13 8 C. 21. Anno vicefimo fecundo G e or g ii IL A. D. 1749.
- the Weflern or Northern Ifles of Scotland ; and in Default thereof he v/as to te fubjecl to the annual Rate
- of three Pounds eighteen Shillings and nine Pence, during Life; and every Miniller, Head, Principal or
Mailer intitled to a Benefice or Office as aforeiaid, and every Minifter in the Weftern and Northern Ifles of ' Scotland, before the twenty-fifth of March one thoufand feven hundred and forty-four, v/as to give Notice
- within fix Months, or eighteen Months refpeftively, that he v^ould not be fubjecl to any of the yearly
' Rates before mentioned, or would fiibjeft himfelf to one or other of them, declaring which of them he
- . chofe to be fubjeft to; and in Default of giving fuch Notice refpedlively, was to be liable to the annual
' Rate of three Pounds eighteen Shillings and nine Pence : And the faid Act likewile afcertained what Pro- ' portion of the faid Rates fhould be paid refpeftively by Minifters, Heads, Principals or Mafters, who
- at their Deaths, had only Right to one Half of the Benefice or Salary of that Year, and by their Heirs and
- Executors, and by thofe who had Right to the Ann ; and what other Rates and Sums fhould be paid by
' every Minifter, Head, Principal or Mafter, for the firft Year, and_ upon the Marriage of Minifters, Heads, ' Principals or Mafters, ordained or admitted Afiiftants and Succeflbrs to thofe having Right to a Benefice or ' Salary ; and upon the firft and every fucceeding Marriage of every Minifter, Head, Principal or Maftcr, ' admitted as well after as before the faid twenty-fifth Day of /J/tfrc^ one thoufand feven hundred and forty- ' four, to his Benefice or Office : And every Minifter, Head, Principal or Mafter aforefaid, neglecting to ' pay the annual or other Rates due at the Times appointed, was to be fubjeiEt to lawful Intereft from the ' reipedive Times of Payment ; And every Benefice and every Office as aforefaid, vacant before the twenty- ' fifth Day of March one thoufand feven hundred and forty-four, was to be ilibjeft to the Sum of five ' Pounds ; and vacant on or after the faid twenty-fifth Day of March, to two Pounds ten Shillings, for ' every Half Year the Vacancy fiiould continue : And it was further enabled. That out of the aforefaid
- annual Rates and other Sums, there ftiould be paid, by Order and Diredfion of Truftees therein after named,
- a Sum not exceeding two hundred and ten Pounds of lawful Money of Great Britain, yearly, for the Sa-
- laries of a General CoUedor or Receiver, and a Clerk ; and that the Remainder of the faid feveral Sums
' fhould be applied to the Payment of an Annuity of ten Pounds, or fifteen Pounds, or twenty Pounds, or
- twenty-five Pounds refpeftively, to the Widow of every Minifter, Head, Principal or Mafter, who had
' been fubjed to the annual Rates of two Pounds twelve Shillings and fix Pence, or three Pounds eighteen ' Shillings and nine Pence, or five Pounds five Shillings, or fix Pounds eleven Shillings and three Pence re- ' fpeftively, to commence from the firft Term o'i Whitjunday or Martinmas, which fhould be one full Half
- Year after the Hufband's Death; and if no Widow was left, but one or more Children, fuch Child or
' Children was to be intitled to a Sum equal to ten Years Annuity that would have been payable to their
- Father's Widow ; and if the Widow died, or was married before the Lapfe of ten Years after the Com-
- mencement of her Annuity, and whofe Hufband left a Child or Children, who, at her Death or Alarriage,
- fhould be under the Age of fixteen Years, fuch Child or Children was to be intitled to a Sum equal to ten
' Years of the faid Widow's Annuity, dedufting fo much thereof as had been then received by the Widow : ' And it was further enafted, That the Surplus of the annual Rates and Sums after Payment of the annual ' Expence of Management, and of the faid Annuities and other Provifions, fhould, at the Term of JVhit-
- fimday yearly, be lent out to Minifters, Heads, Principals and Mafters, fubjed: to annual Rates as afore-
' faid, to the Amount of thirty Pounds to each (every of whom was thereby obliged to receive the fame) .' which was to be repaid with Intereft, at the Time that he ceafed to have Right to his Benefice or Office :
- And it was thereby further cnaded. That all future SurplufTes, over and above the Sums fo lent as afore-
' faid, fhould, from time to time, be lent out at an Intereft not under four Pounds per Centum per Jnnuiity
- until a Capital was made of thirty-five thoufiind Pounds ; and the Surplus arifing above the faid Capital,
' was to be divided proportionably amongft the Children of Minifters, Heads, Principals and Mafters, who, ' in refped of the Death of their Father, or the Death or Marriage of his Widow within that Year, fhould . ' be then intitled to receive their Provifions : And divers Provifions were enaded to prevent any Diminution ' of, or Incroachment upon, the faid Capital : And Truftees were nominated for levying, receivint^, and ' ifluing the relpedive annual Sums payable by virtue of the faid Ad for the Purpofes therein expreiTed, and
- for lending out the Surplus in Manner therein direded, and for raifing the aforefiiid Capital of thirty-five
thoufand Pounds by Loans at Intereft, and for uplifting the faid Capital in the 'Whole or in Part, and re- i ' employing the fame ; and they were to meet in the Old Church Ifle at Edinlniygh, and were to have four ' ftated regular Meetings yearly ; and a General Colledor or Receiver of the aforefaid annual or other Rates was to be appointed, who was to have full Power to carry on all Suits and Adions for Recovery tliereof : and was impowered to ufe all Diligence for fecuring all and every the aforefaid Sums ; the Expence whcrec' was to be recovered out of the refpedive Debtors Eitates, without any Abatement or Mitigation ; and inH cidental Expences of the faid Truftees were not to exceed, in any one Year, the Sum of forty Pounds L, And whereas Inconveniencies and Difficulties have arifcn in the Execution of the faid Ad, by reafon that the Minifters, Heads, Principals and Mafters, ordained or admitted after the twenty-fifth Day of ALnch one thoufand kven hundred and forty-four, are allowed to withhold their Declarations touchino- their Eledion of their annual Rates, fo late in the Year as Candlemas ; and the Colledor General cannot ef-| fedually levy and bring in the laid Rates, and other Sums, under his Management, between the Term appointed for the Payment and Diftribution thereof, by the Means of an ordinary Adion againil the De ficients ; and the Expence of fuch Adion becomes very heavy upon the deficient Minifter, Head, Princi-, pal or Mafter : And whereas the Number of Benefices and Offices in Scotland^ fubjeded to the iai<l Rates^ have been found to be confiderably lefs, and the Number of Widows and Children to be provided for confiderably greater than was fuppofed in the Computation, upon v/hich the Proportion between the an- nual Plates and the Annuities and Provifions mentioned in the faid recited Ad was fixed ; and the Annui-| tics and Provifions already become payable to the Widows and Children of Minifters, Heads, Principals and Mafters deceafed, and thofe which may become due for feveral fucceeding Years, will, in all Proba- bility, very much exceed what they w^re computed at ; and the faid deceafed Minifters, Heads, Princi-i ' paisj
