ODNB Ejected Ministers 181-203

1. Stephens, Nathaniel (1606/7–1678), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Richard Stephens, vicar from 1604 of Stanton St Bernard, Wiltshire ...
2. Stewart, Andrew (1614/15?–1671), clergyman and ejected minister
... one of the four children of the Revd Andrew Stewart ...
3. Strickland, John (1601?-1670), clergyman and ejected minister
... probably the John Strickland who was baptized on 11 March 1601 ...
4. Stubbes [Stubbs], Henry (1605/6–1678), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of Henry Stubbes of Bitton, Gloucestershire ...
5. Swinnock, George (c 1627–1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Maidstone in Kent, the son of George Swinnock ...
6. Sylvester, Matthew (1636/7–1708), ejected minister
... born at Southwell, Nottinghamshire, a son of Robert Sylvester, mercer ...
7. Tallents, Francis (1619–1708), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in November 1619 at Pilsley, North Wingfield, Derbyshire ...
8. Thomas, William (1592/3–1667), clergyman and ejected minister
... probably born at Whitchurch, Shropshire. He was almost certainly educated locally ...
9. Tilsley, John (c 1614–1684), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Lancashire, possibly near Bolton ...
10. Tombes, John (1602–1676), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Bewdley, Worcestershire ...
11. Towne, Robert (1592/3?–1664), clergyman and ejected minister
... matriculated as from Yorkshire at Oriel College, Oxford on 4 December 1612 ...
12. Troughton, William (1613/14–1686/90), clergyman and ejected minister
... was the son of William Troughton b 1584/5?, rector of Waberthwaite, Cumberland ...
13. Truman, Joseph (1631-1671), clergyman and ejected minister, and religious writer
... son of Richard and Mary Truman ...
14. Veal [Veel], Edward (1632/3–1708), clergyman, ejected minister, and nonconformist tutor
... of uncertain origins ...
15. Venning, Ralph (c 1622–1674), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Devon, the son of Francis Venning and his wife ...
16. Vincent, Thomas [T. V.] (1634–1678), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in May 1634 in Hertford (where he was baptized ...
17. Walter, Henry (1611–1678?), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Piercefield, St Arvans parish, Monmouthshire ...
18. Warren, John (1621–1696), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Wolverley, Worcestershire, on 29 September 1621 ...
19. Watson, Thomas (d 1686), ejected minister
... recorded as of Yorkshire when he matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, ...
20. Whitaker, William (d 1672), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Oakham, Rutland, the son of the schoolmaster Jeremiah Whitaker ...
21. Wilkinson, Henry (1610–1675), Church of England clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 4 March 1610 at Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire ...
22. Wilkinson, Henry (1616/17–1690), college head and ejected minister
... son of William Wilkinson, curate or chaplain of Adwick-le-Street, Yorkshire ...
23. Willis, Thomas (b in or before 1618, d in or after 1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... elder son of Thomas Willis 1582/3–1666 of Isleworth ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 161-180

1. Quick, John (1636-1706), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Plymouth and baptized at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth ...
2. Ranew, Nathanael (1602?–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 10 June 1617, graduated BA ...
3. Richardson, Christopher (1619, d. 1698), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Thomas Richardson of Sheriff Hutton, Yorkshire ...
4. Robotham, John (d 1664?), clergyman and ejected minister
... may have been related to John Rowbotham, sometime JP of St Albans ...
5. Rogers, John (1610–1680), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 25 April 1610 at Chacombe, Northamptonshire, and baptized there ...
6. Rosewell, Thomas (1630–1692), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 3 May 1630 at Dunkerton, near Bath in Somerset ...
7. Rowe, John (1626/7–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Rowe 1588–1660, minister, and grandson of Lawrence Rowe ...
8. Ryther, John (1631x5–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Rither d 1673, a tanner of York ...
9. Sampson, Henry (c 1629–1700), ejected minister and historian of dissent
... born at South Leverton, Nottinghamshire ...
10. Sangar, Gabriel (1608–1678), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Sutton Mandeville, Wiltshire, in May 1608 ...
11. Scandrett, Stephen (1631?–1706), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Stephen Scandrett d 1643, yeoman of the wardrobe ...
12. Seaman, Lazarus (d 1675), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Leicester. In 1624 he was admitted sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
13. Sheffield [Sheffeild], John (d 1680), clergyman and ejected minister
... came from Northamptonshire. His parents' names are not known ...
14. Sherwin, William (1607–1690), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Nottinghamshire. He entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1624 ...
15.Shuttlewood, John (1632–1689), clergyman, ejected minister, and nonconformist tutor
... born on 3 January 1632 at Wymeswold, Leicestershire ...
16. Slater, Samuel (1629?–1704), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in London, the son of Samuel Slater d c 1670, puritan ...
17. Spurstowe, William (d. 1666), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of William Spurstowe, a citizen and mercer of London ...
18. Stalham, John (d 1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Norfolk of unknown parents and was educated at Christ's College ...
19. Staunton, Edmund (1600–1671), ejected minister and college head
... born on 20 October 1600, the third son ...
20. Stedman, Rowland (d 1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Corfton, in the parish of Diddlebury in Shropshire ...

Bogue and Bennett 03

To add iniquity to iniquity, the conventicle act was passed, decreeing, that if any person, above the age of sixteen years be present at any meeting for worship, different from the church of England, where there shall be five persons more than the household, they shall, for the first offence, suffer three months imprisonment, or pay five pounds ; for the second, the punishment is doubled; and for the third, they shall be banished to America, or pay a hundred pounds; and if they return from banishment, suffer death (Burnet p. 204). The oath of an informer was sufficient to inflict all the severity of this statute of Draco. While many of the best of men filled our jails, the vilest of the human race rioted in debauchery by informing, for the sake of the reward.

A most dreadful plague visited this aceld'ama of persecution, and while some of the conforming ministers faithfully stood by their flocks, the greater part of them fled, as the hireling when he seeth the wolf; so that the non-conformists seized this opportunity of preaching to the multitudes who, while on the brink of the grave, were left as sheep without a shepherd. But as no revenge could satisfy, so no judgments could alarm the high party; for they now introduced an act to restrain non-conformists from inhabiting corporations. An oath of passive obedience, and non-resistance* was enacted; and all who refused it, were prohibited from coming within five miles of any corporate town where they formerly preached; or from keeping schools, or taking boarders, under a penalty of forty pounds. Thus, though they were not actually burnt alive, they were intentionally starved to death. But while earth and hell were against them, heaven appeared in their behalf. During twenty-eight years of sufferings, their enemies were never gratified by any resistance nor was any of them in prison for debt. Scarcely Elijah himself was fed more immediately from heaven.*

The king, at length, began to complain aloud of the bishops and conforming clergy,* who increased the numbers of dissenters by their conduct, which the people could not help contrasting with that of the ejected ministers. Hence a scheme for toleration was now talked of; but though it was cherished by the moderate divines of the establishment, it roused such opposition from the bigots*, that the non-conformists were left to all the fury of renewed persecution. A paper war fanned the flames of hatred and bigotry. Ralph Willis, called the cobbler of Gloucester, published an account of the scandalous lives of many of the conforming clergy. Samuel Parker, afterwards bishop of Oxford, was the champion for the hierarchy; but he was answered by Andrew Marvel, the pasquin of his age, whose lively wit effected more than all the learning of Dr Owen's grave replies; so that his book afforded merriment to all ranks and parties, from the king and his mistresses, down to the lowest of the populace.

The act against conventicles, was renewed with additional severity*; denying to the sufferers the protection of trial by jury; exposing them to conviction on the oath of a single informer, who was rewarded by a third of the exorbitant fine; while the laws were always to be interpreted against mercy and the non-conformists.

Volumes could not contain a complete history of the sufferings of these men, whose souls, from beneath the altar of God, cry, "how long, Lord, holy, just, and true?" At length, to accomplish the design of favouring the papists, and establish the king's prerogative to dispense with the laws, a declaration of indulgence was published by his majesty, suspending all the penal laws against dissenters,and allowing them to meet in places of worship licensed by the king. The high-church clergy were dreadfully alarmed, and severely condemned the dissenters for using the liberty of which they had been unjustly deprived.*

*Warner, vol. II. p. 604. Warner, p. 612.

*The righteous governor of the world sent fire as well as plague, so that-eighty-nine parish churches in London, together with St Paul's cathedral, were burnt down. Some temporary places were erected with boards, where, as well as in their own abodes, the non-conformists preached. They were called tabernacles; a name which has been since familiar among those who worship apart from the establishment. Drs. Owen and Goodwin, with other independent ministers, adopted this practice, so that many of the citizens of London flocked to the places where the liturgy was not used.

*Pierce, p. 240. Warner, vol. II. p. 611, 615.

*Warner, p. 615.

*To the honour of bishop Williams it should be recorded, that he argued against this infamous act, though the king had requested him not to speak against it, or to stay away from the house while it was debated. He told his majesty that, as an Englishman and a senator he was bound to speak his mind.

*Dr. Calamy being present at his late parish of Aldermanbury, London, was invited to preach, as the person expected did not cornet For complying he was thrown into Newgate; but there was such a resort of persons of distinction to visit him, that it was thought prudent, after a few days, to restore him to liberty.

