John Constable (alias Lacey; pen-name Clerophilus Alethes) (10 November 1676 or 1678, in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

– 28 March 1743) was an English Jesuit controversial writer.

Life

In 1695 he entered the Society of Jesus. For many years he served the Fitzherbert family at Swinnerton, where he is buried.

Works

Constable's chief controversial opponents were: * the Abbé Courayer (1681–1776) who championed Anglican orders, came over to England in 1728, was lionized, and eventually buried in the cloisters of Westminster; and * Charles Dodd, a pseudonym of Hugh Tootell, who wrote, Constable maintained, with a prejudice against Jesuits. The chief writings of Constable are: * "Remarks on Courayer's Book in Defense of English Ordinations, wherein their invalidity is fully proved", an answer to Courayer's "Dissertations" of 1723; * "The Stratagem Discovered to show that Courayer writes 'Booty', and is only a sham defender of these ordinations", by "Clerophilus Alethes" (8vo, 1729), against

Joseph Trapp Joseph Trapp (1679–1747) was an English clergyman, academic, poet and pamphleteer. His production as a younger man of occasional verse (some anonymous, or in Latin) and dramas led to his appointment as the first Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1 ...

, ''The Church of England Defended Against the Calumnies and False Reasoning of the Church of Rome'' (1727): * "Doctrine of Antiquity concerning the Eucharist" by "Clerophilus Alethes" (8vo, 1736); * "Specimen of Amendments proposed to the Compiler of 'The Church History of England'", by "Clerophilus Alethes" (12mo, 1741); * "Advice to the Author of 'The Church History of England'", manuscript at Stonyhurst.

Joseph Gillow Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". Biography Born in Frenchwood Hous ...

enumerates a few other writings by Constable.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Oliver, Collectanea S.J., 73; ** Henry Foley, Records S.J., III, 207; VII (i), 159; **

Sommervogel Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclop ...

, Bibliothèque de la C. de J., II col. 1374; **

, Dict. of Eng. Cath., I, 552, sqq.; ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Constable, John Year of birth uncertain 1670s births 1743 deaths 18th-century English writers 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English Jesuits Clergy from Lincolnshire 17th-century English Jesuits