John Fox

John Fox, A. M.—This celebrated man, usually denominated the English Martyrologist, was born of respectable

Srarents at Boston in Lincolnshire, in the year 1517. His ather dying when he was young, and his mother marrying again, he came under the guardianship of his father-in-law. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to Brazen-nose college, Oxford; and afterwards he became fellow of Magdalen college, in the same university. In the days of his youth, he discovered a genius and taste for poetry, and wrote several Latin comedies, upon subjects taken from the scriptures.

For some time after his going to the university, Mr. Fox was strongly attached to the superstitions and errors of popery. He was not only zealous for the Romish church, and strictly moral in his life, but rejected the doctrine of justification by faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ, and concluded himself to be sufficiently safe by trusting in the imaginary merit of his own self-denial, penances, almsdeeds, and compliance with the ceremonies of the church. Afterwards, by the blessing of God upon his studies, he was delivered from this self-righteousness, and led to submit himself to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And by his indefatigable researches into ecclesiastical history, together with the writings of the fathers, but especially by his thorough acquaintance with the holy scriptures, he was convinced of the immense distance to which the church of Rome had departed from the faith, and spirit, and practice of the gospel.

In order to make himself a more competent judge of the controversy, which now began to be warmly discussed betwixt protestants and papists, he searched all the ancient and moder n histories of the church with indefatigable assiduity. His labours to find out the truth were indeed so great, that, before he was thirty years of age, he read all the Greek and Latin fathers, all the schoolmen, and the decrees of councils, and made considerable progress in other

• See Art. George Gifford.

branches of useful knowledge. During this close application, he avoided all kinds of company, and betook himself to the most solitary retirement, often spending whole nights in his study. At length, from this strict and severe application, having forsaken his old popish friends, and from the dubious manner in which he spoke, when he was obliged to

five his opinion on religious subjects, but, above all, from is sparing attendance on the public worship of the national church, in which he had been remarkably strict, he was suspected of alienation from her constitution and ceremonies,

Mr. Fox having found the truth, soon became bold and courageous in the profession of it, even in those dark times of popery. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God in the cause of truth, than enjoy the pleasures

declaration of our Lord, " Whosoever is ashamed of me,

of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels;" he determined to venture the loss of all things for the sake of Christ; and, therefore, openly professed himself a protestant. This he had no sooner done, than he was publicly accused of heresy, and expelled from the college. His adversaries, indeed, thought they dealt favourably in suffering him to escape with his life. This was in the year 1545.* Wood, by mistake, says, he resigned his fellowship, and left the university, to avoid expulsion. +

Mr. Fox being expelled from the university, lost the favour of his friends and relations. As he was convicted of heresy, they thought it unsafe, and were therefore unwilling, to countenance or protect him. His father-in* law, in particular, seized this opportunity of withholding from him the estate which his own father had left him. While he was thus forsaken and oppressed, God, in the hour of extremity, raised up an unexpected friend and patron, in Sir Thomas Lucy of Warwickshire. This worthy person took him into his house, and made him tutor to his children. Here he found a comfortable asylum from the storm of persecution. While in this situation, he married a citizen's daughter of Coventry, but still continued in Sir Thomas's family till his pupils were grown up. Afterwards,

• Life of Mr. Fox prefixed to his " Acta and Monuments of the Martyn."

+ Athena Oxon^vol. i. p. 185.

of sin for a season.

with some difficulty, he procured entertainment sometimes at the house of his father-in-law, and sometimes at the house of his wife's father in Coventry, till a little before the death of King Henry VIII., when he removed to London.

