Popular History of the Free Churches

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. I have to acknowledge much kind cc-operation in the preparation of the illustrations and revision of some of the chapters. I am especially indebted to Mrs. Rylands, of Manchester, for permission to reproduce a number of old engravings. Readers of these pages will see that while Puritanism has assumed various forms, it has always stood for a Spiritual interpretation of Christianity and the Christian Church. This spiritual interpretation, as Milton said, it hath befallen us to assert, with God's assistance.