John Eliot, "Apostle to the Indians" of New England
Piscator evangelicus, or, The life of Mr. Thomas Hooker the renowned pastor of Hartford-Church, and pillar of Connecticut-Colony in New-England, essay'd by Cotton Mather. ... Printed in the year 1695.
To the Churches in the Colony of Connecticut.
Although the Providence of Heaven, whereby the Bounds of People are set, hath
carried you so far Westward, that some have pleasantly said, The Last Conflict
with Antichrist must be in your Colony, yet I believe, you do not reckon your
selves removed beyond the reach of Temptation and Corruption. ‘Tis a
Great Work that you have done, for our Lord Jesus Christ, in Forming a Colony
of Evangelical Churches for Him, where Satan alone had Reigned without Control
in all former Ages : but your incomparable HOOKER, who was one of the Greatest
in the Foundation of that Work, was in his Day, well aware, that Satan would
make all the Hast he could, unhappily to get all Buried in the Degeneracies
of Ignorance, Wordliness and Profanitie. To Advise you of your Dangers, and
uphold the life of Religion among you, I presume Humbly to lay before you,
the Life of that Excellent Man, who for Learning, Wisdom and Religion, was
a Pattern well worthy of perpetual Consideration. ...
Cotton Mather
[p. 3] 1. When Toxatris met with his Countryman anacharsis in Athens, he gave him this Invitation, Come along with me, and I will shew thee at once all the Wonders of Greece: whereupon he shewed him Solon, as the Person in whom there Centered all the Glories of that City or Countrey. I shall now Invite my Reader to Behold at once all the Wonders of New-England, and it is in one THOMAS HOOKER that he shall behold them: Even in that Hoooker, whom a Worthy Writer would needs call Saint HOOKER, for the same Reason (he said) [p. 4] and with the same Freedom that Latymer, would speak of Saint BILNEY, in his Commemorations. Tis that HOOKER, of whom I may venture to say, that the famous Romanist, who wrote a Book, De Tribus THOMIS, or, of Three THOMASes meaning THOMAS the Apostle, THOMAS Becket, and Sir THOMAS MORE, did not a thousandth part so well sort his THOMAS's as a New Englander might: if he should write a Book, De Duobus THOMIS, OR, Of Two THOMAS’s ; and with THOMAS the Apostle, joyn our Celebrious THOMAS HOOKER: my one THOMAS, even our Apostolical HOOKER, would in Just Ballances weigh down two of Campions Rebellious Archbishops, or bigotted Lord-Chancellours.
2. This our HOOKER, was Born at Marfield in Leicester shire, about the Year 1586, of Parents that were neither Unable nor Unwilling, to bestow upon him a Liberal Education ... his more publick Appearance in the World ... was attended with an Advancement unto a Fellowship in Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge; the Students whereof were Originally Desugned for the Study of Divinity.
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[p. 10] 7. The Joy of the People in this Light was but for a Season. The Conscientious Non-Conformity of Mr. Hooker to some Rites of the Church of England, then vigorously pressed, especially upon such Able and Useful Ministers, as were most likely to be Laid aside by their scrupling of those Rites; made it necessary for him to Lay down his Ministry in Chelmsford, when he had been about four years there, Employed in it. Hereupon, at the Request of Several Eminent Persons, he kept a School, in his own Hired House, having one Mr. John Eliot for his Usher, at little Baddow not far from Chelmsford; where he managed his Charge with such Discretion, such Authority, and such Efficacy, that, able to do more with a Word, or a Look, than most other men could have done by a Severer Discipline, he did very great Service to the Church of God, in the Education of such, as afterwrds proved themselves not a little Serviceable. I have in my Hands, a Manuscript, written by the Hands of our Blessed ELIOT, wherein he gives a very Great Account of the Little Academy then mentioned in the House of Mr. Hooker; and among other things, he says, To this place I was call'd, through the Infinite Riches of God's Mercyin Christ Jesus to my poor soul: For here the Lord said unto my Dead Soul, Live; and through the Grace of Christ, I do Live, and I shall Live for ever! When I came to this Blessed Family I then saw, and never before, the Power of Godliness, in its Lively Vigour and Efficacy.
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[p. 16] 11. The Spiritual Court, Sitting at Chelmsford, about the year 1630, had not only Silenced Mr. Hooker, but also bound him over in a Bond of Fifty Pound, to appear before the High Commission, which he could not now attend, because of an Ague then upon him. One of his Hearers, namely Mr. Nash, a very honest Yeoman, that Rented a great Farm of the Earl of Warwick, at Much-Waltham, was Bound in that Sum for his Appearance; but as Paul was advised by his Friends, that he would not venture into the Theatre at Ephesus, thus Mr. Hooker's Friends advised him to Forfeit his Bonds, rather than throw himself any further into the Hands of his Enemies. Wherefore, when the Day for his Appearance came, his honest Surety being Reimbursed by several good People in and near Chelmsford, sent in the forfeited Sum into the Court; and Mr. Hooker having by the Earl of Warwick, a courteous and private Recess provided for his Family, at a place called Old Park ... He went over to Holland.
Source
Extracts obtained from Early English Books Online, Chadwyck-Healey, ProQuest
Information and Learning Company: http://eebo.chadwyck.com
Extracts taken with the permission of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art
Gallery as the source of the EEBO copy.
Title: Piscator evangelicus, or, The life of Mr. Thomas Hooker the renowned
pastor of Hartford-Church, and pillar of Connecticut-Colony in New-England
/ essay'd by Cotton Mather.
Author: Mather, Cotton,
Imprint: [Boston? : s.n.],
Date: 1695
Bib Name / Number: Wing M1141
No. pages: 45 p.
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