Sessions of the Peace holden next after such conviction in and for the county, riding, city, or place, giving unto the Justices before whom such conviction shall be made, notice in writing within eight days after any such conviction, of his her or their intention to prefer such Appeal; and the said Justices in their said General or Quarter Sessions shall and may, and they are hereby authorised and empowered to proceed to the hearing and determination of the matter of such Appeal, and to make such order therein, and to award such costs to be paid by and to either party, not exceeding forty shillings, as they in their discretion shall think fit. XVII. And be it further enacted, that no penalty or forfeiture! shall be recoverable under this Act, unless the same shall be sued for, or the offence in respect of which the same is imposed, is prosecuted before the Justices of the Peace or Quarter Sessions within six months after the offence shall have been committed; and no person who shall suffer any Imprisonment for non-payment of any penalty, shall thereafter be liable to the payment of such penalty or forfeiture. XVIII. And be it further enacted, That if any Action or Suit shall be brought or commenced against any person or persons for any thing done in pursuance of this Act, that every such Action or Suit shall be commenced within three months next after the fact committed, and not afterwards, and shall be laid and brought in the county wherein the cause or alleged cause of action shall have accrued, and not elsewhere; and the defendant or defendants in such Action or Suit may plead the General Issue, and give this Act and the special matter in evidence on any Trial to be had thereupon, and that the same was done in pursuance and by authority of this Act; and if it shall appear so to be done, or if any such Action or Suit shall be brought after the time so limited for bringing the same, or shall be brought in any other county, city, or place, that then and in such case, the Jury shall find for such defendant or defendants; and upon such verdict, or if the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall become nonsuited, or discontinue his, her, or their Action or Actions, or if a verdict shall pass against the plaintiff or plaintiffs, or if upon demurrer, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff or plaintiffs, the defendant or defendants shall have and may recover treble costs, and have the like remedy for the same, as any defendant or defendants hath or have for Costs of Suit in other Cases by Law. XIX. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a Public Act, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such by all Judges, Justices, and others, without specially pleading the same. 62 Observations upon the Act of Parliament, (52d Geo. III. cap. 155.) passed 29th July, 1812, relating to Religious Worship, with some practical Directions. . Sect. II. 1. ALL Religious Assemblies of Protestants, not exceeding Twenty Persons, besides the family of the person in whose premises such Assembly shall be held, are lawful without registering the Place of Meeting, so that there will be no absolute necessity to register the houses where small Class, Prayer, and other Social Meetings are held. However, as it is attended with scarcely any inconvenience, it is recommended that ALL PLACES where, in probability, more than Twenty Persons may assemble for Religious Instruction, including Sunday Schools, be certified and registered. 2. It is not necessary to register any place, which has been registered previous to the passing of this Act. 3. It is not necessary to wait till the place is actually registered, but a Religious Assembly may lawfully be held after a certificate that the place is intended to be used for Religious Worship is ledged with the person or any one of the persons mentioned in the Section. 4. The following form of Certificate to be sent to the Bishop, or Archdeacon, or Justices of the General or Quarter Sessions, is recommended, to sign which only one person is necessary, that is to say, [as the "To the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of "case may be] or to the Reverend (A. B.) Archdeacon " of [as the case may be] and to his Registrar, or "to the Justices of the Peace [of the County, Riding, "Division, City, Town, or Place, as the case may be] and "to the Clerk of the Peace thereof." "I, A. B. of (describing the christian and surname, and 66 place of abode, and trade or profession of the party certi fying) do hereby certify, that a certain Building, [Messuage, or Tenement, Barn, School, Meeting House, or part of a Messuage, Tenement, or other Building, as "the case may be] situated in the Parish of 66 66 and "County of [as the case may be, and specifying also "the number of the Messuage, &c. if numbered, and the "Street, Lane, &c. wherein it is situate, and the name of "the present or last Occupier or Owner] is intended forth"with to be used as a place of Religious Worship by an *Assembly or Congregation of Protestants, and I do hereby "require you to register and record the same according to "the provisions of an Act passed in the 52d year of the "Reign of his Majesty King George the Third, intituled "An Act to repeal certain Acts, and amend other Acts, "relating to Religious Worship, and Assemblies, and Per- 181 "A. B." The address to be used must depend upon the person or persons with whom the Certificate is to be deposited. Between the different Sessions, the Bishop and Archdeacon's Registry is generally open. It is not necessary that this Certificate should express that the place is to be registered for protestant Dissenters, the Act mentions only Protestants, and it is recommended that no Certificate be accepted from the Registrar of the Bishop, or Archdeacon, or from the Clerk of the Peace, which narrows the term, or which states the place to be for any specific denomination of Protestants. The Certificate should mention Protestants