The Sun.
London, England, 1811-05-10 00:00:00

less to their tenets, or titodes of faith. It was the
self-Apponatotent 41e thought dangerous, and their
taking
.upon themselve4, merely upon their own
Monies, to 10 $4 religious instructors, that he
tironght objectionable. This, he held, was admitted,
under a talse interpretation of the Acts of Went- •
lion. The Spirit of those did not go to nut hot ize
incompetent persons to asautue the sacred functions
of iiiinisters of But under t tie Acts as now
interpreted, all descriptions of persons—coblera,
stone-masons, chitnney,eweeps, etteontltltilliCated
clagymen, and such, persons, were held as admis-
sible, Again, lie meant ne reflectino on the occu-
pations of these persons, but they afforded strong
presumptive evidence of their unfitness to perform
the sacred 'functions. No man couki more highly
'respect all ar any of their Lordships than himself,
)et there Were Mtn), among them whom he should
not like to sets commanding armies„ in the place, 'or
Lord Wellington or General Graham, or leading on
fleets to battle in the stead of Lord Gambier; Sir J.
fiartmarez, or Sir Edward Pellew. But the-practices
w nich lit complained of were not consonant ,to the
vue spirit and meaning of the Acts in question ; and
he felt confident, if Finch were *fated Iron) anti)°, ny,
tht4ir Lordships would not hesitate to interpose, in
order to present the continoance of.so enormous ao'
evil. Notwithstanding such was the prevalent in.
terpretation of the Acts, thew were parts ut -the
kingdom where different opinions were held rapt:et-
a% the true intent and meaning of theist ; arid, he
believed, thin such a anntinitnit was held by stane
among their 'Lordships. Tile
.Nnbie Viscount then
referred to the prom Woos of the Aet of William and
Mary, in illustration of the po4iti,n Le had laid
down ; and alsolhe Act 6f the twit of his Majesty.
These were held' to apply to ,he cas s of Dissenting
Ministers only, not to all p •r,olis indiscriminately,
who chose to take those functions upon themselves;
and there were Instances of such persona being re-

tuned because they could, not show that they (4 ere
teachers of cangregations tint in the great genera-
lily of eases it W3s otherwise, Wand they were cull-
ed 'up t% to avrrt the evils resulting from the:
uncertain state of laws of so much imvortance. It
was iiNunibent on the Legislative to declare th-
,real intent and meaning of those Adis, and to point
out particelarly the svecies of evidenev to be requit-
ed from the. applicants for licenses, as to their com-
petency. With respect to the question of the best
manner of providing ler tips, his Lotciship observed
upon thr practiCe abseiled in lie Established Church
no such occasions; there the candidate for the shoetree(
Wildsoh was required to bring testimonials respect •
tag his charade, nod an appeal was made to the
parishioners as to his fitness,tor oiclinatimi. All cal,
didates,,at feast ought to have a prettutnplive evi-
dence of their fitness, What he proiaoted was, that
in all such cases this should appear : that soma
deuce of their moral and intellectual fiiness
be required ; 'that a certificate should be
signed ny at leap six h 'Ow keepers, u hu 113,1 ktiu.k 1,
the apnlsiant, and knew bins to' ne a perkon of
sober life,' and con.idvre.l ,as endowed ittt stab-
cirmit abilitiesior the per. use. Tins. Whii.ll were
specially detailed in the UM could not be due rd in
the, least as severely resttirtive ; tor that individual
who could not, without difficul.y, procure such tes-
timonials, must be altogether. uliworthy at %c hat, he
aspired to. The Noble Vt.:count then adverted to
the 1 filiOUs exemptions enjoyed by dissenting Mini-
Pero of various persuasions, and particularly .4 the
sett called Quskurs ; and proceeded to consider some
of those causes which were held as couiributary to
the great increase, of late years, of dissenters from
the Established Churcit. Ile adverted particularly,
to the want of a suffiCient number of places of
worship for the established religt. 0, and instanced
the contrast between the measures. adopted in that
respeO, in the reigniof Citleq Anti, when the eree-.
tion'of fifty Beim churches was resolved upon hi the
Ihekl comparatively small size of the metropolis.
They should r, collet% that the Estaoltsbed Courcit
wits an integral, a vital part of the Cotistitrittoti, and
such a prlneple shookd goiern their conduct with
reapeet to it. He had information from quarters the,
Most. respectable in various parts to the ,country,
stating the iniufficiette'y Of places of worship, ancf.
complaining of the consequoticvs. Among.others,.,
he had information Irnntt a worthy Diocesan.
With itsped to the present number 'of churdies in'
the metropolis: if its increatted.size..ince the reign
of Anne was considered, 100 • scuttle nil churches
W 41,414 Obarce!y be sufficient. A tape sO ersCol,al to
The morals, the well being, she security of the pea.
plc, could neser be too mucti appreciated by the
Legislature, 'Reverting to the imtnediate ()that of
the Bill, his Loidship expressed his,contiterice that
even every well disposed and conscienWous ,Dissen-
ter would approve of 'S measure which Went to se-
cure the purity of religious instruction, arid declare
the real meaning and intent of the Legislature in
the 'enactment of one of the most important of its
laws.; What he proposed now u a•i, that 'the Bill tie
had the honour to. present should be read ai first
time, then printed; and it would be for their Lord-
, ships to mine: a Chly_ for thcrsecond reading. He
I then moved, " That, this .Bill be now read a first
time." .

On the question being pat,
Lord HOLLAND wind,' that even what bad fallen
from ihis Noble Frieutt impress,ed mole strongly on
his Mind, that no necessilY existed Its the desired
interference. The *hololeenard to kir) lion a fun-
damentat'err.4, that it waatinly by the pertnittwon
at Gilvernment that individuals were to 'lemma
othetein' their religious dutics. He,, on the con.
trary, held it tti be the right of every man who
thinks be can instruct his fellow.cre,tiores, so to io.
strud the'. Ho was sorry tbat something slipped
from his Noble Friend, as if he held it improper
that persons of low origin,
,or particular. nodes,
should attempt to teach the doctrines of Christiani-
ty, On this point he held a-different opinion:. For
the measure itself, he did not think a sufficient case
was made out, iii the existence of any real preFAical
evils or inconveniences, to reqnire such an, interpo-
sition on the part of the Legislature. His ,Lord.
:ship then referred to some calculations as' to the in-
crease of dissenting ttfachers of late. years, which tie
did not tveto to regard as a misfortune, or an alarm-,
ing consideration. With rtipea to what wiw said of
the Eslablished Church, he agreed in the opinion,
that a want of 'a sufficient number of places' of re-
ligious worship was injitrilus. This was a point in
Whitt) the Esttblished'itellgion was' 'essentially con-,
cerned ; it should take care that no insufficiency in
this respe& shoUld exist. lie had no objeeiiou that