Commissioners may assign certain Stipends to be payable out of Estates of Cathedral Churches, &c. Ecclesiastical Commission. the said Two Parishes, and in the several Ecclesiastical Districts into which the same have been divided:' Be it enacted, That so much of the Thirty-first Section of the Act of the Third and Fourth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter One hundred and thirteen, as has not been already repealed be and the same is hereby repealed, and that in lieu thereof, as from the Twenty-ninth of September next, the whole of the Proceeds of the Canonry to which the Rectory of Saint Margaret's is annexed, over and above the Sum of One thousand Pounds per Annum, and during the Incumbency of the present Rector of Saint John One Third of the Proceeds of the Canonry to which the Rectory of Saint John is annexed, shall become payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, for the Purposes of their Common Fund, and that from the same Date the Commissioners shall pay out of the said Common Fund to the Incumbent of All Saints, Knightsbridge, the annual Sum of One hundred and twenty Pounds, and to the Incumbents of each of the under-mentioned Churches, situate in the said Parishes of Saint Margaret and Saint John, within the City of Westminster, namely, Saint Margaret, Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint Matthew, Saint Stephen, Saint Mary, Saint James-theLess, and Holy Trinity, such annual Sum as, together with any permanent Endowment, not including Pew Rents and Fees, now belonging to each of such Churches, will raise such Endowment to Five hundred Pounds per Annum; and that upon the next Avoidance of the Canonry to which the Rectory of Saint John is annexed the whole of the Proceeds of such Čanonry, over and above the Sum of One thousand Pounds per Annum, shall become in like Manner payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who shall thereupon pay out of their said Common Fund to the Incumbent of the Church of Saint John such annual Sum as, together with any permanent Endowment, not including Pew Rents and Fees, belonging to such Church, will raise such Endowment to Five hundred Pounds per Annum: Provided always, that from and after the Twenty-ninth of September next all the Seats in the said Churches of Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint Matthew, Saint Stephen, Saint Mary, Saint James-the-Less, and Holy Trinity, not held by Faculty or Prescription, nor appropriated under the Authority of any Act of Parliament, or of the Deeds of Consecration of the said Churches, shall be for ever free. 18. When the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are or may be in receipt of any Income arising from Estates that belong or have belonged to any Dean or Chapter or any major or minor Corporation of any Cathedral or Collegiate Church, the said Commissioners shall be at liberty (whether an Order of Her Majesty in Council has or has not been passed in relation to such Income, and notwithstanding any Limitation contained in any Act of Parliament as to the Stipends and Allowances of any of the Persons hereinafter mentioned,) out of such Income to make such Provision as to them may seem needful for securing adequate Stipends and Allowances to the Minor Canons, Schoolmasters, Organists, Vicars Choral, Lay Clerks, Officers, Choristers, Bedesmen, Servants, and other Ecclesiastical Commission. other Members of the Cathedral or Collegiate Church, and for securing adequate Sums of Money for the Maintenance of any existing College or School in connexion with the Cathedral or Collegiate Church. 19. Whereas certain Charges and Expenses payable in respect Charge of cer' of the Performance by the Commissioners of certain Duties tain Expenses under the Church Building Acts are directed by the Second on Funds of 'Section of the Act of the Session of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter Fifty-five, to be paid out of such Monies as may be provided by Parliament. for that Purpose; and it is expedient to amend the said Act :' Be it enacted, That all such Charges and Expenses as are mentioned in the said Section shall, from and after the Thirty-first Day of March next, be defrayed out of any Monies from Time to Time in the Hands of the Commissioners. Commissioners. Certain Expenses to be paid out of 20. All Expenses incurred by the Commissioners in or about the Publication in the Gazette of any Orders of Her Majesty in Council, Deeds or other Instruments, or in or about the Publication by the Commissioners of any Advertisement whatever, shall be defrayed out of the Monies from Time to Time in the Hands Commissioners. of the Commissioners. 21. So much of the Twelfth Section of the Act of the Fourth and Fifth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter Thirty-nine, as enacts that on the next Avoidance of the Rectory of Southwell the Archdeacon of Nottingham for the Time being shall become ipso facto Rector of the said Rectory, and the said Rectory shall thenceforth be permanently annexed to the Archdeaconry of Nottingham, shall be and the same is hereby repealed. 6 on Funds in the Repealing in part Sect. 12. of 4 & 5 Vict. Rectory of c. 39. as to Southwell. of Sect 8. of 28 & 29 Vict. c. 42. 22. Whereas by the Eighth Section of the Act of the Session Amendment of the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Years of Her present 'Majesty it is provided, that any Agreement made in pursuance of that Act shall be carried into effect by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, and any Order made by Her Majesty in Council ratifying such Agreement, and transferring the one Side the Tithes proposed to be transferred to the Incumbent of the District Church, and on the other securing 'to the Rector or Vicar the Compensation agreed upon, shall be ' valid to vest in the said Incumbent and his Successors such Tithes, and to secure to the said Rector or Vicar such Compensation: And whereas it will be a great Saving of Expense if ' a Deed under the Corporate Seal of the said Commissioners be 'substituted for the said Order in Council:' Be it enacted, That in the said Section the Words "any Instrument under the Corporate Seal of the said Commissioners, made in pursuance of "such Agreement," shall be substituted for the Words "any Order "made by Her Majesty in Council ratifying such Agreement." 66 23. Nothing in this Act contained shall affect or apply to the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford, nor to the Cathedral or Collegiate Church of Manchester. САР. Not to affect Oxford, or Evidence to be taken before nary. Court of Session (Scotland). CA P. CXII. An Act to make Provision in regard to the Mode of taking WH 'HEREAS the Practice of taking Proofs by Commission in Causes before the Court of Session in Scotland is productive of unnecessary Expense and of great Delay in the 'Administration of Justice :' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows: 1. Except as herein-after enacted, it shall not be competent in any Cause depending before the Court of Session to grant Comthe Lord Ordi- mission to take Proof; but where in such Causes it is, according to the existing Practice, competent to take Proof by Commission, and where in such Causes Proof shall be allowed (which the Lord Ordinary is hereby authorized to allow without the Consent of both Parties, and without reporting to and obtaining the Leave of the Inner House), a Diet of Proof shall be appointed, which Diet may be fixed, in the Discretion of the Lord Ordinary, either during the Sitting of the Court or in Vacation, at which the Evidence shall be led before the Lord Ordinary, and he shall himself take and either write down with his own Hand the oral Evidence, in which Case it shall be read over to the Witness by the Judge in open Court, and shall be signed by the Witness, if he can write; or the Lord Ordinary shall record the Evidence by dictating it to a Clerk, in which Case it shall also be read over to and signed by the Witness; or the Lord Ordinary shall cause the Evidence to be taken down and recorded in Shorthand by a Writer skilled in Shorthand Writing, to whom the Oath De fideli administratione officii shall be administered; and the Lord Ordinary may, if he think fit, dictate to the Shorthand Writer the Evidence which he is to record; and the Shorthand Writer shall afterwards write out the Evidence so taken by him; and the extended Notes of such Shorthand Writer, certified by the presiding Judge to be correct, shall be the Record of the oral Evidence in the Cause; and the Lord Ordinary shall himself take or dictate to his Clerk or Shorthand Writer a Note of the Documents adduced; and any Ruling of the Lord Ordinary in reference to the Admission or Rejection of Evidence may be recalled or altered by the Inner House on a Reclaiming Note against the final Interlocutor of the Lord Ordinary disposing of the Cause; and the Proof shall be taken continuously in like Manner as at Jury Trials in Civil Causes before the Court of Session in Scotland, but with Power to the Lord Ordinary to adjourn the Proof upon such Grounds as Causes set down for Jury Trial may according to the existing Law and Practice be adjourned or postponed, or on such other special Grounds as to him shall appear Court of Session (Scotland). appear sufficient, and under such Conditions, if any, as he shall think proper. mission. 2. Provided always, That it shall be competent to the Judges In what Cases of either Division of the Court or to the Lord Ordinary to grant Proof may be Commission to any Person competent to take and report in Writing taken by Comthe Depositions of Havers; and also upon special Cause shown, or with Consent of both Parties, to grant Commission to take the Evidence in any Cause in which Commission to take Evidence may, according to the existing Law and Practice, be granted; and also to grant such Commission to take and report in Writing according to the existing Practice the Evidence of any Witness who is resident beyond the Jurisdiction of the Court, or who, by reason of Age, Infirmity, or Sickness, is unable to attend the Diet of Proof; provided that nothing herein contained shall affect the existing Practice in regard to granting Commission for the Examination of aged and infirm Witnesses to take their Evidence to lie in retentis before a Proof has been allowed. 3. Where Proof shall be ordered by One of the Divisions of the Court, such Proof shall be taken before any One of the Judges of the said Division, or of the Lords Ordinary, to whom the Court may think fit to remit, in one or other of the Modes above provided in Section First hereof, and his Rulings upon the Admissibility of Evidence in the course of taking such Proof shall be subject to Review by the Division of the Court in the Discussion of the Report of the Proof; and when the Court shall alter any Finding of the Judge rejecting Evidence, they shall, if they think the Justice of the Case requires it, remit to have such Evidence taken; and where a Reference to Oath is made and sustained either by the Lord Ordinary before whom the Cause depends, or by One of the Divisions of the Court, the Deposition shall be taken in one or other of the Modes above provided. Disposal of Admission of the Lord Ordi nary. 4. If both Parties consent thereto, or if special Cause be shown With Consent, it shall be competent to the Lord Ordinary to take Proof in the Evidence in Manner above provided in Section First hereof in any Cause Causes now which may be in Dependence before him, notwithstanding of the be taken before depending may Provisions contained in the Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, Chapter One hundred and twenty, Section Twenty-eight, and the Provisions contained in the Act passed in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter Thirty-six, Section Forty-nine, and the Judgment to be pronounced by him upon such Proof shall be subject to Review in the like Manner as other Judgments pronounced by him. Act of Sede runt. 5. The Court of Session are hereby authorized and empowered Procedure to be to make from Time to Time such Orders and Regulations as to regulated by Forms of Process by Acts of Sederunt as they may consider necessary for carrying into execution the Purposes of this Act. 6. Nothing in this Act contained shall be held to affect "The Conjugal Rights (Scotland) Amendment Act, 1861." 7. This Act may be cited for all Purposes as The Evidence (Scotland) Act, 1866." This Act not to affect 24 & 25 Vict. c. 86. Short Title. СА Р. Registrars of Deaths deemed Officers under 27 & 28 Vict. c. 42., and may be superannuated. Provision for Relieving Officers who have also been Registrars. Managers of District Schools empowered to grant Superannuation Allowances. Evidence of Remission of Surcharges and Disallowances need not be made by Order under Seal. W An Act to amend the Act providing Superannuation Allow- 1. The Superintendent Registrar and the Registrar of Births and Deaths appointed in any Union or Parish shall be deemed an Officer within the Operation of the Statute Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Victoria, Chapter Forty-two, and in computing the Salary of any Officer under that or the present Statute the Amount of the Emoluments of his Office on the Average of the Three Years concluded at the last preceding Quarter may be taken into the Calculation by the Guardians, Managers, or Overseers. 2. Where any Relieving Officer of any Union or Parish shall have also held the Office of Registrar of Births and Deaths in the same Union or Parish, he shall not be disqualified from receiving a Superannuation Allowance in respect of such Office of Relieving Officer by reason of his having simultaneously held the Office of Registrar, and by reason of his having resigned his Office of Relieving Officer subsequent to the passing of the last-mentioned Act. 3. The Board of Management of any District School may exercise the same Power in respect of any Officer of such School in their Service as the Guardians of any Union can do under such last-mentioned Statute with like Consent as therein provided, and shall charge any Allowance to be made by them to the Fund chargeable with the Payment of the Salaries of their Officers. 4. In any Case where the Poor Law Commissioners or the Poor Law Board shall have given or refused, or shall hereafter give or refuse, their Consent, Sanction, or Approval in any Matter where their Order under Seal shall not have been or shall not be expressly required, the Production of any written Document signed or purporting to be signed by a Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the said Commissioners or the said Board shall be prima facie Evidence of the Decision of the said Commissioners or the said Board upon such Matter as aforesaid. 5. So much of the Fourth Section of the Statute of the Eleventh and Twelfth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty, Chapter Ninety-one, as requires the Poor Law Board to issue an Order under their Seal in Cases where they direct any Surcharge or Disallowance made by an Auditor to be remitted, shall be repealed; and such Direction, if given in Writing under the Hand of |