Rev'd John HOPKINS (c. 1600-1678)
1. Rev'd John HOPKINS was born circa 1600. He was a Clergyman. He died in 1678. He was buried on 10 January 1678 in Sandford, Devon. He married Anne UNK.
Curate of Sanford, later rector of Pinhoe, Devon.
Anne UNK died in 1676. She was buried on 17 April 1676 in Sandford. She and John HOPKINS had the following children:
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Second Generation
2. Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS, son of Rev'd John HOPKINS and Anne UNK, was born on 3 December 1634. He was a Bishop in the Anglican Church; Puritan. He had the title 'Right Rev, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe'. He married Alicia MOORE circa 1670. He married Araminta ROBARTES on 21 October 1685 in Derry, Ireland. He died in 1689.
Quite a lot of untrue stories have existed about the life of Ezekiel Hopkins, in particular about his two wives and his children, the most noteable being the myth that Lord Robartes gave his daughter's hand in marraige to Ezekiel in recoginition of his work, at the time that Hopkins went to Ireland as Robartes' chaplain, when the latter was sent over as Lord Lieutenant. This particular article, by the Rev. AP Lancefield, seems to be the most detailed and accurate:
Tomorrow, October 29th, 1671, Ezekiel Hopkins, a native of Pinhoe, and a former Rector of St. Mary Arches, Exeter, was consecrated Bishop of Raphoe, in the North of Ireland, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, by James Margotson, Archbishop of Armagh, who was assisted by Bishops Robert Lesley, of Clogher, Hugh Gore, of Waterford, and Robert Mossom, of Derry. He was a young Bishop, for five Sundays later, Advent Sunday, he kept his 37th birthday. But, by his learning, ability, and earnest work he had won his position, and during his 19 years as a Bishop he adorned the office by his diligence, his fatherly goodness, his spiritual power, and his unswerving loyality to both Church and King.
The son of the Rev. John Hopkins, curate of Pinhoe, Ezekiel was born there on Wednesday, December 3rd, 1634, and was baptised on the following Sunday. His father subsequently became priest in charge at Sandford, where some of his boyhood was spent, and in his twelfth year he was sent to Merchant Tailors' School, and when he was fourteen he went to Oxford, becoming a chorister at Magdalen College, where, by his beautiful voice and good scholarship, he, even as a boy, and in the troublous times of the Commonwealth, made a great reputation for himself, taking his B.A. degree before he was 19, and his M.A. at 21. He became usher of the College School at 21, and chaplain of the College at 22, but, apparently, received then only Presbyterian ordination.
At the Restoration, he became assistant curate to Dr. Spurstow, at Hackney. But, in 165?2, on the restoration of episcopacy, he conformed, and was elected preacher of St. Edmund's, Lombard-street. About this time, he married a niece of Sir Robert [Thomas] Viner, Lord Mayor of London, to whom he dedicated his "Vanity of the World", and his boy, Charles, who was clever and poetical, but became a trial to his father, and darkened his closing years by taking arms against James II, at the Revolution, besides being gay and dissolute, was born, probably, in London, and, on the outbreak of the plague, in 1665, father, mother and baby Charles went back to Devon, and found a home in Exeter, where Bishop Seth Ward, who was putting the diocese in order, after a time of chaos, and restoring the Cathedral, recognised the merits of the clever young preacher, and put him in charge of St. Mary Arches, vacant by the departure of Gideon Edmonds. From his intimacy with the Bishop and the Cathedral Clergy, he would appear to have had some connexion with the Cathedral also, in which the Bishop promised him preferment. With his musical ability, he not improbably acted as one of the Priest-Vicars. One of his Exeter friends was Prebendary Edward Wethenhall, master of the Blue-Coat School, who was told by mutual friends how they had been edified in St. Mary Arches, where they heard the Rector, with his splendid delivery and musical voice, preaching his eloquent series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. A quarter of a century later the Prebendary, who had also gone to Ireland, and become Bishop of Cork and Ross, edited a posthumous edition of his Exposition on the Ten Commandments, and said: "It was my happiness, many years ago, to contract a very intimate acquaintance, I might call it friendship, with that great person the author, while we lived neighbours in that flourishing, religious and liberal city (Exeter) where these Discourses had birth, and became first locally public"; and he adds how they must live in "the memories of many of the citizens there." In those days when merchant princes lived within the city walls, and there were well furnished mansions in "Arches-lane", the famous old church had splendid congregations.
The Church, which had lost its chancel during the Commonwealth, had first been restored at a cost of over £200, equivalent perhaps, to £2,000 today. The eastern wall had been rebuilt with its beautifully carved reredos, which some ascribe - but mistakenly, I think - to the famous Grindling Gibbons. Ferdinando Nicolls, who, although a duly ordained priest, had conformed to Puritan usages, and refused, at the Restoration, to use the Prayer-book, had been deprived. This is always to be regretted for he was an able man a a clever preacher, and had baptised scores of children in St. Mary Arches when they were forbidden elsewhere to be brought to the font. In 166?4, he was buried, so says rumour, at night in St. Mary Arches during a riot, and, perhaps, this shortened the incumbency of Gideon Edmonds, whose changes may have made him unpopular with Nicolls' admirers. Hopkins filled the gap, and Bishop Seth Ward soon appointed him Rector, although the actual institution has not been found in his register. Four children were born while he was at St. Mary Arches, besides Charles, the baby he bad brought from London. The Register records the following baptisms: -
March 29th 1666 - "Mary, daughter of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins"
May 12th 1667 - "Annah, daughter of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, now minister of this pish."
May 24th 1668 - "Ezekiel, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, now minister of this pish."
July 4th 1669 - "Job, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, minister of this pish."
But all the babies died except Job, who was taken to Ireland when a few months old. We notice incidentally how the parish clerk respectfully descibes the baby girls as "Mrs." then, of course, prounounced "Mistress." Here are three sad funerals in St. Mary Arches. I wonder if Prebendary Wetherall, or some other Exeter friend, officiated for the bereaved father.
March 3rd 1667 - "Mrs. Mary Hopkins."
Sept 11th 1668 - "Mrs. Annah Hopkins."
July 29th 1669 - "Ezekiel, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins."
They were probably buried in the Friernhay? Cemetery, which Bishop Hall had consecrated in 1637. Yet, with all his sad bereavements, the Rector had a happy and useful time in Exeter. His friend, the Rev. John Prince, Vicar of Berry Pomeroy, says in his "Worthies of Devon", that Exeter was "a place he no less loved than he was beloved of it; and we all, who, at that time living there, had the advantage of it, were very happy in his Lordship's most excellent conversation."
Titled persons occasionally enter St. Mary Arches Church even now, and sign the visitors' book, but it is pre-eminently a Church where "the poor have the gospel preached to them." and we never have a lord, a baronet, or even a knight attending its services, for they all go to the Cathedral! But such people loved the Church when Hopkins was its Rector, "the rich and the poor met together." and the greatest men of Exeter were constantly worshipping and receiving the Blessed Sacrament within its walls, which still tell us of noted Mayors and Aldermen, some of whom knew the future Bishop face to face. One who was fascinated by the eloquent young Rector's preaching was John Lord Robartes, who afterwards became Earl of Radnor. While in Exeter he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and there was a great migration across the Irish Sea, for Lord Radnor took Hopkins as his chaplain, and between July and November, 1669, father, mother, Charles and Job went to their new home, Charles being five years old, and Job only three or four months. On November 22nd, Hopkins became the Archdeacon of Waterford; on December 8th, he was also made a Prebendary of St. Patrick's, Dublin; on April 2nd 1670, he became Dean of Raphoe, and 18 months later, when Robert Lesley was translated to Clogher, he was appointed to the Bishopric of Raphoe, which is now united with that of Derry.
The consecration took place on Sunday, October 29th, 1671, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, where the writer well remembers worshipping on Sunday, July 12th, 189?3, little thinking that one day he should fill in Exeter the place of one who had been called in that church to the holy office of a Bishop. Unlike other English prelates in Ireland, Bishop Hopkins resided and worked diligently in his diocese, and was always most kind to the clergy. "He would not," says Prince, "suffer a priest to stand or to be uncovered in his presence longer than himself was so." He was noted for his hospitality and also for his generosity, not only to the poor, but to the work of the Church in both his dioceses, and he was partiuclarly generous to his Cathedral at Derry, giving it a new organ and splendid and massive altar vessels.
He became a widower, either just before or just after his departure from Exeter, but the register has no entry of his wife's funeral. [In contradiction to this part of the article, the evidence now exists, as previously stated, that Alicia Moore, Hopkins' first wife, died in 1681, and that Hopkins married Araminta in 1685, just after Araminta's father, Lord Robartes, had died, and making Mary, John + also Samuel, the children of Alicia, not Ararminta - PW] He married as his second wife, Araminta Robartes, daughter of his friend the Earl of Radnor, and had by her a daughter Mary, born in Exeter, in 1674, and a son, John, born, apparently, at Raphoe, on January 1st 1675/6. In 1674 he came to England and spent a considerable time in Exeter, where Mary, his second daughter of that name, was born, and he baptised her, not in the Cathedral, but in the Church of St. Mary Arches he so dearly loved. The sexton was puzzled by the name of his later Rector's Irish see, and the entry in the register is:
1674, December 22nd. - "Mary, daughter of Ezekiel Rathfo (Lord Bishop)."
This is probably the only baptism of a Bishop's child in our Church, but possibly a genealogist could trace the burial of a daughter of Bishop Hall, seeing that the Walkers and Halls intermarried. On November 11th, 1681, Dr. Hopkins succeeded Dr. Michael Ward as Bishop of Derry, and for seven years he had a happy and useful episcopate there, as he had had at Raphoe. But the Revolution and the fighting between the adherents of James II and William III brought trouble and opposition, and the people of Derry rose against him because he earnestly preached the doctrine of non-resistance, exhorting them to be loyal to James II, who, whatever his faults, was their anointed King. Lord Macaulay, who takes the side of William of Orange, says, "The Bishop, Ezekiel Hopkins, resolutely adhered to the political doctrines which he had preached during many years, and exhorted his flock to go patiently to the slaughter rather than incur the guilt of disobeying the Lord's Anointed." and he cites a sermon preached by him in Dublin four or five months after he first left Exeter. But eventually conditions in Ireland became intolerable, and, after going back for a while to Raphoe, the Bishop crossed to England, and spent the last few months of his life as preacher (not rector) in St. Mary Aldermanbury, London. There had been a scheme for translating him to another See and making George Walker, who preached courageously to the defenders of Londonderry, Bishop in his stead. But the plan fell through by the deaths of both men within a few days of each other, Hopkins dying in London, on June 19th 1690, and Walker, his rival, falling in the Battle of the Boyne 12 days later." Macaulay distorts the facts by saying "Ezekiel Hopkins and Presbyterian rebels in the City of London, had brought himself to swear allegiance to the Government, had obtained a cure, and had died in the performance of the humble duties of a parish preist.".
An Excerpt from his work on the 5th Commandment
by Ezekiel Hopkins (1633-1688)
(The Works of Ezekiel Hopkins, Volume 1, Pages 396-397)
But then they are obliged to others, of a higher and nobler nature, which concern their Spiritual Good, and have an influence into their eternal happiness.
And, here, their first duty is to Incorporate them into the Church of Christ, by the presenting them to holy baptism; which is the laver of regeneration, and which Jesus Christ hath instituted, for the admission and initiation of new members into his body the Church, and of new subjects into his kingdom.
