was bought back by Rowland Hacker, and is still in the possession of the Hacker family.
[Briscoe's Old Nottinghamshire, 1st ser. pp. 130-8; Some Account of the Family of Hacker, by F. Lawson Lowe; Life of Colonel Hutchinson, ed. Firth, 1885; Cal. State Papers, Dom.]
HACKET, GEORGE (d. 1756), Scotch poet. [See Halket.]
HACKET, JAMES THOMAS (1805?–1876), astrologer, born about 1805, was a native of the south of Ireland. In early life he practised as a surveyor. He also possessed respectable mathematical knowledge, which led him about 1826 to join the London Astrological Society, of which he became secretary. In 1836 he published 'The Student's Assistant in Astronomy and Astrology.… Also a Discourse on the Harmony of Phrenology, Astrology, and Physiognomy.' He became more devout as a Roman catholic and eschewed astrology. Latterly he was railway correspondent to the 'Times,' and had been for many years previously reporter on the staff of Herapath's 'Railway and Commercial Journal.' To it he contributed some valuable statistical tables, and John Herapath [q. v.], the mathematician, left him a legacy of 250l. He died suddenly in March 1876, aged 71.
[Athenæum, 15 April 1876, pp. 535-6 ; Herapath's Railway and Commercial Journal, 6 May 1876, p. 518.]
HACKET, JOHN (1592–1670), bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, was born in St. Martin's, Strand, 1 Sept. 1592. His father, Andrew Hacket, a prosperous tailor of Scottish extraction, was a senior burgess of Westminster, and was noted for a strong attachment to the church of England. Young Hacket, being a promising youth, obtained a nomination on the foundation of Westminster School under Mr. Ireland. He soon came to be regarded as one of the leading pupils of the school, and attracted the notice of Lancelot Andrewes [q. v.], then dean of Westminster. At the age of seventeen (1608) he passed to Trinity College, Cambridge. Immediately on taking his degree he was elected to a fellowship, and at once began to be a popular private tutor. Going to spend a vacation with Sir John Byron, one of his pupils, at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, Hacket occupied his spare time in composing the Latin comedy of 'Loyola,' which was afterwards twice acted before James I. This youthful performance is both coarse and tedious. Its only merit is a certain dexterity in the application of the Latin language to a strange and awkward plot. It satirises at once the Jesuits, the friars, and the puritans as grossly immoral hypocrites. It was printed at London, 1648, 12mo.
Hacket was ordained by John King, bishop of London, 22 Dec. 1618, still continuing his tuition work at Cambridge. The reputation which he enjoyed as a scholar attracted the notice of Lord-keeper Williams, who invited him to become his chaplain. This was a sure road to promotion. On 20 Sept. 1621 he was instituted to the rectory of Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire; on 2 Nov. in the same year to that of Kirkby Underwood; 23 Feb. 1623 he was elected proctor for the diocese of Lincoln; and in the same year was made chaplain to King James. He frequently preached before the king, who appreciated his lively and incisive style, and upon one occasion he was called upon to handle the difficult topic of the Gowrie conspiracy. In 1624 his great patron, the lord keeper, presented him to the living of St. Andrew's, Holborn, and in the same year to that of Cheam in Surrey. The one, he was told, was given him for wealth, the other for health. Hacket divided his time between these two benefices, residing in London during the winter, and in Surrey during the summer months.
Hacket proved himself a very active parish priest in the large parish of St. Andrew's and became a very popular preacher. His church was always crowded, and among his auditory were many leading lawyers. Sir Julius Cæsar, it is said, always sent him a broad piece after hearing him preach. His patron, Bishop Williams, continued to be mindful of him. In 1623 he had given him the valuable prebend of Aylesbury in Lincoln Cathedral, and in 1631 he nominated him Archdeacon of Bedford. Hacket was very anxious to procure the rebuilding of the church of St. Andrew, and by great efforts gathered a large sum of money for this purpose. But this money was confiscated at the time of the civil war. More clear-sighted than some of his brethren, Hacket endeavoured to induce Archbishop Laud not to proceed with the canons which were enacted in the convocation of 1640. He also greatly lamented the attempt to force the liturgy upon Scotland. The disgrace into which his patron had now fallen prevented his influence having much further effect ; but very soon after the opening of the Long parliament, and the rise of the temporary popularity of Williams, Hacket became very prominent. He was a member of the committee for religion appointed by the House of Lords on the motion of Archbishop Williams, 15 March 1641, the object of which was to reconcile the puritans by making large concessions both in the services and the dis-
