dissenters from the church of England; but the term
applies more particularly to those ministers who were ejected from their
livings by the Act of Uniformity in 1662; the number of whom, according
to Dr. Calamy, was nearly two thousand; and to the laity who adhered to
them. The celebrated Mr. Locke says, Bartholomew-day (the day fixed by
the Act of Uniformity) was fatal to our church and religion, by throwing
out a very great number of worthy, learned, pious, and orthodox divines,
who could not come up to this and other things in that act. And it is
worth your knowledge, that so great was the zeal in carrying on this
church affair, and so blind was the obedience required, that if you
compare the time of passing the act with the time allowed for the clergy
to subscribe the book of Common Prayer thereby established, you shall
plainly find, it could not be printed and distributed, so as one man in
forty could have seen and read the book before they did so perfectly
assent and consent thereto.”
By this act, the clergy were required to subscribe, _ex animo_,
[sincerely,] their assent and consent to all and every thing contained
in the book of Common Prayer,” which had never before been insisted on,
so rigidly as to deprive them of their livings and livelihood. Several
other acts were passed about this time, very oppressive both to the
clergy and laity. In the preceding year 1661, the Corporation Act
incapacitated all persons from offices of trust and honour in a
corporation, who did not receive the sacrament in the established
church. The Conventicle Act, in 1663 and 1670, forbade the attendance at
conventicles; that is, at places of worship other than the
establishment, where more than five adults were present beside the
resident family; and that under penalties of fine and imprisonment by
the sentence of magistrates without a jury. The Oxford Act of 1665
banished nonconforming ministers five miles from any corporate town
sending members to parliament, and prohibited them from keeping or
teaching schools. The Test Act of the same year required all persons,
accepting any office under government, to receive the sacrament in the
established church.
Such were the dreadful consequences of this intolerant spirit, that it
is supposed that near eight thousand died in prison in the reign of
Charles II. It is said that Mr. Jeremiah White had carefully collected a
list of those who had suffered between Charles II. and the revolution,
which amounted to sixty thousand. The same persecutions were carried on
in Scotland; and there, as well as in England, numbers, to avoid the
persecution, left their country. But, notwithstanding all these dreadful
and furious attacks upon the dissenters, they were not extirpated. Their
very persecution was in their favour. The infamous character of their
informers and persecutors; their piety, zeal, and fortitude, no doubt,
had influence on considerate minds; and, indeed, they had additions from
the established church, which several clergymen in this reign deserted
as a persecuting church, and took their lot among them. King William
coming to the throne, the famous Toleration Act passed, by which they
were exempted from suffering the penalties above mentioned, and
permission was given them to worship God according to the dictates of
their own consciences. In the reign of George III., the Act for the
Protection of Religious Worship superseded the Act of Toleration, by
still more liberal provisions in favour of religious liberty; and in the
last reign the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed.
applies more particularly to those ministers who were ejected from their
livings by the Act of Uniformity in 1662; the number of whom, according
to Dr. Calamy, was nearly two thousand; and to the laity who adhered to
them. The celebrated Mr. Locke says, Bartholomew-day (the day fixed by
the Act of Uniformity) was fatal to our church and religion, by throwing
out a very great number of worthy, learned, pious, and orthodox divines,
who could not come up to this and other things in that act. And it is
worth your knowledge, that so great was the zeal in carrying on this
church affair, and so blind was the obedience required, that if you
compare the time of passing the act with the time allowed for the clergy
to subscribe the book of Common Prayer thereby established, you shall
plainly find, it could not be printed and distributed, so as one man in
forty could have seen and read the book before they did so perfectly
assent and consent thereto.”
By this act, the clergy were required to subscribe, _ex animo_,
[sincerely,] their assent and consent to all and every thing contained
in the book of Common Prayer,” which had never before been insisted on,
so rigidly as to deprive them of their livings and livelihood. Several
other acts were passed about this time, very oppressive both to the
clergy and laity. In the preceding year 1661, the Corporation Act
incapacitated all persons from offices of trust and honour in a
corporation, who did not receive the sacrament in the established
church. The Conventicle Act, in 1663 and 1670, forbade the attendance at
conventicles; that is, at places of worship other than the
establishment, where more than five adults were present beside the
resident family; and that under penalties of fine and imprisonment by
the sentence of magistrates without a jury. The Oxford Act of 1665
banished nonconforming ministers five miles from any corporate town
sending members to parliament, and prohibited them from keeping or
teaching schools. The Test Act of the same year required all persons,
accepting any office under government, to receive the sacrament in the
established church.
Such were the dreadful consequences of this intolerant spirit, that it
is supposed that near eight thousand died in prison in the reign of
Charles II. It is said that Mr. Jeremiah White had carefully collected a
list of those who had suffered between Charles II. and the revolution,
which amounted to sixty thousand. The same persecutions were carried on
in Scotland; and there, as well as in England, numbers, to avoid the
persecution, left their country. But, notwithstanding all these dreadful
and furious attacks upon the dissenters, they were not extirpated. Their
very persecution was in their favour. The infamous character of their
informers and persecutors; their piety, zeal, and fortitude, no doubt,
had influence on considerate minds; and, indeed, they had additions from
the established church, which several clergymen in this reign deserted
as a persecuting church, and took their lot among them. King William
coming to the throne, the famous Toleration Act passed, by which they
were exempted from suffering the penalties above mentioned, and
permission was given them to worship God according to the dictates of
their own consciences. In the reign of George III., the Act for the
Protection of Religious Worship superseded the Act of Toleration, by
still more liberal provisions in favour of religious liberty; and in the
last reign the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed.