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On the Preliminaries of Peace between England and

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the French Republic; November 3, 1801............... 359 On Laws relating to Spiritual Persons; June 10, 1803. 375 Upon the Bill to Regulate the Ages of Persons to be admitted into Holy Orders; April 13, 1804............ 421 Upon the Bill relating to the Stipends of London Incumbents; July 23, 1804..................

432

On the Petition from the Roman Catholics of Ireland;
May 13, 1805................

486

On the Slave-Trade; June 24, 1806..................

517

UPON EARL STANHOPE'S BILL FOR THE
REPEAL OF CERTAIN PENAL LAWS;

JUNE 9, 1789.

On the 18th of May 1789, Earl STANHOPE moved for leave to bring in a bill “for relieving members of the church of England from sundry penalties and disabilities to which by the laws now in force they may be liable, and for extending freedom in matters of religion to all persons (Papists, on account of their persecuting and dangerous principles, only excepted), and for other purposes therein mentioned." As the foundation of this bill, Earl Stanhope laid before their Lordships an account of all the penal

A

laws, whether existing, obsolete, or repealed, which had been enacted from the earliest times upon matters of religion, sorcery, and various other subjects; and urged the injustice as well as disgrace of suffering them to remain any longer amongst our statutes.

The bill was read a second time on the 9th of June; and opposed by the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, by the Bishops of BANGOR and ST ASAPH, and by Dr Horsley, then Bishop of ST DAVID'S, in the following words.

"MY LORDS,

"In a variety of laws framed in different periods of our history, either for the maintenance of religion in general, or for the particular security of the national church, that some may be yet standing upon the statute-book unrepealed, which do little

upon me

My

credit to the spirit of the times in which they were enacted, I shall not take to deny. In the repeal, the specific repeal of laws of this description, I for my part, and I trust my brethren of the Episcopal bench, will never be unwilling to concur. Lords, if laws be subsisting contrary to the principles of just government, infractive of the rights of private conscience, repugnant to the mild spirit of the religion we profess, if such laws subsist, the fortunate circumstance of the times in which we live, that no persecution is stirring or likely to be stirred, is no reason, in my judgment, that such laws should be suffered to remain in force: It is a sufficient ground for the repeal of them, that they are weapons loosely lying about, which the Fiend of Persecution may at time pick up any and employ to her own fell purpose, if any unfortunate revolution in the temper of mankind should

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