This manuscript contains two biographies, written c. 1699-1700. The first concerns the life of the clergyman Thomas Pierson (c. 1573-1633); this is followed by a transcription of one of his sermons (ff. 43r-82r) and an extract from Excellent Encouragements Against Afflictions (London, 1647) (ff. 83r-87v). The second focuses on the landowner John Packer (1572-1649) (ff. 88r-101v). Following this shorter biography, there is a tract which centres on the relief of the poor in Holland 'and the other Protestant Provinces of the Low-Countries' (ff. 102r-108v). Two sermons by Thomas Watson, delivered in October 1657 and written in an earlier hand, complete the volume (ff. 110r-133r).
Quarto. The present cataloguer has followed the modern pagination (in pencil).
The Harleian Library was founded by Robert Harley, First Earl of Oxford (1661–1724). According to Cyril Ernest Wright, Robert Harley ‘was primarily interested in English historical and political material and in volumes of sermons and theological controversy, sharing in the latter the taste of his Harley ancestors’. See Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), p. xxxiv.
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972); A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, in the British Museum (1808), Vol. III, pp. 533-34; Jacqueline Eales, 'Thomas Pierson and the Transmission of the Moderate Puritan Tradition', Midland History, 20 (1995), 75-102; Hannah Yip.
According to Jacqueline Eales, the biography of Pierson is 'a typical example of the genre of the puritan 'godly life'', being 'a blend of the conventional mixed with recognisable personal details'. See Eales, p. 79.
The Cure of Hurtfull Cares and Fears -- ff. 43r-82r
Mr Watsons Sermon preached October ye 4th: 1657 -- ff. 110r-121r
Mr Watson Sermon preached October ye 11th: 1657 -- ff. 122r-133r