

'.' 



BAXTER. 







357 



Barter. The person of Mr Baxter was tall, slender, and 

 """v stooping ; his countenance grave and composed, 



somewhat inclining to a smile ; his eye piercing, his 

 speech articulate, and his deportment plain. His 

 constitution was weak and sickly through the whole 

 of his life ; yet, by the united influence of temperance 

 and industry, he was able to undergo a most extraor- 

 dinary degree of labour, both in writing and in preach- 

 ing. He expressed himself in conversation with great 

 propriety and ease ; was remarkable for his intrepidi- 

 ty and composure on all occasions ; and hence it was 

 very strongly remarked of him, by a learned opponent, 

 that " he could say what he would, and could prove 

 what he said." Both in his political and theological 

 character, he was always friendly to conciliatory mea- 

 sures ; and hence he has been reviled by the violent, 

 but respected by the temperate, of all parties. His 

 eentiments of moderation, however, were not the re- 

 sult of a feeble or fearful mind ; and, while he was 

 anxious to reconcile, he was not afraid to resist. He 

 laboured to promote universal charity and peace, at 

 a period when it was accounted a crime not to be 

 fierce in support of some sect or other ; but, at the 

 same time, as was said of him by Mr Boyle, " he 

 feared no man's displeasure, nor hoped for any man's 

 preferment." He boldly opposed the progress of 

 revolutionary proceedings, and of Antinomian errors ; 

 and the severities to which he was subjected in the 

 latter part of his life, were not owing to any suspi- 

 cion of his disaffection to government, but to his up- 

 right avowal of non-conformists principles. As a 

 complete refutation of the calumnious charges of se- 

 dition and rebellion which have been brought against 

 him, it is sufficient to mention the many eminent 

 characters, both in church and state, whose patron- 

 age and intimacy he enjoyed to the last ; such as the 

 Earl of Lauderdale, the Earl of Balcarras, Chief 

 Justice Matthew Hales, Alderman Ashurst, Sir John 

 Maynard, Sir James Langham, Sir Edward Harley, 

 Archbishop Tillotson, &c. He was, in short, a 

 man of the greatest zeal in religion, without any ten- 

 dency to faction or fanaticism ; and possessed the 

 greatest simplicity of manners, with the utmost firm- 

 ness of mind and uniformity of character. 



With respect to the literary attainments of Baxter, 

 he says of himself, that, except the Latin, Greek, 

 and a slight acquaintance with the Hebrew, he had 

 no great skill in languages ; that he had no taste 

 whatever for the mathematics ; but that he was par- 

 ticularly attached to the study of logic, metaphysics, 

 pneumatology, and the divinity of the schools. He 

 was more desirous to have the knowledge of thing* 

 than of words, and he possessed a great share of solid 

 learning. His works were so very voluminous, that 

 it is not yet ascertained what was the precise number 

 of his writings ; but he is known to have composed 

 more than 145 distinct treatises ; of which four were 

 folios, 73 quartos, 19 12mos and 24mos, besides 

 single sheets, separate sermons, and a variety of pre- 

 faces to the publications of other authors. A parti- 

 cular account of his writings may be seen in the 

 Bwg. Briton. Notes P and X ; and in Calamy's Life 

 <f Baxter, vol. i. p. 691. The most useful of his 

 productions are, his Catholic Theology; which was 

 intended to compose the disputes between the Calvin- 



ists and Arminians ; "his Reformed Pastor ; which 

 has been highly esteemed by many eminent divines ; 

 his Call to the Unconverted ; of which 20,000 

 copies were sold in one year ; which was translated 

 into most of the European languages ; and of wh ch, 

 Dr Watts has said, that he would rather be the au- 

 thor than of Milton's Paradise Lost ; his Christian 

 Directory, or Body ofPiactical Divinity; Everlast- 

 ing Rest; Dying Thoughts; Poor Man's Family 

 Book; Paraphrase on the Neiv Testament ; Converse 

 with God in Solitude; and Narrative of his oixii life 

 and Times. The most of his practical pieces have 

 been published in four volumes folio ; judicious abridg- 

 ments of the best of them have been made by Mr 

 Fawcett ; and a new edition of them all is now car- 

 rying on, which is expected to be completed in 16 

 vols. 8vo, one of which will contain a portrait of the 

 author, with a history of his life and times. 



The works of Baxter, like their author during his 

 life, have been very variously estimated ; but they 

 are highly commended by the most competent and 

 unprejudiced judges. " He cultivated every subject," 

 says Bishop Wilkins, " that he handled." " His 

 practical writings were never mended," says Dr Bar- 

 row, " and his controversial ones seldom refuted." 

 " I cannot but commend," says Bishop Gaudens, 

 " the learning, candour, and ingenuity of Mr Bax- 

 ter." " I cannot forbear looking upon him," says 

 Dr Doddridge, " as one of the greatest orators, both 

 with regard to copiousness, acuteness, and energy, 

 that our nation hath produced." " As an useful 

 writer, as well as a successful controversialist," says 

 Dr Adam Clarke, " Mr Baxter has deservedly ranked 

 in the highest order of the divines of the 17th cen- 

 tury. His works have done more to improve the 

 understanding and mend the hearts of his country- 

 men, than those of any other writer of his age. 

 While the English language remains, and scriptural 

 Christianity and piety to God are regarded, his 

 works will not cease to be read and prized by the 

 wise and pious of every denomination." And, when 

 Mr Boswell inquired of Dr Johnson, which of Bax- 

 ter's works he should peruse, " read any of them," 

 was the reply ; " they are all good." He is indeed 

 generally prolix, and often metaphysical ; but such 

 was the taste of the times in which he lived ; and his 

 writings are certainly distinguished by amplitude of 

 thought, vivacity of imagination, strong and clear 

 good sense, fervent devotion, and pathetic address. 

 See Biog. Britannica. Gen. Biography. Calamy's 

 Life of Baxter. Silvester's Life of Baxter. Bax- 

 ter's Narrative of his own Life and Times, (q) 



BAYEN, Peter, a celebrated French chemist, 

 and member of the National Institute of France, was 

 born at Chalons in the year 1725. His early pro- 

 pensity to study induced his friends to send him to 

 the college of Troyes, where he went through a re- 

 gular course of study, and imbibed a taste for natural 

 philosophy. Anxious to improve his knowledge of 

 chemistry, to which he was particularly attached, he 

 went to Paris in 1749, and studied pharmacy under 

 an able apothecary, the father of the celebrated Cha- 

 ras. The diligence and thirst for knowledge dis- 

 played by Bayen attracted the notice of his master, 

 who gave him every opportunity of improvement, 



Bnxter, 

 B; yen. 



