Transcription
An account of the strange and wonderful manner in which John Fox, who some time ago lived near Nottingham, was sorely afficted with an Evil Spirit, that threw him into fits, de- prived him of the power of speech, spoke within him, and endeavoured to baffle the efforts of the Ministers who attended him, whose names are here mentioned; also an account how he was at length relieved, after remaining three years dumb, and lived a virtuous and religious life. IN the life of Mr. Richard Rothwell (a famous Preacher at Mansfield, in the county of Nothing- ham) we have this remarkable account, as it was drawn up by Mr. Stanly GOWER of Dorchester: There was one John Fox, living about Nottingham, who had no more learning than enabled him to Write: and read. This man was possessed with a devil, who would violently throw him down; and take away the use of every member of his body, which was changed as black as pitch, while those fits were upon him; and then spoke with an audible voice within him, which seemed sometimes to sound out of his belly, sometimes out of his throat, and some- times out of his mouth, his lips not moving; and thus he continued for a considerable time; many prayers were put up to God for him and great re- sort was made to him, especially by several famous ministers, as Mr. Bernard of Batcomb, Mr. Lanly of Traswell, and others, betwixt whom and John Fox there passed many papers, in writing, he dis- covering his temptations, and they writing him an- swers because he was struck dumb, as will be af- terwards seen. Among the rest, Mr. Rothwell went to see him, and, before he came, the devil told all that were in the house of it, saying, 'Yonder comes Rothwell, but I will make a fool of him before he goes; where- upon the people looked out, and saw him coming, about a quarter of a mile from the house; as soon as he entered the room, the devil said, ' Now, Roth- well is come,' and, as some say, added,' Thou sayest there is no possession; what thinkest thou now? here is a man opens not his lips, and yet he speaketh;' and, after a while, he said, ' Say nothing to me of this man, for I tell thee he is damned,' and he ad- ded thereto many fearful blasphemies. Rothwell? Thou art a liar, and the father of lies; nor art thou so well acquainted with the mind of God concerning this man, which makes thee thus to torment him; therefore I believe thee not; I believe he shall be saved by Jesus Christ. Davi'r?He is a murderer, and thou knowest no murderer must come inio heaven Rothwell? Thou liest, for David murdered, and Is in heaven; and the Jews, with wicked hands, crucified the Lord of Glory, yet Christ prayed for them; and St. Peter exhorted them to repentance, that their fins might be blotted out Devil?But this man hath not repented, cannot, shall not repent Rothwell?If he had not repented, thou would it not have told him so; but if he has not, I believe God will give him repentance, and thou shall not be able to hinder it. Devil?Thou art a murderer thyself, and yet talkest thou thus? Rothwell? Thou liest again; I have only fought the Lord's battles against his known enemies. Then the devil swore and blasphemed, saying, Thou didst murder one this day, as thou camest hither, and there is one behind thee who will testity it;' upon which Mr. Rothwell looking over his shoulder, the devil set up an hideous laugther, that nothing could be heard tor a great while, and then said, ' Look you now, did not I tell you that I would make Rothwell a fool? and yet it is trne, thou didst murder one this day, for as thou camest along such a bridge (which he named) there I would have killed thee, and there thy horse trod upon a fly, and killed it.' It seems Mr. Rothwell's hoese stumbled at that place, the devil having power to cause it, though without hurt to either horse or man?Mr.R. then said, ' Thou hast often be- guiled me, but I hope God will in time give me wisdom to discern, and power to withstand all me delusions, and he it is that hath devlivered me out of thy hands, and, I doube not, will also deliver this poor man;' the devil then blasphemed fearfully, and quoted many scriptures out of the Old and New Testament, both in Hebrew and Greek,cavilling and playing the critic therewith, and backing his allegations out of the fathers and poets, in their own language, which he quoted very readily, so that the company trembled to hear such things from one that understood no learining, and neither moved tongue nor lip all the while; but Mr. Rothwell was wonderfully enabled, by divine power, to detect the devil's sophistry; upon which the devil said,' What need I stand talking with thee, all men know thou art bold Rothwell; and thou fearest nobody, nor carest for word,therefore I'll talk to thee no thore, Mr. R.turning to the people, said, 'Good people. you see the goodness of our God, and his great power, though the devil made a fool of me even now, through my weakness, God hath made the devil dumb now; do but observe how the man lies, therefore Let us go to prayer, and that God who hath made him dumb, will,I doubt not, drive him out of this poor man.' The devil hereupon raged, blasphemed, and said, ' If thou go to prayer, I will make such a noise that thy prayer shall be distracted, and thou knowest God will not hear a distracted prayer; but thou hast got a device, because thou wilt not be distracted, thou shuttest thy eyes in prayer (for so he always did) but if thou pray, I will pull out thy eyes!' Mr. R. replied,I look to find thee as great an enemy in this duty now, as I have done heretofore, but I fear not thy threats, I know thou art limited, aad God heareth the prayers of the upright, therefore, in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, we will go to prayer;' and accordingly they did so, Mr. Rothwell kneeling by the bed-side where the poor man lay. The devil made a most horrible noise; however. Mr, R,'s voice was louder than his, and in a thort time the divil roared at the very face of Mr. R. wherewith the body of the man moved, and the hand was held up which was the first time he stirred; Mr. Roth- well took the hand, and held it down with much ease, two men being scarcely able to hold the other hand;yet prayers were still continued, and at length the devil lay silent in the man, and soon after de- parted out of him; the man then fetched many deep sighs, insomuch that they belived he was dying, but his colour suddenly returned, and the use of all his members, senses, and understanding; and at the next petition, to the glory of God, and amazement of all the company, he cried out, Amen! where- upon they all returned thanks to the Almighty, and departed to their homes. Mr Rothwell now desired the man to take some food, but he refused, saying, the devil told him he would be choaked with the first bit he should eat; but Mr. R. forced him to eat, after which he grew quite well. Mr. R then left him, when he was in- stantly \struck dumb, and remained so for three years, after which he recovered his speech, and lived re- ligiously and virtuously till the day of his death. Printed by T.Duncan, Glasgow.
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Probable period of publication:
1810-1830 shelfmark: APS.3.83.18
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