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

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Mir 4.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour.
YORK AND NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY.
Sir G. STRICKLAND moved an additional clause in
the York and North Midland Railway Bill.
The Bill was read a third time and passed on the motion
of Mr. LOWTHER.
Mr. ,WILKS presented a petition from Chas. J. Blunt,
statinc, that, in the matter of the Hammersmith, Brompton,
and Southwark' Railway Bill, the funds had been misappro-
priated, and a fraud committed thereby on the House.
Referred to the Committee.
Several Bills for and against various private Bills were
presented.
The Belfast and Lisburn Road Bill was read a third time
and passed.
Mr. P. THOMSON gave notice for to-morrow that he
would move the second reading of the National Endow-
ment Assurance Society that day six months.
Sir G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from the
Rev. E. Duncombe, Rector of a place in Yorkshire, pray-
ing the House to remodel the Poor Law, the Corn Law,
and the Tithe Law, and to re-establish that ancient institu-
tion the Convocation of the Clergy.
Petitions against the Ministerial measure for the abolition
of Church-rates were presented by Mr. Plumptre ; by Col.
Sibthorp, from the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln ; by Mr.
A. Johnston, from St. Andrew's ; by Mr. Pringle, by Mr.
Corry, by Mr. Welby, by Lord G. Bentinck, by Mr. H.
Hughes, by Mr. B. Hoy, and various other Hon. Members.
Petitions to a' contrary effect were presented by Mr.
Wilks, by Mr. A. Johnston, by Mr. Pease, by Mr. Benctt,
by Mr. E. L. Bulwer, by Mr. Cooper, by Mr. C. Buller,
by Mr. Aglionby, by Mr. Grote, and other Hon. Members.
Various petitions were presented in favour of the better
observance of the Sabbath.
Mr. C. BRUCE presented a petition from Glasgow
against a portion of the Sheriffs' Court.(Scotland) Bill.
Mr. WAKLEY presented petitions in favour of a Ten
Hours Bill, and the return of the seven Dorchester
labourers.
Sir R. INGLIS presented several petitions from various
places in favour of a Ten Hours Factory Bill.
Mr. HUME presented a petition, signed by 4,800 of the
inhabitants of Bradford, in Yorkshire, praying that the
House suffrage might be extended.
GREAT PROTESTANT MEETING.

Mr. HAMILTON gave notice that, on Monday next,
he should present a petition from the Protestants of Ireland,
agreed to at a meeting held in Dublin.
WINDOW TAX.

Sir S. WHALLEY rose to bring forward the motion
of which he had given notice, for a repeal of the Window
Tax. The Chancellor of the Exchequer could not deny
that there was a surplus of two millions ; and as no doubt
other Hon. Members would put in their claim for a share
of this surplus in the reduction of other taxes, so did he on
this occasion, claim on behalf of the inhabitant householders
a portion of it in the reduction of the Window Tax. He
could not but recollect with much gratification that when
he brought forward a similar motion to the present in 1833
one hundred and thirty-seven Members voted in its favour,
and of those who so voted only seventeen were displaced at
the subsequent general election by their constituents. This
proved that there was no fickleness in the constituency
of the country, and that they never deserted their repre-
sentative until he deserted those principles which first re-
commended him to their choice, and by thus receding from
all the professed principles of his early life, and deserting the
cause of the people, made himself a melancholy spectacle in
his latter days.—( Ministerial cheers.) For himself, he hoped
that be should never be placed in so humiliating a condi-
tion. There was one good effect that must follow the re-
peal of the window tax, independently of the pecuniary
relief which it would afford to the householder—namely,
that it would tend greatly to extend the elective franchise,
and the number of the constituency of the country. He
knew there were many other claims for reduction besides
this, hut he was sure none would produce more benefit.
One Hon. Member would wish to reduce the penny stamp
on newspapers ; another the duty on tobacco ; a third the
duty 6n soap ; and the Hon. Member for Limerick would
claim the reduction of the duty on window-glass. It was
proper that every proposition of this nature should be
brought forward, before the plan of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer was irrevocably fixed. He felt quite certain
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was as anxious as he
was to relieve the burdens of the people when he thought
he could do so, and there could not be a better opportu-
nity than the present occasion. A general election was now
approaching, and it was therefore the more necessary that
every means should be used to increase the number of the
constituency in the country, which the removal of this tax
would have the effect of doing. There was no tax at pre-
sent paid by the middle classes, that was so objectionable
as the window tax. Very little relief had been given to
small houses by the repeal of the house tax. It was the
large houses alone that benefitted by the removal of that
tax. The Hon. Member concluded by moving as a reso-
lution—" That it is the opinion of this House that the
window tax ought to be repealed."
Mr. HUME having seconded the motion,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not
think the Hon. Member who brought forward the present
motion could have given any serious consideration to the
subject, or he would never have made such a proposition
as that a reduction of 1,200,0001:should be made in the
revenue of the country without knowing what amount of
surplus there would be after meeting the national expen-
diture. There were many other claims for the reduction of
taxation which he considered more pressing, if there did
really exist a surplus, than the claim of the Hon. Gentle-
man. There was, for instance, a motion to be brought for-
ward in a few days for the reduction of the duty on cotton.
The Hon. Gentleman had, as an inducement to support his
motion, given the House a piece of information which was
usually communicated to it in a Speech from the Throne.—
(A laugh.) He had told them that there was to be an
immediate dissolution of Parliament. Now he should

really wish to have some other authority for this im-
portant fact before he gave it implicit credence than

the Honourable Member for Marylebone. But if it were
true, and that Parliament was on the eve of a dissolution,
he was sure there was not a Member of that House who

would vote on this or any other subject otherwise than as
his judgment dictated, for the sake of catching a little
fleeting popularity.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Gentleman
would find when the public accounts were made up to the
sth of April, 1817, that there would not be a surplus
revenue over expenditure to the amount of the tax which
the Hon. MAnber proposed to repeal. He considered that
it Was.the productive classes of this country that had the
best claim to the application of any surplus that could be
afforded to relieve the pressure of taxation. Out oA

2,800,000 houses there were only 377,000 that contributed
to the Window Tax ; so that there were nearly 2,400,000
houses not at all affected by it. The Hon. Member would
have a much better opportunity of pressing the repeal of
this Tax than the present mode when the Budget should
be brought forward. The Hon. Member could then move,
as an amendment to any proposition which he (the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer) might make, that the Window Tax
be repealed. At present he should meet the proposition of
the Hon. Gentleman with a distinct negative.
Captain PECH ELL supported the motion. The mo-
tion did not go directly to the repeal of the Tax, but
merely declared that it would be expedient to repeal it.—
(A laugh.) Would the Chancellor of the Exchequer give
any hope as to houses that were to be built ',—(A laugh.)
Mr. FORSTER recommended that the taxes on internal
communication, such as the post-horse duty, and others,
should be repealed, in preference to this.
ThO House divided—
For the motion
Against it
Majority against the motion —lsB
LONGFORD ELECTION.
Lord CLIVE appeared at the bar with the report of the
Committee appointed to try the petitions complaining of an
undue return in the case of the late election for the county
of Longford. The report declared Luke White, Esq., not
duly elected, and that Charles Fox, Esq., was, and ought
to have been returned. The Committee also found the pe-
titions not frivolous or, vexatious, and that Henry Lynch
and .Latries Sheridan were not entitled to vote_ at the said
election.

