4. That the Bill now introduced into the House of Lords appears to us inconsistent with the unmolested liberty which we have long thankfully enjoyed; repugnant to our principles and profession as Protestant dissenters, who disavow the authority of the civil magistrate in the province of religion, and imposing restrictions which will be in various respects, injurious and oppressive.
5. That it is our duty, on our own behalf, and on behalf of our brethren, as well as with a view to the cause of religions liberty in general, to make every constitutional effort in our power for preventing this Bill from passing into a law; and that for this purpose a petition be presented by this body to the House of Peers.
Dan. Taylor, Chairman.
At a Meeting of the Deputies appointed for supporting the Civil Rights of Protestant dissenters, held at the King’s Head Tavern, in the Poultry, London, May 15, 1811, William Smith, Esq. M. P. in the Chair:
Resolved, That liberty of conscience, comprehending the freedom of public assemblies for religious worship and instruction, in such forms and under such teachers as men shall for themselves approve, is the unalienable right of all; in the peaceable exercise of which they are not justly controlable by the civil magistrate.
Resolved, That this liberty has been generally recognized in the practice of the British Government since the æra of the Revolution, under the construction of the statute commonly called the Toleration Act; whatever may have been the letter of the law, the spirit of toleration has been extended, and a large portion of religious liberty actually enjoyed.
Resolved, That we have beheld, with great concern, a Bill lately brought into Parliament, designed, as appears to us, to abridge such religious liberty, and having a tendency to deprive the lower classes of the community of those opportunities which they have so long enjoyed, to attend public worship and religious instruction under teachers of their own choice.
Resolved, That, as deputies appointed by large and respectable bodies of Protestant dissenters to attend to their civil rights, it becomes our bounden duty immediately to protest against the principle of such measure, and to point out the unjust and vexatious operation of the aforesaid Bill, as now brought into Parliament.
Resolved, That a Petition against the said Bill, grounded on the principles of the foregoing resolutions, be signed by the members of this meeting, and presented to the legislature.