GEORGE FOX. 
 
GEORGE FOX 
 
 (From the Portrait by Sir Peter Lely , in possession of the Trustees of 
 Swarthmore College). 
 
Friends Ancient and Modern. 
 No. i. 
 
 GEORGE FOX, 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGINA KING LEWIS, 
 
 Author of A John Stoughton , D:D. V 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 (puBfts^fc for jVun&s' Zv <xct cHasoctafton. 
 
 London : 
 
 HEADLEY BROTHERS, 
 
 14, Bishopsgate St. Without, E.C. 
 
 New York : 
 
 FRIENDS’ BOOK & TRACT COMMITTEE, 
 51 Fifth Avenue. 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 Birth at Fenny Drayton - 1624 
 
 Beginning of the Civil War - 1642 
 
 Public ministry commenced - 1647 
 
 Nottingham imprisonment - 1649 
 
 Derby imprisonment - 1650-51 
 
 Visit to Swart hmore ; Margaret Fell’s 
 
 convincement of “ the Truth” - 1652 
 
 Carlisle imprisonment - - - - 1653 
 
 Launceston imprisonment - - - 1655-56 
 
 Visit to Scotland - - - - 1657 
 
 Death of Cromwell and of Judge Fell - 1658 
 
 Lancaster imprisonment - - - 1660 
 
 Leicester imprisonment - - - 1662 
 
 Lancaster — Scarborough imprisonment - 1663-66 
 
 Visit to Ireland ----- 1669 
 
 Marriage with Margaret Fell - - - 1669 
 
 Margaret Fox imprisoned in Lancaster 
 
 Castle 1670-71 
 
 Visit to America ----- 1671-73 
 
 Worcester imprisonment - - 1673-74/5 
 
 Rests at Swarthmore - - - - 1676 
 
 Visit to Holland and Germany • - - 1677 
 
 Second visit to Holland - 1684 
 
 Margaret Fox visits him in London - 1690 
 
 Death in London - - - - - 1691 
 
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 CHAPTER I. 
 
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 N order to understand the life and teaching of 
 George Fox, a man who was described by a 
 historian, not a Quaker, as “ one of the most extra- 
 ordinary men that ever lived,” we must take a glance 
 at the condition of the religious world in which the 
 child, who was to play such an important part in the 
 history of our country, was born. 
 
 During the early years of Fox’s life the Episcopal 
 Church, under Archbishop Laud, was ruling England 
 with an iron hand. The Anglican Canon Law, which 
 must not be confused with the Papal Canon Law, 
 treated people at large as subject to ecclesiastical rule, 
 and nothing could be tolerated which was inconsistent 
 with Episcopal creed or worship. Only one religious 
 organisation was allowed ; and those who objected to it 
 . were excommunicated, with all the fearful consequences 
 which that entailed. 
 
 When Fox was eighteen years of age Laud was in 
 prison, and the power passed from Episcopacy to 
 Presbyterianism ; and when the Presbyterians gained 
 the upper hand matters were not much better, for they 
 did their best to force everyone to conform to their 
 
 5 
 
6 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 views, and persecuted those who refused to do so. No 
 sect had any tolerance for anyone outside its own borders. 
 It is well to bear all this in mind, as we see how George 
 Fox in his teaching met and opposed these popular 
 ideas. 
 
 In the hamlet of Fenny Drayton, in Leicestershire, 
 with fields surrounding the little village, and hills 
 sloping away to the west, George Fox was born, in the 
 month of July, 1624. His father, Christopher Fox, was 
 a weaver, an honest man, and, as his son says of him in 
 his quaint way, “■ there was a seed of God in him.” 
 His neighbours acknowledged this, it seems, since he 
 went by the nickname of “ Righteous Christer.” Fox’s 
 mother was “ of the stock of the martyrs.” In the 
 midst of the dark picture of persecution and immorality 
 in the religious world of that period, there were earnest 
 and seeking souls up and down the country, as in every 
 age, longing for more light, but quietly and humbly 
 following their convictions, worshipping often in twos 
 and threes, and behaving in a simple, Christlike manner. 
 Fox’s parents must have been of this type, for they 
 evidently trained their boy in pureness and righteous- 
 ness, and he says of himself that he had a gravity of 
 spirit not usual with children, fostered, possibly, by his 
 delight in attending his master’s sheep. As a child he 
 had inward monitions, “ strivings of the. Spirit, divine 
 impressions,” in his cherished communion with God, 
 
VISITS TO “ GREAT PROFESSORS .” 
 
 7 
 
 but he does not appear to have had any rest of heart 
 till he reached maturity. When a youth, however, 
 he was deeply impressed and troubled by the wicked- 
 ness around him, and broke away from his companions 
 at the beer tavern one day, and went home. The 
 thought of their conduct prevented him from being 
 able to go to bed all night, he tells us, through anguish 
 of spirit, and he walked up and down his room crying 
 and praying to the Lord. The drinking habits in those 
 days must have been very terrible, for a writer says 
 in referring to that time, “ We seem to be steeped in 
 liquors or to be the dizzy island. We drink as if we 
 were sponges . 55 
 
 Soon after this experience George was led, by the 
 frivolities and wickedness around him, to seek solitude ; 
 and then it occurred to him that the “ great professors 55 
 could help him into fuller light. He went, also, to 
 many “ priests 55 to find comfort, but they were unable 
 to help him. When we read what the lives of a large 
 proportion of them were, we do not wonder, and their 
 advice was in harmony with their actions. They suggested 
 his taking physic, drinking beer, smoking, and singing 
 psalms. His relations urged him to get married, and 
 to go and hear the preachers. But at last he left the 
 priests and the “ separate preachers 55 and turned to 
 God alone, and then he exclaimed,* “ When all my 
 
 * The Journal of George Fox , year 1647. 
 
