N20568:1846
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.
THE priests now had recourse to the most palpable and absurd falsehoods: they assured the duke that he was mistaken in the Waldenses, for they were a wicked set of people, and highly addicted to intemperance, uncleanness, blasphemy, adultery, incest• and many other abominable crimes; and that they were even monsters in nature, for their children were born with black throats, with four rows of teeth, and bodies all over hairy.
THE duke was not so devoid of common sense as to give credit to what the priests said, though they affirmed, in the most solemn manner, the truth of their assertions. H•, however, sent twelve very learned and sensible gentlemen into the Piedmon•ese valleys, to examine into the real characters of the inhabitants.
THE duke was not so devoid of common sense as to give credit to what the priests said, though they affirmed, in the most solemn manner, the truth of their assertions. H•, however, sent twelve very learned and sensible gentlemen into the Piedmon•ese vallies, to examine into the real characters of the inhabitants.
THESE gentlemen, after travelling through all their towns and villages, and conversing with people of every rank among the Waldenses, returned to the duke, and gave him the most favourable account of those people: affirming, before the faces of the priests who vilified them, that they were harmless, inoffensive, loyal, friendly, industrious, and pious: that they abhorred the crimes of which they were accused; and that, should an individual, through depravity, fall into any of those crimes, he would, by their laws, be punished in the most exemplary manner. With respect to the children, the gentlemen said, the priests had told the most […] and ridiculous falsities, for they were neither born with black throats, teeth in their mouths, or hair on their bodies, but were as fine children as could be seen. "And to convince your highness of what we have said, (continued one of the gentlemen) we have brought twelve of the principal male inhabitants, who are come to ask pardon in the name of the rest, for having taken up arms without your leave, though even in their own defence, and to preserve their lives from their merciless enemies. And we have likewise brought several women, with children of various ages, that your highness may have an opportunity of personally examining them as much as you please."