§ MR. R. TORRENSasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he considers the following Grace, which passed the Senate of the University of Cambridge on the 6th of June last, to be in conformity with the spirit of the University Tests Act:—
Subscriptio anti gratiam pro gradu aliquo in Theologia concessam facienda," "That he assents to the Thirty Nine Articles of the Book of Common Prayer, and of the Ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and that he believes the doctrine of the Church of England as therein set forth to be agreeable to the Word of God, and that in public prayer and administration of the Sacraments he will use the same and none otherand, whether before advising Her Majesty to assent to the same, or otherwise, he will cause a Copy of the said Grace to be laid upon the Table, in order that this House may have opportunity for considering it?
MR. GLADSTONE, in reply, said, he had seen the Grace to which the Question referred, and which was passed in the Senate of the University of Cambridge on the 6th of June last, with the view of being presented to Her Majesty. It would go to the Council Office, and be there considered by the Lord President of the Council. He did not know whether his personal opinion as to whether the Grace was in conformity with the spirit of the University Tests Act was of importance, because it was a subject on which legal advice should be taken whether Her Majesty should assent to the Grace or not; but he was inclined to think that the Question had been put under some misapprehension, because the Grace referred to persons graduating 639 in Holy Orders, with which the University Tests Act had nothing to do. With respect to placing a copy of the Grace on the Table, he did not think it would be desirable to prejudge the discussion of the question by the House on the statutes regulating the college.