*At this time was passed the Test Act, of which we shall speak intirely in the words of Dr. Warner, the clergyman to whose history so frequent reference is made in the progress of this work. " Whatever the dissenters might at first think of the indulgence, they saw now that they were only to be tools to advance the Romish religion, etc, etc"

Bogue and Bennett 02

Ecclesiastical history furnishes no such instance of a noble army of confessors at one time: it is an honour peculiar to the English dissenters. Never has the world seen such a sacrifice on principle. A person, who was no dissenter, observed at that time, "I am glad so many have chosen suffering, rather than conformity to the establishment; for had they complied, the world would have thought there had been nothing in religion; but now they have a striking proof that there are some sincere in their professions."
A conformist thus liberally pleads their cause*.' "They have suffered the loss of all things: is it for mere honour, not conscience or religion ? Have they so little wit as not to know what is best, good livings, or nasty prisons ? Do they hate their wives and children ? They declare, they cannot conform: Who should know best, they or we ?"

From this time, the name of puritan was exchanged for that of non-conformist, including presbyterians, independents, baptists, and quakers. They petitioned the king for an indulgence, which, for the sake of covering the Roman catholics, he seemed disposed to grant; but as the parliament was unwilling, they gave him money, and he left the sufferers to their fate. Thus were the tears and blood of the non-conformists, through all this reign, the prize for which
the parliament bestowed subsidies on the king. Some of the ejected ministers, to show their Catholicism, practised what was called occasional conformity, by going to the established places, and joining in the worship, though they could not comply with the terms required of ministers, to swear that they assented to every thing in the book of common prayer*.
*Conformists' Plea *Burnet p. 204

*Dr. Calamy being present at his late parish of Aldermanbury, London, was invited to preach, as the person expected did not come. For complying he was thrown into Newgate; but there was such a resort of persons of distinction to visit him, that it was thought prudent, after a few days, to restore him to liberty.

To be concluded.

Bogue and Bennet 01

In the Introduction to their History of the Dissenters, from the Revolution in 1688, to the Year 1808 Bogue and Bennet say this

On St. Bartholomew's-day, August the twenty fourth, in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-two, the act of uniformity expelled from the establishment all ministers who would not swear their unfeigned assent, and consent to every thing in the Book of Common Prayer. In many parts of the kingdom, the ministers could not procure the book before the time within which the law required them to swear to it, or resign their livings: so that, in their farewell sermons, they told their flocks, that they were obliged to leave them for not swearing to a book, which they had not been able to see. But this was no obstacle to the ruling party, who wished for the most costly sacrifices at the shrine of absolute obedience, and longed to rid themselves of men who were troubled with a conscience.

Two thousand ministers resigned their livings in the establishment, and exposed themselves to the loss of all things rather than submit to these new terms of conformity, which their consciences condemned*. Bartholomew's-day was chosen, because, they would thus be deprived of their year's income, which would be due shortly after. No portion of their former livings was reserved to keep them from starving; for these persecutors were not ashamed to be outdone by their enemies. The great Mr. Locke styled these two thousand ejected ministers, learned, pious, orthodox divines; and we have no hesitation in saying, that of them the world was not worthy, nor have their equals been seen in any age or nation. Their writings have erected to their memory a monument more durable than brass or marble, which has so perpetuated and diffused their sentiments and* spirit, that had their enemies anticipated the consequences of excluding them from the pulpits, they would have left them to preach that they might have had no leisure to write.

* Calamy's Non-conformists' Memorial, passim. Pierce, p. 232 *Burrnet, vol. II. p. 184. Warner.

To be continued.

See here.

ODNB Ejected Ministers 141-160

1. Newcomen, Matthew (d.1669), clergyman and ejected minister and religious controversialist
... the second son of Stephen Newcomen 1557/8–1629, vicar ...
2. Newton, George (1601/2–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... a native of Devon and the son of a clergyman ...
3. Nicholls [Nicolls], Ferdinando (1597/8–1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... came from a Buckinghamshire gentry family; his parents' names are unknown ...
4. Norman, John (1622–1669), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 15 December 1622, the son of Abraham Norman ...
5. Oakes, Urian (c 1631–1681), ejected minister and college head
... born in England, possibly in or near London, ...
6. Oasland [Osland], Henry (1625-1703), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Lower Snead Farm, Rock, near Bewdley, in Worcestershire ...
7. Ogden, Samuel (1627/8–1697), ejected minister and schoolmaster
... born at Fowleach, Oldham, the son of John Ogden ...
8. Oldfield, John (1626/7–1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... born near Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He was educated at the grammar school ...
9. Pakeman, Thomas (c 1614–1691), clergyman and ejected minister
... matriculated from Trinity College, Cambridge, at Easter 1631, later migrating to Clare ...
10. Palmer, Anthony (1616-1679), ejected minister
... baptized at Great Comberton, Worcestershire, on 27 October 1616 ...
11. Parke, Robert (1600-1668), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 17 August 1600 in Bolton, Lancashire ...
12. Parson, Thomas (1631- c 1668 or later), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in London, the son of Thomas Parson of London ...
13. Pearse, Edward (c 1633–1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... matriculated as a servitor from St John's College, Oxford ...
14. Pell, William (1634-1698), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Sheffield and baptized there on 1 February 1634 ...
15. Pendlebury, Henry (1626–1695), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Jowkin, Bury parish, Lancashire, on 6 May 1626 ...
16. Petto, Samuel (c 1624–1711), clergyman and ejected minister
... may possibly have been connected with the Peyto family of Chesterton ...
17. Philips, Peregrine (1623–1691), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Amroth, Pembrokeshire, son of the vicar of that parish ...
18. Pinchbecke, Abraham (1626-1681/2), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 13 March 1626 at Lavenham, Suffolk ...
19. Porter, Robert (1623/4–1690), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Nottingham, the son of William Porter of Nottingham ...
20. Poynter, John (1600–1684), clergyman and ejected minister
... apparently born in London of an armigerous family ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 121-140

1. Lawrence [Laurence], Edward (d 1695), ejected minister and religious writer
... born in Moston in Hawkstone, Shropshire ...
2. Lawrence, George (1613, d 1691/8), clergyman and ejected minister
3. Lukin, Henry (1628–1719), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 1 January 1628 in Great Baddow, Essex ...
4. Machin, John (1624–1664), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 2 October 1624 at Seabridge, Staffordshire ...
5. Mallory, Thomas (d 1689), clergyman and ejected minister
... a native of Northamptonshire ...
6. Manning, William (1630x33–1711), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Cockfield, Suffolk, the son of William Manning ...
7. Marshall, Walter (1628–1679), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 15 June 1628 at Bishopwearmouth, co. Durham ...
8. Matthews, Marmaduke (c.1606–c.1683), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Swansea ...
9. Maynard, John (1600–1665), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Rotherfield, Sussex, and baptized at Mayfield ...
10. Mayo, Richard (c 1630–1695), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Richard Mayo d 1660 of St Giles Cripplegate ...
11. Meade [Mead], Matthew (1628/9–1699), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, the second son of Richard Meade ...
12. Meadows, John (1622–1697), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Chattisham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, on 7 April 1622 ...
13. Milbourne, Luke (1622-1668), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Loughborough, Leicestershire, and baptized on St Luke's day ...
14. Milward, John (1619/20–1680/83), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of a Somerset gentleman, George Milward of Shepton Mallet ...
15. Mocket, Thomas (c.1602–1670?), ejected minister and religious controversialist
... born in Kent of unknown parents ...
16. Morton, Richard (1637-1698), ejected minister and physician
... baptized on 30 July 1637 ...
17. Moxon, George (1602-1687), clergyman and minister
... vicar of Haverhill, Suffolk, in January 1657, and rector of Radwinter ...
18. Nalton, James (c 1600–1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Francis Nalton, a cleric of Walkington, near Beverley ...
19. Needler, Benjamin (1620–1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 29 November 1620 at Laleham in Middlesex ...
20. Newcome, Henry (1627-1695), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Caldecot in Huntingdonshire and baptized there on 27 November, 1627 ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 101-120

