Schism Bill

Schism Bill an act passed in the reign of queen Anne rendering Nonconformist teachers of schools liable to three months' imprisonment. It was also laid down as imperative upon every schoolmaster that he should receive the sacrament of the Church of England, take the oaths, and teach only the Church catechism. If he should attend a conventicle, he was incapacitated and imprisoned. The queen, however, died on the very day that the act was to have received her signature, and consequently, though it had passed both houses, it fell to the ground.