The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-27 00:00:00

LAND) BILL.

The Earl of ST. GERMANS moved the report of amend-
ments on this bill, which was read a second time.
POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.

Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY moved that the house
should go into committee on the Post Office Savings Banks
Bill.

Lord REDES DALE moved, as en amendimnt, that
where transfers of deposits made by minors from local sav-
ings banks to Post-office savings banks should be under con-
eidereeion, the power of effecting the transfer should not be
left in the hands of parents, but in the hands of the trustees
or guardians of the local saving' banks, who would be ac-
quainted with eircumstences, He also objected to the
fourtn clause, which provided for the conversion into annui-
ties of funds lodged in Ravines banks.
The house then went into committee on the bill.
The clauses were agreed to, and progress was reported.
ECCLESIASTICAL PATRONAGE.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said that he rose with
sortie anxie'y to call attention to a question of great im-
portance. They were all aware that great ecclesiastical
patronage was vested in th,-1 Lord Chancellor. It was
difficult to trace the origin of the right which was thus
vested in the Lord Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal. As
ear y as the rules of Parliament, in the reign of Edward
111., the right of the Lord Chancellor to present to all
livings of 20 marks and under was ackn ,wledged in the
Rohs as undoubted. Subsequently, probably about the
reign of Remy VIII., when the denomination of money
was abered, £2O became substituted for 20 marks. But the
right of the Lord Chancellor to dispense patronage to all
Crown livings not exceeding £2O was undoubtedly an un •
contested one. He mentioned this, because it was material
far him to show that he was not about to tette away any of
the patronage. of the Crown; for if the language were cour-
teous, which it would not be, the Crown might be considered
the trustee of the Lord Chancellor with respect to those
livings. With regard to all other Crown livings, the Pre-
mier takes the pleasure of the Crown; but when the Lord
Chancellor presented, he took it as his right, without con-
sulting the pleasure of the Crown. The appointment was
couched in language so peculiar, that he would repeat
the words of the writ. It ran thus : " The presentation
ns of right deth to the Lord Chancellor belong." Such
was the origin of the right of the Lord Chancellor. These
livings were numerous, but many of them were in very
-unfavourable districts, where there were no resident pro-
rietors. Livings that were small, and that were situ-
reed in places where there were no resident proprietors,
bore an unfavourable comparison with other livings equally
small, but which had proprietors, who were interested in
them. They suffered from want of attention, from want
of schools and parsonages. Moved by these considerations,
le had selected out of the number of small livings in his
patronage 320 of the smallest. The object of the measure
he was about to propose was to ask their lordships to enable
him to sell the advowsons of these livings, on definite terms,
.or the purpose of applying the purchase money to the aug-
mentation of the livings. The result would be that, instead
of
these 320 livings being held in the barren hands of the
Lord Chancellor, they would, hoped, he become vested in
:320 landed proprietors, each one of whom wouldhavean
additional interest in the welfare of the
i Established Church.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners had a rule that, if any
proprietor would advance any sum np to £l,OOO for
the
aug-
mentation of the value of a living, they would add another
£l,OOO or similar stein to that advanced by the proprietor.
lie therefore pro posed that when the Lord Chancel or should
eceive the first instalment of £5OO he would, to the extent
oi" a limited number of livings in the year, carry that sum
of £6OO to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and they would
add another sum of £5OO to it The £l,OOO would then be
laid out in the purchase of an annuity at 31 per cent. Thus
the first £ioo paid for the purchase of the advowson would
be at once productive of £35 yearly, to be added to the
value of the living ; and when the other sum of £5OO of the
purchase money should become due by the living falling
vacant, it would be applied in a similar way, or in the pur-
chase of debentures, tithe-rent charges, or in Government
securities, to be appropriated to the augmentation of the
1, vino, He hoped therefore in those cases each of these
stt tall livings would be augmented by the purchase money
to , lie extent of two-thirds, or at least one half, of their
annual value. He offered the alternative of granting a
ant charp at 6 per cent. in lieu of paying the money at
once ; such rent charge to he charged on adequate freehold
or copyhold property. The result would be that, instead
of paying the first moiety, the purchaser would grant de-
bentures to the amount of £25 a year; and, in respect to
• the second moiety, he would grant debentures for the sum
Which that moiety would amount to at compound interest