For a considerable time after his removal to the metropolis, having no employment, nor yet any preferment, he was again reduced to extreme want. However, by the kind providence of God, he was at length relieved, in the following remarkable manner: As he was sitting one day in St. Paul's church, his countenance being pale, his eyes hollow, and like a ghastly, dying man, a person, whom he never remembered to have seen before, came and sat down by him, and accosting him with much familiarity, put a sum of money into his hand, saying, " Be of good comfort, Mr. Fox. Take care of yourself, and use all means to preserve your life. For, depend upon it, God will, in a few days, give you a bettor prospect, and more certain means of subsistence." Though he could never learn from whom he received this seasonable relief, within three days of that memorable event, he was taken into the family of the Duchess of Richmond, to be tutor to the Earl of Surrey's children, whose education was committed to her care.*

Mr. Fox continued in this honourable family, at Ryegate in Surrey, during part of the reign of Henry VIII., the whole of Edward VI., and part of Queen Mary's. Bishop Gardiner, a most bloody persecutor, in whose diocese he found so comfortable and safe a retreat, would have brought him to the stake, had he not been protected by the Duke of Norfolk, who had been one of his pupils. Mr. Fox, it is said, was the first person who ventured to preach the gospel at Ryegate; and with deep concern, Gardiner beheld the heir to one of the noblest families in England, trained up, under his influence, to the protestant religion. This prelate formed various designs against the safety of Mr. Fox; and sought by numerous stratagems, to effect his ruin. The good man, who was less suspicious of the bishop, than the bishop was of him, was obliged, at length, to quit his native country, and seek refuge in a foreign land. The duke, who loved and revered him as a father, sheltered him from the storm as long as he was able; and when Mr. Fox was obliged to flee for safety, he took care to provide him with every comfortable accommodation for the voyage.

• Life of Mr. Fox.

He set sail from Ipswich, accompanied by his wife, and some other persons, who left the country on a similar account. The vessel had no sooner got to sea, than a tremendous storm arose, which obliged them to return to port next day. Having with great difficulty reached the land, Mr. Fox was saluted with indubitable information, that Bishop Gardiner had issued warrants for apprehending him, and that the most diligent search had been made for him, during his absence at sea. He, therefore, prevailed upon the master of the ship to put to sea again, though the attempt was extremely dangerous; and in two days, they arrived at Newport in Flanders. Thus, by the kind providence of God, he a second time, narrowly escaped the fire.*

After his arrival in Flanders, Mr. Fox travelled to Antwerp, then to Frankfort in Germany; where he was involved in the troubles excited by the officious and unkind proceedings of Dr. Cox and his party.t The first settlers at Frankfort being driven from the place, Mr. Fox removed to Basil in Switzerland, to which city many of his fellow exiles accompanied him. Basil was then one of the most famous places in Europe, for printing; and many of the English refugees, who retired thither, procured their subsistence by revising and correcting the press. By this employment, Mr. Fox maintained himself and his family. Also, at Basil, he laid the plan of his " Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs," which he afterwards, with immense labour, finished in his own country. Mr. Strype is, however, very incorrect when he intimates that our author published his first book while he was in a state of exile.}

Having mentioned the above celebrated work, commonly called Fox's " Book of Martyrs," it will be proper to give some account of this fruit of his Herculean labour. We have already observed that the author directed his attention to this work) during his residence at Basil; but he reserved the greatest part of it till his return to his native country, that he might procure the authority and testimony of more witnesses. It appears from the author's own notes, that he was eleven years in compiling this great work; and in this, as well as in some others of his labours, Mr. Fox was favoured with the particular assistance of several distinguished persons. Among these were Mr. John Aylmer,

• Life of Mr. Fox.

+ Troubles at Frankeford, p. 30, 47, 50. t Strype't Cranmer, p. 358.

