The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume VII. Cavalier and Puritan.
§ 21. John Rous’s Diary
A special interest belongs to the Diary of John Rous, incumbent, from 1625 to 1643, of Santon Downham, Suffolk. John Rous, educated at Emmanuel college, Cambridge, was, for the last third of his life, minister of a village or hamlet adjoining the parish of which his father was rector. Thus, nothing could have been more humdrum than the course of his life; but his Diary, which seems to have been intended entirely for private use, probably gained, rather than lost, from the conditions of his existence. For, while paying much attention to political and religious controversy, he was a lover of literature; and thus he was led to preserve, from no party point of view, an amount of contemporary satirical verse which, considering the limits of his Diary, is curiously large, besides occasional political and other documents. At the same time, he was a thinking man, and one who expressed his opinions, temperate as they were, with distinctness; so that, notwithstanding his moderation, it is clear that he believed time to be on the side of the parliament rather than on that of the king. What remains of his Diary has, accordingly, a flavour and value of its own, while forming a sort of repertory of contemporary satirical literature.