N20568:173
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.
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.
HAVING separated them, that they should not console with, or fortify each other, he began to tamper with Epipodius, the youngest of the two. With a dissembled kindness, he pretended to pity his condition, and entreated him not •o ruin himself by obstinacy. "Our deities (continued he) are worshipped by the greater part of the people in the universe, and their rulers; we adore them with feasting and mirth, while you adore a crucified man; we, to honour them, launch into pleasures; you, by your faith, are debarred from all that indulges the senses. Our religion enjoins feasting, your's fasting; our's the joys of licentious blandishments, your's the barren virtue of chastity. Can you expect protection from one, who could not secure himself from the persecutions of a contemptible people? Then quit a profession of such austerity, and enjoy those gratifications which the world affords, and which your youthful years demand."
HAVING separated them, that they should not console with, or fortify each other, he began to tamper with Epipodius, the youngest of the two. With a dissembled kindness, he preten•ed to pity his condition, and intreated him not •o ruin himself by obstinacy. "Our •eities (contin•ed he) are worshipped by the greater part of the people in the universe, and their rulers; we adore them with feasting and mirth, while you adore a crucified man; we, to honour them, launch into pleasures; you, by your faith, are debarred from all that indulges the senses. Our religion enjoins feasting, your's fasting; our's the joys of licentious blandishments, your's the barren virtue of chastity. Can you expect protection from one, who could not secure himself from the persecutions of a contemptible people? Then quit a profession of such austerity, and enjoy those gratifications which the world affords, and which your youthful years demand."
TO this illusive harangue Epipodius replied; he contemned his compassion, as a heart full of faith could not want it. "Your pretended tenderness (said he) is actual cruelty; and the agreeable life you describe, is replete with everlasting death. Christ suffered for us, that our pleasures should be immortal, and hath prepared for his followers an eternity of bliss. The frame of man being composed of two parts, body and soul; the first, as mean and perishable, should be rendered subservient to the interests of the last. Your idolatrous feasts may gratify the mortal, but they injure the immortal part: that cannot therefore be enjoying life, which destroys the most valuable moiety of your frame. Your pleasures lead to eternal death, and our pains to perpetual happiness."