The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-02 00:00:00

Ull7 1 VIEIt 81 T Y I.LV TEL L GENt: E.

OXFORD, MAY 1.

In a congregation' to'be held on 'Thursday, May
10, at two o'clock, the statute on the (voluntary)
Theological Examination, which was promulgated
in congregation on Thursday. Feb. 23, having been
amendd by the Hebdomadal Council, will be pro-
mulgated afresh:
The Regius Professor of Divinity (Dr. Jacobson)
proposes to begin a course of public lectures on
Friday, the 11th of May, at 12 o'clock, at Christ-
church. These lettures are intended for students
of divinity who have passed theo examination for
the degree of B.A. in the literce Eumaniores
School. The Professor requests those who desire
to attend to deliver in their names to him, with. a
written recommendation either from the governor
of their college or from their tutor, on Thursday,
the 10th of May.
There will be an election at Brasenose College
to (at least) three open scholarships in the en-
suing Act Term—viz., two of the value of £BO,
and one of the value of £6O per annum, which
last will be awarded with especial regard to
mathematical attainments. Candidates, who must
be under 20 years, and must produce the usual
testimonials of good conduct from their college or
school, are required to call on the Principal befere,
10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 5.
The subjoined notice has been issued by the Vice-
Chancellor :--

" Whereas the late Hugh Edwin Strickland,
Esq., M.A.; F.R.S., F.G. S., &c,, sometime Deputy
Reader in Geology in the. University of Oxford,
eminent for his knowledge of ornithology, had col-
lected before his lamented death a large and
valuable series of birds, of authentic value
in questions of nomenclature and classifi-
cation, as it contains the typical specimens
from which the figures and descriptions in various
ornithological works, and in his own papers, are
taken, and had arranged and partly named them
with great care and skill ; and whereas his repre-
sentatives, Mrs. Hugh Strickland and Henry Eus-
tatius Strickland, Esq., of Apperley-court, Glouces-
tershire, now possessing the same, are desirous 'of
preserving the • collection entire and in complete
order in a public institution, so that it may be here-
after always useful to the student in ornithology; and
for this purpose are desirous of presenting the same
as a free gift to the chancellor, masters, and scholars
of the University of Oxford, subject to the condi-
tions that the collection shall be called the Strickland
Collection, that it shall at no time be mounted, that
_ _

it shall be kept separate and in its present arrshge-
ment, in a dry and well-aired room, and shall be
carefully attended to and frequently inspected, as
to state of conservation, by competent persons, and
shall be always accessible on proper recommends,•
tion and under suitable precautions to students in
ornithology
" In a convocation to be holden on Thursday the
10th of May, at 2 o'clock, it will be proposed :
. "' 1. To accept the munificent offer of Mrs. Hugh
Strickland and Henry Eustatius Strickland, Esq.,
under the conditions above stated.

" 2. To affix the seal of the University to a let-
ter of thanks to the donors for this valuable gift to
the University.
3. To authorise the Vice-Chancellor to defray
the cost of providing for the construction of suitablo
cases with glazed drawers for the reception and
conservation of the collection in a room on the north
side of the Museum.'

" F. JEUNE, Vice-Chancellor.
" Delegates'-room, April 30." •

AGRICUL7'URA PROSPECTS IN
IBBLLAND.

A glorious change has taken place in the weather-
since Saturday night, when the long and dreary
winter was brought to a sudden conclusion by a fall
of soft and genial rain, which .continued with
scarcely any intermission for 20 hours. The harsh
north wind which for weeks blew with such steady
virulence veered to an opposite direction, and yes-
terday the whole face of the country presented the
appearance of an advanced spring season. The
change, too, has been general. A Cork paper of
Monday says:—

" For the last two days it has rained without in-
termission, and it would be no exaggeration, but
the literal truth, to say that this rain was worth mil-
lions of money, for it has arrested the destriction of
millions' worth of property. All that was wanting
to it was the atmospheric warmth proper to this
season. Should this rain be- succeeded by a week's
sunskine, the hopes of the country will be quite re-
established, and all the mischief done by a wet
winter and a cold spring speedily repaired."
A letter from Clonmel, after giving a deplorable
sketch of the effects of the weathcr in the counties
of Tipperary and Limerick up to the recent salu-
tary change, says :

" Saturday list the drought terminated. Rain
commenced to fall copiously about 6 o'clock in the
evening, it continued to descend through the night,
which was remarkably stormy, and Sunday morn•
ing was ushered in by torrents of the fertilizing
fluid, accompanied by a wind blowing fiercely from
the south-west point. There was no intermis,ion
in the fall of rain yesterday. To-day the country
looks £3 per acre improved, and I have heard
several agriculturists state that the importance of
this opportune fall of rain is incalculable."