Ronald Bayne

“ In 1648, having been for some time employed by the committee of parliament for the reformation of the university of Oxford, he was appointed master of University College and regius professor of divinity. A canonry of Christ Church,which had been appropriated for the support of the professorship, was assigned to another before Hoyle's appointment, and, since the income of the master of University College was very small, Hoyle complained with reason of straitened means. ”

“ Six short letters from Erasmus to Gonell are extant, which indicate a close intimacy between the two. The earliest was written in 1511, the latest in 1518. Erasmus was in the habit of lending his horse to Gonell. Dr. Knight (Life of Erasmus, pp. 176–8) touches upon the chief points of interest in the letters, and summaries of them will be found in Brewer's ‘Letters and Papers of Henry VIII's Reign.’ According to Tanner, Gonell was the author of ‘Ad Erasmum Roterodamensen Epistolarum Liber,’ which Dodd may allude to when he speaks of Erasmus's ‘letters to him extant’ (Church History, i. 205) . ”

“ In 1675 he produced 'The Weaver's Pocket Book, or Weaving spiritualised,' perhaps his most curious work, intended specially for the weavers of Norwich, in imitation of Flavel's 'Navigation and Husbandry spiritualised.' In 1676 he published 'The Intercourses of Divine Love between Christ and His Church,' an exposition of chapter ii. of Solomon's Song, which in 1683 was incorporated with a similar exposition of chapter i., and a metrical paraphrase. In 1678 there appeared 'Several Discourses concerning the actual Providence of God,' containing ninety-eight sermons. ”

“ Goldsmith occupied his leisure by translating portions of the works of Hugo Grotius. In 1647 there appeared in London ‘Hugonis Grotii Baptizatorum Puerorum Institutio, Alternis Interrogationibus et Responsionibus,’ with a Greek translation by Christopher Wase of King's College, Cambridge, and an English translation by Goldsmith. The book, which was to be used at Eton, has a Latin dedication by Nicholas Gray to John Hales, and an epistle in English, also by Gray, ‘to his loving and beloved scholars,’ Goldsmith and Wase. The fourth edition in 1655 contained portraits of Grotius and Goldsmith. ”

“ HILSEY or HILDESLEIGH, JOHN (d. 1538) , bishop of Rochester, is stated by Wood to have belonged to the Hildsleys of Benham, Berkshire, a branch of the Hildsleys of Hildsley, Berkshire (E. Ashmole, Antiquities of Berkshire, 1723, i. 35, 36, ii. 329, iii. 317) ; to have devoted himself to learning and religion; to have received instructions from a friar of the Dominican house at Bristol, and to have entered the order of Dominican friars there. From Bristol, he removed to the Dominican house at Oxford and there in May 1527, he graduated B.D., and proceeded D.D. in 1532 ”

“ HARRISON, THOMAS (1693–1745) , baptist minister and poet, born in 1693, was the son of Thomas Harrison, the minister of a baptist congregation meeting at Loriners' Hall, London. He was first called to the ministry by the congregation of baptists to which he belonged, meeting in Joiners' Hall. From 1715 to 1729 he was the pastor of the particular baptist church in Little Wild Street. In 1729 he conformed to the church of England; through the influence of relatives obtained orders, and was inducted into the vicarage of Radcliffe-on-the-Wreke, Leicestershire. ”

“ In a piteous reply to a complaint from Cromwell that he was 'covetous, and not sufficiently complaisant to the King's visitors,' he stated that, if Cromwell were not favourable to him, his income would only amount to 200l. In January 1636, Hilsey preached at Queen Catherine's funeral, alleging that, in the hour of death, she had acknowledged that she had never been Queen of England. In March, he obtained a faculty from Cromwell enabling him to remain prior of the London Black Friars and, when they were dispersed, he received a pension of 60l. ”

“ HARRISON, THOMAS, D.D. (1555–1631) , biblical scholar, was born in London in 1555 of respectable parents, entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1570, where he is stated to have been second in learning only to Lancelot Andrewes, afterwards bishop of Winchester; he proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1576. At Cambridge his scholarship attracted the notice of Dr. Whitaker, who for the excellence of his verses used to call him 'suum poetam.' He apparently became a fellow and tutor of Trinity College. ”

“ OLDYS or OLDIS, VALENTINE (1620–1685) , poet, son of Valentine Oldis, was born in 1620, and educated at Cambridge. He was made M.D. of Cambridge per literas regias on 6 Oct. 1671, and honorary member of the College of Physicians on 30 Sept. 1680. He died in 1686, and was buried near his father in Great St. Helen's, by St. Mary Axe. Oldis published 'A Poem on the Restoration of King Charles,' 1660, fol., and was a patron of literature and men of letters. ”

“ Suffolk was banished at the same time and murdered while attempting to leave England. Cade's rebellion followed, and when Henry received the news of Sir Humphrey Stafford's defeat and death, he at last sent Lord Say to the Tower, but not till some of the lords had threatened to join Cade. Lord Scales was in charge of the Tower, and on 4 July 1450 handed over Say to Cade, who took him to the Guildhall, and compelled the mayor and judges to arraign him along with other obnoxious persons not in Cade's hands. ”

“ GIBBON or GIBBONS, NICHOLAS, the elder (fl. 1600) , theological writer, matriculated as pensioner at Clare Hall, Cambridge, in June 1585. He proceeded B.A. in 1588–9, M.A. in 1592, and was incorporated at Oxford July 1592. He has been identified with the Nicholas Gibbon of Heckford, Dorsetshire, whose son of the same name, born at Poole in 1605, became rector of Corfe Castle [see Gibbon, Nicholas, the younger, (1605–1697) ] . ”

“ This Whitford is to compare with a similar effort of More's, and to decide which is better. The letter contains an enthusiastic estimate of More's abilities. It states that Whitford used to affirm Erasmus and More to be 'so alike in wit, manners, affections, and pursuits, that no pair of twins could be found more so.' It concludes, 'Both of us certainly you equally love; to both you are equally dear.' The letter occurs in the editions of these declamations which were printed with the translations from Lucian (e.g. Luciani Optiscula, Leyden, 1528, p. 210) . ”

“ In ‘A True and Short Declaration, &c.,’ Browne gives an elaborate account of the origin and growth of his friendship with Harrison, whom he puts first in the list of his helpers and disciples. According to Browne's narrative, Harrison came completely over to his views, and the two spent all their energies in preaching and collecting a congregation at Norwich. In April 1581 Bishop Freake of Norwich sent formal articles of complaint against Browne and Harrison to Burghley, and the whole congregation decided to migrate to Middelburg in Zeeland in the autumn of the same year (1581) . ”

“ CLARKE, MATTHEW, the younger (1664–1726) , independent divine, was the son of Matthew Clarke, the elder [q. v.] , who was ejected in 1662 from Narborough, Leicestershire, and took up his abode in a solitary house in Leicester Forest; here on 2 Feb. 1664 his only son, Matthew, was born, and educated by his father, who undertook the preparation of a certain number of young men for the ministry. The father being a distinguished orientalist, Matthew's education, besides Latin, Greek, Italian, and French, included several oriental languages ”

“ HARRISON, THOMAS, D.D. (fl. 1658) , nonconformist divine, born at Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, was taken by his parents while a youth to New England, and there trained up to the ministry. He became chaplain to the governor of Virginia, an enemy of the puritans. The governor, with the connivance of Harrison, expelled from Virginia certain ministers who held extreme views, and their expulsion was followed by a disastrous rising among the Indians. ”

“ While in the Peninsula he employed his leisure time in translating the Bible into Portuguese, a task he performed so well, that his version has been adopted both by catholics and protestants, and Don Pedro I of Portugal publicly thanked him for his gift to the nation. In 1848 he was appointed incumbent of Holy Trinity, Hoxton; but before that he had established his reputation as a Hebrew scholar, being teacher of Hebrew to Jews at the college, Hackney, from 1830 to 1832, and professor of Hebrew at the Missionary College, Islington, in 1836. ”

“ In 1879 the see of Jerusalem became vacant, and Dr. Barclay's experience and attainments marked him out as the only man likely to fill the post successfully. He was most enthusiastically welcomed to Jerusalem, and entered on his duties with his usual vigour, but his sudden death after a short illness in October 1881 put an end to the hopes of those who believed that at last some of the objects of the original founders of the bishopric were to be realised. Bishop Barclay's attainments were most extensive. ”

“ In 1579 he was sent by Aylmer, bishop of London, to Cookham, Berkshire, to supply the place of a puritan minister who had been suspended by the ecclesiastical commission, but ‘one Welden, a person of some note in Cookham,’ seems to have prevented him from officiating. In 1581 he describes himself as ‘a preacher of the Word of God in London,’ and was residing in Holborn. ”

“ In the ‘Epistle Dedicatorie’ of the ‘Certain Godly and Learned Treatises,’ published in 1592, we are told that Fenner ‘ended his testimony in this life under thirtie years of age.’ In the list of his works which follows the reasons are noted for accepting 1587 as the year of his death. Fenner has always been reckoned among the ablest exponents of puritan views. His works are: 1. ‘A Brief Treatise upon the First Table of the Lawe, orderly disposing the Principles of Religion, whereby we may examine our selves,’ Middleburgh, 12mo, n.d., written (see preface) when the author was under twenty. ”

