§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYsaid, he wished to put a Question to the noble Earl the First Lord of the Treasury upon 186 a subject which had excited public attention. He doubted not there had been a great deal of misunderstanding and misrepresentation with regard to it, and he thought the Government should give some explanation of their real intentions as to the rumoured grant of a charter to the Roman Catholic University in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. Attention was first called to the matter by the language which had been used on the occasion of a deputation which waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer just before the dissolution, and subsequently by a speech which had been delivered by Mr. Bowyer. He wished to set those doubts at rest, and for that purpose he would now ask, in the words of a notice which he had sent to the noble Earl, Whether it be the intention of Her Majesty's Government to advise the grant of a charter to the Roman Catholic University of St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, or whether any negotiations are pending with that object?
§ THE EARL OF DERBYI have no difficulty, my Lords, in answering the question of my noble Friend, by saying that it is not the intention of Her Majesty's Government to advise the Crown to grant such a charter. With regard to "negotiations," I can only say that the reply from me as to whether negotiations have taken place depends upon what the noble Earl means by the word. It is undoubtedly true that on two occasions memorials have been presented to the Government by Roman Catholic gentlemen, expressing their wish that a charter should be granted; but no promise has been given, and no expectation has been held out that the recommendations of the memorialists would be complied with. With respect to another portion of the noble Earl's statement, I have to say that until after I received notice of this Question, I did not know what had been said in conversation by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer: hut since receiving notice of the Question, I have made inquiry of my right hon. Friend, and have been told by him that he had seen a deputation on the subject, and had promised that the matter should be taken into consideration.