The bishop of SARUM then spoke to the following purpose:--My lords, I
am so far from being convinced by the arguments of the noble duke,
that the bill now before us ought to be committed without farther
opposition, that, in my opinion, nothing can be more unworthy of the
honour of this house, or more unsuitable to the character which those
who sit on this bench ought to desire, than to agree to any vote which
may have the most distant appearance of approbation.
That a bill drawn up for the reformation of manners, for the restraint
of a predominant and destructive vice, for the promotion of virtue,
and the enforcement of religion, ought, at least, to be calmly and
particularly considered; that the laudable endeavours of the commons
ought not to be discouraged by a precipitate and contemptuous
rejection of the measures which they have formed for the attainment of
a purpose so important, is, indeed, a specious and plausible method of
persuasion; but, my lords, it can affect only those who come to
deliberate upon this bill without having read it.
A very slight and cursory perusal of the bill, my lords, will
dissipate all the mists which eloquence can raise; it will show that
the law now proposed can neither be useful nor ineffectual, but that
it must operate very powerfully, though in a manner by no means
agreeable to its title.
Pages:
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691