Hildersham, Arthur

Hildersham, Arthur a pious and learned Puritan divine, was born at Stechworth, Cambridgeshire, October 6, 1563, of an honorable family. He was brought up a papist, and educated at Christ's College, Cambridge; but while there he avowed himself a Protestant, and was, in consequence, cast off by his father. The earl of Huntingdon, a distant kinsman, on hearing of the circumstance, became his patron, and carried him through the university. In 1587 he was settled as preacher at Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, where (though often persecuted, and forced to change his dwelling) he lived for the most part of forty-three years, with great success in his ministry, beloved and revered by all classes. He suffered for conscience' sake in 1598, 1605, 1611, 1612, 1616, and 1630, being repeatedly silenced, deprived, censured, and fined to the amount of two thousand pounds by the Court of High Commission. He died March 4, 1631. His character was rich in Christian excellence. His published works consist of One Hundred and Eight Lectures on John 4 (2nd edit. Lond. 1632, fol.): — Eight Sermons on Psalm 75 (1632, fol.): — One Hundred and Fifty- two Sermons on Psalm 51 (London, 1635, fol.): — A Treatise on the

Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: — Sermons on Fasting, etc. (Lond. 1633, fol.). — Neal, Hist. of the Puritans, 1, 329, 546; Middleton, Biog. Evangel. 3, 25;. Hook, Eccl. Biog. 6, 70.