By an act passed 11th August, 1840 (3 & 4 Viet. c. 113), the constitution of the Ecclesiastical Commission was con siderably modified by increasing the num ber of ex-officio members, and by other alterations. In addition to the members constituted ex-officio commissioners un der the act 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 77, the following were by this act also appointed : —all the bishops of England and Wales, the deans of Canterbury, St. Paul's, and Westminster, the two chief justices, the master of the rolls, the chief baron, and the judges of the Prerogative and Admi ralty Courts. By this act the crown is empowered to appoint four, and the arch bishop of Canterbury two laymen as com missioners in addition to the three ap pointed under the former act. Under the former act the commissioners were removeable by the crown ; but now each commissioner continues a member of the corporation "so long as he shall well demean himself in the execution of his duties." Lay members are required as before to subscribe a declaration that they are members of the Established Church.
Five commissioners are a quorum at meetings of which due notice has been given. The chairman, who has a casting vote, is the commissioner present first in rank ; and if the rank of all the commis sioners present be equal, the chair is to be taken by the senior commissioner in the order of appointment. Two of the episcopal commissioners must be present at the ratification of any act by the com mon seal of the corporation ; and if they, being the only two episcopal commis sioners present, object, the matter is to be referred to an adjourned meeting. The commissioners may summon and examine witnesses on oath, and cause papers and documents to be produced before them.
The act (6 & 7 Wm. IV. C. 77) em powers the ecclesiastical commissioners to prepare and lay before his majesty in council such schemes as shall appear to them to be best adapted for carrying into effect the recommendations contained in the five Reports already mentioned, with such modifications or variations as to matters of detail and regulation as shall not be substantially repugnant to any or either of those recommendations. The king, by an order in council, ratifies these schemes, and appoints a time for their coming into operation. This order must be registered by the diocesan registrar of the diocese within which the place or district affected by the order is situated, and it mast also be published in the London Gazette.' A copy of all the orders issued during the preceding twelve months must be presented annu ally to Parliament within a week after its meeting. As soon as an order is regis tered in the diocese, and gazetted, it has the same force as if it had been included in the acts for carrying into effect the Reports of the Commissioners.
By special enactments, and by the joint authority of the Queen in council and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, changes of great importance have been made in rela tion to ecclesiastical revenues and duties.
The first act (6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 77) is entitled An Act for carrying into effect the Reports of the Commissioners ap pointed to consider the state of the Esta blished Church in England and Wales, with reference to Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues, so far as they relate to Episcopal Dioceses, Revenues, and Pa tronage.' By this act the dioceses of England and Wales have been re-ar ranged, four sees have been consolidated into two, two new sees have been created, the patronage of the several bishops has been more equally divided, commen dams are abolished, and the revenues of the different sees have been also more equally apportioned. [Brume, p. 385.] The jurisdiction of archdeacons was also settled by the Act. [ARCHDEACON, p. 180.]
The second act (3 & 4 Vict. c. 113) was passed 11th August, 1840, and is entitled ' An Act to carry into effect, with certain modifications, the Fourth Report of the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues ;' but its enactments also comprehend some of the propositions of the Second Report and of the draft Fifth Report. The main subject of the act is the cathedral and collegiate churches, and the application of parts of their reve nues to spiritual destitution in parishes. The act made some change in the consti tution of deans and chapters, suspended a large number of canonries, founded ho norary canonries [Callorr, p. 443], abo lished non - residentiary deaneries and sinecure rectories in public patronage ; deprived non-residentiary prebends and other non-resident offices iu cathedral and collegiate churches of the endow ments formerly attached to such offices. Self-elected deans and chapters are abo lished : deans are to be appointed by the crown, and the canons by the bishops. Sinecure rectories in private patronage may be bought by the Commissioners and suppressed. The profits of these dignities and offices, and sinecure rectories, are vested in the Ecclesiastical Commission ers, and are carried to a common fund, out of which additional provision is to be made for the cure of souls in parishes where such assistance is most required. Thus the act provided that a portion of the proceeds of prebends suppressed in Lichfield Cathedral should be devoted to making provision for the rector of St. Philip's, Birmingham, and for the perpetual curate of Christ Church in the same town ; that the endowments belonging to the collegiate churches of Wolverhampton, Heytesbury, and Mid dleham should be applied to making better provision for the cure of souls in the districts with which those places are connected ; and that the endow ments of the collegiate church of Wim borne minster should be applied with a like object to the parish of Wirn borne minster. The act empowers the Commissioners to annex the whole or any part of the endowments of sinecure rectories abolished by the act or pur chased to the vicarages or perpetual curacies dependent on them, when the extent of the population or the incompe tent endowment of such vicarages or curacies may render it expedient. Sine cure preferments may be annexed to bene fices with cure of souls. Benefices may be divided or consolidated with consent of patrons. Arrangements may be made for a better provision for the spiritual duties of ill-endowed parishes by exchange of advowsons or other alterations in the exercise of patronage. When two bene fices belong to the same patron, the in come may be differently apportioned with his consent.
A third Act was passed 21st June. 1841 (4 & 5 Vict. C. 39). Its chief object was to amend and explain the two former acts, but it contains various enactments calculated to carry out the principle of the first two acts as to various regulations and details.
In each of the acts for carrying into effect the recommendations of the Eccle siastical Commissioners, vested interests are specially protected.
From a return presented to Parlia ment, it appears that, down to May 1st, 1844, the number of benefices and churches whose incomes had been aug mented by the Ecclesiastical Commis sioners for England, was 496, and that the annual augmentation amounted to the sum of 25,779/.
There is in Ireland a body styled the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who were appointed under the act 3 & 4 Wm. IV.
c. 37 (` Church Temporalities Ace), and are empowered to receive the incomes of bishoprics on their becoming extinct in pursuance of the abovementioned act.