ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

said Majesty, our now Sovereign Lord, and of her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and for default of issue of the said Princess Anne, and of his Majesty respectively, the Crown and regal Government of the said kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, and of the dominions thereunto belonging, with the royal state and dignity of the said realms, and all honours, stiles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions and authorities, to the same belonging and appertaining, shall be, remain, and continue to the said most Excellent Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants: And thereunto the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, shall and will, in the name of all the people of this realm, most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities; and do faithfully promise that after the deceases of his Majesty, and her Royal Highness, and the failure of the heirs of their respective bodies, to stand to, maintain, and defend the said Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants, according to the limitation and succession of the Crown in this Act specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall attempt anything to the contrary.

II. Provided always, and it is hereby enacted, That all and every person and persons, who shall or may take or inherit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this present Act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion, or shall marry a Papist, shall be subject to such incapacities, as in such case or cases are by the said recited Act provided, enacted, and established; and that every King and Queen of this realm, who shall come to and succeed in the Imperial Crown of this kingdom, by virtue of this Act, shall have the Coronation Oath administered to him, her or them, at their respective Coronations, according to the Act of Parliament made in the first year of the reign of his Majesty, and the said late Queen Mary, intituled, 'An Act for establishing the Coronation Oath,' and shall make, subscribe, and repeat the Declaration in the Act first above recited mentioned or referred to, in the manner and form thereby prescribed.

III. And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some further provision be made for securing our religion, laws and liberties, from and after the death of his Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the

body of the said Princess, and of his Majesty respectively: Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,

That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established.

That in case the Crown and imperial dignity of this realm shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the consent of Parliament.

That no person who shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall go out of the dominions of England, Scotland, or Ireland, without consent of Parliament.

That from and after the time that the further limitation by this Act shall take effect, all matters and things relating to the well governing of this kingdom, which are properly cognizable in the Privy Council by the laws and customs of this realm, shall be transacted there, and all resolutions taken thereupon shall be signed by such of the Privy Council as shall advise and consent to the same.

That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging (although he be naturalised or made a denizen, except such as are born of English parents), shall be capable to be of the Privy Council, or a Member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the Crown, to himself or to any other or others in trust for him.

That no person who has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a Member of the House of Commons.

That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, Judges' Commissions be made Quamdiu se bene gesserint, and their salaries ascertained and established; but upon the Address of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to remove them.

That no pardon under the Great Seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the Commons in Parliament.

IV. And whereas the Laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof, and all the Kings and Queens, who shall ascend the Throne of this realm, ought to administer the Government of the same according to the said laws, and all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respectively according to the same: The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do therefore further humbly pray, That all the Laws and Statutes of this realm for securing the established region, and the rights and liberties of the people thereof, and all other Laws and Statutes of the same now in force, may be ratified and confirmed, and the same are by his Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, and by the authority of the same, ratified and confirmed accordingly.

(Statutes of the Realm, VII, 636–638.)

191. The Jesuits in England under William

Henry Humberson

The striking contrast between this letter and No. 178, written but thirteen years before, is the best illustration of the radical change in the status of the Catholics effected by the revolution of 1688. The disabilities then imposed on Catholics were not destined to be removed for over a century. The letter is from the Rev. Henry Humberson, Rector of St. Omer's College, to the Very Rev. Father General of the Society of Jesus.

LETTER FROM THE FATHER PROVINCIAL TO THE FATHER GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

St. Omer, 10th April, 1700.

