THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that its object was to deal with what, was universally admitted amongst the Bishops of the Church to be a very great evil; it had been considered and agreed to by every Bishop upon the English Bench; it had been approved by the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury; and the clergy generally had an earnest desire to see it passed. He proposed by this measure to extend to the beneficed clergy the principle applied to the Episcopal Bench by the Episcopal Resignation Bill of last year. It would enable clergymen who had become worn out in the work of the ministry, or who had otherwise become incapacitated to perform their work, to resign their benefices, under certain carefully-guarded provisions, and with the consent of their Bishop and Archbishop. Those who resigned their benefices in this manner would continue to receive one-third of the gross profits—as the Bill said; but perhaps it would be better to make it one-third of the net profits of the living. Their retirement would be a great advantage to the parishioners, who would be able to have the services of young and able men; and the arrangement would be a great boon to the clergy who felt unfit to continue in the work. He trusted no objection would be raised to the principle of the Bill, though, of course it would be right that its provisions should be considered in Committee.
§ Bill read 2a (according to Order), and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Thursday next.