The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-04 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 1845.

The House of Lords met at Five o'clock last evening,
for the first time since the Easter recess.
After the presentation of various petitions,
Lord ASHBURTON rose, for the purpose of offering
certain explanations on the subject of the Boundary
Treaty which he had negotiated between this country
and the United States. He had been accused by Lord
PALMERSTON of sacrificing the Madawaska settlement.
Madawaska was a narrow slip of land, about three miles
long, and Lord PALMERSTON had himself offered to give
it up to America. In fact, his (Lord ASHBURTON'S)
settlement was the more advantageous of the two,
because he had preserved for this country the heights
between the rivers St. John and St. Lawrence, the only
important part of the territory. The Noble Lord also
denied the statement of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, as to the
instructions issued from the Colonial-office to Lord
SYDENRAM, on the subject of these negotiations.
The only negotiations that bad been carried on had
been between Mr. Fox and Mr. WEBSTER, and they re-
lated solely to the disturbances which had taken place
between the irregular troops of Marine and the British
Fencibles of New Brunswick.

The Companies' Clauses Bill was read a third time
and passed.
On the motion of the Earl of DALHOUSIE, the follow-
ing Bills were read a first time :—The Railway Clauses
Consolidation Bill, the Companies' Clauses Consolidation
Bill, and the Lands Clauses Consolidation Bill.

Several of the reports of the Railway Committee of
the Board of Trade were laid on the table.
The Bastardy Bill was read a second time, and their
I,,ardship4 adjourned.
The House of Commons met at Four o'clock.
Mr. DODD moved that the report of the Board of
Trad:• against the Bill intended to be brought in by the
Croydon Railway Company, to authorise the construc-
tion of a railway to Ashford, be referred back to the
Board of Trade for reconsideration.

The SPEAKER said that, before the Hon. Gentleman
proceeded with his motion, the House should decide
whether that motion could come on during the time of
private business.

After a abort discussion as to the proper course to be
adopted,

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE moved that the Hon. Member for
Maidstone (Mr. DODD) be now heard.
This motion, which was opposed by Sir GEO. CLERK,

was, on a division, rejected, the numbers being, for the
motion, 78, against it, 123, majority against the mo-
tion, 45.

Mr. HIMIE moved a new writ for Greenock, in the
room of R. WALLACE, Esq., who had accepted the
Chiltern Hundreds.
After the presentation of numerous petitions against
any further grant to Maynooth.
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the
whole House, for the purpose of considering the Act of
40th GEO. 111., cap. 85, the Act establishing Maynooth

College.
Sir R. PEEL then rose and said, that he had declared
last session that it was the intention of the Government
to consider in a friendly spirit the slate of the College of
Maynooth, and, therefore, no one could complain that
they bad been taken by surprise by the motion which he
was about to propose. He was not unprepared for the
demonstrations against his proposition which had taken
place, but he was determined that the opponents of the
plan should have no cause to complain that they had
been taken by surprise, therefore,he had in the last session
declared his intention of proposing an additional
grant to Maynooth. With regard to Maynooth the
Government might have either continued the present 1
system or discontinued the grant, and repudiate the
institution altogether, or have come forward in a
friendly spirit and offer to improve the present system
of Roman Catholic education. This latter course was
the one he proposed to adopt, not by attempting any in-
terference with the Roman Catholic creed, but, by a
more liberal grant, to improve the system and elevate
the tone of Catholic education in Ireland. The
present grant of 9,0001. a-year was just enough
to paralyse all voluntary exertions while the
vote ,itself was ineffectual and inefficient. The pre-
sent grant was as great a violation of principle as that
which he proposed. But that College had ben adopted
and sanctioned by repeated acts of the Legislature, both
before and since the Union. The Lord Chancellor and
the Judges had been appointed visitors of it—they had
repealed the statute of Mortmain in its favour—they had
enabled the trustees to erect a chapel—and thus the vio-
lation of principle involved in the matter was complete ;
yet this grant was so limited, that the professors re-
ceived only 1201. a year each ; and although learned
and pious men might, by a zeal for their religion, be
induced to undertake these offices for such a paltry pit-
tance, yet they could not expect constantly to secure the
services of efficient professors for such a miserable salary
The building itself was like a dilapidated barracks ;
there was not space to accommodate all the students,
440 in number, with a separate room, and of those stu-
dents 230 were free students, whom the State professes
to maintain, and for whose maintenance they allowed
231. a year each. They thus violated the principle but
gained nothing by it, and surely if they did violate it,
it was better to do it in such a manner as to secure the
services of men of the very highest attainments. So in-
efficient was the sum granted at present that the Col-
lege was in debt, and they were obliged to grant an ad-
ditional vacation of two months to the pupils in order to
save expense. An absolute discontinuance of the vote
would be preferable to the course now pursued. But it
should be recollected that ever since 1795, the year in
which Maynooth was founded, it had been supported by
the State, and that in the reign of GEORGE 111., while
Mr. PITT was Prime Minister, and the Parlia-
ment was exclusively Protestant--and that exclusively
Protestant Parliament consented to this supposed viola-
tion of principle with-nit a dissentient voice. On two
distinct occasions the Imperial Parliament had increased
the vote to Maynooth, viz. in 1807, and in 1808 ; and
Mr. PERCIVAL, on that occasion, implied that if a fur-
ther increase should be necessary, he would not be un.
willing to make it. In 1813, a further addition was
made ; and this state of things having existed for half a
century, would it be prudent or proper to abandon the
connexion on the ground of religious scruples? It would
be acting contrary to the pure precepts of religion to
do: it ; and if now they adopted that principle
they must carry it out with regard to the
Presbyterians, and with regard to the various
sects in the colonies, and they must also refuse to pay
Roman Catholic chaplains for prisons and workhouses.
There was but one other course left—that of improving
the condition of the institution, and that course he was
prepared to take. He would not interfere with the course
of education there, which would be poisoning all the
good that their liberality would effect, but he would treat
the Roman Catholic clergy in a really generous spirit-
He proposed to incorporate the trustees, and to enable
them to hold land to the amount of 3,0001., in-
stead of LOON. only as at present. At present
the stipend held by the professors did not exceed
1221. a year. Instead of defining what should be the
amount of stipend to such professors, he proposed to al-
locate to the trustees of Maynooth certain sums, which
should be placed at the discretion of the trustees, from
which such salaries should be drawn-6,0001. or 7,0001.
a year ; the salaries for professors to vary from 250/.
to 3001. In order to increase the number of profes-
sors it would be necessary to make an additional pro-
vision. He proposed,
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Then with regard to the students, there
ar s
hundred and thirty students in the College, divided d into
these three classes:—the Dunboyne, the Benior,
the Junior classes. He proposed to allot to each 'of andthe
Dunboyne students the sum of 401. per annum, and to
make, in the whole, a provision for 500 students-250 in
the four junior classes, and 250 in the three senior
classes, these being Divinity students. Re proposed
that, for the maintenance of each student, the sum of 281.
a-year should be allowed to the trustees; and, in addition to
that sum, amounting to 14,5601., he proposed for the two
hundred and fifty divinity students in the superior
classes a separate allowance of 20/. a year, making
further sum of 5,0001.; making a total yearly provi
sion of 26,3161. The number of students would be
increased to five hundred, and the building would be
repaired and enlarged. The whole grant would be for
a sum not exceeding 30,000 L He also proposed that