N20568:2712
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.
BUT notwithstanding all this, the protestant interest at present stands upon a much stronger basis than it did a century ago. The Irish, who formerly led an unsettled and roving life, in the woods, bogs, and mountains, and lived on the depredation of their neighbours; they who, in the morning seized the prey, and at night divided the spoil, have, for many years past, become quiet and civilized. They taste the sweets of English society, and the advantages of civil government. They trade in our cities, and are employed in our manufactures. They are received also into English families; and are treated with great humanity by the protestants.
BUT notwithstanding all this, the protestant interest at present stands upon a much stronger basis than it did a century ago. The Irish, who formerly led an unset•led and roving life, in the woods, bogs, and mountains, and lived on the depredation of their neighbours; they who, in the morning seized the prey, and at night divided the spoil, have, for many years past, become quiet and civilized. They taste the sweets of English society, and the advantages of civil government. They trade in our cities, and are employed in our manufactures. They are received also into English families; and are treated with great humanity by the protestants.
THE heads of their clans, and the chiefs of the great Irish families, who cruelly oppressed and tyrannized over their vassals, are now dwindled, in a great measure, to nothing; and most of the ancient popish nobility and gentry of Ireland have renounced the Romish religion.
IT is also to be hoped, that inestimable benefits will arise from the establishment of protestant schools in various parts of the kingdom, in which the children of the Roman catholics are instructed in religion and reading, whereby the mist of ignorance is dispelled from their eyes, which was the great source of the cruel transactions that have taken place, at different periods, in that kingdom.
IN order to preserve the protestant interest in Ireland upon a solid basis, it behoves all in whom that power is invested, to discharge it with the strictest assiduity and attention; for should it once again lose ground, there is no doubt but the papists would take those advantages they have hitherto done, and thousands might yet fall victims to their malicious bigotry.
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BEFORE we enter upon those bloody tragedies that were acted in England, during the tyrannical reign of queen Mary, we think it necessary, especially for the information of the younger part of our readers, to give an account of the main errors, superstitious ceremonies, and human inventions, of the Romish church▪ in abhorrence of which, the first Reformer• and blessed Martyrs, who made the sacred scriptures their sole guide, separated from that church, and resisting popish idolatry, even unto death, sealed the sacred truths of the everlasting gospel with their precious blood. To attempt a formal refutation of the various absurdities belonging to the Roman Catholic religion, would be foreign to the design of this work, and afford ••tle entertainment: we shall however select those that are most material, and prove that they are me•• effects of human invention, by contrasting them with passages taken from the word of God, the only true rule by which we can possibly ⟨p. 258⟩judge in all matters of revealed religion. The Romish church affirms, that out of her communion there is no salvation; yet they receive, profess, and teach, as the true catholic faith, the following strange, unscriptural, and inhuman maxims, tenets, and carnal observances.
BEFORE we enter upon those bloody tragedies that were acted in England, during the tyrannical reign of queen Mary, we think it necessary, especially for the information of the younger part of our readers, to give an account of the main errors, superstitious ceremonies, and human inventions, of the Romish church▪ in abhorrence of which, the f•rst Reformer• and blessed Martyrs, who made the sacred scriptures their sole guide, separated from that church, and resisting popish idolatry, even unto death, sealed the sacred truths of the everlasting gospel with their precious blood. To attempt a formal refutation of the various absurdities belonging to the Roman Catholic religion, would be foreign to the design of this work, and afford ••tle entertainment: we shall however select those that are most material, and prove that they are me effects of human invention, by contrasting them with passages taken from the word of God, the only true rule by which we can possibly
TRADITIONS.] The church of Rome having deprived the laity of the Bible, substitutes in its stead apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions; and obliges her disciples to admit for truth whatever she teaches them: But what do the holy scriptures say? "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your traditions?" Matt. xv.3, 9, &c. They also command us "to call no man master (in spiritual concerns); to try the spirits; and to beware of false teachers."
TRADITIONS.] The church of Rome having deprived the laity of the Bible, substitutes in its stead apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions; and obliges her disciples to admit for truth whatever she teaches them: But what do the holy scriptures say? "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your traditions?" Matt. xv.3, 9, &c. They also command us "to call no man master (inspiritual concerns); to try the spirits; and to beware of false teachers."
