1 Chriftian Reader, WE E have diffwafives and perfwaives to this kind of Hiftory, the Lives of Wife and holy Perfons: The diffrafives are, that it may tempt men to think that fuch Inftances are Rarities, and that Saints are fo few, that we may with the Papifts, Canonize them, and call only a few extraor dinary Votaries, the Religious. Whereas none but true Saints can be faved: - And God in wonderful mercy hath raised up fo great a number in our days, and of our acquaintance, as makes even this Earth the lefs grievous to us, which is Jalted, perfumed and enlightened by their Graces. turning them to a holy and In this it is with me, as it was about the fuccefs of my Ministry: when before my publick Preaching, and two years after, God bleffed my endeavours with the Conversion of now and then one Soul, (*) I used with thank fulness to write them (*)Malignant, down: But when he turned multitudes, from ignorance, pride and a carnal mind I mean net to holy Obedience, I gave over keeping a Catalogue, for it was no rarity: forchen my toSects or odd excellent holy Friends dyed, I could have wished that the World for imitation, had Opinions, but `known them as I did, and that their Lives had been published ; But when I lived heavenly mind in the Acquaintance and Communion of multitudes of fuch, I fam that it would and life, from have been a partial, or an endless work? For Gods Graces are much the fame in all his holy ones. O how great a number of holy perfous of my Acquaintance, of exemplary Lives could I name, that God Eath taken to himself of Bridg north, Dudley, Kederminster, Bewdeley, Stourbridge, other parts of Worcefter-fhire, Coventry, London, &c. When we deferibe their Humility, Picty, foundness of Judgment, Fidelity, Peaceableness, Concord, fecret and open Holines, Sobriety, &c. we must speak over the fame things of all. But yet the Perforafees are not invalidated by this. For 1. Some persons live where prejudice, or the probibition of Superiours. hath kept them unacquainted with fuch perfons; And they need Information from thofe that know them. 2. We live in a time of mental War, when it is the Devils great and daily Lufines to belie the best of men, and make the ignorant believe that they are a Generation of walking Plagues, movers of Sedition, teaching men to Worship God contrary to the Law, enemies to Cæfar, Preaching up another King, one Jefus, and turning the World uplide down, not keeping the Tradition of the Fahers; The Cry is loud, Away with fuch Fellows from the Earth; It is not fit that they thould live.Moft odious Lies are published of them with so great confidence, as that Strangers may think they are bound to believe them, left they Should cenfure the reporters to be what they are. And fo much of God, of Chrift, of the Holy Ghofi, of the Gospel and of Religion, and of the Church and Souls of men, doth lie прон the true reprefentation of the Faithful, and the vindicating of Gods Image upon them, and confiting Satans lies, as that it is no part of the Duty of all Chrifts Servants to endeavour it effecially by their own holy and harmless Lives, which will most effectually plead their caufe. ThouSands are kardon'd in lin, yea in enmity against a holy Life, yea in perfecution, by believing feriens Godly men, to be as bad as the Carnal World, a humorous, finall prend, the love of fin and tranfitory vanity. proud, feditions, hypocritical fort of People! They that dare not accufe God, or Chrift or Scripture, dare accuse them that obey it because the best have faults, and Hypocrites are among them, and their malice hath more matter to work upon. And yet when they grow ripe they will venture to charge the Scripture it felf, of obfcurity and infufficiency first, and next of falfhood. 3. And God will have the memory of the just to be bleffed, and the names of the wicked to rot. Juftin, Cyprian, Bafil, Gregory Nazianzen, Chryfoftom, Martin, and many fuch, were men hated and perfecuted by Princes and other Prelates, while they lived; yet hath God made their Memories honourable, and the Names of their Perfecutors odious to good men: And though their Enemies have been oft and long in greatest power and numbers, they could never turn the Stream of Honour. 4. It is the Cuftom of the Devil to write infamous Lies of the best men when they are dead, which would be believed if those that knew them while they lived, did not fay that which should refute the lies. What monstrous Lies have the Papifts written of Luther, Zuinglius, Occolampadius, Calvin, Bucer Martyr, Beza, &, which a true Hiftory of their Lives hath fhamed, with all judicious men that read them. The fame I may fay of many of late times in this Land. I have Cartwrights own answer to Dr. Sutliffe in M. S. which doth fo fully confute the fhameful ftory of his Confederacy with Hacket, Coppinger and Arthington's, will fame the flanderers to any impartial Reader. Rivet was fain to bring Certificates from the Magiftrates and Records of the Town in France where Calvin lived, to disprove the lyers that publifht him a ftigmatized Sodomite; He that cat but one very little Meal a day, and almoft macerated himself (as even Mallonius teftifier) was by Papifts reported to be a Glutton. Bucer was faid to be killed and torn in pieces by the Devil, when all his fickneß and pious dying is fully teftified by Cambridge Doctors. And what do you think those who now in Prefs and Pulpit make fuch whofe Lives this Hiftory recordeth (to be odious Rogues, not fit to live out of a Common Gaol ) will fay of them when they are dead? But thofe that knew them are fafe from believing it. 5. And this kind of work is of greater benefit and charity to ignorant ungodly men, than to the dead or any other living. The Dead are above it: The Faithful need it not: But as Chrift faveth Souls by imprinting on them the Image of holy Love, fo Satan damneth Souls by drawing them from fuch Love, to hate their Brethren, even the best: And he that hateth his Brother is a murderer, and no murderer bath Eternal Life. 6. And Nature is delighted in Hiftory. And the World is dolefully abused by falfe History, specially Ecclefiaftick: And the true Hiftory of exemplary Lives, is a pleasant and profitable recreation to young perfons and may fecretly work, them to a liking of Godliness and value of good men, which is the beginning of -Saving Grace: hore much better work is it, than Cards, Dice, Revels, StagePlays, Romances or idle Chat. As to this work, I commend it to the Reader as principally for the forefaid ufe fo from fo much knowledge as I have had of the Author and of the perfons and things here recorded. The Author was well known to be a man of great fincerity, a hater of lying, and great lover of truth: And of long experience and great acquaintance in many parts of the Land; efpecially Cheshire, Warwick-fhire and London. -My acquaintance with him hath been long, though not much, because of interrupting distances. On October 23. 1642. lile knowing what was doing at Edge-hill, I was Preaching in his Pulpit at Alcefter, on those words [The Kingdom of Heaven fuffereth violence.] My Voice hindered me, but the Au ditors heard the Canon: That Night was paft by us in fad Watching, with the noife of Fugitive Troops: The next day, (fuch spectacles being rare, and fad ) ful) Mr. Clarke and I rode to the Field to fee what was done, where we fare the dead Bodies of English Men flain by one another. I after lived in Coventry, where Mr. Clarke oft was: And where his very humble, godly, chearful old Father-inLan, Mr. Overton, a Minifter above 80 years of age, was with many other, excellent men, one of my frequent Company: Mr. Clarke rent to London, and there was Paftor of a fmall Parish, Bennet Fink: When the King Commific oned us to treat for Concord with the Bishops, he was daily with us, and bad the chief hand in drawing up the Exceptions against the Liturgy (at which I reis abfent.) In 1662. on September 10, he married me in Bennet Fink Church, in the prefence of Alderman Afhhurst and Mrs. Afhhurft: After that, micit the Lord Keeper Bridgeman by a favourable Expofition drew twenty Non-conforming Minifters to take the Oxford Oath, he refolved to be one, that he might leave the accufers of them as Disloyal, no pretence: But to fhere that he did it not for any worldly advantage, prefently left London, and lived privately at Thistleworth to his death, bearing not only his own low eftate with patience, but bis worthy Sons alfo, who were fufferers with him, Ejected by the Act of Uniz formity. I never faw him fince, nor beard that he came to London, but by a Letteg from him a year before he died he told me he was 82 years old. He hath done great Service by former Hiftory. One Volume of Lives, and an Epitome of Martyrology, and a Volume of God's strange Judgments upon great Sinners. Some Enemies deride him for Writing Lives with no more Art: But I také that to be his Commendation; He did not make the Hiftories, but take them made by faithful acquaintance of the dead: And he was not to patch or paint the dead, nor to add any thing of his own, but to deliver naked truth: Some good men fay, that many of the Lives of excellent men in his first Book are fort and dry: That's our lofs, but none of his fault: If all had done as Mr. Thomas Ball did by his Tutor Dr. Prefton, that defect had been fully satisfied I wis going to get from old Sam. Hilderfham, fome additions to his Father Arthur's Life, but his death frustrated me. Melchior Adam hath done in my judgment very great Service to the Church in bis four Volumes, the Lives of the German Divines, Philofophers, Lawyers and Phyficians: But fome he hath done copiously and excellenty, and very many (of the three laft fort) fo exactly as to be next to nothing: And how could be help it? To have made Stories himself had been unworthy a Hiftorian, so is ri in this cafe. I have not read over this Book, being desired suddenly to write this Preface 5 and therefore undertake not the Juftification of what I have not read But I new fo many of the Perfons and Hiftories my felf, as makes me not doubt bet the Reader will have no cause to question the Historical truth: And the rather because I fee Mr. Clark is but the reciter of other mens words, and the Collector into one Volume of many mens Lives before publised 3 fome more being now newly added, at leaft which I never faw. Goldaftus and abundance fich Col lectors, have done great Service in keeping many small Tradates from being lost. John Janewaics life, and Jofeph Allens I had a hand in Publishing and Prefacing heretofore: And O that I could reach that heavenly frame of mind, by which they lived and died in triumphant joy and praife to God! Dr. Sam. Bolton,, Mr. Vines, Mr. Robinfon, Mr. Machin, Dr. Staunton, Mr. Wadlivorth, Mr. Stockton, I knew: Dr. Twille was fo well known (whose worthy Daughter M. L Mrs. Corbet hath lived with me formerly, and this year and half) that the Hiftory bath full evidence. Judge Hales and the Countess of Warwick (my great Friends) need no teftimony of mine. I knew not of his Epitomizing vily Wives life but the manner of that tells me he is like to be faithful in the reft: His worthy Son addeth his own Life, which he found written by himself. I have defired the Book-feller to Reprint the Life of the Countes of Suffolk, Daughter to the Earl of Holland, written by Bishop Rainbow, yet living, as an excellent pattern to Ladies; the Book being not easily to be got. — I have in Funeral Sermons and Epiftles defcribed truly many excellent perfons, whofe Examples would be useful to this depraved Age; were it not for the charge of Printing, I would wish them Bound all together as thefe be, viz. Mrs. Bakers of Worcester, Mrs. Coxes, Mrs. Hanmers, my Wives Mother, Alderman Afhhurfts, Mr. Waddefworth, Mr. Stubbs, Mr. Corbets, &c. It's a great work to learn to die, fafely and comfortably; even the work of all our lives: my turn is near, and this preparation is my daily Study: But its the Communication of life, light and love from Heaven, that must make all effedual, and draw up our Hearts and make us ready: For which I daily wait on God. At the brink of the Grave, and door of Eternity Jan. 16. 168;. Richard Baxter. A |