Let me begin with two stories, reminders, perhaps, of how easy most of us have it today.
John Owen
The first is from the latter years of the great John Owen. After the death of his first wife, Mary, early in 1675, Owen remarried a wealthy widow, Dorothy. He also inherited a legacy at this time so, apart from asthma and gallstones, Owen lived out the last seven years of his life in pretty comfortable material circumstances, living in Kensington, then a village near London.
However, he was a nonconformist. On one occasion, his carriage was stopped by two informers as he came along the Strand. They seized his horses and a mob quickly gathered around the carriage. Violence threatened and it was only when a JP happened to pass, in the providence of God, that the situation was diffused. Nothing further came of the incident but a rebuke for the informers for acting improperly. It must have been hard for an old and sick man, the former Chancellor of Oxford University, to suffer such indignity. It was part and parcel of being a Nonconformist or Dissenter, even a wealthy and respected one, in Restoration England before 1689.
Isaac Watts
The second story is from the childhood of another great nonconformist, best remembered as a pioneering hymn writer, Isaac Watts. He was born in Southampton in 1674, nine years before Owen died. Watts was the eldest of nine children. When he was born his father was in prison - not for any crime we would recognise today but because he was also a nonconformist or Dissenter. Watts's mother would nurse him as she sat on a large stone outside the prison gate, carrying on a silent protest against the unjust treatment meted out to her husband. One of Watts' earliest memories was the local prison and an awareness of the suffering his father, and consequently the rest of the family, were enduring as the persecution of Christians continued, affecting even the very young.
Edward Lawrence
Let me give one more example, a man you won't know. Edward Lawrence 1625-1695 was ejected from Baschurch near Shrewsbury in 1662. In 1670 he was forced to move to London. He once said he had 11 good arguments against suffering by being a nonconformist, namely a wife and ten children. When asked how he meant to maintain them all, he cheerfully replied that they “must all live on the sixth chapter of Matthew, Take no thought for the morrow”. Sadly, one or two did not and he later wrote a book called Parents groans over their wicked children. Nevertheless, his son Nathaniel Lawrence 1670-1708 became a nonconformist minister, serving in Banbury, Oxon. Philip Henry recalled how at grace Edward would often ask God to use his “creatures as his witnesses that he is good” and would say “we cannot conceive how much good our God doth every moment”. He often said, “I adore the wisdom of God that hath not seen meet to trust me with riches.” Baxter called him a “solid, calm, peaceable and godly ... and a good preacher”.
The subject of this conference is Steadfastness and so far we've been looking chiefly to Scripture to find encouragement on how to take a stand in our day. There is, however, somewhere else we can turn to supplement the Word itself. We can turn also to church history for instruction and encouragement. Obviously this is not the same as turning to the Bible itself but if we are cautious there is help to be found here and in particular in the years 1662-1689, the period from what is referred to as The Great Ejection in the time of Charles II to the Act of Toleration following the coronation of William II and his Queen, Mary II.
Background
When the Reformation first came to this country it led to the formation of an established national church, broadly Protestant in doctrine and ethos. However, there were those who thought that things could be taken further (the hotter sort of Protestant they are sometimes called). By the time of Oliver Cromwell, who rose to power following the execution of Charles I in January 1649, these people were beginning to make some progress.
Some had long chosen to worship outside the Church of England - separatists. Others, were working within the national church to reform and improve it. However, a time came when most felt no longer able to do that. In 1558 Cromwell died and slowly but surely a new consensus formed. People didn't like republicanism and felt they would prefer to have a king again. This was the view not only of worldly people fed up with the puritanical laws that had been implemented but also good puritans who thought the execution of Charles a step too far and who genuinely believed that under a king, it would be possible to remain in the national church and perhaps even reform it further in a Protestant direction. They were encouraged to think this way by statements from the man who would shortly become Charles II. He claimed he would give ‘liberty to tender consciences’ and that none ‘shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matter of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom.’
However genuine their belief and however sincere Charles was in his statements, expectations proved to be hopelessly wrong. From the beginning the powers that be began to hound separatists and root out good ministers from the national church and in 1662 everything came to a head with what we call the Great Ejection.
This involved the passing of an act of uniformity that forced 2000 men in all good conscience (mostly ministers but including school teachers and university lecturers) to leave the national church, unable to give the required “unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained and prescribed” in the yet to be published 1662 Prayer Book.
