§ MR. BUCHANAN (Edinburgh, W.)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to a paragraph in The Times, of the 16th of April, referring to a correspondence between Lord Harewood and the Wesleyan Body; whether it is a fact, as there stated, that Lord Harewood has abolished the restrictions by which he prevented the Wesleyans from holding Divine Service 1719 during Church hours, or from having a Sunday School, or from celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in the village of Harewood; and, whether such restrictions of the freedom of public worship are legal; and, if so, whether the Government will take steps, by legislation, to render illegal all such limitations by an individual of the free exercise of the right of public worship by a religious community?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. STUART-WORTLEY) (Sheffield, Hallam)(who replied) said: I am informed by Lord Harewood that the facts stated in the newspaper paragraph referred to are correct. I have already stated that the restrictions mentioned in that paragraph were imposed under an agreement 70 years old, under which the Wesleyan Chapel was held, and I am unable to give an opinion as to the legal validity of such an agreement. The Government are not prepared to legislate on this subject, as they have no reason to suppose that there is any cause for the interference of Parliament.