(Briggs v. Hartley, 1850, 19 L. J. Ch. 416; Yeap Cheah Neo v. Ong Cheng Neo, 1875, L. R. 6 P. C. p. 396). The Church of England still holds, however, a more favoured position before the law in some respects. A charity for "the worship of God" is prima facie a charity for the benefit of the established religion (A.-G. v. Pearson, supra). The Court takes judicial notice of the tenets and authorities of the Established Church, while any question of Nonconformist doctrine, usage, and regulations must be proved in evidence in the ordinary way. Though in England and Wales the right of the Church of England to ecclesiastical tithes reserved in the Toleration Act was expressly reserved by 31 & 32 Vict. c. 109, compulsory church rates were abolished, except (1) where the rate is partly used for other than church purposes; (2) where there is a money charge on the church rate, such rate must be paid till the charge is cleared; and (3) where the rate had been levied under a local Act in extinguishment of tithes, or upon contract for good consideration (Bell v. Bassett, 1882, 52 L. J. Q. B. 22). See RATES (CHURCH). Dissenters are also in a different position from members of the Church of England in regard to burials and marriage (vide infra). Relieving Statutes.—(1) The first great measure of relief to Protestant Dissenters was the Toleration Act, 1688, 1 Will. & Mary, c. 18, which exempted from the penalties of existing statutes against separate conventicles, or absence from the established worship (1 Eliz. c. 2; 23 Eliz. c. 1; 29 Eliz. c. 6; 3 Jac. c. 4; 3 Jac. c. 5; vide supra), such as should take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe the declaration against popery provided in the Act, and such ministers as should, in addition, subscribe the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. (except the 34th, 35th, and 36th, and certain words in the 20th), should not be liable to the penalties imposed by the Statutes 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 4; 17 Car. II. c. 2, and 22 Car. II. c. 1. Quakers were allowed to affirm, and Baptist ministers were relieved from subscribing the 27th Article relating to Baptism. This indulgence, however, was extended to Dissenters, subject to the condition that their meeting-houses should be registered in the Bishop's Court or in the Court of Quarter Sessions, and was expressly restricted to Protestant Dissenters who believed in the Trinity. The Toleration Act therefore applied, at the time of its passing, to four main dissenting denominations-the Presbyterians, the Independents (or, as they were beginning to be called, after the American fashion, the Congregationalists), the Baptists, and the Quakers. In course of time new denominations arose, which claimed and received the benefits of the provisions of the Toleration Act, eg. the Lutherans, the French Protestants, the Wesleyans, the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, the Bible Christians, the Primitive Methodists, the Separatists, etc. Indeed, the provision requiring the registration of chapels contained in the Act had a very material influence on the development of at least two powerful Nonconformist bodies. For it is not improbable that, if the chapels of the Wesleyans and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists had come within the protection of the law without having to be registered as dissenting meeting-houses, the Wesleyans and the Welsh Methodists would have continued within the fold of the Established Church (vide Burn's Eccl. Law, 1763 ed., art. "Dissenters"; Thomas Charles's Welsh Methodists Vindicated, 1802). It should also be noted that the Protestant Dissenters were required by the Toleration Act to take the oath of supremacy, which was totally opposed to the teachings of Cartwright and the earlier Nonconformists of Elizabeth's reign (Neal's History of the Puritans, i. 88). (2) By the Dissenting Ministers Act, 1779, 19 Geo. III. c. 44, Protestant Nonconformist ministers making a declaration that they were Christians were relieved from the limited subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles which was required by the Toleration Act. On the same terms all Dissenters were exempted from the restrictions which previously existed on teaching, though they were not repealed till 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59 (1846). (3) 52 Geo. III. c. 155 (repealing 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 1, and 17 Car. II. c. 2, and 22 Car. II. c. 1, vide supra) relieved Protestant Dissenters from the remaining oaths and from the declaration required by 19 Geo. III. c. 44. It also enacted that "no congregation of more than twenty besides the family shall be allowed unless