The act was preceded in 1661 by corporation acts requiring all magistrates to swear allegiance to the supremacy of the king and to take the Lord’s Supper in the Anglican Church in the year before taking office. Four further acts followed to bolster these. Together the six acts have been known since the nineteenth century as the Clarendon Code. The other four acts are
The First Conventicle Act (1664). This banned gatherings for worship of five or more adults (unless household members) if not run on Prayer Book lines. This act aimed to stop ministers forming new congregations. A first offence meant three month in prison; a second, six months; a third, exile for seven years or a £100 fine.
The Five Mile Act (1665). Ministers outside the Church of England could not live within five miles of the town where they had ministered prior to 1662, unless they promised not to try and make any change in the worship practices of the state church or the government of the state. A violation would result in a fine of £40.
The Second Conventicle Act (1670). This levied a fine of 5/- for every adult present at an illegal conventicle and a £20 fine for allowing such a conventicle on one’s property. This act was clearly aimed at the rank and file of Dissent. It is the act that poet Andrew Marvell referred to as the ‘quintessence of arbitrary malice’.
The Test Act (1673). This last act required all those holding civil offices as well as commissioned officers in the army or navy to take an oath of allegiance to the king and receive the Lord’s Supper according to the rites and theological understanding of the Anglican Church. Aimed at excluding Roman Catholics, it also affected Dissenters.
These acts were all eventually repealed and the Anglican church is not what it was. However, for long years nonconformists were to a greater or lesser extent second class citizens and for much of the time from 1662 to 1689, less than that.
That covers the bare bones of what happened but we need to remember that it affected real flesh and blood individuals. Today I would like us to think about some of those affected.
There was a variety among the ejected. Some were at the beginning of their ministries. Others were ejected towards the end of their ministries (Simeon Ash died the evening of the ejection, August 24 1662; Edward Bowles the day before). Financially, some had always been comfortably well off, others had not or were not from then on. Some faced great opposition at this time, some less. A G Matthews, writing in 1934, says a hundred or so had “considerable private means” to fall back on. Among the rest, 101 kept schools (including 9 ministerial academies); 59 practised medicine; 47 became chaplains to nobles or gentry; 10 became farmers; 9 went into trade.
Some names are remembered to this day. A nineteenth century work Robert Halley speaks of
... the preaching of Baxter, the theology of Owen, the genius of Howe, the learning of Goodwin, the reasoning of Charnock, the sermons of Bates, the devotion of Flavel, the meditations of Isaac Ambrose, the expositions of Matthew Poole, the labours of Oliver Heywood, the life of Joseph Alleine! ... It is not for me to praise the men who have done much to make old England what it is: a great, a free, a glorious, a strong, a religious, a Protestant country. They have left their deep and indelible impressions upon the history of our land, and upon all its institutions ...
You may know some of these names - Baxter, Owen, Howe, Goodwin, Charnock, Flavel. William Bates (1625-99) is less well known. The warm and godly Lancashire author Isaac Ambrose (1604-64) wrote books admired for their pathos and beauty by a wide number. Matthew Poole (1624?-79) was a Bible commentator, Oliver Heywood (1630-1702) a godly northern Puritan.
The ODNB currently considers just over 200 of the ejected worthy of attention. The brief summaries found there can make dry reading at times but every now and again there is a glimpse of something more interesting.
Rather than trying to take in a lot of information about a lot of people I thought we might be best to look at three men, considering the lives of each before and after 1662.
I've chosen three Presbyterians. In those days, the term presbyterian was used loosely for all the ejected but these men really were Presbyterians. More ejected men went to Cambridge than Oxford but these three were all Oxford men. Their names will be familiar to anyone who knows their Puritan history - Thomas Manton, Joseph Alleine and Philip Henry.
Thomas Manton 1620-1677
At Manton's funeral William Bates said of him he had “a name worthy of precious and eternal memory”. He said
Perhaps few men of the age in which he lived, had more virtues, and fewer failings, or were more remarkable for general knowledge, fearless integrity, great candour and wisdom, sound judgement, and natural eloquence; copious invention, and incredible industry, zeal for the glory of God, and good will to men, for acceptance and usefulness in the world, and a clear unspotted reputation, through a course of many years, among all parties of men.
