Skip to main content

Commons Chamber

Volume 74: debated on Thursday 23 May 1844

House of Commons

Thursday, May 23, 1844

Minutes

BILLS. Public.—3°. and passed:—Customs Duties.

Private.—Reported.—Pulteney Town Harbour and Improvement (re-committed); Wells Harbour and Quay (re-committed); Newport Dock; Manchester Stipendiary Magistrate; Manchester Bonding.

3°. and passed:—South Devon Railway; Southampton Improvement; Hythe Landing Place.

PETITIONS PRESENTED. By Mr. Aldam, from Leeds, for Inquiry into Universities.

Bangor Free School.]

rose to call the attention of the House to the Petition of Dr. Owen Owen Roberts, presented on the 15th of April, praying for inquiry into the management of the Friars Bangor Free School, and other endowed schools, in the diocese of Bangor and St. Asaph. There was no duty more imperative, than to take care that funds left for the education of the poor were not misappropriated. He thought it was a duty of the House to inquire whether, in any of those districts where money was given for the endowment of Free Schools, there was not already sufficient money left for the purpose. At Bangor there was a very handsome endowment for a Free School; but the money, instead of being appropriated to that purpose, was appropriated in educating the children of the wealthier part of the population. It might be said, that that House was not an appropriate tribunal for this inquiry, but he hoped he should be able to make out a case sufficiently strong to call for the interference of the House. The hon. Member then read and referred to the following Petition, presented on the 15th of April last:—

"That in the dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph, property of very considerable value has from time to time been left for the purpose of conferring the blessings of education on the children of the poor.

"That this property in several cases has been so mismanaged, and the income arising from it so misapplied, as entirely to defeat the intentions of the benevolent individuals by whom it was bequeathed.

"That, as a striking instance of the mismanagement and misapplication of which your petitioner complains, he begs leave respectfully to call the attention of your honourable House to the Bangor Free Grammar School.

"That this School was founded and endow- ed by Dr. Geoffery Glynne, expressly for 'educating poor men's children.'

"That by his will, dated 8th July, 1558, the Friars House, belonging to him, in Bangor, together with his lands, tenements, and hereditaments in the counties of Carnarvon, Anglesey, Denbigh, and Surrey, was devised for the support of a Free Grammar School at the before mentioned Friars House, 'for the use of poor men's children;' and the sum of 400l. was specially directed to be invested, for the separate use and benefit for ever of 'ten poor scholars, to be lodged with the master and usher for the time being.'

"That, by Royal letters patent, dated the 24th of March, 1651, the bequest of Dr. Geoffrey Glynne was confirmed; Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth granting, for herself and her heirs and successors, that there should be a Free Grammar School in Bangor, pursuant to the will of Dr. Geoffrey Glynne, 'to have continuance for ever.'

"That, on that occasion, learned and responsible parties were appointed to prepare fit and proper statutes and ordinances for the government of the school generally, as well as for the superintendence and management of the ten poor scholars; and the Dean and Chapter of Bangor were appointed governors, with perpetual succession, to carry these benevolent purposes into effect.

"That, by the statutes which were duly made, it was amongst other things ordained, that the number of scholars should be limited to a hundred, the poorest men's children being preferred; that the ten poor scholars should have each 40s. a year, as well as sufficient and convenient room and place within the Friars House, as well for their meat and drink as for their lodging, and other necessaries; and that the master and usher should exact of no persons anything for teaching their children within the school.

"That the property now vested in the Dean and Chapter of Bangor, as trustees for the education of poor men's children, under Dr. Geoffrey Glynne's will, is as follows: and that, according to the Report of the Charity Commissioners, it produces, or ought to produce, the several sums here set against each item:—

"In the county of Surrey, houses, premises, and appurtenances, a yearly rental of

£447

0

0

"In the county of Salop, a rent-charge of

26

13

4

"In the county of Anglesey, a tenement called Capel Euddog, containing 12A. 0R. 21 P

12

0

0

"In the county of Denbigh, a tenement called Tryfain Uchaf, containing 48A. 0R. 8P

20

0

0

"In Bangor, Friars House, garden and appurtenances, with twenty acres of land in the occupation of the head master, its value capable of being greatly increased.

130

0

0

"Friars back house, garden, and a small field, consisting of about one-and-a-half acre, in the occupation of the usher, its value capable of being greatly increased

45

0

0

"Cae Ffynnon Ddaniel

0

10

0

"Total yearly value

£681

3

4

"That the houses of the master and usher have ample room for the due accommodation of ten poor scholars, and that the school-room which adjoins the master's house, is constructed, and in all respects adapted ro receive a hundred boys.

