Book 4 — APPENDIX, by the EDITOR.

Since the accession of King William and Queen Mary, to the throne of Great Britain, and the Act of Toleration, made in the first year of their reign, a degree of religious liberty, unknown to former ages, has been enjoyed by the inhabitants of this highly-favoured country.

In the latter part of the reign of Queen Anne, the religious privileges of Protestant Dissenters were threatened, but by the happy accession of the illustrious house of Brunswick to the throne, their fears were soon dissipated, and their privileges secured.

In the commencement of the late revival of pure and undefiled religion, in this land, about the year 1739, lawless mobs arose, in different parts of the kingdom, and grievously maltreated and persecuted the Rev. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the Rev. George Whitefield and others. But as my limits will not permit me to enlarge on the persecutions which these illustrious men endured for a season, I must beg leave to refer the reader, who wishes for further information 416on the subject, to “Mr. Wesley’s Journals,” the “case, or journal, of John Nelson,” one of the first Methodist preachers, and to a pamphlet entitled, “Modern Christianity exemplified, at Wednesbury, and other adjacent places in Staffordshire.”Staffordshire.”^[Aa]

I might here also record the persecutions endured by Robert Carr Brackenbury Esq. and Mr. (now Dr.) Adam Clarke, in the Norman Isles, about the year 1786;^[A1] of Mr. Matthew Lumb, in the island of St. Vincent;^[A2] Mr. John Brownell, in the island of Nevis, and of Mr. Daniel Campbell, and others, in the island of Jamaica, in the West Indies;^[A3] also, the recent persecutions at Wye, in Kent;^[A4] at Pershore, in Worcestershire;^[A5] at Childrey, near Wantage, in Berkshire;^[A6] at Wickham Market,^[A7] in Suffolk, and at Drayton, in Shropshire.^[A8] These, with others that might be adduced, were they particular, would fill a volume; but I forbear, I wish I might for the honour of my country, and of the nineteenth century, to cast a veil over them, and to bury them in everlasting oblivion.

His late Majesty King George the Second, was a firm friend to religious toleration, and was often heard to say, “no man should be persecuted for conscience-sake in his dominions.” His present Majesty King George the Third, has walked in the steps of his royal grandfather. He declared in his first speech from the throne, “that it was his invariable resolution to preserve the toleration inviolate;” a declaration, I am happy to say, which he has religiously fulfilled, through a long and beneficent reign.

When any disturbances, or persecutions, have arisen in any of the British colonies, or extreme parts of the empire, his Majesty has invariably asserted his royal prerogative in redressing 417the grievances of his subjects; and has always peremptorilyperemptorily refused to recognise any colonial law, which infringed on religious liberty. This will appear from the following authentic documents. In the island of St. Vincent, in the year 1792, the Legislature passed an act “that no person, (the regular clergy excepted) should preach without a licence from them, and that this licence should not be granted to any who had not previously resided for twelve months on the island.” For the first offence the punishment was to pay a fine of ten Johannes, or imprisonment, for at least, thirty days. For the second, such corporal punishment as the court should think proper to inflict, and banishment; and lastly, on return from banishment, death!! were the edicts of the Heathen Emperors more cruel or severe than this! But in the month of October, 1793, his Majesty, in council, was graciously pleased to disannul the act of the Assembly, of St. Vincent, and thus restored liberty of conscience to his persecuted subjects.

An act having passed the House of Assembly, in the island of Jamaica, in December 1802, “prohibiting preaching by persons not duly qualified by law;” after the passing of which act, one minister, though duly qualified at home, by the Act of Toleration, was, for preaching at Morant Bay, cast into prison! This occurred in May 1803, but his Majesty in council, disallowed of that act also, and on the 12th of December, 1804, the following messuage appeared in the Royal Gazette, Kingstown, Jamaica:—

House of Assembly, December 12, 1804.

A Messuage from his Honour, the Lieut.-Governor, by his Secretary, as follows:

“Mr. Speaker,—I am directed by the Lieut.-Governor, to lay before the House, an extract of a letter from Earl Camden, dated Downing-Street, 7th of June, 1804, together with the draught of a bill, which his Honor has been instructed to be proposed to the house to be passed into a law.”

Extract of a letter from the Rt. Hon. Earl Camden, to Lieut. General Nugent, dated Downing-Street, June 7, 1804,—

418“Sir,—I herewith transmit to you an order of his Majesty in council, dated April 23d last, disallowing an act passed by the Legislature of the Island of Jamaica, in December 1802,” entitled, “An act to preventprevent preaching by persons not duly qualified by Law;” and a further order of his Majesty in council of the same date, to which is annexed, the draught of a bill upon the same subject, which, in compliance with the direction contained in the said order, I am desired you will take an early opportunity of proposing to the Assembly to be passed into a law.”

“Ordered, that the above message and the papers sent down therewith, do lie on the table, for the perusal of the members.”

In December 1807, the Legislative Assembly of the island of Jamaica, passed another law, of a similar nature to the above; but his Majesty in council, on the 26th of April, 1809, was graciously pleased to disallow that law also; thereby fully evincing to the world, his fixed determination to prevent persecution in every part of his dominions, and to shew himself a “nursing father” to the church and people of God. Notwithstanding, however, his Majesty’s most gracious interference in the above instances, such is the persecuting spirit of the government of Jamaica, that they have recently passed an Act plainly intended to prevent, if possible, the instruction of the Negroes, by those who alone will take the pains to bestow it.

This Act was passed November 14th, 1810, entitled, “An act to prevent preaching and teaching by persons not duly qualified, and to restrain meetings of a dangerous nature, on pretence of attending such preaching and teaching.” But as his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, is treading in the steps of his Royal Father, and manifesting the same regard for the religious liberties of the people in this vast empire, we feel confident this persecuting law will meet with the same fate as the former, and will never receive the royal sanction.

We are emboldened to expect this from the recent conduct of his Royal Highness, in the case of Demerary, where a Proclamation had been issued subversive of religious liberty, under 419the administration of Governor Bentinck, but which his Royal Highness was graciously pleased to discountenance.

The following Proclamation was issued by Major-General Carmichael, who succeeded Governor Bentinck in the government of Demarary, and is copied from the Essequibo and Demarary Royal Gazette, of Tuesday March 7, 1812.

‘Whereas, I have received instructions from his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to recall the Proclamation issued on the 25th of May, 1811, and to give every aid to Missionaries in the instruction of religion, the Proclamation of the above date is hereby recalled; and the following regulations will take place from this date:—

‘First,—It is to be understood, that no limitation or restraint can be enforced upon the right of instruction, on particular estates, provided the meetings for this purpose take place upon the estate, and with the consent and approbation of the proprietor and overseer of the estate.

‘Secondly,—As it has been represented, that on Sundays inconvenience might arise from confining the hours of meeting in chapels, or places of general resort, between sun-rise and sun-set, the hours of assembling on that day shall be between five in the morning and nine at night. And on the other days the slaves shall be allowed to assemble for the purpose of instruction, or divine worship, between the hours of seven and nine at night, on any neighbouring estate to that to which they belong; provided that such assembly takes place with the permission of the overseer, attorney, or manager of the slaves, and of the overseer, attorney, or manager of the estate on which such assembly takes place.

‘Thirdly,—All chapels and places destined for divine worship, or public resort, shall be registered in the colonial Secretary’s office; and the names of persons officiating in them shall be made known to the Governor; and the doors of the places shall remain open during the time of public worship or instruction.

‘Given under my Hand and Seal-at-Arms, at the Camp-House, this 7th Day of April, 1812, and in the 52d Year of His Majesty’s Reign.

H. L. Carmichael.

420In the year 1789, some of the preachers and people connected with the Rev. John Wesley, were harrassed by some Justices of the peace on a pretence entirely new. They were told, “You profess yourselves members of the Church of England, therefore your licences are good for nothing; nor can you, as members of the church, receive any benefit from the Act of Toleration.” Mr. Wesley saw, that if the proceedings on this subtle distinction were extended over the nation, the Methodists must either profess themselves dissenters, or suffer infinite trouble. He certainly did not wish his societies to alter their relative situation to the national church without absolute necessity; and yet he wished them to be relieved from this embarrasment. He therefore stated the case to a member of parliament, (I believe to Mr. Wilberforce,) a real friend to liberty of conscience; hoping that the Legislature might be prevailed upon to interpose, and free the Methodists from the penalties of the Conventicle Act.

The following is an extract from Mr. Wesley’s letter:—

“Dear Sir,—Last month a few poor people met together in Somersetshire, to pray, and to praise God, in a friend’s house: there was no preaching at all. Two neighbouring Justices fined the man of the house twenty pounds. I suppose he was not worth twenty shillings.—Upon this, his household goods were distrained and sold to pay the fine. He appealed to the Quarter Sessions: but all the Justices averred, ‘The Methodists could have no relief from the Act of Toleration, because they went to Church; and that, so long as they did so, the Conventicle Act should be executed upon them.’them.’

“Last Sunday, when one of our Preachers was beginning to speak to a quiet congregation, a neighbouring Justice sent a Constable to seize him, though he was licenced; and would not release him till he had paid twenty pounds—telling him, his licence was good for nothing, ‘because he was a Churchman.’

