Monday 21 August 2023

The Passing of Black Bartholomew (3/3)



EVEN though Farewell Sermons had been preached in many parishes on Sunday, August 17, there was a widespread feeling of uncertainty throughout the nation with regard to the direction and character of coming events. Something of this uncertainty can be detected in the words of some of the sermons that were preached on that day. We find, for example, Thomas Watson saying to his people in his morning sermon, “I will not promise that I shall still preach among you, nor will I say that I shall not, I desire to be guided by the silver thread of God’s Word, and of God’s providence.” But, on the other hand, speaking on the same day in another London church, Thomas Lye said, “It is most probable, beloved, whatever others may think, but in my opinion (God may work wonders) neither you nor I shall ever see the faces of, or have a word more to speak to one another till the day of judgment.” The variation between these two statements does not mean that Lye was more resolute than Watson in his decision not to subscribe to the Act of Uniformity, on that point they were both equally firm; but there lies behind the words of the preachers a differing degree of un­certainty whether or not the Act would actually be enforced against them.

They were not without grounds for hopefulness, for although the Act had been passed by Parliament, the King could still exercise his clemency in an Act of Indulgence by which at least some of those who failed to conform might be allowed by the royal prerogative to retain their churches. For Clarendon, the King’s minister, had just promised such a favour to Manton, Bates, Calamy and other Puritans, provided they petitioned the King for it. This news would doubtless be circulated and discussed amongst the London ministers and word of it was carried to the country. The diary of John Angier, the Lancashire Puritan, carries this entry in the week preceding Bartholomew’s Day: “August 20 was a day of general seeking God in reference to the state of the Church; that very day several ministers were before some of the Council and received encouragement to go on in the ministry. A letter read to them from the King to the Bishops that no man should be troubled for Non­conformity at least till his cause was heard before the Council. The news came to Manchester by Saturday post and was that night dispersed by messengers sent to several places. By means hereof many ministers that intended not to preach fell to their work, which caused great joy in many congregations.” Similarly, Henry New­come of Manchester writes in his diary on Bartholomew’s Eve, “I received a letter from Mr. Ashurst which gave us an account that past all expectation there was some indulgence to be hoped for in some cases.”

Clarendon’s promise was not merely a device to ease the tension in the nation till Bartholomew’s Day was passed. [1] He and the King had also grounds for uncertainty. They were not sure what the political repercussions of a wholesale ejection of the Puritans might be; the number of the nonconforming clergy was still unknown, although it was evident they would include some of the most eminent names in the land; and there was the fear lest the powerful Presbyterian party might make common cause with the Indepen­dents and thus, in Clarendon’s words, “give a great shock to the present settlement.” Charles, however, was also busy with other affairs. The previous May he had married Catherine of Braganza, and Saturday, August 23, was the day appointed for her public arrival and welcome at Whitehall. Amidst a brilliant regatta of barges and boats, the King and his Roman Catholic Queen sailed down the river from Hampton Court; “music floated from bands on deck, and thundering peals roared from pieces of ordnance on shore”. “I was spectator,” wrote John Evelyn in his diary, “of the most magnificent triumph that ever floated on the Thames.” But there were many in London that day that had no heart for the festivities. Far removed in thought from the colour and pageantry of the Queen’s arrival, a great company of silent and mourning believers was gathered in the parish of St. Austin’s for the burial of Simeon Ashe. Ashe had long been one of the popular Puritan leaders and “he went seasonably to heaven,” says Calamy, “at the very time when he was cast out of the Church. He was bury’d the very even of Bartholomew-Day.” The historian’s grandfather, the veteran Edmund Calamy of St. Mary Aldermanbury, was naturally the preacher on such an occasion, and that day he preached a sermon that was to be spoken of and read over for many years to come. His text was Isaiah 57:1, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come.” The sermon is one of the finest examples of Puritan preach­ing, and though it does not strictly belong to the Farewell Sermons it is not surprising that it was given a place in the volume that was shortly to bear that title. Though Calamy packs his exposition with doctrines, he so blends his teaching with illustration, and his reproofs with exhortations, that he was in no danger of losing the attention of his hearers. Take the following example: ...

Sunday 20 August 2023

The Last Summer (2/3)




THOUGH many of the Puritan ministers were far removed from the intrigues and disputations going on in London, they were never­theless deeply concerned in their outcome and throughout the land they waited for word from the capital. For many months before the Act of Uniformity was published rumours were circulating, and even amidst the peaceful beauties of far-off Flintshire we can hear their echoes in the diaries of Philip Henry. “Great expectations,” he writes in July 1661, “about a severe Act about imposing the Common prayer and Ceremonies passed both houses of Parliament but not signed by the King.” Again, “News from London of speedy severity intended against the Nonconformists. The Lord can yet, if he will, break the snare. If not, welcome the will of God.”

Although news of an Act of Uniformity had thus been heard of well in advance, it was not, as has already been said, until May 1662 that its terms were made known. Three months only were given the Puritans for deliberation and that in spite of the fact that the revised Prayer Book to which they must give unfeigned assent was not to be ready for publication till August 6–only three weeks before St. Bartholomew’s Day. In an age in which books had to be despatched and circulated in a manner far different from what we are accustomed to today, this meant that in certain parts of the country such as Lancashire, ministers could not obtain copies before August 22, and in some cases not even then. We hear of one ejected minister who was subsequently to complain that he was silenced for not declaring his consent to a Book which he never saw or could see.

The shortness of the interval allowed to the Puritans before the Act was enforced also hindered the assembling of any national Conference to formulate a joint decision. It is true, of course, that much correspondence circulated in these three months of trial and anxiety, and those who could do so met together for mutual con­sultation, but, in general, it was in the quietness of their own homes that they arrived by prayer and thought at the individual decisions they were to make. The diary of Oliver Heywood, the faithful minister of Coley in Yorkshire, gives us a glimpse of what was being felt within men’s hearts all over the land. After noting the threats he had already received from ecclesiastical authorities, Heywood goes on to encourage himself in the thought that he was not alone in these trials: “Hitherto God hath helped: and now I am but in the same predicament with the rest of my brethren in the ministry since the passing of this fatal act of uniformity, which we are waiting for the execution of, which commenceth from the 24th of August, which if not prevented will strike dead most of the godly ministers in England.” Heywood was in no doubt whether or not he should comply with the Act: “the conditions are too hard to be accepted. Woe be to us, if we preach not the gospel! but a double woe to us, if we enervate the gospel by legal ceremonies …. Our work is dear to us; but God is dearer, and we must not do the least evil to obtain the greatest good. There are worldly advantages enough to sway us to conformity, if conscience did not answer all the pleas of flesh and blood. The bargain will be too hard to provide a livelihood by making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. God can advance his work without our sinful shifts, and rear up monuments to his glory without our complying pre­varications: suffering may benefit the gospel as much as service, when God calls to it.” ....

A Gathering Storm: Build-Up to the Great Ejection (1/3)


We are coming up to August 24 and the Banner of Truth has posted three timely articles by Iain Murray on their website. The first can be accessed here. It begins

On 24 August 1662, the English Parliament passed an Act designed to exclude and ‘utterly disable’ a group of religious ministers within the Established (i.e. Anglican) Church. The immediate effect of the Act of Uniformity of 1662 was the forced departure of over hundreds of gospel ministers from the churches they served. Moreover, it represented the beginning of a wave of persecution aimed at completely silencing these already-deprived Christian leaders. In the following article, Iain H. Murray explains the build-up to what would become known as the Great Ejection, or ‘Black Bartholomew’s Day’.

ON August 30, 1658, Oliver Cromwell, at the age of 59, lay dying in the Palace of Whitehall. Outside a great storm was blowing across the red tiles and ancient spires of London’s roof-tops, such as had not been remembered for a hundred years, but within the soul of the Lord Protector of England there was peace: “The Lord hath filled me,” he murmured, “with as much assurance of His pardon and His love as my soul can hold …. I am more than a conqueror through Christ that strengtheneth me.” Four days later the greatest soldier and statesman of the age had fought his last battle and entered the land “where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.”

Cromwell had embodied in his own person the two great principles which had inspired the nation sixteen years before to rise against the absolutism of the Stuart monarchy–the right of the people to freedom from oppression and the duty of preserving Protestantism from error and spiritual tyranny. As long as Cromwell was alive he struggled for a settlement that would enable these two principles to exist harmoniously together. But if the constitutional difficulties that had arisen since the Civil Wars made the problem too great for Cromwell, it was certainly beyond the abilities of those to whose charge he left the nation. As long as the greater part of a nation remains unregenerate, political freedom may not lead to the advancement of the Gospel, and Cromwell, being forced by the course of events–as he interpreted them–to an unhappy choice between the two, chose the latter. The Protector’s death resulted in a political crisis which made the choice yet more difficult, and the Puritans, as a body, were divided in their reaction to it. The Independents, such as John Owen and Thomas Goodwin who had been closest to Cromwell, believed that the spiritual gains that had been made since the Long Parliament had broken the power with which the Bishops had cramped the nation’s religious life could best be preserved by a Commonwealth. But as the years of Crom­well’s Protectorate had already shown, such a form of government would have to rely, for a time at least, upon the army for its strength, as it would never be chosen by the general consent of the people, and what would then become of the political freedom which the Commons had fought to preserve? It was thus clear to the majority that the country could find no security against anarchy or military dictatorship save in the old constitutional government based upon a Monarchy and a free Parliament. This had, in fact, long been the conviction of the largest of the Puritan parties–the Presbyterians. Though they had resisted the absolutism of Charles I they had never been against monarchy as such, and after the turmoil that followed the death of Cromwell they were more convinced than ever of the political necessity of recalling Charles Stuart to his father’s throne. But if Charles returned what would become of the spiritual freedom which they cherished? They had not forgotten how monarchy and episcopacy had been combined since the Church settlement of Queen Elizabeth against the more thorough­going Protestantism of Puritanism. It is not surprising therefore that while the Presbyterians saw the need of restoring the monarchy they were conscious of the possibility that such a political settlement might lead to a spiritual defeat.

Charles was not ignorant of their fears and of his need to calm them. He knew that the co-operation of the strongest Puritan party, the Presbyterians, would be needed to accomplish a Restoration and that a full disclosure of his aims would be disastrous to his interests. Thus he carefully avoided any suggestions that his return would mean an Anglican triumph; his agents were busy in England creating an impression that the Presbyterians could expect a Church settlement comprehensive enough to satisfy their convictions; testimonies to his loyalty to Protestantism were secured from French Reformed ministers; and by the famous Declaration of Breda in April 1660 he promised “a liberty to tender consciences and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matter of religion which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom.” In such ways a general impression was given to the Presbyterians that Charles’s return would not be spiritually disastrous. The impression was deepened when a delegation of Presbyterian ministers was cordially received by Charles at The Hague and given, says Richard Baxter, “encouraging promises of peace” which “raised some of them to high expectations.” ....

Thursday 20 July 2023

Beddome on the Ejection

From the ninth sermon (Hebrews 10:26) in Short discourses Volume 5 by Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795)

By raising up a constant succession of saints to propagate and defend it, the Lord is still giving testimony to the word of his grace. It was apprehended by some that the interests of religion would be fatally affected by the ejectment of such a multitude of pious and learned ministers, in a former period of history, and such indeed was the case in a communion but if the candlestick was removed from its place, it was fixed elsewhere, and the light diffused abroad.

Tuesday 14 February 2023

Robert Gouge, Coggeshall

From the annals of Coggeshall
Robert Gouge became pastor of the church in Coggeshall after the death of Mr Sames. During the interval Mr Lowry preached. Mr Gouge was born at Chelmsford and sent by Lord Fitzwalter to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he had for his tutor the celebrated Henry More. On leaving the University he went to Maldon, where he preached and taught a school. From thence he removed to Ipswich, where he is spoken of as pastor of a congregational church, August 17, 1658.* He was silenced in 1662 and came to Coggeshall about the year 1674.
"1675, May 26.—The notes of ye sermon preached at the funerall of old Mr William Cox by Mr. Gouge."
Text - Gen. v. 24. ... I hope our dear friend whom God hath taken away in these respects did walk with God. He was, but is not. God hath taken him. Alas ! you lament the death of the man; will you desire to live the life of the man? an humble, mortified, friendly, fruitful life as he did? I see a treasure withdrawn, and the stock is lessened. Did not I see a corner-stone falling out of the building? You children of a good father, take heed how you carry it, take heed of taking your liberty. Methinks there is a gap made now: I pray God, let his spirit fall down and make up the breach; for the family, the town, the church, have a great loss, I am a stranger among you, and in part a stranger to you. God hath taken away many candles, many lights from us. I am afraid God is provoked by us. Remember pride does not eat out the heart of religion and the love of your souls to God, and therefore think of it, and the Lord grant we may make a good use of this solemn stroke of God, superadded to the strokes of former days."  "1675, July 17.—Funeral Sermon of Nicholas Merrills, by Mr. Gouge."**
"1676, May 16.—Funeral Sermon, John Bowyer's second wife."
"1678, Oct. 29. Old Widow Sach."
"1679, Nov. 12. Old Nurse Newton."
"1679, Nov. 6. Wife of Thomas Brewster. "
"1680, Jan. 27. Daughter of Mr Samuel Richardson, servant of Mrs. Cox."
The old church book contains the following allusion to Mr Gouge; but it was not written till the year 1775:
"Mr Sammes shared the same fate as the 2000. By this very solemn providence the people became scattered as sheep without a shepherd: for many of them could not sit down to his successor as he maintained both another faith and another order. But the Lord, who is the watchful keeper of his people, sent them a gatherer of the dispersed remnant, in the person of the Rev R Gouge. As now they were cast out of and become dissenters from the established church, and so could not meet where they formerly did, they hired a barn in East Street, which they converted into a meeting-house."
This house, situated on the north side of the street, now belongs to Mr F Hills. It was then the property of Isaac Hubbard, who was a deacon of the congregational church.*** This good man died in 1687. Mr Gouge shortly afterwards published a little volume entitled "The Faith of Dying Jacob, or God's Presence with his Church notwithstanding the Death of his Eminent Servants: being several sermons from Gen. xlviii. 21, occasioned by the death of Mr Isaac Hubbard, with the memorials of his life and death, and advice to his eon. London. 1688."
"Epistle Dedicatoby to the Church of Christ at Great Cogshall in Essex."
"You are a people whom the Lord hath honoured with many successive able Pastors, Mr Obadiah Sedgwick, Dr Owen, Mr Sams: All which Lights the Lord hath taken up into his upper Chamber, after their shine upon Earth to shine in Heaven; after their Labours with men, to take their rest in the Bosom of their God and Saviour. You are a people whom the Lord hath preserved marvellously in the stormy, cloudy and dark daies that scattered many others. You have had but a few drops of those tempestuous showers that drowned others. A garden inclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed have you been: Your bow yet abideth in strength, though I am well aware how the Archers of Hell and Earth have shot at you. You have seen the goings of God in your Sanctuary, and every one of you may speak of his glory. The Lord hath much thinned your glory and comfort, by the decease of many Principal Members, though after the fall of the leaf, you have had sweet after-springs and budding stems, that you remain as green Olive-trees in the house of your God: So let his spiritual glory remain fresh upon you. You have continued in a close adherence to the Lord, and his Worship, not mixing with the world, and thereby have lost little: in your keeping the word of his patience, he hath kept you from the hour of temptation that hath tryed the Earth, when greater damage hath attached others in their neutral, treacherous compliances. The Pillar of Cloud and fire, hath given you a safe conduct to this present break-day of the Glory of God, and the Jubile of rest and liberty, universally extended in this Nation from its Bondage, and where is the fury of the Oppressor? The Lord cause this springing glory to shine to a perfect day, and prevent new darkening Clouds. For above the space of fourteen years, the Lord hath placed me, unworthy me, among you: And to the praise of his glorious name, you have seen the workings of his blessed Spirit in your confirmation, and others conversion: In 'which years, through the various tryals Divine Providence hath exercised me with, and the many personal infirmities that have attended me, you have born up in your Christian ingenuous respects to me, as also in your assistance, according to your abilities, to my civil expences, wherein I have yearly spent the whole revenue of my little Own that I had in this world, which had not been, but for the failure of some other hand, of what was at first proffered at my coming to you; though the disturbing exigences of late times, conduced much to that failure. This indeed in some fits of exigence, hath proved some little uneasie temptation to me, to think of some other supply: Which at present I wave in duty to God, and true love to you. The last blow the Lord gave us, was that deep oue, by the decease of our dear and honoured Brother Mr. Hubbard, which becomes the occasion of this small book. He was a good Copy, I hope many will write after him, and not let that goodly picture drop out of their hearts or lives: He gave you good conduct in all your affairs, and prospered, for the Lord was 'with him: 'Twas amongst his very last words, the Lord hath the residue of Spirits, let us pray that that living, flowing, renewing Spirit may flourish among us, with the encrease of Gifts and Grace. By reason of my many occasions, some months are pass'd since this Christian deceased; but I remember Vespasian's Motto on his coin, sat cito si sat bene. 'Tis soon enough, if well enough. I design not many words to you, 'twill be better, that what concerns the Glory of God and our mutual comfort, be expressed in our continued fellowship."
"So, finally Brethren, Farewell, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, Live in Peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
"Yours to serve in the Gospel of Christ,
"R. Gouge."
Of Mr. Hubbard he says:— "He was never so unchristian as to make all anti-christian who differed from him, as if none could get to heaven but went in his congregational path. God's eternal truth was dearer to him than liberty or life. His card, pole-star, canon he walked by, was the word of God. Wheresoever he separated from others it was because they first separated from truth. His conversation was in Heaven. The solitudes and arbours of holy retreated meditations he found to be gates that let in the inward world, Heaven's suburbs and sunlight. At home his conversation was pious and profitable. In the church: he cared for the things thereof with singular prudence and exemplariness, as a sound, able Christian, and almost a Divine. He was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. He was charitable and tender-hearted. He was contented, meek and humble. Death met him nigh at home, whose imperious necessity he had prevented by the daily resignation of himself to Heaven's commission. In the last year of his life he was much solacing his soul in the foreviews of future glory, much reading that piece of his ancient reverend Pastor, Dr Owen, about the Glory of Christ. Thus having finished his course upon earth, having oft fetched his God down to him, he was taken up to his God."
Mr Gouge resided at the upper end of Stoneham Street. He had some relatives here, one of whom was named Samuel Gouge, a lawyer. He had also a son, named Thomas Gouge, who was born at Ipswich in 1662, and became pastor at Amsterdam: on returning to England, was pastor of the Independent Church at the Three Cranes, near Thames Street, and died 8th January, 1700.
Dr Watts says that the three greatest preachers in his younger time, were Mr John Howe, Mr Stennet and Mr Thomas Gouge, whose strength lay in the illustration of scripture; and dedicates one of his Lyric poems to his memory. Mr Gouge outlived his son, and died in a ripe old age at Coggeshall, where he was buried October 16, 1705.****

