COMMITTEE ON CHURCH LANDS.
It has been seen in a former page that a committee had been appointed to ascertain the probable amount of any increased value which might be obtained by an improved management of church property. On the 3rd of May Lord John Russell proposed the reappointment of this committee. He estimated the revenue of the church of England at £3,439,767, and he calculated this income would admit of considerable increase. With respect to the disposal of such additional revenue, when obtained, his lordship said that both himself and colleagues held it as a fixed principle that it ought to be devoted to a purpose clearly and intimately connected with the church. Many honourable members were of opinion that such a fund should be applied to the education of the people: government would prefer to dedicate it to the repairs of the fabric of the church itself. His lordship then entered into details to show that the present system of managing church property was improvident and unsatisfactory; and that the funds of the church were often disposed of in a way contrary to their original purposes, and not desirable for the spiritual interests of the country. By proper arrangements he expected that an annual surplus of £300,000 might be secured. The motion was opposed by Mr. Liddell, who, in moving a direct negative to it, observed that government had been stimulated to stir this “mischievous question, and unsettle men’s minds and properties by the clamour of persons hostile to the church.” The church of Durham, he said, was the great object of their appetency. It certainly had rich possessions, but then its charities were in proportion. It had, moreover, crying wants: many of its cures were underpaid, and many new churches were requisite, for which there were no adequate means of endowment. The honourable gentleman concluded by saying, that should the motion for a committee be carried, he would further move the addition to it of the following words:—“with a view of applying such amount to the gradual diminution of the evils which flow from the deficiency in the means of religious instruction and pastoral superintendence by ministers of the established church.” The original motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and seventy-seven against two hundred and forty-one; and Mr. Liddell’s second amendment was lost by a majority of two hundred and sixty-five against two hundred and fifty-four.