“Now Sir, what can the Methodists do? They are liable to be ruined by the Conventicle Act, and they have no relief from the Act of Toleration! If this is not oppression, what is? 421Where then is English liberty? The liberty of christians, yea of every rational creature? who as such, has a right to worship God according to his own conscience. But waving the question of right and wrong, what prudence is there in oppressing such a body of loyal subjects? If these good Magistrates could drive them, not only out of Somersetshire, but out of England, who would be gainers thereby? Not his Majesty, whom we honour and love: not his Ministers, whom we love and serve for his sake. Do they wish to throw away so many thousand friends? who are now bound to them by stronger ties than that of interest.—If you will speak a word to Mr. Pitt on that head, you will oblige, &c.”

Mr. Wesley also addressed the following letter to the Bishop of ________, on the same subject:—

“My Lord,—I am a dying man, having already one foot in the grave. Humanly speaking, I cannot long creep upon the earth, being now nearer ninety than eighty years of age. But I cannot die in peace, before I have discharged this office of christian love to your Lordship. I write without ceremony, as neither hoping nor fearing any thing from your Lordship, or any man living. And I ask, in the name and in the presence of him, to whom both you and I are shortly to give an account, why do you trouble those that are quiet in the land? Those that fear God and work righteousness? Does your Lordship know what the Methodists are? That many thousands of them are zealous members of the church of England? and strongly attached, not only to his Majesty, but to his present Ministry? Why should your Lordship, setting religion out of the question, throw away such a body of respectable friends? Is it for their religious sentiments? Alas my Lord, is this a time to persecute any man for conscience-sake? I beseech you, my Lord, do as you would be done to. You are a man of sense: you are a man of learning: nay, I verily believe (what is of infinitely more value) you are a man of piety. Then think, and let think—I pray God to bless you with the choicest of his blessings.

I am, my Lord, &c.”

422To another Bishop, who, I suppose, had forbidden his Clergy to let Mr. Wesley preach in their Churches, he wrote in his own laconic way as follows:

“My Lord,—Several years ago, the church-wardens of St. Bartholomew’s informed Dr. Gibson, then Lord Bishop of London, ‘My Lord, Mr. Batemen, our rector, invites Mr. Wesley very frequently to preach in his Church.’ The Bishop replied, ‘And what would you have me do? I have no right to hinder him. Mr. Wesley is a clergyman regularly ordained, and under no ecclesiastical censure.’

I am, my Lord,

Your Lordship’s obedient Servant,

John Wesley.”

Though the horrible and persecuting laws, known by the names of the Conventicle and Five Mile Acts, had never been repeated, yet, for upwards of a century, they lay nearly dormant, and were generally considered as virtually dead. But, I am sorry to have it to record, that those Acts have been recently roused from their long slumber, to life and action.

In the spring of the year 1811, a bill was introduced into the House of Lords, (which had long been in contemplation) by the Rt. Hon. Lord Viscount Sidmouth, the object of which was said to be the “amending and explaining the Toleration Acts, as far as they applied to Protestant Dissenting Ministers;” but which in fact, had it passed into a law, would have been a violation of the laws of religious liberty, and subversive of the most valuable rights and privileges of the Methodists and Dissenters.

I give the Right Hon. mover of this bill full credit for the purity of its motives, nor do I think he was at all aware that it would eventually operate against the people whom he professed to serve; however, much real good to the cause of religious toleration, whether intended or not, has ultimately ensued from the introduction of this bill into the House of Lords. It excited considerable interest in the nation at large, especially among the dissenters of all denominations. Committees were 423formed, and various meetings were held by them, and also by the “Committee of Privileges” belonging to the societies founded by the late Rev. John Wesley; a detail of which I shall here beg leave to lay before the reader, by inserting an extract from a narrative of their proceedings respecting Lord Sidmouth’s bill, and the speeches delivered by several noble Lords when the second reading of that bill was moved.

“Lord Viscount Sidmouth, it is well known, had long had the present measure in contemplation, and as a foundation for the proceeding, he had made several motions in the House of Lords within the last two or three years, which had for their object the procuring of information relative to the number of licenced teachers, and places of worship, and the state of the Established Church. Returns of the Archbishops and Bishops on these subjects having been laid before the House of Lords; on the 9th of May, 1811, his Lordship rose to call the attention of the House to certain abuses of the act of William and Mary, and that of the 19th of the present reign, and to move for leave to bring in a bill for amending and explaining the same, as far as they applied to Protestant Dissenting Ministers.

“After what he had to say, their Lordships would see whether the correction of these abuses should not be a matter of anxious solicitude to all persons of all persuasions, and to every one who felt what was due to the dignity, the honour, and the sanctity of religion itself. It was to be regretted, that, up to the period of the Revolution, the history of religion was, in this country, a history of intolerance and persecution. Whatever party was uppermost, whether Catholic, Protestant, or Puritan, the same want of Toleration for diversity of opinion was displayed. The Revolution was the æra of religious liberty in this country, and William III. accomplished that which would ever remain a monument of his wisdom: he meant the Toleration Act. That act, while it removed the penalties to which Dissenters were subject, declared that all the Ministers in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, upon subscribing twenty-six of the thirty-nine articles, upon taking the oaths, and signing a declaration, may officiate in any chapel or meeting-house. 424By an act of the nineteenth of the King, their signing any of the thirty-nine articles was dispensed with, and they were only to express their belief in the Holy Scriptures. Within the last thirty or forty years, these acts had received a novel interpretation. At most of the Quarter-Sessions, where the oaths were taken and the declaration made, it was now understood, that any person whatever, however ignorant or profligate, whether he descended from the chimney or the pillory, was at liberty to put in his claim to take the oaths before the Justices, to make the declaration, and also at liberty to demand a certificate which authorised him to preach any doctrine he pleased; which exempted him besides from serving in the militia, and from many civil burdens to which his fellow-subjects were liable.

“Now, if religion be the best foundation of all the virtues, was it not a matter of the last importance that it should not be tainted at its very source, and that men who did not choose to follow the regular pursuits of honest industry, should not have it in their power to poison the minds of the people by their fanaticism and folly? He would appeal to any man who had officiated at the Quarter Sessions, whether he had not seen men totally illiterate, without education, without one qualification of fitness, demanding to take the oaths, and obtaining a licence to preach? He did not wish to state particular instances of gross deficiency as to intellectual qualification, and of gross abuses in other respects, which it was in his power to do. He did not mean to lay much stress on illiteracy; but it was the self-assumption of the office, without bringing any testimony of fitness, to which he particularly meant to object, as inconsistent with the Act of Toleration.

“He had seen the returns of Dissenting Preachers from two Archdeaconries; and many of them, he must say, ought not to have been allowed to constitute themselves the ministers of religion. Amongst the list there were men who had been blacksmiths, coblers, tailors, pedlars, chimney-sweepers, and what not. These men were totally out of their place: they were not, in fact, at liberty, by law, to take upon themselves the functions 425of teachers. There were counties in this kingdom where a different interpretation was put on the Toleration Act. In the county of Devon, and in Buckinghamshire, the Magistrates admitted no person to qualify, unless he shewed that he was in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, and the preacher and teacher of a congregation. This he conceived to be according to the real meaning of the Toleration Act; and it was in this way that the Bill he proposed to introduce would explain that Act. He should propose, that, in order to entitle any man to obtain a qualification as a Preacher, he should have the recommendation of at least six reputable householders of the congregation to which he belonged, and that he should actually have a congregation that was willing to listen to his instructions. With regard to preachers who were not stationary, but itinerant, he proposed that they should be required to bring a testimonial from six householders, stating them to be of sober life and character, together with their belief, that they were qualified to perform the functions of preachers.

“The noble Lord then noticed the great increase of dissenting preachers of late years. Those who would be affected by his Bill did not belong to any sect of dissenters; they were of the worst class of the Independants, and distinguished by their fanaticism and a certain mischievous volubility of tongue. In the first fourteen years of the present reign, the average annual increase of dissenting teachers was limited to eight, but now it amounted to twenty-four. The causes of this increase, he considered to be partly the increase of population, and the greater prevalence of religious feelings among the people; but there were other and powerful causes, in the numerous pluralities and non-residence of the clergy. Another great cause was the want of churches to accommodate a numerous population, and, therefore, his Lordship seriously called the attention of the House to consider how this deficiency could be remedied, and recommended the example of parliament in the reign of Queen Anne, who had ordered the erection of fifty-two new churches in London. He regarded the Church of England as the great preservative of the principles and the morals of the people. 426Unfortunately, at present, we were in danger of having an established church, and a sectarian people.

“On the question being put, Lord Holland said, that even what had fallen from his noble friend, impressed more strongly on his mind, that no necessity existed for the desired interference. The whole seemed to go upon a fundamental error, that it was only by the permission of government that individuals were to instruct others in their religious duties. He, on the contrary, held to be the right of every man who thinks he can instruct his fellow-creatures, so to instruct them. He was sorry that something slipped from his noble friend, as if he held it improper that persons of low origin, or particular trades, should attempt to teach the doctrines of Christianity. On this point he held a different opinion. Might not even they be inspired with the same conscientious feelings of duty which were required to be felt by those of the higher orders of clergy, to whom the state had given such large emoluments? It was his strong feeling, that it was neither wise nor prudent to meddle with the Act of Toleration. For the measure itself, he did not think a sufficient case was made out, as to the existence of any real practical evils or inconveniences, to require such an interposition on the part of the Legislature. His Lordship then referred to some calculations as to the increase of dissenting teachers of late years, which he did not seem to regard as a misfortune, or an alarming consideration. With respect to what was said of the established church, he agreed in the opinion, that a want of sufficient number of places of religious worship was injurious. This was a point in which the established religion was essentially concerned; it should take care that no insufficiency in this respect should exist. He had no objection that the public purse should, to a certain extent, contribute to the expences of the necessary erections; but he thought the immediate funds of the Church should also contribute. Such was the uniform custom of the Church of Rome, and the established Church in this country should shew itself no less mindful of its duty in so essential a point. With respect to his noble friend’s Bill, he repeated his opinion, there was not a sufficient ground laid for its adoption.

