Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PETERS (or PETER), HUGH (1598–166o)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 300 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PETERS (or See also:PETER), See also:HUGH (1598–166o)  , See also:English See also:Independent divine, son of See also:Thomas Dyckwoode, See also:alias See also:Peters, descended from a See also:family which had quitted the See also:Netherlands to See also:escape religious persecution, and of Martha, daughter of See also:John Treffry of Treffry in See also:Cornwall, was baptized on the 29th of See also:June 1598, and was educated at Trinity See also:College, See also:Cambridge . Having experienced See also:conversion, he preached in See also:Essex; returning to See also:London he took See also:Anglican orders and was appointed lecturer at St See also:Sepulchre's . He entertained, however, unorthodox opinions, and eventually See also:left See also:England for See also:Holland . He visited Gustavus See also:Adolphus in See also:Germany about 1632, and afterwards became the See also:minister of the English See also:church at See also:Rotterdam . Here his unorthodox leanings again attracted See also:attention, and Peters made a further move to New England . He was connected with John See also:Winthrop through his wife, and had already formed several friendships with the See also:American colonists . He arrived at See also:Boston in See also:October 1635 and was given See also:charge of the church at See also:Salem . He took a leading See also:part in the affairs of the See also:colony, and interested himself in the See also:founding of the new colony in See also:Connecticut . In 1641 he returned to England as See also:agent of the colony, but soon became involved in the See also:political troubles which now began . He became See also:chaplain to the forces of the adventurers in See also:Ireland, and served in 1642 in See also:Lord See also:Forbes's expedition, of which he wrote an See also:account . On his return he took a violent part in the See also:campaign against See also:Laud, and defended the doctrines of the See also:Independents in a See also:preface to a See also:tract by See also:Richard See also:Mather entitled " Church See also:Government and Church See also:Covenant discussed . . ." (1643) .

He gained See also:

great reputation as a preacher by his discourses and exhortations at public executions, and as See also:army chaplain . In the latter capacity he accompanied Lord See also:Warwick's See also:naval expedition to Lyme in 1644 and See also:Fairfax's See also:campaigns of 1645 and 1646, when his eloquence is said to have had a marvellous effect in inspiring the soldiers and winning over the See also:people . At the conclusion of the See also:war, Peters, though greatly disliked by the Presbyterians and the Scots, had attained great See also:influence as See also:leader of the Independents . In his pamphlet " Last See also:Report of the English See also:Wars " (1646) he urged religious See also:toleration, an See also:alliance with See also:foreign Protestants, and an active See also:propagation of the See also:gospel . In the dispute between the army and the See also:parliament he naturally took the See also:side of the former, and after the seizure of the See also:king by the army in June 1647 had interviews with See also:Charles at See also:Newmarket and See also:Windsor, in which he favourably impressed the latter, and gave See also:advice upon the best course to pursue . He performed useful services in the second See also:Civil War, procured guns for the besiegers at See also:Pembroke, raised troops in the midlands, and arranged the surrender of the See also:duke of See also:Hamilton at See also:Uttoxeter . Though at the Restoration he denied any complicity in the king's See also:death, it is certain that in his sermons he justified and supported the trial and See also:sentence . In See also:August he accompanied See also:Cromwell to Ireland, and was See also:present at the fall of See also:Wexford, while later he assisted the campaign by superintending from England the despatch to Cromwell of supplies and reinforcements, and was himself destined by Cromwell for a See also:regiment of See also:foot . In 165o he was in See also:South See also:Wales, endeavouring to bring over the people to the cause, and subsequently was present at the See also:battle of See also:Worcester . At the conclusion of the war Peters was appointed one of the preachers at See also:Whitehall and became a See also:person of influence . Parliament had already voted him an See also:annuity of £200, and Laud's library or a portion of it had been handed over to him in 1644 . He was one of the See also:committee of twenty-one appointed to suggest legal reforms, and he published his ideas on this subject, which included a See also:register of See also:wills and See also:land titles and the destruction afterwards of the See also:ancient records, in his tract, " See also:Good See also:Work for a Good See also:Magistrate " (in 1651), answered by R .

See also:

Vaughan and See also:Prynne . He strongly disapproved of the war with Holland, and his interference brought upon him some See also:sharp reprimands . In See also:July 1658 he was sent to See also:Dunkirk to provide apparently for the spiritual wants of the See also:garrison . He preached the funeral See also:sermon on Cromwell, and after the latter's death took little part in political events, though strongly disapproving of the removal of Richard . He met Monck at St Albans on the latter's See also:march to London, but met with no favour from the new See also:powers, being expelled from his lodgings at Whitehall in See also:January r66o . On the 1th of May his See also:arrest was ordered . On the 18th of June he was excepted from the See also:Act of See also:Indemnity and apprehended on the 2nd of See also:September at See also:Southwark . He sent in a See also:defence of himself to the Lords, denying any See also:share in the king's death . He was, however, tried on the 13th of October and found guilty of high See also:treason . His See also:execution took See also:place at Charing See also:Cross on the 16th of October, when he behaved with great fortitude, and was undismayed by the mangling of the See also:body of John See also:Cook, his See also:fellow sufferer, upon which he was forced to look . Before his death he wrote " A Dying See also:Father's Last See also:Legacy " to his only See also:child, See also:Elizabeth, in which he gave a narrative of his career . His death was viewed with greater rejoicings than perhaps attended that of any of the regicides, which is the more surprising as Peters possessed many amiable qualities, and several acts of kindness performed by him on behalf of individual Royalists are recorded .

But he had incurred great unpopularity by his unrestrained speech and extreme activity in the cause . He was a See also:

man, however, of a rough, coarse nature, without tact or refinement, of strong See also:animal See also:spirits, undeterred by difficulties which beset men of higher See also:mental capacity, whose energies often outran his discretion, See also:intent upon the realities of See also:life and the See also:practical side of See also:religion . His conception of religious controversy, that all See also:differences could be avoided if ministers could only pray together and live together, is highly characteristic, and shows the largeness of his See also:personal sympathies and at the same See also:time the limits of his intellectual See also:imagination . Peters married (1) Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas See also:Cooke of Pebmarsh in Essex and widow of See also:Edmund Read, and (2) Deliverance See also:Sheffield, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth .

End of Article: PETERS (or PETER), HUGH (1598–166o)
[back]
AUGUST HEINRICH PETERMANN (1822–1878)
[next]
KARL PETERS (1856– )

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.