64 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. and it is added, " the enemies of goodness making that the ground of their malice, which he wrote to undeceive and bring them into the way of truth. Upon this he was persecuted, reviled, slandered, and, through false suggestions, suffered even imprisonment itself. He boreup manfully, and suffered patiently whatever their malice could inflict, till at last the Lord in mercyput an end to his misery, and received him to himself.". He was an excellent preacher, and his sermons were as pleasant as they were profitable, drawing the hearts of his auditors, as by a bait of pleasure, to that which is good.i- His Womcs.-1. Christianographie: or, a Description of the multitudes and sundry sorts of Christians in the world not subject to the Pope, 1635.-2. A Treatise of the Ancient Christians in Britany, 1640.-3. Heresiographie: or, a Description of the Heresies of later Times, 1645.-4. The Mystical Wolf, a Sermon on Matt. vii. 15., 1645. THOMAS HOOKER.-This excellent divine was born at Mayfield in Leicestershire, in the year 1536, and educated in Emanuel college, Cambridge, of which he became fellow. He acquitted himself in this office with such ability and faithfulness as commanded universal admiration and applause. During his abode at Cambridge, he was brought under such deep convictionsof sin, that his mind was overwhelmed with extreme horror. The anguish of his soul, under a sense of his sin and desert, was inconceivable. He was ready to exclaim, " While I suffer thy terrors, 0 Lord, I am dis- tracted." Afterwards, speaking of these mental exercises, he said, " In the time of niy distress, I could reason to the rule of duty, and see there was no other way of relief but by submission to God, and by lying at the feet of Jesus Christ, humbly waiting for his favour; but when I applied the rule to myself, and endeavoured to put it in practice, my reason- ing failed me, and I was able to do nothing." Having laboured under the spirit of bondage for a considerable time, he received light and comfort, and his mind became power- fu lly and pleasantly attached to holy and heavenly contempla- tions. It now became a custom with him, when retiring to rest at night, to select some particular promise of scripture, upon which he meditated during his wakeful hours. In this he found so much improvement,and comfort, that he recom- mended others to adopt the same practice. * Pagel'sHeresiog. Pref. .1- Lloyd's Mee:mires, p. 510.
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