B i\ X 



B A X 



ducfd him to a ftate of jricat lanijiior, was tlic ocfnfion of clumber ; and by tluis depriving himijotli of focil find flrfp, 



Ills being feparatcd from llie army in 16^";, and of prevent- at length efi'cftcd their purpofe, thoufch they were not em- 



ing tliat fervice^to his country, which m'ght liavc been ex- powered to break open doors, and ttjok hitn away to tlie 



peeled from a pcrfou of his principles and moderation, tieffions-houfe, where he wa3 bound in the penalty of 400 1. 



However, he refilled to the iitmoft of his power, the mea- to keep tXe pence, and he was brought up twice afterwards, 



fares of thofe who afterwards tifurped the government of though he kept his bed during the greateft part of the 



the kingdom ; he oppolcd taking the covenant, preached time. In 1685, he was committed to prifon by a warrant 



agaiiift the engagement, and difl'uadcd the foldiers from from lord chief-jnlliee Jeffries, for his paraphrafe on the 



iigliiing againll tlie Scots troops who came into the king- New Tcilamcnt, which wa? charged with being hollile to 



dom with Charles II.; and therefore the charge alleged epifcojiaey, and brought to trial for fedition. In the courfe 



againft him, of his having been a trumpeter of rebellion, is of this trial, he was treated with all the bnital infolence 



altogether without foundation. When Cn>mwell aflun.cd and tyranny, to the e::ercife of which that ruffian of the 



the fiipreme power, he boldly and openly declared, that he law, Jeffries, was accullomed ; reviled by, his judge in 



difliktd his ufurpation ; and in a private confcrt'nce, exprefsly the groflfeft terms, and prevented from obtaining the full 



told him, that in his opinion the ancient monarchy was a defence of liis council ; and at lait found guilty on the 



bleffuig. To that form of governnr.ent Baxter always avowed moll frivolous grounds, and fentenced to pay 500 marks, 



his attachment ; and in a fermon preached before the par- to lie in pril'on till he paid it, and to be hou::d to his 



liament on the 30th of April ifific, the day preceding that 

 on which they voted the king's return, he maintained, that 

 loyalty to their prince was a thing edential to all true pro- 

 tellants of whatever perfiiafion. About the fame time he 

 preached a thsnkfgiving fennoii at St. Paul's, on occafion of 

 the fuccefs of general Mo::k ; and this circumilanee refutes 



good behaviour for feven years. From this heavy penalty 

 however, after a contincmcnt of fevcral month?, he ivas 

 rcleafcd, in 1686, by king JamcS, and allowed to remain in 

 I^ondon, notwithllanding tlie provifions ot the Oxiord aft. 

 From thb time he lived in a retired manner, neither inter- 

 fering in the concerns of his party, nor taking any part m 



the charge, oi his having difl'uaded his excellency from con- thofe addrelTcs wh'ch fome of his brethren piefenled to 



curring in, or bringing about that change. Janus II. on liis irdu'gence. He peil'iiled, however, in the 



After the reiloration, Baxter was made one of the king's performance of his miniilcrial duties, till iiicreafing weaknefs 



chaplains, and was always treated by him with peculiar re- confined him to his chamber. The dole of his lite corre- 



fpcrt. To his majelly he fpoke with the fame freedom fponded to the uniform tenor of it ; the approaches of dif- 



which he had ufcd with the proteftor Cromwell. He Rrongly folution were regarded by him with pious reilgnation ; and 



reprefented the great importance of tolerating thofe pious he died, with the liHnquillity and hope appropriate to his 



men who entertained doubts conccining the cereinonies and exemplary chara6lcr, on the ?th of IXceirbcr 1 69 1, 



difcipllne of the church ; and he oblerved, tiiat the late Urged by extreine pain to wi!li for a releafc, he checked 



ufurpers had fo well underilood their own intereft, that himfelf by laving, " It is not fit for me to prelcrihe ; Vvhere 



they had found the way of doing good to be the moil ef- thou wilt, when thon wilt, and how thou wilt." To one 



fcdtual means to promote it ; and therefore he befought the who aflced him in his fieknefs how he did, he replied, " Al- 



king that "he would never lufFer himfelf to be tempted to moll well." In 1662, Mr. Baxter married the daughter of 



iKido the good which Cromwell or any other had done, be- Francis Charlton, Eiq. a dillinguilhed magillrate of the 



caufe they were ufurpers that did it ;" and en the contrary, county of iialop ; a wi.man of great piety, w ho entered tho- 



