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ing , after the able addresses which have been delivered , especially after the very spirited , powerful and eloquent exposure , by my friend Mr . Wilks , of the principles upon whieh this Society is formed , and his lively and interesting , but most expressive detail of the manner in which the affairs of this Society have been conducted , I should be worse than a coxcomb if I were to endeavour to enforce
those topics by any thing I can say : but , on the other hand , after the handsome and flattering manner in which my name has been mentioned , and after a review of all the circumstances of this meeting , I should be a stock or a stone if I did not at least endeavour to express my gratitude . { Loud cheers . )
I do beg to express , in the most unqualified terms I can command , the gratitude I feel for the honour you have done me . When I say the gratitude I feel for the honour you have done me , i do not merely mean the honour you have done me by the resolution you have just
adopted , and by the nattering and undeserved encomium of the two gentlemen who have just addressed you , but I mean the honour you have done me in placing me in the chair on this day , which I shall always consider as one of the proudest days of my life . ( Applause . )
I think it an honour , nrst , from the manner in which this Society is composed ; and , next , from the object which this Society is established to effect . And among the circumstances which at once increase the honour and difficulty of my situation , is the consideration of the characters of those eminent persons who
have preceded me in that honour . ( Hear , hear . ) Yes , gentlemen , when I recollect that the chair was filled by the first magistrate of the city of London , by an illustrious and Royal Duke , and by my eloquent friend , Sir James Mackintosh , who presided on the last occasion , I cannot but consider it as a great honour to
be placed here by the call of my enlightened fellow-countrymen among Protestant Dissenters . ( Loud Applause ?) I recollect , gentlemen , that this Society , at least the meeting on this day , is composed chiefly , although not entirely , of Protestant Dissenters , as the object of the Institution is not exclusively confined
to Protestant Dissenters , but is partly the promotion of religious freedom all over the world ; and when I consider tl ^ at the greater number of the audience I am now addressing belong to the various bodies of Dissenters , that enhances
to me , though a member o % the Church pf England , the value of the honour I have this day received . Thus I think , because I adopt the sentiment , if npt the words pf JSfeal in the commencement of his excellent history of the Puritans—
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As long as there is a Protestant Dissenter in England , there \ v $£ L be there a friend of liberty , of the constitution and ^ f man . ( Loud cheering , ) Attached as Protestant Dissenters have ever been to tfce best principles , the Protestant Pissenters of this day appear yet wiser and more liberal . Their notions
are not exclusive ; they know that in the Church of England , and from the improvement in the times , even in the Church of Rome , many great , ardent ancl fervent friends of religious liberty are to be found ; and it was justly and properly observed by the Reverend gentleman who
spoke second on this occasion , ( Rev , R . Hill , ) in a very lively speeeh , that the members of the Church of England , or of the Established Church , if they well understood their interest , are not less interested in the principles of religious liberty than those who dissent from them .
The very title by whieh this Society is designated contains the principle on which it is founded , " The Protestant Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty . '' It is upon the principles of Religious Liberty that we are to act , not upon the principles of toleration . { A pplauses . )
Those who enjoy their liberty by tolerance are not free . I repeat , that those who enjoy their liberty by tolerance are not free . ( Loud applauses . ) Such I hold to be the genuine principle of religious liberty . Perhaps I may allude to what my friend Mr . Wilks said , when speaking
on this principle of religious liberty , as referring to the phrase of the Bishop , " You belong to me . " The principle of religious liberty is , that we belong to no man . The genuine principle of religious liberty is the right of conscience , the right of worshiping God according to the dictates of one ' s own conscience ; and
not merely that right , but , further , the right of inculcating those principles which we believe to be calculated to promote the present and the eternal happiness of mankind , ( f ^ ery loud applause ?) These , Ladies and Genlemen , are the principles
of religious liberty which I at least have always maintained , and which I learned from that excellent person whose name } ias been more than once mentioned during the addresses that have been made ; an allusion to whose name and to whose
character I cannot trust myself to attempt before this assembly . ( His Lordship teas affected so as to weep .. } ' With respect to the proceedings th ^ t have passed , I cannot help expressing my full aug . hearty concurrence . In the first
resolution you havQ expressed that loyalty which has always idisdnguisjhed the Protestant Dissenters towards the House of Brunswick ; and I am awe * it A fe a heartfelt gratification to me to learn , thovg
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498 Intelligencers-Protestant Society : Lord Holland * * Speech .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1820, page 498, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2491/page/54/
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