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MANTON, THOMAS (162o-1677), English Nonconformist divine, was born at Laurence Lydiard, Somerset, in 162o, and was educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. Joseph Hall, bishop of Norwich, ordained him deacon: he never took priest's orders, holding that " he was properly ordained to the ministerial office." He was one of the clerks at the Westminster Assembly, one of Cromwell's chaplains and a " trier," and held livings at Stoke Newington (1645) and St Paul's, Covent Garden (1656). He disapproved of the execution of Charles I. In 1658 he assisted Baxter to draw up the " Fundamentals of Religion." He helped to restore Charles II. and became one of his chaplains, refusing the deanery of Rochester. In 1662 he lost his living under the Act of Uniformity and preached in his own rooms and in other parts of London. For this he was arrested in 167o.
His works are best known in the collected edition by J. C. Ryle (22 vols. 1870-1875).
MAN-TRAPS, mechanical devices for catching poachers and trespassers. They have taken many forms, the most usual being like a large rat-trap, the steel springs being armed with teeth which met in the victim's leg. Since 1827 they have been illegal in England, except in houses between sunset and sunrise as a defence against burglars.