§ Three Petitions—of the there-undersigned Christians—in behalf of themselves and others, who agree with them in considering absolute liberty of conscience respecting religion to be the unalienable right of all men,—were presented by Mr. Whitbread and read; setting forth.
§ "That it is the duty of all men to examine as diligently as may be in their power, the doctrines of religion, and after such diligent examination, to adopt and to profess what may appear to them to be the truth; and that, in the performance of that duty, men ought not to be obstructed or discouraged, or otherwise tempted to act hypocritically, by any law tending to bias them in the course of such examination of the doctrines of religion, by subjecting them, in the case of their dissenting from the doctrines of any established church, to suffer death by burning or otherwise, or to suffer any corporal or pecuniary punishment, or to be injured in their reputation by any disability more or less disgraceful; and that the petitioners acknowledge, with high satisfaction, that, in the present reign, considerable progress has been made towards the full restoration of the rights of conscience, by the wisdom of parliament and the benignity of the King rescinding various laws, in whole or in part, which were violations of those rights; yet, since other penal laws not less injurious to those rights remain unrepealed, since some of these laws subject to corporal punishments or pecuniary penalties, others, as in the case of the Test laws passed in the reign of Charles the second; subject to disgrace, disability, and privation of civil rights persons, whose only offence it is, that in conformity with their duty, they have examined the doctrines of religion, and by such examination have been induced to 695 embrace and to profess religious opinions different from the doctrines of the established Church; and that the petitioners feel it to be their duty humbly but earnestly to remonstrate against the longer continuance of any of these intolerant laws; and they do, in conformity with the premises, expressly petition the House, that every such unjust law may be repealed, and the rights of conscience may thus be restored to all the subjects of this United Kingdom; and the petitioners humbly beg leave to add, that this request, as it appears to them, is grounded on the most evident considerations of justice; and they trust that the compliance of the state would yet conciliate the affection of millions of their aggrieved fellow subjects, and unite them for ever to the interests of the empire: under each of these aspects their request claims, and they hope will be found to deserve, the assent of the House, as they are statesmen anxious for the safety of their country, and as they are moralists determined to act impartially on the rules of justice; but, when the petitioners consider farther that every attempt to influence men in their choice and profession of religion by penal laws, whether corrupt or compulsive in their operation, is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, and forbidden by its plainest precepts in numerous passages, they hope it may be allowed them more particularly, and with all possible earnestness, to intreat the friends of religion in the House to interpose their authority, not to vindicate the Gospel from the groundless charge of intolerance, but to influence the state to conform its laws for the protection of the established Church, to the purity benignity and exalted integrity of our Gospel religion, to renounce the whole system of persecution, the long accumulation of ages of barbarism and discord, and to free an almost countless multitude of injured individuals from the temptation of ensnaring tests, and the more oppressive severities of our compulsive intolerance; by the success of such salutary counsels, at once restoring concord and safety to the empire, and freeing our national Church from the present too just reproach of retaining that support which persecuting laws can bestow, but which Christianity condemns, and would disdain to accept."
§ Four Petitions—of the there-undersigned Christians residing in the town and neighbourhood of Belper; in the town 696 and neighbourhood of Derby; in the town and neighbourhood of Loughborough: and in the town and neighbourhood of Melbourne; in behalf of themselves and others, who agree with them in considering absolute liberty of conscience respecting religion to be the unalienable right of all men;—were presented and read; setting forth,
§ "That it is the duty of all men to examine, as diligently as may be in their power, the doctrines of religion, and after such diligent examination to adopt and to profess what may appear to them to be the truth; and that, in the performance of that duty, men ought not to be obstructed or discouraged, or otherwise tempted to act hypocritically, by any law tending to bias them in the course of such examination of the doctrines of religion, by subjecting them, in the case of their dissenting from the doctrines of any established church, to suffer death by burning or otherwise, or to suffer any corporal or pecuniary punishment, or to be injured in their reputation by any disability, more or less disgraceful; and that the petitioners acknowledge, with high satisfaction, that in the present reign considerable progress has been made towards the full restoration of the rights of conscience, by the rescinding of various laws, in whole or in part, which were violations of those rights; yet since other penal laws, not less injurious to those rights, remain unrepealed; since some of these laws subject to corporal punishments or pecuniary penalties, others, as in the case of the Test laws, passed in the reign of Charles the 2nd, subject to disgrace, disability, and privation of civil rights, persons whose only offence it is, that in conformity with their duty, they have examined the doctrines of religion, and by such examination have been induced to embrace, and to profess religious opinions different from the doctrines of the established Church, the petitioners feel it to be their duty humbly but earnestly to remonstrate against the longer continuance of any of these intolerant laws; and they do, in conformity with the premises, expressly petition the House, that every such unjust law may be repealed, and the rights of conscience may thus be restored to all the subjects of this United Kingdom; at the same time they declare to the House, that if the legislature of our country should not feel themselves convinced, as the petitioners do, that every trace of intolerance 697 ought to be immediately expunged from our statutes, yet, if the repeal or modification of any of our intolerant laws should now take place; particularly if the Test laws, as far as they affect our military force by sea and land, should now be repealed, the petitioners would view with high satisfaction any such measure, as a still farther advance towards the complete restoration of the rights of conscience; and at this crisis would consider it as having a salutary tendency to allay religious animosities, and to unite still more closely the great mass of the community in a zealous defence of the empire against the efforts of our powerful and ambitious enemy."
§ A Petition of the there-undersigned Christians, in behalf of themselves and others, who agree with them in considering absolute liberty of conscience respecting religion to be the unalienable right of all men, was also presented and read; setting forth,
§ "That it is the duty of all men to examine, as diligently as may be in their power, the doctrines of religion, and, after such diligent examination, to adopt and to profess what may appear to them to be the truth; and that, in performance of that duty, men ought not to be obstructed or discouraged, or otherwise tempted to act hypocritically, by any law tending to bias them in the course of such examination of the doctrines of religion, by subjecting them, in the case of their dissenting from the doctrines of any established Church, to suffer death by burning or otherwise, or to suffer any corporal or pecuniary punishment, or to be injured in their reputation by any disability more or less disgraceful; and that the petitioners acknowledge, with high satisfaction, that, in the present reign, considerable progress has been made towards the full restoration of the rights of conscience by the wisdom of parliament and the benignity of the King, rescinding various laws, in whole or in part, which were violations of those rights, yet, since other penal laws, not less injurious to those rights, remain unrepealed, since some of these subject to corporal punishments or pecuniary penalties, others, as in the case of the Test laws passed in the reign of Charles the 2nd, subject to disgrace, disability, and privation of civil right", persons whose only offence it is, that, in conformity with their duty, they have examined 698 the doctrines of religion, and by such examination have been induced to embrace, and to profess, religious opinions different from the doctrines of the established Church, the petitioners feel it to be their duty humbly but earnestly to remonstrate against the longer continuance of any of these intolerant laws; and they do, in conformity with the premises, expressly petition the House, that every such unjust law may be repealed, and that the rights of conscience may thus be restored to all the subjects of this United Kingdom."
§ Ordered to lie on the table.