"That the Reverend William Totton, as head master, in addition to the house, garden, and premises, and twenty acres of land, has an annual money salary of 66l. 13s. 4d.; and that the Reverend Edward Jones, as usher, in addition to the house, garden, and premises, and land, has also an annual money salary of 33l. 6s. 8d.

"That the money salaries paid to the head master and the usher, and the houses, lands, and premises occupied by them, all taken together, amount only, according to the estimated value, to 274l., whereas the annual value of the property is 681l. 3s. 4d., thus leaving a surplus annual revenue of 406l. 3s. 4d.

"That, notwithstanding there are these ample means of carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of Dr. Geoffrey Glynne, by 'educating poor men's children,' and 'lodging and maintaining ten poor scholars' so grievously is the trust abused, and so entirely are the funds misappropriated, that the children of the opulent are preferred, to the utter exclusion of the children of the poor, there being not a single poor man's child educated, nor one poor scholar lodged or maintained in the said School.

"That, in the opinion of your petitioner, individuals, or bodies corporate, guilty of such glaring violations of trust in the case of charitable bequests for purposes of education, ought not to be entrusted with the sole management and control of any sum or sums of money which your honourable House may, at any time, think proper to devote to purposes of national education.

"Your petitioner humbly prays, that your honourable House would be pleased to institute such an inquiry as will enable you to as. certain, in the first place, the number and amount of bequests in the dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph, for the education of poor men's children; secondly, who are the trustees in the case of each particular endowment; and, thirdly, how far such trustees have duly appropriated the funds entrusted to their care.

"Your petitioner also most respectfully prays, that your honourable House, would be pleased to take into your serious consideration, with a view to the furnishing of an appropriate and effectual remedy, the monstrous injustice done to the lower and less wealthy classes of the community, by the misapplication of funds especially intended to confer the blessings of education upon their children, to open to them, in their humble abodes, new sources of domestic and social comfort, and to elevate and incalculably improve both their physical and their moral condition.

"And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

"OWEN OWEN ROBERTS.

"Castle-hill, Bangor, March 16, 1844."

The hon. Gentleman then said, he should be able to show that the funds were sufficient to carry out the objects of the Charity to the fullest extent. There had been a great increase in the value of the lands from which the funds of this School were derived, since the Report of the Education Commissioners in 1836. The revenues of the School at present amounted to 447l. a year from houses and land in Southwark. There was other property belonging to the School, yielding 58l. a year, making a total of 505l. a year actual money received. Besides this, the master had a house and twenty acres of land at Bangor, which the Commissioners at the time of their Report valued at 130l. a year; and the usher had a house with accommodation for twelve boarders, which the Commissioners valued as worth 45l. a year. This would bring the funds of the School to somewhere about 680l. a year. The House under these circumstances, would be astonished to hear that at the present moment there were only nine free scholars educated there, and of these scholars receiving a free education, one was the son of the Vicar of Bangor, another was the son of a wealthy agent of a neighbouring gentleman; two others were sons of wealthy tradesmen in the town of Bangor and two others were the children of wealthy parents. The ten boys, who ought to be on the foundation, never entered the premises, or received any education at all in it, but were educated at the national schools, receiving the 2l. 6s. each to which they were entitled from the Charity; but for this they were made by the Dean and Chapter to sing as choristers at the cathedral. This, he contended, was a gross violation of the objects of the trust. It was directed in the trust-deed, that the master should not exact anything for the education given to the boys; yet all children whose parents wished them to learn writing or arithmetic were charged 2l. a year for it, and the same sum if they wished to learn French. The total number of boys now educated at this School was twenty-five; sixteen of these were boarders, who lived in the house, and paid for their education some 30l. or 40l. a year, and were not in general children from the neighbourhood; the rest, according to the statement of the master, received a free classical education. In 1839 the salaries of the master and usher were raised respectively to 100l. and 50l. a year, and at the same time the usher had leave of absence given to him, and had never since entered the School. It might be guessed why,— because the School he had to attend to had only three scholars in it. When the Committee made their Report in 1836, there were thirty boys in it receiving free education; but in consequence of the treatment of the free scholars, the poor inhabitants would not send their children to the School. An odious distinction was made between the children of the poor and of the rich. The poor free scholars were not allowed to enter the School in the morning till a bell rung, and in wet weather had to huddle together under doorways till they were admitted. On Sundays they were compelled to join the wealthier scholars in the street and bring up the rear of a procession to the cathedral. Remonstrances had been made to the Dean and Chapter as to the inequality of the punishments inflicted on the boarders and free scholars, but to no effect. On one occasion some boarders and a free scholar got into some scrape together. No one knew how the boarders were punished, but the free scholar was ordered to do penance in the cathedral during service, standing alone. This the boy refused to do, and there was much discussion about it, and the consequence was, that the poorer classes would not now submit to have their children subjected to such treatment, and the object had been gained of driving the poorer children altogether from the school. In 1832 the School was in debt from building a house for the master; but in 1837 that debt had been paid off; since then, there had been a surplus of income over expenditure of 224l. a year. He wanted to know what had become of this surplus? The Dean and Chapter had power given them by the trust-deed of altering and abolishing anything that might seem to require it, without going before a Court of Equity. Had he, however, made these complaints to them, he believed they would have told him to mind his own business. Though these complaints had been set forth in the local press, the Dean and Chapter had paid no attention to them; and, if told that the case would be brought before Parliament, they answered that Parliament had no power in the matter. If it had not, he thought it ought to have, and he hoped that the right hon. Baronet opposite would fulfil his promise made to the hon. Member for Devonport last year, and introduce some measure which would give greater facilities for remedying abuses in Charities like this. The hon. Member went through a list of other endowed Free Schools in the diocese of Bangor and St. Asaph, where abuses of a similar character were practised. Bottwrnog was one of these. It was endowed by will of Henry Rowlands in 1616, for a Free School. The revenues were 200l. a year, from a farm called Llyslew; 6l. a year rent charge from Nant Porth, for two scholars; and 18l. a year for a house for the master, purchased in 1831; making a total of 224l. Of this, the expenditure, was 188l. The master never attended the School. He receives a large salary, and retains the house and a farm of eighteen acres for doing nothing. The trustees had promised to look into this School; and he hoped the abuses would be remedied. The master was perpetual curate of two parishes. Dolgelly was another instance. The master of the school was curate of the parish, Chaplain of the gaol, and could not attend to the duties of the School. The Charity was 43l., and the whole went to form the master's salary for non-attendance. The Llanrwst Charity, Jesus Hospital and Free School—the hon. Gentleman observed, consisted of the rectorial tithes of Eglwys-fach, in the counties of Denbigh and Carnarvon, and other lands, now worth about ,1000l. a year. These tithes were purchased of the Crown, 4th James I., being part of the dissolved Monastery of