Background
Henry Richard Hoisington was born on August 23, 1801 in Vergennes, Vermont, United States. He was the son of Job and Sarah Hoisington.
(Excerpt from Tattuva-Kattalei, Siva-Gnâna-Pōtham, and Siv...)
Excerpt from Tattuva-Kattalei, Siva-Gnâna-Pōtham, and Siva-Pirakâsam, Vol. 4: Treatises on Hindû Philosophy The Way in which Sivan, who exists without change, perfor the Operations in the world, the Object which he has in view in them, and the Order in which they transpire, Respecting the Nature of Souls which are involved in these Operations, and which are saved by God. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Henry Richard Hoisington was born on August 23, 1801 in Vergennes, Vermont, United States. He was the son of Job and Sarah Hoisington.
A printer by trade, practicing in Utica, New York, and New York City, he became eager for an education and fitted himself at Bloomfield Academy (New Jersey) for Williams College, from which he graduated in 1828. He then went to Auburn Theological Seminary, graduating in 1831, was ordained in the Congregational ministry, and settled in Aurora, New York.
In response to a call for missionaries to Ceylon by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, he offered himself for the work and sailed in 1833, reaching Jaffna, Ceylon, October 28. His first appointment was Manepy (1834). On July 31, 1834, he was one of two missionaries of the American Board to reach the holy city of Madura, on the mainland of India, and to open a mission there. In 1835, back in Ceylon, he was appointed instructor in the English language in Batticotta Seminary. In 1836 he became principal and proceeded to develop the institution, believing that "the Seminary need no longer be a school of infants, graduating mere children. "
He continued as principal until July 3, 1841, when in broken health he sailed for America by way of Madras and St. Helena. In 1844 Hoisington returned to Batticotta and resumed the principalship.
Hoisington published in 1848 The Oriental Astronomer: Being a Complete System of Hindu Astronomy, a translation. He translated three of the Tamil religious texts into English: the Tattuva-Kattalei, the Siva-Gnâna-Potham, and the Siva-Pirakasam, under the title, Treatises on Hindu Philosophy (1854), with introduction and notes. Of this translation he wrote, "The providence of God threw into my hands a key by which I began to unlock these dark receptacles of human thought. This key consisted in the discovery of the import of the mystic number five and of a concurrence of circumstances favoring the investigation by the aid of native scholars. " In such study he was seeking the esoteric doctrines of Hinduism.
In 1852 he published an essay on the "Origin and Development of the Existing System of Religious Belief in India. " His reports to the Board frequently contained descriptions of Hindu customs. He was in general suspicious of Hinduism, though he taught the ethics of the "Cural" to his Seminary boys. He called it "one of the most eminent moral poems of India the highest Tamil classic, " adding "It is taught only under my immediate inspection, when everything is examined in the light of revealed truth. "
By 1849 his health was again broken, but not before he had completely transformed the Seminary, won the confidence of the non-Christians who sent their sons in numbers, and the deep gratitude of all those who had graduated from the course. "Your name is dear to us, " they wrote, "and we shall not forget to hand it down to our next generation. It shall outlive the desolations of time and death. " He returned to America where, with improved health, he became an agent of the American Board, visiting the churches of southern New England.
In 1854 he severed his connection with the Board, and till 1856 supplied the Congregational church in Williamstown, Massachussets, and lectured on Hinduism to the students of Williams College. In 1857 he was installed as pastor of the Congregational church in Centerbrook, Connecticut, where he died suddenly in 1858.
(Excerpt from Tattuva-Kattalei, Siva-Gnâna-Pōtham, and Siv...)
Hoisington was a member of the Congregational church.
On September 21, 1831, Hoisington married Nancy Lyman. They had six children; their younger daughter died at sea.