at 4 per cent. The whole principle of the measure was
1 that in effect the purchaser was to pay either in a sum of
money down, or in an annuity, one-half of the considera-
tion for the advowson ins'anter, and the other cart was to
be kept and accumulated at compound interest, and not to
be paid until the purchaser should come into actual posses-
sion. They would see, therefore, that his ob,€ct was to give
1 immediate benefit, but a still greater argumentation of the
living when it came into possession of the purchaser.
Lord ORAN WORTH congratulated the noble and
learned lord upon the satisfactory character of the measure,
which he thought would not only be of great benefit to the
country, but would relieve any Lord Chancellor who might
hold the seals from a large amount of disagreeable trouble
connected wi h the distribution of these small livings. He
was not quite certain, however, that his noble and learned
friend had not over-valued them by not having deducted
the charge for curates

Lord CHELMSFORD said that the object of augment-
ing those small livings had his entire concurrence.

THE CLOONE LOAN FUND.

The Earl of LEITRIM moved an address to her
Majesty for a Royal commission to in juke into the pro-
priety of the 1.4,,an Fund Board having closed the Cloone
Loan Fund, and ordered the funds to be c.,nfiscated ; and
to inquire into the mode in which those funds had been
employed, and whether they could not be applied for the
benefit of the poor of the locality.
Earl GRANVILLE said the funds were being distri-
buted in that manner already, and there was no necessity
for any commission of inquiry, unless a prima facie case of
misapplication were shown.
The Earl of LEITRIM—That's not correct.

Earl GRANVILLE —The noble earl will be good enough
to address me in parliamentary language when he wishes
to address me in that way again.
The motion NI a s negatived without a division, and their
lordships adjourned at a quarter before eight.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—Last Evening.
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.

The Marquis of HARTINOTON took the oaths and his
seat for North Lancashire. the nobte lord was introduced
by Mr. Grogan and Mr. Hug2esson.

THIRD READINGS,

The following bills were read a third time :—Aberystwith
and Welsh Coast Railway—Accrington Gas and Water—
Caledonian Railway (Bredisholm Deviation)—Caledonian
Railway (Carstairs and Dolphinton Branch)—Cocker-
mouth and Workington Rail way—Cockermouth, Keswick,
and Penrith Railway—Leyland and Farington Gat—Mid
Wales Railway (Branch, &c.)—Newport Pagnell Railway
—North Bierley Gas—North-Eastern Railway (Newcastle
and Starbeck Branches)—Penarth Harbour, Dock, and
Railway.
The following bills were considered and ordered to be
read a third time :—Bristol and North Somerset Railway
and Harrogate Gas,

PETITIONS.

By Mr. POTTER, from Carlisle, in favour of the reduc-

tionof the tea duty; Mr. Ni ILLIAMS, from Lambeth, to
the same effect; Mr. W. WooD, from a public meeting re-
cently held under the presidency of Mr. Sheriff Lawrence,
in the Guildhall, praying the house to present an address to
her Majesty to sanction and uphold the efforts of
the Poles to establish their independence, and
to cease diplomatic relations with Russia until such inde-
pendence was established; Mr. LAWSON, from Carlisle,
against the sale of intosi,.ating liquors on the Sabbath;
Mr. HORSFALL, from Liverpool, Mr. E. BAINES, from
Leeds, Mr. Locxe, from Southwark, Mr. BARNES, from
Bolton, to the same effect ; Mr. WHALLEY, from Peter-
borough, and Mr. PACKE. ImOln Leicester, against the Pri-
son Ministers Bill; and Mr. BARNES, Belton, and Lord
J, MANNERS. Loughbovough, in favour; Mr. PENDER,
!row several building socielie4 in L verpool, pricing tor a
modificition of the fire insurance duty; Mr. BARNES, from
Bol:en, Mr. CARDWELL, 'rom the mayor and corporation
of Oxford, to the same t ff•ct ; Mr. WILLIAMS, from Lam-
be h, in favour of the alteration.