PAP 
Allegiance, (i Geo. II. c. 13.) or the Oath of Abjuration, 
(6 Geo. III. c. 53.) With refpeft to the Oath of Supre- 
mac) r , by 1 Eliz. c. 1, the perfons therein mentioned were 
made compellable to take the oath of fupremacy con¬ 
tained in that aft. By the third of James I. c. 4, another 
oath was prefcribed to be taken, commonly called the 
“ Oath of Allegiance and Obedience.” Thefe oaths were 
abrogated by the firft of William and Mary c. 8. and a 
new oath of allegiance, and a new oath of fupremacy, 
were introduced, and required to be taken in their ftead. 
The ftatute made in the fecond feffion of the firft year of 
Geo. I. c. 13. contains an oath of fupremacy, in the fame 
words as the oath of fupremacy required to be taken by the 
firft of king William and queen Mary. By that oath per¬ 
fons are made to fwear, “ That no foreign prince, perfon, 
prelate, ftate, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any 
jurifdiftion, power, fupremacy, pre-eminence, orauthority, 
ecclefiaftical or fpiritual, within the realm.” It was re¬ 
quired to be taken by the perfons therein named ; it 
might be tendered to any perfon, by any two juftices of 
the peace; and perfons refufing the oath fo tendered, were 
adjudged to be popifh recufants convift, and to forfeit 
and be proceeded againft as fuch. This was the con- 
ftrudive recufancy referred to above. It was not the 
offence itfelf of recufancy, which, as we have already 
obferved, confifted merely in the party’s abfenting himfelf 
from church ; it was the offence of not taking the oath of 
fupremacy, and the other oaths prefcribed by the aft of 
1 Geo. I. the refufal of which was, by that ftatute, placed 
on the fame footing as a legal conviftion on the ftatutes 
of recufancy, and fubjefted the party refufing to the 
penalties of thofe ftatutes. This was the molt fevere of 
all the laws againft Papifts ; as it reftrained them from 
praftifing the law as advocates, barrifters, folicitors, 
attorneys, notaries, orproftors, and from voting at ejec¬ 
tions. 
With refpeft to receiving the facrament of our Lord’s 
fupper; by 13 Car. II. (commonly called the Corporation 
Aft,) no perfon can be legally elected to any office re¬ 
lating to the government of any city or corporation, 
unlefs, within a twelvemonth before, he has received the 
facrament of the Lord’s fupper according to the rites of 
the church of England; and he is alfo enjoined to take 
the oaths of allegiance and fupremacy, at the fame time 
that he takes the oath of office ; or, in default of either of 
thefe requilites, fuch eleftion fhall be void. 
As to the Declaration againft Tranfubftantiation, by 
25 Car. II. c. 2. (commonly called the Teft Aft,) all 
officers, civil or military, are direfted to take the oath, 
and make the declarations againft tranfubftantiation, in 
the court of King’s Bench or Chancery, the next term, or 
at the next quarter-feflions, or (by lubfequent ftatutes) 
within fix months after their admiftion ; and alfo, within 
the fame time, to receive the facrament of the Lord’s 
fupper, according to the ufage of the church of England, 
in fome public church immediately after divine fervice 
and fermon ; and to deliver into court a certificate thereof, 
figned by the minifter and churchwardens, and alfo to 
prove the fame by two credible witnefles, upon forfeiture 
of 500I. and difability to hold the office. 
With refpeft to the Declaration againft Popery; the 
aft pafled in the 30th year of Car. II. ftat. 2. c. 1. contains 
the declaration, and prefcribes it to be made by members 
of either houfe of parliament, before they take their feats ; 
by it they declare their difbelief of the doftrine of tran¬ 
fubftantiation ; and their belief that the invocation of 
faints and the facrifice of the mafs are idolatrous. 
