The Sun.
London, England, 1829-02-12 00:00:00

CANIIIIIIDGE UNIVERSITY.

We tejeice to state, from the following intelligence,
that the enlightened and illustrious University of
Cambridge rejected yesterday an anti-Catholic peti-
tion, for which signatures and- supporters had been
hunted out with incredible activity :

" CAMBRIDGE, WEDNESDAY, EEI3• 11.

" Sir,—The following has been read in the senate
House this morning, and will, I trust, be 'rejected
this afternoon in time to send you an account by the•
Fakenham coach
" To the Right Hon. the Lords Spiritual and Tempo-
. ral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land in Parliament assembled,
" ' The humble Petition of the Chancellor, Masters,
and Scholars of the University of Cambridge,
sbowetb,--,
" That your petitioners, feeling the strongest attachment
to the established Constitution of this kingdom in Church
and State, cannot bet view with the utmost alarm any
measures which have for their object the admission of per-
sons professing- the Roman Catholic religion to seats in your
Right Honourable House ;
" That your petitioners avow themselves the firm ft lends
of religious toleration ; but When they reflect. upon the ex-
clusive and unalterable spirit of the Roman Catholic reli-
gion, they are impelled by the most powerful motives—a
sense of duty to their country and to that PrOtestant Uni-
versity of which they are members—most earnestly to be-
seech your Right Honourable House not to endanger the
Constitution of these realms by admitting Roman Catholics
either into the Legislature or into the high offices of the state,
" ' And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall
ever pray,' &c.
. " The petition to the Commons, mulalis mutandis,
is the same.

" The greatest interest is shown by the resident
.members, who are decidedly hostile to the petition.
";The greatest possible exertions have been made
to ensure- the passing of this petition by the Senate.
On corning from the Senate-house this morning, 1
observed some arrivals from the Isle of Ely : the son
ar►d son-in-law of the Bishop, two Minor Canons of
the Cathedral, and others of the clergy, whose dread
of Popery had urged them to lend a helping hand
on this. occasion.

" The petition baying been read by the Vice-
Chancellor, it was pot to the vote in the Nun-
Regent:House, when► there appeared—

Placent
43
Nonplacent . ~ 52
Majority against the petition .-9
" N.B. If rejected in the Non-Regent-House, it
does not come into the Regent-House.

" A MEMBER OF THE SENATE."

(FROM ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.)
" CAMBRIDGE, WEDNESDAY, P.M.

" The cause of bigotry has been triumphantly de-
feated, and its unnatural coalition with a liberal
University is for ever at an end. The petition, of
which I send you a copy, has just been rejected by
the Senate.

" The illiberals in our• body have never, until this
day, made any attempt to recover the ground they
so decidedly lost at the last general election, when
Lord Palmerston, the consistent supporter of eman-
cipation, was returned in opposition to Mr. Barflies,
and the (then) anti-Catholic Mr. Goulburn. A des-
perate struggle was, however, resolved to be made,
in imitation of the cheering example of the doctors
of Oxford and the boors of Devonshire; and great
efforts were put in action to secure the attend-
ance of the reverend inhabitants of the Fens and
the other enlightened districts within hearing
of the tocsin of Sidney and Clare. The appeal
was not unattended to ; and the coaches which
pass through the villages of Suffolk and the
mitred Isle of Ely, made their appearance
in Cambridge, well stocked with sable visi-
tants " making wing to the roohy wood" of
Alma Mater. At three the question was put to the
Senate. That body, consisting of the Doctors and
Masters of Arts, vote separately in two " houses."
The " upper house" consists of those M.. 1. who
are of full five years' standing; the " lower house"
of the junior M.A. The Doctors have the privilege
of voting in either house. The question is first
put in the upper house, and, if carried there affirma-
tively, it is afterwards put in the lower. It was
well known to the enemies of emancipation on the
present occasion, that their only hope lay in the
venerable members of the upper house ; for in the
lower there wt•oulcd have been a majority of not
less than four to one against the petition. The
Learned Doctors, therefore, who supported the
petition, seated themselves in the upper division,
to which the great mass of the non-resident clergy
naturally belonged. With all these foreign aids, the
supporters of the petition mustered only forty-three
against fifty-two of its opponents ! It was there-
fore thrown out, and the handful of illiberals in the
lower house were spared the mortification which
awaited them, in the event of the question having
reached its second stage. Several members of the
Senate had attended from London, at considerable
personal inconvenience, and at very short notice, to
assist in defeating the invaders front the fens ; but
the greater number of them were of the lower
house ; their votes, consequently, were not called
for. Seven o►►ly were of sufficient standing to form
part of the victorious majority; and it is important
to observe, as proving the feeling which prevails
within the very walls of this University, that if
those seven votes were deducted from the poll of
the liberals, there would still be a majority of strictly
resident _Heaters of Arts over the miserable 13,
without seeking to distribute them into their classes
of masters and doctors, residents and non-residents,
curates in the fens and pluralists in the Isle of Ely.
With the exception of the Master and Vice-Master
of Trinity, not a single member on the foundation
of that distinguished College voted in favour of the
petition."

