In 1665, upon the assembling of the Parliament at Oxford, a Bill was brought before that august body, that no dissenting teacher, who refused to take the oath of non-resistance, should, except upon the road, come within five miles of any corporation, or of any place where he had discharged the offices of a minister, after the Act of Oblivion, as it was called, under the penalty of £50. The Commons rejected the Bill, which imposed the oath of non-resistance on the whole nation. [137] The Conventicle Act was passed in 1670. By it every member of a Conventicle, or assembly of Non-Conformists, consisting of more than five persons, exclusive of the family where it was held, was liable to a fine.

One of the most virulent officials in persecuting the Non-Conformists, was Captain Tettersell, who effected the escape of the King. On Sunday, the 29th of May, 1670, while exercising his authority as High Constable of Brighton, he, with the zeal of a bigot, and the malign industry of a ministerial spy, discovered in the town a house in which a few Dissenters had privately met: and the door having been barred against so unfriendly an intruder, he surrounded the premises with his creatures, until a warrant for breaking the door open arrived from Sir Thomas Nutt, of Lewes. When the warrant arrived, the door was opened upon the demand of the Constable; but no minister could be found; nor were the company engaged in any religious ceremony. It was, however, asserted by some of the Constable’s assistants, that they had heard from within a voice in the elevated tone of prayer or instruction, and for this imputed offence, the whole party was summoned before the said Sir Thomas Nutt, and other Justices at Lewes. But there being no proof to justify conviction under the Conventicle Act, the bench insidiously counselled the objects of their persecution to confess the whole, and promised they would permit them to set their own fines. Finding them averse to self-accusation, where they were conscious of no crime, these upright dispensers of justice, even on the vague conjecture of the spies, fined to the full penalty of the Statute, not only such as were found in the house, but also a man who had been seen coming out some time before the said spies approached it. William Beard, the master of the house, having been fined £20, Captain Tettersell broke open his malthouse, and took thereout sixty-five bushel sacks of malt, which he sold to one of his partisans for twelve shillings a quarter. [138] Sir Thomas Nutt was a most malign retailer of penal law, and he prevailed on three other justices to co-operate with him in order to sanction the rancour of persecution. Other Constables besides Tettersell, also, were the too willing harpies of oppression under the mask of law.

Fastened in the back cover of Deryk Carver’s bible (the particulars of which are in Chapter XVII.) is a permission signed by Lord Arlington, for holding a Conventicle. The mark where the royal seal had been affixed, yet remains. The following is a correct copy of the license:—

(The Regal Seal.)

Charles R.

Charles, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all Mayors, Bayliffs, Constables, and other Our Officers and Ministers, Civil and Military, whom it may concern, Greeting. In pursuance of Our Declaration of the 15th of March, 1671–2. We have allowed, and we do hereby allow of a Room or Rooms in the house of Elizabeth Hopdon, widd. of Gouldhurst in Kent, to be a place for the Use of such as do not conform to the Church of England, who are of the Perswasion commonly called presbyterian to meet and assemble in, in order to their publick Worship and Devotion. And all and Singular Our Officers and Ministers, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Military, whom it may concern, are to take due notice hereof: And they and every of them, are hereby strictly charged and required to hinder any tumult or disturbance, and to protect them in their Said Meetings and Assemblies. Given at Our Court at Whitehall, the 9th day of December, in the 24th year of Our Reign, 1672.

By His Majesties Command,
Arlington.

Wi dd. Hopdons house.

The Toleration Act, 1 Wm. and Mary, 1. c. 18, which exempted Dissenters from the penalties of certain laws, was confirmed by statue 10 Anne, c. 2.

Chapter XX.
THE BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF BRIGHTON.

The Sussex coast is a favourite locality for the greater portion of our British Birds, more particularly the migratory species. The high headlands to the eastward seem to be a great attraction to them by day, and, as a great many take nocturnal flight, the glare of light at night sent high into the vault of the heavens from the gas lamps in the town of Brighton, attracts a great number to this neighbourhood, and many rare specimens have been obtained. The migration of birds is a subject of considerable interest in their natural history to the Ornithologist. It was formerly supposed that many birds, which now are known for a certainty to migrate, retired to some secure retreat, and remained dormant through the winter. So general was this impression that in some districts of England seven of the migratory birds obtained the names of the seven sleepers. The Cuckoo was one of these; and the Swallows were supposed to lie up in a torpid state during the winter. Most birds migrate, and those which cross the seas are called “Birds of Passage.” A great number of our birds remove as the cold weather sets in, from the inland districts towards the sea shores, which afford them a better supply of food.

In the Spring of the year—March and April—we have the greatest arrival of our summer visitors, and it is astonishing with what order and punctuality they arrive and depart. They are the unerring messengers of Spring; and, true to Nature’s laws, arrive generally within a few days of the time pointed out by the scientific observations of the Ornithologist.

The poets, from Chaucer downwards, have largely introduced birds into their works. Chaucer, in his “Assembly of Fowles,” says—

On every bough the birdis herd I syng.
With voice of Angell in their harmonie.