FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS

SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR

John Fox (or Foxe) was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in

1517, where his parents are stated to have lived in respectable

circumstances. He was deprived of his father at an early age;

and notwithstanding his mother soon married again, he still

remained under the parental roof. From an early display of

talents and inclination to learning, his friends were induced to

send him to Oxford, in order to cultivate and bring them to

maturity.

During his residence at this place, he was distinguished for

the excellence and acuteness of his intellect, which was improved

by the emulation of his fellow collegians, united to an

indefatigable zeal and industry on his part. These qualities

soon gained him the admiration of all; and as a reward for his

exertions and amiable conduct, he was chosen fellow of Magdalen

College; which was accounted a great honor in the university, and

seldom bestowed unless in cases of great distinction. It appears

that the first display of his genius was in poetry; and that he

composed some Latin comedies, which are still extant. But he

soon directed his thoughts to a more serious subject, the study

of the sacred Scriptures: to divinity, indeed, he applied himself

with more fervency than circumspection, and discovered his

partiality to the Reformation, which had then commenced, before

he was known to its supporters, or to those who protected them; a

circumstance which proved to him the source of his first

troubles.

He is said to have often affirmed that the first matter

which occasioned his search into the popish doctrine was that he

saw divers things, most repugnant in their nature to one another,

forced upon men at the same time; upon this foundation his

resolution and intended obedience to that Church were somewhat

shaken, and by degrees a dislike to the rest took place.

His first care was to look into both the ancient and modern

history of the Church; to ascertain its beginning and progress;

to consider the causes of all those controversies which in the

meantime had sprung up, and diligently to weigh their effects,

solidity, infirmities, etc.

Before he had attained his thirtieth year, he had studied

the Greek and Latin fathers, and other learned authors, the

transactions of the Councils, and decrees of the consistories,

and had acquired a very competent skill in the Hebrew language.

In these occupations he frequently spent a considerable part, or

even the whole of the night; and in order to unbend his mind

after such incessant study, he would resort to a grove near the

college, a place much frequented by the students in the evening,

on account of its sequestered gloominess. In these solitary

walks he was often heard to ejaculate heavy sobs and sighs, and

with tears to pour forth his prayers to God. These nightly

retirements, in the sequel, gave rise to the first suspicion of

his alienation from the Church of Rome. Being pressed for an

explanation of this alteration in his conduct, he scorned to call

in fiction to his excuse; he stated his opinions; and was, by the

sentence of the college convicted, condemned as a heretic, and

expelled.

His friends, upon the report of this circumstance, were

highly offended, when he was thus forsaken by his own friends, a

refuge offered itself in the house of Sir Thomas Lucy, of

Warwickshire, by whom he was sent for to instruct his children.

The house is within easy walk of Stratford-on-Avon, and it was

this estate which, a few years later, was the scene of

Shakespeare's traditional boyish poaching expedition. Fox died

when Shakespeare was three years old.

In the Lucy house Fox afterward married. But the fear of

the popish inquisitors hastened his departure thence; as they

were not contented to pursue public offences, but began also to

dive into the secrets of private families. He now began to

consider what was best to be done to free himself from further

inconvenience, and resolved either to go to his wife's father or

to his father-in-law.

His wife's father was a citizen of Coventry, whose heart was

not alienated from him, and he was more likely to be well

entreated, or his daughter's sake. He resolved first to go to

him; and, in the meanwhile, by letters, to try whether his

father-in-law would receive him or not. This he accordingly did,

and he received for answer, "that it seemed to him a hard

condition to take one into his house whom he knew to be guilty

and condemned for a capital offence; neither was he ignorant what

hazard he should undergo in so doing; he would, however, show

himself a kinsman, and neglect his own danger. If he would alter

his mind, he might come, on condition to stay as long as he

himself desired; but if he could not be persuaded to that, he

must content himself with a shorter stay, and not bring him and

his mother into danger."

No condition was to be refused; besides, he was secretly

advised by his mother to come, and not to fear his father-in-

law's severity; "for that, perchance, it was needful to write as

he did, but when occasion should be offered, he would make

recompense for his words with his actions." In fact he was

better received by both of them than he had hoped for.

