FOX, GEORGE, the originator of the society of friends (q.v.), commonly called Quakers, was b. at Drayton, in Leicestershire, in 1624, and at an early age was employed in keeping sheep. Subsequently, lie was apprenticed to a country shoemaker; but when about 19 years.of age, his religious impressions produced such a strong con viction in him, that lie believed himself to be the subject of a special Divine call; and abandoning his usual avocations, wandered solitarily through the country, dressed merely in a leathern doublet of his own making, and absorbed in spiritual reveries. After some time, his friends induced him to return home, but F. stayed with them only for a short period, and filially adopted the career of an itinerant religious reformer. .About 1646, he left off attending church for divine worship, but did not scruple t6 inter rupt the services when conducted by "professors," i.e. formalists, or persons whom he believed not to be genuine Christians. His first efforts at proselytism were made at Manchester in 1648. The excitement caused was very great, and, in consequence, F. was imprisoned for sonic time as a disturber of the peace. It may be proper to men tiontiere, that his leading doctrines or convictions were the futility of learning for the work of the ministry, the presence of Christ in the heart as the " inner light," super seding all other lights, and the necessity of trying men's opinions and religions by the Holy and not by the Scriptures. F. next traveled through various of the mid land counties, Derby, Leicester, and Northampton, exhorting the people in public places to forsake all vicious practices, drunkenness, swearing, etc., and to cultivate the Christian graces. He had a winning manner, and by his extreme earnestness made many converts. His followers were first. contemptuously called " Quakers " in 1650. According to F.'s.own account, given in his Journal, " This was Justice Bennet of Derby-, who was the first that called us Quakers. because 1 bade them tremble at the word of the Lord." The name has been commonly explained from the Quakers' agita tion when " moved by the Holy Ghost." In 1655, F. was brought to London, and examined before Cromwell, who quickly saw that there was nothing in Quakerism to excite his apprehensions, and pronounced the doctrines and the character of its founder to be irreproachable. Nevertheless, for some years after this, F. had a hard struggle
with his Puritan antagonists. In an age of dogmatism and fanaticism, it was not to be expected that the half-mystical spiritualities and wrotesque practical crotchets of the Leicestershire shoemaker could meet with any official toleration. F. was constantly vilified and frequently imprisoned by country magistrates. In he married the' widow of judge Fell. He then went to America, where he spent two Nears in propagating his views with much success. On his return to England in 1673, he was imprisoned for some time in Worcester jail, under the charge of having " held a meeting from all parts of the nation for terrifying the king's subjects." On his release, he visited Holland, and afterwards Hamburg, Holstein, and Dantzic, always endeavoring to persuade men to listen to the voice of Christwithin them. He died in London. Jan. 13, 1691. F. was not a man of broad and philosophic genius; he did not enrich the world with the multi tude of his thoughts; in fact, there is a conspicuous poverty of intellect and sentiment manifested in his writings, but (as often happens in the case of a mystic) the earnestness and clearness with which, in the opinion of ninny, one great truth of Christianity was realized, imparted a power and efficacy to his words that genius itself might enwy. _ His doctrine of the universal " inner light "—defended in a more learned fashion by Barclay (q.v.) in his Apology for the Quakers—may be regarded as a protest against the narrow or at least excessive " scripturalism " of his age, but his understanding was not suffi ciently clear and strong to guide him safely in all the consequences which he ventured to deduce from it; Hence have sprung most of the niaiseries of Quakerism. His writings were collected and published in 3 vole., 1694-1706. An edition in 8 vols. has been published at Philadelphia, U. S.—Comp•re Sewers History of the Quakers; Neal's Puritans; 3larsh's Life of Fox (1848); and Janney's Life of Fox, with Dissertations, etc. (Phila. 1853).