§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ LORD LYTTELTON moved the second reading of this Bill, the object of which was to restrict the leasing of glebe lands 1053 in certain cases, &c., by incumbents. He had been asked to introduce the measure by persons connected with the west of England, where alone the abuses to which it referred still existed. It certainly never was the intention of the Church, or of the State, or of the founders and endowers of benefices, that the revenues should be appropriated for the benefit of particular occupiers of the benefices or their children, in derogation of the interests and rights of the successors to the benefices. As their Lordships were aware this practice had once been the great scandal of the Church of England, in the case of higher ecclesiastical dignities, but the whole tenor of legislation of late years had been so to regulate the power of ecclesiastical persons to deal with their benefices that they should not interfere with the rights of their successor, and to a very great extent they had succeeded. The abuse against which his Bill provided mainly existed, be believed, in the west of England, in some parts of which the practice still prevailed for incumbents of livings to grant and lease out for lives and long terms the lands belonging to the benefice. These grants were made in consideration of large fines, at nominal annual rents, to the prejudice of the next incumbents, or the incumbents granted out the lands to their own children. He proposed to put an end to the power of making these grants, saving, however, the rights of existing incumbents, and to secure that any future grants should be made in conformity with the Acts of Parliament regulating the leases of other ecclesiastical property.
THE BISHOP OF LINCOLNconcurred in the principle of the measure; but he thought it would require some modification in Committee if they were to make it beneficial to the Church. It was hardly possible to put an end to a practice which had existed for so many years, and which was undoubtedly an abuse, without inflicting hardship upon some one; and, no doubt, their Lordships would take care to diminish the hardship as much as possible. But if the Bill passed in its present shape it would inflict additional hardship on the next two or three incumbents. At present there was little or no temptation to renew a lease before it fell in; but if it were once made law that the present incumbent could make such a lease while his successor could not there would immediately be a surrendering of all leases at present in existence, 1054 and new leases would be issued with the insertion of younger lives, which would be greatly to the prejudice of the next successor. He knew it was much more easy to prevent evils than to correct them; and he hoped his noble Friend would find some means to prevent this evil from falling on succeeding incumbents.
THE MARQUESS OF BATHsaid, that in his neighbourhood these leases for lives were common. He thought the Bill would be of advantage; but, at the same time, he hoped some means would be found of obviating the hardship pointed out by the right rev. Prelate.
Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Thursday next.