with hopes of life, when the physicians have pronounced her past recovery."-I have said no more, answered the good man, than God commanded me: for it is his pleasure that she shall not die but live. And the event was, as he foretold. Going one day to see the earl of Arundel, son to the duke of Norfolk, at his lordship's house in the Strand, London; on his coming away, the earl walked with him down his garden to the Thames side, where he was to take boat. The weather being very stormy, and the water extremely rough, the earl advised him not to venture himself on the river. Mr. Fox's answer was very remarkable; and makes us feel a wish to know the particular subject of their preceding conversation: My lord, let these waters so deal with me, as I have in truth and sincerity delivered to you all that I have spoken. On saying these words, he entered the boat; and, very shortly afterwards, the wind ceased, and the river ran with a smooth and gentle current. There have been macaronies in all ages. One of Mr. Fox's sons had a great desire to travel beyond sea, from which his father could by no means dissuade him. After a tour of several years, he returned home; and presented himself to the good old man, in a fantastical, outlandish habit. Who are you? said Mr. Fox.-" Sir, I am your son Samuel."-To which his reply was: O my son, who has taught thee to make thyself so ridiculous? This reproof seems to have been attended with good effect for the giddy youth proved afterwards, a serious, devout, learned, and respectable man. In 1610, he wrote the life of his father, prefixed to his Martyrology; and at length died, full of years and of good works *. * See more of him in Strype's Annals, vol. iii. p. 505.—As also of Simeon his youngest brother, ibid. p. 506. Mr. Strype terms both these surviving sons of Mr. John Fox, "well deserving men, bred up to learning, and of note in their times." A very singular incident, of which Mr. John Fox himself was eye-witness, shall conclude this summary of his life and character. He it was, who had that memorable interview with Mrs. Honeywood, mentioned by so many authors of that age. The concern of this pious lady for the salvation of her soul was so great; her doubts and fears so very distressing; and her sorrow of mind so grievous; that she sunk into utter despair: which had such an effect on her bodily health, as brought her to death's door, and kept her in a gradual consumption for almost twenty years. In vain did physicians administer their medical assistances; for her disease, which originated from a spiritual cause, required a supernatural remedy. There was but one physician, whose power and skill could reach her case: even he who healeth those that are broken in heart, and giveth medicine to heal their sickness.-In vain did the ablest and most evangelical ministers preach to her the comforts of the gospel; and labour to persuade her of the willingness and certainty, wherewith Christ receives every coming sinner. The holy Spirit alone could preach to her heart with efficacy; and he had not yet vouchsafed, in all those years, to rise upon her soul. At length, Mr. Fox was sent for; who, on his arrival, found a most mournful family, and the mistress of it the deepest mourner among them all. The holy man prayed with her; and then reminded her of what the faithful God had promised, and of what Christ had done and suffered for her soul. But even this was to no purpose: for still she could not believe, that the gospel promises and the merits of Jesus belonged to her.Mr. Fox, not in the least discouraged, went on; and to the wonder of those about her, expressed himself to the following effect: 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. Looking earnestly at him as he spake these words, she answered with much emotion, impossible! I shall as surely be damned, as this glass will break and immediately dashed a Venice glass (which she was holding in her hand), with much force against the wall. The glass fell first on a chest, and then upon the ground; but was neither broken, nor so much as cracked *. The event proved, that Mr. Fox did not prophesy by the spirit of error. Mrs. Honeywood was then sixty years old; and lived in much comfort and felicity, until she was upwards of ninety, and could reckon above three hundred and sixty persons descended from herself. * Fuller, in his Worthies of England (Kent, p. 86), says, that though this circumstance was little short of miraculous, still Mrs. Honeywood took no comfort from it; but "continued a great time after, in her former disconsolate condition, without any amendment, until God, who findeth out the fittest minutes for his own mercies, suddenly shot comfort, like lightning into her soul; so that she led the remainder of her life in spiritual gladness. This she herself told to the reverend father, Thomas Morton, bishop of Durham, from whose mouth I have received this relation.- -In the days of queen Mary she used to visit the prisons, and to comfort and relieve the confessors therein. She was present at the burning of Mr. Bradford, in Smithfield, and resolved to see the end of his sufferings; though, so great was the press of people, that her shoes were trodden off, and she forced thereby to go barefoot from Smithfield to St. Martin's, before she could furnish herself with a new pair for her money. She died the eleventh of May, 1620; in the ninety-third year of her age, and in the forty-fourth year of her widowhood." K 28 THE LIFE OF DR. JEWEL, BISHOP OF SALISBURY. WE learn from Dr. Fuller, that this great prelate was a native of Devonshire: "John Jewel, bearing the Christian name of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, was born at Buden [or Bowden, of which estate his ancestors had then been near two hundred years in possession], in the parish of Berynarber, near Ilfracombe, in that county. His mother's surname was Bellamy; who, with her husband, happily lived fifty years in holy wedlock: and, at their deaths, left ten children behind them. "Concerning our bishop, it may be said, 'nomen, omen.' Jewel was his name, and precious were his virtues. So that, if the like ambition led us Englishmen as doth foreigners, specially to render our surnames in Greek or Latin, he may be termed Johannes Gemma, on better account than Gemma Frisius entitled himself thereunto." He was chiefly bred in the school of Barnstaple : where John Harding, afterwards his popish antagonist, was his school-fellow. At thirteen years old, he was admitted into Merton college, Oxford ; under the tuition of Dr. John Parkhurst, afterwards the ingenious and evangelical bishop of Norwich. Such was his sedulity (rising always at four in the *Fuller's Worthies, and his Ecclesiastical History.- Clark's Lives. Biographia Britannica, &c. morning, and not going to rest until ten at night), that he was never punished for any one of his exercises, and but once for absence from chapel. Hence he was removed to Corpus Christi College, where he proved an excellent poet, linguist, and orator.Such was his memory, that he could repeat all Horace by heart; and gave many other surprising proofs of quickness and retention. During his residence at the university, after the accession of king Edward VI. he was happy in the friendship of that holy and learned reformer, doctor Peter Martyr. "Having touched at all human arts," says Fuller, "he landed at divinity; being much assisted by Peter Martyr, the king's professor therein. St. Jerom tells us, that so great was the intimacy between Pamphilius, that worthy priest and martyr, and Eusebius, the bishop of Cæsaræa; ut ab uno alter nomen acceperat, that they were mutually surnamed, the one from the other, Pamphilius Eusebii, and Eusebius Pamphilii. No less the unity of affections between these two; who accordingly might have been called, Martyr's Jewel, and Jewel's Martyr; as seldom in body, and never in mind asunder." * Having been chosen Humanity-Lecturer, in preference to many of his seniors, he acquitted himself with such brightness and ability, that his tutor, Dr. Parkhurst, honoured him with the following complimentary epigram: Olim discipulus mihi, care Juelle, fuisti : Amidst all his attainments in learning, such were his fervour of devotion, sanctity of life, and affa * Humanity, in college language, is a term that implies and comprehends the knowledge of the Greek and Latin tongues; together with rhetoric, poetry, grammar, and history, both ancient and modern. |