The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-05 00:00:00

degree to the universities, and it seemed only in ther 1
tural order of things that the measures of reform to be i
adopted in the universities should take their ultimate
shape before Parliament considered the measures which 0
might be right to adopt with respect to the great schools'
(Hear. hear.) A great deal had been said upon the sub•
ject of the universities, and the hon. member for Caul'
bridge (Mr. Wigram) had spoken upon the subject in s
conciliatory tone,—a tone indicating readiness to give fair
consideration to proposals of improvement—(hear, hear)"
which was the best adapted both to promote beneficial
change, and to resist dangerous and mischievous alteration.
(Hear, With respect to the statement of the noble
lord (Lord J. Russell), it required no defence and no eluci'
dation from him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer).l
Whether it was in contrast with what he had said there of
or elsewhere, as has been stated by the hon. gentlernas:
le av
whoe
that had just sat down was a subject upon which he shoull i
hon. gentleman to speculate to his own conten; I
and satisfaction. To the principles which had been lain;
down by the noble lord he (the Chancellor of the Exche'i
quer) adhered, as he always had. He held it to be the'
duty of the Legislature to seek that the great endowment!
and resources with which the universities had been pro vided should be made available for the ends and pur poses for which they existed ; and if there were portion
of those endowments which at preaent lay dormant an
in abeyance, and were not so made available, it Nv a matter essential to the welfare of those universities
themselves that their application should be so directed
that they might accomplish the ends for which they
I
were appointed. (Hear, hear.) If ho at all refer:
red to tie speech of the hon. member who had just
i
sat down, he must say it appeared to him, with great. deference and submission to that hon. member, a speech greatly tending to stop the progress of university reform.
He could not conceive a course more unwise, if the hon.
member was in earnest—as doubtless he was—in desiring
many beneficial changes in the universities, than that which
the hon. member had taken. He had not' stopped short of,
imputing a general insincerity to the professions mad -
among the university residents ; he said they were
asleep till the report, though he incidentally stated is
another part of his speech that a great and extensive change
had been adopted by the university in the whole system of 1,
study and examination just before the commission was ap' ,
pointed [Mr. Blackett.—" I distinguished between the ' '
i
university and the colleges."] He (the Chancellor of the
Exchequer) had not heard that ; but, the university and
the colleges being composed at present of the same persons,
it was scarcely possible that a spirit of reform should pre'
wail in the one, and that in the other the same persons who
adopted reforming measures should be liable to the vat
severe censures which the hon. member had cast upon theni.
(Hear.) But, be that as it might, the hon. member aIY peared to be of opinion that it was not only desirable that
changes should be made in the universities, but that thei,
should be made by extraneous authority ; for he said that
the noble lord-was committing a fatal error in giving theta
time. Why, the commissioners, who were not deficient in
zeal and diligence took two years to frame their report, And
very wisely. Did the hon. member think, in reference to
bodies of this kind, which had discharged the most import-
ant functions for centuries, 'and which enjoyed at this Dl°'
ment —he (the Chancellor f the Exchequer) would venture
to say—the confidence and respect of the country—(hear)—'
as bodies of men ardently engaged in the promotion of met
useful labours—(hear)--did the hon. member think 1,
was desirable entirely to override the free and independent
action of those bodies ? Their free and independent action
was essentially connected with the attainment of the ends
for which they existed. (Hear.) If they_ were deprived 0
that free and independent action, it might be necessary for
them to interfere—he did not say such circumstances might
,
not arise, but it would be a great misfortune ;
it was of
importance that improvement should be introduced of
their own free choice. (Hear.) An hon. member said--
" I hope you do not mean to hold out a threat to the uni-
versities that you will interfere if they do not do so-and-
so." It was anything but desirable to hold out threats as,
an hon. gentleman had done, it produced a strong spirit of
reaction. At the same time it was too much to allege that
they or any incorporation was in such a sense and so abso-
lutely master of its endowments, that Parliament had no
right of supervision whatever ; it was surely the duty of
Parliament, on sufficient cause shown, to interpose and re-
g,ulate those endowments for a public purpose. (Hear.)
But the rational course was to give fair and full time to
these bodies. They were not bodies that had been asleep;
they had been improving their systems. No doubt there
was much to be done. Was there not much to be done
in the House of Commons ? (Hear, hear.) Was there
not much to be done in the way of reform and improve'
ment ? (Hear. hear.) But did it follow that they
had been doing nothing ? (Hear, hear.) Just so Wi7
these ancient and complicated foundations, with
great
difficulties standing in the way of reform ; he must Prc"
test against the imputations which had been thrown 04
by the hon. member against those who were conducting
education there, and warn the house against his doctrine'
" Do not give them time ; sweep away what you want tes
see removed." These were not questions that would earn
of that rude, treatment. (Hear, hear.) If you wanted.°
attain your end, you must proceed regularly and in orderl; i
and, while vindicating the supremacy of Parliament, Y.°
'I
must give these parties the opportunity of introducing'
.!
changes, unless you had reason to believe they would 13° 1
be introduced by their free action. (Hear, hear.) The hon. ri
member said it would have been but reasonable that 01'
ford should have acted upon the recommendation of t,,,
11e
commissioners with regard to the administration of r '.
property. It was one question whether that recommends'
tion was a reasonable one; but what a doctrine to 841 t:
that because a commission of inquiry had been appointed'
when that commission had reported the body was to 11 :
bound to act upon the principles the commission had 19.1 -
down ! He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) must PO'
test against that, as a doctrine adverse to liberty. (Hem'
hear.) He would say, it was the business of corPers a
bodies to submit themselves to their view of reason, an.
not to the' view of the hon. member, or of himself. It W„
I
their duty to submit themselvesto law, but it was 10
their duty to submit to the opinions or views of commis:
sions of inquiry, unless they thought them to be HOP;
(Hear, hear.) He hoped the statements of his noble friend
With respect to the universities would be taken from the
speech of the noble lord himself, and not from the con'
structions put upon it by any member. (Hear, hear.) The !
commissioners spoke of the introduction of students br
longing to the university, but not connected with the c'''
leges. They thought this desirable, if it could be don°
without relaxing or weakening the discipline of the univer-
sity. But this was a reservation of a most important ohs'
ratter, _ and the question was in what mode and whether
this change could be made without weakening the died"
pline. He regretted that the hon. gentleman (Mr. Blackett)
had spoken with what he must consider extreme and lin"
merited asperity—(hear, hear)—of a body of men of a most
laborious and meritorious character who were engage
honestly, industriously, and uprightly in the business o'r
education. He trusted that the house would adhere to
the recommendation of his noble friend (Lord J. Russell)
and give to the universities fair and full time for consider'
ing and recommending the measures best adapted to els
end in -view, leaving it to them, as to all corporate authc'ci rities, to do their duty, if they would do it willingly, 00,
if not, then reserving to that house the duty of actin,
under its authority. (Hear, hear.)
After a few words from Lord J. MANNERS and gr.
BLACKETT in explanation,
Mr. PELLATT wished to bear testimony to the labour°
of the persons engaged as Sunday-school teachers. Thee°
schools had now been in existence for 70 years ; there wel
no less than 2,000,000 scholars in them, who were taugb;
by 200,000 teachers. All these schools were maintained
upon
n. the voluntary principle, and all gave religious instil°.
tio

