The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-24 00:00:00

fller,qtillil ant,

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1850.

" A Bill of Indictment" against the Universities
has at length elicited from the Government a reluc-
tant acknowledgment of the necessity existing for
their re-organization. Such, at least, was the fell
citous consequence of the motion brought forward last
evening in the House of Commons, by the Hon.
Gentleman the Representative of North Lancashire.
Having listened attentively to the very excellent
speech in which Mr. HEYWOOD inveighed against the
perverse maintenance of an obsolete system, having
heard various Honourable Members speak in
terms of coincidence with the declaration that all
systems of academical education require necessarily
to be modified from time to time, according to the pro-
gress of opinion, the change of external circumstances,
and the intellectual advancement of the multitude—
the First Lord of the Treasury explicitly avowed the
willingness of himself and his Ministerial colleagues
to consent to the appointment, and that forthwith, of a
Royal Commission. On this official declaration, of
course—satisfied with the prospective co-operation of the
Executive—the Hon. Member for North Lancashire
at once consented to the withdrawal of his proposal•
That the Hon. and Learned Member for Plymouth
should have questioned the legality of any such pro •
ceeding as the one suggested in remedy by the
Premier could be no matter of surprise, con-
sidering the dim and indistinct character of
the relations existing between the Par-
liament and the Universities. And, under all
circumstances, of course any such objection, coming
from the lips of one whose genius as a legal authority
is altogether indisputable, would be entitled to every
respectful consideration. Yet, when it is remembered
that the scheme spoken of by the Prime Minister is
expressedly sanctioned by the principal law officers
of the Crown, and that the legality of its projection
was formally avouched last evening by the distin-
guished Attorney-General of the Administration—it
• must be sufficiently obvious that the perseverance of
the Cabinet in their reformatory resolution is in no
respect marked by a single characteristic of temerity.
That the intimation of any readiness to reform abuses
of such a protracted existence, and of such a grievous
description, should be received with cries of dismay
and indignation from a certain section of the com-
munity is, again, in no degree subject for asto-
nishment, seeing the devotion, the pertinacity,
and the resolute fanaticism with which some
individuals will insist upon clinging to the relics of
antiquity. Fortunately, however, whatever possesses
within it the influence of wrong and injustice, the
germs of stubborn opposition to improvement, pos-
sesses also, and we may even s iu consequence, the
seeds of decomposition, the blight of destruction.
It is thus that the poet, in our own day, dreams that
he can recognize the ban of decay, even in the
midst of the sacerdotal pomps of the }kernel
City, and that he raises his eloquent and
impassioned voice in the accents of admonition.

" Rome imperial! Rome majestic!
Shade of greatness, vanished all—
Looking down th' abyss of ages
To behold thy rise and fall,
We can trace upon thy forehead,
Queen and wonder of thy day,
Broadly marked the awful sentence,
Pass Away.' "

Unfortunately for CHARLES MACKAY his beautiful
and earnest verses receive a signal disproof in
their simultaneous appearance with the announce-
ment of the triumphal return of his Holiness to
the Vatican. Fortunately for any one who might
have predicted the destruction of the dying
system of the Universities, such a prediction would
have been, last evening, verified by the bold and re-
solute course adopted by her MAJESTY'S advisers.
When the Hon. Baronet the Member for the Uoi-

versity of Oxford opposed the notion of any inter-
ference with the management of academic education,
on the classic banks of the Cam and the Isis,
whether through the interposition of the Par -
liament, of the Cabinet, or of a Royal Commission,
maintaining, in justification of such dissent from the
motion of the Hon. Representative of North Lanca-
shire, that all requisite reforms and improvements were
spontaneously made by the University authorities
themselves, he was arguing complacently on the
strength of a sophism most unsubstantial and trans-

parent. Honourable Members were quite familiarly
enough acquainted with the nature and the position of
the pathways conducting across the Pons Asinorum
to detect at a glance the insufficiency of any such pre-

posterous argument. Not an orator could be found
sufficiently adventurous to defend it with any extent
of gravity, to assail the motion of Mr. HEYWOOD
with any amount of earnestness, or to ridicule the
alternative of Lord JoHN RUSSELL with any degree
of consistency. The very circumstance, in fact, of
such and such laudable changes having been
effected of late years in the University of Oxford
and the University of Cambridge, as those referred to
with so much exultation by Sir ROBERT HARRY
INGLIS, IS a fact of itself powerfully corroborative of
the necessity for comprehensive changes taking
place periodically in all systems of academic educa-
tion. With regard to the evil complained cf in re-
ference to the Dubli❑ University, and especially with
regard to the demand raised by Dissenters for
their admission to the great halls of learning,
this state of things must afford matter
for more serious debate in the adjourned discussion.
What has been rendered obvious beyond the reach of

doubt by the proceedings of the House of Commons
on this particular question last evening is, the impera-

tive necessity existing, at any rate, for inquiry into the
position of affairs at the two Universities (if for nothing
else), and the course adopted thereupon by the Prime
Minister indicates that, in the opinion of her MA-

JESTY'SlGoverninent, such on inquiry should be insti,

:uted through the means of a Royal Commission.

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respecting the Securities for Advancese
resumed
adjourned debate on which is to be
on Friday evening. As we stated on the 28th ult.,
and have since repeated on several occasions, " the
measure is admirable so far as it goes, but it must be
extended to every description of real property. It
would, indeed, inflict a heavy blow and great dis-
couragement on a class already sufficiently aggrieved
if a valuable privilege were extended to mere specu-
lators that was denied to bond fide proprietors. It
would be an act of the deepest injustice, such as we
hope and believe the Imperial Parliament could never
be induced to sanction on any grounds under any
circumstances. It is, therefore, the duty of the
friends of Ireland, of the lovers of fair play and equity
between man and man, to attend in their places and
to demand " justice for Ireland"—justice for the op-
pressed and long-suffering owners of land in that un-
happy country.

The measure is well worthy of most attentive
consideration. The existing state of fr '
a aArs on the
other side of St. George's Channel, the extraordinary
depreciation in the value of landed property—as
evidenced by the recent sales under " the Commis-
sion," and even more powerfully by the fact but too
painfully notorious, that the most eligibly circu:n-
stanced estates cannot be disposed of on almost any
terms, nor can loans be obtained save at the most
ruinous and usurious rates of interest—show suf-
ficiently the necessity of some such enactments.
When NVO hear of an estate being knocked down at
one and. a half-year's purchase—a circumstance of
i
which we trust a full explanation may be afforded on
Friday when we have seen a perpetual annuity, or
yearly
rent-charge of 00/. per annum, secured on
lands
of ample value, sacrificed at 14k ye:espurchaie,