MR. WEST'S COLLECTION OF PICTURES.
—The late President of the Royal Academy was supposed
to have realized a splendid independence—by reference to
our Auction Department it will be seen we have, in com-
mon with the public, been greatly mistaken. A short ex-
tract from the announcement will confirm this distressing
fact:-_-" Thus has Mr. West left for the admiration of the
present and succeeding generations a sublime series of Pic-
tures, from sacred and profiine history, poetry, and original
fancy, including the greater portion of the labour of a long
and meritorioun life, as the only legacy for his children.'"
What a commentary upon this appalling fact is the follow-
ing concise opinion of the venerable artist by Sir Thomas
Lawrence, when he last distributed the prizes to the Stu-
dents of the Royal Academy. He emphatically proclaimed,
" that his works were not only superior to any former pro-
ductions of English art, but far surpassing contemporary
.merit on the Continent,—were unequalled at any period
below the Snool of the Caracci." It will almost partake
of the work of supererogation to state, that until the vear
1768, historical painting was in no wise encouraged in
England, and the immortal 'West encountered the trial in
fear and trembling; how well he succeeded future gene-
rations will acknowledge, and the present will, it is be-
lieved, add their concurring testimony. For this proud
testimonial of having raised the character of English His-
tories.' Art, the public are mainly indebted to the kind and
fostering encouragement of his late Majesty George the
Third, who, in the singleness of his mind, and unbounded
liberality, commanded the late President to paint twenty-
two pictures to adorn the Royal Chapel in Windsor. Our
present Monarch, when be learnt that Mr. West died
poor, was graciously pleased to restore to his family
these precioult gems. It was by the generous devotion
of his pencil to • the noblest aim of his profession,
that first brought British painting into direct association
with the Throne, and raised it into an object of na-
tional importance in the mini of his Sovereign, and yet
" he died poor." Mr. George Robins, in his descrip-
tive announcement, makes the following very forcible ap-
peal:—_" The nation at large will lament that in times
like these, when the march of intellect and improvement
has made such rapid stride', so great a treasure as Mn.
West's Gallery should be left to the hazard and uncertainty
of the hammer ; it was surely not appreciating too highly
the English taste and liberality
to contemplate the British
Institution and National Gallery becoming the depository
of this. entire collection, and thus transmit to posterity a
proud record of what could be accomplished by an Eng-
lishman, and is that peculiar art, which has so long re-
mained in its infancy."

PARLIAMENTARY PAPER.

A , BILL FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF DAN-
GERMS ASSOCIATIONS OR ASSEMBLIES

IN IRELAND.

