§ Order of the Day for the Third Beading read.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read 3a."—[The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.')
§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYsaid, that he should not offer any opposition to the Bill. He could not, however, but regret that the Bill brought in by his noble Friend (Earl Beauchamp) had not been accepted in preference to the one before their Lordships.
§ EARL FORTESCUEsaid, that he also must protest against the passing of this Bill into law. They were all agreed that imprisonment was a most inappropriate punishment for a clergyman of exemplary life, who thought it his conscientious duty to resist the law under which he held the benefice to which he clung. A more appropriate remedy for a clergyman who persisted in his contumacy was incorporated in the Bill which passed their Lordships' House last Session. He regretted very much that the 966 present measure had been substituted for one which was not only more appropriate, but was more likely to conduce to the interests of the parishioners still nominally under the clergyman's charge. The best clause in the Bill seemed to be that which limited its duration to three years; and he hoped that before the end of that time some measure for dealing more satisfactorily and on sounder principles with contumacious clergymen would be passed.
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 3a accordingly; an Amendment made; Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.