A Comparison betweene the Days of Purim and that of the Powder Treason for the better Continuance of the memory of it, and the stirring up of mens affections to a more Zealous observation therof.

Original text rebound in cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine, 7.25" x 5.25", 36 pp. Damage to top corner of text leaves, margins only, with old paper repairs. There's a bit of loss on the decorated frame on the title page, but no text loss. George Hakewill was a noted and well-connected clergyman: he was one of only two clergymen appointed to save Prince Charles "from the inroads of popery." Strongly anti-Catholic, the events of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot make for an interesting study. For twenty years, November 5th had been celebrated, and it was possible that the younger generation didn't really know what it was all about--although it wasn't until many years later that it would be known as Guy Fawkes Day. Hakewill uses the Jewish customary celebration of Purim as a direct correlating holiday because the events, actors, and results are mirrored. By doing so, he establishes that it was the will of God that England survive this attack by Jesuits: "it may appeare that the mercy of God was more cleerely manisfested in our Deliverance than in [the Jews]". A brilliant rhetorical device giving divine destiny to England, while also trashing Catholics. Madan, Oxford Books 1626:5.…