diation of the Lord Powis, granted him a pardon, and on the 24th of November he was discharged out of the King's Bench. Sureties, however, were required for his good behaviour, but it was entered on his bail-piece by direction of King James, that his remaining in London, contrary to the Oxford act, should not be taken as a breach of the peace. After this he retired to a house he took in Charter-House Yard, contenting himself with the exercise

x. 2. John xi. 57. and Acts xv. 12. These passages were picked out by Sir Roger L'Estrange, and some of his fraternity. And a certain noted clergyman (who shall be nameless) put into the hands of his enemies some accusations out of om. xii. &c. as against the king, to touch his life, but no use was made of them. The great charge was, that in these several passages he reflected on the prelates of the church of England, and so was guilty of sedition, &c. The king's counsel opened the information at large, with its aggravations. Mr. Wallop, Mr. Williams, Mr Rotheram, Mr. Attwood, and Mr. Phipps, were Mr. Baxter's consel, and had been feed by Sir Henry Ashurst. Mr. Wallop said, ⚫ that he conceived the matter depending being a point of doctrine, it Qught to be referred to the bishop, his ordinary; but if not, he humbly conceived the doctrine was inocent and justifiable, setting aside the innuendos, for which there was no colour, there being no • antecedent to refer them to. (i. e. no bishop or clergy of the church of England named.) He said the book accused, i. e. "The Comment "on the New Testament," contained many eternal truths; but they who drew the information were the libelleis, in applying to the prelates of the church of England, those severe things which were written concerning some prelates who deserved the characters which he gave. My Lord (says he), I humbly conceive the bishops Mr. Baxter speaks of, as your Lordship, if you have read church-history, must confess, were the plagues of the church and of the world.' Mr. Wallop, says the Lord Chief Justice, I observe you are in all these dirty causes; and were it not for you gentlemen of the long robe, who should have more wit and honesty than to support and hold up these factious knaves by the chin, we should not be at the pass we are.' My Lord, says Mr. Wallop, I humbly conceive, that the passages accused are natural deductions from the text.' You humbly conceive, says Jefferies, and I humbly conceive: Swear him, swear him.' My Lord, says he, under favour, I am counsel for the defendant; and, if I understand either Latin or English, the information now brought against Mr. Baxter upon such a slight ground, is a greater reflection upon the church of • England, than any thing contained in the book he is accused for.' Says Jefferies to him, Sometimes you humbly conceive, and sometimes you are very positive: You talk of your skill in church-history, and of your understanding Latin and English; I think I understand something of them as well as you; but, in short, I must tell you, that if you do not understand your duty better, I shall teach it you.' Upon which Mr. Wallop sat down. Mr. Rotheram urged, that if Mr. Baxter's book had sharp reflections upon the church of Rome by " name, but spake well of the prelates of the church of England, it was to be presumed that the sharp reflections were intended only against the prelates of the church of Rome.' The Lord Chief Justice

cise of his ministry, as assistant to Mr. Silvester, and though no man was better qualified than he, for managing the public affairs of his party, yet he never meddled with them, nor had the least to do with those addresses which were presented by some of that body to King James II. on his indulgence. After his settlement in Charter-House Yard, he continued about four years and a half in the exercise of public duties, till he became so very weak as

to

said, Baxter was an enemy to the name and thing, the office and 6 person of bishops.' Rotheram added, that Baxter frequently attended divine service, went to the sacrament, and persuaded others to 'do so too, as was certainly and publicly known; and had, in the very book so charged, spoken very moderately and honourably of the bishops of the church of England. Mr. Baxter added, "My "Lord, I have been so moderate with respect to the church of England, "that I have incurred the censure of many of the dissenters upon that "account." Baxter for bishops, says Jefferies, that's a merry conceit indeed: Turn to it, turn to it.' Upon this Rotheram turned to a place where it is said, That great respect is due to those truly called to be bishops among us,' or to that purpose. Ay, saith Jefferies, this is your Presbyterian cant; truly called to be bishops; that is himself, and such rascals, called to be bishops of Kidderminster and other such places: Bishops set apart by such factious, snivelling Presbyterians as himself; a Kidderminster bishop he means: Ac⚫cording to the saying of a late learned author, and every parish shall 'maintain a tithe-piz metropolitan.' Mr. Baxter, beginning to speak again, says he to him, Richard, Richard, dost thou think we will hear thee poison the court, &c. Richard, thou art an old fellow, · an old knave; thou hast written books enough to load a cart, every one as full of sedition (I might say treason) as an egg is full of meat. Hadst thou been whipped out of thy writing trade forty years ago, it had been happy. Thou pretendest to be a preacher of the gospel of peace, and thou hast one foot in the grave; it is time for thee to begin to think what account thou intendest to give. But leave thee to thyself, and I see thou wilt go on as thou hast begun, but, by the grace of GoD, I will look after thee. I know thou hast a mighty party, and I see a great many of the brotherhood in corners, waiting 6 to see what will become of their mighty don, and a doctor of the party (looking to Dr. Bates) at your elbow; but, by the grace of Almighty God, I'll crush you all. Mr. Rotheram sitting down, Mr. Attwood began to shew, that not one of the passages mentioned in the information ought to be strained to that sense, which was put upon them by the innuendos, they being more natural when taken in a milder sense, nor could any one of them be applied to the prelates of the church of England without a very forced construction. To evidence this he would have read some of the text: But Jefferies cried out, You shall not draw me into a conventicle with your annotations, nor your snivelling parson neither.' 'My Lord, said Attwood, I conceive this to be expressly within Roswell's case lately before "your Lordship. You conceive, says Jefferies, you conceive amiss; it is not.' My Lord, says Mr. Attwood, that I may use the best 1 authority, permit me to repeat your Lordship's own words in that

'case.'

to be forced to keep his chamber. Even then he ceased not to do good, so far as it was in his power: and as he spent his life in taking pains, so to the last moment of it he directed his Christian brethren by the light of a good example. He departed this life December 8, 1691. A few days after his corpse was interred in Christ Church, being attended to the grave by a large company of all ranks and qualities, especially ministers, and amongst

them

case.'' No, you shall not,' says he. You need not speak, for you are ⚫ an author already, though you speak and write impertinently.' Says Attwood, I cannot help that, my Lord, if my talent be no better; but it is my duty to do my best for my client.' Jefferies thereupon went on, inveighing against what Attwood had published: And Attwood justified it to be in defence of the English constitution, declaring that he never disowned any thing that he had written. Jefferies several times ordered him to sit down, but he still went on: My Lord,' says he, * I have matter of law to offer for my client;' and he proceeded to cite several cases, wherein it had been adjudged, that words ought to be taken in the milder sense, and not to be strained by innuendos. 'Well,' says Jefferies, when he had done, ' you have had your say.' and Mr. Phipps said nothing, for they saw it was to no purpose. length says Mr. Baxter himself, "My Lord, I think I can clearly an"swer all that is laid to my charge, and I shall do it briefly. The "sum is contained in these few papers, to which I shall add a little by "testimony:" But he would not hear a word. At length the Chief Justice summed up the matter in a long and fulsome harangue.

Mr. Williams

At

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is notoriously known (says he) there has been a design to ruin the king and the nation. The old game has been renewed, and this has ⚫ been the main incendiary. He is as modest now as can be; but time was, when no man was so ready to bind your kings in chains, and your nobles in fetters of iron; and to your tents, O Israel. Gentlemen, for God's sake, don't let us be gulled twice in an age,' &c. And when he concluded, he told the jury, That if they in their con⚫ sciences believed he meant the bishops and clergy of the church of England, in the passages which the information referred to, they must find him guilty, and he could mean no men else; if not they must find him not guilty.' When he had done, says Mr. Baxter to him, "Does your Lordship think any jury will pretend to pass a verdict 66 upon me, upon such a trial?"I'll warrant you, Mr. Baxter,' says he, don't you trouble yourself about that.' The jury immediately laid their heads together at the bar, and found him guilty. As he was going from the bar, Mr. Baxter told my Lord Chief Justice, who had so loaded him with reproaches, and yet continued them, that "A "predecessor of his had had other thoughts of him:" Upon which he replied, That there was not an honest man in England but what took him for a great knave.' He had subpoenaed several clergymen, who appeared in court, but were of no use to him, through the violence of the Chief Justice. The trial being over, Sir Henry Ashurst led Mr. Baxter through the crowd, (I mention it to his honour) and conveyed him away in his coach. On June the 29th following, he had judgment given against him. He was fined five hundred marks, to lie in prison till he paid it, and be bound to his good behaviour for seven years. Calamy's Abridgement, Vol. I. p. 368–372.

