P A R T II. Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. 181 Pion he was lavished : Afterwards the fame Woman perfwaded me to try with Mr. Abs c alfo ; who in conclufion was fatisfied : And they diffolved their,Church. When this was done, the Men being ofextraordinary Sincerity and Únderfiand- ing, were very zealous for the reduEtionof their Brethren of the Anabaptiffs way And to that end they had a Meeting with divers of the molt moderate Pallors of the Rebaptized Churches t And they defired my Propofals or Terms on whichwe might hold Peace and Communion with them. I fent them thefe Terms and they entered into Confultationof them, and were in a very hopeful way ofAgreement ( I law no likelyhoodof the contrary ) : And fuddenly the Broils of the Army , pulling down Richard Cromwell, and letting up I know not what, and keeping all in Confufion, broke off all our Confultations, till the King came in : And face then Men dare not profecute the Agreement, deft they be taken as Confpirators, that do it in preparation to a Plot ; fo unhappily are the Affairs of the Church oft croffed, by Secular Intereffs and Divillons in the World. But thefe two Brethren at last call off their Anabaptiftry alfo, and arenow more zealous than other Men againffIndependency and Separation, by how much the more they fmarted by it. The Terms of Agreement hereenfue, with a Ihert Difputation preparatory there -. to. The Letters that pafs't on this Occafion betwixt Mr. Baxter, and Mr. Lamb and Mr. 411en, are infected in theAppendix. Whether it be our Duty to leek Peace with the Anabaptiflt? Feb. zS. t6ys, Becaufe I conceive it no verydifficult matter to refolve this Qeffion, I ¡hall the more briefly dilpatch it. Only two Terms do need fomeExplication : I. What we mean by Anabaptiflr? We do not here ufe the word with an inten- tion of Reproach i for that doth lets befeen a Difputation of Peace ; but we are fain to make ufe of it, as that Name by which that fort of Men are already com- monly known, and diftinguilhed from all others ; as not knowing otherwife how to fpeak intelligibly ofthem, without uung Defcriptions and Circumlocutions in- ftead ofwell-known Names or ,Tides , whichwould be contrary to the Common Rulesof Difcourfe. The Perins called,by that Name in General, are all that are for the Baptizing ofthofe whowere baptized in Infancy, as luppofing it null or unlawful. Of thefe there are more Subdivifions than I will undertake to enumerate :. As to our prefent purpofe it may fuflice us to take di¡tind notice of thefe four forts of them; r.Thole that only deny Infant Baptifm, and are forthe Neceflity of Re- baptizing. z.Thofè that upon this account do alfo gather Separated Churches, withdrawing from the Churches whereof they were Members, andreceiving none into Communion but the Re-baptized., g. Thole that with the two former do hold many dangerous Er- yours, either Pelagianor Antinomian, or any other, which yet do not fo overthrow the Foundation, but that the Perlons holding them may be faced. 4. Thofe that had'fachErrou s as are incontinent with a true Belief of the Fundamentals, and confequendy with Salvation. And among the three former forts,we muff diltinguith between thofe that are peaceable, temperate, and willingofCommunion with us, and that endeavour not the ruine of the Church in their praetice : and thofe that are unpeaceable, and refufe our Communion, and fet themfelvesto loot out the Miniftry, or to deltroy the Faith or Church of Chriff. 2. The wordPeace fignifieth feveral things, according to the Rveral fortsof Men that we are related to, with whom we mutt leek it; r. There is a Peace ofbofotn- Friendfhip ï and this we owenot to many of the Saints themfelves: For ofhofom Friends we mutt have but few. z. There is aPeace of AElual Communion in the WorfhipofGod, as Members of the fame particular Church t Thus we owe not to every Chriftian; though fincere in the main. ;. There is à Peace which is a- mong the Members ofall particular Political Churches in theWorld, as related to each other, and obliged to hold Communion asfar as is necellary for theCommon Good. 4. There is a Peace which is common to all profeffed Chriffians, Mem- bers of the Ilniverfal Church, though perhaps of no particular Political Church. s. There is a Peace to be kept' with fober Heathens or Infidels. 6. And there is a Peace to be kept with Enemies, both of us and the Gofpel, as far as we can. I ¡hall give you my Thoughts abode the prefent Queflion, in thefe following Propoftions : Premifing that r. It is not the Peace of bofom Friendthip that the Qeltionintendeth; and,Ergo, we neednot Rand on that. z. Nor is it the Peace that isdue to Enemies, or that is due to Infidels and thole without ; but it is the other forts due to the feveral forts of Chrittians. Prop. u.
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