The Dissenters, Volume III, The Crisis and Conscience of Nonconformity

In the course of nearly four decades the late Michael Watts produced three magisterial surveys of the history of Nonconformity in England and Wales. His first book, The Dissenters: From the Reformation to the French Revolution, appeared in 1978, quickly establishing itself as the standard modern treatment of its subject. A second and even more substantial volume, The Expansion of Evangelical Nonconformity, followed in 1995, taking the story from the Evangelical Revival to the 1860s. The present volume overlaps with its predecessor, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century before carrying the account forward to the Liberal landslide in the 1906 General Election. Sadly Professor Watts did not live to see the publication of this volume, and it has been prepared for the press by Professor Chris Wigley, with a preface added by Professor David Bebbington, who helpfully suggests some lines for further research and sketches how the history of Nonconformity might be continued from its apparent Edwardian heyday to the early years of the twenty-first century.The clue to the structure of the volume may be discerned in its subtitle. Two of the three substantial sections of the book treat what Professor Watts describes as the ‘crisis’ of Nonconformity. In part one he sets out the cultural and intellectual forces which, in his judgement, undermined the theological assumptions, spiritual confidence, and evangelistic effectiveness of Nonconformity. Faced with Romantic inclinations toward divine immanence, the discoveries of geology, the impact of Darwinism, the ‘higher criticism’ of the Bible, and a revulsion from a hitherto accepted doctrine of eternal punishment, many Nonconformists softened the uncompromising evangelical orthodoxy which had, Watts claims, achieved such striking success in the previous century. Most were prepared to accommodate ‘modern thought’, accepting evolution, discarding biblical infallibility, quenching hellfire, and bringing forward a this-worldly kingdom of God. Those who resisted these tendencies, most notably C. H. Spurgeon, became marginal figures. In Watts's view, the accommodation was irresistible, but also devastating, robbing Nonconformity of its power to make converts and to retain its rising generation. This theme continues in part two, where Watts explores ‘the liberalization of Dissent’, showing how the Nonconformist failure to recruit and retain members led to a narrowing demographic base in the middle class and upper working class, and to a range of initiatives to tackle the problem, from the ‘institutional church’ with its plethora of social, educational, and philanthropic agencies to the organized revivalism of Moody and Sankey. Into this overarching narrative are slotted chapters on attitudes to leisure, the Nonconformist engagement with higher education, changing patterns of church discipline, and the pressures placed on ministers.Part three introduces a new theme, taking a broadly chronological approach to political issues. Education features prominently, from the debates over Forster's Education Act of 1870 to the campaign of ‘passive resistance’ to Balfour's 1902 Act for its provision of rate-aid to denominational schools. Foreign policy is also a major topic, with Nonconformists urging action to defend oppressed Christian minorities in Bulgaria and Armenia, but dividing over Irish Home Rule and British imperialism in South Africa. There are also chapters on trade unionism and on social reform, underlining Nonconformist campaigning for old-age pensions. It is good to be reminded that the much-maligned ‘Nonconformist Conscience’ involved more than Mrs Grundy-ish pressure on Gladstone to drop C. S. Parnell after the O'Shea divorce case. Watts argues strongly that it was the 1902 Education Act which effectively rallied Nonconformists to the Liberal cause, making possible the electoral triumph of 1906. Sadly the book ends with the election, and readers are denied the opportunity to enjoy Professor Watts's analysis of the achievements and disappointments of the pre-1914 Liberal administrations.It is an indication of Professor Watts's mastery of his subject and his sources that he is able to present the immensely complicated story of nineteenth-century Nonconformity with clarity and ease. He moves effortlessly between General and Particular Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers, the various subdivisions of Methodism, Unitarians, and Salvationists, and is comfortable with their varying polities and well acquainted with their leading personalities. Key figures, from James Martineau and George Dawson via R. W. Dale and Hugh Price Hughes to Spurgeon and General Booth, are deftly sketched, so that their personalities are appreciated and their influence assessed. Not the least valuable section of the book is the massive appendix, in which may be found tables of church and chapel attendance in London in 1851, 1886–87, and 1902–03, and in a selection of towns and villages in 1851 and 1881, and an analysis of the occupations of male Dissenters in London, major cities, and a selection of counties, by decade, from 1850 to 1940. This data will surely be quarried by many historians, with profound gratitude to Michael Watts.The concluding volume of this fine trilogy is comprehensive in scope, persuasive in argument, and charitable in tone. It will be an essential point of departure for all students of nineteenth-century church and society for many years to come.

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