BILL PRESENTED. FIRST READING. (Hansard, 18 March 1878)

§ EARL BEAUCHAMP,

presenting a Bill to provide for the foundation of four new Bishoprics in England, said, the measure he had to introduce was similar to that which was introduced in the other House of Parliament last year, and was received with favour, but which, owing to the pressure of Public Business, the Government had to withdraw after a second reading. In one sense that withdrawal might not have been a disadvantage, because more time had been thereby given for the consideration of the proposal which the Government made to Parliament. In such a case he thought that when a Bill had been dropped, after having made some progress in one House of Parliament, it was desirable, when it was re-introduced, to bring it forward in the House which had not, in the first instance, considered it. The general subject of an increase in the Episcopate had been so long under discussion that it was unnecessary for him to detain their Lordships in showing that the spiritual wants of large and rapidly increasing populations rendered such an increase not only desirable, but necessary. In 1847, owing to the dissatisfaction of the Clergy as to the provision for episcopal superintendence in certain parts of the country, a Royal Commission was appointed, which, among others, recommended that the See of Manchester should be founded; and Lord John Russell stated in the House of Commons that the Royal Commission would finally report in favour of three other new Sees—namely, Bodmin, St. Albans, and Southwark. Whatever the motive of it, there was considerable opposition in the House of Commons to the creation of the See of Manchester. Ostensibly that opposition was caused by the application to the new Bishopric of funds appertaining to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. That objection in no way applied to the proposal he was now about to submit to their Lordships—the Bill proposed no encroachment on the common fund of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. But, whatever the cause of the opposition, the Royal Commission did not report in favour of the founding of the three other Bishoprics named by Lord John Russell.

1482 In 1852 the Government of Lord Derby appointed a Royal Commission on Cathedrals, and the Commissioners were instructed to consider how far cathedral revenues might be made available for the erection of new Sees. That Commission collected very valuable information; but for some time the matter was allowed to rest. In 1862, at Wycombe, the noble Earl the present Prime Minister made these observations in reference to an increase of the Episcopate— I am in favour of, not of any wild, indiscriminate, or rashly adopted, but, on the contrary, of a moderate and well-considered extension of the Episcopate. And I form my opinion of the advantages that would arise from an extension of that character from the consequences of the extension of the Episcopate in our Colonies, which have been signal, and to a considerable degree upon the consequence that have resulted from the establishment of two new diocese in England. What was required, therefore, was that it should be shown that the present proposal was a well-considered and moderate one. The experience of the Bishoprics created—Ripon and Manchester—and of the Bishoprics founded in the Colonies was hopeful; and the late Lord Lyttelton, whose name could never be mentioned in their Lordships' House without respect, and other noble Lords who had devoted much attention to ecclesiastical matters, evinced a warm interest in this question. By the Bill before their Lordships no draft would be made on the funds in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; nor did it propose to reduce the income of any of the existing Sees of England and Wales below the minimum of £4,200 a-year. When the Sees of Truro and St. Albans were created, £3,000 per annum was the sum fixed for their endowments; but he thought it unwise to have any great discrepancy between the old Sees and the new; and, after consideration, the Government were of opinion that the endowment of each of the four Sees which it was proposed to create under this Bill should not be less than £3,500 a-year. It was proposed that the endowments should be raised by public contributions, and contributions from other Sees. The four Sees proposed in the Bill were Liverpool, Newcastle, and Wakefield, in the Province of York, and Southwell, in the Province of Canterbury. The first of those—Liverpool—would comprise the Hundred of 1483 West Derby, which, according to the Census of 1871, had an area of 243,985 acres, 128,785 houses, and a population of 767,416 Towards the endowment of the See of Liverpool the See of Chester would contribute £300 a-year. There were no public subscriptions immediately in hand to supplement that; but the people of Liverpool were anxious to have an independent See, and there were liberal promises of funds which were expected to be forthcoming from intending subscribers as soon as this Bill passed. The next of the Sees—Newcastle—would comprise the county of Northumberland, which, according to the Census of 1871, had 1,290,312 acres, 66,204 houses, and 386,646 inhabitants; the counties of the towns of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and some small adjacent districts. To the endowment of this new See, the See of Durham would contribute £1,000 per annum; and there would probably be a further fund available for its endowment in the Hedley bequest of £25,000—there was, therefore, every probability that a sufficient endowment of the See of Newcastle would be provided at no distant date. The next of the new Sees was Wakefield. It would comprise a portion of the diocese of Ripon, and include within it the towns of Halifax, Burstall, and other manufacturing towns. He was not able to state the exact acreage and population; but anyone acquainted with the West Hiding must know that in it there was ample room for additional ecclesiastical supervision. The See of Ripon would contribute £300 a-year to the new See, and promises of subscriptions for its endowment to the amount of £18,000 had already been received. The last of the new dioceses was South well, which would comprise the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which together contained, according to the Census from which he had before quoted, 1,182,419 acres, 154,060 houses, and a population of 699,152. Lincolnshire, which would be left to Lincoln, had 1,767,962 acres, 98,903 houses, and a population of 436,599. For the diocese of Southwell, the See of Lichfield would contribute £300 a-year, and that of Lincoln £500, and there were promises of public contributions to the amount of £5,700. He presented this to their Lordships as a moderate and well-considered plan. He 1484 believed that no one could say it was extravagant. It compelled no one to contribute; but it allowed those who had at heart the welfare of the Church to follow the example of their forefathers, and to give of their abundance for the improvement of that beneficent organization which for more than 1,000 years had dispensed the ministrations of the Christian religion to the English people.