The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-13 00:00:00

Mr. WALPOLE defended to the uttermost the
inviolability of the founders' wills, and throUghout
the debate there was too polite a deference on the
part of many speakers to this kind of folly. The
public at large has little sympathy with it. It
justly demands that the property left for its
benefit should be so applied, and not locked up
for the advantage of a useless few, by unforeseen
events perverting in reality the arrangements of
the generous benefactor. It will ever remain
competent to the supreme Legislature of
a nation to look to the administration
of public trusts, and to guard them
from abuse and perversion ; but more than
this it never can be endured, that the dust and
ashes of centuries gone by should control the deeds
of a living generation. We should have small
cause to thank many of the noble-minded founders
of colleges, if they had really thought hundreds
of years after they had mouldered to dust, of con-
trolling against the will of their country's Parlia-
ment the property which they had quitted for
ever. This were, indved, a rule of mortmain—of

the dead hand over the living wind. Those large-
winded friends of learning and education would,
however, have been the last to plead for so absurd
a power. They, could they have foreseen the
August of 1854, would have felt rather honoured
than otherwise, that the Legislature of the coun-
try should charge themselves with the task of
giving full effect to their real wishes.

Mr. BYNG, in a maiden speech which was well
received, and Mr. BLACKETT, spoke strongly on
the unfairness of excluding Dissenters from the
benefits of the University. We can see no rea-
son whatever, unless it be the umbrage it might
give to some whose votes are wanted, for persist-
ing in this exclusive policy. As a plain matter
of fact, a large part of the colleges were founded
by those whose religion is now denounced in the
Thirty-nine Articles which all must sign who enter
Oxford. Small respect this for founders' wills !
Moreover, it seems intolerable that those who
comprise one-half the worshippers in the couhatry.
should be excluded from the National University.
What earthly reason should hinder one or more of
the proposed private halls being managed by Dis-
senters, and what injury their listening to the
Professors' lectures should do the sons of the
Church, we cannot for the life of us conceive.
Mr. GLADSTONE'S ingenuity is soon to enlighten
us. He may get votes enow no doubt, but we
expect more ingenious sophistry than honest
argument.

THE ICE IN THE BALTIC.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sts,—Please insert the following account of the open-
ing of the navigation at Cronstadt for the last 11 years ;
it will probably be interesting to your readers. Your
correspondents have been rather premature in their elec-
tric telegraphic despatches.
A RUSSIAN MERCHANT.
London, April 11, 1854.
1842—First ship came in 30th May, N.S.
1843
1841
1845 24th April,
PP
1846
1847 l3th May,
1848
1849
1850 l2th „ „
1851
Qd
1852 - 25th
1853

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, A MIL 12.

The Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the
Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Princess Alice,
and the younger members of the Royal family, and at-
tended by the Ladies and Gentlemen in Waiting, arrived
at the Castle about half-past 4 o'clock this afternoon
from town.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived
yesterday at her residence, Frogrnore, from London.

The Queen will hold a Privy Council on Saturday
next, the 15th inst., at Windsor Castle.

Her Majesty and H.R.H. Prince Albert left Bucking.
ham Palace at 25 minutes before 4 o'clock yesterday af-
ternoon for Windsor Castle. The Queen and Prince
were accompanied by their Ropal Highnesses the Prince
of Wales, the Princess Royal, Princess Alice, Prince
Alfred. the Princesses Helena and Louisa, Prince Ar-
thur, and Prince Leopold. The Royal suite consisted
of the Viscountess Canning, Lady Caroline Barrington,
the Hon. Lucy Kerr, the Hon. Mary Bulteel, the Earl
of Listowel, Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Major-
General Berkeley Drummond, Lord Charles Fitzroy,
Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Hugh Seymour, the Hon.
and Rev. Gerard Wellesley, and Mr. Gibbs.
Her Majesty and the Prince were conducted to their
carriage by the Marquis of Breadalbane, Lord Ernest
Bruce, Lord George Lennox, and Colonel Wylde.
The Royal party quitted the Palace in seven of the
Queen's carriages, escorted by a detachment of Carbi-
neers, for the terminus of the Great Western Railway
at Paddington, and travelled by a special train to
Windsor.

The Lord Chancellor will receive the Judges, Queen's
counsel, &c., on Wednesday next, the first day of
Easter Term, at his lordship's residence in Upper.
Brook-street, at 12 o'clock.

CABINET COUNCIL.—A Cabinet Council was held at
the Foreign-office, Downing-street, yesterday afternoon.
The Ministers present were—the Earl of Aberdeen,
Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the
Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll,
Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon, the Duke
of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir
James Graham, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon.
Sidney Herbert, and Sir William Molesworth. The
Council sat three hours.
THE LATE LADY JOHN MANNEES.—The
. demise of
the youthful Lady John Manners is one of the most
lamentable deprivations which society has sustained for
some time past. Her ladyship was beloved and respected
in every relation in life, and her early death will be uni-
versally lamented.
Shirehall,
occasion Wo rcetshteer,Ro Right
n
DINNER TO THE EARL OF BEAUCHAMP.— A public
dinner is to be given to the Earl of Beauchamp at the
htSautuornd.asyi,r theJoh2n2dinst.,on
which Pakington,
Bart., M.P., has consented to preside.

sentative and constitutional fornis which pervaC-!
both our local and general government, so
wholly without defence from expediency, from
its actual working or from its results, that it
has not secured a solitary advocate amongst
the numerous Oxonians who assisted at the
debate. The Hebdomadal Board, the oligarchy
of Heads of Colleges, interested in nothing but
the pecuniary good plight of the Colleges, and the
necessary fees of the University proper, has fallen
unwept at a single blow; and fallen fur ever.
NERO and Sir CHARLES WOOD allowed wealthy
citizens and East India Directors to immolate
themselves, hut even this last sad consolation was
refused to Heads of Colleges. Whether those
members who absurdly craved enabling rather than
compulsory clauses, really thought the Board might
be induced to commit suicide does not appear.
The questions mooted by Sir W. HEATHCOTE,
as to preserving intact the connexion now existing
between some Schools and the Colleges, is worthy
of careful consideration, which it will doubtless
receive in committee ; also, that of making the
fellowships prizes sufficient to stimulate active
competition ; but we much hope that Mr. GLAD-
STONE and Lord JOHN RUSSELL will be very firm
against the insidious proposal to permit each sec-
tion of the new Council to be elected by their own
class. This would truly be, as Mr. GLADSTONE
observed, to fix and perpetuate class distinctions
to the end of time. The Congregation, which is
to elect the Council, ought to be as comprehensive
as possible of all the effective residents in the
University, and, as we pointed out at the first,
it ought to have been left free to elect
Heads of Houses, or not, at its discretion.
The least which could be done was to place
their election in the hands of a general body,
and thus to insure as far as possible that such
Heads of Houses as were placed on the Council,
should be the best and the most liberal minded of

their class. As might be expected from the name
of Mr. GLADSTONE on the back of the bill, it is of

the most complicated character. Mr. BLACKETT
pointed out how its most liberal clauses were neu-
tralised by others, prohibiting with one hand the
free exercise of those powers by the Commissioners
which it gave them with the other. And there
can be no doubt that it 'vas this balancing and
temporising adjustment throughout which secured
its walking the course, so far as principle was con-
cerned. None had all they wanted, but all had
something. One complained that it left the laity
still to be educated by the clergy, another rejoiced
that it did so, but he again had to deplore some
liberal-looking clause. Of course all these minor
matters will be fully ventilated iu committee, but
we surmise that few important alterations will be
made.