CHURCHES (IRELAND).
RETURN to an Order of the Honourable The House of Coram'ipns,,, l
dated 5 August 1845 %—for, I %% COPY of the Correspondence between the Lord Lieutenant*©f Iretyrid~&hd the Irish Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in reference to the Applw9*roff^of a Portion of the Perpetuity Fund to the Building and Repairing of Churches in Ireland."
SCHEDULE.
No.
i.—The
Lord Lieutenant to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; 5 September 1844 -p No.
2.—The
Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the Lord Lieutenant; 14 September 1844 -p No.
3.—Proceedings
at a Special Meeting o/the Ecclesiastical Commissioners j 26 Nov.
1844 p No.
4.—The
Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the Lord Lieutenant; 7 December 1844 -p No.
5.—The
Lord Lieutenant to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ; 7 January 1845 --p No.
G.—The
Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the Lord Lieutenant; 11 January 1845 --p No.
7.—The
Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the Lord Lieutenant, enclosing Returns to Inquiries; 12 February 1845 ---------p.
14
1 2 3 3 13 14
Ordered, by The House of Commons, to he Printed, 5 August 1845.
— No.
1.
—
LETTER from the Lord Lieutenant to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
My Lords and Gentlemen, Vice-Regal Lodge, 5 Sept.
1844.
The subject of the sales of the perpetuities under the Church Temporalities Acts having engaged the attention of Her Majesty's Government, I have to express their regret to find that the whole of the income arising from this source t)f revenue has been spent, and no portion whatever retained as capital, yielding an annual income.
The funds placed at the disposal of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, on the establishment of the Commission, and the purposes to which the same were by Jaw made applicable, in the payment of the arrears of vestry-cess, the providing things requisite for the celebration of Divine service, and in the repairs of churches, may have rendered it necessary to have appropriated the whole of the monies arising from those sales; but as it would appear that the claims on accountof vestry-cess have been satisfied, and a large expenditure been incurred in putting the parish churches into good repair, the Government conceive that the same necessity can¬ not now exist as heretofore, which would justify the Commissioners in drawing further upon the capital of the Perpetuity Purchase Fund, and they cannot but think that the interests of the Established Church in Ireland would not only be best served, but require that the monies arising from this source should for the future be invested in Government securities, and the expenditure solely confined to the interest money accruing therefrom.
In communicating the opinion entertained by the Government upon this point, I consider it to be unnecessary to remind the Commissioners of that provision, whereby all the proceeds and funds arising under the Church Temporalities Acts stand charged with the repayment of the balance of the 100,000/.
advanced by the Board of Works, prior and in preference to any other application of those funds, pursuant to the order and direction of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury; for I feel satisfied that it is only necessary to draw the atten¬ tion in order to insure the ready acquiescence of the Commissioners in the views entertained by Her Majesty's Ministers on the subject, and to prevent the neces¬ sity of any further legislation.
621.
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