['< sod > historians group methodists together with other protestant groups as " nonconformists " or " dissenters " standing in opposition to the established church of england. in the 19th century the dissenters who went to chapel comprised half the people who actually attended services on sunday. the " nonconformist conscience " was their moral sensibility which they tried to implement in british politics. < ref > d. w. bebbington,\'\' the nonconformist conscience. chapel and politics, 1870 – 1914\'\' ( 1982 ). < / ref > the two categories of dissenters, or nonconformists, were in addition to the evangelicals or " low church " element in the church of england. " old dissenters, " dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, included baptists, congregationalists, quakers, unitarians, and presbyterians outside scotland. " new dissenters " emerged in the 18th century and were mainly methodists, especially the wesleyan methodists. the " nonconformist conscience " of the old group emphasized religious freedom and equality, pursuit of justice, and opposition to discrimination, compulsion, and coercion. the new dissenters ( and also the anglican evangelicals ) stressed personal morality issues, including sexuality, temperance, family values, and sabbath - keeping. both factions were politically active, but until mid - 19th century the old group supported mostly whigs and liberals in politics, while the new - - like most anglicans - - generally supported conservatives. in the late 19th the new dissenters mostly switched to the liberal party. the result was a merging of the two groups, strengthening their great weight as a political pressure group. the joined together on new issues especially regarding schools and temperance, with the latter of special interest to methodists. < ref > timothy larsen, " a nonconformist conscience? free churchmen in parliament in nineteenth ‐ century england. "\'\' parliamentary history\'\' 24 # 1 ( 2005 ) : 107 - 119. < / ref > < ref > richard helmstadter, " the nonconformist conscience " in peter marsh, first ed.,\'\' the conscience of the victorian state\'\' ( 1979 ) pp 135 - 72. < / ref > by 1914 the linkage was weakening and by the 1920s it was virtually dead. < ref > john f. glaser, " english nonconformity and the decline of liberalism. "\'\' american historical review\'\' 63. 2 ( 1958 ) : 352 - 363. [ http : / / www. jstor. org / stable / 1849549 in jstor ] < / ref > < eod > < sod > historians group methodists together with other protestant groups as " nonconformists " or [ [ dissenter ] ] s, standing in opposition to the established church of england. in the 19th century the dissenters who went to chapel comprised half the people who actually attended services on sunday. the " nonconformist conscience " was their moral sensibility which they tried to implement in british politics. < ref > d. w. bebbington,\'\' the nonconformist conscience. chapel and politics, 1870 – 1914\'\' ( 1982 ). < / ref > the two categories of dissenters, or nonconformists, were in addition to the evangelicals or " [ [ low church ] ] " element in the church of england. " old dissenters, " dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, included [ [ baptists ] ], [ [ congregationalists ] ], [ [ quakers ] ], [ [ general assembly of unitarian and free christian churches | unitarians ] ], and [ [ presbyterians ] ] outside scotland. " new dissenters " emerged in the 18th century and were mainly methodists, especially the wesleyan methodists. < eod >']