The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-10 00:00:00

S
:\7l-Try

~,~~>

N

. •
• •-•"" 1
1 1511.4t,t00, Aat ji floe did held tius pull
of the Bill to be generally inapplicable, he could **lc, iv To it
a peculiar reason for adopting it in this case. 17("7"1-`-r.13*
could not conceive how any person at all valuing
consistoncy, and who voted for the motion of the
Hon. Member for Devonport, could rcfuse to vote for tios
Bill, nor could he understand how any lion. elenaber voting
for the Irish Colleges Bill could refuse to vote for it, ,
Academical education in Scotland had some pa, Wier character-
istics. It differed entirely Vann that of England and Ireland. The
English Universities had a character of their own—ancient and
a deeply-marked character it might be, but, good or bad, it. was in
perfect harmony with the system of tests. The lush colleges
had no character at all—they have yet to receive it from the
Legislature, and would bear any impression which the Legislature
put upon them. But the Scotch universities had a distinguishing
characteristic quite out of harmony with the system of tests. He
entreated English gentlemen not to be impost d upon by the
word University, nor to derive their idea from she nature
of the Cambridge and Oxford Universit:es. What ought
to be done with the English Universities was a perfectly
distinct question, to be dealt with on entirely distinct grounds.
At Cambridge and Oxford the object was to bring
up men members of a particular Church. At
Cambridge, no person was suffered to graduate without dea
claiming his adhesion to the Church of England ; at Oxford,
they were still more strict. The discipline even outside the
walls of the college was analagous to that preserved within.
Attendance in these universities was required at the common
refectory ; they must be within the gates at a certain time ;
officers were appointed to report whether or no the students
had been present at divine worship, or in tie hall at the
proper hour. There were even officers appinted to watch
over the students in the streets, to prevent drunkenmss and
gross immorality. Punishment was inflicted where there was
any breach of decorum or intemperance. In shcrt, the
English universities undertook to form the religiou- opi-
nions and watch over the murals of the undergradu-
ates. Whether these rules and regulations accomplished
the purpose for which they were designed was another question.
They did not aim at inculcating any particular creed. A Jew
might be a master of arts, or a doctor of medicine, in the
Scotch universities, and the professors had no right to ask a
man whether he attended a synagogue, a mass-house, an
Episcopal chapel, or a Dissenting place. No inspection, no
punishment, could take place. The relation between a Scotch
professor and his student was the same as that which existed
between a man walking St. George's Hospital arid his superior
—he might attend the lectures of Professor Faraday at the
Royal Institution, or of Dr. Carlisle. Tests ware cur of ;:lace
as applied either to the student or the profetioor, and it was idle
to require a man to be a Prot stant to admit a Catholic, or a
Trinitarian to admit a Unitarian to a degree, The Hon. Gen-
tlemen opposite might appeal to the Union and the Act of Se-
curity, but he denied that on those Acts they were
precluded, nay more, he positively asserted, on the contrary,
that they were absolutely required by them to apply the
principle he sought, This he would prove, not by paltry
quibbling, but what he believed would be the most incontro-
vertible arguments; arguments founded on that Union which
he was willing to consider as a sacred trust, entered into by
the two countries, binding them both to each
other in bonds of indissoluble sanctity.—(Hear, hear.)
Now the Act of Union and the Act of Security provided that
no person should be allowed to occupy any place as a teacher
unless they sul.scribed to the Confession of Faith, and con-
formed to the Established Church. The Articles of Union
were such as he represented in 1707, in regard to the Esta-
blished Church. At that time there was only one Church.
Now, he would ask, was the present Established Church of
Scotland the same as that at the time of 1707 ? He would
answer, not. British legislation had violated the Articles of
Union by the changes which it had made in the Church of
Scotland. It was a principle of the Church of Scotlant, at
the time of the Union, to allow the people to have a voice in
the appointment of their religious teachers. The Ariictes of
Union gave the people this privilege. This was the opinion of
the great body of the Scottish Presbyterians. They considered
that the right of appointing pastors by the people was a ques-
tion of great and vital importance. They stated this to be a
fact which could not be impugned. They maintai led that the
people should have a share in the appointment of the mini-
sters who administered to them religious instruction. On
this point they held the opinion
,jure de vino. He was not
exaggerating the opinions of the members of the Church of
Scotland in what he was thus expressing. The Act of 100
gave the power to the people of the disposition of presentations,
which were generally considered to he a fair representation of
the general body. That was the constitution of the Church oe
Scotland at the time of the treaty of 1707. Five minutes after
the union took place a great violation of this compact occurred.
