resistance of the unqualified and severe would afford an additional argument for interference with their at present ill-confided authority.

If every officer would read " Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments,"

he would not only have his mind expanded, but become practically a better man, and be more ready to regard with indulgence the infirmi ties of human nature.

LORD SIDMOUTH's BILL.

AT A MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETIES OF THE

LATE REV. JOHN WESLEY, Convened for the purpose of taking inio consideration a Bill, brought into the House of Lords by the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Sidmouth, intituled, "An Act to explain and render more effectual certam Acts of the first year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, and of the nineteenth year 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 functious 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 incons venience 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 all 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 pri sons 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 extension of a distinct sect of religion; and without whose aid the various chapels of our so

cieties 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 accession 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.

IX. 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 religions 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 bad 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 classes 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 couse

quences 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 respect) without essential ly 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 endu rance of the pressure of the times, and the repulsion of the bitterest enemy with which this country ever 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 the shadow of a charge is brought against our very numerous body, and we can challenge the most rigid inquiry into the moral and political character of our preachers and our people,

XIV. That, abstaining from all observations on the abstract rights of con science, 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 can not but feel it our duty to oppose the bill in all its stages by every constitu tional means,

XV. That we reflect with high satisfaction on the liberal, enlightened, and religious declaration of our most gra cious Sovereign, on the commencement of his reign. 66 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,

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His

"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 ad"here 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 foun"dation of the whole, and the best means to draw down the divine favour on my reign, it is my fixed purpose to (6 countenance and encourage the prac"tice of true religion and virtue." This declaration of our beloved Sovereign has been religiously fulfilled during a long and beneficent reign, and has been humbly met by our societies with the affection it was calculated to inspire. We have built with confidence upon this gracious declaration, and our confidence has not been misplaced. 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 his 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 es

cessary.

XVIII. That before any active measures be taken, a deputation do wait on the right honourable Lord Viscount Sidmouth with a copy of these Resolutions, and earnestly entreat his lordship to withdraw his bill.

Signed by order of the Committee,
JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, Secretary.

At a General Meeting of Protestant Dissenters, and other Friends to Religious Liberty, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, on Friday, May 24, 1811, convened to receive the Report of the Committee appointed at a former Meeting, to prevent by every legiti mate effort the successful progress of a Bill introduced into parliament by Viscount Sidmouth, relating to the Acts for Religious Toleration; SAMUEL MILLS, Esq. in the Chair.

The Committee reported, That by great exertions, aided by the generous sentiments which were universally excited, they had obtained in 48 hours 336 petitions from various congregations within 120 miles of the metropolis, signed only by males exceeding 16 years of age (exclusive of many petitions that have been subsequently received), that those petitions had been presented to the house of Lords on Tuesday; and that in consequence of the number and respectability of the petitioners, of the attention of his Majesty's government and of the assistance of many liberalminded peers, the motion that the bill should be read for the second time was negatived without a division, and the bill was consequently rejected :-Resolved,

1. That the report of the Committee is highly satisfactory to this meeting; that, loving religion, liberty, and their native land, they rejoice at the speedy rejection of a bill that would have limi ted the diffusion of religious light, have

enfeebled the energy of freedom, and by producing internal dissentions have inflicted upon their country a dangerous wound; and that they particularly rejoice that this effect has resulted from the zeal displayed by the friends to religious liberty of every denomination, and that complete success has conferred on their labours an adequate reward.

2. That this meeting congratulate ministers, and other friends resident in every part of the empire, on this memorable result, on the just displeasure they have manifested at the first effort of reviving intolerance, on their consequent attention to the recommendations of the former meeting, on their liberal promises of pecuniary aid, and on the pledges they have given of their determination to resist any encroachment on the acts of Toleration, and every future attempt to restrict useful and pious teachers from disseminating christian princiciples, and thereby promoting the salvation of men.

3. That anxious to vindicate Protes tant Dissenters from the unmerited imputation of having acted with insincerity or from caprice, this meeting declare that all communications alleged to have occurred between individual dissenters and the framer of the bill, were unauthorized by any body of Protestant Dissenters; and that any favourable opinions of the measure which such persons might avow have never obtained the sanction of general approbation.

4. That the inconveniencies which have long resulted from the want of union and co-operation among Protestant Dissenters for the protection of their religious rights, the necessity which has been demonstrated for the appointment of persons authorized vigilantly to watch against innovation on their privileges, as well as the constructions that have been put on the acts of Toleration; the assumption by magistrates of judicial authority in the execution of some of the provisions of those acts, as to which their power is only ministerial; the recent violent outrages which have been committed against their meeting houses and preachers, in Suffolk and Kent; and the harsh revival of the intolerant provisions of the Conventicle Act in Berkshire, against persons guilty only of assembling to pray to God, induce this meeting to recommend that a society be formed of the ministers of congregations of Protestant Dissenters, and of other

persons assembling under the act of Toleration throughout England and Wales, to defend themselves against these evils, and that any balance of monies which the committee, appointed by the former meeting, may eventually retain, be applied by them towards the formation, and for the purposes of such society.

5. That the same committee be requested to prepare the plan of such society; to invite the concurrence of every congregation assembling under the Acts of Toleration; and. to carry any plan they may deem eligible into immediate effect.

6. That, as expences have been unavoidably incurred to an amount certainly great, although unascertained, all gentlemen present at this meeting be requested to subscribe such sums as their liberality may suggest; and that all congregations be requested to transmit their collective contributions, or individual assistance, to the Treasurer, Robert Steven, Esq. at 101, Upper Thamesstreet, or at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street; or New London Tavern, Cheapside; or to Sir James Esdaile and Co. and Messrs. Robarts, Curtis, and Co. Lombard-street; and Messrs. Down, Thornton, and Free, Bartholomew-lane, without any avoidable delay; and that the committee appointed at the last meeting be solicited to continue to execute all the powers with which they were then invested, and which they have so usefully employed.

7. That the energetic and judicious exertions of that committee, who have awakened with so much advantage a laudable spirit among Protestant Dissenters, and the friends to religious liberty, merit the highest approbation; and present an example for universal imitation, whenever the smallest infringement to the most extensive Toleration be hereafter attempted.

8. That the thanks of this meeting be presented to the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, for the politeness with which he attended to the representations of their committee; and to every member of his Majesty's government, for withholding from the bill their important support.

9. That this meeting cannot adequate ly praise the Right Honourable Earls Stanhope and Grey, and Lords Holland and Erskine, for their manly and eloquent opposition to the principles and provisions of the bill, and for their un