in which he generally concurred,
proposed an additional and alternative qualification for voters--namely,
the being rated in L30 in the larger, and L15 in the smaller boroughs.
Ministers acceded to this. But there was a greater difficulty
encountered in dealing with the exercise of ecclesiastical patronage.
Lord John Russell proposed the rejection of the amendment of the lords
on this subject; but Mr. Spring Rice proposed an expedient, which was
ultimately adopted, to insert a clause directing the ecclesiastical
patronage belonging to boroughs to be sold, and the price to be invested
for the purpose of being applied to the public good of the boroughs. The
amendments of the commons were taken into consideration by the lords on
the 4th of September, and were agreed to with few exceptions. They still
retained, however, their original amendments providing that justices
should be named by the crown, and that the division into wards should
begin with boroughs containing a population of six thousand. On the 7th
of September the commons agreed to the bill as it had been returned to
them from the house of lords, and in that shape it finally passed.

In the meantime, while the lords were occupied in the consideration
of the municipal bill, the commons were occupied with the Irish church
bill. Lord Morpeth brought this measure forward on the 26th of June, and
in doing so, he stated that, in conformity with the bill of last year,
and of that which the late government had contemplated, he proposed to
convert the existing composition into an annual rent-charge, payable by
the owners of the first estate of inheritance, or such other equivalent
estate as would be defined by the bill, equal to seven-tenths of the
amount of composition, or L70 for every L100, charging the cost of
collection, to the amount of sixpence in the pound, on the tithe-owners.
He thought it advisable to make a distinction not only between existing
and future clerical incumbents, but also between clergymen and lay
impropriators; and he proposed that the existing clerical incumbent
should receive L73 8s. for every L100 of composition, the additional
five per cent, being charged upon the perpetuity purchase-fund. As the
machinery of the bill, he said, was similar to that of last year, he
did not feel called upon to enter into any of the details respecting the
real charges payable to the crown, and the investments which would be
placed under the management of the com