Allen, Richard (1)

Allen, Richard (1), an English Baptist minister, who flourished at the close of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, is said to have been a man of good endowments; and though he had not the advantages of a learned education, yet by constant application he became a good Oriental scholar. His public ministry began in the reign of Charles II, and he was a victim to the persecuting spirit which brought such discomfort to the Dissenters. He was fined and imprisoned and subjected to innumerable annoyances. On one occasion, as he was preaching a Thursday lecture, he, with ten other persons, was seized and thrown into Newgate, where he remained until some of his friends paid his fine and secured his release. In 1695 he became pastor of a church, meeting in Paul's Alley, London, and continued in that relation for nearly twenty-two years. His death occurred Feb. 20, 1717. He was the author of the following works: An Essay to Prove Singing of Psalms with Conjoined Voices a Christian Duty, and to Resolve the Doubt concerning it (1690, 8vo): — A Brief Vindication of an Essay to Prove Singing of Psalms, etc. (1696, 8vo): — A Gainful Death: the End of a Truly Christian Life (1700, 8vo), a sermon at the funeral of Mr. John Griffith: — A Discourse on the Death of King William III (1702, 4to): — A Sermon on the Union of England and Scotland (1707, 8vo): — Biographia Ecclesiastica (2 vols. 8vo), or the lives of the most eminent fathers of the Christian Church who flourished in the first four centuries and part of the 5th. See Haynes, Baptist Cyclop. 1, 18-20. (J. C. S.)