The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-05 00:00:00

ins anti y rogated, the iVersities litsistagai .n
become"
sub'ec o the centre f their own`y aspular assemblies,:
a ually open to religious persua Heart bear.).
also thought that his Hon. and L
s.Frieesd bade
not sufficiently gone into the grievances OlktitosnieethntestlisC
The great distinction between Oxford and Cambridge was,
that at the former the 39 articles were required to be sub-.
ctibed to on matriculation, while at the latter they
were sworn to only before taking a degree.—(Hear, hear.)
Now what evil bad occurred at Cambridge from this
latitude ? On the contrary much benefit would accrue
from the ceremony Of an oath being done away with,
now that the substantive part of it was no more heeded ; for
who could conscientiously say that he had fairly tested his
own belief before subscribing to those articles of faith ? The
going through a form so solemn without a corresponding
solemnity of sentiment was but calling on the Creator to
witness with what a shameless levity a pojury would be
accompanied.—(Hear, Lear.) The object, no doubt,
was to keep the Disscntors out. The plea was, that it
they were admitted they would interfere with the reli-
gious tuition of the place. But both Blackstone and
Mansfield had laid it down incontestably that these in-
stitutions
were secular, not religious, corporations. All
the tuition, too, taught in them was a knowledge of the
heathen mythology. The highest academic honours, the
fellowships, the livings, nay, the bishoprics—all were
conferred upon men whose chief claim to distinction in
all probability lay in their intimate knowledge of the reli-
gions of antiquity, or their critical profundity in editing a
Greek play ; a paper or two on Paley, tins shallowest of all
theologians ; or an essay on the New Testament, showing
no more acquaintance with its spirit than what a schoolboy
would be ashamed of, were a sufficient passport to Uni-
versity honours, to the utter neglect of all that glorious li-
terature produced by the English Protestant divines. The
Hon. Gentleman concluded by seconding the motion.
Mr. POULTER would be the last to deny the power
of the sovereign authority in the State to interfere for the
correction of any and every acknowledged abuse without be-
ing followed in the slightest degree by any oaths imposed by
the heads of the Universities. But he by no means ad-
mitted that there had been proved abuses sufficient tojus-
tify so hostile a demonstration as would be intimated by
the issuing of this Commission-e-a Cominission having the
right of searching into all the transactions of the Universi-
ties—of inquiring into the appropriation of their funds :
armed, in short, with a degree of authority only justifiable.:
in such an extreme case of abuse as absolute for actual inter-
ference. He thought that a great error which assumed
that the original intent of the founders was not exemplified
in the present disposal of the benefits of the colleges. The
original word paupercs could by no means be said to mean
the modern term " pauper."
An Hon. MEMBER—But it does mean poor.
Mr. POUL'rER—Aye, in the sense now given to it
as regarded the class of persons who now enjoyed the bene-
fits of the Universities. He contended that the present
holders of livings and fellowships were to be looked at in
the light originally of the " poor students " designed by the
founders to be benefitted. With regard to residence, no
doubt that was required by the founders, but why ? Be-
cause the existing circumstances in some way demanded it.
Sonic reforms were most desirable, certainly. Among
_others, he thought the disqualification of marriage very im-
politic—it was opposed to a great natural principle.—{A
laugh.) That of property also might advantageously be
modified. He considered •this motion so hostile to the
Universities that he could not agree to vote for it.—(Hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it
was but justice to his Hon. Friend who had introduced
the present motion to say this, and to cast aside any such
supposition. His Hon. Friend had stated that the main
point to be considered was, whether the Universities of
the land were or were not national establishments, into
which it was competent for the House to inquire. Now,
he would be sorry to think that in any assembly of sane
persons it could be attempted to be denied' that these
were national establishments, into which, upon a proper •
and sufficient case being made out, the House was com-
petent to inquire. Now he would say that when a case
of inquiry was made out, the right of inquiry could not be
denied. Let them, for instance, take one of the most
important statutes of the University, the 18th of Elizabeth,
chap. 6. That statute it was which reserved one-third of •
the corn rents to those Universities, and preserved to the
Universities those means by which they were enabled at the
present day to promote the benefit of society. Now, when
this was the case, would any one attempt to say that the
Legislature, which had originally granted these funds, had
not a right to inquire into their application ? He need
only refer to the Scotch Commission to show that when a
sufficient case was made out, and a demand made for a re-
medy of a legislative kind, they bad exercised the right to
make an inquiry, which might form the basis of such a re-
medy. To deny such a right would be giving the power of
action without the power of deliberation. It would be de-
priving them of the elements of legislation, and leaving
them the power to legislate. He had never spoken of those
Uuiversities but with respect—that respect to which they
were entitled.—(Hear, hear.) But surely it could not be
denied that those impr9vements which had been conferred
on every Custom-house in the country, for ins'aince, with re-
spect to oaths, :hotly: be withheld front the Universities.
