Spencer Madan (1758–1836) was an English cleric, known as a translator of

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

Life

He was the eldest son of

Spencer Madan Spencer Madan (1729–1813) was an English churchman, successively of Bishop of Bristol and Bishop of Peterborough. Life The son of Colonel Martin Madan and Judith Madan of London, and younger brother of Martin Madan, he was sent to Westmins ...

, bishop of Peterborough, by his first wife, Lady Charlotte, second daughter of

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis (29 March 170023 June 1762), styled The Honourable Charles Cornwallis until 1722 and known as The Lord Cornwallis between 1722 and 1753, was a British peer. Background Cornwallis was the son of Charles ...

. He became a king's scholar at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

in 1771, and was elected to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in 1776. In 1778 he was created M.A. Madan was curate of

Wrotham Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 motorway, M20 and M26 motorway, M26 motorways. History T ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(1782–3). He was presented in 1786 by his uncle

James Cornwallis James Cornwallis (16 September 1701 – 1727) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1727 as a supporter of the Whig government of Robert Walpole. Cornwallis was the second son of Charles Cornwallis, ...

, the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

, to the prebend and vicarage of Tachbrook,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

; but soon exchanged the prebend for the rectory of

Ibstock Ibstock is a former coal mining village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 5,760 at the 2001 census increasing to 6,201 at the 2011 census and 7,615 at the 2021 census. The village i ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, which he held till his death. In 1787 he was given the rectory of St. Philip's, Birmingham, and resigned the Tachbrook vicarage. He succeeded his father in 1788 as chaplain

in ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household and public officials more generally, it indicates that a position is a permanent one (in contrast to positions that are extraordinary). In naval matt ...

to the king. In 1790 he became canon residentiary of

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Chad in Lichfield, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Lichfield, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lichfield and the principal church of the diocese ...

, in 1794 chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough, and in 1800 prebendary of

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, and formerly known as Peterborough Abbey or St Peter's Abbey, is a cathedral in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. The seat of the Church ...

. While at Birmingham he promoted a subscription for the erection there of "a free church … for the use of the lower classes". In 1809 Madan proceeded D.D. at Cambridge, and on resigning St. Philip's in the same year through ill-health was presented to the living of

Thorpe Constantine Thorpe Constantine is a small village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It lies about north-east of Tamworth and 6 miles south-west of Measham. The nucleus of the parish is the Thorpe estate. History The first part of the name is be ...

, Staffordshire, which he held till 1824. In October 1833 he was attacked with paralysis, from which he only partially recovered. Madan died on 9 October 1836 at Ibstock, aged 78, and was buried in a family vault at Thorpe. His children erected a tablet in Lichfield Cathedral to his memory.

Works

In 1782 Madan's poem ''The Call of the Gentiles'' (Cambridge, 1782) won the Seatonian prize. He undertook, as preparation for holy orders, a translation of Grotius's ''De Veritate'', which was published in 1782 as ''Hugo Grotius on the Truth of Christianity, translated into English''. Other editions followed in 1792 and 1814. Madan had a controversy in 1790 with

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

, who published ''Familiar Letters addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham'', in answer to Madan's sermon on ''The Principal Claims of the Dissenters considered''. Madan replied with ''A Letter to Dr. Priestley''

790 __NOTOC__ Year 790 ( DCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 790th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 790th year of the 1st millennium, the 90th year of the 8th century, and the ...

Family

Madan married in 1791 Henrietta, daughter of William Inge of Thorpe Constantine, and had eleven children.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Madan, Spencer 1758 births 1836 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English translators Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge