PREFACE.

THE following compilation is one of very humble pretensions on the part of the author, although he may be permitted to hope that its usefulness will be considerable to those for whose service it was composed.

It was commenced in 1844, and has been continued in monthly parts till its completion in 1852. It was designed for those among the author's parishioners, who, engaged in commercial pursuits, and without much time for study, take an interest in Ecclesiastical affairs, and desire to become acquainted with the History of the Church and her divines. If it shall be found useful by masters of National Schools and their pupil teachers, or even by those of the clergy who, labouring in remote parishes, have no extensive library at hand, the author will be more than repaid for the trouble he has taken and the labour he has expended upon the Work.

Although the form is biographical, yet the object is historical. The reader must not expect to find

in the articles of a Dictionary necessarily brief, the anecdotes which render Biography one of the most interesting branches of study; the object of a Biographical narrative devoted to one subject is to throw light upon character; whereas, a Biographical dictionary can only be expected to state the circumstances under which a distinguished character has been placed.

The Biographies in these volumes have been written on the following plan: All points of minor interest or importance, such as those which relate to a person's family, have been either omitted or slightly noticed: for these, and for all minuter facts, the reader must have recourse to those works, which are devoted exclusively to the history of the person whose life can, in this place, be only briefly noticed, and to which reference is made at the foot of each article.

There have been in most men's lives one or two important events to which a peculiar interest is attached; and, by omitting points of minor importance, an opportunity has been afforded of dwelling upon these at considerable length. Historical events of Ecclesiastical interest have been narrated with some minuteness of detail, when the subject of a Biography has been instrumental in their accomplishment; when, on the contrary, he has been chiefly distinguished by his literary labours, the chief dates have been given, which are followed by extracts from his works.

On doubtful points, relating either to dates, or to other matters of detail, the author has adopted the conclusion which he thinks most probable, without entering into a discussion of the reasons by which he has been influenced in his decision; to have done this would have been to occupy more space than could, in such a work as this, be allotted to one subject.

The authorities on which each Biography of importance is composed, are given at the end of the article the very words of a biographer or historian have been adopted, when the fact he relates is briefly or happily expressed.

Besides the authorities quoted at the end of each article, use has been made of Moreri, Bayle, and Chalmers, the Biographia Britannica, the Biographie Universelle, and other similar works.

The author does not make the slightest pretensions to impartiality; and he never gives credit to the sincerity of an author who professes to be impartial. The compiler of these Biographies has seen every event with the eye of one nurtured in the Church of England, and, he hopes, thoroughly imbued with her spirit and principles. At the same time he trusts that he has done justice to every one, whether Papist or Puritan, when sincerity, even in error, and real piety have been displayed. The author believes that he proves his real love of fair dealing by making this admission; as the reader, now knowing the bias of the author's mind, will be

prepared to make due allowance for those prejudices, the existence of which, the author does not attempt to conceal.

The names of divines who have flourished in the present century are not included in these volumes; a rule which it was found expedient to adopt after the publication of the first parts of the work.

The reader is indebted to Sir William Page Wood, M.P., late solicitor-general to her Majesty, for the Life of Bishop Berkeley; to the Rev. G. A. Poole, for the Lives of Bede, Cyprian and Wicliff; to the Rev. Dr. Maitland, for the Life of Foxe, the Martyrologist; and to the Rev. G. Wyatt, for the Life of Heylin.

At the end of the work a chronological arrangement is given of the chief characters in each century, for the use of those who desire to employ these volumes as an Ecclesiastical History.

ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY.

AAR.

AARE; Diederick, or Dirk Vander, flourished in the 13th century, and was Bishop of Utrecht. He seems to have attended more to the temporalities of his See than to his spiritual duties; and was involved in frequent warfare with William Count of Holland. He died at Deventer, on the 5th of December, 1212, after governing Utrecht for fourteen years.-Beka and Heda de Episcopis Ultrajectinis.

AARON. A presbyter of Alexandria who, about the year 620, wrote thirty books on physic in the Syriac language; in these it is said that he described the smallpox and the measles.-Moreri.

AARON ST. Of Aaron we know nothing except the happy fact that, with St. Julius, he suffered martyrdom in Britain, during the persecution by the Emperor Dioclesian, in the year 303, about the same time as the proto-martyr of our Church, St. Alban. We are not acquainted with the British names of either Aaron or Julius, neither have we any particulars of their death. They had each a church erected to his memory in the city of Caer-Leon, the ancient metropolis of Wales, and their festival is placed in the Roman Martyrology on the first of July.

There is another St. Aaron, who is said to have been the founder of the first monastery in Bretagne. He flourished in the 6th century, and was eminent for his piety. When St. Malo fled from Britain into Gaul, he was received and