He afterwards returned to Kidderminster, and refumed the work of his miniftry. He hindered, as far as it was in his power, the taking of the covenant, he preached and fpoke publicly againit the engagement, and therefore it is very unjust to brand him, as fome have done, as a trumpeter of rebellion. When the army was marching to oppofe K. Charles II. at the head of the Scots, Mr. Baxter took pains, both by speaking and writing, to remind the foldiers of their duty, and to diffuade them from fighting against their brethren and fellow-fubjects. After this, when Cromwell affumed the fupreme power, he was not afraid to exprefs his difaffection to his tyranny, though he did not think himself obliged to preach politics from C 3

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To enter into all the grofs things that have been faid of Mr. Baxter by his enemies, would take up more room than we have employed in writing his life. It is fufficient to note their names, and the pieces they have wrote, viz. Mr. Crandon in his book against Mr. Baxter's Aphorifms; Mr. Young's Vindicia Anti-Baxterianæ, 1696, 12mo. Mr. Long's Review of Mr. Baxter's Life, 1697, 8vo. adding, as a fpecimen, the following speech put into the mouth of prefident Bradbaw in hell, who, in deciding on the merits of Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Nevill, and Mr. Baxter, is made to fpeak of the last thus: • If he, whofe faith is faction, whofe religion is rebellion, whofe prayers are fpells, whofe piety is magic, whofe purity is the gall of bitterness, who can cant and recant, and cant again; who can transform himfelf into as many shapes as Lucifer (who is never more a devil than when an angel of light), and, like him (who proud of his perfections, ⚫ first rebelled in heaven), proud of his imaginary graces, pretends to rule and govern, and confequently rebel on earth, be the greatest politician; then make room for Mr. Baxter: Let him come in, and be • crowned with wreaths of ferpents and chaplets of adders: Let his triumphant chariot be a pulpit drawn on the wheels of cannon, by a brace of wolves in fheeps cloathing: Let the antient fathers of the church, whom out of ignorance he has vilified; the reverend and learned prelates, whom out of pride and malice he has abused, belied and perfecuted; the moft righteous king, whofe murder (I fpeak my own and his fenfe), contrary to the light of all religion, laws, reafon, and confcience, he has juftified, then denied, then again and again juftified; let them all be bound in chains to attend his infernal triumph to his Saints Everlasting Rest. Then make room fcribes and pharifees, hypocrites, atheifts, and politicians, for the greatest rebel on earth, and next to him that fell from heaven.' But it is certain, that no man made more warm pretenfions to loyalty than Mr. Baxter did, who had the courage to tell the protector Cromwell to his face, that the old English monarchy was a bleffing. He was at the defire of K. Charles II. appointed one of his chaplains, and had fome fhare of royal favor as long as the king lived. But what feems to put this matter out of all queftion is this, that, after the fevere treatment he met with in the reign of K. James, which might easily have fowered his fpirit, and after the revolution, when he was under no neceffity of keeping terms, he difclaimed all fuch fentiments, declaring pofitively, that throughout the whole civil war he was always for the king and parjament, and never against the king's perfon, power, or prerogative.

the pulpit. Once indeed he preached before Cromwell, but neither did he in that fermon flatter, nor, in a conference he had with him afterwards, did he express either affection to his perfon, or fubmiffion to his power, but quite the contrary*. He came to London a little before the depofition of Richard Cromwell. At that time Mr. Baxter was looked upon as a friend to monarchy, and with reafon, for, being chofen to preach before the parliament on the 30th of April 1660, which was the day preceding that on which they voted the king's return, he maintained, that loyalty to their prince, was a thing effential to all true proteftants of whatever perfuafion. About the fame time likewife he was chofen to preach a thanksgiving fermon at St. Paul's, for general Monk's fuccefs; and yet fome have been fo bold as to maintain, that he attempted to diffuade his excellency from concurring in,

The earl of Warwick and the lord Brogbill were the perfons who drew him to preach before the protector, and the words he made choice of were thefe: Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that ye all speak the fame thing, and that there be no divifions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the fame mind, and in the jame judgement. He levelled his difcourfe against the divifions and diftractions of the church, fhewing how mischievous a thing it was for politicians to maintain fuch divifions for their own ends, that they might fish in troubled waters, and keep the church by its divisions in a state of weakness, left it should be able to offend them. Awhile after Cromwell fent to speak with him, and when he came he had only three of his chief men with him. He began a long and tedious fpecch to him of GOD's providence in the change of the government, and how GOD had owned it, and what great things had been done at home and abroad in the peace with Spain and Holland, &c. When he had continued speaking thus about an hour, Mr. Baxter told him, it was too great condefcenfion to acquaint him fo fully with all thofe matters which were above him; but that the honeft people of the land took their antient monarchy to be a bleffing and not an evil, and humbly craved his patience that he might ask him, how they had forfeited that bleffing, and unto whom this forfeiture was made? Upon that question he was awakened into fome paffion, and told him there was no forfeiture, but GOD had changed it as pleafed him; and then he let fly at the parliament, which thwarted him, and, especially by name, at four or five members, which were Mr. Baxter's chief acquaintance, whom he prefumed to defend against the protector's paffion. And thus were four or five hours spent, though to little purpose. Some time afterwards the protector fent for him again, under pretence of afking his judgement about liberty of confcience, at which time alfo he made a long tedious fpeech himfelf, which took up fo much time, that Mr. Baxter defired to offer his fentiments in writing, which he did; but he fays, he questions whether Cromwell read them. We have alfo a character of Cromwell drawn by the pen of our Author, which, though too long to be inferted here, is one of the most just and impartial, that we have of that very extraordinary man.

in, or rather from bringing about, that happy change. After the restoration he became one of the king's chaplains in ordinary, preached before him once, and had frequent accefs to his royal perfon, and was always treated by him with peculiar refpect. At the Savoy conferences, Mr. Baxter affifted as one of the commiflioners, and then drew up the reformed liturgy. He was offered the bifhopric of Hereford, by the lord chancellor Clarendon, which he refufed to accept, for reafons which he rendered in a refpectful letter to his lordship. Yet even then he would willingly have returned to his beloved town of Kidderminfler, and have preached in the low ftate of a curate. But this was then refused him, though the lord chancellor took pains to have fettled him there as he defired. When he found himfelf thus difappointed, he preached occafionally about the city of London, fometimes for Dr. Bates at St. Dunstan's in the West, and sometimes in other places, having a licence from bishop Sheldon, upon his fubfcribing a promife, not to preach any thing against the doctrine or ceremonies of the church. The last time he preached in public was, on the 15th day of May, 1662, a farewel fermon at Black Friars. He afterwards retired to Acton in Middlefex, where he went every Lord's day to the public church, and spent the rest of the day with his family, and a few poor neighbours that came in to him. In 1665, when the plague raged, he went to Richard Hampden's, Efq. in Buckinghamshire, and returned to Acton when it was over. He ftaid there as long as the act against conventicles continued in force, and when that was expired, he had fo many auditors that he wanted room. upon, by a warrant figned by two juftices, he was committed for fix months to New-Prifon jail, but got an habeas corpus, and was released and removed to Totteridge near Barnet*. At this place he lived quietly and with

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In this affair, as Mr. Baxter met with fome hardship in the commitment, fo he experienced the fincerity of many of his best friends, who on this occafion ftuck by him very fteadily. As he was carried to prison, he called upon Serjeant Fountain to ask his advice, who, when he had perufed the mittimus, gave it as his opinion, that he might be difcharged from his imprifonment by law. The earl of Orrery, the earl of Manchefter, the earl of Arlington, and the duke of Buckingbam, mentioned the affair to the king, who was pleafed to fend Sir John Baber to him, to let him know, that though his majesty was not willing to relax the law, yet he would not be offended, if by any application to the courts in Weftminfier-Hall he could procure his liberty; upon this a babeas corpus was demanded at the bar of the common-pleas, and granted. The judges were clear in their opinion, that the mittimus