By these means he kept himself concealed for some time, and

afterwards made a journey to London, in the latter part of the

reign of Henry VIII. Here, being unknown, he was in much

distress, and was even reduced to the danger of being starved to

death, had not Providence interfered in his favor in the

following manner:

One day as Mr. Fox was sitting in St. Paul's Church,

exhausted with long fasting, a stranger took a seat by his side,

and courteously saluted him, thrust a sum of money into his hand,

and bade him cheer up his spirits; at the same time informing

him, that in a few days new prospects would present themselves

for his future subsistence. Who this stranger was, he could

never learn; but at the end of three days he received an

invitation from the Duchess of Richmond to undertake the tuition

of the children of the Earl of Surry who, together with his

father, the Duke of Norfolk, was imprisoned in the Tower, by the

jealousy and ingratitude of the king. The children thus confided

to his care were, Thomas, who succeeded to the dukedom; Henry,

afterwards Earl of Northampton; and Jane who became Countess of

Westmoreland. In the performance of his duties, he fully

satisfied the expectations of the duchess, their aunt.

These halcyon days continued during the latter part of the

reign of Henry VIII and the five years of the reign of Edward VI

until Mary came to the crown, who, soon after her accessiopn,

gave all power into the hands of the papists.

At this time Mr. Fox, who was still under the protection of

his noble pupil, the duke, began to excite the envy and hatred of

many, particularly Dr. Gardiner, then Bishop of Winchester, who

in the sequel became his most violent enemy.

Mr. Fox, aware of this, and seeing the dreadful persecutions

then commencing, began to think of quitting the kingdom. As soon

as the duke knew his intention, he endeavored to persuade him to

remain; and his arguments were so powerful, and given with so

much sincerity, that he gave up the thought of abandoning his

asylum for the present.

At that time the Bishop of Winchester was very intimate with

the duke (by the patronage of whose family he had risen to the

dignity he then enjoyed,) and frequently waited on him to present

his service when he several times requested that he might see his

old tutor. At first the duke denied his request, at one time

alleging his absence, at another, indisposition. At length it

happened that Mr. Fox, not knowing the bishop was in the house,

entered the room where the duke and he were in discourse; and

seeing the bishop, withdrew. Gardiner asked who that was; the

duke answered that he was "his physician, who was somewhat

uncourtly, as being new come from the university." "I like his

countenance and aspect very well," replied the bishop, "and when

occasion offers, I will send for him." The duke understood that

speech as the messenger of some approaching danger; and now

himself thought it high time for Mr. Fox to quit the city, and

even the country. He accordingly caused everything necessary for

his flight to be provided in silence, by sending one of his

servants to Ipswich to hire a bark, and prepare all the

requisites for his departure. He also fixed on the house of one

of his servants, who was a farmer, where he might lodge until the

wind became favorable; and everything being in readiness, Mr. Fox

took leave of his noble patron, and with his wife, who was

pregnant at the time, secretly departed for the ship.

The vessel was scarcely under sail, when a most violent

storm came on, which lasted all day and night, and the next day

drove them back to the port from which they had departed. During

the time that the vessel had been at sea, an officer, despatched

by the bishop of Winchester, had broken open the house of the

farmer with a warrant to apprehend Mr. Fox wherever he might be

found, and bring him back to the city. On hearing this news he

hired a horse, under the pretence of leaving the town

immediately; but secretly returned the same night, and agreed

with the captain of the vessel to sail for any place as soon as

the wind should shift, only desired him to proceed, and not to

doubt that God would prosper his undertaking. The mariner

suffered himself to be persuaded, and within two days landed his

passengers in safety at Nieuport.

After spending a few days in that place, Mr. Fox set out for

Basle, where he found a number of English refugees, who had

quitted their country to avoid the cruelty of the persecutors,

with these he associated, and began to write his "History of the

Acts and Monuments of the Church," which was first published in

Latin at Basle in 1554, and in English in 1563.

