LEAVE. FIRST READING. (Hansard, 25 July 1859)

SIR GEORGE LEWIS,
in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to Roman Catholic charities, said that for some years past an annual Bill had been passed to withdraw Roman Catholic charities from the general law by which all charities were subjected to—the jurisdiction of the Charitable Commissioners. The reason of that exemption had been that in many cases the Roman Catholic charities contained trusts which the law denominated as uses of a superstitious character, and, therefore, void by the existing law; and it was thought that if those trusts were brought, without some cautionary legislation, under the jurisdiction of the Charitable Commissioners, they would be invalidated, and that thereby inconvenience would ensue contrary to the intention of the original founder. Promises had been made at different times that this exception should be put an end to, and that provisions should be proposed to the House which would have the effect of remedying the inconvenience in question, at the same time that the Roman Catholic charities should be brought under the operation of the existing law. Up to the present time, however, that object had 447 not been effected; and what he (Sir G. Lewis) now proposed was, that the necessity for that annual exemption should he superseded, and that an enactment should be established which should have the effect of converting those Roman Catholic charities which were contrary to the existing law to purposes consonant with the existing law, while they still retained their Roman Catholic character; that was to say, that the Court of Chancery or the Charity Commissioners should, in cases where the trust either covered the whole estate, or where it was mixed up with a lawful trust, have power to apply that portion of the endowment, in the case of its being a mixed trust, or the whole in case of its being an unmixed trust, to a charitable purpose that was lawful according to the existing law, at the same time maintaining its exclusively Roman Catholic character. That was the principal object of the clauses which he now sought to introduce. He also proposed that there should be a clause by which validity should be given to uninterrupted usage where it had existed for twenty years.

§ MR. KINNAIRD
said, he was glad that the Government had resolved upon the introduction of this Bill. All he now asked was, that they would give sufficient time for considering the measure, and that the country might see that it did not involve any principle the recognition of which might be the cause of regret hereafter.

§ MR. VINCENT SCULLY
said, he trusted that Irish Members, from not opposing the introduction of the Bill, would not be considered to have assented to its principle. Any doubt he might feel arose from the approbation expressed by the hon. Member.