutn habuat rut mensam Doenini, in capella c lllegii, et primo Prasidens et dicti seniores acri bant suffragia sua manibus propriis, sub line forma vel con -siruili. Bno A eligo B in soci'em hujus Collegii, et decide singuli Socii present's vote *ma similiter seriteant singulatim, et in num praesidena major pars aociorum, omnium tam prasentwen quam absentium, consenserit pro electo lialicatur quern sic electuni teneatur pronuntiare et admittere." Now, pronutudare electum is one thing, and -et admittere is another ; or, at least, it may be sin and the question is, kit so ? Then, in case there is not a full election made upon the'first scrutiny, the Statute goes on to say, what is to be lone in order to have ae FelloW well constituted, and then follows the oath of the Fel low, in these - wordy—" Juramentum Socioruni quo pnrstito ' admittantur eel tot= jus et ernolumentuni Societatia." This appears to me to deserve great consideration, for if thejura mentuna praesicleatit . was .the admission...of. _the Presidnet, out. should allpose that the Jurarnentum Socioruni was the ad mission of toe Fellows, and then the word would have been " Adruittuntur ;" but it is " Juramentum Socioeum, quo praestito admittantur. ad totum jus et emulumenturn Societa tis." Now, when I read this passage first, I really thought it was ahnOst splitting hairs, to snake a distinction between admik tantur and admittuntur ; but having called for the consue tudines.of the College,. with respect to the elections'of Fellows,' I find there is a solemn admission of the Fellows after they have taken this oath, and that ealemne admission of the Fellows, after they, have taken this oath is exactly'according to what 1 conceive ';.o be the meaning o? the word admission, when you ascribe to it en apnropidate and specific sense, for it now ap p'ears, frcrat the affidavit I have from - all-the Fellows, that they have, every one of them, in a form, I shall have to mention on- Sattjday, been formally admitted, in the sense I shall have oc casion to put upon that word by the President of the College, and that until they are so admitted, it would be vain to say that they are entitled to totum jus et ernolumentuin Societatise": and it appeara, therefore, to be by an inaccuracy of expression that I reed 'S . () often in these affidavits of - what is called the oath` of admission, after the oath it taken with respect to the Fella; laws, keeping out of sight for a moment _that relating lel the President, the oath has been taken by the Fellows, they are immediately admitted : therefore it is natural that the 'oath shoal,' be spoken of as the oath of admission., for: whatever may be the construation of the statute of Charles, it is quite clear that at the adiniteion this oath is taken in this sort, that if it is said to be before the admission, the admisaiorf follows instantly . upon the taking of the oath. Then the nextquestion which has been made . before me is, who are thoai persons that are entitled to be considered as Fele lows ? and that brings us directly home to the question which Mr. Mandell makes, namely,." whether Mr. Goilfroria to be considered.as a Fellow or not ?" and that depends upon that part of the . Statutes which relates to the several-Counties from which Fellows are-to 'be chosen, together with whatever effect may belong to those interpretations of the Statutes to that point which Piave been made from time to time in ancient times And in modern tunes ; but more panipularly in ancient times. t When comes the lith chap. of the Statutes, entitled, De vi tarda a partialitate in electionibus Sociorum, and which is to t this effect: " Omuem partialitatem partuarum ,extripare cu pientes in hoc ('ollegip, volumes quod hujus col legii ex sin gu li s consitantats eligentur indifferentur, ita qrsod numquam sent duo Socii ant duo Scholares ex ono Conntatu, neque tres Socii aut tees Scholares ex aliquu una DiOcesi," except the Diocese. of Lincoln, on account of its size, ' " preterquem ex Diocesi LinColideusi, ex qua prOpter sums) am phtudinem permittimus tres soeios simul eligt et haberi in hoe • collegio, dum modo quilibetillorum trium natus sit in alio et alio comitatu." The different counties of Englaul are those which are hereafter enum era t e d, ou t o f w hi c h Fellows alone are to be elected, decreeing