Printed letter from Thomas Barnes, sent to Wood, reporting the resolutions of a “General Meeting of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations in Lancashire and Cheshire, held at Manchester, May 16, 1789.”

Barnes and the attendants at the Manchester meeting lament the recent defeat of the repeal petition and repeat their reasons for opposing the Test and Corporation Acts.  They “rejoice” in the King’s Recovery,” but note ‘that, conscious of our Sincerity in this Respect, and of our attachment to the British Constitution, we lament, that the Attempts of Liberal-minded Men to vindicate our Civil Rights, have been so recently defeated.”   They argue “that Religion is not within the Province of the Civil Magistrate; that the Rights of Conscience are the unalienable Rights of Mankind; and that Sincerity before God in the Profession of Religion ought not to be constituted a Crime, by the Acts of any Human Legislature.” They also note that “exclusion from Civil Rights, or Subjection to Civil Penalties, on the mere Account of Religious Opinions, is in all Cases impolitic and unjust.” They have a right to the repeal of these laws, and request Dissenters everywhere to join in this constitutional effort to repeal them.  They request a further application for repeal, and vow to always “keep in View this our Claim to Equal Rights.” They hope the Dissenters do not forget this, and that in the next election they should “pay a particular Attention to such Members of the Legislature, and Candidates for Seats in Parliament, as are Friendly to the Cause of Civil and Religious Liberty.” They request that committees be formed across the country and that they correspond with each other. 

Text: Test Acts Papers, no. 14, Unitarian Collection, UCC 3/6/6, John Rylands University Library of Manchester.