Nay, it is not an empty bare ceremony; but it is a seal of the promise of the covenant, a sign of the grace of the Spirit and a means appointed to convey it to the soul. And, therefore; those parents are highly injurious to their children, who, either through carelessness or contempt, debar them from so excellent and spiritual an ordinance and privilege; yea, indeed, the only spiritual privilege, which their age makes them capable of. What do they else hereby, but put their children into a worse condition than the children of the Jews? who, in their infancy, were admitted to the sacrament of Circumcision, which the Apostle calls a seal of the righteousness of faith: Rom. iv. 11; and, certainly, if this seal of circumcision were broken by the coming of Christ, and no other were instituted whereof the children of believers under the Gospel might be made partakers; our infants then must needs be in a worse condition than theirs; and Christ's coming into the world hath, in this respect, rather diminished the privileges of the Church, than enlarged them. It ought, therefore, to be the first and chiefest care of every godly parent, to offer his children to this holy ordinance: especially considering, that they are partakers of his sinful and corrupt nature, that he hath been an instrument of conveying down along to them the guilt of the first transgression, and that defilement which hath infected the whole soul; and therefore it is the least that his charity can do for them, to offer them unto that remedy, which our Saviour hath provided both to remove the guilt, and cleanse away the filth of their natures. For, be the parents themselves never so holy and sanctified, yet their children are born in their filth, and in their blood. And this Austin expresseth by a very apt similitude. "The chaff," saith he, "is carefully separated from the wheat that we sow; and yet the wheat, which it produceth, groweth up with husks and chaff about it." So those, whom the Holy Ghost hath sanctified and cleansed, yet produce children naturally unclean, though federally holy. And, therefore, being born within the promises of the covenant, their parents ought to see that the seal of the covenant be applied unto them; that is, as they derive corruption from them, they may by them be brought to the means of cleansing and washing.
A comment on the writing of Ezekiel Hopkins:
Some Christians fall into the opposite ditch, and those whom God has accepted through Christ. As Ezekiel Hopkins said, " And what is all this contention and separation for? Oh, they will tell you it is for the true and sincere worship of God; that they may serve Him purely without human additions or inventions...Alas, my brethren, was there ever any schism in the world that did not plead the same?"
"The Puritan Ezekiel Hopkins (to whom we are indebted for much in this chapter, as also for many helpful points in the preceding ones) has pointed out that there are four degrees of this sinful concupiscence or coveting. There is the first film or shadow of an evil thought, the imperfect embryo of a sin before it is shaped in us or has any lineaments or features. This is what the Scripture refers to as "every imagination of the thoughts" of the human heart. Such imaginations are expressly declared to be "evil" (Gen. 6:5). Such are the first risings of our corrupt nature toward those sins which are pleasing to our sensual inclinations. They are to be steadfastly watched, hated, and resisted. They are to be stamped upon as the sparks of a dangerous fire, for as soon as they begin to stir within us they pollute our souls. Just as the breathing upon a mirror sullies it, leaving a dimness there, so the very first breathings of an evil desire or thought within one's breast defile the soul.".
St Mary Aldermanbury
ST MARY ALDERMANBURY
Aka: ST MARY THE VIRGIN ALDERMANBURY
Destroyed 1666, rebuilt by Wren, destroyed 1940, site sold, stones sent to USA
United to St Alphage London Wall 1917, St Giles Cripplegate 1954
PR's in GL: baptisms 1538-1940, marriages 1538-1940, banns 1754-1940, marriage licenses 1837-1928, burials 1538-1859
Partial index to baptisms and marriages 1538-1880 on IGI
ST MARY ALDERMARY
Situated: Queen Victoria Street / Bow Lane, EC4
Pre-Great Fire, rebuilt by Wren 1682, tower 1701
PR's in GL: baptisms 1558-1910, marriages 1558-1940, banns 1771-1952, marriage licenses 1860-1909, burials 1558-1851
Later baptisms and marriage registers retained by incumbent.
Partial index to baptisms and marriages 1538-1875 on IGI
Tel: 020 7248 4806
The Registers of St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London(Reference #8111)
Published in three volumes covering marriages and baptisms 1538-1837 and burials 1538-1859.
Kindly loaned to The Archive CD Books Project by The Harleian Society.
http://www.rod-neep.co.uk/acatalog/lnd-church.html
Price: £17.87 £21.00 Including VAT at 17.5%.
Francis Neville of Belturbet, This note was provided by Dr. Andrew Winnett, London, England, a descendant of Francis Nevill A prominent resident of Belturbet in the early 1700’s was Captain Francis Nevill. He had an unusually varied career and spent the last 17 years of his life in the town. Nevill was born about 1648 but nothing is known of his earliest years. From about 1671 he was closely associated with Ezekiel Hopkins, Bishop of Raphoe, and seems to have been involved with overseeing lands and finances of the Bishopric. Nevill moved to Derry around the same time as Hopkins became Bishop there in 1681, and the Cathedral has records concerning his wife and children during the following decade. He became involved with the government of the city, and was engineer to the Corporation of Londonderry. Nevill played a curious role at the start of the siege of Derry in 1688. He was one of two townsmen who discussed terms with King James II, but he was not admitted back into the besieged city. He was then captured by the King’s forces and taken to Dublin, but he later escaped. He returned to Derry and on 5 December 1689 was sworn a burgess of the city. He became well known during this time for a detailed map he made of Derry at the time of the siege, and in 1692 built a new Town-House for the Corporation. In 1695 Nevill and his family moved to Dungannon, co. Tyrone. In the following years he worked as a surveyor and engineer, and was amongst the first to plan a canal between Lough Neagh and Newry. Nevill’s connection with co. Cavan began in 1709 when he was listed as “Collector of His Majesty’s Revenues” for the district, a position he held until his death. He is first mentioned in the.
Ezekiel Hopkins was born at Sanford, county of Devon, England, about the year 1633, where his father was many years a laborious minister. He was educated at Oxford, where he was some time chaplain of Magdalen College. From Oxford he went to London, where he was assistant to Dr. William Spur- stow till the act of uniformity. After this he was preacher at St. Edmunds, Lombard-street, and subsequently was chosen minister of St. Mary Arches, in Exeter, where he was much admired. From Exeter he was transferred to the deanery of Ra- phoe, Ireland, and from the deanery was promoted to the bishopric, which he occupied about ten years, when he was transferred to the bishopric of Derry. Here he continued about seven years, till the papists got the sword into their hands, when he fled for his life to England, and became minister of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, in London, 1689, where he died, about seven months only after his establishment there.
As a preacher, Bishop Hopkins was esteemed one of the first of the age in which he lived, being much admired and followed after in all the places where he preached.
As a writer, he was eminent above most authors for the com- bination of clear statements of doctrinal and practical truth, with an eloquent application of it to the heart and conscience. Scarcely any other writer has, within an equal compass, so ably discussed, and applied with such energy the whole range of christian truth. His works are published in four volumes, edited by the late Rev. Josiah Pratt, of London, who in his dedication of the volumes to William Wilberforce, Esq. says, "That author is of special value whose works supply, within a moderate compass, the most complete refutation of whatever can be urged against true religion, by exhibiting her in her most beauti- ful proportions. Such an author is Bishop Hopkins." His works, embrace the following subjects: Vanity of the World, Expositions of the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, Discourses on the Law, Discourses concerning Sin, The Doctrine of the Two Covenants, Doctrine of the Two Sacraments, The All-Sufficiency of Christ to save Sinners, Excellency of Heavenly Treasures, Practical Christianity, Assurance of Heaven and Salvation a principal motive to serve God with fear, On Glorifying God in his Attributes, Almost Christian, Conscience, Great Duty of Mortification, Death Disarmed, Miscellaneous Sermons.
As a divine, Bishop Hopkins was one of the sound theologians to which the Reformation gave birth, and he unequivocally and openly held and inculcated the pure doctrines of the Reformers, opposed as they are to the pride and passions of unsanctified men. On the difficult questions concerning the grace of God and the obligation of man, he adopted those views which most naturally reconcile with one another the declarations and exhortations of Scripture. Few writers have entered so unequivocally into the extent of man's responsibility, and at the same time so strongly insisted on the sovereignty, and so graphically described the 1 operations of the grace of God.
Francis Neville of Belturbet, This note was provided by Dr. Andrew Winnett, London, England, a descendant of Francis Nevill A prominent resident of Belturbet in the early 1700’s was Captain Francis Nevill. He had an unusually varied career and spent the last 17 years of his life in the town. Nevill was born about 1648 but nothing is known of his earliest years. From about 1671 he was closely associated with Ezekiel Hopkins, Bishop of Raphoe, and seems to have been involved with overseeing lands and finances of the Bishopric. Nevill moved to Derry around the same time as Hopkins became Bishop there in 1681, and the Cathedral has records concerning his wife and children during the following decade. He became involved with the government of the city, and was engineer to the Corporation of Londonderry. Nevill played a curious role at the start of the siege of Derry in 1688. He was one of two townsmen who discussed terms with King James II, but he was not admitted back into the besieged city. He was then captured by the King’s forces and taken to Dublin, but he later escaped. He returned to Derry and on 5 December 1689 was sworn a burgess of the city. He became well known during this time for a detailed map he made of Derry at the time of the siege, and in 1692 built a new Town-House for the Corporation. In 1695 Nevill and his family moved to Dungannon, co. Tyrone. In the following years he worked as a surveyor and engineer, and was amongst the first to plan a canal between Lough Neagh and Newry. Nevill’s connection with co. Cavan began in 1709 when he was listed as “Collector of His Majesty’s Revenues” for the district, a position he held until his death. He is first mentioned in the Town Book of Belturbet in 1711, when he is listed in a minute book. He is mentioned regularly after this, and the Book mentions that the town paid for sweeping his road (in 1724 and 1725) and clearing watercourses beside his causeway (1726). Between 1712 and 1713 he wrote extensively to St. George Ashe, Bishop of Clogher, then based in London and a Member of the Royal Society. The letters contain an intriguing mix of observation of natural phenomena, folklore and archaeological discoveries, and some were printed in the Society’s “Transactions”. Between 1713 and 1726 he was involved in land transactions, mostly in Tyrone, but also covering fishing rights in Lough Erne. Francis Nevill’s wife Jeane (or Jane) died on 4 November 1724, and he erected a plaque to her which today is embedded in the outer wall of the Church of Ireland in Belturbet. It may originally have been inside. Nevill’s will is dated May 1726 and was proved in August 1727. In it he mentions that he is to be buried “in the South Cross of Bellturbet church” beside his wife. As well as bequests to his children and grandchildren, he gave three pounds each to the poor of Dungannon and Belturbet. His descendants live to this day, but none in the Belturbet area.
Hopkins' Books Today -
History of the Derry & Raphoe Diocesan Library
Book
“This collection is the most significant in Ireland. It is important that these texts are preserved so future generations can understand the history of the City. We are delighted to work with the University on this project and we commend their interest, expertise and support.” – The Rt. Rev. Ken Good, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe,
The core of the collection was established in 1729 when Archbishop King, formerly Bishop of Derry, bequeathed to the Diocese all the books he had purchased from his predecessor at Derry, Ezekiel Hopkins. Hopkins was Bishop of Derry at the time of the Siege, but he supported King James, and left the city in a hurry a few days after the apprentices closed the gates in December 1688. He had to leave his books behind. The collection received substantial donations of books through the 18th and 19th centuries, and was greatly enlarged when the Diocese of Raphoe was amalgamated with the Diocese of Derry in 1834; the Raphoe books come to Derry around 1881.
The books in the collection dates back to the 15th century, with approximately 700 items from the 16th, 1900 from the 17th and 1400 from the 18th. Printed catalogues were produced in 1848 and 1880, but these are highly unsatisfactory, as they are full of errors, they give abbreviated titles in which words have been changed, and they contain many items no longer in the collection and omit items which are present.
The contents of the Library shed light on the reading habits of the Anglican establishment in the northwest during the 18th century, and marks of ownership on many of the books illustrate their fascinating history. Significant finds already include: a large number of books belonging to George Downham, or Downame, a former Bishop of Derry who died in 1634 just after the completion of the building of the present cathedral; some of Downham’s books belonging previously to the Elizabethan antiquary William Harrison; there is a fine binding belonging to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the court favourite of Queen Elizabeth I; another book once belonged to the playwright Ben Johnson; early printers including the 15th century masters Aldus Manutius of Venice and Anton Koberger of Nuremberg; there is a first edition of Samuel Johnson’s A dictionary of the English language of 1755.
