middle
course--they wished the bill to go into committee in order to restore
it to its original state; if unsuccessful there, they would vote against
the third reading. The lords, however, were determined to reject it
forthwith; and on a division the bill was thrown out by a majority of
one hundred and eighty-nine against one hundred and twenty-two. By the
rejection of the bill, the Irish clergy was thrown on the charity of
the British public, who liberally responded to their demand: a large
subscription was made to relieve their distresses.

STATE OF ECCLESIASTICAL QUESTIONS AND THE CLAIMS OF DISSENTERS.

It was not the Catholics alone who regarded the Protestant establishment
with a jealous eye; there were discontents and heart-burnings, also,
among dissenters. The great majority of the people of England adhered
to the established church, yet the dissenters formed a numerous
body, possessing in many instances great respectability, wealth, and
influence. As a body they were impressed with the idea that, by the
church being supported as a national institution, they were stamped with
a mark of inferiority. Acting upon this impression, they very naturally
employed the power with which they were now invested to bring down the
established church to the same level on which they themselves stood; to
annihilate all the rights, powers, and privileges which belonged to
its members; and, by depriving it of all support from the funds of the
state, convert it into a self-constituted religious community. Their
great objects were to obtain those privileges from which they were
excluded, and to be relieved from the necessity of supporting an
establishment in the advantages of which they did not participate.
The occasion was favourable for the enterprise, in consequence of the
unsettled and uncertain state in which things stood, and the hopes held
out by a ministry who seemed disposed to make concessions to all classes
of men if they were but importunate. In accordance with their views,
various petitions were presented by them to parliament in the beginning
of the session, praying to be relieved from church-rates; and in many
instances urging the separation of church and state, or recommending the
general establishment of the voluntary system. These petitions, however,
led to no other result but that of producing a strong expression of
opposite opinions, and calling forth numerous anti-petitions, praying
parliament to preserve t