A UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN MARTYRDOM: FROM THE BIRTH OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR ΤΟ THE LATEST PERIODS OF PERSECUTION. ORIGINALLY COMPOSED BY THE REV. JOHN FOX, A. M. AND NOW CORRECTED THROUGHOUT, WITH COPIOUS AND IMPORTANT ADDITIONS RELATIVE HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY BERNARD BERENSON PRINTED BY T. K. & P. G. COLLINS, PHILA. EDITOR'S PREFACE ΤΟ THE LAST ENGLISH EDITION. In preparing the present Edition for the press, the greatest diligence has been used in collecting from various sources the best information on the subjects of which it treats. Well aware how difficult it is to fix attention by a tedious account of theological disputations, we have excluded the detail, while we have carefully preserved the spirit, of those controversies which had for their object the establishment of truth, or the refutation of error. The language, which had been corrupted and barbarized in successive impressions, has, in this, been corrected and polished; and, we trust, we may say, without the imputation of vanity, that it is, in all respects, better worthy of a place in the library of every Protestant family, than any of its predecessors. Indeed, if the unexampled patronage of the public be a proof of the excellence of a work, ours must rank high indeed; to state the real number of the circulation of previous editions would look like exaggeration; we shall therefore merely say, that while it exceeded our most sanguine hopes, it gratified our warmest wishes, by demonstrating that there still exists a truly Protestant spirit among our cuntrymen-and while this spirit survives, we know that they can never become the dupes of Popery and its abettors. A 5 THE LIFE THE REV. JOHN FOX. JOHN FOX 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 paternal 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 mean time had sprung up, and diligently to weigh their effects, solidity, infirmities, &c. 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 the decrees of the consistories, and had acquired a very ccmpetent skill in the Hebrew language. In these occupa tions 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 has been 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 suspition 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, and especially his father-in-law, who was now grown altogether implacable, either through a real hatred conceived against him for this cause, or pretending himself aggrieved, that he might now, with more show of justice, or at least with more security, withhold from Mr. Fox his paternal estate; for he knew it could not be safe for one publicly hated, and in danger of the law, to seek a remedy for his injustice. 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. In this house he afterwards married. But the fear of the popish inquisitors hastened his departure |