English throne.

The Established Church had its learned doctors before the civil war, many
of whom contributed to the literature; but when the contest between king
and parliament became imminent, and during the progress of the quarrel,
these became controversialists,--most of them on the side of the
unfortunate but misguided monarch,--and suffered with his declining
fortunes.

To go over the whole range of theological literature in this extended
period, would be to study the history of the times from a theological
point of view. Our space will only permit a brief notice of the principal
writers.

HALL.--First among these was Joseph Hall, who was born in 1574. He was
educated at Cambridge, and was appointed to the See of Exeter in 1624,
and transferred to that of Norwich in 1641, the year before Charles I.
ascended the throne. The scope of his writings was quite extensive. As a
theological writer, he is known by his numerous sermons, his _Episcopacy
by Divine Right Asserted_, his _Christian Meditations_, and
various commentaries and _Contemplations_ upon the Scriptures.
He was also a poet and a satirist, and excelled in this field. His
_Satires--Virgidemiarium_--were published at the early age of
twenty-three; but they are highly praised by the critics, who rank him
also, for eloquence and learning, with Jeremy Taylor. He suffered for his
attachment to the king's cause, was driven from his see, and spent the
last portion of his life in retirement and poverty. He died in 1656.

CHILLINGWORTH.--The next in chronological order is William Chillingworth,
who was born in 1602, and is principally known as the champion of
Protestantism against Rome and Roman innovations. While a student at
Oxford, he had been won over to the Roman Catholic Church by John Perse, a
famous Jesuit; and he went at once to pursue his studies in the Jesuit
college at Douay. He was so notable for his acuteness and industry, that
every effort was made to bring him back. Archbishop Laud, his god-father,
was able to convince him of his errors, and in two months he returned to
England. A short time after this he left the Roman Catholics, and became
tenfold more a Protestant than before. He entered into controversies with
his former friends the Jesuits, and in answer to one of their treatises
entitled, _Mercy and Truth, or Charity maintained by the Roman Catholics_,
he wrote his most famous work, _The Religion of Protestants a Safe Way to
Salvation_