_Clerical Members of Parliament_ (Vol. v., p. 11.).--John Horne Tooke,
the reformer, who was in priest's orders, having been presented to the
borough of Old Sarum by Lord Camelford, in February, 1801, an act was
passed (41. Geo. III. c. 73.) to exclude the clergy from parliament; but
as it did not vacate the seat of any member then elected, Mr. Tooke
remained in the house till the dissolution in June, 1802. In the course
of the debate, the case of Mr. Edward Rushworth, member for Newport, in
the Isle of Wight, in 1784, was referred to. He was in deacon's orders,
and a petition presented against his return, but was allowed to retain
his seat. He is supposed to have been one of the _two_ ministers of the
Church of England alluded to by Sir James Johnstone in his speech in the
debate on the Test and Corporation Acts, 8th May, 1789, as then being
members of the House.