Anna Barbauld’s An Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts (1790) is one of the most noteworthy political pamphlets to have been written amidst political debate over the civil rights of Dissenters (both Protestants not affiliated with the Church of England as well as Catholics). Dissenters’ rights had been limited for nearly a century by the Corporation and Test Acts, laws established in the late seventeenth century to constrain or preclude Dissenters from worshiping, preaching, holding public office, and attending the universities at Cambridge and Oxford. The two laws reflected longstanding prejudice against Catholics on the one hand and, on the other, the Anglican Church’s increasing anxiety …
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Citation: Krawczyk, Scott. "Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6849, accessed 25 November 2024.]