LIFE OF RICHARD BAXTER. 57- acter and principles. Some apprehension of the fury of the times may be gathered more easily from a few particular incidents de- scribed in his own language, than from any more general state- ments. "About that time, the parliament sent down an order for the demolishing of all statues and images of any of the three persons in the blessed Trinity, or of thevirgin Mary, which should be found in churches, or on the crosses in church-yards. My judgment was for the obeying of this, order, thinking it came from just authority ; but I meddled not in it, but left the church-warden to do what he thought good. The church-warden, an honest, sober, quiet man, seeing a crucifix upon the cross in the church-yard, set up a ladder to have reached it, but it proved too short. While he was gone to seek another, a crew of the drunken, riotous party of the town, took the alarm, and run together with weapons to defend the cru- cifix and the church images, of which there *ere divers left since the time of Popery. The report was among them that I was the actor, and it was me they sought; but I was walking almost a mile out of town, or else I'suppose I had there ended my days. When they missed me and the church -warden -both, they went raving about the streets to seek us. Two neighbors that dwelt in other parishes, hearing that they sought my life, ran in among them to see whether I were there ; and they knocked them both down in the streets, and both of them are since dead, and I think never perfectly recovered that hurt. When they hadfoamed about half an hour, and met with bone ofus, and were newly housed, I came in from my walk, and hearing the people cursing me at their doors, I wondered what the matter was, but quickly found how I had escaped. The next Lord's day, I dealt plainly,with them, and laid open to them the quality of that action, and told them, seeing they so requited me as to seek my blood, I was willing to leave them, and save them from that guilt. But the poor sots were so amazed and ashamed, that they took on sorrily, and were loth to part with me. "About this time, the king's declarations were read in our mar- ket-place, and the reader, a violent cohntry gentleman, seeing me pass the streets, stopped and said, 'There goeth a traitor.' "And the commission of array was set afoot ; for the parliament meddled not with the militia of that county, the Lord Howard, their lieutenant, not appearing. Then the rage ofthe rioters grew greater than before. And in preparation to the war, they had got the word among them, ' Down with the round-heads ;' insomuch that if a stranger passed in many places, that had short hair and a civil habit, the rabble presently cried, 'Down withthe round-heads ;' and some theyknocked down in the open streets. vox,. I. 8
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