210 LIFE OF RICHARD BAXTER. establishment of arbitrary power and the return of Popery. The second step was the renewal ofwar, in alliance with France, against the Dutch republic, with the intent of blotting out that prosperous, . free and Protestant government from among the nations. The third movement was the king's declaration, published March 16, 16'72, in which, by virtue of his supreme power in all ecclesiastical: matters, he suspended the execution ofall penal laws in relationto religion ; and established at a word a systemof toleration, under which a convenient number of places was to be licensed, with cer- tain restrictions, as places of public worship, for the use of Prdtes- tant dissenters, while the Papists were only to beindulged with the liberty of holding meetings for worship at their own discretion, in their own houses. The'face of the declaration seemed to frown on the Papists ; but it was instantlydiscovered that the operation of the system would be to give the Roman Catholics much more liberty than was offered to the Protestants. The nonconformists saw through this scheme ; and.yet determin- ed to avail `themselves of whatever advantages it offered them. Some of the ministers waited'on the king to thank him for the 'in- dulgence ; and manyof them took out licenses, and began to preach publicly. Baxter delayed for a while, till the ministers in the city had opened their respective places of worship, and had gathered their congregations. After that, he consented to take a license, on condition he might have it "without the title ofIndependent, Presbyterian, or anyother party, but only as a nonconformist." Such a license was obtained for him; and "the 19th of Novem- ber," he writes, "my baptism-day,. was the first day, after ten years' silence, that I.preached in a tolerated publicassembly, though. not yet tolerated in any consecrated church, butonly against law in my own house." In January, he began a week-day lecture in the chapel of abrother minister. On the Lord's,dais, he hadno con- gregation of his own, but preached occasionally and gratuitously where he was invited. The next spring he removed his family into the city; having resided st Totteridge three years. But the progress of the court towards arbitrary power had rous- ed something of the English spirit, even in that degenerate age: When the parliament assembled, corrupt and venal as it was, the declaration of indulgence was voted illegal, and after much debat- ing and resistance on the part of the administration, was finally given up by the king. The dissenters themselves were knocyn to be against the declaration. One of the representatives of the city of London, speaking in the name of the nonconformists, declared that they would rather not have their liberty than have it at the expense of theconstitution. The overthrow ofthe declaration was followed by the Test Act, which, though leveled against the de-
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