in prison for conscience sake. But though he had not been long out
of prison, and was in continual danger of arrest, he would not relax
his labours. He extended the range of his evangelistic efforts into
Wales, and gained a rich harvest there, as he had before amongst the
equally fiery-souled Cornish men. The style of his own preaching may
be judged from his exhortation to his fellow-ministers, penned whilst
in Launceston gaol. "Dwell in the power, life, wisdom and dread of
the Lord God of life and heaven and earth, spreading the truth abroad,
awakening the witness, confounding the deceit, gathering up out of
transgression into the life, the covenant of light and peace with
God. Let all the nations hear the sound by word or writing. Spare no
place, spare no tongue nor pen. Go through the work, and be valiant
for the truth upon earth." How like Wesley's assertion that the world
was his parish. Like him, Fox might have boasted that his followers
were _all_ at work, and _always_ at it. Like Wesley, too, he wrote as
he travelled, by which alone we can account for the wonderful amount
that he wrote. He had no gift for literary composition; his spelling
was erratic, and his sentences, like Paul's, were long and involved,
probably because they both dictated their letters hastily to some
secretary. But if his letters bear marks of haste, they are pithy, and
pointed, and full of gracious unction. Any spiritually-minded Christian
may greatly enjoy his fervent appeals and powerful statements of Gospel
truth. His letters and tracts served the practical purpose for which
they were intended, and he was satisfied.
The year 1657 saw him enter Scotland, where he had a presentiment
that a glorious vintage was to be gathered. He was met by determined
opposition from ministers and others, who smelt heresy in his
teachings, especially as he was an Arminian. What they hated in him
may be seen from the following curses, which, in the fiery style of
that age, were pronounced in kirk, the people pronouncing the response.
"Cursed is he that saith, Every man hath a light within him sufficient
to lead him to salvation: and let all the people say, Amen. Cursed is
he that saith, Faith is without sin: and let all the people say, Amen.
Cursed is he that denieth the Sabbath-day: and let all the people
say, Amen." But for all this terrorism, within ten years there was a
body of Friends in Scotland, that, by their earnest piety, and solid
consecrated learning, gladdened the heart of the devoted leader.
The troubled times after the death of Cromwell tried Friends in many
ways. The Committee of Public Safety sought to induce them to join the
army, many of them having been brave and efficient soldiers before
their convincement, but they unanimously refused. Attempts were made
to identify them with the Fifth Monarchy men, and other disturbers of
the public peace, for they were disliked by almost every one; but the
prudence and energy of Fox and others avoided these snares, and gained
the confidence of the powers that were.
When Charles II. ascended the throne he proved even more friendly than
Cromwell had been. Dr. Stoughton says, "Charles had a sort of liking to
the Quakers for their harmlessness and their oddity. He was not afraid
of their taking up arms against the throne, and to quiz them in their
queer dresses and with their quaint speech, was to him a piece of good
fun." It suited the merry Monarch to have pretty Quakeresses like Sarah
Fell coming with their petitions, enduring his bantering demurely, and
going away delighted with the clemency he so often showed. In 1666
he granted the release of George Fox from the sentence of premunire.
He had once before set him at liberty, only to fall again into the
clutches of the law. In March, 1664, Fox had been brought before
Justice Twisden, and after a sham trial that was an outrage on both
law and humanity, the extreme sentence of the law in such cases, the
sentence of premunire, was passed, and he languished in Lancaster gaol
and Scarborough Castle for nearly three years. But at last the royal
ear was gained, and Fox, ill with hard treatment in the foul cells
at Scarborough, was restored to his liberty, his property, and his
civil rights. In prison he had been busy writing in exposition of the
views of Friends. After his release, for some time he was principally
engaged in modelling the discipline and church government of the
Society.