Ezekiel Hopkins (1633-1690) was bishop of Raphoe, then later bishop of Londonberry. Hopkins is a personal favorite of many, and cannot be commended too highly. All of his writings are clear, persuasive, and experimental.
Spurgeon said, “Hopkins searches the heart thoroughly, and makes very practical application to the situations and circumstances of daily life. His homely eloquence will always make his works valuable.”
Volume one deals with the Lord’s Prayer and the ten commandments, three very insightful discourses on the law among other topics, and includes his discourses concerning sin, facing death, and miscellaneous sermons. There is a complete Scripture and subject index.
Volume two include: Discourses Concerning Sin, The Doctrine of the Two Covenants, A Treatise on Regeneration, The Doctrine of the Two Sacraments, The All Sufficiency of Christ.
Volume three contains his treatise on "The Almost Christian Discovered," along with treatises on the conscience, mortification of sin, facing death, and miscellaneous sermons.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH OR THE SCOT IN NORTH BRITAIN, NORTH IRELAND, AND NORTH AMERICA
CHAPTER XXXVIII LONDONDERRY AND ENNISKILLEN
page 583
[p.583]Early in December, the inhabitants of Derry were alarmed to hear that a Catholic regiment under Lord Antrim was about to be placed in their town as a garrison, and that these troops were actually on their march. This alarm was strengthened by a sermon preached to the Roman Catholics of Derry, showing how dangerous it was to spare even one of those whom God had devoted to destruction. On the 7th of December, when a copy of the letter addressed to Lord Mount-Alexander was received by Alderman Tom-kins, the people concluded that Lord Antrim was coming to murder the inhabitants. A fearful scene of excitement ensued, and many determined to fight rather than admit the king's forces. Dr. Hopkins, the Episcopalian bishop of Derry, pointed out the sin of disobeying James, the "Anointed of the Lord," but the people could not comprehend that it was "a crime to shut the gates against those whom they believed sent thither to cut their throats." Nine out of every ten being Presbyterians, they were the more inclined to reject a policy they condemned, because it was advocated by a man whose office they despised. But when the Rev. James Gordon, Presbyterian minister of Glendermot, strongly advised resistance, they were easily persuaded to adopt the course they desired, when urged by one who held the same religious principles as themselves. The spirit of the Derry Presbyterians now rose high. Lord Antrim's soldiers were drawing near. No time was to be lost. Thirteen young men, since known to history as the "'Prentice Boys of Derry," drew their swords, ran to the gate, and locked it, when the Irish were only sixty yards distant. Their names were: William Cairns, Henry Campsie, William Crookshanks, Alexander Cunningham, John Cunningham, Samuel Harvey, Samuel Hunt, Alexander Irwin, Robert Morrison, Daniel Sherrard, Robert Sherrard, James Spike, James Steward. The other gates were secured and the magazine seized. The Irish soldiers remained outside until they heard a man named James Morrison shouting, "Bring about a great gun here," when they retired in haste and recrossed the river. Bishop Hopkins now addressed the multitude, telling them that in resisting James, who was their lawful king, they were resisting God Himself. But this speech had no effect, and he soon left the town to those whom he called "the disloyal Whigs."
THE SCOTCH-IRISH OR THE SCOT IN NORTH BRITAIN, NORTH IRELAND, AND NORTH AMERICA
CHAPTER XXXVIII LONDONDERRY AND ENNISKILLEN
page 611
[p.611]~ENACTED, that the Persons hereafter named, viz. :--Hugh Montgomery, Earl of Mount Alexander; John Skeffington, Viscount Massareene; William Caulfield, Viscount Charlemont; William Stewart, Viscount Mountjoy; Ezekiel Hopkins, Lord Bishop of Derry; Henry Lord Blaney, of Monaghan; Sir Arthur Royden, of Moyra, Bart.; Sir Francis Hamilton, of Castlehamilton, Bart.; Sir William Franckiln, of Belfast, Bart.; Sir Tristrum Beresford, of Ballykally, Bart.; Sir John Mugill, of Gill-Hall, Knt.; Samuel Morrison, Gent.; all late of the CITY OF DUBLIN. Robert Rochford, Esq., of WESTMEATH. Henry Baker, of Dumagan, Esq; James Brabazon, of Carrstown, Gent.; Christopher Fortescue, of Dromiskin, Esq.; all of the COUNTY OF LOWTH. George Vaughan, of Buncrana, Esq.; John Forward, of Coolemackiltraine, Esq.; Hugh Hamill, of Lifford, Esq; William Groves, of Castles-hannaghan, Esq.; Kilmer Braizier, of Rath, Esq.; Major Gustavus Hamilton, of Rusogile; John Wigton, of Raphoe, Gent.; John Cowen, of St. Johnstown, Gent.; Chas. Calhoone, of Letterkenny, Gent.; James Fisher, of Derry, Gent.; and Captain Jervis Squire, of Donagh-more, all of the COUNTY OF DONEGAL AND LONDONDERRY. David Kearnes, of Askragh, Esq.; Audley Meryn, of Trilick, Gent.; George Walker, of Donoughmore, Clerk; William Stewart of Killemoon, Gent.; all of the COUNTY OF TYRONE. John Knox, of Glasslogh, Clerk, of the COUNTY OF MONAGHAN. Clotworthy Skeffington, of Antrim, Esq.; Col. Robt. Adaire, of Ballymena; Arthur Upton of Templepatrick, Esq.; Lieutenant-Colonel William Shaw, of Gemeway; Captain William Shaw, of Bash; Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hueston, of Cregg; Captain William Adare of Ballymena; all of the COUNTY OF ANTRIM. Daniel Mac Neale, of Dundrum, Gent., of the COUNTY OF DOWN. Major Joseph Strowde, of Lisburne, in the COUNTY OF ARMAGH. Alex. Stewart, Esq., son of the Lord Mountjoy; Warham Jemett, Collector; Capt. Alexander Lecky, Capt. Samuel Norman, Capt. Matthew Cockins, Capt. Alex. Tomkins, Capt. John Tomkins, Capt. Thomas Mon-crieff, Capt. James Lennox, Capt. Horace Kennedy, Lieut. Wm. Crookshanks, Lieut. Jas. Spicke, Lieut. Danl. Sherrard, Lieut. Edward Brooks, Lieut. Henry Long, Lieut. William Macky, Lieut. Robert Morrison, Lieut. Wm. Newton, Lieut. Henry Campsy, Lieut. Henry Thompson, Col. George Philips, of Newtownlimavady: Lieut.-Col. Edward Carry, of Dungivin; Capt. Stephen Heard, Capt. James Strong, Capt. Thomas Ash, Capt. Samuel Hobson, Captain Abraham Hilhouse, of Ballycastle; Col. George Canning, of Garvagh; Capt. Wm. Church, Capt. Miller, Capt. Adam Downing, of Bellaghy; Captain Samuel Wright, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Lundy, and David Rosse, of Londonderry, Gent.; all of the COUNTY OF LONDONDERRY. Capt. Chidley Coote, of Voughtershire, ROSCOMMON. Henry Nickleson, of Ballanagargine, Gent.; Adam Ormsby, of Comine, Gent.; Francis Gore, of Sligo, Gent.; Charles Nicleson, of Larrass, Gent.; all of the COUNTY OF SLIGO. Major Owen Vaughan of Carrowmore, MAYO, whether dead or alive, or killed in open rebellion, or now in arms against your Majesty, and every one of them shall be deemed, and are hereby declared and adjudged traitors, convicted and attainted of high treason, and shall suffer such pains of death, penalties, and forfeitures respectively, as in cases of high treason are accustomed. And whereas Robert Lindsay, of Manor Lindsay, Esq., of TYRONE, and Francis Annesley, jun., of Cloghmagherycatt, Gent., of DOWN, have absented themselves from this Kingdom, since the Fifth of November last, they shal1 suffer such pains of death, and other forfeitures and penalties as in cases of high treason are accustomed.".
Ordnance survey of the county of Londonderry, Volume 1
By Ordnance Survey of Ireland
Ezekiel Hopkins, D. D., succeeded. He was born in the parish of Crediton, near Exeter, in Devonshire, and was son to the curate of Sandford, a chapel of ease belonging to Crediton. He was educated in Magdalen College, whence, by the interest of Sir Thomas Viner, he was made lecturer of the parish of Hackney: after a long interval he was promoted to the parish of St. Mary, London. Being driven thence by the plague, he returned to Exeter, where he obtained a parish from the bishop. Having the good fortune to give great pleasure, by his preaching, to Lord Truro, who was shortly after sent over to Ireland as lord lieutenant, he brought him with him as chaplain, in 1669: in the same year he gave him his daughter in marriage, and rewarded him with the treasurership of Waterford, and the year following with the deanery of Raphoe. On the retirement of Lord Truro from the vice- royalty, he was strongly recommended by him to his successor, Lord Berkeley, of Stratton, who, on the 27th of October, 1671, promoted him to the bishopric of Raphoe, to which he was consecrated, in Christ Church, Dublin, by James, archbishop of Armagh, assisted by the bishops of Clogher, Waterford, and Derry. Ten years afterwards he was translated to the see of Derry, by the king's' letter dated the 21st of October, and by patent dated the 11th of November, 1681 (Rot. 23 Car : 11. 2 p.f.), where he continued until the outbreak of the troubles, when he fled to England with his wife and children, where he obtained a parish. He died on the 29th of June, 1690, and was interred in the church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury.
Dr. Hopkins was at great expense in beautifying and adorning the cathedral of Derry, and in furnishing it with an organ and massy plate, and is said to have expended £1000 in buildings and other improvements in this bishopric and that of Raphoe. Harris says that he was a prelate greatly esteemed for his humility, modesty, and charity, as also for his great learning and excellent preaching, and was reckoned no inconsiderable poet.
A biographical history of England: from Egbert the Great to the revolution ...
By James Granger 1824
Ezekiel Hopkins, who was son of an obscure clergyman in Devonshire, was some time a chorister of Magdalen College, in Oxford, and usher of the adjoining school. He was, in the early part of his life, inclined to the Presbyterians, among whom he was extolled as an excellent preacher; a character which he well deserved, and in which he had very few equals. John, lord Roberts, happening to hear him preach, was so taken with his discourse, his person and his manner, that he retained him as his chaplain, when he was sent in quality of lord-lieutenant into Ireland; and preferrcd him to the deanery of Raphoe. When that nobleman was recalled, he so strongly recommended Mr. Hopkins to Lord Berkeley, his successor, that he was soon preferred to the bishopric of Raphoe, whence he was translated to Derry. During the war tinder the Earl of Tyrconnel, at the revolution, he withdrew into England, and was chosen minister of St. Mary Aldermanbury, in London; where he died on the 19th of June, 1690, and lies buried in that church. His " Sermons," his " Exposition of the Ten Commandments," and that on the " Lord's Prayer," were in good esteem. His works were printed together, in 1710, fol. He was father of Mr. Charles Hopkins, several of whose poetical pieces are in Dryden's " Miscellanies." See more of him, in Prince's " Worthies of Devon.".
REGISTER OF THE PRESIDENTS, FELLOWS, DEMIES,
INSTRUCTORS IN GRAMMAR AND IN MUSIC, CHAPLAINS, CLERKS, CHORISTERS, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN COLLEGE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, FROM THE KOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGE TO THE PRESENT TIME BY
JOHN ROUSE BLOXAM, D.D.FELLOW AND LIBRARIAN.
VOL. I. THE CHORISTERS. OXFORD,
WILLIAM GRAHAM, HIGH STREET. MDCCCLIII.