In 1710 the Whig Government were driven from power, and a
Tory Ministry was brought into office, and kept in office, and
that Ministry regarded the Presbyterians of Scotland sk ith great
concern. The general opinion of the Union was, that the Eng-
lish were desirous of breaking the treaty as far as possible with-
out interfering with the State, and the -Act of 1712 violated the
treaty which had been of iginally entered into in 1707. From
the Act of 1712 most undoubtedly followed every
great secession and every great schism which had
since occurred, and, among others, that of 1752.
And in the last two years they saw, it might be with disap-
probation, but certainly not without strong sentiments of ad-
' miration, 470 ministers of the Scottish Church throw up their
charges, and resign themselves to the care of Providence.
( Hear, hear.) They saw their followers also leave with them.
They had their worship, not in churches, for they had none,
but on hills and moors, as their forefathers had done when
they were animated by a similar spirit. The rich had, in the
case he had cited, contributed in a princely manner, and the
poor had also contributed in the same spirit with which the
ssoor widow contributed her two mites to the treasury of
Jerusalem.—( Cheers.) The secession was the first of the
statute of 1712, and from that Act, and that only, did the present
disputes arise. This was the true historical statement, and
these were the results of the Act of 1712. He implored them to
consider the manner in which that Act was acted on. They
effected the treaty, and, in five years after, they broke through
it, and the consequence was the secession of a great body of
worshippers, until at last the Church was left in a minority.
They ought to attend to the conscientious scruples of that
Church, for, let them suppose that Boston, the author of the
ccFourfold State," or other worthies of his class, were now ex-
isting, and supposing they explained to tht m the nature of the
revolution which had taken place in tlie Church of Scotland—
if they asked, " Is this your Church, is this the Church which
was to be protected by the Act of Union ?" they would say,
No ; our Church is the Church of Chalmers and Sir David
Brewster, not the Church of Dr. Hill and Dr. Muir. The
Right Hon. Gentleman had said that the universities was not
now subject to these experimental tests. Those tests had been
discarded by the Dissenters. The Ministers came down to that
House to estab:i,li colleges in Ireland without tests, and then,
two hours after, they proposed the introduction of tests into
the Scottish universities ten times as stringent as they were
before. He thought the House would not submit to allow
such things as these to pass unnoticed. 'I he tests of late y ears
had fallen into desuetude, and of the present professors
in the University of Edinburgh twelve were Non-conformists.
Bath the Right HOP. Gentlemen opposite had filled the office
of Lord Rector of Glasgow, and could give good evidence that
tests in the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh were aban-
doned, and, if abandoned, why were they now sought to be re-
vived ? They were not enforced while all the people of Scot-
land were members of the Established Church, but as soon as
the majority of the people of Scotland became Dissenters, it
was endeavoured to enforce the tests. He would read a paper
from the Presbytery, conceived in such a spirit that he must
say that he thought the Presbytery would have very little rea-
son in future to speak against the intolerance of the Vatican.
The paper was addressed to one of the ministers, and concluded
by recommending the removal from his office, " for the love of
God, the safety of the Church, the prosperity of the kingdom, and
to deter others from committing the like offence." " The glory
of God !" This was not the first time that the glory of G-ti had
been made a pretext for the intolerance and injustice of nein.
If she is under the necessity of burnishing up her arms fur her
defence in a warfare of that kind, the days of the Churcti of
Scotland were numbered.—( Hear, hear.) The difficulty was
to obtain menof great eminence and abilities to fill the chairs
of universities. Now they had all the world—all Scotland—to
make a selection from. If they threw out the present Bill, they
would narrow their choice to one-half of Scotland, aod the
emoluments would be proportionably reduced. If such a course
were followed, the consequence would be the decay of the uni-
versities—those institutions which boasted of the names of
Adam Smith, Dugald Stewart, Mayfair, Black, and Jamieson.
