§ MR. MOWBRAYasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether the Reverend William Wigan Harvey, B.D., of King's College, Cambridge, was, on November 22nd, 1871, after having completed forty-two days of residence within the University of Oxford, admitted by the Vice Chancellor, "ad jus suffragandi" in Convocation; whether the Statutes of the University provide that the admission shall be in express terms to exercise the right of voting in the House of Convocation after the expiration of one hundred and eighty days from the date of admission; whether the Statutes further provide that no one shall exersise the right of voting in the House of Convocation until after the expiration of one hundred and eighty days, to be reckoned from the day when he appeared before the Vice Chancellor; whether Mr. Harvey was, on the 15th December, 1871, presented to the Rectory of Ewelme; whether, under these circumstances, the one hundred and eighty days not having expired, Her Majesty has been advised that Mr. Harvey was, on the 15th December last, such a Member of Convocation of the University of Oxford as Her Majesty was by law entitled to present to Ewelme; also on what day the said Rectory became vacant; and whether Mr. Harvey has as yet been instituted thereto?
MR. GLADSTONESir, I am not cognizant of the particular dates to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, but if anything depends upon them I dare say the information can be had from the officers of the diocese. Some difficulty has been experienced in enabling the Attorney General to answer the reference to the Statutes, inasmuch as the right hon. Gentleman has not favoured us with any information as to the particular Statutes. However, I will now reply to the Questions as accurately as I can. I believe that Mr. Harvey was admitted by the Vice Chancellor at the date quoted to the jus suffragandi in Convocation of the University of Oxford, and he was so admitted without any qualification whatever on the part of the Vice Chancellor. In the former Question I 1154 was asked whether Mr. Harvey was admitted subject to the condition of not voting for 180 days; but the admission was absolute. As to the second Question, my hon. and learned Friend (the Attorney General) has not been able to discover the particular statutes which provide that the admission shall be limited by the condition that 180 days shall expire before a vote is given, but he does not believe that to be a material point in the case. The statutes do provide that no one shall exercise the right of voting until after 180 days. There is no doubt about that. Mr. Harvey was presented in December to the Rectory of Ewelme by the Crown, and Her Majesty was advised that at the date of his presentation Mr. Harvey was a member of Convocation of the University of Oxford, and therefore such a member as Her Majesty was entitled to present to the Rectory of Ewelme. The point in which it appears to me that the Questions of the right hon. Gentleman involve—if I may say so—an error, is this: the right hon. Gentleman assumes the possession of the right of suffrage to be the same thing with the immediate qualification to exercise that right. I believe that, according to the law, the right is given in the first instance, subject to the condition of a certain lapse of time before it can be exercised, and the possession of the right, before the lapse of that time, makes a man a member of Convocation. Mr. Harvey has not yet been instituted to the Rectory of Ewelme in consequence of severe illness, the Bishop having on this account allowed additional time within which he may be instituted.
§ MR. MOWBRAYI should like to know whether the argument of the right hon. Gentleman is that the jus suffragii is the same as the jus suffragandi.
MR. GLADSTONEI have stated the law as it is given to me by the Attorney General, and probably I should have acted more wisely had I devolved upon him the necessity of answering the Question.