afterwards Bishop of London;* Mr. Edmund Grindal, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury; and Mr. Thomas Norton, afterwards a celebrated lawyer, member of parliament, and a noted puritan, who married the only daughter of Archbishop Cranmer. From the last of these, our author is said to have derived the greatest assistances It also appears that Grindal, besides his constant counsel and advice in the course of the work, supplied our author with numerous materials, which, when he had digested and methodized them, were of great use to him. During Grindal's exile, he established a correspondence in England for this purpose, by which means, accounts of most of the acts and sufferings of those who were persecuted in Queen Mary's reign, came to his hands; and it is said to have been owing to Grindal's strict and tender regard to truth, that the work Was so long in hand; for he rejected all common reports and relations that were carried over, till more satisfactory evidence could be procured. It was by his advice, that Mr. Fox at first printed separately the acts of some particular persons, of whom any sure and authentic memoirs came to hand, till materials for a more complete history of the martyrs, with their persecutions and sufferings, could be obtained. In pursuance of this advice, Mr. Fox published at Basil, various histories of the English bishops and divines, in single pieces, soon after their respective persecutions and martyrdoms.

Mr. Fox at first undertook to publish his laborious work in Latin; but by the advice of Grindal, it was printed in Latin and English, for more general usefulness. It was published in London in 1563, in one thick volume folio, with this title, « Actes and Monuments of these latter perillous days touching matters of the Churche, wherein are comprehended and described the great persecutions and horrible troubles that have been wrought and practised by the Romish prelates speciallye in this realme of England and Scotland, from the yeare of our Lorde a thousand unto the time now present," &c. A fourth edition was printed in London in 1583, in two volumes folio, and it was reprinted in 1632, in three volumes folio. The ninth edition was printed in London in 1684, in three volumes folio, with copper cuts, the former editions having only wooden ones4

* Strype's Aylmer, p, II.

+ MS. Chronology, vol. i. p. 243 (2), 243 (3.)

t Biog. Britan. vol. iii. p. 2022, 2023. Edit. 1747.—Wood'* Athene Oxoo. vol. i. p. 187.

To this edition there is frequent reference in the present rolume.

Several writers have laboured to depreciate the memory of Mr. Fox, by insinuating that his History of the Martyrs contained many misrepresentations and falsehoods. Dr. Collier, who embraces all opportunities to lessen his reputation and undervalue his work, accuses him of disingenuity and ill nature, and says, he ought to be read with great caution. He tells us, that a vein of satire and coarse language runs through his martyrology, and instances the case of the cruel Bishop Gardiner, whom he styles ^u an insensible ass, who had no feeling of God's spirit in the matter of justification."* He charges Mr. Fox with other improprieties and inconsistencies, and adds, " I cannot perceive the martyrologist had any right to Elijah's sarcasm. His zeal without doubt was too much imbittered. He was plainly ridden by his passion, and pushed by disaffection, towards profaneness."+ It is readily acknowledged, that Mr. Fox sometimes discovers too warm a temper; and it was almost impossible it should be otherwise, considering the circumstances under which he wrote, and those cruel proceedings which he has handed down to posterity. This was too common among our zealous reformers, who, it must be confessed, were sometimes hurried forwards to lengths by no means jutifiable.

Wood observes, " that as Mr. Fox hath taken a great deal of pains in his work, and shewed sometimes much judgment in it; so hath he committed many errors therein, by trusting to the relations of poor simple people, and in making such martyrs as were living after the first edition of his book came forth, though afterwards by him excused and omitted."} Admitting all this, what does it prove? It is very justly observed, that as to private stories, Mr. Fox and his friends used the utmost diligence and care, that no falsehood might be obtruded on the reader, and were ever ready to correct any mistakes that might happen.^ Though he might be misinformed in several parts of his intelligence; yet these he corrected, as they came to his knowledge. Indeed, these were inconveniences which must attend the compiling of so large a body of modern history, as Mr. Fox's chiefly was. No man is likely to receive, from

• Collier's Eccl. Hist. vol. ii. p. 45, 233. t Ibid. p. 43, 375, 586.

t Wood's Athens, vol. i. p. 187.

