Earle, John (c. 1601-1665)

English cleric and essayist. As a writer, he is chiefly remembered for his entertaining Microcosmographie, or A Piece of the World Discovered in Essays and Characters 1628.

Born in York and educated at Oxford, where he was a fellow of Merton College, Earle became chaplain to Charles II. At the Restoration he was made dean of Westminster, in 1662 bishop of Worcester, and in 1663 bishop of Salisbury. Learned and eloquent, he was opposed to all forms of religious persecution.