that no other distinalesee or name shall be there, except under the special liileiTiienethose Counties in England, inserted in- ene, present Statute, and then there are enumerated the Counti e s of N or f o lk, SuiliAlt, Essex, Cam , bridge, Iluutingdon Bedford, Buckingham, Northampton, • Leicester, Lincoln, Kent., Middlesex (that is the County now under consideration), Sussex, Surrey, Hertford, Berks, Oxford, Warwick, Stafford, Derby, Salop, Chester, Lancaster, Wor cester, Gloucester, Devon Cornwall, Wilts, Southampton, Dorset, Somerset, Hereford, Wales, the County of . Notting ' hans, York, Northumberland, Cumberland, - Westmoreland. Then there is a proviso, in this Satute to this effect—" Proviso, good ex siugulis his Dicecesibus nut cornitatibus, in quibus collegiurn terms, ant prcedia ' nut nunc habet, nut in pouterum sit habituram, licebit unum alium socium, et unum Seholarem tassumere peter ilium numerum sociortnu, et Scholarium so ! perius praiscriptum modo annusredditus tarrarem, et prseatiorum earum Dineeessum, ant comitaturn sUffieire peasant uni socii Co modo alendo quo reliqui Socii benefieio ejusdern Collegii sus tentantor ;" so that it appears on certain terms it shall be law ful to have another Fellow and Scholar above those above pre= Scribed, provided only that .the lands and rents ef• such Dio. cese or County be. sufficient to maintain the said Fellow and Scholar upon the foundation of the College. This Statute is positive, that Middlesex shall have but one Fellow, except in the excepted case, and it is not stated tame, that in the present instance it is brought within the. excepted case. With respect to the lands and rents maintaining another Fellow, the concluding claiise in these Statutes is a clause that has appeared to me to require a good deal Of consideration ; and it is of this nature,_ 1 mean the el,ruse in the Statute under the authority . of which the interpretation 'of the Statutes takes place. It is us these wOrda " Nihil tam - perfecte et absolute a quoquem tradi ac Statui queat, quod Versuturo callidum-que ingenious non possit impie et perverse interpretari•" this could not be addressed to Lawyers—" atque adsensum lunge diver sum trahere ideoestatuiams, quod nuilus hujus Collegii Se_ cius imo nee Presidensipse presumet quovis modo Stutnte hose nostra vel eoram union aliquoLljuxta south ipsius sensum tor quere et interpretari, sed quicquiel ambigati in aliquopraidictoruns statotorum post bac occurrent declarers sive interpretari vulu mus per Pmsidentem, et majorem partin Sociorum, saki tauten quod fieri possit ab eisdem pra.,zidenti, et socius se:nper :datum juxta sensum litnalem, et gram:natizalem eoeundem declerentur et interpretentur, quas interpretatio7.ses perpetuum robur et effect - urn aortiri volivnuts. Et per ludo ac Statute a - preesidente et aociis hujus t~ollegii obsnvanda fore decrevimus. Napa liceat Prasaidenti et Swiss huin Collegii. quovis modo sus propria authoritate nova Statute condere his prteientibus Statutes et ordinationibus jam editis contraria, et repugnantia subpoena incurrendi rnenifestum peijurium ipso facto. So that this; you see, gives theauthority to the President and major part of the Fellows, to_interpret the Statutes, provided only that' their interpretation does not go to found new Statutes, but to a fair and honest interpretation of the Statutes in any part of them, which mi g ht b e a mbi gu o us , not b e i ng i n t ru th the ordaining of new Statutes. It appears from the book have in my hand, that from a very early period many interpre tations were made of the Statutes, some of which are interpre tations_ which I think all the world Would agree. did not. fall within the Statute de Interpretation Stetutorum ; others of them, it is not difficult to discover, were made hy'an authority that a common understanding can easily see to besanctioned by that Statute : but in a question which arises centuries after such an interpretation is made, it is a very dangerous thing to say, that no force shall be given to such interpretations, which it ap ' pears might have been que s tion Ni. at first, if practice has foi -1 lowed upon them, and they have been sanctioneu for centuries. I have read to you the Statutes about the Counties from which Fellows were to come—athen they gnais early as 1537, and • make this