N20568:1254
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.
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 lady was not perfectly recovered from the weakness caused by her labour, when she was ordered to be racked, which was done with such severity, that she expired a week after of the wou••• and bruises she received. Upon this occasion •he inquisitors affected some remorse, and, in one of the printed acts of the inquisition, which they always publish at an Auto de Fe, they thus mention this […] lady:
THE lady was not perfectly recovered from the weakness caused by her labour, when she was ordered to be racked, which was done with such seve•ity, that she expired a week after of the wou••• and bruises she received. Upon this occasion •he inquisitors affected some remorse, and, in one of the printed acts of the inquisition, which they always publish at an Auto de Fe, they thus mention this 〈…〉 lady:
JANE Bohorquia was found dead in prison; after which, upon reviving her prosecution, the inquisitors discovered that she was innocent.—Be it therefore known, that no farther prosecutions shall be carried on against her, and that her effects, which were confiscated, shall be given to the heirs at law. Thus have the lords of the holy office of inquisition generously restored to her innocence, reputation, and estate. Strange inconsistency! to take the property, and torture the person before conviction of guilt, and then to compliment themselves for moderation, in returning what they had no right to seize, and forgiving one, who, by their own acknowledgement, had never offended them. One sentence, however, in the above ridiculous passage, wants explanation, viz. That no farther prosecution shall be carried on against her. This alludes to the absurd custom of prosecuting, and burning the bones of the dead: for when a prisoner dies in the inquisition, the process continues the same as if he was living; the bones are deposited in a chest, and if a sentence of guilt is passed, they are brought out at the next Auto de Fe; the sentence is read against them with as much solemnity as against a living prisoner, and they are at length committed to the ••ames. In a similar manne• are prosecutions carried on against prisoners who escape; and when their persons are far beyond the reach of the inquisitors, they are burnt in effigy.
XIX. DR. Isaac Orobio, a learned physician, having beaten a Moorish servant for stealing, was accused by him of professing Judaism. Without considering the apparent malice of the servant, the inquisitors seized the master upon the charge. He was kept three years in prison before he had the least intimation of what he was to undergo, and then suffered the following six modes of torture:
1. A […] put on him▪ and then drawn so […] circulation of his blood was nea•ly stoppe•, […] the breath almost pressed out of his body. A••er this the strings were suddenly loosened, when the air forcing its way hastily into his stomach, and the blood rushing into its channels, he suffered the most incredible pains.
1. A 〈…〉 put on him▪ and then drawn so 〈…〉 •irculation of his blood was nea•ly stoppe•, 〈…〉 the breath almost pressed out of his body. A••er this the strings were suddenly loose•ed, when the air forcing its way hastily into his stomach, and the blood rushing into its channels, he suffered the most incredible pains.
2. HIS thumbs were tied with small cords so hard that the blood gushed from under the nails.
3. HE was seated on a bench with his back against a wall, wherein small iron pulleys were fixed. Ropes being fastened to several parts of his body and limbs, were passed through the pulleys, and being suddenly drawn with great violence, his whole frame was forced into a distorted heap.
3. HE was seated on a bench with his back against a wall, wherein small iron pullies were fixed. Ropes being fastened to several parts of his body and limbs, were passed through the pullies, and being suddenly drawn with great violence, his whole frame was forced into a distorted heap.
4. AFTER having suffered for a considerable time the pains of the last mentioned position, the seat was snatched away, and he was left suspended against the wall in the most excruciating misery.
5. A little instrument with five knobs, and which went with springs, being placed near his face, he suddenly received five blows on the cheek, that put him to such pain as caused him to faint away.
6. THE executioners fastened ropes round his wrists, and then drew them about his body. Placing him on his back with his feet against the wall, they pulled with the utmost violence, till the cords had penetrated to the bone.
6. THE executioners fastened ropes round his wrists, and then drew them about his body. Placing him on his back with his feet agains• the wall, they pulled with the utmost violence, till the cords had penetrated to the bone.
THE last torture he suffered three different times, and then lay 70 days before his wounds were healed. He was afterwards banished, and in his exile wrote the account of his sufferings, from which we have extracted the foregoing particulars.
XX. AN excellent penman of Toledo, in Spain▪ and a protestant, was fond of producing fine specimens of writings, and having them framed, to adorn the different apartments of his house. Among other curious examples of penmanship was a large piece, containing the Lord's prayer, creed, and ten commandments, thrown into verse, and finely written. This piece, which hung in a conspicuous part of the house, was one day seen by a person belonging to the inquisition, who observed that the versification of the commandments was not according to the church of Rome, but according to the protestant church, for the protestants retain the whole of the commandments as they are found in the bible, but the papists omit that part of the second commandment which forbids the worship of images. The inquisition soon had information of the whole, and this ingenious gentleman was seized▪ prosecuted, and burnt, only for ornamenting his house with a specimen of his skill and piety.
AS Mr. Martin's case is singular in itself, and amply explained, and as it was published under the immediate sanction of government, and Mr. Martin himself patronized by the highest characters both in church and state, we shall minutely enter into the particulars of it.
ABOUT Lent, in the year 1714, Mr. Martin arrived at Malaga, with his wife, and four children. On the examination of his baggage, his bible and some other books were seized, and effectually lo•• to him.
IN about three months time he was accused of being a Jew. for these curious reasons, that his own name was Isaac, and one of his sons was named Abraham.
WHEN he heard of the accusation, which was laid in the Bishop's court, he informed the English consul of it, who said it was nothing but the malice of some of the Irish papists, whom he advised him always carefully to shun. The clergy sent to Mr. Martin's neighbours to know their opinion concerning him: the result of which inquiry […] this; We believe him not to be a Jew, but […] heretic.
WHEN he heard of the accusation, which was laid in the Bishop's court, he informed the English consul of it, who said it was nothing but the malice of some of the Irish papists, whom he advised him always carefully to shun. The clergy sent to Mr. Martin's neighbours to know their opinion concerning him: the result of which inquiry 〈…〉 this; We believe him not to be a Jew, but 〈…〉 heretic.
