§ Order of the Day for Committee read.
§ On Motion, That the House be put into a Committee on the said Bill,
EARL NELSONsaid, there was a point of some importance in regard to which there had been a difference of opinion in the Select Committee by which the Bill had been considered. The question on which the Committee were divided was whether all ecclesiastical fees should be paid into a central fund to be held by the Ecclesiastical Commission, or whether these fees should be placed under diocesan management. A number of witnesses examined before the Committee—including the Dean of Lichfield and Lord Alwyne Compton—thought that these fees should be managed by a Diocesan Board; and in his (Lord Nelson's) opinion the diocese was the natural integer from which Church work should be carried out. The Committee, however, were in favour of the central plan; but it would be a failure unless the central body was instructed as to the different fees levied in the different dioceses. In the Bill it was proposed that this information should be obtained by a cumbrous representative body called the Council of the Vicar General. He thought that it could be better obtained by means of a Royal Commission, or by Commissioners named in the Bill. He should be prepared to give Notice of Amendments to effect that object if he received any encouragement from the House.
§ Motion agreed to; House in Committee accordingly; Amendments made; The Report thereof to be received on Monday next; and Bill to be printed as amended.—(No. 123.)