given by James II, to the Catholic Faith, alarmed the zealots of the Established Church, and the press daily teemed with every species of invective against the errors and the superstitions of the Church of Rome.
To the ecclesiastical Superiors of the Catholic body, no one appeared better qualified than Gother to stem the torrent. At their request he undertook the task of Apologist of the Faith, and in 1685 he published his inestimable work The Papist Misrepresented and Represented, a book which, for upwards of two centuries, has maintained its popularity, giving thus evidence of its intrinsic value. This publication was followed by his Nubes Testium, and a variety of other controversial tracts to the number of seventeen. In all of them Gother preserves the dignified character which he had assumed in his first work. To an invincible strength of reasoning he unites a becoming and generous regard for his adversaries personally, and never indulged, as did his opponents, in those offensive reflections which may embitter, but can never terminate religious controversy.
His style is agreeable and correct and not unfrequently rises to a degree of elegance not found in writers of the same period. Dryden, who was his contemporary, used often to say that Gother was the only individual, besides himself, who knew how to write the English language. Of the fruits of his zeal, the conversion of the venerable Bishop Challoner may be considered as an illustrious instance.
After the Revolution of 1688, Gother employed his pen in the production of several works of instruction and piety. His spiritual writings contained in sixteen volumes octavo, breathe that zealous and solid piety which had characterized him throughout life, and for generations were the bread which, in great measure, supported the spiritual life of the Catholics of this country. At length, after twenty-two years spent in his native country in promoting the cause of God, the venerable Missionary proposed to return to Lisbon. What precise object prompted this journey is not known, all