8 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 hopes in all men were gone, then, 0 then, I heard a 
 voice which said, ‘ There is one, even Christ Jesus, 
 that can speak to thy condition.’ ” He seemed satisfied 
 he had at last found One who understood him ; but 
 some time elapsed, a time of struggle and sadness, 
 before he entered into rest of heart, though we discern 
 beautiful gleams of brightness, through the passing 
 away of the clouds, as he “ sees the great love of God, 
 and is filled with admiration.” It soon became clear 
 to him that God had given him a message to deliver to 
 the people ; and at the age of four-and- twenty he com- 
 menced his missionary journeys, which, with the 
 exception of the time he spent in prison, he continued 
 to take throughout the remainder of his life. His 
 message very soon brought him into conflict with the 
 clergy, though some even invited him to occupy their 
 pulpits. It seems to have been the custom to have 
 meetings in the churches for public discussions, for 
 we read that Fox was offered liberty to speak in a 
 gathering at Leicester, presided over by the “ priest,” 
 Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists being pre- 
 sent. A woman, availing herself of the privilege, asked, 
 “ What that birth was of which Peter writes* f being 
 born again of incorruptible seed by the Word of God ? ’ ” 
 The priest told her a woman was not permitted to 
 speak in the church. George Fox asked, “ Dost thou call 
 this (the steeple-house) a church, or dost thou call 
 
WHAT IS THE CHURCH ? 
 
 9 
 
 this mixed multitude a church ? 55 The priest asked 
 him what a church was, and George replied, “ The 
 Church is the pillar and ground of truth, made up 
 of living stones, living members, a spiritual household 
 which Christ is the head of ; but He is not the head 
 of a mixed multitude or of an old house made up of 
 lime, stones, and wood. 55 * Much excitement followed, 
 and the meeting was broken up. Fox seldom, if ever, 
 interrupted the ministers, but he waited till they had 
 finished, and then spoke as he felt God led him to 
 speak. He preached in all sorts of places— by the 
 wayside, in barns, and even in the “ steeple-houses , 55 
 as he called the parish churches — but he would never 
 ascend a pulpit, preferring to stand on a bench. Among 
 Nonconformists it was held that any /' gifted brother 55 
 was right in exercising his gift by preaching; and the 
 officers in Cromwell’s army expounded the Scriptures, 
 showing from the Old Testament that there were 
 examples there to justify their destroying their enemies. 
 No doubt this excited Fox to prove from the New 
 Testament that destroying one’s enemies is not in 
 harmony with the teaching of Jesus Christ. In the 
 churches, at the markets and fairs, and in all places 
 of public resort, multitudes flocked to hear him; and no 
 doubt the clergy soon found it necessary, if they were 
 to keep their hold over the people, to unite in strenuous 
 
 * Journal , year 1648. 
 
TO 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 •exertions to put down Fox and his followers. His first 
 imprisonment was at Nottingham in 1649, where h e felt 
 moved to oppose the teaching of the priest, and was, 
 therefore, cast into a “ nasty, stinking prison.” The 
 head sheriff obtained his release, and sent for him, and 
 as he entered the house, the sheriff’s wife met him, and 
 taking his hand, said, “ Salvation is come to our house.” 
 He had great meetings there, and many were con- 
 verted. Again, at Derby, after having spoken “what 
 the Lord commanded me, there came an officer, and 
 took me by the hand, and said I must go before the 
 magistrates, and the other two that were with me. It 
 was about the first hour after noon that we came before 
 them. They asked me why we came thither. I said, 
 ‘ God moved us to do so,’ and I told them, ‘ God dwells 
 not in temples made with hands.’ I told them also, all 
 their preaching, baptism, and sacrifices would never 
 sanctify them, and bid them look unto Christ in them 
 and not to men ; for it is Christ that sanctifies. Then 
 they ran into many words ; but I told them they were 
 not to dispute of God and Christ, but to obey Him. 
 They put me in and out of the room often, hurrying 
 me backward and forward, for they were from the first 
 hour till the ninth at night in examining me. At last 
 they asked me whether I was sanctified. I answered, 
 4 Yes, for I am in the paradise of God.’ Then they 
 asked me if I had no sin. I answered, ‘ Christ, my 
 
THE NA ME “QUA KERS . ’ ’ 
 
 1 1 
 
 Saviour, has taken away my sin, and in Him there 
 is no sin.’ They asked how we knew that Christ did 
 abide in us. I said, ‘ By His Spirit that He has given 
 us.’ They temptingly asked if any of us were Christ. 
 I answered, ‘ Nay, we are nothing, Christ is all.’ So 
 when they had wearied themselves in examining me, 
 they committed me and one other man to the House of 
 Correction for six months as blasphemers.”* 
 
 In 1651 Fox went to Yorkshire, believing that he 
 should find some people there who would respond to 
 his teaching. One day he entered the Established 
 church at Tickhill, and found the clergyman with many 
 of his parishioners. Fox addressed them, and they at 
 once fell upon him, and struck him severely. Then 
 they dragged him into the street, and stoned him. He 
 tells us that when he was able to rise he spoke the 
 Word of Life to them, till the priest himself began to 
 tremble, f From his telling the people to tremble at 
 the Word of the Lord, he and his followers were nick- 
 named “ Quakers”; but the name they adopted for 
 themselves was that of “ Friends,” in accordance with 
 Christ’s words, “ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever 
 I command you.” 
 