1. Heywood, Nathaniel (1633-1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... fourth son of Richard Heywood 1595/6–1677 of Little Lever, near Bolton, Lancashire ...
2. Heywood, Oliver (1630-1702), clergyman and ejected minister
... third son of Richard Heywood 1595/6–1677, yeoman, of Little Lever ...
3. Hickes, Gaspar (1605–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of a Berkshire clergyman, matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford ...
4. Hickes, John (1633–1685), clergyman, ejected minister, and rebel
... born at Moorhouse Farm in Newsham, near Kirby Wiske ...
5. Hickman, Henry (1629-1692), clergyman, ejected minister and religious controversialist
... baptized on 19 January 1629 at Old Swinford ...
6. Hildersham [Hildersam], Samuel (1594?–1674), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, the son of Arthur Hildersham 1563–1632 ...
7. Holbeach [Holbech], Martin (1597-1670), schoolmaster and ejected minister
... baptized at Fillongley, Warwickshire, on 28 August 1597 ...
8. Holcroft, Francis (1628/9?–1692), clergyman and ejected minister
... a younger son of Sir Henry Holcroft c 1580–1650, of Green Street ...
9. Hopkins, William (1647–1700), Church of England clergyman and antiquary
... baptized on 28 August, the son of George Hopkins 1620–1666, clergyman and ejected minister, then vicar of All Saints, Evesham ...
10. Horne, John (1616-1676), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 10 August 1616 at Long Sutton, Lincolnshire ...
11. Hotham, Charles (1615–1672), ejected minister and author
... born on 12 May 1615 at Scorborough, near Beverley ...
12. Hughes, George (1603/4–1667), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Southwark. He matriculated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford ...
13. Hume, Abraham (1614/15–1707), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Dunbar, Haddingtonshire, and educated at St Andrews University ...
14. Humfrey, John (1621-1719), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 23 January 1621 at St Albans, Hertfordshire ...
15. Hurst, Henry (1629–1690), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Mickleton, Gloucestershire, on 31 March 1629, the eldest son ...
16. Ince, Peter (1614/15–1683), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of Peter Ince of Chester ...
17. Jackson, Arthur (c.1593–1666), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Little Waldingfield, Suffolk. His father, John Jackson ...
18. Jacombe, Thomas (1623/4–1687), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Jacombe of Burton Lazars, Leicestershire ...
19. Jollie [Jolly], Thomas (1629–1703), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Droylesden, near Manchester, on 14 September 1629 ...
20. Langston, John (1640/41–1704), clergyman and ejected minister
... of unknown parentage and background. He was educated at Worcester grammar ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 81-100

1. Fox, Timothy (1629/30–1710), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Birmingham, the son of Edward Fox ...
2. Fuller, Francis (1636?–1701), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Fuller d. 1660, then vicar of Stebbing, ...
3. Fynch [Finch], Martin (1628/9–1698), clergyman and ejected minister
... admitted from Norfolk as a pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge ...
4. Gale, Theophilus (1628–1679), ejected minister and theologian
... born at Kingsteignton, Devon ...
5. Geare, Allan (1622–1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Stoke Fleming near Dartmouth in Devon ...
6. Gilbert, Thomas (1609/10–1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... parentage and origins are unknown ...
7. Gilbert, Thomas (1613-1694), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 17 January 1613 at Prees, Shropshire ...
8. Goodwin, Philip (d 1667), clergyman and ejected minister
... of unknown parentage. He matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge ...
9. Gouge, Robert (1629/30–1705), clergyman and ejected minister
... born the son of Robert Gouge at Chelmsford ...
10. Gouge, Thomas (1605–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 19 September 1605 at Stratford-le-Bow, Middlesex, the eldest son ...
11. Hall, Thomas (1610–1665), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 22 July 1610, the second son of a clothier ...
12. Hallett, Joseph (I) (1620-1689), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized at Bridport, Dorset, on 21 May 1620 ...
13.Hammond, Samuel (d 1665), clergyman and ejected minister
... described as a butcher's son of York ...
14. Hamond, George (1619/20–1705), clergyman and ejected minister
... parents and origins are unknown ...
15. Hanmer, Jonathan (1606–1687), clergyman and ejected minister
... born and baptized on 3 October 1606, the youngest ...
16. Hardcastle, Thomas (1637-1678), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Barwick in Elmet, the son of John Hardcastle ...
17. Harrison, John (1614–1670), clergyman and ejected minister
... eldest son of Peter Harrison of Hindley, near Wigan ...
18. Harrison, Thomas (1617/18–1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Hull, Yorkshire, the son of Robert Harrison, merchant ...
19. Hawes, Richard (1603/4–1668), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in East Anglia, probably the son of John Hawes ...
20. Henry, Philip (1631–1696), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 24 August 1631 at Whitehall, Westminster ...

Owen on 1662

Owen was the author of A letter concerning the matter of the present excommunications which can be found here.

Owen on Liturgies

This relevant piece can be found here. A preface by the editor appears there saying

It deserves attention that this pamphlet, with its humble title, “A Discourse concerning Liturgies,” etc., and printed anonymously in 1662, contains thejudgement of our author in regard to measures which gave rise to most important events in the ecclesiastical history of England. It is an argument against the liturgy, the imposition of which obliged nearly 2000 of the Church of England to resign their livings rather than sacrifice a good conscience, etc. ...
The chief merit of the following tract can only be understood in the light of these exciting events. From some expressions in it, it must have been written while the contestprevailed, and before the liturgy was actually imposed; and yet the whole argument isconducted in perfect temper, and the readers of Owen might fail to bear in mind that he is discussing a question which was stirring English society to its depths, and involved consequences unparalleled in English history. The treatise has all the weight and gravity of a judicial decision. The author, rising above petty details, expends his strength in proof that the imposition of a liturgy by civil enactment is an interference with the authority of Christ; and,unwilling to heighten the asperities of the prevailingcontroversy, he excludes from discussion the character of the English liturgy, and confines himself to the abstract question, as to the lawfulness of enforcing it on the conscience as essential to divine worship. It is the more honorable to Owen that he should have exerted himself against the imposition of the liturgy, when it is remembered that as at this time he held no living in the church, he could not suffer under the Act of Uniformity, and the measures of the Court were directed against the Presbyterians rather than the Independents. Orme remarks of this production and its subject, “The principle which these forms of human composition involve is of vast importance; and I know not where, in so small a compass, this principle is so well stated and so ably opposed as in this work.”

The Tragedy of 1662

A contemporary essay on 'The tragedy of 1662' by Lee Gatiss is currently available here. The title intimates its stance. He provocatively states that '1662 was the tragic year that the Church of England became a sect'.

ODNB Ejected Ministers 61-80

1. Crompton, John (1611-1669), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Bolton, Lancashire, and baptized there on 29 September 1611, ...
2. Crompton, William (1630/1633?–1696), clergyman and ejected minister
3. Crow, Francis (1627–1692/3), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Patrick Crow of Heugh Head in Berwickshire, Scotland, ...
4. Danson, Thomas (1629-1694), ejected minister
... son of Thomas Danson of St Mary-le-Bow, London, was baptized there ...
5. Dell, William (d 1669), ejected minister and educational reformer
... sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge ...
6. Denton, Nathan (1635-1720), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Bradfield in the parish of Ecclesfield, West Riding of Yorkshire ...
7. Dod, Timothy (d 1665), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Dod 1550–1645, clergyman, and his first wife ...
8. Doolittle, Thomas (1630/1633?–1707), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire ...
9. Douglas, Thomas (d c 1684), ejected minister and physician
... of unknown parentage and background ...
10. Dyer, William (1632/3–1696), clergyman and ejected minister
... probably came from the west country ...
11. Eedes, Richard (1610-1686), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized in 1610, at an unknown date at Feckenham, Worcestershire ...
12. Fairclough, Richard (1621?–1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... eldest son of Samuel Fairclough 1594–1677, lecturer at Clare, Suffolk, ...
13. Fairclough, Samuel (1594–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 29 April 1594 at Haverhill, Suffolk ... (Father of the men above and below)
14. Fairclough, Samuel (1625–1691), clergyman and ejected minister
... probably born at Barnardiston, Suffolk, the third son of Samuel Fairclough ...
15. Fairfax, John (1623/4–1700), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Norfolk, the second son of four sons and six daughters ...
16. Finch, Henry (1633-1704), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Standish, Lancashire, where he was baptized on 8 September, 1633 ...
17. Firmin, Giles (1613/14–1697), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Ipswich, Suffolk, the son of Giles Firmin, an apothecary ...
18. Fisher, Samuel (1605/6–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of John Fisher of Northampton ...
19. Ford, Thomas (1598–1674), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Brixton, Devon. He attended school at Plympton ...
20. Fowler, Christopher (1613/14–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, the son of John Fowler ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 41-60

1. Burges, Cornelius (d 1665), Church of England clergyman and ejected minister
... a native of Somerset ...
2. Burgess, Anthony (d 1664), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Watford in Hertfordshire, the son of a local schoolmaster ...
3. Burgess, John (1622/3–1671), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of Walter Burgess, a poor clergyman, of Buckland ...
4. Burghall, Edward (1600-1665), clergyman and ejected minister, and schoolmaster
... baptized on 9 December 1600 at Beeston township ...
5. Bury, Edward (1615/16–1700), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Worcestershire, if John Walker is to be credited, ...
6. Byfield, Richard (1598-1664), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized on 24 September 1598 at Stratford upon Avon ...
7. Calamy, Edmund (1600–1666), clergyman and ejected minister
8. Calamy, Edmund (1634-1685), clergyman and ejected minister
... eldest son of the above ...
9. Calvert, Thomas (1605/6–1679), clergyman and ejected minister, and author
... son of James Calvert of St Crux, York, baker ...
10. Caryl, Joseph (1602–1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in London in November 1602 of genteel parents ...
11. Case, Thomas (1598-1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Boxley in Kent, the son of George Case, vicar ...
12. Cawdrey [Cawdry], Daniel (1587/8–1664), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in November 1587 or 1588 at South Luffenham, Rutland, ...
13. Cheynell, Francis (bap. 1608, d. 1665), ejected minister and religious controversialist
... born in Oxford ...
14. Clagett, Nicholas (bap. 1610, d. 1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Canterbury and baptized at St Andrew's, Canterbury ...
15. Clarke, Matthew (c 1630–c 1708), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of Matthew Clarke, rector of Bitterley, Shropshire ...
16. Clarke, Samuel (1599–1682), clergyman, ejected minister, and biographer
... born on 10 October 1599 at Wolston, Warwickshire ...
17. Clarkson, David (1622-1686), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Robert Clarkson, was born at Bradford, Yorkshire ...
18. Collinges, John (1623/4–1691), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Boxted, Essex, the son of Edward Collinges, a minister ...
19. Cooper, William (fl 1640–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
20. Corbet, John (1619-1680), clergyman and ejected minister
... was baptized on 14 February 1619 at Holy Trinity, Gloucester ...