427“Earl Stanhope acquiesced in every thing that had fallen from his noble Friend (Lord Holland.) That noble Lord, on whatever question he spoke, whether wright or wrong, wise or unwise, always spoke from principle. But on the present occasion, he did not think that his noble friend, or the noble viscount had gone far enough. They did not, or would not, touch the real state of the question. They must know, or if they did not, he would tell them, that in most parts of England, where the parishes did not consist of more than a thousand souls, the places of worship, exclusive of private houses, barns, &c. were as three to four of those of the established church; and that if Scotland and Ireland were to be included, the proportion between the Dissenters and the established Church would be found as two to one. Lord Sidmouth had told the House, that hardly more than one half of the clergy were resident on their livings. It would be much better for his noble friend to bring in a Bill to correct this evil, than be dabbling with the Dissenters. The noble Lord had expressed his fears, lest there should be an established Church and a sectarian people—the truth was, that this was the case already, and he would advise his noble friend not to be meddling with that class of men, who had, according to him, the mischievous gift of the tongue, and who might be canvassing among the farmers at elections, and hinting to them that they had tithes to pay. It was better to let these people alone, and for the noble Lord to exert his magnificent abilities in correcting the abuses which existed in the Church. It was well known, that the tide of opinion was running strong a certain way, and it was as vain to think of stopping the current of opinion, as to stop the stars in their course.”

The Bill was then presented, and read a first time, a Copy of which which I herewhich I here here insert.

A BILL,

Intituled, an Act to explain and render more effectual certain Acts of the first Year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, and of the 19th Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, so far as the same relate to Protestant Dissenting Ministers.

Whereas, by an Act made in the first year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, intituled, An Act for exempting 428their Majesties’ protestant subjects dissenting from the church of England from the penalties of certain laws, persons dissenting from the church of England in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, and preachers or teachers of any congregation of dissenting Protestants, in order to their being entitled to certain exemptions, benefits, privileges, and advantages, by the said Act granted, are required to declare their approbation of and to subscribe to certain articles of religion: and whereas, by another Act, made in the nineteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act for the further relief of Protestant Dissenting ministers and schoolmasters, it is enacted, that every person dissenting from the church of England in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders, being a preacher or teacher of any congregation of dissenting Protestants, if he shall scruple to declare and subscribe, as required by the said first recited Act, may make and subscribe the declaration in the said last recited Act set forth, in order to his being entitled to the exemptions, benefits, privileges, and advantages, granted by the said first recited Act, and to certain other exemptions, benefits, privileges, and advantages, granted by the said last recited Act: and whereas doubts have arisen as to the description of persons, to whom the said recited provisions were intended to apply, and it is expedient to remove the said doubts; may it therefore please your Majesty that it may be declared and enacted, and be it declared and enacted by the King’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, that every person being a Protestant, dissenting from the church of England in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders, who shall be appointed or admitted to be the minister of any separate congregation of dissenting Protestants, duly certified and recorded or registered according to law, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, a person entitled to qualify himself to be a dissenting minister, within the intent and meaning of the said recited provisions of the said Acts; and that no other than such person, is so entitled, within the intent and meaning of the same.

429And be it further enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act, upon the appointment of any person, being a Protestant, dissenting from the church of England, and being in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders, to be the minister of any separate congregation of dissenting Protestants, duly certified and recorded or registered according to law, and upon his admission to the peaceable possession and enjoyment of the place of minister of the said congregation, it shall be lawful for any __________ or more substantial and reputable householders belonging to the said congregation, in order that the said minister may duly qualify himself according to this Act, to certify the said appointment and his admission to the peaceable possession and enjoyment of the said place, by writing under their hands and proper names, in a certain form to be directed to the Justices of the Peace at the General Session of the Peace, to be holden for the county, riding, or place where such congregation shall be established; and every such minister, who shall cause the certificate to him granted as aforesaid, to be recorded at any General Session of the Peace to be holden as aforesaid, within _________________ after the date of the said certificate, in the manner directed by this Act, (proof being first made on the oath of __________________ or more credible witness or witnesses of the hand-writing of the several persons of the said congregation whose names are subscribed to the said certificate,) shall be and is hereby allowed, without further proof, to take the oaths, and to make and subscribe the declaration against Popery, required to be taken and made by the said Act passed in the first year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, and also the declaration set forth in the said Act, passed in the nineteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty; and, after taking the said oaths, and making and subscribing the said declarations, in manner and upon proof aforesaid, every such minister, shall be, and is hereby declared to be entitled to all the exemptions, benefits, privileges, and advantages granted to Protestant dissenting ministers by the said recited Acts or either of them, or by any Act in the said recited Acts or either of them mentioned or referred to.

430Provided always, and be it further enacted, that, nothing hereinbefore contained shall affect or impeach, or be construed to affect or impeach, any provision or exemption, or any qualification or modification thereof, contained in any statute made since the said recited Acts, and now in force, relating to the militia, or the local militia, of this kingdom.

Provided also, and be it further enacted, that nothing hereinbefore contained, shall affect or impeach, or be construed to affect or impeach, the title or claim of any dissenting minister, who before the passing of this Act, shall have taken the oaths, and subscribed the declarations mentioned or set forth in the said recited Acts, or either of them, to have and enjoy the exemptions, benefits, privileges, and advantages, granted by the said Acts, or either of them.

And whereas it is expedient to exempt from certain penalties, other persons hereinafter described, who shall make and subscribe the declaration set forth in the said act of the nineteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty; be it further enacted, that in case any person being a Protestant, dissenting from the Church of England, and in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders, but who shall not have been appointed or admitted the minister of any separate congregation of dissenting Protestants, shall be desirous of qualifying himself according to this act, to preach and officiate as a dissenting minister, it shall be lawful for any ______ or more substantial and reputable householders being respectively dissenting Protestants of one and the same sect of persuasion with the person applying, to certify, on their consciences and belief, by writing under their hands and proper names in a certain form, to be directed to the justices of the peace at the general sessions of the peace to be holden for the county, riding, or place, where the said householders or the major part of them shall reside, that such person is a Protestant dissenting minister of their sect or persuasion, and has been known to them and every of them for the space of ________________ at the least before the date of the said certificate, and that such person is of sober life and conversation, and of sufficient ability and fitness to preach 431or teach and officiate as such dissenting minister; and every person to whom such last mentioned certificate shall be granted, who shall cause the same to be recorded at any general session of the peace to be holden as aforesaid, within ____________ after the date of the said certificate, in the manner directed by this act, proof being first made on the oath of __________ or more credible witness or witnesses of the hand writing of the several persons whose names are subscribed to the said certificate, shall be, and is hereby allowed without further proof to take the said oaths, and make and subscribe the said declarations in the said recited Acts mentioned or set forth; and every such person, after taking the said oaths and making and subscribing the said declarations in manner and upon the proof aforesaid, may from thenceforth preach and officiate as a dissenting minister in any congregation of dissenting Protestants duly certified and registered or recorded according to law; and every person so qualifying himself as last aforesaid, shall be wholly exempted from all and every the pains, penalties, punishments, or disabilities inflicted by any statute mentioned in the said recited Acts or either of them, for preaching or officiating in any congregation of Protestant dissenters for the exercise of religion permitted and allowed by law.

And be it further enacted, that upon the appointment or admission of any person of sober life and conversation to be a probationer for the exercise during a time to be limited of the functions of a protestant dissenting minister, it shall be lawful for any _____ or more dissenting ministers who shall have taken the said oaths, and made and subscribed the said declarations pursuant to the said recited Acts or either of them, or this Act, to certify the said appointment or admission by writing under their hands, in a certain form, to be directed to the justices of the peace, at the general session ofof the peace to be holden for the county, riding, or place where the said ministers, or the major part of them, shall reside, and that the person so appointed or admitted is of sober life and conversation, and has been known to them for the space of ________________ before the date of the said certificate; and every person to whom such last-mentioned 432certificate shall be granted, who shall cause the same to be recorded at any general session of the peace to be holden as aforesaid, wherein ____________ after the date of the said last-mentioned certificate in the manner directed by this Act, (proof being first made on the oath of __________ or more credible witness or witnesses of the hand writing of the said ministers whose names are subscribed to the said certificate,) shall be and is hereby allowed without further proofs to take the said oaths, and to make and subscribe the said several declarations, in the said recited Acts mentioned or set forth; and every such person after taking the said oaths, and making and subscribing the said declarations, may from thenceforth during the period specified in such certificate, and not exceeding ________ next ensuing, preach and officiate as such probationer in any congregation of dissenting Protestants duly certified and registered or recorded according to law; and every person so qualifying himself as last aforesaid shall be and is hereby declared to be during the space of ____________________ exempted from all and every the penalties, punishments, and disabilities inflicted by any statute mentioned in the said recited Acts, or either of them, for preaching or officiating in any congregation of dissenting Protestants, for the exercise of religion permitted and allowed by law.

Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or enable any person to qualify more than ____________ as such probationer.

And be it further enacted, that the Justices of the Peace, to whom any such certificate as aforesaid shall within the time herein limited, be tendered at their general session, shall, and they are hereby required, after such proof in verification thereof as is herein directed, to administer the said oaths and declarations to the person producing such certificate, upon his offering to take and make and subscribe the same respectively, and thereupon to record the said certificate at the said session, and therefore to keep a register; provided always, that any declaration required to be subscribed by the said recited Acts, or either of them, shall be subscribed in open court, with the proper 433christian and surname, and names of the person making such declaration in his own hand writing, and in the usual manner of his writing, the same in words at length, and not otherwise: provided always, that in the body of every certificate granted by the said officer or officers of the said court to any person as such probationer and not as minister, there shall be expressed the limitation of time for which such certificate shall be in force by virtue of this Act.

And be it further enacted, that every certificate of appointment or admission of any such minister, or of any person to officiate as such minister, or of any such probationer pursuant to this Act, shall be subscribed with the respective proper names of the several persons granting the same in their own hand writing, and in the usual manner of their writing and subscribing the same, and in the presence of the person or persons who is or are to be the witness or witnesses to verify the same before the Court of General Session of the Peace in the manner herein directed.

And be it further enacted, that this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public Act, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such by all Judges, Justices, and others, without being specially pleaded.”

The reader will immediately see, that this Bill would have had a strong operation upon the economy of the Methodists, but the extent of that operation it was impossible to foresee. However, no sooner was the Bill read, than its effects were sufficiently understood to fill them with great alarm and apprehension for their societies, upon which it would have had the most destructive influence. The members of their “Committee of Privileges” were immediately summoned to meet, which they did, May 14, 1811, when they formed, and afterwards published the following resolutions:

AT A MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETIES OF THE LATE Rev. JOHN WESLEY.

Convened for the purpose of taking into consideration a Bill, brought into the House of Lords by the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Sidmouth, intituled, “An Act to explain and 434render more effectual certain Acts of the first year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, and of the nineteenth year of the Reign of his present Majesty, so far as the same relate to Protestant dissenting ministers,”

Held at the New-Chapel, City-Road, London,

The 14th of May, 1811;

IT WAS RESOLVED,

I. That the said Bill, if carried into a law, will be a great infringement of the laws of religious toleration, and will be subversive of the most valuable rights and privileges which we as a religious society enjoy.

II. That the said Act will, in future, curtail the privileges and exemptions of our regular preachers, who are wholly devoted to the functions of their office, and to which they are legally entitled under the letter and spirit of the Act of Toleration.

III. That the said Act will render it very difficult, if not impracticable, to obtain certificates for the great body of local preachers and exhorters, and who are not only an useful part of our society, but whose aid is essentially necessary in the very numerous chapels and meeting-houses, in which our congregations assemble.

IV. That with great grief of heart we have observed of late a growing disposition, in different parts of the country, to disturb our meetings, even those which are held only for prayer to Almighty God, and to enforce the penalties of the Conventicle Act upon those who officiate in them: the great inconvenience and heavy expences of which we have already felt. If this system of persecution should be persevered in, the subordinate teachers of our body, to the amount of many thousands of persons in the united kingdom, will be driven to apply for certificates to protect them from the penalties of the Conventicle Act, which indeed they can obtain under the existing laws without obstruction; but if the present Bill should be passed into a law, it will be utterly impossible to consider such persons as dissenting ministers, and to certify them under the said Act: therefore, either an end will be put to the functions of a most valuable and useful part of our community, or they will be exposed to 435all the penalties of the Conventicle Act; the consequence of which will be, that as the people cannot, and ought not, to refrain from Acts of social worship, and meetings for religious instruction, the penalties cannot be paid, and the prisons will be peopled with some of the most peaceable and pious characters in the country.

V. That a great number of the persons mentioned in the last resolution (as well as a large proportion of our societies) considering themselves as members of the established Church, to which they are conscientiously attached, will feel it quite incompatible with their sentiments to apply for certificates under the terms of the said Act, which requires them to be certified and to declare themselves as dissenting ministers.

VI. That the offices alluded to in the fourth resolution, are an essential part of the economy of our societies, which has for its object the instruction of the ignorant, and the relief of the miserable, rather than the creation or extention of a distinct sect of religion; and without whose aid, the various chapels of our societies in the united kingdom, which have cost an immense sum of money in their erection, cannot be supported.

VII. That our chapels have been built, and large sums of money, due upon the same, for which the respective trustees are now responsible, have been lent and advanced under the most perfect confidence that our system so necessary for their support, would remain undisturbed; and that those rights of conscience, which our most gracious Sovereign on his accesion to the throne declared should be maintained inviolable, would, in this happy and enlightened country, ever be held sacred, and preserved uninfringed.

VIII. That it does not appear to us, that the present toleration laws are either so ineffectual, or the interpretation of them so uncertain, as to render any Bill necessary to explain them, much less to curtail the benefits intended to be conveyed by them; but on the other hand we are satisfied, that if the present Bill should pass, the whole law of religious toleration will become more obscure, and its meaning more uncertain; and thus a fruitful source of litigation and oppression will be opened.

436IX. That the returns of the archbishops and bishops, of the number of places for divine worship, &c. in their respective dioceses, upon which the present measure appears to be founded, are far from furnishing evidence of the necessity of restricting the operations of religious societies; but on the contrary, they contain the most decisive proofs (from the inadequacy of the parish churches to contain the inhabitants of the kingdom) that the increasing population calls for all the means of religious instruction, which well-disposed persons of all denominations of christians, have in their power to afford.

X. That from the manifest effect which the diffusion of religion has had for the last fifty years, in raising the standard of public morals, and in promoting loyalty in the middle ranks, as well as subordination and industry in the lower orders of society, which so powerfully operate upon the national prosperity and public spirit, we dread the adoption of any measure which can in the least weaken these great sinews of the nation, or restrain the patriotic efforts of any of the religious communities of the country.

XI. That as we deprecate the consequences of the Bill as it now stands, so we cannot see that any modification of it can meet the views of its Right Honourable and noble proposer, (whose character we highly respect) without essentially deteriorating, the indefeasible rights and privileges of those who are the objects of the toleration laws.

XII. That inasmuch as this Act will most deeply affect our societies, whose moral character and loyalty are unimpeachable, we feel it our duty to declare, that we do not believe there exists among them any practice or disposition, to warrant a legislative measure, which would abridge our rights and privileges.

XIII. That the introduction of the present measure is as unseasonable, as it is needless and oppressive. At any time, religious rights form a most delicate subject for legislative interference, but at such a time as this, when not only unanimity, but affection for the government and laws of our country are more than ever essential, for the patient endurance of the pressure 437of the times, and the repulsion of the bitterest enemy with which this country had to contend, the discussion of these rights is most feelingly to be deprecated. Much irritation,—even worse than political irritation, would be produced, and the ardent affection of many a conscientious and loyal subject would be involuntarily diminished. We are impressed with these sentiments the more deeply, as not a shadow of a charge is brought against our very numerous body, and we can challenge the most rigid enquiry into the moral and political character of our preachers and our people.

XIV. That, abstaining from all observations on the abstract rights of conscience, but with the views and feelings thus expressed, we are most decidedly of opinion that the present measure is radically objectionable, and does not admit of any modification; and we cannot but feel it our duty to oppose the Bill in all its stages by every constitutional means.

XV. That we reflect with high satisfaction on the liberal, enlightened, and religious declaration of our most gracious Sovereign, on the commencement of his Reign. “Born,” said his Majesty, in his first speech from the throne, “and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Briton, and the peculiar happiness of my life will ever consist in promoting the welfare of a people, whose loyalty and warm affection to me I consider as the greatest and most permanent security of my throne; and I doubt not, but their steadiness in those principles will equal the firmness of my invariable resolution to adhere to, and strengthen this excellent constitution in church and state; AND TO MAINTAIN THE TOLERATION INVIOLABLE. The civil and RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF MY LOVING SUBJECTS ARE EQUALLY DEAR TO ME WITH THE MOST VALUABLE PREROGATIVES OF MY CROWN; and as the surest foundation of the whole, and the best means to draw down the divine favour on my reign, IT IS MY FIXED PURPOSE TO COUNTENANCE AND ENCOURAGE THE PRACTICE OF TRUE RELIGION AND VIRTUE.” This declaration of our beloved Sovereign has been religiously fulfilled during a long and benificent reign, and has been humbly met by our 438societies with the affection it was calculated to inspire. We have built with confidence upon this gracious declaration, and our confidence has not been misplaced. His Majesty has been a shield to the religious of all persuasions, and he has respected the rights of conscience in all. And we cannot doubt that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, with those just sentiments of truth and sincerity, which he has graciously declared shall be the guide of his character and every action of his life, will feel it is happiness to recognize the high natural rights of conscience; and should it please the wise disposer of all events to restore his afflicted Father to the personal exercise of his royal functions, His Royal Highness will feel it amongst the many blessings of his benevolent and liberal administration, that he has, agreeably to the ardent wishes of a great portion of His Majesty’s loyal subjects, preserved those sacred rights entire, and returned to his beloved Father the Toleration inviolate. We have too much confidence in the wisdom and justice of Parliament, to imagine that a measure will be adopted so obnoxious to such a large proportion of the nation, as our societies and congregations constitute: but if unhappily we should be disappointed, and in the dernier resort, we should be driven to submit our case to His Royal Highness, we have already the gratification of his royal assurance, that he will “be ready to listen to the complaints of those who may think themselves aggrieved, and regulate his conduct upon the established principles of that ancient and excellent constitution, under which the people of this country have hitherto enjoyed a state of unrivalled prosperity and happiness.”

