NONCOXFORMITY. 



NORMAN A 



Presbytery in the room of Episcopacy. Another party, namely, the 

 iMUpeodenU, or Brownists, as they war* then termed, going Hill 

 fnitbor. wished the dicMvtrment at the connection between ctiur, h 

 and state altogether. Still there U every reason to believe that slight 

 Beaeaaion to the demand* of the lew violent, and the display of a spirit 

 of forbearance, would have satisfied many, would have allayed the 

 dissatisfaction of all, and would have been the reverse of disagreeable 

 to the country generally. Unfortunately an opposite course of policy 

 in this and subsequent reign* was chosen ; which ultimately conducted 

 to the horror* of a civil war, the subversion of the regal authority, and 

 those disastrous event* which make the history of the 17th century one 

 of the most melancholy pages of our national annals. 



Queen Elizabeth died in H>03, and was succeeded by James VI. of 

 Scotland. Prom one who like him had been the member of a Presby- 

 terian church, and had on more than one occasion expressed bin decided 

 attachment to it* principle* and worship, the Nonconformists, not 

 without reason, expected more lenient treatment than they had met 

 with in the preceding reign. But their expectations were bitterly 

 disappointed In compliance with their petitions, a conference was 

 indeed appointed and held at Hampton Court, at which nine bishops 

 and as many dignitaries were present on the one side, and four Puritan 

 ministers, selected by James, on the other. The king himself presided 

 and took part in the debate. But no good results ensued. The Non- 

 conformist representatives were loaded with insults, and dismissed in 

 such a mannar a* might well give birth to the darkest anticipations 

 regarding the fate of the party to which they belonged. Shortly after, 

 a few slight alterations of the national rubric were made, and a pro- 

 clamation issued requiring the strictest conformity. In 1U04 the book 

 of canons was passed by a convocation, at which Bishop Bancroft pre- 

 sided. It denounced severe temporal and spiritual penalties against 

 the Puritan divines, and was followed up by unsparing persecutions. 

 In spite however of all the means em.>loyed for its eradication, the 

 cause of Nonconformity advanced. In the church itself there were 

 many of the clergy who held the Puritan opinions, though they deemed 

 it inexpedient to make a very open display of them, and who sighed 

 for a change ; and the number of such was largely augmented by the 

 alteration which James made in his creed, from Calvinism to the doctrines 

 of Artniniu*. 



The son and successor of James, Charles I., adopted towards the 

 Nonconformists the policy of his predecessors. His haughty t. n,!.er 

 and despotic disposition speedily involved him in difficulties with his 

 parliament and |ople. In carrying into execution his designs against 

 Puritanism, he found an able and zealous assistant in Archbishop Laud, 

 under whose arbitrary administration the proceedings of the Star 

 Chamber and High LVnmU-in Court were characterised by great 

 severity. Many Puritans sought for safety and quiet in emigration ; 

 and the colony of Massachusetts Bay was founded by them in the New 

 World. But a proclamation l>y the kin put a stop to this self-banish- 

 ment; and thus even the miserable consolation of expatriation was 

 denied. Hundreds of Puritan clergymen were ejects 1 from tlirir cures, 

 oa account of their opposition to the Book of Sports, published in the 

 prsWMU reign. Calvinism was denounced by royal authority, and 

 severe restrictions hud on the modes and times of preaching. But a 

 change was a|>proaching. In 1644 Laud was declared guilty of high 

 treason and beheaded ; and about five years after, Charles shared the 

 ante fate. The |*rliament abolished Episcopacy and everything in 

 the Church that wu i.p;>oaed to the model of the Genevan chuivli. 



During the Protectorate, Presbytery continue.! to be the established 

 n. IiMtepeudency however prevailed in the army, and was in 

 high favour with Cromwell Cn.i rnment the secU of the 



Quaker* and Baptist* finurished ; am) other sects, some of which h.-M 

 the wildest and most visionary tenets, sprung into existence All were 

 tolerated. Episcopacy only was proscribed ; ami the Nonconformists, 

 in their hour of prosperity, forg.tful of the lessons which adversity 

 should have taught them, directed against its adherents severities 

 .similar to those of which they themselves had been the objects. The 

 H*>toration inlMO placed Charles II. on the throne of his ancestors, 

 and led to the restitution of the old system of church government and 

 worship. The Act of Uniformity was pasnsd in 166% by which nil who 

 refused to observe the rites a* well a* subscribe to the doctrines of the 

 Church of England were excluded from its communion, and in conse- 

 quence exposed to many disadvantages and to cruel sufferings. During 

 the ssrae rrign were passed the Conventicle Act, which subjected all 

 who presumed to worship God otherwise than the law enjoined to fine 

 and imprisonment, and punished the third offence with banishment ; 

 UM Fir* Mile Act, which banished to that diiUnoe from every corpo- 

 rals town the Nonconformist clergy, and forbade them to officiate as 

 schoolmasters except on condition of their taking the oatti of passive 

 obedunoe; and the Test Act, which, though directed a<nint the 

 Roaun C,th >li, pressed with equal severity against Protestant dis- 

 rtMt', n I cicluded from offices of trust in the state those who 

 r*lued to reesivn the eaoharist according to the mbr c of the Church 

 of England After this time dissent continued in a wry depressed 

 Ute, and bad to struggle with various fortunes, until the reign of 

 William III., when the Toleration Act gave immunity to all Protestant 

 Duwnten, except Socinians, from the penal lawn to which they had 

 been subjectfrl by the Stuart dynasty. The benefit* conferred by this 

 OMMOT* wen indeed mbseqtieutly much abridged by the Occasional 



Communion BUI, which excluded from civil office* those Noncon- 

 formist* who, by communion at the altars of the Church, were by the 

 provisions of the Test Act qualified to hold them ; and by the Schism 

 Bill, which restricted the work of education to certificated churchmen. 

 After the accession of George I., however, these law* were repealed, 

 and linoe then, by the removal of the Test Act, and by the passing of 

 the Act* relating to registration and marriage, dissenters have been 

 allowed the peaceable enjoyment of the rights of conscience, and all 

 tli.' political privileges of their fellow-citizens. It would be a task of 

 .-.MM.' iliiliculty to enumerate the various sect* which may be classed 

 under the general head of Nonconformist*. The chief denomination* 

 are the Presbyterians. Independent*, Baptist*, Wealeyan, and CalvmUtio 

 Methodist*, and Quakers. [BAPTISTS ; METUOIJIHM ; Dl8SHT(M ; 

 QCAKKRS, &c.J 



Ik ONES. [KALENDAn.] 



[TllKOLOOT.] 



v SUIT. If a plaintiff, having commenced a civil action, is guilty 

 of any neglect or default in prosecuting such action according to the 

 practice of the court in which it is brought, he is adjudged not to f Mam 

 or pursue his remedy, and a judgment of nun protn/uitur, or noiuuit, U 

 entered, upon which he becomes liable to pay costs to the defendant, 

 and in ancient times a fine to the king for making a false complaint. 

 This is the general meaning of the term ; but according to modern 

 practice it has a more limited signification, the phrase non pros (un 

 [,ro?quitur) being now used to describe the consequence of most of 

 those defaults on the part of the plaiutitl w hich were formerly com- 

 prised under the general term nonsuit. Anciently, when it was the 

 practice for the jury to stand at the bar of the court to hear the evi- 

 dence on a trial, they withdrew, alter the judge had summed up the 

 proofs, to deliberate upon their verdict. On coming back to the bar 

 to deliver their verdict, and before they delivered it, the plaintitf was 

 called in order to be ready to answer the fine which became due to the 

 km- for his false complaint, in case the decision was against him ; and 

 if, upon this call, he did not appear, no verdict could l>e given upon the 

 evidence either for the plaintitf or the defendant, and the former was 

 said to be nonsuited. Hence arose a practice that when the pl.untitf 

 d that the evidence given was insufficient to support his action, 

 and that the verdict would probably be against him, he voluntarily 

 w itl.divw himself, and did not appear when culled ; the consequence of 

 which was a nonsuit, which was less disadvantageous to him than a 

 verdict for the defendant, as it did not preclude li.m from bringing a 

 new action. This practice led to a further innovation ii]x.n the ancient 

 proceeding, and it has long been the UMial course for the j i ; 

 the plaintiff to be culled, or, in other words, to direct a n..n~mt. if, 

 upon the whole of the case in support of the action, ha is of > < 

 that there is no evidence upon which the jury would be jiistind in 

 finding a verdict f"i- the pl.tintii!'. In consonance to the sue. ent prac- 

 tice, however, by which the plaintiff might in all cases appear when 

 called to answer for his fine, and so prevent a nonsuit, he cannot, 

 except in the County Court, be eompcUul to be nonsuited ; and there; 

 fore he may insist upon the evidence being left to the jury. It is to 

 this practice of calling the plaintiff, when his evidence, as delivered in 

 court, is insnth'cient to support that the term nonsuit U now 



restricted. '1 Alices of a nonsuit are, that the jury are dis- 



charged from finding a verdict, and the plaintiff pays the cost* of the 

 suit; but he is still at liberty <o commence a new ucii.ni against the 

 defendant upon the same matter, if he should afterwards be provide.! 

 with more complete evidence. In the urt the judge U 



exprersly authorised by statute, if not satisfied with the plaintiff's case, 

 1 1 enter a nonsuit. 



MlNVI.KNK (C,.H,,1, Kl nr. A hydrocarbon belon 

 family of biatomic radicals, produced by the destructive distillation of 

 hydroleic and metoleic acids. It is a colourless liquid of a pi neir.iling 

 odour, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and ether. It boils at 

 about 230 Fahr., and is lighter than water. Concentrated sulphuric 

 acid is said to have no action upon it. 



..HAI'SKX SULPHURIC ACID. [Sru-ni-n : Slj,k*ric 

 Aril.} 



NoRIUM (No), a metal said to be contained in the Zircons of 

 . and Sweden. Its existence cannot be said to be clearly 

 establi 



NOKMA, the Rule, a constellation of Lacaille, situated between 

 Scorpio and Lupus. It contains no stars of conspicuous magnitude. 



NORMAL. This word (from norma) is generally used to mean 

 perpendicular drawn to the tangent line of a curve or the tangent 

 plane of a surface. It formerly meant simply perpendicular, 



' ST.] 



NORM A.N T ARCHITECTURE. In the article GOTHIC AiicniTrcTCRE, 

 that form of Round-arched Gothic known as Norman or Anglo-NonBM 

 is spoken of as oneot the local modilicatio -tvle which, 



i, r from the debased Rom in .ifliit. ,-tn; - . d the name 



; mesque. Under the li r., the 



general characteristics of the style will be described. Here wu shall 

 ,-p ak only of the variety which prevailed in this country from the 

 middle of the llth till dear the close of the 12 th century, or from the 

 date of the Conquest to the close of the reign of Henry II., 11- 

 was preceded by the Anglo-Saxon, ft style which differs from it in no 

 essential particular, being in fact little more than a rude 



