kind feelings which it ought to conciliate, and substituting recollections of resentment and violated conscience, as well as dislike towards that Church which most strangely tolerated the dissident in separation from its worship at one time, and at another dragged him into

Extract of a letter from H

"I had the pleasure of receiving yours of the 14th Instant with the books you sent. I am much obliged for the two tracts by Brujumohun Mozoomdar which I accept with great satisfaction. Of the eight Sermons I have kept one for my own household, and the others I have distributed as follows: two to * * * who I am glad to acquaint you not only allows his friends and visitors to read them but to take copies also, by which means that Holy Sermon will be extensively circulated in these parts. The same is done by * * * to whom I gave a copy some time ago; one * * a Rajpoot; a Bramin respectable and wealthy; one to the Havildar and Sepoys of the guard attached to this Factory, to remain in the Barracks here one to the Omlah of this Factory to remain in the Cutchery for the

to

one to *

;

* *

a compulsive conformity on an occasion when the interests of the community call loudest for sincerity.

The House divided, when there appeared to be, For the second reading,

21,-proxies 14 Against it, 20, proxies 13 Majority for the Bill, 2.

dated Oct. 21, 1824.

perusal and instruction of them all;

* * *

and one to a Bramin, respectable and wealthy, whom I have desired to let all his friends and visitors read and take copies of it, if they wish it. This Sermon will I feel convinced impress its the minds of hearers with a strong desire to know more of the sayings of the Redeemer and Mediator. It will do more good than all the labours of the Serampore Missionaries have been able to effect for so many years."

N. B. A New Edition of the Sermon above referred to (Christ's Sermon on the Mount) in English and Bengallee, is about to be put to press, and when printed, copies will be gratuitously supplied to any gentleman who may have opportunities of distributing them among persons by whom they are likely to be read and understood. -ED.

THE Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the order of the day for the House to go into a Committee on this Bill.

The Bishop of CHESTER rose to oppose the motion. In justice to his own feelings, in justice to the supporters of this measure, he was bound to declare, after giving the subject his most anxious, long, and painful consideration, that his present opinion was the same as that which he had formerly had the honour to state to their Lordships. Again must he contend that the Unitarians had no ground, on the score of religious conscience, to object to the marriage ceremony of the Church of England. No Unitarian could conscientiously object to the betrothing clause on account of words which they themselves used on other occasions. It was a mockery in them to contend that they had any ground to reject those words in the marriage ceremony which were the same as they used in baptism. If any Noble

Lord could shew that the Unitarians had any just grounds on the score of religious conscience, to reject the marriage ceremony, he, for one, should have very different feelings towards them, and would vote in their favour. He admitted fully, however, that the blessing did distinctly recognize, in explicit terms, the doctrine of the Trinity. But was not this the declaration of the minister-not an act in which the party joined ? The Church of England would be wanting to its own dignity and character, were it not to take every proper opportunity to declare and maintain those doctrines it believed to be the true doctrines of Christ. If the framers of our Liturgy had considered all the circumstances under which the Unitarians were now found, they could not have more fairly met the scruples of others, without compromising the dignity and character of the Church, than is now done by the mode in which this doctrine is recognized, without re

quiring any assent from the parties. He knew not why the Unitarians objected to comply with the established law and customs of their country. They had an example for doing so in the Apostle of the Gentiles, and even in our blessed Lord himself, who, though he objected and protested against the doctrines and discipline of the Sanhedrim, and the accustomed worship of the Temple, conformed to the institutions of his country. We have seen only concession following concession, and demand rising on demand; and, if this point be conceded to the Unitarians, other concessions will be required, and other demands will follow. Our Church was tolerant in principle and practice, but toleration had its limits. The privilege was conceded to all, to worship God according to their conscience, but the Church was not to be called on to renounce its opinions, or to give up its doctrines. The Church of England was not one sect among others-it was the Established Church of this realm, with rights and privileges established for a long course of years, one of which was, that the marriage ceremony should only be performed in some of the churches or chapels

of the Church of England. Unless some strong reasons could be urged for it, she aught not to be called on to abandon her rights and privileges. If one stone were taken away from the building after another, it would at length disappear altogether. He entreated their Lordships not to give up the doctrines and discipline of the Church, of which they were the hereditary guardians, and under which this country had attained her present proud pre-eminence. The interest of the Church was interwoven with the best interests of the State, and he trusted their Lordships would not invade either the liberty or privileges of the Church. He would therefore move that their Lordships should resolve themselves into a Committee on that day three months as an amendment to the Noble Marquis's motion.

The Bishop of EXETER said, if he thought the proposed measure were a violation of the doctrines or privileges of the Church, he would not support it; but feeling that it was not, feeling that there was no danger in the concession, and feeling also that the Church of England would be relieved, by ceasing to compel those who did not believe in her doctrines to

join in her service, he thought the Bill with proper amendments, might be made satisfactory to all parties, and would therefore vote for the Committee. In that Committee he should have some amendments to propose, unless he were prevented by some Noble Lord more competent to the task. The object of his amendments would be to assimilate the present Bill as much as possible, in civil principle, to the Bill of last Session, providing against clandestine marriages, and making some provisions for punishing those who were instrumental in carrying them into effect. He should also propose another clause, to enable the Unitarians to keep the registers of their own marriages; with amendments of this description, he thought the Bill would be beneficial, and he should vote for the Committee.

The Bishop of ST. DAVID'S then spoke, but in so low a tone as to be nearly inaudible below the bar. We only caught a sentence or two. His Lordship said, the Unitarians objected to doctrines which were held by the great mass of Christians to be essential to Christianity. The objections of the Unitarians, therefore, were to what the House must consider as

the essential doctrines of Christianity, and it ought to be prepared, if it relieved them, to relieve every one, however opposed to Christianity. The words used, he contended, requir ed no declaration of faith from the parties, they were merely the conclusion of a contract pronounced by a third person.

The Archbishop of CANTERBURY admitted that the Unitarians denied the Trinity, which the Church considered as an important and essential doctrine of Christianity, and it was on that account that they sought relief; but it could be no satisfaction to the Church, nor could the Church desire it, to force the Unitarians to acquiesce in some parts of its service which they denied, or, at any rate, to maintain a seeming acquiescence. He had heard it said, with great surprise, that the words might be used by the minister in one sense, and received by the parties in another. What was this but to encourage prevarication, and simulated assent to doctrines which the parties did not believe? He was persuaded that it would give as much relief to the minister to be exonerated from the duty now imposed on him, as it would do to the Unitarian,

TERBURY.

The Archbishop of CANThat was the very point. The words were notoriously used by the Church in one sense, and, it was said, might be received by the parties in another.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE Could not allow this opportunity to pass without adverting to some topics which had been urged out of that House, and partly adopted, perhaps by some of their Lord ships, and which could only be maintained in complete misapprehension of the Bill, and of the law of England, when it was stated that these Dissenters should be placed in the same situation as they were in the reign of King William; those who stated this, forgot that if the law were now as it was ther, the Dissenters would now have had no occasion to ask for relief. It was in consequence of an after innovation, effected by the Act introduced by Lord Hardwicke, in the 26th

of George II., intended for a very different purpose, that the Dissenters were indirectly subjected to those hardships from which they now sought relief. This Act, so far from being intended to produce what had been described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a simulated assent to doctrines which were not believed, was intended, as the title of the law imports, solely to prevent clandestine marriages, and give the community all the security which the law could bestow against the consequences of such marriages. Incidentally it had the effeet complained of, by subjecting the Dissenters, like all other persons, to the regulations for preventing these marriages, and it was this incidental effect from which they now wished to be liberated, and which constituted a distinct and fair ground of claim for relief; not by altering the Liturgy of the Church of England, however, as the Right Reverend Prelate who spoke first, seemed to suppose. The Dissenters asked no such thing; they sought no concession from the Church, but an alteration in the law, which would relieve them from the evil of which they complained. They knew that it had been thought necessary to ad