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Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Fox Editor's
Preface Only a very few words of

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explanation are necessary to introduce
this edition of Fox's Book of Martyrs,

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a work which used to hold a place in
thousands of households by the side of The

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Pilgrim's Progress and the Bible,
and which is well fitted at the present

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hour to do great service for evangelical
and Protestant truth.

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Fox is undoubtedly a vivid, powerful,
truly interesting writer, with a style

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whose simplicity covers elements both of
tenderness and indignation, and some of

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his narratives are among the finest in the
English language.

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But in his book, as he left it,
he did not always arrange his materials in

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the way most likely to attract the reader
of the present day.

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His literary craftsmanship in the making
of phrase, sentence, and paragraph is

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noticeable.

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But he was markedly deficient in literary
architectonics.

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He did not always build up his hewn stones
into a simple structure, the lines of

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which could at once be taken in by the
observer.

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An endeavor has been made, in this
edition, to remedy that defect.

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The modern reader is won by a clear and
simple arrangement of what is placed

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before him.

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Accordingly, the editor has striven hard
to merit the commendation of having

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secured that.

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The editor believes that nothing essential
has been omitted in this edition,

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that he has conserved everything in the
Book of Martyrs that most obviously makes

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for edification.

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Fox, when he had the material,
narrated at great length the examinations

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of the martyrs before their judges.

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Inevitably, the same points of controversy
emerge, the same questions are asked,

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and the same answers given, again and
again.

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The editor of this edition has thought it
necessary to avoid these repetitions,

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while having an anxious care that in the
cases of the more illustrious martyrs,

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to each of whom a chapter is devoted,
the truths for which they offered up their

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lives are fully and explicitly stated.

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Further, the biographical part of Fox's
immortal work has, in this edition,

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been disentangled from the very lengthy
dissertations on general religious history

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in which the illustrious author delighted.

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Fox's plan was to tell his story under
each reign, then when he came to the hour

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in which his hero struck upon the scene,
he pulled up, began to relate the

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biography of his subject from the
beginning of his career, and that done,

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returned to his main narrative.

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National history and personal biography
were more mixed up than they need have

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been, and repetitions were frequent.

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These salutatory methods led to confusion.

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The biography did not stand out in sharp
relief, the reader was not clearly pointed

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to it, and the general impression of the
whole on his mind was blurred.

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The discursiveness of Fox's work in its
original form is also a bar to its hearty

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acceptance by the modern reader,
for of all characteristics, discursiveness

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is that of which the latter is most
impatient.

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He likes narratives that are clean-cut,
swift, full of movement, making straight

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for the point.

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The editor has kept these last-mentioned
essential points in mind all the time of

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his preparation of this volume.

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The result, it is hoped, proves that Fox's
narratives, judged merely on literary

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grounds, are among the most graphic and
the most readable in our literature.

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Add to that that the great theme with
which this famous book deals, the

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falsehood, aggressiveness, and intolerance
of Romanism and its cruelty, which always

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merely waits its opportunity, are topics
full of living significance at this hour,

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and it becomes reasonable to entertain
hope that this volume may receive a great

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popular welcome and again nobly serve the
cause for which it was written.

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Perhaps it ought to be added that the
editor is quite aware that the Emperor

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Constantine, Wycliffe, and Luther,
whose lives are narrated in this book,

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were not martyrs in the current
acceptation of the word.

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But the original meaning of martyr is
witness, and these were assuredly

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witnesses whose testimony to the gospel
was of great value.

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Besides, every reader would have felt that
the volume was imperfect without these sketches.