Whereas are Association Loll for some time past existed
in Ireland, calling itself, or whisit bath been usually
called, " Ihe Catholic Association," the acts and pro-
ceedings of which are dangerous to the public tranquillity,
and inconsistent with the exercise of regular Government;
Be it therefore enacted, by the King's Most Excellent Ma-
jesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and TeMporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,
That, from and after the commencement of this Act, the
said Association shall be, and the same is hereby, utterly
suppressed and prohibited i and every assembly or meet-
ing thereof; or any of the members thereof, as such mem-
bers, is hereby declared to be an unlawful assembly, and
the persons present at the same shall be deemed guilty of
" A MISDEMEANOUR."-[There is a blank, but it is to be
thus filled up in the Committee.]
And whereas divers Statutes have from time to time
been passed for the suppression of dangerous Associations
and Assemblies in Ireland, but the same have been, by va-
rious shifts and devices, evaded : And whereas, in the pre-
sent state of Ireland, it is expedient that, for the time to
be hereby limited, a power should be vested in the Lord
Lieutenant; or ot!,er Chief Governor or Governors of
Ireland, by hie or theft. Preclareation or Order, to pro-
hibit or suppress any Assoriation, Assembly, or Meeting
ofjpersons in Ireland; hich he or they shall deem to lit dan-
gerous to-the public peace or safely,or inconsistent with the
due administration of the law ; Be it therefore enacted,
That it shall and may be lawful for the Lord Lieutenants,
or other Chief Governor or Goessenorto of Ireland, by his
or their Proclamation or Order, to prohibit or tupptets the
meeting of any Association, Assembly, or body of persons
in Ireland, which he or they shall deem to be dangerous to
the public peace or safety, or inconsistent with the due
administration of the law, or any adjourned, renewed, or
otherwise continued meeting of the,same, or of any :put
tho'es f, under any name, pretext, or device whatever.
And be it further enacted, That any two Justices of the
Peace to whom such Proclamation or order shall be given
or transmitted by the direction of the Lord Lieutenant or
other. Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland, for the
setrpose of being enforced, shall and may proceeds with
such assistance as shall be necessary, to the place where
such Association, Assembly, or Meeting of persons is held,
and require and demand admission into any house, room,
or place whatever, where the said two Justices shall have
good reason to believe, upon information do oath, that
such unlawful Association, Assembly, or Meeting of per-
sons is held, and shall and may, in case they shall be re-
fused admission, enter therein by force; and one of the
said Justices, or some other person by order of the said
Justices or of one of them, shall then and there' read or
repeat aloud to the persons so assembled, a command or
notice to disperse, in the words or to the effect following ;
that is to say—" Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth
and commandeth all persons being assembled, immediately
to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart, upon the
pains contained in the Act made in the Tenth year of the
reign of King George the Fourth, for the Suppression of
dangerous Associations or Assemblies in Ireland."
And be it further enacted, That the persons so met or
assentbled together shall forthwith disperse and depart ;
and in case any one or more of the persons so met or as-
sembled together as aforesaid shall not disperse and depart
within the space of One Quarter of an flour from the time
of such notice or command being given, it shall be lawful
for the same, or any two Justices of the Peace then present,
to cause the person or persons so refusing or neglecting to
disperse or depart, to be apprehended and brought before
them ; or such persons or persons may he afterwards ap-
prehended by a warrant for that purpose to be granted by
any two Justices of the Peace within whose jurisdictton
such unlawful Meeting or Assembly shall have been held,
or such offender or offenders shall be found ; and such of-
fender or offenders shall thereupon be proceeded against in
a summary way for such offence, before any two Justices
of the Peace before whem he or they may be brought;
and every person convicted thereof, either on the view of
one Justice so present aforesaid, or on his own confession,
or on the oath of one or more credible witness or wit-
nesses, shall be committed to any one of his Majesty's com-
mon gaols or prisons in Ireland for the term of " THREE"
calendar months, and for a second or any subsequent of-
fence against the provisions of this Act, for the term of
" ONE WHOLE YEAR."—[The periods here named, it is
understood, are to be thus filled up in the Bill, when it shall
go into a Committee.]
And be it further enacted, That every Justice of the
Peace to whom any Proclamation or Order made in•pur-
suance of this Act shall be given or transmitted for the
purpose of being enforced, shall, for all the purposes of
this Act, .as well of conviction as otherwise, be em-
powered to act as a Justice of the Peace within every
county, city, town, or place whatsoever, throughout Ire-
laud.

And be it further enacted, That if any person shall
knowlingly permit or suffer any meeting of any Associa-
tion, Assembly, or body of persons, the meeting whereof
shall have been prohibited or suppressed under or by vir-
tue of .this Act, to he held in any house, building, close,
or other-place to such person belonging, such person, for
every such offence, shall forfeit to his Majesty the sum of
'6 ONH HUNDRED POUNDS" [this suns to be proposed in
the Committwi, to be recovered, with costs of suit, by in-
formation to be filed in the name of his Majesty's Attor-
ney-General in Ilia I‘lJjsty's Court of Exchequer in
Ireland.

