"BY LAW ESTABLISHED."
[To THE EDT/OR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] Sta,—I think it will be found that the above-cited phrase, with others similar, is not properly known to the Constitution, but -obtained currency by necessity, in times when civil and religions -oaths, subscriptions, privileges, and exclusions prevailed, in order to disable reserves and equivoques on the part of the dis- affected. From the days of Henry VIII. to those of George III., -there existed parties of insecure allegiance, both to the de facto dynasty and to the order in Church matters recognised by exist- ing law. Such language barred both the Roman and the Puritan. An early instance is that of the rubric of 1 Elizabeth, -directing the ornaments of the Church to be those which were by Act of Parliament in the second year of Edward.—I am, Sir,
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