# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hammond, Henry

1904 Errata appended.
​HAMMOND, HENRY (1605–1660), divine, born at Chertsey, 18 Aug. 1605, was youngest son of Dr. John Hammond [q. v.], physician. It is said that Henry, prince of Wales, was his godfather. He was educated at Eton, and was remarkable for the sweetness of his disposition, his devotional habits, and proficiency in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, At the age of thirteen he went to Magdalen College, Oxford, and his name appears in the demies' list in 1619. Here again he applied himself to deep study. On 11 Dec. 1622 he graduated B.A. (M.A. 30 June 1625, B.D. 28 Jan. 1634, and D.D. in March 1639), and in 1625 was elected a fellow of the college. Hammond was ordained in 1629, and for four years afterwards resided at Magdalen studying divinity. In 1633 he preached at court as a substitute for the president of Magdalen, Dr. Accepted Frewen [q. v.], afterwards archbishop of York. The Earl of Leicester, who heard him, was so well impressed that he gave him the living of Penshurst, Kent. Hammond resigned his fellowship, and zealously devoted himself to his parish. His mother kept house for him, and aided him in parochial work (cf. description of Penshurst in Fell's 'Life'). At Penshurst Hammond superintended the early education of his nephew William, afterwards the well-known Sir William Temple, whose ​mother was Hammond's sister. Hammond's reputation grew, and he frequently preached at visitations and at Paul's Cross. In 1640 he became a member of convocation, and was present at the passing of Laud's new canons. Soon after the meeting of the Long parliament, the committee for depriving scandalous ministers summoned Hammond, but he declined to leave Penshurst. In 1643 he was made archdeacon of Chichester, on the recommendation of Dr. Brian Duppa, then bishop of Chichester. In the same year he was nominated one of the Westminster Assembly of Divines by Lord Wharton, but he never sat among them. In July 1643, when it appeared that the king was likely to get the better in the war, Hammond helped to raise a troop of horse in his neighbourhood for the king's service, but upon their defeat by the parliamentary party at Tonbridge, a reward of 100l. was offered for his capture. Disguising himself, he left Penshurst by night for the house of a friend, Dr. Buckner, who had been tutor of his college. Here he was joined by an old friend, Dr. John Oliver. When flight again became necessary, the two friends set off for Winchester, then held for the king. On their journey a messenger announced to Oliver that he had been chosen president of Magdalen, and Hammond accompanied him to Oxford, the king's headquarters. Hammond procured rooms in his own college, and devoted himself to study. In 1644 he published anonymously his 'Practical Catechism.' Its success was instantaneous, and surprised no one more than Hammond himself. The book probably first drew Charles I's attention to the author. One of Charles's last acts at Carisbrooke was to entrust to Sir Thomas Herbert a copy of Hammond's 'Practical Catechism,' to give to his son the Duke of Gloucester.
