Parr III Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. 37 Dr. .'Ylanton's Letter to me at Affin. . s .l R, IWas under reftraint till now; and. could not fend you an account ofour reception with the King. It was verygracious ; He was plcafed once and again tofsgnifie, how ac- ceptable our Addref was, and how much he was perfuaded ofour Peaceablenef ; /tying, that he had known us to befo ever fine his return ; promifed us, that he woulddo his utmoft to get us comprehended within the Publick Eftablment, and remove all Bars, for he could ieifh that there had been no Bounds nor Bars at all, but that all had beenSea, that we might have had liberty enough; but fornething inufl be done for publick Peace However, we could not be ignorant, that this was a work ofdifficulty and time, to-get it fully effe&edfor our Affurance: And therefore we muff wait till Bufineffes could be ripened. , In the mean time 6e wifEd au to aft our Liberty temperately, and not withfuchopen Offence andScandal to the Government e Hefaid our Meetingswere too'numeraus, and fo (befides that they were againft Law) gave occafion to many clamorous People to come with complaints to him, as ifour de[ign.was wholly to undermine the Church; and to fay,. Sir, Theft are they that you protedh again[t the Laws. He inftanced in the folly of Farringdon's Preaching in the Play-Houfe : We told him we all difliked the Altion, and that he had been forty rebuked for affronting the Government under which we live, with fomuch peace, (but I forgot to difclai o him :) He inftanced in one more, (but with aPreface, that he had a great refpeft for the Perfon and his Worth and Learning) who draweth in all the Country round about tohow:; this Perfon is Mr. Baxter ofAfton ; he inftanced in him, becaufe of a late Complaint from a ',office ofPeace, who had a mind to be niblingat him, bntfeared it would be with the offence ofhis Majefty ; we imagineRofs to be theperfon. I replyed, That you went to the publick, did it in the interval, between Morning and Evening Service, .beginning at Twelve. That the ffrft Intendment was for the benefit ofyour own Family; that thus great Company was not invited by you, but intruded uponyou; that it was bard to exclude thofe, who in Charity maghtbefuppofed to come with a tbirft after the means ofEdification. I aileded the general neceffity, and that Nonconformifts were not all ofa pitre, and if people ofùnfober principle; inReligion werepermitted topreach, a neceffity lay upon us, to take the like liberty, that thol who have invincible fcruples againff thepublick way, may not be left as a prey to thofe who might leave badimprcfons 'upon them, which would neither be fo fife for Religion, nor the publick peace. -To which His Majefty re- ply'd, That the rife raffle of the people were not offuch Confederation, they being apt to run after .every new ;Lacher ;-but people ofQuality might be intreated to forbear to meet, or at leaf, not in fsch multitudes left the publick Scandal taken thereby, might obftrulf his' Intentions and Defegns for our good : He famed to be well enough 'leafed, when I fug- gelled that our Sobriety of Dolerine, and molting only with weighty things, and remem- brance of Him in our prayers,, witb refeH, prefervcd an efteem ofhis Perfonand Govern- ment in the Hearts ofhis people, and that poffiblypeople ofanother humour might feafon them with -wor[e Infuîhons: Then Arlington plock'dhorn by the Coat, as defering him to note it. Finally, I told him, Thatyou would have waited upon him with us, ofyou had not been under the Confinement ofa Difeafe: This is the Sum, exprefs words Ihave not bound my [.f unto, only kept as mar as I can remember: Since this our clddrefs bath been confedered by the Cabinet Council, and approved; the Bufinefs was debated, whether it fhould be made publick, molt were for that Opinion, but the final refult was, that we' fhould be left at liberty to [peak of it with fuck Reftriaions as our Wifdom fhould fuggeft. We mot him privately in myLord Arlington's Lodgings. I am now in very great hallei Imuff abruptly take leave ofyou, with the profeffaon that Iam, Sir, Your Faithful Brother andServant. Some other things, when they come to mind, Iwill acquaintyou wtth. 'CoventGarden, this briday Morning. 4 85. Bu[
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