HC Deb 05 February 1813 vol 24 cc378-84

A Petition of the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of Exeter, and of the archdeacons and clergy of the diocese of Exeter, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That whilst the petitioners place the firmest reliance on the wisdom of parliament, the lawful guardian of the constitution of their country, they feel it their duty, as ministers of the Protestant Established Church, humbly to offer their sentiments upon the recent claims of the Roman Catholics to a full ad mission to the highest offices of trust in the state, and to the power of legislation for these Protestant kingdoms; and that the petitioners are the zealous friends of every toleration in religion, which is not inconsistent with the maintenance of one national Church, in full vigour and security; that in the provisions adopted by parliament, at the period of the accession of king William in 1688, the maintenance of the Protestant Church is secured by law, as an essential part of the constitution; and it appears to the petitioners to be attended with the greatest danger to remove those safeguards which our ancestors thus wisely provided, and which the experience of more than a century has confirmed; and that the petitioners have seen with satisfaction the concessions granted by the legislature to the Roman Catholics during his present Majesty's reign, accompanied as they are with necessary restrictions and securities for the safety of the established Church, but they look with the deepest anxiety to the claims now made for the abrogation of all restrictions by persons who acknowledge the spiritual superiority of the Pope in these realms, and who hold tenets in many respects as inimical to the principles of the English constitution in matters of state as they are subversive of all religious toleration, and utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church; and praying the House to adopt such measures as will best maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Church and State, and give stability and permanence to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the country."

A Petition of the freeholders of the county of Oxford was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners have observed, with the deepest concern, the repeated attempts that have been made to break down, repeal, and destroy, alt those securities of our civil and religious establishments which we owe to the wisdom and firmness of some of the best of our ancestors, securities not demanded by any occasional or temporary causes only, but founded in principles as immutable as they are wise; and that the petitioners cannot conceive a situation of things more repugnant to the principles of sound policy, than that Roman Catholics should possess the power of framing the laws and of administering the highest offices in the government of a Protestant establishment in Church and State, to the very character and principles of which their tenets are decidedly hostile, nor can they conceive it to be any hardship that Roman Catholics, who exclude all persons except those of their own communion, from any authority or interference whatever in the government of their Church, should be excluded from any share in the government of a Church to which they are not only strangers but adversaries; and that, by the constitution of England, the government of the Church and the State are inseparable, and whoever is admitted into the share of the government of the one, must consequently be intrusted with a share of the government of the other; and that the petitioners have heard, with astonishment, persons contending that no one ought to be excluded from a civil right on account of his religion, when it is a notorious fact that the right even to the crown, the highest civil right in these dominions, was conferred on, and is now enjoyed by, the present royal family, to the exclusion of others more nearly related to it, upon the mere ground of an objection to their religion, and, should it once be established by the legislature that religious opinions are not a sufficient ground of civil incapacity, the petitioners apprehend there can be no pretence whatever afterwards for saying that the crown of these dominions shall not be worn by a Papist; and that the petitioners cannot but observe, that the most strenuous supporters of the claims of the Roman Catholics admit that every attention ought to be paid to the security of our civil and religious establishments, and that effectual measures ought to be adopted for the security of both, but the petitioners also observe, that none of those persons who make these admissions have ever pointed out or suggested the measures they should think effectual for that purpose, from which they cannot but infer the extreme doubtfulness and difficulty, even in the judgment of those persons themselves, or rather, as the petitioners firmly believe, the absolute impracticability of devising such measures; and that the petitioners apprehend, that, if the claims of the Roman Catholics should be acceded to, every other restriction and test must of course be abolished, and that the government of our establishments in Church and State must be thrown open to sects of every denomination, and of the most discordant opinions and principles; and that the petitioners most solemnly declare, that they are not influenced by any wish to restrain the free exercise of religious opinions, and, if possible, still less by any kind or degree of animosity towards their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, but they are actuated by an honest and firm persuasion that the restrictions now attempted to be abolished have essentially contributed to the preservation of those establishments which have been the source of our prosperity and happiness, and that the abolition of them would inevitably tend to weaken and undermine those establishments, and ultimately lead to the overthrow of the constitution; and praying, that the restrictions by which Roman Catholics are excluded from the power of framing the laws and administering the highest offices in the government of our civil and reli- gious establishments may not be abolished."

A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, capital burgesses, clergy, and principal inhabitants of the borough and town of Sudbury, Suffolk, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners, ever grateful for those privileges, civil and religious, as I also for that internal peace and prosperity which they, in common with the subjects of this country, have enjoyed since the glorious sera of the Revolution, and deeply convinced of the magnitude and importance of those blessings, must ever deprecate, in the strongest manner, the least departure from those principles, the adherence to which alone has raised this country so eminently above all other nations in religious and political freedom; and that the petitioners are, therefore, greatly alarmed by the repeated and incessant attempts that have been made by the Roman Catholics of this united kingdom to obtain the full enjoyment of political power, by procuring the repeal of those statutes which the wisdom of our ancestors enacted for the safety and protection of the Protestant government of this country in Church and State; and praying that those statutes may not be repealed, but that the same may be preserved inviolate, as in their I opinion these salutary provisions appear to be still essentially necessary to give permanency and security to our most excellent constitution."

A Petition of the mayor, corporation, and principal inhabitants of the borough and town of Great Torrington, Devon, was also presented; and read, setting forth,

"That whilst the petitioners place the firmest reliance on the wisdom of parliament, the lawful guardian of the constitution of their country, they feel it their duty humbly to offer their sentiments upon the recent claims of the Roman Catholics to a full admission to the highest offices of trust in the slate, and to the power of legislation for these Protestant kingdoms; and that the petitioners are the zealous friends of every toleration in religion which is not inconsistent with the maintenance of one national Church in full vigour and security, and that in the provisions adopted by parliament at, the period of the accession of king Wil- liam in 1688, the maintenance of the Protestant Church is secured by law as an essential part of the constitution; and it appears to the petitioners to be attended with the greatest danger to remove these safeguards, which our ancestors thus wisely provided, and which the experience of more than a century has confirmed; and that the petitioners have seen with Satisfaction the concessions granted by the legislature to the Roman Catholics during his present Majesty's reign, accompanied as they are with necessary restrictions and securities for the safety of the established Church, but they look with the deepest anxiety to the claims now made for the abrogation of all restrictions by persons who acknowledge the spiritual superiority of the Pope in these realms, and who hold tenets in many respects as inimical to the principles of the English constitution in matters of state as they are subversive of all religious toleration, and utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church; and praying the House to adopt such measures as will best maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Church and State, and give stability and permanence to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the country."

A Petition of the bailiff, justices, bailiffs, peers and burgesses of the very ancient borough and liberties of Wenlock, Salop, in common-hall assembled, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners view the present claims of the Roman Catholics of Ireland as unconstitutional, presumptuous, and, if granted to them, dangerous in the extreme to the Protestant establishment; and that their claims are unconstitutional, inasmuch as they insist upon unqualified emancipation, with free admittance to all places of trust, power and authority in the executive government of these kingdoms, without suffering any of those guards and conditions to be applied which might tend to secure from future dangers or encroachments the Protestant establishment; and that they are presumptuous, inasmuch as this would place the Catholics in a far more independent and uncontrouled state than are even the Protestant subjects themselves, who are required, previous to their being admitted to or exercising any office, post or place of honour power trust or authority within these realms, to take the Oaths of Allegiance, and of the King's Supremacy, as also the Oath of Abjuration, and receive the blessed holy Sacrament, according to the rites of the Church of England as now by law established; and that they may be dangerous, inasmuch as recent events and past experience have taught the petitioners, and the whole tenor of history furnisheth them with many proofs, that no indulgence granted can satisfy Catholic ambition, but that it only tends rather to provoke and strengthen their demands for fresh and future claims and encroachments upon, and thereby manifestly endangers, our invaluable Protestant constitution and government, under which the petitioners enjoy so many and great blessings; and that they do therefore humbly, though earnestly and heartily, pray the House not to grant the Roman Catholics any further indulgences, but to maintain, keep and preserve inviolate, from all further and future encroachments, those truly pure Protestant principles and interests, which placed the august House of Brunswick in the throne of these kingdoms, and for the preservation of which our present most gracious sovereign hath always shewn himself particularly anxious, and upon a very recent occasion proved himself to be most tenderly and paternally solicitous; and that, as far as merely regards the free worship of God, the petitioners would that every obstacle be removed, and that the Roman Catholics should enjoy the most extensive toleration; but they again and again do most humbly beseech the House to guard and watch, with a jealous eye, their inroads and ambitious incroachments made from time to time upon the Protestant establishment, but above all on no account to permit them, either directly or indirectly, to interfere with the legislation of these realms, nor suffer them to fill any judicial situation, nor to have, hold, or exercise any office or place of power, trust, or authority in the empire, nor at any time to have, hold, or exercise any command, either naval or military, in any of his Majesty's fleets or armies."

A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Bath, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners beg leave to premise, that they are sincere friends to religious toleration, and would have every sect and society of Christians possess the unrestrained use of divine worship, in such manner as their opinions may dictate, and their consciences approve; and that it is peculiarly incumbent on the petitioners to make this unreserved avowal, as the city over whose civil polity they preside is the general resort of strangers of every description, and in which almost all denominations of Christians have established places of devotion, where they may address themselves to their Creator agreeably to their own form and creed; and that the protection of all in the enjoyment of those valuable privileges which our admirable constitution has allowed them, the petitioners will ever esteem as one of the most sacred duties of their corporate functions, but while they make this just and candid acknowledgment of their tolerant spirit, they must as Protestants, anxious for the preservation of our invaluable constitution, object to the grant of unrestricted powers to persons whose religious tenets would, in their apprehension, endanger those civil and ecclesiastical establishments, the maintenance of which our ancestors so wisely and providently endeavoured to secure; and that, under the mild and equable reign of the present sovereign, many of the restrictions and disabilities which controuled our fellow subjects of the Romish communion have been either totally removed or liberally ameliorated; and the petitioners would humbly submit to the consideration of the House, that the admission of those claims, so long and now so strenuously urged, might be an unsafe, injudicious, and imprudent measure; and praying the House, weighing the danger of concession, maturely to deliberate before they admit persons who maintain principles inimical to the established religion of the realm, and who acknowledge the supremacy of a foreign power, to the unlimited right of enjoying offices of authority and high responsibility."

Ordered to lie on the table.