ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



In 1 8 17 the union was re-constituted under a 'revised plan,' the county being 

 for the purpose of its worlc divided into four districts : Manchester, embrac- 

 ing Salford Hundred ; Liverpool, embracing West Derby Hundred ; Preston, 

 embracing Amounderness and Lonsdale Hundreds ; Blackburn, embracing 

 Blackburn and Leyland Hundreds. In the magnificent outburst of evange- 

 lizing work which followed the formation of this union three names stand 

 out with signal and inspiring prominence, that of Roby and SutclifFe in 

 the southern, and of Alexander in the western and northern parts of the 

 county, names which are the most honoured and cherished in the history 

 of Lancashire Congregationalism. Many new churches were formed by the 

 missionary zeal and maintained in whole or part for many years by the 

 financial aid of the Union. 



The latest phase of church growth among the Independents has no dis- 

 tinctive interest. It is simply on the same lines as the extension of all the 

 other churches, representing the general trend and results of the growth in 

 the county's population and wealth. The missionary fervour which inspired 

 the earlier movements in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has 

 yielded place to a propaganda which is as much social as it is religious. For 

 the same reason no special interest attaches to the various organizations which 

 the new order has evolved, the Congregational Mission Board, and the various 

 more local associations, such as the Manchester and Salford Congregational 

 Association. 



The Presbyterians 



There is no greater crux in English religious history than is presented 

 by the single word ' Presbyterianism.' There was a Presbyterian Church in 

 England during the Civil War and Commonwealth period. There is a 

 Presbyterian Church existing in England to-day. What connexion is there 

 between the two ? To state the question thus nakedly is to present it as an 

 insoluble enigma. The first triumph of Presbyterianism as a national ecclesi- 

 astical polity was frustrated in the days of the Commonwealth by the divisions 

 between Independents and Presbyterians. In spite of the attempts at accom- 

 modation in 1659 these divisions continued for thirty years after the 

 Restoration. During those thirty years the Dissenting congregations had 

 existed in secret and in isolation. When, therefore, with the Toleration Act 

 they came forth without fear it was found that one-half the content of the 

 Presbyterian idea, viz., the church polity portion, had vanished from the field. 

 Frankly accepting the situation the Presbyterians no longer contended for a 

 compulsive discipline and for a graduated system of synodical church organiza- 

 tion. They recognized that of necessity the Dissenting churches were and 

 could then only be separate units, each self-governing. They, therefore, con- 

 ceded the idea of a gathered congregation. On this basis a short-lived 

 agreement was made in London in 1691 between them and the Indepen- 

 dents. The movement spread from London to the counties, and in Devon- 

 shire, Northumberland, Cheshire, and Lancashire voluntary associations were 

 formed of the united ministers, i.e. of Presbyterians (so-called) and Indepen- 

 dents (so-called). The minutes of the Lancashire Association of United 

 Ministers have been puWished."' They extend from 169 3- 1700, and 



"« Chet. Soc. Publ. (New Ser.), 24. 

 71 