Lazarus Seaman

Calamy's third entry in his history is the minister of All Hallows, Bread Street,

LAZARUS SEAMAN, an English Presbyterian, Covenanter and Westminster divine who lived c 1607-1675. Leicester born adn educated in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he advocated Presbyterian church government jus divinum and served as the scribe of the Provincial Assembly of London Ministers. Seaman said, concerning the Shorter Catechism, that the answers were framed not according to the knowledge that a child had but according to the knowledge that a child should have. He proposed that the Assembly provide "something annexed by way of caution to shew how the proofs are to be applied" but this proposal was declined by the Assembly.

He was ejected even though he had opposed the execution of Charles I. He kept the minutes of the Provincial Assembly in his personal library once it ceased to meet at Sion College just prior to the Restoration. He wrotes Notes on Revelation which were never published. After his death they were purchased by Joseph Hill when his entire library comprising 5,000 volumes was sold by William Cooper at the first modern book auction in England after his death, which took place in November 1676, and ultimately returned to the library of Sion College. His funeral sermon was preached byWilliam Jenkyn who said that he was "an ocean of Theology, and that he had so thoroughly digested the whole body of divinity, that he could upon all occasions discourse upon any point without labour. He was a living body of Divinity, and his tongue as the pen of a ready writer. He was a person of great stability and steadiness in the truth. I am confident that he valued one truth of Christ, above all the wealth of both the Indies."

ODNB Ejected Ministers 21-40

1. Bates, William (1625–1699), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of William Bates, gentleman ...
2. Baxter, Richard (1615–1691), ejected minister and religious writer
... born in the village of Rowton, Shropshire ...
3. Baylie, Thomas (1581/2–1663), ejected minister
... born in Wiltshire; his parents are unknown ...
4. Beadle, John (1595–1667), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Bramford, Suffolk ...
5. Benn, William (1600–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in November 1600 at Egremont, Cumberland ...
6. Bennet [Bennett], Robert (d. 1687), clergyman and ejected minister
... a figure whose birth and parentage remain unknown ...
7. Billingsley, John (1625–1683), clergyman and ejected minister
... born on 14 September 1625 at Chatham, Kent ...
8. Bingham, John (1612/13–1689), ejected minister and classical and oriental scholar
... born at Derby ...
9. Birch, Samuel (1620/21–1680), ejected minister and schoolmaster
... baptized in Manchester on 18 February 1621 ...
10. Biscoe [Bisco], John (1605/6–1679), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in High Wycombe, the son of Robert Biscoe 1572–1630, yeoman ...
11. Blackmore, William (1616–1684), clergyman and ejected minister
... second son of William Blackmore, ...
12. Blower, Samuel (d. 1701), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Loughborough, Leicestershire. Little is known of his background ...
13. Boheme [Bohemus], Mauritius (fl. 1646–1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Kolberg, Pomerania ...
14. Bradshaw, James (bap. 1613, d. 1685), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized at Bolton, Lancashire, on 7 November 1613 ...
15. Bradshaw, James (bap. 1635, d. 1702), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Hacken, Bolton parish, Lancashire ...
16. Brinsley, John (1600–1665), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, the son of John Brinsley 1581–1624 ...
17. Bromhall, Andrew (bap. 1608, d. 1662), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Richard Bromhall of Shrewsbury ...
18. Brunning, Benjamin (bap. 1623, d. 1680), clergyman and ejected minister
... eldest son of John Brunning 1597–1663, for 40 years \ rector ...
19. Bryan, John (d. 1676), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Susanna Bryan, later Hopkins d. 1673 ...
20. Bull, Daniel (bap. 1633?, d. 1697/8), clergyman and ejected minister
... probably the Daniel, son of Christopher Bull, curate ...

ODNB Ejected Ministers 1-20

The ODNB considers more than 200 of the ejected ministers of 1662 worthy of an entry. Here are the first 20 listed.
1. Adams, Richard (1626/7–1698), clergyman and ejected minister
... the son of Charles Adams, clerk, of Woodchurch in the Wirral, ...
2. Adams, Thomas (1631/2–1670), ejected minister and writer on Christian doctrine
... born at Woodchurch parsonage, Cheshire, brother of the above ...
3. Agas [Agus], Benjamin (bap. 1622, d. 1689), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Wymondham, Norfolk, the son of Edward Agas, the vicar ...
4. Albin, Henry (1624–1696), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Batcombe, Somerset, on 20 June 1624 ...
5. Alleine, Joseph (bap. 1634, d. 1668), ejected minister and devotional writer
6. Alleine, Richard (1610/11–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... named after his father, Richard Alleine d. c.1655?, Somerset rector ...
7. Alleine, William (1613/14–1677), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of Richard Alleine d. c.1655?, Somerset rector ...
8. Allen, Thomas (1608–1673), clergyman and ejected minister
... born in Norwich, son of John Allen, a dyer there. ...
9. Alsop, Vincent (bap. 1630, d. 1703), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of George and Judith Alsop. His father was a rector ...
10. Ambrose, Isaac (bap. 1604, d. 1664), Church of England clergyman, ejected minister, author
... baptized at Ormskirk, Lancashire ...
11. Annesley, Samuel (bap. 1620, d. 1696), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Haseley, Warwickshire, and baptized there (grandfather of Wesleys) ...
12. Ashwood, Bartholomew (1622–1678), clergyman and ejected minister
13. Aspinwall, William (d. 1702), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Trumfleet, Kirk Sandall, West Riding of Yorkshire ...
14. Atkins [Adkins], Robert (1628/9–1685), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of a gentleman, Aaron Atkins of Chard, Somerset....
15. Attersoll, William (d. 1640), Church of England clergyman and author - father of eldest son, William Attersoll 1590/91–1664, clergyman and ejected minister, ... born at Mayfield, Sussex. ... attended Tonbridge School before matriculating ...
16. Bachiler [Batchiler, Bachilor], John (d. 1674), clergyman and ejected minister
... parents unknown, admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge ...
17. Baldwin, Thomas (d. 1693), clergyman and ejected minister
... from Middlesex. Nothing certain is known of his parentage or date of birth ...
18. Ball, Nathanael (c.1623–1681), clergyman and ejected minister
... born at Pitminster, near Taunton Dean, Somerset ...
19. Bartlet, John (bap. 1599, d. 1680), clergyman and ejected minister
... baptized at St Mary Major, Exeter, on 22 April 1599, ...
20. Bartlet, William (1609/10–1682), clergyman and ejected minister
... son of William Bartlet of Exeter, goldsmith....

J C Ryle

Writing in 'Light from old times' on Richard Baxter, the 19th Century Anglican Bishop of Liverpool J C Ryle wrote (see here)

