Christians, in the parts adjacent. He was the principal support of these two exercises for many years.

In January 1608, by the favour of Dr. Barlow, bishop of Lincoln, he was allowed to preach again at Ashby, where he began his lectures on John iv. 10, January 31, and continued that lecture weekly on Tuesday, till November 12, 1611. These lectures, being one hundred and eight, he published in his life-time, 1628, having them all written by himself, before he preached them; which course he took when he began those lectures, and continued it to his dying day; blaming himself much that he began it no sooner; for by that neglect both himself and others were deprived (in a great measure) of the benefit of his former labours.

November 1611, he was silenced by Dr. Neale's means, then bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, who complaining to the king of him, the king commanded the archbishop to write to the bishop of Lincoln, to send for Mr. Hildersham, and to silence him, which was accordingly done. The occasion of bishop Neale's complaint to King James was this: One Edward Wightman, (afterwards burnt at Litchfield for blasphemy and heresy) dwelling at Burton upon Trent, and coming sometimes to the exercise there, the bishop and his friends gave out, that Wightman learned his opinions (at least that of the soul's sleeping) of the Puritans, and at the aforesaid exercises, and of Mr. Hildersham by name. Bishop Neale informing King James of this, the king commanded him, when he went into the country, to send for Mr. Hildersham, and to hear what he could answer Wightman in this matter. The bishop accordingly sent for Mr. Hildersham, but would not hear his defence till Wightman came. Wightman being called to his second public hearing, November 26, 1611, in the presence of more than five hundred ple, charged the bishop with many injuries he had done him, naming this for one, That he had given it out that he had learned his opinions from Mr. Hildersham, whereas I profess (said he) he neither taught nor confirmed me in any of them, but was of all men ever most opposite to me in them, and caused my own friends to reject me on account of them. Mr. Hildersham had long before in a private conference, in the presence of Mr. Aberley, the minister of Burton, (who had intreated him to take some pains to reclaim Wightman) shewed him, that his opinion of the soul's sleeping was directly repugnant to the holy scriptures, and an heresy long since condemned in

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the

the church. The places of scripture he urged against him were these, Luke xvi. 22, 23. and xxiii. 43. and Phil. i. 23. Mr. Hildersham soon after (March 10, 1608) received a letter from Wightman, by which he perceived, that Wightman grew more and more obstinate in his errors, and laboured to draw others into them; and in this he was confirmed by the reports of others. Mr. Hildersham therefore took occasion, in the next exercise, held at Burton, on March 15, 1608, publicly and at large to confute his error; the text that fell out to be the subject matter of their meditation, Heb. ix. 27. led him directly to it.

On the twenty-first of April 1609, above a twelvemonth after, Wightman wrote him another letter, in which he reviled him for opposing his opinions at that exercise; and took upon him, after his manner, to answer it. Yet after all this, on the twenty-seventh of November 1611, before the bishop, he had the wickedness and audacity to avouch, to Mr. Hildersham's face, that at the exercise of March 15, 1608, mentioned above, he should say, That, indeed, the whole drift of the scripture did make for the opinion of the soul's sleeping, but that the church had otherwise judged of the matter. Mr. Hildersham protested, that he never spake or thought so, and offered by oath, or any other means that should be required, to avow, that he always held this his opinion to be directly contrary to the scriptures, and a most detestable heresy. Mr. Aberley also, who was present at the conference, was ready to depose that Mr. Hildersham spake no such thing at that time, but the direct contrary. So that not only the rest that were there were fully satisfied, but the bishop himself also openly professed, that he was assuredly persuaded Wightman had greatly wronged him in this he had said of him. Thus was Mr. Hildersham's innocency cleared in a public audience, during the time of Wightman's trial at Litchfield; yet he remained under the censure of silencing, which was procured to be inflicted on him upon this occasion, and the two abovementioned exercises were put down; concerning which all the chief gentlemen of worth in those parts certified to Archbishop Bancroft, a little before his death, that the profit which that country (which, above most other places of the land besides, was known to stand in great need of such means of instruction) received by them was exceeding great.

Mr.

Mr. Hildersham continued silenced a long time, yet could not live peaceably from men, though he lived quietly with men; for, December 8, 1612, letters missive were sent out of the high commission court, requiring his appearance there; accordingly he appeared April 22, 1613, at which time he was judicially admonished and enjoined, that (saving the catechizing his own family only) he should not at any time hereafter preach, catechize, or use any part of the office or function of a minister, either publicly or privately, till he should be lawfully restored and released of his said suspension.

In the spring of 1614, he fell into a violent fever which held him long, the malignancy of which struck up into the roof of his mouth, and the gristle of his nose, and he was thought in great danger; but, by the blessing of GOD upon the care and skill of physicians and surgeons, he was recovered.

