Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/210

194 In 1892 "The Clergy Discipline Act" was passed, a very important measure. Its object was to remove clergymen from their cures who have been convicted of crimes and misdemeanours. This law enacted that clergy convicted of treason and felony, who have been sentenced to imprisonment for the same, clergy who are proved to have committed adultery, or against whom a judicial act of separation has been made, shall be deprived of their livings and cures. This was a great step for the benefit of the Church, and already men have been justly punished through it. All these facts show what new life had come into the Church of England. But I have not finished yet.

I must now speak of another very important Act of legislation.

In the year 1836 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were incorporated, and the influence of the Church to-day is very largely due to their efforts. Parliament ordered that the Commission should be made. It authorized the Commission to set about a redistribution of the Church's wealth. The end of this was to benefit the Church, but we should remark that Parliament had to appropriate private property to accomplish this aim. We must remember that the Church of England, as a body, has no wealth at all. The wealth in the Church belongs to separate parishes and is the property of each parish. No parish has a right to interfere with the property of other parishes. But to proceed, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners set about their work to redistribute the the wealth in the Church. Upon inquiry it was discovered that there was great inequality in this respect. First