GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



1.-,:; 



culled tho Army Bill "a measure of which the 

 i/uMt importance and the great vulue are ac- 

 kin-u K-,!:',-, | on ull hands." It introduces a 

 svMcin of free enlistment, and abolishes many 

 of tin- sn:uv> uiili wliidi recruiting has hither- 

 to been surrounded. It constitutes enlistment 

 really a free contract, which men will be more 

 at liberty to abrogate than at any previous 

 time, if they dislike its conditions. It takes 

 away or greatly modifies the absolute power 

 of the provost marshal, who will only exercise 

 his authority under the control of the statute, 

 !in<l will carry out what is simply the record 

 of a summary court martial ; while punish- 

 ments have in several respects been mitigated. 

 Considerable attention was devoted to edu- 

 cational matters. The Government originally 

 did not intend to deal witli the complicated 

 subject of university education in Ireland, but 

 the O'Conor Don introduced a measure pro- 

 fessing to follow the lines of the Intermediate 

 Education Act, and appropriating a large part 

 of tho Irish Church surplus to the maintenance 

 of a new university. It was objected to this 

 bill that in reality it differed widely in its ap- 

 plication from its presumed model, and that it 

 would in substance endow a number of secta- 

 rian colleges in Ireland. The debate on the 

 second reading, which began before Whitsun- 

 tide, was resumed on the 25th of June, when 

 Mr. Forster supported the Irish demand for 

 denominational teaching, and Mr. Cross, re- 

 marking incidentally that Mr. Forster's argu- 

 ment would'justify Home Rule, surprised the 

 House with the statement that the Govern- 

 ment, recognizing the existence of a substantial 

 grievance, would attempt to carry a remedial 

 measure. The O'Conor Don's bill was accord- 

 ingly abandoned, and a few days afterward the 

 Lord Chancellor brought forward the minis- 

 terial proposals in the Upper House. The main 

 feature of the ministerial scheme was the disso- 

 lution of the Queen's University and the trans- 

 ference of graduates and matriculated students 

 of the Queen's Colleges to the new university 

 to be established. The new university was to 

 consist of a Chancellor and a Senate, the Senate 

 to be appointed by charter of the Crown. The 

 number of the Senate was not to exceed thirty- 

 six, and the Convocation, which was to be 

 composed of the graduates of the new univer- 

 sity and of the graduates of other universities 

 who might be transferred to it, might fill up 

 vacancies to the number of six as they occurred 

 in the Senate. The Senate would elect a Vice- 

 Chancellor, and the university as thus consti- 

 tuted would appoint examiners for matricula- 

 tion and degrees, and would confer degrees in 

 all the faculties except theology, and this with- 

 out evidence of education at any particular 

 college or other place. The exhibitions at- 

 tached to the Queen's Colleges which had been 

 provided for by the money of private individ- 

 uals would not be interfered with, but the vote 

 of Parliament for tbe Queen's University 

 would, if the bill passed, be transferred to the 



new university. The bill was brought down 

 to the Lower House on the 17th of July, and 

 on tho second reading Mr. Lowther stated that 



S revision would be made for university prizt-H. 

 Ir. Shaw, the Home Rule leader, moved an 

 amendment that no measure could be accepted 

 which did not assist collegiate education in 

 Ireland as well as throw open degree exami- 

 nations. Mr. Gladstone and a considerable 

 number of Liberals, including several ex-Minis- 

 ters, voted with Mr. Shaw ; but the Govern- 

 ment was supported by a strong contingent of 

 independent members of the Opposition, and 

 the amendment was defeated by a majority of 

 257 against 90. The resistance of the Home 

 Rulers, however, was not persevered in. A 

 proposal by Mr. P. J. Srnyth to refer the ques- 

 tion to a Royal Commission was not enter- 

 tained. The measure passed rapidly through 

 its remaining stages, the Government refusing 

 to admit any important modifications. On Au- 

 gust 13th the House of Lords agreed to the 

 amendments of the Commons that bad so com- 

 pletely transformed the bill, and it received 

 the royal assent. 



Besides Ireland, the principality of Wales 

 also put forth a claim for an enlargement of 

 its educational institutions. On July 1st, in 

 the House of Commons, Mr. H. Vivian moved 

 a resolution calling upon the Government to 

 take steps to assist in extending the means of 

 higher education in Wales. He described to 

 the House the existing means of higher educa- 

 tion open to the Welsh people at Jesus College, 

 Oxford, at Aberystwith, and at Lampeter, and 

 contrasted the expenditure on Scotch and Irish 

 universities with the total neglect of the claims 

 of Wales. If grants were made to the princi- 

 pality on the same scale as to these two king- 

 doms, she would receive from 8,000 to 10,000 

 for university education, where now she re- 

 ceived nothing. Mr. Vivian insisted on the 

 separate nationality of the Welsh people, and 

 mentioned among other contemporaneous facts 

 that out of 686,000 religious worshipers, 36,000 

 only worshiped in the English language. The 

 bill was supported by Mr. Gladstone. Mr. B. 

 Williams was of opinion that what the Welsh 

 people desired was a subsidy for the college at 

 Aberystwith which they had themselves estab- 

 lished. Lord G. Hamilton and the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer recognized the claim of Wales 

 to consideration, but said that measures were 

 in progress which it was hoped would contrib- 

 ute toward ttie end desired. Upon a division 

 the resolution was negatived by 105 to 54. 



On June 30th the Duke of Richmond and 

 Gordon said the Government had determined 

 to advise the Crown to grant a charter for a 

 university for the North of England, to be 

 called the Victoria University. 



On Juno 10th Mr. R. Yorke called attention 

 to the increasing expenditure of the London 

 School Board, and condemned the unnecessa- 

 rily high standard of education maintained at 

 public expense. Mr. W. E. Forster defended 



