ARTICLE, a clause or condition of a contract,
treaty, &c. It is also a small part or division of a dis-
course, book, or writing, &c.
ARTICLE of Death, the last pangs or agony of one
just expiring.
ARTICLE of Faith, is by some defined a point of
Christian doctrine, which we are obliged to believe, as
having been revealed by God himself, and allowed and
established as such by the church.
The thirty nine articles are founded, for the most
part, upon a body of articles compiled and published
in the reign of Edward VI. They were first passed in
the convocation, and confirmed by royal authority in
the year 1562. They were afterwards ratified anew in
the year 1571, and again by Charles I. The law re-
quires a subscription to these articles of all persons or-
dained to be deacons or priests, 13 El. cap. 12. of all
clergymen inducted to any ecclesiastical living, by the
same statute, and of licensed lecturers and curates,
13 El. cap. 12. and 13. and 14. Ch. 2. cap. 4. of the
heads of colleges, of chancellors, officials and commis-
saries, and of school masters. By 1 Will. 3. cap. 18.
dissenting teachers are to subscribe all, except the 34th,
35th, and 36th, and part of the 20th (and in the case
of Anabaptists, except also part of the 27th); other-
wise they are exempted from the benefits of the act of
toleration.