The following were some of the reasons which induced the committee to adopt the foregoing resolutions:—

I. At present every man may choose his own mode of religious instruction, and every man who is impressed with the belief that it is his duty to preach or teach, has the liberty to do so, on making oath and subscribing certain declarations. These are points fully recognized by the Toleration Laws, and if they were not, religious toleration would, indeed, be confined 439within narrow bounds. But the proposed Bill is quite a measure of condition and restraint, and would so operate to a very extensive decree.

II. The magistrate now acts ministerially; he will then, we contend, act judicially. This is a point of the very highest consequence to all ranks of christians. At present, the magistrate has no discretion as to the administering the oaths &c.: he is required to administer them to those that offer, &c. But, if the present Bill should pass, he will, of course become the judge of the qualities of the householder who certifies, i. e. how far he is substantial and reputable. It appears to us also, that he might probably be the judge of the truth of the certificate: and, therefore, how far the persons certifying were dissenting Protestants, and were of the same sect or persuasion. This would be a most fruitful source of difference of opinion, and, consequently, the hardship would fall upon the applicant for a qualification, who would be exposed to infinate vexation. The very terms are open to difference of opinion in magistrates, as must every other subject upon which they are to decide judicially. This would be the subversion of a principle which has been acknowledged since the first statute on the subject of toleration. Would the power thus given to the magistrate, be any thing less than that which he has in licensing public houses? and can we suppose this to be fitting in religious matters?

III. At present, the Court of King’s Bench will grant a mandamus to admit a dissenting teacher where the chapel is endowed, as in the case of Rex, v. Barker, 3 Burr. 1264.... But if this Bill passes, it will, it is presumed, deprive the first class of persons, named in the Bill, of the benefit of this writ. At present, a person must shew that he is legally qualified, according to law, to act as a dissenting teacher, before he can have the benefit of the mandamus; but under the present Bill, a person must first be admitted to the peaceable possession and enjoyment of the place of minister of a congregation before he can qualify. Now, if there be a contest between two persons, as was the case above-mentioned, and one of them, who, according to the terms of the deed of endowment, is entitled to 440the possession of the chapel, has occasion to apply to the court for a mandamus to be admitted, how is it possible that the court can grant it, unless he can shew that he is a legal minister, qualified according to the existing laws? This he could not do for want of a qualification under the Act, and this qualification he could not get, for want of the peaceable possession of the very situation which formed the subject of contest. It is obvious, then, what a situation the congregations of endowed chapels would be placed in. The trustees being in possession of the property, might, in most cases, appoint whom they might think proper, and the congregation, and their chosen minister, would have no redress.

IV. There is a phraseology used in the second section, which we have never yet seen adopted, and the mode of wording adds another trait of character before unknown in the law of toleration. It speaks of the appointment of a person, not only being a Protestant, dissenting from the Church of England, and being in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders; but the applicant must have an additional character to be entitled to the immunities of William and Mary, and of 19th Geo. III, that is, he must be the minister of a separate congregation. This word separate, whatever be its meaning, as applied to this subject, was never used till the 43d of Geo. III.

V. With respect to the exemptions, the first class are entitled to all the existing immunities contained in the exemption from militia services and offices. The second class, who are intended, it is presumed, to compromise the itinerant preachers of the Methodist societies, are only exempted by the proposed Bill from pains and penalties, whereas, at present, they are, we contend, entitled to all the privileges of the most regular dissenting minister, presiding over one congregation only. The third class are intended, we presume, to comprise the young student, who is preparing for his office, and preaching to a congregation on trial. These are also only exempted from pains and penalties, whereas, at present, they also are entitled to the privileges of the most regular minister.

441VI. At present, the cost of the certificate is but sixpence, besides the journey to the sessions to take the oaths; but by the proposed law, the applicant must be at the expence of taking a witness with him to verify the certificate. This, when the sessions are at a distance, will sometimes be of importance to a poor candidate for the ministry; but when it is coupled with the circumstance, that this Bill proposes to give the magistrate a judicial power, which will leave him at liberty, more or less, to reject the certificate, on account of the want, as he may suppose, of substance or reputation in the certifier, the disappointment, vexation, and expence may be endless. If the Magistrate have power thus to determine and to reject on the first application, so he may on the second, and ultimately, the applicant may never be considered as properly qualified; and he at length may be obliged to make an application to the superior courts, the determination of which, as it would be a question of fact, might be very expensive. The consequence of this clause, we apprehend, will be very serious.

These being their conclusions, they looked at the proposed Bill with dread and dismay, as being calculated to make the most alarming inroads upon the rights and privileges they had enjoyed since the foundation of their societies in the year 1739.

I shall here also record some of the very judicious and laudable proceedings of the committees of Protestant dissenters on this business.

The Ministers of the three denominations of Protestant dissenters (Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists,) resident in and about London, have, for nearly a century, regularly associated, and have assembled, at least, annually, for the management of their affairs. A committee was appointed by them, about two years ago, to attend to the progress of the Bill which the noble lord had signified his intention to introduce. As soon as the provisions of this Bill were made known, the committee called a general meeting of the whole body, on Thursday, May 16. The meeting was uncommonly numerous; and the discussions which took place were conducted with candour and harmony.

442Library, Red-Cross-Street, May 16, 1811.—At a numerous meeting of the general body of Protestant dissenting ministers, of the three denominations, residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster, regularly summoned to deliberate on the means of opposing the Bill introduced into the House of Lords by Viscount Sidmouth, which has a tendency to narrow the provisions of the Toleration Act, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:—

1. That the right of peaceably assembling, for the purposes of religious worship and public instruction, according to the dictates of our own consciences, belongs to us as men, as christians, and as members of civil society; that this right ought not to be abridged or controled, by any secular authority; and that we cannot consent to the alienation or surrender of it, without criminality on our own parts, disrespect to the memory of those from whom we have, under providence, received it, and injury to the best interests of our descendants and successors; to whom it is our duty, as far as we are able, to transmit it inviolable.

2. That this right has been recognized and maintained, from the Revolution to the present day, partly by a liberal construction of the Toleration Act, and partly by the protection of the illustrious Princes of the House of Brunswick; and that it would betray a want of confidence in the favour of our Sovereign, in the justice of the legislature, and in the spirit of the times, to submit to any proposed restrictions of this right, in passive silence.

3. That as faithful and loyal subjects, attached to the civil constitution of our country, and desirous of contributing to that tranquility and union on which its permanence and prosperity very much depend, we cannot forbear expressing our regret that any measures should be proposed which have a tendency, by abridging our liberty as Protestant dissenters, and restraining the exercise of social worship among those with whom we have connected, to excite dissatisfaction and discontent at the present interesting crisis; and, more especially at a time when we had reason to hope that our liberty would have 443been enlarged instead of being restrained; though we are peaceably waiting for that period in which this happy event shall take place, and penal laws no longer have any operation in the province of religion.

4. That the Bill now introduced into the House of Lords appears to us inconsistent with the unmolested liberty which we have long thankfully enjoyed; repugnant to our principles and profession as Protestant dissenters, who disavow the authority of the civil magistrate in the province of religion, and imposing restrictions which will be in various respects, injurious and oppressive.

5. That it is our duty, on our own behalf, and on behalf of our brethren, as well as with a view to the cause of religions liberty in general, to make every constitutional effort in our power for preventing this Bill from passing into a law; and that for this purpose a petition be presented by this body to the House of Peers.

Dan. Taylor, Chairman.

At a Meeting of the Deputies appointed for supporting the Civil Rights of Protestant dissenters, held at the King’s Head Tavern, in the Poultry, London, May 15, 1811, William Smith, Esq. M. P. in the Chair:

Resolved, That liberty of conscience, comprehending the freedom of public assemblies for religious worship and instruction, in such forms and under such teachers as men shall for themselves approve, is the unalienable right of all; in the peaceable exercise of which they are not justly controlable by the civil magistrate.

Resolved, That this liberty has been generally recognized in the practice of the British Government since the æra of the Revolution, under the construction of the statute commonly called the Toleration Act; whatever may have been the letter of the law, the spirit of toleration has been extended, and a large portion of religious liberty actually enjoyed.

Resolved, That we have beheld, with great concern, a Bill lately brought into Parliament, designed, as appears to us, to 444abridge such religious liberty, and having a tendency to deprive the lower classes of the community of those opportunities which they have so long enjoyed, to attend public worship and religious instruction under teachers of their own choice.

Resolved, That, as deputies appointed by large and respectable bodies of Protestant dissenters to attend to their civil rights, it becomes our bounden duty immediately to protest against the principle of such measure, and to point out the unjust and vexatious operation of the aforesaid Bill, as now brought into Parliament.

Resolved, That a Petition against the said Bill, grounded on the principles of the foregoing resolutions, be signed by the members of this meeting, and presented to the legislature.

Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be signed by the chairman, and inserted in all the public papers.

W. Smith, Chairman.

At a Numerous and Respectable Meeting of Protestant Dissenters of various Denominations, and other Friends to Religious Liberty, residing in different parts of the United Empire, held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, May the 15th, 1811, Samuel Mills, Esq. in the Chair.

It was unanimously agreed,

I. That this meeting believe that there are at least two millions of Protestant dissenters in the kingdom of England and Wales, including persons of opulent fortunes, high literary attainments, and active benevolence: that their exertions have contributed to promote industry, knowledge, good morals, social order, and public prosperity. That they are not inferior to any of their fellow-subjects in fervent love to their country, nor in ardent loyalty to their venerable sovereign, whose early promise, ‘TO PRESERVE THE TOLERATION INVIOLATE,’ has made an indelible impression on their hearts;—and that any measures which might excite their discontent and enfeeble their attachment, would, therefore, at any time, and especially at this period, be inconsistent with the national interest, and with wise and liberal policy.

445II. That although this meeting consider the right to worship God according to individual judgment as an inalienable right superior to all social regulations; and, although they have long anticipated a period when all penal laws for worshipping God according to their consciences would be abolished, they have been unwilling to agitate the public mind for the attainment of their hopes; and presuming that no persons would, in this age, venture to assail the Act of Toleration, after the ever-memorable declaration of the King, they have been content to regard it with grateful emotions, and to esteem it as an effectual protection against the recurrence of former persecutions.

III. That the persons assembled at this meeting have received, with great anxiety, the communications frequently made by the Right Hon. Viscount Sidmouth, of his intention to propose legislative enactments, interfering with the laws relating to Protestant dissenters; that they did hope the applications he has received, and the information communicated, would have prevented his perseverance. But they have learned the disappointment of their hopes, and have ascertained the provisions of the Bill which he has at length introduced into parliament with extreme regret, and with painful apprehension.

IV. That this Bill declares that all the provisions relating to dissenting ministers, contained in the Toleration Act, and in the subsequent Act for their further relief, were intended to be limited only to ministers of separate congregations; and enacts, 1. That such ministers upon being admitted to the peaceable possession and enjoyment of the place of minister of a separate congregation, may, on a certificate in writing, under the hands of substantial and reputable householders belonging to such congregation, signed in the presence of some credible witness, who is to make proof of their signatures upon oath at a general Sessions of the Peace, be permitted to take the oaths, and to sign the declaration previously required; and shall then, and then only, during their continuance to be ministers of such separate congregation, be intitled to all the privileges and exemptions which the former acts had conferred. 2. That any other person who may desire to qualify himself to preach as a dissenting 446minister, must procure several substantial and reputable householders, being dissenters of the same sect, and of the same congregation, to certify on their consciences, in writing, to his being a Protestant dissenting minister of their sect, and of the same congregation, and to their individual and long knowledge of his sobriety of conversation, and of his ability and fitness to preach; and that such certificate must be proved, as before stated, before he be exempt from the pains, penalties, and punishments to which he would otherwise be liable as a dissenting minister. And, 3. That any person of a sober life and conversation, admitted to preach on probation to any separate congregation, must produce a certificate from several dissenting ministers (who have taken the oaths, to be also proved on oath at a general Session) of his life and conversation, and to their long previous knowledge, before he can be permitted to take the oaths and subscribe the declaration; and that he may then, during a limited period, to be specified in the certificate, officiate as a probationer to any dissenting congregation, and be during a limited period, exempt from prosecution and punishment. But neither of the two last mentioned classes of persons, will be entitled to any privileges, or to the exemptions from offices conferred on dissenting ministers by the Toleration Act.

V. That the principle assumed as the foundation of the Bill is incorrect:—That the Toleration Act authorised any persons to become dissenting ministers who conceived themselves to be called and qualified to preach, upon giving security to the State for their loyalty and christian principles, by taking certain oaths and subscribing certain declarations; and not only prevented their persecution under laws made in times less favourable to civil and religious liberty, but conceiving their labours to be of public utility, granted to them exemptions from all parochial offices and other duties which might interfere with their more important exertions:—That such construction of the Act of Toleration has been sanctioned by the general practice of a century, and has never been impugnedimpugned by any decision in a superior court of law; and that even if such construction be incorrect, and legislative exposition be required, such declaratory 447Bill ought to follow the intention of the Act which has subsequently passed; and should extend and not contract,—protect and not impair, the relief afforded by the former ancient and venerable statute.

VI. That the Bill introduced into parliament is not justified by any necessity, and will be highly injurious; that it is unnecessary, because the evils presumed to result from the abuses of the existing laws, by a few persons who may have improperly taken the oaths required from dissenting preachers and teachers, do not exist but to a most inconsiderable extent; and because the extension of all such abuses has been anxiously, and would be effectually discountenanced by every class of Protestant dissenters—and that it must be injurious, because it will introduce forms unprecedented, inconvenient, or impracticable; will render itinerant preachers, students of divinity, ministers on probation, and many persons to whose ardent piety and disinterested labours multitudes are indebted for religious instruction, liable to serve all civil offices, ... and will expose all ministers, or the witnesses to their certificates, to be harrassed by repeated attendances at different sessions, and to capricious examinations, and unlimited expence,—because, by limiting the right of persons to become dissenting ministers, it will impose new restrictions on toleration; and because it will create a precedent for future attempts at even more dangerous or fatal experiments against religious liberty.

VII. That, although most reluctant to interference with political affairs, they cannot but regard the present attempt with peculiar sensations of alarm; and that veneration for their ancestors, regard to their posterity, respect for rights which they can never abandon, and the sacred obligations which they feel, will therefore compel them to disregard all doctrinal and ritual distinctions, and to unite by every legitimate effort to prevent the pending Bill from passing into a law, and to oppose the smallest diminution of the privileges secured by the Act of Toleration.

VIII. That from the noble declaration of the liberal-minded and illustrious Prince Regent of the Empire, that he will deliver 448up the constitution unaltered to his Royal Father, this meeting are encouraged to indulge confident hope that a measure so innovating and injurious can never obtain the sanction of his high authority; and they also rejoice that it has not been introduced by his Majesty’s government; that respectful application be therefore made to them for their wise and continued protection; that a petition to the House of Lords against the Bill be signed by all the persons present at this meeting, and that all congregations of Protestant dissenters, and other friends of religious liberty throughout the empire, be recommended to present similar petitions, and that a committee consisting of persons resident in London, be appointed to effectuate these proceedings, and to adopt any measures they may deem expedient to prevent the successful prosecution of this Bill; and that dissenting ministers of every denomination resident in the country, be also members of this committee: and that such committee may increase their number, and that any three members be competent to act.act.

S. MILLS, Chairman.

I now return to the proceedings of the general committee of the societies of the late Rev. John Wesley.

On Thursday they were closely engaged all day in carrying the aforesaid measure into effect, and sending a copy of the resolutions into every circuit throughout the kingdom, that their friends might know the opinion of the committee on the subject, and be prepared to co-operate with it, in every future measure which might be deemed necessary to the preservation of our religious rights.

As Lord Sidmouth had fixed on Friday the 17th for the second reading of the Bill, there was but little time for obtaining signatures to a petition; however, this little time was improved, and on Friday morning, before eleven o’clock, upwards of two thousandthousand signatures were obtained to petitions from their different societies and congregations in the two London circuits.

449Application was made to Lord Erskine, who paid the utmost attention to their case; at the same time he most readily engaged to present their petitions to the House, and to oppose the Bill; as did also Lords Grey and Holland.

In the evening, Lord Stanhope moved, that the second reading of the Bill should be deferred till some future day, which motion was seconded by Earl Grey, and acceded to by Lord Sidmouth; who in a short speech informed the House, that on Tuesday the 21st he should bring the subject forwards for discussiondiscussion.

This delay was considered a favourable interposition of Providence, as it afforded the Committee opportunity for procuring parchments, and preparing a copy of a petition, to be sent into those circuits from whence they could be returned before Tuesday noon. Special messengers were sent to Bristol, Birmingham, and into some parts of Kent and Sussex; and these were provided with directions and parcels, to be left in every circuit through which they passed, that the urgency of the business might be understood, and every energy exerted to accomplish their purpose.

To evince the zeal and activity which prevailed on this occasion, I here give an extract from a letter written by a gentleman of high respectability, who was actively engaged in this business.

“May 23, 1811.

