KEBLE COLLEGE.-QUESTION. MR. VERNON HARCOURT said, he wished to ask Mr. Solicitor General, Whether a Charter has been granted by the Crown incorporating a new College in the University of Oxford called Keble College; if so, whether by such incor- MR. FINNIE said, he wished to ask poration the Keble College will come the Under Secretary of State for Fowithin the operation of the Bill now reign Affairs, If any further infordepending for the repeal of Religious mation has been received at the Fo

Order in Council, dated 4th June, Upon what system the selection of the Government Offices to be thrown open to public competition has been made; and why certain Offices-viz., the Home and Foreign Offices have been omitted, whilst others such as the Treasury, Colonial Office, and Admiralty, have been included? He would further beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in his opinion, the duties of the clerks in the three last-mentioned Offices are of the same important and confidential character as that of the two others that have been omitted?

MR. OTWAY replied, that the matter referred to by the hon. Member had been made the subject of various communications addressed to Her Majesty's Minister at Rio. The facts of the case were these and he hoped his statement would be received by the hon. Member for Greenock (Mr. Grieve) as an answer to his Question on the same subject, MR. GLADSTONE: Sir, the Governwhich appeared at greater length on the ment has thought it to be its duty, and Paper than that of the hon. Member for to be in accordance with sound policy, Argyllshire (Mr. Finnie). On the 26th not to give at once an authoritative deMarch the crew of the Mary Hamilton cision, binding the head of every Departwere arrested at Rio, at the instigation ment in his separate capacity, but has of the British Consul, on a charge of considered that it would act more in the mutiny and of having murdered their interests of this important question, and captain. At the inquest several wit- more to the satisfactory working of the nesses were examined, some of whom system, if it allowed the heads of Dewere Englishmen and captains of ships partments to speak upon the applicain the harbour. The statement made bility of the new system to their own by the murdered man when he was Departments. It must be recollected that dying was read. The result of the in- this is, to a considerable degree, an exquest was that the prisoners were put perimental matter, and cannot be treated upon their trial, and were acquitted. It as if all the questions connected with it appeared that, according to the Brazilian had been completely solved by expelaw, the Judge of a Criminal Court, if rience. Some have considered that the dissatisfied with the verdict in a particu-head of each Department is, in the main, lar case, could direct an appeal to another Court; and in the present instance he had exercised such power, the Judge being of opinion that the statement of the dying man was deserving of much more reliance than the conflicting testimony of the witnesses examined. The men were, therefore, awaiting a new trial before a new Judge, which trial was to take place in the course of this month. The delay in the hearing of this case before the new tribunal was occasioned by the fact of seven other cases of importance standing for trial before this one; and also was caused by the difficulty of getting together a jury. But those difficulties having now been nearly surmounted, there was no doubt that the trial would take place without any further delay.

CIVIL SERVICE COMPETITIVE EXAMI

NATIONS. QUESTION.

LORD CLAUD JOHN HAMILTON said, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, with reference to the Mr. Finnie

the best judge of the advisability of immediately adopting the new question. The exception of the Foreign Office rests upon the peculiar nature of the duties of that Office. With regard to the Home Office, it is proposed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary immediately to adopt the new system of open_competitive examination in all the sub-departments that are placed under the Home Office-such as the Survey Board, the Police, and other Departments. As to the Home Office itself, it is the opinion of my right hon. Friend that, from the highly confidential and delicate nature of a large portion of the duties that are performed in that Office, it would not be wise, without further information which is about to be put in operation in and experience, to adopt the new system the other Departments of the State.

FOREIGN POSTAGE.-QUESTION. MR. CRAWFORD said, he would beg to ask the Postmaster General, Whether, when the intended reduction of Postage

on Letters passing between this Country | information; but as the Act, although and France has been carried into effect, passed on April 5, took effect from it will not be fair and equitable to make April 1, it was quite possible that in a corresponding reduction on the Post- respect of payments of salaries made of Letters passing through France between the 1st and the 5th some arrears by the Overland Mails to and from the of income tax might have to be subseEast? quently recovered.

vention agreed upon last September, SCOTLAND-ABERDEEN POST OFfice. which would come into operation on the 1st of next month, provided only for a rate for international letters, and was not connected in any way with the transit rate payable for mails conveyed through France. It was not, therefore, proposed that any reduction should be made in the inland rafes.

TURKEY THE FIRE AT CONSTANTI-
NOPLE. QUESTION.

MR. RYLANDS said, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the statement published in some of the newspapers that the British Embassy House at Constantinople was totally destroyed by the disastrous fire that had recently occurred there, was actually the case? He hoped that the Under Secretary would be able to state the precise extent of the damage done by the calamity.

MR. OTWAY regretted to say that very great damage had been done to the British Embassy House at Constantinople, although it had not been totally destroyed. There had also been great loss of life; but the life of no one connected with the British Embassy had been sacrificed. Every precaution had been taken to prevent the destruction of the Embassy House. The fire engines were in order, and everyone was stationed at his post; the iron shutters were closed, the seamen of the Antelope were landed to assist, and every means was taken to extinguish the fire, but without any good result. A telegram from Sir Henry Elliot stated that the ground floor of the Embassy House was comparatively little injured, but above that the walls only remained. It was not possible to save anything from the bed-room floor, all personal effects and clothing having been abandoned. The loss of life was greater than on any previous occasion, and numbers of victims were hourly discovered. The archives and plate belonging to the Embassy had been saved.