The crowning piece of folly which the majority in the Church of England committed under the Stuarts, was procuring the Act of Uniformity to be enacted in the year 1662. This, you must remember, took place at the beginning of Charles the Second’s reign, and shortly after the re-establishment of the Monarchy and the Church.
This famous act imposed terms and conditions of holding office on all ministers of the Church of England which had never been imposed before, from the time of the Reformation. It was notoriously so framed as to be offensive to the consciences of the Puritans, and to drive them out of the Church. For this purpose it was entirely successful. Within a year no less than 2,000 clergymen resigned their livings rather than accept its terms. Many of these 2,000 were the best, the ablest, and the holiest ministers of the day. Many a man, who had been regularly ordained by bishops, and spent twenty or thirty years in the service of the Church without molestation, was suddenly commanded to accept new conditions of holding preferment, and turned out to starve because he refused. Sixty of the leading parishes in London were at once deprived of their ministers, and their congregations left like sheep without a shepherd. Taking all things into consideration, a more impolitic and disgraceful deed never disfigured the annals of a Protestant Church.
It was a disgraceful deed, because it was a flat contradiction to Charles the Second’s own promise at Breda, before he came back from exile. He was brought back on the distinct understanding that the Church of England should be re-established on such a broad and liberal basis as to satisfy the conscientious scruples of the Puritans. Had it not been for the assistance of the Puritans he would never have got back at all. And yet as soon as the reins of power were fairly in the King’s hands his promise was deliberately broken!
It was a disgraceful deed, because the great majority of the ejected ministers might easily have been retained in the Church by a few small concessions. They had no abstract objection to episcopacy, or to a liturgy. A few alterations in the prayers, and a moderate liberty in the conduct of Divine worship, according to Baxter’s calculation, would have satisfied 1,600 out of the 2,000. But the ruling party were determined not to make a single concession. They had no wish to keep the Puritans in the Church. When some one observed to Archbishop Sheldon, the chief mover in the business, that he thought many of the Puritans would conform, and accept the Act of Uniformity, the Archbishop replied, “I am afraid they will.” To show the spirit of the ruling party in the Church, they actually added to the number of apocryphal lessons in the Prayer-book calendar at this time. They made it a matter of congratulation among themselves that they had thrust out the Puritans, and got in Bel and the Dragon!
It was a disgraceful deed, because the ejected ministers were, many of them, men of such ability and attainments, that great concessions ought to have been made in order to retain them in the Church. Baxter, Poole, Manton, Bates, Calamy, Brooks, Watson, Charnock, Caryl, Howe, Flavel, Bridge, Jenkyn, Owen, Goodwin, are names whose praise is even now in all the Churches. The men who turned them out were not to be compared to them. The names of the vast majority of them are hardly known. But they had power on their side, and they were resolved to use it.
It was a disgraceful deed, because it showed the world that the leaders of the Church of England, like the Bourbons in modern times, had learned nothing and forgotten nothing during their exile. They had not forgotten the old bad ways of Laud, which had brought such misery on England. They had not learned that conciliation and concession are the most becoming graces in the rulers of a Church, and that persecution in the long run is sure to be a losing game.
I dare not dwell longer on this point. I might easily bring forward more illustrations of this sad feature in Baxter’s times. I might speak of the infamous Oxford Act, in 1665, which forbade the unhappy ejected ministers to live within five miles of any corporate town, or of any place where they had formerly preached. But enough has been said to show that when I spoke of the suicidal blindness of the Church of England, I did not speak without cause. The consequences of this blindness are manifest to any one who knows England. The divided state of Protestantism in this country is of itself a great fact, which speaks volumes.
Against the policy of the ruling party in the Church of England, under the Stuarts, I always shall protest. I do not feel the scruples which Baxter and his ejected brethren felt about the Act of Uniformity. Much as I respect them, I think them wrong and misguided in their judgments. But I think that Archbishop Sheldon, and the men who refused to go one step to meet them, were far more wrong and far more misguided. I believe they did an injury to the cause of true religion in England, which will probably never be repaired, by sowing the seeds of endless divisions. They were the men who laid the foundation of English dissent. I believe they recklessly threw away a golden opportunity of doing good. They might easily have made my own beloved Church far more effective and far more useful than she ever has been by wise and timely concessions. They refused to do this, and, instead of a healing measure, brought forward their unhappy Act of Uniformity. I disavow any sympathy with their proceedings, and can never think of them without the deepest regret.

Farewell Sermons Again

We have mentioned before editions of the farewell sermons. To reiterate, two volumes appeared in 1662 and 1663 containing morning and evening sermons and prayers. In 1816 24 sermons of the 31 in the original edition were reprinted in London. These can be found in the now out of print SDG reproduction from 1992. Seven of those sermons also appeared in the 1962 Banner paperback that contained 9 sermons altogether. This book also contains Samuel Palmer's Nonconformist Catechism from 1773.

1662 1962

This article I found here. Thanks Tim Ashcraft.

After an introduction referring to the Act of uniformity he says

In 1962 Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave an address at Westminster Chapel’s Puritan Conference to commemorate the tercentennial of this event. You can read that address in his book, The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors. It is the chapter titled, “Puritan Perplexities—Some Lessons from 1640-1662.” Lloyd-Jones considered the Great Ejection a watershed event on an almost equal footing with the Reformation itself. I would like to give a summary of his points as to the causes of this tragedy and its lessons.

Causes
The mixing of politics and religion. From the time of the English Reformation many prominent Anglicans also held public office and had influence with the King, like the hated Archbishop Laud. The Puritans had grievances with Laud and his party, and so did others whose motives were not motivated by religion as were the Puritans’. These disenfranchised parties banded together in an unscriptural alliance to fight a common enemy. “To mix politics with religion in the church is always a danger” (Lloyd-Jones, p. 61).
Divisions among the Puritans. “This is what makes the story a real tragedy. Fundamentally these men were all agreed about doctrine” (Lloyd-Jones, p. 61). But they had endless disagreements over other matters, especially church government. Among the various groups of Puritans, Lloyd-Jones faulted the Presbyterians the most for this divisive spirit because “they were the most intransigent” (p. 62). Ironically, the Presbyterians “were always ready to make agreements with the king,” but they tended to fight those with whom they were in agreement on the essential matters of the Christian faith.
The idea of a State-Church. “The Presbyterians believed in a State Church quite as much as the Anglicans” (p. 63). They inherited this position and continued to fight for their version of it rather than inquiring what the New Testament said about the nature of the church as it relates to the government. “The Presbyterians believed, quite as much as the Anglicans, that people should be compelled by Act of Parliament and the power of the State to submit to their particular view of the Church” (p. 65). While other groups simply wanted toleration to worship freely, the Anglicans and Presbyterians were fighting for supremacy, and the Anglicans won in 1662.
Lessons

The thing of supreme importance is “the gospel of salvation which is also ‘the gospel of the glory of God’” (p. 67). That is what all believers are agreed upon—a right view of the gospel.
“Coupled with that, there was their emphasis upon the necessity of having able and good ministers, and the primacy and the centrality of preaching” (pp. 67-68).
Our view of the church should be in line with the New Testament. How should doctrine and practice be determined? Our faith should stand squarely on the Scriptures.
Our divisions should be over the fundamental things of the faith, not things of lesser importance. That’s been a hot one for the last sixty years. Lloyd-Jones is arguing against a divisive spirit that won’t budge on non-essential matters. But to the intransigent there are no “non-essential” matters. Everything is seen in black and white; anything else is compromise.
We must fight this battle “in a spiritual manner, and not with carnal weapons” (p. 70). Many Presbyterians actually allied themselves with those who hated everything they stood for to gain political advantage. Some Puritans, like John Owen, stood against such carnality, and so should we. If we view party success as more important than the glory of God and the purity of the Church, “our cause is already lost” (p. 71).
“The ultimate lesson to be learned from this period is this: ‘The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own’” (p. 72). “If we see what the Truth is, well then, I say, we must hold to it and fight for it, and to refuse to compromise about it, whatever it may cost us” (p. 72).
Like Tim I do commend the Lloyd-Jones volume. He closes with Lloyd-Jones' own closing words: “We thank God for the memory of these men, who, having seen the position clearly, acted upon it at all costs. May God give us grace to follow in their train!”

Farewell Prayers

Some 13 farewell prayers that accompanied the farewell sermons can be found here.

Pepys' Diary 24/08

Sunday 24 August 1662
(Lord’s day). Slept till 7 o’clock, which I have not done a very great while, but it was my weariness last night that caused it. So rose and to my office [see pic] till church time, writing down my yesterday’s observations, and so to church, where I all alone, and found Will Griffin and Thomas Hewett got into the pew next to our backs, where our maids sit, but when I come, they went out; so forward some people are to outrun themselves. Here we had a lazy, dull sermon. So home to dinner, where my brother Tom came to me, and both before and after dinner he and I walked all alone in the garden, talking about his late journey and his mistress, and for what he tells me it is like to do well. He being gone, I to church again, where Mr Mills, making a sermon upon confession, he did endeavour to pull down auricular confession, but did set it up by his bad arguments against it, and advising people to come to him to confess their sins when they had any weight upon their consciences, as much as is possible, which did vex me to hear. So home, and after an hour’s being in my office alone, looking over the plates and globes, I walked to my uncle Wight's, the truth is, in hopes to have seen and been acquainted with the pretty lady that came along with them to dinner the other day to Mr Rawlinson, but she is gone away. But here I staid supper, and much company there was; among others, Dr Burnett, Mr Cole the lawyer, Mr Rawlinson, and Mr Sutton, a brother of my aunt’s, that I never saw before. Among other things they tell me that there hath been a disturbance in a church in Friday Street; a great many young people knotting together and crying out “Porridge” [derogatory nickname for the Book of Common Prayer] often and seditiously in the church, and took the Common Prayer Book, they say, away; and, some say, did tear it; but it is a thing which appears to me very ominous. I pray God avert it. After supper home and to bed.

Pepys' Diary 17/08

Sunday 17 August 1662
(Lord’s day). Up very early, this being the last Sunday that the Presbyterians are to preach, unless they read the new Common Prayer and renounce the Covenant, and so I had a mind to hear Dr Bates's farewell sermon, [Dr William Bates, eminent Puritan divine. He took part in the Savoy Conference. His collected writings (1700) fill a large folio volume. The Dissenters called him silver-tongued Bates. Calamy affirmed that if Bates would have conformed to the Established Church he might have been raised to any bishopric in the kingdom. He died in 1699, aged 74] and walked thither, calling first at my brother's, where I found that he is come home after being a week abroad with Dr Pepys, nobody knows where, nor I but by chance, that he was gone, which troubles me. So I called only at the door, but did not ask for him, but went to Madam Turner's to know whether she went to church, and to tell her that I would dine with her; and so walked to St Dunstan's, where, it not being seven o’clock yet, the doors were not open; and so I went and walked an hour in the Temple-garden, reading my vows, which it is a great content to me to see how I am a changed man in all respects for the better, since I took them, which the God of Heaven continue to me, and make me thankful for. At eight o’clock I went, and crowded in at a back door among others, the church being half-full almost before any doors were open publicly; which is the first time that I have done so these many years since I used to go with my father and mother, and so got into the gallery, beside the pulpit, and heard very well.

