Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/428

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Hacket
420
Hacket

crated on 22 Dec. by Bishops Sheldon, King, Henchman, and Morley. The following spring he went to reside in his diocese, receiving an enthusiastic reception from the gentry and clergy. Nothing had yet been done for the restoration of the cathedral of Lichfield, which lay a heap of ruins. The bishop applied himself to the work of restoration with the utmost energy. His own horses were employed in carting away the rubbish, and a body of workmen was at once set to work at his own cost. He appealed earnestly to the laity of the diocese and succeeded in raising a sum of 20,000l., of which 3,500l. came from himself and 1,000l. from the chapter. The dean (Wood) would contribute nothing, and steadily opposed the bishop in all his work. So contumacious did he become that the bishop was driven to excommunicate him openly in the church. The rebuilding of the cathedral occupied eight years. The whole of the roof from end to end was renewed, the timber being given by the king. On Christmas Eve, 1669, the work was sufficiently advanced to allow the bishop to dedicate the renovated church with a solemn ceremonial. On this occasion he exercised a bountiful hospitality, holding a great feast for three days. On the first day he entertained all the clergy and others connected with the church; on the second, the mayor and aldermen; on the third, the gentry of the county, male and female. Hacket also drew up a body of statutes for the cathedral, which were confirmed 23 Feb. 1693. The bishop's benefactions were very liberal. He gave 1,200l. to Trinity College, Cambridge, for the rebuilding of Gerard's hostel, the rents of which were to be paid to the library of the college. He also bequeathed all his books to the university library. He was a far richer man (according to his son's sworn testimony) when he succeeded to the see than at his death. The bishop was taken ill on St. Luke's day (18 Oct.) 1670, and died on the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude next following (28 Oct.), aged 78.

In addition to the Latin play of 'Loyola' and his great work on the life of Archbishop Williams, a small work entitled 'Christian Consolations' (1671, republished 1840) has been incorrectly attributed to Hacket. 'A Century of Sermons on several remarkable subjects' was edited, with a memoir, by Thomas Plume in 1675. In company with Ben Jonson he translated Bacon's 'Essays' into Latin. His skill in using the Latin tongue was considerable, and his reading was varied and extensive. His biographer admits that he was of a hasty and choleric temper, but very quickly reconciled to any who had offended him. His quarrel with Dean Wood, who afterwards succeeded him as bishop, and was suspended for simoniacal practices, caused, according to Pepys, considerable scandal, but the bishop enjoyed high estimation in the opinion of all good men. He married Elizabeth, daughter of W. Stebbing of Soham, Suffolk; and after her death in 1638, Frances, daughter of Mr. Bennet of Cheshire, and widow of Dr. Bridgman, prebendary of Chester. He had several children. His eldest son, Andrew, was knighted, and was a master in chancery; he erected a recumbent effigy to his father's memory in Lichfield Cathedral. There is an engraving of this tomb and also of a portrait of Hacket in 'A Century of Sermons.'

[Plume's Life of Hacket, reprinted with additions by Mackenzie Walcot, B.D., London, 1865; Tanner MSS., Bodleian Library, vols. xxxv. cxxxi.; Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, London, 1714; Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. iii., London, 1858; Serinia Reserata (Life of Archbishop Williams), London, 1693; Baker's Biog. Dram. i. 305-7.]

G. G. P.

HACKET, HACQUET, or HECQUET, JOHN-BAPTIST (d. 1676), theologian, born at Fethard, co. Tipperary, Ireland, was educated in the Dominican convent at Cashel, where he became a member of that order. As professor he subsequently taught with reputation at Milan, Naples, and Rome. He received the degree of master in theology from the general chapter of the Dominican order in 1644. His character and erudition, gained him the confidence of eminent dignitaries in Italy, and Cardinal Altieri, subsequently Pope Clement X, is said to have urged his promotion to the cardinalate. Intercourse with Hacket at Milan and Cremona was believed to have influenced Lord Philip Howard, afterwards cardinal, to enter the order of St. Dominic. Hacket passed the greater part of his life at Rome, and published there the following works: 1. 'Controversorium Theologicum,' folio, 1654. 2. 'Synopsis Theologica,' 4to, 1659. 3. 'Synopsis Philosophiæ,' 12mo, 1662. He died at the Minerva convent, Rome, on 23 Aug. 1676, and was interred in the convent church, in front of the altar of St. Dominic.

[Quetifs Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum, Paris, 1721, ii. 653; Ware's Writers of Ireland, 1746; Hibernia Dominicana, 1762.]

J. T. G.


HACKET, ROGER (1559–1621), divine, son of Sir Cuthbert Hacket, lord mayor of London, was born in the parish of St. James, Garlick Hythe, London, obtained a scholarship at Winchester College in 1573, aged 14 (Kirby, Winchester Scholars, p. 145), and