DISSENTERS

Persons who di ent on religious grounds from the usages and formula of the established church in England. Roman Catholics, however, are generally referred to as a distinct cla , and the term Di enters applied to Protestants only. The first di enters from the church of England were the Puritans, who, at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth, complained of the use of the surplice, the sign of the cro in baptism, and some other relics, as they esteemed them, of popery. The laws of Elizabeth, however, required their attendance at church under severe penalties; and no opportunity was allowed them, even though they held episcopacy itself in abhorrence, of forming separate sects or congregations. Perhaps the first distinct sect of di enters were the Brownists, who adopted very extreme opinions on the subject of church government, and against whom the punishment of death was enacted, as denying the queen's supremacy in ecclesiastical matters. On the acce ion of James an attempt was made by the puritanical party within tlie church to obtain a relaxation in some points of doctrine and discipline; but the conference at Hampton Court, which was convened upon that occasion, separated without effecting more than a few trifling alterations in the services. The penal laws continued in force, and Di enters were not recognized as a distinct body by the state. They may be said to owe their origin in this sense to the a embly of divines convened by authority of parliament at Westminster in 1G43, when a body of 120 clergymen and 30 laymen met and established the Presbyterian forms of doctrine and government, as set forth in the book called the Directory. The Independent party did not entirely accede to this settlement, and created some disturbances during the Protectorate. At the Restoration, the Presbyter i a a clergy were ejected on St. Bar thole mew's-day, 1662, by the Act of Uniformity, which re-established the Liturgy, and was attended with some circumstances of aggravation and harshne . Two you sand non-conforming clergy were thereby ejected from their benefices. The Corporation Act, requiring attendance on the sacrament preparatory to accepting municipal offices, was also pa ed at the beginning of this reign; and the Test Act followed, which [s. 364]