§ Bill considered in Committee.
§ (In the Committee.)
§
MR. AYRTON moved the following Clause:—
(No conveyance of any advowson shall be made to any purchaser under this Act until it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Lord Chancellor, for the time being, that a deed has been executed by all proper parties for the purpose of vesting the right of presentation in perpetuity of the advowson to be conveyed in some one or more persons, not exceeding four, being owners or occupiers of land in the parish to which such advowson relates, and being members of the Church of England and Ireland; and such deed shall be valid and effectual to vest such right of presentation in perpetuity irrevocably in such owners or occupiers for the time being.)
§ Clause brought up, and read 1o.
§ Motion made, and Question put, "That the said Clause be now read a second time."
§ The Committee divided:—Ayes 18; Noes 47: Majority 29.
§ MR. MORRISONsaid, that the sale of presentations was one of the worst features of the Church of England. As, however, it was part of the law of the land, he did not wish to interfere with it by a side wind. He trusted, however, that the Committee was not prepared to increase the evil, and in that hope he had prepared a clause, the only argument against which might be, that it would restrict the sale of advowsons too much. The sale of next presentations was, however, such a scandal to the Church that it was better the Lord Chancellor should get seven instead of eight years' purchase rather than the system should go on. He would therefore move the following clause:—
It shall not be lawful for the purchaser or grantee of any advowson under this Act, his heirs, successors, or assigns, to sell, assign, or otherwise 1275 dispose of for any valuable consideration whatsoever, the next or any subsequent turn or turns of presentation of such advowson apart and separately from the residue of such advowson, but every presentation, collation, admission, institution, or induction thereupon shall be void; and the right of patronage shall thereupon, for that turn, lapse to the Lord Chancellor for the time being.
§ Clause brought up, and read 1o.
THE SOLICITOR GENERALsaid, he trusted that the Committee would not, by accepting the clause, create a new and anomalous class of livings. He should oppose the clause.
MR. HENLEYsaid, he thought the hon. Gentleman was straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. He did not object to give the Lord Chancellor power to sell the presentation for ever, yet he said it was wrong for him to sell it once. He could not support the Amendment, because it was unadvisable to create anomalies in that class of Church livings.
§ MR. MORRISONsaid, that landed gentlemen, who would not alienate an advowson from the family, would, nevertheless, sometimes sell the next presentation.
§ Motion made, and Question put, "That the said Clause be now read a second time."
§ The Committee divided:— Ayes 23; Noes 45: Majority 22.
§ House resumed.
§ Bill reported, with Amendments; as amended, to be considered this day.