Hammond was chaplain to the royal commissioners at the abortive conference at Uxbridge (30 Jan. 1644-5). We are told that he ably conducted a dispute there with Richard Vines, one of the presbyterian ministers sent by the parliament. He returned to Oxford, and about 17 March 1644-5 the king bestowed upon him a canonry at Christ Church (Le Neve, Fasti, ii. 520). The university chose him to be public orator at the same time (cf. Hearne, Coll., ed. Doble, iii. 489-91), and he was made one of the royal chaplains. On 26 April 1646 the king fled from Oxford, and Oxford surrendered (24 June 1646). Hammond, though the danger was great, took the opportunity of revisiting Penshurst. Charles I, on 31 Jan. 1646-7, the day after his arrival at Holmby House, requested the parliament to allow Hammond and another chaplain to attend him. This was refused on the ground that neither of them had taken the covenant. When Charles was removed by the army to Childersley (5 June 1647), Fairfax and his officers agreed that Charles's request for his chaplains should be complied with. About a fortnight later Hammond and Sheldon, another royal chaplain, in company with the Duke of Richmond, joined the king. As soon as the news of their arrival reached the parliament, an order for their removal was sent, but the army, now independent of the parliament, paid no attention to the order. The chaplains were summoned to the bar of the house, but took no notice of the summons. Fairfax wrote deprecating the notion that they would prejudice the peace of the state. At Woburn, Caversham, and Hampton Court, Hammond was constantly with the king. At Hampton Court Hammond introduced to him his nephew, Colonel Robert Hammond [q. v.], governor of the Isle of Wight. Charles, thinking he might trust his chaplain's nephew, escaped to the Isle of Wight (12 Nov. 1647), and was placed by the governor in Carisbrooke Castle, where Sheldon and Hammond again joined him. At Christmas 1647 they were removed from their attendance, in spite of Charles's remonstrances. Hammond returned to Oxford, where the parliamentary visitors had been at work. Samuel Fell [q. v.], dean of Christ Church, was in prison. Upon Hammond, appointed sub-dean of Christ Church, devolved the management of the college. He was soon summoned before the visitors at Merton College, and refused to submit to their authority, and was deprived and imprisoned, together with Sheldon, by an order of the parliament which arrived on Easter eve. The king's appeals for Hammond's presence at Carisbrooke were ignored, but Hammond forwarded, at the king's request, a sermon which he had previously preached at Carisbrooke at Advent on 'The Christian's Obligation to Peace and Charity.' Even by his opponents Hammond was held in high esteem. Edward Corbet [q. v], a member of the Assembly of Divines, who succeeded to Hammond's canonry at Christ Church in January 1647-8, resigned it in August, after persuading himself (it is said) that Hammond had acted upon principle. Colonel Evelyn , the puritan governor of Wallingford Castle, to whom the parliament sent an order for the custody of Sheldon and Hammond, declined to act as their gaoler, and said that he would only receive them as friends. By the influence of his brother-in-law, Sir John Temple, M.P., Hammond was at length removed to the house of Philip (afterwards Sir Philip) Warwick [q. v.] at ​Clapham in Bedfordshire, where he was to be kept under light restraint. Warwick had been gentleman-attendant upon the king, and with Hammond in the Isle of Wight. He was an old friend and contemporary at Eton and Oxford. As a churchman he gave Hammond free permission to exercise his ministerial functions. Hammond spent much time at Clapham in literary work. Before the trial of the king Hammond addressed a letter to Fairfax and the council of officers on behalf of his majesty, and the death of his master caused him deep anguish. In 1649 or early in the subsequent year Hammond left Warwick's friendly surveillance, and removed to Westwood in Worcestershire, the seat of the loyal Sir John Pakington. He met with a sad trial in the loss of his mother, who died in London. As a loyal clergyman he could not go within twenty miles of London, and was thus unable to attend her deathbed. Thurloe (State Papers, v. 407) doubtfully asserts that Hammond went about this time under the name of Westenbergh.
At Westwood Hammond found a happy asylum during the remainder of his life. In August 1651 he attended Pakington to the royal camp at Worcester, and had an interview with the king. Pakington was taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester, 3 Sept., but soon returned home uninjured. In 1655 an ordinance was issued forbidding the ejected clergy to act as schoolmasters or private chaplains, or perform any clerical functions thus depriving them of all means of subsistence. Hammond and other influential clergy did what they could to devise means for the support of their suffering brethren and to meet the spiritual wants of the laity (cf. Perry, Life). Hammond's personal character and writings gave him great influence, and he not only had considerable private means, but, according to Fell, 'had the disposal of great charities reposed in his hands, as being the most zealous promoter of almsgiving that lived in England since the change of religion.' In the last six years of his life his health began to fail. He died of an attack of stone on 25 April 1660, the day that the parliament voted that the king should be brought back. Had he lived he would have been made bishop of Worcester. Fell gives us an affecting account of his last moments. He was buried in the family vault of the Pakingtons, in the chancel of Hampton Church. There is a Latin inscription on his monument by Humphrey Henchman, bishop of Salisbury, and afterwards of London. Hammond left his books to his friend Richard Allestree [q. v.] Hammond's death, says Burnet, was an unspeakable loss to the church; and Richard Baxter mentions him in the highest terms. Hammond is fortunate in his first biographer, John Fell, bishop of Oxford [q. v.], whose memoir, first published in 1661, is one of the most charming pieces of biography in the language. Some beautiful lines by Keble, written in 1819 on a visit to Hammond's tomb, are reprinted in Bloxam's * Register of Magdalen College.'
Hammond was a handsome man, as his portrait in the hall of Magdalen College shows, with a fine figure, a quick eye, and a countenance which combined sweetness with dignity. Charles I said he was the most natural orator he ever heard. He was of a kind, social, and benevolent disposition. From his youth he spent much of his time in secret devotion. His self-denial amounted almost to asceticism, and his studious industry was unceasing. As a writer he is chiefly known by his 'Practical Catechism' and his 'Paraphrase and Annotations on the New Testament,' published in 1653. The latter is a great work, though largely superseded now, and gives Hammond a claim to the title of father of English biblical criticism. Most of his works were collected and published by his amanuensis, William Fulman [q. v.], in four volumes, folio, 1674-84; and his 'Miscellaneous Theological Works' were edited in four volumes, 8vo, for the 'Anglo-Catholic Library,' 1847-50, with Bishop Fell's 'Life' prefixed, and valuable prefaces by the Rev. Nicholas Pocock.
Hammond assisted Brian Walton in the 'London Polyglott,' 1657, and prefixed a prefatory letter to the 'Whole Duty of Man,' 1659. Hammond was undoubtedly familiar with the author of the latter work, whose identity is disputed. Hearne suggested that it was produced by 'a club of learned and pious persons, such as ye B$^r$ [i.e. Fell], Dr. Hammond, ye Lady Packington [i.e. Hammond's friend and patroness], &c.' (Hearne, Coll., ed. Doble, i. 28). The following is a list of Hammond's separate publications: 1.'Practical Catechism,' Oxford, 1644; 2nd edit., with author's name, Oxford, 1646; London, 1646; reissued, with 'severall treatises,' London, 1648; 12th edition, 1683. 2. 'Of Scandall,' Oxford, 1644, 1646. 3. 'Of Conscience,' &c., 4to, Oxford, 1644; London, 1645. 4. 'Of Resisting the Lawful Magistrate under Colour of Religion,' 4to, Oxford, 1644; London, 1647. 5. 'Of Will Worship,' 4to, Oxford, 1644. 6. 'Of Superstition,' 4to, Oxford, 1645, London, 1650. 7. 'Of Sins of Weakness and Wilfulness; and an Explication of two difficult texts in Heb. vi. and Heb. x.,' 4to, Oxford, 1645, 1650. 8. 'Of a Late and Death-bed Repentance,' 4to, Oxford, 1645. The last ​seven tracts were published together at Oxford, 1645, sm. 4to; each tract having a separate title and pagination. To the general title is added a preface signed H. Hammond. Another edition appeared at London, 1646, 4to, with separate title, but with the first four tracts paged continuously. 9. 'Considerations of Present Use concerning the Danger resulting from the Change of our Government,' 4to, Oxford, 1644, 1646; London, 1682. 10. 'Of the Word κρίμα. Of the Zealots among the Jews, and the Liberty taken by them. Of taking up the Cross. Vindication of Christ's representing St. Peter from the Exceptions of Mr. Stephen Marshall,' Oxford, 1644, 4to, London, 1647, joined with the second edition 'Of Resisting the Magistrate.' 11 . 'View of the Directory, and Vindication of the ancient Liturgy,' 4to, Oxford, 1645, 1646. 12. 'Of Idolatry,' 4to, Oxford, 1646, two editions. 13. 'View of the Exceptions which have been made by a Romanist to the Lord Viscount Falkland's Discourse of the Infallibility of the Church of Rome,' 4to, Oxford and London, 1646. 14. 'Of the Power of the Keys,' London, 1647. 15. 'Of Fraternal Admonition and Corruption,' 4to, London, 1647, 1650. 16. 'Copy of Papers passed at Oxford between Dr. Hammond, Author of the "Practical Catechism," and Mr. Francis Cheynell [q. v.],' London, 1647, 1650. 