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ie 3 f entertains . Freedom of thought the magistrate has it not in his power to control ; it is only in abstaining from interference with the communication of opinions , that he has the opportunity of proving his wisdom or his justice .
The Dissenters cannot be supposed to have regarded the Toleration Act itself as satisfying their just claims * It was indeed scarcely to be hoped that a law enacted at
that period should have proceeded on those sound and comprehensive views of the subject , which deeper examination and more dispassionate discussion have since
afforded . Still even by that law much was gained : and though it was then deemed expedient to demand subscription to the articles as the condition of its protection , yet from the imperfect records of the debates in Parliament , it seems
probable that subscription was required rather under some vague idea of preventing writings against the establishment , than with any
deliberate intention of limiting Tpleratiori to those only who beljeved ^ 11 the doctrines of the church . On the contrary , the description in the Act of the
persons entitled to avail themselves of its protection is most comprehensive ; and the spirit in which , from the very iirst ^ it has been almost uniformly administered , strongly confirms this view of its design . Still , however , further legal relief was wanting : the growing spirit of religious inquiry rendered subscription to creedis and arti cles every day more burthensome ; while the legislature became * nore sensible j : o fcfre injustice of impositions not countervailed by ^ ny , corresponding an 4 peculiar benefits . Then came the Act of
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. 1779 ? and , by the jbint operation of the two laws , interpreted in unison , and agreeably to what appeared to have been the original spirit of both , practical religious liberty has been ever since enjoyed
in this country , uninterrupted , till of late , but by accidental ebullitions of imprudence or malevolence . In this state of things it was not possible that Lord Sidmouth ' s Bill , which did nbt profess to abrogate one penal law , and which did enact new
restrictions , should be favourably received : unfortunately for its popularity it was the first attempt of such an aspect since the accession of the present Royal Family ; nor , however innocent or even
beneficial it might appear in the eyes of its author , was it free from great and obvious objections : it confined the protection granted by the Toleration Act within narrower
limits than either the words of that law , its original object as collected from history ^ or the uniform practice upon it would justify : — -it broke in afresh upon the principle of religious libertyj and it opened a door for the exercise of
discretion by the magistrate in cases where ^ hitherto , he had been bound to act only ministerially ; a change so important ^ as , if oi * ce permitted to creep in , would rapidly destroy every vestige of religious freedom , and place every future candidate for admission into
the Dissenting Ministry in dependance on the pleasure of a Quarter Sessions . That such is the apparent tendency of some parts of the Bill , as introduced , cannot be denied ;
and notwithstanding the present imperfection of our religious liberties , that a measure m its prinei-
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Toleration Act . $ 61
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1811, page 351, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2417/page/31/
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