Before passing on to consider the organisation of the Quaker community
into a compact and well regulated church, we must notice their
conduct in the question of marriage. "Marriage," said Fox, "is God's
ordinance," believing literally the common saying that marriages are
made in heaven. But the solemn compact ought to be publicly ratified,
and what more fitting than that public worship should attend that
celebration. If Fox denied that ministers could marry, if he insisted
that the ceremony should consist simply of a mutual pledge publicly
given, he was very careful that all should be done in good order. The
marriage customs which obtain amongst Quakers to-day represent his
views. The young people must show that they are clear of other marriage
engagements, and have the consent of their parents or guardians to
their union. Sufficient public notice must be given of the coming
event, so as to prevent all scandal and disorder. Then the marriage
is celebrated during a week-day service. In the early days of the
Society the publication of the intended marriage was no easy matter.
"Many a joke must have passed through the merry crowd, when, from the
market-cross of a country town, the expecting bridegroom proclaimed
his forthcoming nuptials--but no arrangements of a loose or evasive
character, would have saved the marriages of Friends from the double
brand of public opinion and of national law." In 1661 the legality of
Quaker marriages was tested in Nottingham before Justice Archer, and
the point was forever set at rest.
Now let us turn to the work of Fox in the organisation of the Society.
That the organisation was principally planned and carried out by him
is past all doubt. We will quote two out of numberless authorities.
Marsden says--
"To understand Quakerism the reader must comprehend the character of
George Fox; for no institution ever carried more thoroughly impressed
upon it the features of its chief."--_Marsden's Christian Churches_, p.
424.[5]
[5] For this quotation and other valuable matter the writer is indebted
to the writings of Alderman Rowntree, of York, whose "Two Lectures
on George Fox" and prize essay on "Quakerism, Past and Present" are
standard works on Quakerism.
T. Hancock says, in his prize essay on the causes of the decline of
Quakerism--
"The master spirit and chief builder of Quakerism was undoubtedly
George Fox.... When we come to the second period, to the modelling
of the Quaker constitution and discipline to the Society of Friends,
to Quakerism as an _ism_, the hand of George Fox is still more
evident."--_The Peculium_, pp. 68, 69.
The views of Fox as to the church polity were exceedingly simple.
He had no intention of forming a sect; he only met the needs of his
friends, as the exigences of the hour dictated. The less machinery the
better; the simpler the arrangements the more they commended themselves
to his judgment. His mind was not hampered by theories. His aim was to
recognize the gifts of all, and not to have the life bound by man's
rules.
But there must be discipline in the church. The disorderly must be
dealt with. The weak must be helped. Many were thrown into prison or
even banished; they must be relieved or cared for in the best way their
circumstances allowed. Many had lost all for conscience sake; they must
not be allowed to want. None so full of pity for these sufferers, as he
who suffered so readily himself. Almost his last words were, "Remember
poor Friends in Ireland."
The New Testament was his only conscious rule, prayerful waiting upon
God for light his only expositor of it. He might ask his learned
friends for side-lights from church history, might ask them about
the practice of the early church, or the history of the corrupting
influence of certain false doctrines. But he was emphatically a man
of one book, and he read that book with his heart, more than with his
penetrating mind.
That competent authority in all matters concerning Quakerism, Mr. J.
S. Rowntree, thus describes the origin and progress of the Quaker
discipline. "With the rapid growth of the Society, George Fox
increasingly perceived the necessity for taking steps to repress
the outbursts of fanatical and misguided zeal, and for placing the
government of the church on a more systematic basis. This decision
was undoubtedly expedited by the occurrence of a heresy fomented by
John Perrott.... He had the satisfaction of seeing most of Perrott's
adherents make a public acknowledgment of their error, and immediately
afterwards, he initiated a national system of disciplinary meetings,
to be held monthly. They consisted of the most experienced Friends
within a given district; and had the charge of the affairs of the body
within such district. The Quarterly Meetings (many of which we have
seen were already in existence) were gradually put on a different
basis, and consisted henceforth of representatives from a number of
associated Monthly Meetings, whose decisions in some cases were liable
to revision by the superior meeting. It was not till a somewhat later
date that a central body--the 'Yearly Meeting' of London--consisting
of representatives from all the Quarterly Meetings in the country,
was established as the top stone of this elaborate disciplinary
system.... To the settlement of these Monthly Meetings, George Fox
most assiduously devoted himself in 1667-68; and ere long, wherever
meetings for the worship of God were held after the manner of Friends,
little church synods were also held, ministering to the wants of the
poor, alleviating the sorrows of the prisoners, seeking to reclaim
disorderly walkers, and when failing in this, disuniting them from the
body." ("Two Lectures on Macaulay's Portraiture of George Fox," pp.
