Mr. Mark Phillipspresented a Petition, agreed to at a very large and respectable meeting held in Manchester, on the subject of the Irish Church. The Dissenters of that town were among the petitioners, as were all interested in the prosperity and welfare of Ireland, and anxious for the removal of the grievances which press upon the Dissenters from the Established Church. The petitioners stated their regret at the measures hitherto introduced and adopted on the subject of the Established Church, and to enforce its acceptance by the Irish people; they believed that any connexion between Church and State was injurious to the interests of religion, and they desired the abolition of the abuses allowed to exist in the Church of Ireland. They complained that the property of the State should be appropriated to the support of the religion of a very small section of the people, and they therefore prayed that, after the due maintenance of the Irish clergy, the surplus should he applied to national purposes. They stated, that the Dissenters of the United Kingdom had waived their claims to a redress of grievances till the present Session, in the hope that they would be dealt with in a more complete manner than hitherto. They also prayed that the grant to the Dissenters in Ireland, called the Regium Donum, might be withdrawn, and that the revenues of the Irish church should be resumed by the State. They prayed that the Bills for the registration of births, deaths and marriages might pass this Session. They further prayed that the Ecclesiastical Courts might be abolished. The petition was signed by 32,000 individuals, Dissenters and other inhabitants of Manchester. It was his duty to state to the House what their views and feelings were. He must say, that he did not cordially assent to some portions of the petition; but the portion to which he cordially gave his 843 support was that which prayed for the redress of the grievances of the Dissenters during the present Session of Parliament. He most cordially gave his support to that part of it which prayed for the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths, and also to that portion which prayed for the abolition of one of the greatest nuisances—he meant the present system of the Ecclesiastical Courts. With respect to the Regium Donum, he could not enter into the question. He was only speaking the sentiments of the petitioners, who objected to the grant.
§ Mr. Arthur Trevorhad been solicited to protest against the sentiments contained in the petition just read by the hon. Member, which could be considered as like travelling at the rate of twenty miles an hour. The hon. Member was proceeding when
§ The Speakerinquired if the object of the hon. Member was to object to the petition being laid on the Table? [Mr. Trevor: "No!"] If that were not the case, he begged to ask the hon. Member whether he thought right, where there were so many subjects referred to in the petition, to consume the public time with discussions on the petition, when ample opportunity would be afforded for that purpose when the subjects referred to in the petition were brought in a distinct form under the consideration of the House? Unless it was the intention of the hon. Member to oppose the petition being laid on the Table, it was better to allow the business to proceed.
§ Mr. A. Trevorsaid, that he was induced to offer the few remarks he had made in consequence of the language contained in the petition, and he was disposed to oppose its being laid on the Table; but as the sense of the House appeared to be against him, he would not trouble them with any further observations.