17. 'View of some Exceptions to the "Practical Catechism" from the Censures affixed on them by the Ministers of London,' &c., 4to, London, 1648. 18. 'Vindication of Three Passages in the "Practical Catechism,"' 4to, London, 1648. 19. 'Humble Address to the Lord Fairfax and the Council of War, 15 January 1648, to prevent the King's Murder,' 4to, London, 1649. This was answered by Antony Ascham [q. v.], who called himself 'Eutactus Philodemus,' whereupon Hammond published 20. 'A Vindication of Dr. Hammond's Address, &c., from the Exceptions of Eutactus Philodemus, &c., together with a brief Reply to Mr. John Goodwin's "Obstructors of Justice," as far as concerns Dr. Hammond,' 4to, London, 1649 (John Goodwin [q. v.] had written a book entitled 'Ὑβριστοδίκαι. The Obstructors of Justice, or a Defence of the Honourable Sentence passed upon the late King by the High Court of Justice,' 4to, London, 1649). 21. 'The Christian's Obligation to Peace and Charity, &c., with ix. more Sermons,' 4to, London, 1649; dedicated to the king, 16 Sept. 1648; with xi. sermons more, London, 1664, fol. The first is the sermon preached before the king at Carisbrooke in Advent. 22. 'Mysterium Religionis, an Expedient for the Composing Differences of Religion' (anon.), 4to, London, 1649. 23. 'An Appendix or Answer to what was returned by the Apologist,' 4to, London, 1650. 24. 'Of the Reasonableness of the Christian Religion,' 8vo, London, 1650. 25. 'Dissertationes Quatuor, quibus Episcopatus Jura ex S. Scripturis et primaeva Antiquitate adstruuntur, contra sententiam D. Blondelli,' &c. Before this book is prefixed ' Dissertatio de Anti-Christo, de Mysterio Iniquitatis, de Diotrephe, et de Gnosticis subApostolorum sevo se prodentibus,' 4to, London, 1651. 26. 'Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament,' fol., London, 1653, 1659; fol., London, 1702; 4 vols. 8vo, Oxford, 1845. A presentation copy to Sir Philip Warwick of the first edition is now in Magdalen College Library, Oxford. 27. 'Letter of Resolution to Six Queries of Present Use to the Church of England,' 8vo, London, 1653. 28. 'Of Schism,' 8vo, London, 1653. 29. 'Reply to a Catholic Gentleman's Answer to the most material Parts of the Book "Of Schism."' To this was added 'Account of H.T. his Appendix to his Manual of Controversies, concerning the Abbot of Bangor's Answer to Augustine,' 4to, London, 1653, 1654. 30. 'Vindication of the Dissertations concerning Episcopacy from the Exceptions of the London Ministers in their "Jus Divinum Evangel.,"' 4to, London, 1654. 31. 'Of Fundamentals, in a Notion referring to Practice,' 8vo, London, 1654; 12mo, London, 1658. 32. 'Account of Mr. Daniel Cawdrey's Triplex Diatribe concerning Superstition, Will Worship, and the Christian Festival,' 4to, London, 1654, 1655. 33. 'Answer to the Animadversions [of J. Owen] on the Dissertations concerning Ignatius's Epistles, and the Episcopacy in them asserted,' 4to, London, 1654. 34. 'The Baptizing of Infants reviewed and defended from the Exceptions of Mr. Tombes in his three last chapters of his book entitled "Anti-paedobaptism,"' 4to, London, 1655. 35. 'Defence of the learned Hugo Grotius,' 4to, London, 1655. 36. Second defence of the same, 4to, London, 1655. 37. 'The Disarmer's Dexterity examined in a second Defence of the Treatise of Schism,' 4to, London, 1656. 38. 