Baxter was ed­u­cat­ed at Wro­ex­ter School, and for a time held the Mas­tership of the Dud­ley Gram­mar School. On tak­ing Ho­ly Orders, he be­came Cur­ate of Kid­der­min­ster in 1640. Sub­se­quent­ly, he was for some time chap­lain to one of Crom­well’s re­gi­ments. Through weak­ness he had to take an en­forced rest, dur­ing which he wrote his Saints’ Ev­er­last­ing Rest. On re­gain­ing his health, he re­turned to Kid­der­min­ster, where he stayed un­til 1660, when he moved to Lo­ndon. At the Res­tor­a­tion, he be­came chap­lain to King Charles II, and was of­fered the bi­shop­ric of Her­e­ford, which he de­clined. On the pass­ing of the Act of Un­i­form­i­ty, he re­tired from ac­tive du­ty as an Ang­li­can min­is­ter. Around 1673, he ob­tained a li­cense as a Non-con­form­ist min­is­ter and be­gan lec­tur­ing in Lon­don. Bax­ter’s works in­clude:

• Aphorisms of Jus­ti­fi­ca­tion, 1649
• The Saints Ev­er­last­ing Rest, 1650
• Poetical Frag­ments: Heart Imploy­ment with God and It­self; The Con­cord­ant Dis­cord of a Brok­en­heart­ed Heart, 1681
• Additions to the Po­e­ti­cal Frag­ments of Rich. Bax­ter, Writ­ten for Him­self, and Com­mun­i­cat­ed to such as Are More for Ser­i­ous Verse than Smooth, 1683
• A Par­a­phrase on the Psalms, with Other Hymns Left Fit­ted for the Press, pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly, 1692

• Hatfield, pp. 50-52
• Julian, p. 118
• Nutter, p. 390

1. He Lacks Not Friends That Hath Thy Love
2. Lord, It Be­longs Not to My Care
3. Ye Ho­ly An­gels Bright