PREFACE.

THE

HE name of OLIVER HEYWOOD has been long and deservedly held in high esteem, especially in the county of Lancashire, in which he was born, and in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in which he chiefly laboured. He was when living a man eminently honoured by God as the instrument of "turning many to righteousness" by his evangelical discourses, and apostolical labours in the cause of true godliness. Since his translation to the firmament of celestial glory, in which he shines as a star of the first magnitude, many sojourners in this vale of tears have been instructed and cheered in their passage towards the heavenly kingdom by the perusal of the works he left behind. He was called to bear his part in the common sufferings of those devoted ministers of Christ in England, who in the year 1662 relinquished their ecclesiastical benefices, and were prepared to lose all and suffer martyrdom itself, "rather than act contrary to conscience, or desert the cause of civil and religious liberty." The traditional accounts of some of those privations, and of the remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence on his behalf, have greatly contributed to the celebrity of his character. But his genuine piety, as well as his labours and sufferings, made him highly beloved by good men with whom he was per

sonally acquainted, and has caused his memory to be venerated in succeeding periods of the church of Christ, by those to whom he has been known only by report, or by his edifying publications.

A "Life of O. HEYWOOD" was published many years since by the late, revered Dr. Fawcett, who when he wrote that account, possessed only two volumes of Mr. HEYWOOD's private papers. Afterwards he sometimes entertained the idea of composing a new and an enlarged edition, having obtained much fuller information, but at last declined it on account of his other engagements and the increased infirmities of old age. A short time before his death, the venerable Doctor encouraged the writer of this Life to follow up the design, he having been favoured by Mr. HEYWOOD'S descendants and others, with upwards of twenty volumes of his private manuscripts.*

In compiling this Memoir, the writer has endeavoured to present to the world a faithful narrative of the Life of O. HEYWOOD: an unexaggerated record of his labours and sufferings in the cause of Christ; and a plain exhibition of the religious truths he received as "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," together with the influence of those truths on his public and private character. To render the narrative as interesting as possi

* The Writer cheerfully embraces this opportunity of publicly acknowledging his special obligations to the late Rev. Dr. Fawcett, to Dr. Raffles, Liverpool, the Rev. Rich. Astley, Halifax, and Miss Heywood, Mansfield, for the loan of valuable MSS; to the late Rev. Dr. Ryland, Bristol, for extracts from the Northowram Register; and to the Rev. Mr. Hunter, Bath, for his useful aid in composing the Genealogical Table of the Heywood Family.

ble, it consists chiefly of extracts from Mr. HEYWOOD'S private papers, so that the work may be considered as a specimen of auto-biography. The manuscripts from which the selections have been made are the following:

"A Relation" of the most considerable passages of his Life from infancy till nearly the fortieth year of his age.

"Soliloquies" on various occurrences of his life and the state of his mind, from May 1653 to June 1682, a period comprising nearly the first thirty years of his ministry.

"Covenants" occasional and annual, from Feb. 1673 to 1680. from June 1685 to February 1702.

"Returns of Prayer," from January 1672 to 1677. from 1682 to 1702.

"Self-Reflections," from November 1677 to 1700. "Experiences with Reflections," from February 1680 to 1702. "Diary," from its commencement in 1666 to 1673.

decease.

from July 1677 to May 1680.

from May 1682 to July 1686.

from March 1695 to June 1699.

from October 1699 to within five days of his

"Particulars respecting Coley, collected by O. HEYWOOD." A private Record of the members of the church at Northowram, containing also the church covenant, &c.

"The Heywood Family." Containing the Lives of Mr. HEYWOOD's ancestors and pious relatives, written by himself. In this interesting volume, the history of the Family is continued to the present day by surviving relations.

The memoir, it is hoped, will be acceptable to the general Reader, particularly as it relates to one of the most eventful periods of English history. The Protestant Dissenter will be pleased to meet with some particulars concerning Mr. HEYWOOD'S companions

in tribulation and the general history of Nonconformity; he will be reminded what were the principles by which his forefathers and predecessors were influenced in separating from the Church of England, as by law established, and that English Dissent has not depended on the lives of the ejected ministers, but is founded on just and christian principles, and upheld by the mighty power of God; and he will learn to cherish and propagate those sentiments which animated those Confessors, and to which he is so much indebted for that measure of civil and religious liberty he now enjoys. Pious Christians of various denominations will be gratified with the simple relation of religious experience, given by one of the most eminent servants of God. They will probably admire his diligence, zeal, devotedness, and success as a minister; but when they follow him into the domestic scenes of his life, or the retirements of the closet, they will be able to converse with him as a fellow-believer, and more fully to sympathize with him in his anxieties and hopes, and sorrows, and joys as a Christian.

Had Mr. HEYWOOD's manuscripts fallen into other hands, doubtless a memorial might have been raised to his memory more worthy of the distinguished subject whose life is recorded, and more deserving the attention of the public. Such, however, as it is, the Author commends it to the blessing of "the God of all grace," who sometimes accomplishes his purposes of mercy by the meanest instruments, the more effectually to promote his glory.

RICHARD SLATE.