Was

out disturbance. The king was refolved to make fome conceffions to the diffenters in Scotland, and the duke of Lauderdale, by his order, acquainted Mr. Baxter, that if he would take this opportunity of going into that kingdom, he fhould have what preferment he would there; which he declined on account of his own weakness and the circumstances of his family. His opinion however was taken on the scheme for fettling church difputes in that country. In 1671, Mr. Baxter loft the greatest part of his fortune by the fhutting up of the king's exchequer, in which he had a thousand pounds. After the indulgence in 1672, he returned into the city, and was one of the Tuesday lecturers at Pinner's- Hall, and had a Friday lecture at Fetter Lane; but, on the Lord's days, he for fome time preached only occafionally, and afterwards more ftatedly in St. James's market-house, where in 1674 he had a wonderful deliverance, by almost a miracle, from a crack in the floor. He was apprehended as he was preaching his lecture at Mr. Turner's, but foon released, because the warrant was not, as it ought to have been, figned by a city juftice. The times feeming to grow more favorable, he built a meeting-houfe in Oxendon Street, where he preached but once before a refolution was taken to furprise and fend him to the county jail on the Oxford act, which misfortune he luckily efcaped; but the perfon who preached for him was committed to the Gatehouse, and continued there three months. Having been kept out of his new meeting-houfe a whole year, he took another in Swallow Street; but was likewife prevented from ufing that, a guard being fixed there for many Sundays together, to hinder him from coming into it. On Mr. Wadsworth's dying, Mr. Baxter preached to his congregation in Southwark for many months. When Dr. Lloyd fucceeded Dr. Lamplugh in St. Martin's parifh, Mr. Baxter made him an offer of the chapel he had built in Oxendon Street, for public worship, which was very kindly accepted, In 1682,

was infufficient, and thereupon difcharged him. This exafperated the juftices who committed him, and therefore they made a new mittimus, in order to have him fent to the county jail of Newgate, which he avoided by keeping out of the way. The whole of this perfecution is faid to have been owing to the particular pique of Dr. Bruno Rives, dean of Windfor and of Wolverhampton, rector of Hafelly and of Acton, and one of the king's chaplains in ordinary. The reafon that he pushed this matter fo far was, because Mr. Baxter had preached in his parish of Acton, which he fancied fome way reflected upon him, because Mr. Baxter had always a large audience, though in truth this was in a good measure owing to the imprudence of the dean, whofe curate was a weak man, and too great a frequenter of alehouses.

1682, he suffered more feverely than he had ever done on account of his nonconformity. One day he was fuddenly furprifed in his houfe by many conftables and officers, who apprehended him upon a warrant to feize his perfon, for coming within five miles of a corporation, producing at the fame time five more warrants, to diftrain for one hundred and ninety-five pounds for five fermons. Though he was much out of order, being but juft rifen from his bed, where he had been in extremity of pain, he was contentedly going with them to a juftice, to be fent to jail, and left his houfe to their will. But Dr. Thomas Cox, meeting him as he was going, forced him again into his bed, and went to five juftices and took his oath, that he could not go to prifon without danger of death. Upon this the juftices delayed till they had confulted the king, who confented that his imprisonment fhould be for that time forborn, that he might die at home. But they executed their warrants on the books and goods in the house, though he made it appear they were none of his; and they fold even the bed which he lay fick upon. Some friends paid them as much money as they were appraised at, and he repayed them. And all this was without Mr. Baxter's having the leaft notice of any accufation, or receiving any fummons to appear and anfwer for himself, or ever feeing the juftices or accufers; and afterwards he was in conftant danger of new feizures, and thereupon he was forced to leave his houfe, and retire into private lodgings.

Things continued much in the fame way during the year 1683, and Mr. Baxter remained in great obfcurity, however, not without receiving a remarkable teftimony of the fincere efteem, and great confidence, which a perfon of remarkable piety, though of another perfuafion, had towards him: The rev. Mr. Thomas Mayot, a beneficed clergyman in the church of England, who had devoted his eftate to charitable ufes, gave by his last will 600l. to be diftributed by Mr. Baxter to fixty poor ejected minifters; adding, that he did it not because they were nonconformifts, but because many fuch were poor and pious. But the king's attorney, Sir Robert Sawyer, fued for it in the chancery, and the lord-keeper North gave it all to the king. It was paid into the chancery by order, and, as Providence directed it, there kept fafe, till king William the third afcended the throne, when the commiffioners of the great feal reftored it to the ufe for which it was intended by the deceafed; and Mr. Baxter difpofed of it accordingly. In the following year, 1684, Mr. Baxter

fell