Hopkins, Ezekiel. res. 1653. Matr. serviens, 19 Nov. 1650'. He was the second son of John Hopkins, Curate of Sandford, a Chapel of Ease to Crediton, co. Devon, and Rector of Pinne in the same comity, where he was born, 3 Dec. 1634. Part of his education he received at Merchant Taylor's School', London, which he left in 1647. About the time that he vacated his Choristership, he became B.A. 17 Oct. 1653; Usher of the College School, 1655-56; M.A. 5 June 1656; Chaplain, 1656-58; and would have been elected Fellow, had his county been eligible: in all which time he lived and was educated under Presbyterian and Independent discipline, (Theophilus Gale being his Tutor.) About the time of the Restoration he became assistant to Dr. William Spurstow, Minister of Hackney near London, with whom he continued till the Act of Uniformity was published; at which time being noted for his fluent and ready preaching, some of the parishioners of St. Matthew's, Friday st. London, would have chosen him to be their Rector, but Mr. Henry Hurst (Chorister in 1643) carried that place from him by a majority. Afterwards the parishioners of Allhallows, or St. Edmund, Lombard street, elected him to be their Preacher, but the Bishop of London would not admit him, because he was a popular Preacher among the fanatics; but after some time he was settled in the parish-church of St. Mary, Wolnoth. Having retired to Exeter on account of the Plague, he became Minister of St. Mary's Church there, was countenanced by Bishop Ward, and much admired for the comeliness of his person, and elegance of preaching. At length John, Lord Roberts, (afterwards Earl of Truro,) hearing him accidentally preach, was so pleased with him, that he gave him his daughter Araminta in marriage, and took him as his Chaplain to Ireland, when he went as Lord Lieutenant in 1669. In the same year, 22 Nov. he was made Archdeacon and Treasurer of Waterford, and 8 Dec. Prebendary of St. Patrick's, Dublin; Dean of Raphoe, 2 April 1670. Being recommended to Lord Truro's successor, Lord Berkeley, he was consecrated Bishop of Raphoe 27 Oct. 1671, and translated to the See of Londonderry, 11 Nov. 1681, where continuing till the forces in Ireland under the Earl of Tyrconnel stood up in defence of K. James II. in 1688, he retired to England, and was on the 8th of Sept. 1689, elected Minister of Aldermanbury.
I am indebted to the kind attention of the Rev. J. Griffiths, Sub- warden of Wadham College, for the information, that Ezekiel Hopkins had previously been entered at that College, 2 April 1650, but that his caution money was returned about four days afterwards.
* The obliging assistance of the present able Headmaster of Merchant Taylor's, Dr. Hessey, has enabled me to give the following extract from the School Register; Ezekiel Hopkins, Jilius secundus Joannis Hopkins, CUrici, et Parceciie de Pinne in agro Devoniensi Rectoris, natus in dicta pariBchia de Pinne, Decembris 3, 1034, annum atIens duodecimum, admusui est Murtil 18, 1645, solvltque pro ingressu Is. (Dugard's Register, p. 93.)
He was the author of several Sermons, as,
The Vanity of the World, on Eccles. i. 2. London 1661, 8vo.
A Sermon at ihe Funeral of Algernon Greville, Esq. second brother to the Right Hon. Robert Lord Brooke, who departed this life July 21, at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was buried at Warwick, Aug. 6, 1662, on Eccles. ix. 5. London 1663. (Magd. Libr.)
A Sermon preached at Ch. Ch. Dublin, Jan. 31, 1669, Oh 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. Dublin, 1671, 4to.
All which were reprinted at London, 1685, 8vo. (Magd. Libr.)
An Exposition on the Ten Commandments. London, 1692. with two Sermons on John vii. 19. and on Gal. iii. 10. (Magd. Libr.)
An Exposition on the Lord's Prayer, with a catechistical explication thereof by way of question and answer, for the instructing of youth: to which are added some Sermons on Providence, and the excellent advantages of reading and studying the Holy Scriptures. London 1692, 4to. (Magd. Libr.)
Discourses or Sermons on several Scriptures. London, 1691, 8vo. (Magd. Libr.)
Death disarmed. 8vo. London, 1712.
The Doctrine of the Covenants. 8vo. London, 1712. (Magd. Libr.)
The Doctrine of the Sacraments. 8vo. London, 1713. (Magd. Libr.)
Bishop Hopkins died 19 or 22 June, 1690, and was buried, June 24, in the Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, on which occasion Bishop Tenison preached his funeral Sermon, and mentioned amongst other good points in his character, that " he was at a very great expense in beautifying and adorning his Cathedral, and in furnishing it with organs, and massy plate. That he was exceedingly generous and charitable, and gave great sums every year amongst the poor, besides the tenth of his revenues, which he constantly laid by for such uses; that he allowed yearly pensions to University Students, to Ministers' widows, and other distressed persons; that he put children to trades, and largely contributed to the building and repairing of Churches; and that he designed great things, if God had spared him to return." Cotton mentions that he was also accounted no inconsiderable Poet.
The present Sir Francis Hopkins, Bart, of Athboy, co. Meath, is lineally descended from the Bishop. Ath. vol. ii. fol. col. 851. Chalmers's Biogr. Diet. Wilford's Memorials. Burke's Peerage. Cotton's Fasti Eccles. Hibern.
American Tract Society 1848
BP. HOPKINS ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
The Rt . Rev. Ezekiel Hopkins, D. D., author of this work, who died in London, in 1690, was cotemporary with Baxter, Bunyan, and Flavel, and drank deeply of their spirit. A distinguished divine, after carefully examining all the treatises on the Commandments within his reach, stated that the principal ideas contained in the whole are found condensed in this work of Hopkins. There is an originality, distinctness, and energy of thought, in a bold and forcible style; a view of the Ten Commandments as comprehending the whole moral law of God; a discussion of the principles for rightly understanding them; and then a discussion of each command in its various relations to the divine requisitions and human duty, which render the work one of great value. The discussions of the first, fourth, and fifth commands, especially, present a very full and comprehensive view of the great practical subjects which they embrace.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.
THE RT. REV. EZEKIEL HOPKINS was born at Sanford, in Devonshire, England, A. D., 1633. His father, who was a minister of the Chapel of Ease attached to the parish of Crediton, during many years, gave personal attention to the education of his son. Under such favorable circumstances his natural powers were rapidly developed, and he was able to enter the University of Oxford at the early age of sixteen years. He took his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in course, the latter having been received, June 5th, 1656. All the honors of the University, which were confessedly merited by his scholarship, were not conferred upon him, owing to the fact that his residence made him ineligible. Though he could not be elected Fellow, yet the College to which he was attached secured his prolonged residence at Oxford, by choosing him for its Chaplain. This position he filled with acceptance and success during four years. -In 1660 he went to London, and became assistant to Dr. William Spurstow, minister of Hackney, near the city. In 1662, when the act of Uniformity was passed, requiring all ministers to conform to the liturgical usages then established by law, Dr. Spurstow resigned his charge, and thereby his assistant was also displaced. Though, as Wood declares, Hopkins was "educated and lived in strict Presbyterian and Independent discipline," yet he does not seem to have adhered to its principles in a partisan spirit, and thus to have created strong prejudice against him in the minds of Episcopalians. For upon leaving Hackney, many of the parishioners of St. Matthews Church, London, tried to have him chosen for their rector. In this, however, they were unsuccessful, the Rev. Henry Hurst, of the same University, and a rival candidate, having obtained a majority of votes. The events of the next five years
C5)
are involved in obscurity, and the biographers of this eminent man of God have maintained earnest controversies in regard to them. Some authorities say he was called to be rector of All Hallows Church; others contend it was St . Edmunds which gave him the invitation. Which he served, and whether he officiated in either parish, are still matters of dispute. On the one hand it is stated that his Bishop refused to institute him in the parish to which he was called, on the ground that "he was a popular preacher among the fanatics." Opposed to this we are presented with the records of the Vestry of one parish which give an account of his ministry among them. But even here, the loose manner in which the minutes were kept renders it uncertain whether he was maintained as Rector or Lecturer. One thing, however, is rendered certain by these facts of history. He was regarded by all classes as a good preacher. Men of opposite views and principles in regard to political and ecclesiastical government, listened with delight to his instructive and eloquent declaration of the whole counsel of God. His fame and popularity increased steadily. They were founded upon a solid and enduring basis, and rose to a height and proportion befitting the eminence and worth of one whom the Lord had so distinguished with gifts and graces.
It was during his abode in the great city that he married a niece of Sir Robert Viner, who at one period was Mayor of London. But not many years elapsed before the conjugal tie was severed by death, and both himself and his children were led to mourn their sad and untimely bereavement. This sudden change of circumstances, this abrupt termination put to the tale of life, the recital of which within the domestic circle was heard with so much enjoyment, is a striking illustration of the solemn truths set forth in the discourse on "the Vanity of the World." That treatise was dedicated to his wife's uncle, and bears the date of February 1st, 1668. It gives evidence of a depth and earnestness of feeling which could only arise from full and varied experience of "the changes and chances of this mortal life." The reader perceives that the lessons in the schools of affliction had been well learned, and had wrought in his mind a conviction of the source of all true and abiding joys.
The cause of his removal to Exeter, in 1667, is not stated by any of his biographers. An intimate friend, the Rev. John Prince, says he would have liked a place in the Cathedral Church, in his native diocese, and all felt that his desire for preferment there was not beyond that which his merits should lead him to entertain and cherish. But Providence had assigned to him a distant field of labor, and had appointed for him greater honors and usefulness than those to which he aspired. His residence in Exeter was the means leading to the destined end. Among the occasional hearers whom his renown for preaching attracted to his church, (St. Mary Arches, of which he was Rector,) was a nobleman of wealth and distinction. Lord Roberts, afterwards Earl of Radnor, was greatly edified by his instructions, and upon receiving the appointment to the Lieutenancy of Ireland, he invited Hopkins to accompany him as Chaplain to his family. The offer was accepted, and proved to be an important step in his career of greatness in the Church of Christ. His promotion was rapid, and attended with gratifying proofs of the personal attachment of his noble patron. By his learning and abilities, as well-as by moral worth, piety, and refinement, he completely ingratiated himself in the Earl's favor, and there was no honor which was thought too distinguished for this gracious servant of Christ. He elevated him to the Deanery of Raphoe, in 1669, and about the same time gave him his daughter in marriage.
The party which placed Lord Roberts in power removed him in 1670, and he returned to England, and during the rest of his life abstained from taking any active part in politics.
Dean Hopkins remained in his Cathedral in Raphoe, and by the recommendation of Lord Roberts, and his successor Lord Berkley, he was raised to the Bishopric of the diocese, in 1671. Bishop Hopkins was now thirty-eight years of age, but not in the enjoyment of vigorous health, ne devoted himself with characteristic energy to the cultivation of the enlarged field of usefulness of which he had been appointed overseer. It is recorded of him that he did not absent himself from his diocese save when his necessary attendance in the House of Lords, and'visits to his friends in England, for the purpose of recruiting his strength, obliged him to leave Ireland. His unremitted attention to preaching placed him in strong contrast with many chief pastors of his time. The troublous times were calculated to draw aside the rulers in the Church, and caused many of them to be absorbed in state affairs, connected with the changes occurring in its polity and discipline. Bishop Hopkins, however, was enabled to resist the strong current of circumstances, and followed the dictates of a sanctified heart. He felt that preaching was one of the most important of his ministerial duties, and that like his inspired predecessor, Christ sent him "not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." His diligence and carefulness show that he acted under the constraining power of the love of Christ, and realized the solemnity of the Apostle's feeling, when he exclaimed, "woe is me if I preach not the gospel."
