The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-14 00:00:00

CLERGY RELIEF BILL.

On the motion for the second reading of this Bill,
Mr. LACY rose to move as an amendment, that it
be read a second time this day six months, because he
thought the Bill held out a premium to persons in holy
orders to act with insincerity. There were many men
in the Church of England who would avail themselves
of the provisions of this Bill in the event of the
death of a relative, or any other accidental cir-
cumstance, affording them an opportunity of de-
voting their attention to a more profitable em-
ployment than officiating as clergymen, which
might induce them to come forward and make a solemn
declaration, as the Bill provided, if they dissented
from the United Church of England and Ireland.—
(Hear.) Why did not the Bill go the length of pro-
viding that auy clergyman of the Church of England
might become a layman again? Why should he be
rather allowed to became a Dissenting lay-
man and not a Church layman?—(Hear, hear.)
In his opinion that mode of legislation would
have been much more politic than the present, which
held out an inducement for clergymen to leave the
Church under false pretences.—(Hear.) He had there-
fore felt it to be his duty to himself and the country to
move the amendment, in the hope that it would have the
effect of inducing some alterations in the provisions of
the Bill, and making it less susceptible ofin-
ducing parties to make solemn declarations for
sordid and sinister ends.—(Cries of "Hear, hear.")
He would much rather giVe his assent to a Bill which
allowed a clergyman to leave the Church without making
any declaration, than to such a measure as that, which
he considered held out a premium to insincerity. He
did not think that the great bulk of the Church would
take advantage of the Bill, but he believed there were
some who would avail themselves of it without con-
scientiously holding the opinions of Dissenters. Upon
these grounds he begged to move that it be read a second
time that day six months.
Mr. FORBES seconded the amendment.

Mr. BOUVERIE said, when he introduced the Bill,
he stated its general purport and object, and he did not
now think it necessary to trouble the House with a re-
petition of the statement. The law which prevented a
clergyman relieving himself from the vows which he had
once taken, and which subjected him to fines and
imprisonment it he attempted to do so, was so unreason-
able that he thought few in the House would refuse to
give their assent to a measure which proposed to abolish
such an oppressive enactment.
Mr. HUME said he knew of nothing more tyrannical
than that which prevented a conscientious man leaving
the Church.—(Hear.) It was a relic of oppression upon
a class of individuals, and he hoped the House would
not allow it to continue long, but would pass the second
reading of the Bill, and amend it if necessary in Committee.
If
sac:zattiotti,sahNev
a man had conscientiously taken vows, and then
opinions with
itlesi°rne
throeuasgohnt hetoougahlttertohbies
allowed to become a Dissenter.
Mr. STAFFORD said, this Bill was one of great ire-
portance, but the attention of the Ho
use was evidently
set upon another matter. The practical point was this—
that any clergyman who had violated the discipline of
the Church, and laid himself open to a prosecution, had
nothing more to do than to go before a magistrate,
and make the declaration included in the
present Bill, and lie was immediately released from all
the vows he might have made. Considering the great
the subject and the short discussion which
importance of
toit, he thought it his '
duty to
had as yet been devoted
oppose the second reading and to support the amend-
ment of his Hon. Friend.
Mr. SPOON
ER said the objections of Hon. Members
seemed to be confined to the details and not to the
principle of the measure. The evils of the existing
law were great. For instance a clergyman, young in
life, might, upon a first conviction, enter into hot)
orders, but might afterwards change his opini.ons, ii,
which case be would either have to relinquia
tho only means he had of supporting his
family, or be compelled by the necessities of
his position to go on performinz his clerical
duties, although contrary to his conscientious convictions.
The objection that a clergy man who had committed a
breach of church discipline might take refuge under
this Bill, was a mere matter of detail, and might be
amended when the Bill went through Committee. He
felt compelled upon those grounds to give his assent to
the second reading.
Mr. WAWN said, as the law now stood, when a
minister of the Protestant Church left that body, and
entered the Roman Catholic Church, he was free from
imprisonment—(Hear)—but if an individual connected
with the Church, yet dissenting from its doctrines,
joined any dissenting body, he might be prosecuted
for so acting.—(Hear.) At the present moment an
individual was now suffering from this anomolous state
of the law.—(Hear, hear.) He should support the
second reading of the Bill, because he wished to see
persons dissenting from the Church, and joining one of