In September 1616, he was severely treated by the high commission court, for non-conformity and schism. He was fined in two thousand pounds, excommunicated, committed to prison, and ordered to make a public submission. Thus, unhappily, did Joseph's brethren fall out by the way, though commanded to be at peace among themselves! When he heard this harsh sentence, it became his wisdom to conceal himself, which accordingly he did for a long time in the city; and he was so preserved, that his adversaries could not meet with him.

During the time of his keeping close, Mr. John Hartley, one of the elders of the English congregation at Leyden in Holland, came with letters of credence from the congregation, making offer to him of the pastor's place then vacant; which he resolved to have accepted of, had not his wife's unwillingness to go over the seas detained him here. The above-mentioned fine of two thousand pounds was estreated, without abatement, into the exchequer, March 12, 1616; whence several processes were issued to the Sheriffs of Leicestershire, to inquire of his estate; but they, by several returns, answered they could find none. At length, the said fine was begged and granted by His Majesty King James, under the Great Seal, to Mr. Williams, page to the then Marquis of Buckingham; whereupon Mr. Hildersham compounded both with him, (giving him a great sum of money) and with the registers also of the high commission court for their part of the fine, and obtained a discharge from them both. I suppose it will be hard to find

that

that any man was before, or scarce has been since, in that court, so deeply fined and heavily censured, merely for his judgment and conscience, having done nothing either factiously or contemptuously against that government and those orders of the church that were then established. He was indeed always, from his first entering into the ministry, a resolved and conscientious non-conformist, as appears from what has been already related, and so continued to his dying day: witness that clause in his last will: "I do hereby declare and protest, that I do con"tinue and end my days in the very same faith and judg"ment, touching all points of religion, as I have ever "been known to hold and profess, and which I have "both by my doctrine and practice, and by my suffer"ings also, given testimony unto." He was a great admirer, follower and friend of Mr. Thomas Cartwright, who left his papers to him and Mr. John Dod, to peruse and publish what they thought fit of them.

But though he himself was a constant non-conformist, yet such was his ingenuousness and Christian charity, that he respected, esteemed, and was very familiar with those whom he knew to be religious and learned, though of another judgment. He always opposed the separation of the Brownists, and the semi-separation of Mr. Jacob, with whom, as also with some ring-leaders of the former sort, he had several conferences and disputes. He is called by Dr. Willet, (his contemporary, and once competitor) The hammer of schismatics, whom they com monly call Brownists.'

After the censure of the high commission court, he lived privately a long time, sometimes in the city, some times in the country. He was always, whether silent or having liberty to preach, a constant student; when he was in the country, and had conveniency of place and weather, he used to walk alone every morning near an hour to meditate. In the morning he read constantly a chapter, whence he gathered some observations, and wrote them in a book, with the reference to some common-place in the margin, which he referred to his common-place book by numbers. He used the same method in reading other books; but out of some, he referred the most observable things in them to his common-place book, by the pages in them. As he was much in secret prayer, so he was fervent therein, and frequent in ejaculations, as was observed by some godly

friends,

friends, whose occasions often brought them near the place where he studied.

He was always a diligent frequenter of the public assemblies, whether he were in the city or country; he used often, even in his old age, to write sermons in the church. He so highly prized the ministry of the word, that he would often say, "He never heard any godly "minister preach, though but of weak parts, but he got some benefit by him.'

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He sojourned in many families, and always, by his godly and amiable carriage, got love and esteem of all in the house. He was much in the house of Mrs. Catharine Redich, of Newhall in Derbyshire, (widow to Alexander Redich, Esq. of Redich in Lancashire, his bosom-friend) his ancient acquaintance, and constant dear friend to his death, who survived him not above eight days, the grief for his death hastening (as it was supposed) her end. In her house at Hampstead, near London, August 21, 1624, he fell sick of a violent fever, which put him into such danger, that the physicians doubted of his recovery. over-hearing some intimation of this, when he thought none were in the room, the curtains being drawn about his bed, he was overheard by one in the room to speak audily those words of Psalm cxviii. 17, "I shall not die "but live, and declare the works of the Lord." At that time, there was as little hope of his preaching as of his recovery; but GOD, in great mercy, soon after restored him both to health and liberty.

He

The next year, namely, June 20, 1625, he was licensed by Dr. Ridley, then vicar-general to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to preach in the diocese of London, Lincoln, and Litchfield and Coventry, under the seal of that office. By virtue of which license he began to preach, August 3, 1625, in Ashby church aforesaid, those eight sermons on Psalm xxxv. 13. concerning fasting, prayer, and humiliation for sin, which were published after his death, according to his own copy left under his hand, by his son, Mr. Samuel Hildersham. On the twenty-eighth of the next month, he began his one hundred and fifty-two lectures on Psalm li. published in the same manner, in 1635. Notwithstanding his being licensed as above, he was silenced again, March 25, 1630, by notice given him from the court at Leicester, of the King's instructious for every lecturer to read service in the surplice and hood; and he began to preach again August