Philip Henry

Philip Henry

an English dissenting divine, was born Aug. 24,1631, at the palace of Whitehall, where his father was page to James, duke of York. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he obtained a studentship in 1648. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1657, and settled at Worthenbury, Flintshire. He married Miss Mathews, a lady of fortune, and became possessed of the estate of Broad Oak, Shropshire. He was driven out of his church by the Act of Uniformity in 1662. "Our sins," he said, "have made Bartholomew-day, in the year 1662, the saddest day for England since the death of Edward the Sixth, but even this for good." By the Conventicle and Five-mile acts he was driven from his house, and compelled to seek safety in concealment. In 1687, when king James proclaimed liberty of conscience, Mr. Henry immediately fitted up part of his own house for worship. His labors were not confined to Broad Oak, but it was his habit to preach daily at different places in the neighborhood. But his labors hastened his rest; for, when writing to a friend who anxiously inquired after his health, he says, "I am always habitually weary, and expect no other till I lie down in the bed of spices." He died June 24,1696, exclaiming, "O death, where is thy sting?" An account of his Life and Death was written by his son Matthew, and has often been reprinted (see Henry, Miscellaneous Works, vol. 1: N. York, Carters. 1855, 2 vols. 8vo). A volume of his Sermons, with notes by Williams, was first published in 1816 (London, 8vo), and has since been reprinted in the Miscellaneous Works of Mr. Henry, above cited. See Life by Matthew Henry: Jones, Christian Biography; Bogue and Bennett, History of the Dissenters, 1, 433.