PRAYERS and DIVINE SERVICE in LATIN.] The Roman Catholics will not interpret the scriptures, otherwise than according to the sense of holy Mother Church, and the pretended unanimous consent of the Fathers: they assert also, that the scriptures ought not to be read publicly, nor indifferently by all; and that the common people may be enslaved by gross ignorance, they perform public worship in an unknown tongue, contrary to the rule laid down by the apostle, "That all things should be done to edification." St. Paul says, "If I pray in an unknown tongue, m• spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful." And, writing to Timothy, he reminds him, that "from a child hast thou known the scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus."
PRAYERS and DIVINE SERVICE in LATIN.] The Roman Catholics will not interpret the scriptures, otherwise than according to the sense of holy Mother Church, and the pretended unanimous consent of the Fathers: they assert also, that the scriptures ought not to be read publicly, nor indifferently by all; and that the common people may be enslaved by gross ignorance, they perform public worship in an unknown tongue, contrary to the rule laid down by the apostle, "That all things should be done to edification." St. Paul says, "If I pray in an unknown tongue, m• spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitf•l." And, writing to Timothy, he reminds him, that "from a child hast thou known the scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus."
SEVEN SACRAMENTS.] Two only were instituted by Christ, to which the Romish church has added five more, making in all seven, necessary to salvation, namely, the Eucharist, Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony. To those two which Christ instituted, she has added a mixture of her own inventions; for in the sacrament of baptism, she uses salt, oil, or spittle; and in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the laity have only the bread administered to them: and even that not after the manner ordained by Christ, who broke the bread and gave it to his disciples; instead of which, the church of Rome administers to her members▪ not bread, but a wafer, and that not broke, but put whole by the priest into the mouths of the communicants. These wafers are smaller than those made for the priests, who, with them, drink the sacramental wine alone, to which the rest of the congregation have as good a right, from the institution of our blessed Lord, who said, "Drink ye all of this," &c. Matt. xxvi.27.
THE MASS.] Roman Catholics believe it to be a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice, and therefore call it, the Sacrament of the Altar; whereas the death of Christ was a full and complete sacrifice, "in which he hath, by one offering, perfected for ever them that are sanctified. He himself is a priest for ever; who, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; and who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God." See St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, Cha• ix. and x. It was on account of this gross absurdity, and the irreligious application of it, that our first reformers suffered, and so many were put to death in the reign of queen Mary.
TRANSUBSTANTIATION.] Roman Catholics profess, that in the most holy sacrament of the Lord's supper, there is really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of Christ; and that the whole substance of the bread is turned into his body, and the whole substance of the wine into his blood; which conversion, so contradictory to our senses, they call Transubstantiation, but at the same time they affirm, that under either kind or species only, one whole, entire Christ, and the true sacrament is receive•. But why are those words, "This is my body' to be taken in a literal sense, any more than those concerning the cup? Our Saviour says, "I am the true vine; I am the door." St. Paul says, "Our fathers drank of the rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ;" and, writing to the Corinthians, he affirms, that […] he had fed them with milk." Can these passages •e taken literally? Why then must we be forced to interpret our Saviour's words in a literal sense, when the meaning is both clearer, and more natural, when taken in a figurative one? "Take, eat; thus, in like manner, shall my body be broken for you, for the remission of sins. This cup represents the signing of the New Testament with my blood, and as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ⟨p. 259⟩ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come." 1 Cor. xi.23, &c.