In 2011 a helpful guide to Manton by Derek Cooper appeared. He points out that Manton was born five years before Charles I became king and died seven years before the death of Charles II. His middle years were lived during the Commonwealth and Protectorate (1649–53; 1653–59). A secretary to the Westminster Assembly (1643–49) a chaplain to Cromwell, he preached before Parliament. He was much in favour of the restoration of Charles II but was ejected in 1662 and spent six months in prison in 1670.
Manton is remembered today for his 22 volume Works. Spurgeon wrote that he is not brilliant but always clear, not oratorical but always powerful, not striking but always deep. "There is not a poor discourse in the whole collection - they are evenly good, constantly excellent. Ministers who do not know Manton need not wonder if they are themselves unknown."
Manton was born near Taunton, Somerset (Lydeard St Lawrence). His father and grandfather were Protestant clergymen. Educated at a free grammar school in Tiverton, Devon he went to Oxford as a servitor (ie one of the poorer students). He began at Wadham College but moved to Hart Hall, probably for economic reasons, gaining a BA in 1639 and a Wadham BD in 1654. In 1660 Charles II got him a DD.
After Oxford, he was ordained deacon and began to serve in rural East Devon, serving as Sowton town lecturer 1640-1643, a low paid, temporary calling, something like an assistant curate. In 1643 he married Mary Morgan (d 1701) from nearby Sidbury. They had three children. That same year nearby Exeter was besieged by Royalists so they lived in Colyton for the next two years.
In July 1645, still in his twenties but with a growing reputation, he moved to the London area. Colonel Alexander Popham, patron of St Mary’s parish, brought him to Stoke Newington, then little more than a village north of London. The previous incumbent was sequestered. Cooper describes the Stoke Newington period, which lasted until 1656, as successful but hectic. He was very much involved in unsuccessful attempts to set up presbyterianism in the area. To this end in 1653 he published Smectymnuus Redivivus, a revamped version of the 1641 reply of five presbyterians (Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, William Spurstowe) to Joseph Hall's Humble Remonstrance advocating episcopalianism (Bishops). “The issue was simple for Manton:” says Cooper “presbyterianism was the best way to organise the church and unify the nation”. He notes the disconnect between Parliament and the army on this.
Manton, like others, was keen to dissociate himself entirely from the death of Charles I. In 1651 Christopher Love (1618-1651) was executed for plotting to restore the monarchy. At the risk of his life, Manton preached Love's funeral sermon.
The Westminster Assembly convened in 1643. Still only 23 Manton was not called as a divine but he became one of three scribes or clerks who served that august company. In 1658 he wrote a preface to the second edition of the Confession. He also served Cromwell as a chaplain and in 1564 was one of few presbyterians made one of 38 triers who examined men for the ministry.
While at Stoke Newington he was invited to preach before Parliament for the first of at least six times. On June 30, 1647, a fast day, he preached Zechariah 14:9 Meat out of the Eater; or, Hopes of Unity in and by Divided and Distracted Times. It was in this decade that he began his major mid-week lectures or practical commentaries, first on Isaiah 53 (probably mid-1640s), then James, which he lectured on four evenings a week (late 1640s) and finally Jude (late 1640s - early 1650s). The last two were published in 1651. These are his only complete works of this systematic sort. Very much addressed to their times, the sermons are still relevant today and remain in print.
In 1656 he was appointed rector of St Paul's in the relatively new parish of Covent Garden succeeding Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-58), who resigned his living and died two years later. Members of the congregation included judge and MP Oliver St John (c 1558-1673); diarist and founder member of the Royal Society John Evelyn (1620-1706) courtier and politician Sir William Fleetwood (c 1603-1674).
The work continued to increase. He was made lecturer at Westminster Abbey and was involved in many discussions including those that led to the readmission of the Jews in 1657. He did not find folk in Covent Garden as sympathetic to presbyterianism as in Stoke Newington. In 1661 they successfully petitioned to have him use the prayer book. Growing resistance to presbyterianism nationally coincided with the uncertainty following Cromwell's untimely death in 1658 and the period of confusion that ensued. Presbyterians such as Manton were keen to see Charles II restored. Manton was one of several who travelled to Breda in The Netherlands early in 1660 to negotiate a return. The hope was (in Michael Watts' words) of “comprehension in the new religious establishment”. With the wisdom of hindsight we can see this was never to be.