certified as the existing law required or in the manner mentioned in the Act." But every teacher had to take the oaths and declaration according to the Dissenting Ministers Act, 1779, under a penalty of from 10s. to £10, if required by a justice of the peace. The Act did not apply to Quakers, so that they still had to be exempted under the Toleration Act, and were not, presumably, subject to the penalties imposed by 52 Geo. III. c. 155. (4) In the following year an Act (53 Geo. III. c. 160) was passed to relieve the Unitarians by repealing the exception of anti-Trinitarians from the benefits of the Toleration Act, as well as the provisions against them in the Act of 9 & 10 Will. III. "for the suppression of blasphemy and profaneness." (5) In 1828 the Test and Corporation Acts (vide supra) were repealed. (6) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 102, and 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59, swept away all the statutes (other than the Toleration Act and 52 Geo. III. c. 155) which restricted the right of assembling for religious worship. (7) 18 & 19 Vict. c. 86, enacted that nothing in the Toleration Act or 52 Geo. III. should apply-(a) to a congregation in a private dwellinghouse, or (b) to a congregation meeting occasionally in a building not usually appropriated to purposes of worship. (8) The Toleration Act was repealed by 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48, s. 1, Sched. 2, except such parts as (a) enumerate the offices from which dissenting ministers are entitled to exemption (s. 11); (b) enable Dissenters to act as churchwardens by deputy (s. 7); and (c) provide for the punishment of disturbers of religious meetings tolerated by the Act (s. 8). Dissenters are also relieved from all oaths and declarations other than the declaration set out in 19 Geo. III. c. 44. (9) The Statute Law Revision Act, 1873, repealed 19 Geo. III. c. 44; 52 Geo. III. c. 155; and 53 Geo. III. c. 160; and, therefore, at the present day, Unitarians occupy precisely the same position in the eye of the law as the other Protestant Dissenting communities. Quakers, however, occupy a slightly different position to the other Dissenters, because the Act 52 Geo. III. was not made to refer to them. Sec. 11 of the lastmentioned statute enacts that the doors of any assembly of Protestant Dissenters must not be locked or barred so as to prevent entry, and any person preaching at an assembly where they are so locked is subjected to a penalty not exceeding £20, and not less than 40s. for each offence. It would appear that Quakers are not liable to this penalty. Again, though it is said in the preamble of 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81 that "it is expedient that all places of religious worship should-if the con gregation should desire, but not otherwise-be certified by the RegistrarGeneral," it is still important that a dissenting meeting-place should be so registered (vide infra). It does not appear, however, that Quakers are bound in the same way to register their places of meeting in order to avoid the penalties imposed by 52 Geo. III. (Winslow's Law of Nonconformists, pp. 5, 6). Nonconformist Ministers.-The prefix "Reverend" is not a title of honour exclusively belonging to the clergy of the Church of England (Keet v. Smith, 1876, L. R. 1 P. D., at p. 75), and can be applied to Nonconformist ministers, as it was applied in the fifteenth and sixteenth century to distinguished laymen. The regular minister of a chapel certified under 18 & 19 Vict. is exempt from serving on a jury (33 & 34 Vict. c. 77, s. 9, and schedule), from being appointed to a parochial office such as churchwarden or overseer (1 Will. & Mary, sess. 1, c. 18, s. 11), from being balloted to serve in the militia (19 Geo. III. c. 44, s. 1; 52 Geo. III. c. 155, ss. 5-9)-such a minister is exempt though he be engaged in trade (Kenward v. Knowles, 1744, Willes, 463). No toll can be demanded or taken on any turnpike road from a minister or any person going to or returning from his usual place of religious worship tolerated by law, on Sundays, or on any day on which divine service is by authority ordered to be celebrated (3 Geo. IV. c. 126, s. 32); and it has been held that a Primitive Methodist minister was exempt from toll when going to the chapel assigned to him by the Connexional plan, though he was not in the habit of ministering at that chapel every Sunday (Smith v. Barnett, 1870, L. R. 6 Q. B. 34); but the exemption must be claimed at the time. Guardians of the poor may appoint and pay a Nonconformist minister for the purpose of attending to the spiritual wants of Nonconformist paupers (R. v. Haslehurst, 1884, 53 L. J. M. C. 127); but by the Municipal