them not a few of the established church, who very prudently paid this last tribute of respect to the memory of a great and good man, whose labours deserved much from true Christians of all denominations. He was a man, to speak impartially from the consideration of his writings, who had as strong a head, and as sound a heart, as any of the age in which he lived. He was too conscientious to comply from temporal motives, and his charity was too extensive to think of recommending himself to popular applause by a rigid behaviour. These sentiments produced such a practice as inclined some to believe he had a religion of his own, which was the reason that when Sir John Gayer bequeathed a legacy by will to men of moderate notions, he could think of no better expression than this, that they should be of Mr. Baxter's religion. We need not wonder that a person so little addicted to any party should experience the bitterness of all, and in truth, no man was ever more severely treated in this respect than Mr. Baxter, against whom more books were written, than against any man in the age in which he lived. His friends, however, were such as the bare repetition of their names might well pass for a panegyric, since it is impossible they could have lived in terms of strict intimacy with any other than a wise and upright man. But the best testimony of Mr. Baxter's worth may be

*

Sir John Gayer did, by his last will and testament, bequeath a considerable sum of money to persons lately entered into the ministry, and young students for the ministry, with this restriction, that they should be such as were neither for domination nor unnecessary separation, but of Mr. Baxter's principles. His lady, being of the established church, inclined to pay the legacy to such as were within Sir John's description of her own community. Upon this a Chancery suit was commenced, wherein it was proved, to the satisfaction of the court, that Mr. Baxter was a nonconformist; whereupon a decree went in favour of the plaintiffs. This was certainly a very singular case, and much for the honour of Mr. Baxter, since it plainly appears that Sir John Gayer thought him a man of distinguished piety and uncommon moderation; and, on the other hand, neither church nor dissenters could be prevailed on to part with their right in him, but actually tried it in a court of equity.

We have already mentioned many of his court friends, to whom we ought to add the famous Duke of Lauderdale, the Earl of Balcarras, a Scotch nobleman of the name of Lesley, and at the head of the Presbyterian interest in that kingdom. The great Chief Justice Hale, who honoured him with an intimate friendship, gave a high encomium of his piety and learning to all the judges, when he was in prison on the Oxford act, left him a legacy in his will, and several large books in his own hand-writing, on the matter of their conversations; Alderman Ashurst, Sir John Maynard, Sir James Langham, Sir Edward Harley, &c.

He

be drawn from his own writings, of which he left behind him a very large number.* Many indeed have censured them, though it is certain that some of his books met with as general a reception as any that ever were printed; and the judicious Dr. Barrow, whose opinion all competent judges will admit, gave this judgment upon them, his practical writings were never mended, his controversial seldom confuted.'.

Thus far we are indebted to the authors of the Biographia Britannica, for what they have laboriously digested both from his own life written by Mr. Baxter himself, and from the abridgement of it, or additions to it, composed by others. His own life, published from his manuscripts by Mr. Matthew Sylvester, is not only a very necessary book to those who would know Mr. Baxter, but to all who would study and understand the history of the times in which Mr. Baxter lived. It seems the most abstracted from party-heat of any book of the kind that ever was written, which seems the more extraordinary, as few men have suffered greater inconveniences by party.

It

He was likewise honoured with the correspondence of many foreign divines, such as Mr. Brunsenius, chaplain to the Elector of Brandenbourg; Dr. Spencer, chaplain to the Elector of Saxony; the celebrated Monsieur Amyrald, and many others: Among whom we ought not to forget Dr. John Tillotson, then Deau of St. Paul's, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury.

* Dr. Bates tells us, that his books, which for number and variety of matter were sufficient to make a library, contain a treasure of controversial, casuistical, positive, and practical divinity. Bishop Wilkins affirms, that he has cultivated every subject he has handled. Dr. Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely, commends him as a useful and pious writer. But the Rev. Mr. Long of Exeter, whom we have quoted more than once, says, that it would be well for the world if they were all burned. According to his computation, they were in number fourscore: Dr. Calamy says he wrote above one hundred and twenty. Neither of these computations are exact. The author of this note hath seen a hundred and forty-tive distinct treatises of Mr. Raxter's, whereof four were folio's, seventy-three quarto's, forty-nine octavo's, and nineteen in twelves and twenty-four's, besides single sheets, separate sermons, and at least five and twenty prefaces before other men's writings. The first book he published was his Aphorisms of Justification, and the Covenants, printed in 1649, and the last in his life time, The Certainty of the World of Spirits, printed in 1691, so that he was an author two and fifty years. Amongst his most famous pieces were his Saints Everlasting Rest; his Call to the Unconverted, of which twenty thousand were sold in one year; it was translated into all the European languages, and into the Indian tongue: His Reformed Liturgy, his Catholic Theology, his Poor Man's Family Book, his Dying Thoughts, and his Paraphrase on the New Testament. His practical works have been printed altogether, in four vo Jumes in folio.