Clarke's Martyrologie (continued); John Ball, Robert Balsom, Thomas Cartwright, Hugh Clarke, John Dod, Julines Herring, Arthur Hildersam, Herbert Palmer, John Preston and Richard Rothwel, whose lives and tribulations are among those described by Samuel Clarke in The Lives of Sundry Modern English Divines (1651). Bound together with Clarke's Martyrologie (see previous).



     All of these died within Clarke's own lifetime. In the introduction to Martyrologie he says, "they were not Martyrs, yet they may well be called Confessors, in regard of the great persecutions and Sufferings, which most of them met withall whilest they lived here."

 

 

Clarke begins with an account of the life of Thomas Cartwright, a Puritan divine. He recounts how he was driven from his post at Cambridge (St. John's College) and went to preach in Antwerp, later returning to England, where he was imprisoned in the Fleet for refusing to take the ex oficio oath. Later, he gained the favour of King James and  lived a scholarly, austere and pious life.

 

 

Then follows Arthur Hildersam, one of 500 beneficed clergy to approve Cartwright's Book of Discipline. Clarke recounts how he was silenced several times, and was accused of being the inspiration behind Edward Wightman, a "damnable Heretick", who was burned in 1612. In 1615 Hildersam was imprisoned for three months for refusing the ex oficio oath, and received a heavy sentence in 1616 as a schismatic (the DNB concurs with Clarke in finding this accusation false). He evaded capture and finally, in 1625, was once again given license to preach.

 

Next, Clarke gives an account of Hugh Clarke, pastor of Oundle, in Northamptonshire, who in 1590 was accused of treason and imprisoned pending trial, but ultimately acquitted, followed by a brief account of Barnaby Potter (provost of queen's College, Cambridge, and bishop of Carlisle) who, despite what DNB calls his "puritan leanings", did not suffer any persecutions.
     There follows an account of Richard Sedgwick, a minister who stirred up controversy in Queen Elizabeth's time. The case against him was dismissed, and he went for a while to Holland, before taking up a ministry in Monmouth and, finally, Wapping.
     Robert Balsom, another Puritan minister, had a harder time of it. He was in Warder Castle, in Wiltshire, when the king's men besieged it during the Civil War. There was some talk among the king's men of him being a witch, and when the castle was taken he was condemned to be hanged (as a traitor, not as a witch). Apparently, though, he had some good friends in the right places, and evaded execution.
     John Dod, Puritan minister, was suspended and silenced, before finally gaining a permanent living in 1624.

 

Herbert Palmer, who later became master of Queen's College, Cambridge,  was "opposed by Sectaries and Cathedralists" while minister at Canterbury. However, "the greatnesse of his birth, & friends hindered them somewhat from prosecuting him", and an attempt to discredit him came to nothing.
     However, he was prevented for a while from lecturing, and eventually removed from Canterbury to Ashwel, in Hertfordshire).

 

 Next, Clarke gives an account of John Ball a Puritan minister who, according to the DNB, was imprisoned for fasting on Ascension day. Clarke mentions the fasting, but not the penalty. The next life, that of the Lancashire preacher Richard Rothwel, was written by Stanley Gower. Neale, the bishop of Durham, offered a reward for Gower's capture, but he warded them off with his sword.
     Julines Herring (of the same circle as John Dod and John Ball) was under suspicion as a Nonconformist, and watched by spies when he went to Amsterdam. DNB reports that Laud wanted to "pickle" him, but he came to no actual harm.
     The book ends with another account, that of John Preston, which was penned by another hand (Thomas Ball). Preston came under suspicion, and was spied on while in Holland, but suffered no real persecution.
     The name of Archbishop Laud (q.v.) comes up in connection with several of the above.



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