484 LAWS AGAINST ROMAN CATHOLICS. CH. XXV. this subject; though I may observe that the expression "popish recusant," which continually occurs in the acts on 1 the subject, means 'a Roman Catholic who, because he is one, refuses to come to church. It must also be observed that practically several of the statutes by which it was made high treason or an offence punishable by pramunire to deny the royal supremacy may be regarded either as creating offences against the State or offences against religion. Having already referred to many of them in giving the history of the law relating to political offences, I need not return to the subject. I may, however, observe that several of the treasons created in Elizabeth's reign seem to fall rather under the head of offences against religion than under that of offences against the State, though no doubt they were passed principally, if not altogether, for political reasons. The most important of the acts in question were as follows: In 1570, Pius V. issued a bull releasing Elizabeth's subjects from their allegiance. By way of reply to this there was passed in the same year the act 13 Eliz. c. 2, which made it treason to use or put in ure" any bull of absolution or reconciliation, or to absolve or reconcile any person by virtue of any such bull. It was also made a pramunire to bring any agnus dei "or "any crosses, pictures, beads, or any such like vain and "superstitious things from the Bishop or See of Rome, or "from any person authorised or claiming authority by or from "the said Bishop of Rome, to consecrate or hallow the same." In 1580, the contest between Catholic and Protestant was at its height. The massacre of St. Bartholomew had happened just eight years before. The Spanish Armada sailed eight years afterwards. The parliamentary association for the protection of Elizabeth against assassination was formed in 1584, and Mary Stuart was executed in 1587. Under these circumstances the following Acts of Parliament 1 "And first as to the said offence of not coming to church, so far as it "practically concerns those of the popish religion who, in respect thereof, are 'commonly called popish recusants."-1 Hawkins, P. C. 386. 66 STATUTES OF ELIZABETH. 485 were passed :-By 23 Eliz. c. 1, s. 2, it was made high treason CH. XXV. "to pretend to have power, or by any ways and means put in practice, to absolve, persuade, or withdraw any of the "queen's subjects from their natural obedience to her Majesty, or to withdraw them for that intent from the religion now by her Highness's authority established within "her Highness's dominions to the Romish religion, or to move them to promise any obedience to any pretended authority of the See of Rome," or do any overt act for that purpose. By s. 4 of the same act the saying or singing of mass was made an offence punishable by two hundred marks fine, and imprisonment for a year and till payment. To hear mass willingly was made an offence punishable by one hundred marks fine and a year's imprisonment. In 1585 was passed 27 Eliz. c. 7, "An Act against Jesuits, 'seminary priests, and other such like disobedient persons. It provided that all Jesuits, seminary priests, and other priests, ordained out of England or ordained in England since the beginning of the reign under the authority of the Pope, should within forty days leave the realm; that every such priest coming into the realm, or remaining in it after the forty days, should be guilty of high treason; and that it should be felony without benefit of clergy "wittingly and "willingly" to "receive, relieve, comfort, aid, or maintain any such Jesuit, seminary priest, or other priest, being at liberty "and out of hold." Every subject being a student at a semwithin six months after a proclamation made for that purpose under pain of high treason. inary was to return By the same act it was made a pramunire to send money to any Jesuit, or seminary or other priest abroad, and a misdemeanour to send any child or other person under the government of the offender abroad without special license. In 1593, the effects of the defeat of the Spanish Armada had made themselves felt in various directions. The large body of persons who up to that time had been moderate Roman Catholics, or at least had favoured the Roman Catholic side, became members of the Church of England, and formed the High Church section of it. The Church of England was thus strongly reinforced, both as against the extreme Catholics 486 ACTS OF ELIZABETH AGAINST POPERY. " CH. XXV. and as against the Puritans, and the effect of this was shown in the legislation of 1593. In that year were passed two most severe acts-35 Eliz. c. 1, "The Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's subjects in their due obedience," and 35 Eliz. c. 2, "An Act for restraining popish recusants to some certain places of abode." Of the first act I have already spoken. The second provided that all popish recusants should within a certain time "repair to their place of dwelling "where they usually heretofore made their common abode, "and shall not at any time after pass or remove above five "miles from thence." A recusant having no place of abode was to "repair to the place where such person was born, or "where the father or mother of such person shall then be dwelling, and not remove or pass above five miles from "thence." The penalty was forfeiture of goods and chattels, and of the profits of land for life. They were also to notify their names to the minister or constable of the parish. If an offender had nothing to forfeit, he was to abjure the realm. The result of this legislation was that at the end of the reign of Elizabeth every Roman Catholic priest in England, except the few who might have been ordained in the reign of Queen Mary, was by the very fact of his presence in England guilty of high treason; that to celebrate the mass was an offence in itself punishable with fine and imprisonment, and that popish recusants were not only liable to ruinous penalties, but were forbidden to travel above five miles from their registered places of abode. In 1605 the Gunpowder Plot was discovered, and two statutes were passed in consequence, namely 3 Jas. 1, c. 4, and 3 Jas. 1, c. 5. They greatly increased the severity of the law upon this subject. By c. 4 1the king was enabled to refuse £20 a month penalty, and to take instead of it two-thirds of the recusant's whole estate, 2 his mansion house excepted. Moreover an oath abjuring the Pope's authority to depose the king was drawn up, and any two justices were empowered to 3 S. 15. By 7 Jas. 1, c. 6, this oath was to be administered to every person over eighteen in the whole country. + S. 13. STATUTES OF JAMES I. 487 administer it to any person, not being a nobleman, who had CH. XXV. not received the sacrament twice in the year before, and to all travellers who would not upon oath say that they had done so. 1 Six privy councillors might tender the oath to a nobleman. 2 Every one who refused the oath was to be committed to prison till the next quarter sessions or assizes, when the oath was to be tendered a second time, and if it was still refused the person refusing was guilty of a præmunire. 3 Lastly, the provisions of the act of 23 Eliz. c. 1, which made it treason to reconcile any person to Rome, or to be willingly reconciled, were reenacted in a somewhat severer form. The statute 3 Jas. 1, c. 5, contained further provisions. It 4 offered rewards for the discovery of any person entertaining or relieving a Jesuit or priest. It 5 prohibited recusants from coming to Court, and required all popish recusants (7 except mechanics and persons having no other place of abode) to leave London and go to at least ten miles from it. 8 Other provisions disabled recusant convicts from practising as barristers, attorneys, solicitors, advocates, or proctors: from practising physic and from being apothecaries, from being judges in any court, and from holding any military office. Popish recusants convict, and every one' married to a wife being a popish recusant convict, were forbidden to "exercise any public office or charge in the commonwealth by himself or by his deputy," unless the husband and all his children above nine went to church once a month. 9 All popish recusants were excommunicated ipso facto, 10 but not so as to be prevented from suing. There were also provisions imposing a penalty of £100 on all persons 11 married or causing any dead body to be 12 buried otherwise than according to the rites of the Established Church, or not having their children so 13 baptized within a month after birth. 14 Popish books were prohibited, and 15 justices were autho- which is the expression used in other parts of the act, but this is not the 9 S. 11. 10 S. 12. 11 S. 13. 12 S. 15. 488 STATUTES OF JAMES I. CH. XXV. and if any "altar, pix, beads, pictures, or such like popish "relics or books" were found, the justice, if he "thought them "unmeet for such recusant," might cause them to be presently defaced and burnt. 1 1 Finally all arms, gunpowder, and munition, except only such weapons as four justices might consider necessary for the defence of the person or house of the recusant, were to be taken from him, and be kept and maintained at the recusant's cost in any place which the justices might appoint. It is well known that the execution of these laws under James I. and Charles I. was very uncertain. It was constantly suspended by both of these sovereigns, but instances occurred even in the reign of Charles II. in which the most severe of them, those by which the mere fact of being a priest in England amounted to high treason, were executed in their full rigour. They not only remained in force all through the seventeenth century, but they were increased in severity on two occasions. In 1678, in consequence of the excitement caused by Oates's story about the Popish Plot, was passed 230 Chas. 2, st. 2, c. 1, by which Roman Catholics were excluded from Parliament by a test oath denying transubstantiation, and describing "the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, "or any other saint, and the sacrifice of the mass, as they "are now used in the Church of Rome, as superstitious and idolatrous." All these acts were passed under the influence of passionate excitement and great fear caused by real danger. There could be no mistake about the dangers to which Elizabeth was exposed by the Roman Catholics at home and abroad, nor as to the Gunpowder Plot; and though Oates was one of the worst and most false of mankind, the relations between Louis XIV. and Charles II. which existed in 1678, were in fact even more alarming than public opinion excited by Oates's lies supposed them to be. It is thus easy to understand the legislation of which I have just given the effect. 1 Ss. 28, 29. In Pickering's Statutes this act is dated 1677, which is clearly wrong. |