now which they had met, and his inability to do any adequate service to the object they had in view. Understanding it to be the opinion of an enlightened statesman, whose accession to power he hailed with sincere pleasure and hope, that all the disabilities under which the Dissenters laboured were merely theoretic, and perceiving it likely that he might be called upon in the House of Commons to deliver his sentiments, he had felt it his duty to come where he might gain information, because, if he were satisfied that the objections were purely theoretic, it would reduce much of his anxiety on that question. He confessed, however, that he was more surprised than ever, at the statement which had passed the lips of the minister of the crown. Although but a young member of Parliament, it would have been impossible for him to have foreborne to express his honest dissent from that opinion, if he had had the good fortune to have been that evening in the House of Commons. Was it not more than theoretic, that those who bore rank in society, and were distinguished by every thing which entitled them to confidence and respect, were told that the doors of the meanest offices of the state were shut against them, unless they submitted to a test, to which in their conscience they could not yield? Was it not more than theoretic, that persons born and educated on the north side of the Tweed, and there enjoying all the privileges of the state, should, the moment they passed that river, be laid under proscriptions, which were revolting to every honourable mind? To him it was matter of surprise, that these galling disabilities had not oftener been the subject of indignant complaint. Nothing was so much wanted for the relief of the Dissenters, as an uniform, a consistent, but temperate expression of their grievances. His intercourse with members of Parliament led him to think that few were aware of the nature and extent of these grievances. On going to the House last night, he met an old and valued member, who said to him, "Pray tell me what these Test and Corporation Acts are." In bringing forward their complaints, the Dissenters must naturally think that the declaration of the Premier placed them in a different situation than if it had not been made. Mr. Canning was understood to say, that it was his anxious desire to afford relief to the Roman Catholics, but he saw no reason for relieving the Dissenters; and he followed up that opinion by saying, that the grievances of the latter were merely theoretic. Now he (Mr. Easthope) was an ardent and unqualified advocate for both; and the principle of his opinion was, that no man should be amenable to his fellowmen for the exercise of a conscientious to worship, that being a matter between his conscience and his God. The rights of conscience were the only intelligible grounds for advocating relief both to Catholics and Dissenters. One of his strongest private reasons for affording relief to the Catholics was, that nothing would more essentially contribute emancipate them from the blinding power and dominion of their priests, than the removal of the disabilities under which they so unjustly laboured. Would any one of us (said he) feel a disposition to concede our peculiar distinctions, if it appeared on the threshold of the argument, that we were to be punished and proscribed, and kept out of office? And might we not extend the same feeling to our Catholic fellow-subjects; if they were honest and conscientious in their errors, why should we tell them that they were unworthy of the name of citizen, and that they were to be kept beyond the pale of the constitution? While he entertained these opinions, he considered that the cause of the Dissenters rested on different grounds from that of the Catholics. In the case of the Catholics, objections were started as to their foreign allegiance; but no such objection applied in the case of the Dissenters; and he was at a loss to imagine it possible for any body to agree with the enlightened individual whom he had named, that the granting of the smaller question, about which no secu rities were asked, or danger was apprehended, should be opposed; and the other greater question carried, about which the opinions of the country were divided. If the agitation of this question would necessarily tend to overturn the present administration, he trusted, that, notwithstanding the hasty declaration of the First Lord of the Treasury, their love of civil liberty would prevent them from bringing it forward at this particular juncture. But as they had given previous notice of their intentionas many petitions were prepared-as their case needed explanation-as their cause was great and just--as no advantage would be attendant on delay--he should now advise them to persevere, and would conscientiously afford his, perhaps feeble, but warm support. He agreed fervently in that part of the resolution which expressed their gratitude to Lord John Russell: those who read the firm, though temperate manuer in which he replied to a question put to him in the House of Commons, on Friday night, with regard to the test laws, must be sensible that he possessed honesty and qualifications sufficient to justify such a mark of their confidence. The Hon. Member concluded by reading the fifth resolution amid long and loud applause: "That the conduct of the Committee, in the atten tion they have invited to a general application to relief from the Corporation and Test Acts, and the resolutions circulated by them, are highly approved by this Meeting. That they gladly offer their thanks to the body of deputies, and to the very estimable ministers of the three denominations, and to all other Societies who have been prompt and cheerful coadjutors to the Committee, and assisted the cause by their labours and advice; and also present grateful acknowledgments to Lord John Russell, M. P., and those other noble and eminent personages who have expressed their approval of the attempt, and their assurance of support; and that while this Meeting are unwilling to differ from any members of his Majesty's Government, or to urge forward an attempt which they will oppose, yet they cannot consent, therefore, to waive an application on which they had resolved-which has been too long delayed--which many pious and dignified members of the Established Church greatly approve--which merits and needs discussion and inquiry which is demanded by the duties due to our ancestors and to posterity-and which only asks explanation, unity, and perseverance to ensure, if not an immediate triumph, yet final success ; and this meeting must, consequently and universally, recommend energetic co-operation, and unabating zeal." Mr. EASTHOPE again rose: his friends had begged him to explain the question which had been put to Lord John Russell : -be was asked whether he intended to bring forward the subject of the test laws during the present session; to which his Lordship replied, "that it was reported to him that many Dissenters, from the most honourable motives, were not agreed as to the fitness of the time for introducing the question; but as he was resolved to proceed with it, and not to retract, unless he were strongly urged to the contrary by the Dissenters, he should make the motion of which he had given notice, and assuredly persevere." The Rev. T. SMITH, (of Rotherham, Yorkshire,) after some introductory remarks, said, he could not help feeling concern and uneasiness at some sentiments and opinions he had heard, which went to balance the political scruples of his Majesty's Government against the degrading restrictions which branded our names with infamy, doubted our allegiance, and rendered us objects of distrust and suspicion. He felt uneasy also to hear, that the granting of those claims was to be esteemed a favour or a boon. A boon, forsooth! He despised such a phrase. Their claims were those of justice, founded on constitutional right, N. S. No. 30. and the immutable basis of truth; and, in demanding them, we were only asking for the enjoyment of those privileges which belonged to us as Britons and freemen. He would regret if any apprehension or uneasiness in the minds of the conductors of the Society, should enfeeble our efforts, divide our energies, or make it doubtful to the Government whether we had wrongs to be redressed, or claims that should be urged. He did not augur evil from the declaration of the First Lord of the Treasury, as he conceived that it was only the result of a feeling of expediency arising out of the circumstances of the times. From the known character of the Right Hon. and enlightened individual, it might be argued, a fortiori, that he was not insensible to the rights of the great body of Dissenters; and if the declaration was uttered, at a moment of political exigency, ought that body to be guided by it, as if it were the unalterable decision of the Government? Nay; it was possible that the expression was merely thrown out by Mr. Canning, in order to try their metal, and to ascertain the real sentiments of the public on the subject; and when he found of what stuff they were made, and that they were cheered on by the voice of many thousands of enlightened minds, the Right Hon. Gentleman would turn manfully round, and say, "My opinion was once against the Dissenters, but I have now changed it, since such a mighty current of feeling, truth, and justice, has set in against me." He (Mr. Smith) might be mistaken in his conjectures, for he did not profess to be acquainted with the mysteries and refinements of political conduct; he had passed his days in the acquisition and communication of knowledge. To him history had opened a large and luminous book of experience he had contemplated the widespreading empire of the Romans, and the smaller, but more enlightened states of Greece, with the deepest attention; and in the growth of the Italian republics, during the dreary ages of ignorance and barbarism--in the slow but steady progress of polity and civilization throughout the nations of Europe--and in the emancipation of men from the leaden sceptre of blind and unthinking despotism, he had traced the history of mankind, and the workings of the providence of God. But in the course of his historical studies, he had never found that the liberties of mankind had been granted by the spontaneous