Jabez Earle, D.D. (1676?–1768), was an English
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister. He had a career of nearly 70 years as a London preacher.
Career
Earle was probably a native of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. He was brought up for the ministry by
Thomas Brand. In December 1691 he witnessed the funeral of
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 ...
, and long afterwards told
Samuel Palmer
Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...
, of the ''Nonconformist's Memorial'', that the coaches reached from
Merchant Taylors' Hall (whence the body was carried) to
Christ Church, Newgate, the place of burial. Next year he became tutor and chaplain in the family of
Sir Thomas Roberts, at Glassenbury, near
Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London.
The smaller settlements of Sissing ...
.
In 1699 Earle became assistant to Thomas Reynolds at the
Weighhouse presbyterian chapel, Eastcheap, and soon afterwards became one of the evening lecturers at
Lime Street. In 1706 or 1707 he succeeded Glascock as pastor of the presbyterian congregation in
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
, Westminster. In 1708 he joined with four presbyterians and an independent (
Thomas Bradbury) in a course of Friday evening lectures at the Weighhouse on the conduct of public religious worship. He increased his congregation, partly by help of a secession from the ministry of
Daniel Burgess (1645–1713); and moved it to a new meeting-house in Hanover Street,
Long Acre
Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and l ...
.
At Hanover Street, Earle established a Thursday morning lecture, and maintained it until Christmas 1767. In the
Salters' Hall
The Worshipful Company of Salters is one of the Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London, 9th in order of precedence. The Company originated as the Guild of Corpus Christi, which was granted a Royal Charter of incorporation in 139 ...
conferences in 1719 Earle was one of the twenty-seven presbyterian subscribers. In 1723 he was elected one of the trustees of Dr.
Williams' foundations. On 21 August 1728 the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
; shortly afterwards the same degree was conferred upon him by
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...
. At this time he held the position of chaplain to the
Duke of Douglas
The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the Duke's eldest son.
Hist ...
(1694–1761).
Later life
In June 1730 Earle was chosen one of the Tuesday lecturers at Salters' Hall, and held this post, in connection with other duties, to the last, in spite of age and blindness; remarking, when his friends pressed him to resign the lectureship, "I am sure you will not choose a better in my stead". In his congregation he had several assistants from 1732, including Benjamin Hollis (d. 11 March 1749), John Allen, M.D. (1749–59),
Samuel Morton Savage
Samuel Morton Savage (1721–1791) was an English nonconformist minister and dissenting tutor.
Life
He was born in London on 19 July 1721. His grandfather, John Savage, was pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist church, Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields. S ...
, D.D. (1759–66), and Rice Harris, D.D., Earle's successor.
Earle was never out of good health, though he once broke his arm, and became blind many years before his death. At the age of 90 he could repeat a hundred lines at any given place from his favourite authors. The hackneyed stories of his jokes relate chiefly to his three wives, whom he called "the world, the flesh, and the devil"; to one of them he explained the difference between exportation and transportation by saying, "If you were exported I should be transported". He preached on the last Sunday of his life, smoking his pipe in the vestry before sermon as usual, and died suddenly in his chair on 29 May 1768, aged 92, or, according to another account, 94 years.
Works
Earle's sermons included:
*''Sermon to the Societies for the Reformation of Manners … at Salters' Hall, 26 July'', 1704, (dedicated to
Sir Thomas Roberts, 4th Baronet
Sir Thomas Roberts, 4th Baronet (2 December 1658 – 20 November 1706) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1691 and 1702.
Roberts was the son of Sir Howland Roberts, 3rd Baronet of Glassenbury, Kent and his wife B ...
).
*''Hearing without Doing'', 1706 (last sermon at Lime Street lecture).
*''Sacramental Exercises'', 1707; reprinted, Boston, Mass., 1756; a version in Gaelic, Edinburgh 1827.
*''On Prayer and Hearing the Word'', 1708 (part of the Weighhouse Friday series; reprinted in ''Twenty-four Practical Discourses'', 1810, 2 vols.).
*''Sacred Poems'', 1726 (dedication, dated 27 June, to Mrs. Susanna Langford; styles himself "chaplain to his grace the Duke of Douglas").
*''Umbritii Cantiani Poemata'', 1729 (anon. dated "ex agro Cantiano Cal. Mart. 1729"; a small volume of Latin verse; it contains a poem addressed to
Prince Frederick, also elegies on
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard S ...
,
Gilbert Burnet
Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, ...
,
Israel Tonge
Israel Tonge (11 November 1621 – 1680), aka Ezerel or Ezreel Tongue, was an English divine. He was an informer in and probably one of the inventors of the "Popish" plot.
Career
Tonge was born at Tickhill, near Doncaster, the son of Henry Tong ...
, and others).
Earle published some twenty other separate sermons, including ''Ordination Sermon'' at
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.
It is separated from the rest of the urban ...
(for William Hunt), 1725; and funeral sermons, for John Cumming, D.D., 1729, Joseph Hayes, 1729, and Alice Hayes, 1733, His last publication seems to have been ''The Popish Doctrine of Purgatory'', 1735; a sermon at Salters' Hall.
In other works, Earle contributed to the ''Occasional Papers'', 1716–19 and translated into Latin treatises by
Daniel Williams, for foreign distribution in accordance with the terms of Williams's will. At the end of
Matthew Clarke's funeral sermon for
Jeremiah Smith, 1723, is Smith's character as attempted in verse by Earle.
Andrew Kippis
Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer.
Life
The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pass ...
published his facetious lines on the value of degrees in divinity; his lines on the burial service are given in the ''
Evangelical Magazine
The ''Evangelical Magazine'' was a monthly magazine published in London from 1793 to 1904, and aimed at Calvinist Christians. It was supported by evangelical members of the Church of England, and by nonconformists with similar beliefs. Its editori ...
'', ii. 264.
References
External links
Jabez Earleat th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Jabez
1670s births
1768 deaths
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
English Presbyterian ministers
English Christian religious leaders
Clergy from Yorkshire
English religious writers
17th-century English writers
17th-century English male writers
18th-century English non-fiction writers
18th-century English male writers
18th-century English Presbyterian ministers
English male non-fiction writers
17th-century English Presbyterian ministers