TRANSUBSTANTIATION.] Roman Catholics profess, that in the most holy sacrament of the Lord's supper, there is really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of Christ; and that the whole substance of the bread is turned into his body, and the whole substance of the wine into his blood; which conversion, so contradictory to our senses, they call Transubstantiation, but at the same time they affirm, that under either kind or species only, one whole, entire Christ, and the true sacrament is receive•. But why are those words, "This is my body' to be taken in a literal sense, any more than those concerning the cup? Our Saviour says, "I am the true vine; I am the door." St. Paul says, "Our fathers drank of the rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ;" and, writing to the Corinthians, he affirms, that 〈…〉 he had fed them with milk." Can these passages e taken literally? Why then must we be forced to interpret our Saviour's words in a literal sense, when the meaning is both clearer, and more natural, when taken in a figurative one? "Take, eat; thus, in like manner, shall my body be broken for you, for the remission of sins. This cup represents the signing of the New Testament with my blood, and as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,
PURGATORY.] This, they say, is a certain place, in which, as in a prison, after death, those souls, by the prayers of the faithful, are purged, which in this life could not be fully cleansed; no, not by the blood of Christ: and notwithstanding it is asserted in the scriptures, that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," 1 John i.9. This place of purgatory is in the power of the pope, who dispenses the indulgence, and directs the treasury of his merits, by which the pains are mitigated, and the deliverance hastened. For the tormented sufferers, in this ideal inquisition, his monks and friars say masses, all of whom must be paid for their trouble; because, No penny, no pater-noster; by which bubble the church of Rome amasses great wealth.
IDOLATROUS and CREATURE-WORSHIP.] In all the Romish worship, the blessed virgin is a principal object of adoration. She is styled queen of heaven, lady of the world, the only hope of sinners, queen of angels, patroness of men, advocate for sinners, mother of mercies; under which titles they desire her, by the power of a mother, to command her son. In some prayers, they invoke God to bring them to heaven by the merits and mediation of the virgin Mary and all her saints, and that they may enjoy perpetual soundness both of body and mind, by her glorious intercession. Hence it might be imagined by a papist, that the sacred writings were full of en•omiums on this pretended mother of God; whereas, on the contrary, we do not find Christ in any part of the scripture called the Son of Mary, nor that he at any time calls her mother; and when the woman cried, "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that thou hast sucked;" "Yea, (returns our Lord) rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Nor does our Saviour own any relation but that of a disciple; for when his mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, Jesus answered, "Who are my mother and my brethren!" And looking round upon his disciples, he saith, "Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother." Of the like strain are also their prayers to other saints and angels, by which they derogate from the honour of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and transfer his offices to others; though the Scriptures expressly assert, there is but one mediator between God and man, who is sufficiently able to deliver and save, to the uttermost, all who by faith come unto him. Nor must we omit under this head the idolatry of the mass, in the elevation of the host, to which the poor deluded people kneel down, and which they, whatever their artful priests pretend to the contrary, solemnly adore and worship, agreeable to an express article of their creed, and the command of one of their popes, who enjoins that the host is to be worshipped in Latera, whereby the second commandment is infringed, which the Romish church have endeavoured as much as possible to suppress, and in many of their little manuals they leave it quite out.
IDOLATROUS and CREATURE-WORSHIP.] In all the Romish worship, the blessed virgin is a principal object of adoration. She is stiled queen of heaven, lady of the world, the only hope of sinners, queen of angels, patroness of men, advocate for sinners, mother of mercies; under which titles they desire her, by the power of a mother, to command her son. In some prayers, they invoke God to bring them to heaven by the merits and mediation of the virgin Mary and all her saints, and that they may enjoy perpetual soundness both of body and mind, by her glorious intercession. Hence it might be imagined by a papist, that the sacred writings were full of enomiums on this pretended mother of God; whereas, on the contrary, we do not find Christ in any part of the scripture called the Son of Mary, nor that he at any time calls her mother; and when the woman cried, "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that thou hast sucked;" "Yea, (returns our Lord) rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Nor does our Saviour own any relation but that of a disciple; for when his mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, Jesus answered, "Who are my mother and my brethren!" And looking round upon his disciples, he saith, "Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother." Of the like strain are also their prayers to other saints and angels, by which they derogate from the honour of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and transfer his offices to others; though the Scriptures expressly assert, there is but one mediator between God and man, who is sufficiently able to deliver and save, to the uttermost, all who by faith come unto him. Nor must we omit under this head the idolatry of the mass, in the elevation of the host, to which the poor deluded people kneel down, and which they, whatever their artful priests pretend to the contrary, solemnly adore and worship, agreeable to an express article of their creed, and the command of one of their popes, who enjoins that the host is to be worshipped in Latera, whereby the second commandment is infringed, which the Romish church have endeavoured as much as possible to suppress, and in many of their little manuels they leave it quite out.
