244 



FOX. 



of white mixed with it in different proportions. It 

 inhabits the northern part of Asia and America ; but 

 a comparison of those of this country with the foreign, 

 will, in all probability, prove thorn to be distinct, as 

 has been suggested by F. Cuvier. 



Red fox (C. fulvut). This species is found through- 

 out North America, and has been considered as iden- 

 tical with the common fox of Europe, though there 

 can be no doubt of their difference. The general 

 colour of this fox, in summer, is bright ferruginous 

 on the head, back, and sides. Beneath the chin it 

 is white, whilst the throat and neck are of a dark 

 gray. The under parts of the body towards the tail 

 are very pale red. It is about two feet long and 

 eighteen inches high. The skins are much sought 

 foe, and are employed in various manufactures. 

 When caught young, they may be domesticated to a 

 certain degree, but are always unpleasant from the 

 fetor of their urine. 



Crossed fox (C. decussatus). This differs very 

 much from the common fox. The colour of his fur 

 is & sort of gray, resulting from the mixture of black 

 and white hair. He has a black cross on his shoul- 

 ders, from which he derives his name. The muzzle, 

 lower parts of the body and the feet are black ; the 

 tail is termi na ted with white. It inhabits the northern 

 parts of America, and may, perhaps, be only a varie- 

 ty of the black fox. 



Gray fox (C. cinereo-argentatus) is common through- 

 out the northern parts of America, more particularly 

 in the neighbourhood of habitations. Its general 

 colour is gray, becoming gradually darker from the 

 shoulders to the hips. It has a sharp head, marked 

 by a blackish-gray triangle, which gives it a peculiar 

 physiognomy. The tail is thick and bushy. 



Swift fox (C. velox, Say). This ' beautiful little 

 animal, which was first accurately described by Mr 

 Say, inhabits the great plains which lie at the base 

 of the Rocky mountains. It is much smaller than 

 the other American species, and forms its habitation 

 by burrowing. It is distinguished by its extraordin- 

 ary speed, which appears to surpass that of any 

 other animal. It can pass the fleetest antelope, and 

 seems rather to fly than touch the ground in its 

 course. It is even stated, that such is its rapid mo- 

 tion, that the effect produced on the eye is that of a 

 line swiftly drawn along the surface, the parts of the 

 animal's body being wholly undistinguishable. Its 

 body is slender, and the tail rather long, cylindrical, 

 and black. The hair is fine, dense, and soft. It 

 somewhat resembles the C. cor sac, which inhabits the 

 vast plains of Tartary. ; 



FOX, GEORGE, the founder of the society of 

 Friends, or Quakers, was born at Drayton, in Leices- 

 tershire, in 1624. His father, who was a weaver, 

 educated him religiously. Being apprenticed to a 

 grazier, he was much employed in the keeping of 

 sheep ; and it is thought that so solitary an employ- 

 ment confirmed that tendency to enthusiasm which 

 he displayed from his infancy. At the age of nine- 

 teen, he persuaded himself that he had received a di- 

 vine command to forsake every thing else, and devote 

 himself solely to religion. He accordingly forsook 

 his relations, equipped himself in a leathern doublet, 

 and wandered from place to place, supporting him- 

 self as he could. Being discovered hi the metropolis, 

 his friends induced him to return ; he, however, re- 

 mained with them a very short time, resuming a 

 life of itinerancy, in which he fasted much, walked 

 abroad in retired places, studying the Bible, and 

 sometimes sat in a hollow tree for a day together. In 

 1648, he began to propagate his opinions, and com- 

 menced public preacher at Manchester ; where he 

 soon aftor made excursions through the neighbour- 

 ing counties, where he preached to the people in 



the market-places. About this time, he began to 

 adopt the peculiar language and manners of Quaker- 

 ism, and experienced some of the persecutions to 

 which all active novelty, in the way of religious 

 opinion, was in those days exposed. At Derby, the 

 followers of Fox were first denominated Quakers, in 

 consequence of their trembling mode of delivery, and 

 calls on the magistracy to tremble before the Lord. 

 In 1655, he was sent a prisoner to Cromwell, who, 

 having ascertained the pacific tendency of his doc- 

 trines, had him set at liberty. He was, however, 

 treated with great severity by the country magis 

 tracy, in consequence of his interruption of ministers 

 during divine service, and exclamations in the 

 churches, and was more than once obliged to the in- 

 terference of the protector for his freedom. On the 

 occasion of a fast appointed on account of the perse 

 cution of the Protestants abroad, he addressed a 

 paper to the heads and governors of the nation, in 

 which he forcibly described the inconsistency of 

 similar severity at home. In 1666, he was liberated 

 from prison by order of Charles II., and immediately 

 set about forming the people, who had followed his 

 doctrines, into a formal and united society. In 1669, 

 he married the widow of judge Fell, in the same 

 simple manner which still distinguishes the marriages 

 of his followers, and soon after went to America, 

 where he remained two years, which he employed in 

 making proselytes. On his return, he was thrown 

 into Worcester jail, but was quickly released, and 

 went to Holland. He soon after returned, and was 

 cast in a suit for tithes, which he deemed it unlawful 

 to pay ; and, in 1684, again visited the continent, 

 where he did not long remain ; and, his health be- 

 coming impaired by incessant toil, imprisonment, and 

 suffering, he lived more retired until his death, in 

 1690, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. ExcU.'- 

 sive of a few separate pieces, the writings of Fox 

 are collected into three vols. folio ; the first of which 

 contains his Journal, the second his Epistles, and 

 the third his Doctrinal Pieces. He was undoubtedly 

 a man of strong natural parts ; and William Penn 

 speaks in high terms of his meekness, humility, and 

 temperance. 



FOX, JOHN; an English church historian, was 

 born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1517. At the 

 age of sixteen, he was entered at Brazen-nose col- 

 lege, Oxford, and, in 1543, was elected a fellow of 

 Magdalen college, in the same university. Apply- 

 ing himself to theology with great assiduity, he 

 secretly became a convert to the principles of the 

 reformation. This tendency being at length sus- 

 pected, a charge of heresy followed, and, by the 

 judgment of his college, he was, in 1545, expelled. 

 In the reign of Edward VI., he was restored to his 

 fellowship; but, in the reign of Mary, understand- 

 ing that Gardiner was devising means to seize him, 

 he went abroad, and gained a livelihood by correct- 

 ing the press for an eminent printer at Basle, where 

 he laid the first plan of his Acts and Monuments of 

 the Church. On the accession of Elizabeth, he re- 

 turned to his native country, and was received in the 

 most friendly manner by his former pupil, the duke 

 of Norfolk, who maintained him as long as he lived, 

 and settled a pension on him at his death. Secretary 

 Cecil also obtained for him a prebend in the church 

 of Salisbury; and he might have received much 

 higher preferment if he would have subscribed to the 

 articles enforced by the ecclesiastical commissioners. 

 In 1575, a persecution took place of the German 

 Anabaptists, when Fox sought an audience of Eliza- 

 beth, and endeavoured to convince her of the cruelty 

 and injustice of condemning them to the flames. He 

 died, greatly esteemed and lamented, in 1587, in his 

 seventieth year. His principal work is the History 



