The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-19

opinions TO that OF the lato Cardinal Cullen who
was regarded as the mouthpiece ofthe Vatican.
and the other heads Of their Church This
action broke up the Liberal party. and resulted
in tho downfall OF the Gladstone Government.
Next came, two sessions ago. the Disrae
measure. entitled " The Intermediate Educa-
ton bill" Although the idea on which 1t is
founded was Mr.. Robert loves. Lord Bcacons-
field deserves the credit Of having Mt once seen
its prnctcabilty and made it his own. 1t is n
simple measure. appointing Board OF Commits
sioners. like the National Education Board two
OF whom-one a Protestant. the other Roman
Catholc-aro paid officers with a salary of
1000 year. and empowering them to award
to the pupils Of school of any denomination
scholarships and prizes out OF n sum appro-
printed from the moneys received under the
Church Temporalities act" This legislation
was received with universal approval.
Now comes the O'Conner Don. with a.. edu-
catlonal measure which proposes to establish
n national university on the same principle and
with an endowment Of s75.00O.000 to start
with. drawn from the same source. From the
meagre details as yet furnished us we are un-
able to give the provisions OF the measure with
nice exactness. but MS II has been much dis
cussed. we shall not err widely in assuming
that It proposes to establish a Governing SEN
ate. something similar to the Intermediate Ed
ucation Board. the Chancellor and Vce-Chan-
cellor. and ut first half OF the Senate to be
nominated by the Crown the other half TO be
elected. In time all the members of the Senate
arc to DO elected. This body is to have the
power OF appointing examiners. who will award
scholarships and prizes to tho scholars Of all
affiliated colleges of all denominations. and
also power similar to that OF the Dublin and
n. # a
Should this measure pass. the result will be
that the Queens and Catholic universities will
lnpse and become merged in the new univer-
sity as aflliated colleges. Tho difficulty will
arise in fixing the curriculum OF examination
for the pupils OF the affiliated Roman Catholic
colleges but this may be surmounted. The
measure wns framed by the ato leader OF the
Irish party. Mr.. Butt. after many and anxious
conferences with Lord Beaconsfeld and the
heads Of the Roman Catholic Church. and was
committed by him 10 the care Of tho O'Conner
Don. who commands. more than any other
irish member the respect and confidence OF all
parties in the House. Sir Stafford Northcote.
the Government leader in the House. while rs
senting to first reading OF the bill. asked for
time to consider its provisions. OF course these
are already known and have boon considered.
Lord Beaconsleld having had several inter-
views Win Carulnal manning, ana inc luke OF
Marlborough having conferred frequently with
the late Cardinal Cullen and others OF the Irish
Bishops. The request for delay is simply to
sound tho feelings Of the party. Lord Beacons-
field not being likely to repeat Sir Robert Peel's
error-the bringing in OF his Free Trade meas
uros without first taking his followers into his
confidence and finding out whether he had cd
ucated them up to the necessary point The
readiness Of the English Conservatives 10 fol-
low Lord Beaconsfeld in the past gives prom
Use that they will do so now. even at the sacrifice
OF old religious prejudices; and. IL So the
gor7 will fall to him of having conquered Il
great difficulty that preceding English states
men have grappled with in vain.