 In the year 1652 Fox paid his first visit to Swarth- 
 more Hall, the beautiful residence of Judge Fell. It 
 was situated in a picturesque district of Lancashire, 
 
 * Journal , year 1650. 
 
 f Journal , year 1652, 
 
12 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 from which the hills and Morecambe Bay could be 
 seen. This was a memorable visit, as it led to the 
 commencement of a more organised movement among 
 his followers. His preaching up and down the country 
 had attracted great crowds and much sympathy ; but 
 though many appreciated his blameless life and were 
 convinced of the truth of his teaching, it required 
 considerable courage to show him any favour and 
 hospitality, and he was often denied food and lodging, 
 so that, at times, he was obliged to sleep in the fields. 
 
 Judge Fell, who was Chancellor of the Duchy of 
 Lancaster, was from home when Fox reached Swarthmore 
 Hall, but as it was always open for the entertainment of 
 religious people, Margaret, the Judge’s wife, received 
 him kindly, and they had much discourse during the 
 first evening of his visit. The next day his hostess 
 invited him to go with her to the house of worship at 
 Ulverston. Fox said he must do as he was ordered by 
 the Lord. He was led to go after the commencement 
 of worship, and standing on a seat asked for liberty to 
 speak. This was granted. He told them that “God 
 was come to teach His people by His Spirit, and to bring 
 them off from their old ways, religions, churches, and 
 worships.” A justice of the peace tried to stop him, 
 but Margaret Fell said, “ Let him alone ; why may not 
 he speak as well as any other ? ” He continued for 
 some time till he was put out, and then he addressed 
 
JOHN HALFORDS HOUSE AT ARMSCOTT. 
 George Fox was arrested here after his return from America, 1673. 
 (From Emmott’s Siory of Quakerism .) 
 
FIRST VISIT TO SWARTHMORE. 15 
 
 the people in the graveyard. Judge Fell on arrival at 
 home was much displeased at the excitement raised on 
 account of his visitor; but, after the return of Fox to the 
 house and a quiet talk together, a deep impression was 
 evidently made upon him, for from that time he treated 
 Fox with the greatest kindness, and allowed him to 
 hold meetings in his house. The Judge never joined 
 the Friends, as other members of his family did, but 
 he frequently sat and listened to the ministers, and he 
 ceased to attend the national worship. At Swarthmore 
 Hall Fox had many opportunities of religious discourse 
 with the clergy; and it can be easily imagined that the 
 numerous proselytes made by him caused much exasper- 
 ation, and became the cause of continued persecution, 
 often ending in his being sent to prison as “ a blasphemer 
 and heretic, and a seducer.” He, and those of his 
 followers who were imprisoned with him, manifested 
 so much patience and truthfulness in their conduct 
 that many were convinced of the truth of the teaching 
 which produced a consistency that was rare in those 
 days ; and, as has always been the case, the persecution 
 of these good men, instead of hindering the movement, 
 only helped it forward. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 I T may be well here to give a brief outline of the 
 message which George Fox felt called upon to 
 deliver. So much stress and importance was laid 
 on the priest, so necessary were the services of the 
 Established Church considered for the salvation of men , 
 that Fox maintained Christ to be sufficient for all. 
 Strong in a simple Evangelical faith, he opposed the 
 Calvinistic teaching in the Presbyterian Churches as 
 vehemently as he protested against the forms and cere- 
 monies of the Episcopal Church. Much was made of the 
 predestined and eternal misery of a large portion of 
 mankind. Fox firmly believed in the universal love of 
 God, and he says, “ I saw that Christ died for all men, 
 and was a propitiation for all, and enlightened all men 
 and women with His divine and saving light, and that 
 none could be a true believer but who also believed in 
 it,” and he adds, “ I was to bring people off from all the 
 world’s religions, which are vain, that they might know 
 the pure religion, might visit the fatherless, the widows, 
 and the strangers, and keep themselves from the spots 
 of the world. Then there would not be so many beggars, 
 the sight of whom often grieved my heart, as it denoted 
 
 16 
 
WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. 
 
 17 
 
 so much hard-heartedness amongst them that had 
 professed the name of Christ.”* 
 
 He emphasised the need for a pure spiritual worship ; 
 and we do not wonder at this when we remember the 
 importance attached, at that time, to outward forms, 
 as if they could save from sin. The New Testament 
 gives us no order or command for any set form of 
 worship, but we are told to worship in spirit and in 
 truth. Images and crosses, sprinkling of infants, and 
 holy days, which had come into use after the time of 
 the Apostles, George Fox considered unnecessary, and 
 he had a strong objection to a paid ministry, declaring 
 that all who preached not freely had not received freely 
 from Christ. The teaching from the pulpits in those 
 days was strongly Calvinistic, amounting, as Fox said, 
 to “ pleading for sin.” Hence he fought against 
 acquiescence in this low condition of spiritual life, and 
 taught that we must be brought back to the purity and 
 simplicity of the early days of Christianity, and that 
 to walk with God may be a daily experience, for Christ 
 gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all 
 iniquity. George Fox wrote, “ Ask them [the priests] 
 for what end Christ came. They will say, 4 To destroy 
 the Devil and his works, but while you are upon earth 
 you must not be made free from sin.’ This is as much 
 as if one should be in Turkey, a slave chained to a boat, 
 
 * Journal , year 1648. 
 
