The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-18 00:00:00

CONVENTUAL AND MONASTIC
• INSTITUTIONS.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
state of the law with respect to the property held by con-
ventual and monastic institutions, resumed its sittings
yesterday, the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers in the chair,
As on previous occasions there was a large number of
Roman Catholic priests present.
The first witness called was Mr. Cudden, a gentleman
who has for upwards of twenty years followed the profes-
sion of a conveyancer, and was at the bar. He stated in reply
to Mr. Matthews that he represented the various religious
orders of men in this country. As a general rule property
held by religious communities of men was derived from
the different members of the community, and was thrown
together as common property. Securities for the property
were held by two or three private individuals as absolute
owners. All the members of the community were per-
fectly aware of that. In judging as to whether a claimant
should be admitted into a religious order, their talents,
virtue, and ability were chiefly considered. They did
not often bring much money into the order, and
it was a popular mistake to suppose that a man
entering a religious community injured his family. It
was an invariable rule that before a man became pro-
fessed he must give up all his property, though he might
dispose of it as he chose. In the case of an elder son, he
was obliged before his profession to renounce his inheri-
tance, except, perhaps, a small annuity; and in the event
of anything coming to him afterwards in the shape of a
reversion, it was passed over to the next heir. That
was the invariable rule of religious life. The reason
was that before the Reformation the profession
of a religious man involved civil death, and it
was considered that he did not require money. It
was impossible to hold the property of a religious order of
men in trust, because it would be illegal. Generally
speakine., the holders are members of the order, but he
knew of several cases in which they were not. There were
in 1860 about 700 churches and chapels of the Romish
mission in England. Very few had charities attached.
Catholicity had then begun to revive, and none of the
new chapels had charities. There were in the country
ten colleges conducted, by permission of the legal owners,
by ecclesiastics supposed to belong to religious orders—of
course, he must say " supposed " on account of the
penalties that still exist. There were 2,032 acres
of land held by those ten colleges. By per-
mission of the legal owners this land is acquired
and used for the purpose of supplying those who in-
habited the religious houses with various articles of pro-
duce, which, in consequence of the college being very
often at some distance from the towns, was an absolute
necessity. In those ten colleges there were now about
1,192 students of the higher class and higher middle class
who receive a first class or classical education on much
cheaper terms than in any ordinary Protestant colleges.
These students were under the care of preceptors of the
highest attainments,who enjoyed no emoluments whatever
for their services, but who render them for the promotion.
There were also 430 acres additional land held by the col-
leges, in consequence of the necessity arising for the ac-
quisition of land in view of the increase of the colleges,
and to avoid annoyance by strangers ; and they also held
151 houses and parochial residences, three-fourths of
which were occupied by perhaps only two or three
religious men. These persons had under their care
278,850 souls, including 92,264 children. The total annual
income held by all the orders together was £10,350
per annum and no more. The practice was whenever any-
thing came in to anyone, beyond what was required for
their actual support, to expend it in some good work at
once, and, if necessary, they would not hesitate to give
£l,OOO for a telescope if it was required. The money
they did receive was expended in the exercise of
the offices of their religion, both in this country and the
colonies. They felt it as a deep insult that the various
sections in the Catholic Emancipation Act treated them
as if they were returned convicts and criminals. They
complained of the sections in that act relating to what
were falsely termed superstitious uses,and they considered
that they were treated in England in a different
manner to any other community, and demanded
that they should have liberty in the disposition of their
property in any manner that they chose. We find that
Protestants can leave their money to their colleges, and
we cannot understand why we cannot have the same
liberty ; and we also complain of the restric-
tion in regard to leaving money for what
were termed superstitious uses. He was of
opinion that monasteries and convents should be legalised.
The Jesuits had occasionally been expelled from
various Catholic countries, but it was gene-
rally during times of revolution, and they knew
what followed. In this country one Englishman
ought to be as free as another.—By Mr. Newdegate : He
had no doubt that-some of the orders were represented at
Rome, but not all. There were no obligations in the
order which militated against their being English-
men, and discharging the duties of Englishmen.
He did not want Parliament to interfere and relieve them
of the restraint of the law of mortmain. He said that the
law of superstition was an offence to him and some of his
brother Catholics, but he did not pretend to speak
on the part of the great body of the Catholics.
The 2,032 acres were held by the colleges, he did not say
that it belonged to them. He declined to say whether
Stoneyhurst was one of these colleges, though he
should say that Oscott was not, because everybody
knew it was not. He certainly would hot say
what property belonged to any of the colleges. He
appealed to the chairmain whether he ought to
be called upon to mention the name of any particular
college.—The Chairman said that it was impossible at the
present stage to ascertain what was the object of his
question, and it was not at that moment irrelevant.—Mr.
Newdegate read the order of reference, and contended
that the question was quite within it.—The witness said
that he was anxious to deal fairly and honour-
ably with the committee, and probably he had told more
than he was really called on to tell. He thought that he
would have been quite justified in withholding the infor-
mation respecting the acreage. He thought that inas-
much as there were certain exemptions in the law of
mortmain which operated in favour of Oxford and Cam-
bridge, they, ought to have the same exemptions, and
that inasmuch as the Protestants managed their own
colleges in the way they liked they thought the Roman
Catholics should be allowed to manage theirs as they
pleased. The Pope's brief had no effect on the devolution
of property in this country. He was speaking in a legal
sense and knew nothing about what effect it ought to
have on conscience. He knew nothing of conscience in
the matter. There was no continuing charitable trust.—
By the Chairman : He had consulted with the solicitors
of the Monasteries in order that he might get the fullest
and most accurate statements, and the gross income of
£10,350 was the result of the total amount brought by
the religious persons to the monasteries.
The committee adjourned at 4 o'clock.

THE BELGIAN ELECTIONS.—News of some im-
portance arrives from Belgium. The elections which have
taken place this week for half the Chamber of Represen-
tativqs have proved very unfavourable to the Liberal party,
which has been for many years in power. Two members of
the Fiere-Orban Cabinet, the Minister of the Interior
and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have not been re-
elected. What is more, the Catholics have carried a
great number of seats which were hitherto held by
Liberals, so that the Government, which hitherto had a
majority of 24, is now likely to be in a minority.