In the year 1681, when the Duke of Ormond was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Bishop Hopkins was transferred to Londonderry. The appointment to that large and important diocese was accept- -able to both clergy and laity, and the welcome from all classes which greeted him augured well for his success and usefulness. He came to the church in that diocese "in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." In that large city, where religion was at a low ebb, and where vice was shameless, he preached such discourses as those with which our second volume com-mences. There he protested against the looseness and lawlessness of the great by his sermons on "Practical Christianity," and "The Almost Christian Discovered." There he pointed out to magistrates the inconsistency of not ruling themselves according to God's word, and urged upon the people, restive under restraint, the duty of submission to rulers. There he convincingly and emphatically maintained that the regeneration and sanctification of the heart were the only causes which would ensure uprightness and obedience here, and lead to happiness hereafter. When at the close of seven years ministry among them he was compelled to
flee from threatened persecution, he could confidently say, "be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you."
In 1688 he saw the increase and progress of the Roman Catholic army, and fled with many of his flock to a safe retreat, until the calamity of revolution was overpast. The political troubles and unsettled state of Ireland continued longer than was anticipated, and the Bishop despaired of a speedy return to his field of labor. Therefore he accepted the charge of a small parish in London, and there endeavored to find that satisfaction in his work which could not be found elsewhere. For he mourned over wayward sons, as well as lamented the strife and rebellion in the subjects of the king. One of his children was in the army which threatened the liberties and the religion of Ireland, and the other gave no evidence that he followed the example or heeded the instructions of a gracious and godly father. These sorrows weighed him down, and he gradually sunk under them. His soul bore them with Christian fortitude, and he glorified his covenant God even in the fire of suffering and affliction. But the body succumbed to the stroke, and his health and strength failed. He only lived nine months after he took charge of the parish in London, and then was taken to that rest that remaineth for the people of God, and to the enjoyment of that reward which belongs to those who turn many to righteousness. Death did not overtake him while flying from his arrest, but found him longing for his coming. To him that last enemy was disarmed of his sting, and appeared only as the servant Jesus sends to call his followers to his presence and fruition. One of his intimate friends says he lived in expectation of his change, and earnestly prayed that God would take him. His was the true waiting posture, setting his house in order, addressing himself to all the duties of an adopted child of God, and waiting for the coming of the Lord. Selfexamination, repentance and prayer, mortification of the flesh, and labors of love engrossed his attention and fully occupied his time. His mind was stayed on God, and filled with that peace which passeth understanding. Heaven came down to meet his soul, and the earnest of eternal blessedness was enjoyed before he passed.
within the gates of the New Jerusalem. No extatic raptures accompanied his departure; but he peacefully entered into rest, enjoying the calmness and satisfaction which are only exceeded by the open vision of Christ.
"So gently shuts the eye of day, So dies the wave along the shore." His works do follow him. Labors of love, the care of the churches, the gospel fully preached in the great centers of civilization and learning, parental admonitions and godly example all follow him to the judgment seat of Christ, and receive the reward which free and sovereign grace has assigned them. And when we read the testimonies of those who were called, built up, and "made partakers of the benefit" through his instrumentality,— when we perceive that he "being dead yet speaketh," and through his writings still leads men to Christ, and confirms them in attachment to his person and cause,—when we know that his'glowing words are committed to imperishable record, and shall continue till God hath "accomplished the number of his elect," and brought in his glorious kingdom,—who can estimate the intense satisfaction of the soul that God hath thus delighted to honor. As the harvest of redeemed souls is gathered in, and many sheaves lowly bend through the fullness and ripeness of knowledge derived from his sanctified instruction, his glorified spirit will welcome them with wonder and rejoicing.
That the writings of Bishop Hopkins are adapted to such ends, and with the dew of God's blessing upon them must produce the blessed results of glory to God and salvation to men, the reader cannot fail to perceive. They abound in awakening, health-giving doctrines, and are pervaded with a warmth, feeling, and earnestness of purpose, calculated to rouse the sensibilities and move the will. His treatises on deep theological topics, and his expositions, are, like the works of Dr. Isaac Barrow, his cotemporary, exhaustive of the subject. In their minuteness of subdivision, and subtlety of distinctions, they show the prevailing characteristics of the writings of the times in which he lived. The spirit in which this man of God conducted the controversial portions of "his discourses is worthy of praise and imitation. There is a fairness and candor in the statement of objections to his views and theories, which must gain for him the name of a generous and honorable opponent. He lived in unsettled times, when all questions in politics and religion were the subjects of angry debate and excited controversy. The most radical and extravagant opinions and principles were advocated, and intolerance was the prevailing temper of every party in Church and State. The minds of the people were active, and their energies were devoted to the maintenance of their liberties and religious privileges. Amid the lawlessness of the period, resulting from the changes frequently occurring, multitudes abused the doctrines of the grace of God, and lived in sin and profaneness because grace abounded, and in order that it might abound. Bishop Hopkins appears to have contended earnestly against this abuse. While he teaches convincingly that men are not justified by law and works of the law, he also shows that Christians are not "without law to God, but are under the law to Christ." He argues against the common objection that the doctrines of the free, sovereign, and unfrustrable grace of God are inconsistent with exhortations to sinners, and discourage appeals to the conscience and heart. This objection is met in two ways—by scriptural teaching, and by his own example to the contrary. He cordially embraced the apostolic and scriptural views of truth and doctrine, and set them forth in a clear and forcible manner. He as fully maintained the accountability of man. By the fear of the Lord, and by the all-sufficiency of Christ, he persuaded sinners to turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. His exhortations are direct, pointed, and fervid. They ply the conscience, the understanding and feelings with persistent and energetic force. The hearer or reader of such appeals must feel that escape from the obligation of immediate repentance, and return to God, cannot be evaded, nor can compliance with the invitation be delayed without incurring an aggravated condemnation. If under such faithful and solemn warnings the soul remains unaffected, and continues in rebellion against God, or at a distance and alienated from Jesus, still one useful thing is accomplished: the fact is clearly shown that man, by nature, has neither the will nor the power to do any thing spiritually good.
In his life, character, and writings, Bishop Hopkins agrees well with the portrait of an English Bishop of the sixteenth century, as 'drawn by Dr. Robert Hawker. That distinguished limner drew his portrait from the features and expressions of such godly
'bishops as Ridley and Latimer, Whitgift and Parker, Hall, Carlton and Davenant. He admits that all the servants of God, whose excellence he depicts, were not confined to the sixteenth century, but that a few were found in the seventeenth. There is reason to*believe, therefore, that one so prominent and revered as Bishop Hopkins, did not escape his observation, and that he was included in the number of the great Chief Pastors which were commended to the admiration of the church, and to the imitation of her ministers. In justice to Hopkins it could not be otherwise. For he held the same views of divine truth. It might be said of him as of Usher, that "in the very blossom of his age he found the true sense of religion in his serious conversion to God." He knew experimentally the doctrine which he preached unto others. He labored incessantly in the word and doctrine of Christ. Visitations of his parishes were not mere official proceedings, but gave opportunity for spiritual converse with the clergy, and for confirming the souls of the faithful in their attachment to Christ and the Gospel.
Sermons, charges to the clergy and to candidates for orders, and even conversations at table, were improved for the conveyance of that lively word which "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness."
In the distribution of their patronage the bishops of that age acted in accordance with the principles enunciated in the formu- . laries and ordination services of the Church. Nepotism was far from them. They were actuated by zeal for the Divine glory, and made choice of godly persons to serve Christ in the ministry of the word, and in the care of souls. Their official acts, their addresses to the reigning monarch, their discussions in convocation, and their real work as seen in the character of the actual incumbents, prove that they rated livings not according to income in money, but by the good that was done to souls. The ministers generally were men who sympathized with the chief pastors, and partook of their self-denying spirit. Position and influence were assigned and enjoyed not according to the amount derived from the people, but according to the spiritual wealth and revenues which the people gained through their instrumentality.
It was, indeed, the golden age of the English Church. Her ministers were giants in understanding, and men of full sta•ture in Christ. They were master workmen, and laid solidly the foundations of religious freedom and apostolic, primitive order. Pure and sublime truth, skillful expositions, winning and convincing apologies, massive and grand controversial writings, subtleties of logic and splendors of rhetoric, rich garlands of poetry and classic eloquence, all scattered abroad in profusion, give us a display of wealth, intellectual and spiritual, which is illustrated by the peerless condition of the Lord's people in the reign of Solomon. Every thing was of gold, and silver was counted as stones in the street. The church as they formed and left it was "all glorious within, and her clothing was of wrought gold." The robes of righteousness and true holiness enveloped her with ample folds, while the name and praise of her glorious Christ was "the golden girdle," which displayed the beauty and symmetry of her heavenly form.
The writings of Bishop Hopkins are humbly committed to the hands of Him who is all-sufficient to save his people, and commended to the stewards of God's mysteries, in hope that the Holy Spirit will bless them to the delight and edification of his ministers, to the calling of his redeemed, and to the glory of his great name.
C. W. Q.
From the book, The Clergy of Derry and Raphoe
Ezekiel Hopkins, b. 3 Dec 1634 at Crediton. Son of Rev John Hopkins, Curate of Sanford, Devonshire. Ezekiel m 1 Alice Moore, only dau. of Samuel Moore, of London; He m. 2 Araminta, dau of Baron Truro, later the Earl of Radnor. He and Alice had issue,
Charles, b. 1671
John, b. 1675
Ezekiel d. in London on the 22 June 1690 and was buried at the Church of St Mary Aldermanbury
(This article is a definite source, but is incorrect/incomplete in respect to EH's children and maybe be inaccurate from other points of view).
Stewart Clan Magazine. It states the following," His home was Fort Stewart, County Donegal, but he was for a time domiciled in Londonderry. He married [by license Nov. 25, 1793] Maria Hopkins, only child of Ezekiel Hopkins, bishop of Derry, by a daughter of Lord Robertes. Hopkins had been a chaplain in Roberts' regiment when the latter was lord lieutenant of Ireland, and "made a private marriage with his excellency's daughter, in consequence of which he was made bishop of Derry." William Stewart died before his wife, who was living in Londonderry in 1705, probably a widow at the time." This also from Stewart Clan Magazine," Maria Anna Hopkins, daughter of Rev. Ezekiel Hopkins, bishop of Derry" They also did have a son named Ezekiel (bp.April 8,1698 he married a daughter of Charles Ward) obviously named after Aramintha's father
This is from Burke's: " William, of Fort Stewart, Col 9th Regt, Sheriff Co. Donegal 1697;m. 1693 Mary Anne, dau of Rt Rev Ezekiel Hopkins, Bp Derry, by Lady Aramintha Robartes, dau of 1st Earl of Radnor of the 1679 cr(see RADNOR, E, preliminary remarks), and d Oct 1713, having had, with two other sons and a dau:
1a Ezekiel,of Fort Stewart;m Anne, dau of Rev Charles Ward."
Again Burke's Peerage and Baronetage:
Taken from the Stewart of Fort Stewart
William, of Fort Stewart,col.9th regt.; m. Mary Anne, dau. of Ezekiel Hopkins, bishop of Derry, by Aramintha, his wife, dau. of the Earl of Radnor (extinct 1764). He d. July, 1713, leaving issue (with a dau., Mary), four sons, viz.,
(I) Ezekiel, of Fort Stewart, m. Anne, dau of Charles Ward, by Deborah his wife, dau of James Annesley, ".
The son of the Rev. John Hopkins, curate of Pinhoe, Ezekiel was born there on Wednesday, December 3rd, 1634, and was baptised on the following Sunday. His father subsequently became priest in charge at Sandford, where some of his boyhood was spent, and in his twelfth year he was sent to Merchant Tailors' School, and when he was fourteen he went to Oxford, becoming a chorister at Magdalen College, where, by his beautiful voice and good scholarship, he, even as a boy, and in the troublous times of the Commonwealth, made a great reputation for himself, taking his B.A. degree before he was 19, and his M.A. at 21. He became usher of the College School at 21, and chaplain of the College at 22, but, apparently, received then only Presbyterian ordination.
