xiv UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 341 



necessary functions of the University of London and 

 that the foundation of two universities, as had been 

 suggested, was to be deprecated. A Bill was subse- 

 quently introduced into Parliament by the Lord Presi- 

 dent of the Council, the Duke of Devonshire, for the 

 purpose of giving effect to the general recommenda- 

 tions of the Cowper Commission, but it was not until 

 1898 that the " University of London Act" received 

 the Royal assent. 



The following particulars of the difficulties which 

 surrounded the passage of the Bill through the Lords, 

 owing to the opposition of the Bishops and those 

 representing the Church party, are sufficiently signifi- 

 cant to be worth stating. On Friday, July 24th, 

 1896, the Duke of Devonshire moved the Second 

 Reading of the London University Bill in a speech 

 in which he strongly supported the scheme of the 

 Cowper Commissioners, and emphatically " repudiated 

 and disowned any responsibility such as that which 

 the opponents of the scheme appear in the statement 

 (circulated by those opponents) to place upon him." 

 Lords Herschell, Kimberley, Cowper, Playfair, Reay, 

 and Kelvin spoke in support of the Bill, which was 

 read a second time without opposition. On the 25th 

 of July the Bill passed through Committee and was 

 reported to the House without amendment. On the 

 3ist of July the Bill was read a third time, and on the 

 question that the Bill do pass, after a formal amend- 

 ment moved by the Duke and agreed to, the Bishop 

 of London moved to insert in Clause 3 (providing 

 that statutes and regulations made under the Bill shall 

 have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any 

 Act of Parliament, Charter, Deed, or other Instru- 

 ment) the following words : " Provided that no 

 Statutes or Regulations shall inflict any disability on 



