The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-04 00:00:00

UNIVERSITY TESTS.

Mr. a,sked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether he was ,now able to fix the day for the Introduc-
tion of the measure •.promised by the Government for the
abolition of Iteligicuo Tests in the Universities and Col-
leges of Oxford,and Cambridge.
Mr. GLADSTONi: said he could not give any information
on the subject until 0.
Ile saw how the bills that had already
been introduced by thGovernment progressed,
the- Government
b,-/RNADO.

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THE STATE OF IRELAND.
Mr. BENTINCK asked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether the attention of her Majesty's Government had
been called to the dddress delivered on 2Sth February last
to the grand jury of the County Meath, by Chief Justice
Monaghan, when his lordship said " he had never delivered
a charge to a grand jury under the influence of greater
regret. The number and magnitude of the offences which
had been committed since the last assizes were such as to
make one tremble when contemplating the state in which
the country must be," And whether it was the intention
of her Majesty's Government to propose to Parliament,
without further delay, measures for the more effectual
preservation of the lives and property of her Majesty's
subjects in. Ireland.

Mr. GLADSTONE said he had seen the charge, but he
thought it would have been better for the hon. gentleman to
have referredto it as a whole, as the isolated portion quoted
did not give a fair version of the spirit of the charge. The Go-
vernment were aware of their responsibility, and they did
not shut their eyes to the gravity of the crisis, and when
they felt it wav-their duty to introduce -any- measure on
tin subject referred to they would not shrink from the
responsibility of doing so. (Hear, hear.)

Lord J. MANNERS asked whether there would be any
objection to lay the charges of Justice Monaghan, the
Lord Chief Justice, and Mr. Baron Fitzgerald on the
table.

Mr. GLADSTONE said they were not in the possession of
the Government.

THE WOOLWICH AND WHITWORTH GUNS.
Lord JOHN HAY called the attention of the House to
the proposed expenditure in a further competitive trial of
the two guns. He thought that the proposed expenditure
for the further trial was useless, and therefore that it
would not be proceeded with.

Mr. CARDWELL said the experiments were being carried
on in order to test the value of the new metal which had
b3en invented by Sir J. Whitworth to ascertain whether
it was of such quality as to lead to its adoption, in the new
and more powerful guns with which it was proposed to
arm the navy. If the report of those who had been ap-
pointed to carry on the experiments was favourable to the
Whitworth gun, it would doubtless be adopted ; but
until the report of the board of officers was received
nothing could be decided.

Mr. HA-SBURY TRACY deprecated the expenditure of any
more of the public money in further useless contro-
versies between the Whitworth and the Armstrong guns.
The result of all these extensive experiments would be to
produce great confusion, without any compensating good.
He thought if SirJ. Whitworth had invented a new gun of
greater power than any hitherto known he ought to prove its
efficiency at his own expense. He thought it highly ob-
jectionable that so large an expenditure as was proposed
for the trial of these two guns should take place.
Mr. CHILDERS said he had already said that they were
perfectly satisfied with the service gun, and the experi-
ments undertaken were at the instance of the ,Admiralty.