* Letter from Samuel Petts, of Sandcroft, to Slater, at St. Katherine, near Tower Hill. Peck's Desid. cur. ii. 505.
** 1704, Dec. 28.—Died Mrs. Merrills, formerly wife of the worthy Mr Dodd - Bufton.
*** The Manor Rental shows that Mr Hubbard owned this place. He lived on the site of the Mechanics' Institute, Church Street. An old manuscript, including a statement of Mr Hubbard's effects, and of the subsequent building of the present Chapel, has - "Gave Mr Gouge a pair of spectacles with silver bands" and "There were some old boards that came from the old meeting-house that were carried to the new meeting-house."
"1681, Oct. 18 Mr Isaac Hubbard brought home his third wife."
"1684, Oct. 30 - Old Mrs Smith, Mr Hubbard's sister, was buried. "
"1687, Dec. 6.—Mr. Isaac Hubbard was buried."—Bufton.
**** "1680 Apl 27 Mr Thomas Gouge was married to a rich gentlewoman of Chelmsford
1689 Oct 31 Mr Thomas Gouge brought home his second wife from London
1689 May 19 Mr Samuel Gouge a lawyer was buried Bufton
1693 June 6 Child of Mr Thomas Gouge Reg Bap
1709 May 18 Mrs Gouge Reg Bur

