convened. It appears, that the draft of the thirtynine articles was presented to the convocation by archbishop Parker, and that the convocation approved them unanimously. All the registers of the convocation having been burned at the memorable fire at London, our information of its proceedings upon the articles must be derived from other sources, and these unfortunately are very imperfect.

We find that the convocation first met at the Chapter-house, at St. Paul's, on the 12th day of January, and held thirty-six several sittings, sometimes at the Chapter-house, and sometimes, by continuation, at king Henry the seventh's chapel at Westminster. Archbishop Parker presided, and was the great mover of all the proceedings. The members began by taking into consideration the articles of Edward the sixth: from forty-two they reduced them to thirty-nine, but making alterations in some, which were retained. With these alterations, the convocation adopted them unanimously; and thus, they had all the authority that the convocation of Canterbury could confer on them.

In 1566, a bill was brought into parliament to confirm them: it passed the commons, but was dropped in the house of lords, by the queen's particular command. In the year 1571, the convocation revised the articles of 1562, and made some alterations in them. In the same year, an act was passed, "to provide that the ministers of the "church should be of sound religion." It enacted, that, "all ecclesiastical persons should subscribe

66

66

66

"to all the articles of religion, which only con"cerned the confession of the true faith, and of the sacraments, comprised in a book imprinted, in"tituled, Articles, whereupon it was agreed by the archbishops and bishops, and the whole clergy in convocation, holden at London, in the year of our Lord 1562, according to the compu"tation of the church of England, for the avoiding "of the diversities of opinions, and for the establishing of consent touching true religion, put "forth by the queen's authority.' All the acts of parliament made subsequently to this time, which mention the articles, refer to this act, as settling the articles, and the rule of subscription to them.

66

999

For some reason, which does not now appear, they were confirmed in 1584, by the convocation of Canterbury. In 1628, an edition of them, in the English language, was published by the royal authority. To this edition, a declaration of king Charles the first is prefixed: it is the exemplar of all the subsequent editions*.

XXIV. 3.

The Act of Uniformity.

THIS act has already been summarily mentioned: it was levelled, at least, as much against the puritans, as the roman-catholics. Elizabeth loved the pomp

* A fuller account of the thirty-nine articles is given by the writer in his History of Confessions of Faith, c. xi. " on the symbolic books of the church of England;" it gives a summary statement of the controversy on the authentic edition of the articles.

and ceremonial of the catholic church, and the spirit of subordination inculcated by its tenets and discipline. In her chapel, there was an altar, a crucifix, and lighted tapers; copes and rich garments were, at first, used by the officiating ministers, and the knights of the garter bowed before the altar, a ceremony which had been disused by her brother Edward. Something of a conciliatory disposition towards the catholics was shown, by her expunging from the litany the clause introduced into it in the reign of her brother," From the tyranny of the bishop of Rome, and all his de"testable enormities, good Lord deliver us ;"—and by omitting in the thirty-nine articles, the long refutation of the doctrine of the real presence, introduced into the forty-two articles; and by adopting the general expression, that "the body of Christ is given and received in a spiritual manner, and the means, by which it is received, is faith."

66

66

The independent spirit of the puritans,—a spirit which had long strongly manifested itself in ecclesiastical, and now began to show itself in political, concerns, both disgusted and alarmed Elizabeth; she perceived that their dislike to any ecclesiastical restraint was accompanied by strong sentiments of political liberty. One object of the statute of uniformity certainly was, to guard the church and state against these religionists. It is not, however, a little remarkable, that, while she thought her civil and ecclesiastical government stood in need of so strong a defence against the puritans, her confidential ministers, Cecil, Leicester, and Walsingham,

and her favourite Essex, were known to be closely connected with them.

The act of uniformity* enjoined all ministers to use the book of common prayer, and none other, in the celebration of divine service; and that every minister refusing to use it, or using any other, or speaking in derogation of the common prayer, should, if not beneficed, for the first offence be imprisoned one year, for the second, be imprisoned for life; and if beneficed, for the first offence, be imprisoned six months, and forfeit a year's value of his benefice; for the second, be deprived and suffer one year's imprisonment; and for the third, be imprisoned for life; and that, if any person should speak in derogation of the book, or prevent the reading of it, or cause any other service to be read in its stead, he should forfeit, for the first offence, one hundred marks; for the second, four hundred, and for the third, all his goods and chattels, and suffer imprisonment for lifet.

* 1 Eliz. C. 2.

+ Sir William Blackstone, (book iv. c. 4.) mentions the terror of these laws, as a principal means, under Providence, of preserving the purity as well as the decency of the national worship, and he approves their continuance. These observations produced, "Remarks on some Paragraphs in the fourth "volume of Dr. Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of "England, relating to the Dissenters, by Joseph Priestley, "LL. D. F. R. s. 8vo. 1769." These remarks sir William Blackstone answered, by " A Reply to Dr. Priestley's Remarks on "the fourth volume of the Commentaries on the Laws of "England, 8vo. 1769."

XXIV. 4.

The Statutes of Recusancy.

THE object of these statutes, was to compel a regular attendance, at the service of the church. For this purpose, the act of the 1st Eliz. c. 1, subjected those, who absented themselves from church, to a forfeiture of one shilling to the poor, for every Lord's day, in which they should so absent themselves; and of twenty pounds to the king, if they continued such absence for a month together: if they kept in their houses any inmate guilty of such absence, they were to forfeit ten pounds for every such month. The penalties were rigorously required: every fourth Sunday of absence was held to complete the month; and thus, thirteen months were, in relation to these penalties, supposed to occur in every year. The amount of the money thus raised from the catholics was very great. It was chiefly levied on the poorer sort: the rich purchasing from Elizabeth dispensations from attendance on the protestant service. Mr. Andrews* computes the annual amount of the money thus received by Elizabeth for dispensations, at 20,000l.

Those, who thus absented themselves from the protestant church, obtained the appellation of recusants. Till the statute of the 35th Eliz. c. 2, protestants and catholics were equally considered,

*

History of Great Britain, from the death of Henry the eighth to the accession of James the sixth, of Scotland, vol. ii. P. 35