After the Restoration, Manton like other moderate presbyterians, became an advocate of Usher's modified episcopalianism. He was part of a group representing the Puritans at the ultimately fruitless Savoy Conference. When The Act of Uniformity was passed Manton was on favourable terms with Charles, being an official chaplain. He was offered the Deanery of Rochester. He felt entirely unable to accept and when Bartholomew's Day 1662 arrived he refused to conform. The Sunday before, he preached a farewell sermon from Hebrews 12:1, later published. Typical of such sermons, it makes no direct reference to the ejection.
Cooper says “The new legislation passed by Parliamant effectively ended the presbyterian cause in England” and “although vestiges of presbyterianism remained in the London area, Manton is rightly regarded as one of the last old presbyterians in England.”
Manton became what he despised – a separatist. A moderate nonconformist, he continued to attend the parish church until accused of slander and libel by his successor, Simon Patrick (1626-1707). In 1669 he was censured for refusing communion. He had slowly begun to preach at his home Sunday evenings and Wednesday mornings when possible. He continued to write too.
In 1670 he was arrested for preaching one Sunday afternoon and imprisoned for six months. He continued to preach illegally and was nearly arrested again but was tipped off as to his danger. He was at Arlington House in 1668 when toleration was discussed with Charles. At this time two presbyterian factions existed - Dons like Manton were well connected and continued to seek comprehension; Ducklings were younger men who sought only indulgence or toleration. Great suspicion reigned between the two.
The year 1672 saw a Declaration of Indulgence. Some 1500 licenses were issued, including one to Manton, allowing him to preach at home. Shortly after this he became one of six lecturers at Pinner’s Hall with Baxter, Owen and others who combined to lead “morning exercises.” He also preached at Cripplegate in a similar set up.
Despite continued efforts to bring about a change, Manton died in 1677 without seeing comprehension or even toleration. A large and diverse crowd attended his funeral. Diarist Ralph Thoresby (1658-1724) called him “The King of preachers”.
Unlike Owen, whose volumes contain both academic and popular works, Manton's works are all popular expositions - not that he is always easy. Perhaps his spirit comes through in an anecdote preserved by Baxter.
After preaching on a difficult subject (chosen to show his ability) before the Lord Mayor of London, a poor man followed him back to Covent Garden. Tugging on Manton's gown, he said … Sir, I came with earnest desires after the Word of God, and hopes of getting some good to my soul, but I was greatly disappointed; for I could not understand a great deal of what you said; you were quite above me. This so affected Manton, that he tearfully replied, Friend, if I did not give you a sermon, you have given me one; and by the grace of God, I will never again play the fool to preach before my Lord Mayor in such a manner again.
Joseph Alleine 1634-1668
Joseph Alleine, author of the posthumous bestseller Alarm to the unconverted (A sure guide to heaven) was born in Devizes, Wiltshire. Oliver Heywood said of him “Few ages have produced more eminent preachers.” The son of a good Puritan, Toby Alleine (1597-1667), when he was 11 his older brother, Edward, a minister, died prematurely aged 26. Joseph, whose youth, according to a contemporary was “an even-spun thread of godly conversation” begged his father to train for the ministry. This happened after the dust had settled following a parliamentary visitation, at Oxford. he was in Lincoln College first then the more Puritan Corpus Christi. One of the first things he witnessed, in 1649, was Cromwell being made a Doctor of Laws. Alleine was a diligent student. He remained there until 1653 and after a further year as a tutor and chaplain he went down to the Puritan stronghold of Taunton. There he worked alongside Devonian George Newton (1602-1681) “a plain, profitable and successful preacher, eminent for meekness and prudence” another ejectee.
In 1655 Alleine married his cousin, Theodosia Alleine (fl 1654-77), daughter of Richard Alleine (1610-81) Rector of Batcombe, Somerset, and anoter later ejectee. Richard's younger brother William Alleine (1613/14–77) would also be ejected from Blandford, Somerset, in 1661. Theodosia subsequently wrote of her husband that
He would be much troubled if he heard smiths or shoemakers or such trades men at work at their trades before he was in his duties with God: saying to me often O how this noise shames me! Doth not my Master deserve more than theirs?
