ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY monies of religion, and was also a republican in politics, so that his resignation in 1662 was quite natural. A few of the old incumbents, who were still living in exile or re- tirement, returned, with the king, to enjoy their own again. Giles Thorne came back to St. Mary's, Bedford, which he held with the arch- deaconry of Buckingham until his death. 1 Jeremy Stephens, the learned prebendary of Biggleswade, 3 had the additional prebend of Ilfracombe bestowed on him in compensation for his losses ; the rector of Houghton Conquest, Dr. Edward Marten, became dean of Ely 3 ; Francis Walsall, rector of Sandy, received a prebendal stall at Westminster* ; the arch- deacon, John Hacket, became Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. 8 The old rector of Tempsford came back to his parish, 6 as did the rector of St. John's, Bedford, 7 and there may have been others also ; but it is probable that most of them had died in the interval. But besides the Presbyterian and Independent ministers established by the Parliament under the Commonwealth, there were others to be dealt with ; others who were already Nonconformist, and even less likely to be reconciled to the church than Baxter and his friends. It was a difficult matter ; but in the seventeenth century, and in the reaction of the Restoration period, it was scarcely likely to find any but one solution. It is nevertheless a great loss to the Church that she had nothing to offer men like John Bunyan but silence or a prison. The steady growth of Nonconformity of all types, from this time forward, is due to more causes than one ; but the violence of the repressive measures taken at this time has always been reckoned among them. The imprisonment of Bunyan from 1660 to 1672, though much less rigorous than popular fancy once painted it, made him a martyr in the eyes of many who did not share his opinions, and has left its mark, not merely in Bedfordshire but much further afield, up to the present day. While Bunyan preached, 8 by word or suffering, from his prison, George Fox was as energetic as ever on his missionary tours, passing through Bedfordshire eight different times during the reign of Charles II., holding meetings and making disciples everywhere. 9 Many of the ejected ministers of 1662 had their little secret congregations, meeting where they could. 10 The parish registers of this period bear marks of the dis- 1 Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 44. His will, quoted in Beds N. and Q. ii. 242, shows the conviction which to the last remained uppermost in his mind : ' I, having lived, by the grace of God will die in the true religion established by law, and in the true, ancient, Catholic and Apostolic faith professed in the Church of England : . . . having lived, and by the grace of God will die, as to her external discipline and commands a dutiful son of the Church of England my dear mother.' 2 Walker's Sufferings of tie Ckrgy, p. 45 ; Hist. MSS. Com. vi. 47. He had helped Sir Henry Spelman in editing the Concilia before the civil war. 3 Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 154. 4 Ibid. p. 390. 6 Ibid. p. 44. 6 Appendix to Life of Baxter, Calamv, ii. 94. 7 From the list of rectors in Cole's MSS. ; Add. MS. 5832, f. 89. 8 During the first six years of his imprisonment he was let out constantly to preach, and once even went to London (Grace Abounding, Clar. Press, p. 428). 9 fournal of Fox, passim (ed. 1694). 10 Appendix to Life of Baxter, Calamy, ii. 92-5. 343
