John Eachard (1636?7 July 1697) was an English

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...

, noted for his humorous descriptions of the contemporary clergy. From

Yoxford Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Britten opera. The name 'Yoxfor ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, he was educated at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

, of which he became master in 1675 in succession to

John Lightfoot John Lightfoot (29 March 1602 – 6 December 1675) was an English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Life He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of ...

. He was created D.D. in 1676 by royal mandate, and was twice (in 1679 and 1695) vice-chancellor of

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1670 he had published anonymously a humorous satire entitled ''The Ground and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy'' enquired into in a letter to R. L., which excited much attention and provoked several replies, one of them being from John Owen. These were met by ''Some Observations'', etc., in a second letter to R. L. (1671), written in the same bantering tone as the original work. Eachard attributed the contempt into which the clergy had fallen to their imperfect education, their insufficient incomes, and the want of a true vocation. His descriptions, which were somewhat exaggerated, were largely used by Macaulay in his ''History of England''. He gave amusing illustrations of the absurdity and poverty of the current pulpit oratory of his day, some of them being taken from the sermons of his own father. He attacked the philosophy of

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...

in his ''Mr. Hobbs State of Nature considered''; in a dialogue between ''Philautus and Timothy'' (1672), and in his ''Some Opinions of Mr.. Hobbs'' considered in a second dialogue (1673). These were written in their author's chosen vein of light satire, and

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

praised them as highly effective within their own range. Eachard's own sermons, however, were not superior to those he satirized.

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

alludes to him as a signal instance of a successful humorist who entirely failed as a serious writer. A collected edition of his works in three volumes, with a notice of his life, was published in 1774. ''The Contempt of the Clergy'' was reprinted in E. Arbors English Garner. ''A Free Enquiry into the Causes of the very great Esteem that the Nonconforming Preachers are generally in with their Followers'' (1673) has been attributed to Eachard on insufficient grounds.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eachard, John 1630s births 1697 deaths English theologians English satirists People from Suffolk Coastal (district) Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Masters of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge English male non-fiction writers