BAXTER, RICHARD, an eminent divine among
the Nonconformists, was born at Rowton in Shropshire, November 12. 1615; and distinguished himself by his exemplary life, his pacific and moderate principles, and his numerous writings. He was remarkable for his piety even when he was very young. Upon the opening of the long parliament, he was chosen vicar of Kidderminster. In the heat of the civil wars he withdrew from that town to Coventry, and preached to the garrison and inhabitants. When Oliver Cromwell was made protector, he would by no means comply with his measures, though he preached once before him. He came to London just before the deposition of Richard Cromwell, and preached before the parliament the day before they voted the return of King Charles II. who upon his restoration appointed him one of his chaplains in ordinary. He assisted at the conference in the Savoy, as one of the commissioners for settling the fundamentals in religion, and then drew up a reformed liturgy. He was offered the bishopric of Hereford; which he refused; affecting no higher preference than the liberty of continuing minister of Kidderminster; which he could not obtain, for he was not permitted to preach there above twice or thrice after the Restoration. Whereupon he returned to London, and preached occasionally about the city, till the act of uniformity took place. In 1662, Mr Baxter was married to Margaret Charleton, daughter to Francis Charleton, Esq. of the county of Salop, who was esteemed one of the best justices of the peace in that county. She was a woman of great piety, and entered thoroughly into her husband's views concerning religion. During the plague in 1665 he retired into Buckinghamshire; but afterwards returned to Acton, where he staid till the act against conventicles expired; and then his audience was so large that he wanted room. Upon this he was committed to prison; but procuring a habeas corpus, he was discharged. After the indulgence in 1672, he returned to London; and in 1682 he was seized for coming within five miles of a corporation. In 1684 he was seized again; and in the reign of King James II. was committed prisoner to the King's Bench, and tried before the lord chief justice Jeffries for his Paraphrase on the New Testament, which was called a scandalous and seditionary book against the government. He continued in prison two years; from whence he was at last discharged, and had his fine remitted by the king. He died December the 8th 1691; and was buried in Christ-church.
Mr Sylvester says, that Mr Baxter's "person was tall and slender, and stooped much: his countenance composed and grave, somewhat inclining to smile. He had a piercing eye, a very articulate speech, and deportment rather plain than complimentary." There is an original portrait of him at Dr Williams's library, founded for the use of Protestant Dissenting Ministers, in Red-cross-street. Mr Sylvester also says, that "he had a great command over his thoughts. He had that happy faculty, so as to answer the character that was given of him by a learned man dissenting from him, after discourse with him; which was that he could say what he would, and he could prove what he said. He was most intent upon the necessary things. Rational learning he most valued, and was a very extraordinary master of. And as to his expressive faculty, he spoke properly,
Baxter. properly, plainly, pertinently, and pathetically. He could speak suitably, both to men's capacities and to the things insisted on. He was a person wonderful at extemporise preaching.1 But his common practice appears to have been to preach with notes; though he said, "That he thought it very needful for a minister to have a body of divinity in his head." He was honoured with the friendship of some of the greatest and best men in the kingdom (as the earl of Lauderdale, the earl of Balcarra, Lord Chief Justice Hales, Dr Tillotson, &c.) and held correspondence with some of the most eminent foreign divines.—He wrote above 120 books, and had above 60 written against him. The former, however, it should seem, were greatly preferable to the latter; since Dr Barrow, an excellent judge, says, that "his practical writings were never mended, his controversial seldom confuted."
Mr Granger's character of him is too striking to be omitted. "Richard Baxter was a man famous for weakness of body and strength of mind; for having the strongest sense of religion himself, and exciting a sense of it in the thoughtless and prodigal: for preaching more sermons, engaging in more controversies, and writing more books, than any other Nonconformist of his age. He spoke, disputed, and wrote with ease; and discovered the same intrepidity when he reproved Cromwell and expostulated with Charles II. as when he preached to a congregation of mechanics. His zeal for religion was extraordinary; but it seems never to have prompted him to faction, or carried him to enthusiasm. This champion of the Presbyterians was the common butt of men of every other religion, and of those who were of no religion at all. But this had very little effect upon him: his presence and his firmness of mind on no occasion forsook him. He was just the same man before he went into a prison, while he was in it, and when he came out of it; and he maintained an uniformity of character to the last gasp of his life. His enemies have placed him in hell; but every man who has not ten times the bigotry that Mr Baxter himself had, must conclude that he is in a better place. This is a very faint and imperfect sketch of Mr Baxter's character: men of his size are not to be drawn in miniature. His portrait, in full proportion, is in his Narrative of his own Life and Times; which though a rhapsody, composed in the manner of a diary, contains a great variety of memorable things, and is itself, as far as it goes, a History of Nonconformity."—Among his most famous works were, 1. The Saints Everlasting Rest. 2. Call to the Unconverted, of which 20,000 were sold in one year; and it was translated not only into all the European languages, but into the Indian tongue. 3. Poor Man's Family Book. 4. Dying Thoughts; and, 5. A Paraphrase on the New Testament. His practical works have been printed in four volumes folio.