John Austin (1613–1669)
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John Austin or Austen (born 1613 at
Walpole, Suffolk Walpole is a small village and civil parish in the district of East Suffolk in Suffolk, England. Walpole has a parish church (dedicated to St Mary), a redundant chapel ( Walpole Old Chapel), but the primary school has closed. The village is on ...
, England; died London, 1669) was an English lawyer, controversial writer, and one of the founding Fellows of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
.


Life

He was a student of St. John's College, Cambridge, and of Lincoln's Inn, and about 1640 became a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He was well regarded in his profession and was looked on as a master of English style. His time was entirely devoted to books and literary pursuits. He enjoyed the friendship of such scholars as the antiquary Thomas Blount,
Christopher Davenport Francis Davenport, O.M.R., also known as Francis of Saint Clare, (1598 – 31 May 1680) was an English Catholic theologian, a Recollect friar and royal chaplain. Life He was born Christopher Davenport in Coventry, England, in 1598, the son ...
(Franciscus a Santa Clara), John Sergeant, and others.


Works

*''The Christian Moderator; or Persecution for Religion condemned by the Light of Nature, by the Law of God, the Evidence of our Principles, but not by the Practice of our Commissioners for Sequestrations—In Four Parts'' (London, 1652, 4to.) Published under the pseudonym of William Birchley, and in it he disclaims the papal deposing power. "In his work, Austin assuming the disguise of an independent, shows that Catholics did not really hold the odious doctrines vulgarly attributed to them, and makes an energetic appeal to the independents to extend to the adherents of the persecuted church such rights and privileges as were granted to other religious bodies" *''The Catholique's Plea; or an Explanation of the Roman Catholik Belief, concerning their Church, Manner of Worship, Justification, Civil Government, Together with a Catalogue of all the Poenal Statutes against popish Recusants, all which is humbly submitted to serious consideration, By a Catholick Gentleman'' (London, 1659, 18mo.) also under the pseudonym of William Birchley. *''Reflections upon the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance; or the Christian Moderator, The Fourth Part, By a Catholick Gentleman, an obedient son of the Church and loyal subject of his Majesty'' (London, 1661) *''A Punctual Answer to Doctor John Tillotson's book called 'The Rule of Faith'.'' (unfinished) *''Devotions, First Part: In the Ancient Way of Offices, With Psalms, Hymns, and Prayers for every Day in the Week, and every Holiday in the Year''. It is not known when and where the first edition appeared; the second, a duodecimo, is dated 1672. An edition printed at Edinburgh, 1789, contains a life of the author, presumably by
Charles Dodd Hugh Tootell (1671/72 – 27 February 1743) was an English Catholic historian. He is commonly known under his pseudonym Charles Dodd. Life Tootell was born in Lancashire. He was tutored by his uncle, Christopher Tootle, before studying wi ...
. This work was adapted to the uses of the Anglican Church in
George Hickes George Hickes may refer to: * George Hickes (divine) (1642–1715), English divine and scholar * George Hickes (Manitoba politician) (born 1946), Canadian politician * George Hickes (Nunavut politician) (born 1968/69), Canadian politician, son of t ...
's ''Harmony of the Gospels, etc.'', (London, 1701), and was often reprinted as a stock book as "Hicks' Devotions". *''Devotions, Second Part, The Four Gospels in one, broken into Lessons, with Responsories, To be used with the Offices, Printed Anno Domini 1675'' (2 vols., Paris, 12mo), a posthumous work, divided into short chapters with a verse and prayer at the end of each. The prayers, says
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 Ho ...
, "gave rise to offense under the impression that they favoured Blackloe's doctrine concerning the middle state of souls, and on account of this the work was not republished". A third part of the "Devotions" was never printed; it contained, according to the author's own statement "Prayers for all occasions framed by an intimate friend according to his (Austin's) directions, and overlooked by himself". Austin also wrote several anonymous pamphlets against the theologians who sat in the
Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...
.


References


External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, John 1613 births 1669 deaths People from Suffolk Coastal (district) English religious writers 17th-century English lawyers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Original fellows of the Royal Society English male non-fiction writers People educated at Carre's Grammar School 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers