Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/223

* HOOKEB. 195 HOOKEB. assistant director at Kew Gardens, and, on the deatli of his father in 1865, director. He was I)resideut of (lie iSritisli Association in IStiS, was appointed Companion of the Batli in ISG'J, and sened as president of tlic Koyal Society from 1872 to 1877. In the latter year he was Icnight- ed Commander of the Star of India. In the list of seienlihc memoirs published by the Koyal Soci- ety, he i.j recordeil as the autliur of 58 independ- ent numbers and the joint author of 18 others. His Studc7its' Flora of the British Islands is cliietly characterizeil by the record of the geo- graphical distribution of the species. His great work, tlencra Plditliiruiii, undertaken in conjunc- tion with his friend, George Bentham, commenced to appear in 1862. Among his other voyages, accounts of which appear in various books and journals, may be mentioned one to Palestine and Syria in 1860, and another to the Rocky Moun- tains. California, in 1877. HOOKEB, Rk'I1.rd (c.1553-1600). An Eng- lisli clergyman, aiilhor of the most famous existing treatise on the constitution of the Chureli of Kiigland. He was born at Exeter, in the year 1,55.3 or 1554, of poor parents. He was a grave, bashful, and quiet boy, diligent in his studies, and (piick at learning. His early prog- ress was so ra)>id that his uncle. .John Hooker, was induced to aid liim in pursuing his education further, ith additional helj) from .John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, who afterwards became his patron, he was enabled to go to Oxford, where he entered Corpus Christi College in 1567. He became a scholar of Corpus Christi in 1573, was admitted to the degree of Master of Arts in 1577, and the same year became a fellow. The range of his learning was wide, and by no means con- fined to theology-. From the age of nineteen he served as tutor, and in 1570 he was summoned, in an emergency, to deliver the Hebrew lecture, which he did so much to the satisfaction of the authorities that lie continued to perform this duty so long as he remained at Oxford. For some imknown reason — perhaps through Puritan influence — li<,> was once temporarily suspended from college, but honorably restored within a month. In 1582 Hooker took holy orders, and not long nfter married, Walton says, to his own sorrow. This marriage put an end to Hooker's quiet and congenial Oxford life. He was now obliged to seek a parish. He received the modest living of Drayton-Beauehanip, in Buckingham- shire (1534). where he lived, rather uncomfort- ably, for about a year. At the end of that period his fortunes were bettered by his being made ^Master (if the Temple, T,ondon, over the head of a Puritan. Walter Travers, who was already render there. Hooker's I^ondon life was troubled with eccle- siastical controversy, which he disliked, yet which he would not attempt to avoid when once it was forced upon him. His colleague. Travers. repre- sented that party in the Church of England which desired the adoption of Genevan ideas and usages, whereas Hooker stood for the episcopal establish- ment. These opposite views were rellected in the preaching at the Temple. "The forenoon sermon spake Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva," was the current saying. Presbyferianism was either more popular, or else it had the better present.ntion, for we hear that the congregation "ebbed in the morning" (when Hooker preached), and "flowed in the afternoon" (to hear Tra- vers). The Puritan champion was at last silenced by Archbisliop hitgift. but the discussion was continued in print. Hooker was so deeply stirred by the question at issue that he determined to give it e.vhaustive treatment in book form, and at once entered upon the preparation of what became the celebrated Laiis of Ecclesiastical Polity. To carry out his design a change of scene was necessarj', and Hooker sought once more the quiet of a country parish, and found it at Bos- combe, in Kent (15!)1). At the same time he was made a minor prebend of Salisburj-, which, added to his income without increasing his labor. In Bosconib Hooker wrote the first four books of the Laiis, and they were published in 1594. The following year lie removed to Bishop's Bourne, in Kent, where he spent the remainder of his life. Book V. of the Luas ap|x.'ared in 1597, and there is reason to believe that the other three books were written here, although thej- were not published. There were to be eight books in all, according to Hooker's original plan. The J/aics were hailed as the best defense of the Anglican position ever written. Visitors sought the author out in his retreat, but he himself was all un- eon.scious of the important position he had come to occupy. His days were passed in quiet labor, and he continued to fulfill every duty of his par- ish with conscientious fidelity until his death, November 2. 1600, at the comparatively early age of forty-seven. Hooker's reputation rests upon his writings, not upon his. preaching. In personal ap|x>arance he was not prepossessing, and his manner in the pulpit was not effective. But as the author of the Erclesiustiral Politi/ he stands in the front rank of English men of letters. This work is a monument of literary style, in the formative period of English prose, besides being the most important contribution to the svibject of Church government in the language. We have the first five books precisely as Hooker wrote them. The fate of books vi. to viii. in their completed form is shrouded in mystery. Walton relates that the manuscript was destroyed by PuriUm relatives of Mrs. Hooker, but that the earlier rough draughts were presen'ed. From these, long afterwards, the seventh and eighth books were printed. What claimed to be a sixth book appeared in 1648. along with the eighth, but most of this probably does not belong to the Lairs at all. The whole eight books ^^■ere republished, with a life of Hooker by Izaak Walton, in 1666. since which time they have passed through many edi- tions. In substance the Kcclcsiaslirol Politti is a treatise on Church and civil government. Hook- er's conception of the origin of the State re- sembles the 'social compact' theory of more re- cent times. The Church he holds to be simply the English State, looked at from the religious point of view. He defends the Established Church system, with all its ceremonial; but he does this with singular moderation, and he in- variably accords courteous treatment to his opponents. In discussing the theories of Presby- terians and Independents, he points out what he believes to be their fundamental defects, and he defends the episcopal theor- on Scriptural and rational grounds, as well as because of its an- tiquity and practical success. All succeeding writers on the English Church have built upon the foundations which Hooker laid.