§ A Petition of the aldermen, recorder, comburgesses, and burgesses of the borough of Grantham, in the county of Lincoln, and inhabitants of the said borough, and the soke and vicinity thereof, was also presented and read; setting forth,
§ "That although the petitioners entertain towards the Roman Catholics no spirit of intolerance, no desire of dominion, yet it is their firm opinion that, in unqualified concession, the constitution is exposed to a new, an untried, and a great danger; and that the petitioners consider the unqualified 220 repeal of those laws on which the remaining Catholic disabilities depend, would be inconsistent with the spirit and safety of the British constitution, and the laws which have been enacted for the security and defence of the Protestant established religion, particularly the Act of Settlement, whereby the crown is limited to his present Majesty's illustrious House, which act secures our religion, laws, and liberties, and which the statute declares to be the birthright of the people of England: and that the petitioners therefore watch with jealousy those bold demands which aim to subvert our guardian securities, and humbly pray, that the House in its wisdom will deem it expedient to defer the consideration of this great question till the Roman Catholics urge claims with that temper and moderation which would best become their appeal to the highest authority of the state."
§ The said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the table.