it is surely time to adopt.some remedy adequate to
the nr„ency of the symate eee.
I, We are well aware that it will be said that the
sales above alluded to are bat exceptional cases, and
that better prices have been, and will be obtained in
other instances. A sale that took place on the 16th
instant, in which it was asaerted that lands were sold
at no less than 41 years' purchase, has been tri-
umphantly referred to, as showing that "the great
experiment was proceeding satisfactorily," and "that
there were no substantial grounds for the prediction
cf that wide-spread ruin and confiscation which were
to accompany the operations of the new tribunal."
Unfortunately, however, the case proved rather too
much. Had it been 25 or even 28 years' purchase,
the argument would have been very powerful ; but
41 years' purchase, or less than 21 per cent. for the
amount invested, clearly indicated that there
must have been something more than met the eye
to produce a result so extraordinary. We, accordingly,
resolved to investigate the matter, and to ascertain
the real facts and circumstances, and we have dis-
covered how unwarranted were the joyous paeans
that had been uttered ; that there was, in truth, in
that case, as well as in any of the others to which we
have alluded, a very serious sacrifice, which might
have been averted had the SOLICITOR-GENERAL')
Bill passed into a law ; and further, that the neces-
sity for any sale would have been prevented if the
existing proprietors were allowed, in order to preserve
their properties, to avail themselves of the advantages
about to be bestowed on purchasers. We shall only
add that we pledge ourselves to the perfect accuracy
of the following statement.,
It appears that " Duncormuck and the Hill of
Ballary," the lands in question, contain 145 a. 3a. 12r.
Irish plantation measure, which it may be necessary to
inform our friends on this side of the Channel are
equal to about 233 A. statute measure. The soil is
rich and fertile, and the property is altogether well
circumstanced, and, as we are informed, would, if
out of lease, let for about 2001. per annum to a sol-
vent and improving tenant. The present occupant
holds under an old lease, at 551. 7s.'Bd. per annum,
and there is a quit rent of 2/. 12s. 7d., so that the
present returns are 52/. 15s. ld. And this property
undoubtedly sold for 2,200/. sterling, or forty-one
years' purchase on the present rental !
But the narrator forgot to add what we now state,
that the interest of the tenant will terminate on the
death of a gentleman now in his seventy-second year;
and that, whenever that event may happen, the pur-
chaser will come into possession of a well-circum-
stanced, fee simple estate, producing at least 2001. per
annum, which he will thus have obtained at the very
inadequate price of ELEVEN—not forty-one years'
purchase. We may also add, that the former pro-
prietress, Mrs. GARDE, who, happily for herself, is in the
actual possession and enjoyment of other property to
nearly four times the amount of the charges affecting
four denominations of land, made every exertion to I
obtain a loan, at 5 per cent., sufficient to pay '
off all incumbrances. After considerable diffi-
culty a person was found who could be
induced to waive the objection to Irish security,
which prevented many who had been applied to from
even taking the matter into consideration ; but it was
only on consideration of receiving 6 per cent. on first-
class security, such as in this country would com-
mand the sum required at 31., or at farthest 4, per
cent. interest, and the expenses of the transaction
would have been so very heavy, that the lady was
compelled to sacrifice the inheritance of her ancestors i
at a most inadequate price. We may likewise mention i
that it would probably have gone at a much lower
figure, but that the bidding was carried on by a party
in trust for the family to 2,150/.
_ W e leave these unquestionable facts to the consi- ;

deration of every unpiej mliced mind, and we fearlessly
ask—do they not speak trumpet-tongued in favour of
the cause we have conscientiously advocated ? If the
proprietress were enabled to issue debentures to half
the value of her property she could easily
have procured 6,0001. at 4 per cent. interest,

or nearly, double the sum required, but
in consequence of the existing state of the law and
the impediments thrown in the way of money being
obtained on the security of " real estate," she was
compelled to see it thus sacrificed. We need only
state in addition, that another property—a ground-
rent of 461. 93. 60., issuing out of a mansion in Ste-

phen's-green, in the city of Dublin, for which a
large fine was paid by the present tenant,
the respected Counsel to the Irish Office in Lon•

don—sold for seventeen years and a half's purchase,
which in ordinary times would have brought 24 or
25 years at the very least. And also, that since the
above, the sale of other lands, "the Athen estate,"
containing 970 acres, and yielding a rental of 4601.
10s. 9d., subject only to a quit-rent of 1/. 133. 2/1.,
and to tithe-rent charge, 201. 6s. 6d. per annum, was
adjourned by the Commissioners, the highest bidding
that could be obtained being only 3,3001., or about
seven years and a half's purchase fur a fee simple
estate.

Let Ministers then meet the difficulty
in a fair and straightforward manner. Let
them, as is their bounden duty, bring forward a
general measure suitable to the emergency. We
cannot see that there would be any very extraordi-
nary danger arising, if persons whose estates are en-
cumbered to less than one-half their actual value, or
those who were free from debt, were permitted to
petition the Commissioners in order to be allowed to
issue debentures similar to those which may, if the
present Bill pass iuto a law, be made by the pur-
chasers of "encumbered estates." The same investiga-
tion into title may take place that is now required before
an order for sale is made absolute, and a Parliamen-
tary title might be given to the holders of such de-
bentures. It appears to us that such a provision would
answer every purpose that could be desired; and if,
in addition, the Government guaranteed the punc-
tual payment of interest, charging one-quarter or
even one-half per cent. to cover all expenses, and pre-
vent the possibility of loss, as proposed by us en the
10th inst., the regeneration of Ireland would speedily
be accomplished, and the capital so urgently required
would flow to her shores.

