About sixty years after the ascension of our Lord, Christianity was first introduced into Britain, and many of the nobility, as well as those of inferior birth, were happily converted. As it can be proved that, at this early period, the seventh day was observed by the Christians in general, we may conclude that these primitive churches were Sabbatarian. The British Christians experienced various changes of prosperity and adversity, until about the year 600, when Austin, the monk, with forty associates, was sent hither to subject the island to the dominion of Rome. Various ancient authors might be quoted to prove the Sabbatarian character of the English at this period. In the Biography of Austin, published in the Lives of the Saints, we are told that he found the people of Britain in the most grievous and intolerable heresies, being given to Judaising, but ignorant of the holy sacraments and festivals of the church. The author then goes on to relate the prodigies wrought in their conversion.

The terms of conformity proposed to these Christians by Austin related, among other things, to the observation of Easter and the festivals of the Romish church. A division among the people immediately ensued, and the different branches of the church were designated as the old and the new. The old, or Sabbatarian Baptist church retained their original principles; while the new adopted the keeping of the Dominical day, infant baptism, and the other superstitions of the Romish hierarchy.

Benius' Councils, fol. 1448, says that a council was celebrated in Scotland in 1203, in which the initiation or first bringing in of the Lord's day was determined. Lucius says of this council, that "it was enacted that the Dominical day should be holy, beginning at the twelfth hour on Saturday, until Monday." "The same year," says Hoveden, "Eustachius, Archbishop of Flay, returned into England, and therein preached the word of God from city to city, and from place to place, and said the command under written, came from heaven about the observation of the Dominical day; that it was found in a letter at Jerusalem, on the tomb of St. Simeon, which the Archbishop, after fasting, praying, and doing penance, at length ventured to take and read, which was as follows:

"I, the Lord, who commanded you that you should observe the Dominical holy day, and ye have not kept it, and ye have not repented of your sins, as I said by my gospel. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. I have caused repentance unto life to be preached unto you, and ye have not believed. I sent Pagans against you, who shed your blood, yet ye believed not; and because ye kept not the Dominical holy day, for a few days ye had famine. But I soon gave you plenty, and afterwards ye did worse. I will again, that none, from the ninth hour of the Sabbath,[34] until the rising of the sun on Monday, do work anything, unless what is good, which, if any do, let him amend by repentance.

"And if ye be not obedient to this command, amen, I say unto you, and I swear unto you, by my seat and throne, and cherubim, who keep my holy seat, because I will not command anything by another epistle, but I will open the heavens, and for rain I will rain upon you stones, and logs of wood, and hot water by night, that none may be able to prevent, that I may destroy all wicked men. This I say unto you; ye shall die the death; because of the holy Dominical day, and other festivals of my saints, which ye have not kept, I will send unto you beasts having the heads of women, and the tails of camels; and they shall be so hunger-starved that they shall devour your flesh."

There is more of this wretched stuff; but let this suffice as a specimen of the arts and intrigues used to impose upon the simple and unsuspecting, by a forged letter purporting to be from heaven.

The same author goes on to state that "the king and government of England opposed the discontinuance of the markets upon the Dominical day, and required that those who observed it in such a way should be brought to the king's court to make satisfaction, or otherwise purge themselves of the observance of the Dominical day."

In this connexion I will just add a few more expedients of the Romanists at that time to deceive the people of England into a superstitious veneration for the first day.

"But our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we ought to obey rather than man, who, made famous and exceedingly renowned, dedicated unto himself this day, which we call the Dominical or Lord's day, by his birth, and by his resurrection, by his coming, and by the sending of the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, he raised up miracles of his virtue, and thus manifested it upon some transgressors of the Dominical day:

"Upon a certain Sabbath, after the ninth hour, a certain carpenter in Beverlac, making a wooden pin against the wholesome admonition of his wife, being struck with a palsy, fell to the ground. A certain woman, knitting after the ninth hour of the Sabbath, whilst she was very anxious to knit out part of her work, falling to the earth, struck with the palsy, she became dumb. And at Nosfortum, a village of Master Roger Arundel, a certain man made for himself bread, baked under the ashes, on the Sabbath, after the ninth hour, and eat of it, and reserved to himself part until the morning, which when he brake, upon the Dominical day, blood came out of it. And he that saw it hath given testimony, and his testimony is true.

