§ MR. CHARLES M'ARTHUR (Liverpool, Exchange)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Sir Arthur Charles has been appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be Dean of Arches under the provisions of the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874, or irrespective thereof; whether the judge about to be appointed under Section 7 of that Act by the Archbishops, with the approval of the Crown, will become ex officio Dean of Arches and Official Principal of the Chancery Court of York; and whether there is any law under which a new Dean of Arches can be appointed while a vacancy in the office of judge, under the aforesaid Act, remains unfilled.
§ * SIR M. WHITE RIDLEYI am informed that letters patent have been issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury purporting to appoint Sir Arthur Charles to be Dean of Arches irrespectively of the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874. The second and third paragraphs of the question raise a point of law, on which I understand that different opinions are entertained and on which I have no authority to pronounce.