The report having been laid upon the table,
Lord CLIVE said the Committee had felt it their duty
to make a special report also.
This report was also read. It stated that it would be
desirable to have some declaratory Act passed by the Le-
gislature to secure greater uniformity of decision, and
clearness in the law in questions relating to the contested
elections for the counties in Ireland. It recommended that
the House should come to a decision on the question; whe-
ther the' registry, as prepared by the Assistant Barrister,
vas to
be final, or whether it ,was to remain open to en-
quiry by a Committee of that House. The Committee
also suggested that the nature and the amount of the fran-
chise giving a right to vote at elections for, the counties in
Ireland may be so clearly defined and determined as tg

Mr. W. WYNN, who said the House was bound by kw
to decide first on the question that the Clerk of the Cron
be ordered to attend.

Mr. HUME wished to know whether the debate on the
question that the Clerk of the Ciown be ordered to attend
might not be adjourned ? His Hon. Friend (Mr. Grattan)
might in that case give notice of his resolution now.
The SPEAKER said that the House was bound to de-
cide now upon the question that the Clerk of the Crown be
ordered to attend.

After a few words from Sir J. I'Vrottesley, Mr. W.
Wynn, Mr. Grattan, and Sir G. Clerk,
Mr. H. GRATTAN wished to know whether the mi-
nutes of evidence, taken before the Committee, were
printed ?

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that they could not be printCd without an Order of the
House, and there was no order to that effect. His Ho-
nourable Friend might give notice of a motion to that effect
if he pleased.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN wished to know what was the next
step to be taken after the Clerk of the Crown had amended
the return. Were the names of voters to be struck off the
Registry ?
The SPEAKER, when he saw the report, and had time
to consider it, would be able to judge whether there was
any particular matter in it on which he might feel himself
called upon to act.

Mr. MOSTYN would take a future opportunity of
moving that some names be struck off the registry.
Mr. HALL said the Committee had come to a decision
not to take further steps as regarded the registry, but to
leave the matter to the Speaker. At the same time they
recommended a special report, to prevent, as far as possible,
similar inconveniences and difficulties in future.

Here the conversation dropped, and the Clerk of the
Crown was ordered to attend to-morrow, to amend the
return.

THE UNIVERSITIES.
Mr. PRYME then rose to move, pursuant to notice, for
" An Address to his Majesty for the appointment of a Com
mission to inquire into the state of the Universities of Ox
ford and Cambridge, and the respective Colleges therein."
The Hon. Gentleman complained of the great powers vested
in the caput of each of the Universities, and stated that in
the election of the Vice-Chancellor by the heads of Colleges
.the choice of that officer was open to bias, owing to the pre-
valence of high political feeling in the Universities ; and that
an instance of the kind had lately happened at Cambridge,
where the Master of a College had been objected to as unfit
to fill the office of Vice-Chancellor, solely because he differed
in politics from the rest of the heads of houses. With regard
to the revenues of the Universities, the persons appointed to
audit the accounts connected with them, at the end of each
year, were formerly appointed by the body at large ; whereas
one of them was now chosen by the Vice-Chancellor going
out, and the other by the. Vice-Chancellor coming in.—
(Hear.)
Since the discussion of last year he was happy to
say that, with regard to Dissenters, the University of Cam-
bridge had given them greater concessions than they for-
merly possessed.—( Hear.) But a very few years ago,
when the fourth wrangler chanced to be a Quaker, he was
not allowed his degree, though he had gained almost the
highest honours of his year.--(Hear, hear.) Last year the
second wrangler was a Jew, who could not be admitted to
a degree; and, under such circumstances, he thought it
was high time a Commission should be appointed to inquire
into the system, and to enable persons like those lie had
had named to remain at the University, and receive the
honours and emoluments to which an improved state of
things would entitle them.—(Hear, hear.) Again, mem-
bers of the University were obliged to take a great number
of oaths ; but he would ask the House was it just that
they should be compelled to take oaths to do what, at the
time of taking them, they knew they never could do ?
(Hear, hear.) He objected to the plan recommended in a
series of articles in the Edinburgh Review upon this subject,
and preferred having a Commission at once. The Hon.
Member then alluded to the violatiOn of the statutes, of
which the Universities themselves were guilty in the manner
in which the Masters of Arts were admitted to that degree,
as well as in the distribution and arrangement of the Fel-
lowships, and cited the case of Professor Inman as one of,
great injustice, that gentleman having waited from year to
to. year without having been able to obtain the Fellowship
to which he was by his eminent talents so justly entitled.
The Hon. Gentleman then complained of the expenses
which poor students were obliged to be at in private tutors,
owing to the imperfect and abstruse manner in which the
public lectures of the University of Cambridge (with which
he was more fully acquainted) were conducted. There was
a considerable wish for improvement in the Universities.
His advocacy of this question was not in the spirit of hosti-
lity but of friendliness. Almost the whole of his life had
been spent within the Walls 04 the Uni% ersities ; and it was
his attachment to their interests that made him now come
forward.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Member concluded by
making his motion.

Mr. E. L. BUL WER said the question was now nar-
rowed to the consideration whether, after all the other Cor-
porations in the kingdom had been subjected to the reform-
ing control of Parliament, these Corporations, the Univer-
sities, should now be excluded. He had no hesitation what-
ever in answering this question in the negative. It must
be borne in mind that the Universities subsisted long before
the Colleges came into existence. 'rhc pupils resided in
the neighbourhood of the University, that they might re-
-ceive from it the benefit of public. lectures and degrees.
The Colleges then sprung up, under the influence of that
passion for scholastic information which first broke out
towards the close of the eleventh century, and reached its
height of ardour in the twelfth. The great influx of
students to the Universities then first induced charitable
persons to found lodging houses for poor-scholars, and in
course of time to superadd the benefits of board and pecu-
niary allowance. It then became necessary to subject the
pupils to some control, arid at each of the houses, there-
fore,
a graduate was appointed to preside. Thus it was
that they gradually grew to be Colloges. But as the pupils
became more numerous, and the houses from many cir-
cumstances less so, other lodging-houses were established,
which were called halls, or inns, as the case might be.
For although now no new College could be established,
unless with the previous sanction of the Chancellor, at
that period it was but necessary fur a few youthi'to as-
semble together, for the purposes he bad already stated, and
straightway a house was formed ; nor was there then any
power to prevent the existence of those halls. At teat
time, too, no religious test whatever was imposed ; and,
owing to the great competition between the Colleges, the
expenses were much less then than now. The University
then was a national institution. The causes which, herped
to the subsequent usurpation, and had ultimately biought
about the present monopoly, were numerous, and of nearly
a concurrent effect. Among them were the civil wars, ti,
Reform.ition, the Aolition of the monasteries (for as the
monasteries had decayed tha scculdir Colleges had in-
creased) ; and, moreover, every difficulty' was thrown in
the way of the establishment of new Colleges, until at last,
under the Chancellorship of Leicester, a statute was passed
by which no new College could be raised, except with the
sanction of the Chancellor for the time being. Thus it was
that the Universities were, as it were, stolen from the n r-
tion, and put into the hands of the beads of Colleges. At
this time first it was that the principle of religious exclu-
sions was adopted, and closely upon it followed the sequel
of the revolution that had thus been effected in the con-
stitution of the Universities.—(Hear, hear, hear.) At
first the government of these bodies were almost de-
mocratic. There was a house of congregation, composed
of one class of residents, and a house of convocation, com-
posed of all the resident members of the University. But,
when the Colleges were established, it was thought desirable
to have College, not University legislation. He hoped lie
had now shown that the Universities and the Colleges were
totally distinct in their nature and origin—that while the.
one were great national institutions, for the dissemination
of knowledge, the others were established as mere places
of convenience. So completely was this the case, that if the
Colleges were sunk into the Cam and Isis to•morrow, the
Universities would still remain intact in their existence ;
and that if- the laws of those Colleges were to be in-