§ THE EARL OF POWISmoved an Address for a Return of the various sources from which the income of the see of Sodor and Man was derived, and 2 its amount; and asked, What course Her Majesty's Government were taking with reference to legislation on the subject by the Island Legislature, and if they would present any Papers on the subject? According to the Returns of the Ecclesiastical Revenues Commission, 1835, the income of the See to which his Motion referred to amounted to £2,000 a-year. That income, he believed, was made up partly of tithes and partly from lands which had been alienated from various parishes in the island; but the amount of the sums derived from these sources were not enumerated in the Return, and he thought additional and more detailed information was required. The alienation of tithes in the middle ages had been a fertile source of abuse; and if these tithes were not required for the endowment of the See, they should be restored to the parishes in which they arose.
§ Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty for, Return of the various sources from which the income of the See of Sodor and Man is derived, and its amount.— (The Earl of Powis.)
§ EARL BEAUCHAMPsaid, he was sorry he could not answer the Question which the noble Earl had put, as to the course which the Government intended to take in reference to legislation on the subject by the Island Legislature. The matter was under the consideration of the Secretary of State; but he was not prepared to indicate the decision at which the right hon. Gentleman was likely to arrive. As to the Return which had been asked for, he was quite willing that it should be furnished; and, in addition to that, he would be quite prepared to lay upon the Table, if it were moved for, a letter on the subject which had been received from the Lieutenant Governor of the Island.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ House adjourned at half-past Five o'clock, to Thursday next, half-past Ten o'clock.