thousand five hundred eighty-one pounds, nineteen shillings. The money
was raised by a land-tax, malt-tax, and lottery.

ACT FOR STRENGTHENING THE PROTESTANT INTEREST.

On the thirteenth day of December, earl Stanhope declared, in the house
of lords, that in order to unite the hearts of the well affected to the
present establishment, he had a bill to offer under the title of "An
act for strengthening the protestant interest in these kingdoms." It was
accordingly read, and appeared to be a bill repealing the acts against
occasional conformity, the growth of schism, and some clauses in the
corporation and test acts. This had been concerted by the ministry in
private meetings with the most eminent dissenters. The tory lords were
astonished at this motion, for which they were altogether unprepared.
Nevertheless they were strenuous in their opposition. They alleged that
the bill, instead of strengthening, would certainly weaken the church of
England, by plucking off her best feathers, investing her enemies with
power, and sharing with churchmen the civil and military employments
of which they were then wholly possessed. Earl Cowper declared himself
against that part of the bill by which some clauses of the test and
corporation acts were repealed; because he looked upon those acts as the
main bulwark of our excellent constitution in church and state, which
ought to be inviolably preserved. The earl of Hay opposed the bill,
because, in his opinion, it infringed the _pacta conventa_ of the treaty
of union, by which the bonds both of the church of England and of the
church of Scotland were fixed and settled; and he was apprehensive,
if the articles of the union were broke with respect to one church, it
might afterwards be a precedent to break them with respect to the other.
The archbishop of Canterbury said the acts which by this bill would be
repealed, were the main bulwark and supporters of the English church;
he expressed all imaginable tenderness for well-meaning conscientious
dissenters; but he could not forbear saying, some among that sect made a
wrong use of the favour and indulgence shown to them at the revolution,
though they had the least share in that happy event; it was therefore
thought necessary for the legislature to interpose, and put a stop to
the scandalous practice of occasional conformity. He added, that it
would be needless to repeal the act against schism, since no advantage
had been taken of it to th