Bescham in Berkshire, by Bingham and Blake; and conveyed by them to Sir J. Wynn, of Gwydir, in 1608, 6 James I., the sum of 13l. 6s. 8d., being the reserved rent to the Crown: and the reserved rent being generally understood to be the tenth of the value, fixes the value of the tithes at the time of purchase at 133l. On the 10th of May, 8 James I., Sir John Wynn, by deed, enrolled in Chancery, founded the Charity under the corporate name of Guardian and Poor Men of Jesus Hospital in Llanrwst; and by another deed, also enrolled in Chancery, made between him and the Guardian and Poor Men, he endowed the Charity with the said tithes and other lands, in 1611 or 1612. He made statutes for the guidance of the Charity and Free School, which statutes are in existence. He made his will in 1626, and died soon after. His will was not proved for many years after his death. In 1678, Serjeant Owen Wynn, of Meller, a distinguished charitable man, filed a bill against the representatives of Sir John Wynn, of Gwydir, on account of the Charity. An answer was put in by Dame Grace Wynn, denying the Charity, and the proceedings ceased, owing to the death of Serjeant Owen Wynn. Notwithstanding this, the Gwydir family continued to support the Chanty with 133l. a year, and maintain the almshouse and Free School, although the tithes produced considerably more than 133l. a year, up to the year 1803, as stated in the Charity Report. In no settlement of the family estates of Gwydir had the rectory impropriate of Eglwys-fach been dealt with as belonging to the family. In 1803, for the first time in a recovery are they mentioned. In 1809, the value of the tithes was 619l. 15s. In 1789, Mr. Cecil, a trustee for the Gwydir family, purchased the reserved rent of 13l. 6s. 8d. for the family: and it was after that the claim was made by them to the property of the Charity. In 1803, the last year the School was free, it contained 103 boys. From that time the School ceased to be a Free School; and the alms-men were allowed to drop off. In 1812, part of the almshouses, supposed to be the warden's house, was sold by Lord Willoughby to a Mr. Evans Pritchard; and a house was pulled down with a Latin inscription upon it on a stone, which was destroyed. This stone contained the history of the foundation, and embodied a malediction on any of the family who should sell or alienate the property of the Charity. When the house was sold, Lord Willoughby gave a bond of indemnity against the claims of the Charity to the purchaser. About the same time, the tithes of four townships in Carnarvonshire, belonging to Eglwys-fach, were sold to Sir Watkin W. Wynn, and likewise a bond of indemnity given by Lord Willoughby, as he could make out no title to them. The almshouses and School were entirely suppressed from 1817 to 1828; but the School was re-established as a pay-school; thus matters stood until the decree of Chancery in 1843. Mr. W. Lloyd Roberts, his brother Dr. Owen Owen Roberts, and their father, natives of Llanrwst from the year 1812, with a diligence, ac- tivity, and zeal, which reflect the highest honour upon them, and entitle them to the thanks of their fellow countrymen, left no stone unturned to right the Charity, and discover the deeds necessary to file a bill in Chancery against Lord Willoughby. In 1836, when Mr. J. Hume, the Charity Commissioner, came to Llanrwst, Mr. W. Lloyd Roberts waited upon him, and put him in possession of facts to enable him to discover the deeds, and obtain information sufficient to file a bill; and in 1837, Mr. Hume wrote to Mr. Roberts to say the evidence was sufficient to enable him to file a bill. No bill, however, being filed in 1839, Mr. Lloyd Roberts went to town with the determination of filing a bill himself; but just at the moment he had commenced, he discovered, that the Attorney-General had filed a bill, and put the conduct of the suit in the hands of Mr. Parks. Mr. Lloyd Roberts waited upon Mr. Parks, and informed him he was ready at all times to give gratuitous information about the Charity, and that he had a great deal to give: however, no communication ever was made to him by Mr. Parks. In 1843, the decree was obtained by consent—Lord Willoughby putting in an answer, that he was ignorant the property in question belonged to the Charity, or that he wrongfully possessed it. This answer Mr. Roberts was in a situation to disprove, being in possession of the bond of indemnity given to Evan Pritchard, and from other means. The decree compelled Lord Willoughby to give up all the tithes of Eglwys-fach, and lands belonging to the Charity; and all arrears from the year 1839, when the bill was first filed, it also decreed, that the almshouse and School should be rebuilt out of the Charity fund—and that the expenses incurred by Mr. Parks should be paid out of the Charity. The two items would amount to about 1,000l. each. He had thus briefly traced these proceedings; and it was evident that the Charity had been wronged out of at least 20,000l., as Lord Willoughby, who had possessed himself wrongfully of the property of the Charity, must have doubted in 1810 that he had a just title, else why give a bond of indemnity to Sir W. Wynn or Evan Pritchard when he sold the property? In all cases in which persons have held property without right, they have to refund for many years prior to the bill being filed. There was also no doubt that if the answer put in by Lord Willoughby had been replied to, a different decree would have been obtained. He had gone to this length to prove that Chancery was not a just tribunal to try these cases; when entrusted to a London solicitor, whose only object may be to get his costs, and who is necessarily ignorant of the locality, as much evidence may be given as he pleases, and the Charity may suffer. Even now the decree was obtained, much of the proceeds were swallowed up in costs, which Lord Willoughby should have paid. Years might run on before the proper trustees were discovered, or the School be re-established. He, therefore, confidently and earnestly called upon the House and the country to establish some better tribunal for inquiring into Charitable Trusts. The hon. Member concluded by moving,

