Besides the ravages of the Plague and The Great Fire, London in the 1660s continued to be battered by religious controversy during the Restoration period. Charles II, son of the executed monarch, had declared himself willing to approve any bill that Parliament might pass in favour of liberty of conscience. But the members of Parliament, even though many were Presbyterians, were reacting to the lack of any restraint on religious nonconformity that existed during the Commonwealth. They hastened to re-establish the Anglican Church in its old form, including all the former bishoprics. In 1662 an Act of Uniformity was passed, requiring all clergy to give full approval to the prayer-book. This was clearly a signal of intent to make any religious activity outside the established church difficult if not impossible. Some 2,000 courageous ministers whose consciences would not permit them to accept this provision resigned from their livings.
Thus began a long ‘outlaw’ period for the Separatists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers and other nonconforming Protestants. The Corporation Act, the Five Mile Act and the Test Act were other measures directed at harassing ‘conventicles’, making it difficult and risky for Nonconformist congregations to gather, Nonconformist ministers to preach or for Nonconformists to hold any public office. In contrast to earlier times, however, these laws did not pass downward from the king but arose from the conservative representatives of the people who feared the extremes of Protestant sectarianism on the one hand and ‘popery’ or Roman Catholic power on the other.