Stephen Marshall
c. 1594–1655
"Smectymnuus"; "preacher of the long Parliament"; mediating Presbyterian.
Biography
Marshall of Finchingfield was the most frequently summoned preacher of the Long Parliament — perhaps the single most prominent pulpit voice of the early 1640s English revolution. He preached *Meroz Cursed* (1641) and was Smectymnuus co-author. At the Assembly he was a moderating Presbyterian, sympathetic to the Dissenting Brethren but solid on the polity question. He died in 1655 and was buried in Westminster Abbey; his body was disinterred and dumped in a pit at the Restoration.
Principal works
- Smectymnuus (1641)
- Meroz Cursed (1641)
- A Defence of Infant Baptisme (1646)
English Presbyterian divine
The great majority of the sitting members were English parish ministers of Presbyterian conviction. They formed the drafting core of the Assembly, manning its three standing committees and supplying most of the text of the Confession, the two Catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship.