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liberty , —England ' s distinction , and England ' s happiness . Sir , when I speak with veneration of the ever-memorable two thousand ministers who cheerfully renounced the highest interests and honours which the Church of England could confer , iu order to maintain the integrity and purity of their consciences , I am not aware that
I am moved by any sectarian feelings ; for I look with veneration also upon those ministers of the National Church that , in the time of the Common wealth , made equal sacrifices to their religious convictions ; and I may answer , I am sure , for my Protestant Dissenting brethren , and the ministers and Protestant Dissenters in the room will bear me out hi sayiug , that we look back with veneration likewise to the ministers of the
Roman Catholic religion , ( loudapplause , ) who , in times when Reason , Justice , and Mercy were trampled under foot , and when they were regarded as traitors because they were true to their religion , gave up every thing to their consciences , mistaken consciences , it may be , — ( but who am I to say mistaken ? They were conscious of their innocence , and felt
assurance in their faith , and ' their own was the only conscience that could guide them)— to conscience they surrendered every thing valuable in life , and eveu life itself , giving to their faith the surest pledge of their sincerity , —their dying testimony . I say then , Sir , I have no sectarian feelings when I rejoice in the
tribute of respect which you have paid to the memory of the two thousand Ejected Ministers : I could select two thousand names from the clergy of the Church of England , and two thousand from the Roman Catholic clergy , that have exhibited the same fearless anc ^ self-denying devotion to their honest sense of religion , and I would say , that
the six thousand should be equally held in reverence and honour as a noble army of confessors and martyrs . For , Sir , allow me to say , that 1 regard such tried examples of the integrity that never flinches , and the conscience that nothing wordly can overcome , as a nation ' s wealth : no matter where the examples are found—they dignify human nature
and exalt our country ; and but for men of this character , England would not have obtained the liberty in which she so justly rejoices , nor would she have had the present august Family to govern her , a Family honoured by being called to the throne in order to preserve the liberties of the people . It appears to me that a Meeting like this reads a lesson
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of incalculable benefit to youth , when it holds out to admiration religious integrity under any form ( loud applause ) ; and I am persuaded your Royal Highness will agree with me in saying , that nothing could have been more eloquent or more wise , and nothing more Christian , than the declaration of a learned and
gifted prelate in his place iu the House of Lords , who , when the Dissenting Claims were brought before their Lordships in 1779 , said , in words never to be erased from my mind , * ' I am not afraid , my Lords , of men of scrupulous consciences ; but 1 will tell you whom I am afraid of , —and they are the men that believe every thing , that subscribe every thing , and that vote for every thing . "
I will uot detain your Royal Highness and the company long , ( hear , hear , hear , ) but my miud is so full , my heart is so full upon the present occasion , that I cannot sit down without saying a word or two upon another topic . It is not
often that we Dissenting ministers have the honour and the privilege of speaking to persons of the rank aud importance of those whom ( am now addressing ; and therefore I take this opportunity of expressing my earnest wish that Right Honourable Lords and Honourable
Members of the House of Commons would bear in mind , that whatever the Dissenters may waut , and whatever Dissenting ministers may want , there is oue thing they do possess ; they know the history of their fathers , their sainted fathers :
they know the principles of the Constitution of England , and they regard themselves as having been mainly instrumental iu placing the present illustrious Family , of which your Royal Highness is so distinguished a member , upon the Throne . ( Loud applause . ) Sir , it is our boast that our fathers were
mainly instrumental in that which I must ever consider a happy and glorious event ; and let uo member of that august House ever feel astonishment or surprise if the Disseuters , who took so active aud responsible a part in their
settlement iu this country upon the principles of freedom , should still profess and support the same principles , even if , —a supposition I dare hardly entertain , — eveu if , iu some inauspicious moment , any member of that House should seem to forget them . ( Tremendous applause . )
You cannot be surprised- Sir , that Dissenting ministers hail the event that we are met to celebrate , for they know and feel that it is but the harbinger of good things to come ; they regard it as a pledge to the country on the part of
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Intelligence . — Test-Act Repeal Dinner . 57 S
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1828, page 573, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2563/page/61/
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