Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
Nor did these terms contain anything like the extent of tyranny imposed
on the conscience of the nation by these monarchs. By the 29 Elizabeth
it was provided that what right or property any person might dispose
of, or settle on any of his family, should still be liable to these
penalties if the proprietor and disposer of them neglected to go to
church. So that a son might be deprived of lands or other property
settled upon him at his marriage, or at any other time, if his father
ceased to attend church, though he himself went punctually; and by
the 21 James I. the informers were stimulated by great rewards to
lay complaints against all whom they could discover offending. And,
moreover, any person was to be considered an absentee from church, and
liable to all the penalties, who did not remain in church during the
whole time of the service; and, also, not only on Sundays, "but upon
all the other days ordained and used to be kept as holidays." All these
odious enactments were left in force by the Toleration Act, except that
they did not compel every one to go to church, but to some licensed
place of worship.
Next came the enactments regarding fasting. By 5 Elizabeth every
person who ate flesh on a fish day was liable to a penalty of three
pounds; and, in case of non-payment, to three months' imprisonment.
It was added that this eating of fish was not from any superstitious
notion, but to encourage the fisheries; but by the 2 and 3 Edward VI.
the power of inflicting these fish and flesh penalties was invested
in the two Archbishops, as though the offence of eating flesh on fish
days was an ecclesiastical offence. Lord Stanhope showed that the
powers and penalties of excommunication were still in full force; that
whoever was excommunicated had no legal power of recovering any debt,
or payment for anything that he might sell; that excommunication and
its penalties were made valid by the 5 Elizabeth and the 29 Charles
II.; that by the 30 Charles II. every peer, or member of the House of
Peers, peer of Scotland, or Ireland, or member of the House of Commons,
who should go to Court without having made the declaration against
transubstantiation, and the invocation of saints therein contained,
should be disabled from holding any office, civil or military, from
making a proxy in the House of Lords, or from sueing or using any
action in law or equity; from being guardian, trustee, or administrator
of any will; and should be deemed "a Popish recusant convict." His
Lordship observed that probably the whole Protestant bench of bishops
were at that moment in this predicament, and that he had a right to
clear the House of them, and proceed with his Bill in their absence.
He next quoted the 1st of James I., which decreed that any woman, or
any person whatever under twenty-one years of age, except sailors,
ship-boys, or apprentices, or factors of merchants, who should go over
sea without a licence from the king, or six of his Privy Council,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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