She also described how in May, 1663, he was imprisoned in Ilchester, Somerset. They were at home one Saturday evening when at about six o'clock Alleine was seized on by an officer of our town. The arresting officer would rather have not been arresting godly Alleine but was forced to act quickly as a warrant had been issued by a justice’s clerk, who feared no-one else in the town would do the dirty deed.
The warrant, signed by three justices, required Alleine to appear at one of their houses, about two miles outside town. He asked if he could eat with his family first. They had a young daughter, Isabella. This was initially denied but a prominent man in the town guaranteed his appearance, so, Theodosia continues, supper being prepared, he sat down, eating very heartily, and was very cheerful, but full of holy and gracious expressions, suitable to his and our present state.
After supper, having prayed with the family, he went with the officer and some friends to the JP’s house where he was accused of breaking the law by preaching, which he denied. He was accused of “being at a riotous assembly” simply for preaching and praying.
Theodosia describes how he was much abused with many scorns and scoffs from the justices and their associates … even the ladies … often called him rogue, and told him that he deserved to be hanged, and if he were not, they would be hanged for him, and similar uncouth statements. Alleine's calm demeanour throughout all this seemed to make them angrier and they then urged him much to accuse himself, but in vain.
Despite a lack of evidence, after keeping him until midnight, abusing and mocking him, they made out an arrest warrant committing him to gaol the following Monday. It was about two in the morning by the time he was home so he lay on his bed fully dressed and slept a few hours before rising to pray about eight o’clock. By then several friends had arrived. He was not allowed to preach but was free to speak with the various groups that flocked in from the town and nearby villages and to pray with them. Theodosia continues
He was exceeding cheerful in his spirit, full of admiration of the mercies of God and encouraging all that came to be bold and venture all for the gospel and their souls, notwithstanding what was come upon him for their sakes. For, as he told them, he was not at all moved at it, nor did not in the least repent of anything he had done, but accounted himself happy ….
He took hold of the promise of Jesus about being blessed when persecuted for righteousness' sake. Theodosia remarks on how very earnest he was with his brethren in the ministry that came to see him, that they would not in the least desist when he was gone, that there might not be one sermon the less in Taunton. He also urged the people to attend the ministry with greater ardency, diligence, and courage than before; assuring them how sweet and comfortable it was to him to consider what he had done for God in the months past; and that he was going to prison full of joy, being confident that all these things would turn to the furtherance of the Gospel, and the glory of God.
Not wanting to leave his people without some final words, he met with them in the small hours the following morning. Several hundred gathered to hear him speak and pray about three hours.
He prayed for his enemies ... ‘that God would not lay this sin of theirs to their charge.’ The greatest harm that he did wish to any of them was, ‘that they might thoroughly be converted and sanctified, and that their souls might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.’ And so, with his yearnings towards his people, and theirs towards him, they took their farewell of each other – a more affectionate parting could not well be.
At about nine, again accomapnied by friends, he set out for Ilchester. The streets were lined with people both sides. Many followed him out of the town on foot for several miles, earnestly lamenting their loss. Alleine was very moved by all this but did his best to look cheerful and say something encouraging. He carried his arrest warrant himself no officer being present. On coming to the prison gate the gaoler was absent so he took opportunity to preach again, for which he was later criticised.
On entering the gaol Alleine found his friend John Norman (1622-1669) of Bridgwater there, imprisoned a few days before. It is said that one of his great fears was ending up as an indentured labourer on a plantation in the West Indies, a realistic fear in those days for a nonconformist.
Alleine spent the next four months in this hole. At the time the gaol held 50 Quakers, 17 Baptists and about 12 other ministers arrested, like Alleine, for preaching and praying. Another 31 Quakers were confined in another building elsewhere in the town.
Through the summer months, the heat inside the low ceilinged prison was unbearable. There was little privacy and nowhere to eat. Night and day they could hear the singing, cursing and clanking chains of the criminals in the cells below. The Quakers could be a nuisance too. Alleine remarked on how they would bother others "by their cavils in the times of their preaching, praying and singing" and cause other problems.
Alleine and his companions took turns to preach and pray publicly once or twice a day. Crowds from the villages around usually gathered to listen at the prison bars. The rest of the day was spent speaking to those who came for counsel and instruction. He would spend much of the night studying and praying alone. He was allowed to curtain off a corner of the room big enough for his bed, where he could pray in private. Theodosia bravely chose to share imprisonment with him.