S Biog. Britan. vol. iii. p. 2024. Edit. 1747.

various hands, so large a mass of information, and all be found perfect truth, and when digested to be found without the least trait of error. What is the weight of all the objections offered in contempt of the Foxian martyrs, to overthrow so solid and immoveable a fabric ? It is compiled of so many undeniable evidences of popish barbarity, that its reputation will remain unsullied to the latest period of time. The Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs have long been, they still remain, and will always continue, substantial pillars of the protestant church; of more force than many more volumes of bare arguments, to withstand the tide of popery; and, like a Pharos, should be lighted up in every age, as a warning to all posterity.*

The indefatigable Strype passes the following encomium on the work:—" Mr. Fox," says he, " hath done such exquisite service to the protestant cause, in shewing from abundance of ancient books, records, registers, and choice manuscripts, the encroachments of popes and papelins, and the stout oppositions that were made by learned and good men in all ages, and in all countries, against them; especially under King Henry and Queen Mary in England. He hath preserved the memoirs of those holy men and women, those bishops and divines, together with their histories, acts, sufferings and deaths, willingly undergone for the sake of Christ and his gospel, and for refusing to comply with the popish doctrines and superstitions. And Mr. Fox must not pass without the commendation of a most painful searcher into records, archives, and repositories of original acts, and letters of state, and a great collector of manuscripts. The world is infinitely indebted to him for abundance of extracts thence, and communicated in these volumes. And as he hath been found most diligent, so most strictly true and faithful in his transcriptions, "t

No book ever gave so deep a wound to the errors, superstitions, and persecutions ofpopery; on which account the talents, virtues, and labours of Mr. Fox rendered him a fit object of papal malice and enmity. No man could be more hated and calumniated than he was by his enemies. His name, together with some others, was inserted at Rome in a " bede-roll," or list of persons who were appointed to be dispatched; and the particular mode of his death, as by

• Biog. Britan. vol. ii. p. 556. Edit. 1718. + Strype'» Anoals, vol. i. p. 239, 241.

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burning or banging, pointed out, when the design of invading and over-running England should be accomplished.* By order of Queen Elizabeth, Mr. Fox's History of the Martyrs was placed in the common halls of archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and heads of colleges, and in all churches and chapels throughout the kingdom.t

On the accession of Queen Elizabeth, our learned divine returned from exile, and was cordially received and courteously entertained by his noble pupil, the Duke of Norfolk ;t who maintained him at his house, and settled a pension upon him at his death. Afterwards, in 1572, when this unhappy duke was beheaded on Tower-hill, for his treasonable connections with the Queen of Scots, Mr. Fox and Dr. Nowell, dean of St. Paul's, attended him upon the scaffold. ^

Mr. Fox lived many years highly esteemed and favoured by persons of quality. Bishops Grindal, Parkhurst, Pilkington, and Aylmer; also Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Thomas Gresham, and many others, were his powerful friends. By their influence, they would have raised him to the highest preferment; but, as he could not subscribe, and disapproved of some of the ceremonies, he modestly declined their offers. Indeed, he was offered almost any preferment he pleased, but was more happy in declining them, excepting a prebend in the church of Salisbury.il

For the space of three years after his return from exile, Mr. Fox had no preferment whatever: and in a letter to his friend Dr. Lawrence Humphrey, he says, " I still " wear the same clothes, and remain in the same sordid con" dition that England received me in, when I first came " from Germany: nor do I change my degree or order, " which is that of the mendicants, or, if you will, of the

• Churton's Life of Nowell, p. 271, 272.

+ Mr. Fox's Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs, and Bishop Jewel's Reply to Harding, continued to be thus honoured till the time of Archbishop Laud. This domineering prelate no sooner understood that the learned authors maintained, " That the communion table ought to stand among the people in the body of the church, and not altar-wise, at one end of it," than he was displeased, and ordered their books to be taken out of the churches.—Wood's Athena, toi. i. p. 187.—Prynne't Cant. Dooms, p, 88.

t Strype's Annals, vol. i. p. 1S2.

S Churton's Life of Nowell, p. 208.

| Wood's Athens: Ozon. vol. i. p. 186.

"friars preachers."* Thus did this grave and learned divine pleasantly reproach the ingratitude of the times. He continued without the least preferment till the year 1563, when Secretary Cecil procured him the above prebend ; which, with some difficulty, he kept to his death. This was all the preferment he ever obtained.

