the name by which Protestant dissenters from the Church of England are generally known. Their existence dates almost as far back as that church itself. The attempt made by Henry VIII. to constitute an Anglican church differing from the Roman Catholic church only on the point of supremacy, succeeded as long as his own energy and boldness remained to support it. A system which had burnt Reformers as heretics, and hung Papists as traitors, was not likely to find much favour in a country where the popular zeal ran high in favour either of the old opinions or the new. Henry's system accordingly died with its founder; and it was reserved for the pious and courtly Cranmer to have the honour of laying the first stone of the proud edifice of the Church of England. The government and the Protestants required the mutual support of each other; and in order to a union, concessions were made on both sides. They took a middle course between Rome and Geneva, and laid the foundation of the Church of England. Her principles of theology were mainly Protestant; her prayers and thanksgivings savoured of the ancient breviaries; her government was episcopal; and the king was her head. Despite the ingenuity and good design of this compromise, it is obvious that it was calculated to give scandal not only to zealous Catholics by going too far, but also to zealous Protestants by not going far enough. It was from the latter class, accordingly, that the Nonconformists and Puritans of England afterwards sprung, who were ultimately destined to exert a powerful influence over the political as well as the religious institutions of the kingdom. If in the days of Edward VI. the discontent of this party caused the government not a little annoyance, the fiery trials through which they had to pass during the succeeding reign were not calculated to allay their scruples. The cruelties of Mary drove immense numbers of Protestants to the Continent for safety, and the majority of them found an asylum in Switzerland and Germany. A portion of them settled at Frankfort, and resolved, after some deliberation, to adopt the Genevan service-book in preference to that of King Edward. Not a few of the exiles in Strasbourg and elsewhere opposed this step; and Frankfort became the theatre of a contest between the rival systems of Episcopacy and Presbytery. John Knox, who had ministered for a time to the exiles at Frankfort, was forced to flee from the scene of strife, and Episcopacy triumphed. From this dispute dates the existence of the Puritans or Nonconformists; both epithets having originated in the attitude assumed by the opponents of the Church of England. When Elizabeth came to the throne the exiles returned to England, and brought their ecclesiastical disputes along with them. The battle now began in real earnest on English soil, but no concession could be obtained from Elizabeth. She endeavoured, on the contrary, by the most vigorous policy to check the progress of this numerous, active, earnest-minded party. She occasionally even sent the more stubborn of them to prison; but so strongly were they attached to her as the mainstay of the Reformed churches, that they did not cease to pray, from the gloom of the dungeon, for the safety of her person and the victory of her arms. "The Nonconformists," says Lord Macaulay, "rigorously as she treated them, have, as a body, always venerated her memory." (History of England, vol. i.)

The acts passed during Elizabeth's reign for the suppression of Nonconformity were both numerous and severe. By the Act of Uniformity (1 Eliz., c. 2), rigorous penalties were enacted against all who should perform divine worship after any other mode than that prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer. From 1558 to 1565 this law was only partially observed, but from the latter year it began to be applied in all its force. Many of the Nonconformists lost their preferments, for they had not as yet judged it advisable to separate themselves from the church. By the act 23 Eliz., cap. i., sec. 5, the Puritans were subjected to heavy fines as often as they indulged their antipathy to the Established Church by absenting themselves from its worship. The rigour of these fines was increased by the statute of 29 Eliz., cap. 6, secs. 4, 6; and by an act of 3 Jac. I., cap. 4, sec. 11, this obnoxious enactment was rendered still more tyrannical and severe. The last statute of Elizabeth's reign which weighed heavily on Nonconformity in England was 35 Eliz., cap. 1. It converted fines into imprisonment, and even perpetual exile from the kingdom, as the penalty of non-attendance at the Established Church, or of the countenancing of conventicles. It should be noted, however, that while those provisions severely affected the Protestant Nonconformists, they were perhaps directed mainly against the Roman Catholics. During this entire reign the Puritans were not without great strength and influence in the House of Commons—an influence, moreover, that continued to increase despite the rigorous policy adopted for their suppression. And, after all, the demands of the more reasonable among them were not so very exorbitant. Not a few of them would have rested satisfied with the removal of such rites and ceremonies as they deemed a departure from the purity of Christian worship as revealed in the Scriptures. Others, with Cartwright of Cambridge at their head, were anxious for Presbyterian rather than Episcopacy; while a third party—the Brownists or