Life

He was born into an old family which had long been influential in Liskeard

Liskeard

Liskeard is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Liskeard is situated approximately 20 miles west of Plymouth, west of the River Tamar and the border with Devon, and 12 miles east of Bodmin...

, Cornwall. His father was mayor there in 1621, and 1625 he was himself mayor of Liskeard, and in 1640 was again returned to represent the borough

Liskeard (UK Parliament constituency)

Liskeard was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.- History :...

 in the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

.

He was a royalist, and followed the king to Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in 1643. Next year he was one of the royal commissioners in Cornwall, where in August 1644 he entertained Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 in his house. During 1645 and 1646 he was in correspondence with Sir Edward Hyde

Edward Hyde

Edward Hyde may refer to:* Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon , English historian and statesman* Edward Hyde , British MP* Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon , Governor of New York and New Jersey* Edward Hyde Edward Hyde may refer to:* Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674), English...

, afterwards earl of Clarendon

Earl of Clarendon

Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1661 for the statesman Edward Hyde, 1st Baron Hyde...

, on the state of the royalist cause in Cornwall. On its failure Jane lost his estates, and had to pay a heavy composition. Remaining true to his principles, in 1650 and again in 1654 he was named clerk of the royal council .

His son William Jane

William Jane

William Jane was an English academic and clergyman, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford from 1680.-Life:The son of Joseph Jane, he was born at Liskeard, Cornwall, where he was baptised on 22 October 1645. He was educated at Westminster School, elected student of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1660,...

 was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford.

Works

Jane undertook to answer John Milton

John Milton

John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...

's ‘Eἰκονοκλάστης

Eikonoklastes

Eikonoklastes is a book by John Milton, published October 1649. In it he provides a justification for the execution of Charles I, which had taken place on 30 January 1649. The book's title is taken from the Greek, and means "iconoclast" or "breaker of the icon", and refers to Eikon Basilike, a...

’ in a work ‘Eἰκών Ἂκλαστος; the Image Unbroken, a Perspective of the Impudence, Falsehoode, Vanitie, and Prophaneness published in a libel entitled “Eἰκονοκλάστης against Eἰκών Βασιλικὴ,”’ published in 1651 (without place). It is a laborious answer to Milton, and takes his paragraphs in detail. Writing to Secretary Nicholas in June 1652, Edward Hyde said ‘the king has a singular good esteem both of Joseph Jane and of his book.’ Hyde shared this high opinion of the man, but doubted whether the book was worth translating into French, the better to counteract the effect of Milton's, as had been proposed.