The Sun. — 1868-06-10 (London, England)

IGNORANCE OF DIVINITY STUDENTS.—In the General Assembly, last week, at Edinburgh, there was an interesting debate upon a proposition for establishing a more satisfactory mode of examining students by the presbyteries of the Church. The contemplated improvement was warmly advocated by Mr. Douglas Maclagan, who gave, from his own experience, an amusing example of its necessity. He said :—ln the medical faculty, with which he was connected, they required the students to pass a preliminary examination in literature and mathematics. At a late examination there were fif cyfive candidates, and in English twenty-seven passed and twenty-eight were rejected. If the Assembly were to hear all the details of the examination, they would be astonished. One of the questions—not a very profound one—was as to the meaning of the word "hypothesis." One of the candidates said that it meant " a machine for raising water."—(Laughter.) Another candidate said that it meant " something that happened to a man after his death."—(Laughter.) One of the historical questions put was as follows :—" Give some account of Galileo and Copernicus ;" to which one of the students replied that Galileo was a man that had committed five murders—(laughter),—another that Galileo and Copernicus were two gentlemen who had fallen together in some battle—(laughter),—and a third student said that Copernicus was " a compound of two metals."---' (Laughter. ) M. Vivien De Saint Martin has in the press a new Universal Dictionary of Geography, which is to contain a description of all the countries and peoples of the world, after official documents, and the results of the latest investigations of topographers, archwologists, natural historians, hydrographers, and statisticians. At a meeting of the Dublin corporation on Monday, Mr. A. M. Sullivan, of the Nation and Weekly News, appeared for the first time since he had been liberated from prison, where he had been incarcerated on conviction for publishing seditious libels, in his place in the council chamber. He received a warm ovation from both sides of the house. He claimed indulgence while he thanked the members for their kindness, and as to the proposition that he should be nominated as lord mayor for the ensuing year, he took the first opportunity to come there, and in the strongest but most respectful manner to refuse and disclaim any such compliment. He would place no limit to to the kindness of the house in its desire to compliment him, but he could not allow the public to believe that he intended to ask or accept such a compliment. He would ask the town clerk to replace in the books a notice given by him last year, that he would nominate the Lord Mayor for the ensuing year from amongst the gentlemen comprising the minority (Conservatives) of the council. Nothing that could happen to him would withdraw him from the direct line of principle on which he acted in giving that notice-namely, that all sides should be admitted in their turn to such representative positions in the country as could be conferred on them—(hear, hear)--' and if ever there was a time at which, more than another, he would like that that wholesome principle should be most strictly asserted, it was now, when some of their fellow-citizens throughout the country might be agitated by fears as to whether they might apprehend injustice from the majority of their fellow-countrymen in case they were 10 power. It would afford him much gratification to move that some gentleman of the minority should be nominated for the mayoralty for the ensuing  year. The Northern Whig reports that some rioting in Banbridge on Friday and Saturday, occasioned by some persons who took offence at the prolonged visits to that Orange locality of three members of the order of St. Vincent de Paul, who morning and evening conduct religious services in the Roman Catholic chapel. In spite of the efforts of the police they came into the town from the surround' ing neighbourhood in a state of great excittnaen and smashed the windows of several Roman Catholic inhabitants. The police assembled near 00 chapel to prevent the mob from attacking it, and were assailed with showers of stones. On Sundlf comparative quietness prevailed, but fears were Co' tcrtained that that the rioting would be renowej upon a more formidable scale.