GEORGE FOX. 
 
 and one should come to redeem you, but the Turks say, 
 ‘ Thou art redeemed, but while thou art upon the earth 
 thou must not go out of Turkey, nor have the chain off.’ '’ 
 
 Swearing was universally practised, and oaths were 
 continually being imposed at every change of govern- 
 ment, often involving perjury. Fox therefore endea- 
 voured to make the people see that it was contrary to 
 Christ’s express command, “ Swear not at all.” When 
 in prison at Scarborough he was asked by Dr. Cradock, 
 who visited him, what he was in prison for. “ I told 
 him, ‘ For obeying the command of Christ and the 
 Apostle in not swearing.’ ” The doctor quoted, “ Ye shall 
 swear in truth and righteousness.” “ It was written so,” 
 said Fox,-; “ in Jeremiah’s time, but that was many 
 ages before Christ commanded not to swear at alb”* 
 
 In this instance, as in many others, Fox was in 
 complete agreement with the opinion of the early 
 Christians, as may be seen by reference to the writings 
 of the primitive Church. 
 
 “ Hat-worship,” as it was called, was another point 
 on which he had a great deal to say, for he considered 
 that to take off the hat to anyone was an act of worship. 
 Friends, when in meeting, took off their hats when they 
 offered prayer. In The Journal Fox writes,. ■“ The 
 Lord forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or low ; 
 and I was required to ‘ Thee ’ and ‘ Thou ’ all men and 
 
 * Journal, year 1665. 
 
PROTEST AGAINST WAR. 19 
 
 women, without any respect to rich or poor, great or 
 small.” He did not intend to be discourteous; but so 
 much deference was paid in those days to people in a 
 high social position, little being thought of their charac- 
 ter as compared with their office, that Fox felt it 
 altogether contrary to the spirit of Christ. The fact of 
 the persecution which arose because he would not take 
 off his hat to the priests, professors, and magistrates, 
 shows how much they cared for this shallow homage, 
 and he exclaims, “ O, the rage and scorn, the heat and 
 fury that arose ! O, the blows, punchings, beatings, 
 and imprisonments that we underwent for not putting 
 off our hats to men ! ”* 
 
 Possibly nothing has distinguished the Society of 
 Friends throughout its existence more than its protest 
 against war. Fox considered that war of any kind wat 
 quite contrary to the teaching of Christ. He lived during 
 the time of civil war, and was often pressed to take up 
 arms against Charles Stuart. His answer had better be 
 given in his own words, “ I told them, I knew from 
 whence all wars arose, even from the lust, according to 
 James’s doctrine, and that I lived in the virtue of that 
 life and power that took away the occasion of all wars.” 
 They offered to make him captain over them, and the 
 soldiers greatly desired it, and said they offered it in 
 love and kindness. Fox steadily refused, and said he 
 
 * Journal , year 1649. 
 
20 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 was “ come into the covenant of peace, which was 
 before wars and strifes were.’ 5 * The result was that he 
 was cast into prison at Derby for many months ; and 
 while there he “ was moved to write to the judges con- 
 cerning their putting men to death for [the stealing of] 
 cattle, and money, and small matters.” Four years later, 
 when there was a rumour of a plot against Oliver Crom- 
 well, Fox and his friends, by meeting together, fell under 
 suspicion as conspirators against the Government, and 
 Fox was sent as a prisoner to London. Cromwell asked 
 for a promise that he would not take up a carnal sword 
 against him or any one then in power. In his Journal 
 Fox thus describes his reply to the Protector : 
 
 “ I was moved of the Lord to write a paper to the 
 Protector, Oliver Cromwell, wherein I did, in the 
 presence of the Lord God, declare that I denied the 
 wearing or drawing of a carnal sword or any .-other 
 outward weapon against him or any man ; and that I 
 was sent of God to stand a witness against all violence 
 and against the works of darkness ; and to turn people 
 from darkness to light, and to bring them from the 
 causes of war and of fighting to the peaceable Gospel, 
 and from being evildoers which the magistrates’ swords 
 should be a terror to.”f 
 
 It is very interesting to note that, though Fox roused 
 so much antagonism on this as well as other subjects, 
 
 * Journal, year 1650. 
 
 t Journal, year 1654. 
 
INTERVIEW WITH CROMWELL. 
 
 21 
 
 he also called forth the admiration of some of the 
 magistrates, who testified to the “ heavenly image borne 
 up in His faithful servant.” There certainly are mar- 
 vellous instances of Fox’s love and readiness to forgive 
 his enemies, and of the spirit of his Lord when He said, 
 “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do.” On one occasion, after he had been knocked 
 down and stunned, and afterwards stoned and beaten, 
 his friend, Judge Fell, issued a warrant for the appre- 
 hension of some of the rioters, and asked Fox to give 
 an account of the persecution ; but Fox excused the men 
 as knowing no better, saying it only showed the fruits 
 of their priest’s ministry.* 
 
 Fox must have exercised a remarkable influence over 
 people, an interesting illustration of which we see in the 
 well-known interview between him and the Protector. 
 
 At the close of the interview Oliver Cromwell caught 
 him by the hand, and said, with tears in his eyes, 
 “ Come again to my house, for if thou and I were but 
 an hour a day together, we should be nearer one to the 
 other.” Fox had been brought to London as a prisoner, 
 under suspicion of conspiracy, but the Lord Protector 
 not only gave orders for his release, but also invited him 
 to dine with members of the household at White- 
 hall. When Fox refused the invitation, Cromwell so 
 thoroughly appreciated the courage and independence of 
 
 * Journal , year 1652. 
 