In the meantime the reformed religion began again to

flourish in England, and the popish faction much to decline, by

the death of Queen Mary; which induced the greater number of the

Protestant exiles to return to their native country.

Among others, on the accession of Elizabeth to the throne,

Mr. Fox returned to England; where, on his arrival, he found a

faithful and active friend in his late pupil, the Duke of

Norfolk, until death deprived him of his benefactor: after which

event, Mr. Fox inherited a pension bequeathed to him by the duke,

and ratified by his son, the Earl of Suffolk.

Nor did the good man's successes stop here. On being

recommended to the queen by her secretary of state, the great

Cecil, her majesty granted him the prebendary of Shipton, in the

cathedral of Salisbury, which was in a manner forced upon him;

for it was with difficulty that he could be persuaded to accept

it.

On his resettlement in England, he employed himself in

revising and enlarging his admirable Martyrology. With prodigious

pains and constant study he completed that celebrated work in

eleven years. For the sake of greater correctness, he wrote every

line of this vast book with his own hand, and transcribed all the

records and papers himself. But, in consequence of such excessive

toil, leaving no part of his time free from study, nor affording

himself either the repose or recreation which nature required,

his health was so reduced, and his person became so emaciated and

altered, that such of his friends and relations as only conversed

with him occasionally, could scarcely recognize his person. Yet,

though he grew daily more exhausted, he proceeded in his studies

as briskly as ever, nor would he be persuaded to diminish his

accustomed labors. The papists, forseeing how detrimental his

history of their errors and cruelties would prove to their cause,

had recourse to every artifice to lessen the reputation of his

work; but their malice was of signal service, both to Mr. Fox

himself, and to the Church of God at large, as it eventually made

his book more intrinsically valuable, by inducing him to weigh,

with the most scrupulous attention, the certainty of the facts

which he recorded, and the validity of the authorities from which

he drew his information.

But while he was thus indefatigably employed in promoting

the cause of truth, he did not neglect the other duties of his

station; he was charitable, humane, and attentive to the wants,

both spiritual and temporal, of his neighbors. With the view of

being more extensively useful, although he had no desire to

cultivate the acquaintance of the rich and great on his own

account, he did not decline the friendship of those in a higher

rank who proffered it, and never failed to employ his influence

with them in behalf of the poor and needy. In consequence of his

well-known probity and charity, he was frequently presented with

sums of money by persons possessed of wealth, which he accepted

and distributed among those who were distressed. He would also

occasionally attend the table of his friends, not so much for the

sake of pleasure, as from civility, and to convince them that his

absence was not occasoned by a fear of being exposed to the

temptations of the appetite. In short his character as a man and

as a Christian was without reproach.

Although the recent recollection of the persecutions under

Bloody Mary gave bitterness to his pen, it is singular to note

that he was personally the most conciliatory of men, and that

while he heartily disowned the Roman Church in which he was born,

he was one of the first to attempt the concord of the Protestant

brethren. In fact, he was a veritable apostle of toleration.

When the plague or pestilence broke out in England, in 1563,

and many forsook their duties, Fox remained at his post,

assisting the friendless and acting as the almsgiver of the rich.

It was said of him that he could never refuse help to any one who

asked it in the name of Christ. Tolerant and large-hearted he

exerted his influence with Queen Elizabeth to confirm her

intention to no longer keep up the cruel practice of putting to

death those of opposing religious convictions. The queen held

him in respect and referred to him as "Our Father Foxe."

Mr. Fox had joy in the fruits of his work while he was yet

alive. It passed through four large editions before his decease,

and it was orderred by the bishops to be placed in every

cathedral church in England, where it was often found chained, as

the Bible was in those days, to a lectern for the access of the

people.

At length, having long served both the Church and the world

by his ministry, by his pen, and by the unsullied luster of a

benevolent, useful, and holy life, he meekly resigned his soul to

Christ, on the eighteenth of April, 1587, being then in the

seventieth year of his age. He was interred in the chancel of

St. Giles', Cripplegate; of which parish he had been, in the

beginning of Elizabeth's reign, for some time vicar.