Every composition for tithes which hath been made or confirmed by the decree of any court of equity in England in a suit to which the ordinary, patron, and incumbent were parties, and which hath not since been set aside, abandoned, or departed from, shall be and the same is hereby confirmed and made valid in law; and no modus, exemption, or discharge shall be deemed to be within the provisions of this Act, unless such modus, exemption, or discharge shall be proved to have existed and been acted upon at the time of or within one year next before the passing of this Act.