THE

HISTORY OF THE PURITANS;

OR,

PROTESTANT NONCONFORMISTS;

FROM THE

REFORMATION IN 1517.

ΤΟ

THE REVOLUTION IN 1688:

COMPRISING AN

ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRINCIPLES;

THEIR ATTEMPTS FOR A FARTHER REFORMATION IN THE CHURCH;

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR AND ACCOUNT OF HIS WRITINGS.

DR. TOULMIN'S ADVERTISEMENT

ΤΟ

VOL. IV. OF THE FORMER EDITION.

THE volume of Mr. Neal's History of the Puritans now presented to the public, besides the additions made to it in the form of notes, is considerably enlarged by supplemental chapters. These comprise the continued history of the English Baptists and Quakers, and furnish the reader with the substance of Mr. Crosby's history of the former, and a full abstract of Mr. Gough's work concerning the latter sect. The editor hopes, that in this part of his undertaking he has not only done justice, and shewed respect, to two denominations who, in the last century, were treated neither with humanity nor equity, but afforded the reader information and entertainment.

Where he has seen reason to animadvert on and correct Mr. Neal, it were sufficient to rest his justification on the plea of impartiality and the love of truth. But to the honour of his author he can add, he has only done what was wished by him; who, in his preface to the first volume, has said, "I shall be always thankful to any that will convince me of my mistakes in a friendly manner;" and in that to the third volume has more fully expressed himself in this manner: "In historical debates, nothing is to be received upon trust, but facts are to be examined, and a judgment formed upon the authority by which those facts are supported; by this method we shall arrive at truth, and if it shall appear that, in the course of this long history, there are any considerable mistakes, the world may be assured, I will take the first opportunity to retract or amend them."t

The editor can declare, that it has been his own aim to do full justice to the sects and characters of those who have, in this work, come before him in review, and he can boldly appeal to his pen itself to prove the sincerity of his declaration. He scarcely would have thought of making this appeal, if in an early stage of his undertaking it had not been insinuated, that it was his design to make this work a vehicle for conveying particular opinions in theology, and that his own sentiments made him an unfit person for the task. He has, indeed, sentiments of his own; but he can estimate good

ness and worth wherever they are found. He has sentiments of his own, but he rejoices in the consciousness of a disposition to grant to others a full liberty to avow, defend, and disseminate, their sentiments, though opposite to his own; and can give them the praise due to their abilities and characters.

It is a pleasure to him, that the examination of the writers who have censured Mr. Neal with severity, has eventually established the authenticity of the history, and the candour and impartiality of the author, in all the main parts of his work. It reflects high and lasting honour on this ecclesiastical history, that if the author were convicted by a Warburton, a Maddox, and a Grey, of partiality, it could be only such a partiality as might arise from a zeal against tyrants and oppressors. The work has, on the whole, a liberal cast; it is on the side of civil and religious liberty; it is in favour of the rights of Englishmen, against unconstitutional prerogative; it is in favour of the rights of conscience, against an imperious and persecuting hierarchy, whether Episcopal or Presbyterian; it is in favour of the great interests of mankind; and, to adopt the words of a most able and liberal writer;* "A history that is written without any regard to the chief privileges of human nature, and without feelings, especially of the moral kind, must lose a considerable part of its instruction and energy."

* Dr. Kippis: Preface to the first volume of the second edition of the Biographia Britannica, p. 21.

DR. TOULMIN'S ADVERTISEMENT

ΤΟ

VOL. V. OF THE FORMER EDITION.

THIS edition of Mr. Neal's "History of the Puritans," after many interruptions, being at length completed, and the last volume being now presented to the public, the editor embraces this occasion to make his acknowledgments to the gentlemen who have assisted and encouraged his design. He feels his obligations to those who by their names and subscriptions have patronised it; and he is much indebted to some who, by the communication of books and manuscripts, have aided the execution of it. Situated, as he is, at a great distance from the metropolis, and the libraries there open to the studious, he sees not how he could have enjoyed the means of examining Mr. Neal's authorities, in any extensive degree, and of ascertaining the accuracy of the statements by an inspection of the writers of the last century, had not his grace the duke of Grafton most handsomely offered, and most readily supplied, a great number of books necessary to that purpose, from his large and valuable libraries.

Some books of great authority were obligingly handed to him by Henry Waymouth, esq. of Exeter. His thanks are also due to the Rev. Josiah Thompson, of Clapham, and to Edmund Calamy, esq. To the former, for the free use of his manuscript collections, relative to the history of the dissenting churches; and to the latter, for the opportunity of perusing a manuscript of his worthy and learned ancestor, Dr. Edmund Calamy, entitled, "An HistoricalAccount of my own Life, with some Reflections on the Times I have lived in." He has been likewise much indebted to a respectable member of the society of Quakers, Mr. Morris Birkbeck, of Wanborough, Surrey, for his judicious remarks on Mr. Neal, and for furnishing him with Gough's valuable history of that people.

Taunton, August 11th, 1796.