CH. VIII.] THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 551 and might be long detained in prison, in such cases where by law they are bailable, to their great charges and vexation. For prevention whereof, and for the more speedy relief of all persons imprisoned for any such criminal or supposed criminal matters, it was enacted as follows :— "When any person shall bring a writ of habeas corpus directed to sheriff, or gaoler, or other person whatsoever, for any person in his custody, and serve it on such sheriff, or gaoler, or leave it at the prison, such sheriff or gaoler shall within three days after service (unless the commitment were for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of commitment), upon payment or security of charges not exceeding twelve-pence per mile, and that the prisoner will not escape by the way,-make return of such writ, and bring the body of the party so committed or restrained before the lord chancellor, or the judges or barons of the court, from which the writ shall issue; or before such person before whom the writ is made returnable; and shall then likewise certify the true causes of his detainer and imprisonment. If the place of commitment is beyond the distance of twenty miles from the court or judge, and not above a hundred miles, then such return shall be made within ten days; if beyond a hundred miles, then within twenty days after the delivery of the writ. "In vacation time, and out of term, on complaint, and request in writing by or on behalf of any person committed or detained for any crime (unless for treason or felony, plainly expressed in the warrant of commitment, and other than persons convict or in excution by legal process), the lord-chancellor, or any one of the judges of the three courts, upon view of a copy of the warrant, or oath that a copy is denied, are authorized and required to award a habeas corpus, returnable immediately before himself or any other of the judges; and within two days after the party is brought before the judge, he shall discharge the prisoner from his imprisonment, taking his recognizance, with one or two sureties, in any sum according to their discretions, having regard to the quality of the prisoner, and the nature of the offence, for his appearance in the court where the offence is properly cognizable,—unless it shall appear that the party is detained on legal process, order, or warrant out of some court having jurisdiction of criminal matters, or by some warrant signed and sealed by any of the judges, or by some justice or justices of the peace for matters or offences which by law are not bailable. "The act by several clauses seeks to enforce on the officers strict observance of their duty. That they may not pretend ignorance of the import of the writ, it must be marked per Statutum tricesimo-primo Caroli Secundi Regis, and be signed by the person awarding the same. Officers and keepers neglecting to make due returns, or not delivering to the prisoner or his agent, within six hours after demand, a copy of the warrant of commitment and detainer, shall for the first offence forfeit to the prisoner £100, and for the second offence £100, and be incapable to hold or execute his office. "Persons set at large by habeas corpus shall not be again imprisoned, or committed for the same offence, other than by the legal order and process of the court wherein he is bound by recognizance to appear, or other court having jurisdiction of the cause. Any person knowingly committing to prison contrary to this enactment, or knowingly aiding or assisting therein, shall forfeit to the prisoner £500. "If a judge deny a writ of habeas corpus by the act required to be granted, after motion made of it, he shall forfeit to the prisoner £500." The act contains provisions for bringing parties to speedy trial, and for preventing imprisonment out of the king's dominions.1 But it declared that its provisions should not extend to discharge out of prison persons charged in debt, or action, or process in any civil cause; and generally, it may be said, that where a person is in execution under the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, or even 1 See ante, p. 412. CH. VIII.] MODERN STATUTES EXTENDING IT. 553 for contempt of such a court, the habeas corpus does not apply.1 Such is the great Habeas Corpus Act, which has been the theme of so much eulogy, and so much eloquence. By Fox it was described "as the most important barrier against tyranny, and best framed for the liberty of individuals, that has ever existed in any ancient or modern commonwealth;"2 and Sir James Mackintosh declared the writ of habeas corpus, and trial by jury, to be the most effectual securities against oppression, which the wisdom of man has hitherto been able to devise."3 The provisions of the act, and the benefit of the writ, were confined to cases of commitment or detainer for criminal or supposed criminal matter; but a modern statute has extended them to all persons confined or constrained of their liberty (except for criminal matter, or for debt, or by process in any civil suit), or to all persons detained without sufficient authority.4 Other more recent statutes have given the judges of the several courts power to grant the writs, and to make them returnable in any other court than their own; and it has been decided that a judge may in vacation grant a habeas corpus returnable before himself in chambers.5 1 Wilson's Case, Queen's Bench Reports, vol. vii. p. 984. 2 Fox's Reign of James II., p. 35. 3 History of England, vol. i. p. 219. 4 56 Geo. III., cap. 100. 5 11 Geo. IV. & 1 Wm. IV., cap. 70; 1 & 2 Vict., cap. 45; Leonard Watson's case, 2 Russ. and M. 639. CHAPTER IX. THE PEOPLE. FREEDOM IN RELIGION. Church of England.-Protestant Dissenters.-Toleration Act.-Dissenting Ministers.—Quakers.—Oaths.—Dissenting Places of Worship.Toleration Act confirmed.-Reaction against Toleration.-Act against growth of Schism.-Reactionary Laws Repealed.—Dissenting Miniзters' Relief Act.-Toleration Amendment Act.-Unitarian Relief Act.-Sacramental Test Repeal.-Indemnity Acts.-Congregations in Private Houses.-Roman Catholics.-Disarming Act.-Relief Act. -Jews.-Relief Acts.-General Law as to Places of Worship of Protestant Dissenters, Roman Catholics, and Jews. THE constitution recognizes the Church of England as the state church, and the doctrines declared by its Thirty-nine Articles as the religion of the State; and it is imperative that the sovereign shall be in communion with the Church of England. In Scotland, by virtue of the Act of Union, the Presbyterian system of doctrine and government is recognized as the state religion; and in Ireland an ecclesiastical hierarchy, and institutions in all respects similar to those of the Church of England, are established; forming, with the Church of England, "the United Church of England and Ireland." To those in communion with the Church of England, all the honours, dignities, offices, and emoluments of church and state, were at all times open; whilst those who dissented from it, whether as catholics or protestants, were not only in general disqualified for the possession of these advantages, but were subjected to coercion and punishment for re CH. IX.] PROTESTANT DISSENTERS AT THE REVOLUTION. 555 fusing communion with the established church. Protestant nonconformists, or dissenters, at the time of the Revolution, consisted of the several denominations of presbyterians, independents, baptists, and quakers; but with respect to the state, they were undistinguished; all being subject to severe and oppressive penal laws against nonconformity. At the Revolution they were considered to have entitled themselves to some relief from these laws, by co-operating with the established clergy in opposing the designs of James to introduce popery into the government; and they hailed the advent of William III., as their deliverer. Toleration1 in religion was congenial to his mind; and in the declaration which he published before his arrival in England, he promised that, whilst preserving the established church, he would endeavour, by some means of comprehension, to bring within its fold those now separated from it by forms nonessential or indifferent; and where union was impracticable, he would protect and secure all who would live peaceably under his government, from every kind of persecution on account of their religion. The fruit of these principles was the Toleration Act—“ an act for exempting their Majesties' protestant subjects, dissenting from the Church of England, from the penalties of certain laws." "2 It relieved from the operation of numerous penal statutes "protestant dissenting laymen, who should 1 “The word 'toleration' has rather a mournful, than a joyful sound; for in its judicial sense it merely signifies that the church authorized by the state, suffers others besides itself to exist in the land. But in the general language of literature, the sound common sense of all European nations understands by this term the not unreasonable demand that a man shall not be persecuted by the civil magistrate, or by a dominant church, if he, without violating the general civil regulations, worship God after his own fashion, in company with his fellow-believers.” (Signs of the Times, by Chevalier Bunsen, p. 285.) 21 Wm. and Mary, cap. 18. 3 23 Eliz., cap. 1 (ante, p. 213); 29 Eliz., cap. 6-an act for the more speedy and due execution of the act 23 Eliz., cap. 1; s. 14 of 1 Eliz., cap. 2 (ante, p. 207); 35 Eliz., cap. 1 (ante, p. 21 ); 3 James I., cap. 4 (ante, p. 230); 3 James I., cap. 5 (ante, p. 231); 22 Car. II., cap. |