LIFE OF RICHARD BAXTER. 143 Bernard; and none of the other side but Dr. Manton and myself; and so little was done, but only desires of concord expressed." " Thus men were every day talking of concord,but to little pur- pose, as appeared in the issue." " When thekingwas sent for by the parliament, certain divines, with others, were also sent by the parliament and city to him into Holland, viz. Mr. Calamy, Dr. Manton, Mr. Bowles, and divers other; and some went voluntarily; to whom his majesty gave such encouraging promises of peace, as raised some of them to high ex- pectations. And when he came in, as he passed through the city towards Westminster, the London ministers in their places attended him with acclamations, and by the hands of old-Mr. Arthur Jack- son, presented him witha richly adorned Bible, which he received, and told them, it should be the rule of his actions. "* For a whileafter the restoration, it seemed necessary to cajolethe Presbyterians with the hope of an improved liturgy., and ofsuch changes in respect to episcopacy as would admit of their being in- cluded within the pale of the establishment. With this view, ten or twelve of the.leading Presbyterian ministers were nominated to be the king'schaplainsin ordinary: Mr. Calamy andDr. Reynolds were first appointed.; soon afterwards Mr. Ash and Mr. Baxter ; then Dr. Spurstow, Dr. Wallis, Dr. Bates and others. None of them, however, were ever called topreach at court except Calamy, Reynolds, Baxter, and Spurstow, each of them a single sermon. Baxter's sermon before the king was published, andwas afterwards included in his work entitled the 'Life of Faith.' Not many kings, since King Agrippa, have had the advantageof hearing the word of God soplainly and powerfully preached, asBaxter preach- ed it to King Charles II. on that occasion. The discourse was evidently writtenwith more attention to style' than the author ordi- narilybestowed on such matters; yet, in its bold and pungent ex- hibition of the truth, it is like all his other writings.: The sermon contains no direct addressto the king, nor even one distinct allusion to him. But there are many passages pointed in that peculiarway which must have made them felt by the monarch and his profligate attendants. "Faith," said the preacher, "is the wisdom of the soul ; and unbelief and sensuality are its blindness, folly and brut- ishness." " Will you persuade us that the man is wise, that.can climba little higher than his neighbors, that he may have the great- er fall ? that is attended in his way tohell with greater pomp and state than others? that can sin moresyllogistically and rhetorically than the vulgar ; and more prudently and gravely run into damna- tion ; and can learnedly defend his madness, and prove that he is * Narrative, part II. pp. 217, 218.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=