—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) The Govrrnmetit went from one
extreme to the other—backwards and forwards—like a reed
shaken by the wind. They established four tests at Limerick,
four at Glasgow, and three at Aberdeen. Was it possible that
such a Government deserved public respect or public confidence?
Was it not strange that even their most liberal measures failed
to gain the applause of liberal men ? Was it a wonder if they
lost the confidence of the country ? But he spoke to the
House—he spoke to those gentlemen who voted with the Go.
yes nment on Monday. He knew party had its obligations, but
they had their limit, but there were some measures into which
no party should follow their leader.—(Cheers.) They wanted
to appoint men who would declare their opinions in favour of
all points of Church government. He implored those members
of the Church of England to protect those doctrines winch
they believed to be true, and all who loved science and learn-
ing to stand by them that day and aid them in awning the
destruction which was threatened to the universities of Scot-
land. The Hen. Gentleman concluded by moving that the
Bill be read a second time, and resumed his seat amidst great
cheering from the opposition.
Sir J. GRAHAM said, the subject which the Honourable
Gentleman had brought forward to accompany a great
question of public policy, should not induce him to
depart on the present occasion from taking a fair review of the
arguments which he had brought forward, nor to trust
to his abilities to sustain the decision to which her
Majesty's Government had come to on a matter of
importance with respect to the universities of one
part of the United Empire. His (Mr. Macaulay's)
arguments with respect to the new colleges were diametri-
cally opposed to those which it was his duty to urge on that
occasion. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said that he had
observed the marked hesitation with which Government
had stated their views and intentions with respect to this
particular measure. Now, in the last session of Parliament,
this identical proposition was brought under the considerations
of the House by a motion introduced by the Hon. Gentleman
the Member bar Perth, and sustained with great ability and
argument by the Hon. Member for Leith. On that occa-
sion it was his duty to state to the House the reasons which had
induced the Government to resist this proposition. In the
present session the Hon. Member for Leith asked for leave to
introduce this Bill, and he (Sir J. Graham) stated on the part
of the Government, that although they were not prepared to
resist the first introduction of the measure, yet the utmost de-
liberation had not induced them to come to any deci-
sion upon the subject different to that which ',hey had
fittroa
mey
timt thoughtd e .
that arrived
theai
rt
subsequenti the last session.ingu tinquiries
bOand
cison, and although they did not oppose the first rts,taaleft introduction of
due
the Bill, yet it was distinctly understood _ open for
thete n dceodn
Government to pursue
They
Loduraseccotrhdeiyngmlyisgihntceaft,eati•dwards
think proper to at opt.
their deliberations
had induced them to come to the decision that it was their
attention to the matter, and the result of• I
duty to resist the motion which the Hon. and Learned Member
had just made. It was not for him, however, to go into foreign
topics,
but it was his duty to consider, in dealing with this
question,
what were the engagements which the Crown
was under to the people of Scotland, and the effect of
making the great change which this Bill sought to introduce
into that country'. Without having any regard therefore to
foreign topics, but with a sincere regard for the interests of the
people of Scotland, it was for him to ask himself what was the
correct and proper line he ought to take in dealing with this
question. Now, if it were simply a question for altering the
religious tests in use in Scotland, in the same manner as that
proposed the other evening by the lion. Member for Devon-
shire in respect of the Irish colleges, he should be fully prepared
to prove to the House that it was tar better to adhere to the
is sts in use in the universities of Scotland, because they rested
upon the sanction of ancient statutes, rather than to intrnduee
any modified terms into them. The Right lion. Gentleman
in some parts of his speech had alluded to the conduct of Go-
vernment with respect to the Irish Colleges Bill in dealing
with the question of tests, but he appealed to the justice and to
the recent recollection of the House, whether throughout
the whole of their arguments with respect to the admission or
exclusion of tests from these colleges, they did not invariably
rest the course they were taking upon the peculiar and especial
circumstances connected with the people of Ireland ?—( Hear,
hear.) He by no means contended that, as a general prin-
ciple, it was safe or expedient to exclude from universities of
any sect the necessity of religious tests, but the course which
the Government had taken in regard to the Irish colleges was
, justified by the peculiar otrettinetancea in which the sister king-