After some weeks when the gaoler was in a good mood he would allow Alleine to walk in the countryside twice a day. Friends supplied food and money. He stayed healthy in body and mind.
On 14 July he appeared at Taunton court sessions, where he was indicted for preaching. Despite a lack of evidence against him he was returned to prison where he would soon face the cold of winter, every bit as trying as summer's heat. It was a whole year before his release.
While inside he kept busy writing. He wrote an exposition of the Shorter Catechism and A Synopsis of the Covenant. He also sent out weekly letters to his people, many of which were later published under the title Cardiphonia. He also sent out catechisms for distribution among poor families in Ilchester and elsewhere. When the gaol chaplain fell ill, he dared to take his place, and, until prohibited, preached to the criminals in the gaol and helped them in other ways. He was much in prayer throughout his confinement.
Once free again Alleine set about his work with alacrity. However, three years on he was re-arrested, with his wife. her aged father, Richard, seven other ministers and 40 others were arrested at the same time and imprisoned in Ilchester. Alleine was unwell when he entered prison the second time and it greatly weakened him so that on returning to Taunton in February, 1668, his health broke down completely. Nine months later, aged only 34, weary from hard work and suffering, he died.
Philip Henry 1631-1696
Speaking of Philip Henry some years ago Peter Lewis noted that some are remembered for what they were not what they did. This, he suggests is true of Henry, who “produced only two things which can be called 'great': his life and his son”!
Born on St Bartholomew's Day, 1631, from 1657 he regularly kept a diary and would annually note his birthday's return. In 1663 he wrote of it as “the day of the year on which I was born … and also the day of the year on which by law I died, as did also near 2000 faithful ministers of Jesus Christ”.
His Welsh father and English mother met in London, where his father was a courtier who had worked his way up from humble beginnings. As a child Philip played with the princes Charles and James, both of whom would one day reign, though not before many unexpected changes. To his dying day Philip Henry kept a book, a gift from James but was otherwise glad to be far from the court's snares.
By the time Henry's primary education was complete, the royal court had been scattered to the four winds. In 1643 he began at Westminster School, where he was a favourite of headmaster Richard Busby (1606-1695). (Meeting Busby later he was asked “Prithee, child, who made thee a non-conformist?” His reply, “Truly, sir, you made me one, for you taught me those things that hindered me from conforming.”) This influence and that of his mother gave many opportunities to pursue godliness. She often took him to hear the godly Stephen Marshall (c 1594-1695) and on Thursdays Thomas Case (1598-1682). Picture him on the pulpit stairs of St Margaret's, Westminster, diligently taking notes from the divines of the age. He was a lifelong avid and careful taker of sermon notes. He himself said
If ever any child, such as I then was, between the tenth and fifteenth years of my age, enjoyed line upon line, precept upon precept, I did. And was it in vain? I trust, not altogether in vain. My soul rejoiceth, and is glad at the remembrance of it; the word distilled as the dew, and dropt as the rain. I loved it, and loved the messengers of it; their very feet were beautiful to me.
In 1647 he went to Christ Church, Oxford a little before Alleine and the turmoil caused by the parliamentary visitation. Back home in January 1649 he saw Charles I, daily walk to his trial. Charles spoke once to Henry's father as passed by. Philip wrote an eye-witness account of the execution. Back in Oxford he felt the strong pull of worldly glory on his gifted intellect and skilled rhetoric. He graduated BA 1650, MA 1652.
In 1653 he preached his first sermon at South Hinksey, Oxon. He came to the attention of the well-to-do Pulestones of Emeral, Flint and they recruited hime as chaplain and family tutor. Judge Pulestone's wife was somewhat puritan; her eldest son Roger had no love for Henry. He became preacher at Worthenbury Chapel. In 1654 he was with his pupils at Oxford but from 1655 was back at Worthenbury. The rector of the Bangor parish, where Worthenbury was, had been Henry Bridgeman (d 1682) but he was sequestered in 1646.
Having undergone examination by the fourth Shropshire Classis, Henry and five others were ordained at Prees, Shropshire, in September 1657. In 1658 Worthenbury Chapel was taken out of Bangor parish and made, with Worthenbury Church, a new parish. Henry was made incumbent. Mrs Pulestone died that year, the Judge the year after. Henry remained until 1662 over the small, working-class congregation. He declined more attractive offers from Wrexham and London.
In 1660 he married Katherine Matthews (1629-1707) of Bronington, Flintshire. Gaining her hand was difficult. Her father had reservations. A family story has Katherine saying to her father Henry is “a gentleman and a scholar, and an excellent preacher and a good man”. He replies “but he is quite a stranger”. They do not know his origins. She clinches the argument with “True, but I know where he is going to, and I should like to go with him.” They wuld be married 36 years and have six children. On their twentieth anniversary he quipped that they had been long married but never reconciled – there had never been reason to be reconciled! The home that nurtured the great Bible commentator Matthew Henry was clearly one where there was much prayer, together and alone, and much Bible reading. Nevertheless the diaries reveal this did not come easily
We began the Duty of reading the word in the Family, long omitted, Lord Pardon (Feb 1657) Morning-prayer with my wife omitted for some weeks, this day revived - Lord never let me alone in sin (Feb 1663).
The year Henry married was the year of the Restoration, which he welcomed at first. Bridgeman resumed the Bangor rectory, Henry becoming his curate at Worthenbury Chapel. In September 1660 he was presented at Flint assizes with others for not reading the common prayer, and again at the Spring assizes, without effect. He had taken the oath of allegiance but refused re-ordination. Charles Stanford notes his growing sense of fear, as highlighted by diary entries in 1661 for 16 June, 7 July, 25 July, 8 September, 19 October.
Strong reports I should not be suffered to preach today; but I did; and no disturbance. Blessed be God, who hath my enemies in a chain! … In despite of my enemies, the Lord hath granted the liberty of one Sabbath more. To Him be praise. … Common Prayer-book tendered again. Lord, they devise wicked devices against me; but in thee do I put my trust. Father, forgive them! … They took the cushion from me, but the pulpit was left. Blessed be God! … Day of preparation for the sacrament ... The good Lord pardon! Full of fears lest we should be hindered; for our adversaries bite the lip at us.
On 24 October 1661 Bridgeman came to Worthenbury and read Henry's discharge before a crowd. He was allowed to preach farewell sermons on 27 October. The 1662 act silenced him. He surrendered his house and £100 annuity to avoid litigation and left for Broad Oak, Flintshire, where his wife owned property. His main problems were with re-ordination, the prayer book and the lack of discipline in churches.
On 10 October 1663 he was apprehended with 13 others and imprisoned four days on suspicion of insurrection. In March 1665 he was cited to Malpas, Cheshire, for baptising one of his children. At the month's end he was declared a layman and made sub-collector of tax for the township of Iscoed. The Five Mile Act placed him in a difficulty. Broad Oak was reputed to be only four miles from Worthenbury but it was found to be five miles, sixty yards. However, he lived for a while in Whitchurch, Shropshire, regularly attending parish churches, his habit being to stand throughout the service. He objected to kneeling at the Lord's Table and did not take communion.
An anecdote from the time tells how one Sunday morning the parish preacher said hard things against Dissenters and endeavoured to prove them damned schismatics. When Henry preached in the evening, he began “Perhaps some of you may now expect that I should say something in answer to what we have heard, by which we have been so severely charged, but truly 1 have something else to do:” Without further ado he proceeded to preach Christ.
In February 1668 he is reported to have preached by request in the parish church, Betley, Staffordshire. It was not until the short-lived indulgence of 1672 that he resumed his public ministry in his licensed house, still avoiding meeting in church hours. On the withdrawal of the indulgence, he continued to preach unmolested until 1681, when he was fined for keeping a conventicle.
In 1681 there was a great drought. Famine seemed likely. In Henry's neighbourhood a number agreed to set aside a day to fast and pray. Services were arranged at a house in Hodnet, Market Drayton. Edward Bury (1616-1700) of Great Bolas led in prayer as did Henry, before preaching. In the middle of the sermon two JPs and others suddenly arrived and began to speak very abusively, shouting and swearing. When the aim of the meeting was explained to them, they impudently suggested such a meeting was more likely to offend God than attract his mercy. They took down the names of all present, about 150 altogether, then dismissed them.
