Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 24.djvu/257

 mother was Hammond's sister. Hammond's reputation grew, and he frequently preached at visitations and at Paul's Cross. In 1640 he became a member of convocation, and was present at the passing of Laud's new canons. Soon after the meeting of the Long parliament, the committee for depriving scandalous ministers summoned Hammond, but he declined to leave Penshurst. In 1643 he was made archdeacon of Chichester, on the recommendation of Dr. Brian Duppa, then bishop of Chichester. In the same year he was nominated one of the Westminster Assembly of Divines by Lord Wharton, but he never sat among them. In July 1643, when it appeared that the king was likely to get the better in the war, Hammond helped to raise a troop of horse in his neighbourhood for the king's service, but upon their defeat by the parliamentary party at Tonbridge, a reward of 100l. was offered for his capture. Disguising himself, he left Penshurst by night for the house of a friend, Dr. Buckner, who had been tutor of his college. Here he was joined by an old friend, Dr. John Oliver. When flight again became necessary, the two friends set off for Winchester, then held for the king. On their journey a messenger announced to Oliver that he had been chosen president of Magdalen, and Hammond accompanied him to Oxford, the king's headquarters. Hammond procured rooms in his own college, and devoted himself to study. In 1644 he published anonymously his 'Practical Catechism.' Its success was instantaneous, and surprised no one more than Hammond himself. The book probably first drew Charles I's attention to the author. One of Charles's last acts at Carisbrooke was to entrust to Sir Thomas Herbert a copy of Hammond's 'Practical Catechism,' to give to his son the Duke of Gloucester.

Hammond was chaplain to the royal commissioners at the abortive conference at Uxbridge (30 Jan. 1644-5). We are told that he ably conducted a dispute there with Richard Vines, one of the presbyterian ministers sent by the parliament. He returned to Oxford, and about 17 March 1644-5 the king bestowed upon him a canonry at Christ Church (, Fasti, ii. 520). The university chose him to be public orator at the same time (cf., Coll., ed. Doble, iii. 489-91), and he was made one of the royal chaplains. On 26 April 1646 the king fled from Oxford, and Oxford surrendered (24 June 1646). Hammond, though the danger was great, took the opportunity of revisiting Penshurst. Charles I, on 31 Jan. 1646-7, the day after his arrival at Holmby House, requested the parliament to allow Hammond and another chaplain to attend him. This was refused on the ground that neither of them had taken the covenant. When Charles was removed by the army to Childersley (5 June 1647), Fairfax and his officers agreed that Charles's request for his chaplains should be complied with. About a fortnight later Hammond and Sheldon, another royal chaplain, in company with the Duke of Richmond, joined the king. As soon as the news of their arrival reached the parliament, an order for their removal was sent, but the army, now independent of the parliament, paid no attention to the order. The chaplains were summoned to the bar of the house, but took no notice of the summons. Fairfax wrote deprecating the notion that they would prejudice the peace of the state. At Woburn, Caversham, and Hampton Court, Hammond was constantly with the king. At Hampton Court Hammond introduced to him his nephew, Colonel Robert Hammond [q. v.], governor of the Isle of Wight. Charles, thinking he might trust his chaplain's nephew, escaped to the Isle of Wight (12 Nov. 1647), and was placed by the governor in Carisbrooke Castle, where Sheldon and Hammond again joined him. At Christmas 1647 they were removed from their attendance, in spite of Charles's remonstrances. Hammond returned to Oxford, where the parliamentary visitors had been at work. Samuel Fell [q. v.], dean of Christ Church, was in prison. Upon Hammond, appointed sub-dean of Christ Church, devolved the management of the college. He was soon summoned before the visitors at Merton College, and refused to submit to their authority, and was deprived and imprisoned, together with Sheldon, by an order of the parliament which arrived on Easter eve. The king's appeals for Hammond's presence at Carisbrooke were ignored, but Hammond forwarded, at the king's request, a sermon which he had previously preached at Carisbrooke at Advent on 'The Christian's Obligation to Peace and Charity.' Even by his opponents Hammond was held in high esteem. Edward Corbet [q. v], a member of the Assembly of Divines, who succeeded to Hammond's canonry at Christ Church in January 1647-8, resigned it in August, after persuading himself (it is said) that Hammond had acted upon principle. Colonel Evelyn, the puritan governor of Wallingford Castle, to whom the parliament sent an order for the custody of Sheldon and Hammond, declined to act as their gaoler, and said that he would only receive them as friends. By the influence of his brother-in-law, Sir John Temple, M.P., Hammond was at length removed to the house of Philip (afterwards Sir Philip) Warwick [q. v.] at