interpretation :—ln this year it is declared that all Wales shall be reputed for one English County, .and all the Dioceses of the same for one Diode of England. That appears to - rne I think, obviously consistent with the St a tute,—th e City of London to be part of the County of Middlesex, the County of Ilallam to be part,of Derby, the County of Rutland to he nart of NorthemAon ; the.Bishoprick of Durham to he part of the County of Northumberland, and the County of Richmond to be part of the County of York ; and we declare also, that the Village ofßerwick shell be part of the County of Northumber land, as lokr as it shall be unde:rtire authority of the King of England • and the Ville of Calais, and the land within the Eng lish pale ;aeyOrl the sea, shall be part of the County of Kent, so long as the Same shall be under the dominion of the King of , Ertel-hold. We also aclare, that all and singular the above Counties, having a particular Sheriff (Vice-Consstem) and other liberties and franchises, though separated from the County within the Realm of England, shall be reputed within this Col. lege fur part of the County in which they are situated and not for - any County of England. It would be somewhat diffieolt in construing the Statutes to see how Durham should be made • part of N - urthumberland, anti other. parts made parts of other places that are named here. As far as this Statute goes to ordain that certain places, which are Towns and Counties of themselves, • shall be considered as part of the Counties at large, I do not think that I should have had much difficulty originally in giving my consent to this, for I believe that in most:Colleges, where Fellows come from Counties, that they do so look upon places which are Towns and Counties of themselves, and _consider them as part of the Counties at•large. I am rather old now ; but if my memory does not mislead me, I owe my Fellowship to that construction, and therefore, perhaps, I may be a little Partial to that construction ; but take it as you will, this decla ration, which makes London part of Middlesex, does not in crease the number of Fellows who are to be taken from the County, and, therdore, it must be upon some other authority that the College can have two Fellows for the County of Mid- . dlesex. The Statutes then proceed in various_parti of them to give a construction to the &cern libras, which is the qualification to hold a fellowship; I think it is to be collected from what has been done in the College; and looking to the qualification for the Fellowship, that it could not be the intention of the Founder of the College, if the value of money altered as much as it has done, that he who had novem Libras, •should quit his Fel lowship for the Decem Libras e in other words, I think that under whatever advice the College has proceeded, it has been Under this impression, that the disqualification was to bear somewhat of a proportion to the qualification, or that there should be a proportion between the novem Libras and 'the Decem Libras. Whether that has been decided upon proper au thority 'or not, by the construction of the Statute De Inter; re- tatione, we know it is an interpretation so frequently put upon Statutes, that I do not think any person would ea:4 be brought to quarrel with it, or give a disaffirmation to it, were it in his power so to do. Therefore, it appears to me, that the ques tion which arises here is this—namely, whether the different in terpretations of the Statute, which have raised the Decent Libras to 4:121) at least, the qualification of the person to be .elected Master of the College, in order to keep up that proportion be tweeu their ranks, wnich the Statute unquestionably meditated; or on the other hand, there being no interpretation of the Statutes requiting the qualification 'of the Master, that is a thing which remains to be done-by proper authority, but not effecting the chhstroet,lo.n. tif: the viguifi hbras, as Na g as. there has been no proper authority applied to a change of the Statute on that subject,—whether that in point of law, is to be the'true construction of .the:case. I throw this out that. you may see the view I take of the question, though I do not mean to give any positive opinion upon it to4lay. c have thengot to the question, whether Mr. Godfrey is, - or is not