His text was, “Now the God of Peace—;” the last Hebrews, and the 20th verse: he making a very good sermon, and very little reflections in it to any thing of the times. Besides the sermon, I was very well pleased with the sight of a fine lady that I have often seen walk in Gray's Inn Walks, and it was my chance to meet her again at the door going out, and very pretty and sprightly she is, and I believe the same that my wife and I some years since did meet at Temple Bar gate and have sometimes spoke of. So to Madam Turner’s, and dined with her. She had heard Parson Herring take his leave [John Herring (d c 1672). Presbyterian Vicar of St Bride, Fleet Street c 1656-62. Excluded for non-conformity. Possibly a minister in Coventry c 1648-50]; tho’ he, by reading so much of the Common Prayer as he did, hath cast himself out of the good opinion of both sides.

After dinner to St Dunstan’s again; and the church quite crowded before I came, which was just at one o’clock; but I got into the gallery again, but stood in a crowd and did exceedingly sweat all the time. He pursued his text again very well; and only at the conclusion told us, after this manner: “I do believe that many of you do expect that I should say something to you in reference to the time, this being the last time that possibly I may appear here. You know it is not my manner to speak any thing in the pulpit that is extraneous to my text and business; yet this I shall say, that it is not my opinion, fashion, or humour that keeps me from complying with what is required of us; but something which, after much prayer, discourse, and study yet remains unsatisfied, and commands me herein. Wherefore, if it is my unhappiness not to receive such an illumination as should direct me to do otherwise, I know no reason why men should not pardon me in this world, and am confident that God will pardon me for it in the next.” And so he concluded.

Parson Herring read a psalm and chapters before sermon; and one was the chapter in the Acts, where the story of Ananias and Sapphira is. And after he had done, says he, “This is just the case of England at present. God he bids us to preach, and men bid us not to preach; and if we do, we are to be imprisoned and further punished. All that I can say to it is, that I beg your prayers, and the prayers of all good Christians, for us.” This was all the exposition he made of the chapter in these very words, and no more. I was much pleased with Dr Bates’s manner of bringing in the Lord’s Prayer after his own; thus, “In whose comprehensive words we sum up all our imperfect desires; saying, ‘Our Father,’” &c.

Church being done and it raining I took a hackney coach and so home, being all in a sweat and fearful of getting cold. To my study at my office, and thither came Mr Moore to me and walked till it was quite dark. Then I wrote a letter to my Lord Privy Seal as from my Lord for Mr._ to be sworn directly by deputy to my Lord, he denying to swear him as deputy together with me. So that I am now clear of it, and the profit is now come to be so little that I am not displeased at my getting off so well. He being gone I to my study and read, and so to eat a bit of bread and cheese and so to bed.

I hear most of the Presbyters took their leaves to-day, and that the City is much dissatisfied with it. I pray God keep peace among us, and make the Bishops careful of bringing in good men in their rooms, or else all will fly a-pieces; for bad ones will not [go] down with the City.

Pepys' Diary 10/08

Sunday 10 August 1662
(Lord’s day). Being to dine at my brother's, I walked to St Dunstan's, the church being now finished; and here I heard Dr Bates, who made a most eloquent sermon; and I am sorry I have hitherto had so low an opinion of the man, for I have not heard a neater sermon a great while, and more to my content. So to Tom’s, where Dr Fairebrother, newly come from Cambridge, met me, and Dr Thomas Pepys. I framed myself as pleasant as I could, but my mind was another way. Hither came my uncle Fenner, hearing that I was here, and spoke to me about Pegg Kite's business of her portion, which her husband demands, but I will have nothing to do with it. I believe he has no mind to part with the money out of his hands, but let him do what he will with it. He told me the new service-book (which is now lately come forth) was laid upon their deske at St Sepulchre's for Mr Gouge to read [Thomas Gouge (1605-1681), eminent Presbyterian minister, son of William Gouge DD (lecturer at and afterwards Rector of St Anne’s, Blackfriars). Thomas was vicar of St Sepulchre from 1638 until ejected in 1662]; but he laid it aside, and would not meddle with it: and I perceive the Presbyters do all prepare to give over all against Bartholomew-tide. Mr Herring, being lately turned out at St Bride's, did read the psalm to the people while they sung at Dr Bates’s, which methought is a strange turn. After dinner to St Bride’s, and there heard one Carpenter, an old man, [Richard Carpenter (d c 1670), an Anglican, formerly an Independent and three times joined the Roman church. Author of A new play call’d the pragmatical Jesuit new leven’d (c 1669). ‘A fantastical man that changed his mind with his clothes, and that for his juggles and tricks in matters of religion…was esteemed a theological mountebank” {Wood}] who, they say, hath been a Jesuit priest, and is come over to us; but he preaches very well. So home with Mrs Turner, and there hear that Mr Calamy hath taken his farewell this day of his people, and that others will do so the next Sunday. Mr Turner the draper, I hear, is knighted, made Alderman, and pricked for Sheriffe, with Sir Thomas Bluddel, for the next year, by the King, and so are called with great honour the King’s Sheriffes. Thence walked home, meeting Mr Moore by the way, and he home with me and walked till it was dark in the garden, and so good night, and I to my closet in my office to perfect my Journall and to read my solemn vows, and so to bed.

Thomas Brooks Farewell

The following excerpt is from the farewell sermon of Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) called A Pastor’s Legacies. [Again from Mr Brooker here]. Mr Brooker says 'He was never able to deliver it in person because of his ejection, but it was read aloud to the congregation as a parting encouragement to the people he loved. In typical Brooks fashion, it is beautiful prose with almost every line quotable on its own.'
I shall proceed, as I said, and leave some legacies with you, which may, by the finger of the Spirit, be made advantageous to you, to whom am not advantaged to speak in person.
The first legacy I would leave with you, shall be this: Secure your interest in Christ; make it your great business, your work, your heaven, to secure your interest in Christ. This is not an age, an hour, for a man to be between fears and hopes, between doubting and believing.

Make Christ and Scripture the only foundation for your souls and faith to build on: as the apostle saith, 1 Cor. 3:11, ‘Other foundations can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ.’ Isa. 28:6, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, a sure foundation.’ Since it is a very dangerous thing, as much as your souls and eternity is worth, for you to build on anything beside Jesus Christ, many will say, Come, build on this authority and that, on this saying and that; but take heed.
Take more pains, and make more conscience of keeping yourselves from sin than suffering; from the pollutions and defilements of the day, than from the sufferings of the day. This legacy I would beg that you would consider; take more pains, and make more conscience of keeping yourselves from the evil of sin than the evil of punishment, from the pollutions and corruptions of the times than the sufferings of the times: Acts 2:40, ‘Save yourselves from this untoward generation.’ Phil. 2:15, ‘The children of God must be harmless and blameless, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.’ If you will be tasting and sipping at Babylon’s cup, you must resolve to receive more or less of Babylon’s plagues.
I would leave this with you: Be always doing or receiving good. Our Lord and Master went up and down in this world doing good; he was still doing good to body and soul; he was motivated by an untired power. Be still doing or receiving good. This will make your lives comfortable, your deaths happy, and your account glorious, in the great day of our Lord. Oh! how useless are many men in their generation! Oh! that our lips might be as so many honey-combs, that we might scatter knowledge!
I would leave this with you: Set the highest examples and patterns before your face of grace and godliness for your imitation. In the business of faith, set an Abraham before your eyes; in the business of courage, set a Joshua; in the business of uprightness, set a Job; of meekness, a Moses &c. Christians disadvantage themselves by looking more backwards than forwards. Men look on whom they excel, not on those they fall short of. Of all examples, set them before you that are most eminent for grace and holiness, for communion with God, and acting for God. Next to Christ, set the pattern of the choicest saints before you.
Take no truths upon trust, but all upon trial, 1 Thes. 5:21, also 1 John 4:1, Acts 17:11. It was the glory of that church, that they would not trust Paul himself; Paul, that had the advantage above all for external qualifications; no, not Paul himself. Take no truth upon trust; bring them to the balance of the Scripture. If they will not hold weight there, reject them.
Look upon all the things of this world as you will look upon them when you come to die. At what a poor rate do men look on the things of this world when they come to die! What a low value do men set upon the pomp and glory of it, when there is but a step between them and eternity! Men may now put a mask upon them, but then they will appear in their own colours. Men would not venture the loss of such great things for them did they but look on them now, as they will do at the last day.
Eye more, mind more, and lay to heart more, the spiritual and eternal workings of God in your souls, than the external providences of God in the world. Beloved, God looks that we should consider the operations of his hand; and despising the works of his hands is so provoking to him that he threatens to lead them into captivity for not considering them. But above all look to the work that God is carrying on in your souls. Not a soul but he is carrying on some work or other in it, either blinding or enlightening, bettering or worsening; therefore look to what God is doing in thy soul. All the motions of God within you are steps to eternity, and every soul shall be blessed or cursed, saved or lost to all eternity, not according to outward dispensations, but according to the inward operations of God in your souls. Observe what humbling work, reforming work, sanctifying work, he is about in thy spirit; what he is doing in that little world within thee. If God should carry on never so glorious a work in the world, as a conquest of the nations to Christ, what would it advantage thee if sin, Satan, and the world should triumph in thy soul, and carry the day there?
Keep up precious thoughts of God under the sourest, sharpest, and severest dispensations of God to you: Psa. 22:1-3, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.’ There was the psalmist under smart dispensations, but what precious thoughts had he of God after all: ‘But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel: though I am thus and thus afflicted, yet thou art holy;’ Psa. 65:5, ‘By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation.’
Always make the Scripture, and not yourselves, nor your carnal reason, nor your bare opinion, the judges of your spiritual state and condition. I cannot see my condition to be good. I cannot perceive it. What! must your sense and your carnal reason be the judge of your spiritual state? Isa. 8:20, ‘To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this rule, it is because there is no light, no morning in them,’ John 12:48, ‘The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge you in the last day.’ The Scripture is that which must determine the case in the great day, whether you have grace or no, or whether it be true or no.
Make much conscience of making good the terms on which you closed with Christ. Do not turn your backs on Christ; the worst of Christ is better than the best of the world. Make conscience of making good your terms, to deny yourself, your natural self, your sinful self, your religious self, to follow him; and if you do so, oh! what an honour will it be to Christ, and advantage to your souls, and a joy to the upright!
Walk by no rule but such as you dare die by and stand by in the great day of Jesus Christ. You may have many ways prescribed to worship by; but walk by none but such as you dare die by, and stand by, before Jesus Christ. Walk not by a multitude, for who dares stand by that rule when he comes to die?
And lastly, sit down and rejoice with fear: Psa. 2, ‘Let the righteous rejoice, but let them rejoice with fear.’ Rejoice, that God hath done your souls good by the everlasting gospel; that he did not leave you till he brought you to an acceptance of, to a closing with, and a resignation of, your souls to Christ, and the clearing up of your interest in him. Rejoice, that you have had the everlasting gospel! in so much light, purity, power, and glory, as you have had for many years together. Rejoice in the riches of grace that hath carried it in such a way towards you. And weep, that you have provoked God to take away the gospel, that you have no more improved it; that you have so neglected the seasons and opportunities of enriching your souls. When you should have come to church-fellowship, anything would turn you out of the way. Oh! sit down and tremble under your barrenness, under all your leanness.
Here are your legacies, and the Lord make them to work in your souls, and then they will be of singular use to you, to preserve you so that you may give up your account before the great and glorious God with joy. Labour to make conscience of putting these legacies into practice, of sucking at these breasts, which will be of use to us, till we shall be gathered up into the fruition of God, where we shall need no more ordinances, no more preaching or praying.

Farewell Sermons

D R Brooker wrote on a blog now removed:

Anyone with a passing interest in the history of 17th century Puritanism knows what happened in the year 1662. ... Iain Murray called this event a “spiritual watershed which which divides two eras of our religious history.” ... These men ... ruled themselves by principle and would rather rely on God to provide for them than opt for the comforts of employment and participate in what they deemed to be the mechanical worship of God. They acted to their own detriment for the honour of Christ.
[He gives John Stoughton's description of the last Sunday before expulsion when most farewell sermons were preached.]

Upon their ouster from the pulpit, many of these men preached “farewell sermons” to their beloved congregations. Many of them were wonderful exhortations to remain faithful to Christ and diligent in their study of the Scriptures. A number of these original sermons were collected and published as Sermons of the Great Ejection in two separate editions: 1662 and 1663; the latter containing more material. This volume of sermons has never been reprinted in its entirety. (We can only hope that Jon Dorsey of Dust & Ashes Publications keeps this volume on his list of planned books to republish in the future. I know he’s wanted to do this for some time). Both Banner of Truth (1962) and Soli Deo Gloria (1992) published a book of Ejection sermons drawing on materials from the original editions, but sadly, both books are long out of print. If I had to recommend one over the other, Farewell Sermons by SDG would be my choice as it contains more material, however, it is also the harder of the two books to find.

No Sunday like it

In 1662 a storm broke. A Parliamentary Act, first passed back in 1549, was resurrected and reconstituted - the Act of Uniformity. It required all ministers in the Church of England give ‘unfeigned assent and consent to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer, [and] re-ordination for those not episcopally ordained.’ It also demanded a renunciation of the Solemn League and Covenant (a 1643 religious alliance between England and Scotland — accepted by the English Parliament — which guaranteed the maintenance of the reformed Church of Scotland and promised to reform the churches of England and Ireland according to the Scriptures). Knowing that the Puritans would not submit to such terms, the Authorities framed the Act to secure their expulsion.
The Act was ratified by Charles II and every pastor was given an ultimatum requiring him to conform or else be expelled. The deadline was the 24th of August 1662. Thus on that fateful day- 'Black Bartholomew’s Day' — more than 2000 ministers were ejected from their churches for refusing to comply. By this one decree, the vast majority of England’s evangelical preachers were immediately silenced. The action was no sudden whim on the part of the King but a deliberately and carefully contrived plot by the Establishment to rid the land once and for all of the greatest preachers the nation had ever known.
Most of those who refused to comply preached their ‘farewell’ sermon to their congregation on the Sunday before the ‘Great Ejection.’ What a day it must have been. In the 19th Century John Stoughton wrote in his Religion in England Vol 3 (p 267)
‘No Sunday in England ever resembled exactly that which fell on the 17th of August, 1662, one week before the feast of St Bartholomew. There have been "mourning, lamentation, and woe," in particular parish churches when death, persecution, or some other cause has broken pastoral ties, and severed from loving congregations their spiritual guides; but for many hundreds of ministers on the same day to be uttering farewells is an unparalleled circumstance. In after years, Puritan fathers and mothers related to their children the story of assembled crowds, of aisles, standing-places and stairs, filled to suffocation, of people clinging to open windows like swarms of bees, of overflowing throngs in churchyards and streets, of deep silence or stifled sobs, as the flock gazed on the shepherd - "sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no more."

The effect was devastating. It was said that - as a result of the enforcement of the Act - 'religion in the Church of England was almost extinguished and in many of her parishes the lamp of God went out.' Another historian said: ‘After we had cast out so much faith, and zeal, and holiness, after we had in this manner almost cast out the doctrine of Christ crucified from the pale of our church; we had to travel through a century of coldness and dreariness, and barrenness, of Arminianism and Pelagianism, of Arianism and latent Socinianism, all which were found compatible with outward conformity.’

However, the Act of Uniformity did not stop the ejected men from continuing to preach and teach. They began meeting with their congregations in homes and barns or wherever worship could be conducted and the Word of God expounded. This gave rise to the the Conventicle Act (1664). The Conventicle Act forced the congregations into the countryside. They met deep in the woods and began gathering during the night to worship and hear the Scriptures expounded. The Authorities were infuriated, and so, in 1665 passed the Five Mile Act. This forbade and made illegal any religious meetings held by Nonconformist ministers within five miles of any town or village. (This effectively prevented most poor village people - with no means of transport - from attending any form of worship other than in their local Church of England). Moreover, it stated that no Nonconformist preacher or teacher could live within five miles of a town or village and, further, he was debarred from teaching in any school - virtually the only occupation open to a deprived minister in those days. Breach of these Acts could be punishable by a fine, imprisonment, deportation or even death. It was also possible that all one’s belongings could be confiscated. Although these laws could not be strictly enforced, they nevertheless led to appalling persecution and suffering among the Dissenters.
Iain Murray writes

“By almost every method which men knew, an attempt was thus made to shut the mouth of Nonconformists, and for continuing to claim the liberty to speak not a few of the Nonconformists lost their lives ... There could be few more scathing reproofs for modern English Christianity than for us really to attend to the words of these men who gave up livings, homes, liberties, goods and sometimes lives rather than surrender any part of the teaching of the Word of God. Their highest ambition was to be able to say with William Tyndale, “I call God to record against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, to give a reckoning of our doings, that I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, nor would this day, if all that is in the earth, whether it be pleasure, honour, or riches, might be given me.””

Drawn chiefly from some work on Bunyan by John Dunn here.

Black Bartholomew's Day

St Bartholomew's day was traditionally kept on August 24th each year. On that day in 1572 there was a terrible massacre of defenceless Protestants in France, known as Black Bartholomew's Day. The same epithet is sometimes used to refer to the Great Ejection on August 24th, 1662.

On that date, all the reforming plans of the last 20 years completely out of public favour, the Church of Englans was reconstituted under the Act of Uniformity, in a way that made things very unpleasant once more for the Puritans. By its provisions, on that day, every clergyman was to be expelled from his charge if he failed to declare his assent to everything contained in the revised Book of Common Prayer. Similarly all who had failed, during the period of the Commonwealth, to obtain episcopal ordination, was commanded now to obtain it and take an oath of canonical obedience. The theories on which the old 'Solemn League and Covenant' had been based were to be renounced and the doctrine of the king's supremacy over the church accepted.