22 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 the man that he exclaimed, “ I see there is a people risen 
 and come up that I cannot win either with gifts, honours, 
 offices, or places ; but all other sects and people I can.”* 
 
 One point in Fox’s teaching which exasperated the 
 clergy was the attitude he took toward the Bible. He 
 affirmed that the Holy Scriptures were given forth by 
 the Spirit of God, and, therefore, all must come to the 
 same Spirit and have Him dwelling in their hearts, if 
 they would understand the teaching of the Book. The 
 professors of his day declared that the spirit and the 
 letter of Scripture were inseparable. To this George 
 very reasonably replied, “ Then everyone that hath the 
 letter hath the spirit, and everyone who buys a copy of 
 the Bible buys the spirit with it.” If only the Christian 
 Church at large had entered into the truth which Fox 
 insisted upon, that “ the letter killeth, but the spirit 
 giveth life,” how much controversy and ignorant dog- 
 matism and scepticism might have been avoided. 
 
 Fox endeavoured to bring people back to the sim- 
 plicity and purity of the early Church — to bring them 
 off, as he says, “ from all Jewish ceremonies, from men’s 
 inventions and vain traditions.” “ Religion should be,” 
 as one of his followers said, “ not an opinion but Christ 
 Jesus, the power of God who is the Saviour ” ; and the 
 life following from union with Christ is “ to do justly, to 
 love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.” 
 
 * Journal, j'ear 1654. 
 
 J 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 H AVING briefly noticed the distinctive teaching of 
 George Fox, let us return to the eventful life of 
 the man who was ready to be obedient to the 
 voice of truth. 
 
 It is impossible in this brief account to record the 
 many imprisonments he had to undergo, but we must 
 touch upon the one in Launceston Castle, as that was 
 one of the longest and most painful he ever endured. 
 He was travelling in the ministry with a friend through 
 Cornwall, and at St. Ives they were arrested by a 
 certain Major Ceely, who was also a justice of the peace, 
 on account of a letter of exhortation to the inhabitants, 
 which Fox had sent on before him. Peter Ceely asked 
 him if he would own it. He said, “ Yes,” whereupon 
 he and his friend were sent under a guard of soldiers 
 to Launceston Castle. Much indignation was felt when 
 they attended the assizes some weeks later and would 
 not remove their hats before Judge Glyn, Chief Justice 
 of England, who was on the bench. When the Judge 
 ordered the Friends to take off their hats, Fox said 
 “ Where did ever any magistrate, king, or judge, from 
 Moses to Daniel, command any to put off their hats, 
 
 23 
 
24 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 when they came before them in their courts, and if the 
 law of England doth command any such thing, show 
 me that law.” The Judge replied in anger, “ I do not 
 carry my law-books on my back,” and commanded 
 them to be taken away. They were put in gaoLamong 
 thieves, but the Judge, thinking to confound them, sent 
 for Fox again, and said, “ Come, where had they any 
 hats from Moses to Daniel ? Answer me. I have 
 you fast now.” Said Fox, “ Thou mayest read in the 
 third of Daniel that the three children were cast into 
 the fiery furnace with their coats, their hose, and their 
 hats on.”* This shows that Fox had good ground, 
 from his own point of view, for the stand he took ; and 
 though, as we should think, he needlessly irritated his 
 enemies, they found it a difficult, and often an impossible 
 matter, to answer his questions as aptly as he answered 
 theirs. 
 
 Many accusations were brought against him which 
 were so manifestly false that they were dismissed. He 
 remained, however, in Launceston gaol for nearly eight 
 months, being confined, at first, in a place so horrible 
 that a description cannot be given of the sufferings he 
 and his friends had to undergo. There is one touching 
 incident in this imprisonment. One of his followers 
 manifested his devotion to his teacher by going to the 
 Protector, and offering to lie in Doomsdale in Fox’s 
 
 # Journal , year 1656. 
 
LIBERATION FROM DOOM SD ALE . 
 
 25 
 
 stead. Doomsdale was a “ nasty, stinking place,” 
 where they placed murderers after they were condemned, 
 and few who went in survived the hardships they 
 had to endure. Cromwell, on hearing of this request, 
 said to his Privy Council, “ Which of you would do so 
 much for me if I were in the same condition ? ” Though 
 Cromwell did not accept the Friend’s offer, as contrary 
 to the law, “ yet the truth thereby came mightily 
 over him.” Some time after this he sent Major-General 
 Desborough to see what could be done, and on the 
 thirteenth of September, Fox and his companions were 
 set at liberty, freely and unconditionally. After Fox 
 was released he travelled about the country preaching 
 in as many as fifteen different counties in England, and 
 he tells us in his Journal that many thousands turned 
 to the Lord. It is calculated that, at that time, about 
 a thousand Quakers were in prison for truth’s testimony, 
 for not paying tithes, for not taking oaths, and some 
 for speaking in “ steeple-houses.” 
 
 Fox with several companions visited Scotland in 
 1657, an d the Scottish clergy were so greatly exasperated 
 at the views which the Friends taught, that they drew 
 up a number of curses to be read to their congregations, 
 in order to deter the people from following the Quakers. 
 In Edinburgh many Baptists came to Fox’s meetings 
 to argue with him on religious questions, and he tells us 
 in his Journal how they “ began to vaunt with their 
 
26 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 logic and syllogisms,” and adds, “ But I was moved in 
 the Lord’s power to thrash their chaffy light minds ; 
 and showed the people that, after that fallacious way of 
 discoursing, they might make white seem black, and 
 black white ; as that, because a cock had two legs, and 
 each of them had two legs, therefore they were all 
 cocks. Thus they might turn anything into lightness 
 and vanity ; but it was not the way of Christ or His 
 Apostles to teach, speak, or reason after that manner.”* 
 The severity and cruelty practised on these people are 
 almost past belief, so much so that an Indian Prince 
 exclaimed, “ What a God have these people, who deal 
 so cruelly with one another about their God ! ” 
 
 Fox was led to visit Cromwell in reference to the 
 sufferings of Friends, and, as he went to Hampton Court, 
 he met the Protector riding at the head of his life-guards. 
 “ I saw and felt,” said Fox, “ a waft of death go forth 
 against him ; and when I came to him he looked like a 
 dead man. After I had laid the sufferings of the Friends 
 before him, and had warned him according as I was 
 moved to speak, he bid me come to his house,” f The 
 next day, when Fox went to Hampton Court, the 
 Protector was too ill to see him, and they never met again. 
 