a member of the College, and whether what Mr.. Mandell says be of sufficient force to vacate his election, on the ground that his vote ought not to be reckoned among the immber lylio voted, and therefore, that he ought not to be con sidered as duly elected. I. must own, that I ,have not been ahle.to find any authority in the Statutes, or any written in- Strunient or dw:unient, purporting to change the ordinance of the Statute upon the force of it, to warruot me to say, that there should be but one Fellow for Midelasex ; but reading the affidavits laid before me, and particularly that of Mr. Godfrey, and of Mr. Gorhani, stating what actually has existed in' this College for two Centuries at least, and attending to the pas shges in another affidavit which has been filed with respect to the reputation of the College, -confirmed by . the statement of the erecting of two fellowships, and attendlog to that paper, praying for the dispensation for the election of a third Fellow; and adinitting,.as I do, the authority. of the position laid down by Mr. Hart to the fullest extent, that usage cannot sanction a violation of the Statutes, I have put to myself- the question in another way,--whether, admitting that ttsage cannot justify , or sanction the . violation of the Statute, usage is - not to be taken withreseAct to this 'subject; as matter of evidence of tht; existence of an original lawful authority ; as well as it is taken to be evidence of the existence of lawful authority in other matters ; and therefore, if there has been usage to the ex 'tent which has been proved by thes4 affidavits to have taken elite ; it is :neeeaSary for the to say, or it is fit for me to say, that is the best way for ine.tei put it, that that which has Prevailed for so many years.hai all been wrong, when it might he'all right; if you take the evidence as being; evidence of a dis pensation of its being once sanctioned, and I own that the conclusion that I come to upon this subject is, that 1 cannot impute to the Fellows of this College, either to those who now exist, or those *IA formerly existed, or to the Presidents of the College who hata existed,. that they in Violation of their oaths, to take care to observe the Statutes, have permitted that to ob./ taro in the College s which it is now supposed to have obtained . there Without lawful authority. Looking to the first class of affidavits, and to the second class of affidavits, attempting to account and explain why no objection was made to Doctor God frey voting at the time, many observations might be made upon them, which I now abstain from doing, for I have come to a conclusion, upon ,which I may be wrong, but it is that which I tun :driven to from the &eta before me ; that Doctor Godfrey, if he could not be considered for the purposes of this election, LA having a right to vote de facto, I should be bonnet to - infer, that he was a fellow de jure, andtherefore, thatlbe election of Mr. Mandell, on tliis evidence s fails. ' That introduces the questioniawhich I hope maybe decided on Saturday; they are Many and vicious, and they are not such to which any man can address himself with perfect confidence that in the resulthe will be right—all he can undertake to say - , is, that he will endeavour to be so—thus much I may say, if I have erred, it is not for want of . pains to come to a just conclu sion. The questions which arise are, firsta--Is Mr. Godfrey qualified to' be elected Master of the College ? for if he had not . a Ttalification to be eleated, it matters nothing. If all other difficulties were put out of the case, that question refers its: if to two considerations, namely, first, what is - the amount of the qualification ? And, secondly, the nature of the thing of which there must be that amount, and that sort of qualification necessaryfor the election of a Master. The first question with respect to qualification, appears to meth turn upon this, namely, witu respect to the Statute mentioning the &rem libras as to disqualification of the -Fellows ; that because there has been an interpretation of the Statute raising the vim operating A dis qualification, I am to raise the sum which gives a qoalificatien where there has been no such interpretation. One cannot help observing here, if a 'Fellow bas that which once qualified him, and he