ve himself to the study of the theological questions then in debate,
and ended by becoming a Protestant, in consequence of which he in 1545
left his coll. He then became tutor in the family of Sir T. Lucy of
Charlecote, and afterwards to the children of the recently executed Earl
of Surrey. During the reign of Mary he retired to the Continent, and
_pub._, at Strasburg, his _Commentarii_ (the first draft of the _Acts and
Monuments_). Removing to Basel he was employed as a reader for the press
by the famous printer Oporinus, who _pub._ some of his writings. On the
accession of Elizabeth, F. returned to England, was received with
kindness by the Duke of Norfolk, one of his former pupils, and soon
afterwards (1563) _pub._ the work on which his fame rests, the English
version of the _Acts and Monuments_, better known as _The Book Martyrs_.
Received with great favour by the Protestants, it was, and has always
been, charged by the Roman Catholics with gross and wilful perversion of
facts. The truth of the matter appears to be that while Foxe was not, as
in the circumstances he could hardly have been, free from party spirit or
from some degree of error as to facts, he did not intentionally try to
mislead; and comparison of his citations from authorities with the
originals has shown him to have been careful and accurate in that matter.
F., who had been ordained a priest in 1560, became Canon of Salisbury in
1563. He wrote sundry other theological works, and _d._ in 1587. There is
a memoir of him attributed to his _s._, but of doubtful authenticity.
Some of his papers, used by Strype (_q.v._), are now in the British
Museum.

FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (1740-1818).--Reputed author of _The Letters of
Junius_, _s._ of the Rev. Philip F., a scholar of some note, was _b._ in
Dublin. On the recommendation of Lord Holland he received an appointment
in the office of the Sec. of State, and was thereafter private sec. to
Lord Kinnoull in Portugal, and to Pitt in 1761-2. He was then transferred
to the War Office, where he remained from 1762-72, during which period he
contributed to the press under various pseudonyms. His next appointment
was that of a member of Council of Bengal, which he held from 1773-80.
While in India he was in continual conflict with the Governor-General,
Warren Hastings, by whom he was wounded in a duel in 1779. He returned to
England in 1780 with a large fortune, and entered Parliament as a Whig.
In 1787 he was associated