 When Charles II. came to the throne, the Friends 
 sent a petition begging him to grant them liberty of 
 conscience and set them free, and Charles promised that 
 
 * Journal , year 1657. 
 
 f Journal year 1658. 
 
“7 WILL KILL THE QUAKERS /” 27 
 
 they should not suffer for their religious opinions. But 
 we know how worthless that promise proved ; and one 
 Friend addressed a letter to the King, in which he says, 
 “ Thou hast highly displeased the Lord God by thy 
 suffering persecution to be enacted in thy name, whilst 
 thou in words hast promised liberty.” 
 
 The Conventicle Act, passed by Charles II., makingit 
 an offence for people to be gathered together for any 
 religious purpose not in conformity with the Church of 
 England, brought much suffering on the Friends. They 
 held their meetings perseveringly, and not behind closed 
 doors, for they made no secret of their faith in God, and 
 behaved, as one of their historians has said, “ magnifi- 
 cently.” “ Look how the Quakers love and take care 
 of one another ! ” many remarked ; and when soldiers 
 were sent to see that order was maintained, the Friends 
 supplied them with food. At one meeting a colonel 
 exclaimed, “ I will kill the Quakers ! ” Fox replied, 
 “ The law says, ‘ An eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
 tooth,’ but thou threatens to kill all the Quakers, though 
 they have done thee no hurt. But here is Gospel for 
 thee : Here is my cheek, there is my shoulder,” and as he 
 spoke he turned his cheek toward the colonel. All were 
 amazed, and they said, “ If these are the Quaker prin- 
 ciples, we have never seen the like before.” The colonel 
 was moved afterwards to behave kindly to them, and as 
 Fox remarks, “ The Lord’s power was over them all.” 
 
28 
 
 GEORGE FOX . 
 
 His psrsecutors often found it a most difficult matter 
 to know on what charge they had better imprison him. 
 They accused him of being a conspirator when he was 
 taken before the magistrates at Houlker Hall, in Lan- 
 cashire. “ I conspiring against the King ! ” said Fox, 
 striking the table, “ I have suffered more for the King 
 than any of you. I was cast into Derby dungeon for 
 six months because I would not take up arms against 
 the King. Where were you in Oliver’s days, and what 
 did you do then ? I have more love to the King, for 
 his eternal good and welfare, than any of you have.” 
 “ You are against the laws of the land,” said another. 
 “ Nay,” said Fox, “ I direct all people to the Spirit of 
 God in them ; this brings them into well-doing. In 
 this we establish the law.”* He was then, because he 
 would not take an oath, sent to Lancaster gaol, where, 
 through the winter, he suffered intensely from cold and 
 rain, his body swelling and his limbs becoming so weak 
 he could hardly stand. Much was done to induce the 
 King to set him free ; but it was nearly three years before 
 he was liberated ; and Margaret Fell, for trying to help 
 her friend, by writing and sending a protest to the 
 magistrates against his imprisonment, was herself cast 
 into prison. At length, Charles II. was induced, through 
 hearing of the sufferings of Fox, to set him free. He 
 left a most favourable impression behind him, for 
 
 Journal , year 1663. 
 
MARRIAGE WITH M. FELL . 
 
 29 
 
 the soldiers said he was “ as stiff as a tree and as 
 pure as a bell.” 
 
 After his release he travelled about the country again, 
 visiting various parts of England and Wales, and also 
 Ireland, starting schools for boys and girls, establishing 
 Meetings, and entering into discussions with Papists, 
 Priests, and Nonconforming brethren. 
 
 Margaret Fell, whose husband had died in 1658, was 
 still in prison when Fox was released from Scarborough 
 Castle. Efforts were made on her behalf, and she was 
 set at liberty in 1668, but she seems to have been liable 
 to be sent to prison again at any time. While she was 
 visiting Friends in prison, in different parts of the 
 country, and trying to alleviate their sufferings, she and 
 Fox met at the house of her son-in-law, William Yeomans 
 of Bristol. George tells us in his Journal that he had 
 seen from the Lord for a considerable time that he should 
 take Margaret Fell to be his wife. We cannot wonder 
 at this. He had brought her many years before into 
 the light of Christ. They had suffered the hardships of 
 a seventeenth century prison for the cause which was 
 equally dear to both of them, and, now that they were 
 both set at liberty, there was nothing to hinder that 
 closer tie which would bring strength and cheer to each. 
 Before finally deciding, however, Margaret’s daughters 
 and sons-in-law were sent for, and asked if they had 
 anything against it, and as all seemed satisfied, the 
 
30 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 marriage took place in the Meeting House at Bristol, 
 after the manner of the Friends, each taking the other 
 “in the fear of the Lord, in the presence of this 
 assembly,” promising to be faithful and loving each 
 to the other until it pleased the Lord to separate 
 them — not being united by any priest, but realising 
 the union as from God, and hallowed by His (felt) 
 presence. 
 