The result was that some 2000 clergy marked Bartholomew Day by coming out of the church. Richard Baxter, Richard Alleine, Edmund Calamy, John Owen and a host of toehrs were among them.

The act became the more harsh from its coming into operation just before a whole year's tithes were due. Two thousand families, hitherto dependent on stipends for support, were driven hither and thither in search of a livelihood. This was rendered more and more difficult by a number of subordinate statutes passed in rapid succession. The ejected ministers were not allowed to exercise, even in private houses, the religious functions to which they had been accustomed. Their books could not be published without episcopal sanction, previously applied for and obtained. A statute, called the 'Conventicle Act,' punished with fine, imprisonment or transportation, every one present in any private house where religious worship was carried on - if the total number exceeded by more than five the regular members of the household. Another act, the 'Oxford Act,' imposed on these ministers an oath of passive obedience and non-resistance. If they refused to take it, they were prohibited from living within five miles of any place where they had ever resided, or of any corporate town, and from eking out their scanty incomes by keeping schools, or taking in boarders. A second and stricter version of the Conventicle Act deprived the ministers of the right of trial by jury, and empowered any justice of the peace to convict them on the oath of a single informer, who was to be rewarded with a third of the fines levied. No flaw in the legal document, called the mittimus, was allowed to vitiate it and the 'benefit of the doubt' in any uncertain cases, was to be given to the accusers, not to the accused.
Writers who take opposite sides on this subject naturally differ as to the causes and justification to be assigned for the ejection; but there is very little difference of opinion as to the misery suffered during the years 1662-1688. Those who, in one way or other, suffered homelessness, hunger, and penury on account of the Act of Uniformity and the ejection that followed it, have been estimated at 60,000 persons, and the amount of pecuniary loss at £12-14 million. Defoe, Penn and other contemporary writers, set down up-wards of 5000 Nonconformists as the number who perished within the walls of prisons. Many others, like Baxter, were hunted from house to house, from chapel to chapel, by informers, whose only motive was to obtain a portion of the fines levied for infringement of numerous statutes.
Considered as a historical fact, dissent may be said to have begun in England on this 24th August 1662, when the Puritans, who had before formed a body within the church, now ranged themselves as a dissenting or Nonconformist sect outside it.

Edmund Calamy the Elder

The historian Edmund Calamy's second entry is his own grandfather Edmund Calamy (1600-1666) known as "the elder". An English Presbyterian church leader, he was of Huguenot descent and was born in Walbrook, London and educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where his opposition to Arminianism excluded him from a fellowship. Nicholas Felton, Bishop of Ely, nevertheless made him his chaplain and gave him the living of St Mary, Swaffham Prior, which he held till 1626. He then removed to Bury St Edmunds, where he lectured for 10 years, retiring when his bishop (Wren) insisted on the observance of certain ceremonial articles. In 1636 he was appointed rector (or perhaps only lecturer) of Rochford, Essex, but had to leave for the sake of his health. In 1639 he was elected to the perpetual curacy of St Mary Aldermanbury, London, where he had a large following.
At the opening of the Long Parliament he distinguished himself in defence of the Presbyterian cause and contributed to the conciliatory work known as Smectymnuus, against Bishop Joseph Hall's presentation of episcopacy. The initials of the names of the several contributors formed the name under which it was published, viz., Stephen Marshall, E Calamy, T Young, Matthew Newcomen and W Spurstow. Calamy was an active member in the Westminster Assembly of divines, and, refusing to advance to Congregationalism found in Presbyterianism the middle course which best suited his views of theology and church government. He opposed the execution of King Charles, lived quietly under the Commonwealth, and was assiduous in promoting the king's return; for this he was afterwards offered the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield, but declined, perhaps for his wife's sake.
He was made one of Charles's chaplains, and vainly tried to secure the legal ratification of Charles's declaration of 1660. He was so affected by the sight of the devastation caused by the Great Fire of 1666 that he died shortly afterwards. He was buried in the ruins of his church, near the place where the pulpit had stood. His publications are almost entirely sermons.
His eldest son Edmund Calamy "the younger", followed a similar religious path, and was also ejected (from the rectory of Moreton, Essex). He was of a retiring disposition and moderate views. He died 1685.

[A Mr Lee the LEcturer here was also ejected]

Haslefoot Bridges

In his Nonconformist Ministers Memorial Edmund Calamy begins with ejected or silenced ministers in the cities of London and Westminster and in Southwark. He begins at St Alban's, Wood Street, and says of

MR. HASLEFOOT BRIDGES of St. John's College, Cambridge. He was a gentleman and a scholar; much admired, though of a reserved disposition. About the year 1680, he lived at Enfield, Middlesex; but whether he preached there or not, doth not appear. He was possessed of an estate, and was disposed to do good with it. His only daughter being unhappily married, he gave the whole of it (on condition of her dying childless, as she did in 1695) to charitable uses: principally to the college where he was educated, and to the parish of which he was minister.

[It is added: Dr Wm Watts was sequestered from this rectory. He had been chaplain to Charles I and, from Walker's account, appears to have been a respectable and learned man. If it be true, as that writer relates, that he and his family were treated with severity on the change of the times, Mr Bridges was in no sort accessory to it; nor did he immediately succeed him, but a person of the name of Glendon, so that probably he might not enjoy the living till after Dr Watts's death, as he died some time before the Restoration. Mr. Fisher as assistant to Mr Bridges was ejected with him.]

Five Mile Act 1665

The Five Mile Act or Oxford Act, is an Act of Parliament passed in 1665 with the long title "An Act for restraining Non-Conformists from inhabiting in Corporations". It was one of the English penal laws that sought to enforce conformity to the established Church of England. It forbade clergymen from living within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been banned, unless they swore an oath never to resist the king, or attempt to alter the government of Church or State.

Conventicle Act 1664

The Conventicle Act of 1664 was an Act of parliament under Charles II that forbade religious assemblies of more than five people outside the auspices of the Church of England. This law was part of the programme of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, to discourage nonconformity and to strengthen the position of the Established Church. These prohibitions led many, such as the Covenanters, to vacate their parishes rather than submit to the new Episcopal authorities. Just as the ministers left so too did the congregations, following their old pastors to sermons on the hillside. From small beginnings these field assemblies - or conventicles - were to grow into major problems of public order for the government.
Other statutes that were part of Clarendon's programme include:
the Quaker Act of 1662, which required people to swear an oath of allegiance to the king.
A second conventicle act was passed in 1670.
The operation of these laws at least as far as Protestants were concerned was mitigated somewhat by Charles II's Royal Declaration of indulgence in 1672, which suspended the execution of penal laws and allowed a certain number of non-conformist chapels to be staffed and constructed, with the pastors subject to royal approval.
The Conventicle Act and Five Mile Acts were repealed in 1689.

Corporation Act 1661

The Corporation Act of 1661 is an Act of Parliament (13 Cha. II. St. 2 c. 1). It belongs to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church of England.
Though commonly spoken of as one of the "Penal Laws", and enumerated by Butler in his Historical Account of the Laws against the Roman Catholics of England, it was not directly aimed against them, but against the Presbyterians. It was passed in December 1661, the year after the Restoration, by Charles II. Parliament was at that time entirely reactionary. The Cavavliers were in power, and they aimed at nothing short of restoring England to its state before the time of the Commonwealth. It required all the prudence of the Earl of Clarendon, the Lord Chancellor, to restrain them. The Corporation Act represents the limit to which he was prepared to go in endeavouring to restrict the power of the Presbyterians. They were influentially represented in the government of cities and boroughs throughout the country, and this act was designed to dispossess them.
The Act provided that no person could be legally elected to any office relating to the government of a city or corporation, unless he had within the previous 12 months received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England. He was also commanded to take the Oaths of Allegiance adn Supremacy, to swear belief in the Doctrine of Passive Obedience, and to renounce the Covenant (ie Solemn League and Covenant).
In default of these requisites the election was to be void. A somewhat similar act passed 12 years later, known as the Test Act, prescribed for all officers, civil and military, further stringent conditions, including a declaration against transubstantiation.
These two acts operated very prejudicially on Catholics, forming an important part of the general Penal Code which kept them, like nonconformists, out of public life. In later times the number who qualified for civil and military posts in accordance with their provisions was very small, and an Act of Indemnity used to be passed annually, to relieve those who had not done so from the penalties incurred.

The Corporation Act remained nominally in force throughout the 18th Century. It was eventually repealed in 1828.

Act of Uniformity 1662

The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the English Parliament, passed, in the time of Charles II, in 1662. It required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer in Church of England services. It also required episcopal ordination for all for all ministers (ie by recognised bishops). As a result, nearly 2,000 clergymen left the established church in what became known as the Great Ejection.
The Test and Corporation Acts, which lasted until 1828, excluded all nonconformists from holding civil or military office. They were also prevented from being awarded degrees by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
The Act of Uniformity was an act of Parliament, prescribing the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments and other rites of the Established Church of England. Its provisions were modified by the Act of Uniformity Amendment Act of 1872.
The 1662 act re-introduced episcopal rule back into the Church of England after the Puritans had abolished many features of the Church during the Civil Wars. The Act of Uniformity itself is only one of four crucial pieces of legislation, known as the Clarendon Code, after Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon (pictured).