Herbert Palmer (1601–1647) was an English
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
clergyman, member of the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...
, and President of
Queens' College, Cambridge. He is now remembered for his work on the
Westminster Shorter Catechism
The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Sco ...
, and as a leading opponent of
John Milton's divorce tracts.
Early life
He was a younger son of Sir Thomas Palmer, knt. (''d''. 1625), and grandson of Sir
Thomas Palmer (1540–1626) of
Wingham, Kent. He was born at Wingham in 1601, and baptised on 29 March. His mother was the eldest daughter of Herbert Pelham of Crawley, Sussex. He learnt French almost as soon as English, and always spoke it fluently.
[''Dictionary of National Biography''; :s:Palmer, Herbert (DNB00).]
On 23 March 1616 he was admitted fellow-commoner in
St. John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...
; he graduated B.A. 1619, M.A. 1622, and was elected fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge on 17 July 1623. He took holy orders in 1624, and proceeded B.D. in 1631. In 1626, on his way to visit his brother, Sir Thomas Palmer, Bart. (d. 1666), at Wingham, he preached at
Canterbury Cathedral. The report of his sermon reached the ears of Philip Delme, minister of the French church at Canterbury, who made his acquaintance at Wingham, got him to preach again at St. George's, Canterbury, and made efforts to procure his settlement as lecturer. He was licensed by Archbishop
George Abbot for a Sunday afternoon lectureship at St. Alphage's, Canterbury. He acted as a spiritual adviser, and did much religious visiting, though without pastoral charge. Occasionally he preached to the French congregation.
[
]
Political career
While strongly opposing the separatist party, he resisted the innovations favoured by William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
. He was articled for his puritanism, but the prosecution proved abortive. About 1630 the dean, Isaac Bargrave, put down his lectureship, on the ground that he had gone beyond his office by catechising and that his lecture drew 'factious persons' out of other parishes; the lecture was revived in consequence of an influentially signed petition to Abbot. His friends, headed by Thomas Finch, twice tried without success to secure for him a prebend at Canterbury.[
On the resignation of Thomas Turner, Laud, then ]Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, presented Palmer, at the instance of 'a great nobleman' to the rectory of Ashwell, Hertfordshire, in 1632. Laud, at his trial a decade later, referred to this among other evidences of his impartial patronage of merit; he declined the religious ministrations of Palmer during his imprisonment in the Tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
and at the block. In 1632 also, Palmer was made university preacher at Cambridge. At Ashwell he matured his system of catechising, giving prizes of bibles to those who could read, and 5''s''. to illiterates, on their reaching a proficiency which fitted them for admission to communion. Robert Baillie reckoned Palmer 'the best catechist in England.' He originated the method of breaking up the main answer into preparatory questions, to be answered by 'yes' or 'no.' In 1633 he refused to read the '' Book of Sports''. He got his parishioners to bind themselves against compact against drunkenness and sabbath-breaking. He took in sons of noblemen and gentry as boarders, under a resident tutor. Preaching a visitation sermon at Hitchin in 1638, he spoke freely against 'innovations'.[
On 19 July 1642 he was appointed by the ]House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
one of fifteen Tuesday lecturers at Hitchin; and then was appointed an original member of the Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...
by the ordinance of 12 June 1643. He moved to London, placing Ashwell in charge of John Crow, his half-brother, who became his successor (28 September 1647), and was ejected in 1662. On 28 June 1643 he preached a political sermon before the House of Commons, whose thanks he received through Sir Oliver Luke. He became preacher at St. James's, Duke Place, and afterwards at the 'new church' in the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster (represented since 1843 by Christ Church, Westminster). He was also one of the seven morning lecturers at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. On 11 April 1644 he was appointed by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, KG, KB, FRS (16025 May 1671) was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Henry M ...
as Master of Queens' College, Cambridge, in place of Edward Martin. At the same time the entire fellowship of the college, strongly royalist, was expelled: Martin was already in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
. Manchester recruited nine new Fellows, seven being from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. In his capacity as President Palmer was a disciplinarian, helped refugee students from Germany and Hungary, and gave benefactions to the college library.[
In the Westminster Assembly, of which he was one of the assessors ''pro tempore'' in January 1646 and September 1646, he had much to do with the drawing up of the 'directory,' and was anxious for a clause about pastoral visitation, which was not inserted. As regards ordination, he differed both from presbyterians and independents, holding (with ]Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...
) that any company of ministers may ordain, and that designation to a congregation is unnecessary. He joined John Lightfoot in pleading for private baptism. His chief work was in connection with the assembly's ''Shorter Catechism'', though he did not live till its completion. To him was due the method by which each answer forms a substantive statement, not needing to be helped out by the question.[
He died in August or September 1647; he was unmarried A portrait, in ]Samuel Clarke
Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley.
Early life and studies
Clarke was born in Norwich, ...
's ''Lives of Thirty-two English Divines'' (1677) shows an emaciated visage, sunk between his shoulders; he wears moustache and thin beard, skull-cap and ruff with academic gown, and leans on a cushion. Symon Patrick, a friend at college, calls him "a little crooked man", but says he was revered. He left a benefaction for poor scholars at Queens' College.[
]
Works
Since a book by Alexander Grosart
Alexander Balloch Grosart (18 June 182716 March 1899) was a Scottish clergyman and literary editor. He is chiefly remembered for reprinting much rare Elizabethan literature, a work which he undertook because of his interest in Puritan theology. ...
in the nineteenth century, a work on the "Christian Paradoxes" has usually been attributed to Palmer; formerly it was considered to be by Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
. It was printed in 1645 as ''The Characters of a believing Christian, in Paradoxes and seeming Contradictions''.[A. B. Grosart, ''Lord Bacon not the author of "The Christian paradoxes": being a reprint of "Memorials of godliness and Christianity." With introd. memoir, and notes''; https://archive.org/details/lordbacon00palmuoft. (1865).] Also from 1645 is a sabbatarian work with Daniel Cawdry
Daniel Cawdry (Cawdrey) (1588–1664) was an English clergyman, member of the Westminster Assembly, and ejected minister of 1662.
Life
He was the youngest son of Robert Cawdry, and was educated at Sidney Sussex College and Peterhouse, Cambridge ...
.[
*''Lord Bacon not the author of "The Christian paradoxes''
**https://archive.org/details/lordbaconnotauth00palmer
**https://archive.org/details/lordbaconnotauth00palm
**https://archive.org/details/lordbaconnotauth00palmiala
**https://archive.org/details/ldbaconnotauthor00palmiala
**(1865) https://archive.org/details/lordbacon00palmuoft
]
Notes
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Herbert
1601 births
1647 deaths
17th-century English Puritan ministers
English Caroline nonconforming clergy
Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Westminster Divines