THE LIFE
OF
MR. RICHARD HOOKER.


[Sidenote: Birth and parentage]

It is not to be doubted, but that Richard Hooker was born at
Heavy-tree, near, or within the precincts, or in the City of Exeter;
a City which may justly boast, that it was the birth-place of him and
Sir Thomas Bodley; as indeed the County may, in which it stands, that
it hath furnished this nation with Bishop Jewel, Sir Francis Drake,
Sir Walter Raleigh, and many others, memorable for their valour and
learning. He was born about the year of our Redemption 1553, and of
parents that were not so remarkable for their extraction or riches, as
for their virtue and industry, and God's blessing upon both; by
which they were enabled to educate their children in some degree
of learning, of which our Richard Hooker may appear to be one fair
testimony, and that nature is not so partial as always to give the
great blessings of wisdom and learning, and with them the greater
blessings of virtue and government, to those only that are of a more
high and honourable birth.

[Sidenote: "His complexion"]

His complexion--if we may guess by him at the age of forty--was
sanguine, with a mixture of choler; and yet his motion was slow even
in his youth, and so was his speech, never expressing an earnestness