Excerpt from The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, Vol. 53: For March-June, 1831

The Acts and Monuments' of John Fox, more usually called his Book of Martyrs, must have a place among the principalhisto rical works of the sixteenth century. None certainly can be compared to it in its popularity and influence. Four editions of these bulky folios were published in the reign of Elizabeth the first in 1563. It may not be too much to say, that it con firmed the Reformation in England. Every parish (by order of the council, or the bishops, we forget which) was to have a copy in the church and every private gentleman, who had any book but the Bible, chose that which stood next in religious esteem. Whatever be the amount of the mistakes into which the pretty common habit of assuming the truth of facts accord ing to an estimate previously formed of the characters of those concerned in them may have led our worthy martyrologist, it is certain that We owe him thanks for collecting and inserting at length a great body of documents illustrative of our civil and ecclesiastical history.

In the long and, comparatively at least with former times, the learned reign of Elizabeth, no other contribution appears to have been made to the history of our own country in our own language, except a short work by Sir John Hayward, in 1599, entitled, The first part of the Life and Reign of King Henry IV., extending to the end of the first year of his reign.' This is deemed a rhetorical performance of little value, and chiefly remarkable for the persecution it brought upon him at the hands of that jealous government. Bacon, in his Apophthegms, relates a sally of his own wit, by which he saved the unfortunate author from his angry sovereign. The queen, ' he says, asked Mr Bacon whether there were not treason contained in the book. Nay, madam, he answered, for treason I cannot deliver my opinion that there is any, but very much felony. The queen, apprehending it, gladly asked, How and where Mr Bacon answered, Because he hath stolen many of his sentences and conceits out of Cornelius Tacitus. At another time, the queen threatened to have Hayward racked, to discover the real nu thor, whom she suspected to be disguised. Bacon advised her rather to rack his style to shut him up with pen, ink, and paper, and let him try if he could write like it. According to Camden, the offence was taken at the dedication to the Earl of Essex, wherein he was called Magnus et praesenti judicio, et futuri temporis expectatione.' Not having access to Hayward's book, we quote Camden's words in Latin. Hayward remained for a considerable time in prison.

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