holy ways, draw near, with faith, and take his holy sacrament to your comfort."-Considering the motives which bring them to the holy table, such an address might be deemed an insult to their feelings.-Or shall he tell them, with a better chance of speaking in unison with their thoughts, "All you that are lately appointed to offices under his majesty, that do truly and earnestly desire your continuance therein, and are in love with the profits thereof; you that are lately become excise-officers, or custom-house-officers, or salt-officers, or officers of the stamps, and have a charitable hope of enriching yourselves with the spoils of the illicit trader, draw near, in faith, and take this holy sacrament to your comfort, that you may have a legal title to your places."

L. Lord North, in reply to Mr. Beaufoy, against repealing the corporation and test acts.

Ir the present motion went no farther than for the fair and free exercise of the rights of conscience, I should be the last man upon earth to deliver an opinion against it; but my motive for rising, is to act the part of a good citizen, and not to lay an heavy burthen upon the conscience of any individual whatsoever. I have heard reports, that the dissenters wish to gain more than civil privileges; but, as this suggestion has been contradicted by the two honourable members who have spoke upon the subject, my doubts on that point are done away, and I can give every belief to the assertions of these honourable gentlemen.-I should have been glad if the dissenters had proceeded in a more regular manner, and stated the grievances under which they labour, by petition to the house.-Yet I am not insensible that great and liberal minds should shew a virtuous eagerness to relieve unasked, to anticipate the wishes of fellowsubjects, and, that when a natural way to act thus laudably is known, it ought undoubtedly to be always adopted. The doors of this house stand open to all petitioners; and, if a petition had been delivered, stating their grievances, I doubt not but the justice of the house would have redressed them, if they really proved so

troublesome in their nature. They have, however, chosen to adopt another mode of bringing their case before the house-and they seem rather to depend upon the weight and abilities of the honourable mover and seconder of the motion, than on the justice of their cause. But I wish, before the house resolve on a vote, to see on what grounds the motion stands. It prays for the repeal of an act which is the great bulwark of the constitution, and to which we owe those inestimable blessings of freedom which we now so happily enjoy. It recommends procedures contrary to the happy experience of a century. The dissenters appear desirous of having such and such privileges granted to them, and a line drawn which they are not to exceed: that line (I am glad to say) is already drawn;-and, concerning what relates to the worship of God, in their own way, they have no griev. ance to state; but their entreaty is, to have the restriction from being able to fill offices taken off.-In the year 1778, a finishing stroke was put to restriction; a general toleration was then granted. If there remains any thing which can operate as a burthen on any man's conscience, in the name of heaven let it be done away ;-but let not the admitting of persons of particular persuasions into the offices of the state be confounded with the restriction of conscience. If this government finds it prudent and necessary to confine the admission to public offices to men of particular principles, it has a right to adhere to such restriction; it is a privilege belonging to all states; and all have exercised it-all do exercise it-and all will continue to exercise it. If dissenters claim it as their undoubted, their natural right, to be rendered capable of enjoying offices, and that plea be admitted, the argument may be admitted to all men. The vote of a freeholder for a representative to parliament is confined to those who pos sess a freehold of 40s. or upwards; and those not posses.. sing that qualification, may call it an usurpation of their natural right, by preventing them from voting also.

We are told that other countries have no test acts, and that their established churches are not endangered for the want thercof.-France has protestants at the head of her army and her finances; and Prussia employs catholics in her service: but it must be considered, that those are arbitrary governments, that the king alone in

those countries is to be served, and can, at pleasure, remove or advance whom he pleases. The king of England, being a limited monarch, can do no such thing; he is bound by those restrictive laws, as much as his subject. Holland admits men of all religions into her army, because, not having subjects enough of her own, she is obliged to have recourse to foreign troops ;—but there is no place where they restrain their civil offices more to the established principles of the country. The same may be said of Sweden. It has been urged, that by the corporation and test acts, any man who refuses to submit thereto, is subject to the same punishment with those who may be convicted of great and heinous crimes-but that is not the fact ;-no man, because he does not choose to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, is subjected to any punishment whatever. The act holds out punishment to those who fill offices ;—and they are punished for wilfully flying in the face of an act of the legislature. If the act went to force every other man to take the sacrament, or inflict a penalty upon him, it would indeed be a grievance; and I would most readily concur in having it repealed.

Have not the country resolved that no king or queen should sit on the throne of the British empire, who re fuses to comply with the test act? If the throne was

offered to any prince who would not comply, from motives of conscience, the refusal of the throne to him would be offering him no indignity,—no insult. Gen. tlemen should not, then, lightly talk of insults and stigmas thrown on any set of men who do not choose to comply with any particular forms.-If all were to be admitted, on the principles of national right, there would be an end to all rules and orders;-for no rules could be drawn by the legislature, but what would be broken through. The corporation act was made at a time when many disturbances were occasioned by the dissenters, who were principally instrumental in all the consequences that followed. All who then wished for peace, and for the preservation of the constitution, in church and -state, called for the measure which was then taken, and which I now consider, as a wise and political measure; it was and is necessary to confine offices in corporations to those who are well-wishers to the established church.

"We are called upon, by an honourable gentleman, to proceed as France has done;-but I would rather proceed according to the experience of England, which has enjoyed peace and harmony in the church by those acts. -It has been said, that when the test act was made, the king himself was suspected of being a catholic;-and the presumptive heir had openly avowed himself a catholic;

that it was not meant to act against the dissenters, but against the papists: but I will venture to say, that the parliament who passed it, knew how far it extended,they knew that it included both.

The corporation act clearly meant to exclude the sectaries, and was not meant to extend to the papists: but it did not exclude both;-and when the parliament passed both those acts, they knew both papists and dissenters were included. Charles the second, we are told, prevented, by dishonourable means, the repeal of those acts; he thought that the repeal was wisely and patriotically refused. It has been the general means of princes, who had particular objects to attain, which they could not do while every sect remained as it was, to endeavour to confound all sects, that when the door of innovation was once opened, they might pass on till their object was gained.-What was the opinion of parliament at the revolution? That parliament was sharpened by the miseries they had experienced, and by the horror of danger; they deliberately went through all the acts, and repealed every one except the test act, which they considered as a mere civil and political regulation; they preserved it, and they thought it necessary for the safety of the church, and for the preservation of the constitu. tion. By that parliament a just line was drawn, to the relief of conscience, on the one hand, and for the safety of the church, on the other. The test act was the corner-stone of the constitution, which should have every preservation. King James, when he wished to gain the prince and princess of Orange to his views, desired to have their opinion on the propriety of repealing the test and corporation acts. The answer of the prince of Orange was, that he agreed to the removal of the corporation act, but not to the test act; and he declared it to be the practice of Holland to confine all civil employments to those who professed the principles of the state;

but that the army could not be so restrained, on account of the want of troops. Nothing brought James so speedily to the crisis of his fate as the test act, which restrained him, and rendered it impossible for him to fill all offices, civil and military, with those of his own sect; which he hoped to be enabled to do, by gaining the re peal of the test act; and then there would have been an end to all liberty. Tyranny would have stolen silently on, until it had been so deeply rooted, as to render all endeavours against it vain.

I conceive it to be the duty of every member of this house, to prevent that which may, in a future period, subject the nation to the same dangers which it has before experienced. If the Scots had any hardships, if they had any grievances, they would have been ready enough to have laid complaints before the house; and there are many gentlemen of that country, in the house, who would be ready enough to state those complaints to the house, if any existed. The union with Scotland I look upon as a most sacred compact, and which ought not to be touched with a rash hand. The church is established on a sacred basis, and those who wish for no innovation on the union, should guard against any attacks on the church. With respect to the clergy of the church being forced to give the sacrament to all who de. sire it; that so far from its being the wish of the clergy of England to gain a repeal of the test act, they are all alarmed at the intention of proposing the repeal, and are determined to resist it with their greatest strength. Every minister is bound, by his holy office, to refuse the communion to any unworthy person. If he refuses according to law, by law he will be justified: the fear of an action should not prevent a man from doing his duty; if he is right, where can be the fear of an action? He will gain honour, and the person bringing the action will have a considerable expense and dishonour. The clergy are situated now in the same manner that they were before the test act; they could then, and they may now, upon proof, refuse the administering the holy sacrament of the Lord's supper to an unworthy or bad character. sacrament is administered, as a test of being well affected to the church. Some test is necessary, and must be taken. If the sacrament, in many instances, is taken unworthily,

The