Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments

Joseph Hall (1574-1656) was an English prelate and author. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and became Bishop of Exeter (1627-41) and of Norwich (1641-47). The rise of Puritanism involved him in serious church difficulties, and his vigorous defense of the episcopacy against its attackers resulted in his imprisonment in 1641 on charges of high treason. He was eventually released, but he lived the remainder of his life in poverty. Hall's most notable work, his verse satires, modeled after the Roman satirist Juvenal, appeared in two parts: 'Virgidemiarum', or 'Toothless Satires' (1597) and 'Biting Satires' (1598). He also wrote prose satires, poems, meditations, and autobiographical tracts.