§ The Earl of Riponpresented a petition from the Bishop of Down and Connor, and 105 clergymen of that diocese, complaining of the great deficiency of church accommodation in that part of Ireland. The petitioners stated that there were 105 parishes, which afforded the most inadequate accommodation for the poor that could be imagined; and they further set forth, that in order to supply proper accommodation, it would be necessary that fifty-one churches should be repaired, enlarged, or built. They had applied to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for assistance under the Act of Parliament, but the answer was, that they had no means of affording it. The parties who made this application had volunteered to contribute 1155 to the expense, and many others had no doubt had made similar offers, but their application was fruitless, the Commissioners not being provided with any means whatsoever to contribute to this important object. What mode should be adopted to remedy this deficiency, he was not prepared to state; but it was a most grievous and lamentable thing that the Church of Ireland should be placed in such a situation, without any means being devised to remedy it. The Commissioners were appointed, under an act of Parliament, to provide especially for the efficiency of the established Church in Ireland. That Act of Parliament had now been in existence three years and more, and yet not a farthing had the Commissioners been able to afford in furtherance of that important object.
The Marquis of Downshiresupported the petition. The diocese was a large and important tine, and the spiritual wants of the inhabitants ought to be attended to.
§ Lord Hathertondid not wish to say any thing on this subject that was likely to provoke discussion. He was disposed to Concur in much, but not in all, that had fallen from the noble Earl. He agreed with the noble Earl that, In this diocese, a large Protestant population was not properly accommodated, and that was the reason why he supported the Bill of last year, by which sufficient funds would have been derived from places where there was no Protestant population to afford the necessary church accommodation in parishes, where there was.
The Earl of Haddingtonsaid, the noble Baron had stated that he would not introduce any point that was likely to provoke discussion, and he had then immediately alluded to the appropriation clause, than which no subject was more likely to create discussion. He, however, would not follow the example of the noble Lord, but he must say, With reference to the church question, that whenever he heard the word "surplus," it always struck him to mean "deficiency."
§ The Earl of Riponsaid, he had moved for a return of the expenditure of the Church Commissioners in Ireland, and thought it should have been supplied before this. In respect to the Report of the Commissioners themselves, he supposed that the Lord-Lieutenant had not considered it worth his while to send it to England.
§ Petition laid on the table.