The Express.
London, England, 1864-05-24 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

LOUSE OF 1.011D5.--Momm7, MAY 23.

Tam LORD egh.tiCEl .on toot his seat on the wooLact it
Eve &aka.
THE GREEK PROFERIOREIRIP AT OXFORD.

The Roelof DERBY, referring to • speech of the Lord
Chancellor upon the Greek Profemeorship BM on a former
sight, a which the noble and lammed lord charged the
University of Oxfoct with u breach of faith in having failed
to endow the proles:warship, contended that the university
had strictly and honourably fulfilled all the engagements
into *inch it had entered.
Write LORD CHANCELLOR readily exonerated the uni.
verity from having commeitted • breach of anydistinct under.
sitendiug, but censured it for having failed to discharge its
oblig., ti nto make adequate provision for the Greek protestor.
Was it a becoming thing for the university to take a profes-
sor', labours for the instruction of the youth committed to
its rare—to be obliged to acknowledge that those labours
were performed in a manner unexampled for its indaistry,
Baru, and success, and then to refuse him the connect, reward
which he had earned' What was the nature of the obbge-
' tiou the university was under" The noble mil had stated
quite correctly that the original gift to the university was •
Palest, permitting it to print every description of hook, and,
that that operating sa an exception to the gotta to the
Queen's printer, enabled it to print Bibles and Prayer-
loots. The law stood thus for the general security of the
commie wealth and the interests of religion, what might be
called the copyright of the Bible and Prayer-boot was
vetted in the crown, and was by the crown granted to the
• Queen's printer. In the time of Queen Elizabeth a great
WWI made to the °Diversity of the right to print every dr
scription of book, the Latin being " manes libroa." la
the time of Lord Mansfield the questiou arose, whether
the antecedent patent to the university was overruled
by the grant to the Queen's printer ; or whether it
operated by way of exception. h was decided that the
latter was the case, but the noble earl would find is the
first volume of Burns' " iloclesiastical Law" a remarkable
letter from Mr. Justice) Foster, of the Queen's Bench, to Sir
Wan. illackatooe, who was then the Voierian Protestor of
Cocoici•in Law, in which Ms stated that the word " entrusted"
had bees inserted in the certificate of the court " by way of
intimation to the university that the court considered that
the powers gives to it by the letters patent were to be re-
garded as a trust to that learned body, as • trust for the
public benefit—for the advancement of !Aerator,, and uot
to he transferred upon lucrative views into other hands."
("Hear, bear," from Lord Derby.) If, thee, the university
• hadleireived what the noble earl admitted to be about
1?0,001. a sear under the letters patent—
Lord DERBY-1 did net admit. I said that that wee
ea exameratice.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—At all smite it wee
geuerally supposed to be about 12,000 f. ; but he would not
quarrel about the sum—he would call it 10,0001. (Hear,
• hoar ) The university had received 10,000/. a year for the
advaucement of literature upon trust for the public benefit ;
It tack the labours of a mimeo and refused to pay him for
thorn, in order that it might stare him out of his hetero-
doxy, as it was called—(hear, bear)—and this was the public
body which complamed of having had injustice dose to
it, bemuse it was said that it had acted iscoomistently with
. ' good faith and with juitioe. U you violated • trust, did
you act with good faith Would the noble aid
give him an sweet to that question! If the ani-
versity had violated the trust which was attached to
such great benefit+, bad it preserved its good faith'
And were they to have the university vindicated
upon thespecial plea that there had bees so understanding?
A turn received mosey to perform a duty, and nothing was
said about it ; was he, therefore, to be exempt from the
duty on the ground that there had bees no understanding ?
Was that the Language, the conduct, the feeling, of • man
d honour' Was it the ethical lesson to be taught by •
univenity charged with the education and the instructioe
of youth! (Hear, hear.) Wu that doctrine to receive the
Nineties of that house, which was the great court of appall
older Maine" He was sorry that the defence of the uni.
verity rested upon no better ground. Their lordships wield
permit him to say one word more, which indeed it was may
justice that he should add. When he brought forward his
measure he had had so communication whatever with the
professor of Greek. On the contrary, when that learned
gentlemen taw the bill he wrote through the medium of a
Meal to him (Lord Westbury) to this effect, "I do sot
desire that this measure should be prosecuted, because I
would rather trust to the university. I am content to go
on leiouring as I now labour ; and I will trust to the feel-
ing of the university to do me justice in the end." (Hear,
hear) He (the noble lord) believed, and the right rev.
bench would correct him if he was wren. that that letter
was 'fiched in a trot. Christian spirit than the promedinp
of the university • sad he was happy to add this remark to
the numesous teelimosies which had been bores to the ex-
celleat way in which the lamed gentleman performed his
clothe, in order that it might not be supposed that • hill
. intended may fee the benefit of the university had Mee in.
troduced in concert with the Greek professor or the fries&
of that geethenan. (Cheers )
The Earl of DERBY did not deny that the hill
had been introduced by the noble and learned lord
for the beaefit of the university ; and he did not wish to
meter into the question whether it was debatable or sot
that the university should make a grant for the endowment
of Its Greek professorahip. What the university ear
• plaited of was the broad statement of the noble sod
learned lord—and though the noble and learned lord denied
having used the words, it was singular that in the reports
' of two successive debates in two newspapers which were
not at ell connected with each other, she 'obis lord should
be made to say that there was a distinct understanding oe
the part of the university which had been violated.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—If I used those words, I dr
eidedly withdraw them.
Lord DERBY regretted that the noble and learned lord
ntionla have taken the opportunity of reiterating the charge
which be now withdrew. end of making a fresh attack
upon the university. He thought the noble and leaned
lord would have done better if he had freckly withdrawn
the chime of violating • distinct understanding.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—I distinctly charge the nal-
varsity with the violation of • trust ; bat 1 did not cer-
tainly meat to say that it had violated a distinct %eider-
standing

Lord DERBY. with all rasped to the noble and learned
lord, denied that the tusiversity bed hese guilty of viola
any trait. (Cheers.) The terms which the noble lord had
read—the very passage which he had quoted—did not state
any distinct trust, and in abstaining for a particular reason
from endow tug a single professorship, there was no violation
of the genes.' obligation, which was to promote the
literature, science, sod education of the country. The ter
was in terms en general, and the noivereity had carried
out its conditions so fully, so liberally, and so amply,
that it ought to here been free from the censure thrown
upon it a second time by the noble lord, even while be pro-
fessed to withdraw a statement which had naturally givers
great diseatiafaction, and which bad led to comments in the
public papers, altogether unfounded, sad exaggerated even
upon the views expreired by the noble and learned lord.
(Hear, hear.)
Earl GRANVILLE entirely dissented from the censure
which bad been cast upon his noble and leered friend by
the noble earl. If, as the noble and learned lord said,
there was a legal obligation on the university, it was quite
clear that that obligation had not been disch►rged, ■nd be
believed that a great portion of their lordship would agree
in that view. (Cheers.) Ile thought that this debate
was likely to lead to some practical benefit. His
sable and learned (red bad brought forward a measure
which the blur had decided to postpone, but the debates
upon it would encourage persons in the university to make a
further attempt to do what was a mere act of justice to the
very eminent man who waster professor of Greek. (Hear,
hear.) He would go further, and say that the feeling of
that house was entirely that the Greek professorship should
be properly *rowed—(. hear, hear," from Lord Uzaev)—
and that ow reason why noble lords had voted against the
bill of his ooble irked oe the woolsack was, that they
thought it was clearly the duty of the university itself to
see that its professors were adequately recompensed.
(Cheers.)
The subject then dropped.
ALLEGED ENLISTMENT OF IRISH EMIGRANTS
LL THE UNITED STATES.

The Mayitt.a of CLANBICARDE, who had a motion
for papers on this subject, said na there were severs] noble
sod loosed lords preen% who were waiting for the discus-
sion of a bill that was to coins forward that evening, ha
would postpeoe Yin motion.
COUNTY COIJRTS ACT AMENDMENT BILL.

The motion for realist the County Clads Act Amend-
ment Bill a second tine give rue to some discussion on the
details of the measure, in which the law lords took the
principal part.
Lord St. LEONARDS said that this was a question of
great social impsirtanee. By the ezietiag law A debt wee
recoverable for o period of am veers from the time of its
contract, acku isladzment, or pert peynteot, but the pre-
la
sent bill declared t.tat oo debt node? 20:. should be recover
able after the expirstinn of a year from the time of its being
due. He saw no r, uon for this redoctese of the term of
all years to on. year, and be was certainly of opinion that
the period w‘tbui which mall debit might be recoverable
might not to b•• lees thee three years. In his opinion the
bill was one which would have as wide an operation as it
was possible to conceive, and, if pared into law, it might
fairly be called a bill for stopping the credit of the 'alien:ring
Masses. He atmegly objected to county courts being tumid
into emir,. of equity.
Lord LYVEDEN supported the bill.
Lord ORAN WORTH approved the material features of
the bill, sad gave his medial enact to the second reeding.
The LORD CHANORLLOR,after regretting that this im•
portent social question should be dummied in a house con-
sisting of so few members, mid be believed that the system
of credit under the county court system was a great evil.
He had put into the bill the minimum time of ore year
for the recovery of debts, but in committee it might be
made two year* if it should bethought better. AU the de-
tails would require sail ought to receive the moat careful
and *emirate iovestigation on the part of their lordships.
end be hoped the bill would be made a good and useful
The Earl of DERBY wished to knew, as imprisonment of
debtors wee limited io persons who had obtained credit, and
who had the means of paying their debts, why it should be
abolished. In such cases creditors could not be called reek.
lees traders, because they saes that their debtors had the
means of relying ; and it had been shown that unless the
power of imprumarnent was continued these debtors would