At the Restoration, he became assistant curate to Dr. Spurstow, at Hackney. But, in 165?2, on the restoration of episcopacy, he conformed, and was elected preacher of St. Edmund's, Lombard-street. About this time, he married a niece of Sir Robert [Thomas] Viner, Lord Mayor of London, to whom he dedicated his "Vanity of the World", and his boy, Charles, who was clever and poetical, but became a trial to his father, and darkened his closing years by taking arms against James II, at the Revolution, besides being gay and dissolute, was born, probably, in London, and, on the outbreak of the plague, in 1665, father, mother and baby Charles went back to Devon, and found a home in Exeter, where Bishop Seth Ward, who was putting the diocese in order, after a time of chaos, and restoring the Cathedral, recognised the merits of the clever young preacher, and put him in charge of St. Mary Arches, vacant by the departure of Gideon Edmonds. From his intimacy with the Bishop and the Cathedral Clergy, he would appear to have had some connexion with the Cathedral also, in which the Bishop promised him preferment. With his musical ability, he not improbably acted as one of the Priest-Vicars. One of his Exeter friends was Prebendary Edward Wethenhall, master of the Blue-Coat School, who was told by mutual friends how they had been edified in St. Mary Arches, where they heard the Rector, with his splendid delivery and musical voice, preaching his eloquent series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. A quarter of a century later the Prebendary, who had also gone to Ireland, and become Bishop of Cork and Ross, edited a posthumous edition of his Exposition on the Ten Commandments, and said: "It was my happiness, many years ago, to contract a very intimate acquaintance, I might call it friendship, with that great person the author, while we lived neighbours in that flourishing, religious and liberal city (Exeter) where these Discourses had birth, and became first locally public"; and he adds how they must live in "the memories of many of the citizens there." In those days when merchant princes lived within the city walls, and there were well furnished mansions in "Arches-lane", the famous old church had splendid congregations.
The Church, which had lost its chancel during the Commonwealth, had first been restored at a cost of over £200, equivalent perhaps, to £2,000 today. The eastern wall had been rebuilt with its beautifully carved reredos, which some ascribe - but mistakenly, I think - to the famous Grindling Gibbons. Ferdinando Nicolls, who, although a duly ordained priest, had conformed to Puritan usages, and refused, at the Restoration, to use the Prayer-book, had been deprived. This is always to be regretted for he was an able man a a clever preacher, and had baptised scores of children in St. Mary Arches when they were forbidden elsewhere to be brought to the font. In 166?4, he was buried, so says rumour, at night in St. Mary Arches during a riot, and, perhaps, this shortened the incumbency of Gideon Edmonds, whose changes may have made him unpopular with Nicolls' admirers. Hopkins filled the gap, and Bishop Seth Ward soon appointed him Rector, although the actual institution has not been found in his register. Four children were born while he was at St. Mary Arches, besides Charles, the baby he bad brought from London. The Register records the following baptisms: -
March 29th 1666 - "Mary, daughter of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins"
May 12th 1667 - "Annah, daughter of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, now minister of this pish."
May 24th 1668 - "Ezekiel, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, now minister of this pish."
July 4th 1669 - "Job, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins, minister of this pish."
But all the babies died except Job, who was taken to Ireland when a few months old. We notice incidentally how the parish clerk respectfully descibes the baby girls as "Mrs." then, of course, prounounced "Mistress." Here are three sad funerals in St. Mary Arches. I wonder if Prebendary Wetherall, or some other Exeter friend, officiated for the bereaved father.
March 3rd 1667 - "Mrs. Mary Hopkins."
Sept 11th 1668 - "Mrs. Annah Hopkins."
July 29th 1669 - "Ezekiel, son of Mr. Ezekiel Hopkins."
They were probably buried in the Friernhay? Cemetery, which Bishop Hall had consecrated in 1637. Yet, with all his sad bereavements, the Rector had a happy and useful time in Exeter. His friend, the Rev. John Prince, Vicar of Berry Pomeroy, says in his "Worthies of Devon", that Exeter was "a place he no less loved than he was beloved of it; and we all, who, at that time living there, had the advantage of it, were very happy in his Lordship's most excellent conversation."
Titled persons occasionally enter St. Mary Arches Church even now, and sign the visitors' book, but it is pre-eminently a Church where "the poor have the gospel preached to them." and we never have a lord, a baronet, or even a knight attending its services, for they all go to the Cathedral! But such people loved the Church when Hopkins was its Rector, "the rich and the poor met together." and the greatest men of Exeter were constantly worshipping and receiving the Blessed Sacrament within its walls, which still tell us of noted Mayors and Aldermen, some of whom knew the future Bishop face to face. One who was fascinated by the eloquent young Rector's preaching was John Lord Robartes, who afterwards became Earl of Radnor. While in Exeter he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and there was a great migration across the Irish Sea, for Lord Radnor took Hopkins as his chaplain, and between July and November, 1669, father, mother, Charles and Job went to their new home, Charles being five years old, and Job only three or four months. On November 22nd, Hopkins became the Archdeacon of Waterford; on December 8th, he was also made a Prebendary of St. Patrick's, Dublin; on April 2nd 1670, he became Dean of Raphoe, and 18 months later, when Robert Lesley was translated to Clogher, he was appointed to the Bishopric of Raphoe, which is now united with that of Derry.
The consecration took place on Sunday, October 29th, 1671, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, where the writer well remembers worshipping on Sunday, July 12th, 189?3, little thinking that one day he should fill in Exeter the place of one who had been called in that church to the holy office of a Bishop. Unlike other English prelates in Ireland, Bishop Hopkins resided and worked diligently in his diocese, and was always most kind to the clergy. "He would not," says Prince, "suffer a priest to stand or to be uncovered in his presence longer than himself was so." He was noted for his hospitality and also for his generosity, not only to the poor, but to the work of the Church in both his dioceses, and he was partiuclarly generous to his Cathedral at Derry, giving it a new organ and splendid and massive altar vessels.
He became a widower, either just before or just after his departure from Exeter, but the register has no entry of his wife's funeral. [In contradiction to this part of the article, the evidence now exists, as previously stated, that Alicia Moore, Hopkins' first wife, died in 1681, and that Hopkins married Araminta in 1685, just after Araminta's father, Lord Robartes, had died, and making Mary, John + also Samuel, the children of Alicia, not Ararminta - PW] He married as his second wife, Araminta Robartes, daughter of his friend the Earl of Radnor, and had by her a daughter Mary, born in Exeter, in 1674, and a son, John, born, apparently, at Raphoe, on January 1st 1675/6. In 1674 he came to England and spent a considerable time in Exeter, where Mary, his second daughter of that name, was born, and he baptised her, not in the Cathedral, but in the Church of St. Mary Arches he so dearly loved. The sexton was puzzled by the name of his later Rector's Irish see, and the entry in the register is:
1674, December 22nd. - "Mary, daughter of Ezekiel Rathfo (Lord Bishop)."
This is probably the only baptism of a Bishop's child in our Church, but possibly a genealogist could trace the burial of a daughter of Bishop Hall, seeing that the Walkers and Halls intermarried. On November 11th, 1681, Dr. Hopkins succeeded Dr. Michael Ward as Bishop of Derry, and for seven years he had a happy and useful episcopate there, as he had had at Raphoe. But the Revolution and the fighting between the adherents of James II and William III brought trouble and opposition, and the people of Derry rose against him because he earnestly preached the doctrine of non-resistance, exhorting them to be loyal to James II, who, whatever his faults, was their anointed King. Lord Macaulay, who takes the side of William of Orange, says, "The Bishop, Ezekiel Hopkins, resolutely adhered to the political doctrines which he had preached during many years, and exhorted his flock to go patiently to the slaughter rather than incur the guilt of disobeying the Lord's Anointed." and he cites a sermon preached by him in Dublin four or five months after he first left Exeter. But eventually conditions in Ireland became intolerable, and, after going back for a while to Raphoe, the Bishop crossed to England, and spent the last few months of his life as preacher (not rector) in St. Mary Aldermanbury, London. There had been a scheme for translating him to another See and making George Walker, who preached courageously to the defenders of Londonderry, Bishop in his stead. But the plan fell through by the deaths of both men within a few days of each other, Hopkins dying in London, on June 19th 1690, and Walker, his rival, falling in the Battle of the Boyne 12 days later." Macaulay distorts the facts by saying "Ezekiel Hopkins and Presbyterian rebels in the City of London, had brought himself to swear allegiance to the Government, had obtained a cure, and had died in the performance of the humble duties of a parish preist.".
Alicia MOORE, daughter of Samuel MOORE ( - ) and Mary VYNER ( - ), was born in [Julian] 1645 (estimated). She was baptised in [Julian] 1645. She died on [Julian] 21 May 1681. She and Ezekiel HOPKINS had the following children:
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Lady Araminta ROBARTES, daughter of Lord John ROBARTES Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1606-1685) and Letitia Isabella SMITH ( -1714), was born in 1660 (estimated).
3. John HOPKINS was the son of Rev'd John HOPKINS and Anne UNK.
Matriculated Wadham College 14/1/1650 "Brother of Ezekiel" [Alumni Oxoniensis] Hopkins, John, "ser." WADHAM COLL., matric. 14 Nov., 1650, scholar 1650 from Beaminster, Dorset, B.A. 2 Feb., 1652-53; died before proceeding M.A.; brother of Ezekiel. See Gardiner, 183.
4. James HOPKINS was the son of Rev'd John HOPKINS and Anne UNK.
Matriculated Magdalen College 1/4/1656 "Brother of Ezekeil" [Alumni Oxoniensis] Hopkins, James, cler. fil. MAGDALEN COLL., matric. 1 April, 1656; B.A. from CORPUS CHRISTI COLL. 28 Feb., 1659-60; brother of Ezekiel.
Third Generation
5. Francis HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born before [Julian] 1664.
This son may not have existed, and has only been mentioned by one source, the Rev. Hallnutt.
6. Charles HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1664. He died in 1699 (estimated).
Son of Ezekiel bishop of Londonderry (who married the lady Araminta one of the 4 daughters of John Lord Robartes afterwards earl of Radnor). He was born at Exeter; but, his father being taken chaplain to Ireland by lord Robartes when lord lieutenant in 1669, our poet received the early part of his education at Trinity College, Dublin; and afterwards was a student at Cambridge. On the rebellion in Ireland in 1688, he returned thither, and exerted his early valour in the cause of his country, religion, and liberty. When public tranquillity was restored, he came again into England, and fell into an acquaintance with gentlemen of the best wit, whose age and genius were most agreeable to his own. In 1694 he published some "Epistolarly Poems and Translations," which will all be inserted in this volume; and in 1695, he shewed his genius as a dramatic writer by "Pyrrhus king of Egypt," a tragedy, to which Mr. Congreve wrote the epilogue (see English Poets, vol. XXIX. p. 84). He published that year "The History of Love," a connexion of select fables from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 1695; which, by the sweetness of his numbers and the easiness of his thoughts, procured him a considerable reputation. With Mr. Dryden in particular he became a great favourite. He afterwards published the "Art of Love," which, Jacob says, "added to his fame, and happily brought him acquainted with the earl of Dorset and other persons of distinction, [p. 183 / 184] who were fond of his company, throught the agreeableness of his temper and the pleasantry of his conversation. It was in his power to have made his fortune in any scene of life; but he was always more ready to serve others than mindful of his own affairs; and, by the excesses of hard drinking, and too passionate fondness for the fair sex, he died a martyr to the cause in the 36th year of his age." I shall preserve in this collection an admirable Hymn "written about an hour before his death, when in great pain." His "Court-Prospect," in which many of the principal nobility are very handsomely complimented, is called by Jacob "an excellent piece;" and of his other poems, he adds, "that they are all remarkable for the purity of their diction, and the harmony of their numbers." Mr. Hopkins was also the author of two other tragedies; "Boadicea Queen of Britain," 1697; and "Friendship improved, or the Female Warrior," with a humourous prologe, comparing a poet to a merchant, a comparison which will hold in most particulars except that of accumulating wealth. Our author, who was at Londonderry when this tragedy came out, inscribed it to Edward Coke of Norfolk, esquire, in a dedication, dated Nov. I. 1699, so modest and pathetic that I am persuaded I shall stand excused if I print it at full length: "[Dedication quoted for 3 pages, 184-187; ii.187:] His feelings were prophetic; he died, I believe, in the course of that winter. N. [ii.187].
