Part III. Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter. k 7 9. been done to anyother than to fo Ancient; Grave , Reverend Peaceable Mo- derate and Calm a Man as Mt. Sahgar, who had been lawfully called before this Doftor to be Paftor of the Parilh , and then Preached no where but to a few in his own fmali Honfe, it had been more excufable ; Mr. Sasgar oft profeft to me the truth of what 1 fay which I mention to fìlescéthofe ourAccufers that would have us give over Preaching that we maydo fuch private Work: Wheras, i. I muff be a year fpeaking that to people, one by one which publickly I may tell them all in one day : And he, that heareth -my Exhortation but oncea year , and heareth Seducers, Swearers Garters and Railers every day , may milli at.laft he hadbetter friends than there pretenders to Peace and Obedience; that accule us. 2. And filch Initances (hew, that we are envyed as much inour private duty, as in our publick : And did we fpeak only in private our Perfecutors Would then vent their Sufpicions of our Doftrin without anyConfutation andwould fay , We are' they that creep into Houfes to lead the filly Women captive. '0' what aWorld is this ! Where Atheilts, Infidels and the molt BeaÍtly Shiners are Members of the Church of England? When did we hear of any of them Eácomunicate? and God's fatithfulleft Servants reprefented, even bythe envious Prelates, and publick- Priefts, as the intolerable Criminal perfons of the Land for Praying: andPreaching when they forbid them , andthe necefhty of Thoafands binds them to it; befides their Ordination Vow. S. 7. When Dr. William Lloyd became Paftor ofSt. Martin's in the Fields upon Lamplugh's Preferment I was encouraged byDr. Tillotfon to offer him my Chappel in Oxenden- Street for Publick Worihip , whichhe accepted , to my great Satisfafti- on , and now there is conftant Preaching there; Be it by Conformilts or Noncon- formiíts I rejoice that Chrift is Preached , to the people in thatParilh, whom ten or twenty fach Chapels cannot hold. S. 8. About March 1677. fell out a trifling blinefs, which I will mention, left the fable pafsfor truth when I am dead. At a Coffee-Hoeft in Fuller's-Rents,where many Papifts and Proteftants ufed tomeet together, oneMr. Dyet ( Son to old Sir Richard Dyet, Chief Jufcice in the North, andBrother to a deceafeddear Friend of mine, the force-time Wife of my old dear friend Colonel 'ylvantesTailor,) one that profeft himfelf noPapift, but was their Familiar faid openly , That Ihad killed a Man with my own hand in cold blood; tbat it was a Tinker, atmydoor , that be- caufe he beat hisKettle and diJlurbed me in my Studies I went down and Pijlold him One Mr. Peters occafioned this wrathby oft challenging in vain the Papifts todif- putewith me i or anliver my Booksagainft them. Mr. Peters told Mr. Dyet, That this was fo fhamelefs a flander that he !hold anfwer it. Mr. Dyet toldhim, That a hundredWitneflés would teftifie that it was true and I was tryed for myLifeat Woreefier for it : To be Ihort , Mr. Peters ceafed not till he brought Mr. Dyer to come to my Chamber and confeft hisfault, and ask me forgivenefs , and with him came one Mr. Tasbrook, an emiment, fober, prudent Papift, I told him that there ofges to filch as I and far worfe, were fo ordinary, and I had long füffered fo much more than words, thatit muft be nodifficulty to me to forgive them to any man , but efpecially to one whofeRelations had beenmy deareft Friends i and he wasone of the firftGentlemen thatever fhewed fo much ingenuity, as fo to con- fers and ask forgivenefs ; he toldme, He would hereafter confersand un-fay it, and Vindicate me as openly as he had wronged me': I told him, to excufe him, that perhaps he had that Story from his late Pallor at St. Giles's, Dr. Borman, who had Printed it, that filch a thing was Reported; but I never heard before the par- ticulars of the Fable. Shortly after, at the fameCoffee-houfe, Mr. Dyet openly confefs'd his Fault : and an Ancient Lawyer , one Mr. Girard, a Papift, Son to old Dr. Giffard, the Papift Phyfician (as is Paid) andBrother to the Lady Aberga- vent' was Angry. at it, and made Mr. Dyer a weak Man, that would make filch a Confteffion: Mr. Peters=fevered him ; Sir, Would youhave a Gentleman fo dif,- iügenuous, as not to right one that he bath fo wronged? Mr. Girard anfwered, That the thing was True, and he would prove it by an Hundred Witnellès: Mr. Peters offered him a greatWager , that he would never prove it by any : but urging him hard he refired theWager: Henext offered, that they would lay down but five Guinea's to be laid on't on an Entertainment there, by him that loft the Wager; He refufed that 'alfo, Whereupon Mr. Peters told him, He would taufe my friends , if I would not my fell, to call him to juftifie it in W referring the judgment of Equity to the Company : Papift Gentle- Z2 a men mr-
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