§ (The Lord Bishop of Carlisle.)
§ (NO. 83.) SECOND READING.
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
THE BISHOP OF CARLISLE (Dr. HARVEY GOODWIN), in moving that the Bill be now read a second time, explained that it was intended to remedy the defects of an Act of Henry VIII., which had proved to be a very useful Act, enabling Bishops to be consecrated to assist Diocesan Bishops. That Act, unfortunately, contained a list of towns from which the titles of Suffragan Bishops could be taken, and some of these towns, as might be imagined, were totally inapplicable to the altered conditions of society. For example, the Bishop of Bedford was really a Bishop for East London, and the Bishop of Marlborough had no connection with the town from which he derived his title. What, however, brought the anomaly most vividly to his mind was the proposal to appoint a suffragan to the Bishop of Ripon by a title derived from Penrith, which was in his own diocese. But since he had introduced his Bill he had discovered that a Bill with a similar object was introduced in "another place" three months ago. This other Bill, however, went further than the one for which he was asking a second reading, and proposed to enable bishops with incongruous titles to change their names into more suitable ones. It also differed from his own Bill in allowing gentlemen already in episcopal orders to be appointed Suffragan Bishops. When he made this discovery he rather hesitated whether he should go on with the Bill, but inasmuch as no progress had been made in the House of Commons with that Bill, he resolved to proceed with his Bill and then to take counsel with the members of the other House who had been good enough to interest themselves in the question. He, therefore, hoped that their Lordships would be good enough to give his little Bill a second reading.
Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Lord Bishop of Carlisle.)
Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly.