AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THAT EXCELLENT MINISTER OF CHRIST, THE REV. JOSEPH ALLEINE, A. B.Author of 'Art Alarm to the Unconverted,' c.
And late Minister of the Gospel, at Taunton, in Somersetshire. WRITTEN BY THE REV. RICHARD BAXTER, HIS WIDOW, MRS. THEODOSIA ALLEINE, And other Persons. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, HIS CHRISTIAN LETTERS, Full of Spiritual Instructions, TENDING TO TILE PROMOTING OF THE POWER OF GODLINESS BOTH IN PERSONS AND FAMILIES. Second Edition, corrected.
LEEDS: PRINTED BY AND FOR JAMES NICHOLS, No. 36, Briggate, Leeds; SOLD IN LONDON BY GALE AND FENNER; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN; BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOy; BAYNES; AND BLANSHARD; BY JAMES TAYLOR, SMITH AND CO. EDINBURGH, And other Booksellers. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.n.1111.111n0 IN a new edition of the Life and Christian Letters of the Rev. Joseph Alleine,' no apology from the person who respectfully presents it, can be required. The worthy subject of the following memoir, is embalmed in the memory of the just; and his name can receive no additional celebrity from the honourable mention of it by the writer of this preface. As an eminent christian and a powerful and eloquent writer, his praise has long been in all the churches.
His unbiassed biographers bear abundant testimony to his exalted piety; and in his literary labours he was, according to the best acceptation of the word, uncommonly successful. The perusal of his ' Alarm to the unconverted' has been blessed to thousands of persons; and the editions through which it has passed have been exceedingly numerous. If a favourable judgment may be pronounced on a work from the popularity which it obtains, and if utility be the proper test of merit, then may the ' Alarm' claim a high degree of attention, and its author may be justly ranked among those men of genius whose pious exertions have procured them the title of BENEFACTORS: For, if we except the ' Pilgrim's Progress' and ' Robinson Crusoe,' scarcely has any treatise in the English Tongue, whether allegorical or in the form of history, had a circulation more extensive and beneficial than this serious and sensible production.' His ' Call to Archippus't is considered a masterpiece of pathetic argumentation.
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On some of the most useful and pious Nonconformist ministers, it operated as an incentive to continue their labours of love among the scattered sheep of their respective flocks, and patiently to take the consequence of it- the suffering for righteousness' sake. Nor have his ' Christian Letters' come down to the present times without receiving some due portion of encomium.
They have always since their first publication been regarded, by the pious, as models of ministerial faithfulness and christian eloquence. In that heavenly uncIion and moving tenderness which breathe from his letters, he has not been equalled by any of the Christian Fathers: Only by the sacred penmen themselves is he excelled in these qualities. Many weighty authorities might be adduced in sup-1 port of this opinion; but two may now suffice. That admirable man and great divine, the Rev. Richard Baxter, says of him, ' Oh! How happy were ' the church of God, if great understanding and fer' vent zeal were ordinarily as well conjoined, as ' they were in this worthy man!
' And many have much reading, and plentiful Ina' terials for learning, who yet were never truly ' learned, as being injudicious, and never having well ' digested what they read into the habits of solid ' It has sometimes been published under the more imposing title of' The Sure Guide to Heaven.' T A new edition of this work will shortly be published. V ' understanding.
But so was it not with this our ' brother, as his very letters fully witness: How ' clearly and solidly doth he resolve that great ' gy.estion which he speaketh to, as one that had ' theology, not in his books only, but in his head ' and heart!' The late Rev. John Wesley, a man every way qualified to judge in this matter, has given the following character of them, which is the more to be relied upon, for disinterestedness and impartiality, on account of the known difference of sentiment between him and Mr. Alleine, in some peculiar points of doctrine, traces of which will be perceived in a few phrases adopted in this his correspondence: ' The Letters of Mr. Samuel Rutherford have ' been generally admired by all the children of God, ' into whose hands they have fallen, for the vein of ' piety, trust in God, and holy zeal, which run ' through them. The same piety, zeal, and con' fidence in God, shine through all the letters of Mr. 'Alleine: so that in this respect he may well be stiled, ' The English Rutherford.
But yet there is a very ' discernible difference between them: in piety and ' fervour of spirit they are the same: but the fer' your of the one more resembles that of St. Paul; 'of the other, that of St. They were both ' men of the most intrepid courage: but in love Mr.
' Alleine has the pre-eminence. He seems to ex' eel in bowels of mercy, meekness, gentleness, ' in tenderness, mildness, and sweetness of spirit, ' even to his bitterest enemies. I do not therefore, a2 Vi PREFACE. ' scruple to give these Letters the preference, even ' to Mr. Rutherford's: as expressing, in a still higher ' degree, the love that is long-suffering and kind, ' which is not provoked, which thinketh no evil, and ' w hich hopeth, believeth, and endureth all things.' The Introductory Chapter to this ' Account of his Life and Death' was the performance of the Rev. Richard Baxter.