UNIVERSITY TESTS BILL-[BILL 105.] (Mr. Dodson, Mr. Solicitor General, Mr. William Edward Forster.)

what it professed to be, by throwing
open offices in the Universities to all
however, those Amendments were passed
persons without distinction of creed. If,
as they stood, Divinity Professorships
might be held by laymen. Now, he
thought they ought to be excepted.
He had, therefore, given notice of this
Amendment; but if the subsequent
Amendments placed on the Paper by the
hon. Member for Brighton (Mr. Fawcett)
and himself were not accepted, it would
be wasting the time of the House to dis-
fore, withdraw the Amendment for the
He would, there-
the Report.
present, and bring it up, if necessary, on

cuss the matter now.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE, in rising to move the Amendment which stood in his name, said, it had originally been his intention to discuss the question his Amendment related to as one of sary for him to do so, as the Solicitor principle; but it would now be unnecesGeneral had stated, in the course of the debate upon the second reading, that Heads of Colleges were excepted from the Bill not upon principle, but in which, in fact, resolved themselves into consequence of practical considerations a feeling of deference to the deputation from the Universities which waited upon the First Minister of the Crown in December last.

Gentleman omitted, however, to state The hon. and learned the circumstances under which the deputation made that request, and he would, therefore, briefly refer to them. the great meeting in favour of the aboliWhen tion of tests was held at Cambridge in November last certain "grave and reverend seigniors" came in and gave their assistance. These formed an important part of a Committee appointed to investigate the subject, and it was, at their suggestion, agreed to recommend the exemption of Heads of Houses from the operation of the measure. Subsequently, the Oxford portion of the deputation was induced to give way to Cambridge on this point, although the idea had never been originally entertained at the former University. In confirmation of this, he desired to call attention to a statement which many Members had no doubt seen in that morning's papers. At a meeting held at Balliol College, Oxford, on the 4th of this month, and

presided over by Professor Jowett, a re- | state the grounds upon which I make solution was moved by Sir Benjamin this request. During the autumn, comBrodie, in favour of including Heads of munications were held between the GoHouses in the Bill. It was further stated that although the requisition to that effect was only in circulation for a week, it received no fewer than 66 signatures of gentlemen occupying the highest positions in the University. He thought, therefore, he was justified in saying that the real feeling of those who represented the Liberal party in that University was not in favour of excluding Heads of Houses from the operation of the Bill. But, however this might be, it was the duty of the House of Commons to consider the feeling of the country at large on the subject, and also to look at the practical results of this omission. What the opinion of the country was was well known. As regarded the practical results, they would be to perpetuate those religious differences which it was the object of the Bill to destroy. The Heads of Houses, assisted by the clerical Fellows, would form a garrison in every College. Hon. Members doubtless recollected that it often happened that in ancient treaties clauses were inserted by which one state retained the right of garrisoning the citadel in a town belonging to another. The usual result was a bombardment on the earliest occasion. The example would not be lost. A clerical bombardment would ensue. On the other hand, if the Heads were inclined to act loyally, they would be the continual objects of suspicion, especially as the patronage of the Colleges was generally vested in their hands. conclusion, he hoped that the Government would accept his Amendment, and thus add to the debt of gratitude owing to them by all University Liberals. He begged leave to move, in line 28, after "lectureship" to insert "headship of a College."

vernment and those whom I may call the Liberal party in the two Universities, through the medium of a deputation which came up to London and conversed with me on the subject of academical tests. The gentlemen who represented the Liberal party at Cambridge made it a portion of their plan that the Headships of Colleges were to be reserved and excluded from the operation of the Bill. As I understood, they had made a sort of compact among themselves, and had been joined in the movement for the general repeal of tests by persons who would not have acted with them except out of consideration for this particular reservation. The gentlemen who represented Oxford never shared in this opinion respecting heads of Colleges on its merits; but, viewing the expediency of obtaining as much union of opinion as was possible, and on other grounds extrinsic to the merits of the question, they likewise concurred in the request made by the gentlemen from Cambridge. Subsequently the Dean of Christ Church, on the part of the academical Liberals in both Universities, forwarded me a draft Bill from the operation of which Heads of Colleges would be exempted. It was in this shape that the subject was brought before the Government; and the Government, having regard to this union of sentiment for the purposes of action, thought that, on the whole, it would be wise and prudent for them to adopt the In framework of the measure which had been suggested to them with so unusual an amount of concurrence of opinion. They, therefore, did not enter into a consideration, as a Government, of the intrinsic value of any such reservation, but regarded the matter simply on the ground I have described, and accordMR. GLADSTONE: Sir, I have a re-ingly introduced this reservation into the quest to make of my noble Friend (Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice) which I hope he will not think unreasonable, considering the peculiar circumstances under which it is made, especially as the Government cannot take to itself any blame in the matter. The request is, that he will postpone the raising of this question till the Report of the Bill is brought up, when an opportunity shall be given him of treating it with the same convenience as at the present stage. I will briefly

framework of their Bill. It partook, therefore, of the character, I will not say strictly of a covenant, but of an understanding between the Government and those who had preferred the request-for I must assert, in the strongest and most definite manner, that whatever be the private opinions of any gentlemen in Oxford, including the 66 to whom my noble Friend referred, the request made to me by the Dean of Christ Church in the letter accompanying the Bill was that