When the Census Bill was being discussed on Tuesday night,
Baron Dimsdale proposed to ask for the religious pro- fession of each person, as well as their age, sex, &c., pointing out that Ireland was to give us this valuable piece of statistical information, and that, as he proposed to exempt from penalty any one who declined to state his religious pro- fession, he did not see that there was any hardship in getting a useful piece of information from those willing to give it. Mr. Atkinson (M.P. for Boston), as a Nonconformist (he declined to call him himself a Dissenter), seconded Baron Dimsdale's amendment, saying that he did not understand the objection to having either your religious or political opinions " ticketed." He wished especially to know the number of Protestants and Roman Catholics, though he cared less about the Protestant subdivisions. But Mr. Picton of course objected. He had no idea how he should describe himself, and he subsequently said that he should have to put himself down as a member of the Church of England,—which Lord Cranborne described as a truly Irish return.
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