"That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the management of the Friars Bangor Free School, and other endowed Free Schools in the diocese of Bangor and St. Asaph."

opposed the Motion. He denied that any system of oppression existed towards the free scholars in the school in question. The annual income and expenditure of the school, were different from those stated in the petition. The income was, in fact, 447l. 3s. 4d., instead of 681l.; and the expenditure was 418l. 3s. 9d., instead of 275l., as stated in the petition, leaving a balance of 27l. and a few shillings. That statement was furnished by the agent of the school, on an average of the last four years.

rose for the purpose, he said, of again impressing upon the right hon. Gentleman opposite the necessity of providing some proper tribunal for the trial of cases of this kind. At present it was easy to say that the House of Commons was not the proper tribunal, and, with the exception of the Court of Chancery, which entailed a ruinous expense, there was no proper tribunal for dealing with them. Last year he introduced a Bill relating to trusts of small value, and the second reading was fixed on exactly that night twelvemonth, the 24th of May, when the then Attorney General said that a separate and comprehensive measure was necessary, and stated that there were sums amounting to about 1,000,000l. sterling a-year, vested in charitable trusts, which required investigation. Having admitted the necessity of some such measure, the Government distinctly stated that a Bill was under consideration, and would be introduced, not to be carried then, but to be taken up in the present Session. Several questions upon the subject had been put this Session, and although the right hon. Gentleman had said, that a measure would be introduced, he almost despaired of it, or at least, of seeing one carried this Session.

wished to add his request, that if nothing else could be done, at least a Bill should be passed requiring the trustees of every charity to send up an annual account to the right hon. Gentleman, by which means the parties concerned would be able to become acquainted with the affairs of the charity, and take what steps they thought proper. He understood, last year, that the right hon. Baronet had no objection to that; but after a year's delay, he was rather disappointed at seeing no measure introduced, particularly when the right hon. Gentleman had stated in his place, that the Charitable Trust Educational Funds in England were so large, that he was in hopes of being able to take steps to apply them to the education of the people.

said, the questions put by the right hon. Baronet and the hon. Member for Montrose, were better suited for his notice, than the Motion of the hon. Member for Anglesey, because the abuses of Charitable Trusts had already been the subject of investigation, and any cases of complaint were quite open for decision in a court of equity. It would be his duly to resist any such Motion as that made by the hon. Member. It was quite true, that two Sessions ago, he (Sir J. Graham) did express an opinion that in this country there were immense funds, either misappropriated, or not at all appropriated, which had been left for the purpose of charitable education, and that he was anxious to have those funds made available for that object. But there were two points to be regarded;— the intentions of the donors and testators, and the application of those funds upon the authority of a judicial decision. Last year he did state that a Bill had been framed by Her Majesty's Government and that it was under the consideration of the highest authority, and he confidently hoped that it would have been laid on the Table before the end of the Session, for the purpose of receiving consideration before the re-assembling of Parliament; but the more the subject was in- vestigated the more difficult it was found to be, and that was the reason of the delay. The remedy must be both a summary and a judicial one. If nothing more was done than to call for an annual return, that might be advantageous; but on the part of the Advisers of the Crown, he might say, that they were inclined to take a step further. It was true that he had been frequently asked questions upon this subject, and he was accused of retreating rather than advancing; but the fact was, that on that very day he had obtained an interview with the Lord Chanceller upon the subject, and in the course of a fortnight the Lord Chancellor would introduce a measure, which measure, it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to carry this Session. It was a measure for providing a summary and judicial remedy in every case of abuse so as to enforce the application of the funds in accordance with the wishes of the testators. Having made that announcement, he hoped the hon. Gentleman would not press his Motion.

observed, that the Measure would not be satisfactory if an appeal was to be granted in every case to a Court of Equity, because few parishes would be able to bear the expense that appeal would involve them in.

was very much gratified with the statement of the right hon. Baronet, as the subject was one more abounding in abuses than any other he was acquainted with.

Motion withdrawn.

Fees on Titles

then brought forward his Motion for an Address to Her Majesty "to give directions that, whenever Her Majesty shall grant the honour of the Peerage, or Baronetcy, or Knighthood, or Order, for eminent public services, no fees shall be charged thereon." Last year upwards of 2,000l. was paid for honours granted to several deserving officers, and a sum of 500l. was paid by the King of Prussia. He had heard an Admiral state in that House, that when a particular honour was conferred upon him, he was furnished with a bill of fees, amounting to 130l., which he refused to pay, preferring to be without the honour rather than pay so d arly for it. The enormous sums paid to the Attorney General on the renewal of patents of various officers of the Government, on a demise of the Crown, was scarcely credible. It amounted, he believed, to 15,000l. The fees charged upon Sir C. Metcalfe's appointment as Governor General of Canada, were 265l., of which 130l. went to the Attorney General. The expense to the country of conferring the Order of the Garter on the King of Prussia, was 439l. Now why were the people to pay this large sum for doing this honour to a foreign Sovereign, who had no connection with this country. If the Queen thought fit to confer those honours, let her pay the expense, or else let it fall upon the person who receives it. In the instance lately of the six Grand Crosses bestowed upon Sir H. Pottinger, Sir R. Sale, General Pollock, and others, the expense to each was 164l., although these were distinctions granted for services to the country and ought to be paid for by the country. He had heard, and he really believed it to be true, that the late Attorney General received in the last year from fees 20,000l. Why were not the officers of the Herald's College paid by regular salaries, instead of fees charged to those who had to take out arms there. These officers were enormously paid beyond the value of the labour they had to do. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, would have no objection to the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the manner in which those officers were paid. He did not wish to interfere with any existing interests, but he was anxious that the recommendation of the Commissioners that had inquired on a former occasion into the subject should be carried out. The hon. Gentleman concluded, by moving in the words of his Motion, for an Address to Her Majesty.