On this part of the case we invite the public atten-

tion to the suggestion of Mr. WiLmoT CLIETWODE, an
Irish gentleman of great intelligence and high respec-
tability, whose letter, extracted from an Irish contem-
porary, will be found in another part of this day's im-
pression.

THE LATE HAIL STORM.—DUBLIN, APAIL 23.
An official return of the estimated damage to prOperty in
Dublin and the environs caused by the hail storm of last
week, is in course of preparation by the police, and gives,
as far as it has been completed, the following results :—ln
;our of the six divisions of which the metropolitan police
district consi.ts, the number of squares of glass broken in
houses has been 294,302, and the total estimated loss, in-
cluding damage to roofs of houses, furniture, vegetable gar-
dens, &e., amounts to 21,388/. 9s. 41. For the division in-
cluding Kingstown and the neighbourhood no return is ne-
cessary, as no damage was dune; but for the remaining di-
vision, for which the return has snot yet been made, one-
fourth of the whole may be allowed, so that the loss suffered
would amount, in the aggregate, to at least 27,0001.
ST. MART'S NATIONAL SCklOOLS.—Messrs.
Hanbury, and Co., the brewers, have subscribed the
sum of 50/. towards the erection of national schools in Spital-
square. The schools when completed will accommodate 250
children, infants and juveniles of both sexes. The Committee
of Education have also subscribed 3501., and the City Corpo-
ration 50/., the National Society, 1501., &c.

_
DEATH' OF LORD FREDERICK BEAUCLERK..--Tilia
reverend member of the aristocracy died on the 22d inst., at.
his residence, Grosvenor-street. Ile was uncle to the late
Duke of St. Alban's, and also by marriage to Viscount

THE WEATHER.—At the Royal Observatory,
daily temperature varied little
was 29,504 inches. The
temperature we, on every
Greenwich, the mean height of the barometer in the past week
throughout the week ; the meand
years;was 43.9 deg., and was about
day higher than on the same ay,oiian average of seven
3higher the m
THE SOUTHAMPTON PORTION OF THE INDIA
mean of
ft
the e week
average.
MAIL.—The Oriental Company's steam-pa chet Indus, Capt.
John Soy, arrived at Southampton yesterday morning, and
landed the heavy portion of the India mai!, under the charge
of Lieut. Brady, R.N., Admiralty agent.
STATE OF TRADE.—MANCIIESTER7 APRIL 2g.—
We have had a very quiet market to-day. The demand,
whether for cloth or yarn, ha 3 only been to a limited extent;
prices, however, are firm. We have some private letters to
hand by the last 'Bail from the United. States of America,
which refer to the prospect for the planting of the new cot-
ton crop. This, up to date, had been very limited and un- !
favourable. It appears that an immense tract of land on the
Mississippi is under water, and will not be available for cul-
tivation during the ensuing season. There is no change in
printing cloth Ivorthy of notice. Forty-inch and forty-five
inch shirkings remain firm in price, and a considerable busi-
ness could be done for early deiivery. T cloths, long-cloths,
and domestic.i are quite neglected. -
BUICK DUTIES BILL.—We understand that, through
repre entation to Sir John Jervis, from Chester, a clause will
be introduced into the Brick Duties Exemption Bill, so that
briekmakers who have taken contracts for making- bricks
previous to the duty being taken off, will have to deduct the
amount of duty from their contracts.—Builder.