afterwards parts with it, that operates with respect to him.as a disqualification; but although this is so With respect to Fellows,- I am not able to find that if a President parts with that which gave him the qualification it operates in the same, way ; or, in other words, th a t th ere i s an y thi ng i n th e St atu t es which compels him to keep it. The next thing is, as to the nature of the qualification : whe ther it ought to be a personal or real qualification ? I Tpon this, as far as the affidavias go, there. is a . great deal of different re ' presentation. Sonic represeat, that it was always the under standing of the . College, that it must be a real qualification.--: They represent that Dr. Milner, the late Master, was so eon viaced of this, that he kept a 'certain . property, a Lavin; T think ; it was in his posse .31011 fen' the express purpose of hei»g an eligible Candidate, under the notion that sucha qualifica tion was necessary; and thet is pretty good evidence, for when a man is about to be elected ''resident of a College, it may lie supposed that he would - get the best evidence of what . was a necessary qualification. Others say, they have no such F lea of, any such qualification being necessary. • lapon that, it will be my bounden duty to give an opinion hereafter. Then comes another question, • whether Cgs property, in the . state in which Mr-Godfrey held it, was real or personal at the time that he proposed hiMself to be a Candidate; which is much the same as whether it is real or personal now ; and how far, in. discussing that question, you are to look at the property, _as to its actual nature at the moment, or as subject to all the equi table rules and doctrines which a Court of Equity would do. Well, then, if we get over that difficulty, if a difficulty there be. as to the qualification, the next thihg to be inquired into is, was Mr. Godfre elected ? Upon that there is now doubt, if we ;;et over the que'tion ofqualification. The next question is, was Mr. Godfrey admitted, and when was he ? They say, on the one hand, • that be 'was admitted upon the Sunday, because he took the oath of office on the Sun day, anti because he took hold of the keys on the Sunday, and the cheat on the Sunday, and because. he sat indignity in the Chair in the hall. I do not. know whether in estimating the increased ratio of allowances, they have also increased the ratio of fines in the same proportion, for I see there is a Statute in the Books, by which it is ordained, that when they dine toga ther, in the Hall, they are to talk nothing but in L a tin, und er a fine of a penny—he took.posseasion likewise, they say, of the Lodga. Then the question is, whether the acts of the Sunday amount to that which I may say form, and which these Statutes and other instruments to which I have alluded, denominate an admis -sion, under the proper sense of the word admission, I have got 1 the length of fornung some idea on that subject, though I do i nut mean to state it at present ; but I will g o th e lengthof say ing, that the more regular way of proceeding would have been the postponing of the oath until the (lentleinan 'had been with the Vice-Chancellor, and after he had taken the oath, then to have been admitted • but that will net decide the matter. But if it shall be lield that the admission means something different to the taking or the oath, then ha construing the. Law, which is a penal Law; namely, the 13th of Charles tie S.Torid,' the case will be thus: whether he took the'oath lirsort tha .ad. mission, or whether he took the oath ha the admission. avow, if it iS to be put upon the point •of taithig the oath AT admis sion, that is, whether he was admitted by taking the lath, and if he was admitted by taking the oath, whether he subscribA the declaration at the thzie be took the oath, that will turn. upon the question of Sunday, and , the acts then done. liere,.likeww, I llave to express my obligation to the Gentlemen of the University of Cambridge, who have stated the practice of subscribing before the Vice-Chancellor on the Sunday, and I understand there are perelns who represekit him if he is not present himself; but if the ease is to be rut upon that ground, I do not apprehend it is to be decided upon what may he done but upon what is to be. done; not upon what is permissiVe