And be it further enacted, That ire es.ne any person shall,
after the commencement of this Act, pay or contribute
any sum or sums of money to the Association hereiabrjlre
declared to be suppressed, or to any association or assem-
bly of persons which shall be hereafter prohibited or sup-
pressed under and by virtue of this Act, or to any person
or persons whomsoever, by the order or appointment or to
the use of any such associations respectively, or acting for
on behalf of such associations respectively, or of any Com-
mittee or any members thereof, as such members, or far or
towards any purpose, object, or design of any such associa-
tions or assemblies respectively, or of any Committee or
any members thereof, as such members, or for or towards
any purpose, object or design of any such association or
assembly, every person so paying or contributing as afore-
said, under any pretext or device whatsover, . shall forfeit
and pay, as a penalty for suck offence, " TREBLE" [this
word to be moved in the Cotrunittee] the amount of the
sum or sums so by him contributed and paid against the
true intent and meaning of this Act, or the sum of " r.r;
PouNns" [this sum to be moved in the Committee] at
the election of his Majesty's Attorney-General ; which
said sum to be forfeited as aforesaid shall he payable to and
recoverable by any person for that purpose to be named by
his Majesty's Attorney-General, upon information to be
laid before any two Justices of the Peace acting for the
county, city, town, or place wherein such last-mentioned
offence shall be committed.
And be it further enacted, That the whole of the sums
of money so. paid and contributed as aforesaid against the
true intent and meaning of this Act, shall belong to and
be the moneys of his Majesty, and the same shall become
and be deemed to be es debt due to his Majesty front the
person or persons knowingly receiving or otherwise know-
ingly having the saute, which said person or persons shall,
over and above any stun or sums so knowing received, or
had by him as aforesaid, forfeit and pay to his said Majesty
the further sum of " Fivz HuNnREn PouNns" [the sum
to be named in the Committee] the whole to be recovered
by information, to be filed in the name of his Majesty's
Attorney-General, in the same manner as other moneys
had and received to the use of his Majesty are recoverable
. by law.
And for the better discovery of the amount of the mo-
neys so paid and contributed against the true intent and
meaning of this Act; be it further enacted, that every
person so receiving or otherwise having the same, shall
be obliged and compellable to answer, upon oath, any in-
formation filed in the name of his Majestyla Attorney-
General for discovery of the same, and shall not, by plea,
demurrer, or otherwise, protect himself front giving an-
swer thereto.
And be it further (meted, That any conviction by any
Justices of the Peace, for any offence committed,or any pe-
nalty or stun recoverable under this Act, shall and may be
in the form following, or in any words to the like effect, as
the case may require (that is to say) :
,"ro wit—Be it rementbered, that on the -- day
of in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and -- at in the county of
A. 0. of in the county of -- is convicted
before us, two of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the
county of--, For that he the said A. 0. did not
depart within one quarter of an hour after command had
been given by its [if the convicting Justices be not the
same, Lstate by whom the command was given] far that
purpose, to an Assembly or Meeting of persons prohibited
by a Proclamation of the Lord Lieutenant of Irelar.J, made
on the -- day of , and which Proclamation
ve [to be altered as before, according to the fact] were or-
dered to enforce. For which offence the avid A. 0. is
hereby adjudged by us, by force of the Statute made in the
tenth year of the reign of King George the Fourth, to be
committed to his Majesty's gaol at
to be there imprisoned for the term of Three ca-
lendar Months. [ln case of a second conviction, say for

the term of one whole veer, he the said A. G. having been
' previously convicted olanothil offence against the said Sta-
tute]. Given, &c. Or, for that he the said A. B. did
pay and ronti ibute the sum of -- to the Association
suppressed by an Act made and passed in the tenth year of
the reign of King George the Fourth [or, if the case be so,
to an Association prohibited or suppressed under and by
virtue of 'an Act made in the tenth year of the reign of
King George the-Fourth, against the farce of the said Act.}
Wherefore we do adjudge that he the said A. B. bath for-
feited the sum of being treble the value of the sum
so paid and contributed [or, if the case be so, the sum of
Ten Pounds, being the sun, elected by his Majesty's At-
torney-General] and that he do pay the same to --.
In witness, Scc.

And be it further enactod, That any conviction under
this Act shall not he removable by certiorari or otherwise,
but the same shall be binding and conclusive to all intents
and purposes whatsoever.

And be it further enacted, That every prosecution,
action, and suit, which shall be brought or commenced
against any Justice or Justices of the Peace, constable,
peace officer, or other person or persons, for any thin,
done or acted in pursuance of this Act, shall be commen-
ced.within "THREE" [term to be named in the Commit-
tee] calendar months rext after the fact committed, and
.%Oenth7
not afterwards ; and the venue in every such action or suit
shall be laid in the proper county where the Ihet was corn-
tnitted, and not elsewheie; and the defendant or defend-
ants in every such suit or action shall and may plead the
general issue, and give this Act and the special matter in
evidence at any trial to be had thereepon ; and if snub
prosectition, action or suit, shalt be brought or commenced
shallafter be laid ilimitedn
oofi:
place
egitnhga
than
are, same, or
aid,
tthie,(
Jury shall find a verdict fur the traverser or traversers, or
defendant or defendants; and in such case, or if the Jury
shall find a verdict for the defendant or defendants upon
the unfits, or if the plaintiffor plaintiffs shall become nor,'
suit, or discontinue his or her action after appearance, r
if, upon demurrer, judgment shall be given against tie
plaintiff. fir plaintiffs, the defendant or defendants shelf
have double costs, which he or they shall and may recover
in such and the same manlier as any defendant can by law
in either eases.

And be it farther enacted, That this Act maybe altered,
aniended, or repealed, by any Ac► or Acts to be passed in
the present Session of Parliament.
And he it enacted, That this Act shall commence and
be in force froth and atter the expiration of " TEN" [term
to be named in the Committee] days from find after the
passing thereof, and not sooner; and that No much thereof
as relates to the " Catholic Association" shall he perpetual,
and the residue thereof shall continue in force for " ONE
TEAR" [the period of this Act's duration to be proposed to
the Committee :--The blanks here filled up are understood
to be those that will be proposed by Mr. Secretary Peel,
in the Committee on Friday next] from the day of passing
this Act, and until the end of the then next Session of
Parliament.