§ MR. HOWELLI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the Acts done by the Charity Commissioners, under the Act of 5 & 6"Will. IV., c. 71, s. 20, came to an end with the expiring of the Act; whether the Act being for inquiry alone necessarily expired at the end of the term for which enacted; whether the decrees made by the Commis- 608 sioners were permanent in their character and effects; and whether there is or is not a record of those decrees, and of the appointments made under the Acts?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE,) Edinburgh, MidlothianThe Commissioners appointed under the Act could empower the Minister and Churchwardens to act as Trustees of Charities, and this power remained in force until the funds were claimed by other Trustees duly appointed. The "acts done" in pursuance of this power did not therefore come to an end with the expiring of the Act. The Act was to continue in force till March 1, 1837. No record of the acts done under Section 20 is known to exist. But some instances of the exercise of the powers of the Commissioners are noted in the later volumes of the Report of Lord Brougham's Commission.