HC Deb 11 August 1875 vol 226 cc859-60
MR. BEEE8F0ED HOPE

said, that, in consequence of the answer given by the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he should move that the Order of the Day for going into Committee on the Bill, which had been more than once on the Paper, should be read and discharged. He wished, at the same time, to express his thanks to the hon. Members for Chelsea (Sir Charles Dilke) and Dundee (Mr. Edward Jenkins) for the great services they had rendered to his cause by the course they had taken on Monday night. There never had been a division on the main principle of the Bill until the hon. Member for Chelsea moved to substitute another day for that which he proposed for the postponement of the Bill. The hon. Member for Dundee, not satisfied with the result of the division on that Amendment, challenged a division on the substantive Motion, and this was really taking a division on the principle of the Bill. That was a result for which he (Mr. Beresford Hope) had vainly looked, and for which he was much indebted to the hon. Members opposite.

MR. SPEAKER

said, that no discussion on the merits of the Bill would be in Order on the present occasion.

MR. BERESFORD HOPE

said, he would bow to the authority of the Chair, but would take the opportunity of giving Notice that it was his intention to raise the question again next year. A Petition signed by between 4,000 and 5,000 of the clergy had been presented in favour of the Bill, although in consequence of some ignorance of the Forms of the House the signatures of only about 1,000 could be received. The fact, however, remained that one-fourth of the clergy of England had formally declared their assent to the Bill. Next Session he should re-introduce it at the earliest possible moment, and if he could only then find as good a friend as the hon. Member for Dundee had been this year, he trusted that he might be able to pass this Bill.

MR. MONK

said, that having voted in the minority the other night, he begged to state that he was as much in favour of an increase in the Episcopate as his hon. Friend the Member for the Cambridge University; but he thought the question had never been fully considered by the House.

MR. SPEAKER

said, that any debate on the Bill would be entirely out of Order.

Motion agreed to.

Order discharged; Bill withdrawn.