The new Endowed Schools' Bill is passing through Committee in
the House of Commons, but seems still to have dangers to meet in the House of Lords. On Thursday, Mr. Hardy made an effort to strike out the clause which treats endowments of special religious opinions which had accrued before the Toleration Act as not constituting special sectarian endowments under the new Bill; and being defeated, he said he should "look to another quarter to remedy the injustice which had been done ;" which means that he will get the clause struck out, if he can,— and probably he can,—in the House of Lords. Sir John Lubbock has got passed (by 141 to 65) a very important amendment, opening to the graduates of any University in the United King- dom Head Masterships now restricted to graduates of Oxford and Cambridge ; and a very unfortunate limitation of the new Act to three years has been agreed to. On the whole, it seems certain that a very valuable Act will be renewed and worked for another three years, when fresh power must be sought to com- plete the work that will even then be only begun. The House would do well to give a little more permanence to its recon- structive organisations.
Previous page