A Note on Charles Hopkins (c. 1671-1700) Author(s): Alice E. Jones Source: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Mar., 1940), pp. 191-194 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2910905 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Modern Language Notes. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup http://www.jstor.org/stable/2910905?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) 191 Finally, Wordsworth quotes two instances of the pathetic fallacy, both of which he approves as products of the creative faculty, the first being an instance of mere fanicy, while the second is the product of imagination. I will content myself with placing a conceit (ascribed to Lord Chesterfield) in contrast with a passage from the 'Paradise Lost ':- The dews of the evening most carefully shun, They are the tears of the sky for the loss of the sun. After the transgression of Adam, Milton, with other appearances of sym- pathising Nature, thus marks the immediate consequence, Sky lowered, and muttering thunder, some sad drops Wept at completion of the mortal sin. The associating link is the same in each instance: Dew and rain, not distinguishable fiom the liquid substance of tears, are employed as indica- tions of sorrow. A flash of surprise is the effect in the former case; a flash of surprise, and nothing more; for the nature of things does not sustain the combination. In the latter, the effects from the act, of which there is this immediate consequence and visible sign, are so momentous, that the mind acknowledges the justice and reasonableness of the sympathy in nature so manifested; and the sky weeps drops of water as if with human eyes.1' Evidently Wordsworth would not deny poets of the " first rank" the use of the pathetic fallacy. On the contrary, he regards this species of figurative language as the product of the creative mind, if the feeling which engendered it is true, and if its ultimate origin is an accurate observation of " things as they are in themselves." On the whole it would appear that Wordsworth anticipated the best things of Ruskin's famous essay. JAMES V. LOGAN The Ohio State University A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) Among the lesser figures in the age of Dryden, Charles Hopkins, friend of both Dryden and Congreve, has been somewhat neglected. His reputation for amiability and good fellowship, well supported by the testimony of his more famous friends, and the merit of his best poems, a number of light love lyrics, give him a just claim to 11 Grosart, II, 142. This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
192 MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES, MARCH, 1940 notice. So pleasing is the impression of gaiety and charm derived from even a casual reading of his best verses, that we would gladly know more of this persuasive Irishman-Irish by early training and education at least, and possibly by birth. On a few points the present note seeks to shed some light. On the date and place of his birth the DNB. seems to have adopted the less likely alternative. Charles was the son of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins by his first wife: so much is clear; but when he was born, and where, remain uncertain. The DNB. gives the birth date as " 1664? " and the city as Exeter. Writers who support this view, with more or less authority, are Giles Jacob,' Alexander Chal- mers,2 Thomas Fuller's successor,3 and William B. S. Taylor.4 Un- fortunately, John Prince,5 who is supposed to have known Charles's father and who, therefore, might have told us with certainty, men- tions the poet only in passing. On the other hand, we have two educational records which indi- cate that Charles was born in 1671 at Dublin. These are records of matriculation at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1685, aged 14,6 and at Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1687.V The latter record repeats the information given in the former about the boy's age, and was probably copied from it. Now, the Trinity College record appears to carry more weight than the undocumented essays of early biographers; and, indeed, a youth was more likely to enter the university at the age of 14 than 21. Moreover, the later date agrees better with what we know of his father's movements, which are fairly clear. Although Ezekiel Hopkins was apparently married to his first wife some time in the early 'sixties, he did not leave London for Exeter until 1666.8 It is difficult to see how the poet could have 1'Poetical Register, London, 1723, I, 75. 2 The General Biographical Dictionary, new edition, London, 1814, XvIIi, 157. 3History of the Worthies of England, ed. P. A. Nuttall, London, 1840, I, 449. 4History of the University of Dublin, London, 1845, p. 411. r Danmonii Orientales; or, the Worthies of Devon, Exeter, 1701. " G. D. Burtchaell and T. U. Sadleir, Alumni Dublinenses 1593-1860, new ed., Dublin, 1935, p. 410. 7John A. and John Venn, Alumni Cantabrigiensis from the earliest times to 1900, Cambridge, 1922-27, pt. i, vol. ii, 405. 8 Joseph Foster, Alumni Oxoniensis: 1500-1714, vols. i and ii, Early Series, Oxford, 1891, p. 743. This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) 193 been born in either Exeter or Dublin in 1664. In 1671, on the other hand, Charles's father had just been made Bishop of Raphoe,9 county Donegal, Ireland. Charles Hopkins could, therefore, have been born in Ireland, even in Dublin, as has been suggested. If we accept the later date, Exeter might still have been his birthplace, since Prince notes that Ezekiel made an extended visit to Exeter some time while he was Bishop of Raphoe-namely, between 1671 and 1681, although it is unlikely that he would have absented him- self from his new charge immediately. On the whole it seems best to trust the matriculation records, and put his birth tentatively at Dublin in 1671. The identity of the poet's mother is also somewhat obscure. There is a record of the Bishop's second marriage, but not of his first. The first MIrs. Hopkins was, says the DNVB. (following Prince) a niece of Sir Robert Viner (or Vyner), sometime Mayor of London. How- ever, the rather full history of the Vyner family 10 shows that Sir Robert's nieces all made other marriages, or can be otherwise ac- counted for. There is another possibility. Sir Thomas Vyner, goldsmith (1588-1665), and, incidentally, uncle of Sir Robert, left Ezekiel Hopkins ten pounds in his will, dated March 16, 1664. This Sir Thomas had several nieces, and in some cases marriages for them are not recorded. Possibly Prince confused the two, and Ezekiel married one of Sir Thomas's nieces.11 A third question involves the poet's religion. The DNB. in its account of Ezekiel Hopkins states that the Protestant bishop was much grieved by the apostasy of Charles, who aided the Roman Catholics in the Irish uprising of 1688. Apparently the editors have taken this view from Prince, who says that the Bishop did not live long after his flight from Ireland, being " much broken by the publick as well as his own private calamities, (that being none of the least of them, that his son had entered himself of the Roman Catholick army in Ireland)." 12 It should be noted that Prince 9Henry Cotton, Fasti ecclesiae hibernicae, Dublin, 1848-60, II, 171-2. 10 Charles and Henry Vyner, Vyner-: A Family History, 1885. "1 Sir Thomas Vyner had ten brothers and sisters, seven of them by his father's previous marriage. Of Sir Thomas's many nieces, the most likely wife for Ezekiel Hopkins-if she was not too old-seems to be either Alice or Sara Moore. Both were daughters of Mary Vyner (b. 1575) and Samuel Moore, a goldsmith of London. No marriage is recorded for either of them. '2Loc. cit., 517. 3 This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
194 MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES, MARCH, 1940 does not say " his son Charles "-it may have been one of the other shadowy children of the shadowy first wife. Moreover, Nichols, in whose Miscellany many of Charles Hopkins's poems are printed, says that he " exerted his early valour in the cause of his country, religion, and liberty," 13 i. e., presumably in the cause of the Pro- testant succession. It seems more likely that Nichols is right, judg- ing by the fact that Charles later came to England under William and settled there apparently quite happily. Furthermore, his Whitehall; or the Court of England (also known as The Court Prospect) praises extravagantly William of Orange as "Restorer of the Christian World " and flatters all his court. Finally, the DNB. is also uncertain about the date of Charles Hopkins's death. This can now be fixed. The poet's dedication of his play Friendship Improv'd, dated from Londonderry, November 1, 1699, refers to his failing health, and the parish register of Derry Cathedral 14 reveals that he died in the parish of Templemore, Londonderry, and was buried on March 7, 1700. His will was probated in that year,15 but was lost in the destruction at the Four Courts, Dublin, in 1922.16 ALICE E. JONES Philadelphia THE DATING OF YOUNG'S NIGHT-THOUGHTS It has been customary to accept the year 1745 as the terminal date of the serial publication of Young's Night-Thoughts, the first part of which was published in the summer of 1742.1 The source 13 J. Nichols, A Select Collection of Poems, London, 1780, II, 183. 14 Register of Derry Cathedral, S. Columb's, Parish of Templemore, Londonderry, 1642-1703, Parish Register Society, Dublin, viii (1910), 354. 15 W. P. W. Phillimore et al., Indexes to Irish Wills, Irish Record Series, London, 1920; vol. 5 (Derry and Raphoe) edited by Gertrude Thrift. 16 Memorandum from the Deputy Keeper, January 22, 1938. I Entries in the Stationers' Register of the first eight parts have been published in W. Thomas's Le poete Edward Young (Paris, 1901, pp. 349- 352); further evidence of dating of "Nights" i-vi and viii has been pre- sented in two notes in RES for 1928 (R. W. C[hapman], " Young's 'Night Thoughts '," Iv, 330 and George Sherburn, " Edward Young and Book Advertising," iv, 414-417). Summary of this evidence appears in the ab- stract of my unpublished dissertation (Cornell University Abstracts of Theses Ithaca, N. Y., 1939, p. 43). This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Article Contents p. 191 p. 192 p. 193 p. 194 Issue Table of Contents Modern Language Notes, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Mar., 1940), pp. 161-242 Rousseau et les Réformateurs du Théâtre [pp. 161-169] An Early French Adaptation of an Elizabethan Comedy: J. B. Rousseau as an Imitator of Ben Jonson [pp. 170-176] Some Notes on Eighteenth-Century Essex Plays [pp. 176-183] Milton and Edward Ecclestone's Noah's Flood [pp. 183-187] Wordsworth and the Pathetic Fallacy [pp. 187-191] A Note on Charles Hopkins (c. 1671-1700) [pp. 191-194] The Dating of Young's Night-Thoughts [pp. 194-195] Revision in Browning's Paracelsus [pp. 195-197] A Note on R. L. S. [pp. 197-198] The Dates of Some of Robert Bridges' Lyrics [pp. 199-200] Arnold, Shelley, and Joubert [pp. 201] Urfaust L. 309 [pp. 201-204] Four Text-Notes on Deor [pp. 204-207] Arcite's Maying [pp. 207-209] " As by the Whelp Chastised is the Leon " [pp. 209-210] William Taylor of Norwich and Beowulf [pp. 210-211] Source of the Quotation from Augustine in The Parson's Tale, 985 [pp. 211-212] Reviews Review: untitled [pp. 212-215] Review: untitled [pp. 215-218] Review: untitled [pp. 218-220] Review: untitled [pp. 221-222] Review: untitled [pp. 222-226] Review: untitled [pp. 226-227] Review: untitled [pp. 227-229] Review: untitled [pp. 229-230] Review: untitled [pp. 231-232] Review: untitled [pp. 232-233] Review: untitled [pp. 233-234] Review: untitled [pp. 234-235] Review: untitled [pp. 235-237] Brief Mention [pp. 237-242].
7. Mary HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1666. She was baptised on 29 March 1666 in Exeter. She died on [Julian] 3 March 1667.
8. Anna HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1667 (estimated). She died on [Julian] 11 September 1668.
9. Ezekill HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1668 (estimated). He died on [Julian] 29 July 1669.
10. Job HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1669 (estimated).
11. Lieutenant?? Samuel HOPKINS Genteleman of Hayes, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born circa [Julian] 1674. He married Susanna PRIOR circa [Julian] 8 January 1732. He died on [Julian] 5 July 1743. He made a will in 1754. He was. He was buried in Bucknell Church. He married Elizabeth UNK. He married Priscilla UNK.
