Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/192

 HAWKER

156

HAWKINS

thousand lines in forty-five divisions or chapters. The poem is an attempt to revive the type of medieval allegory which had its origin in the " Romaunt of the Rose" and which had almost passed away. Its matter, " an allegory of the life of a man", shows the poet's learning and some ingenuity in fashioning allegorical detail. Its versification marks, on the whole, the extraordinary low ebb which poetrj- at this date had reached, though here and there stanzas of some charm appear. Hawes wrote also some shorter poems, amongst which are "The Example of Virtue", another allegory; "The Conversion of Swearers", an exhortation against swearing by the Body of Christ ; and a coronation poem on the accession of Henry VIII. John Bale's remark upon the life of Hawes, virtutis exemplum, is agreed with by all who judge the poet from his writings.

Works. — "The Passetyme of Pleasure", ed. Wright, Percy Society (London, 1845); "The Conversion of Swearers", ed. Abbotsford Club (Edinburgh, 1865); " A joyfuU Medytacyon to .\11 Englande of the Corona- tion of Henry VIII", ed. Abbotsford Club (Edinburgh, 1865).

Diet. Nal. Bioa., s. v.; Cambridge Hist. Eng. Lit.. U (Cam- bridge. 190S); Wood, Alhena- (O.xford, 1848), I; see also the preface of the Abbotsford Club Edition, above.

K. M. Warren.

Hawker, Robert Stephen, poet and antiquary; b. at Plymouth 3 December, 1S03; d. there 15 Au- gust, 1875, son of Jacob Stephen Hawker, M.D., who took orders soon after the birth of his son Robert and became vicar of Stratton, Cornwall. He w-as edu- cated at Liskeard Grammar School, and, at the age of sixteen, placed with a solicitor at Pljmiouth. But the law was distasteful to him, and his aunt bore the expense of sending him to Cheltenham Grammar School. Here he published, in 1821, "Tendrils", a small book of poems not of much literary value. In 1823 he went to Pembroke College, Oxford, and within a year married Charlotte I'ans, a Cornish lady twenty years older than himself, a marriage that brought him much happiness. He continued (though with a change of college) his undergraduate hfe at Oxford, and in 1827 won the Newdigate prize for a poem on Pompeii. He took his degree in 1828 and Church of England orders in 1831. .After filling a curacy at N. Tamerton in Cornwall, he was ap- pointed, in 1834, vicar of Morwenstow, a parish with a dangerous rocky coast on the north-east of the same county. Here until his death he lived an active life as the pastor of a sea-faring population, and gave liberally of his means to the parish. Amongst other things he restored the church and parsonage, estab- lished a school, and set on foot, -when rural dean, periodical synods of the surrounding clergy. From the many wrecks round the coast of his parish he succoured escaped sailors and buried the washed-up bodies of those who were drowned. Beyond these activities he was an enthusiastic student of the history and legends of the Cornish people which he embodied in many prose essays as well as in his poems. He was a true poet, though, in the judgment of the best critics, he just missed being a great one. From 1832, when he put forth his first important piece of work, •Records of the Western Shore", until the end of his life he produced a long series of romantic and religious poems, the finest of which is the "Quest of the San Graal", and the most famous the "Ballad of Trelawney". His religious views as embodied in his preaching and in these poems were those of the Tractarians. In 1S63 his wife died, and his loneliness became extreme. In 1864 he married again, a Polish lady, Pauline Anne Kuczynski, by whom he had three daughters. Hawker's impulsive and artistic temperament led him into continual acts of generosity as well as of imprudence, which kept him pecuniarily embarrassed. These difficulties increased as years

went on and doubtless undermined his health, which began to fail in 1873. On his death-bed, 14 August, 1875, he was received into the Catholic Church. He had always possessed Catholic instincts and from some of his letters it is fairly clear that he had been gradually turning more and more towards Rome in later years. His reception caused a hot debate in the press concerning the question of his previous loyalty to the Anglican Church, a debate which has never since quite ceased. His "Cornish Ballads and other Poems" was re-edited by Byles (London, 1904), and his prose works by Goodwin (London, 1893).

Courtney in Diet. Xat. Biog., s. v.: Byles, Liie and Letters of if. S. Hawker (London, 1905); Gillow, Bi!b. Diet, of Eng. Cath., s. V.

K. M. W.IRREN.

Hawkins, Sir Henrt, raised to the peerage as Lord Bi!ampton, eminent English lawj-er and judge, b. at Hit chin, Hertfordshire, 14 September, 1817; d. at London, 12 October, 1907. He was the eldest son of John Hawkins, a solicitor of Hitchin. Educated at Bedford School, he was articled to an uncle, a country solicitor, but, "hating the drudgerj' of an attorney's office", he went to London, studied at the Middle Temple, and was called to the Bar in May, 1843. Without either money or influence to help him, he made his mark as an advocate by .sheer hard work, and in 1858 became a Queen's Counsel. He was engaged in many famous lawsuits, including the great Tich- borne case, in which his cross-examination of the lead- ing witnesses for the false claimant of the estates completely exposed the fraudulent nature of the claim. He then successfully conducted the prosecution of the claimant. He was appointed a judge of the Queen's Bench and was knighted in November, 1876. Next year he married a Catholic lady, Jane Louisa, daughter of H. F, Reynolds of Hulme, Lanca.shire, The deci- sions of Judge Hawkins were noted for their combina- tion of sound law and shrewd common sense. Stern where his duty required it, he was kindly and merciful to mere human weakness, and was opposed to long or vindictive sentences. His kindly disposition was also shown in his love of animals, and he was strongly op- posed to vivisection. His country education made him find his recreation in outdoor sports ; he was often seen at the races, though he did not bet, and was a prominent member of the Jockey Club. He retired from the Bench in 1898, and the next year was raised to the peerage, taking his title from Brampton, Hunt- ingdonshire, where he had some property. Among his many friends was Cardinal Manning. " He never tried toproselj-tize me", wrote Lord Brampton, "he left me to my own free uncontrolled and imcontrolla- ble action. My reception into the Church of Rome was purely of my own free choice and will, and accord- ing to the" exercise of my own jugdment. I thought for myself and acted for myself or I should not have acted" at all. I have always been and am satisfied that I was right." He was receiveil into tlic Church by Cardinal \'aughan in the svnnnicr of 1S9,S. Three years after, in reply to an inq\iiry, he wrote: "It was the result of my deliberate cnnviction tli.it the truth — which was all I sought — lay witliiti the Catholic Church. I thought the matter out for myself, anx- iously and seriously, uninfluenced by any human being, and I have unwavering satisfaction in the con- clusion at which I arrived." In thanksgiving for his conversion he founded the beautiful chapel of Sts. Gregory and Augustine in the new cathedral of Westminster; altogether he contributed some £10,000 to the building of the cathedral. He left no heir to his title.

Harris, ed.. Reminiscences of Sir Henry }lawkins. Lord Brampton (London, 1904), 11, reprinted in Nelson's Shilling Library (1908); Idem. Uluslrationx in Adroeacy (4th ed.), cive-i an account of the Tichhorne ca.se. — His conversion is noticed in Raipeht. Hoads to Home (3d ed.. 1908).

A. HiLLl.VRD AtTERIDGE.