benevolence of men in power; they had been wrung from their reluctant hands by the energy, union, and perseverance of those, who would not be slaves, and demanded to be free. Could any one read the history of ancient Rome, which gradually increased its power, and laid 2 X deep the foundations of its strength, until it burst the barriers of surrounding nations, and enslaved the world. Could any one read that history, without seeing in the struggles of the plebeians and patricians the truth of what he had advanced? The demands of the former for liberty were continued, until it became dangerous to resist them; and though they were unwillingly granted, their concession taught posterity this lesson--that by the cultivation of principles--by the improvement of morals-by attention to the education of youth--and by the spread of the omnipotent feeling that freedom was the birthright of men, they had only to demand that blessing, and they could not long be held in durance and in bondage. When he read the history of his own country, he found that the dawn of religion had chased away the gloomy darkness of political oppression; that when these two elements of freedom became united with piety and goodness, they produced a dauntless and heroic character, which scorned the fetters of mental or bodily thraldom; and that, just when the balance was trembling on the very verge of the wrong side, God interfered in the just cause, and secured the triumph to the people. When he felt these awakening recollections, he could not give his sanction to the creeping and timid policy which in some circles had been recommended. He could not think it possible that men in authority, who were accountable to their fellow-subjects for their actions, would be unfaithful to their trust, because they happened to belong to this or that party, or were with or against the multitude, or were in or out of power. Mr. S. closed by some eloquent allusions to the state of religious liberty on the continent, and moved, -"That with undiminished pleasure they present to the Committee during the past year their annual tribute of praise, and hope that an increased number of congregations will supply the small annual contribution which alone is required: and that the Committee for the ensuing year consist of the Treasurer, to be chosen by the Committee, of the Secretaries, and of the following twenty-four gentlemen, being Ministers and Laymen in equal proportions: Rev. Jos. Fletcher, A. M.; Rev. W. B. Collyer, D. D.; Rev. George Collison; Rev. F. A. Cox, LL. D.; Rev. Thomas Russell, A. M.; Rev. A. Fletcher, A. M.; Rev. Rowland Hill, A. M.; Rev. Thomas Jackson; Rev. W. F. Platt; Rev. T. Lewis; Rev. J. Styles, D. D.; Rev. M. Wilks; David Allan, Esq.; W. Bateman, Esq.; J. B. Brown, Esq. LL. D.; James Esdaile, Esq.; Thomas Hayter, Esq.; Thomas Wilson, Esq.; J. Pritt, Esq.; W. Townsend, Esq.; M. Wood, Esq., Ald. M. P.; Thomas Wontner, Esq.; Thomas Walker, Esq.; James Young, Esq." The Rev. Mr. HUNT (of Chelmsford), after a brief, but glowing eulogy on the moral character and religious zeal of the late Treasurer of the Society, moved,-"That the memory of Robert Steven, Esq. the late valuable and departed Treasurer will be long and truly revered: and that by his indefatigable and beneficent labours for the improvement of Ireland, for the circulation of the Scriptures, for the diffusion of the Gospel by the Missionary Society, throughout the world, and for the protection of religious freedom, he has deserved and obtained just distinction and an honourable fame;" which was put from the chair and carried. The Rev. Dr. NEWMAN then moved, "That to their useful and disinterested Honorary Secretaries Thomas Pellatt and John Wilks, Esqrs. they would also respectfully and affectionately reiterate their thanks, and entreat them to continue services for which the wide spread and important benefits they confer, constitute an inadequate, though to them, the most grateful, reward." The motion having been put from the chair, Mr. Wilks was loudly called for. That gentleman, reluctant to obey the call, invited Mr. Pellatt to rise and return the usual thanks, but the cry becoming universal, Mr. WILKS rose, and was received by the Meeting with enthusiastic cheering. He began by stating, that he had resolved not to speak on the present occasion, but the torrent of their kindness had swept away every previous purpose, and he should consider himself heartless and ungrateful, indeed, if he met their attentions with silence or neglect. But," said the learned gentleman, "if I were silent, silence would be no proof of indifference to this great cause. Indifferent! never; taught to love liberty in my boyish days, the mighty masters of antiquity, to whom my reverend friend eloquently referred, fanned, in my youthful bosom, the spark into a flame. As I rose to manhood, the noble eloquence, the matchless verse, the patriot ardour, the death-defying zeal of our own orators, and bards, and statesmen-our Miltons, our Hampdens, and our Russells--our Protestant and nonconformist martyrs in the cause of knowledge and of truth, gave to the sacred flame new purity and fervour: and an inspiring devoted love to freedom can end only with my life. Of all the wrongs which power, ignorance, and bigotry, inflict, none equally waken my indignation and my pity with those which interfere with the rights of conscience--those which this Society is established to prevent. Some of the complaints which the Committee have this year received, would kindle fire in the frigidity of age, and extract tears from iron hearts. Indifferent! What! Could I be indifferent, when from the rural hamlet I catch the moans of suffering poverty when I find the poor laws converted to an engine of oppressionwhen I receive accounts from the Isle of Mersea of a poor blind man, nearly eighty years of age, threatened to be chained up in the workhouse, because he preferred the meeting-house to the church; when I learn from Buckfastleigh, in Devonshire, the withholding of relief from a sick widower with six small children, because he prefers to worship his God in the Dissenters chapel; and am apprised from Staplehurst, in Kent, that the usual pay has been refused to a virtuous widow and her three orphan babes, because she had found her way to meeting, and would there, rather than at church, breathe out her humble prayer! What! can I be indifferent, when the lay rectors, lords of manors, magistrates, and overseers, are all arrayed against sufferers who are conscientious, though obscure: as though poverty, and age, and sickness, and widowhood, were not ills, enough --as though religion might not shed her consolation in their rugged path--as though independence of heart must be withered and destroyed-as though no flower might blossom in the desert-no heavenly hope shine amid the poor cottager's gloom--as though the last best staff of hope should be wrung from their trembling grasp as though new bitterness must be mingled with the very dregs of woe! It is to this Society and heaven, that these pious victims to principle and conscience, turn their imploring eye, and never can they look in vain, or be thought on with an indifferent heart. Indifferent! Oh, no! How can I be indifferent, while the vexations of the poor laws continue to harass our country congregations, and extort payments which charity and reason disapprove; and which churchmen, enlightened as Lords Liverpool and Bexley, and Mr. Whitbread, though thwarted by Episcopal influence and bigots then in power, though without success, endeavoured and united to prevent? Can I be indifferent, when from Alresford, in Hants, I learn that parish officers have dismantled the chapel, to recover eight shillings, have seized all the candlesticks and furniture to a value exceeding ten pounds--and marched in triumphal procession with the illegal spoil. No! Never can I be silent till all congrega. tions in every place devoted to religious worship, be exempted from the poor's rates, whose increase their instructions lessen, and whose amount their charities decrease. Indifferent. Oh! never can : I be indifferent while men in furred gowns, "deckt with a little brief authority," play such oppressive tricks as those which the Report unfolds. What! when a man like William Gibbs is in England, to be apprehended and consigned to gaol; and for what, think you? Why, for the sole offence of preaching the Gospel out of doors at Winchester, to his fellow men. Invited by some humble friends, with the leave of the person against whose wall he stood, in a wide vacant place, where at the fair the mummers with impunity arrayed their caravans, and polluted the young with vulgar dances, songs, and ribald shows; he ventured to sing and pray, to read his Bible, and to speak and such was his offence. What! though his pulpit was a chair--the green turf his carpet-and the blue sky his sounding-board, was he therefore to be apprehended, conveyed to the common gaol, shut up with a felon, to receive the prison allowance of bread, water, and salt, with meat once a week? was straw to be his bed, and a yard not 20 feet in length his place of exercise? Ought he to be required to find excessive bail that he would never preach again? Can one be indifferent on hearing of such things? But disdaining to purchase liberation on such terms, there he, till this day, might have remained and suffered, but that we were not indifferent to such wrongs, and obtained for him deliverance and redress. The Report told you that a Habeas Corpus was sued out; he was brought to London, discharged by one of the judges of the courts at Westminster, and the alderman conipelled to pay £60. for the charges he had occasioned, and as a compensation to the poor man for the sufferings he endured. And rightly did you cheer the statement, that the preacher had evinced how noble feelings beat in humble hearts; since he appropriated to himself none of the money he received, but presented £2. to the Society, and dedicated all the remainder to the erection of a meeting-house at South-Sea, where he dwelt, or taught. Indifferent! Never what! can I be indifferent when, from the mountains of Wales, again and again, we hear that clerical oppression seeks to exercise a tyrannical and unholy power. If there be a moment of harmony and gladness--a dawn of ecstasy, a