"And at Wakefield, upon a certain Sabbath, when a miller, after the ninth hour, endeavoured to grind corn, suddenly, in the place of meal, there issued out so great a stream of blood, and the mill-wheel stood immovable against the vehement impulse of the water; and those who saw marvelled, saying, 'Forgive, Lord, forgive thy people!' And at Lincolnshire, a certain woman had prepared dough, or paste, or pudding pie, which carrying to the oven, after the ninth hour of the Sabbath, she put into a very hot oven; and when she had drawn it out, she found it not baked, and she put it again into the oven, made very hot; and on the morning, and on Monday, when she thought to have found the bread baked, she found the dough unbaked. Also, in the same province, when a certain woman had prepared her dough, willing to carry it to the oven, her husband said, 'It is the Sabbath:—the ninth hour is now past. Let it alone until Monday.' And the woman, obeying her husband, did as he commanded, and wrapped the dough in linen, and, in the morning, when she went to look at the dough, lest it should exceed the vessel, because of the leaven put into it, she found, by divine will, bread made thereof, and well baked with material fire. This is a change of the right hand of the Most High; and although the Almighty Lord, by these and other miracles of his power, did invite the people to the observation of the Dominical day, yet the people, fearing more kingly and human power than divine, and fearing more those who kill the body, and can do no more, than Him who, after killing the body, can send the soul to hell, and fearing more to lose earthly things than heavenly, and transitories than eternals, as a dog to the vomit, returned to keep markets of things saleable upon the Dominical day."

The term Sabbath, during all this period, was applied exclusively to the seventh day. Indeed, whenever, for fourteen or fifteen centuries, that name occurs, it must be understood as applying to the last day of the week. Up to the present time, on the records of England, particularly on the Journals of the House of Lords, the highest court of England, all things entered as done on the seventh day are entered as done die Sabbati, upon the Sabbath day. From the time of Constantine to the Reformation, Sunday was never regarded as the Sabbath, nor called by that sacred name. During all this time, in England, here and there, were found individuals who observed the Sabbath—the seventh day of the week—strictly, though exposed to many privations and frequent persecutions. Of their numbers or their locations we have at present but very imperfect accounts. The mass of men regarded the Sabbath as abolished;—Sunday as no Sabbath, but merely a church-holiday, to which they paid no conscientious regard. With the dawn of the Reformation a new spirit of inquiry was awakened in regard to the duties of practical godliness. Among the subjects for discussion we find the Sabbath early introduced and thoroughly examined. There was one class of reformers who, dwelling alone on the sufficiency of faith and the freeness of the Gospel, trembled at the thought of imposing rules upon men, and expressed a sort of holy horror at the term, "law." Of this description were Luther and Calvin. It is well known that the former recommended to Christians "to ride, dance, and feast," on Sunday, rather than to submit to any infringement of the liberty of conscience. But there were others, who contended that an institution given in Paradise, and enforced by one of the commandments of the Decalogue, could not have been abolished; yet, finding themselves in the dilemma of observing another day than that originally appointed, they maintained that the day had been changed so early as to justify us in allowing it. A third class contended that an institution so early given, and so often enforced, could not have been abolished or changed without explicit authority; that this explicit authority had never been given; and, therefore, the seventh day of the week, and that only, should be observed. Compared with the whole, the number who acknowledged the perpetuity and morality of the Sabbath, and manifested a sacred regard for either the first or the seventh day, was small. However, they were sufficient to prove that wherever the subject of the Sabbath has been considered, there has always been found those who, by precept and example, have witnessed for the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

In 1595, a book was written and published by Dr. Bound, in which the morality of the Sabbath, and a change of the day, was advocated in quite a masterly manner. This excited a controversial spirit, and was soon followed by many others, both for and against his view. The orthodoxal doctrine of the Church of England, by bishops and historians, then was, that the Sabbath had been abolished, and that the Lord's day, so called, was altogether another institution, which could not be enforced by the fourth commandment. Among the men who held this view, we may mention Dr. Francis White, Lord Bishop of Ely, Dr. Peter Heylyn, Edward Brerewood, Gilbert Ironsides, and others. Against these men were arrayed the leading Puritans, who maintained the morality of the Sabbath and the necessity of restraining men by the sanctions of the fourth commandment. Many true Sabbatarians, however, stood opposed to both these parties, maintaining not only the morality of the Sabbath, but the obligation to observe the seventh day of the week. A work supporting this view, from the pen of Theophilus Brabourne, appeared in 1628. He took the position that the fourth commandment was simply and entirely moral; that the seventh day of the week ought to be an everlasting holyday in the Christian Church; and that the Sunday is an ordinary working day, which it is superstition and will-worship to make the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. This view was adopted by considerable numbers in England, and has been represented from that day to this, by men of learning and piety. Many who remained in connexion with the established church, were conscientious observers of the seventh day Sabbath, among whom were several ministers of piety, and authors of eminence.

About the same time, small dissenting parties began to organize churches and to boldly maintain the worship of God upon the Sabbath. Of these the Natton Church has been much celebrated. It is situated in the west of England, near Tewksbury, and about fifteen miles from Gloucester, thirty-five from Birmingham, and ninety from London. The first pastor of this church whose name has come down to us was Mr. John Purser. He is represented as a very worthy man, and a great sufferer for conscience sake. He was descended from an honourable family, and was heir to a considerable estate, but his father disinherited him because he observed the seventh day for the Sabbath. Notwithstanding this wrong, it pleased Divine Providence to bless him abundantly in the little that he possessed. He became a respectable farmer, and lived at Ashton-upon-Carrant, in the Parish of Ashchurch, in the county of Gloucester, during the reigns of Charles and James the Second. In common with other nonconformists, he experienced much oppression and great opposition on account of his religion. At one time his persecutors came upon him while he was engaged in ploughing a field, and took from him his team and utensils of husbandry. Notwithstanding the severity of the laws against dissenters, the officers, in many instances, far exceeded their commission, and sometimes were made to suffer for it. Such was the case in this instance; for one William Surman, Esq., a conformist, but worthy man, seeing the cruelty and injustice of thus depriving an honest man of his property and the means for procuring a livelihood, obliged his adversaries to return the property thus wrongfully taken. It appears from authentic testimonies that he suffered much during the persecutions between 1660 and 1690. But he overcame all by faith and patience, and came out of the furnace like gold doubly refined.

It is probable that Mr. Purser commenced his ministry in 1660, but did not receive ordination until some years later. In the mean time one Mr. Cowell was the chief preacher at Natton, and an author of some eminence, having published a book entitled "The Snare Broken," which seems to have occasioned considerable difficulty between the observers of the first and seventh day. Mr. Cowell appears to have been rather wavering and unstable, but withal a pious and well-meaning man. He departed this life in 1680, when Mr. Purser took the principal charge of the church. The Sabbatarians at this time were widely scattered. There was no meeting-house, and Mr. Purser opened his dwelling for that purpose. He also held meetings at various other private houses, in different places, by which those living at a distance were accommodated by his labours. It may be remarked, that although this worthy man steadily pursued the occupation of husbandry, and reared a large family, he faithfully served the church. While his hands were industriously employed, his meditations were upon things above, and upon these occasions he was highly favoured with manifestations of the divine presence. All his children and grandchildren were also distinguished for virtue and piety, though many of them adopted the first day for the sake of convenience, and became worthy members of Baptist churches. Mr. Purser, through age and infirmity, was unable to discharge the duties of the sacred office for some time before his death, which occurred in 1720.

His successor, Mr. Edmund Townsend, was plain and unobtrusive in his manners, but was highly respected for his candour and integrity. Soon after his ordination he took up his residence for a time with the Mill-Yard Church; and then, in 1727, accepted an invitation to become the pastor of the Cripplegate fraternity, which had been left destitute by the death of Joseph Stennett.

When Mr. Townsend left this church, he was succeeded by Mr. Philip Jones, who discharged the duties pertaining to this sacred office for nearly fifty years. His colleague, Mr. Thomas Boston, was a young man of great promise and usefulness. Mr. Jones lived for several years at Cheltenham, but held meetings at Natton, Panford, and other towns, for the purpose of accommodating members living at each of those places. In 1731, he removed to Upton, but continued his ministry in different places. In this way he encountered many difficulties, sometimes having to travel in the worst of weather, and at others running great risks from the floods of the Severn and Avon. Yet neither dangers nor inconveniences were suffered to interfere with his duty. His character has been thus given by a contemporary: "He was a holy man of God, and a great and lively preacher of the gospel. Few were better acquainted with the scriptures; for, whatever his subject was, he could have chapter and verse to prove the whole. In short he was a living concordance; a man of unblemished character, a sincere friend, and a faithful reformer, but always in the spirit of meekness. Perhaps but a few living had a greater command over the passions than he had."

Previous to the death of this worthy man, in 1770, Mr. Thomas Hiller, his nephew, accepted the pastoral care of the Baptist church in Tewksbury, near Natton. He was a Sabbatarian in both opinion and practice, and consequently was invited to serve the Sabbath-keeping church at the same time that he remained pastor of the First-day Baptist church. He accepted the invitation, and continued to minister to both churches until his death, a few years ago. His ministry is said to have been successful in both Natton and Tewksbury; although in what that success was seen it would probably be problematical to determine. The church over which he presided has become a mere handful, in the greatest want of spiritual strength and support. Mr. Hiller was doubtlessly a man of worth, and deeply interested in the Spiritual welfare of both churches, by whom his memory is still highly venerated; but the history of his connexion with these fraternities proves that no man can successfully serve two masters. It is barely possible that a minister of the gospel, who is at one and the same time the pastor of one church worshipping on the seventh day of the week, and another church worshipping on the first day of the week, can be faithful to both. Since the death of Mr. Hiller, the congregation at Natton have been without a pastor. However, it has engaged the services of a worthy Baptist minister from Tewksbury for a considerable time.

It is worthy of note, that, in 1746, Mr. Benjamin Purser, the youngest son of Rev. John Purser before mentioned, purchased an estate in the village of Natton, and fitted up, at his own expense, a chapel for divine worship, adjoining his dwelling-house. It is a small room, distinguished only for neatness and convenience. He also walled in a corner of his orchard for a burial-place. When he died, in 1765, he donated the house and burial-place to the church, together with ten pounds a year out of his estate to all succeeding ministers. At the present time the congregation is so small that the chapel is not opened except upon extraordinary occasions, such as a funeral or the like. It serves, however, as the depository for a small collection of rare and valuable books.

THE CRIPPLEGATE CHURCH.

A congregation of Sabbatarians, known under that denomination, was gathered in London by Francis Bampfield, during the reign of Charles the Second. Mr. Bampfield was descended from an ancient and honourable family in Devonshire, and was a brother of Thomas Bampfield, Speaker in one of Cromwell's Parliaments. Having been designed for the ministry from childhood, he received a classical education, at Wadham College, Oxford, where he remained for eight years. Subsequently he was provided with a living in Dorsetshire, and was likewise chosen Prebend of Exeter Cathedral. Thence he was transferred to the populous town of Sherburne, where he exerted a most extensive and happy influence among the members of the established church. In this connexion he continued only a short time; for beginning to doubt the authority of the church to prescribe forms of worship, he became in the end a decided nonconformist. Consequently he was not only ejected from the ministry, but confined in Dorchester jail, for preaching and conducting religious services contrary to law. During his imprisonment, which continued about eight years, his views upon the subjects of the Sabbath and baptism were materially changed, and he became a decided advocate of Seventh-day Baptist sentiments. He preached his new opinions boldly to his fellow-prisoners, and several were led to embrace them. Soon after his release from Dorchester, Mr. Bampfield went to London, where he preached the gospel for about ten years. In Bethnal Green, in the eastern parts of London, he gathered a small church, whose place of meeting was in his own hired house. This church was organized in 1676, and Mr. Bampfield continued its pastor until 1682, when he was brought before the Court of Sessions, on a variety of charges connected with his nonconformity. He was several times examined, and upon each examination required to take the oath of allegiance, which he persisted in refusing, alleging that his conscience would not allow him to take it. This resulted in his condemnation, the forfeiture of his goods, and a sentence of imprisonment during life, or what was equivalent, during the king's pleasure. The anxieties incident to this trial, combined with a naturally feeble constitution, together with his great privations, brought on a disease, of which he died in Newgate prison, on the 15th of February, 1684, aged 68 years.

The imprisonment of Mr. Bampfield was followed by the dispersion of his flock, but the times becoming more favourable, they reunited in church fellowship in 1686, and invited Mr. Edward Stennett, of Wallingford, to accept the pastoral care of their church. He partly complied, coming to London at stated periods to preach and administer the ordinances, though he still retained his connexion with the people at Wallingford. But finding that he could not consistently serve both churches, he resigned the pastoral care of the London church in 1689. Mr. Stennett is distinguished as being the ancestor of the famous Stennett family, who were all Sabbatarians, and were for several generations an ornament to religion, and champions for the cause of Protestant dissent. Being on the side of Parliament in the civil wars, he was exposed, in consequence, to the neglect of his relations and many other difficulties. Although a faithful minister, he possessed no stated salary, but supported his family by the practice of physic. He bore a part in the persecutions which fell upon the Dissenters of that time. In several instances his escape seems altogether miraculous, and affords a striking evidence of Divine interposition.

He was succeeded by his second son, Joseph Stennett, who had enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education. He came to London in 1685, and was employed for a time in the instruction of youth. His first appearance in the pulpit created a great sensation. His ministry was eminently evangelical and faithful; and while preaching constantly to his own church upon the Sabbath, he almost always waited in the ministry upon other congregations on the first day. Perhaps no Dissenting minister in England, at that time, exerted a more powerful influence, or maintained a higher standing than did Mr. Stennett. He was at different times appointed by his brethren in the ministry to draw up letters and addresses of congratulation to be presented to the sovereign upon particular occasions, Mr. Stennett likewise appeared before the public as the author of other works, which acquired considerable popularity. Early in the year 1713, he began to decline, and on the 11th of July fell asleep, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the twenty-third of his ministry.

The death of this worthy man was a particularly disastrous event to his little flock, who remained for fourteen years without a shepherd, during which time they generally met for worship with the Mill-Yard Church. But in 1727, Mr. Edmund Townsend became their spiritual guide, in which relation he continued until his death in 1763.

Subsequent to the decease of Mr. Townsend, the church, for four years, was supplied with ministerial assistance by different Baptist ministers, until Mr. Thomas Whitewood accepted the pastoral office, in June, 1767. His race, however, was short; for after preaching three times, and administering the Lord's Supper once, he was attacked by a fatal disease, of which he died the ensuing October.

Dr. Samuel Stennett, son of Dr. Joseph Stennett, being at that period pastor of the Baptist church in Little Wild Street, London, was solicited to accept the pastoral office. It appears that he complied in part, performing all the duties without accepting the nominal relation of pastor. He administered the Lord's Supper, and preached to them regularly on the Sabbath morning; while the afternoon service was conducted by four Baptist ministers in rotation, among whom were Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Rippon.

In 1785, Robert Burnside accepted the pastoral charge of this church, in which relation he continued forty-one years. Mr. Burnside united to great natural abilities, a kind and loving heart, by which he was particularly qualified to impart instruction. He became tutor, at different periods, to the sons of several of the nobility, and discharged the duties attendant upon that difficult office in a manner honourable to himself, and advantageous to his pupils. He also prepared several works for the press; among which was a volume on the subject of the Sabbath. He died in 1826, and was succeeded by John Brittain Shenstone, whose early labours had been in connexion with First-day Baptist churches. For more than forty years he was connected with the Board of Baptist ministers in London, of which he appears to have been the principal projector and main support. He commenced the observation of the Sabbath in 1825, and upon the decease of Mr. Burnside accepted the pastoral care of the church, which he continued to serve until his death, in 1844. Since that event this church has been without a pastor, and is in a very low and enfeebled condition.

THE MILL-YARD CHURCH.

This church is located in the eastern part of London, but of its founder, or the date of its origin, our accounts are very imperfect and unsatisfactory. The present records, in possession of the church, date back to 1673; but as they refer to another book which had been previously used, it is certain that the church was organized much earlier. Indeed, we have every reason to believe that this church is a perpetuation of the fraternity gathered by John James, the martyr, which originally met in Bull-Steak Alley, Whitechapel. We shall therefore consider Mr. James as the first pastor of this church. On the 19th day of October, 1661, while in the midst of a warm and fervent discourse, an officer entered the place of worship, forcibly ejected him from the pulpit, and led him away to the police under a strong guard. Thirty members of his congregation were likewise taken before a bench of justices, then convened at a public house in the vicinity, where each one was required to take the oath of allegiance, and those who refused to comply were committed to prison. Mr. James underwent a long and tedious examination, when he was committed to Newgate, upon the testimony of several profligate witnesses, by whom he was accused of speaking treasonable words against the king. At his trial, which came on about one month afterwards, his apparent innocence, deep piety, and resignation, sensibly affected a large concourse of spectators, but could not soften the obdurate hearts of his judges, by whom he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. He was unaffected by this horrid sentence, and calmly observed, "Blessed be God, whom man condemneth, God justifieth." While he lay in prison under sentence of death, he was visited by several persons of distinction, who were deeply affected by his patience and resignation, and who cheerfully engaged to exert their utmost influence to secure his pardon. But he appears to have been too well acquainted with the power and designs of his enemies, to have entertained much hopes of their success.

Mrs. James, by the advice of her friends, was induced to present a petition twice to the king, setting forth her husband's innocence, and entreating his majesty to grant a pardon. But in both instances she was repulsed with scoffs and ridicule. At the scaffold, on the day of his execution, he addressed the people in a very sensible and affectionate manner. Having finished the address, and kneeling down, he thanked God for covenant mercies, and for conscious innocence. He then prayed for all, both his friends and his enemies, for the executioner, for the people of God, for the spectators, for his church, and his family, and lastly, for himself, that he might enjoy a sense of the divine presence and support in this his hour of trial, and entrance into glory. When he had finished, the executioner, who was much affected, said, "The Lord receive your soul;" to which Mr. James replied, "I thank you." A friend then observed to him, "This is a happy day for you;" he replied, "I thank God it is." He then thanked the sheriff for his courtesy, and bade farewell to his friends; then saying, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit," was launched into eternity. But the rage of the bigoted tyrant did not end here. His heart was taken from his body and burned, his body itself quartered, and the mutilated parts affixed to the gates of the city, and his head set up in Whitechapel, on a pole opposite to the alley in which his meeting-house stood.

At the time when the present record of this church commences, 1673, William Sellers exercised the pastoral function. The church was then in a flourishing condition; the members being quite numerous, and strict discipline maintained. Mr. Sellers was probably the author of a work on the Sabbath, in review of Dr. Owen, which appeared in 1671. His ministry is supposed to have continued until 1678. He was succeeded by Mr. Toursby, who was a man of considerable controversial talent, which he exercised in defence of the Sabbath. He prepared a work for the press upon that subject, but it is believed that it has long been out of print. His ministry ceased in 1710.

About this time two persons named Slater preached occasionally, though it does not appear that they were ever ordained.

Mr. Savage, in 1711, accepted the pastoral office. His colleague, the venerable John Maulden, had long been the pastor of a Baptist Church in Goodman's Fields, which he left on account of his having embraced Sabbatarian principles. After the decease of these worthy men, the pastoral office was vacant for some time, during which the preaching brethren officiated in the ministry in a manner prescribed at the business meetings of the church. In 1720, Dr. Joseph Stennett was invited to accept the pastoral care of this church. He was then presiding over a Baptist Church in Exeter, and after considerable delay declined the call.

Mr. Robert Cornthwaite became their pastor in 1726. He had been connected with the Established Church, but becoming convinced that the gospel did not authorize any such establishment, he withdrew from its communion and identified himself with the dissenters. Becoming interested in the Sabbath controversy he soon decided for the seventh day, and was chosen pastor of this church, in which relation he continued until his death in 1754. He was distinguished for great mental vigour, and a firm adherence to whatever he deemed true and scriptural. He published several works relating to the Sabbath, which greatly contributed to draw attention to that important subject.

Daniel Noble, his successor, was a member of a Sabbath-keeping family, and being designed for the ministry, received the advantages of a liberal education. His studies were pursued first in London, and afterward at the Glasgow University. He commenced preaching occasionally at Mill-Yard in 1752, took the pastoral charge when that office became vacant, in which connexion he remained until his death in 1783.

At this time William Slater, a member of the church, was invited to conduct the services. This he did with such general acceptance that he received ordination, and became the pastor of the church. His ministry was very successful, and continued until he died, in 1819.

For several years ensuing that event the church was without a pastor, being supplied with ministerial assistance by brethren of other denominations, until William Henry Black, the present incumbent, became its spiritual guide. Through the pious liberality of one of its members, the Mill-Yard Church enjoys the benefit of an endowment. Mr. Joseph Davis, who united in its connexion at the time that John James suffered martyrdom, purchased, in 1691, the grounds adjoining the present Mill-Yard Church, erected the place of worship, and provided for the permanency of the society. This property was conveyed to trustees, appointed by the church, in 1700. In 1706, shortly before his death, Mr. Davis bequeathed his property to his son, with an annual rent-charge in favour of the Mill-Yard Church, together with seven other Sabbatarian churches in England. He likewise provided, conditionally, that his whole property might afterward come into the possession of the church, and be vested in trustees for its benefit. Mr. Davis, in the earlier part of his life, had suffered extremely from severe persecutions. He was a prisoner in Oxford Castle for nearly ten years, from which he was released in 1673. Subsequently he entered into business in London, where prosperity attended him, and he not only obtained a competence, but became a wealthy man. Few have made a more laudable use of riches, and I would say to the reader, go thou, and do likewise.

A short account of some of the most eminent among those who embraced Sabbatarianism previous to the organization of these churches, may be interesting to the general reader.

Shortly after the publication of Dr. Bound's book, in which he advanced the modern notion regarding the so-called Christian Sabbath, that it is a perpetuation of the fourth commandment, but that the day specified therein had been changed by divine authority, we first hear of John Traske, who both wrote and spoke in defence of the seventh day.

He also contended that the scriptures are sufficient to direct in religious services, and that the state has no right to prescribe any ordinances contrary to the laws of God. For this he was brought before the Star-Chamber, where a long discussion was held respecting the Sabbath, in which Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, took a prominent part. Traske could not be turned from his opinion, but received a censure in the Star-Chamber. "He was sentenced on account of his being a Sabbatarian," says Paggitt's Heresiography, "to be set upon the Pillory at Westminster, and from thence to be whipped to the Fleet Prison, there to remain a prisoner for three years. His wife, Mrs. Traske, was confined in Maiden Lane and the Gate House Prisons fifteen years, where she died, for the same crime."

Another distinguished advocate for the truth was Theophilus Brabourne, a learned minister in connexion with the Established Church. He wrote a book, which was published in London in 1628, wherein he argued that the Lord's Day is not the Sabbath by divine institution, but "that the seventh day is still in force." For this, and similar works, he was arraigned before the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Court of High Commission. His examination was conducted in the presence of many persons of high distinction, and several lords of his Majesty's Privy Council. For some reason, it is not possible to ascertain distinctly what, though probably he was over-awed by the character of the assembly, he signed a recantation and went back to the bosom of the church. Nevertheless he continued to assert, that if the Sabbatic institution be indeed moral and perpetually binding, the seventh day ought to be sacredly kept.

About the same time, it appears that Philip Pandy commenced propagating the same doctrines in the northern parts of England. He was educated in the Established Church, of which he became a minister. He withdrew from its communion, however, and became the mark for many shots. He held several important disputes about his peculiar sentiments, and contributed much to promulgate them.

James Ockford, another early advocate of the Sabbath in England, appears to have taken part in the discussions in which Traske and Brabourne were engaged. He also wrote and published a book in 1642, which was seized and burned by the authorities of the Established Church.

There does not appear to have been any regularly organized churches of Sabbatarians in England, until the commencement of the seventeenth century, though subsequent to that period there were eleven of these fraternities, besides many scattered Sabbath-keepers, in different parts of the kingdom. These churches were located in the following places, viz.: Braintree, in Essex; Chersey; Norweston; Salisbury, in Wiltshire; Sherbourne, in Buckinghamshire; Natton, in Gloucestershire; Wallingford, in Berkshire; Woodbridge, in Suffolk; and three in London—the Mill-Yard, Cripplegate, and Pinner's Hall Churches. Eight of the eleven are now extinct, and hence a complete account of them cannot be obtained.

A very interesting correspondence between the Mill-Yard Church and the General Conference of the Seventh-day Baptists in the United States has been carried on for the last fifty years. In 1844, George B. Utter, as delegate from that body, visited the brethren in England, where he was hospitably entertained. The worthy pastor of the Mill-Yard Church is, I understand, collecting materials for a history of the Lives and Writings of Sabbatarians in England, and likewise preparing a list of Sabbatarian authors, together with an account of all the books which have been published that relate to the Sabbath controversy.

From an attention to the foregoing it will be perceived that Sabbatarianism has greatly declined in England; and that decline seems to have been produced by the operation of a variety of causes. There are certainly great inconveniences, particularly in large towns and cities, connected with the observance of a day of rest so utterly at variance with the popular custom as that of the seventh day has ever been. This, with that spirit of conformity by which men are ever prone to accede to established usages, together with the fact that they never instituted any associational organization, sufficiently accounts for their early declension, without supposing any unsoundness in their creed.[35]

We have every reason to believe that formerly, and down so late as the commencement of the seventeenth century, Seventh-day Baptist churches, of considerable magnitude, existed at the foot of the Grampians, and among the Welsh mountains, but their history appears to be buried in oblivion.

I have also been recently informed that there is a Seventh-day Baptist church near Burton-upon-Trent, and nine miles from Derby. That a Mr. Witt, in 1832, officiated as pastor. That they own a large brick meeting-house, in which their meetings are solemnized every Sabbath day, and are a very respectable body of people.