GENERAL HISTOUY. 



[55 



bers as being an encroachment on 

 the freehold property of the church, 

 and an invasion of private pro- 

 perty, and defended by others on 

 adcount of its necessity. The com- 

 mittee was then formed, and a 

 clause vi'as introduced on the mo- 

 tion of the Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer for empowering the bishop 

 to deduct a part of the curate's sa- 

 lary for keeping the parsonage 

 house in repair. 



On July 8th, the report of the 

 bill being taken into consideration, 

 a debate ensued, in'which the for- 

 mer arguments on each side were 

 repeated, and the motion for the 

 third reading was carried by 37 

 votes against 7. This took place 

 on July 13th, after a division in 

 its favour of 66 to 9 ; after which 

 some new clauses were added by 

 way of rider, and the bill passed 

 "into a law. (For its principal 

 enactments, see our Abridgment.) 



In the parliamentary report of 

 the last year it was noticed that 

 Lord Folkestone having moved for 

 ;i committee to inquire into the 

 (State of the jurisdiction of the in- 

 ierior ecclesiastical courts, he with- 

 drew his motion upon the engage- 

 ment of Sir William Scott to bring 

 in a bill for that purpose. The 

 right hon. and learned gentleman 

 in consequence introduced a bill, 

 which the dissolution of parlia- 

 ment prevented (rom being carried 

 through in that session. 



On April 9th, Sir IVm. Scott 

 tose in the House of Commons to 

 Vftof e for leave to bring in a bill 

 ,-♦• for the better regulation of the 

 ecclesiastical courts in England, 

 and for the more easy recovery of 

 church rates and tithes,'' which he 

 Mated to be a revival of that which 



he had brought into parliament in 

 the last session. Leave was ac- 

 cordingly granted. 



On the order of the day. May 21, 

 for going into a committee on this 

 bill, the mover proposed several 

 alterations, one of which was, to 

 continue to inferior ecclesiastical 

 courts the power of excommuni- 

 cation, in consequence of the dif- 

 ficulty he had found in accommo- 

 dating that part, as it originally 

 stood, to all the variety of local 

 circumstancesthroughout the king- 

 dom. As abuses of this power 

 were what first called the atten- 

 tion of members to the subject, 

 the proposal of continuing it na- 

 turally occasioned disappointment ; 

 and Sir Samuel Romilly said, that 

 he thought such an alteration of 

 the bill was depriving it of its chief 

 value. He also wished that the 

 bill had gone much further. He 

 could see no good reason why 

 spiritual courts should take eog- 

 nizance of defamation ; and he 

 knew that great abuses existed in 

 this part of their jurisdiction. 



Sir IVm. Scott regretted the hon. 

 gentleman's disappointment, but 

 he had deliberately weighed the 

 subject, and was convinced that 

 the greatest inconveniences would 

 result from retaining the clauses as 

 they now stood. He acted from 

 an overwhelming necessity, and 

 did not think it worth while to 

 incur so much practical difficulty 

 as would ensue from them. The 

 amendments and alterations were 

 then agreed to. 



When the report of the bill was 

 brought up for consideration on 

 June 16th> Mr. Western said, that 

 it appeared to him not to accom- 

 plish the object which it was un- 



