William Hawkins (priest)
William Hawkins | |
---|---|
Born | 1722 |
Died | 1801 |
William Hawkins (1722–1801) was an English clergyman, known as a poet and dramatist.
Life
He was eldest son of
He had been ordained in the Church of England, and was instituted on 27 August 1764 to the small rectory of Little Casterton, Rutland. He moved at the close of 1764 to the rectory of Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, which he retained until his death. He held the prebendal stall of Combe (seventh) in Wells Cathedral from his collation on 7 March 1767 to his death.
Throughout his life Hawkins was indefatigable in writing and preaching, and he was one of the earliest
Works
Early in life Hawkins contributed pieces to magazines, and in 1743, when he was only twenty-one, he published his first work, The Thimble, an heroi-comical Poem in four cantos, by a Gentleman of Oxford, which was reissued in the following year. This imitation of
A volume issued in 1754 under the pseudonym of Gyles Smith, containing 'Serious Reflections on the Dangerous Tendency of the Common Practice of Card-playing,’ is attributed to Hawkins. In 1758 he collected and published in three volumes his separate publications. The first volume consisted of tracts on divinity; the second of dramatic and other poems, including the 'Thimble,’ 'Henry and Rosamond,’ and the 'Siege of Aleppo;’ and the last of his lectures on poetry and his Creweian orations, delivered as professor of poetry at Oxford. Oliver Goldsmith wrote a review of these productions for the Critical Review. On most of them he was severe, but he singled out the play of 'Aleppo' as deserving applause. Hawkins replied in a maladroit defence, signed 'Veridicus,’ and styled 'A Review of the Works of the Rev. W. Hawkins and of the Remarks made on the same in the "Critical Review" for August and in the "Monthly Review" for September 1759.' Goldsmith rejoined in the 'Critical Review'.
The translation by Hawkins of the first six books of the
Hawkins was a constant writer of sermons, and he printed:
- 'A Sermon before the University of Oxford on 30 Jan.,’ 1752.
- 'The Nature, Extent, and Excellence of Christian Charity' (a Colston sermon), 1755.
- 'The Reasonableness of our Belief in Christianity' (two sermons at St. Mary's, Oxford), 1756.
- 'Pretences of Enthusiasts considered and confuted' (two sermons preached at St. Mary's, one on 26 June 1768 and the other on 6 August 1769). The first was answered by 'The Oxford Confutation confuted, by Philologos,’ Cambridge [1769].
- 'Discourses on Scripture Mysteries' (Bampton lectures, 1787, which led him into a controversy with Samuel Palmer.
- 'Regal Rights consistent with National Liberties,’ 1795.
See also
References
#
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Hawkins, William (1722–1801)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.