In the year 1564, the Bishop of London having preached the Emperor Ferdinand's funeral sermon, in the cathedral of St. Paul's, it was ordered to be printed, and to be translated into Latin, " by the ready and elegant pen of John Fox."t During the same year, Archbishop Parker attempted to force the clergy into a conformity to the established church; for which purpose he summoned all the London ministers to appear at Lambeth, when they were examined upon the following question : " Will you promise conformity to the apparel by law established, and testify the same by the subscription of your hands ?" Those who refused were immediately suspended, and after three months, deprived of their livings.t To prepare the way, Mr. Fox was summoned first, that the reputation of his great piety, might give the greater countenance to their proceedings. When they called him to subscribe, he took his Greek Testament out of his pocket, and said, To this I will subscribe. And when the commissioners required him to subscribe the canons, he refused, saying, " I have nothing in the church but a prebend in Salisbury, and much good may it do you, if you take it from me."^ His ecclesiastical judges, however, had not sufficient courage to deprive so celebrated a divine, who held up the ashes of Smithneld before their eyes. It ought here to be observed, that Mr. Strype is guilty of a twofold mistake, when he says, that, in 1566, Mr. Fox had no ecclesiastical living; and that though he was no approver of the habits, he was not summoned before the ecclesiastical commissioners.H

Though Mr. Fox refused subscription and conformity to certain ecclesiastical ceremonies, he behaved with great moderation, and disapproved of the warmth of the more

• The remains of popish superstition were so prevalent in the church of tngland, especially among the ruling prelates in the time of Queen Elizabeth, that for many years, the eating of flesh was prohibited, during the weeks of Lent; yet, in certain rases, dispensations were granted. Accordingly, Mr. Fox being a man of a weak and sickly constitution, this favour was conferred upon him by Archbishop Parker!!—Strype's Parktr, p.I12,178.

+ Churton's Life of Nowell, p. 106. t Strype's Grindal, p. 98.

I Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 76.—Heylin'i Hilt, of Refor. p. SSI.

5 Strype's Parker, p. 223.

rigid and zealous puritans. And while he expressed his dislike of separation, he was exceedingly grieved about those things which gave the occasion.* Speaking of Blumfield, a wicked persecutor of the pious Mr. Harelson, for not wearing the surplice, he said, " It is a pity that such baits " of popery are left to the enemies, to take christians in. " God take them away from us, or us from them. For God " knoweth they are the cause of much blindness and strife " among men."+

At the above period, Mr. Fox presented a Latin panegyric to the queen, for having granted indulgence to several nonconformist divines. But in the year 1575, he addressed her majesty on a very different occasion. During this year a most severe persecution was raised against the anabaptists in London, ten of whom were condemned, eight ordered to be banished, and two to be executed. Mr. Fox, therefore, wrote an excellent Latin letter to the queen, in which he observes, " That to punish with the flames, the bodies of those who err rather from ignorance, than obstinacy, is cruel, and more like the church of Rome, than the mildness of the gospel. I do not write thus," says he, " from any bias to the indulgence of error; but to save the lives of men, being myself a man; and in hope that the offending parties may have an opportunity to repent, and retract their mistakes." He then earnestly entreats that the fires of Smithfield might not be rekindled; but that some milder punishment might be inflicted upon them, to prevent, if possible, the destruction of their souls, as well as their bodies.} But his remonstrances were ineffectual. The queen remained inflexible; and though she constantly called him Father Fox, she gave him a flat denial, as to saving their lives, unless they would recant their dangerous errors. They both refusing to recant, were burnt in Smithfield, July 22, 1575; to the great and lasting disgrace of the reign and character of Queen Elizabeth.^

• Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 106.—Strype's Parker, p. 223, 224.

+ Baxter's Second Plea, p. 56.

1 Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 104, 105.

