T E S 



Vhat the perpetual continuance of the Ted aft ; and in the 

 houfe of commons, tliat the perpetual continuance of the 

 Corporation aft, fliould be declared a fundamental condi- 

 tion of the intended union : but the motions were botii re- 

 joftcd ; a proof that the legiflature did not mean to give to 

 them the fame perpetual exillence as to the aft of uniformity, 

 and to the ftatute that was paflTed in tlie thirteenth of Eh- 

 zabcth, both of which were fpecilically named, as condi- 

 tions of the compaft, and exprefsly declared irrevocable. 



It the teft and corporation laws are deemed imallerable 

 parts of the articles of union, it follows, of courle, that 

 every alteration in thofe laws muil be deemed a breach of the 

 union, and that every luipenfion of thofe laws mull be con- 

 fidered as a fulpenfion of the union. Now both thcfe afts 

 are altered, and in part repealed, by fubfequent llatutes, and 

 for fix months in almoft every year are wholly fufpcndcd. 

 But who will alTert that the articles of union are dilfolved, 

 or that their obligation on the two countries is fufpendcd 

 for fix months in every year ? or who will deny that the 

 fame power which alters a part may alter the whole of 

 thofe laws ? Who will deny that the fame authority which 

 lufpends a law for fix months, may abolifli it for ever ? 



In favour of the continuance of thefe laws it has been 

 urged, that they have exilled for many years with great ad- 

 vantage ; but many attempts have been made to difprove the 

 advantage of them, and they have repeatedly been com- 

 plained of as both ufelefs and unjuft. Befides, this argument 

 for their exiftence is abfurd, as it tends to perpetuate every 

 enormity that can plead the fanftion of age. The horror 

 of iuHovalion may be felt or feigned as a bar to every im- 

 provement. It ir.ay be neverthelefs aficed, how have thefe 

 laws fubfifted i By repeated fufpenfions ; for the indemnity 

 bills are, with few exceptions, annual afts : and where 

 would be the impropriety of fufpending them for ever, by an 

 ail of perpetual operation. In order to filence complaints 

 of thefe partial and injurious laws, it has been faid that the 

 aft of indemnity, annually palTed, protefts from the penal- 

 ties of the teft and corporation laws all fuch perfons as have 

 offended againft them. If it afford fuch proteftion, what 

 inconvenience can arife from a repeal of the ftatutes them- 

 felves ? Is not the conftant and invariable praftice of pafling 

 fuch a bill annually, a tacit acknowledgment that the tell 

 afts are improper or unneceffary ; that the penalties, if in- 

 curred, ought not to be enforced ; and therefore no man 

 could be blamed for reforting to an indemnity, held out as a 

 proteftion againft puniftiments inflifted by laws which the le- 

 giflature itfelf continually treated with a kind of difrefpeft, 

 and which were already almoft repealed in praftice, though 

 they were ftill preferved in the ftatute-book by a fpecics of 

 fuperftitious regard ? The only juftification for evading a 

 ftatute, that can be for a moment maintained, is, when that 

 ftatute notorioufty ought not to remain in force ; and when 

 to evade it, on account of its nature and tendency, is meri- 

 torious. But it has been faid, that the Indemnity aft does 

 not proteft the diftenters from the teft and corporation laws ; 

 for its only efFeft is, that of allowing farther time to thofe 

 trefpaffers on the law, againft whom final judgment has not 

 been awarded. Should, for example, a profecution have 

 been commenced, but not concluded, the Indemnity aft 

 does not difcharge the proceedings ; it merely fufpends them 

 for fix months ; fo that if the party accufed does not take 

 the facrament before the fix months allowed by the Indem- 

 nity aft (hall expire, the proceedings will go on, and, long 

 before the next indemnity aft will come to his rehef, final 

 judgment will be awarded againft him. Thus it appears, 

 that the Indemnity aft gives no effe&ual proteftion to the 

 diffenter, who accepts a civil office or military command ; 



Vol. XXXV. 



T K S 



for lie who cannot take the facr.iment at all, cannot take it 

 within the time required by that aft. After all, indemnity 

 fuppofes criminality, and an obnoxioufnefs to punilhmeiit : 

 the office and penalty are created by thefe ftatutes : repeal 

 tlie laws, and indemnity becomes necdlcfs. No man would 

 wifli, if it were always prafticable, to fhelter himfelf under 

 an aft of indemnity fiir omitting to do what, independently 

 of thefe laws, he ought not to do ; or chufe to have it 

 tliought that he is lefs fit and able to ferve his king and 

 country than his neighbour, who does not feel the reftraint 

 of his confcientious fcruples. In corporate towns and many 

 p^jMic offices, the obhgation to qualify is confidered as a 

 kind of dead letter, and an informer would be very generally 

 tliought an odious charafter. 



As to the Corporation a6t, it is faid to have been forced from 

 tlie legiilature as an aft of felf-defcnce ; and this is the pro- 

 per defcription of an aft, which, after the lapfe of much more 

 than a century, when the grounds and reafons for paffing it 

 no longer cxifted, ought to be repealed. The queftion that 

 forms the fubjeft of this article is, in our opinion, intimately 

 connefted with the honour of the church and the profperity 

 of the ftate, as well as with the general interefts of religion 

 and liberty ; and with thefe views of its importance, wc 

 refer the decifion of it to the impartial judgment of the 

 reader. 



Test, or Tefe, in Geography, a river of England, v^'hicii 

 riies in the north-weft part of Hampfliire, bordering 

 on Wiltfhire, and runs into Southampton Water. Sir 

 Henry Englefield fecms inclined to think the original name 

 v?as jint. 



TESTA, in Antiquity, the fame with ojlracon. See Os- 

 tracism. 



Testa, in Italian Singing. When a performer fings 

 through the nofe, the throat, or the teeth, the voice i* called 

 •voce da tejla, to diftinguifh it from iioee di pclto. Tofi fays : 

 " let the mafter attend with great care to the voice of his 

 fcholar, which, whether it be di petto, or di tejia, (hould 

 always come forth neat and clear, without paffing through 

 the nofe, or being choaked in tlie throat ; which are two of 

 the moft horrible defefts in a finger, and paft all remedy if 

 once grown into a habit." Galhard's Tranfl. of Tofi on 

 florid Song. 



Testa, Pietro, in Biography, called II Lucchefino, from 

 having been born at Lucca. His birth took place in 1611, 

 and he was firft inilrufted in painting by Pietro Paolini ; 

 afterwards he ftudiedat Rome, under Domenichino and Pietro 

 da Cortona. The principal objcfts of his ftudy were an- 

 tique marbles, and the remains of ancient architcfturc ; in 

 which employment fuch was his affiduity, that few veftiges 

 of antiquity were known which had efeaped his pencil. His 

 extreme poverty made him morofe and melancholy ; and he 

 made himfelf many enemies, by the freedom with which he- 

 fpoke of the produftions of other painters. From this 

 ftate of trouble he was relieved by Sandrart, who found him 

 among the ruins, and compaffionating his diftrefs, took him 

 to his houfe, where he clothed and entertained him, and in- 

 troduced him to the prince .Tufliniani, who employed liim. 

 After this he fucceeded ; and the great freedom and eafe of his 

 pencil procured him many patrons. Several of the churches 

 and palaces at Rome are adorned with his produftions : the 

 bell are efteemed to be thofe of the Death of St. Angelo, in. 

 the church of St. Martino a Monti, and of the Death of 

 Iphigenia, in the Palazzo Spada. His works, however, are 

 more frequently to be met with at Lucca. As a defigner, 

 Pietro Tefta was unequal : he frequently tacked to antique 

 torfos ignoble heads, and extremities copied from vulgar 

 models. Of female beauty he appears to have been igno._ 



3 D rant, 