“Since last Thursday I have been fully occupied, by the “Committee of Privileges,” on the business of Lord Sidmouth’s Bill. On Saturday night at eight o’clock two post chaises and four, set off on this important business, one to Birmingham, and the other to Bristol. At half past eleven the same night, I was sent to seek another, but after going all over the city, was obliged to return to the committee room without one. At half past twelve o’clock, I procured a coach in Aldersgate-street, and, with a friend, drove all over the town in search of a conveyance. A little before three o’clock in the morning while we were knocking up the people at the fifteenth Inn, a respectable 450looking man came up with a lanthorn and enquired, “what was the matter?” we answered ‘we wanted a post chaise and four, and must have it, it being on parliamentary business.’ He replied “he could have supplied us had we come at a more seasonable hour, but now he had only one post boy in the house, and he was gone to bed.” We begged of him to do what he could for us, and at length persuaded him to drive us himself. The horses were put to in a trice, and we set off full speed for Bromley, which we reached in an hour and a quarter. Here we again knocked up the people at the Inn, but lost half an hour before they were ready. Having left our petitions, with solemn orders to deliver them as soon as it was light, we set off for Sevenoaks, which we reached before seven o’clock. Here, while we were explaining the nature of the business we came on, to Mr. ______ we partook of a hasty breakfast. We then jumped into the chaise and started for Tunbridge; having delivered our parcels and given suitable directions, we drove on to the Wells; after delivering our message there, with steady course we pursued our way to Rye, and drove up to the chapel. The morning service was concluded and the people were just coming out; we instantly desired them to stop, telling them, we had come express from London on very important business. Having ascended the pulpit stairs, with every eye fixed upon us, we laid before them the purport of our mission, by informing them of the Bill, and explaining its nature. We then informed them of the Committee appointed for guarding their privileges, and read their resolutions: we told them also of whom the Committee consisted, and that we had travelled the whole night to reach them at that time. We then requested those to stay who wished to sign the petition; not a dozen went away till they had signed. One man indeed, when he heard none was permitted to sign who was under sixteen, whispered to another, and said, “he should not sign, for he thought it was a scheme to take them by surprise to get them drawn for the Militia.”

“We dispatched messengers to the places adjacent, to be 451ready for the evening service: one went out thirteen miles, and did not return until midnight. I left my friend Mr. _______ at Rye, while I went to Winchelsea, about three miles off. The minister had just concluded his sermon when I arrived; having informed him of my design, he requested the whole congregation to stop when the service was ended. I then stated the case, and most of the people signed the petition: one man came and said, “pray Sir, let somebody sign for me.” “My good man,” said I, “it will not be allowed, you must assist us by your prayers.” “Really Sir,” said another, “I could wish to sign, but l never wrote my name in my life, but do give me the pen and I will try!”

“At twelve o’clock on Monday we bent our course homeward, and on Tuesday about the same hour, we reached town. We sat close till five o’clock in the afternoon, sending off petitions, in alphabetical order, by coaches, till a message came down express from the House of Lords to inform us, that the business was about to begin. Every one therefore took his arms full and conveyed them to the coach, which instantly drove off with all speed to the House. I and two other friends had three good loads of those remaining ones which were taken from us at the door of the anti-chamber of the House.

“We had at that time above a thousand petitions on the road. The operations of the Bill were not known beyond the environs of the Metropolis, and yet a mighty flood of petitions poured in. Lord Erskine undertook the cause of our societies.

“After bringing into the House many bags full, the petitions were still so numerous, that his Lordship was obliged to fetch the rest from the anti-chamber in his arms, and he came down to the House several times in this manner loaded like a porter.”

I was myself at Leeds at the time when this Bill was pending in the House: the petitions for that Town and neighbourhood arrived on Wednesday morning May 22nd. The Committee which had been previously formed was sitting at the time, and they immediately dispatched messengers into different parts of the town, and the adjacent villages, to obtain 452signatures. In the course of that afternoon and the forenoon of the following day some thousands had signed the petitions, and had not the business been stopped on the Thursday afternoon by the arrival of the pleasing tidings that the Bill was lost, many thousands more signatures would have been obtained in a few days.

The different denominations of Dissenters in that large and populous Town, formed a Committee of respectable gentlemen, who also manifested great zeal and activity in this noble cause; they deputed several persons to go to their respective congregations in the country, to obtain signatures to their petitions, which they likewise obtained in abundance. Indeed, such unity of sentiment I never witnessed on any subject before; the pious and candid members of the established Church, cordially united with the Methodists and Dissenters to shew their decided disapprobation of the obnoxious Bill, and all, as with one heart and voice, avowed their determination to oppose, to the uttermost, all restrictions on Religious Liberty.

The same activity was manifested, and similar exertions made, in every part of the kingdom wherewhere the nature of the Bill was thoroughly understood, its effects were deeply deplored and deprecated by all classes of people in the land.

“In every place the Messengers met with the most zealous co-operation of the people, who dreading the loss of their religious privileges, came forwards to sign the petitions with an eagerness which was highly honourable to their feelings. At Bristol, the Mayor granted the use of the Town-Hall, and although the notice was so short, yet between twelve and five o’clock on Monday, the petition received upwards of 1900 signatures, and this was in addition to separate petitions from all the dissenting congregations in the city, which were numerously signed. By these means the committee had procured before Tuesday noon upwards of 250 petitions, bearing 30,000 Signatures. The Committee was incessantly employed in examining and taking an account of them. And that every thing might be conducted with the utmost regularity, almost every petition was separately rolled up, tied with red tape, and the 453place from whence it came, together with the number of signatures it contained, legibly written on one end of the roll, so that when it was presented, the noble Lord had no difficulty in announcing these particulars to the House. It required the utmost exertions of the committee to prepare all things in readiness before the House met; however, this was accomplished, and the petitions were delivered to Lord Erskine in one of the anti-chambers. His Lordship was pleased to express his satisfaction with what had been done, and whilst he was carrying his burthens into the House, appeared to feel a noble pride in the office he had undertaken to perform.”

Earl Stanhope said, he held in his hand a petition against the Bill, signed by upwards of 2000 persons; and he had no doubt that if the Bill was persisted in, the petitioners against it, instead of thousands, must be counted by millions.

The petition having been received, and ordered to lie on the table,

The Earl of Liverpool rose, and after bearing his testimony to the good intentions of his noble friend who had introduced the Bill, and who, he was confident, had nothing in view dangerous to the wholesome and wise system of toleration in this country, expressed his doubts respecting the prudence of his farther pressing the measure. If it were pressed, the good that would result, would be comparatively much less than was expected in any view of the subject. But if it were pressed under the present misconceptions of its object, and the alarm and apprehension thereby created, the evils produced by it might far preponderatepreponderate. The Toleration Laws, he was ready to say, were matters on which he thought the Legislature should not touch, unless it were from causes of great paramount necessity. Under all these circumstances, he trusted that his noble friend would see the propriety of not farther pressing his Bill.

Lord Viscount Sidmouth said he was placed in a situation of considerable difficulty, as he must consider the sentiments expressed by the noble Earl as the sentiments of the Government of which he was a principal part. Yet, if his noble friend confessed that misconceptions had gone abroad on the 454object of his measure, that could not be a reason sufficient for him to withdraw his Bill in the present stage of it. The greatest misconceptions, misapprehensions, and he might add, misrepresentations of the Bill had been made without doors; so that although it was not regular in that stage to enter into particulars, he should for convenience, if not regular, take that opportunity of stating what the Bill was and what it was not.

Earl Grey spoke to order. He would be the last person to interrupt the noble Viscount, but it was certainly quite out of order to enter into the details of the question on the presentation of the petitions, when the opportunity of addressing the House would so soon occur on the second reading. He was convinced of the purity of intention by which his noble friend was actuated, and that he entertained no design of infringing on the just and liberal toleration of every man’s opinion and worship; but he thought that the present was not the time for discussing the question when they were receiving petitions, unless the reception of them was to be objected to.

Lord Viscount Sidmouth said he should not farther trouble the House at that time. It had not been his intention to take up their time long; but he should reserve himself till the second reading, then more fully to explain himself.

Earl Stanhope presented fifteen other petitions from different dissenting congregations in various parts of England, (Castlecary, Market Harborough, &c.) which were severally ordered to lie on the table.

Lord Holland rose, and said he had numerous petitions to present to the House against the present Bill, the first of which he should move to be read. It was the joint petition of the three denominations of the dissenters in, and in the vicinity of, the metropolis, namely, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, and the Independent. He should say little by way of preface, except that he believed that that, as well other petitions, would shew that the people of this country were not so ignorant of the nature and character of a Bill brought into Parliament as not to see and appreciate its consequences on their civil or their religious liberty. He was happy to hear from the noble Secretary 455of State what he had heard from him that night on the impolicy of such a measure. But, he must say, that the noble Viscount had very fairly shaped his course in the proceedings both last session and this. He (Lord Holland) had last June stated his intention to look with much care and great jealousy at any attempt to meddle with or impair the provisions of the Toleration Act, and he thanked the noble Viscount for having so fully explained his views this session. He could not, however, avoid expressing his surprise and regret that the noble Secretary of State had not taken an opportunity, either last session or this, of stating his prudential objection to the adoption of this measure, instead of leaving that to the present occasion, when the petitions against it were crowding in from all parts of England. He then presented the petition, which was received, and ordered to lie on the table.

Lord Holland then stated that he had a great number of other petitions.

The Earl of Morton said it was desirable to know whether any of those petitions contained matter which reflected upon, or was irregular to be presented to that House.

Lord Holland said he had been unable to read them all. Several he had read, which contained no such matter. But he should feel pleasure in having them all read to the House, if it would not be too inconvenient in respect of time.

The Earl of Lauderdale said that he also had many petitions to present. Such was, however, the opinion he entertained of the respectability of character of the persons who had framed them, that, if there was any intention shown of casting doubt or reflections on them, he certainly should move that every one of those which he should present should be read.

The Earl of Morton was satisfied with the explanation of the noble Baron (Lord Holland.)

The petitions presented by Lord Holland, 65 in number, were then received, the preambles read, and ordered to lie on the table. They were from congregations in a number of places in Wiltshire, Essex, Dorset, Berks, Middlesex, &c.; one petition we believe, was signed by above 4000 persons.

456The Earl of Moira rose, and after some observations on the respectability of the petitioners, declared his readiness to stake his responsibility for the propriety of the sentiments they contained. His Lordship then presented a great number of petitions from different places in London, Westminster, Surrey, Middlesex, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Berks, Sussex, Bucks, Wilts, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Hants, Herts, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, &c. amounting to about seventy, all which were ordered to lie on the table.

The Earl of Lauderdale then rose, and presented twenty petitions from Bath, the Isle of Wight, Kent, and various other places, with signatures to the amount of more than 10,000 names, all which were taken as read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Earl Grey presented a petition from a Meeting at Bristol, which his Lordship said was intended to have been presented by the High Steward of that city (Lord Grenville.) His noble friend could not attend in the House that night, but he was confident, from what he knew of his opinions respecting the important subject of Toleration, that he was favourable to the prayer of the petition. Ordered to lie on the table.

The Duke of Norfolk observed, that persons not dissenters, but friends to the principle of Toleration, had signed the petition.

Earl Grey then presented seventy-seven other petitions from Lewes, Portsmouth, Daventry, Colnbrook, Gloucester, and other places, which were also ordered to lie on the table.

The Earl of Rosslyn presented twenty-five similar petitions from different places. Ordered to lie on the table.

Lord Erskine stated, that he had two hundred and fifty-five petitions to present on the same important subject. He should make no other prefatory remark, but to say, that they contained the same opinions on that question which he himself maintained on the subject of the Toleration Act. After having read one of the petitions, his Lordship proceeded to present them to the House, when it was a little amusing to see him engaged 457for more than half an hour, in lifting up his bags full of rolls one after another, and laying them on the table, then drawing them out and announcing the place from whence each came, and the number of signatures affixed. They were from many parts of the south of England, and some of them had an immense number of signatures.

The Marquis of Lansdowne then stated, that he had above 100 different petitions to present to their Lordships on the same subject, and of the same tenor. The first petition he presented, his Lordship stated, was signed by many persons not Protestant dissenters; several of them beneficed clergymen of the established church, who, equally with the Protestant dissenters, deprecated any interference with the Toleration Laws; and was signed by 896 persons. All these petitions were also received, and ordered to lie on the table.

The number of all the petitions received was about 629.

The order of the day was then called for by several Lords, when

Lord Viscount Sidmouth rose, and said, that in moving the second reading of this Bill, he should make no remarks on the number of the petitions which had been presented against it, as he readily supposed that the petitioners sincerely believed what they had expressed with respect to the operation of it. His noble friend (Lord Liverpool) had truly stated, that great misconception and misapprehension had gone forth respecting the Bill, and he must add, great misrepresentation. The various public resolutions were, for the greater part, inapplicable to the real objects of his Bill. When the intelligent mind of his noble friend was not quite free from misconception, he could not wonder at seeing the misapprehensions of others. It seemed to be thought that some change was intended in our Toleration Laws. What was it? The object of the Bill, the clauses of which might be amended in the Committee, was merely to give uniformity to the two Acts on which our system of toleration was founded; its object was not to exclude any class of dissenters, but to comprehend all, according to the spirit and meaning of those Acts. This was the sole purpose of the Bill. He was led to propose it, from information, he had 458a considerable time since received, of what was and is the prevalent mode of executing those Acts. He lamented to think that the effect of those Bills was, that any persons of depraved morals should be able by taking the oath of allegiance, by making the declaration against popery, and subscribing to certain articles of the church, or declaring himself, under the 19th of the present King, a christian and protestant, and a believer that the Old and New Testaments contained the revealed will of God, to claim his licence, and that his certificate should enable him to preach any where any doctrines he pleased; and that this did, in fact, till 1802, exempt him from many civil and from all military services. At first he could hardly credit that interpretation of the laws. He could state, but that he feared fatiguing their Lordships, informations from many magistrates, of numerous applications at Quarter Sessions, evidently to obtain these exemptions. He had heard of what he confessed was creditable to a sect of Dissenters, wherein they acknowledged these abuses, and expressed their desire to correct them by the expulsion from among them of such unworthy persons; (the Wesleyan connexion was here alluded to.) He had learned with satisfaction, that though the prevalent interpretation of the law was as he had stated, yet with many well-informed and respectable persons it was not so. In Devon, Norfolk, Bucks, and in Suffolk too, he learned that that interpretation was not admitted. Feeling the abuses that were committed, learning the opinions of enlightened men, and the practice of many respectable magistrates on this subject, he had felt it necessary to bring the consideration of it before parliament. He had been encouraged to do so by the opinions of respectable persons, of magistrates, and judges; and he had stated, in June, 1809, that he intended to do nothing but what was with a view to secure the toleration of Protestant dissenters, as well as the support of the church of England, of which he gloried in being a member. By this fair standard he had proceeded, and in his Bill there was nothing to be found inconsistent with it.—He had not contented himself with the authorities he had mentioned, but had sought further information, and even communications with various dissenters. From some of them he had received voluntary 459communications, and with others he had had conversation; and though many wished he should take no steps in the business, few objected to the measure he proposed. They thought merely, though the measure was innocent, yet that it might excite in other quarters a disposition to introduce into it objectionable clauses. They did not seem, on the whole, to think there was any thing in it materially objectionable. Every class of dissenting preachers, in fact, who had separate congregations, were left by this Bill in the same state as before, with the removal of all sorts of impediments, and the magistrate would know better what was his duty on such subjects. What better mode of attestation could there be than that of several persons of the congregation for those who sought for licences? As to the question of substantial and reputable householders, or householders merely, that was a consideration for the Committee. There was no other regulation but to relieve them from different practices at different Quarter Sessions.

The second point applied to such as had not separate congregations. He did not expect to meet with any difficulty on this subject from the quarter whence it rose. It would be a farce to talk of toleration, he confessed, and at the same time to exclude this class of persons from the rights allowed to other Protestant dissenters, though he must say, that he knew they had often given great pain and vexation to many most excellent and meritorious beneficial clergymen. Yet he must in candour admit, that hundreds and thousands of people would, through our own unpardonable and abominable neglect, be deprived of all moral and religious instructions, were it not for the services of these persons. Millions in this country were indebted to them for their religious instruction. (Hear!) We are not at liberty to withholdwithhold the only means of moral and religious knowledge. He had not, therefore, excluded such persons, which would have been contrary to indispensible and eternal justice. The third point of his Bill related to probationers. He had on that point, proposed that six persons should sign their belief of the sober and exemplary life, of the capacity, 460&c.; of the individual. What test could be more moderate? His object was to follow up the principles of the toleration laws, which never meant that any person should assume to himself the privilege of a preacher and teacher, and exercise such important functions, without some attestations.—(Hear!) Any person under the Bill might then be chosen, nay, he might be said even to choose himself, if he procured such attestations. He confessed he did, confidently, but, as he had found, vainly, expect, that he should have had the consent of all the sects and descriptions, who felt what was due to the purity, sanctity, and dignity of religion. All he was apprehensive of was, that some friends to the established church might think the Bill would be inefficient for what was requisite; but he never thought that any Protestant dissenter would consider it inconsistent with the wise and just enactments of the toleration laws. He learned that in the customs of dissenters, probation was requisite for the proof of the gifts necessary for the ministerial office; therefore, he had merely proposed that three dissenting preachers should sign a testimony in the probationer’s favour. In our own church, by our ecclesiastical laws, there were certain probations and attestations to be made. A Deacon must have the testimonials of three clergymen to his life, gifts, &c. His name must also be read three times in church. He did not mean to say that this always prevented improper introductions, but that such were the precautions that were observed by law. Though he had received much information on the subject, no man should be placed by him in an unpleasant situation by his stating his name, though there were noble Lords present who knew what information he had received. From the itinerant Methodists, of whom he did not wish to speak disrespectfully, he had grounds on which he expected their approbation. He had formed his opinions from those of magistrates and respectable gentlemen of various descriptions. Objections had been started at first by his noble friend, for whom he had much respect, (Lord Holland) who seemed to think that any man had a right to take on himself the office of teacher, on making the declarations, &c. and that 461it was not a question for the Legislature to take up. He would say, that this opinion was utterly inconsistent with the meaning of the Toleration Act. That Act, right or wrong, was a measure of condition. (Hear, hear! from the opposition side.) He never could agree to those broad principles. But in some respects, he thought these laws intolerant; where, for instance, they limited religious doctrines. (Hear, hear!) His noble friend had called the Toleration Act the palladium of religious liberty. What did he admire in it? Its beneficent effects, he had said, in its providing freedom of worship. Could he deny, that it was differently acted upon in different counties? In proportion to his admiration of it, his wish should be to render its operation universal. It was not so at present. There was no case, wherein when the licence had been refused, the party had, at least for many years, resorted to the Court of King’s Bench. He went to another county. Thus, there was a different interpretation in counties bordering upon each other. Let the benefit, therefore, be made universal. If this measure were improper, come at once to the assertion of the broad principle, and try to alter the laws in that way. That broad principle had never existed in any age or in any country.