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a * the time ivdtild aHoW him , and he tould discover ho ttoor ^ thai * ilve which came from persons # ho cotild bj any ^ os ^ rbillty be s&id to belong to the sects he had mentioned . There were a greiat number of persons ^ he doubted not , very worthy and respectable persons ) who
belonged to the class of Methodists , ( which was chiefly divided into the Whitfieldite atid Wesleian connexion , ) who were sometimes confounded with the Protestant Dissenters , but did not in reality belong to them . He meant to cast do reflection on those parties . He merely wished to put every gentleman who heard
him on his guard , lest he should be led to suppose that , because twenty petitions , emanating from this heterogeneous mixture , had heen presented against the Catholic Claims , that , therefore , the great body of Protestant Dissenters were opposed to them . They had , in fact , expressed no opinion about it . He would maintain , that not one in one hundred
of the Protestant Dissenting congregations in England had given any opinion at all on this question . He believed the feeling of the Protestant Dissenters throughout the country , was , to leave the subject to be dealt with as
Parliament in its wisdom should thmk fit . Speaking of them as a body , he believed they were perfectly desirous that justice should be done to the Roman Catholics ; but they left it to the wisdom of the Legislature to act as to them might appear most safe and prudent . He should be Jtorry if the suspicion which appeared to have entered the minds of some
gentlemen near him , as to the feelings of the Protestant Dissenters , was in any degree well-founded . It would give him much pain , if the body of which he was speaking stood forward as the foes ^ of—he would not say religious toleration , butreligious liberty in its widest extent . ( Hear . ) He begged to repeat his wordsdeliberately . He should regret very much if the Protestant Dissenters opposed
religious liberty in its widest extent . If they came forward and called on the Legislature to put its seal on this question—if they demanded that the claims of the Homan Catholics should be refused , he should be both surprised and grieved . He would repeat what he had before stated , that the Protestant Dissenters
were not so baund together as to have amongst them but one opinion . They , t > i cowrse , had their own opinions on political matters . They were tied up to no one common opinion , except that Iv&ich was connected with the religion they
prolewd . TJiey maintained iao&t liberal opinions in politics ^ and he knew no porter or better mode of Expressing their ^ eungs than t > y ( htdting thfc rtfle of their
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conduct— -a rule which ought to beidtipted by all religious societies—H # tee ! y that ttf fltiittg mat ) < 5 theTs as they w ^^ hed ot&ers to do tihSo thferti . -Phis , the t ** di all possible maxiias , * # s their ti&teto , and he believed they vrene riib ^ t bftkitms to net up te it . As a bo % , he defcmfcd
it right to t&f thus much in th # r * fleftifff , lest a false opinion iftipht be cnt ^ rtAre ^ d of the conduct of thfe Protfcstaiit Dis ^ ftit - ers . ( Hear . ) An Honourable Member , nWflet H ^ e gallery , Wore testimony tb iiie eottrfcetft&te of the statement made by the preeeaftig speaker .
Mr . S . Rice said he held in his hand a declaration in favour of the Catholic Claims , which had emanated from a most respectable body of the Protestant Disseriters in Ireland . The Presbyterians of the North of Ireland were a& ready as any set of men to admit the claims which the Roman Catholics had on the justice
of that House . This ought to be stated , to prevent them from being removed from their proper level , since they tvefe as liberal a body of men as any in the empire . He said this , became an idea had gone forth , and was , indeed , embodied in the evidence given relative to the state of Ireland , that the Presbj ^ teriatis 6 f thfe north of Ireland had become more than
ever adverse to the claims of the Eoitijtti Catholics . He had this day , 3 * 1 contradiction to that assertion , to liay before the House a statement ( for the parties had not time to put it in thte shape of a
petition ) from the Ministers and Elders of the Presbyteriari profession in the comity of Down und Belfast , to which they requested him to call the attention oi Parliament . Those individuals said , that so
far from becoming adverse to the Catholic Claims , if the Presbyterians declared themselves hostile to civil aiid religious liberty , they would belie the principles of the Church to which they belonged . On all occasions they had declared their opinions in favour of that liberality which became them as followers of the
Christian faith . In 1812 , no less than 139 members of the Synod of Ulster haiei called on the House to do away with all civil disabilities on account of religiods opinions . The individuals whose sehtK ments he was now speaking , be ^ gfed of him to state , that any persori Acting as Moderator could express nothing niore than his own opinion . If he did
otherwise—if he assumed a representative capacity—he passed the line and bbund&ry 6 f his office , since he had a rrgfat brify to act in his individual capacity . T * hle j > krties stated fMt , as the ti&xx& # f CSfodlic Emtfheipatidri gaineflirdtriid tfiiftfe tfdftti , and must continue td flo so , * h < # ^ A $ Sfterf , both its justice to me i >? : fettittVs Ubi td
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Intelligence . — Parliwhfatntety z DtUenters and Catholic Claims . 445
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 445, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/61/
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