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    Second Reading of Unitarian Marriag-e Bill . March 25 . Mr . W . Smith said , that it was not his intention to enter into the subject at any length , because the grounds of the

    measure were sufficiently understood , as it had already been before the House on more than one occasion . The parties on whose behalf he spoke were the Unitarian Dissenters of this country , who entertained no objection to the form of the marriage ceremony , excepting that it expressed ! sentiments in which they could

    not agree . All they asked was to be relieved from the . expression of those sentiments . The Honourable Member then noticed the aianner iu which the BiU of last year had been received in the Hou ^ e of Lords , and quoted some opinions in its favour , from whence he inferred that it was admitted that the object in view was just aud reasonable- He was aware that

    certain parties were unfriendly to the measure , but he conceived himself justified in expecting that the second reading of this Bill would not be strongly resisted . All the framers of it sought was a reasonable relief , from conscientious motives , to which the Legislature always attended .

    They had , therefore , drawn up the Bill in the most unobjectionable terms . At the same time they were not so wedded to its provisions as not to be disposed to accede to auy moderate alterations . The Dissenters only desired to be relieved

    from attending a service in which they could not agree , and were willing to give any security to comply with the statute of Geo . II . to prevent clandestine marriages . He reserved himself to reply to any objections that might be urged , and moved that the Bill be read a second time .

    Mr . Robertson considered the Church of England essential to the throne of these kingdoms , and resisted the further progress of the BUI . He had agreed to give emancipation to the Roman Catholics , because they insisted upon being

    emancipated ; it could not be longer refused to them , - but he would not concede to the Unitarians , as they had no just claim to the exception they sought . He agreed that scruples of conscience ought to be roapectod ; but way it known that those

    nmrplca really existed ? And if the Unitarians obtained what they required , there was no pretence for not yielding to the real or supposed scruples of the Presbyterians aud other classes of Dissenters .

    In his opinion , Government would desert its duty if it gave the slightest countenance to the present measure . Two years ago , the Honourable Member wlio moved this Bill had presented a petition from the

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    Unitarians , which fully explained their objects . It shewed that the Unitarians were not Christians : they called them , selves so , but he denied the fact : strip the Saviour of his divinity , and there was an end of true Christianity . The Unitarians were much more like Mahometans , who contended that Mahomet was not

    God b « t a prophet . When this claim was granted , it would instantly be followed up by others more unreasonable . The chief objection of the Unitarians was to the words the * ' Holy Ghost" in the marriage ceremony—but that was a mere verbiii dispute of no substantial importance . He begged leave to request the House to turn back their eyes over the pages of history , and view the awful mischiefs which

    Puritanism had brought upon tins country . Patronised by the fanatic Cromwell , they had pulled down the Church , and had instilled a spirit of mischief ? nto the nation . He , therefore , opposed the second reading of this Bill upon all the grounds he had stated , and he did it earnestly , because he thought the concessions asked would be productive of the greatest degree of tcischief .

    Dr . Lushington said , there was one observation of the Honourable Member who spoke last , that struck him most forcibly—namely , that he was not allied to the Church of England . The Church of England had been much misrepresented , when it was supposed to have the effect of preventing the Dissenters from

    enjoying their religious opinions fully and fairly ; and he would take the liberty of stating to the House , the opinion of two Archbishops of the Realm , and the Bishops of London , Exeter and Landaflf , on this subject . They had said , " We will not take upon ourselves to judge whether your scruples are well or ill-founded ; we

    will not go into an examination to prove the fallacy of your opinions—because we know that , upon ail matters of religious belief , the conscience alone of the individual mast guide and reconcile to him the religion of the Deity whom he worships . " This was the opinion maintained by these

    distinguished prelates ; and the same opinions prevailed at a former time when a similar measure was agitated . He would take the liberty of stating the contents of a Protest signed by three archbishops , and ten bishops in Ireland , when

    in the year 1782 , on an occasion a bill was brought into the Irish Parliament for the purpose of permitting Dissenters to be married by ministers o their own persuasion . They dissented to the Bill in certain clauses , but to tnt principle of it they decidedly assentea . These were the concluding words of tn Protest : "We are willing to pass a du > rendmiHT nil matrimonial contract

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    506 Intelligence . — Parliamentary : Unitarian Marriage Bill .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1825, page 506, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2539/page/48/