my

adds, "were all, by one that knoweth his own name, put into their hands, with some accusations out of Rom. xiii., as against life; but their discretion forbade them to use or name them." The conduct of L'Estrange, in promoting the prosecution of: Baxter, is only in harmony with other parts of his character." He was one of the most unprincipled, mercenary scribblers of the age to which he belonged; a man who stuck at nothing which the interests of arbitrary power and high-church politics required. To such a man, Richard Baxter afforded delicious food: he had often before attacked him by his pen; he now employed a more formidable and dangerous weapon, the attorney-general and Lord Chief Justice Jefferies.

The conduct of the clergyman referred to, understood to be Dr. Sherlock, who suggested a charge of treason, founded on the annotations on the 13th chapter of the Romans, is more difficult to be accounted for. There was not sufficient ground for the charge, otherwise it would doubtless have been adopted. But what could instigate Sherlock to such a proceeding, affecting the life of a venerable servant of Christ, must be left to the disclosures of another day. We would hope Baxter may have

z Echard relates a curious anecdote of Baxter and L'Estrange. "When Dr. Sharp, afterwards archbishop of York, was rector of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, L'Estrange, Baxter, and the notorious Miles Pranse, who was convicted of perjury in the affair of Sir Edmund Godfrey, all approached the communion table, on a sacrament day; L'Estrange at one end, Pranse at the other, and Baxter in the middle. Baxter and Pranse, from their situation, received before L'Estrange, who, when it came to his turn, taking the bread in his hand, asked the doctor if he knew who that man was, pointing to Prause. To which the doctor answering in the negative, L'Estrange replied, "That is Miles Pranse; and I here challenge him, and solemnly declare, before God and this congregation, that what that man hath sworn or published concerning me is totally and absolutely false; and may this sacrament be my damnation if all this declaration be not true.' Pranse was silent; Mr. Baxter took special notice of it; and Dr. Sharp declared he would have refused Pranse the sacrament, had the challenge been made in time."-Echard's Church Hist. What a scene this was for a communion table! I am surprised it did not for ever disgust Baxter at occasional conformity, and teach him the importance of knowing something about the persons with whom he held religious fellowship in this sacred ordinance.

been under some mistake, and that Sherlock was not guilty of such base and atrocious conduct.

Baxter being unable to pay the fine, and aware that, though he did, he might soon be prosecuted again, on some equally unjust pretence, went to prison. Here he was visited by his friends, and even by some of the respectable clergy of the church, who sympathised with his sufferings, and deplored the injustice he received. He continued in this imprisonment nearly two years; during which he enjoyed more quietness than he had done for many years before.

An imprisonment of two years would have been found very trying and irksome to most men. To Baxter, however, it does not appear to have proved so painful, though he had now lost his beloved wife, who had frequently before been his companion in solitude and suffering. His friends do not appear to have neglected or forgotten him. The following extract of a letter from the well-known Matthew Henry, presents a pleasing view of the manner in which he endured bonds and afflictions for Christ's sake. It is addressed to his father, and dated the 17th of November, 1685, when Baxter had been several months confined. Mr. Williams justly remarks, "It is one of those pictures of days which are past, which, if rightly viewed, may produce lasting and beneficial effects: emotions of sacred sorrow for the iniquity of persecution; and animating praise, that the demon in these happy days of tranquillity, is restrained though not destroyed.”

"I went into Southwark, to Mr. Baxter. I was to wait upon him once before, and then he was busy. I found him in pretty comfortable circumstances, though a prisoner, in a private house near the prison, attended on by his own man and maid. My good friend, Mr. S[amuel] L[awrence], went with me. He is in as good health as one can expect; and, methinks, looks better, and speaks heartier, than when I saw him last. The oken you sent, he would by no means be persuaded to accept,

and was almost angry when I pressed it, from one outed as well as himself. He said he did not use to receive; and I understand since, his need is not great.

"We sat with him about an hour. I was very glad to find that he so much approved of my present circumstances. He said he knew not why young men might not improve as well, as by travelling abroad. He inquired for his Shropshire friends, and observed, that of those gentlemen who were with him at Wem, he hears of none whose sons tread in their fathers' steps but Colonel Hunt's. He inquired about Mr. Macworth's, and Mr. Lloyd's (of Aston) children. He gave us some good counsel to prepare for trials; and said the best preparation for them was, a life of faith, and a constant course of self-denial. He thought it harder constantly to deny temptations to sensual lusts and pleasures, than to resist one single temptation to deny Christ for fear of suffering: the former requiring such constant watchfulness; however, after the former, the latter will be the easier. He said, we who are young are apt to count upon great things, but we must not look for them; and much more to this purpose. He said he thought dying by sickness usually much more painful and dreadful, than dying a violent death; especially considering the extraordinary supports which those have who suffer for righteousness' sake." a

When it was seen that Baxter would neither pay the fine, nor petition for his release, a private offer appears to have been made through Lord Powis, that the king would grant it as matter of favour. A person of the name of Williams, at the end of 1686, offered to assist him, through that nobleman, in pro

* For this letter I am indebted to the 'Memoirs of the Rev. Matthew Henry,' p. 22, by my respected friend Mr. Williams, of Shrewsbury. Both in this, and in his enlarged 'Life of Philip Henry,' he has conferred great obligations on all the lovers of truly Christian and evangelical biography. Both works are replete with matter calculated to produce the most salutary influence on all classes of our religious community.

Penitent Confession, p. 40.

curing his liberty. Baxter appears to have had some suspicion, either of the man, or of his design; whose object at last appeared to be to get money, as he afterwards made a demand of 387. for his trouble. Baxter resisted this demand, and applied to Lord Powis to know what influence he had in procuring his release. His lordship declared solemnly, as in the presence of: God, he had had no influence whatever, and deserved no reward.c Lord Powis, however, appears to have been the person who managed this affair, and obtained Baxter's deliverance from prison, though not his release from the bond of his good behaviour. It is probable that Baxter owed the favour he experienced to the change in the disposition of the court towards the dissenters generally at this time, owing to the difficulties experienced from the opposition to Popery on the part of the church, and the hope that by courting the dissenters, their fears might be quieted, and the object more easily secured.

On the 24th of November, 1686, Sir Samuel Astrey sent. his warrant to the keeper of the King's Bench prison, to discharge him. He gave sureties, however, for his good behaviour, his majesty declaring for his satisfaction, that it should not be interpreted a breach of good behaviour for him to reside in London, which was not consistent with the Oxford act. After this release, he continued to live some time within the rules of the Bench ; till, on the 28th of February, 1687, he removed to his house in the Charter-house-yard; and again, as far as his health would permit, assisted Mr. Sylvester in his public labours.d

Baxter's MSS.

a Calamy, vol. i. p. 375.

CHAPTER XIII.

1687-1691.

Baxter's Review of his own Life and Opinions, and Account of his matured Sentiments and Feelings-Remarks on that Review--The Public Events of his last Years-The Revolution-The Act of Toleration-Baxter's sense of the Articles required to be subscribed by this Act-Agreement of the Presbyterian and Independent Ministers of London-Last Years of Baxter-Preaches for Sylvester-His Writings-Visited by Dr. CalamyAccount of his last Sickness and Death, by Bates and Sylvester-Calumnious Report respecting the State of his Mind-Vindicated by SylvesterBuried in Christ-church-His Will-William Baxter-Funeral Sermons by Sylvester and Bates-Sketch of his Character by the latter--Concluding Observations on the Characteristic Piety of Baxter.

HAVING brought down the narrative of this venerable man's life and times nearly to the close of his active career, I apprehend this is the proper place to introduce his own review of the progress of his mind and character. He who was so attentive to others, and who drew the character of many, was not indifferent about himself, and exercised a much more rigid scrutiny into his own principles and conduct than he ever employed on those of his fellow men. He strongly recommended self-examination and self-judgment; it will now appear how conscientiously he practised them. The virtue of candour he ever enforced, with all the energy and eloquence of which he was master; and in the development, which he furnishes of the state of his own mind, and of his most secret thoughts, he shows how he was trained to practise it.

In his case, we have an advantage which is not frequently enjoyed in writing the lives of distinguished individuals. We