s and Thomas
Hooker settle Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively; and religious
liberty is accorded Rhode Island by its charter in 1663.

WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY

In 1648, the Westminster Assembly, convened by the Long Parliament five
years previous, and composed of 10 Lords, 20 Commoners and 121
Clergymen, representing the churches in England, Scotland and Ireland,
to prepare a statement of the doctrines of the Bible, that might form
the basis of religious liberty and a bond of union of the Protestant
churches, completes its work, by publishing a Confession of Faith, Form
of Government, Larger and Shorter Catechisms. This confession does not
give rise to any new denominations nor result in any union; but it is
received and adopted as the standard of faith by all the branches of the
Presbyterian church in England, Scotland, Ireland and America. This
confession is a natural sequence of the authorized King James Version of
the Bible in 1611.

In 1704, the newspaper is established in America; and the first
postoffice, in 1710.

RISE OF METHODISM

In 1738 John and Charles Wesley, young preachers of the Church of
England, having spent three years as missionaries among the Moravians in
Georgia, return to London, where, preaching the gospel as a proclamation
of free forgiveness to sinners, and with it, repentance and faith in
Christ, they soon find the pulpits of that city closed against them.
Supported by Lady Huntington and aided at the first by George
Whitefield, the most gifted of their early associates and the first
Methodist to preach in the open air, they lay the foundations that soon
develop into the Methodist church, by establishing now congregations and
organizing them into classes, each under a local leader, who by means of
weekly testimonies, exhortations and corrections was to look after the
moral conduct and promote the spiritual life of the members.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES

In 1782 when there are a sufficient number of printed Bibles available
for use, Robert Raikes of London makes the suggestion and Sunday schools
are established, that the people in every worshipping congregation may
co-operate with their preachers in instructing the young and rising
generation in the great truths contained in the Bible.

From 1792 to 1800, the three great modern missionary societies of
England are organized, and during the next ten years the first two are
organized in this country.

In 1804