Very Reverend Father in Christ,

P. C.

It is deemed unsafe to write to your Paternity from England, and this is the reason of my long silence. Being now in Belgium I take the opportunity of writing to acquaint your Paternity in the first place that a great persecution is about to be raised in England. The Parliament which, so long as it stood in need of the aid of the Catholic princes in the war against the King of France and their own Sovereign (James II.), restrained itself for the time, now that the motive for dissimulation is removed, has resumed its accustomed practices, and, besides reviving the ancient penal laws, both Houses have passed a new one, of which the following are the principal heads:

I. If any Catholic Bishop, priest, or Jesuit be apprehended in this kingdom after the 25th of March, 1700, and shall be convicted of having exercised any episcopal or sacerdotal functions whatever, he shall be imprisoned for life in some place in England, to be assigned by the King. The informer is to receive a reward of £100 sterling (about 400 Roman scudi). Also, if any one should open a school for the education of children, or shall afford any means of doing so in his own house, without first taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy, he shall be condemned to the same punishment.

II. After the 29th of September, 1700, every Catholic attaining the age of eighteen must within six months after attaining that age take the said oath, abjuring his faith and embracing the national religion; in default of which he shall be incapable of inheriting or of possessing any goods, honours, or titles whatever, and during such his refusal his inheritance, etc., shall pass to, and be held and enjoyed by his nearest Protestant relation, without being liable to account for the same (except in case of wilful waste).

III. After the 10th of April, 1700, every Catholic shall be incapable of either buying or selling any lands, possessions, or hereditaments whatever within the kingdom; and all titles and contracts of every kind, under which property shall be bought or sold, shall be null and void.

IV. Whoever shall send a son or daughter or any ward into foreign parts for education in the Roman Catholic religion shall be fined in the sum of £100 sterling, and whereas the statute of I. James I. awarded one half that fine to be paid to the Treasury and the other half to the informer, now, to intensify the exertions of the informer, the whole fine is allotted to them by way of reward.

V. In order that Protestant sons or daughters born of Catholic parents may not be compelled to follow their parents' religion against their conscience for want of the means of support, it is enacted that in case such parents refuse to find them support proper to their state, the Lord Chancellor, upon the petition of any such child, shall order some scheme whereby the second clause of the act may be applied to them.

This act having passed both Houses of Parliament only awaits the assent of the Prince of Orange, who is now king, to give it the force of law, and this there is no doubt of his giving. A persecution is hence anticipated, exceeding any that has been experienced since heresy took root in England. No act of Parliament more calculated to root out the Catholic

faith in England was ever enacted, and, unless it pleases God to hinder its execution, it will be impossible for religion long to exist in the kingdom. I have ordained public prayers throughout the whole Province to implore the Divine protection. I entreat your Paternity likewise to recommend the unhappy condition of our country to the Holy Sacrifices and prayers of the whole Society, and that they will remember me also,

Your Very Rev. Paternity's

Most obedient servant in Christ,
Henry Humberston.

(Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, ed. cit., V.)

192. Dissenters in the Eighteenth Century

Chamberlayne

The student should not lose sight of the fact that for a thousand years after the coming of the Anglo-Saxons as for centuries before, the Church of Rome was the Church in England. Following the establishment of the Church of England in the reign of Henry VIII a variety of sects contended with the State Church for place and power. Much of the history of the later Tudors and the Stuarts finds its impulses in the dissensions of sectaries. Despite constant and stringent measures looking to uniformity of worship, dissent continued and increased. The following selection well illustrates the theological divisions of the people after the Revolution of 1688.

The inhabitants of this land, being a sensible and civilized people, are generally much addicted to religion; and whereas, in those countries where the Roman Catholic religion is national, ignorance is the mother of devotion, people of the best parts being least affected with a religion; so, contrary to reason, here in England those who are of the best capacities are generally most devout; and again, the devoutest men of this church are always the best moralists, which shows their devotion to be unfeigned and without hypocrisy; but the greatest blemish to religion amongst us is the pitiable number of dissenters from the Established Church, some prejudiced by education, some by sensuality, some by interest, and some few by misguided zeal; for, having repented of their former ill courses, whilst they call themselves members of the Church of England, they think they cannot thoroughly change their lives without changing their religion too, becoming, like stray sheep, an easy prey to the next claimer.

If we divide the people of England into 60 parts, perhaps

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »