§ MR. AUBERON HERBERTasked the First Lord of the Treasury, If the Regius Professorship of Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford does not amount to about £1,500 a year; and if he will state on what grounds, and with respect to what qualifications, the Rev. E. King has been appointed by the Crown to that Chair?
MR. GLADSTONE,in reply, said, he would not criticize the expression in the Question, or say whether it was quite accurate to speak of the "amount of the Professorship of Pastoral Theology;" but his hon. Friend had, as far as he knew, stated the Professor's income pretty correctly. It was, he believed, somewhere between £1,400 and £1,500 a-year; but, as his hon. Friend was of course aware, the Government had no official information of the value of the Canonry of Christ Church Cathedral, which was attached to the Professorship. With respect to the grounds and qualifications for the appointment, he could not very well distinguish between grounds and qualifications; but as to the qualifications, he had no difficulty in answering the Question. According to the best estimate which he could make of the character of the office, which was not a very general one, for it did not exist in many Universities; over and above the ordinary qualifications of a Professor of Theology, the Professor of Pastoral Theology had for his special functions to assist in forming pastoral habits and the pastoral character. It was a more personal charge than the other Professors of Divinity, and the gentleman appointed to such an office should be possessed of strong sympathies and of the power of exercising a healthy and beneficial influence over character; and from his experience, of some duration, he believed Mr. King was a gentleman who possessed those qualifications not only in an ordinary but in an eminent degree.