The 13 Eliz. c. 20, also renders void all charges upon ecclesiastical benefices by way of pension or otherwise. This last provision has been held to extend to mort gages and annuities, even if made only for the life or incumbency of the mort gagor. But the strictness of the laws prohibiting all alienations by or in favour of ecclesiastical persons, has in modern times been somewhat relaxed by the legislature for purposes of public conve nience. Thus the General Inclosure Act, 41 Geo. III. c. 109, and the Land-tax Redemption Act (42 Geo. III. c. 116, amended by 45 Geo. III. c. 77, 50 Geo. III. c. 58, 53 Geo. III. c. 123, 54 Geo. H! c. 17, and 57 Geo. III. c. 100), con fer amp,e powers of purchase and aliena tion for such purposes.
Other acts, as 17 Geo. HI. c. 53 amended by 21 Geo. III. C. 66, and 5 eo. IV. c. 89), empower ecclesiastical incumbents, with consent of patron and ordinary, to raise money by sale or mort gage of the profits of the benefice, for a term, for the purpose of building and re pairing parsonage-houses ; and the io vernors of Queen Anne's Bounty are permitted to advance money for the same object. (See also 43 Geo. III. c. 108, and 51 Geo. HI. c. 115.) Again, the stat. 55 Geo. III. c. 147 (amended by 1 Geo. IV. C. 6, 6 Geo. IV. c. 8, and 7 Geo. IV. c. 66) empowers incumbents, with consent of patron and ordinary, and according to the forms prescribed by the act, to exchange their parsonage-houses and glebe-lands, and to purchase and annex to their benefices other parsonage-houses and glebe-lands.
also 56 Geo. HI. c. 141.) And by the above-mentioned stet. 1 & 2 Will. IV. c. 45, rectors and vicars are enabled to charge their benefices in favour of chapels of-ease within their cures.
Although an ecclesiastical benefice cannot be alienated for the satisfaction of the incumbent's debts, the profits may be sequestrated for that purpose, even where the debt arises from an annuity which the incumbent has attempted to charge upon the benefice. (2 Barn. and Adolp. 734.) And this is the ordinary practice upon a judgment against a cler gyman in one of the temporal courts. The writ of fieri facias issues against him as in the case of a layman, but the sheriff returns that he is a beneficed clerk having no lay fee ; upon which a writ of levari facias issues to the bishop of the diocese, by virtue of which the profits of the benefice are sequestrated until the whole debt is satisfied.
In case of a beneficed clergyman seek ing his discharge under the Insolvent Act, the assignees of his estate must apply for a sequestration, in order to render the profits of the benefice available for the payment of his debts. (7 Geo. IV.
c. 57, § 28.) . . .
The duties and liabilities of spiritual persons come more properly under the head of CLERGY, but it is not inconsis tent with the subject of the present atricle to mention the non-residence of spiritual persons upon their benefices, which tbe sides being cognizable in the ecclesias tical courts) is visited with severe penal ties by different acts of parliament. The principal of the old enactments on the subject is stat. 21 Hen. VIII. c. 13 (amended and enlarged by 25 Hen. VIII. c. 16, 28 Hen. VIII. c. 13, and 33 Hen. VIII. c. 28), which imposed certain pe nalties upon persons wilfully absenting themselves from their benefices for one month together, or two months in the year. The 21 Hen. VIII. c. 13, was repealed by 1 & 2 Vict. c. 106.
The following was the state of the law respecting non-residence prior to the pass ing of the important statute of 1 & 2 Vict. c. 106. We give these details, as
they are of some historical interest. The chief statutes on the subject were the 21 Hen. VIII., c. 13 (and other acts of that king), and 57 Geo. III. C. 99. The act of Hen. VIII. excepted the chaplains to the king and royal family, those of peers, peeresses, and certain public officers, during their attendance upon the house hold of such as retain them ; and also all heads of colleges, magistrates, and pro fessors in the universities, and all students under a certain age residing there bond fide for study. And the king might grant dispensations for non-residence to his chaplains, even when they were not at tending his household. The residence in tended by the law was to be in the parson age-house, if there were one ; but if there were no house of residence, the incumbent might reside within the limits of the bene fice, or of the city, town, or parish where the benefice was situate, provided such residence were within two miles from the church or chapel of the benefice ; and in all such cases a residence might be ap pointed by the bishop, even without the limits of the benefice. These acts (which extended also to archdeaconries, deane ries, and dignities in cathedral and colle giate churches) were consolidated and amended by stat. 57 Geo. HI. c. 99, now repealed. By this last act, every incum bent absenting himself from a benefice with cure, without licence, for the period of three months consecutively, or at seve ral times for so many days as are equal to this period, and abiding elsewhere than at some other benefice, forfeited for an absence exceeding three months, but not above six months, one-third of the annual value of the benefice, clear of all outgoings except the curate's salary. Absences of a longer duration were subjected to propor tional penalties, and the whole of the penalty in each case was given to the party suing, together with such costs as toe allowed by the practice of the court where the action is brought. All who were exempt from residence before the last statute were still exempt, and the exemption was extended to several others, including public officers in either of the two universities, and tutors and public officers in any college. Students in the universities were exempted till they were thirty years of age ; and the king's pre rogative to grant dispensations for non residence to his chaplains was not affected by the statute. But no person could have the benefit of an exemption, unless he made a notification of it every year, within six weeks from the 1st of January, to the bishop of the diocese. Besides the exemp tions, the bishop might grant a licence for non-residence for the illness or infir mity of an incumbent, his wife or child, and for other causes specified in the act ; and if the bishop refused a licence, the incumbent might appeal to the archbishop. The bishop might also grant licences for non-residence for causes not specified in the act, but in that case the licences must be allowed by the archbishop. Licences might be revoked, and no licence could continue in force above three years from the time of its being granted, or after the 31st of December in the second year after that in which it was granted. The act also contained directions with respect to the lists of exemptions and licences for non residence, which were to be kept in the registry of each diocese for public in spection.