but. what is obligatory on both sides ; and it will still remain a.question, that if an Election be on a Sunday, which is not an act which the elected compels, whether he is bound im mediately after an election on a Sunday to go •to the Vice- Chancellor and demand of him to subscribe the declaration of eLction ; or whether the wordAT would not be sltisfied by going the first moment on which he could compel the Vice-Chancellor to do it as the Statute has both BLvoux and AT, which means im mediately after, as construed in Law, or immediately before it. If the El etion be on a Sunday, and he goes between ten and eleven o'clock on the Monday, as in point of fact Doctor Clod fray did go, whether that would not be a subscription AT his ad mission, but that is a, view of the case which arises on the ne cessity of taking the oath at his admission. Then arises another question, whether the taking of the oath be the admission ? for if not, and there be a form necessary to complete theadmission, then a farther question arises, as he, did make , the declaration on the Monday, and did not go through the form of admission till subsequently, whether in the strictest sense he hart hot subscribed the declaration.before the admission ? then the inquiry will be, if the admissionis recently after the subscribing the declaration, as soon as it reasonably ought_ o bo, and tlult will depend upon what he we about -.on the Monday morning, in inquiring of Mr. Serjeant Lens and other,. The inviry will he, whether there was that delay in the actual admission which will vacate the Election ?—that is ano ther view of the question.. When you have decided whether hoctor Godfrey iv- duly elected or not, and supposing the decision to be that he was not, then arisr.a another question ; there being in that view of the case a vacancy, how is that vacancy to be filled up, and that depends entirely upon this, whether, according to the true in tent and meaning, not merely of these Statutes, but - of the Acts of Parliament, whether the it;lection having become void, as if the party were naturally dead, the right of nominating does not go to the Crown, as reprisenting the hounder, or whether the College has a right or not to go to a re-election by virtue of its own Statutes. I belieVe this view of the case surrounds every thing that has arisen in the whole of the case. If I have Satisfied those who have listened to tue, that I have taken - every view which is inr portanteto.a.right decision, it, will so frr relieve me that.l shall know I have only these points to think of. Having decided the point that Mr. Mandell cannot claim under this Election, I consider that as being disposed of; the other points which [ have stated, I have thrown out for the purpose of asking the Gen tlemen who are listening to me, Whether I have missed any point which, in their opinion, isimportent in the consideration of the case ; if not, to those points I will apply myself to- the best of my power and judgment, and decide upon them on Saturday. Mr. 1 4 1011.. NE.—With tespeet to the circumstance adverted to by your Lordship, of a letter having been sent, I am sure it is quite unnecessary in me, as Counsel, solemnly to avow, that Mr. Godfrey slid not know any thing of it. Lord CHAN CELLott.—I mean to state, if I had thought that Mr. Godfrey or Mr. Mandell, or any body else necessary to have been named, had sent that letter, I slould - have said I did think so. I never had the least notion or idea that it came from any person of their respectability. • • Mr. lionNE.—l.thought it right to mention it. Mr. ll i i : nsrr .-If your7Lordsbip will allow me, I would beg - to state, that the College would be extremely happy to put the thing in a course of investigation, and to adopt those proceedings which ought to be done under such cireum- stances. Lord Ciutirfcction.—l have before Blatzd *hat my pur pose was in adverting to this circumstance. In the course of my judicial life I have had many such letters sent to me. I dismiss them altogether, and I may give this assurance, that they never affect my mind at all. I thought it might be use ful to let the public knOw that such a letter was .111 r. IlunuEusTr.-.