4. With refpeft to the laws affecting their landed pro¬ 
perty ; how this was affefted by the laws againft re¬ 
cufancy has been already mentioned. By the 11 & 12 
W. III. c. 4. it was enafted, that a perfon educated in the 
popifli religion, or profeffing the fame, who did not, in fix 
months after the age of lixteen, take the oaths of alle¬ 
giance and fupremacy, and fubfcribe the declaration of 
30 Car. II. fhould, in refpeft of himfelf only, and not of 
1ST. 391) 
his heirs, or pofterity, be difabled to inherit or take lands 
by defcent, devife, or limitation, in pofleflion, reverfion, 
or remainder; and that during his life, till he took the 
oaths, and fubfcribed the declaration againft popery, his 
next of kin, who was a proteftant, (hould enjoy the lands 
without accounting for the profits, and fhould be incapa¬ 
ble of purchafing ; and that all eftates, terms, interefts, 
or profits, out of lands, made, done, or fuffered, to his ufe, 
or in truft for him, fhould be void. By 3 Jac. I. c. 5 
1 W. & M. c. 26. 12 Anne, ftat. 2. c. 14. 11 Geo. II. 
c. 17. Papifts, or perfons profeffing the popifh religion, 
were difabled from prefenting to advowfor.s, and other 
ecclefiaftical benefices, and to hofpitals and other cha¬ 
ritable eftablifhments. By annual afts of legiflature, 
Papifts, being of the age of eighteen years, and not having 
taken the oaths of allegiance and fupremacy, were fub- 
jefted to the burthen of the double land-tax. By a fta¬ 
tute made in the fecond feffion of the firft year of Geo. I. 
c. 55. they were required to regifter their names and 
eftates in the manner and under the penalties therein 
mentioned ; and by 3 Geo. I. c. 18. continued by feveral 
fubfequent ftatutes, an obligation of enrolling their deeds 
and wills was impofed on them. Such were the principal 
penal laws againft Roman-catholics at the time of the 
acceffion of the houfe of Brunfwick. 
To the enlightened apd humane temper of the times 
during the reign of his late majefty, his Roman- 
catholic fubjefts are wholly indebted for any appeal of 
this large and grievous code. Two afts in particular 
have been already pafled for their relief. 
1. The firft of thofe afts was pafled in the 18th year 
of his late majefty’s reign. It enafted, that fo much of 
the 11 & 12 W. III. as related to the profecution of popifli 
priefts and Jefuits, and imprifoning for life Papifts who 
keep fchools, or to difable Papifts from taking by defcent 
or purchafe, fhould be repealed as to all Papifts, or per¬ 
fons profeffing the popifh religion, who, within fix months 
after the pafling of the aft, or their coming of age, fhould 
take the oath prefcribed by the aft. This is an oath 
expreffive of allegiance to his majefty, abjuration of the 
pretender, renunciation of the pope’s civil power, and 
abhorrence of the doftrines of deftroying, and not keep¬ 
ing faith with, heretics ; and of depofing or murdering 
princes excommunicated by authority of the fee of Rome. 
This aft was an effential benefit to Roman-catholics; 
but its beft efteft in their regard, was its operation on the 
public mind, by leflening the prejudice generally enter¬ 
tained againft them, and bringing them and their fellow- 
fubjefts into habits of focial intercourfe and amity, which 
the penal code had too much interrupted. It can only 
be conceived by thofe who witnefled it, what a fudden 
and extenfive effeft, in this regard, was produced by this 
Angle aft of parliament. 
2. A more extenfive relief from the penal laws was 
granted to the Englifh Roman-catholics by an a£t of the 
31ft year of the reign of his late majefty. The ftat. 
31 Geo. III. c. 32. may be divided into fix parts. The 
1 ft contains the declaration and oath afterwards referred 
to in the body of the aft, and prefcribes the method of 
taking it. The fecond is a repeal of the ftatutes of re¬ 
cufancy, in favour of perfons taking the oath thereby 
prefcribed. The 3d is a toleration, under certain regu¬ 
lations, of the religious worfhip of the Roman-catholics, 
qualifying in like manner, and of their fchools for edu¬ 
cation. The 4th enafts, that in future no one {hall be 
fummoned to take the oath of fupremacy prefcribed by 
flats. 1 W.& M. c. 8. 1 Geo. I. ftat. 2. c. 13. [but eleftors 
of members of parliament in England, ftill remain bound 
to take this oath;] or the declaration againft tranfub¬ 
ftantiation; that the ftat. 1 W. & M. c. 9. for removing 
Papifts, or reputed Papifts, from the cities of London and 
Weftminfter, lhall not extend to Roman-catholics taking 
the appointed oath ; and that no peer of Great Britain or 
Ireland, taking that oath, fhall be liable to be profecuted 
for coming into his majefty’s prefence, or into the court 
or 
