Robert Hawker?

I don't know if anyone knows anything about Robert Hawker. He was a preacher in England in the 1800's, and i have recently discovered his daily devotional called 'The poor man's portion'. It is very devotional and he has a great gift of showing us the Saviour in a way that few are able to do. I have also read that Spurgeon read Hawker and was somewhat of a fan of his, although he did say that Hawker's writing is all sugar, and so it is good to consume but not in fast quantities on its own.

However i have also discovered that apparently Hawker converted to Roman Catholicism on his death bed. Does anyone know anything about this?

It seems unbelievable to me, and it almost kept me up last night thinking about it. Why would someone who saw the all suffieciency of Christ and His finished work so well as Hawker did, convert to Roman Catholicism on his death bed? I am completly bemused by it!

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has anymore insight into this. My only guess is that maybe he was going senial and perhaps that exmplains why he did it- otherwise why on earth would he have done so?

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hawker]Robert Hawker [/url]

[i]He stood alone almost in welcoming John Wesley and extending fellowship to the man whose visits were punctuated by riots and near revival. He had such a high regard for Wesley that one of his colleagues described him as “little better than a Wesleyan himself”, a strong insult. Hawker invited Wesley to his home for a meal despite the uproar this caused. He was reported to the Bishop but remained indifferent to the response. Like Wesley, he longed that all men might hear the Gospel and this brought them together.[/i]

I don't know him. It might be that he was so influenced by the old Catholic mystics like Fenelon, Guyon and whoever else there was that it played a role in that decision. I know Guyon used the apochropha and quoted from it books that is not in the canon...perhaps.