said, that whatever view the hon. Gentleman might be disposed to take of the question, he was sure the hon. Gentleman would not wish that an Address should be presented to the Crown to do that which the Crown had no power to do. The fees to which the hon. Gentleman had referred were sanctioned by law to those who received them, and could not be taken away without an Act of Parliament. This was the difficulty that stood in the way of those who had often wished to interfere in this matter. They found that the Crown had no power, and he was sure the hon. Gentleman would be the last to desire that any stretch of the Crown's preroga- tive should be exercised. This reason in itself he thought sufficient to show the House, and the hon. Gentleman, that it would not be advisable to address the Crown upon the subject. The prerogative of the Crown was always the same as to the granting of honours, but formerly the Civil List was applied to the discharge of a variety of civil payments. In the year 1815, however, the Civil List was placed upon a different footing, and Parliament took to itself the payment of civil service, and an entire control over that portion of the Civil List, providing a distinct amount for the separate establishment and service of the Sovereign. This was a great advantage, because it gave to Parliament a check over the expenditure in any grants to persons recommended to the Crown, as such grants must be voted and confirmed by the House of Commons. The idea which the hon. Member had thrown out of laying a tax on all honours and distinctions conferred by the Crown was not a new one. Indeed, he thought civil honours were already pretty well taxed, when he saw that a Duke, on receiving that distinction of nobility, had to pay for his patent 350l.; a Marquess, 300l.; an Earl, 250l.; a Viscount, 200l.; a Baron, 150l.; and a Baronet, 100l. This, he thought, was taxing honours pretty well. But the expense to a Duke was much greater still than he had stated, because he had to pay the charges on all the intermediate steps in the Peerage as he received them. A great part of the charges on official appointments—such, for instance, as the office he had himself the honour to bold—arose from the stamp necessary; so that the Revenue had, in a great degree, the benefit of those charges. He believed, indeed, he might say that there was no officer of the Crown paid more to the Revenue than he did, as he held four or five different appointments, and had to pay for the charges upon each patent separately. The hon. Gentleman would see, after what he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had stated, that the parties holding the office to which the present Motion referred, having a legal right, could not be deprived of them without compensation, and this course he did not think it would be a good economy for the public to adopt. The difficulty of dealing with the subject would at once be seen in the fact that it was twelve years since an inquiry was first recommended, and nothing had since been done, although the matter had been frequently under consideration. With respect to the cost of conferring the Order of the Garter on the King of Prussia, he was sure the House and the country would concur in the feeling that, when that Sovereign came to this country to do honour to our Queen, it was proper that Her Majesty should, in return, confer upon that Monarch those distinctions he had received without his incurring any expense on the occasion. It was right that this sort of good feeling should exist amongst monarchies, and it was the interest of the people to promote it as much as possible. For the reasons he had stated, it was not possible for the Crown to interfere in this matter, and he therefore hoped the hon. Gentleman would not press his Motion.

supported the Motion, and he should remark that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had offered no valid reason against agreeing to it. There were numerous fees paid on the acquisition of those honours, and those were fees for the exaction of which there was no Act of Parliament. It might be said, indeed, that the fees were not levied under the Statute Law, but that the right to them was a Common Law right. If that were the case, then let the Chancellor of the Exchequer show a single decision of any of the judges to the effect that the claim to the fees existed under the Common Law. He very much doubted whether any single decision of a judge to that effect could be brought forward: and having heard no sound reason urged For refusing the Motion on the part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he should most cordially support it.

Motion negatived.

Universities—Oxford and Cambridge

rose to move an Address to Her Majesty, praying that she would be graciously pleased to issue a Commission to inquire into all matters relating to the statutes, revenues, trusts, privileges, and present general condition as regards education, learning, and religion of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the colleges and halls in those Universities. The hon. Member was proceeding to address the House in support of his Motion, when the House was counted out and adjourned at a quarter to eight o'clock.