The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-03 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX INDUSTRIAL SHOOL BILL.

In reply to a question from Mr. NEWDEGATE,
Mr. HENNESSY stated he would submit a motion to
the house with reference to this bill on Thursday next.
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.
On the motion of Viscount PALMERSTON that the
house oGn its rising adjourn till Thursday next,
universißtANT DUFF called attention to the claims of the
y of London, to be provided at the national ex-
pense with a building suitable for its purposes, and worthy
of the position which it occupied amongst the educational
institutions of the country The honourable member said
the claims of the body which he was
h
desirous to bring be-
fore the house were different fromof any other
establishment. The University
of
Londontose was to all in-
tents and purposes a department of the State. Its clrt
cellor was appointed by the Crown ; three-fo.urth of
senate were nominated by the Crown ; the slatioi s
made by its senate did not become operativ:euguntil theyns
were sanctioned by the Home Secretary ; and its accounts
were required to pass through the Audit Office,
like those of any other branch of the public service. It
was obvious that, standing in this relation to the Go-
vernment, it was barred from many advantages that
were open to other institutions. There had been
a time when its name was the watchword of
Party, but that epoch in its history had long since
gone by. :The scheme for founding the University
of London originated in 1825, when a number of
gentlemen united together and raised a fund of £160,000.
With this money they erected the large building in Gower-
street, the object being to establish an institution like one
Of the Scotch universities, as the founders were dissatisfied
with the position taken by the older universities towards
dissenters. In the year 1835 that house addressed the Crown
for a charter for the university, which was graciously
granted. But the Liberal Government which succeeded the

short-lived administration of Sir R. Peel, wishing to grant
a greater concession to the University of London, called into
existence the body now known as the University of Lon-
don, and the body then known as such retired into the
background under the title of University College. The uni-
versity of London naturally thought, w ten th's distinction
was conferred, that a building would b provided for it ;
but since the year 1845, when the charter was granted, it
had been driven from pillar to post, and, although it was
now placed in a corner of Burlington House, it only held
it as tenant-at-will. The University of London was an
. .

examining body, and had no teaching function whatever ;
so that what it required wasa series of examination rooms,
where it might examine 400 candidates at a time. It was
essential that the building should occupy a central situation.
The university had 1,600 graduates; its senate comprised
some of the most distinguished names in the country. The
Lord President of the Council was its chancellor, and Mr.
Grote, one of the greatest of English historians,was its vice-
chancellor. Its B.A. examination was superior to that of
Oxford and Cambridge ; it conferred every degree except
those in theology, and the new degree which it invented was
one of great importauce—that of Doctor of Letters. For all
the work it was doing for the State It only received £5,500
a year. It was a mistake to suppose it had any local connec-
tion with the metropolis. The University of London had no
more connection with University College than with Galway
or Aberdeen. It was an imperial institution, which took
no heed of creed, colour, or birthplace, but received every
one who came up for examination. Such an institution,
he thought, had a claim on the Government to have a suit-
able building provided it. The authorities of the Univer-
sity of London had no doubt that if they were provided
with such a building the usefulness of the institution would
be greatly extended ; and that instead of the number of
candidates now examined, 8,000 candidates might be
examined g 0 years hence. He was willing to rest his case
in favour of the university having this building on the fact
that at least one-third of the members of the House of Com-
mons had not the remotest idea what the University of
London was ; or, if they formed any opinion, they fancied,
most erroneously, that it was the building in Gower-
street. The First Commissioner of Works could not do a
mum graceful thing, or one more creditable to the Govern-
ment. of which in this matter he was the organ, than
frankly to admit that the case of the university was made
out, and that it should have such a building as it desired.
Mr. COWPER readily admitted the claim of the univer-
sity to respect and encouragement, and that additional ac-
commodation was necessary for that flourishing institu-
tion. This might be provided in the neighbourhood of
the present site by the erection of another examination
hall and an additional waiting room for candidates, which,
he thought, would be sufficient for the time. The subject,
however, was under the consideration of the Govern-
ment, and he hoped it would be dealt with in a manner
that would prove to be satisfactory to the university
authorities.

