THE

HANSERD KNOLLYS SOCIETY,

FOR THE

PUBLICATION OF THE WORKS OF EARLY ENGLISH AND OTHER BAPTIST WRITERS.

Treasurer,

CHARLES JONES, Esq.

Honorary Secretaries,

REV. B. DAVIES, PH. D. EDWARD B. UNDERHILL, Esq.

Ir has been a matter of regret with many, that the writings of the early members and ministers of the Baptist churches of this country should be comparatively so little known. From various causes the present appears to be a favourable time to reprint such of them as may be deemed worthy of perpetuation, from their historical or theological importance.

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These writings are confined to no peculiarity of sentiment, but embrace every topic of divine truth, which the word of God presents for the salvation of the believer, as well as for the regulation of the church of Christ.

To the Baptists, it will be seen, belongs the honour of first asserting in this land, and of establishing on the immutable basis of just argument and scripture rule, the right of every man to worship God as conscience dictates, in submission only to divine command. Through evil and through good report" in cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover in bonds and imprisonments,"-they held fast to the liberty of Christ.

Rejecting the authority of men in matters of faith, they wrote with great simplicity and directness of purpose. Scripture alone was their authority, and excepting some of their polemical works, their productions are remarkably free from that parade of learning which was the fault of their age.

They were not however destitute of learning. Most of the early Baptists had had a university education: and if this privilege was not enjoyed by their successors, it was because the national seats of learning denied it to them. The names of Bampfield, Canne, Cornwell, Danvers, Delaune, Du Veil, Denne, Grantham, Jessey, Knollys, Smyth, and Tombes, not to mention others, afford sufficient proof that the Baptist churches were not destitute of able and learned expounders of their sentiments, eminent for their attainments both in classical and divine knowledge.

The historical value of the works it is proposed to reproduce is very great. Their authors exercised no mean influence on the course of national affairs during the period of Cromwell's protectorate, and they became in subsequent reigns, as they had been in times preceding the Commonwealth, the especial objects of ecclesiastical and political persecution. These productions form therefore an important element in the study of that eventful and stirring time. But especially interesting do *hese works appear as the documents from which may be learnt the opinions and the bitter trials of those men to whom the Baptist body owes its existence in this country :-in whose stripes, and bonds, and death, was laid the foundation of that liberty we now enjoy.

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As theological writers they are characterized by fervour of spirit; deep study of the word of God; great facility of application of divine truths to passing events; a holy attachment to "the truth as it is in Jesus;" clear and pungent exhibitions of the word of life; an uncompromising adherence to the scriptures as the rule of doctrine, practice, and ecclesiastical organization and discipline; and finally, a fearless following of their convictions, derived from the divine oracles.

There are also wanting for our congregational and family libraries works of this kind. It is to be feared that as a body we are too ignorant of our own history, and of the great and good men who lost all in the maintenance of our principles. Our young people especially need information on these points. Moreover they are needed for the libraries of our ministers. Even our collegiate institutions possess but very few, and such as still exist are daily becoming more scarce and inaccessible. The collection proposed would furnish at a very small cost a series of works peculiarly adapted to their use.

It is proposed therefore to reprint by an annual subscription of ten shillings and sixpence, all or such of the works of the early English, or other Baptists, as the Council shall decide.

The series will include the works of both General and Particular Baptists; Records and Manuscripts relating to the rise and formation of the Baptist churches; Translations of such works as may illustrate the sufferings of the Baptists and the extension of their principles, together with such Documents as are to be found only in large historical collections, or may not yet have appeared in an accessible form. On the baptismal controversy only those treatises will be given which are of acknowledged worth or historic value. The whole will be accompanied with biographical notices of the authors, and with such notes and illustrations as may be essential to their completeness. The publications will consist of works produced before the close of the seventeenth century.

It is hoped that the cheapness of the works, combined with their intrinsic value, will ensure for them a wide circulation among every class of readers. With a body of three thousand subscribers, the Council will be enabled to issue three octavo volumes annually. It is obvious that the larger the number of members, the more frequent will be the publication of the works.