10 Benefits of Godly Conference


In his Lives of eminent men the ejected minister Samuel Clarke (1599-1683) says of the godly conference arising from the ejection

  1. First, Hereby knowledge was wonderfully increased so that I was ncver acquainted with more understanding Christians in all my Life though the best of them went but in Russet Coats and followed Husbandry
  2. Secondly, Holy affections by this mutual whetting of them each in other were excecdingly kindled and kept alive in thcm.
  3. Thirdly, Lovc by frequent Society was nourislied and increased so that all the Professors though living ten or twelve miles asunder were as intimate and familiar as if they had been all of one household.
  4. Fourth is Thc necessities of the poorer sort being made known there was plentiful provision made for them.
  5. Fifthly, Thc wcak were strengthened
  6. the mourning comforted
  7. the erring reclaimed
  8. the dejected raised us
  9. and all of them mutually edified in thcir most holy Faith
  10. Sixthly, Under the pretence of thesc Meetings we enjoyed the opportunities as occasion was offered of private Fasts and days of Thanksgiving which otherwise quickly have been taken notice of and suppressed.

Ejected men in the ODNB 'T-W'

T
Derbyshire born Francis Tallents 1619–1708
William Thomas 1592/3–1667
Lancashire born John Tilsley c1614–1684
John Tombes 1602-1676 the celebrated Baptist
Robert Towne 1592/3?–1664
William Troughton 1613/14–1686/90
Joseph Truman 1631-1671 religious writer

V
Edward Veal or Veel 1632/3–1708 who became a Nonconformist Tutor in Wapping after being silenced in 1662.
Ralph Venning c 1622–1674 author of Sin, the Plague of Plagues in 1691.

W
Monmouthshire born Henry Walter 1611–1678? ministered there both before and after 1662 despite strong opposition.
John Warren 1621–1696 was a friend of Baxter's based in Hatfield Braod Oak. Camy quotes him saying that ‘he would not leave Hatfield Christians for any place in England’.
Another graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, William Whitaker (d 1672) was ejected from Bermondsey in 1662.
Henry Wilkinson was the name of two ejected men, neither of whom is to be confused with a Roman Catholic apologist of the same name. Henry Wilkinson 1610–1675 was a renowned preacher in Camberwell and Clapham. In his Oxford days he was known as Long Harry to distinguish him from Dean Harry, Henry Wilkinson 1616/17–1690, then head of Magdalen Hall but after ejected, imprisoned and fined for nonconformity.
There were also two men called Thomas Willis, one of whom was more moderate and later conformed. They are Thomas Willis fl 1618-1673 and Thomas Willis d 1692

Ejected men in the ODNB 'R/S'

