The Sun.
London, England, 1825-04-19 00:00:00

they were, he regretted the petitions were signed by so many.
He trusted he should be excused for making these remarks.—
He was sure he would obtain credit for his assertion, that he
did not know a more highly, respectable class than the Dissen-
ters. He knew them as the warm Friends of civil liberty and
popular education ; they weic, he thought, under a little delis.
stun at present, or perhaps, the;r conduct ~•.'as the effect of care-
lessness. Ile trusted, they would be now found equally at-
tached to religious, as they.had ever been to civil liberty.. If he
did not hold the B'odv to whom he alluded in high respect, he
would not have intruded upon the timepf the House, and 'as a
proof of that respect, he took the liberty of giving thii timely
admonition.

Mr. PEEL would now say a word coneerning the petitions I.
presented to the -House' after the
.respectful manner in which
the Learned Member had spoken of those whose names were
suhscribed. He had the honour of presenting a petition signed
by 10.90 names, .from that very town. froM which that pre-.
rented by the Learned Member had come. Ile was told those
who signed the petition presented by him were the great body
of the Protestant dissenters. He vindicated the petitioners who
might .sit _in Parliament under the 4knnual Indemnity act,
from the charge of inconsistency in signing these petitions.,
Those who dissent from the doetrmes of the Church of Rome,.
enjoTprivileges by means of the ,annual Indemnity Act, and
they call upon the house not to break down this barrier of to-
leration. The petitiOnerA address the house in the most 'se-,
spectful terms; they disclaim all feelins of religious hostility ;
-they feel the doctrines O the Catholics to be more intolerant
than those which predominate in the country, and they protest
against the admission to political' power of those who hold such'
doctrines. Ile felt as 'profound a respect for the body of the
I Dissenters as the. Learned Member could, but-be diii not know
what the effect would be on the members of the Church of.
England, if they were to be told• that the inCvitable inf,:rence'
from the success of the Catholic Question would be the repeal'
of all tests whatever.

31r. BROCIGI3A3I, in cx,,lanation, said., that lest the Ca-
tholic question should in its present state receive: any mischief
-from any thing. he might have said, he felt bound to state that
the repeal of all tests was his own individual opinion. lie would
support such repeal upon the principle of .general 7toieratioa.—
If the hill passed, and Gentlemen left the test for the Catho-
lics, they would be in the same situation with the Dissenters
at present; and his question to the Dissenters was; why they
came forward with their opposition, when the Catholic sought

to be as they were ?
Mr. W. small conceived, if the passed, the Roman
Catholic and the Dissenter would be on the same footing. The
'acramental Test was not to be repealed in favour' of the Ca-
tholic, with what propriety or consistency * he- would not in-
quite. He was glad this •conversaion had taken place, as it
would be the means of correcting -an errt)r prevalent in the
House and the country, that because there- was an annual In-
demity Act, the Disenter had nothing to complain of. This
was not the case ; the Dissenters were reproached, stigmatizA,
and disqualified, and, at a proper time, he would prove they
were thus treated most unjustly. . .