The Hon. Member fcr Lincoln had•said that the- motion,
before the House involved the admission of Dissenters to the
Universities ; but supposing the Dissenters admitted that
there would still remain much that would furnish subjects of
inquiry. With respect to the oaths taken by the graduates,
surely there was sufficient subject for improvement. He (the
,Chancellorsof the Exchequer).was sure than any inquiry which
could be instituted would redound to the credit of the Uni- -
versities, and free all parties interested from the possibility
of misrepresentation or reproach. He could not agree in the
opinion that a motion for inquiry could be considered a hos-
tile motion. The Hon. Member for Lincoln had de-
scribed a state of things whicli'might have been true in his
(the Chancellor of the Exchequer's) time, but did not apply
at present ; for as a frequent visitor of the University to
which he belonged he could say that in nothing had so great
an improvement taken place as in the state of religious in-
struction ; and the observations that had been made on
that point were just asinapplicable to the present state of
things as the quotations which had been made from Gibbon.
—( Hear.) The lion. Member who had referred to this
part of the subject had talked of Paley as the most shallow
of all theologians. lie (the Chancellor of the Exchequer)
knew that there had recently sprung up a race of transcen-
dental Gentlemen, who saw nothing good in the doctrines
to which they had been accustomed.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
For his part he preferred the English to the German
school, and lie did not wish to see censure cast upon such a
man as Dr. Parey.—( Hear.) He wished that he could ap-
peal to Dr. Paley, for, from all he had laid town, he was
sure that there would be none found readier to remedy
abuses, or to assist in improving anything that was found
defective in those institutions. With respect to the motion
itself, lie thought it better to leave to the Crown the exer-
cise of its'own sense of duty. He certainly thought, that
the interference of that house was not the best way to
render such an inquiry effective ; and he therefore confi-
dently trusted that his Hon. Friend would withdraw his
motion.

Mr. GOULBURN thought his Majesty's Government,
in opposing this motion, did no more than their duty. They
were the guardians in, their official capacities of the rights
and interests of these Universities. He would not now
discuss the question as to the right of inquiring into these
Universities. With respect to such inquiry the Govern-
ment of the country would, of course, act upon their own
responsibility ; and he presumed they would act upon that
responsibility in conformity with the law of the land. He
was sure that no Government would violate charters granted
by the Crown, affirmed by Acts of Parliament, and which
stood on an ancient .and stable basis of long-established
right, which could not be shaken. He was sure that they
would not only prevent those rights from invasion, but look
with favour upon the efforts they made to discharge the
duties with which they were entrusted. The Hon. Mem-
ber who brought forward this motion had said that no in-
tention existed to cast any imputation on those bodies ; but
surely the Hon. Member would not say that this furnished
a ground for instituting such an inquiry as this.—(Hear.)
He contended that such an inquiry would lead 'to grout in-
convenience, and a very unprofitable occupation of the time
of these learned bodies, which would otherwise be better
and more beneficially devoted. Besides there was the like-
lihood that those who were ignorant of the statutes by which
tiley Ivoic governed 7., ou)d be the fiist to Laing up wai-
l:Lints orising out of their very ignotaneo of these statutes.
His Right lion. Friend had said that it ought to lie a source
of congratulation to the Uriversities that an inquiry was
proposed. Did he mean that there was the same legal
power in the Crown to inquire into the state of the English
Universities as existed when the Scotch Commission was
issued ? Was he not aware that the circumstances of the
the two cases were widely different ? It had been charged
against the Universities by the Honourable Member
who opened the debate that they had not accommodated
themselves to the changes of the times, but had persisted
in their former system of discipline and government.
What mode of curing this defect had the Hon. Gentle-
man proposed ? Why, nothing less than to go back to still
older statutes than those now complained of ; and thus he
would remedy the to 9 strict observance of old, and, as he
imagines, useless, statutes, by paying great attention to
still more antiquated ones. The lion. Member and his
Right lion. Friend opposite had expressed their opinion
that there existed a necessity for modifying the oaths now
required by the Universities. They also stated, what *was
perfectly true, that those statutes requiring oaths which
were on subjects not considered material ought to be
altered. It was advanced, besides, that declarations
ought to be substituted for oaths, and that this substitu-
tion had taken place with respect to Custom-bouse and
parochial officers. He must be allowed to say that this