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    ters of religion , and as one necessary consequence of that , we do not approve , under any circumstances , or in any degree , of any political connexion between Church and State , which would virtually go to the denial of that right . I agree with what has been said by former speaker-s ~ 4 bat ~ it -is 4 > ut-justJ ; hat _ theyjivJiQ conscientiously dissent from the establishment should be released

    from all liability to its support ; and that all civil , all social distinctions , grounded upon varieties of religious opinion , ought to be entirely taken away , so that there shall no longer exist in society that disgraceful thing that in the 19 th century , in this day of increased knowledge , it shall affect a man ' s influence or

    reputation , that he shall be on the one hand a churchman or on the other a dissenter . I anrper ^ ctly well aware that as to the question of Church property , it may be considered an indecorous and indrerreafe thing for dissenters to allude to it at all ; but I must

    confess that there is a view of it in which it is interesting to ourselves as well as to the Church . When we speak of Church property I apprehend we mean the donations of our ancestors , as well as that large rent raised by the tax upon land which I trust will be redeemed , ( because it has one of the most injurious and malignant influences upon society , ) and converted into a fund of another

    description . But even supposing the tithes annihilated , as I trust they will be , there will still be funds arising from the commutation of those tithes , in the hands of government , as well as a large mass of property which consists in the funds

    originally created , and in foundations . I think we cannot disguise from ourselves that , as members of the community , we are interested in the future disposal of this property . What' property is it of which we speak ? Is it the property of a private individuai ^ Hfcb ^ JTOnaneiit

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    property of a corporation ? Or is it ; not , in its true and proper character , national property ? I trust that the question has been already set at rest by the well-known incident in oau ? - history . By whom was it set apart , concentrated , and originally placed at

    the disposal of the Church ? Assuredly nojjiyjyhoj ^ wj ^ the present Church of this country , but by the Roman Catholics ; and I conceive that the legislative act which , in the reign of Henry the Eighth , transferred that property from those who then held it to those

    who now possess it , was an acC which stamped upon it decidedly and indisputably the character of a national property . If any doubt remains upon this subject , then we may appeal to the most temperate

    and enlightened writers of our own country , to men whose prejudices and prepossessions were all in favour of the Church , and in opposition to dissenters ; and I will take- this opportunity of mentioning two of them , the late Sir James Macintosh ,

    and Mr . Hallam , the enlightened interpreters of our constitutional history . Both , these writers have taken the same view of this property , that it is held conditionally , for specified purposes , under the sanction

    of the legislature . Regarding it as national property , we are consequently entitled to some consideration for the degree of interest we feel in the disposal of that fund which may be made by the legislature .

    There is one part of this subject upon which I feel very strongly ,- — - I mean with reference to that part of this great national property which is set aside avowedly for the purpose of national education : I mean the two great corporations of the

    universities of Oxford and Cambridge . These are called national institutions , and so they ought to be ; but' 1 appeal to any ona who knows how they are conducted , whether that designation properly describes them .

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    122 tNTE £ LIGENCE AJ * D

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1833, page 122, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2611/page/26/