only. Two copies of the above Certificate should be prepared, and signed in the presence of a respectable witness. One to be delivered to the Bishop, Archdeacon, or Clerk of the Peace, and the other to be kept by the party, signing the same, who is to require from the Registrar or Clerk of the Peace, to sign a Certificate on the part to be kept, that such Certificate as above has been delivered to him. Such Certificate to be written beneath the name of the party or parties signing the original Certificate, in the following form: "I, C. D. [Registrar of the Court of the Bishop of "or Archdeacon of or Clerk of the Peace for the "County of as the case may be] do hereby certify "that a Certificate, of which the above is a true copy, was this day delivered to me, to be registered and recorded "pursuant to the Act of Parliament therein mentioned. "Dated this day of 181 "C. D. Registrar, or Clerk of the Peace." Thus in case any accidental delay in the Registration should take place, and it be needful to use the place, as a place of Religious Assembly, proof will exist that the Certificate was daly delivered and consequently the parties be free from penalty, if they use the place for Religious Worship after it is certified, but before it is registered. 5. At the time the Certificate of the parties is presented to the Bishop, or Archdeacon, or to the Sessions, the Fee of 2s. 6d. should be paid to the Registrar, or Clerk of the Peace, for registering and certifying the same, and his Certificate should be required accordingly. Sect. III. Before, it was made penal by this Section to preach in a house, without the consent of the Occupier, a person doing so was liable to an Action by the Common Law. Sect. IV. The first Section having repealed altogether the Five Mile and Conventicle Acts, and an Act relating to the Quakers, by this Section all Protestants, whether Teachers or Hearers, whether Dissenters or Churchmen, attending a Place of Worship, certified under this Act, are exempted, even before actual and formal registration, from the penalties of all the Acts recited in the Toleration Act, or in any Act amending the same. Sect. V. A Preacher may be required (if he has not already qualified) to take the Oaths, &c. after he has actually preached, but it is not necessary that any person should take the Oaths and subscribe the Declarations required, as an antecedent qualification to preach. The requisition must be made by a Justice of the Peace in writing. The following are copies of the Oaths,* &c. referred to in the Section. and Oath of Allegiance. I, A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King "George. Of Supremacy. "So help me God. "A. B." *I, A. B. do swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest, "and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine "and position, that Princes, excommunicated, or deprived "by the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be "deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other what"soever. And I do declare, that no foreign Prince, Per"son, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or "authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm. "So help me God. "A. B." Declaration against Popery. "I, A. B. do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, ແ profess, testify, and declare, that I do believe, that in the "Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, there is not any tran"substantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the "body and blood of Christ, at or after the consecration "thereof, by any person whatsoever, and that the invoca"tion or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, "and the sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in "the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous; " and I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, tes"tify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and 66 every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the These Oaths are printed, and the above Certificates are printed separately, may be had at the Book Room, or of the Superintendants. "words read unto me, as they are commonly understood by Declaration of Christian Faith. "I, A. B. do solemnly declare in the presence of Almighty "God, that I am a Christian and a Protestant, and as "such that I believe that the Scriptures of the Old and "New Testament, as commonly received among Protestant "Churches, do contain the revealed will of God; and that "I do receive the same as the rule of my doctrine and "practice." A. B. Sect. VI. The Preacher is not now required to go to the Quarter Sessions for the purpose of taking the Oaths, &c. but is to go before a neighbouring Magistrate for the purpose. Sect. VII. 1. Any person, being a Protestant, whether Preacher or not, may require a Justice to administer the Oaths, &c. 2. The person requiring a Justice to administer the Oaths, &c. must take a fair copy of them. The forms of the Oaths, &c. are given in the Notes on Section V, which, after substituting his name for A. B., are to be signed by the person who desires to take them. 3. No person need be at the trouble of applying to take the Oaths, &c. unless he be a regular Preacher, wholly devoted to the Ministry, who intends to claim exemption from civil and military services agreeably to the 9th Section. Sect. VIII. This Section supplies the form of the Certificate of taking the Oaths, and subscribing the Declaration, which the Justice is to give in all cases, and for which he may demand 2s. 6d. when the Oaths, &c. are taken on the requisition of the party taking them; but this Fee is not payable if the Justice require a person to take the Oaths, &c. Sect. IX. To intitle a person to exemption from Civil or Military Services, he must be altogether employed in the duties of a Teacher or Preacher, and not engaged in any secular employment for his livelihood, with the exception of that of a Schoolmaster. VOL. XXXVI. JANUARY, 1813. |