wit. As for his person, he was tall of stature, strong boned, though not corpulent; somewhat of a ruddy face, with sparkling eyes; wearing his hair on his upper lip, after the old British fashion; his hair reddish, but, in his latter days, time had sprinkled it with grey; his nose well set, but not declining or bending, and his mouth moderately large; his forehead something high, and his habit always plain and modest.

He was certainly a man of a great and vigorous genius, which, had it been properly cultivated, might have raised him to a very conspicuous eminence in the literary world. "Tis wonderful, under so many disadvantages and depressions, that it could soar so high as it did: And it is one extraordinary proof, among many, that though the grace of GoD doth not impart new natural powers, yet, in super-addition to it's own proper effects, it usually gives new energy to those powers, and draws them on to attainments, which before could not have been expected or conceived. Mr. Granger, (author of the Biographical History of England,) says of him, that when he arrived at the sixtieth year of his age, which was the period of his life, he had written books equal to the number of his years: But as many of these are on similar subjects, they are very much alike. His master-piece is his Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most popular, and, I may add, one of the most ingenious books in the English language.' The same author also observes, that Bunyan, who has been mentioned among the least and lowest of our writers, and even ridiculed as a driveller by those who have never read him, deserves a much higher rank than is commonly imagined. His Pilgrim's Progress gives us a clear and distinct idea of Calvinistical divinity. The allegory is admirably carried on, and the characters justly drawn, and uniformly supported. The Author's original and poetic genius shines through the coarseness and vulgarity of his language, and intimates, that, if he had been a master of numbers, he might have composed a poem worthy of Spenser himself. As this opinion may be deemed paradoxical, I shall venture to name two persons of eminence of the same sentiments; one, the late Mr. Merrick, of Reading; the other, Dr. Roberts, now Fellow of Eton College." Mr. Granger observes in a note, that Mr. Merrick has been heard to say, in conversation, that Bunyan's invention was like that of Homer.' Another person well remembers an observa- . tion of the same Mr. Merrick to himself,' upon his having been presented by a noble lady with a new edition.

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of the Pilgrim; That it was a complete poem, and a very excellent and ingenious poem, with a religious tendency, which could be said but of few poems.' To which may be added, the well-known remarks of a polite author, that Bunyan's Pilgrim was a Christian; but Patrick's only a Pedlar.'

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A new edition of Mr. Bunyan's Works is now publishing by Alexander Hogg, Paternoster Row, with ele gant copper-plates, more complete than any former one, and afforded by the reverend Mr. Symonds of Bedford; the following are the titles: "I. Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners, in a faithful account of the life of Mr. John Bunyan. II. A Confession of his Faith, and Reason of his Practice, &c. III. Differences in Judgment about Water-baptism, no Bar to Communion, &c. IV. Peaceable Principles and true, &c. V. The Doctrine of the Law and Grace unfolded; or, a Discourse touching the Law and Gospel. VI. The Pilgrim's Progress: Part 1st and 2d. VII. The Jerusalem Sinner saved, &c. VIII. The Heavenly Footman; or, a Description of the Man that gets to Heaven, &c. IX. Solomon's Temple spiritualized, &c. X. The acceptable Sacrifice; or, the Excellency of a broken Heart. XI. Sighs from Hell; or, the Groans of a damned Soul. XII. Come and welcome to Jesus Christ; a Discourse on John vi. 37. XIII. A Discourse upon the Pharisee and Publican, &c. XIV. Of Justification by an imputed Righteousness; or, No Way to Heaven but by Jesus Christ. XV. Paul's Departure and Crown; or, an Exposition upon 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8. XVI. Of the Trinity and a Christian. XVII. Of the Law and Christian. XVIII. Israel's Hope encouraged; or, what Hope is, and how distinguished from Faith, &c. XIX. The Life and Death of Mr. Badman; this is in the form of a dialogue between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive. XX. The Barren Fig-tree; or, the Doom and Downfall of the fruitless Professor. XXI. An Exhortation to Peace and Unity. XXII. One Thing is needful; or, serious Meditations upon the four last Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. XXIII. The Holy War, made by Shaddai upon Diobolus, for the regaining the Metropolis of the World; or, the losing and taking again of the Town of Mansoul. XXIV. The Desire of the Righteous granted; or, a Discourse of the righteous Man's Desires. XXV. The Saint's Privilege and Profit. XXVI. Christ, a complete Saviour; or, the Intercession of Christ, and who are privileged in it. XXVII.

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The Saint's Knowledge of Christ's love; or, the unsearchable Riches of Christ. XXVIII. A Discourse of the House of the Forest of Lebanon. XXIX. Of Antichrist and his Ruin; and of the slaying the Witnesses. XXX. Saved by Grace; or, a Discourse of the Grace of GoD. XXXI. Christian Behaviour, being the Fruits of true Christianity. XXXII. A Discourse touching Prayer. XXXIII. The strait Gate; or, the great Difficulty of going to Heaven. XXXIV. Some Gospel-Truths opened, according to the Scriptures. XXXV. A Vindication of Gospel-Truths opened. XXXVI. Light for them that sit in Darkness; or, a Discourse of Jesus Christ, &c. XXXVII. Instruction for the Ignorant, &c. XXXVIII. The holy City; or, the New Jerusalem. XXXIX. The Resurrection of the Dead and eternal Judgment. XL. A Caution to stir up to watch against Sin. XLI. An Exposition on the ten first Chapters of Genesis, and part of the eleventh. XLII. The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate, &c. XLIII. Seasonable Counsel; or, Advice to Sufferers. XLIV. Divine Emblems. XLV. Meditations on Seventy-four Things. XLVI. A Christian Dialogue. XLVII. A Pocket Concordance. XLVIII. An Account of the Author's Imprisonment, written by himself. XLIX. A Discourse of Election and Reprobation. L. A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification against Bishop Fowler, 1671. LI. A Treatise of the Fear of GOD. LII. The Greatness of the Soul and the Unspeakableness of its loss: Preached at Pinnershall, 1683. LIII. Advice to Sufferers, 1684. (Besides XLIII. the Seasonable Counsel, &c.) LIV. A holy Life the Beauty of Christianity, 1684. LV. The First-Day Sabbath, 1685. LVI. A Discourse of the Nature, Building, and Government of the House of GOD, 1688. LVII. The Water of Life grounded upon Rev. xxii. 1. printed 1688. LVIII. Mr. Bunyan's last Sermon, July 1688. LIX. Ebal and Gerizim; or, the Blessing and the Curse. LX. Prison Meditations, directed to the Hearts of suffering Saints and reigning Sinners."

The third part of the Pilgrim's Progress is not Mr. Bunyan's; neither is that piece, printed with his name to it about ninety years ago, entitled, "Heart's Ease in "Heart's Trouble."

His Pilgrim, which is his master-piece, hath passed above fifty editions, and been translated into various languages.

It hath been remarked, that he died at sixty years of age, and left sixty books or tracts of his own composition behind him.

RICHARD BAXTER

THIS eminently useful and pious Divine was born

at Rowton, near High-Ercal, in Shropshire, on the twelfth of November 1615, in the house of his grandfather by the mother, Richard Adeney. His father, also named Richard Baxter, had a small freehold estate at Eaton-Constantine, about five miles from Shrewsbury; which, by his own indiscretion when young and by that of his father, was much impaired, and occasioned many difficulties to him, before, in the course of frugality and prudence, he could free it from incumbrances.

He spent the infancy of his life at his grandfather's, and, even then, is said to have given strong indications of that piety and purity which appeared in his subsequent life and conversation. In 1625 he was taken

from his grandfather's house where he had hitherto lived, and brought home to his father's at Eaton-Constantine, the village above-mentioned, where he passed the remainder of his childhood. He was far from being happy in respect to his schoolmasters, who were men no way distinguished either for learning or morals, and missed the advantages of an academical education, through a proposal made to his parents of placing him with Mr. Richard Wickstead, chaplain to the council at Ludlow. The only advantage he reaped there was the use of an excellent library, which by his own great application proved of infinite service to him. In this situation he remained about a year and half, and then returned to his father's. At the request of the Lord Newport he went thence to Wroxiter, where he taught in the free-school for six months, while his old school-master Mr. John Owen lay in a languishing condition. In 1633, Mr. Wickstead prevailed on him to wave the studies in which he was then engaged, and to think of making his fortune at court. He accordingly came up to Whitehall with a recommendation to Sir Henry Herbert, then master of the revels, by whom he was very kindly received. But after a month's stay, discovering no charms in this sort of life, and having

besides