In presenting some historical Memorials of theIndependent Churches in the County of Northampton,it may be proper to take a glance at "the riseand progress" of Nonconformity from the early daysof the Reformation.
When the Pope's supremacy was denied and somechange in the Church was sanctioned by Henry theEighth, there were a number of Protestants in Englandwho desired the reformation from Popery to becarried further than was agreeable to the reigningmonarch and those that had the ascendancy in hiscounsels. The reformers acknowledged "that corruptionshad been a thousand years introducing, whichcould not be all discovered and thrown out at once";and yet the ruling powers sought by "Acts of Uniformity"to put a stop to all further improvement.
In the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Protestantexiles returned who had been driven to the Continentby the persecutions in the reign of Mary, there was aconsiderable increase in the number of ministers whowere dissatisfied with the reformation of the AnglicanChurch. When the Act had passed, in the year 1559,entitled "An Act for the Uniformity of Common[iv]Prayer and Service in the Church, and Administrationof the Sacraments," there were many ministers connectedwith the Church who could never submit toits requirements. They were men who pleaded for apurer mode of worship and discipline than the authoritieswould allow; and hence they were called Puritans.They refused to wear the vestments, to read thewhole of the liturgical service, and to comply withmany of the ceremonial observances required; theyregarded them as relics of Popery, contrary to thesimplicity of the Gospel of Christ, and opposed to thepurity of his Church.
They suffered much during the reigns of Elizabethand the first two English Sovereigns of the Stuartline. "The Star Chamber" and "the High CommissionCourt" were established, before which theywere summoned, and where they were required toanswer questions proposed, that would have madethem their own accusers. If they refused to answer,they were punished for contumacy; if they complied,they were punished for Nonconformity.
To promote the reformation in the Church whichthey desired, the Puritan ministers formed associations,instituted classes, held meetings, and appointedlectures, which they preached alternately at their differentChurches.
The County of Northampton was distinguished asone of the strongholds of Puritanism. There were aconsiderable number of Puritan divines in the Churchesin this County: here, the meetings of their associationswere frequently held; and here, in several of the towns,[v]their lectures were delivered; and though they had tosuffer much, yet they had some noble friends in theCounty, who endeavoured to hold over them the shieldof their protection. These were the men who, by theirprinciples, their preaching, and their writings, werethe means of promoting evangelical truth and pietyin the country; and they were the men who preservedthe liberti