A26865:449
An apology for the nonconformists ministry containing I. the reasons of their preaching, II.…
An apology for the nonconformists ministry containing I. the reasons of their preaching, II. an answer to the accusations urged as reasons for the silencing of about 2000 by Bishop Morley ..., III. reasons proving it the duty and interest of the bishops and conformists to endeavour earnestly their restoration : with a postscript upon oral debates with Mr. H. Dodwell, against his reasons for their silence ... : written in 1668 and 1669, for the most of it, and now published as an addition to the defence against Dr. Stillingfleet, and as an account to the silencers of the reasons of our practice / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst and D. Newman, 1681
AN APOLOGY FOR THE SILENCED MINISTERS, Especially for their not cea… › Part › Objection 20
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
20 Obj. But why do you not go preach among the Indians, or in other lands where there is more need, if liberty of Preaching be all that you desire?
Ans. 1. Some are sickly and weak, and some aged, unable to travel. 2. Some have families which they are obliged to, and must not desert, and cannot carry with them. If you say, they should have kept themselves without: I answer, they were born in a land where good men were suffered to serve God quietly, and therefore they thought they might fix themselves therein. But if they could have foreseen that they should have been forbidden to Preach at home, I believe that many would not only have forborne Marriage, but also have set themselves to learn some foreign languages that they might have been able to Preach abroad. But, 3. our great impediment is, that we have not the vulgar tongue of any other Country, and therefore cannot preach to any of the vulgar there; and if we could in a long time learn the Tartarian or Indian tongue, &c. a half learnt broken tongue doth but make the speaker ridiculous to the vulgar. (To say nothing of our want of maintenance to sustain us thither, and there) For my own part, had I strength and any vulgar tongue, which I might use in Preaching in other lands, I think I should have left England long ago, and not been an eye-sore to you so long.
Ans. 1. Some are sickly and weak, and some aged, unable to travel. 2. Some have families which they are obliged to, and must not desert, and cannot carry with them. If you say, they should have kept themselves without: I answer, they were born in a land where good men were suffered to serve God quietly, and therefore they thought they might fix themselves therein. But if they could have foreseen that they should have been forbidden to Preach at home, I believe that many would not only have forborn Marriage, but also have set themselves to learn some foreign languages that they might have been able to Preach abroad. But, 3. our great impediment is, that we have not the vulgar tongue of any other Country, and therefore cannot preach to any of the vulgar there; and if we could in a long time learn the Tartarian or Indian tongue, &c. a half learnt broken tongue doth but make the speaker ridiculous to the vulgar. (To say nothing of our want of maintenance to sustain us thither, and there) For my own part, had I strength and any vulgar tongue, which I might use in Preaching in other lands, I think I should have left England long ago, and not been an eye-sore to you so long.