40-42.) It speaks volumes for the sagacity of Fox that so little has
needed to be added to or altered in the Quaker polity since his day.
In 1666 the Barclays joined the society, and in the next year William
Penn was added to their number. The learning of Robert Barclay, and
social position and administrative ability of William Penn, were soon
appreciated by the leader with whom they worked so loyally.
In 1669 Fox visited Ireland, and in the same year he was married to
Margaret, widow of Judge Fell, of Swarthmoor Hall. She had been one
of his early converts, and was one of his most vigorous helpers. She
wrote almost as many letters, and printed almost as many appeals as her
husband; she visited the imprisoned, and sent relief to their families.
Her house was the home of all Quakers visiting the neighborhood, and
her purse was at the service of all who needed money to serve the
cause. Her judgment was reliable and her energy untiring; she was
the Countess of Huntingdon of the Society. She even endured long
imprisonments, and risked, and for a time endured, the loss of all her
property by premunire for the truth's sake. She was therefore a fitting
help-meet for George Fox. She had four daughters who were ministers in
the Society, and the whole family regarded him with reverence, except
the scapegrace elder son. He not only opposed the marriage, but with
the basest ingratitude, he endeavoured, after it was accomplished,
to turn his mother out of her own home; and he rests under at least
grave suspicion of being a party to the plot to have her sentenced to
premunire.[6]
[6] The penalties of this sentence were, to be put out of the King's
protection, to forfeit lands and goods to the King, and to be liable to
imprisonment for life or at the King's pleasure.
Fox acted throughout this affair with the greatest prudence and
magnanimity. He would not even be suspected of seeking worldly gain,
but carefully secured to his wife and her family, the property which
was hers before their marriage. No wedding could be more simple than
his own. "Afterwards," he says in his journal, "a meeting being
appointed on purpose for the accomplishing thereof, in the public
meeting-house at Broadmead in Bristol, [the site cannot now be
certainly determined,] we took each other in marriage.... Then was a
certificate, relating both the proceedings and the marriage, openly
read and signed by the relations, and by most of the ancient Friends of
that city, besides many other Friends from divers parts of the nation."
Evidently the ceremony caused considerable excitement. His wife was ten
years his senior.
But of home life they had little enough; in little more than a week
they parted, that the husband might continue his labours, and soon
after, the wife was cast into prison, where she remained until 1671.
Then through the intercession of her daughters with the king she was
released, and the premunire, which had rested on her for ten years, was
removed. They had a few days together before Fox sailed for the West
Indies, and again on his return, and so on.
Men and women who give their most intense and sustained sympathies
to Christian enterprises, often have to suffer for it in their home
relations. "We were very willing both of us," says Mrs. Fox after her
husband's death, "to live apart for some years upon God's account and
His truth's service, and to deny ourselves of that comfort which we
might have in being together, for the sake of the service of the Lord
and His truth; and if any took occasion, or judged hard of us because
of that, the Lord will judge them, for we were innocent."
In the summer of 1671, George Fox and some other Friends visited
the West Indies and the continent of America, to push the work of
evangelisation and of organising the societies there. They landed
in Barbadoes, after a voyage enlivened by constant dangers from the
leakiness of the vessel, and once by an almost miraculous escape from
capture by a Sallee man-of-war. Fox's son-in-law, John Rous, was in
the company, and on landing he was at once taken to the house of Mr.
Rous, senior, who was a wealthy sugar planter. Fox's health had been
so injured by the ill-usage which he had endured at different times,
and he suffered so keenly from the climate, that he had to remain at
Mr. Rous's, whilst his friends held meetings all around. But though
crippled in body his mind was vigorous. The marriage regulations
and discipline of the Society, and the duty of giving Christian
instruction to the negroes, engrossed his attention. The question of
slavery stirred his heart to its depths; and his vigorous language and
action not only did good then, but laid a right foundation for the
future action of the society. When the time came that Friends had to
consider the question of the abolition of slavery, few things exerted
so much influence in the right direction, as Fox's clear statement
of the issues involved. His words were quoted, his reasonings were
expanded and enforced, and it was largely through his influence that
abolitionist principles became identified with Quakerism.
