N20568:1180
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Volume 1 › Chapter 4 › An Account of the Rise, Progress, &c. of the INQUISITION.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
THE gaoler and attendants being apprized that the prisoner hath made an ingenuous confession, and readily answered every question, make him a low bow, and treat him with an affected kindness, as a reward for his candour.
IN a few days he is brought to a second examination, with the same formalities as before. It is then demanded of him, If he has taken a serious review of his past life, and will divulge its various secrets, and the crimes and follies into which he has run at different times. If he refuses to confess any thing, many ensnaring questions are put to him, and the arts of casuistry are exhausted to draw some secret from him. But if he accuses himself of any crimes or follies, they are written down by the secretary, and a process extracted from them. The inquisitors often over-reach prisoners, by promising the greatest lenity, and even to restore their liberty, if they will accuse themselves. The unhappy persons, who are in their power, frequently fall into ⟨p. 130⟩this snare, and are sacrificed to their own simplicity, and ill-placed confidence. Instances have been known of some, who relying on the faith of the judges, and believing their fallacious promises, have accused themselves of what they were totally innocent, in expectation of obtaining their liberty speedily; and thus, being duped by the inquisitors, they became martyrs to their own folly, and suffered death for fictitious transgressions.
ANOTHER artifice used by the inquisitors is this: if a prisoner has too much resolution to accuse himself, and too much sense to be ensnared by their sophistry, they proceed thus: a copy of an indictment against the prisoner is given him, in which, among many trivial accusations, he is charged with the most enormous crimes, of which human nature is capable. This, of course, rouses his temper, and he exclaims against such falsities. He is then asked which of the crimes he can deny? He naturally singles out the most atrocious, and begins to express his abhorrence of them, when the indictment being snatched out of his hand, the president says, "By your denying only those crimes which you mention, you implicitly confess the rest, and we shall therefore proceed accordingly."