N20568:863
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.
TO induce them to comply, the caliph pretended a very great zeal for their welfare; and declared, that he looked upon converts in a more glorious light than conquests; and the gaining of souls, of much greater importance than the subduing of kingdoms. Agreeable to these maxims, after they had suffered all the hardships of a dark and noisome prison, and were reduced to a state that might oblige them to accept of relief on any terms, he sent some of the most ingenious and artful of the Mahometans, with money and clothes, and the promise of other advantages they might secure to themselves by a bare abjuration of christianity; which, according to the corrupt casuistry of those ⟨p. 87⟩infidels, might be made without quitting their faith. But our martyrs, well instructed in the simplicity and sincerity of the gospel, rejected the proposal with horror and contempt. After this they were attacked with that fallacious and delusive argument which the Mahometans still use in favour of themselves, and their monstrous absurdities! they were desired to judge of the merits of the cause by the success of those who were engaged in it; and choose that religion which they saw flourished most, and was best rewarded with the good things of this life, which they called the blessings of heaven. But our noble prisoners were proof against all these temptations; and argued strenuously against the authority of their false prophet. This incensed the Mahometans, and drew greater hardships upon the christians during their confinement, which lasted seven years. At the end of that time Boidizius, the renegado that had betrayed Armorian, brought them the welcome news of their sufferings being to conclude in martyrdom the next day. To which he added his advice to them to save their lives by dissimulation, a fault very excusable, he said, in their circumstances. But they knew what curse was denounced by Christ against such as deny him before men; and were therefore prepared to meet death in any shape, rather than commit that horrid crime.
TO induce them to comply, the caliph pretended a very great zeal for their welfare; and declared, that he looked upon converts in a more glorious light than conquests; and the gaining of souls, of much greater importance than the subduing of kingdoms. Agreeable to these maxims, after they had suffered all the hardships of a dark and noisome prison, and were reduced to a state that might oblige them to accept of relief on any terms, he sent some of the most ingenious and artful of the Mahometans, with money and clothes, and the promise of other advantages they might secure to themselves by a bare abjuration of christianity; which, according to the corrupt casuistry of those