The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-17 00:00:00

ILIAD inttlltottur.

EQUITY COURTS.
Before the lord Chancellor.
IN RE UNEVEILSITY COLLIOI, OXPORD.—QUALIFICA.
TIONS you FELLOWbIIIPfI.—The Lord Chancellor gavejudg.
ment upon the petition of the Rev. Mr. Mo 'room which he
.t.
heard some days back, sitting for the Queen a, visitor of the
above college. The plaintiff, his lordship said, complained
of two elections to fellowships in University College last
May—one being the election of Mr. Bright on the founda-
tion of Henry IV., and the other the election of Mr. Coning-
ton on the foundation of William of Durham. The objec-
tions made to the elect on of Mr. Conington by the petitioner
were—first, that Mr. Conieeton was born in the county of
Lincoln, and the petitioner in the county of York, and there-
fore nosrer to Durham than Mr. Conirgton ; and, secondly,
that Mr. Conington was only bachelor of arta at
the time of the election, and the petitioner was
master of arts. It was urged for the petitioner, that,
by the statutes of the foundati'in of William of Durham,
• preference waste be given to candilates whose birthplace
was nearest to the city of Durham, and that the
elected candidate should be a master of arts at the
time of the election, er at least at the time of his
admission to the fellowship, which was usually within six
months after the election. With respect to the claim to be pre-
ferred on the ground of his birth-piece, his lordship was of opi-
nion that the petitioner did not make out a title to be preferred
on that ground. Unless s tine superiority on other grounds
was found to exist, the propinquity of the petitioner's
birth-place to Durham was not of any avail, and that must
have been the opinion of Lord Hardwicke, of Lord Roselyn,
and of Lord Eldon in decisions referred to in the argument.
The claim to preference on the ground of being master of
arts fell under the like predicament, and the statutes did
not require its exercise t t the exclusion of bachelors of
arts, except under circumstances of equality in other re-
spects, which was not asserted in this case. The ob-
jections, therefore, to Mr. Conington's election have
failed, end there appears no ground for disturbing it.
With respect to the election of Mr. Bright on the founda-
tion of Henry IV., the objection was, that he was sot in the
order of priesthood at the time of his election, nor capable of
being 63 on his admission as actual fellow, usually 6 months
after election. The answer to this oblation is, first, that
there existed no necessity that Mr. Bright should become an
actual fellow in six months after his election ; and, second,
that he might possibly have obtained deacon's orders, but for
the interposition of the petitioner in entering a caveat. The '
statute founding this fellowship of Henry IV. coot lined the
following words " Eligendus in locum HenriciQuarti sit
in sacerdotio constitutus, saltem priasquem in perpetuam
socium admittatur lit probus et hones.us et ad profieiendum
in theologid virdbititer aptus." Now, a great deal of research
and learning and most ingenious argument had been beameht
to bear upon the meaning of the word " sacerdos ;" whether
it was confined to priests alone or comprehended within its
signification deacons, also ; and again whether it was not a
general term, to distinguish the clergy from the laity. He
himself was of opinion that the term was intended to desig-
nate persons in holy orders, whether priests or other ministers.
In a case before the Bishop of Winchester in the year 1799,
where a statute containing the words " in ordine sacerdotis
constituti," was brought under consideration, that prelate
was of opinion that the college could el, et a person not ac-
tually iu holy orders—even a layman, it he happened to be
of such an age that he might become • priest before the
time of his probation after ekctioa should have expired.
Holding, therefore, that deacon's orders were sufficient to j
satisfy the words of the statute, he still bad to get over the ab-
jection that such orders must be obtained within six months
after election. The statute undoubtedly prescribed that
there should be a probation of six months between the elec-
tion of a fellow and the time of his admission cs actual fellow,
but it:nowhere explicitly enjoined-1 find no prohibition
that such admission should take place immediately on the
expiration of the six months—the object appeared to be
merely to secure a probation of at least six months ; for the
provision in the statute as to orders stated ne particular
time, Moreover, it appeared from the affidavits of the
master of the college and some of the fellows, that by the
practice followed in the college it was not necessary that the
admission as actual fellow should follow directly after the
six months of probation, and in support of that view, out of
a list of 69 fellows elected in that college, no less than 17 of
them had exceeded the term of six months before admission
as actual fellows, and in some cases the time kad been ex-
tended to 11, to 14, and even to 17 months. In this case
Mr. Bright wou'd have been of sufficient age for holy orders
within a few weeks after his election, and at any rate it was
possible for him to have bees admitted into holy orders
within the time by means of a faculty from the archbishop.
The petitioner himself prevented the possibility of such in-
dulgence being obtained by entering • caveat and yet he
asked to have the benefit of an objection which Mr. Bright
might possibly have obviated but for the interference of the
pt.titioner. Both the objections, therefore, of the peti-
tioner to the election of Mr. Bright fell to the ground;
for all that was required by the statute was, that
the person elected should be a deacon previous
to hie admission as an actual fellow, and, by the
practice in the college, such time of admission might be
extended until Mr. Bright was of sufficient age to
be admitted into holy orders ; and, even if such time could
not have been extended, he might have obtained a faculty
Inca the Archbishop of Cohterboxy tut for the petitioner.