As for his perfon, he was. tall of ftature ftrongboned, though not corpulent; fomewhat of a ruddy face, with fparkling eyes; wearing his hair on his upper lip, after the old Britih fafhion; his hair reddifh, but, in his latter days, time had fprinkled it with grey; his nose well fet, but not declining or bending, and his mouth moderately large; his forehead fomething high, and his habit always plain and modeft.

He was certainly a man of a great and vigorous genius, which, had it been properly cultivated, might have railed him to a very confpicuous eminence in the literary world. 'Tis wonderful, under fo many difadvantages and depreffions, that it could foar fo high as it did: And it is one extraordinary proof, among many, that though the grace of GOD doth not impart new natural powers, yet, in per-addition to it's own proper effects, it ufually gives new energy to thofe powers, and draws them on to attainments, which before could not have been expected or conceived. Mr. Granger (author of the Biographical History of England) fays of him, that when he arrived at the fixtieth year of his age, which was the period of his life, he had written books equal to the number of his years: But as many of thefe are on fimilar fubjects, they are very much alike. His mafter-piece is his Pilgrim's Progrefs, one of the most popular, and, I may add, one of the most ingenious books in the English language.' The fame author alfo obferves, that Bunyan, who has been mentioned among the leaft and lowest of our writers, and even ridiculed as a driveller by thofe who have never read him, deferves a much higher rank than is commonly imagined. His Pilgrim's Progrefs gives us a clear and diftinct idea of Calviniftical divinity. The allegory is admirably carried on, and the characters juftly drawn, and uniformly fupported. The Author's original and poetic genius fhines through the coarseness and vulgarity of his language, and intimates, that, if he had been a mafter of numbers, he might have compofed a poem worthy of Spenfer himself. As this opinion may be deemed paradoxical, I fhall venture to name two perfons of eminence of the fame fentiments; one, the late Mr. Merrick, of Reading; the other, Dr. Roberts, now Fellow of Eton-College.' Mr. Granger obferves in a note, that Mr. Merrick has been heard to fay, in converfation, that Bunyan's invention was like that of Homer. Another perfon well remembers an obfervation of the fame Mr. Merrick to himfelf,' upon his, having been presented by a noble lady with a new edition

of

of the Pilgrim; That it was a complete poem, and a very excellent and ingenious poem, with a religious tendency, which could be faid but of few poems.' To which may be added, the well-known remarks of a polite author, that Bunyan's Pilgrim was a Chriftian; but Patrick's only a Pedlar.'

A new edition of Mr. Bunyan's WORKS is now publifhing by Alexander Hogg, Pater-nofter Row, with elegant copper-plates, more complete than any former one, and afforded by the reverend Mr. Symonds of Bedford; the following are the titles: "I. Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners, in a faithful account of the life of Mr. John Bunyan. II. A Confeffion of his Faith, and Reafon of his Practice, &c. III. Differences in Judgement about Water-baptifm, no Bar to Communion; &c. IV. Peaceable Principles and true; &c. V. The Doctrine of the Law and Grace unfolded; or, a Difcourfe touching the Law and Gofpel. VI. The Pilgrim's Progress: Part 1ft. and 2d. VII. The Jerufalem Sinner faved, &c. VIII. The Heavenly Footman; or, a Defcription of the Man that gets to Heaven, &c.. IX. Solomon's Temple spiritualized, &c. X. The acceptable Sacrifice; or, the Excellency of a broken Heart. XI. Sighs from Hell; or, the Groans of a damned Soul. XII. Come and welcome to Jefus Chrift; a Difcourfe on John vi. 37. XIII. A Difcourfe upon the Pharifee and Publican, &c. XIV. Of Juftification by an imputed Righteoufnefs; or, No Way to Heaven but by Jefus Christ. XV. Paul's Departure and Crown; or, an Expofition upon 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8. XVI. Of the Trinity and a Chriftian. XVII. Of the Law and Chriftian. XVIII. Ifrael's Hope encouraged; or, what Hope is, and how diftinguifhed from Faith, &c. XIX. The Life and Death of Mr. Badman; this is in the form of a dialogue between Mr. Wifeman and Mr. Attentive. XX. The Barren Fig-tree; or, the Doom and Downfall of the fruitlefs Profeffor. XXI. An Exhortation to Peace and Unity. XXII. One Thing is needful; or, ferious Meditations upon the four laft Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. XXIII. The Holy War, made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the regaining the Metropolis of the World; or, the lofing and taking again of the Town of Manfoul. XXIV. The Defire of the Righteous granted; or, a Difcourfe of the righteous Man's Defires. XXV. The Saint's Privilege and Profit. XXVI. Chrift, a complete Saviour; or, the Interceffion of Chrift, and who are privileged in it. XXVII. The Saints. Knowledge