Mr. H. BAILLIE once more directed attention to the
proceedings of the ordnance select committee, which, he
reiterated, had been characterised by mismanagement, in-
competence, and extravagance. The Ordnance Depart-
ment was, in fact, administered by a :committee of officers
who were practically without responsibility,and had a very
anomalous duty to perform, for whilst they were called
upon to pronounce judgment upon the inventions (of other
persons, they had become rival inventors and manufac-
turers themselves, and carried on their experiments at the
cost cf the country. He complained that the Government
seemed to treat the subject as if they considered that a
committee of inventors were the best judges of their own
inventions, and pointed out that great evils must result
from persisting in the present course. The advice which
the committee had recently given the War-office to reduce
the size of the projectile and the weight of the charge for
the newly-named seven-inch gun would, if acted upon,
prove very costly to the country, inasmuch as the whole of
the existing projectiles which had been purchased at an
enormous sum would become utterly worthless.
Mr. PEACOOKE contended that an inventor ought not
to sit as a judge upon his own inventions in competition
with those of other persons, and censured the manner in
which some of the ordnance trials had been conducted.

Mr. VIVIAN wished to know who was responsible for
any particular arm, whether small or large, that might be
adopted.
The Marquis of HARTINGTON said there was no doubt
that the responsibility rested with the Secretary for War.
The ordnance committee first made their reports to the
director of ordnance, who in return reported to the Minister,
and by his advice the latter was chiefly guided. He ad-
mitted that the functions of the committee were not those
of inventors, but it would be abused, if one of its members
suggested a useful improvement or an important alteration
or invention, that he should be debarred from having it
considered. But during the seven years they had been in
existence there were only two cases in which they had
invented, and these were scarcely sufficient to constitute
them an inventing body. Tho noble marquis also gene-
rally defended the proceedings of the committee, in re-
spect of the conduct of gunnery experiments, and the
changes effected in various descriptions of ordnance.
In answer to Colonel P. HERBERT,
The Marquis of HARTINGTON further stated that no
instructions had been sent to General Cameron to with-
draw from the clergymen acting as chaplains to the troops
in New Zealand the pay and allowances given them while
performing duty with the troops, and if any such orders
had been given by general Cameron it must be the result
of a misapprehension on his part.
The motion for adjournment was agreed to.
On the order for considering the report on the Azeem
Jah petitions,

Mr. C. Forster moved that George Morris Mitchell, who
had fabricated signatures to the petitions, and knowingly
procured others to be forged, was guilty of contempt and
breach of the privileges of the house.

Mr. HENNESSY objected to the motion that Strutt, the
principal offender, had been allowed to escape, that
Mitchell had acted merely as that person's agent, and that
the inquiry had not been conducted with impartiality and
fairness.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL vindicated the proceed-
ings of the committee from the imputation, and said it was
the duty of the house to mark its sense of the reprehensi-
ble acts of Mitchell, which had been proved beyond the
shadow of a doubt. With regard to Mr. Strutt it had
never been pretended that he was a party to the forgeries.
After some discussion, in which Mr. Cox, Mr. G. P.
Bentinck, Sir J. Fergusson, and Mr. B. Carter took part,
the motion was agreed to.

Mr. C. FORSTER next moved that George Morris Mit-
chell be committed to her Majesty's gaol of Newgate, and
that the Speaker issue his warrant accordingly.
The motion was opposed by Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Ben-
tinck, and supported by Sir J. Forgusson and the Attor-
ney-General.
Upon a division it was carried by 41 to 7.

Mr. FORSTER having proposed that Marshall and
Whitehead, who had acted in concert with Mitchell, had
been guilty of contempt and breach of privilege,
Mr. Hennessy, Mr. Cox, and Mr. Ayrton condemned the
whole proceedings in the case as discreditable both to
Parliament and the country, and Mr. D. Seymour declared
that the house was acting in opposition to the principle
of English law, in convicting men without trial and un-
heard.

The house again divided. and the motion was agreed to
by 39 to 5. An order was then made for committing
Marshall and Whitehead to the custody of the Sergeant-
at-Arms ; after which the house went into committee of
supply.

Sir R. PEEL, in moving the vote of £235,583, the re-
mainder of the grant for public education in Ireland, briefly
reviewed the operations of the National Board during the
three decennial periods from 1834, and described the pre-
sent state of education in respect of the number of schools,
scholars, and teachers, which he represented as being per-
fectly satisfactory, and working harmoniously for tho in-
terest of the country.
In the course of the debate which followed, Mr. WHITE-
SIDE contrasted the system of the Church Education So-
ciety with that of tho National Board, and complained that
the schools of the former were excluded from tho S tato
grant, simply because the reading of the Scripture formed
part of the instruction given there.
Mr. CARDWELL said that if the Church Education
Society complied with the conditions upon which grants
were made, they might come in and take their share with
rest.

Ultimately the vote was agreed to, as were several
others for miscellaneous services.

The orders of the day were also gone through, and the
house adjourned at 20 minutes before one.