'Ἐκτενέστερον. The Degrees of Ardency in Christ's Prayer, reconciled with His Fulness of Habitual Grace, in reply to the Author of a Book entitled "A Mixture of Scholastical Divinity, &c., by Henry Jeanes,"' 4to, London, 1656. 39. 'A Paraenesis,' &c. (see Pocock's edit., above), 4to, London, 1656. 40. 'Δευτέραι φροντίδες,, or a Review of the Paraphrase with some Additions and Alterations,' 8vo, London, 1657. 41. 'Continuation of Defence of Hugo Grotius in an Answer to the Review of his Annotations,' 4to, London, 1657. 42. 'Eὐσκημόνως καὶ κατὰ τάξιν, or The ​Grounds of Uniformity from 1 Cor. xiv. 40, vindicated from Mr. Henry Jeanes's Exception in one Passage in view of the Directory,' 4to, London, 1657. 43. 'A Collection of severall Replies and Vindications published of late,' London, 1657. 44. 'Some profitable Directions both for Priest and People, in two sermons preached before these evil times,' London, 1657. 45. 'Paraphrase and Annotations on Book of Psalms,' fol., London, 1659; 2 vols., 8vo, Oxford, 1850. 46. 'The Dispatcher dispatched, or an Examination of the Romanists' Rejoinder to Dr. Hammond's Replies, wherein is inserted a View of their Profession and Oral Tradition in the Way of Mr. White,' 4to, London, 1659. 47. 'Brief Account of a Suggestion against "The Dispatcher dispatched," ' 4to, London, 1660. 48. 'Χάρις καὶ Εἰρήνη, or a Pacific Discourse of God's Grace and Decrees,' 8vo, London, 1660. 49. 'Two Prayers,' 8vo, London, 1660. 50. 'Spiritual Sacrifice.' 51. 'The Daily Practice of Piety; also Devotions and Prayers in Time of Captivity,' 8vo, London, 1660. 52. 'Solemn Petition and Advice to the Convocation, with Directions to the Laity how to prolong their Happiness,' 8vo, Cambridge, 1661. 53. 'De Confirmatione. Edited by Humphrey Henchman, Bp. of Salisbury, with a most interesting Address to the Reader by the Bishop.' This has no date, but is a small 8vo, and the license is dated 29 June 1661. 54. 'Of Hell Torments,' 12mo, Oxford, 1664. 55. 'Ἄξια Θεοῦ κρίσις, or an Assertion of the Existence and Duration of Hell Torments,' Oxford, 8vo, 1665. 56. 'An Accordance of St. Paul and St. James in the great point of Faith and Works,' 8vo, Oxford, 1665. 57. 'Paraphrase and Annotations on the first Ten Chapters of the Proverbs.' fol., London, 1683. 58. 'Answer to Mr. Richard Smith's Letters concerning the Sense of that Article in the Creed, "He descended into Hell,"' dated Oxford, 29 April 1659; 8vo, London, 1684. Many of Hammond's letters are among the Ballard MSS. in the Bodleian Library. One of these (i. 75), dated 12 Feb. 1649, on the publication and authorship of 'Eikon Basilike,' is printed in the preface to the edition of that work published at Oxford in 1869.
[Bishop Fell's Life of Hammond, the Classical Authority, first published in 1661, second edition 1662, reprinted in Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography and elsewhere; Life by the Rev. R. B. Hone, London, 1833; Life by Canon G. G. Perry, for Christian Knowledge Society, no date; Life by the Rev. William H. Teale, London, 1846; Bloxam's Registers of Magdalen College, Oxford, vol. v. 'Demies;' Wood's Athenae Oxon., ed. Bliss, iii. 493; Bodl. Libr. Cat.; Chalmers's Biog. Dict.]
R. H-r.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.146 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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| 244 | ii | 8-9 | Hammond, Henry: for Bloxam's 'Register of Magdalen College.' read Keble's 'Miscellaneous Poems,' 1869, p. 216. |
| 245 | ii | 35 | for Christian read Christmas |