Writing of the event Henry notes that
... the justices came to this good work from the alehouse at Prees Heath, about two miles off, to which, and to the bowling-green adjoining, they, with other justices, gentlemen and clergymen of the neighbourhood, had long before obliged themselves to come every Tuesday during the summer under a penalty of 12 pence a time if they were absent, and there to spend the day in drinking and bowling, which was thought to be as much more to the dishonour of God and the scandal of the Christian profession as cursing and swearing and drunkenness are worse than praying and singing psalms, and hearing the Word of God. It would appear that the justices knew about the meeting in Hodnet beforehand and could easily have prevented it but preferred to enjoy themselves at the expense of others by turning up part way through. After they had done their work they returned to the alehouse and had further fun with their friends, going over the names taken down and remarking on some of them and recounting the whole incident to one another. It turned out that the wife of one of their number was on the list. The others thought this was very amusing and began to mock him. However, he countered by saying that she had been better employed than he and, if it was allowed, he would go a good many miles to hear Philip Henry preach. For that remark they threw him out and told him never to show his face there again. He replied that it would have been better for him and his family if such a thing had happened a long time before!
Two days later the justices met at Hodnet again and on the word of two witnesses, no doubt informers, they signed and sealed records of conviction against the house owner, who they fined £20 plus £5 because he was town constable that year and 5/- against everyone present. They also convicted Bury and Henry. Bury had only prayed but they claimed prayer is teaching and fined him £20. He could only afford £7 so they took a bed with the blankets, a rug, a feather bed, 19 pairs of sheets, books to the value of £5 plus brass and pewter.
Henry was fined double, £40. He would not pay so they determined to distrain his goods. Having not right or opportunity to enter his house, they carried off more than 30 cart-loads of corn, hay, coals and other materials. Outwardly unmoved, Henry bore it serenely. All he would say was that it was nothing to what others suffered or to what he himself might have to suffer in the future. He rejoiced not to be being fined for debt or an evil deed.
At the time of the Monmouth Rebellion, July 1685, he was confined three weeks in Chester Castle as ordered by the Lord-lieutenant. At the revolution he had great hopes of ‘comprehension.’ He reluctantly accepted the terms of the Toleration Act. His last years were spent in pastoral work, ministering at Broad Oak in an outbuilding near his house. He died on June 24, 1696.
Henry brought comfort to the ejected from Isaiah 16:4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab. God's people may be cast out - out of men's love, out of their synagogue, their country; but God owns his people when cast out. Outcasts they may be but they are his and somewhere or other he will provide them a dwelling. Not long before he died he observed that “though many of the ejected ministers were brought very low, had many children, were greatly harassed by persecution, and their friends generally poor and unable to support them, yet in all his acquaintance he never knew, nor could remember to have heard of, any non-conformist minister in prison for debt.”
Conclusion
These are just some directly affected by the events of 1662. Dr Lloyd-Jones wrote of them
they have left us this noble, glorious, wonderful example of holy living, patient endurance in suffering, and loyalty to the Word of God and its message, even at the cost of being “fools for Christ's sake” and being regarded as “the offscourings of all things”.
The Bible speaks about the conscience often enough but it is a rather neglected subject today. The 1662 men were men who knew that they had a conscience and were willing to act upon it with courage when necessary.
The story is told of someone saying to Oliver Heywood, “Ah, Mr Heywood, we should gladly have you preach still in our church”. He replied “Yes, I would as gladly preach as you can desire it, if I could do it with a safe conscience”. The man replied “Oh, sir, many nowadays make a great gash in their consciences: cannot you make a little nick in yours?” Heywood clearly could not.
In his farewell sermon Joseph Caryl (1602-1673) said
The heart or conscience is a busy faculty, and hath many offices, it records what we do, and comes as a witness. The conscience is judge of what we do, and accordingly reproves what we do amiss; .... I am more afraid of the reproach of conscience, than of any man whatsoever; therefore I will not do any thing that may cause my conscience to reproach me as long as I live. This is upon the heart of God's people, they are resolved, let men reproach and rail against them as much as they will, their hearts shall not reproach them.
Samuel Birch (1620/21-1680) of Bampton, Oxon, wrote for himself
I am at thy footstool - I may not do evil that good may come - I may not do this great sin against my God and the dictates of my conscience. I therefore surrender myself, my soul, my ministry, my people, my place, my wife and children, and whatsoever else is here concerned, into thy hand, from whom I received them. Lord, have mercy upon me and assist me forever to keep faith and a good conscience.
That was the attitude of the ejected men and it should be ours.
This paper was given at a Grace Life conference
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