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    congregation of Calvinistic Methodists in that island , should no longer frequent the meetings , and who in order to prevent her from attending , had committed an outrage from which huniamty recoiled , and which religion must disapprove . He had entered the meeting , seized his wife , and with a handkerchief round her

    mouth , by which she was nearly strangled , dragged her from the house of peace and prayer ; and sorry he ( Mr . W . ) was to say , that such was the state of English law , that it seemed at first as if no punishment could be inflicted for the assault on the woman . It was ,

    however , at least due to social order that such a violation of public worship should not be suffered to pass unnoticed . A prosecution was instituted , and the offender was found guilty , but something induced the magistrates to suspend passing sentence upon him for that of which

    a jury of his country had convicted him . The excuse was , that the Registrar of the Bishop had not entered in some book or roll the certificate of registration delivered to him by the congregation , in compliance with the provisions of the law . All that was required by the

    Toleration Act , or the subsequent amendment , was , that the congregation should notify their intention of assembling for public worship to the Clerk of the Peace , or tu the proper ecclesiastical officer of the Bishopric or Archdeaconry in which

    the place was situated . This congregation had complied with all that the Act of Parliament required . If the entry had been neglected , were their rights to be impugned , because an act which they could not ascertain had not been done

    by a person whom they could neither punish nor controul ? This , however , appeared to the Chairman of the Quarter Sessions a sufficient ground to suspend the operation of the law against the offender . The Chairman had also given

    it as his opinion , with what gallantry he ( Mr . W . ) would leave it to the meeting to judge , that according to the English law a man had an unquestionable right to exercise this duresse over his wife , and that if she presumed to worship God in any other edifice or form than that which

    he approved , he might clearly , according to the civil law , with whips and clubs , inflict such punishment on her as the offence required . ( Hear . ) Under these circumstances , a solicitor of Wales had applied to the Committee for assistance ,

    and they had obtained the opinion of a gentleman whose high legal knowledge , and whose recent elevation to the judicial bench taught them to expect that he would not now contradict the opinions which ia his inferior , thbugh still emi-

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    nent situation , he had thought proper to give . Mr . Littledale , whose opinion he was about to quote , said , that it was impossible that a man could be allowed to exercise such an authority over his wife , and that he was punishable by law

    for his harsh and unmanly conduct , equally inconsistent with the feelings that common humanity and conjugal affection should inspire . ( Applause . ) Mr . Littledale added , that there was also unquestionably a violation of public worship , and therefore that the Magistrates could not

    refuse to pass sentence . This opinion was communicated to the Chairman of the island . He hesitated no more , and the man who had so grossly offended against the interests of religion and humanity , suffered the punishment that the

    law prescribed . He ( Mr . Wilks ) regretted that such opinions as those of the Chairman of the Anglesea Sessions should have been pronounced in this country , and especially among the ardent and benevolent descendants of the remainder of its

    ancient population . He was delighted with the contrary opinion given by a judge of South Carolina . The opinions of the English commentators , which were of authority in the American Courts , and

    the doctrines of the civil law , were gravely developed to him , but they were not satisfactory to his judgment . The law of America , said he , shall now be made known to the world , and perhaps I cannot better state it than in the words of a

    poet and a dramatist ( Mr . Tobin ) who was the ornament of England : — " The man who lays his hand upon a woman , except in affection , is a brute , whom it were gross flattery to call a coward . " ( Continued applause . ) In the ancient city of Canterbury , there had occurred a

    case than which few were better deserving of attention . The persons there , it was true , were not contributors to the Society , arid they belonged to one of those very numerous sects which were springing up , perhaps , too rapidly . But they were poor , destitute , and neglected . They

    were numerous , but wealth had not followed their numbers . They had asked for protection , and in proportion to the sternness and might of the oppressor should be manifested energy to resist him , and that promptitude of zeal which he knew the Society gloried to display . ( Applause . ) It appeared on

    investigating the case , that there had been a succession of riots by which the peace of the city had been disturbed , and the lives of its inoffensive inhabitants exposed to danger , and that rhese proceedings had been patronized by those who should with gentleness , if not authority , have repulsed the rising tumults . If some

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    434 Intelligence . —Protestant Society : Mr . Wilhtfs Speech „

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1824, page 434, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2526/page/50/