$ On Easter Sunday in this year, a congregation of Dutch anabaptists was discovered, without Aldgate, London ; when twenty-seven persons were apprehended and cast into prison, fonr of whom, bearing fagots at Paul's cross, recanted their dangerous opinions. The two who were executed were John Wielmaker and Hendrick Ter Woort; or, as some of our historians call them, John Paterson and Henry Tcrwoordt. Previous to their execution, they suffered sixteen weeks imprisonment. The Dutch congregation in London made earnest intercession to the lords of the council, to obtain their pardon ; but all to no purpose. The two unhappy

Mr. Fox was a man of great humanity and uncommon liberality. He was a most laborious student, and remarkably abstemious; and a most learned, pious, and judicious divine, and ever opposed to all methods of severity in matters of religion. But as he was a nonconformist, he was shamefully neglected. '"Although the richest mitre in England," says Fuller, ^u would have counted itself preferred by being placed upon his head, he contented himself with a prebend of Salisbury. And while proud persons stretched out their plumes in ostentation, he used their vanity for his shelter; and was more pleased to have worth, than to have others take notice of it. And how learnedly he wrote, how constantly he preached, how piously he lived, and how cheerfully he died, may be seen at large in his life prefixed to his book."* And even Wood denominates him a person of good natural endowments, a sagacious searcher into antiquity, incomparably charitable, and of an exemplary life and conversation, but a severe Calvinist, and a bitter enemy to popery.+

This celebrated man, having spent his life in the most laborious study, and in promoting the cause of Christ and the interests of true religion, resigned his spirit to God, April 18, 1587, in the seventieth year of his age. His death was greatly lamented; and his mortal part was interred in the chancel of St. Giles's church, Cripplegate, London; where, against the south wall, was a monumental inscription erected by his son,} of which the following is a translation:

In memory of John Fox,
the most faithful Martyrologist of our English Church,
a most diligent searcher into historical antiquities,
a most strong bulwark
and fighter for Evangelical Truth;
who hath revived the Marian Martyrs
as so many Phoenixes,
from the dust of oblivion,
is this monument erected,
in grief and affection, <
by his eldest son Samuel Fox.
He died April 18, An. Dom. 1587,
in bis seventieth year.

men must perfume Smithfield with their ashes. It is, however, extremely surprising that Fuller attempts to palliate, and even to justify, the cruel barbarity exercised upon these unhappy men.—Strype's jinnals, vol. ii. p. 380.—Brandt's Hist. o/Refor. vol. i. p. 315. Edit. 17S0.—Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 105.

• Fuller's Abel Redivius, p. 381. t Athens Oxon. vol. i. p. 186.

J Stow's Survey of London, b. iii. p. 83.

Mr. Fox, during his residence at Basil, preaching to his fellow exiles, confidently declared in his sermon, " Now is the time for your return to England, and I bring you the news by the command of God. For these words he was sharply reproved by some of his brethren: but, remarkable as it may appear, they afterwards found that Queen Mary died the very day preceding the delivery of this sermon, and so a way was open for their return home.*

It was Mr. Fox who had the memorable interview with Mrs. Honiwood, often related by historians. This pious lady was under most distressing doubts and fears about the salvation of her soul, and her sorrow became so grievous, that she sunk in despair. This so affected her bodily health, that she appeared to be in a deep consumption, and even on the very brink of death, for about twenty years. In vain did the ablest physicians administer their medical assistance; and in vain did the ablest ministers preach comfort to her soul. At length, Mr. Fox was sent for; who, on his arrival, found her in a most distressed and languishing condition. He prayed with her, and reminded her of the faithfulness of God's promises, and of the sufferings of Christ for her soul. But all he could say appeared ineffectual. Not in the least discouraged, he still proceeded in his discourse, and said, " You will not only recover of your bodily disease, but also live to an exceeding great age; and which is yet better, you are interested in Christ, and will go to heaven when you die." She, looking earnestly at him as he spake these words, with great emotion, answered, "Impossible; I am as surely damned, as this glass will break," and immediately dashed a Venice glass, which she had in her hand, with great violence to the ground ; but the glass received not the smallest injury. The event, indeed, proved according to the words of Mr. Fox. Though Mrs. Honiwood was then sixty years old, she recovered from her sickness, and lived the rest of her days, being upwards of thirty years, in much peace and comfort.t

• Fuller'! Abel Red. p. 380.—Clark's Marrow of Eccl. Hist, p. 793.