" that he would rather outgo them in doing good." At roughly into his views concerning religion, and cordially ap- 



thc Savoy conference he was one of the commiirioners, and 

 was employed in compiling the reformed liturgy. Having 

 declined the preferment of the bilhopric of Hereford, which 

 was offered him, he wifhed to retire to his friends at Kidder- 

 minfler, and to officiate among them in the lum.ble (lation 

 of a curate, but was not permitted. Difappointed with 

 regard to the objeft cf his wifliis, he preached for fome 

 time occafionally in I^ondon ; but the act againll conven- 



proved all the facrificts which he made from a confcientious 

 regard to duty. She accompanied him in prifon, and fub- 

 mitted without repining to all the hiirdflilps confequtnt upon 

 the perfecution wliicli Le lulfered. . She died 10 years before 

 him. 



" Richard Baxter was a man, wliofe whole foul was en- 

 gaged ill his profefiion. Ardent piety towards God, and 

 •.ieal for the bell interef.s of his fellow creatures, were the 



tides obliged him to retire iirft to AfloUj and then to Tot- aftive fprings of his condntt ; and few men have ever de- 



tcridge. During the perfecution of the nou-conformifls, he voted more time and labour to thofe objetts. he j)afrcd a 



preached, as opportunity ofTeied, and the ftate of the life of much contention and obloquy ; but at this cool di- 



times allowed, citlier more openly or more privately ; and he fiance, no candid enquirer can millake his true chaiafler. 



vas fomelimes 3 fufferer for his zeal, and lometimes uiimo- His early fludies in divinity were not, perhaps, the bell 



lefttd. A !";er the indulgence of 1672, he chiefiy nfided in adapted to form a theologian. They confilled ciiiefly of the 



London, and exercifcd his miniflry, either occafionally or Ichoolmcn and metaphvlicians of a dark age, and gave him 



flatedly, but not without interruption and molcllation. To 

 the fuficrings attendant on his profcfTion were added the in- 

 firmitico of a feeble cor.llitution and frequent bodily difor- 

 ders, together with the lofs of the greatell part of his for- 

 tune in confequence of the fliutting up of the exchequer in 

 1671, and by the penalties inflicted upon him for the cxer- 

 cife of his minillry ; but he bore all tliefe evils with fuigular 



a tiirn to fubtletics of diitiiittion, which made h;m fland 

 apart in fome theoretical points from all his contemporaries. 

 Yet in praftieal religion, the devotional warmth of his tem- 

 per alliid him to the pious of all denominations, and infpired 

 him with an enlargement of mind, which let him above the 

 di.Terences refultiug from petty controverlits. He was a 

 moil voluminous writer, and his works are fufficient to make 



fortitude and p.iticnce. In 16S.)., he was treattd with pe- a library of thcmfelves. Above 145 dillinct treatifes of his 



culiar feverity. Although he was lo ill as not to be able to compolition have been reckoned up ; of which 4 were fo- 



ftand, a warrant was granted againll him in order to his being lios, 73 quartos, and 49 octavos, belides feveral others of a 



bound to his good behaviour; and the conllablcs, who were fmaller lize. They comprife bodies of theology, pradtical 



entrnlled with its execution, watched him fo inceffantly, and theoretical, belides a vail number of trafts on particular 



that they prevented his palljiig from his lludy to his bed- topics." liis p'radlical works have been collefted together 



in 



