The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…

MACAR, a Libyan christian, was burnt; Heron-Ater, and Isidorus, Egyptians; with Dioschorus, a boy of fifteen, after suffering many other torments, met with a similar fate; and Nemesion, another Egyptian, was first tried as a thief; but being acquitted, was accused of christianity, which confessing, he was scourged, tortured, and burnt.

MACAR, a Lybian christian, was burnt; Heron-Ater, and Isidorus, Egyptians; with Dioschorus, a boy of fifteen, after suffering many other torments, met with a similar fate; and Nemesion, another Egyptian, was first tried as a thief; but being acquitted, was accused of christianity, which confessing, he was scourged, tortured, and burnt.

ISEHYRIAN, the christian servant of an Egyptian nobleman, and magistrate, was run through with a pike by his own master, for refusing to sacrifice to idols; Venatius, a youth of fifteen, was martyred in Italy; and forty virgins, at Antioch, after being imprisoned and scourged, were burnt.

ISEHYRIAN, the christian servant of an Egyptian nobleman, and magistrate, was run through with a pike by his own master, for refusing to sacrifice to idols; Venatius, a youth of fifteen, was martyred in Italy; and fortv virgins, at Antioch, after being imprisoned and scourged, were burnt.

IN the year of our Lord 251, the emperor Decius having erected a pagan temple at Ephesus, he commanded all who were in that city to sacrifice to the idols. This order was nobly refused by seven of his own soldiers, viz. Maximianus, Martianus, Joannes, Malchus, Dionysius, Seraion▪ and Constantinus.

IN the year of our Lord 251, the emperor Decius having erected a pagan temple at Ephesus, he commanded all who were in that city to sacrifice to the idols. This order was nobly refused bv seven of his own soldiers, viz. Maximianus, Martianus, Joannes, Malchus, Dionysius, Seraion▪ and Constantinus.

DURING the emperor's absence, they escaped, and hid themselves in a cavern; which the emperor being informed of at his return, the mouth of the cavern was closed up, and they all perished with hunger.

THEODORA, a beautiful young lady of Antioch, o• refusing to sacrifice to the Roman idols, was condemned to the stews, that her virtue might be sacrificed to the brutality of lust. Didymus, a christian, disguised himself in the habit of a Roman soldier, went to the house, informed Theodora who he was, and advised her to make her escape in his clothes.

THEODORA, a beautiful young lady of Antioch, o• refusing to sacrifice to the Roman idols, was condemned to the stews, that her virtue might be sacrificed to the brutality of lust. Didymus, a christian, disguised himself in the habit of a Roman soldier, went to the house, informed Theodora who he was, and advised her to make her escape in his cloaths.

THIS being effected, and a man found in the brothel instead of a beautiful lady, Didymus was taken before the president, to whom confessing the truth, and owning that he was a christian, the sentence of death was immediately pronounced against him.

THEODORA, hearing that her deliverer was likely to suffer, came to the judge, threw herself at his feet, and begged that the sentence might fall only on her as the guilty person; but deaf to the cries of the innocent, and insensible to the calls of justice, the inflexible judge condemned both; when they were executed accordingly, being first beheaded, and their bodies afterwards burnt.

S•CUNDIANUS having been accused as a christian, was conveyed to prison by some soldier• ▪ On the way, Verianus and Marcellinus said, "Where are you carrying the innocent?" This interrogatory occasioned them to be seized, and all three, after having been tortured, were hanged, and, when dead, their heads were cut off.

S•CUNDIANUS having been accused as a christian, was conveyed to prison by some soldier• ▪ On the way, Verianus and Marcellinus said, "Where are you carrying the innoc•nt?" This interrogatory occasioned them to be seized, and all three, after having been tortured, were hanged, and, when dead, their heads were cut off.

ORIGEN, the celebrated presbyter and catechist of Alexandria, at the age of sixty-four, was seized, thrown into a loathsome prison, laden with heavy fetters, his feet placed in the st••ks, and his legs extended to the utmost for several successive days. He was threatened with fire, and tormented by every means that the most […] imaginations could ⟨p. 31⟩suggest. But unappalled with dangers, and unshaken by sufferings, his christian fortitude bore him through all. Indeed, such was the rigour of his judge, that his tortures were ordered to be lingering, that death might not too soon put a period to his miseries. During this cruel temporising, the emperor Decius died, and Gallus, who succeeded him, engaging in a war with the Goths, the christians met with a respite. In this interim Origen obtained his enlargement, and retiring to Tyre, he there remained till his death, which happened when he was in the sixty-ninth year of his age.

ORIGEN, the celebrated presbyter and catechist of Alexandria, at the age of sixty-four, was seized, thrown into a loathsome prison, laden with heavy fetters, his feet placed in the st••ks, and his legs extended to the utmost for several succ•ssive days. He was threatened with fire, and tormen•ed by every means that the most 〈…〉 imaginations could ⟨p. 31⟩suggest. But unappalled with dangers, and unshaken by sufferings, his christian fortitude bore him through all. Indeed, such was the rigour of his judge, that his tortures were ordered to be lingering, that death might not too soon put a period to his miseries. During this cruel temporising, the emperor Decius died, and Gallus, who succeeded him, engaging in a war with the Goths, the christians met with a respite. In this interim Origen obtained his enlargement, and retiring to Tyre, he there remained till his death, which happened when he was in the sixty-ninth year of his age.

GALLUS, the emperor, having concluded his wars, a plague broke out in the empire: sacrifices to the pagan deities were ordered by the emperor, and superstition immediately bowed the knee to idols.

THE christians refusing to comply with these rites, were charged with being the authors of the calamity. Hence the storm of persecution spread from the interior to the extreme parts of the empire, and many fell martyrs to the impetuosity of the rabble, as well as the prejudice of the magistrates.

CORNELIUS, the christian bishop of Rome, was, among others, seized upon this occasion. He was first banished to Centu•• •ella•, Civita Vecchia, as it is now called: and •fter having been cruelly scourged ▪ wa•, on the 14th of September, 252, beheaded, after having been bishop fifteen months and ten days.

CORNELIUS, the christian bishop of Rome, was, among others, seized upon this occasion. He was first banished to Centu•• •ella•, Civita Vecchia, as it is now called: and •fter having been cruelly scourged• ▪ wa•, on the 14th of September, 252, beheaded, after having been bishop fifteen months and ten days.

LUCIUS, who succeeded Cornelius as bishop of Rome, was the son of Porphyrius, and a Roman by birth. His vigilance, as a pastor, rendered him obnoxious to the foes of christianity, which occasioned him to be banished; but in a short time he was permitted to return from exile.

NOT long after, however, he was apprehended, after having been bishop about six months, and beheaded March the 4th, A. D. 2•3. This bishop was succeeded by Stephanus, a man of a fiery temper, who held the dignity a few years, and might probably have fallen a martyr, had not the emperor been murdered by his general Aemilian, when a profound peace succeeded throughout the whole empire, and the persecution of course ceased.

MOST of the errors which crept into the church at this time, arose from placing human reason in competition with revelation; but the fallacy of such arguments being proved by the most able divines, the opinions they had created, vanished away like stars before the sun.