Here, as elsewhere, the doctrines of the society had been greatly
misrepresented, so the famous letter to the governor of Barbadoes was
drawn up to explain them. It is still often quoted as an admirable
statement of the views of the society. It is as near an approach to
a creed as anything can be, which originated from a society which
recognises only the Bible as authoritative, and which objects to all
human formularies.
The society in Barbadoes gained greatly in numbers and strength by this
visit. Jamaica, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia were next visited
in the same manner and with similar results. Large numbers were won
to a christian life. The Indians and negroes were recognised as having
a claim to christian sympathy and religious instruction. The societies
were weeded of unworthy members, and their organisation successfully
accomplished. Then the party returned in safety to England after an
absence of a year and a half.
In 1677 Fox carried these operations into Holland, having with him
his illustrious friends, Penn and Barclay. "This visit of the three
great apostles of Quakerism," says Hepworth Dixon, "seems to have
made a great sensation; scholars, merchants, government officers,
and the general public crowded to hear them preach, and the houses
of the most noble and learned men in the city of Van der Werf and
Erasmus were thrown open to them freely.... Their journey through the
country was like a prolonged ovation." The interesting episode of the
interview with the enlightened and large-hearted Princess Elizabeth,
granddaughter of James I., scarcely belongs to this sketch, as Fox did
not join in it. But he wrote a lengthy epistle of Christian counsel,
and sent it by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Yeamans, and the Princess
returned him this brief but kindly reply:--
"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 friend's 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."
He spent some time in Amsterdam "writing in truth's account," and then
returned home by Harwich. In 1684 he paid another visit to Holland, the
last of his longer missionary journeys.
After this, finding his health shattered by his long imprisonment
and arduous labours, he settled down in London, quietly, though not
uselessly, awaiting the end. His correspondence was most extensive,
and he wrote many tracts and pamphlets as was his habit. One of his
last letters was written to the lately-bereaved widow of Barclay,
the Apologist, and is a model of Christian consolation. He tells
her:--"Thou and thy family may rejoice that thou hadst such an offering
to offer up unto the Lord as thy dear husband; who, I know is well in
the Lord in whom he died, and is at rest from his labours, and his
works do follow him." He signs himself one "who had a great love and
respect for thy dear husband, for his work and service in the Lord, who
is content in the will of God, and all things that he doeth--and so
thou must be." But besides this literary work, he laboured zealously in
the pastoral work, visiting the sick and afflicted, and endeavouring to
"bring into the way of truth such as had erred."
He watched the passing of the Toleration Act with the deepest interest.
It was a most welcome relief to Friends, especially those in Ireland.
The losses sustained by the Irish Quakers were enormous. In one year
(1689) they were estimated at £100,000, many being stripped of all they
had (see Besse's Sufferings). George Fox not only collected such facts
as these for publication, but, even in his last days of suffering and
prostration, attended at the House of Commons to interest the members
in the sufferings of his brethren, and to see that the Toleration Act
was "done comprehensively and effectually."
He was equally zealous in his attendance on public worship. When so
infirm that he could hardly sit through a service, he would not desist,
and often afterwards had to lie down on a bed until recruited. He
was determined, if possible, to die in harness, and God gave him his
heart's desire.
He was especially anxious lest spiritual religion should decline, now
that persecution had ceased, and Friends began to prosper in business.
He wrote them an epistle of loving, but earnest expostulation, warning
the young against the fashions of the world, and the old against the
deceitfulness of riches. To the latter he pointedly says, "Take heed
that you are not _making your graves_ while you are alive outwardly."
To some ministers who had gone to America he writes similar stirring
words of counsel:--"And all grow in the faith and grace of Christ,
_that ye may not be like dwarfs_; for a dwarf shall not come near to
offer upon God's altar, though he may eat of God's bread that he may
grow by it."
