A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Asgill, John
Asgill, John (1659-1738).—Eccentric writer, student at the Middle Temple, 1686, and called to the Bar 1692. In 1699 he pub. in an unlucky hour a pamphlet to prove that death was not obligatory upon Christians, which, much to his surprise, aroused the public wrath and led to his expulsion from the Irish and English House of Commons successively. A. thereafter fell on evil days, and passed the rest of his life between the Fleet and the King's Bench, where, strange to say, his zeal as a pamphleteer continued unabated. He d. in 1738.