-I thank your Lordship, I am sure. (Yo be continued.) A considerable portion of the wall on the north side of St. Switbin's Church, at Norwich, fell down in the night of Tues day last, in consequence of one of the large magsy pays having given way ; had the aeeideht &curter! during 'Divine Service, many persons must have been ' • ii6gA.Akl uoLid i3iLiA. The T 130 LO .TEJD Urlf ENT of the CATHOLIC DIVINES of the MIDLAND_ DISTRICT on the two -BILLS pending in PARLIAMENT. However desirous, we are that our laity should get free frame the civil discpiarifi:ations under which they labour, yet we are well asured that they cannot conscientiously purchase this boon by taking t'ae 0 iiTir oT ST:F47.MACY; the taking of whhili has &Vats hitherto been considered by all Catholics, and Pro ' testariN aiico, as the PRECISC AcT OF ABJLTIM:tit? THEIg LWscv Hence Stweral scores of Catholics have her:l*re los', not only their civil rights, but a:so their lives, for refusing to take it, Nor does the Injunction olQUeen inabeth, in the first year of her reign, wh:ch is referred to in the Bill, by any means se move the conscientious objection of sincere Catholics, as in that Injunction she barely disclaims the Ac TUAL x ric sit or TUX MixisTUY,kt thesame time that in every act whether legislative ur regal, of her reign, she claimed the entire, supreme, spLitlial jurisdiction within her dominions, to the total exclusion of ouch jurisdiction on the part of the Pope [l]. This is so slew and notoricus, that we _are convinced, in case our legislatori should, in their wisdom and liberality, .admit our people to tie enjoyment of their civil franchisee, notwithstanding their acr knowleoEment of the jurisdiction oi their Church in faith and disci* e, they will prefer the plain and explicit terms by which we abjure the Pope's authority in ALL CIVIL AND TEMPO.' am. CASES, in the Act pgsaed for our relief in 17i1, to tbi neW-inVented and forced construction of the Act Lula Oath of Supremacy; by.m ear, sof the ahovc-rn yled injunction. Again, though we oursilvzs, in, the Oath of 1791, ahwis• cited, have abjured " the do trice and' rositlon that Princes, " communicated or deprived by the Pop? (,r any authority of " the See of R ome, may he deposed or nntrdered ,by their slat.- " jeets, &-:." yet, following the clotrine and elp.ruple of o'.l r pre decessors, who (ehiJiy en-account of the extravagant and fai*T tctrins therein contained in King .larn.2ys Oath of ATht , ,lance) refused the iLime, we declare that it i 3 Lttterly unlawful, 'aud 'con trary to the anctrine of our Church for- a Catholic to coniem upon Oath, the ME 111/ DE1?0"://lici :oocT RIKF. a as DAMNAtiLt and HERETICAL [2.} _ With respect to the Bill of Pains and Penabies'against th Clergy, With which some modern Catholics ar: content to our chase civil advantAge.s for therus.dves, we deelire,—lst, Tl•la t ," we, the Clergy, cannot conscientiously take the Oath prepared for us, in the terms in it stand; in the Bill because, however remote we are from all trzlitoroas conspiracies 'against the establishments of our court y, whether civil or ccelesiasti , - cal, yet Ire cannot- bind ourselves " n?ver ' to hare any corr As .- pondence or communication with the Pope or the. See of Rome, " or with any persons authorised ,hy the POpe, &e. " wouna COMPREHEND ALL TIIE CATHOLIC) ,CLERGv or " THE UNITED KINGDOM) tending directly or intiZreLtly do. " overthrow or disturb the Protestant Church ;" in as much as, in on r judgment, all oar preaching, writing, and ininintering- • TEND INDIRECTLY to vim effect. 2dly, Though contrary to the fact, we were justly suSpre - eted. oar personal conduct and our professional ministry, to be dis-• loyal and seditious ; and there were greater reason for.Goverry. ment interfering with our Religions Economy, than with thee, of the numberless Sects protecte7l.by it, and esTiL. , cizdly w . th of the (ire k 6 ehis antics, the*GerMan M emviAns, tad the. Jels yet we knew that we are not conip:tcnt to cnneur in or conce. to the alterations in our - Churches and Missio•la provosA is the' present Penal Bill; much less 'would .it be lawful for the ill" tended Episcopal Commissioner to o:ke-the Oath prepazrd for him to take, this- being incompatible with Ids. eanstn4.,(l4o . and Obligation; . . .