Background
Hall was born on July 1, 1574 in Prestop Park, Leicestershire. His father, John Hall, was agent in the town for Henry, earl of Huntingdon, and his mother, Winifred Bambridge, was a pious lady, whom her son compared to St Monica.
(I suppose that it is profitable, rather than bold, for me...)
I suppose that it is profitable, rather than bold, for me to endeavor to teach the art of meditation. It is as heavenly a business as any that belongs to either men or Christians. And it is such a heavenly business as does unspeakably benefit the soul. For it is by meditation that we ransack our deep and false hearts, find out our secret enemies, come to grips with them, expel them, and arm ourselves against their re-entrance. By meditation we make use of all good means, fit ourselves for all good duties. By meditation we see our weaknesses, obtain redress, prevent temptations, cheer up our loneliness, temper our occasions of delight, get more light unto our knowledge, add more heat to our affections, put more life into our devotions. It is only by meditation that we are able to be strangers upon the earth (as we are commanded to be), and by this we are brought to a right estimation of all earthly things, finally into a sweet enjoyment of invisible comforts. It is by meditation that we see our Saviour, as Stephen did; we talk with God, as Moses did; we are ravished into Paradise, with blessed Paul, seeing that Heaven that we shall be so loath to leave, which things we cannot utter. Meditation alone is the remedy for security and worldliness. It is the pastime of saints, the ladder to Heaven; in short, it is the best way to improve Christianity. Learn it, if you can. Neglect it if you so desire, but he who does so shall never find joy neither in God, nor in himself. And though some of old have appropriated this duty to themselves (confining it within their cells, professing nothing but contemplation), claiming their immunity from those cares which accompany an active life, might have the best leisure for meditation, yet I deem it an envious wrong to conceal meditation from many, for its benefit may be universal. There is no man who is so taken up with action that he does not at some time have a free mind. And no reasonable mind is so simple as not to be able to better itself by secret thoughts. Those who have but little stock need best to know the rules of thrift. Surely divine meditation is nothing else but a bending of the mind upon some spiritual object, through different forms of discourse, until our thoughts come to an issue. And this must either be unpremeditated, occasioned by outward occurrences offered to the mind; or else it must be deliberate, wrought out of our own heart. And if it is deliberate, then it is either in matter of knowledge (for finding out some hidden truth, or overcoming some heresy by profound traversing of reason); or it is in matter of affection. Joseph Hall (July 1, 1574 - September 8, 1656), English bishop and satirist, was born at Bristow park, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, on the 1st of July 1574. Joseph Hall received his early education at the local school, and was sent (1589) to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Hall was chosen for two years in succession to read the public lecture on rhetoric in the schools, and in 1595 became fellow of his college. In 1612 Lord Denny, afterwards earl of Norwich, gave him the curacy of Waltham-Holy-Cross, Essex, and in the same year he received the degree of D.D. Later he received the prebend of Millennial in the collegiate church of Wolver Hampton.
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(Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the ...)
Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments have for generations been widely admired and loved. Charles Spurgeon commended them for their concealed learning, and George Whitefield regularly read and re-read them devotionally. Though written in the language of his day, Halls Contemplations always repay time spent in reading them. There are numerous beautiful and memorable turns of phrase to delight readers. He unfailingly homes in on aspects of the narrative that surprise or unlock their spiritual application to Christians. Preachers will find a tremendous amount of inspiration here. Joseph Hall (1574-1656) was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and became Bishop of Exeter and then Norwich. The Contemplations on Old Testament passages were originally published between 1612 and 1626, whilst those on the New Testament were first published posthumously in 1662. Volume 1: From Creation to the death of King Saul. Volume 2: Davids reign to the events of Esther following the Babylonian Captivity. Volume 3: New Testament events. This edition has been completely re-typeset and some very minor changes made to archaic words for its issue as an eBook.
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(Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the ...)
Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments have for generations been widely admired and loved. Charles Spurgeon commended them for their concealed learning, and George Whitefield regularly read and re-read them devotionally. Though written in the language of his day, Halls Contemplations always repay time spent in reading them. There are numerous beautiful and memorable turns of phrase to delight readers. He unfailingly homes in on aspects of the narrative that surprise or unlock their spiritual application to Christians. Preachers will find a tremendous amount of inspiration here. Joseph Hall (1574-1656) was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and became Bishop of Exeter and then Norwich. The Contemplations on Old Testament passages were originally published between 1612 and 1626, whilst those on the New Testament were first published posthumously in 1662. Volume 1: From Creation to the death of King Saul. Volume 2: Davids reign to the events of Esther following the Babylonian Captivity. Volume 3: New Testament events. This edition has been completely re-typeset and some very minor changes made to archaic words for its issue as an eBook.
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(Excerpt from The Works of the Right Reverend Joseph Hall,...)
