A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian Ethics

by Richard Baxter

The long parliament upon its being opened, fell directly upon a reformation of church and state. Among other things that were determined, a committee was soon appointed to hear petitions and complaints against such as were scandalous among the clergy. Amongst other complainers the town of Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, had drawn up a petition against their vicar and his two curates as insufficient. The vicar was rather for compounding the business, than suffering the petition to be presented. The living was worth near £200 per annum, out of which he offered to allow £60 per annum to a sufficient preacher, to be chosen by fourteen trustees. They hereupon unexpectedly invited Mr. Baxter to give them a sermon; and upon hearing him, unanimously chose him to be their minister. He accepted their invitation, and settled among them, making this observation, That among all his changes he never went to any place he had before desired, designed, or thought of; but only to those places he never thought of till the sudden invitation did surprise him.

He spent two years at Kidderminster before the civil war broke out, and above fourteen years after, and yet never touched the vicarage house, though authorized by an order of parliament; but the old vicar lived there without molestation. He found the place like a piece of dry and barren earth; ignorance and profaneness as natives of the soil were rife among them: but by the blessing of Heaven upon his labour and cultivating, the face of paradise appeared there in all the fruits of righteousness. At first rage and malice created him much opposition; but it was soon over, and a special divine blessing gave his unwearied pains among that people an unexpected success.

On a day when they had in that town a yearly show, in which they walked about the streets with the painted forms of giants, he was one part of the game of the rabble. Having preached the doctrine of original sin, many railed at him, and represented him as saying that God hated and loathed infants. Thereupon he next Lord's day returned to the same doctrine again; and told them that if their children had no original sin, they had no need of Christ, or of baptism, or of renewing by the Holy Ghost. And after that, they were ashamed and silent. Another time one of the drunken beggars of the town reported, that Mr. Baxter was under a tree with a woman of ill fame. He got some that spread this report bound to their good behaviour; and then he that raised it confessed in court, that he saw Mr. Baxter in a rainy day stand on horseback under an oak in a thick hedge, and the woman mentioned standing for shelter on the other side the hedge, under the same tree, though he believed they saw not one another. They all asked Mr. Baxter forgiveness; and were released. At another time, when the parliament's order came down for demolishing all images of the Persons of the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, &c. in churches, or crosses in church-yards, the churchwarden of the town being about to take down a crucifix upon the cross in the church-yard, the drunken crew took the alarum, and ran with weapons to defend the crucifix. It being reported Mr. Baxter was the actor, they sought for him, and might probably enough have murdered him, had he come in their way. But as Providence ordered it he had taken a walk out of town; and in his return when the hurly-burly was over, he was surprised to hear some of them curse him at their doors; and quickly understood how fairly he had escaped. The next Lord's day he told them publicly, that seeing they so requited him, as to seek his blood, he was willing to leave them, and save them from that guilt. Whereupon they appeared amazed and ashamed, and took on terribly, and after all were loth to part with him.

But notwithstanding such opposition, his unwearied labours in this town had amazing success. He preached twice every Lord's day before the civil war; afterwards once; and once every Thursday, besides occasional sermons in the lectures at Worcester, Shrewsbury, Dudley, Sheffnall, &c. On the Thursday evenings such as were so disposed met at his house, one of them repeated the sermon, and afterwards they propounded to Mr. Baxter any doubts they had about it, or any other case of conscience, which he resolved. On Mondays and Tuesdays in the afternoon, in every week, he and his assistant took fourteen families between them for private catechising and conference, spending about an hour with a family. Every first Wednesday in the month he had a meeting for parish discipline. Every first Thursday in the month there was a meeting of the neighbouring ministers for discipline, and amicable disputation about matters theological: and every Thursday in the month besides, he had several ministers at his house, after the lecture was over, with whom the afternoon was spent in profitable conversation, till the neighbours came in to repetition and conference.

He had an attentive, diligent auditory, that was very numerous. On the Lord's day there was no disorder to be seen in the town, but you might hear a hundred families singing psalms, and repeating sermons, as you passed along the streets. When he first came, there might be a family in a street that worshipped God, and called on his name; and when he came away there was not above a family on the side of a street that did not do it. Nay, in the most unlikely families, even inns and alehouses, usually some in each house seemed to be religious. He had six hundred communicants; and there were not above twelve of them, of whose sincerity in religion he had not hopes. There were few families in the whole town that refused to submit to his private catechising and personal conference; and few went away without some tears, or seemingly serious promises of a godly life.

The greatest enemies of serious religion in that town were carried off by the war. When that was over he had the favour of the government there. He had a great interest in the affections of the inhabitants, for which his practising physic among them gratis, gave him a great advantage; and he had much assistance in his work, from the zeal and diligence of those among them that were pious. Many were won upon by their exemplary conversation. Their unity and concord were remarkable. All were of one mind, and mouth, and way. The private meetings that were kept up amongst them, (which were under his oversight and guidance,) were also very helpful to promote serious religion. His stated income was not above £90 per annum, besides which he some years had 60 or £80 a year of the booksellers for his books, which being given away amongst the people, (except so much as was necessary for his comfortable subsistence,) made them the readier to listen to him. He took several of their children that had capacities from school, and sent them to the University, where he maintained them by his own and others' contributions, some of which afterwards proved useful ministers.

One of his main difficulties when he fixed in this town, was how to set up any thing of a true ecclesiastical discipline, without being satisfied with the shadow instead of the reality of it on one hand, or unchurching the parish church on the other. Upon mature consideration, he determined to take the parish for the church, if they were willing to own their church membership, and acknowledge him for their pastor. He desired all that were willing, to give in their names, or some other way to signify their consent; and the rest he desired to be silent. This kept many quiet that were not church members, because they knew they might come in if they would. He baptized all their children, (if desired,) upon their giving an account of their faith. If the father were a scandalous sinner, he made him openly confess his sin with seeming penitence, before he would baptize his child. If he refused it, he forbore till the mother came to present it; rarely, if ever, finding both father and mother so destitute of knowledge and faith, as, in a church sense, to be utterly incapable. Sir Ralph Clare, a noted cavalier, discovered the greatest dissatisfaction of any in the parish, with his method of proceeding. He would not communicate unless he would administer the sacrament to him kneeling, and upon a distinct day, and not with those that received it sitting. Mr. Baxter having openly told the parishioners, that if they scrupled sitting at the Lord's table, they should have the liberty of their own gesture, sent word to Sir Ralph, that if he could not upon reasoning be otherwise satisfied, he would give it him kneeling; but that as for doing it at a distinct stated time from the rest, it would make such a breach or schism as he could have no hand in. However, the generality acquiesced; and church discipline was kept up, though not without some difficulty. A young fellow given to excessive drinking, offering himself to communion, was told that he could not be admitted, without a humble, penitent confession, and promise of amendment. He thereupon confessed his sin, and promised to amend, but soon relapsed. He was oft admonished, and as often renewed the profession of his concern, and promises of amendment. But still persisting, Mr. Baxter warned him publicly, and prayed earnestly for him several days successively in the church, but he was not reclaimed. At last he declared him utterly unfit for church communion, and required all to avoid unnecessary conversation with him. Afterwards he grew extravagantly mad, would freely curse Mr. Baxter to his face; and once as he was going into the church laid violent hands on him, with a design to have murdered him. He continued raging about a year, and then died of a fever, in great horror of conscience. Three or four more also were cast out; one for slandering, and the rest for drunkenness; and they were enraged and much the worse after it, and so were loud warnings to others. In short, so much of the presence of God did Mr. Baxter find accompanying him in his work, and so affectionate was his regard to the loving people of that place, that he would not willingly have changed his relation to them for any preferment in the kingdom, nor could he without force have been separated from them.

When the civil war broke out, he was dubious how to steer. He took the protestation which the parliament required, to defend the king's person, honour, and authority, the power and privileges of parliaments, the liberties of the subject, and the protestant religion, against the common enemy. And he joined with the magistrates of Kidderminster, in offering the same protestation to the people. A little after, the king's Declarations were read there in the market-place, and the commission of array was set on foot; upon which the rabble grew so riotous and furious, that he was advised to withdraw awhile from home. He retired to Worcester, and so to Gloucester, where he first met with the anabaptists; and after a month's absence he returned home, lest his absence should be interpreted either as the effect of fear on the account of some guilt, or as signifying his being against the king. At his return he found the drunken rabble very boisterous; and their common cry was this, We shall take an order with the puritans ere long. He did not think himself in safety if he stayed at home, and so he withdrew again. He preached at Alcester, on that Lord's day that was the day of Edge-hill fight; and was informed while he was preaching, by the noise of the cannon, that the armies were engaged. And the next day he went into the field of battle.

The soldiers on one side or the other still passing to and fro, and being ready to make a prey of whatsoever came before them, he determined to go to Coventry, and stay there till one side or other had got the victory, and the war was ended, which it was then thought would be in a very little time. The committee and governor of that city desired him to stay with them and lodge in the governor's house, and preach to the soldiers; which offer he readily accepted. He continued there a year, preaching once a week to the soldiers, and once on the Lord's day to the people, having nothing but his diet for his pains. Here he had the society of about thirty worthy ministers, who fled to the same place for safety, and among the rest, of Mr. Vines and Mr. Anthony Burgess. When his year expired, he found the war so far from being ended, that it had dispersed itself into almost all the land. He determined therefore to continue there another year; and in that time preached over all the controversies against the anabaptists, and against the separatists, and so kept the garrison sound. After the fight at Naseby, (not far from Coventry,) he went into the army to visit some of his old intimate friends. He stayed there a night, and got such intelligence as to their state as amazed him. He found plotting heads were designing to subvert both church and state. The sectaries were like to carry all before them, and were resolved to take down not only bishops, liturgies, and ceremonies, but all that did withstand them. This made him lament that the ministers had left the army, as they generally did, after Edge-hill fight. It made him also repent his refusing of Cromwell's invitation to be the pastor of his troop, when he first raised it; by which means he would have had an opportunity of dealing freely with those that afterwards headed much of the army, and were the forwardest in all the public changes. But he was told that it was not even yet too late to do service, if he would come into the army; and was invited by Colonel Whalley to be chaplain to his regiment. He returned to Coventry, and consulted the ministers that were there, and with their advice, (in order to do what in him lay to prevent the mischief that was threatened by the prevailing temper of the army,) he accepted the invitation.

When he came thither, Cromwell welcomed him but coldly. He set himself from day to day to discourse the officers and soldiers out of their mistakes, both religious and political. He found a few fiery, self-conceited men among them made all the noise and bustle, and carried about the rest as they pleased. Some of these became the laughing-stock of the soldiers before he left them. He marched with the army westward, and was at the taking of Bridgwater, and the siege of Bristol, and Sherborne Castle, and Exeter. He was also with Colonel Whalley before Banbury Castle, and at the siege of Worcester. He had full employment in opposing the sectaries in all places: and particularly he had at one place a dispute with them of a whole day's continuance. And by what success he met with, he found reason to apprehend, that if there had but been a competent number of ministers, each doing their part, the whole plot of the furious party might have been broken, and king, parliament, and religion preserved. But he was separated from the army by great weakness, occasioned by the loss of a gallon of blood at the nose; upon which, retiring to Sir Thomas Rouse's, he was taken up with daily medicines to prevent a dropsy, and was in continual expectation of death.