Lord Sidmouth’s Bill being thus lost, and the subject of Toleration having been so fully discussed, and so ably defended in the House of Lords, it was rational to hope that the cause of religious liberty would now be triumphant; that persecutors would be ashamed and hide their heads; that the pious people of the land would enjoy their privileges unmolested; that every man would be permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience, and “sit under his vine and fig-tree, none daring to make him afraid.” But alas! this hope was fallacious; the spirit of persecution revived, a new construction was put upon the Toleration Act, and “the enemies of religious liberty exerted themselves to effect that without law, which they failed to accomplish by it.” Several magistrates in different parts of the kingdom, at the Quarter Sessions of the peace, refused to administer the oaths as formerly, to the ministers who applied, and in some cases they were treated with rudeness and contempt!
The Conventicle Act was again brought into use, and several persons were fined, or imprisoned, for preaching without licences, or in unlicenced houses, and in one instance, for praying with a few poor people: this religious exercise, by a certain Nobleman, who was chairman of the Quarter Sessions, was construed in teaching, and the man was fined accordingly! This extraordinary decision, however, was overruled by an application to the Court of King’s Bench, and the fine returned.
Dreadful outrages were committed in various parts of the country, and the lives and liberties of his Majesty’s peaceable and loyal subjects were threatened and endangered.
These circumstances greatly alarmed the nation, and more especially as several cases had been brought before the Court of King’s Bench, and the decisions of the Judges appeared to be contrary to former interpretations of the Toleration Act. Matters now began to wear a very alarming aspect, and it was apprehended that the persecuting spirit of former ages was about to be revived. The Toleration Act, under which the Methodists and Dissenters had been so long protected, it was now discovered, could no longer afford them protection. This state of things excited universal interest; the minds of the pious people in the land, both in and out of the established Church, were greatly agitated; and it was deemed highly expedient, yea absolutely necessary, that some decisive steps should be immediately taken, for the better security of the invaluable rights of Conscience and Religion.
The Committees of the different denominations of Dissenters, of the friends of Religious Liberty, and of Mr. Wesley’s Societies, as mentioned before, were again convened; and after the most mature deliberation, it was unanimously determined respectfully to submit their grievances to his Majesty’s Ministers, and to pray for redress. This they did, first to the late Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who approved of the plan proposed for their relief, and promised them support; as will appear from the following authentic copy of a letter, dated Downing-street, April 10th, 1812, and addressed to Joseph Butterworth, Esq. Fleet-street.
Downing-street, April 10, 1812.
Sir,—Having had an opportunity, in the course of the late recess, to consider, with my colleagues, the subject of your communication, on the part of the dissenters, I proceed to acquaint you as I promised, with our opinion upon it.
It appears to us, that the interpretations recently given, at different Quarter Sessions, to those statutes under which magistrates are authorized to grant certificates to persons wishing to act as Dissenting Ministers, (and which interpretations, as far as they have hitherto undergone judicial decision, appear to be more correct constructions of these laws, than those which heretofore prevailed in practice,) place the persons, who wish to obtain certificates as Dissenting Ministers, in a situation so different from that in which the previous practice had placed them, as to require parliamentary interference and relief, to the extent, at least, of rendering legal the former practice; and I shall, therefore, be willing, either to bring forward, or to support, an application to parliament for the purpose of affording such relief.
Understanding, however, that a case is now pending in judgment, before the King’s Bench, upon the construction of some part of these Acts, it appears to me, that it will be desirable to postpone any direct application to the Legislature till that decision shall explain the exact state of the law upon the point in dispute in that case. By postponing the application to parliament till after the decision in that case, no such delay will be incurred as will prevent the application to parliament in this session, since the decision will, I believe, be pronounced upon it in the ensuing term.