Firstly, it must be said that there is not conclusive evidence that Samuel Hopkins, son of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins, and Samuel Hopkins, father of John William Hopkins, are one and the same person, despite the assertions of a genealogist working about a hundred years ago, and remarks made by the archivist at Gray's Inn (which Samuel, father of John William joined): "the fact that Samuel's information was "derived from an inscription" confirms that this Samuel and the Samuel who was the son of Ezekiel and matriculated at Wadham College are definitely the same person". If they are indeed the same person then Samuel would have joined Gray's Inn in his old age. However, Gray's Inn have confirmed that "it was not unknown for gentlemen to join an Inn as a sort of dining club (there was little apart from dining going on at the Inn at the time - formal legal education having completely decayed". Also, a 1674 birthdate for Samuel would make his own son John William born when Samuel was about 60 years old!
Samuel (son of Ezekiel) was born in Ireland in 1674, when his father was Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. According to records he "matriculated Wadham College, Oxford 25/5/1688" aged 14. However, "matriculated" actually meant "entered",rather than graduated. His father matriculated at a similar age. However, it would appear that Samuel did not graduate.
It would then appear that Samuel married a lady by the name of Elizabeth and had three children in Ireland (William, Ezecall and Charles). Their births are registered in Derry.
At this time the records dry up, and we then have only the records to be found in Gray's Inn and also those at Bucknell Church, Hayes, Middlesex. According to the records in Hayes, Samuel Hopkins (gent of Hayes) had two wives during his time in Hayes, firstly Priscilla and then Susannah Prior, whose descent could be traced to the Fiennes family, and whose son John William, on account of this, claimed the rights of founder's kin at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. The present writer possesses the genealogy used to prove this.
The same Samuel Hopkins, gent of Hayes, then crops up at Gray's Inn. Finally, his will still exists at the National Archives in Kew; its contents give some idea of Samuel's status and life, but offer no clue to his earlier life in Ireland or as the son of Ezekiel, if indeed he is the same Samuel. A summary of the main points from his will shows:
He was married 8/1/1732 to Susanna Prior (or about then)
When he married Susanna Prior, she settled £1400 on him.
He had property in Bethusa?, County of Radnor
He had eight houses in Bishopsgate Street
He had Chambers in Gray's Inn
He had a house in Holbourn
He earned money from renting properties
Mr. Tomlinson Busby was one of two named best friends, who subsequently married his daughter Henrietta.
At the time of the Will (12/5/1754), his son was certainly quite a bit short of 22 years old.
He was a beneficiary in the will of one Henry Glasscock? of the County of Hertford
By 4/7/1758 Samuel had died, and his wife had died before she could administer the will. That task was taken on by his daughter, who had between 1754 and 1758 married Tomlinson Busby.
Hopkins had apparently made a previous will or wills.
It is possible that Samuel was a clergyman, like his father and son, as some sources claim. However, the Irish Samuel Hopkins was apparently a lieutenant, the Hayes one a "gent"; these, alongside possibilities of him being a clergyman, or even a lawyer, make Samuel's life rather a mystery. A genealogy written about a hundred years ago by an anonymous author states categorically that Samuel of Hayes is one and the same as Samuel, son of Ezekiel, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, but no evidence is given for this.
More research needs to be done before anything conclusive can be asserted.
Samuel was born in Ireland in 1674, when his father was Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. According to records he "matriculated Wadham College, Oxford 25/5/1688" aged 14. However, "matriculated" actually meant "entered",rather than graduated. His father matriculated at a similar age. However, it would appear that Samuel did not graduate. It would then appear that Samuel married a lady by the name of Elizabeth and had three children in Ireland (William, Ezecall and Charles). Their births are registered in Derry. At this time the records dry up, and we then have only the records to be found in Gray's Inn and also those at Bucknell Church, Hayes, Middlesex. According to the records in Hayes, Samuel Hopkins (gent of Hayes) had two wives during his time in Hayes, firstly Priscilla and then Susannah Prior, whose descent could be traced to the Fiennes family, and whose son John William, on account of this, claimed the rights of founder's kin at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. The present writer possesses the genealogy used to prove this. The same Samuel Hopkins, gent of Hayes, then crops up at Gray's Inn. Finally, his will still exists at the National Archives in Kew; its contents give some idea of Samuel's status and life, but offer no clue to his earlier life in Ireland or as the son of Ezekiel, if indeed he is the same Samuel. A summary of the main points from his will shows: he had property in the County of Radnor, eight houses in Bishopsgate Street, chambers in Gray's Inn, a house in Holbourn and earned money from renting properties.
Elizabeth UNK and Samuel HOPKINS had the following children:
| 14 | William HOPKINS (1696- ). William was born on 1 May 1696 in Derry, Ireland. |
| 15 | Ezekiel (Ezecall) HOPKINS (1697-1699). Ezekiel was born on 14 April 1697 in Derry. He died in December 1699. |
| 16 | Charles HOPKINS (1698-c. 1700). Charles was born on 3 August 1698 in Derry. He died circa 1 March 1700. He was buried on 7 March 1700. |
Priscilla UNK was born in July 1724. She was buried on 1 August 1724.
Susanna PRIOR (also known as [unnamed person]), daughter of Francis PRIOR Gent. ( - ) and Annabella BEAUMONT (1683-1776), died in 1758 (estimated). She and Samuel HOPKINS had the following children:
| 17 | John William HOPKINS (1734-1780). John was born in 1734. He was baptised on [Julian] 20 May 1734 in St. Andrew's, Holborn, City of London. He was a Clergyman. He was a Rector of Upminster, Essex. and St.Mary's Westminster. He married Mary WORRALL on 13 February 1766 in St. Lawrence Jewry, Milk Street, London. He died in 1780 in Upminster, Essex. He was buried in Nave of the Church, Upminster (South Side). |
| 18 | Henrietta HOPKINS ( -c. 1806). Henrietta married J Tomlinson BUSBY between [Julian] 1754 and [Julian] 1758. She died circa 1806. |
12. John HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born on 1 January 1675.
The youth of John Hopkins was passed in the best Irish society. His father, the Bishop, married - apparently in second nuptials, for John speaks not of her as a man speaks of his mother--the daughter of the Earl of Radnor. By a single allusion to the Epistolary Poems of Charles Hopkins, "very well perform'd by my Brother," in 1694, we are able to identify the author of Amasia with certainty. He was the second son of the Right Rev. Ezekiel Hopkins, Lord Bishop of Derry. The elder brother whom we have mentioned, Charles, was considerably his senior; for six years the latter occupied a tolerably prominent place in London literary society, was the intimate friend of Dryden and Congreve, published three or four plays not without success, and possessed a name which is pretty frequently met with in books of the time. But to John Hopkins I have discovered scarcely an allusion. He does not seem to have moved in his brother's circle, and his society was probably more courtly than literary. If we may trust his own account the author of Amasia was born, doubtless at Londonderry, on the 1st of January,1675. He was, therefore, only twenty-five when his poems were published, and the exquisitely affected portrait which adorns the first volume must represent him as younger still, since it was executed by the Dutch engraver, F.H. van Hove, who was found murdered in October, 1698.
Pause a moment, dear reader, and observe Mr. John Hopkins, alias Sylvius, set out with all the artillery of ornament to storm the heart of Amasia. Notice his embroidered silken coat, his splendid lace cravat, the languishment of his large foolish eyes, the indubitable
touch of Spanish red on those smooth cheeks. But, above all contemplate the wonders of his vast peruke. He has a name, be sure, for every portion of that killing structure. Those sausage-shaped curls, close to the ears, are confidants; those that dangle round the temples, favorites; the sparkling lock that descends alone over the right eyebrow is the passag?re; and, above all, the gorgeous knot that unites the curls and descends on the left breast, is aptly named the meurtri?re_. If he would but turn his head, we should see his cr?ves-coeur, the two delicate curled locks at the nape of his neck. The escutcheon below his portrait bears, very suitably, three loaded muskets rampant. Such was Sylvius, conquering but, alas! not to conquer.
JOHN HOPKINS, another son of the bishop of Londonderry, who deviated likewise from his father's character, was born January l, 1675. Like his elder brother, his poetry turned principally on subjects of love; like him too, his prospects in life appear to have terminated unfortunately. He published, in 1698, The Triumphs of Peace, or the Glories of Nassau; a Pindaric poem occasioned by the conclusion of the peace between the Confederacy and France; written at the time of his grace the duke of Ormond's entrance into Dublin. "The design of this poem," the author says in his preface, "begins, after the method of Pindar, to one great man, and rises to another; first touches the duke, then celebrates the actions of the king, and so returns to the praises of the duke again." In the same year he published The Victory of Death; or the Fall of Beauty; a visionary Pindaric poem, occasioned by the ever-to-be-deplored death of the right honourable the lady Cutts, 8vo. But the principal performance of J. Hopkins was Amasia, or the works of the Muses, a collection of Poems, 1700, in 3 vols. Each of these little volumes is divided into three books, and each book is inscribed to some beautiful patroness, among whom the duchess of Grafton stands foremost. The last book is inscribed "To the memory of Amasia," whom he addresses throughout these volumes in the character of Sylvius. There is a vein of seriousness, if not of poetry, runs through the whole performance. Many of Ovid's stories are very decently imitated; "most of them," he says, "have been very well performed by my brother, and published some years since; mine were written in another kingdom before I knew of his." In one of his dedications he tells the lady Olympia Robartes, "Your ladyship's father, the late earl of Radnor, when governor of Ireland, was the kind patron to mine: he raised him to the first steps by which he afterwards ascended to the dignities he bore; to those, which rendered his labours more conspicuous, and set in a more advantageous light those living merits, which now make his memory beloved. These, and yet greater temporal honours, your family heaped on him, by making even me in some sort related and allied to you, by his inter-marriage with your sister the lady Araminta. How imprudent a vanity is it in me to boast a father so meritorious! how may I be ashamed to prove myself his son, by poetry, the only qualification he so much excelled in, but yet esteemed no excellence. I bring but a bad proof of birth, laying my claim in that only thing he would not own. These are, however, madam, but the products of immature years; and riper age, may, I hope, bring forth more solid works." We have never seen any other of his writings: nor have been able to collect any farther particulars of his life: but there is a portrait of him, under his poetical name of Sylvius.
Alexander Chalmers.
To Amasia, tickling a gentleman
Methinks, I see how the blest swain was lay'd,
While round his sides your nimble fingers play'd.
With pleasing softness did they swiftly rove,
Raising the sweet, delicious pangs of love,
While, at each touch, they made his heart strings move.
As round his breast, his ravish'd breast they crowd,
We hear their music, when he laughs aloud.
You ply him still, and as he melting lies,
Act your soft Triumphs, while your captive dies.
Thus, he perceives, thou, dearest, charming fair,
Without your eyes, you can o'ercome him there.
Thus too he shews what's your unbounded skill,
You please, and charm us, tho' at once you kill.
Lodg'ed in your arms, he does in transport lie,
While trho' his Veins the fancy'd light'nings fly,
And, gush'd with vast delights, I see him hast to die.
13. Mary Anne HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born. She married Thomas STEWART in 1693.
Thomas Stewart of Fort Stewart, High Sheriff of Co. Donegal m. 1693 Mary Anne, dau of Rt Rev Ezekiel Hopkins, Bishop of Derry by his wife, Lady Aramintha Robartes, dau of 1st Earl Radnor, w/issue:
1. Ezekiel, heir
2. Rev. Robert.
Thomas STEWART had the title 'of Fort Stewart, High Sheriff of Co. Donegal'. He and Mary Anne HOPKINS had the following children:
| 19 | |
| 20 | Robert STEWART ( - ). Robert had the title 'Rev.'. |