On the Sunday preceding his death, he preached with great power at the
meeting in Gracechurch Street, but soon afterwards had to take to bed,
complaining of cold and weakness. His wife had been to see him some
little time before, and finding him enjoying better health than usual,
was unprepared for his death, so that no near relative seems to have
been with him at the time of his decease. It was indeed a consecrated
chamber. Those who stood round him were struck with the triumph of
faith over bodily weakness. He exulted in the power of Christ. "All
is well--the Seed of God reigns over all, and over death itself." His
thoughts were calmly fixed on the arrangement of Society affairs; his
mind was clear, his habitual disregard of his bodily sufferings still
marked him. Towards the last all pain left him. Feeling death coming,
he closed his own eyes and extended his limbs; and in sweet composure,
resting on Christ his Saviour, his spirit entered into rest on Tuesday,
13th December, 1690 (o.s.)
Three days after, some 2000 persons (one witness says 4000) gathered
to lay him in his grave. For two hours they worshipped in that same
meeting-house in Gracechurch Street, in which he had preached only on
the previous sabbath. William Penn, George Whitehead, Stephen Crisp,
and other leaders amongst them, thanked God for the gifts and services
of their departed leader, and exhorted and encouraged each other to
faith in that Lord, who raised him up and sustained him in his work.
Then the body was conveyed to Bunhill-fields, and interred in the
Friends' Burial Ground there.
On the day of his death, William Penn wrote to Swarthmoor to tell the
news of his decease. His letter reminds us of the inscription of the
Carthaginians on the tomb of Hannibal. "We vehemently desired him in
the day of battle." He sadly says to Mrs. Fox, "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 his glorious testimony this
night about half-an-hour after 9 o'clock, being sensible to the last
breath. Oh! he is gone, and has left us with a storm over our heads.
Surely in mercy to Him, but an evidence to us of sorrows coming.... My
soul is deeply affected with this sudden great loss. Surely it portends
to us evils to come. A prince indeed is fallen in Israel to-day!" and
in a postscript he adds, "He died as he lived, minding the things of
God and His church to the last, in a universal spirit."
Fox's Journal was published soon after his death, with a lengthy
preface by his friend William Penn, containing a warm tribute to his
personal worth and Christian labors. The Journal gives us a better and
more vivid idea of the man than any biography that has been written.
An intelligent and liberal-minded Baptist minister thus describes the
impressions it left on his mind:--
Rev. Wm. Rhodes to his wife:
"'My dear heart in the truth and the life which are immortal
and change not;'
"So George Fox usually addressed his wife. I have finished
his life of 650 folio pages since you have been gone. It
afforded me much amusement, but its chief impression is
that of the highest veneration and delight, for so holy and
noble a servant of Christ. I have hitherto regarded Penn as
the most beautiful character which that sect has produced,
and perhaps it is the most beautiful, because his mind was
more polished and cultivated than that of his friend; but
Fox's character is by far the most venerable and magnificent.
He reminds me of the inspired Tishbite in his stern majesty
and fidelity, but he seems to have surpassed him in all the
patient, gentle, compassionate, suffering, laborious virtues.
If inspiration has been granted since the apostles departed
from the world, I think he possessed it. I have read few
things more truly sublime than some of his letters to Charles
II."--_Memoir of W. Rhodes, Jackson and Walford, p. 179._
Ellwood, the friend of Milton, has left us a glowing testimony to the
value of George Fox's Life and Work. But the eulogies of William Penn
and Thomas Ellwood are not portraits. One of the best estimates of his
character ever given to the world is that by J. C. Colquhoun in "Short
Studies of some Notable Lives." In it he says (p. 88-90):--
"The truth is that Fox's character had, like that of many others,
two sides; and the contrast between these is so great that one can
hardly believe them to belong to the same man. On the one side we have
strange thoughts and words, fanciful imaginations, the illusions of an
unlettered mind. But such things are not unusual. Dr. Johnson believed
in second sight, in dreams and ghosts; and his case presents to us the
credulity of a child, with the intellect of a giant.