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tduCation , ar id they inculcated the highest sense of morality j of justice , of obedience to the laws , and of respect for one another . It was not a fit thing for Parliament to vote money to be laid out in educating the people in a system which
put them in hostility to the religion of the State . He declared openly , and he wished others to do the same , his zeal for proselytisra . What then ? Were they to be frightened at the sound of a word ? It was proselytism from ignorance and vice to morality and knowledge . What should hinder a man of sense from being anxious for such a change ? He repeated
his conviction that mouey ought not to be granted for educating people in a religion hostile to the State . The Reformation was glorious in this respect—that it gave back the Scriptures to the laity . He had great faith in it , because many great men suffered death for its sake , and he could not believe that they died in error . If they were friends to that
Reformation , if thev were foes to immoraformation , if they were foes to immorality , to fraud , delusion , tyranny and disorder , they would now refuse the prayer of this petition . Mr . W . Smith differed almost wholly from the last speaker . No man could stand more remote from the doctrines of
the Roman Church than he did . He was a friend to truth , and to the inquiry by which alone it could be brought to light : hut in selecting it for himself , he must take care not to assume the right of judging for others . It was this error on the part of Popery that led on the Reformation , which of all Christian systems he was bound to admit contributed most to
the well-being of society . He considered the circumstances of Ireland to be most unfortunate , and her situation a most shocking disgrace—a disgrace to her gentry and nobility—a disgrace to England , who had governed her so long , and to the character of her inhabitants . In
order to prove the wretchedness and degradation to which the Irish peasantry were reduced , he had taken the pains to collect from the various Irish newspapers a number of stories , which he could assure the House , presented the most appalling pictures of misery and crime . The Hon . Member for Dover ( Mr . Butterworth ) had instanced the case of France as
illustrative of the misery of infidelity ; but the present state of that country afforded any thing but a picture of internal wretchedness . He thought the Honourable Member was peculiarly unhappy in his illustration , and it was not correct to ascribe the Revolution which had taken place in France , to any geuerai feeling of infidelity that influenced the people of
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that country , for it was , well known that the Resolution was effected through the plots apd machinations of a few determined individuals , Mr . C . Wilson said , that any system of education which excluded the reading of the Scriptures , should always meet with his determined disapprobation .
Mr . G . Bankes most earnestly desired to see the Scriptures promulgated throughout Ireland . He wished to see the Bible in the hands of the Irish peasant , and he denounced that intolerant spirit by which it was endeavoured to be withheld . The present state of Ireland he considered was owing to the bigotry of the Catholic priests , and the greatest disgrace in consequence was reflected on that body .
Coloqel Trench said , that the Hon Member for Dover , and those who advocated his principles , had done considerable injury to the cause of truth by their injudicious and mischievous interference . It was wrong to attach to the Irish people a sweeping stigma of bigotry , and it was not true that they blindly " followed
their priests , for it was well known to those who had intercourse with Irelaud , that a spirit of information had gone forth among the people ; and were it not for priests and enthusiasts who kept down and denounced that spirit , Ireland
would now reap the benefit of the increased improvement of her people . But for that mischievous society in Dublin , which took upon itself the government of the Irish people , the children of the peasantry would have had the advantages resulting from a liberal education .
Mr . Maurice Fitzgerald saw nothing in the petition under discussion which could at all wan ant the extreme rancour displayed by the member for Dover . A meddling set of Sectarians had established themselves in Ireland , and set up a system of bigotry and intolerance , sowing the seeds of diweord wherever they spread themselves , and sounding unnecessary alarm on the most
trifling occasions . ( Hear , hear . ) It was natural that the Catholic clergy should be aroused when they saw tlieir rights invaded , and it was no wonder if they had endeavoured to counteract the influence of that meddling sect . The Catholie clergy , that much calumniated hody v with their scanty means , had effected ,, more towards the education of the
Catholic population of Ireland than the state , with all ifs exuberant liberality , had accomplished for the various sects in that country . ( Hear , hear . ) It was to the sectarians that the religious divisions of Ireland might be traced : those outrageous zealots , who wished to pull down
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fMMtgenfa ^ &artfatnentavy : Irish Calfwlk Petitions . W $$
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1826, page 249, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2547/page/61/
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