Richard Baxter (1615-1691), a Puritan minister and voluminous author of the seventeenth century, wrote the devotional masterpiece Call to the Unconverted and his Saint’s Everlasting Rest. At 25 he entered the ministry and was appointed to the parish of Kidderminster (1640). Here he remained until “for conscience’ sake” he, along with many other Nonconformist clergy, was driven out by the “Act of Uniformity” passed in 1662. He ceased to preach but was caught holding family prayers “with more than four persons.” He was arrested and imprisoned for six months. When released he lived in retirement until 1672 when the “Act of Indulgence” gave him liberty to preach and to publish again. He refused to be silenced by the authorities and preached the Gospel despite the personal costs he paid.
