The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-29 00:00:00

VISIT OF THE CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER TO OXFORD.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken the oppor-
tunity afforded by the Parliamentary recess to pay a visit
to his constituents, and is spending a few days with the
Regius Professor of Divinity.
On Thursday a luncheon was given in the Hall of
Balliol College, by Mr. Woollcombe, senior fellow and
tutor, Mr. Lake, the senior proctor, and also fellow and
tutor of that college, and Mr. Wall, the senior bursar,
to a large party assembled to meet the re-elected repre-
sentive of the University. Among the guests were the
Vice-Chancellor, the Provost of Oriel, the Principal of
Brasenose, the Warden of All Souls, the Master of Pem-
broke, the Principal of St. Alban Hall, the Junior Proc-
tor, Mr. Greswell, Mr. Ley, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Stokes,
of Christ Church, Mr. Haddan, Mr. Wayte, of Trinity,
Mr. Barrow, Mr. Hedley, of Queen's, Mr. Omerod, of
Brasenose, Mr. Rawlinson, Mr. Fanshawe, of Exeter,
Mr. Heat, of Corpus, Mr. Goldwin Smith, of Univer-
sity, Mr. Price, of Pembroke, and Mr. Espin, of Lincoln,
and a large number of Masters of Arts, from various col-
leges, with several ladies. After the discussion of a
roost liberal supply of viands,
Mr. WALL rose, and after a few words, said, he felt

sure that all would heartily join with him in wishing
health and strength to the "Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer."
The health was drank by the party, standing, and
with hearty and continued applause.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose, sup-

porting himself with a stick on account of a temporary

Ivmeness, and returned thanks in a speech of some
length. He felt that the title under which his health
had been proposed, conferred an honour upon him which
was in a great degree undeserved, and certainly in the
portrait which had just been drawn he had no little
difficulty in recognising himself. Whatever he had
obtained, whatever was best and strongest in him-
self, he felt that he owed to Oxford more than to
any peculiar exertions of his own. And it was a
great satisfaction to him in mature life to be united by
a fresh tie to the place of his education, a place from
which he had derived the greatest advantages, of which
he had always retained an affectionate recollection.
He felt especially how much he owed not only to the
confidence, but even to the indulgence of his consti-
envy, especially in that he was precluded by the etiquette
of the University from giving such explanations as are
usually given to other constituencies of his political con-
duct on certain critical occasions. He would now break
through that etiquette, but would endeaVour to steer
clear of politics, and especially of disputed political
questions. But he wished, if it were not trespassing too
much upon his audience, to say a few words on a sub-

Sect of great interest to all those present—the legislation
and general improvement of the University. (A general
murmur of applause invited him to proceed.) In
looking back on the histories of our Universities, he
thought it would be found that from a very early
period they had done their duty in taking the

lead in the advancement of the English mind. In
the dawn of renewed civilisation, in the struggles of
the Reformation, in the succeeding generations, they
had held their place ; b'it after the Revolution
of 1638 they had for a considerable time had less in-
fluence, and shown less activity in directing the
public mind. Great as had been the advantages of that
revolution, it must be confessed that we had paid dear
for them. Half a century of disputed succession had
interrupted the legislative progress of the country, and
diverted the public mind from such improvements as
had been gradually advancing in other periods. And the
Universities had been during that time apparently less
efficient as to the general influence of their education.
In the reign of George 111., they had resumed their ac-
tivity, and had even taken the lead in their part of the
social improvements which had occupied the legislative

mind of England since the beginning of the century. At

the beginning of that period they were certainly in ad-
vance of the rest of the country; but the progress of the
general mind was not only rapid but rapidly accelerated;
and there were points now on which he thought that the
advances made by the University were behind what the
nation had learned to expect, and public opinion to
demand. He considered that there was a body of men
here in whom the country had confidence, and whom
it regarded with feelings of respect and gratitude—the
resident body of the University. He would venture to
say, that if the House of Comna-ons afforded any criterion
of public opinion, that opinion was on the whole friendly
and respectful towards the University, but that the re-
taining of that confidence and respect depended much on
the course now taken by the University itself. There
were resources, both pecuniary and moral and intellec-
tual resources, which were not brought to bear on the
proper work of the University, and which might be

brought to bear upon it by such improvements as had al-

ready been commenced in some of the colleges. With
respect to that within whose walls they were assembled,
he could say with satisfaction that he believed it was
doing nearly the utmost that could be expected from the
means it possessed. But it was well known that in

other cases there were large resources not hitherto
so usefully applied, and he trusted that all
would co-operate in the endeavour to justify them-
selves in the eyes of the country by making the best use of
their-means for the advancement of education. If the
University would do its duty in this respect, especially
by extending its advantages to more of the classes it
now receives, and to as many as may be practicable of
other classes, who partake less of its benefits at present,
he felt confident that the country and the Parliament of
England would maintain its independence, and would
only desire that it should continue to put in practice
those fundamental principles on which it had ever hitherto
worked, of the authoritative inculcation of religious truth,
and something like a domestic superintendence of pupils.
But the continuance of public confidence depended on
the course now pursued by the University. For him-
self, however.he might fail of his duty as the representa-
tive of the University, it could not be for want of an
affectionate regard for its interests. He concluded by
proposing the health of the Entertainers.

Mr. WOOLLCOUBE returned thanks, and concluded by
proposing the health of Mrs. Gladstone and the ladies

present,

The party then adjourned to the common-room, am
speedily broke up.

NOVA SCOTIA.-By the census returns of the province
that have recently been published, it appears that the
population of Nova Scotia, which in 1827 was 152,848
-including 30,000 in Cape Breton-has nearly doubled
within the last 25 years, and in 1851 amounted to
276,117 souls, of which 54,778 formed the population of
Cape Breton, the eastern section of the province. Of
this number 73,701 were married persons, of both sexes,
constituting nearly one-third of the entire population.
The small difference between the number of males and
females is a peculiar feature in the statistics of Nova
Scotia, and is accompanied with this remarkable fact,
that the males, except from the age of 20 to that of 40,
attain a greater age than females-the relative numbers
of both sexes, over 50 years of age, being 14,378 males
and 14,223 females. From 20 to 30 years of age, the
number of males was 20,277, and that of females 22,386;
from 30 to 40 the excess diminishes to 14,665 females
and 14,615 males ; beyond which ages, the number of
males again predominates till the age of 50 years and
upwards, in nearly the same proportion as in early life.
There are 230 deaf and dumb, and 136 blind persons in
Nova Scotia. Education is well attended to in Nova
Scotia, where there are 1,096 schools, attended by
31,354 scholars. Of religious denominations, there are,
belonging to the Church of England, 36,482 ; Roman
Catholics, 69,634 ' • Kirk of Scotland, 18,867 ; Presby-
terian Church of N. S., 28,767 ; Free Church, 25,280 ;
Baptists, 42,243 ; Methodists, 23,596 ; Congregation-
alists, 2,639 ; Lutherans, 4,087 ; and the balance
is made up of Universalists, Sandimenians, Quakers,
and other denominations, for whose accommoda-
tion there are 567 churches, with 288 clergy-
men. There are 45,455 inhabited and 2,023 uninhabited
houses, with 45,541 families. The grain crop of last
year was 297,157 bushels of wheat, 196,097 of barley,
61,438 of rye, 1,384,437 of oats-of which 13,875
bushels were exported to the United States-170,301
of buckwheat, 37,475 of Indian corn, 1,986,789 of pota-
toes, besides large quantities of peas, beans, turnips,
and other roots ; and the produce of the dairy were,
3,613,890 pounds of butter, and 652,069 pounds of cheese
-of which a very excellent description is made in An-
napolis county. The estimated value of real estate is
$32,203,692, and the assessed value of personal property,
in eleven of the eighteen counties of which Nova Scotia
and Cape Breton are composed, was $9,491,800. There
were also, in 1851, employed in manufactures, 3,200 per-
sons, 3,895 mechanics, and 36,604 farmers. The num-
ber of acres of dyked land was 40,012, and of other
improved lands, 799,310 acres ; that of horses was 28,789,
of neat cattle 136,857, of mulch cows 86,856, of sheep
282,136, and of swine 51,533. The number of vessels
employed in the fisheries, in 1851 was 812, with an aggre-
gate tonnage of 43,335 tons, navigated by 3,681 men ;
and that of boats was 5,161, with 6,713 men. The
number of seines and nets was 30,134, and the quantity
of dry fish cured was 196,431 quintets, besides 1,669
barrels of salmon, 3,536 of shad, 100,047 of mackerel,
53,200 barrels and 15,400 boxes of herrings. Of the
the mackerel, as will be seen by a statement below,
56,841 barrels were shipped to the United States. The
value of leather manufactured was $220,500, of boots
and shoes $294,616 ; and there were raised 114,992
chaldrons of coal, equal to about 153,000 tons. The
value of imports during 1851 was $2,993,547, of which
$827,100 were from the United States ; and the ex-
ports were $1,509;24; of which $430,130 were to that
country.