Leave was then given to bring in the bill.
CLERGY RESERVES (CANADA) BILL.
This bill, as amended, was considered.
Mr. HUME said that great objections were felt out.d
doors to any portion of the religious instruction of the
people of Canada being paid for by the State, and
trusted the Government would reconsider the alteration
they had made in the bill.
The bill was ordered to be printed with the amendments,
and to be read a third time on Monday next.
PILOTAGE BILL.
Mr. CARD WELL moved that this bill be read a sew' na
time.

Lord
d businessj
gentleman e.
and A ordered e r s o mwßehturoilicsbhosstecnEhuicterl°Fs miwr:hancit
Mr. HUME recommended that it should be referred to a
select committee up-stairs.
might be as
Mr. CARDWELL believed that the bill would be
tbiemnee:
till" t
ficial to the mercantile interest, and thought it could be
very well considered by the house itself.
thought
n,ai
tyotptuchenregdeollehpxobototrni
si.l
tel
omdwf
Monday
oatnshdt la :a e,
ykEa
edn e x
t.
w.
PUBLIC BUSINESS FOR FRIDAY NEengtTo.state
vee. n notice thifl
consider the Consolidated Fund and the National pthhuoeLnbl.oci
and after that the Government pro-
gimwhole house 0
cxpl a i n the
hpmor
iood
svp
move
sl3fioturiloanlvs
was
s of
readcommittee whicha secondhOoenf day
otnhae regardpri go
blit to
posed to go in ommittee of Supplyhad Ichequer would
and take the miscel•
Redemption Acts),
The New Fores
leavnTe enhoi u sen gc
eo(spttoyi m tee
Evidence (Scotland) Bill passed throur
The Oaths in Chancery Bill was read a third time and
and the Law of Deer Removal Act Amendment Bill'
committee.
passed.

MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL.
Merr. TURNER presented petitions from the mayor)
aldmen, and burgesses of Liverpool, and from the tills'
tees of the Liverpool docks, under their corporate seal,
against this bill, the 22nd clause of which would, the iv'
'ioners believed, prejudice their interest in regard to

,olls.

The bill was read a second time and ordered to be coin•
mated on Monday next.

CANTERBURY ELECTION.
On the motion of Mr. K. SEYISIER, the further suspen"
sion of the writ for the city of Canterbury till Monday, tho
2nd day of May next, was agreed to.
until
The
t hhi ouse s
day
(Tuesday). at a quarter to 11 o'clock, adjourned

STATE OF TRADE.—The accounts of the state of trade
in the manufactoring towns during the past week are
generally satisfactory. At Manchester the market bile
been very firm, owing to the advance of the raw mate'
rial at Liverpool, although buyers being still cautious,
business has been limited from the hesitancy to gio
higher prices. At Birmingham the makers have reluc-
tantly consented to a reduction of 1/. per ton in bar
iron, and the concession appears likely to lead to large
transactions, in consequence of the great demand for
heavy machinery and the general requirements for rail:
way purposes. The manufacture of a gasometer a'
Smethwick, for the Sheffield Gas Consumers Company;
of the unprecedented diameter of 165 feet is regarded
with interest. The price of copper continues to have s
slight tendency to decline. Heaton and Son are the
contractors for the new coinage of 500 tons, which
wig
be commenced about the end of June, the sale
firm being meanwhile employed in copper coinage
for Canada and France. The Nottingham accounts state
business to have been interrupted by the Easter boll-
days, but there was a tendency to great activity, the
Australian, American, and home demand being all good'
In the woollen districts there has been continued anima"
tion, and the recent strikes for higher wages have been
arranged by mutual concessions. The Irish linen ma%
ket shows firmness and activity, without any positive
alteration in prices. Letters from Rouen mention that
transactions in the market for manufactures had been
more extensive, lower prices having in several cases been
accepted.
LETTERS FOR AUSTRHLIA.—It appears that arrant
ments have been made with the Post-office authoritl
for carrying her Majesty's mails to Port Philip and Sr:.
ney by the screw steamer Osmanli, to sail from Liver"
pool on the 7th inst.