§ MR. H. C. RICHARDS (Finsbury, E.)To ask the hon. Member for Tonbridge, as representing the Charity Commissioners, if he will state under what statutory authority the Charity Commissioners nave to the authorities of Hackney College any, and what, relaxation for the teaching of the Shorter Catechism or the Thirty-nine Articles, as prescribed by the Trust; whether the Commissioners are aware that an attempt is being made to amalgamate Cheshunt College and Hackney College for the purpose of removing or relaxing the Fifteen Articles of Faith laid down by the foundress, the Countess of Huntingdon, and the relaxation or alteration of which has been refused by the High Court of Chancery: and, in the event of such amalgamation being proceeded with, will the Charity Commissioners uphold the judicial decision already obtained.
(Answered by Mr. Griffith Boscawen.) It does not appear that the Charity Commissioners ever gave to the authorities of Hackney College any relaxation in regard to the teaching prescribed by their Trust. An application was made to the Commissioners in 1873 for relief in respect of the terms of a declaration which the trustees, ministers, and officers of the college had been accustomed to subscribe, and the trustees were informed that they were competent to alter the form of the declaration so long as it remained a profession of belief in the doctrines articles of the Church of England and in the Shorter Catechism, as was prescribed by the Trust. The Commissioners have no cognisance of the proposed amalgamation, the control over endowment of Cheshunt College having passed to the Board of Education, to which the correspondence in this matter was referred.