GODWIN. 



which was i:» the gift of the college, to refign his fellowfhip. 

 He retired to this litiiation in 1549, aiul having marrii-d, 

 continued there peaceable and happy du:.n^ the reign of 

 king ILdward, devoting what time he coul i fparo from the 

 duties of his ofGce to the lludy of theology and phyfic, and 

 on the acceffion of Mar)-, he became an objeft of Bonner's 

 fury, and was obliged to refign his fchool, andturnhis attention 

 t ) phyfic. By the practice of this, lie maintained his family 

 till Eliz-ibeth afcended the tlirone. He now refolved to 

 follow the bent of his inclination, devo^^d his whole time to 

 theological iludies, was admitted to holy orders, and ap- 

 pointed chaplain to the bifhop of Lincoln. He was fhortty 

 after introduced to the queen, who made him one of the 

 Lent preachers. This poft, u^luch was probably attended 

 with little emolument. In filled eighteen years, with very 

 high reputation, during which he received no preferment 

 in the church; but, in 1565, he was promoted to the deanery 

 of Chrift-church, Oxford, and in the fame year a prebend 

 was conferred on him. In 1566, he was advan.-ed to the 

 deanery of Canterbury, and attended jhe queen in her vifit 

 to the un V rlity of Oxford, on which occafion he took his 

 degree of D D. with great applaufe. In 1584, after 

 eighteen years refidence at Canterbury, he was nominated 

 by the queen to the vacant fee of Bath and Wells. This 

 honour did not augment the happinefs of Dr. Godwin : in 

 refilling the unjuil claims of one of Elizabeth's favourites, 

 he loft the favour of the queen herfe'f, which fo affcfted his 

 mind, as to render him incapable of performing his epifco- 

 pal functions. The affairs of his diocefe, being left to the 

 management of others, ftU into fiich diforder, that his me- 

 tropolitan, archbithop Whitgift, thought proper to vifit it 

 w the year 1587 At this time Dr. Godwin's health was 

 in a very bad itate, and he gradually became worfe lill he 

 funk under the eftttls of difeafe, in his feventy-third year. 

 He is highly fpok'n of for learning and unaffected piety, 

 and was beloved nnd refpefted for his cheerful hofpitahty, 

 benevolence, and charity Biog. Brit. 



Godwin', FnA^cis, the ion of the preceding, was born 

 at Havington, in Northamptonfhire, in the year 1561, and 

 having been carefully educated in grammar learning, he was 

 fent to Chrift-church college, Oxford, when he was in his 

 fixteenth year, and in 1578 he was elefted a fcholar of that 

 inftitution. In 1580, he took his degree of B. A., and 

 three years after he proceeded to his degree of M.A. 

 About this time he wrote un entertaining philofophical 

 tiftion, which he did not at that period publiih, becaufe it 

 contained ideas at variance v.-ith the fyllems tlitn prevalent 

 in the fchools. It was given to the world five years after 

 his death, under the title of " The Man in the Moon, or a 

 Difcourfe of a Voyage thither bv Domingo Gonzales." 

 The hints, conjeclures, Sc: contained -n this piece, prove 

 that the author was no; ignorant of the writings of Coper- 

 nicus, and was probably a convert to his doftrines. In 

 IJ87, he was a canon in the cathedral church of WeFs, and 

 promoted to the fubdeanery of Exeter The h.iftory and 

 antiquities of his c untry became favourite fubjefts of his 

 enquiries, and in the year 1590 he accompanied the cele- 

 brated Camden into Wales, in fcarch of objefts to illuftrate 

 them. In 1595, he took the degree of doftor in divinity, 

 being in potTelfijn of very confiderable and lucrative prefer- 

 ment in the church He publifhed, in 1601, " A CatalogMC 

 of the Bifnops of England, fmce the firfl Planting of the 

 Chrii'ian Religion in this Idand, together with a brief 

 Hiftory of their Lives and memorable AAions, fo near as 

 can b^, gathered out of .\ntiquity " As a reward for 

 the grea: diligence ufed in the compofition of this cata- 

 logue, the queen promoted him, the fame year, to the 



vacant fee of Landaff ; being allowed to retain, m conr,cc- 

 tion with the bilhopric, the fubdeanery of Ex-ter, and a 

 good reftory in the diocefe of Baih and Wells. He now 

 employed himfelf in improving his " Catalogue,'' and in 

 making coUeftions relative to civil and eccleliaftical hiftory. 

