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During the middle decades of the nineteenth century the English Nonconformist community developed a coherent political philosophy of its own, of which a central tenet was the principle of religious equality (in contrast to the stereotype of Evangelical Dissenters). The Dissenting community fought for the civil rights of Roman Catholics, non-Christians and even atheists, flowering in the enthusiastic and undivided support which Nonconformity gave to the campaign for Jewish emancipation. This study examines the political efforts and ideas of English Nonconformists during the period, covering the whole range of national issues raised from state education to the Crimean War; itoffers a thought-provoking case study of a theologically conservative group defending religious pluralism in the civic sphere, showing that the concept of religious equality was a grand vision at the centre of the political philosophy of the Dissenters. Dr TIMOTHY LARSEN is Professor of Church History at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto.