90

HISTOBY OP ENGLAITD.

CHAP.

X!.

1689 .

They were framed at the same time, and laid aside at the same-time: they sank together into oblivion; and they were, afterthe lapse of several years, again brought together before theworld. Both- were laid by the same peer on the table,of theUpper House; and both were referred to the same select com-mittee. But it soon began to appear that they would havewidely different fates. The Comprehension Bill was indeed aneater specimen of legislative workmanship than the TolerationBill, but was not, like the Toleration Bill, adapted to thewants, the feelings, and the prejudices of the existing genera-tion. Accordingly, while the Toleration Bill found support inall quarters, the Comprehension Bill was attacked from allquarters, and was at last coldly and languidly defended evenby those who had introduced it. About the same time at whichthe Toleration Bill became law with the general concurrence ofpublic men, the Comprehension Bill was, with a concurrencenot less general, suffered to drop. The Toleration Bill stillranks among those great statutes which are epochs in our con-stitutional history. The Comprehension Bill is forgotten. Nocollector of antiquities has thought it worth preserving. Asingle copy, the same which Nottingham presented to thepeers, is still among our parliamentary records, but has beenseen by only two or three persons now living. It is a fortunatecircumstance that, in this copy, almost the whole history ofthe Bill can be read. In spite of cancellations and interlinea-tions , the original words can easily be distinguished from thosewhich were inserted in the committee or on the report.*

The first clause, as it stood when the bill was introduced,

* The bill will bo found among the Archives of the IIouso of Lords.It is strange that this vast collection of important documents should havobeen altogether neglected, even by our most exact and diligent historians.It was opened to me by one of the most valued of my friends, Mr. JohnLefevre; and my researches were greatly assisted by the kindness of Mr.Tliom3.