Delaune, Thomas

Delaune, Thomas an English Baptist minister and author, was born of Roman Catholic parents in Ireland, near the commencement of the 17th century. He was educated in his native country; was converted in youth; subsequently was teacher in a grammar-school in London, and was ordained as a Baptist minister. The nonconformists of England being invited by Dr. Calamy, at the time one of the chaplains of Charles II, to make a statement of the reasons which led them to dissent from the Established Church, with the assurance that they would be candidly taken into consideration, Delaune published his famous Plea for the Nonconformists (1684, 4to); it passed through twenty editions. The author was severely punished by torture, mutilation, fine, and imprisonment in Newgate, where, after a time, he died. His other works are, Truth Defended, etc. (Lond. 1667): — Survey of Joseph Whiston's Book on Baptism (1676): The Present State of London (1681): — A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors (1682, 2 volumes, fol.). See Hayne, Church Transplanted, page 169.