Richard Baxter's dying thoughts upon Phil. I, 23 written for his own life and…

And when all People will judg of the good or evil of our words as they think we have Reason to use them or forbear them, how can we satisfy men that are out of our hearing, and to whom we cannot tell our Reasons: Most men are of private narrow observation, & judge of the good or hurt that our words do, by those that they themselves converse with: And when I convince them that my decisions of many questions (which they are offended at) are true, they say, It is an unseasonable and a hurtful truth: and when I have called them to look further abroad in the World, and told them my Reasons; they say, Had these been all set down, men would have been satisfied.] And on how hard terms do we instruct such Persons whose narrow understandings cannot know obvious Reasons of what we say till they ⟨p. 107⟩are particularly told them? And so to tell men the Reasons of all that such can quarrel with, will make every Book to swell with Commentaries to such a bigness as they can neither buy nor read: And they come not to us to know our Reasons; nor have we leisure to open them to every single Person: And thus suspicious men, when their understandings want the humbling acquaintance with their ignorance and their Consciences that tenderness which should restrain them from rash judging, go on to accuse such needful Truths of which they know not the use and reason. And what Man living hath the leisure and opportunity to acquaint all the ignorant Persons in City and Country with all the Reasons of all that he shall say, write or do? Or who that writeth not a Page instead of a Sentence, can so write that every unprepared Reader shall understand him: And what hopes hath that Tutor or School-master of preserving his reputation, who shall be accounted erroneous and accused of unsound or injurious Doctrine, by every Scholar that understandeth not his words, and all the reasons of them?

And when all People will judg of the good or evil of our words as they think we have Reason to use them or forbear them, how can we satisfie men that are out of our hearing, and to whom we cannot tell our Reasons: Most men are of private narrow observation, & judge of the good or hurt that our words do, by those that they themselves converse with: And when I convince them that my decisions of many questions (which they are offended at) are true, they say, It is an unseasonable and a hurtful truth: and when I have called them to look further abroad in the World, and told them my Reasons; they say, Had these been all set down, men would have been satisfied.] And on how hard terms do we instruct such Persons whose narrow understandings cannot know obvious Reasons of what we say till they