Corporation Act, 1882, a regular minister, though presumably not a lay or occasional preacher or a minister who is not in charge of a church (R. v. Oldham, 1869, 38 L. J. Q. B. 125), is disqualified from acting as town councillor or auditor. A regular minister, however, is eligible for election as a member of a school board, board of guardians, and district council, county council, or Parliament, and he can be appointed justice of the peace. A preacher or minister is not to be disturbed in the conduct of religious worship, or in the performance of his duty in the lawful burial of the dead in any churchyard or other burialplace (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 36); and he is, at such times, exempt from arrest upon any civil process. The minister of a dissenting chapel must be appointed in the manner indicated in the trust-deed. If the trust-deed contains no instructions as to the mode of appointment, then he must be appointed according to the usage of the congregation, though such usage must not be held to be necessarily conclusive (4.-G. v. Pearson, 1817, 3 Mer. 353, at p. 403; 17 R. R. 100). The election. must be made only by the competent (Perry v. Shipway, 1859, 1 Gif. 1), and the Court may direct an inquiry to be held as to who are so competent, or as to usage (Davis v. Jenkins, 1815, 3 Ves. & Bea. 151, 155, 159; 13 R. R. 168). If the trust-deed enjoins that the minister should be elected by the congregation, an election by the majority is valid (Davis v. Jenkins, supra); or if by the trustees, then a minister can be validly elected by the majority of the trustees (A.-G. v. Lawson, 1866, W. N. 343), though in that case he cannot maintain an action for arrears of salary against all the trustees (Cooper v. Whitehouse, 1834, 6 Car. & P. 545). Hirers of pews, who are not regular members, are not competent to take part in the election of the minister (Leslie v. Birnie, 1826, 2 Russ. 114; 26 R. R. 14). The Court will grant a mandamus to admit a newly-elected minister (R. v. Barker, 3 Burr. 1265), but not to restore a minister, unless he shows a prima facie title (R. v. Jotham, 1790, 3 T. R. 575-577; 1 R. R. 770). At law a minister is only a tenant-atwill to the trustees of a chapel (Doe d. Jones v. Jones, 1830, 10 Barn. & Cress. 718), but he is not a trespasser if he returns to fetch his goods from a chapel whence he has been evicted without notice (Doe d. Nicholl v. M'Kaeg, 1830, 10 Barn. & Cress. 721). Equity will continue a minister, who is not acting improperly, in possession pending an action as to the validity of his appointment, and the Court will pay his salary (Foley v. Wontner, 1820, 2 Jac. & W. 245, at p. 247; 22 R. R. 110); but not in case of improper conduct (Spurgin v. White, 1860, 2 Gif. 473), or breach of trust (Brown v. Summers, 1840, 11 Sim. 353; A.-G. v. Welsh, 1845, 4 Hare, 572). The Court will also grant an interim injunction to restrain an improper election, but will not grant an injunction to restrain the user of the premises by persons who have not been duly licensed (Milligan v. Mitchell, 1833, 1 Myl. & K. 446). Ministers hold office, not for life, but according to usage, though the leaning of the Court would appear to be strongly in favour of a tenancy for life (vide Lord Eldon's judgment in 4.-G. v. Pearson, supra; Cooper v. Gordon, 1869, L. R. 8 Eq. 249). Where a minister is dependent on the voluntary contributions of his congregation, he is, in the absence of other usage or instructions or contract, removable at will (Porter v. Clarke, 1829, 2 Sim. 520; 29 R. R. 158). Notice of any charges against a minister must be given to him before they are brought to a meeting of the members (Dean v. Bennett, 1870, 39 L. J. Ch. 674). No reasons for the dismissal of a minister need be given; but if the reasons are given, it must be after an investigation of which he has received notice. A minister who has ceased to hold the same views as his congregation may be removed (A.-G. v. Munro, 1860, 2 De G. & Sm. 122), and the Court will grant an injunction to restrain him from occupying the pulpit (4.-G. v. Welsh, supra); but it may be that if the minister preached the doctrines enjoined in the trust-deed, though they were contrary to those believed in by the congregation, he could not on that account be removed (vide infra). Dissenting Chapels or Meeting-Houses.