 In 1615 he publifhed a new edition of his " Catalogue," (O 

 which he prefixed a difcourfe " Concerning the firft Con- 

 verfion of our Britain unto the Chriftiaii Religion." It was 

 afterwards republiftied in Latin, under the title of " De Pn- 

 fulibu; Angliie Commentarius.'' In the fame year he pub- 

 liihed " Rerum Anglicarum Henrico Vlil., EJwardo VI , 

 et Maria, regnantibus, Annales," which whs much admired 

 for the elegance of the ftyle. By king James he was tranf- 

 lated from Landaff to the bilhopric of Hereford in the year 

 1 61 7, and from this period, he devoted fuch time as the dif- 

 charge of his epifcopal functions woidd permit, chiefly to 

 the improvement of his former works ; but in 1629 he pub- 

 lifhed a difcourfe on the feveral methods of conveying fecret 

 and fpeedy intelhgence, with the title of " Nuncius loani- 

 matus, Utopia." It has been fuggcfted that this was writ- 

 ten in obfcure and enigmatical language, with a drfign of 

 conceali.-ig the author's fecret ; but from certain exprefiions, 

 it fhould feem, that the hints contained in it might have led 

 to an earlier cftablifliment of public telegraphs. Befides fe- 

 veral editions of the Annales, and a tranflation into EngUlh 

 of the fame work, we have a learned difTertation by the 

 bifhop, on the value of the Roman fcftcree and attic t^ent, 

 which was printed at the end of Hakewell's " Apology of 

 Divine Providence " This was his laft labour in the field of 

 literature. He died in 1633 in his fcventy-fecondyear. Of 

 his learning and claflical talle, his works bear moft decifive 

 evidence, and they exhibit him as a 2ealou8 friend to the 

 eftabhlhment, of which he was a member. According t* ■ 

 Anthony Wood, "he was a good man, a grave divine, a Ikil- 

 ful mathemarician, an excellent philofopher, a good preacher, 

 and a ilrift liver ; but fo much employed in his ftudic«, and 

 matters of religion, that he was a ftranger to the world and 

 the things thereof." Biog. Brit. 



Godwin, Tiiom.^s, a learned Englilh divine and wri- 

 ter on Jewilh antiquities, was bom in Somerfetfliire in the 

 year 1587. In his fifteenth year, he was fcnt from the 

 grammar-fchool to Magdalen-hall, in the univerfity of Ox- 

 ford, where he was entered a fcholar. Here, in due courfc, 

 he took his degrees, and foon after was chofen mafter of the 

 free-fchool at Abingdon, in BerkHiire. In this fituation he 

 diftinguilhed himfelf by his diligence and afliduity in forming 

 good fcholars, who afterwards becam.e eminent in various de- 

 partments of literature, and in ports of honour and emolu- 

 ment in the church and ftate. In 1 61 3 he publiihed " Ro- 

 mans Hiftoria; Anthologia/' — an Englilh cxpofition of the 

 Roman antiquities, which went through feveral editions. 

 Shortly after this, he entered into orders, and wasappoi-.tcd 

 chaplain to Dr. James Montague, bifhop of Bath and WeUt, 

 and in 161 6 he was admitted to the degree of bachelor of di- 

 vinitv, and publifhed a work, entitled " Synoplis Aiitiquita- 

 tum Hebraicarum ad Explicationcm utriufque Tetlamenti 

 valde ncccfTaria, kc." lib 3. 4to About this period he 

 refigned his fchool, upon obtaining a prcfentation to t^e fac- 

 tory of Brightwcll, near WaUinglord, in Berkfhire. In the 

 year 1625, he publifhed the work by which he is chiefly 

 known, tIz- " Mofcs and " aron ; ciWl and ecc'efiaftical 

 Rites, ufed by the ancient Hebrews, obfervrd, and at large 

 opened, for the clearing of many obfcure Tixts, throughout 

 the whole Scripture." This work was hnmediately reganl- 

 ed as a ftandard book in our places of academ'cal education, 

 and has been repeatedly printed. In 1 636, Mr Godwin 

 v.-as admitted to the degret: of doftor of divinity. He died 



