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The life and character of John Howe, M.A.
The life and character of John Howe MA Author:Henry Rogers Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. FROM 1656 TO 1658. HOWE'S FIRST INTERVIEW WITH CROMWELL.—PREACHES AT WHITEHALL.—CROMWELL PROPOSES THAT HE SHOULD BECOME HIS CHAPLAIN.—HOWE'S R... more »ELUCTANCE.—SCRUPLES OVERCOME.— MOTIVES WHICH ACTUATED CROMWELL IN THE SELECTION OP HOWE.—REMARKS ON THE PROTECTOR'S RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.—STATE OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES.—LETTERS OF HOWE TO BAXTER, PUBLISHED FROM THF BAXTER MSS.—HOWE'S RELUCTANCE TO CONTINUE AT WHITEHALL.—GROUNDS OF IT.—MANNER IN WHICH HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF DURING HIS CONNEXION WITH CROMWELL.—INSTANCES OF HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS, INTEGRITY, AND BENEVOLENCE.— REFLECTIONS. Howe was no longer to remain the pastor of an obscure country town. One of those trifling incidents, as men are wont to consider them, but on which Divine Providence seems to delight in suspending the most important events, changed the whole tenour of his life, and placed him in a situation of peculiar difficulty and delicacy. At the close of 1656, or in the beginning of 1657, some important business brought Howe to London. On the last sabbath of his stay there, (and it is worthy of remark that hehad been already detained beyond the period he had assigned for his return,) curiosity led him to the Chapel at Whitehall. The name of the preacher who attracted him thither is unknown. Cromwell was present; and as "he generally had his eyes every where," (to use an expression of Calamy's, not very complimentary to Oliver's devotion,) the noble and expressive physiognomy of Howe soon fell under his notice. Nor was this to be wondered at; an observer of human nature, far less sagacious than Oliver Cromwell, might have discerned in the lineaments of Howe's face, the indications of no common character. The exact period cannot be ascertained. The first of the letters of Howe to Baxter, which will be ...« less