-The term "chapels " as applied to dissenting meeting-houses is of comparatively late origin. The earlier Protestant Nonconformists called their place of assembly by the term "meeting-house," while their opponents called it a "conventicle." "Chapel" was a term applied to the consecrated or unconsecrated meeting-house in connection with the Established Church, and was therefore properly used by the earlier Wesleyans and Welsh Methodists to denote their places of worship. The Baptists and Independents in Wales still call their places of assembly "meeting-houses," while the Calvinistic Methodists, as a rule, call their meeting-houses "chapels; " but the distinction has been lost in England, where the term "meetinghouse" seems to have gone out of use. Under the Toleration Act (vide supra), all dissenting meeting-houses had to be certified to the bishop, archdeacon, or Quarter Sessions; by 15 & 16 Vict. c. 36, they had to be certified to the Registrar-General. Though by 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81, this certification is made permissive, and not compulsory (vide supra), certain important consequences are entailed upon certification. As to the difference in the status and privileges of the minister, vide supra, sub tit. "Ministers." The occupier of a building certified as a dissenting chapel is exempt from the penalties under 52 Geo. III. c. 155; the building itself is exempted from rates by 3 & 4 Will. iv. c. 30 (but if a concert is held, where a charge for admission is made, the exemption may be imperilled); by the Highway Act, 1835, 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 50, it is exempted from the highway rate; by 38 & 39 Vict. c. 55, Public Health Act, 1875, the expenses of private improvements are not to be chargeable on a building used as a dissenting chapel, or on the minister; by 32 & 33 Vict. c. 40, the rating authorities may exempt Sunday and ragged schools from the incidence of rates (Bell v. Crane, 1873, L. R. 8 Q. B. 481); but by 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120, Metropolitan Managements Act, 1856, the trustees of a chapel, as also the Established Church, are liable for paving expenses, etc. (Wright v. Ingle, 1885, 16 Q. B. D. 379; Angell v. Vestry of Paddington, 1868, L. R. 3 Q. B. 715); and chapels so certified are exempted from the operation of the Charitable Trusts Act, 1853, and the amending Acts, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81 (vide infra), and a separate building certified under the last-mentioned Act may be registered for solemnising marriages therein (vide infra). The Registrar-General is required to print periodically a list of certified chapels. In cases where a chapel has been disused for one year, the trustees are to give notice of such disuser, and the certificate of registration is thereupon to be cancelled. In cases where a chapel is rebuilt, the old certificate must be cancelled, and the chapel must be re-registered. Nonconformist Marriages.-Nonconformists may have their marriages celebrated under a registrar's certificate in their own places of worship, and according to their own ceremonies, but certain notices have to be given and certain forms observed. A separate building certified under 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81, as a place of religious worship may be registered for solemnising marriages therein, on the application of any proprietor or trustee thereof to the superintendent-registrar of the district; but the fact that the building has not been certified under 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81, does not affect the validity of the marriage, if the chapel has been registered by the superintendent-registrar. Forms in duplicate are delivered by the superintendent-registrar to the applicant, to be signed by at least twenty householders, stating that the building has been certified as a place of worship and has been used as such by the congregation desiring it to be registered during one whole year at least immediately preceding the registration. The duplicate certificate so signed must be countersigned by the proprietor or trustee applying for the registration, and must be delivered to the superintendent-registrar, who must forthwith send them to the Registrar-General. The RegistrarGeneral will thereupon register the building for the solemnisation of marriages. The superintendent-registrar will then advertise the certificate of registration in a local newspaper and the London Gazette, on payment of £3 (6 & 7 Will. Iv. c. 85, s. 18). On removal to a new building, the superintendent-registrar may substitute such new place for the old place; and on rebuilding a chapel, the old registry is cancelled and the certificate is renewed. The registry, however, is not cancelled if the chapel is only altered or enlarged. A marriage can take place in a dissenting chapel by certificate with or without licence, after the consent of the minister or one of the deacons, trustees, or managers of the registered building has been obtained (19 & 20 Vict. c. 119). (1) If the marriage is by certificate |