The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-26 00:00:00

OXFORD ITNIVERSITY (No. 2) BILL.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
object of this bill was to confer certain p`Owers respecting
the amendment of the statutes relating to professorships,
similar to the powers which had been granted to the Uni-
versity of Cambridge. It had received the sanction of the
authorities at Oxford.
The bill was read a second time.
REFRESHMENT HOUSES AND WINE LICENSES
(IRELAND) BILL.

On the motion for the second reading of this bill,

Mr. HENNESSY expressed a hope that the bill would
not be proceeded with at that moment, especially as no copy
of the bill had yet reached Ireland. It had been under-
stood that it was confined to England, and there was the
greatest objection in Ireland to its extension to that country.
Mr. WCANN had heard of no objection to the bill ex•
cept from the Alliance, and he thought it would be an ex-
cellent measure to extend it to Ireland.

Mr. MAGUIRE had certainly understood that it was not
to be extended to Ireland, and he thought it would be as
well to try the experiment first in England.

Col. DUNNE had also understood that the bill was to

be confined to England ; but he must confess that he had
never put much trust in that statement, for he. knew that
towards the end of the session, when many Irish members
were out of town, a bill was sure to be brought in for its

extension.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was not
aware of the existence of any great aversion to the bill in
Ireland, and denied that any pledge had been given that it
should not be extended to the whole of the United King-
dom. As regarded Scotland there might indeed have been
some reason for not immediately proceeding with a bill for

that purpose, inasmuch as a commission was sitting an the
subject of public-houses; but that re won no longer existed,
as the commissioners had reported in fav our of the measure,
and their report would be almost immediately accessible to
hon. members. As for the statement of the gallant colonel,
that the Government had given a pledge but that he knew
they would break it, he really thought that the gallant
member ought to be a little more supportel by facts before•
ho gave himself credit for such foresight.
Mr. BRADY hoped that the laws of Ireland would ba
assimilated to those of England as regarded the sale of
liquor, for at present no one could obtain refreshments in
the former country before nine in the morning.
Mr. M'MAIION hoped that, at all events, a delay of a
week or ten days would be allowed before the committal of

the bill, so that Irish members might have an opportunity
of making themselves acquainted with the feelings of their
constituents on the subject.
Mr. SULLIVAN felt sure that the introduction of the
measure into Ireland would be received by the people as a
great boon. He trusted, however, the Government would
preserve the same principles as were carried out in the Eng-
lish bill, and that the excise should have the privilege of
granting the license. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MONSELL agreed with the hon. gentleman that
the bill ought to be extended to Ireland, and at the earliest
opportunity.
The bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be
committed that day week.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION, &c., BILL.

Upon the order of the day, that .the adjourned debate on
amendment on the second reading of this bill should be

resumed,
Mr. G. C. BEN TINCK said that he principally objected
to the bill because it proposed to transfer all chapter pro-
perty to the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners with -
out making any provision for those whose claims were con-
deinned unheard in 1840. He thought those claims most
just, and that the bill ought not to pass without their recog-
nition, especially after what had taken place before the Ca-
thedral Commission issued in 1852, under Lord Derby's Go-
vernment, when those claims were fully considered and
their equity satisfactorily established. A great number of
the cathedrals of this country were not like those of the old
foundation, but were Protestant establishments founded by
Henry VIII. for three distinct purposes—first, for religious
instruction and the celebration of divine worship ; secondly,
for purely educational purposes ; and, thirdly, for works of
charity, and also for public works. For the purpose of con-
ducting the religious services there were deans, canons, pre -
bends, minor canons, and lay clerks; for the second pur-
pose, there were head-masters, under-masters, and scholar-
ships, and for the purposes of charity, old men ware to be
maintained, and large sums to be expended for public works.
What did they find under existing circumstances ? That
the deans and canons, although they had been reformed,
still received very large stipends, whereas the minor canons
and others below them received scarcely anything at all.
Before the act of 1840 the minor canons had been stripped
of so much of their emoluments that they had barely the
income of a curate, and the consequence was that many were
compelled to subsist en the money taken for showing the
church. After the act of 1840 their position was to a certain
• extent improved, but since then the cathedral services had
very much multiplied, and a larger share of duties had de-
volved upon them. He was persuaded, however, that if they
laid their case before the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, their
application would meet with a direct refusal. The next body
of men who were entitled to consideration were the lay
clerks, who had been ill-treated and plundered to such an
extent that hitherto their pay had not exceeded that of a
domestic servant or journeyman tradesmen, and yet under
the present system they had no chance of getting any addi-
tion to their miserable stipend. Then there was the case of
the choristers, who had been still worse treated than the lay
clerks, and he thought that, before the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners attempted to divert the sums of money
belonging to the foundation, they should provide for the
maintenance of those poor boys. All those cathedrals of
the new foundation were to maintain 40 or 50 boys entirely
free of expense, and a certain proportion of them were after-
wards to be sent to the university, but in many cases those
schools had almost ceased to exist. He maintained these
cathedral schools would be of very great use, especially in the
poorer cathedral towns. Nobody could del), that if the bless-
ings of education were diffused throughout the country by
nieF?.s of such cathedral schools, the public generally would
be very much benefited. In every one of these cathedrals
provision had been made for almsmen, but in many in-
stances the almsmen had altogether vanished. Then caw
the question of the fabric. Hon. gentlemen might have seen
a touching appeal which had recently been put forth by the
dean and chapter of St. Paul's to the public to subscribe to