follows the English Act of Uniformity, 14 Car. II. c. 4, by the terms of which all clergymen who did not sign the Thirty-nine Articles, and conform in all respects to the liturgy of the Church of England, by St. Bartholomew's day, in the year 1662, were to be ejected from their livings; and the celebration of religious worship, except according to the liturgy of the Church of England, was strictly forbidden. This was followed, in 1667, by the 29 Car. II. c. 9, which abolishes the writ de heretico comburendo, and all process thereon, and subjects the offence of heresy to ecclesiastical censures only.

The next is the celebrated Toleration Act, 1 Will. and Mar. c. 18, passed in the year 1689. The preamble is, "to give some ease to scrupulous consciences." And the act itself protects from all penalties of former statutes on this subject, such Protestant dissenters as should subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles, except the 34th, 35th, and 36th, and certain words of the 20th; and in favour of Baptists, that part of the 27th, touching infant baptism. But, by the 17th section, there is an express exception from the benefit of this act of those who impugn the doctrine of the Trinity. Then comes 9 and 10 W. III. c. 32, which makes it absolutely penal to deny the doctrine of the Trinity, by writing or advised speech; and no person doing so was allowed to enjoy or possess any office, place or employment. From the preamble, it would seem, that the denial of the Trinity is made blasphemy by this statute. But it is abundantly clear that, since its repeal, the offence remains as at common law.

The next is the 19 Geo. III. c. 44, which was passed in the year 1779. This statute extends the benefit of the Toleration Act to all those who declare "in the presence of Almighty God that they are Christians and Protestants, and believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as commonly received amongst Protestant churches, do contain the revealed will of God; and that they receive the same as the rule of their faith and practice." Still, however, it was doubted whether these salutary measures extended to those who denied the doctrine of the Trinity, and accordingly, in the year 1813, the 53 Geo. III. c. 160, was enacted, by which the clause concerning the denial of the Trinity in the 9 and 10 Will. III. c. 32, is expressly repealed, and all legal distinction taken away between Uni

tarians and other Protestant dissenters. From this review of the English enactments, it appears

First-That since the year 1813, the denial of the Trinity, in England, remains as at common law; that is, heresy.

Second-That, as heresy, it would now be subject to ecclesiastical censures, but for the Toleration Act, whose benefit is now expressly extended to those who impugn that doctrine.

Third-That in the interval between the year 1689 and the 9 and 10 Will. III. c. 32, the mere denial of the Trinity was not per se illegal, provided those who denied it outwardly conformed to the public worship of the established church.

Fourth-That, previous to the year 1779, all Protestant dissent in England was illegal, except as regards those dissenters who signed the Thirty-nine Articles, with the reservation of the 34th, 35th and 36th, and parts of the 20th and 27th.

Fifth-That the ground of this illegality was nonconformity to the public worship of the established church, and not the private belief or disbelief of individuals in any particular controverted doctrine.

Sixth-That, since the year 1667, the mere denial of the Trinity was not penal, until the 9th and 10th W. III. c. 32.

Seventh-That, since the repeal of that statute, so far as relates to the present subject, the denial of the doctrine of the Trinity has ceased to be an offence, either by statute or ecclesiastical law.

it

Before proceeding to examine the Irish Statute Book, may be interesting to advert briefly to the law of Scotland upon this subject. In that country, the denial of the Trinity was made punishable by death, by a statute of Car. II., in the year 1661; afterwards ratified by a statute of W. III. This act provided, that this punishment shall be incurred by those who deny "the existence of God, or of any of the persons of the Trinity." The impugning of the Trinity in Scotland, therefore, was very different from the nominally same offence in England. In the former country, it consisted in denying the existence of any of the persons of the Trinity; in the latter, it consisted in denying the godhead of any. So that, it seems, the mere

denial of the godhead of the Son, unless coupled with a denial of his existence also, was not sufficient to constitute the offence of impugning the Trinity, in Scotland.*

It is now the proper place to examine the Irish code upon this subject. It may be necessary, however, to make this preliminary observation, that the statute of Drogheda, commonly called Poyning's law, which was passed in the year 1495, enacted, amongst other important matter, that all statutes "lately" made in England, be deemed good and effectual in Ireland. Now though the word "lately" is, perhaps, open to a special construction, it seems to be universally admitted, that by the operation of this act, all statutes made in England previous to the year 1495, are law in Ireland, so far as they can possibly apply; and that no English statute of later date is of force in this country, unless it expressly names Ireland, or has been specially adopted by the Irish parliament. The observations, therefore, which have already been made upon the statute laws of England, previous to the 18th year of Henry VII., apply, with but slight variation, to this country. From that date, however, the two lines diverge, and it becomes necessary now to trace that of the Irish enactments upon the present question.

The Reformation, says Hallam, was never legally established in Ireland, till the Irish Act of Supremacy, 2 Eliz. c. 1. By this act, the Queen's supremacy, as head of the church, is declared and acknowledged; and all ecclesiastical jurisdiction is transferred to her. In short, it corresponds, almost verbatim, to the English act, 1 Eliz. c. 1, already referred to. Then follows the 2 Eliz. c. 2, answering to the 1 Eliz. c. 2, English, with this remarkable variation, that in those parts of the country where the minister had no knowledge of the English language, he might read the service in Latin. By this act, all subjects were required to attend the public worship of the church, and every other was interdicted. The next is the Irish Act of Uniformity, 17 and 18 Car. II. c. 6 (passed in 1665, and corresponding to the English statute, 14 Car. II. c. 4). This act recites the peace and advancement of

* Aikenhead's case (the single case to be found of capital judgment for blasphemy in Scotland) was, for "railing" upon the first person, and "cursing and railing" upon the second person of the Trinity. (Maclaurin's Crim. Cases, 12.)

religion likely to result from universal agreement in the public worship of God, and then proceeds to enact, that the Book of Common Prayer shall be used in all places of public worship, and all ministers enjoying ecclesiastical benefices are to read and declare assent to the same, on pain of deprivation. No other form of prayer or religious rites shall be openly used in church or other public place, and every lecturer and teacher shall declare his assent to the Thirty-nine Articles and Book of Common Prayer, on pain of disability. The penalty of preaching during disability was three months' imprisonment. This act, it appears, was entirely directed against nonconformity to public worship, and does not concern the private profession of any peculiar doctrine. The denial of the Trinity, however, was still liable, as heresy, to the writ de heretico comburendo.

The next act is the 4 W. and M. c. 2, in the year 1692, afterwards revived by 2 Anne, c. 14, and made perpetual by 4 George I. c. 9. This is an act for the encouragement of Protestant strangers to settle in the kingdom of Ireland, and provides that alien Protestants, taking the oaths of allegiance, and against the Pope's spiritual power, and signing the declaration against transubstantiation, shall have "liberty of meeting together publicly for the worship of God, and of hearing divine service, and performing other religious duties, in their own several rites, used in their own countries; any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding." Then follows the 7 W. III. c. 29, in the year 1695, corresponding to the 29th Car. II. c. 9, English. By this act, the writ de heretico comburendo in Ireland is abolished, and all temporal jurisdiction over heresy taken away, with a saving of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in cases of "atheism, blasphemy, heresy, and schism." Then comes the Toleration Act, 6 G. I. c. 5, in the year 1719, which corresponds to the 1 W. and M. c. 18, English. This is an act for exempting Protestant dissenters of this kingdom from certain penalties to which they were then subject. It abrogates those penalties, and also the clause in 2 Eliz. c. 2, sec. 3, requiring every subject to repair to the "parish church" and conform to the established form of public worship. "Provided always, (sec. 13,) and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that neither this act, nor any clause, article or thing therein

contained, shall extend, or be construed to extend, to give any ease, benefit, or advantage to any Papist, or person professing the Popish religion, or to any person who in his preaching or writing shall deny the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, as it is declared in the Thirty-nine Articles, agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops and the whole clergy, in convocation, holden at London, in the year of our Lord, 1562, and referred to in the aforesaid acts, made the 17th and 18th of King Charles II." The next is the last act upon this subject. It is the 57th G. III. c. 70, passed by the United Parliament, July 7, 1817. This is an act so relieve persons impugning the doctrine of the holy Trinity from certain penalties in Ireland. The substance is, that "whereas it is meet and proper that equal freedom of religious worship should be secured by law to every part of the United Kingdom," be it enacted that the "penalties or disqualifications which affect persons who shall deny the doctrine of the blessed Trinity in Ireland, be, and the same are hereby absolutely repealed and made void."

Thus, it appears, there is a marked distinction between the English and Irish codes upon the subject of the Trinity. The exception in the English Toleration Act, left those who impugned the Trinity liable, as before, to ecclesiastical censures, until temporal penalties were imposed upon them by the 9 and 10 W. III. c. 32; and the English act, 53 G. III. c. 160, which repealed that exception, had those penalties to work upon. But the similar exception in the Irish Toleration Act was always useless; for the penal statute of William did not extend to this country, and was never adopted by the Irish Parliament. The subsequent act, therefore, passed by the United Parliament, in 1817, repealing this exception, was also unnecessary. In short, the mere denial of the doctrine of the Trinity was never illegal at common law, in either island, and in addition to this, there never was any statute in Ireland rendering it blasphemous or penal. Previous to the year 1719, all Protestant dissent in Ireland was illegal, but only on the ground of nonconformity. Up to that date, therefore, Trinitarian dissent was, in every in

*

*

In truth, the only effects of the 57 Geo. III. c. 70, was to exempt the denial of the Trinity in Ireland from liability, as heresy, to ecclesiastical censures.