Note 343 — Chapter XXV

This remarkable man was born at Drayton, in Leicestershire, in 1624. He was placed as an apprentice to a grazier, but, at the age of nineteen, he thought himself called to forsake every thing else, and devote himself to religion. In 1648, he began to preach, and adopted the peculiar language and manners which have distinguished his followers. He incurred persecution, was often imprisoned, and treated with great severity. In 1669, he married, and soon after visited America, where he remained two years, and made many proselytes. He returned to England, and after many sufferings, he died in 1690, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His works form three folio volumes. “He was undoubtedly a man of strong natural parts, and William Penn speaks in high terms of his meekness, humility and temperance.”—Ency. Amer. art. George Fox.