Independents—advocated the entire separation of church and state. The death of Elizabeth came in 1603, however, and no concessions had as yet been made to the demands of the Puritans. The high hopes raised by that much-wronged party on the accession of a Presbyterian to the throne were not destined to be realized. James I. condescended to hold conference with the Nonconformists at Hampton Court, but was more anxious to impress them with a sense of his superiority in theological disputations, than to listen to their wrongs with a view to their amelioration. The king was ingenious, but the sturdy Puritans could not be convinced. They were accordingly dismissed with insults, only to have fresh temporal and spiritual penalties issued against them in the Book of Canons of 1604. The acts of 3 Jac. I., cap. 4, and of 21 Jac. I., cap. 4, were passed to circumscribe still more the liberties of the nonconforming community, and to render their bondage yet more galling. Still, Puritanism continued to make progress in England, and the Arminianism of King James added greatly to the number of the disaffected in the bosom of the Church of England. The policy of Charles I. showed no improvement on that of his predecessors; and his bitter antagonism to the Puritans found a zealous supporter in the person of the notorious Archbishop Laud. To escape the atrocities of the Star Chamber and of the High Commission Court, not a few sought safety in voluntary exile to Massachusetts Bay, where they founded a colony, of which men still know something. But the sad relief of expatriation was soon denied them by express proclamation. Hundreds of Puritan clergymen were ejected during this reign for their hostility to the Book of Sports: Calvinism was denounced by the king and court; and fresh restrictions were laid upon Nonconformist preaching. Human patience, however, has its limits; and a day of dark retribution came, when the down-trodden people of England rose in their wrath to right themselves. Land was beheaded in 1644; five years afterwards his royal master shared the same fate: the Parliament had abolished Episcopacy, and Presbyterianism had its short hour of triumph. During the Protectorate all manner of sects were tolerated: Independency prevailed in the army: Baptists and Quakers flourished; the most unheard-of visionaries sprung up; but Episcopacy remained proscribed.

The Restoration of 1660 placed Charles II. on the throne, and brought back the old established religion. A new "Act of Uniformity" was passed (14 Car. II., cap. 4) in August 24, 1662, excluding from its communion all non-subscribers to the doctrines of the church, and otherwise subjecting them to much suffering and cruel restriction. It is from this date that the title of Nonconformists comes most into prominence. On this occasion no fewer than 2000 ministers of the church resigned their livings rather than conform to the Thirty-nine Articles. During the same reign the Conventicle Act (16 Car. II., cap. 4), the Five Mile Act (17 Car. II., cap. 1), the Corporation Act (18 Car. II., cap. 1), and the Test Act (25 Car. II., cap. 2), fell either directly or indirectly with much severity upon the Protestant Nonconformists. The statute of 22 Car. II., cap. 1, was passed with a view to annihilate conventicles by means of fines of minute rigour and uncompromising strictness. The opening of the reign of James II. brought no relief to the Nonconformists; but, to their no small astonishment and temporary delight, the 4th of April 1687, witnessed James's arbitrary Declaration of Indulgence. This proved, however, to be only a move more cunning than wise on the part of his unfortunate Majesty, to unite the Puritans and the Church of Rome in a coalition against the Church of England. All classes of Nonconformists were now exempted from penal laws: Protestant and Roman Catholic alike enjoyed public toleration. The Protestant dissenters soon discovered, however, that their spiritual privileges had, in point of fact, been abridged rather than extended by this indulgence. If they were flattered by the favour shown them by the court, they soon discovered they had purchased this hollow honour only at the expense of treating the court religion—the religion of Rome—with a becoming tenderness and respect. This, to a genuine Puritan, was worse than gall and wormwood, and it ultimately produced its effect. The blessings of a better toleration were reserved for the reign of the Prince of Orange. By the Toleration Act of 1 Wm. III., cap. 18, all Protestant dissenters, except those who denied the Trinity, were relieved from the penal statutes to which they had been subjected. The benefits of this act were afterwards somewhat circumscribed by the Occasional Communion Bill and by the Schism Bill. The latter was repealed, however, in the reign of Geo. III. (19 Geo. III., cap. 24); and the Corporation and Test Acts were abolished in the reign of Geo. IV. (9 Geo. IV., cap. 17). These and other improvements, together with the passing of the statutes relating to registration and marriage, have now placed dissenters in England in the enjoyment of full liberty of conscience in the matter of religious worship. (Special and detailed accounts of the various sects of the Nonconformists will be found under the articles Baptists, Independents, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quakers. See Price's History of Protestant Nonconformity in England, 2 vols., London, 1838; and Macaulay's History of England.)