This loosely organized system came to an end with the ending of Cromwell's life. When the strong hand which alone was able to con trol the conflicting forces let loose in a time of civil war, fell powerless, nation, weary of strife, restored the monarchy and with the restoration of the monarchy there came back also the episcopal system of government in the Church. In 1662 the Act of Uniformity cast out 2,000 of the ministers as being unable to give unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained and prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer. From that hour Noncon formity took definite and permanent shape in English national life. It defied all attempts to crush it out of existence. The Conventicle Acts of 1664 and 1670 sent thousands of godly peo ple to prison where many of them died in the pestilential jails of the time. Others were ruined by heavy fines and the spoiling of their goods, but the more Nonconformity was op pressed the more it grew, and at length by the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672 the govern ment was compelled to admit that no fruit had been gained by these forceful courses. Still after brief respite these forceful courses were resorted to again. Conventicles were again f re quented ; spies and informers renewed their dis honored calling and persecution went on its cruel and iniquitous way so long as the Stuart kings remained on the English throne. Happily sooner or later tyranny digs its own grave, and when William of Orange landed at Torbay, 5 Nov. 1688, the hour of deliverance had struck. The persecuted Nonconformists felt that the tidings were almost too good to be true. Year by year for a long period they observed the anniversary of their emancipation, exclaiming ever and again: °When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream. The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad!* From 1688 to the Present Time.— The Revolution of 1688 was followed by the Toler ation Act of 1689 which repealed the Penal Acts and permitted Nonconformists to erect their own places of worship -which were regis tered, and so placed under the protection of the State. To the providing of local habitation for their communities and their principles they ad dressed themselves with considerable energy. In the quarter of a century which elapsed be tween the accession of William III and the death of Queen Anne, besides many temporary structures, some 1,500 permanent places of wor ship were opened and maintained. The political history of Nonconformity in the 18th century is largely concerned with the endeavor to set aside certain disabilities to which its adherents were still subjected, the Toleration Act notwithstand ing. The Corporation Act of 1661 provided that no person could be elected as mayor, alder man, recorder, bailiff, town clerk, or common councilman who had not previously taken the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England. The Test Act of 1673, though aimed mainly at the Roman Catholics, by widening the scope of the Corporation Act told heavily also against Protestant Nonconformists. It forbade any person holding office under the Crown, of any nature whatsoever, who could not produce a certificate to show that he had taken the sacrament at the parish church. Who ever offended against this law was thenceforth disabled from suing in a court of law, acting as guardian or executor, taking any legacy or deed of gift, or bearing any public office, and was further liable to a penalty of $2,500, These acts were unaffected by the Act of Toleration and were naturally felt by the Non conformists to be a serious grievance. The Occasional Conformity Act of 1711 intensificd this grievance. It provided that any person holding any civil or military office who should be found in a conventicle, or in any religious meeting of more than 10 persons, other than one conducted according to the rites of the Established Church, should forfeit the sum of 140, and be disabled for the future from holding any public office.
In 1717 an agitation was commenced for the repeal of these three tyrannical and disabling acts. A bill for the purpose was introduced into the House of Lords by Earl Stanhope, and on a second readinv was carried by a division of 86 votes against 68; but on going into committee the clauses relating to the Test and Corporation Acts were withdrawn from the bill and it passed without them. Thus it came about that the Occasional Conformity Act was repealed at that time it was not till 1828 that a bill for the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts re ceived the royal assent.
Still in the interval between 1717 and 1828 several distinct steps were taken in the direction of liberty. In 1742 a dissenter was elected to the office of sheriff of the city of London, and on his refusal to qualify by taking the sacra ment he was cited to the Court of King's Bench which decided against his claim to ex emption. The Corporation then passed a by
law imposing a fine of $2,000 upon every person who declined to stand for the office after being nominated and a fine of $3,000 upon every per son who, being elected, refused to serve. Again and again dissenters were nominated, and as they all refused to serve, fines were levied amounting in six years to more than $75,000, which went toward the erection of the new Mansion House. In 1754 it was resolved to make a stand against this oppressive procedure. After a lawsuit which was traversed from court to court, and which lasted for 13 years, Lord Mansfield, by his memorable and scathing judg ment of 1767, put an end to the iniquity for ever.
This gain in the direction of freedom was followed by another in 1779 when Protestant Dissenting ministers and schoolmasters were no longer required to sign the Thirty-tune Ar ticles. In 1812 the Quakers' Oaths, the Con venticle and Five-Mile Acts, which till then had remained on the statute book, were repealed and the Free Churches were placed in respect to legal protection from disturbance during times of public worship, on an equality with the Es tablished Church.
The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828 was followed by the great Reform Bill of 1832 which did much to introduce the rule of the middle class in English society. The result was a large accession to the strength of Non conformity, both political and social. Their influence entered more fully into the stream of the national life. They were found taking active part in Parliament and in municipal councils, the national universities were thrown open to them in 1871, and as the result of a recent re ligious census it was found that quite half of the worshipping population of the country were in attendance on the Nonconformist churches of various denominations. It may be well to add to this historical sketch of the older Non conformity a brief referenCe to the later born but powerful religious society known as Wes leyan Methodism, which taking its rise in the 18th century, hasgone on developing and consolidating ever since. Its internal history is largely that of a struggle for greater freedom and an increased representation of the laity in the government of the Church. Neither Wes1y himself nor the other early leaders in Method ism believed in democratic government in eccle siastical affairs, and continued resistance on their part to the extension of the lay element in the Conference led to one secession after another, these separating bodies forming sister communities. Still while working with more breadth and democratic freedom they remained loyal to the doctrines held by the great founder' of Methodism and to the ecclesiastical system he had elaborated. These various off-shoots are known as the Methodist New Connexion, the Primitive Methodists, the Bible Christians, the Wesleyan Reform Union, the United Methodist Free Church and the Independent Methodist Church. Notwithstanding these suc cessive secessions and some occasional disasters the original Wesleyan Society has shown mar vellous vitality, elasticity and resource. While in 1816 in Great Britain and Ireland there was a membership of 241,319, according to the latest minutes of Conference that membership has risen to 600,750. If we add to this the number of members belonging to the various branches of Methodist outside the main body, to the Foreign Missions, to the French Conference and to the South African Conference we reach a total of nearly 2,000,000. For the due care of this large body they have an ordained min istry of 4,329, besides 40,308 lay preachers.
Passing from Wesleyan Methodism to the Free Churches generally it may be mentioned that these various bodies of Christians outside the Established Church have in recent years entered into a sort of federation without sacri ficing their separate self-government. This fed eration is known as the National Council of the Evangelical Free Churches and consists of representatives of the local Councils of the Con gregational and Baptist churches, the Methodist churches, the Presbyterian Church of England, the Free Episcopal churches (including the Moravians), the Society of Friends, and such other evangelical churches as the National Council may at any time admit. In 1915 there were in England and Wales (communicants): Baptist, 390,183 and 540,145 Sunday school chil dren; Congregationalist, 454,748, and 634,585 children; Presbyterians, 87,667, and 90,521 children; Quakers, 2,836, and 21,407 children; Church of Christ, 12,535, and 15,893 children; Moravians, 3,427, and 5,144 children; and other smaller bodies making up a total of 2,136,782 Nonconformist communicants and 3,219,633 Sunday school children; sitting accommoda tion for over 8,000,000; 9,364 ministers and 50,787 lay preachers.