+ Mrs. Honiwood, in the days of Queen Mary, used to visit the prisons, and to comfort and relieve the confessors. She was present at the burning of Mr. John Bradford in Smitbfield, and was resolved to see the end of hit sufferings. But the press of the people was so great, that her shoes were trodden off her feet; and she was obliged to go barefoot from Smithfield to St. Martin's, before she could procure a new pair for money. This excellent lady had three hundred and silly-seven children lawfully descended from her : sixteen from her own body, one hundred and fourteen grandchildren, two hnndred and twenty-eight great-grandchildren, and nine

voL. I. Z

Mr. Fox was uncommonly liberal to the poor and distressed, and never refused giving to any who asked for Jesus's sake. Being once asked whether he remembered a certain poor man whom he used to relieve, he said, " Yes, I remember him, and I forget lords and ladies to remember such."—As Mr. Fox was going one day from the house of the Bishop of London, he found many people begging at the gate; and having no money, he immediately returned to the bishop and borrowed five pounds, which he distributed among the poor people. After some time, the bishop asking him for the money, Mr. Fox said, " I have laid it out for you, and have paid it where you owed it, to the poor that lay at your gate;" when his lordship thanked him for what he had done.*

As Mr. Fox was going one day along the streets in London, a woman or his acquaintance met him; and as they discoursed together, she pulled out her Bible, and with too much forwardness, told him she was going to hear a sermon; upon which, he said to her, " If you will be advised by me, go home again." But, said she, then when shall 1 go to church ? To which he immediately replied, " When you tell no body of it."+

Mr. Fox, it is said, used to wear a strait cap, covering his head and ears; and over that, a deepish crowned, shallow-brimmed, slouched hat. His portrait is taken with his hat on, and is supposed to have been the first English engraving with a hat.$

His Works.—1. De Christ© Triamphante, 1651.—2. De censura seu excommunicatione ecclcsiastica, 1551.—3. Tables of Grammar, 1552.—4. Commentarii rerun) in Ecclesia gestarum, 1554.—5. Articuli, seu Aphorismi aliquot Johannis Wiclevi &c., 1554.—6. Collectania qusedam ex Reginaldi Pecocki Episc. ice., 1554.—7. Opistographia ad Oxonienses, 1564.—8. Locorum communicant Logicalium tituli & ordinationes &c, 1557.—9. Probationes & Resolntiones de re & materia sacramenti Eucharistici, 1563.—10. Dc Christi crucifixo, 1571.—11. De Oliva Evangelica, 1587.—12. Concerning Man's Election to Salvation, 1581.—13. Certain Notes of Election, 1581.—14. De Christo gratis justificautc, contra Jesuitas, 1583.— 15. Disputatio contra Jesuitas & eorum argument*, 1585.—

great-great-grandchildren. She lived a most pious life, and died a most christian death, May 11, 1620, in the ninety-third year of her age. Her remains were interred in Markshall church in Essex, where there was a monumental inscription erected to her memory.—Fuller's Worthies, part ii. p. 85.

* Fuller's Abel Redivivus, p. 382.

+ Clarke's Marrow of Eccl. Hist. p. 796.

% Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. i. 1. Xt. p. 0.

16. Eicasmi, sen Meditationes in Apocal. S. Johannis, 1587.—

17. Papa Confutatus.—18. A brief Exhortation, to be read in the time of God's Visitation.—He published several translations of the works of other learned men: but his most celebrated work is his " History of the Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs," commonly called " The Book of Martyrs."