Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/147

DISSENTERS DISSOCIATION" 139 upon the lands; but if the disseizor died in possession, there could be no entry against his heir, but the rightful owner was then put to I an action for the recovery of the possession. This rule, however, was subject to certain ex- ! ceptions, as disability of the person entitled to make the entry; and finally by statute five years' possession by the disseizor before his death was necessary in order to take away the I right of entry. It was required that the entry should be peaceable, for if force was used a summary process was given by statute to re- I store the possession to the person thus put out, although, as before supposed, his possession was wrongful, provided he or those from whom | he claimed had held the premises three years. Possession, although not conclusive evidence I of the right of property, was yet deemed of ! such importance that it could be the subject 1 of an action without involving the question of the real ownership of the fee. The old forms of proceeding by writ of entry, assize of novel disseisin, and the like, were possessory actions. The title to the fee could be determined only by a writ of right or other analogous proceed- ing. A limitation of time was prescribed for the bringing of possessory actions, which has varied at different periods ; but now, by statutes 8 and 4 William IV., c. 27 (1833), no entry can be made nor action brought but within 20 years after the right of entry or action accrued ; de- scent cast (as it was called when the disseizor died in possession) is not allowed to defeat such entry or action, and all the real actions former- ly used are abolished, except actions for dower, _ quare impedit (which relates to certain incor- ' poral rights), and ejectment, which last is the mode by which all titles to corporal estates are now tried. In this country, these provisions have been long since generally adopted, and even greater changes made ; and the term dis- seisin has been little used in American law, and merely as synonymous with dispossession. DISSENTERS, the general name in England for those Protestants who differ from the es- tablished church in doctrine or ceremonies. The origin of dissent was in the reign of Ed- ward VI. John Hooper was appointed bishop of Gloucester, but refused to swear obedience to the metropolitan or wear the episcopal robes. His views were opposed by Cramner and Ridley, and he was imprisoned for preaching them, but had many followers, who were called nonconformists. During the reign of Eliza- beth several acts were passed against dissent, especially the "Act of Uniformity" (1558), which enforced severe penalties against any one conducting public service in any other manner than that prescribed by the " Book of Common Prayer." These acts were not altered under James I., and under Charles I. dissent was pun- ished with increased severity. Upon the fall of the latter episcopacy was proscribed, and at first the Presbyterians, and afterward the Independents, had the ascendancy. Episco- pacy was restored with Charles II., and a new act of uniformity was passed in 1662. The "declarations of indulgence " of Charles II. and James II. gave temporary relief, but it was not until the revolution of 1688 that dissenters enjoyed any real toleration. After this the penal laws were gradually ameliorated. The test and corporation acts were repealed in 1828, admitting them to active citizenship; in 1836 the marriage law was modified so as to allow marriages to be solemnized in the presence of the district registrar ; in 1 860 an act was passed for the admission of children of parents not connected with the church of England to the endowed schools, where such connection is not expressly required by the endowment; in 1867 the former religious restrictions as to the lord chancellor of Ireland were removed, and it was made lawful for judicial or corporate offi- cers to attend their places of worship in their official robes, and a new oath was provided in place of the former oaths of allegiance, supre- macy, and abjuration; religious tests in the universities were abolished as to all lay students in 1871. The disabilities of dissenters at pres- ent are little more than such as are necessarily involved in the existence of the established church. In the 17th century the great classes of dissenters were the Presbyterians, Indepen- dents, Baptists, and Quakers. The most numer- ous now are the Methodists, who did not begin as avowed dissenters, and some of whom do not now avow dissent. There are several sub- divisions of Methodists, and many minor bodies which may be considered as subdivisions of the leading denominations previously men- tioned. In Scotland the Presbyterian church is established by law, and before the separation of the Free church the largest class of dissent- ers was that generally called Seceders, origina- ting in a separation from the established church in 1736. They were divided into Burghers, Anti-Burghers, Original Burghers, and Origi- nal Seceders. The most of the Burghers and Anti-Burghers united in 1820 under the name of the " United Associate Synod of the Seces- sion Church; "and in 1847 this body united with the Relief church, which had seceded from the establishment in 1752, the aggregate body taking the name of the " United Pres- byterian Church." In 1843 a very large seces- sion, led by Dr. Chalmers, formed the Free church of Scotland, now much the largest body of dissenters there. These bodies differ from the church of Scotland only in regard to the relation of the church to the civil govern- ment. There are also many Congregationalists or Independents and Baptists in Scotland. The disestablishment of the Episcopal church in Ireland in 1868 has made the term dissenter? no longer applicable there. DISSOCIATION, in chemistry, a term applied to the influence of heat and pressure on chem- ical action. The word was first employed by Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, who in Novem- ber, 1857, read before the French academy of sciences a paper " On the Dissociation or Spon-