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
ci ITT; /7eiftlEr 7 0 n:
The Cotton Market. as Liverpool was eery (!-
fel-day. but pri'oee weee eteatly, and the suit a awmtrvad
to 7,000 bales.—Railway 'Shares generally deblined, but
rallied towards the close.
In the Mincing-lane markets to-day there a good
many public sales. Coffee is more in favour owing to the
intention of the Netherlands Trading Company not to
sell under late rates. Speculatively there is no activity
in any article.
Upon noticing recently the meeting of the Royal
Mail Steam Compaq, we gave a statement from the
directors' report, to the effect that an arrangement
was likely to be cocci, d out for the transmis-
sion of the Brazilian correspondence, but it
appears, from an official answer given in the
House of Commons a few evenings since, there is, in
reality, nothing yet decided on. We can only say that
it is high time something was done, for of all our foreign
postal services the Brazilian is, probably, the wor: t.
The merchants have been complaining us long almost
as our experience extends, and there is very little im-
provement—many will say none—compared with this
time ten years ; a lazy sailing yacht creeping in ever
and anon with a big of letters out of date, owiug
to later accounts by an indirect route, and &ten
through the United States. It is a lac,
moreover, that the West India steamers are being
beaten on the line for which they have long enjoyed
the contract, and thus we constantly receive the
latest Mexican intelligence by the Cunard ves-
sels. Doubtless the telegraph from New Orleans to
New Yerk has to do with this, but we believe it could
easily be proved that under a revised arrangement such
would no loeger be the case, and that ,an alteration
must be made is self-evident, when we reflect that pas-
sengers from Jemaica reach England repeatedly by
way of the United States sooner than if they
came from the island in the West India steamers.
The Royal Mail Company is based upon an ample
subscribed capital, and is nationally important from the
applicability of its vessels, in case of need, to war pur-
poser, but competition is the soul of improvement, and as
the existing contract expires et the close of next year,
parties interested are naturally inquiring whether
it is to be smuggled forward without due provision for
public convenience and economy, or whether a fair exa-
mination of other tenders will be undertaken. Twelve
months' notice will have to be given, otherwise the
present contract continues, but tenders were received
fifteen months sire=s for the Brazilian service, and no
settlement has been effected yet, a sufficient justification
for what some may consider a premature " jogging" of
I official memory.
From the 7th to the 23d inst., the East India Com-
pany drew bills in London to the amount of 105,0391., of
which 90,9971. were on Bengal, 10,567/. on Madras, and
3,474/. on Bombay.
The fare'gn arrivals today bring no news of promi-
nent interest. At Amsterdam, on the 22d inst., the
Funds were rather feeble. Dutch Two-and-a-Half per
Cents. 55 7-16.
The failure of Messrs. Grunan at Elbing (Prussia)
throws out of employment 1,000 persons, and enteils
serious loss upon •n number of small capitalists and
' widows who had lodged their money with the firm to
secure a higher rate of interest.
The English Stock Market opened better this morn-
ing, but as there is very little doing the quotations for
Money have since become a little heavier. Consols have
been quoted 953 t r 96a for Tranefer, and 96 to 968 for
Account. The present quotation is 96, sellers. The
New Three-and-u- Quarter per Cents. have been 97 to
94, and the Three per Cents. 95 to *. Bank Stock is
firm at 2061 to 207. Exchequer- bills are &Ss. to 70s.
premium.
In Foreign Securities the dealings have bees very
restricted. Mr. William Parish Robertson, the late
Chairman of the Committee of Mexican Bondholders Las
published a letter received by him from M. Escandom,
of Mexico, in which it is stated that the amount pending
from Customs duties for the bondholders is 300,000
dollars, that besides what Messrs. Manning and
Mackintosh have already received, another 100,000
dollars may be expected from the Tobacco
duties by June, and that the Congress will give pro-
bably 3,000,000 dollars of the indemnity money, but not
more. The Stock ie firmer, being 29 to u. Pet uvien
Active Bonds are nod the Deferred 298. Equador
bSatrogckaiine ahta3t.tazd
ri Buenoseffected
edAiynre x
Spanish,
s e. at
aned2,l-. Five per
a
t
Cents. are nominally 18i it. Portuguese Four per
Cents. have been done at 33i and 34. Dutch Two and-
a-Half per 0« n's. are 558 to 56. b
Great interest continues to be felt in the proccelings
of the corneanies which are being wound up, and suffi-
cient has been shown in the opinion of many of the
shareholders to prove that the Madrid and Valencia can
pay back 40s.
The Share Market is quiet, but rather firm.
BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
(From the Official List.)