“ Claymond was a considerable benefactor of the Oxford colleges in which he was interested; to Magdalen he left 'divers lands and tenements' in Oxfordshire and Southampton, conditionally upon annual service being performed in the chapel for the souls of himself, his father and mother, and his stepfather John; he also left certain moneys for distribution among the poorest fellows and demies; at Brasenose he founded six scholarships, the scholars being chosen from places where he had held preferments, these scholars were afterwards called Claymondines or Clemmondines ”

“ Captain Sturt, in an eloquent eulogium of his brother officer, says of him that ‘in disposition as in the close of his life he was in many respects similar to Captain Cook:’ like Captain Cook he suffered for the sins of others. ”

“ BLAND, JOHN (d. 1555) , Marian martyr, was born at Sedbergh on the north-west border of Yorkshire, was educated by Dr. Lupton, provost of Eton, and took the degree of M.A. at Cambridge University. He was for some time a 'bringer-up of youth, perhaps in the school of Furness Abbey, one of his pupils being Edwin Sandys, afterwards archbishop of York. Eventually he entered the ministry and became rector of Adisham in Kent. On Mary's accession his church-warden, heading the papists in his parish, procured in December 1553 a priest from a neighbouring parish to say mass. ”

“ Locke replied with a 'Vindication' of his essay, to which Edwards answered in a tract entitled 'Socinianism Unmasked,' &c. At this point Bold entered the field, publishing in 1697 a 'Discourse on the true Knowledge of Christ Jesus,' in which he insists, with Locke, that Christ and the apostles considered it enough for a Christian to believe that Jesus was the Christ. To the sermon he appended comments on Locke's essay and 'Vindication,' declaring the essay 'one of the best books that had been published for at least 1,600 years,' and criticising Edwards's tracts. ”

“ A writer in the ‘Retrospective Review’ points out that the ‘Resolves’ bear a resemblance in manner, and still more in matter, to the ‘Essays’ of Lord Bacon; but the resemblance is only occasional, and is obscured by a fondness for conceits and a straining after effect which make the book tedious to a modern reader; Felltham is without Bacon's power of arrangement and condensation. ”

“ FENNER, DUDLEY (1558?–1587) , puritan divine, was born in Kent, ‘heire of great possessions,’ and matriculated as a fellow-commoner of Peterhouse 15 June 1575. Brook (Lives of the Puritans, i. 392) says that he was ‘for some time a celebrated tutor in the university,’ but couples the remark with the impossible statement that Thomas Cartwright and Travers were his pupils. ”

“ In June 1447, being lord chamberlain to the king and one of the council, he was granted a yearly pension of one hundred marks, payable from the customs of wool in the port of London, and in August was appointed constable of the Tower during the minority of Henry, son and heir of John, duke of Exeter. ”

“ Unfortunately his residence at Cambridge as fellow of Trinity involved him in the feud between the master and fellows of Trinity College. Colbatch at first was the chief counsellor of moderation, and published a pamphlet in defence of Bentley's contention that any B.D. or D.D. should, for college rooms or a college living, have priority of a master of arts. ”

“ Scurvy was very prevalent, but Barker, by planting trees and vegetables, restored the health of the community, and his just treatment of the natives speedily removed their hostility. In the face of all opposition he insisted on forbearance and humanity on the part of the settlers, and by trusting himself alone into the hands of the natives and giving them other proofs of his justice and good feeling, he became possessed of great influence among them. ”

“ He must, however, have become a protestant soon after, and in Elizabeth's reign become absorbed in politics. He was till his death one of the queen's most trusted agents in her negotiations with the states of the Low Countries. ”

“ From 1857-9 he issued 'Our Christians' Classics,' containing 'readings from the best divines, with notices, biographical and critical.' His knowledge of botany was extensive, and he contributed the botanical articles to Professor Fairbairn's 'Biblical Dictionary.' Towards the close of his life he took great interest in the formation of a hymn-book for the presbyterian churches. 'The Psalter and Hymn-Book; Three Lectures,' 12mo, appeared in 1865, and the 'Book of Psalms and Hymns,' which after his death was adopted by the presbyterian churches, owed much to his learning and care. ”

“ At the king's desire the university of Oxford granted to him and four more of his countrymen a pension of 18l. per annum. This was paid to him for four years, and enabled him to study for seven years at Exeter College, where he gave lessons in Hebrew and was permitted to take pupils. ”