§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that the Bill enacted that where two or more benefices, or parts of benefices, were united and held by one incumbent, and there were more than one church within the limit of the united benefice, it should be lawful for the Bishop of the diocese, upon application and consent in writing of the incumbent and patron, and with the consent of the parishioners in vestry, to direct that one of such churches shall be constituted the parish church; and that the disused church might be either pulled down, or left for use as a chapel of case or as a mortuary chapel. The site, however, of the church and churchyard was to be preserved and kept from desecration. All rights possessed by the parishioners in the church to be taken down would be transferred to the other, and the maintenance of tombstones and monuments was provided for. He had withdrawn the clause inserted at the instance of a right rev. Brother last Session, facilitating the union of parishes which could not at present be united, as this then prevented the passage of the Bill in "another place." The Bill would not warrant the alienation of the churchyard or site of the church, and it would be attended with, great convenience in some cases.
§ Bill read 2a (according to Order), and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Tuesday next.