Sank Stock 207 2.061,(
3 per ConL.ltcduced Apiiii,'fics
3 per Ce2t. Consols Anns
Now 31i per Caut. A r"itr-
Lot: -;• 1,--o;tjes, limp. Jan. J:h, 1t.60 8 3-16 8%
In4"a b' ock —
Do. 80,y16, 10001 93 9) p
South SI:". S 'Dec _
Ditto o.ld Annui",;ies
Consols ("0,7 Accoolt
Exchequet bille. 11,0. 2d.
March. June.
. .
1,0f:91.
500/ — 70 68 p
__ ..,.

Small
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Buenos Ay fes BoYAls, 6 per Cent...... 521/4 ex d
Dansh Bonds 1825, 3 per Cent....
Ditto, 5 per Cent
• D.;ti.o, Se ip - 4%4. P
Ecyaclor Bonds
llleltican Llon,'s,lB-' 6,5 sr. Cant., Coupons
Dio Ex Jan. Coupons
Ditto 10- the Account
Peruvian Boads. 4 per Cent —
Dit;4 Accor it
Diao De .et.rcd
PortusaeLe Bonds, 5 per Cent —
Di!.Z9 4 per Celt.
Russian Bonds. 1822, 5 per Cent —
Ditto 41/4 per Cents .. 951/4
Div.:donde on the above payable in London.
Dutch 21/4 per Cent., 12 Gnild ... 55% 56
BIiSINESS,DONE IN RAILWAY SHARES AT ONE O'CLOCK
RAILTFArb. PAID. PER SHAUL.
Birminfrtipm & 07 ordJunct.,
calls duly pd, or with guar. 20
Do., without a guarantee... 20 .
Ca,edor,an 5O .....
Ditto, New 10/. Pre:.erenee 10 ...... 5A3 to
Chester and liolybef;._ .50
Ditto, Prete,:ench - to
Eastern Counties ...
Ed;nburgh and Glesgow
Great Northern
Do. 1/4 A Deterred ... .L. 121/4 1 ''R to
Do., 5 per Cent. Pre'
Great 1/7e3tern .
........100
/...ancasbire 2nd Yorlv!boiro —.lOO .....
_....

Do., Welt Ric"ng UP joa... 11M.... 2 ...... tt-i
LoLdon 8: 81ackwe1......11/.8:!.2.d 3:,i5... to
L-end.. 13',...2;1it..8c South Coast 100 ..... 78 i, ..... to 78
Do., New 5/., gas. 6pr ::`,LIC3 135 ..., . to
Lontfoi Sc Norto W wet:et...L....100 lo2'/..... to
Lo icon and 8. Vvr051ei.a.......10;) ..... 58
Aapcbr, She.thoid, end Lire.loo -
ktidlanti- r. .. .
Dit;;o, 50/. &blrc,s ..... ...... SO ...... 3
ifidland, Coll2ol. iris, lt and

Birm"lgnant, 6 per ren't:....loo ..... 1191/2 to
N'oril irit34l —.. ..
North Staf:ordshirc... . 171,4;
Scottish Ceutr& .......... ... 25 ... .. 114; to
'hrowsbary snd Bitriainglietu 1314 ...... 9% dis to
Shropshire Luton qi.... vA...... to
d)uth Eetterr;

Regls;:zreil No. 4.... I
Wilts, Somerset,&Wey mouth ..... 37%..... to
Talc, Newcastle, an dlierwick 2:5

Do.and Newcastle Eaten. 20
fork and North MlAland .. 50 ..... to

FOREICTiI IiAILW A Y 5.
East Indian
... 5
Ditto ...
Namur and Liege 2O ... .. 6'4 .. ... to