spring-time of delight in human life, surely it is on a wedding. day. Then the anchorite would feel himself a man. The grandsire and his old dame, the blooming maiden and the rustic youth, share the bliss of recollection or the joy of hope. And yet these are the very times when the ministers of the religion of that Saviour who be gan his public ministry by consecrating a nuptial banquet with his presence, have illegally shown their persecuting spleen. They, forsooth, would interrupt the harmony--convert gladness into grief--hang like a chill black mist over the dawn of pleasure--blight with dreary winter the sweet hours of spring. At Llandinam and at St. Hermon, two clergymen have refused to perform the wedding ceremony, unless the bride, on each occasion, whose parents were Baptists, consented to be christened by them, and underwent that ceremony, for which they claimed their fee. On a former occasion I had to tell of a maiden who displayed a love of principle which no Spartan mother or Roman matron had surpassed. She refused compliance, and to principle sacrificed her nuptial joys. But can I censure those females who this year yielded to the harsh demand? It is a fearful trial, let none of my female hearers condemn them till themselves be tried. My reverend friend (Mr. Smith) who shares the spirit of ancient patriots, of the martyrs of his native land, might not, perhaps, be able to endure such sad probation! such hopes deferred might over. come the sternest purpose, and the heroic mind. But shall such deeds continue! Shall priests, from ignorance or cruelty, sport with the love and happiness of men? Shall they thus trifle with domestic pleasure and connubial bliss--the lover's expectation, and the mother's peace? No, never! Who can be indif ferent while such deeds continue, or till they be redressed. Indifferent! never, while the vast body of Baptists, and our Unitarian friends, continue subject to absurd and arbitrary laws, which enable the capricious clergyman to refuse to read the burial service of the church over his parishioners, because they did not believe the doctrine of the Trinity, or because they died unbaptized-although their lives were useful, their deaths were Christian, and their estates as ample, as the princely domains to which our noble chairman is the heir. Never can I be satisfied, till a registration of births be substituted for the present imperfect system of parish baptismal registers; which though it be injurious to the Churchman as well as to the Dissenter, yet universally inflicts on Dissenters and Methodists special and peculiar wrongs. Indifferent! never, till the Test and Corporation Acts shall be repealed. Of their origin, their intolerance, their persecuting principles, and their offensive operations, much has been well said, and more is needless. Their introduction, should, however, blazon in characters of fire a lesson to mankind. If, at the times of their enactment, the Dissenters had preferred principle to prejudices, nor meanly helped to forge chains for themselves, that others might be chained, the clanking of these chains would never have been heard, and we should not now be required to struggle, that the fetters may be broke. Let men ever proclaim and adhere to truth and principle, and confidently leave their destinies and fortune to justice and to Heaven, But the fetters must now be broken, or at least we will prove that we are not heedless of their infamy, nor desire to hug our chains. The Meeting have already evidenced their opinion, that no circumstances which have occurred recently, and since the application for relief had been announced, should induce a postponement of the attempt. In that opinion I concur. Indeed, my purpose would be confirmed by the very threat of opposition by which some may be dismayed. Instant triumph never was expected. Try and persevere has ever been the motto of the promoters of truth and freedom, and of the great benefactors of mankind. Could I then forego or postpone my purpose, though Tories clamour, or a minister may frown! Taught by the masters of ancient song, whom my Rev. friend (Mr. Smith) has eulogized, I would exclaim- Justum et tenacem propositi virum, Or, as one of our bards has versified the sentiment, The man resolved, and steady to his trust, To me the declaration made by an eminent and highly-talented statesman, that he would oppose our application for redress, appears as premature, as the reason assigned for the opposition was unsound. Usual courtesy should have induced him to suspend his decision until the numbers and importance of the peti tions were ascertained, until the facts had been stated, and the advocates been heard. The wishes of two millions of industrious, manly, loyal, useful, religious, and enlightened citizens, were entitled to that attention and respect: and were he a Protestant Dissenter himself, he would be the last of men to treat as merely "theoretic," the claims, which regard to honour and religious principle, and no mercenary motives, impel them to assert. His spirit would spurn contempt, would feel that degradation is an injury, and would choose a wreath of parsley offered with respect, |