§18 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. of all this, with coupling of joints and proportion of body, will much allure to study, when it is seen how about one yvork, (religion and God's way of salvation,) all families, countries, and ages, build or pull down : and find the kindness or severity of God. "* The learned author took great pains to shew, that the heathen chronology contained numerous inconsistencies and contradictions, while the sacred history was perfectly clear from these imperfections. However, no sooner was his book published, than it met with great opposition. Archbishop Whitgift, at first, so exceedingly disliked the performance, that he would have called the author to an account for some things contained in it ; but, to avoid the high commission, Mr. Broughton fled into Germany. This, indeed, greatly excited the general clamour against the book, and very much increased the number of its adversaries ; nevertheless, Bishop Aylmer, in commendation of the work, said, " That one scholar of right judgment, would prove all its adver- saries foolish."+ Notwithstanding this, Dr. Rainolds of Oxford, and Mr. Lively of Cambridge, both learned pro- fessors in those universities, read publicly against the book. Mr. Broughton used to call this work, " his littlebook of great pains : ' for it cost him many years study ; and when it was published, he had to write and publish in defence of it, against the exceptions of the above divines. By the allowance of the queen and council, he entered upon its defence, in public lectures in St. Paul's church, when the lord mayor, some of the most learned of the bishops, and other persons of distinction, were of his audience. Others of the bishops, however, could not endure these exercises, calling them dangerous conventicles ; and therefore brought complaints against him, and put down his lecture. He and his friends afterwards assembled privately, at various places in the city, as they found opportunity.r During Mr. Broughton's continuance in London, he mostly resided in the house of Mr. William Cotton ;§ whose son, afterwards Sir Rowland Cotton, he instructed in the Hebrew language. Hisyoung pupil obtained so exact a knowledge of the language, that at the age of seven or eight years he could translate almost any chapter of the Bible into English, Biog. Briton. vol. ii. p. C06. + Strype's Aylmer, p. 249. Clark's Lives, p, 3. § Mr. Roger Cotton, brother to this person, was one of Mr. Broughton's true scholars. He read the whole Bible through twelve thrice in oneyear.-.- p. 4.
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