The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-18 00:00:00

of danger justify political restraints on account of meat
religious opinions. If this real danger existed at the tjul
of the enactment of the Test Laws, that was suffiejent
ground for the passing of these laws ; and .I conceive sack:
danger did exist at the time; but I must acknowledge._ tlll'
I am not prepared to say that the same ground. for their
continuation remains to the present day ; for, however
strong may have been the hostility felt by the ancient. Du'
senters against the Church, I do not think that any Dissev
ter of our times considers himself bound by conscience '
endanger the Established Church of this country. Cif,
the contrary, I am convinced that there are many orthod°'
Dissenters who wish the continued existence of the Pet
blished Church as their strongest bulwark against tly
aggressions of the Church of Rome. As to the opi;
nion, that if the Test Acts be repeided, the Church Wl'
be thereby exposed to danger from its enemies, and thol
its safety will be left to the the mercy of the Z.'
senters. I hare only to remark that as these Acts csoi
into existence, when danger was apprehended to tlaf
Church, we may reasonably conclude that they would 1,
instantly revived at the re-appearance of danger
surely it will he quite time enough to have recourse 0
them when the necessity for them arises. I must say the",
my Lords, that in my opinion, these laws, as Acts of e%"
elusion, cannot be any longer maintained.—(Cheering.)!
And though I think the declaration, proposed as a substi',
tute for them, affords no defence against real dangers
have no objection to accept it, as 1 consider it as good °l'
laws which were never executed. However, though It is
the abstract, attach no importance whatsoever to thaide'
claration as a security, I hope that when the Bill procsea'
to a Committee, some endeavour will he made to ricer'
tain the description of offices, the holders of which shill
be required to make this declaration. Having said thus,.
much of these Acts, I think it necessary to add, that it "
my thorough conviction that the cause of religion is infr
parably connected with the Church of England. I .10
aware that in making this assertion I am liable to be I°'
cused of being biassed into the opinion by a regard to )11Y
personal interest ; but 'I do, notwithstanding, solemnly de
dare, that I should be one of the first to resist the repo'
of these laws, if I considered the repeul injurious to tbe
interests of the Church hf England. The Church of FA*
land wants no such defence, my Lords, as these laws cool;
give her. The best defence of the Church of England
consists in the respect and affections of the people.-'
(Loud cheering.)—l admit, my Lords, that the Chord;
may derive much benefit from legislative measures ;
then, it is not by restrictive laws against the privileges °f
the subject, but by amending the practical discipline of for
Church, and by rendering less indirect and circuitous thi
administration of her ordinances.

The Bishop of DURHAM, after a few moments of ingto'
dible speaking, was understood to proceed to this effect :-="
My Lords, I have made great efforts to bring my mind to
think, that the measure proposed by the Noble Baron, i 4
not dangerous to the Church ; hut I regret to state, that
coming to this conclusion, I have found great difficulty
from the circumstance, of the advocates for the Dissenter'
founding their claim to the repeal of the Test Laws on al?
stract principles. They have asserted, for instance, that
no matter what religious tenets they may hold, they have'
right to the enjoyment of political power. Now this, Irrif
Lords, is an opinion which cannot exist in such a state r'
society as ours. It may, indeed; be adopted in a new sr;
ciety, in which there are no existing interests to be injured'
no established opinions to be subverted, but certainly not in
this country, where, for centuries, the contrary opinion
has been acted on. I shall not, at present, go farther io°
the abstract principle, but I must declare the pleasure ,
feel in seeing that the Bill brought in stands on the principle
that the Church of England is firmly established by 10,
and inviolable, and that, if the measure be adopted, it rne
turn on that principle. It is impossible to considet
this question without some qualification for the secnriti
of the Established religion—it is an invariable prineild'
of the Constitution that the Church is an integral part 0'
the State. Even from the earliest periods of our hisiori,
we can trace restrictive laws in defence of the Natioto'
Your Lordships remember the laWs enacted to
put down heresies, laws certainly much more severe that!
the Corporation and Test Acts—true we have got
_rid of
those severe laws; but, my Lords, we have not, therefore,
got rid of religion altogether, nor of an Established Churck.
When our ancestors established a national religion, they in'
tended it to be permanent, church and state united, under
one supremacy; that of the Throne..—(Having given un
inaudible detail of the Reformation, the Rev. Lord Pi"
ceeded.)—l shall not go into the history of the Test Lao'''
as they have been so fully detailed by my Rev. Brother scha
has just sat down, but pass to the Revolution. The V"'
Laws were continued after the Revolution, as an insult'
went of state necessity, on the principle that there could be
ne security for the Established Church, is Dissenters Were
admitted to political power. I confess "that I am not
partial to a sacramental test ; but when I remember the
dangerous men against whose machinations it was enacted,
aad the great good men who advocated the adoption of if'
I must say that I am inclined to pause before I join in the
obloquy so liberally heaped on these great and good meta'
Nor can I concur in the opinion that our ancestors intended
these laws as a punishment against Dissenters. I thirli'
rather that they used them as a means of ascertaining
the religious opinion of persons taking office, and by
consequence their inclinations for or against the Est:l'
blished Church.—(Here the Reverend Lord turned tIO
direction of his voice towards those Peers who were sitting
in the neighbourhood of the Throne, and was for mail
minutes quite inaudible below the bar of the House. )-1
I wish, however, that the Members "of the Established
Church—that great body whose power it is the interest or,
the Dissenters to conciliate—should receive as an equive
lent for these Acts, some declaration of attachment to the
Church and the King. Some security is necessary. 1
wish to get something, though, at the present moment,
, , r
am not prepared to say that the declaration contained ie
the proposed Bill is quite the something I should wish.
However, though I am not prepared on that point, I shall
not on that account vote against the Bill going into a Conn'
mittee. I must here impress on your Lordships the great
importance, the necessity of upholding in the public esti'
mation the ascendancy of the Church of England ; and I
speak advisedly wben I declare, that it has been proved hi
the experience of centuries that the Church of England
best harmonizes with those institutions of the country,
with which it has grown up, and under which it has floe'
ndtoshseavnitdmh epprrueorvaeerhemeeainnrLanoyf
aDtnhids.se elanritets,arnasn,nodt p
rished. lam sure the Dissenters themselves will see that
it is their interest to uphold the Established Church. In'
morals, religion, and literature—many men who have done
deedcml euacrh: iekna
that such men are so much under the influence of men
unlike themselves, as not to be convinced it is their into'
rankingm sciences—maul
u a d myselfigh 10
rest to uphold the Church and State. They cannot be
unread in history as not to know, that it is amid the cell'
dicta of sects that intolerance is the strongest ; and for tbie
plain reason, that the party who has obtained the ascend'
ancy makes it a matter of triumph to inflict on their de.
feated opponents the persecutions lately suffered by thew'
selves. My Lords, I place my confidence in the preamble
of the Bill, and in the declaration—particularly in the dr
claration—as I conceive that no honest man can take that
declaration in any other sense than in a promise to support
the interest of the Established Church. My Lords, thin
declaration, by setting forth the inviolability of the Church'
does more public good to the Establishment than any
other enactment. I repeat, then, that I shall give nil
support to the Bill, on the ground of its preamble and de
claration.

I

Lord ELDON, after a few moments, was heard to sap
that be did not think it consistent with his sense of the
importance of the question before their Lordships, to give
a silent vote on it—that is, to confine himself to merely
saying not content. To him it nay most grievous, and
occasioned much pain, to witness what labour had been
used by some persons in insisting on the principle that the
Established Church was inseparable from the State_that
it formed part of the Constitution—and that no body could
destroy the connection between the Church and State with
out destroying the Constitution. The Roman Catholics
were in the habit of saying, that they were unjustly de
priced of the benefits of the Constitution. Now if the}'
would say that their object was to secure the benefits of
the Constitution, and not to alter the Constitution, he
would come to issue with them at once on that point. It
gave hint particular satisfaction to think, that in opposing
the repeal of the Test Acts, lie was supporting the origii
nal intention of their enactment. Their Lordships hall
learned that though this measure was at first manfully or
posed in the other House, yet these who opposed it tilt!'
mately acquiesced in it. To be sure there was a strong
majority in its favour; but then, though there may
some elsewhere who thought it consistent with their oven
interests to give up the interests of the State, acid thitt
against their own opinions and in compliance with the,
opinions of a majority, that was no reason why he (Loll'
Eldon) or their Lordships, should yield up their opinion to.
the majority of the other House of Parliament; on the
contrary, he felt it to he his duty, or that of any other
Peer, to art on their own conscientious conviction, sYe:
even though they had a majority of their Lordships
House against them. lie bad heard much of the
march of mind and the progress of information, and of per'
sons changing opinions which they had held for years be-a ,
fore; but he did not think it possible the march of min
could have been so speedy as to induce some of the change°
of opinions which he had witnessed in some NobloLorto
within the last year—least of all did he expect that such