 Whilst all her daughters were in full sympathy 
 with her marriage, and speak of George Fox as their 
 “ dear and honoured father,” the only son, George Fell, 
 who does not appear to have been present when the 
 children were consulted, began to stir up strife imme- 
 diately about the property. He was a barrister, a 
 Lancashire squire and magistrate, and knew just how 
 far he could go in bringing accusations against his 
 mother’s character. George Fox was away from his 
 wife at the time, but he wrote a loving letter to her, 
 bidding her behave naturally towards her son, and 
 be satisfied that things would be cleared in time. 
 He wrote also appointing a place of meeting, in 
 Leicestershire, but before this plan could be carried 
 out, she had been sent again to Lancaster gaol, Two 
 of her daughters petitioned the King to release their 
 mother, and obtained an order to that effect, but the 
 magistrate would not accept it as valid, and Margaret 
 remained for a year in prison. 
 
DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. 
 
 3i 
 
 In April, 1671, Fox made another attempt to set his 
 wife free ; and two women Friends “ in faith and in the 
 power of the Lord ” gained the King’s favour, so that 
 Margaret was able to return to her husband. But it was 
 only to say good-bye, for he had arranged to go to 
 America, a visit which was on his heart before her 
 •liberation, and she felt it was her duty to stay in England 
 for the sake of her children, so there was only time 
 for her to go to Gravesend to see her husband off. 
 Margaret appears to have been most loving and dutiful, 
 and to have acquiesced in all his “ concerns,” whether 
 she was able to accompany him or not. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 G EORGE Fox was detained in Barbados on his way 
 to America, through illness; and the journey 
 altogether seems to have been a very perilous 
 one, the ship being so leaky that the sailors and pas- 
 sengers were continually employed in working at the 
 pumps. He wrote to his wife, whom he addresses as 
 “ My dear Heart,” and told her he had undergone great 
 sufferings, but he adds, “ God be praised, His truth is 
 over all.” Though laid aside for some time in Barbados, 
 he used his pen freely, and held meetings in the house 
 of Thomas Rous, where he was staying. The mission 
 was undertaken chiefly with the view of seeing the 
 Friends and impressing upon them the importance of 
 holy living. He advised them concerning their marriages 
 and burials, their money, and the great danger of tale- 
 bearing. After leaving Barbados, Fox travelled to 
 New England, and there attended many of their meet- 
 ings. He also invited to a special gathering those who 
 had circulated false reports concerning the Friends, and 
 after the meeting, he says, “ The Lord’s power broke 
 forth gloriously to the confounding of the gainsayers.” 
 In Rhode Island the Yearly Meeting for the Friends was 
 
 32 
 
IMPRISONMENT AT WORCESTER. 
 
 33 
 
 held, when, we are told, “ truth had a good reception.” 
 It was hard for them to part when all was over, for the 
 “ glorious power of the Lord ” so knit and united them 
 together that two days were spent in taking leave of one 
 another. So acceptable was Fox’s preaching as he 
 travelled about that some of the magistrates said that if 
 they had money enough they would hire Fox to be their 
 minister. “ When I heard of it,” says Fox, “ I knew it 
 was time for me to be gone, for if their eye was so 
 much to me, or any of us, they would not come to their 
 own Teacher.” His journey lasted altogether about 
 a year and ten months, and he returned to England 
 in the month of June, 1673, after encountering many 
 perils, as he says, “ by land and by sea, by pirates and 
 robbery.” He and his friends arrived at Bristol 
 Harbour, obtained horses, and rode to Bristol. As 
 soon as Margaret heard of her husband’s arrival, she 
 with her daughters and sons-in-law hastened to meet 
 the travellers. She accompanied Fox through Glouces- 
 tershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, 
 and thence to London ; but the meetings they attended 
 were held in defiance, as it was said, of the Conventicle 
 Act, and thus he very soon found himself in prison 
 in Worcester gaol, and Margaret had to return to 
 Swarthmore alone. Poor woman, one does not won- 
 der. as Fox appears to do in his letter, at her grief ; 
 but he adds, “ Be content with the will of the Lord 
 
34 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 God,” and his faith was as strong as ever that “ the 
 Lord’s power is over all.” 
 
 This, his last imprisonment, was not nearly so severe 
 as his former ones, but, with some short periods of 
 freedom, it lasted for more than a year. His brave 
 wife went to London and spoke to the King of the 
 long and unjust imprisonment of her husband. He 
 was ready to grant a pardon, but Fox would not receive 
 it, maintaining he had done no wrong, and he says in 
 his Journal , “ I had rather have lain in prison all my 
 days than have come out in any way dishonourable to 
 Truth.” At last Judge Hale said he had heard many 
 good reports of the prisoner, and he and the rest of the 
 Judges ordered Fox to be freed by proclamation. 
 
 During the imprisonment Fox wrote several little 
 books upon various subjects connected with the 
 Christian life : — A Warning to England ; Concerning 
 Inspiration , Revelation and Prophecy ; Against all vain 
 Disputes ; To such as say we love none but ourselves; 
 Concerning Swearing. 
 
 The remaining years of Fox’s life are less eventful. 
 The long and severe imprisonments of former years 
 had told upon him. Damp cells, want of sanitary 
 arrangements, little food, and that often of a very 
 inferior character, had greatly injured a naturally fine 
 constitution, and severe rheumatism made it difficult 
 for him to travel, for he writes, “ Though I rode not 
 
LAST LABOURS IN LONDON. 
 
 35 
 
 very far in a day, yet through weakness of body, con- 
 tinual travelling was hard to me.” 
 
 It is pleasant to know that after his release from 
 Worcester gaol he consented to accompany his wife in 
 their family coach, and remain quietly with her family at 
 Swarthmore Hall for a year and a half. He held frequent 
 meetings in the neighbourhood, and wrote many epistles. 
 Having recovered somewhat through the rest and quiet of 
 his country home, he sailed for Holland, and attended 
 the Quarterly Meeting at Amsterdam. He remained 
 there for a time, and felt led to write a letter to the 
 Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Frederick V., 
 King of Bohemia, an excellent woman of deep religious 
 character, who replied to Fox’s epistle as follows : 
 
 “ Dear Friend, 
 
 “ I cannot but have a tender love to those that love 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and to whom it is given not only 
 to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him ; therefore 
 your letter and your friends’ visit have been both very 
 welcome to me. I shall follow their and your counsel 
 as far as God will afford me light and unction ; 
 
 “ Remaining still 
 
 “ Your loving friend, 
 
 “ Elizabeth.” 
 
 Fox returned safely to England, after a long and very 
 dangerous voyage, for the vessel was so leaky that two 
 pumps were in constant use day and night. 
 
36 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 The remaining years of his life were spent in attending 
 meetings in England and Holland, and also in writing 
 letters and epistles to guide and encourage his followers 
 in the path of obedience to the divine Spirit. “ Many 
 things,” he says in his Journal , “ I wrote ; some for 
 the press, and some for particular service, as letters to 
 the King of Denmark and Duke of Holstein, on behalf 
 of Friends that were suffering in their dominions.” 
 
 He certainly carried out his counsel to all ministering 
 Friends, “ Do not sit down, Demas-like, and embrace 
 this present world that will have an end, lest ye become 
 idolaters.” 
 
 The last three years of his life he remained in or near 
 London, his wife coming up now and again to see him. 
 She writes of their frequent separations thus : “ Though 
 the Lord had provided an outward habitation for 
 him [Swarthmore Hall], yet he was not willing to stay 
 at it, because it was so remote and far from London, 
 where his service mostly lay. And my concern for God 
 and for His holy eternal truth was then in the North, 
 where God had placed and set me, and likewise for 
 the ordering and governing of my children and family, 
 so that we were very willing both of us to live apart 
 for some years on God’s account and His truth’s service, 
 and to deny ourselves of that comfort which we might 
 have had in being together, for the sake and service 
 of the Lord and His truth.” 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL. 
 
 37 
 
 On Sunday, nth January, 1691, Fox went to the 
 Meeting at Gracechurch Street, and preached a long 
 and wonderful sermon, after which he told his friends 
 that “ he felt the cold strike to his heart,” but he added, 
 “ I am glad I was there ; now I am clear, I am fully 
 clear.” He went to the house of a Friend, Henry 
 Gouldney, not far from the Meeting-house, and there lay 
 down, but soon found he must take to his bed, which he 
 did, and lingered in much weakness till the Tuesday, 
 when he peacefully fell asleep. During the last two days 
 of his life he was so taken up with exalting truth and 
 righteousness, and sending for Friends to whom he 
 wished to entrust certain duties, that, as William Penn 
 says, “ he triumphed over death, and was so even in 
 his spirit to the last as if death were hardly worth 
 notice or a mention.” As John Bunyan says of Mr. 
 Valiant-for-Truth, he was “ sweetly talking as he went, 
 being, as it were, in heaven before he came to it,” 
 carrying his marks and scars as a witness that he had 
 fought the good fight of faith, and come off more than 
 conqueror through Christ, who loved and upheld him 
 to the end. 
 
 William Penn undertook the sad task of communi- 
 cating the news of George Fox’s death to his wife, and 
 wrote to her as follows, “ I am to be the teller to thee 
 of sorrowful tidings, which are these ; that thy dear 
 husband, and my beloved friend, George Fox, finished 
 
38 
 
 GEORGE FOX. 
 
 his glorious testimony this night, about half-an-hour 
 after nine o’clock, being sensible to the last breath. 
 Oh ! he is gone, and has left us with a storm over our 
 heads. Surely in great mercy to him, but an evidence 
 to us of sorrows coming.” 
 
 The gathering at the funeral was very large. The 
 meeting at Gracechurch Street lasted two hours, and 
 was of a deeply solemn nature. William Penn was 
 present, and^addressed a crowd of two thousand persons 
 at Bunhill Fields Friends’ Burial Ground, where the 
 body was laid to rest. Many testified, after the manner 
 of the Friends, to God’s guiding hand through all the 
 vicissitudes of this good man’s life, and to the great 
 work he had been permitted to accomplish. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate how far the teaching of 
 Fox has influenced the character of the various Christian 
 communities of to-day. Carlyle wrote, “.No grander 
 thing was ever done than when George Fox went, forth 
 determined to find Truth for himself, and to battle for it 
 against all superstition, bigotry and intolerances.” The 
 early Quakers did not rest their faith on a Church or on 
 texts of Scripture. They made practical experiment 
 of Christianity from the inside. Many stand outside 
 to-day because they do not listen to the voice of God 
 speaking directly to the heart of man. George Fox 
 bade his hearers have faith, not in a scheme or doctrine, 
 but in God, who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL . 
 
 39 
 
 They acted on the principle, “ He that doeth the will 
 of God shall know of the doctrine.” Those who are 
 obedient to the light they possess will grow to an ever- 
 widening perception of the truth. 
 
 A writer who has recently joined the Society of Friends 
 says, “ Quakerism has now a message for the world. 
 Many, very many, sincere souls are chafing against the 
 limitations that encircle them in creed and ritual, in 
 form and symbol, and if they but knew of the glorious 
 liberty they would find in the infinite possibilities of 
 Quakerism, they would hail it with delight.” 
 
 Georgina King Lewis. 
 
 First Edition, 3 , 000 . March, 1903 . Second Edition, 5 , 000 . December, 1903 . 
 Third Edition , 7 , 000 . October, 1908 . 
 
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