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    ^ ropostd progress the * Bill j and he therefore persevered with a view to the general interests of the question . Lord Milton said , he was sorry that he had given any cause for irritation ; but the statement of gentlemen , made in ignorance no doubt , appeared to him sc extraordinary , that he could not help noticing it .

    The question on the resolution was then put ; when Mr . Secretary Peel left the House , followed by almost all the Occupants of the Treasury Bench , which caused great cheering . An irregular conversation followed , in which Sir George Warrender complained that Mr . Peel ' s departure was a ministerial secession .

    Mr . Peel soou returned , and Sir George said that he was sorry if he had spoken too angrily . Mr . Peel said , he felt no irritation . He left the House because , having been fasting and engaged from nine in the morning , he felt exhausted . He disclaimed having given any signal to those near him to leave the House ; but as he had determined not to vote , his only alternative was to leave the House when

    the question was put . Finally , the resolution was agreed to , reported , and the Report ordered to be taken into consideration on Tuesday . The Bill was brought in and read a first and afterwards a second time without opposition .

    Between the debate on bringing in the Bill and that on the motion for commitment , the United Committee met many times , often from day to day . It was tinderstood to be the intention of some Member , if not of the Government , to propose a declaration pledging every one taking office not to use the authority of that office to the injury of the church ,

    though all desire to fetter the free exercise of individual opinion , or the indulgence of all constitutional means ' of free discussion , was disavowed . The Committee thought it right to come to the following resolutions , in the shape of observations , on the subject , which they placed in the hands of their Parliamentary friends .

    \ 7 th March , 1828 . Observations of the United Committee of Protestant Dissenters on the Declaration proposed to be added to the Repeal Mill . This Committee , on full consideration of the Hubject of a Declaration proposed to be introduced into the Bill for the abolition of the Sacramental Test ,

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    think it right to put their sentiment * npon record as follows r That in their application to the Legis- * fature for the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts , they have been influenced by a strong and conscientious objection to all religious tests of qualification for civil and political office and

    trust , and that although they entertain peculiar repugnance arising from principles and feelings of religion to the Sa--cramental Test , they cannot consistently with their sense of religion approve of any other Test bearing a similar character and professing a similar object .

    That the Declaration proposed to be inserted into the Repeal Bill , ( as far as it is made known , ) consisting of a disavowal of the design and purpose of subverting the church by law established f appears to this Committee unnecessary ^ because the church , with every other political institution of the country , is already sufficiently guarded by numerous laws , and capable of being turned on this

    last account into a stumbling-block to the consciences of Protestant Dissenters , who may think that they violate , or be thought by others to violate , ~ the Declaration by any exertions in favour of that system and form of religion which they feel themselves called upon by a deep sense of duty to promote by all means that are consistent with the peace of the community and their allegiance to the State .

    That there is always evil in tne multiplication of religious Tests for political objects of any description ; that emergencies may arise when the most harmless Tests may be used for the sake of creating division and effecting exclusion ; that any Test relating to the Established Church may seem to acknowledge the principle of the alliance of Church and State , to which principle the Protestant Dissenters of the Three Denominations

    are firmly opposed ; and that the requirement of a disclaimer of a design ta subvert the church would appear to imply , as far as it is professed to protect the church against the Dissenters , a purpose on the part of the Dissenters to

    act illegally and to promote their cause by violence , which purpose they disavow—appealing to their conduct from the period of the Revolution of 1688 , ( when Nonconformity assumed its present form , ) for the sincerity of their disavowal .

    - That if the Dissenters be reduced tothe alternative of submitting to the incorporation of a Declaratory Test into

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    if $ ItiielU&ertb £ . ~ Carporation and Test Attih

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1828, page 276, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/60/