• -
. Mr. ABERCROMBIE-would say but, a jeer. words. He
could not conceive how, tinder the circumstances, the peti-
tioners could behave with such a want of cotrsietency and pro-
priety. He was disposed to treat the 'Dissenters with respect.
He believed them to be a kited and patriotic class og men, but
he could not bring himself to look upon the petitioners in this
view. He respected the feelings of the Diss:nters generally, but
it.was impossible for Vat to understand how their.cause could
be promoted by theappeal they thought proper. to make against
the Catholics, and directly in favour of those disabilities of
which they themselves complained. They cameebefore
.the
House most anxious to be relieved from disabilities ow account
of their religious opinions. flow was it teconcileable to common,
sense that their interests could be promoted by their conduct
upon the present occasion, when they were giving-strength to
those arguments by which the Right Ron. Gentleman opposite
was to oppose the clainis of the Catholics tri-morrow ? That
portion of the public press:Mtich supported the Dissenters teas
in the habit of saying. that -the :'Concessions mnde -to
' the Catholics were Wrong beeatise 'they ..wer., exclusive,
and did rot comprehend the Dissenters„• Whit '0;33 *Phil,
to theurideretanding, hut it WO utterly !unitftelligible and ir-
ieeconeileable to cm-omensense; and When tire •Bi,ll was before
the house the Dissentersashould ,wla2cl:i'otnid and:zealously
' oppose any Concessier.to tire Cad:plies% IF.The pissenters esaid.
we will come forwerd and aesist tie Chuecli against the Ca-
'"
tholits and by ad dole wet: ill *bate fa*A:6•of f:u- onTst.-Iv.s ; -
•
such conduct Would be plain. andicatily-tthderstood.- The cee.
1 duct of the petitioners made suchen unpression On •hitei, thatei
he were to gave way to passion, if he were-not ..q" Ere governed by
his reason, he would.vote-againat nem-I:rhea they sought the re-
peal of the Test Aft. Ife-vioeld nea, -however, vote is this
way. Ile should be sorry the bemee.deecriptien of Dissentets
were to be sufferers by the mdi,crefiee of the-petitioners.- • lie
- should vote for them on principle.; but if: theta tray any thing
\
that could-provoke hint to-vote emittery to hie reason and con.
viction, it would be the:conduct, of that portion of the Dissenters
~
to whom he alluded. . . ,
, ! • -
-• ' -
.
Mr. BROUGHAM felt .grateful ftteliia Learned-Friend .who
had just sat down, for the light, he threw upon the subjert,
and, the explanation he had (ei en. of the 'conduct of the petia
stoners. He would not' speak 'of them , 'aii beige, - Thseentera.
They, were a large body, and had 'different opiniene arnobgat
themselves upon these, subjects.. -The petitioner a, he made
no doubt, came forward to assist the Church. • They Najd, we
will give you help in .raising the- cry _of ". No Popery," and
upon, a future occasion you will lift us over the style when
we feel a little languide-a(Laughirtg,;)—When ethe Pisaenters
said thieethey did not know the Church, but lie 0.4.11.) knew
it well, at leant the higb party of it.. The Dissenters little knew
the Church-if they expected ite would be readyai, return them
the favour; When they sou-ght-the repeal of the Test Act, they
would be much mistaken indeed if they expected the Church
would-stand them in stead. The petitioners may perhaps say,
you are bound to assist us, do you not recollect the 19th April,
1825; Nherr you were in a state of black despair because ii wars
impossible-for yen to raise the eta, of no Popery: The:Solicitor-
. General was in -a state of.hlacle despair. .the Hon. Member f4ar
Someraetaiiire was in a State of black despair, and complained.
loudly of the apathviof his native land.—( Loud laughing ..
Upon this occasion we came forward to assist you—we raised
the-Cry of no Popery—we gave you some crumbs of alarm
to comfort- you—(Laughing)-you are now, therefore' bound
to assist us. The .Church would perhaps reply, Ic was
not to help us you came forward, it was to help yourselves—
you had a monopoly of toleration—you e.ad a Snug birth for
yourselves—and your
.object was: to keep the Parnaee out.—
(laatighing )-11esides vie are more enlightened upon this
,sub--,
Rat than-Yee were. The keeping up the cry ,of a'• NOPopery.r.
was in ns an act of consistency—in you it was one of the greatest
baseness and inconsistency—we hate, you much more than we
do the Catholics, and your conduct upon the Itith of A pril,lB-2 a
was the most •-absurd and foolish that can well he imagined.—
(Laud taaahalia.)___lt was as true as any proposition that could
be demonstrated that the odium Oleologicum was in the ire.
verse proportion of the diatante between-the dieagreeing•parties.
It might exist in some degree between the Protestant and the
Catholic, but whenit came. to the Protestant and the Dissenter
the distance between them was sti small that the hate became
actual bitterness. It was greatest' of all when the parties almost
:Agreed. The difference of a little leiter, -the iota, involved the
Rernish Church in bloodshed. As the- distance between the
Churches was lessened things became worse :. when they ap-
proached still nearer to the,,doctrines of leach, other the hate
became greater; it:was proportional to thg proximitY,. If mat-
ters were a thousand times worse he _would vote•for the re,ieal
.t _
'of the Test Act under a sense of, justice.. -
• The petition was ordered to lie on the table and he printed.
The somerroß.G ENE 11 A L was sorry thathie- Learned
Prierrde who had pointedly alluded to him, had quitted the
Meuse No speedily after he had stated hieopiaionee. Ile begged
leave, however, to say,- that the first thing -he did when he
offered himself .for Oxford, was to declare, that on -every ortii-
eitm he would follow his own:unbiassed eoinion. Ile would
tint vote in any particular manner, because he was Member fur
that place, but he would act according to thaictates of him own
mind. He regretted, that his Learned Friend had withdrawn.
so soon, because he was anxious to have shown-him ite•wli'at
good spirits he (the Solicitor-General) felt hiniself on this ocCa.:
sibn.—(A laugh.)—The Learned Gentleman .then presented a
petition- front the Mayor, Bailiffs, eOd Commonalty of Oxford-,
against the Catholic clairnsaa-Laid on the table.- • .
..
.
POLICE, MAGISTRATES' BIM.. -
The above Bill haven" been iead a third tine,, • - •- .
. Mr. Secretary -PEEL rOPirs;il a clause to render null and
void all sums: issued by justices of the Peace in the
counties of '.\liddlesex and Surrey, relating to persons and
transactions belonging to,the diStricts where Mice Magistrates,
reside. -
Mr. HUME hoped that .a better attendance of Magistratea
at the Police Offices would be provided for by the Act.
Mr. Secretary
PLEhthought there was effiCient attendance
under the present regulations: • • .
Dr. LUSH INGTON expressed his. entire approval of the
-addition which had been made to the salaries of these deserving
.Public Officers, and bore testimony to the honourable and
efficient manner in which their .duties these at present
,pct-
formed. - . .
Colonel WOOD made a few observations to the sarneefNt.
The clause, and another for correcting ,a- technical error,
were then added- to this 11111 by
way of rattlers, and: i. verbal
amendMenwas agreed to.. - . •
C
The further consideration-of the Land Tax Bill was deferred
to Thursday next. .. r.:'.. ' -
SCOTCH JURORS' -BILL.. . .
• •

The Scotch juries It was read a secdnd time, after a few
heard it with great satisfac-
words from Mr. KENNEDY, who