M. DE MoßNy's TREASURES.---The sale of pictures
and works of art belonging to M. de Morny began
yesterday. The catalogue contains 547 old and modern
pictures, objects of art and curiosity, &c. Among the mo-
dern painters are Auguste Bonheur, Calonna, Castelli,
Comte, Couder, Decamps, Desgoffe, Diaz, Faure, Gericault,
Garome, Leys, Meissonnier (six Meissonniers), Robert-
Fleury, Alphonse Roehn, Theodore Rousseau, Saint-Jean,
Schopin, Willoms, and Ziem. In the productions of the
old French school are those of Boucher, Boily, Chardin,
Claude Lorraine, Drouais, Fragonard, Greuze, Pater
Prua'hon, Joseph Verner, and Watteau. Of the Italians
and Spaniards, Guardi, Murillo, Salvator Rosa, Velasquez.
The pictures have been valued at two millions of francs
(£80,000). The collection of "objects of art" consists of
enamels, rock crystals of European and Chinese work, jade,
alabaster, amethysts, malachite, schist, lapis-lazuli, Orien-
tal agate cups, hand screens, bas-reliefs, vases, Oriental
scimitars, Indian poniards, the handles incrusted with
rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones set in gold,
Japanese sabres with rich lackered scabbards, knives of
curious workmanship, porcelain of divers countries, Ja-
panese and Chinese bronzes, caskets, screens, flower
stands, trays, boxes of various sizes and forms, flambeaux,
pagodas inlaid in gold, incrusted with jade and lapis-
lazuli.
.Thei, there are snuff-boxes in gold and enamel,
bonbonnres, in the style of Louis XV. and XVI., jewelry,
goldsmiths' work, nuggets of Australian gold, sculptures
in marble, terracotta, ivory, wood, and silver. These
objets d'art are valued, it is said, at a million of francs. The
first day was occupied with what aro described in tho cata-
logue as modern pictures.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

DOVER.

