Print and Pastoral Identity

Abstract

This chapter explores the poignant dilemmas of those Presbyterian clergy who suffered ejection from their livings in 1662 following the passing and enforcement of the Act of Uniformity. Their commitment to a national church meant that they were reluctant Dissenters, demonstrated in ambiguous and complex relationships with the restored episcopal Church of England. For the likes of Samuel Clarke, Thomas Watson, Thomas Case, and other ejected Presbyterian ministers, print offered a way of establishing a virtual pastoral identity during the Restoration, not only through the production of new works but also through reissues of material first published during the 1640s and 1650s. The legacy of the Civil War was thus double-edged, in some ways comprising a culture of defeat, yet also contributing to a resolute and distinctive Presbyterian legacy through a vibrant print culture and the ongoing memorialization of Nonconformity.