Daniel Noble, his successor, was a member of a Sabbath-keeping family, and being designed for the ministry, received the advantages of a liberal education. His studies were pursued first in London, and afterward at the Glasgow University. He commenced preaching occasionally at Mill-Yard in 1752, took the pastoral charge when that office became vacant, in which connexion he remained until his death in 1783.
At this time William Slater, a member of the church, was invited to conduct the services. This he did with such general acceptance that he received ordination, and became the pastor of the church. His ministry was very successful, and continued until he died, in 1819.
For several years ensuing that event the church was without a pastor, being supplied with ministerial assistance by brethren of other denominations, until William Henry Black, the present incumbent, became its spiritual guide. Through the pious liberality of one of its members, the Mill-Yard Church enjoys the benefit of an endowment. Mr. Joseph Davis, who united in its connexion at the time that John James suffered martyrdom, purchased, in 1691, the grounds adjoining the present Mill-Yard Church, erected the place of worship, and provided for the permanency of the society. This property was conveyed to trustees, appointed by the church, in 1700. In 1706, shortly before his death, Mr. Davis bequeathed his property to his son, with an annual rent-charge in favour of the Mill-Yard Church, together with seven other Sabbatarian churches in England. He likewise provided, conditionally, that his whole property might afterward come into the possession of the church, and be vested in trustees for its benefit. Mr. Davis, in the earlier part of his life, had suffered extremely from severe persecutions. He was a prisoner in Oxford Castle for nearly ten years, from which he was released in 1673. Subsequently he entered into business in London, where prosperity attended him, and he not only obtained a competence, but became a wealthy man. Few have made a more laudable use of riches, and I would say to the reader, go thou, and do likewise.
A short account of some of the most eminent among those who embraced Sabbatarianism previous to the organization of these churches, may be interesting to the general reader.
Shortly after the publication of Dr. Bound's book, in which he advanced the modern notion regarding the so-called Christian Sabbath, that it is a perpetuation of the fourth commandment, but that the day specified therein had been changed by divine authority, we first hear of John Traske, who both wrote and spoke in defence of the seventh day.
He also contended that the scriptures are sufficient to direct in religious services, and that the state has no right to prescribe any ordinances contrary to the laws of God. For this he was brought before the Star-Chamber, where a long discussion was held respecting the Sabbath, in which Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, took a prominent part. Traske could not be turned from his opinion, but received a censure in the Star-Chamber. "He was sentenced on account of his being a Sabbatarian," says Paggitt's Heresiography, "to be set upon the Pillory at Westminster, and from thence to be whipped to the Fleet Prison, there to remain a prisoner for three years. His wife, Mrs. Traske, was confined in Maiden Lane and the Gate House Prisons fifteen years, where she died, for the same crime."
Another distinguished advocate for the truth was Theophilus Brabourne, a learned minister in connexion with the Established Church. He wrote a book, which was published in London in 1628, wherein he argued that the Lord's Day is not the Sabbath by divine institution, but "that the seventh day is still in force." For this, and similar works, he was arraigned before the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Court of High Commission. His examination was conducted in the presence of many persons of high distinction, and several lords of his Majesty's Privy Council. For some reason, it is not possible to ascertain distinctly what, though probably he was over-awed by the character of the assembly, he signed a recantation and went back to the bosom of the church. Nevertheless he continued to assert, that if the Sabbatic institution be indeed moral and perpetually binding, the seventh day ought to be sacredly kept.
About the same time, it appears that Philip Pandy commenced propagating the same doctrines in the northern parts of England. He was educated in the Established Church, of which he became a minister. He withdrew from its communion, however, and became the mark for many shots. He held several important disputes about his peculiar sentiments, and contributed much to promulgate them.
James Ockford, another early advocate of the Sabbath in England, appears to have taken part in the discussions in which Traske and Brabourne were engaged. He also wrote and published a book in 1642, which was seized and burned by the authorities of the Established Church.
There does not appear to have been any regularly organized churches of Sabbatarians in England, until the commencement of the seventeenth century, though subsequent to that period there were eleven of these fraternities, besides many scattered Sabbath-keepers, in different parts of the kingdom. These churches were located in the following places, viz.: Braintree, in Essex; Chersey; Norweston; Salisbury, in Wiltshire; Sherbourne, in Buckinghamshire; Natton, in Gloucestershire; Wallingford, in Berkshire; Woodbridge, in Suffolk; and three in London—the Mill-Yard, Cripplegate, and Pinner's Hall Churches. Eight of the eleven are now extinct, and hence a complete account of them cannot be obtained.