§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether the Government have received any communications from the City of Bristol, or whether their attention has been directed to any communications made by the City of Bristol to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners respecting the claim made for the restoration of an Episcopal Residence at Bristol; whether he is aware of the circumstances under which the union between the Sees of Bristol and Gloucester was effected, and whether he is of opinion that the sale of the residence purchased for Bishop Monk, in great part with money raised by taxation of the inhabitants of Bristol, and the application of the proceeds to the erection of the Episcopal Palace at Gloucester, without providing any substituted residence at Bristol, is in accordance with the spirit of the terms on which the union was made; and whether there will be any objection to produce any Correspondence which has taken place on the object? He would omit the clause "in great part with money raised by taxation of the inhabitants of Bristol," because the fact was that the City of Bristol was taxed to replace the Episcopal Residence in consequence of its destruction in the time of the Reform Bill riots, and its retention might lead to misapprehension.
§ SIR GEORGE GREY,in reply, said, he was not aware that any communication had been received from Bristol by Her Majesty's Government, and certainly his attention had not been directed to any communication made respecting the claim for the restoration of the Episcopal Residence. He was generally aware of the circumstances under which the union of the Sees was effected, but not sufficiently to express an opinion as to whether the sale of the residence purchased for Bishop Monk, and the application of the proceeds to the erection of the Episcopal Palace at Gloucester, without providing any substituted residence at Bristol, was in accordance with the spirit of the terms on which the union was made. But, on inquiry at the Ecclesiastical Commission Office, he found that there had been a Correspondence, and he believed that there would be no objection to its production.