GENERAL HISTORY. 



[57 



penalties imposed upon persons 

 who denied the doctrine of the 

 Trinity ; and who were not in- 

 cluded in the Act of king William, 

 commonly called the Toleration 

 Act. In the 19th year of the pre- 

 sent reign an act had passed for 

 the relief of those persons, by 

 which they were exempted from 

 the necessity of subscribing the 39 

 articles of the church of England, 

 and a declaration of belief in the 

 holy scriptures was substituted. 

 The acts of king William, however, 

 had not been repealed, by which 

 persons, who in conversation or 

 writing deny the existence of any 

 of the persons of the Trinity, are 

 disabled on conviction from hold- 

 ing any office, civil, ecclesiastical, 

 or military ; and if a second time 

 convicted, are disabled to sue or 

 prosecute in any action or informa- 



1 tion, or to be the guardian of any 

 child, and are liable to imprison- 

 ment for three years. He there- 

 fore moved, " That leave be given 

 to bring in a bill to grant further 

 relief to persons differing in opi- 

 nion from the church of England, 

 with respect to certain penalties 



i| imposed by law on those who im- 

 pugn the doctrine of the holy 



I -XriDity." 



Lord Castlereagh said, he cer- 

 tainly did not see any reason to ob- 

 ject to the principle of the bill ; 

 and the House, on the suggestion 

 of the Speaker, going into a com- 

 mittee, leave was obtained to bring 

 in the bill. 



No further proceedings concern- 

 ing it are reported in the House of 

 Commons. 



On the third reading of the bill 

 in the House of Lords, July 30th, 

 the Archbishop of Canterbury and 

 the Bishop of Chester, each said a 

 few words, not with any inteniion 

 of opposing it, but affirming tiiat 

 it had not been called for by any 

 attempt to inflict penalties upon, or 

 to impede the worship of, the Uni- 

 tarians. The bill was then read a 

 third time and passed. 



That no voice of bigotted zeal 

 was heard in either House on this 

 occasion, may be deemed a pleas- 

 ing proof of the progress which the 

 principle of religious toleration has 

 made within a short course of years. 

 It is also affirmed upon good au- 

 thority, that the positive determi- 

 nation of the ministry, that no op- 

 position to the bill should meet 

 with encouragement on their part, 

 came in aid of the general spirit of 

 liberality. 



