COMPTON, HENRY (1632-1713)

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 814 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: COM-COR

COMPTON, HENRY (1632-1713) , English divine, was the

sixth

SIXTH

and youngest son of the second

earl

EARL

of Northampton. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, and then travelled in Europe. After the restoration of Charles II. he became cornet in a regiment of horse, but soon quitted the army for the church. After a further period of study at

Cambridge

and again at Oxford, he held various livings. He was made bishop of Oxford in 1694, and in the following year was translated to the see of London. He was also appointed a member of the Privy Council, and entrusted with the education of the two princessesMary and, Anne. He showed a liberality most unusual at the time to

Protestant

PROTESTANT

dissenters, whom he wished to reunite with the established church. He held several conferences on the subject with the clergy of his diocese; and in the hope of influencing candid minds by means of the opinions of unbiassed foreigners, he obtained letters treating of the question (since printed at the end of Stillingfleet's Unreasonableness of Separation) from Le Moyne, professor of divinity at Leiden, and the famous French

Protestant

PROTESTANT

divine, Jean Claude. But to Roman Catholicism he was strongly opposed. On the accession of James II. he consequently lost his seat in the council and his deanery in the Chapel Royal; and for his firmness in refusing to suspend John

Sharp

rector

RECTOR (Lat. for " ruler," " guide," &c., from regere, " rule ")

of St Giles's-in-the-Fields, whose anti-papal writings had rendered him obnoxious to the king, he was himself suspended. At the Revolution Compton embraced the cause of William and Mary; he performed the ceremony of their coronation; his old position was restored to him; and among other appointments, he was chosen as one of the commissioners for revising the

liturgy

LITURGY (Low Lat. liturgia; Gr. X€Zros, public, and Epyov,
work
- WORK
; )Aetrovpy6s, a public servant)

. During the reign of Anne he remained a member of the privy council, and was one of the commissioners appointed to arrange the terms of the union of England and Scotland; but, to his bitter disappointment, his claims to the primacy were twice passed over. He died at Fulham on the 7th of July 1713. He had conspicuous defects both in spirit and intellect, but was benevolent and philanthropic. He was a successful botanist. He published, besides several theological works, A Translation from the Italian of the Life of Donna Olympia Maladichini, who governed the Church during the time of Pope Innocent X., which was from the year 1644 to 1655 (1667), and A Translation from the French of the Jesuits' Intrigues (1669).

End of Article: COMPTON, HENRY (1632-1713)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/COM_COR/COMPTON_HENRY_1632_1713_.html">
COMPTON, HENRY (1632-1713)
</a>

(Previous)
COMPSA (mod. Conza)

(Next)
COMPTROLLER

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email