On Thursday evening a large and influential meet-
ing of the Liberal party was held in the Town-hall.
The meeting was convened to hear the exposition of
the political views of Viscount Bury, M.P., and Mr.
Eustace Smith, who offered themselves as candi-
dates in the Liberal interest. Mr. S. Finnis, the
chairman of the Liberal Committee, presided.
Lord BURY, after a few introductory remarks,
said—Neither I nor my friend Mr. Eustace Smith
have put forth, at present, any address. We are
invited to come forward by the Liberal Committee,
but the Liberal Committee told us with great fair-
ness that they could not answer for the Liberal
party of Dover. All they could do was to obtain
for us a fair hearing in speaking for ourselves, and
to ask you to adopt us as your candidates.
(Cheers.) I can hardly presume, perhaps,
at this moment before you have even se-
lected me as your candidate to institute any
comparison between the position in which I find
myself placed and the position of the gentlemen
who are now really candidates for Dover. But I
feel quite confident that whether you select Mr.
Eustace Smith and myself or not, they at any rate
will not be the members for Dover, and you will
certainly select as your representatives men belong-
, ing, not the party of obstruction, but to the party
of progress. (Cheers). I observed in the address
of Major Dickson that he said he is not opposed to
Reform, but that, on the contrary, he is in fa-
vour of it. But I read Major Dickson's speech
from the beginning to the end of it with very con-
siderable care, and I could not find out what his
opinions really were. It is perfectly true he tells us
that he is not opposed to Reform, and no one can
differ from him when he says that no Englishman
can be found who believes that the constitution under
which he lives is so absolutely faultless as not by any
possibility to be improved. Major Dickson must, of
course, agree with every other Englishman in
thinking that. But, coming to practice, would he
give us any measure of Reform, or would he, if
elected for Dover, ally himself with that party of
obstructive politicians who, whenever there is an
occasion on which it is possible for the Liberal party;
to be delayed or obstructed, are ever ready with
their obstruction ? Is there any doubt to which
party Major Dickson would give his adherence ?
Now, I come before you as a supporter of the states-
man whose portrait hangs upon your walls—Lord
Palmerston. During the last six years he has been
in power the Government of the country has marched
steadily onward. You have found that all measures
which could improve the condition of the country,
or conduce to her honour and glory, have been
steadily pursued by that great statesman. When
you look to the opposite party you find that from
first to last every great measure which has been
brought forward has been received by them with
entire disapproval. They have tried to resist each
as long as they could, and when they have found it
impossible longer to resist, and they have had to
succumb to the influence which has pushed them
forward, they have turned round and taken credit
for the position of the country as if they themselves
had been the persons who had brought such a state
of things about. (Hear.) Passing from Major
Dickson, then, I come to the other gentleman, Mr.
Freshfield, whose address is before you. I find
that after he has talked about supporting the trade
of the country, or given expression to some such
vague generality, easily enough put into an election
bill, he declares it impossible to state his opinions
within the narrow limits of an address, and that he
hopes soon to have an opportunity of addressing a
meeting of the electors. That meeting has now
taken place, and I must confess that I read Mr.
Freshfield's speech with considerable curiosity and
interest. He told us a great deal of how many
tons of goods pass over the line of railway of
which he is solicitor, and that he would never
rest satisfied till that tonnage was doubled. This
was no doubt exceedingly interesting to his hearers,
but does it give him any claim to sit in Parliament
for the borough of Dover? (Hear, hear.) Towards
the end of his address he said that his hon. colleague
had addressed the meeting at such length that he
had no time to detail what his sentiments were ;
and he wound up his speech absolutely without one
single word on the general politics of the day. The
meeting he was addressing were kind enough to pass
a vote of confidence in him and accept him as a
candidate without knowing what his opinions were,
unless, indeed, it may be possible that they had
some peculiar means of information of which I have
heard nothing, and which is not allowed to get into
the public prints. (Hear.) At any rate, wanting
that information which I think you have a right to
demand, I do not myself see that he can compare
with any advantage with men who come forward
and state honestly what their opinions are. (Cheers.)
Now, gentlemen, to refer to one great topic on
which you are interested, the question of church
rates, a great deal has been said in favour of Mr.
Freshfield's view —a compromise that shall be at
once acceptable to Dissenters and Churchmen.
There is not such a course ; there is no middle course.
The only course open to you is to remove church
rates altogether. By their abolition every clergy-
man in the Church of England would find his hands
strengthened and his power of persuasiveness in this
direction increased. Another great question is the
question of Reform. On that I shall speak very
briefly, but very plainly and straightforwardly. 1
hold that the suffrage is a trust given by society to
its members to be used for the benefit of all ; that
every class ought to be called upon to bear its due
share of the responsibility as well as the honours
attached to it ; that every class ought to be ad-
mitted to a fair share of the representation, and not
to more than a fair share. For that purpose it is
necessary to have a well considered plan for ex-
tending the suffrage and taking in those at present
excluded. No doubt you are all aware that a
commission is about to be moved for by Lord
Elcho to inquire into this subject. If that com-
mission be appointed, and I believe it will be, and
if the inquiry is conducted, as I hope it will be, by
some of the best qualified men England possesses,
I am sure we shall arrive at a proper solution of a
question which presents difficulties only in name,
and which may be settled by a little good humour,
and a little giving and taking on both sides. These
are my sentments on Reform, and I trust they will
be such as to meet your approval. I have no wish
to go into Parliament as a pledged delegate for any
particular cry. I want to set fully and franky be-
fore you all that passes through my mind on the
great questions of the day, leaving you to determine
after hearing a summary of my views, whether I
am fitted as a candidate for your representation. I
have just been reminded that I have omitted to
refer to Free Trade and the blessings which have
been brought upon this country from a Free-trade
policy being carried out. If you want an extension
of that policy, if you want the commerce of the
country to be regulated by men who have hitherto
proved themselves in troubled times and times of
difficulty and danger fitted for the post, you must
return Liberals to represent your borough in Par-
liament. (Cheers.) With regard to foreign policy,
I believe that we have to thank Lord Palmerston's
Government for our having maintained a state of
absolute neutrality. If Lord Derby had been in
office can you doubt that we should have been in-
volved in more than one struggle ? The Union
Chargeability Bill I think to be one of the greatest
free-trade measures we have had for a very long
time introduced into Parliament. I wish to see also
some of the principles of this bill extended, and the
whole question of the law of settlement considered
with a view to its being re-adjusted. [Lord Bury,
after alluding to the efforts made by the present
Government to diffuse education, and promising to
give his best attention to local interests, in the event
of his election, resumed his seat amid most enthu-
siastic cheering.]
Mr. EUSTACE SMITH said—l come before you in
a measure unprepared, and you will doubtless under-
stand this when I tell you that three nights ago I
slept at Constantinople, and that I have to-day
come from Paris. I hope, therefore, you will excuse
me if I do not dwell at great length on the sub-
jects upon which I desire to address you. The
first is the great question of Reform. During the
past four Sessions a great many schemes of Reform
have been mooted and a great many proiniaefi have