GOUGE, gauge, THOMAS: English non-conformist divine and philanthropist; b. in London Sept. 29, 1609; d. there Oct. 29, 1681. He studied at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, where he became fellow in 1828; took orders, and accepted the appointment to Coulsdon, Surrey, 1635; became

0ottsol Qouge vicar of St. Sepulcher's, London, 1638, where he distinguished himself by his catechetical instruction, and also by a system of relief of the poor by providing work instead of giving alms. By the Uniformity Act of 1662 (see Uniformity, Acts of) he was compelled to leave his living, and his charitable endeavors were directed to the relief of the netresssities of ejected London clergymen, giving largely of his own means to this and other charities and reserving a mere pittance for his own support. In 1672 he engaged in the work of education and evangelization in Wales, including the translation, publishing, and distribution of the Bible, catechism, and other religious works. His own writings, several of which were translated into Welsh, include: The Christian Householder (London, 1663); Christian Directions (1664); The Principles of Christian Religion Explained (1675); and The Surest and Safest Way of Thriving (1676); and many tracts which continued to be reproduced past the middle of the nineteenth century. His Works were collected with an Account of His Life by Archbishop J. Tillotson (1706).

Bibliography: Besides the Life by J. Tillotson, ut sup., consult: Samuel Clarke, Lives of Sundry Eminent Persons, i. 202-203, London, 1683; T. Rees, Hist. of Pretestant Non conformity in Wales, pp. 198-197, 203-204, ib., 1883; DNB, aOai. 289-271.

GOUGE, WILLIAM: Puritan and Presbyterian; b. at Stratford Bow (4 m. e.n.e. of London) Nov. 1, 1575 (so his son states, but others say Dec. 25, 1578); d. in London Dec. 12, 1653. He was educated in St. Paul's School, London, and at Eton, and entered King's College, Cambridge, in 1595, where he became fellow in three years, and subsequently lectured on logic and philosophy and taught Hebrew, which he had learned from a Jew. During his nine years at Cambridge he was so strict and careful in all his life and studies as to earn the title "an arch-Puritan." Reluctantly he withdrew from his studies to enter upon the active work of the ministry. He was ordained in June, 1608, in the parish of Blackfriars, where he remained until his death, accounted " the father of the London divines, and the oracle of his time." In his early ministry he was brought into trouble with the government by his publication of Sir Henry Finch on The World's Great Restaurntion, or Calling of the Jews, and with them of All Nations and Kingdoms of the Earth to the Faith of Christ (1621), and was thrown into prison because Finch's speculation that the Jews would soon set up a world-wide empire was considered treasonable by King James. After nine weeks he was released, having given a statement of his own opinions, which were entirely orthodox. Several volumes of his sermons were issued: The Whole Armour of God (1616); Domestic Duties (1622, 3d ed., 1634); Guide to Go to God (1626); God's Three Arrows: Plague, Famine and Sword (1631); The Saint's Sacrifice (1632) and others. He was also distinguished for his method of catechizing, which was first published without his knowledge, but afterward revised and edited by himself in many editions; the eighth (1637) containing a larger and lesser catechism, with prayers, In 1643 he was made a member of the Westminster

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Assembly and took an active part in the proceedings, in 1647 becoming one of the assessors. He was on the committee for the examination of ministers, on that for drafting a confession of faith, and was chosen with others to write the Assembly's annotations on the Bible, his part being from I Kings to Job. He assisted in the conflict with the Separatists of the day. He was chosen prolocutor of the first Provincial Assembly of London, May 3, 1647, and was a recognized leader of the London ministers, uniting with them in protesting against the execution of Charles I. and the actions of Cromwell. His last work was his commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, which he barely lived to finish, and which was published after his death, by his son, in 1655 (2 vols.).

C. A. Briggs.

Bibliography: His Life, by his son, is prefixed to the 1&55 edition of his Commentary, and in H. Clark's Lives of Thirty-two English Divines, pp. 234 sqq., London, 1677 . Consult further: A. i; Wood, Athence Oxonienaea, i. 807, ib. 1691; J. Reid, Memoirs of the Westminster Divines, Paisley, 1811; B. Brook, Lives of the Puritans, iii. 165, London, 1813; DNB, xxii. 271-273.