ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION ERS FOR ENGLAND. On the ground that it was " expedient that the fullest and most attentive consideration should be forthwith given to ecclesiastical duties and revenues," a royal commission was issued, dated 4th February, 1835, which appointed certain commissioners, and directed them " to consider the state of the several doiceses in England and Wales, with reference to the amount of their revenues and the more equal distri bution of episcopal duties, and the pre vention of the necessity of attaching, by commendam, to bishoprics benefices with cure of souls;" and the commissioners were further directed "to consider also the state of the several cathedral and col legiate churches in England and Wales, with a view to the suggestion of such measures as may render them conducive to the efficacy of the Established Church ; and to devise the best mode of providing for the cure of souls, with special refer ence to the residence of the clergy on their respective benefices." The commissioners were required to report their " opinions as to what measures it would be expe dient to adopt" on the several points sub mitted to their consideration.
The commissioners were the archbi shops of Canterbury and York, the bishops of London, Lincoln, and Gloucester, the lord chancellor, the first lord of the Treasury (Sir Robert Peel), and several members of the government, with other laymen. A change in the cabinet having occurred a few months afterwards, a new commission was issued on the 6th of June, 1835, for the purpose of substituting the names of members of the new cabinet.
The four Reports presented by the commissioners were respectively dated 17th March, 1835, and 4th March, 20th May, and 24th June, 1836. A fifth Report was prepared, but it had not been signed when the death of king William IV. occurred, and it was presented as a parliamentary paper (Sess. 1838 (66), xxviii. 9).
The First Report related to the duties and revenues of bishops. The commis sioners recommended various alterations of the boundaries of dioceses, the union of the sees of Gloucester and Bristol, the union of the sees of Bangor and St. Asaph, and the erection of sees at Ripon and Manchester. They calcu
lated the net income of the bishoprics of England and Wales at 148,8751., but from the unequal manner in which this revenue was distributed, the income of one-half of the bishoprics was below the sum necessary to cover the expenses to which a bishop is unavoidably subj...ct ; and to remedy this state of things, and with a view of doing away with commen dams and diminishing the motives for translations, they recommended a differ ent distribution of episcopal revenues.
The Third Report also related to epis copal matters.
The Second and Fourth Reports, and the draft of the Fifth Report, related to the cathedral and collegiate churches and to parochial subjects. They recom mended the appropriation of part of the revenues of the cathedral and collegiate churches, and the entire appropriation of the endowments for non-rendentiary pre bends, dignities, and officers, and that the proceeds in both cases should be carried to the account of a fund out of which better provision should be made for the cure of souls.
The Commissioners stated in their Second Report that they had prepared a bill for regulating pluralities and the re sidence of the clergy ; and in 1838 an act was passed (1 & 2 Vict. c. 106) relating to these matters. The chief provisions of the act are given in BENEFICE, p. 347 and p. 351.
On the 13th of August, 1836, an act was passed (6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 77) which established the ecclesiastical commis sioners as " one body politic and cor porate, by the name of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England.' " The num ber of incorporated was thirteen, of whom eight were ex-officio, namely, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the bishop of London, the lord chancellor, the lord president of the council, the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the exchequer, and such one of the principal secretaries of state as might be nominated under the sign ma nual. There were five other commis sioners, of whom two were bishops ; and these five were remov able at the pleasure of the crown. The laymen who were appointed were required by the act to subscribe a declaration as to their being members of the United Church of Eng land and Ireland by law established.