John, an eminent non-conformist minister, was educated at University College, Oxford. He became minister, first of Deptford, and afterwards of Dartmouth, in Devonshire, where he resided the greater part of his life, much respected and admired for his preaching; although he was persecuted on account of his principles in 1683, when several of the aldermen of the town, attended by the rabble, carried about an effigy of him, to which were affixed the bill of exclusion and the covenant. Upon this occasion he thought it prudent to withdraw from the town, not knowing what treatment he might experience at the hands of a riotous mob, headed by magistrates who were themselves amongst the lowest of mankind. Part of his Diary, printed with his remains, will give the reader a high idea of his piety. He died in 1691, at the age of sixty-one; and after his death, his works, which consisted of many pieces of practical divinity, were printed in two volumes folio. Amongst these the most curious are his Navigation Spiritualized, or a New Compass for Seamen, of which there have been several editions in 8vo; and Husbandry Spiritualized, with occasional meditations upon beasts, birds, trees, flowers, rivers, and several other objects, of which also there have been many editions in 8vo.