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EVANGELICAL BIOGRAPHY;

being

a Complete and Faithful Account

of the

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• OF

Eminent Christians

Who have shone with Distinguisha Justic,

((Alphabetically Arranged.

with

LISTS OF THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS,

Chronological order.
Sccasional Extraits.)

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Printed for L. Stratford, we, Holborn Hill

and Sold by all other Booksellers in the United Kingdom.

1807.

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41

It is a duty incumbent upon every writer to state the rea

sons which induced him to present his labours to a discerning and judicious Public; and consequently this task devolves upon the author of the present publication.

It is an observation which has long and frequently been made, that Infidelity and Irreligion abound in this country on the one hand, and the pernicious tenets of Popery and other heretical Sects are making large strides upon the Reformed Religion on the other: and therefore it has been thought necessary, by many Ministers and scrious Persons, of the various denominations of Evangelical professing Christians, to oppose a torrent of wickedness and delusion, which seems to threaten the destruction of all before it. The just judgments of God, which appear to hang over ús as a Nation, and the dreadful scourge of war, with which we have been visited for many years, with very little intermission, may be properly imputed to the prevailing iniquity of the present age, to the dissoluteness of our public principles and manners, and to the open disregard for the Lord of Hosts, which too many among us, in practice, if not in words, have even dared to avow. We have indeed reason to tremble as a people, under the visitations of the Almighty, and to fear, that, unless a reformation in our gene`ral conduct take place, and a greater regard be paid to the interest of religion and truth, we shall be afflicted with yet heavier dispensations, and that what we have already seen is only the beginning of sorrows.

As nothing makes a stronger impression on the mind than example, a review of the Lives and Principles of the most eminent Persons in the Protestant Churches, and of the Laity among Professing Christians, from the dawn of the Reformation to the present day, may be a providential mean VOL. I.--No. 1.

A

of

1

of giving, at least, a check to the general inundation of Infidelity and Heresy. The attentive perusal and consideration of what those great and good men maintained, suffered for, (some by the loss of life, and others by the deprivation of their livings,) or died in the possession of, may, in the hand of the Head of the Church, be instrumental in leading others to follow their example, and may deter many from reviling and contemning those peculiar principles of the Protestant Doctrine, which their ignorance or their indolence have not permitted them to understand. Too many of our Youth have been trained up, not in the way wherein they should go, that when they grow old they might not depart from it, but in the ignorance and contempt of every thing sacred: and, according to the worldly acceptation of the term, a man, to be polite, must be profane, and affect to despise the purity of the Gospel, and openly disregard the Author of his being. What is to be hoped for from such principles as these, but what we have too much, to our sorrow, found, Irreligion on the one hand, and Spiritual Error on the other? Every person, therefore, who has any concern for the Glory of God, for the Purity of the Gospel, and for the best Interests of Posterity, will cordially encourage and support a Work, which is calculated for these important purposes, as well as for his own edification. What greater delight can a truly pious man have, than that which results from perusing accounts of the lives and actions of those great and exalted characters, who have gone before him to inherit the Promises. As a Family-Book, a work of this nature may be put into the hands of Youth, both for their Information as a History, and for their Profit as an Instructor.

Accounts of the lives and deaths of pious persons must be exceedingly useful at all times. There are but few indeed who are endowed with those extraordinary qualities, and who move in such important spheres, as to afford materials

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