N20568:793
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 officer replied, that was unnecessary; for he would tell them the contents, which were not of a religious but of a political nature, and only required them to swear they were willing prince Hilderic should succeed his father in the throne. Several of the prelates innocently thinking that there could be no harm in swearing they were willing a son should succeed his father, as that was but a piece of natural justice, offered to comply. But the rest, with greater precaution, and well knowing the Arian wiles, refused to take the oath, as they justly judged so simple a proposal would never have been made them, unless some deep artifice was concealed beneath it.
WHILE they were disagreeing upon this head, the officer took an advantage of their discord, and committed them to separate prisons, those who were willing to swear to one, and those who were unwilling to another. They had not been long in confinement before the mystery was unravelled, and the whole artifice explained by an order from the king for the banishment of both parties. Those who had been willing to swear were banished, under the pretence of offering to break an established precept of the Scripture, viz. "Swear not at all," Matt. v. 34. And those who had refused to swear, were banished as enemies to the legal succession. Thus did the crafty Arians accomplish the •uin of the prelates, by wresting a text of the gospel to a wrong sense, and putting a piece of political sophistry to an improper use. The former were obliged to work as slaves in distant colonies, and the latter were sent to the island of Corsica to cut timber. Tripoli was the place to which Euge•nius was banished; where Anthony, a violent A•••an bishop, threw him into a loathsome dungeon▪ ⟨p. 76⟩and made him suffer every hardship that cruelty could devise, in order to destroy him by a lingering death. The dampness of the place gave Eugenius the palsy, which Anthony hearing of, went to the gaol, and finding him in a very weak condition laying on the floor, he poured some strong vinegar down his throat, with a design to have choked him. It had, however, a contrary effect; for instead of suffocating, it promoted an immediate and copious perspiration, which was essentially serviceable in curing his palsy, and restoring him to health.