R
Nathanael Ranew 1602?–1677
Yorkshire born Christopher Richardson 1619-1698
John Robotham (d 1664?)
John Rogers 1610–1680
Somerset born Thomas Rosewell 1630–1692
John Rowe 1626/7–1677
York born John Ryther 1631/5–1681

S
Nottinghamshire born Henry Sampson c1629–1700, historian of dissent
Wiltshire born Gabriel Sangar 1608–1678
Stephen Scandrett 1631?–1706
Lazarus Seaman (d 1675)
Northamptonshire born John Sheffeild or Sheffield (d 1680)
Nottinghamshire born William Sherwin 1607–1690
John Shuttlewood 1632–1689, nonconformist tutor
Norfolk born John Stalham (d 1677)
Edmund Staunton 1600–1671, college head
Shropshire born Rowland Stedman (d 1673)
Wiltshire born Nathaniel Stephens 1606/7–1678
Andrew Stewart 1614/15?–1671
John Strickland 1601?-1670
Gloucestershire born Henry Stubb[e]s [Stubbs] 1605/6–1678
Kent born George Swinnock c1627–1673 a well known Puritan author.
Nottinghamshire born Matthew Sylvester 1636/7–1708

Ejected men in the ODNB 'O/P'

O
New England Urian Oakes c 1631–1681 returned to New England in 1671 to be head of the infant Harvard College.
Midlands preacher Henry O[a]sland 1625-1703
Lancashire born Samuel Ogden 1627/8–1697 who ‘thought the idolising the Common Prayer, and placing all religion in it, was a provocation to the good spirit of God’.
Derbyshire born John Oldfield 1626/7–1682 who wrote about his nonconformity and was later quoted by Unitarian Elizabeth Gaskell in Chapter 4 of her novel North and South. Oldfield wrote
When thou canst no longer continue in thy work without dishonour to God, discredit to religion, foregoing thy integrity, wounding conscience, spoiling thy peace, and hazarding the loss of thy salvation; in a word, when the conditions upon which thou must continue (if thou wilt continue) in thy employments are sinful, and unwarranted by the word of God, thou mayest, yea, thou must believe that God will turn thy very silence, suspension, deprivation, and laying aside, to His glory, and the advancement of the Gospel's interest.
P
Thomas Pakeman c 1614–1691
Anthony Palmer 1616-1679 of Bourton on the Water
Bolton born Robert Parke 1600-1668
London born Thomas Parson 1631- c 1668
Edward Pearse c 1633–1673
Lancashire born Henry Pendlebury 1626–1695
Samuel Petto c 1624–1711 who wrote on coveannt theology
Pembrokeshire born Peregrine Philips 1623–1691
Lavenham born Abraham Pinchbecke 1626-1681/2
London born John Poynter 1600–1684

Ejected men in the ODNB 'L-N'

L
John Langston 1640/41–1704 ejected from Gloucesterhsire in 1660 he eventually ministered in Ipswich.
George Lawrence 1613-1691 or 98 originally in London, became a hospital chaplain in Winchester and after ejection 1660 ministered again in London.
Silenced Henry Lukin 1628–1719 was ‘of great note and eminence … a judicious and learned divine’ says Calamy

M
John Machin 1624–1664
Thomas Mallory (d 1689) from Northamptonshire
William Manning 1630 or 33–1711
Walter Marshall 1628–1679
Swansea born Marmaduke Matthews c1606–1683, in New England for a period
Sussex born John Maynard 1600–1665
Richard Mayo c 1630–1695
Bedfordshire born Matthew Mead[e] 1628/9–1699
John Meadows 1622–1697
Luke Milbourne 1622-1668
Somerset born John Milward 1619/20–1680/83
Thomas Mocket c 1602–1670 controversialist from Kent
Richard Morton 1637-1698, physician
George Moxon 1602-1687 whose son became a Unitarian

N
James Nalton c 1600–1662
Benjamin Needler 1620–1682
Henry Newcome 1627-1695
Ferdinando Nic[h]olls 1597/8–1662