On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
as might tend to the interest of religion , hee lookt on himself so little disobliged from them by any subscription or declaration , that he both already had , and should still use them as hee had opportunity- But pardon this tediousnesse , and bee pleased to
present my service to Mrs . Baxter . If at your leasure you shall favour mee with a line or two , I shall bee exceeding thankfull an 3 glad . And , especially , I ' beg a daily remembrance in your praiers of him whom you have so many waies obliged to bee , Sir , As entirely yours as I possibly may , JO . RAWLET .
These For the Reverend my ever Honoured friend , Mr . Rich . Baxter : with care and speed . Two Letters of Baxter on his Conviction for his Paraphrase *
I . Letter to some Prelate or Peer unknown , probably the former . [ This and the following letter may surprise such readers as have been accustomed to regard Baxter as a Dissenter . His Life by himself shews that he was not only an advocate for
an Established Church , but an eager conformist to the Church of England . His nonconformity was only in the character of a minister . In his political principles , he was a friend to monarchy , and almost to the principles of passive obedience and non-resistance . He retracted after the Restoration
some things which he had published in earlier life , savouring of liberty , and unworthil y ^ we think , expunged from the later editions of the Saints * ' Rest the names of Brook , Pym and Hampden , which l * e had at first inserted in a catalogue of eminent saints gone to
heaven . The introductory sentence of this letter refers to the alleged conspiracy for which Russell and Sidney lost their lives , and we grieve to find Baxter not only a believer in the charges against these noble patriots , but also , by implication , an approver of their condemnation . Baxter was
a proverbially honest , but a credulous man : but after every deduction that can be made from his virtues , there will be enough 5 n his character to excite admiration ; and his moderation &s a theologian In an age of fierce
Untitled Article
extremes will always secure him a distinguished place amongst the benefactors to the Christian Church . ] My Lord , Since I have read the account of the conspiracy , ( the truth of which I never doubted of , since I first heard the evidence , ) I am now sensible that it is my duty to do my best to confute the unjust suspicions and accusations that I am a promoter of sedition and such
mischievous designs ; for which end it is not evidence that I want , ( tliough I justifie not my faults , ) but meanes of notification . The false accusations of fame and libellers are believed by many that know me not , nor will read my just vindication . Hearing that you have allready condescended to speak for me , I humbly beseech you to
receive these writings ; and if you have not leisure to read the whole , at least to peruse the summe , ( omitting the long citations , ) and , as you find cause , to fell the Lord Chiefe Justice and my Diocesane , the XA B . of London , your judgment of my case . The true
breviate of it is this—1 st , I had never hated sedition , rebellion and vvarre the tenth part so much as I do , if I had not seen the eifects of it and of the separating disease that formerly promoted it . Tins I declared more openly than others 15 yeares before the King ' s restoration . 2 d . To prevent the divisions and passions which
cause such mischievous effects , I laboured with all nay zeale and mighty in 1660 and 1661 , by the King ' s call and commission , to have procured at least such small abatements , without
which I was sure that ejections , siiencings , imprisonments , and the consequent exasperations and sad divisions , could not be prevented ; seeing men that are hurt will feele . And the King must have more subjects than those that can patiently he undone , or those that know all indifferent things required to be indifferent , and all dark
promising and professing words to be lawful 1 . 3 d . When I could not attaine what I endeavoured , I earnestly bent my mind and labour by example , word and writing , to draw men to a submission to the Government , and a thankfull and peaceable communion with the Church , as having yet sound doctrine , and better preaching and worship tlian ulrnost any churches in
Untitled Article
Original Letters fro / n and to Richard Baxter . 147
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1825, page 147, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2534/page/19/
-