A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 24

HERVEY, JAMES (1714-1758).--Religious writer, Rector of Weston Favell, Northants, was the author of _Meditations among the Tombs_ (1745-47), _Theron and Aspasio_, and other works, which had a great vogue in their day. They are characterised by over-wrought sentiment, and overloaded with florid ornament. H. was a devout and unselfish man, who by his labours broke down a delicate const.i.tution.

HERVEY, JOHN, LORD (1696-1743).--Writer of memoirs, was a younger _s._ of the 1st Earl of Bristol. Entering Parliament he proved an able debater, and held various offices, including that of Lord Privy Seal. He was a favourite with Queen Caroline, and a dexterous and supple courtier. He wrote _Memoirs of the Reign of George II._, which gives a very unfavourable view of the manners and morals of the Court. It is written in a lively, though often spiteful style, and contains many clever and discriminating character sketches. He was satirised by Pope under the name of "Sporus" and "Lord f.a.n.n.y."

HEYLIN, PETER (1600-1662).--Ecclesiastical writer, _b._ at Burford, Oxon., was one of the clerical followers of Charles I., who suffered for his fidelity, being deprived under the Commonwealth of his living of Alresford, and other preferments. After the Restoration he was made sub-Dean of Westminster, but the failure of his health prevented further advancement. He was a voluminous writer, and a keen and acrimonious controversialist against the Puritans. Among his works are a _History of the Reformation_, and a Life of Laud (_Cypria.n.u.s Anglica.n.u.s_) (1668).

HEYWOOD, JOHN (1497?-1580?).--Dramatist and epigrammatist, is believed to have been _b._ at North Mimms, Herts. He was a friend of Sir Thomas More, and through him gained the favour of Henry VIII., and was at the Court of Edward VI. and Mary, for whom, as a young Princess, he had a great regard. Being a supporter of the old religion, he enjoyed her favour, but on the accession of Elizabeth, he left the country, and went to Mechlin, where he _d._ He was famous as a writer of interludes, a species of composition intermediate between the old "moralities" and the regular drama, and displayed considerable constructive skill, and a racy, if somewhat broad and even coa.r.s.e, humour. Among his interludes are _The Play of the Wether_ (1532), _The Play of Love_ (1533), and _The Pardoner and the Frere_. An allegorical poem is _The Spider and the Flie_ (1556), in which the Spider stands for the Protestants, and the Flie for the Roman Catholics. H. was likewise the author of some 600 epigrams, whence his t.i.tle of "the old English epigrammatist."

HEYWOOD, THOMAS (_d._ 1650).--Dramatist. Few facts about him have come down, and these are almost entirely derived from his own writings. He appears to have been _b._ in Lincolns.h.i.+re, and was a Fellow of Peterhouse, Camb., and an ardent Protestant. His literary activity extends from about 1600 to 1641, and his production was unceasing; he claims to have written or "had a main finger in" 220 plays, of which only a small proportion (24) are known to be in existence, a fact partly accounted for by many of them having been written upon the backs of tavern bills, and by the circ.u.mstance that though a number of them were popular, few were _pub._ Among them may be mentioned _The Four Prentices of London_ (1600) (ridiculed in Fletcher's _Knight of the Burning Pestle_), _Edward IV._ (2 parts) in 1600 and 1605, _The Royal King and the Loyal Subject_ (1637), _A Woman Killed with Kindness_ (1603), _Rape of Lucrece_ (1608), _Fair Maid of the Exchange_ (1607), _Love's Mistress_ (1636), and _Wise Woman of Hogsdon_ (1638). H. also wrote an _Apology for Actors_ (1612), a poem, _Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels_ (1635), and made various translations. He was thoroughly English in his subjects and treatment, and had invention, liveliness, and truth to nature, but lacked the higher poetic sense, and of course wrote far too much to write uniformly well.

HIGDEN, RANULF or RALPH (_d._ 1364).--Chronicler, is believed to have been _b._ in the West of England, took the monastic vow (Benedictine), at Chester in 1299, and seems to have travelled over the North of England.

His fame rests on his _Polychronicon_, a universal history reaching down to contemporary events. The work is divided into 7 books and, though of no great value as an authority, has an interest as showing the state of historical and geographical knowledge at the time. Written in Latin, it was translated into English by John of Trevisa (_q.v._) (1387), and printed by Caxton (1482), and by others. Another translation of the 15th century was issued in the Rolls Series. For two centuries it was an approved work. H. wrote various other treatises on theology and history.

HILL, AARON (1685-1750).--Dramatist and miscellaneous writer, _s._ of a country gentleman of Wilts.h.i.+re, was _ed._ at Westminster School, and thereafter made a tour in the East. He was the author of 17 dramatic pieces, some of them, such as his versions of Voltaire's _Zaire_ and _Merope_, being adaptations. He also wrote a quant.i.ty of poetry, which, notwithstanding some good pa.s.sages, is as a general rule dull and pompous. Having written some satiric lines on Pope he received in return a niche in _The Dunciad_, which led to a controversy, in which H. showed some spirit. Afterwards a reconciliation took place. He was a friend and correspondent of Richardson, whose _Pamela_ he highly praised. In addition to his literary pursuits H. was a great projector, but his schemes were usually unsuccessful. He was a good and honourable man, but over-impressed with his own importance.

HINTON, JAMES (1822-1875).--Writer on sociology and psychology, _s._ of a Baptist minister, became a successful aurist, but his attention being arrested by social questions, he gave more and more of his time to the consideration and exposition of these. Open-minded and altruistic, his books are full of thought and suggestion. Among his writings may be mentioned _Man and his Dwelling-place_ (1859), _The Mystery of Pain_ (1866), _The Law of Human Life_ (1874), _Chapters on the Art of Thinking_ (1879), and _Philosophy and Religion_ (1881).

HOADLEY, BENJAMIN (1676-1761).--Theologian and controversialist, _ed._ at Camb., entered the Church, and became Bishop successively of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester. He was a great supporter of the Revolution, and controvertor of the doctrines of divine right and pa.s.sive obedience. His works were generally either the causes of controversy or elicited by it. One of his sermons, _On the Nature of the Kingdom or Church of Christ_ was the originating cause of what was known as the Bangorian controversy, which raged for a long time with great bitterness.