• • :idly, As the revision by the Coinmissioners and Cinks,of new devised Civil'Office, of all Rescripts from the Holy SeS,e implies. in nanny cases the breach of most sacred professional . secrets on our put, and as such revision has been recently de glared by that See to lee a violation of her DIVINELY CONAT'I' TOTED .I , iiti'ruAL SIIPUEMAOY 1 . 31, hence we declare, wecannot uncur in or consent to any such r:rulation. Nor wcu2 l the difficulty-be removed by referring this revision to the itit4m 4 • - ed. Ecclesiaitical Commissicaner, because, in the cases 1 , 1ppc5.0 1 .7 we etre each of us as much lecalad•to seqesy.witli respect to Le - cleaisstical as to Lay Persons. • Such is our conscientious judgment, and that of the Divinrg and Pastors of the - Midland District, and we have reason to tae"' live cf the Catholic Divines and 1 - . ) :stors of England and Err, land in g'...neral, on the pending Bills : - We therefore join our vOices with those of the Vicars Apostolic in 1817, in calting; upon the Catholics in general to employ whatever constitution' and peaceable means or influence they may.possess, to preVe.nc thr enactment of the unlawful contents of them. Wolverhampton, March 13, 18'21. . R. R. J. MILNER, Vic. Apost. Rev. WALTER BLOUNT, Arch Pri , :st4 , Rev. WILLIAM BENSON, Secretary. [l] See .the Injunction in:Bishop Sparrow's CollectiOn. r iN 83, also the whole Act of 1 Eliz. c. 1. to restore to the Crawl/ the ancient Jurisdiction over the Estate Ecclesiastical and Spi , " ritual, and to abolish all foreign Powers repugnant to the same^ See also . Act 5 Eliz. c. 1. ElsO Act 13 Eliz. c. 2. See 110 Archbishop Parker homage, to the Queen, in Collier's Eec' Hist. Vol. 11. Record. 81. [2] See Supplementary Memoirs of the English Qatolt - i. , 5,.. lately publiShed by i Keatingnnd Brown, Duke- s t r e e t ; " G r ove" nor-square, whica the terms of their Oath and the rito*t nut , ' terini incidents in the History of - Catholics of l a t e years, 3r 4 ='• clearly discussA. [3] ",De Reseriptorum ReNisione—ne tractatus institui 13 0 - test, nam cum libertatem Magisterii Eeckshe, diviaitus crediti apprime Lica) pot.!stati , permittere•aut vibtre.re " ticfas profectO esset." Card. Litta's J. inter, by ()He:. of the Pope, to Bishop Poynter, &C. April 2fi,1815. Sea Report frogs Committee of House of Commons, folio, p. 513. SPORTING INT EIJAG.WCE, FOR TILE vitESENT. WEEK. 3lajesty's Stag Hounds will =et on rtiday 7 atlitlerP" head Folly. The Pytehley Hounds, on Wednesday; at Rozkinghata Shirt ; Saturday, at ripwell Abbey. - • • • The Duke of Grafton's ,Hounds, on Friday, .at Ash. _ The Quorndon Hounds, on Wednesday, at II Ll T 1 r: ars - :la u y .,s , t)e a y t s2 l:l i l u id r m ith e , rpoul ; Saturday, at Banton Hall- . The Hanr'pshire flound4, - on.l'wsday, thc Chequers, Roy ley ; Thinsday, at the NON' Inn, LaVinn ; and' on. Saturday, at The Hand - dedon Hounds, on Friday, et th9.llillierrics, Lord Scarbrough's Fox II ounds, or. Wadies lay,_ .riar beck Park; Friday, 'at White (louses. The Badsworth Fox Hounds, on Tutsday, at Ilickleton';; Wednesday, at Smeaton Bridle ; Friday. at Pontefract Park- Burton llunt.—Sir It. Sutton's Fox Hounds, on Tut$JAP at Saxilby Village ; Thursday, at Langworth Bridge; Bata'• day, at Nocton Wood. The Worcester Fox Hound, on Wednesday, at "Ert.. - :Z; • Wood ; Friday, at Wooller's Hill. The Earl of Darlington's Fox Hounds; Wed.n. , sday, Clifton Lodge Gate ; Saturday, at Burton Park. The Lambton Fox Houn(4l,.on Tuesday, at Twinn ; Thu day, at Little I , ,lripletou ; Saturday, t Castle Eden. The Northumberland Pox Hounds; en-Tuesday, g Ve'49o Park; Friday, at Illagdon. North Lodge. • TUE TIE EAT It E.—The very favourable imprec' sion made by Miss DANcr: on her first, a ppeArancet was more than confirmed by her admire..ole 1 " pcut of the character of Mrs. 11iler ori Saturdsf last, at Covent-Garden Theatre. Alto succes4. ‘Thich atteuded her dthut had, in r great degree , subdued her fears, and (14)144 h er t o bring' forward the varied passiages :-with more aPl 3 " ° : priate effect.. She again es -. ..cited the warn-104 applause of a nurneroo an: l ,;ence. , The once Po pular farce of nePailloc.?: followed, and .1411 IIALLANnE rendered full justice, at least,_ to t it* airs in the part of Leo);bra. CORN ExcHANGE.-r-A very la7ge supPlY, at C i every thing very du'il IVheat' . /2s 624 R Parley , •2os 37$ ye % hite Few ,.,.34,i 324 o • Grey Pcas ils 9 Leans 4s 1.-Is * 6 . 4 . Oats - Der Flour, Der .