Excerpt from The Works of the Right Reverend Joseph Hall, D. D., Bishop of Exeter and Afterwards of Norwich, Vol. 4: A New Edition, Revised and Corrected, With Some Additions I o. Yet the number Of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living - Yet, for all this, know that I will make good that promise which I made to Abraham concerning the number of his seed, no less innumerable than the sand of the sea; for to my spiritual Israel, which are the true seed of the promise, shall this word be surely fulfilled: they shall be happily increased; and of them, whereas there was no face of a Church, no appearance of a people of God, now it shall be clearly mani fest that they are a chosen generation, and a peculiar people unto me. 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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(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
This book was digitized and reprinted from the collections of the University of California Libraries. It was produced from digital images created through the libraries mass digitization efforts. The digital images were cleaned and prepared for printing through automated processes. Despite the cleaning process, occasional flaws may still be present that were part of the original work itself, or introduced during digitization. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found online in the HathiTrust Digital Library at www.hathitrust.org.
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Hall was born on July 1, 1574 in Prestop Park, Leicestershire. His father, John Hall, was agent in the town for Henry, earl of Huntingdon, and his mother, Winifred Bambridge, was a pious lady, whom her son compared to St Monica.
Joseph Hall received his early education at the local school, and was sent (1589) to Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Hall was chosen for two years in succession to read the public lecture on rhetoric in the schools, and in 1595 became fellow of his college. During his residence at Cambridge he wrote his Virgidemiarum (1597), satires written after Latin models. The claim he put forward in the prologue to be the earliest English satirist, gave bitter offence to John Marston, who attacks him in the satires published in 1598. The archbishop of Canterbury gave an order (1599) that Hall's satires should be burnt with works of John Marston, Marlowe, Sir John Davies and others on the ground of licentiousness, but shortly afterwards Hall's book, certainly unjustly condemned, was ordered to be "staied at the press, " which may be interpreted as reprieved. Having taken holy orders, Hall was offered the mastership of Blundell's school, Tiverton, but he refused it in favour of the living of Halsted, Essex, to which he was presented (1601) by Sir Robert Drury. In 1603 Hall married; and in 1605 he accompanied Sir Edmund Bacon to Spa, with the special aim, he says, of acquainting himself with the state and practice of the Romish Church. At Brussels he disputed at the Jesuit College on the authentic character of modern miracles, and his inquiring and argumentative disposition more than once threatened to produce serious results, so that his patron at length requested him to abstain from further discussion. His devotional writings had attracted the notice of Henry, prince of Wales, who made him one of his chaplains (1608). In 1612 Lord Denny, afterwards earl of Norwich, gave him the curacy of Waltham-Holy-Cross, Essex, and in the same year he received the degree of D. D. Later Hall received the prebend of Willenhall in the collegiate church of Wolverhampton, and in 1616 he accompanied James Hay, Lord Doncaster, afterwards earl of Carlisle, to France, where he was sent to congratulate Louis XIII on his marriage, but Hall was compelled by illness to return. In his absence the king nominated him dean of Worcester, and in 1617 he accompanied James to Scotland, where he defended the five points of ceremonial which the king desired to impose upon the Scots. In the next year he was one of the English deputies at the synod of Dort. In 1624 he refused the see of Gloucester, but in 1627 became bishop of Exeter. Among his other satirical portraits is that of the famished gallant, the guest of "Duke Humfray. " Book VI consists of one long satire on the various vices and follies dealt with in the earlier books. If his prose is sometimes antithetical and obscure, his verse is remarkably free from the quips and conceits which mar so much contemporary poetry. Hall also wrote The King's Prophecie; or Weeping Joy (1603), a gratulatory poem on the accession of James I. ; Epistles, both the first and second volumes of which appeared in 1608 and a third in 1611; Characters of Virtues and Vices (1608), versified by Nahum Tate (1691); Solomons Divine Arts (1609); and, probably Mundus alter et idem sive Terra Australis antehac semper incognita lustrata (1605 and 1607), by "Mercurius Britannicus, " translated into English by John Healy (1608) as The Discovery of a New World or A Description of the South Indies . .. by an English Mercury. Mundus alter is an excuse for a satirical description of London, with some criticism of the Romish church, its manners and customs, and is said to have furnished Swift with hints for Gulliver's Travels. It was not ascribed to him by name until 1674, when Thomas Hyde, the librarian of the Bodleian, identified "Mercurius Britannicus" with Joseph Hall.
(Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the ...)
(Halls Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the ...)
(I suppose that it is profitable, rather than bold, for me...)
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
(Excerpt from The Works of the Right Reverend Joseph Hall,...)
In 1603, Hall married Elizabeth (died 27 August 1652), daughter of George Winiffe of Brettenham, Suffolk. They had six sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Robert, D. D. (1605-1667), became canon of Exeter in 1629, and archdeacon of Cornwall in 1633. Joseph, the second son (1607-1669), was registrar of Exeter Cathedral. George, the third son (1612-1668), became bishop of Chester. Samuel, the fourth son (1616-1674), was sub-dean of Exeter.