HOBBES, THOMAS (1588-1679).--Philosopher, was _b._ at Malmesbury, the _s._ of a clergyman, and _ed._ at Oxf. Thereafter he travelled as tutor through France, Italy, and Germany, with William Lord Cavendish, afterwards 2nd Earl of Devons.h.i.+re, with whom he remained as sec. after the completion of the tour. While engaged in this capacity he became acquainted with Bacon (whose amanuensis he is said to have been), Herbert of Cherbury, and Ben Jonson. In 1629 he _pub._ a translation of _Thucydides_. After the death of his patron, which took place in 1626, he went in 1628 to Paris, where he remained for 18 months, and in 1631 he a.s.sumed the position of tutor to his _s._, afterwards the 3rd Earl, with whom he went in 1634 to France, Italy, and Savoy. When in Italy he was the friend of Galileo, Ga.s.sendi, and other eminent men. Returning to England he remained in the Earl's service, and devoted himself to his studies on philosophy and politics. The commotions of the times, however, disturbed him; and his Royalist principles, expounded in his treatise, _De Corpore Politico_, led to his again, in 1641, leaving England and going to Paris, where he remained until 1652. While there, he entered into controversy on mathematical subjects with Descartes, _pub._ some of his princ.i.p.al works, including _Leviathan_, and received, in 1647, the appointment of mathematical tutor to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II., who was then in that city. The views expressed in his works, however, brought him into such unpopularity that the Prince found it expedient to break the connection, and H. returned to England. In 1653 he resumed his relations with the Devons.h.i.+re family, living, however, in London in habits of intimacy with Selden, Cowley, and Dr. Harvey. On the Restoration the King conferred upon him a pension of 100, but like most of the Royal benefactions of the day, it was but irregularly paid. His later years were spent in the family of his patron, chiefly at Chatsworth, where he continued his literary activity until his death, which occurred in 1679, in his 91st year. H. was one of the most prominent Englishmen of his day, and has continued to influence philosophical thought more or less ever since, generally, however, by evoking opposition. His fundamental proposition is that all human action is ultimately based upon selfishness (more or less enlightened), allowing no place to the moral or social sentiments. Similarly in his political writings man is viewed as a purely selfish being who must be held in restraint by the strong hand of authority. His chief philosophical works are _De Corpore Politico_, already mentioned, _pub._ in 1640; _Philosophical Rudiments concerning Government and Society_, originally in Latin, translated into English in 1650; _Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil_ (1651); _Treatise on Human Nature_ (1650); and _Letters upon Liberty and Necessity_ (1654). Generally speaking, all his works led him into controversy, one of his princ.i.p.al opponents being Clarendon. The _Letters upon Liberty and Necessity_, which is one of the ablest of them, and indeed one of the ablest ever written on the subject, brought him into collision with Bramhall, Bishop of Londonderry, whom he completely overthrew. He was not, however, so successful in his mathematical controversies, one of the chief of which was on the Quadrature of the Circle. Here his antagonist was the famous mathematician Wallis, who was able easily to demonstrate his errors. In 1672, when 84, H. wrote his autobiography in Latin verse, and in the same year translated 4 books of the _Odyssey_, which were so well received that he completed the remaining books, and also translated the whole of the _Iliad_. Though accurate as literal renderings of the sense, these works fail largely to convey the beauties of the original, notwithstanding which three ed. were issued within 10 years, and they long retained their popularity. His last work was _Behemoth_, a history of the Civil War, completed just before his death, which occurred at Hardwick Hall, one of the seats of the Devons.h.i.+re family. Although a clear and bold thinker, and a keen controversialist, he was characterised by a certain const.i.tutional timidity believed to have been caused by the alarm of his mother near the time of his birth at the threatened descent of the Spanish Armada.

Though dogmatic and impatient of contradiction, faults which grew upon him with age, H. had the courage of his opinions, which he did not trim to suit the times.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1588, _ed._ Oxf., became acquainted with Bacon, went to Paris 1628, in Italy 1634, _pub._ _De Corpore Politico_ (1640), again in Paris 1641-52, and while there was in controversy with Descartes, and _pub._ _Leviathan_ (1651), appointed mathematical tutor to Charles II.

1647, returned to England 1652, pensioned at Restoration, later years spent at Chatsworth, _pub._ _Human Nature_ 1650, _Liberty and Necessity_ 1654, controversy with Bramhall and Wallis, writes autobiography 1672, translates _Homer_, _pub._ _Behemoth_ 1679, _d._ 1679.

_Works_ ed. by Sir W. Molesworth (16 vols. 1839-46), monograph by Croom Robertson. _Life_ by L. Stephen (English Men of Letters Series).

HOBY, SIR THOMAS (1530-1566).--Translator, _b._ at Leominster, and _ed._ at Camb., translated Bucer's _Gratulation to the Church of England_, and _The Courtyer of Count Baldessar Castilio_, the latter of which had great popularity. H. _d._ in Paris while Amba.s.sador to France.

HOCCLEVE, or OCCLEVE, THOMAS (1368?-1450?).--Poet, probably _b._ in London, where he appears to have spent most of his life, living in Chester's Inn in the Strand. Originally intended for the Church, he received an appointment in the Privy Seal Office, which he retained until 1424, when quarters were a.s.signed him in the Priory of Southwick, Hants.

In 1399 a pension of 10, subsequently increased to 13, 6s. 8d., had been conferred upon him, which, however, was paid only intermittently, thus furnis.h.i.+ng him with a perpetual grievance. His early life appears to have been irregular, and to the end he was a weak, vain, discontented man. His chief work is _De Regimine Principum_ or _Governail of Princes_, written 1411-12. The best part of this is an autobiographical prelude _Mal Regle de T. Hoccleve_, in which he holds up his youthful follies as a warning. It is also interesting as containing, in the MS. in the British Museum, a drawing of Chaucer, from which all subsequent portraits have been taken.

HOFFMAN, CHARLES FENNO (1806-1884).--Poet, etc., _b._ in New York, _s._ of a lawyer, was bred to the same profession, but early deserted it for literature. He wrote a successful novel, _Greyslaer_, and much verse, some of which displayed more lyrical power than any which had preceded it in America.

HOGG, JAMES (THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD) (1770-1835).--Poet, and writer of tales, belonged to a race of shepherds, and began life by herding cows until he was old enough to be trusted with a flock of sheep. His imagination was fed by his mother, who was possessed of an inexhaustible stock of ballads and folk-lore. He had little schooling, and had great difficulty in writing out his earlier poems, but was earnest in giving himself such culture as he could. Entering the service of Mr. Laidlaw, the friend of Scott, he was by him introduced to the poet, and a.s.sisted him in collecting material for his _Border Minstrelsy_. In 1796 he had begun to write his songs, and when on a visit to Edin. in 1801 he _coll._ his poems under the t.i.tle of _Scottish Pastorals, etc._, and in 1807 there followed _The Mountain Bard_. A treatise on the diseases of sheep brought him 300, on the strength of which he embarked upon a sheep-farming enterprise in Dumfriess.h.i.+re which, like a previous smaller venture in Harris, proved a failure, and he returned to Ettrick bankrupt.

Thenceforward he relied almost entirely on literature for support. With this view he, in 1810, settled in Edin., _pub._ _The Forest Minstrel_, and started the _Spy_, a critical journal, which ran for a year. In 1813 _The Queen's Wake_ showed his full powers, and finally settled his right to an a.s.sured place among the poets of his country. He joined the staff of _Blackwood_, and became the friend of Wilson, Wordsworth, and Byron.

Other poems followed, _The Pilgrims of the Sun_ (1815), _Madoc of the Moor_, _The Poetic Mirror_, and _Queen Hynde_ (1826); and in prose _Winter Evening Tales_ (1820), _The Three Perils of Man_ (1822), and _The Three Perils of Woman_. In his later years his home was a cottage at Altrive on 70 acres of moorland presented to him by the d.u.c.h.ess of Buccleuch, where he _d._ greatly lamented. As might be expected from his almost total want of regular education, H. was often greatly wanting in taste, but he had real imagination and poetic faculty. Some of his lyrics like _The Skylark_ are perfect in their spontaneity and sweetness, and his _Kilmeny_ is one of the most exquisite fairy tales in the language.

Hogg was vain and greedy of praise, but honest and, beyond his means, generous. He is a leading character, partly idealised, partly caricatured, in Wilson's _Noctes Ambrosianae_.

HOGG, THOMAS JEFFERSON (1792-1862).--Biographer, _s._ of John H., a country gentleman of Durham, _ed._ at Durham Grammar School, and Univ.

Coll., Oxf., where he made the acquaintance of Sh.e.l.ley, whose lifelong friend and biographer he became. a.s.sociated with S. in the famous pamphlet on _The Necessity of Atheism_, he shared in the expulsion from the Univ. which it entailed, and thereafter devoted himself to the law, being called to the Bar in 1817. In 1832 he contributed to Bulwer's _New Monthly Magazine_ his _Reminiscences of Sh.e.l.ley_, which was much admired.

Thereafter he was commissioned to write a biography of the poet, of which he completed 2 vols., but in so singular a fas.h.i.+on that the material with which he had been entrusted was withdrawn. The work, which is probably unique in the annals of biography, while giving a vivid and credible picture of S. externally, shows no true appreciation of him as a poet, and reflects with at least equal prominence the humorously eccentric personality of the author, which renders it entertaining in no common degree. Other works of H. were _Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff_, and a book of travels, _Two Hundred and Nine Days_ (1827). He _m._ the widow of Williams, Sh.e.l.ley's friend, who was drowned along with him.

HOLCROFT, THOMAS (1745-1809).--Dramatist, _s._ of a small shoemaker in London, pa.s.sed his youth as a pedlar, and as a Newmarket stable boy. A charitable person having given him some education he became a schoolmaster, but in 1770 went on the provincial stage. He then took to writing plays, and was the first to introduce the melodrama into England.

Among his plays, _The Road to Ruin_ (1792) is the best, and is still acted; others were _Duplicity_ (1781), and _A Tale of Mystery_. Among his novels are _Alwyn_ (1780), and _Hugh Trevor_, and he wrote the well-known song, _Gaffer Gray_. H. was a man of stern and irascible temper, industrious and energetic, and a sympathiser with the French Revolution.

HOLINSHED, or HOLLINGSHEAD, RAPHAEL or RALPH _d._ (1580?).--Belonged to a Ches.h.i.+re family, and is said by Anthony Wood to have been at one of the Univ., and to have been a priest. He came to London, and was in the employment of Reginald Wolf, a German printer, making translations and doing hack-work. His _Chronicles of Englande, Scotlande, and Irelande_, from which Shakespeare drew much of his history, was based to a considerable extent on the collections of Leland, and he had the a.s.sistance of W. Harrison, R. Stanyhurst, and others. The introductory description of England and the English was the work of Harrison, Stanyhurst did the part relating to Ireland, and H. himself the history of England and Scotland, the latter being mainly translated from the works of Boece and Major. _Pub._ in 1577 it had an eager welcome, and a wide and lasting popularity. A later ed. in 1586 was ed. by J. Hooker and Stow. It is a work of real value--a magazine of useful and interesting information, with the authorities cited. Its tone is strongly Protestant, its style clear.

HOLLAND, JOSIAH GILBERT (1819-1881).--Novelist and poet, _b._ in Ma.s.sachusetts, helped to found and ed. _Scribner's Monthly_ (afterwards the _Century Magazine_), in which appeared his novels, _Arthur Bonnicastle_, _The Story of Sevenoaks_, _Nicholas Minturn_. In poetry he wrote _Bitter Sweet_ (1858), _Kathrina_, etc.

HOLLAND, PHILEMON (1552-1637).--Translator, _b._ at Chelmsford, and _ed._ at Camb., was master of the free school at Coventry, where he also practised medicine. His chief translations, made in good Elizabethan English, are of Pliny's _Natural History_, Plutarch's _Morals_, Suetonius, Xenophon's _Cyropaedia_, and Camden's _Britannia_. There are pa.s.sages in the second of these which have hardly been excelled by any later prose translator of the cla.s.sics. His later years were pa.s.sed in poverty.

HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL (1809-1894).--Essayist, novelist, and poet, was _b._ of good Dutch and English stock at Camb., Ma.s.sachusetts, the seat of Harvard, where he graduated in 1829. He studied law, then medicine, first at home, latterly in Paris, whence he returned in 1835, and practised in his native town. In 1838 he was appointed Prof. of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth Coll., from which he was in 1847 transferred to a similar chair at Harvard. Up to 1857 he had done little in literature: his first book of poems, containing "The Last Leaf," had been _pub._ But in that year the _Atlantic Monthly_ was started with Lowell for ed., and H. was engaged as a princ.i.p.al contributor. In it appeared the trilogy by which he is best known, _The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table_ (1857), _The Professor_, _The Poet_ (1872), all graceful, allusive, and pleasantly egotistical. He also wrote _Elsie Venner_ (1861), which has been called "the snake story of literature," and _The Guardian Angel_. By many readers he is valued most for the poems which lie imbedded in his books, such as "The Chambered Nautilus," "The Last Leaf," "Homesick in Heaven,"

"The Voiceless," and "The Boys."

HOME, JOHN (1722-1808).--Dramatist, _s._ of the Town-Clerk of Leith, where he was _b._, _ed._ there and at Edin., and entered the Church.

Before doing so, however, he had fought on the Royalist side in the '45, and had, after the Battle of Falkirk, been a prisoner in Doune Castle, whence he escaped. His ministerial life, which was pa.s.sed at Athelstaneford, East Lothian, was brought to an end by the action of the Church Courts on his producing the play of _Douglas_. This drama, which had been rejected by Garrick, but brought out in Edin. in 1756, created an immense sensation, and made its appearance in London the following year. H. then became private sec. to the Earl of Bute, who gave him the sinecure of Conservator of Scots Privileges at Campvere in Holland.

Thereafter he was tutor to the Prince of Wales (George III.), who on his accession conferred upon him a pension of 300. Other plays were _The Siege of Aquileia_, _The Fatal Discovery_ (1769), _Alonzo_, and _Alfred_ (1778), which was a total failure. He also wrote a _History of the Rebellion_. In 1778 he settled in Edin., where he was one of the brilliant circle of literary men of which Robertson was the centre. He supported the claims of Macpherson to be the translator of Ossian.

HONE, WILLIAM (1780-1842).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Bath, in his youth became a convinced and active democrat. His zeal in the propagation of his views, political and philanthropic, was so absorbing as to lead to a uniform want of success in his business undertakings. He _pub._ many satirical writings, which had immense popularity, among which were _The Political House that Jack Built_ (1819), _The Man in the Moon_ (1820), _The Political Showman_ (1821), and _The Apocryphal New Testament_. For one of his earliest satires, _The Political Litany_, _pub._ in 1817, he was prosecuted, but acquitted. Later he brought out _Ancient Mysteries_ (1823), _Every Day Book_ (1826-27), _Table Book_ (1827-28), and _Year Book_ (1828). These works, in which he had the a.s.sistance of other writers, are full of curious learning on miscellaneous subjects, such as ceremonies, dress, sports, customs, etc. His last literary enterprise was an ed. of _Strutt's Sports and Pastimes_ (1830). Always a self-sacrificing and honest man, he was originally an unbeliever, but in his latter years he became a sincere Christian.

HOOD, THOMAS (1799-1845).--Poet and comic writer, _s._ of a bookseller in London, where he was _b._, was put into a mercantile office, but the confinement proving adverse to his health, he was sent to Dundee, where the family had connections, and where he obtained some literary employment. His health being restored, he returned to London, and entered the employment of an uncle as an engraver. Here he acquired an acquaintance with drawing, which he afterwards turned to account in ill.u.s.trating his comic writings. After working for a short time on his own account he became, at the age of 22, sub-editor of the _London Magazine_, and made the acquaintance of many literary men, including De Quincey, Lamb, and Hazlitt. His first separate publication, _Odes and Addresses to Great People_, appeared in 1825, and had an immediate success. Thus encouraged he produced in the next year _Whims and Oddities_, and in 1829, he commenced _The Comic Annual_, which he continued for 9 years, and wrote in _The Gem_ his striking poem, _Eugene Aram_. Meanwhile he had _m._ in 1824, a step which, though productive of the main happiness and comfort of his future life, could not be considered altogether prudent, as his health had begun to give way, and he had no means of support but his pen. Soon afterwards the failure of his publisher involved him in difficulties which, combined with his delicate health, made the remainder of his life a continual struggle. The years between 1834 and 1839 were the period of most acute difficulty, and for a part of this time he was obliged to live abroad. In 1840 friends came to his a.s.sistance, and he was able to return to England. His health was, however, quite broken down, but his industry never flagged. During the five years which remained to him he acted as ed. first of the _New Monthly Magazine_, and then of _Hood's Monthly Magazine_. In his last year a Government pension of 100 was granted to his wife. Among his other writings may be mentioned _Tylney Hall_, a novel which had little success, and _Up the Rhine_, in which he satirised the English tourist.

Considering the circ.u.mstances of pressure under which he wrote, it is little wonder that much of his work was ephemeral and beneath his powers, but in his particular line of humour he is unique, while his serious poems are instinct with imagination and true pathos. A few of them, such as _The Song of the s.h.i.+rt_, and _The Bridge of Sighs_ are perfect in their kind.

_Life_ by his _s._ and _dau._ Ed. of _Works_ by same (7 vols. 1862).

Selections, with Biography, by Ainger, 1897.

HOOK, THEODORE EDWARD (1788-1841).--Dramatist and novelist, _s._ of James H., music-hall composer, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Harrow. As a boy he wrote words for his father's comic dramas. In 1805 he produced a comic opera, _The Soldier's Return_, which was followed by _Catch Him who Can_. Both of them were highly successful, and were followed by many others. His marvellous powers as a conversationalist and _improvisatore_ made him a favourite in the highest circles. In 1812 he received the appointment of Accountant-General of Mauritius, which he held for 5 years, when serious irregularities were discovered, and he was sent home in disgrace, prosecuted by Government for a claim of 12,000, and imprisoned. It subsequently appeared that the actual peculation had been the work of a subordinate, and that H. himself was only chargeable with gross neglect of duty, but though he was released the claims against him were not departed from. He then became ed. of _John Bull_, a journal of high Tory and aristocratic proclivities, which he conducted with great ability; he also ed. the _New Monthly Magazine_, and wrote many novels, among which were _Sayings and Doings_ (3 series), _Gilbert Gurney_, and _Jack Brag_. Though making a large income, he was always in difficulties, and, after a long struggle with broken health and spirits, he _d._ at Fulham in 1841.

HOOK, WALTER FARQUHAR (1798-1875).--Biographer, _s._ of James H., Dean of Worcester, _b._ at Worcester, and _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf. Entering the Church, he held various benefices, and became Vicar of Leeds (where, largely owing to his exertions, 20 new churches and many schools were built), and afterwards Dean of Chichester. Besides his labours as a churchman he was a voluminous author, his works including _Church Dictionary_ (1842), _Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Biography_ (1845-52), and _Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury_ (1860-75), on which he was still engaged at his death, and which he had brought down to Juxon, vol.

xi. His sermon _Hear the Church_ (1838), in which he affirmed the Apostolical succession of the Anglican episcopate, attracted much attention.

HOOKER, RICHARD (1554?-1600).--Theologian, _b._ near Exeter, of a family the original name of which was Vowell. His ability and gentleness as a schoolboy recommended him to the notice of Bishop Jewel, who sent him to Corpus Christi Coll., Oxf., where he graduated and became a Fellow in 1577. His proficiency in Hebrew led to his appointment in 1579 as Deputy Prof. Two years later, 1581, he took orders, and soon thereafter advantage was taken of his simplicity to entrap him into an unsuitable marriage with a woman named Joan Churchman, whose mother had nursed him in an illness. As might have been expected, the connection turned out unhappily, his wife being a scold, and, according to Anthony Wood, "a silly, clownish woman." His fate may, however, have been mitigated by the fact that his own temper was so sweet that he is said never to have been seen angry. Some doubt, moreover, has been cast on some of the reported details of his domestic life. In 1584 he received the living of Drayton-Beauchamp, in Bucks, and in the following year was appointed Master of the Temple. Here he had for a colleague as evening lecturer Walter Travers, a man of mark among the Puritans. Though both men were of the finest moral character, their views on ecclesiastical questions were widely different, and as neither was disposed to conceal his opinions, it came to be said that in the Temple "the pulpit spake pure Canterbury in the morning and Geneva in the afternoon." Things developed into an animated controversy, in which H. was considered to have triumphed, and the Archbishop (Whitgift) suspended Travers. The position, however, had become intolerable for H. who respected his opponent in spite of their differences, and he pet.i.tioned Whitgift that he might retire to the country and find time and quiet to complete his great work, the _Ecclesiastical Polity_, on which he was engaged. He was accordingly, in 1591, presented to the living of Bos...o...b.. near Amesbury, and made sub-Dean and a minor Prebendary of Salisbury. Here he finished _The Four Books of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity_, _pub._ in 1594. The following year he was presented by Queen Elizabeth to the living of Bishopsbourne, Kent. Here the fifth book was _pub._ (1597), and here he _d._ in 1600. The sixth and eighth books were not _pub._ until 1648, and the seventh only appeared in 1662. The _Ecclesiastical Polity_ is one of the greatest achievements alike in English theology and English literature, a masterpiece of reasoning and eloquence, in a style stately and sonorous, though often laborious and involved. Hallam considered that no English writer had better displayed the capacities of the language.