It is a piece of exquisite composition, and contains a fine eulogy on Mr. Alleine, and a disquisition on biography and sacred history, in which the acumen of his wit and the soundness of his judgment are happily displayed. The third Chapter was written by his father-in-law, Mr. Richard Alleine, and the fourth by his worthy vicar, the Rev. George Newton. His widow, Mrs. Theoclosia Alleine, wrote the sixth, which is a remarkably simple and interesting narrative; and his intimate acquaintance, the Rev.
Richard Fairclougli, the ninth. The other chapters were the productions of several of his most familiar friends. The remaining portion, which is the largest part of the volume, is occupied by that excellent collection of his pastoral correspondence which has been described above, and is entitled ' Christian Letters.' What Richard Baxter introduced and recommended, and Joseph Alleine wrote, will not appear despicable to those who are gifted with the pleasing skill of appreciating intellectual and spiritual excellence. In this impression it has been the care of the editor to translate all the Latin and Greek quotations, and to place them at the bottom of each page where PREFACE.
Vii they occur. When any obsolete or uncommon word presents itself, its modern synonyme, or one almost equivalent to it in signification, is inserted in the margin; thus, peep,warily,peevish, giving a share in, &c. Are in the notes explanatory of pear, charily, froppish, inleressing, &c. The original edition of 1672 has been scrupulously followed throughout, except in the orthography of:a few words, such as rejoyce, flue, meer, onely, &c. Which are changed into rejoice, fy, mere, only, 4.—It was the custom of that age for the Past tense of verbs, Which is sometimes called the Imperfect, to usurp the place and function of the perfect participle: Thus it was generally said, ' I am forgot,' instead of forgotten. Such participles are here rectified, especially in the latter part of the volume.—The copulative word ' and,' when connecting words which were nearly synonymous, was rarely suffered to possess any power in influencing the verb, to which such words were joint nominatives, in the plural number:,Thus it was neither unusual nor accounted inelegant to say, 'My truth and faithfulness hath never failed.' Similar instances of this construction may be found in the authorized English translation of the scriptures.
Though apparent breaches of what we now call good grammar, such expressions remain in this edition, without the trifling amendment which would render them correct according to modern ideas of grammatical propriety. A copious table of contents had been added.
The editor has been thus explicit in mentioning the alteration of a few letters, because he thinks a rea viii?REFACE. Sonable account of the most minute change in an author's phraseology ought always to be given to the public It cannot but have excited 'tin.r in every honest breast to behold the frequently taken, in these days, with authors wnose works are thought worthy of reptthlication.
Every literary man would rather that, after his de. Cease, his grave were broken open, and his bones left to bleach in the sun, than that his works, the finest and most sensitive parts of him, should be subjected to the tortures of an ignorant blockhead or a wretched pedant. These observations are not intended to ap. Ply to extracts, fairly made; or to abridgments, announced as such. In addition to what is said in the following pages, respecting Mr.
Alleine, it is proper to mention that he died in November, 1668, and was buried in the Chancel of the church of St. Magdalen, Taunton.
Over his grave was this epitaph, engraven on a stone: Hic facet Dominus Josephus Alleine, Holocaustunz Tauntonense et Deo et vo3is. Wood gives the following translation: ' Here Mr. Joseph Alleine lies, ' To God and you a sacrifice.' In allusion to which one of his friends says of him, ' But, alas!
His zeal for the glory of God and the 'good of souls, made all his strength a whole burnt ' sacrifice, a sacrifice as truly devoted as if it had, ' been offered up in the flames of martyrdom.' Chapter Page PREFACE, iii 1. Superiority of sacred biography over general history, 1 The harmony and completeness of parti cular gifts in Mr. Alleine, 7 His great diligence in private, 12 Praise and thanksgiving his natural strains, 15 The character of this history of him, 20 His writings, 23 — birth, and early indications of piety, 25 predilectiorifor the christian ministry, and removal from school to the univer sity, 26 — studies there, 27 early accomplishments, 30 The pleasure he had in prayer, 31 3. An account of his father, 37 What he was himself as a man, a christian, and a minister, 38 4. His delight in performing his secret de votions in the open air, 45 — moral character, and condescension to weak brethren, 46 — ministerial gifts, and desire for the conversion of souls, 49 — early rising and excessive labours., 52.
Chapter Page 5. His ministerial course 53 — manner of going from house to house, 54 An abridgment of his reasons for private family instruction, 56 His faithfulness in reproving, 62 Useful questions which he drew up for daily self-examination. His great desire that his way might be plain to him in the matter of conformity, 68 — quitting the public situation which he held, 69 The rage of the justices against him, 70 His resolution to go to China as a mis sionary, 70 He is apprehended by an officer, 71 His appearance before the Justice at his house, - behaviour during his confinement. 73 - preaching before his departure to pri son. 76 The extraordinary respect shewn to him, by his people, on leaving Taunton.