§ LORD EBURYsaid, he rose to present a petition to which their Lordships' House would, he was sure, pay due respect, not only on account of the high position of the individuals who had signed it, but also from their being peculiarly well qualified to understand and appreciate the grievance they complained of. It was a petition from 585 Fellows and Tutors of Colleges at the University of Cambridge, stating that in their opinion the provisions of the Act of Uniformity of Charles II., requiring a declaration of conformity to the Liturgy before admission to a fellowship, was injurious and ought to be repealed. The petition was signed by seventy-four Fellows and Tutors of Colleges. The petitioners respectfully called attention to the provision of the Act of Uniformity of 1662, which required all Fellows of Colleges to make a declaration of conformity to the Liturgy. Up to the year 1856 a University statute, passed as long ago as the reign of James I., compelled every graduate to make a declaration of membership; but in the year 1856 the Universities Act was passed, which broke down the barriers to the education of Nonconformists in these ancient foundations, permitting all degrees, except those in theology, to be granted without any religious test, and scholarships to be held. It appeared as if the framers of the Universities Act had made an oversight in not repealing this provision of the Act of Uniformity, because in those colleges where, by their college statutes, a declaration of conformity was required (and there are some in which no such declaration is required), that Act gave power to the college to relax that restriction. A willingness to enter into a declaration of conformity was, no doubt, a passport to a social position and to the emoluments of those wealthy foundations; but it did not appear to be by any means a Royal road to academical distinctions, inasmuch as, out of proportionably a small number of Undergraduates, the senior wranglership was won both in 1860 and 1861 by a Nonconformist; and the House could not be surprised if the tutors who had instructed and prepared them, entertaining a respect both for their conduct and abilities, regretted that these distinguished young men could not be retained for the ornament and advantage of the University. The House would remark that this was no attempt on the part of Nonconformists to obtain additional privileges, but a spontaneous act of a distinguished body of Churchmen, who felt and declared the injury produced by the present restrictions. He was happy to say that a right hon. Friend of his, who had presented a similar petition in the House of Commons, had given notice of his intention to propose legislation upon the subject.