Knowledge of Chrifi's love; or, the unfearchable Riches of Chrift. XXVIII. A Difcourfe of the Houfe of the Foreft of Lebanon. XXIX. Of Antichrift and his Ruin: and of the flaying the Witneffes. XXX. Saved by Grace; or, a Difcourfe of the Grace of God. XXXI. Chriftian Behaviour, being the Fruits of true Chriftianity. XXXII. A Difcourfe touching Prayer. XXXIII. The ftrait Gate; or, the great Difficulty of going to Heaven. XXXIV. Some Gofpel-Truths opened, according to the Scriptures. XXXV. A Vindication of Gofpel-Truths opened. XXXVI. Light for them that fit in Darkness; or, a Difcourfe of Jefus Chrift, &c. XXXVII. Inftruction for the Ignorant ; &c. XXXVIII. The holy City, or, the New Jerufalem. XXXIX. The Refur rection of the Dead and eternal Judgment. XL. A Caution to ftir up to watch against Sin. XLI. An Expofition on the ten firft Chapters of Genefis, and part of the eleventh. XLII. The Work of Jefus Chrift as an Advocate; &c. XLIII. Seafonable Counfel; or, Advice to Sufferers. XLIV. Divine Emblems. XLV. Meditations on Seventy-four Things. XLVI. A Chriftian Dialogue. XLVII. A Pocket Concordance. XLVIII. An Account of the Author's Imprifonment, written by himself. XLIX. A Difcourfe of Election and Reprobation. L. A Defence of the Doctrine of Juftification against bishop Fowler, 1671. LI. A Treatife of the Fear of GOD. LII. The Greatnefs of the Soul and the Unfpeakableness of its lofs: Preached at Pinners-hall, 1683. LIII. Advice to Sufferers, 1684. (Befides XLIII. the Seasonable Counfel; &c.) LIV. A holy Life the Beauty of Chriftianity, 1684. LV. The Firft-Day Sabbath, 1685.. LVI. A Difcourfe of the Nature, Building, and Government of the Houfe of GOD, 1688. LVII. The Water of Life grounded upon Rev. xxii. 1. printed 1688. LVIII. Mr. Bunyan's laft Sermon, July 1688. LIX. Ebal and Gerizim; or, the Bleffing and the Curse. LX. Prifon Meditations, directed to the Hearts of fuffering Saints and reigning Sinners."

The third part of the Pilgrim's Progrefs is not Mr. Bunyan's; neither is that piece, printed with his name to it about ninety years ago, entitled, "Heart's Eafe " in Heart's Trouble."

His Pilgrim, which is his mafter-piece, hath paffed above fifty editions, and been tranflated into various languages.

It hath been remarked, that he died at fixty years of age, and left fixty books or tracts of his own compofition behind him. RICHARD

RICHARD BAXTER.

TH

HIS eminently ufeful and pious Divine was born at Rowton, near High-Ercal, in Shropshire, on the welfth of November 1615, in the house of his grandfather by the mother, Richard Adeney. His father, alfo named Richard Baxter, had a fmall freehold eftate at Eaton-Confantine, about five miles from Shrewsbury; which, by his own indifcretion when young and by that of his father, was much impaired, and occafioned many difficulties to him, before, in the course of frugality and prudence, he could free it from incumbrances.

He fpent the infancy of his life at his grandfather's, and, even then, is faid to have given ftrong indications of that piety and purity which appeared in his fubfequent life and converfation. In r625 he was taken from his grandfather's houfe where he had hitherto lived, and brought home to his father's at Eaton-Conftantine, the village above mentioned, where he paffed the remainder of his childhood. He was far from being happy in refpect to his fchool mafters, who were men no way diftinguifhed either for learning or morals, and miffed the advantages of an academical education, through a propofal made to his parents of placing him with Mr. Richard Wickfcad, chaplain to the council at Ludlow. The only advantage he reaped there was the use of an excellent library, which by his own great application proved of infinite fervice to him. In this fituation he remained about a year and half, and then returned to his father's. At the request of the lord Newport he went thence to Wroxiter, where he taught in the free-fchool for fix months, while his old fchool mafter Mr. John Owen lay in a languishing condition. Ir 1633 Mr. Wickstead prevailed on him to wave the studies in which he was then engaged, and to think of making his fortune at court. He accordingly came up to Whitehall with a recommendation to Sir Henry Herbert, then mafter of the revels, by whom he was very kindly received. But after a month's stay, difcovering no charins in this fort of life, and having

befides