The certainty of the world of spirits fully evinced. By Richard Baxter. To which is added The wonders of the invisible world by Cotton Mather. The former taken from the edition published by Mr. Baxter, 1691 ... The latter from the 'Ecclesiastical history of New England', published 1702 / [Richard Baxter].

  • Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.
Date:
1834
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The certainty of the world of spirits fully evinced. By Richard Baxter. To which is added The wonders of the invisible world by Cotton Mather. The former taken from the edition published by Mr. Baxter, 1691 ... The latter from the 'Ecclesiastical history of New England', published 1702 / [Richard Baxter]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/200 (page 5)
    fearlessly with the usurper Cromwell, and ex- pressed his honest dissatisfaction at his measures. After the Revolution, he received considerable attentions from the Court, was appointed chaplain in ordinary to the King, and offered a bishoprick. But what was his answer to this proposal—that he required no “ other favour than to be permitted to continue minister of Kidderminster.” Bishop Burnett, who lived at the time, and must be con- sidered a competent authority on this point, says, Mr. Baxter was a man of great piety, and if he had not meddled with too many things, would have been considered one of the most learned men of his age : he had a moving and pathetical way of writing, and was his whole life long a man of great zeal and much simplicity, but was unhappily subtle and metaphysical in every thing.” * Dr. Cotton Mather, another of our supposed weak and incompetent witnesses, was born at Bos- ton, in New England, 1663. Before he was twelve years old he had made a considerable pro- gress in the Greek and Latin languages, and even entered upon Hebrew, so that, young as he was, he was admitted to Harvard College, where he took his first degree at the age of sixteen, and his second at nineteen. In 1684 he became minister at Boston, in the diligent discharge of the duties of which office, and in writing no less than three hundred and eightv-two books, pamphlets, &c., he spent his life. He acquired so high a character for prudence and wisdom, that he was frequently consulted on affairs of state. Nor was his fame * He was “ subtle and metaphysical,” says the Bishop, and yet “ was his whole life long a man of much simplicity;”—that is, he possessed the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the