"taxes, and hath in it a sixth part of the people, "as that of Canterbury hath, viz. 3,956, whereof "half are under the age of sixteen, viz. 1,978; " and a seventh part above sixty, viz. 565; and of "the aforesaid sixth part one half is women.

"The total, therefore, of the papists of the pro"vince of York fit to bear arms, is 701; joining "which to the total of the papists in the province "of Canterbury fit to bear arms, makes the total "of the papists throughout all England fit to bear arms to be 4,940.

"There being every where as many under the age of sixteen as above it, the total of the whole papists, in the whole province, is 23,740.”

"An account of the province of Canterbury. "In the taking of these accounts, we find these "things observable :

"1. That many left the church upon the late
indulgence, who before did frequent it.
"2. The sending for these inquiries, hath caused
many to frequent the church.

3. That they are Walloons chiefly that make up the number of dissenters in Canterbury, Sandwich, and Dover.

(C 4. That the presbyterians are divided, some of "them come sometime to church, therefore such are not wholly dissenters upon the third inquiry. "5. A considerable part of dissenters are not of any sect whatsoever.

"6. Of those that come to church, very many "do not receive the sacrament.

7. At Ashford, and at other places, we find a "new sort of heretics, after the name of Muggleton, "a London taylor, in number thirty.

"8. The rest of the dissenters are presbyterians, anabaptists, independents, quakers, about equal numbers, only two or three called self-willers "professedly.

66 9. The heads and preachers of the several factions, are such as had a great share in the late "rebellion."

LXX. 3.

Acts passed against the Roman-catholics during the reign of George the first.

III. 1. THE first of these acts*, was most dreadful: it prescribed an oath of allegiance, an oath of supremacy, and an oath for abjuring the Stuart family. These oaths were required to be taken by all persons holding civil or military offices; or any fee or wages by patent or grant from his majesty; or in his navy, or of his household; by all ecclesiastical persons, members of colleges, teachers, preachers, serjeants at law, counsellors, barristers, advocates, attornies and notaries, and by various other persons:-the neglect or refusal to take these oaths incapacitated the parties from holding any office or employment, or receiving fee or wages, from his majesty.

Thus far the enactment was sufficiently severe :but it proceeded to authorize any two justices to tender the oaths to any person disaffected to goveru • 1 Geo. I, st. 2, c. 13.

ment; and, on his refusal of them, directed, that he should be considered as legally convicted of popish recusancy, and subject to all its penalties and disabilities.

This was termed Constructive Recusancy: it was not the offence itself of recusancy, which, as we have already observed, consisted merely in the party's absenting himself from church; it was the offence of not taking the oath of supremacy, and the other oaths, prescribed by the act of which we are speaking; the refusal of which was, by that statute, placed on the same footing, as a legal conviction on the statutes of recusancy; and subjected the party refusing, to the penalties of those

statutes.

Of all the laws passed against the catholics, after the revolution, this was the most severely felt by them. The punishment of recusancy was penal in the extreme; and the persons, objecting to the oath in question, might be subjected to all the penalties of it, merely by refusing the oaths when they were tendered to them. It added to the grievous operation of these laws, that the oaths might be tendered, at the mere will of two justices of peace, without any previous information, or complaint, before a magistrate, or any other person. Thus it had a silent, but a dreadful operation: it left catholics at the mercy of every one who wished to injure or insult them. Frequently, they were withheld by it from asserting the rights, which the law had left them and even from urging pretensions, which were not subjects of legal cognizance. It

depressed them so much below their legitimate rank in society, that they hardly entered, with the look or attitude of freemen, into the meetings of their protestant neighbours.

III. 2. By statutes passed annually throughout this reign, the catholics were subjected to the payment of double the amount of the land-tax which they would have otherwise paid.

III. 3. Two statutes passed in this reign imposed on the catholics the unpleasant and humiliating necessity of making public all the circumstances of their landed property, and their dealings with it:-the first* obliged them to register their names and estates, the second† obliged them to enrol their deeds and wills,-under heavy penalties.

III. 4. The discontented of every party, civil or religious, engaged in the rebellion, rashly concerted in the year 1715, to restore the pretender. It was visited on the catholics at first exclusively, but afterwards on the general body of the nonjurors, by a pecuniary mulct of 100,000 l.-Mr. Coxe gives, in his able Life of sir Robert Walpole§, the following interesting account of this circumstance.

"In November 1722, Walpole introduced a bill "for raising 100,000l. by laying a tax on the "estates of papists, which was afterwards extended "to all nonjurors. The liberal spirit of the present age, condemns a measure, which tended to in"crease the disaffection of a large body of subjects;

* 1 Geo. I, c. 53.

9 Geo. I, c. 18; 13 Geo. I, c. 28.

+ 3 Geo. I, c. 18.

Vol. i. p. 305.

"and which the arguments, advanced by the minis❝ter in its favour, were calculated only to palliate, "but could not justify. For, on being urged by “several members, and particularly by Onslow, "who declared his abhorrence of persecuting any "set of men, because of their religious opinions, "Walpole represented 'the great dangers incurred by this nation, since the reformation, from the "constant endeavours of papists to subvert our happy constitution, and the protestant religion, by the most cruel, violent, and unjustifiable methods; that he would not take upon him to charge

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any particular persons among them with being "concerned in the horrid conspiracy: that it was "notorious, that many of them had been engaged "in the Preston rebellion; and some were executed "for it; and that the present plot was contrived "at Rome, and countenanced in popish countries; "that many of the papists were, not only well"wishers to it, but had contributed large sums for so nefarious a purpose; and, therefore, he thought "it but reasonable they should bear an extraordinary share of the expenses, to which they had "subjected the nation.' Whatever opinions may "be formed of this measure, according to the strict "rules of theoretical justice, the policy was unques"tionable. This instance of rigour effectually dis"couraged the catholics from continuing their at"tempts against the government, and operated as

a constant check on the turbulent spirit of the "nonjurors."