WEBVTT

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THE PERSECUTION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
Christ our Saviour, in the gospel of St.

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Matthew, hearing the confession of Simon
Peter, who, first of all other,

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openly acknowledged Him to be the Son of
God, and perceiving the secret hand of His

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Father therein, called Him, alluding to
His name, a rock, upon which rock He would

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build His church so strong that the gates
of hell should not prevail against it.

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In which words, three things are to be
noted — first, that Christ will have a

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church in this world, secondly,
that the same church should mightily be

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impugned, not only by the world,
but also by the uttermost strength and

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powers of all hell, and thirdly,
that the same church, notwithstanding the

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uttermost of the devil and all his malice,
should continue.

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Which prophecy of Christ we see
wonderfully to be verified, insomuch that

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the whole course of the church to this day
may seem nothing else but a verifying of

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the said prophecy?

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First, that Christ hath set up a church
needeth no declaration.

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Secondly, what force of princes,
kings, monarchs, governors, and rulers of

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this world, with their subjects,
publicly and privately, with all their

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strength and cunning, have bent themselves
against this church?

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And thirdly, how the said church,
all this notwithstanding, hath yet

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endured, and hold in its own?

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What storms and tempests it hath
overpassed, wondrous it is to behold!

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For the more evident declaration whereof,
I have addressed this present history,

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to the end, first, that the wonderful
works of God in His church might appear to

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His glory, also that, the continuance and
proceedings of the church, from time to

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time being set forth, more knowledge and
experience may redound thereby to the

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profit of the reader, and edification of
Christian faith.

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At the first preaching of Christ,
and coming of the gospel, who should

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rather have known and received Him than
the Pharisees and scribes of that people

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which had His law?

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And yet, who persecuted and rejected Him
more than they themselves?

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What followed?

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They, in refusing Christ to be their King,
and choosing rather to be subject unto

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Caesar, were by the said Caesar at length
destroyed.

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The like example of God's wrathful
punishment is to be noted no less in the

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Romans themselves.

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For when Tiberius Caesar, having learnt by
letters from Pontius Pilate of the doings

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of Christ, of His miracles, resurrection,
and ascension into heaven, and how He was

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received as God of many, Himself moved
with belief of the same, did confer

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thereon with the whole senate of Rome,
and propose to have Christ adored as God.

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They, not agreeing thereunto, refused Him,
because that, contrary to the law of the

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Romans, He was consecrated, said they,
for God before the senate of Rome had so

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decreed and approved Him.

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Thus the vain senate, being contented with
the emperor to reign over them,

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and not contented with the meek King of
glory, the Son of God, to be their King,

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were scourged and entrapped for their
unjust refusing, by the same way which

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they themselves did prefer.

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For as they preferred the emperor,
and rejected Christ, so the just

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permission of God did stir up their own
emperors against them in such sort,

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that the senators themselves were almost
all destroyed, and the whole city most

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horribly afflicted for the space almost of
three hundred years.

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For first, the same Tiberius, who for a
great part of his reign was a moderate and

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a tolerable prince, afterward was to them
a sharp and heavy tyrant, who neither

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favored his own mother, nor spared his
nephews, nor the princes of the city,

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such as were his own counsellors,
being of the number of twenty,

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he left not past two or three alive.

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Suetonius reported him to be so stern of
nature and tyrannical, that in one day he

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recordeth twenty persons to be drawn to
the place of execution.

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In whose reign, through the just
punishment of God, Pilate, under whom

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Christ was crucified, was apprehended and
sent to Rome, deposed, then banished to

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the town of Vienne in Dauphiné,
and at length did slay himself.

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Agrippa, the elder also by him,
was cast into prison, albeit afterward he

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was restored.

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After the death of Tiberius, succeeded
Caligula, Claudius Nero, and Domitius

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Nero, which three were likewise scourges
to the senate and people of Rome.

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The first commanded himself to be
worshipped as God, and temples to be

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erected in his name, and used to sit in
the temple among the gods, requiring his

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images to be set up in all temples,
and also in the temple of Jerusalem,

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which caused great disturbance among the
Jews.

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And then began the abomination of
desolation spoken of in the gospel,

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to be set up in the holy place.

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His cruelty of disposition, or else
displeasure towards the Romans,

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was such that he wished that all the
people of Rome had but one neck,

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that he at his pleasure might destroy such
a multitude.

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By this said Caligula, Herod Antipas,
the murderer of John Baptist and condemner

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of Christ, was condemned to perpetual
banishment, where he died miserably.

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Caiaphas also, who wickedly sat upon
Christ, was at the same time removed from

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the high priest's room, and Jonathan sat
in his place.

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The raging fierceness of this Caligula had
not thus ceased, had not he been cut off

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by the hands of a tribune and other
gentlemen who slew him in the fourth year

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of his reign?

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After whose death were found in his closet
two small books, one called the Sword,

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the other the Dagger, in which books were
contained the names of those Senators and

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Noblemen of Rome whom he had purposed to
put to death.

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Besides this Sword and Dagger,
there was also found a coffer,

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wherein divers kinds of poisons were kept
in glasses and vessels, for the purpose of

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destroying a wonderful number of people,
which poisons afterward, being thrown into

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the sea, destroyed a great number of fish.

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But that which this Caligula had only
conceived, the same did the other two

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which came after bring to pass.

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Namely, Claudius Nero, who resigned
thirteen years with no little cruelty,

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but especially the third of these Neros,
called Domitius Nero, who succeeded after

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Claudius resigned fourteen years with such
fury and tyranny that he slew the most

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part of the Senators and destroyed the
whole order of knighthood in Rome.

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So prodigious a monster of nature was he,
more like a beast, yea, rather a devil

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than a man, that he seemed to be born to
the destruction of men.

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Such was his wretched cruelty that he
caused to be put to death his mother,

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his brother-in-law, his sister,
his wife, and his instructors,

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Seneca and Lucan.

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Moreover, he commanded Rome to be set on
fire in twelve places, and so continued it

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six days and seven nights in burning,
while that he, to see the example how Troy

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burned, sang the verses of Homer.

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And to avoid the infamy thereof,
he laid the fault upon the Christian men,

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and caused them to be persecuted.

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And so continued this miserable Emperor,
till at last the Senate, proclaiming him a

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public enemy unto mankind, condemned him
to be drawn through the city, and to be

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whipped to death.

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For the fear whereof he, flying the hands
of his enemies in the night, fled to a

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manor of his servants in the country,
where he was forced to slay himself,

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complaining that he had then neither
friend nor enemy left, that would do so

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much for him.

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The Jews, in the year threescore and ten,
about forty years after the passion of

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Christ, were destroyed by Titus,
and Vespasian his father, who succeeded

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after Nero in the empire, to the number of
eleven hundred thousand, besides those

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which Vespasian slew in subduing the
country of Galilee.

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They were sold and sent into Egypt and
other provinces to vile slavery,

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to the number of seventeen thousand.

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Two thousand were brought with Titus in
his triumph, of whom part he gave to be

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devoured of the wild beasts, part
otherwise most cruelly were slain.

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As I have set forth the justice of God
upon these Roman persecutors, so now we

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declare their persecutions raised up
against the people and servants of Christ

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within the space of three hundred years,
which persecutions in number commonly are

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counted to be ten, besides the
persecutions first moved by the Jews in

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Jerusalem and other places against the
apostles.

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After the martyrdom of Stephen,
suffered next James, the holy apostle of

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Christ, and brother of John.

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When this James, saith Clement,
was brought to the tribunal seat,

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he that brought him, and was the cause of
his trouble, seeing him to be condemned,

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and that he should suffer death,
was in such sort moved therewith in heart

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and conscience, that, as he went to the
execution, he confessed himself also of

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his own accord to be a Christian.

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And so they were led forth together,
wherein the way he desired of James to

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forgive him what he had done.

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After that James had a little paused with
himself upon the matter, turning to him,

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he saith, Peace be to thee, brother,
and kissed him, and both were beheaded

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together.

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A.D.

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36.

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Thomas preached to the Parthians,
Medes, and Persians, also to the

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Carmanians, Hyrkanians, Bactrians,
and Magians.

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He suffered in Calamena, a city of India,
being slain with a dart.

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Simon, who was brother to Jude,
and to James the younger, who were all the

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sons of Mary Cleophas and of Alpheus,
was bishop of Jerusalem after James,

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and was crucified in a city of Egypt in
the time of Trajan the emperor.

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Simon the apostle, called Cananius,
and Zolotes, preached in Mauritania,

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and in the country of Africa, and in
Britain, he was likewise crucified.

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Mark the evangelist and first bishop of
Alexandria preached the gospel in Egypt,

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and there, drawn with ropes unto the fire,
was burned, and afterwards buried in a

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place called there Bucolus, under the
reign of Trajan the emperor.

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Bartholomew is said also to have preached
to the Indians, and to have translated the

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gospel of St. Matthew into their tongue.

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At last, in Albinopolis, a city of greater
Armenia, after Diver's persecutions,

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he was beaten down with staves,
then crucified, and after, being

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excoriate, he was beheaded.

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Of Andrew the apostle and brother to
Peter, thus writeth Jerome, Andrew did

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preach, in the year fourscore of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to the Scythians and

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Sogdians, to the Sacchi, and in a city
which is called Sebastopolis, where the

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Ethiopians do now inhabit.

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He was buried in Patrae, the city of
Achia, being crucified by Aegeus,

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the governor of the Edessenes.

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Bernard and St. Cyprian do make mention of
the confession and martyrdom of this

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blessed apostle, whereof partly out of
these, partly out of other credible

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writers, we have collected after this
manner.

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When Andrew, through his diligent
preaching, had brought many to the faith

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of Christ, Aegeus the governor,
knowing this, resorted to Patrae,

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to the intent he might constrain as many
as did believe Christ to be God,

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by the whole consent of the senate,
to do sacrifice unto the idols,

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and so give divine honours unto them.

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Andrew, thinking good at the beginning to
resist the wicked counsel and the doings

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of Aegeus, went unto him, saying to this
effect unto him, that it behoved him who

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was judge of men, first to know his judge,
which dwelleth in heaven, and then to

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worship him being known, and so,
in worshipping the true God, to revoke his

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mind from false gods and blind idols.

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These words spake Andrew to the proconsul.

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But Aegeus, greatly therewith
discontented, demanded of him whether he

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was the same Andrew that did overthrow the
temple of the gods and persuade men to be

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of that superstitious sect which the
Romans of late had commanded to be

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abolished and rejected.

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Andrew did plainly affirm that the princes
of the Romans did not understand the

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truth, and that the Son of God,
coming from heaven into the world for

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man's sake, hath taught and declared how
those idols whom they so honoured as gods,

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were not only not gods, but also were most
cruel devils, enemies to mankind,

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teaching the people nothing else but that
wherewith God is offended, and being

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offended turneth away and regarded them
not.

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And so, by the wicked service of the
devil, they do fall headlong into all

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wickedness, and after their departing
nothing remained unto them but their evil

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deeds.

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But the proconsul charged and commanded
Andrew not to teach and preach such things

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any more, or, if he did, he should be
fastened to the cross with all speed.

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Andrew, abiding in his former mind very
constant, answered thus concerning the

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punishment which he threatened.

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He would not have preached the honour and
glory of the cross if he had feared the

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death of the cross.

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Whereupon sentence of condemnation was
pronounced, that Andrew, teaching and

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enterprising a new sect, and taking away
the religion of their gods, ought to be

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crucified.

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Andrew, going toward the place,
and seeing afar off the cross prepared,

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did change neither countenance nor colour,
neither did his blood shrink, neither did

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he fail in his speech, his body fainted
not, neither was his mind molested,

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nor did his understanding fail him,
as it is the manner of men to do.

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But out of the abundance of his heart his
mouth did speak, and fervent charity did

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appear in his words as kindled sparks.

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He said, O cross, most welcome and long
looked for, with a willing mind,

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joyfully and desirously, I come to thee,
being the scholar of him which did hang on

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thee, because I have always been thy
lover, and have coveted to embrace thee.

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Matthew, otherwise named Levi,
first of a publican made an apostle,

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wrote his gospel to the Jews in the Hebrew
tongue.

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After he had converted to the faith
Ethiopia and all Egypt, Hyacinus their

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king sent one to run him through with a
spear.

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Philip, a holy apostle, after he had much
laboured among the barbarous nations in

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preaching the word of salvation to them,
at length suffered in Hierapolis,

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a city of Phrygia, there being crucified
and stoned to death, where also he was

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buried, and his daughters also with him.

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Footnote.

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It should be understood that the accounts
of the martyrdoms of apostles are mainly

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traditional.

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Of James the brother of the Lord,
thus we read, James took in hand to govern

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the church with the apostles, being
counted of all men from the time of our

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Lord to be a just and perfect man.

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He drank no wine, nor any strong drink,
neither did he eat any animal food.

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The razor never came upon his head.

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To him only was it lawful to enter into
the holy place, for he was not clothed

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with woolen, but with linen only.

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And he used to enter into the temple
alone, and there, falling upon his knees,

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ask remission for the people, so that his
knees, by oft kneeling for worshipping God

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and craving forgiveness for the people,
lost the sense of feeling, being benumbed

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and hardened like the knees of a camel.

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He was, for the excellency of his just
life, called the just and the safeguard of

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the people.

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When many therefore of their chief men did
believe, there was a tumult made of the

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Jews, scribes, and Pharisees, saying,
There is danger, lest all people should

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look for this Jesus as the Christ.

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Therefore they gathered themselves
together, and said to James, We beseech

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thee, restrain the people, for they
believe in Jesus as though He were Christ.

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We pray thee, persuade all of them which
come unto the feast of the Passover to

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think rightly of Jesus.

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For we all give heed to thee, and all the
people do testify of thee, that thou art

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just, and that thou dost not accept the
person of any man.

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Therefore persuade the people,
that they be not deceived about Jesus,

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for all the people and we ourselves are
ready to obey thee.

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Therefore stand upon the pinnacle of the
temple, that thou mayest be seen above,

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and that thy words may be heard of all the
people, for all the tribes with many

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Gentiles are come together for the
Passover.

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And thus the forenamed scribes and
Pharisees did set James upon the

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battlements of the temple, and they cried
unto him, and said, Thou just man,

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whom we all ought to obey, this people is
going astray after Jesus, which is

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crucified.

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And he answered with a loud voice,
Why do you ask me of Jesus, the Son of

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man?

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He sitteth on the right hand of the Most
High, and shall come in the clouds of

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heaven.

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Whereupon many were persuaded,
and glorified God upon this witness of

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James, and said, Hosanna to the Son of
David.

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Then the scribes and the Pharisees said
among themselves, We have done evil,

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that we have caused such a testimony of
Jesus.

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Let us go up and throw him down,
that others being moved with fear may deny

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that faith.

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And they cried out, saying, O,
O, this just man also is seduced.

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Therefore they went up to throw down the
just man.

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Yet he was not killed by the fall,
but turning, fell upon his knees,

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saying, O Lord God, Father, I beseech Thee
to forgive them, for they know not what

19:07.420 --> 19:07.920
they do.

19:08.740 --> 19:12.300
And they said among themselves,
Let us stone the just man James.

19:12.660 --> 19:14.760
And they took him to smite him with
stones.

19:15.960 --> 19:19.360
But while they were smiting him with
stones, a priest said to them,

19:19.840 --> 19:21.340
Leave off, what do ye?

19:21.640 --> 19:23.460
The just man prayeth for you.

19:24.160 --> 19:28.540
And one of those who were present,
a fuller, took an instrument, wherewith

19:28.540 --> 19:32.680
they did use to beat and purge cloth,
and smote the just man on his head.

19:33.380 --> 19:34.860
And so he finished his testimony.

19:35.580 --> 19:37.280
And they buried him in the same place.

19:38.160 --> 19:41.540
He was a true witness for Christ to the
Jews and the Gentiles.

19:42.660 --> 19:46.760
Now let us comprehend the persecutions
raised by the Romans against the

19:46.760 --> 19:51.180
Christians in the primitive age of the
church, during the space of three hundred

19:51.180 --> 19:51.640
years.

19:52.620 --> 19:57.040
Wherein marvellous it is to see and read
the numbers incredible of Christian

19:57.040 --> 20:02.200
innocents that were tormented and slain,
whose kinds of punishments, although they

20:02.200 --> 20:06.860
were divers, yet the manner of constancy
in all these martyrs was one.

20:07.780 --> 20:12.400
And yet, notwithstanding the sharpness of
these so many and sundry torments,

20:12.600 --> 20:16.800
and also the like cruelness of the
tormentors, such was the number of these

20:16.800 --> 20:21.160
constant saints that suffered,
or rather such was the power of the Lord

20:21.160 --> 20:26.020
in His saints, that, as Jerome saith,
there is no day in the whole year unto

20:26.020 --> 20:31.040
which the number of five thousand martyrs
cannot be ascribed, except only the first

20:31.040 --> 20:31.860
day of January.

20:32.660 --> 20:37.380
The first of these ten persecutions was
stirred up by Nero about the year of our

20:37.380 --> 20:39.240
Lord, threescore and four.

20:40.040 --> 20:44.000
The tyrannous rage of which emperor was
very fierce against the Christians,

20:44.800 --> 20:50.940
insomuch that, as Eusebius recordeth,
a man might then see cities full of men's

20:50.940 --> 20:55.380
bodies, the old there lying together with
the young, and the dead bodies of women

20:55.380 --> 20:59.920
cast out naked, without all reverence of
that sex, in the open streets.

21:00.740 --> 21:04.920
Many there were of the Christians in those
days, who seeing the filthy abominations

21:04.920 --> 21:08.780
and intolerable cruelty of Nero,
thought that he was antichrist.

21:08.780 --> 21:14.420
In this persecution, among many other
saints, the blessed apostle Peter was

21:14.420 --> 21:19.160
condemned to death and crucified,
as some do right at Rome, albeit some

21:19.160 --> 21:21.880
others, and not without cause,
do doubt thereof.

21:22.880 --> 21:27.040
Hegesippus saith that Nero sought matter
against Peter to put him to death,

21:27.380 --> 21:31.200
which, when the people perceived,
they entreated Peter with much ado that he

21:31.200 --> 21:32.180
would fly the city.

21:33.180 --> 21:38.040
Peter, through their importunity at length
persuaded, prepared himself to avoid.

21:38.800 --> 21:43.800
But, coming to the gate, he saw the Lord
Christ come to meet him, to whom he,

21:44.240 --> 21:48.040
worshipping, said, Lord, whither dost thou
go?

21:49.000 --> 21:52.860
To whom he answered, and said,
I am come again to be crucified.

21:53.860 --> 21:58.160
By this Peter, perceiving his suffering to
be understood, returned back into the

21:58.160 --> 21:58.400
city.

21:59.500 --> 22:03.380
Jerome saith that he was crucified,
his head being down and his feet upward,

22:03.620 --> 22:08.240
himself so requiring, because he was,
he said, unworthy to be crucified,

22:08.800 --> 22:12.020
after the same form and manner as the Lord
was.

22:13.040 --> 22:18.300
Paul the apostle, who before was called
Saul, after his great travail and

22:18.300 --> 22:22.060
unspeakable labours in promoting the
gospel of Christ, suffered also in this

22:22.060 --> 22:23.680
first persecution under Nero.

22:24.760 --> 22:30.240
Abdias declareth that unto his execution
Nero sent two of his esquires,

22:30.240 --> 22:34.200
Pharaga and Parthemius, to bring him word
of his death.

22:34.500 --> 22:38.560
They, coming to Paul, instructing the
people, desired him to pray for them,

22:38.980 --> 22:42.980
that they might believe, who told them
that shortly after they should believe and

22:42.980 --> 22:44.580
be baptised at his sepulchre.

22:45.080 --> 22:48.940
This done, the soldiers came and led him
out of the city to the place of execution,

22:49.660 --> 22:53.420
where he, after his prayers made,
gave his neck to the sword.

22:54.440 --> 22:59.100
The first persecution ceased under
Vespasian, who gave some rest to the poor

22:59.100 --> 22:59.580
Christians.

23:00.800 --> 23:05.340
After whose reign was moved, not long
after, the second persecution,

23:05.700 --> 23:11.660
by the emperor Domitian, brother of Titus,
he, first beginning mildly and modestly,

23:11.940 --> 23:16.960
afterward did so far outrage in pride
intolerable, that he commanded himself to

23:16.960 --> 23:21.360
be worshipped as God, and that images of
gold and silver in his honour should be

23:21.360 --> 23:22.300
set up in the capital.

23:23.240 --> 23:27.860
In this persecution John the apostle and
evangelist was exiled by the said Domitian

23:27.860 --> 23:29.300
into Patmos.

23:30.320 --> 23:35.100
After the death of Domitian, he being
slain and his acts repealed by the senate,

23:35.360 --> 23:39.780
John was released and came to Ephesus in
the year fourscore and seventeen,

23:40.660 --> 23:44.960
where he continued until the time of
Trajan, and there governed the churches in

23:44.960 --> 23:50.080
Asia, where he also wrote his gospel,
and so lived till the year after the

23:50.080 --> 23:55.700
passion of our Lord, threescore and eight,
which was the year of his age about one

23:55.700 --> 23:56.100
hundred.

23:56.980 --> 24:02.240
Clement of Alexandria addeth a certain
history of the holy apostle, not unworthy

24:02.240 --> 24:05.600
to be remembered of such delight in things
honest and profitable.

24:06.460 --> 24:07.580
The words be these.

24:08.540 --> 24:14.480
When John was returned to Ephesus from the
isle of Patmos, he was requested to resort

24:14.480 --> 24:19.580
to the places bordering near unto him,
whereupon, when he was come to a certain

24:19.580 --> 24:23.960
city, and had comforted the brethren,
he beheld a young man robust in body,

24:24.480 --> 24:27.000
of a beautiful countenance, and of a
fervent mind.

24:27.960 --> 24:33.020
Looking earnestly at the newly appointed
bishop, John said, I must solemnly commend

24:33.020 --> 24:36.620
this man to thee in presence here of
Christ and of the church.

24:37.720 --> 24:41.840
When the bishop had received of him this
charge, and had promised his faithful

24:41.840 --> 24:46.840
diligence therein, again the second time
John spake unto him, and charged him as

24:46.840 --> 24:47.260
before.

24:48.040 --> 24:50.020
This done, John returned to Ephesus.

24:50.860 --> 24:54.960
The bishop, receiving the young man
committed to his charge, brought him home,

24:55.300 --> 24:58.180
kept him, and nourished him, and at length
baptized him.

24:58.620 --> 25:02.980
And after that he gradually relaxed his
care and oversight of him, trusting that

25:02.980 --> 25:07.800
he had given him the best safeguard
possible, in putting the Lord's seal upon

25:07.800 --> 25:08.040
him.

25:08.920 --> 25:14.300
The young man, thus having his liberty
more, it chanced that certain of his old

25:14.300 --> 25:19.060
companions and acquaintances, being idle,
dissolute, and hardened in wickedness,

25:19.620 --> 25:24.140
did join in company with him, who first
invited him to sumptuous and riotous

25:24.140 --> 25:28.620
banquets, then enticed him to go forth
with them in the night to rob and steal.

25:29.000 --> 25:32.740
After that he was allured by them unto
greater mischief and wickedness.

25:33.540 --> 25:38.200
Wherein, by custom of time, and by little
and little, he, becoming more expert,

25:38.420 --> 25:42.820
and being of a good wit and a stout
courage, like unto a wild or unbroken

25:42.820 --> 25:47.260
horse, leaving the right way, and running
at large without bridle, was carried

25:47.260 --> 25:52.400
headlong to the profundity of all misorder
and outrage, and thus, utterly forgetting

25:52.400 --> 25:56.060
and rejecting the wholesome doctrine of
his salvation which he had learned before,

25:56.440 --> 26:02.000
he entered so far in the way of perdition
that he cared not how much further he

26:02.000 --> 26:03.400
proceeded in the same.

26:04.080 --> 26:08.160
And so, associating unto him a band of
companions and fellow thieves,

26:08.640 --> 26:12.960
he took upon himself to be his head and
captain among them in committing all kinds

26:12.960 --> 26:14.140
of murder and felony.

26:15.100 --> 26:19.120
It chanced that John was sent forth to
those quarters again and came.

26:19.880 --> 26:24.060
Meeting the bishop aforespecified,
he requireth of him the pledge,

26:24.200 --> 26:27.260
which, in the presence of Christ and of
the congregation then present,

26:27.700 --> 26:29.080
he left in his hands to keep.

26:29.880 --> 26:34.500
The bishop, something amazed at the words
of John, supposing he had meant them of

26:34.500 --> 26:39.200
some money committed to his custody,
which he had not received, and yet durst

26:39.200 --> 26:44.000
not mistrust John, nor contrary his words,
could not tell what to answer.

26:44.800 --> 26:48.800
Then John, perceiving his perplexity,
and uttering his meaning more plainly,

26:49.360 --> 26:53.940
The young man, saith he, and the soul of
our brother committed to your custody,

26:54.520 --> 26:55.460
I do require.

26:56.340 --> 27:00.460
Then the bishop, with a loud voice
sorrowing and weeping, said, He is dead.

27:01.120 --> 27:03.460
To whom John said, How, and by what death?

27:03.700 --> 27:08.700
The other said, He is dead to God,
for he became an evil and abandoned man,

27:08.760 --> 27:12.520
and at length a robber, and now he doth
frequent the mountain instead of the

27:12.520 --> 27:15.920
church, with the company of villains and
thieves like unto himself.

27:16.820 --> 27:20.340
Here the apostle rent his garments,
and with a great lamentation said,

27:20.780 --> 27:23.840
A fine keeper of his brother's soul I left
here.

27:24.140 --> 27:26.380
Get me a horse, and let me have a guide
with me.

27:26.840 --> 27:30.500
Which being done, his horse and man
procured, he hasted from the church,

27:30.920 --> 27:34.000
and coming to the place was taken of
thieves that lay on the watch.

27:34.920 --> 27:39.920
But he, neither flying nor refusing,
said, I came hither for the purpose.

27:40.380 --> 27:42.620
Lead me, said he, to your captain.

27:43.640 --> 27:48.060
So he being brought, a captain,
all armed, fiercely, began to look upon

27:48.060 --> 27:53.120
him, and Ephsuns, coming to the knowledge
of him, was stricken with confusion and

27:53.120 --> 27:54.400
shame, and began to fly.

27:55.340 --> 27:58.800
The old man followed him as much as he
might, forgetting his age, and crying,

27:58.920 --> 28:01.760
My son, why dost thou fly from thy father?

28:02.660 --> 28:06.620
An armed man from one naked, a young man
from an old man.

28:07.400 --> 28:11.380
Have pity on me, my son, and fear not,
for there is yet hope of salvation.

28:12.000 --> 28:14.080
I will make answer for thee unto Christ.

28:14.280 --> 28:18.320
I will die for thee if need be,
as Christ hath died for us.

28:18.540 --> 28:22.240
I will give my life for thee, believe me,
Christ hath sent me.

28:23.100 --> 28:28.360
He, hearing these things, first,
as in a maze, stood still, and therewith

28:28.360 --> 28:29.460
his courage was abated.

28:29.980 --> 28:34.180
After that he had cast down upon his
weapons, by and by he trembled,

28:34.380 --> 28:38.520
yea, and wept bitterly, and coming to the
old man embraced him, and spake unto him

28:38.520 --> 28:42.820
with weeping, as well as he could,
being even then baptized afresh with

28:42.820 --> 28:46.340
tears, only his right hand being hid and
covered.

28:47.460 --> 28:50.960
Then the apostle, after that he had
promised that he should attain remission

28:50.960 --> 28:55.860
of our Saviour, prayed, falling down upon
his knees, and kissing his murderous right

28:55.860 --> 29:02.100
hand, which for shame he durst not show
before, as now purged through repentance,

29:02.860 --> 29:04.760
and brought him back to the church.

29:05.760 --> 29:09.040
And when he had prayed for him with
continual prayer and daily fastings,

29:09.400 --> 29:13.680
and had comforted and confirmed his mind
with many sentences, he left him restored

29:13.680 --> 29:18.240
to the church again, a great example of
sincere penitence and proof of

29:18.240 --> 29:20.820
regeneration, and a trophy of the future
resurrection.

29:22.480 --> 29:27.280
The causes why the Roman emperors did so
persecute the Christians were chiefly

29:27.280 --> 29:29.940
these, fear and hatred.

29:31.500 --> 29:36.220
First fear, for that the emperors and
senate of blind ignorance, not knowing the

29:36.220 --> 29:41.040
manner of Christ's kingdom, feared and
misdoubted lest the same would subvert

29:41.040 --> 29:45.800
their empire, and therefore sought they
all means possible, how, by death and all

29:45.800 --> 29:49.800
kinds of torments, utterly to extinguish
the name and memory of the Christians.

29:51.120 --> 29:56.240
Secondly hatred, partly for that this
world, of its own natural condition,

29:56.420 --> 30:01.360
hath ever hated and maliced the people of
God from the first beginning of the world.

30:02.540 --> 30:06.900
Partly again, for that the Christians,
being of a contrary nature and religion,

30:07.140 --> 30:12.280
serving only the true living God,
despised their false gods, spake against

30:12.280 --> 30:17.120
their idolatrous worshipings, and many
times stopped the power of Satan working

30:17.120 --> 30:21.580
in their idols, and therefore Satan,
the prince of this world, stirred up the

30:21.580 --> 30:26.760
Roman princes and blind idolaters,
to bear the more hatred and spite against

30:26.760 --> 30:26.980
them.

30:27.660 --> 30:32.680
Whatsoever mishappened to the city or
provinces of Rome, either famine,

30:32.880 --> 30:38.520
pestilence, earthquake, wars, wonders,
unseasonableness of weather, or what other

30:38.520 --> 30:41.000
evil soever, it was imputed to the
Christians.

30:41.640 --> 30:47.040
The tyrants and organs of Satan were not
contented with death only, to bereave the

30:47.040 --> 30:47.880
life from the body.

30:48.680 --> 30:51.860
The kinds of death were divers,
and no less horrible than divers.

30:53.100 --> 30:56.940
Whatsoever the cruelness of man's
invention could devise for the punishment

30:56.940 --> 30:59.520
of man's body, was practiced against the
Christians.

31:00.220 --> 31:05.400
Stripes and scourgings, drawings,
tearings, stonings, plates of iron lathed

31:05.400 --> 31:11.420
unto them, burning hot, deep dungeons,
racks, strangling in prisons, the teeth of

31:11.420 --> 31:16.320
wild beasts, grid-irons, gibbets,
and gallows, tossing upon the horns of

31:16.320 --> 31:16.920
bulls.

31:17.380 --> 31:20.580
Moreover, when they were thus killed,
their bodies were laid in heaps,

31:20.660 --> 31:24.280
and dogs there left to keep them,
that no man might come to bury them,

31:24.400 --> 31:27.040
neither would any prayer obtain them to be
interred.

31:27.860 --> 31:32.120
And yet, notwithstanding all these
continual persecutions and horrible

31:32.120 --> 31:36.680
punishments, the church daily increased,
deeply rooted in the doctrine of the

31:36.680 --> 31:41.840
apostles, and of men, apostolical,
and watered plenteously with the blood of

31:41.840 --> 31:42.200
saints.

31:43.180 --> 31:48.540
In the third persecution, Pliny II,
a man learned and famous, seeing the

31:48.540 --> 31:52.880
lamentable slaughter of Christians,
and moved therewith to pity, wrote to

31:52.880 --> 31:57.340
Trajan, certifying him, that there were
many thousands of them daily put to death,

31:57.400 --> 32:01.320
of which none did anything contrary to the
Roman laws' worthy persecution.

32:02.380 --> 32:06.960
The whole account they gave of their crime
or error, whichever it is to be called,

32:07.040 --> 32:11.260
amounted only to this, namely,
that they were accustomed on a stated day

32:11.260 --> 32:16.080
to meet before daylight, and to repeat
together a set form of prayer to Christ as

32:16.080 --> 32:20.720
a God, and to bind themselves by an
obligation, not indeed to commit

32:20.720 --> 32:24.760
wickedness, but, on the contrary,
never to commit theft, robbery,

32:25.040 --> 32:30.880
or adultery, never to falsify their word,
never to defraud any man, after which it

32:30.880 --> 32:35.000
was their custom to separate and
reassemble to partake in common of a

32:35.000 --> 32:35.800
harmless meal.

32:37.460 --> 32:42.980
In this persecution suffered the blessed
martyr Ignatius, who is had in famous

32:42.980 --> 32:44.280
reverence among very many.

32:45.260 --> 32:50.280
This Ignatius was appointed to the
bishopric of Antioch next after Peter in

32:50.280 --> 32:50.680
succession.

32:51.320 --> 32:56.420
Some do say that he, being sent from Syria
to Rome, because he professed Christ,

32:56.580 --> 32:59.060
was given to the wild beasts to be
devoured.

33:00.200 --> 33:05.100
It is also said of him that when he passed
through Asia, being under the most strict

33:05.100 --> 33:09.740
custody of his keepers, he strengthened
and confirmed the churches throughout all

33:09.740 --> 33:14.180
the cities as he went, both with his
exhortations and preaching of the word of

33:14.180 --> 33:14.460
God.

33:15.240 --> 33:18.980
Accordingly, having come to Smyrna,
he wrote to the church at Rome,

33:19.280 --> 33:23.380
exhorting them not to use means for his
deliverance from martyrdom, lest they

33:23.380 --> 33:26.500
should deprive him of that which he most
longed and hoped for.

33:27.480 --> 33:29.480
Now I begin to be a disciple.

33:30.220 --> 33:35.900
I care for nothing of visible or invisible
things, so that I may but win Christ.

33:36.840 --> 33:42.100
Let fire and the cross, let the companies
of wild beasts, let breaking of bones and

33:42.100 --> 33:46.560
tearing of limbs, let the grinding of
whole body and all the malice of the devil

33:46.560 --> 33:47.340
come upon me.

33:47.840 --> 33:51.140
Be it so, only may I win Christ Jesus.

33:52.580 --> 33:56.600
And even when he was sentenced to be
thrown to the beasts, such was the burning

33:56.600 --> 34:00.760
desire that he had to suffer that he
spake, what time he heard the lions

34:00.760 --> 34:05.400
roaring, saying, I am the wheat of Christ,
I am going to be ground with the teeth of

34:05.400 --> 34:08.620
wild beasts, that I may be found pure
bread.

34:09.760 --> 34:15.720
After the decease of the quiet and mild
prince Antonius Pius followed his son

34:15.720 --> 34:21.740
Marcus Aurelius about the year of our Lord
161, a man of nature more stern and

34:21.740 --> 34:26.200
severe, and although in study of
philosophy and in civil government no less

34:26.200 --> 34:31.580
commendable, yet toward the Christians
sharp and fierce, by whom was moved the

34:31.580 --> 34:32.660
fourth persecution.

34:33.680 --> 34:37.120
In the time of the same Marcus,
a great number of them which truly

34:37.120 --> 34:42.600
professed Christ suffered most cruel
torments and punishments, among whom was

34:42.600 --> 34:45.540
Polycarp, the worthy bishop of Smyrna.

34:46.540 --> 34:51.280
Of whose end and martyrdom I thought it
here not inexpedient to commit to history

34:51.280 --> 34:56.960
so much as Eusebius declareth to be taken
out of a certain letter or epistle written

34:56.960 --> 35:02.140
by them of his Polycarp's own church to
all the brethren throughout the world.

35:03.240 --> 35:06.940
Three days before he was apprehended,
as he was praying at night, he fell

35:06.940 --> 35:11.860
asleep, and saw in a dream the pillow take
fire under his head and presently

35:11.860 --> 35:12.420
consumed.

35:13.320 --> 35:17.620
Waking thereupon, he forthwith related the
vision to those about him, and prophesied

35:17.620 --> 35:20.740
that he should be burnt alive for Christ's
sake.

35:21.680 --> 35:24.940
When the persons who were in search of him
were close at hand, he was induced,

35:25.400 --> 35:28.560
for the love of the brethren, to retire to
another village, to which,

35:28.560 --> 35:30.960
notwithstanding, the pursuers soon
followed him.

35:31.380 --> 35:34.880
And having caught a couple of boys
dwelling thereabout, they whipped one of

35:34.880 --> 35:37.440
them till he directed them to Polycarp's
retreat.

35:38.620 --> 35:42.120
The pursuers, having arrived late in the
day, found him gone to bed in the top room

35:42.120 --> 35:45.280
of the house, whence he might have escaped
into another house if he would.

35:45.800 --> 35:49.580
But this he refused to do, saying,
The will of the Lord be done.

35:50.400 --> 35:54.180
Hearing that they were come, he came down
and spoke to them with cheerful and

35:54.180 --> 35:55.040
pleasant countenance.

35:55.740 --> 35:59.340
So that they were wonderstruck,
who, having never known the man before,

36:00.040 --> 36:03.740
now beheld his venerable age and the
gravity and composure of his manner,

36:03.840 --> 36:07.880
and wondered why they should be so earnest
for the apprehension of so old a man.

36:09.080 --> 36:12.860
He immediately ordered a table to be laid
for them, and exhorted them to eat

36:12.860 --> 36:16.700
heartily, and begged them to allow him one
hour to pray without molestation.

36:17.480 --> 36:21.560
Which being granted, he rose and began to
pray, and was so full of the grace of God

36:21.560 --> 36:25.600
that they who were present and heard his
prayers were astonished, and many now felt

36:25.600 --> 36:28.860
sorry that so venerable and godly a man
should be put to death.

36:30.360 --> 36:34.220
When he had finished his prayers,
wherein he made mention of all whom he had

36:34.220 --> 36:38.580
ever been connected with, small and great,
noble and vulgar, and of the whole

36:38.580 --> 36:42.560
Catholic church throughout the world,
the hour being come for their departure,

36:43.100 --> 36:45.580
they set him on an ass, and brought him to
the city.

36:46.520 --> 36:52.240
There met him the Inirak Herod,
and his father Nesittes, who, taking him

36:52.240 --> 36:57.020
up into their chariot, began to exhort
him, saying, What harm is it to say Lord

36:57.020 --> 36:59.460
Caesar, and to sacrifice and save
yourself?

37:00.240 --> 37:05.660
At first he was silent, but being pressed
to speak, he said, I will not do as you

37:05.660 --> 37:06.300
advise me.

37:07.280 --> 37:11.020
When they saw that he was not to be
persuaded, they gave him rough language,

37:11.360 --> 37:15.320
and pushed him hastily down, so that in
descending from the chariot he grazed his

37:15.320 --> 37:19.580
shin, but he, unmoved as if he had
suffered nothing, went on cheerfully,

37:19.800 --> 37:21.900
under the conduct of his guards,
to the stadium.

37:22.820 --> 37:27.040
There, the noise being so great that few
could hear anything, a voice from heaven

37:27.040 --> 37:31.200
said to Polycarp, as he entered the
stadium, Be strong, Polycarp, and play the

37:31.200 --> 37:31.540
man.

37:32.560 --> 37:35.880
No one saw him that spake, but many people
heard the voice.

37:36.940 --> 37:40.860
When he was brought to the tribunal there
was a great tumult, as soon as it was

37:40.860 --> 37:43.320
generally understood that Polycarp was
apprehended.

37:44.200 --> 37:47.060
The proconsul asked him if he were
Polycarp.

37:47.060 --> 37:52.800
When he assented, the former counseled him
to deny Christ, saying, Consider thyself,

37:52.860 --> 37:57.620
and have pity on thy own great age,
and many other such-like speeches,

37:57.880 --> 37:59.680
which they are wont to make.

38:00.180 --> 38:04.880
Swear by the fortune of Caesar,
repent, say, Away with the atheists.

38:06.180 --> 38:10.420
Then Polycarp, with a grave aspect,
beholding all the multitude in the

38:10.420 --> 38:14.640
stadium, and waving his hand to them,
gave a deep sigh, and looking up to

38:14.640 --> 38:17.300
heaven, said, Take away the atheists.

38:18.760 --> 38:23.000
The proconsul then urged him, saying,
Swear, and I will release thee.

38:23.480 --> 38:24.460
Reproach Christ.

38:25.780 --> 38:30.820
Polycarp answered, Eighty and six years
have I served him, and he never once

38:30.820 --> 38:31.480
wronged me.

38:32.200 --> 38:36.380
How then shall I blaspheme my King,
who hath saved me?

38:37.460 --> 38:40.820
The proconsul again urged him,
Swear by the fortune of Caesar.

38:42.140 --> 38:47.320
Polycarp replied, Since you still vainly
strive to make me swear by the fortune of

38:47.320 --> 38:51.080
Caesar, as you express it, affecting
ignorance of my real character,

38:51.540 --> 38:53.580
hear me frankly declaring what I am.

38:54.180 --> 38:58.420
I am a Christian, and if you desire to
learn the Christian doctrine, assign me a

38:58.420 --> 38:59.460
day, and you shall hear.

39:00.420 --> 39:05.720
Hereupon the proconsul said, I have wild
beasts, and I will expose you to them,

39:05.720 --> 39:06.840
unless you repent.

39:07.340 --> 39:11.880
Call for them, replied Polycarp,
for repentance with us is a wicked thing,

39:12.340 --> 39:16.520
if it is to be a change from the better to
the worse, but a good thing, if it is to

39:16.520 --> 39:18.140
be a change from evil to good.

39:19.000 --> 39:23.540
I will tame thee with fire, said the
proconsul, since you despise the wild

39:23.540 --> 39:25.040
beasts, unless you repent.

39:25.960 --> 39:30.220
Then said Polycarp, You threaten me with
fire, which burns for an hour,

39:30.540 --> 39:31.880
and is soon extinguished.

39:32.280 --> 39:36.040
But the fire of the future judgment,
and of eternal punishment reserved for the

39:36.040 --> 39:38.220
ungodly, you are ignorant of.

39:38.660 --> 39:39.660
But why do you delay?

39:40.340 --> 39:41.520
Do whatever you please.

39:42.640 --> 39:46.900
The proconsul sent the herald to proclaim
thrice in the middle of the stadium,

39:47.440 --> 39:51.680
Polycarp hath professed himself a
Christian, which words were no sooner

39:51.680 --> 39:55.940
spoken, but the whole multitude,
both of Gentiles and Jews, dwelling at

39:55.940 --> 40:00.960
Smyrna, with outrageous fury, shouted
aloud, This is the doctor of Asia,

40:01.240 --> 40:04.980
the father of the Christians, and the
subverter of our gods, who hath taught

40:04.980 --> 40:07.160
many not to sacrifice nor adore.

40:08.200 --> 40:13.640
They now called on Philip, the Asiarch,
to let loose a line against Polycarp,

40:13.880 --> 40:17.440
but he refused, alleging that he had
closed his exhibition.

40:18.360 --> 40:22.580
They then unanimously shouted that he
should be burned alive, for his vision

40:22.580 --> 40:26.760
must needs be accomplished, the vision
which he had when he was praying,

40:26.920 --> 40:28.180
and saw his pillow burnt.

40:29.240 --> 40:32.680
The people immediately gathered wood and
other dry matter from the workshops and

40:32.680 --> 40:36.900
baths, in which service the Jews,
with their usual malice, were particularly

40:36.900 --> 40:37.920
forward to help.

40:39.260 --> 40:42.980
When they would have fastened him to the
stake, he said, Leave me as I am,

40:43.680 --> 40:49.280
for he who giveth me strength to sustain
the fire will enable me also, without your

40:49.280 --> 40:54.520
securing me with nails, to remain without
flinching in the pile, upon which they

40:54.520 --> 40:56.060
bound him without nailing him.

40:56.780 --> 41:02.100
So he said thus, O Father, I bless Thee
that Thou hast counted me worthy to

41:02.100 --> 41:04.660
receive my portion among the number of
martyrs.

41:05.680 --> 41:09.240
As soon as he uttered the word Amen,
the officers lighted the fire.

41:10.020 --> 41:14.840
The flame formed the appearance of an
arch, as the sail of a vessel filled with

41:14.840 --> 41:19.480
wind surrounded, as with a wall,
the body of the martyr, which was in the

41:19.480 --> 41:23.980
midst, not as burning flesh, but as gold
and silver refining in the furnace.

41:25.120 --> 41:30.720
We received also in our nostrils such a
fragrance as proceeds from frankincense or

41:30.720 --> 41:31.940
some other precious perfume.

41:32.940 --> 41:37.120
At length the wicked people observing that
his body could not be consumed with the

41:37.120 --> 41:41.680
fire, ordered the confactor to approach
and to plunge his sword into his body.

41:42.940 --> 41:47.580
Upon this such a quantity of blood gushed
out that the fire was extinguished,

41:47.580 --> 41:53.340
but the envious, malignant, and spiteful
enemy of the just studied to prevent us

41:53.340 --> 41:54.900
from obtaining his poor body.

41:55.880 --> 42:01.860
For some persons suggested to Nicetes to
go to the proconsul and entreat him not to

42:01.860 --> 42:05.780
deliver the body to the Christians,
lest, said they, leaving the crucified

42:05.780 --> 42:08.320
one, they should begin to worship him.

42:09.140 --> 42:12.560
And they said these things upon the
suggestions and arguments of the Jews,

42:13.120 --> 42:16.580
who also watched us when we were going to
take the body from the pile.

42:17.340 --> 42:22.040
The centurion, perceiving the malevolence
of the Jews, placed the body in the midst

42:22.040 --> 42:23.260
of the fire and burned it.

42:23.920 --> 42:27.000
Then we gathered up his bones,
more precious than gold and jewels,

42:27.520 --> 42:29.780
and deposited them in a proper place.

42:30.980 --> 42:35.680
In the same persecution suffered the
glorious and most constant martyrs of Lyon

42:35.680 --> 42:41.460
and Vienne, two cities in France,
giving a glorious testimony, and to all

42:41.460 --> 42:45.800
Christian men a spectacle or example of
singular fortitude in Christ our Savior.

42:46.580 --> 42:50.320
Their history is set forth by their own
churches, where they did suffer.

42:51.160 --> 42:54.120
The whole fury of the multitude,
the governor and the soldiers,

42:54.260 --> 42:59.160
was spent on Sanctus of Vienne,
the deacon, and on Maturus, a late convert

42:59.160 --> 43:05.560
indeed, but a magnanimous wrestler in
spiritual things, and on Attalus of

43:05.560 --> 43:11.420
Pergamos, a man who had ever been a pillar
and support of our church, and lastly on

43:11.420 --> 43:15.960
Blandina, through whom Christ showed that
those things that appear unsightly and

43:15.960 --> 43:21.100
contemptible among men are most honorable
in the presence of God, on account of love

43:21.100 --> 43:25.840
to His name exhibited in real energy and
not in boasting and pompous pretenses.

43:26.980 --> 43:31.440
For while we all feared, and among the
rest while her mistress, according to the

43:31.440 --> 43:36.100
flesh, who herself was one of the noble
army of martyrs, dreaded that she would

43:36.100 --> 43:40.000
not be able to witness a good confession,
because of the weakness of her body,

43:40.560 --> 43:45.760
Blandina was endued with so much fortitude
that those who successively tortured her

43:45.760 --> 43:51.320
from morning to night were quite worn out
with fatigue, owned themselves conquered

43:51.320 --> 43:56.380
and exhausted of their whole apparatus of
tortures, and were amazed to see her still

43:56.380 --> 43:59.160
breathing while her body was torn and laid
open.

44:00.000 --> 44:04.200
The blessed woman recovered fresh vigor in
the act of confession, and it was an

44:04.200 --> 44:09.860
evident annihilation of all her pains to
say, I am a Christian, and no evil is

44:09.860 --> 44:10.780
committed among us.

44:11.720 --> 44:16.240
Sanctus, having sustained in a manner more
than human the most barbarous indignities,

44:16.700 --> 44:20.620
while the impious hoped to extort from him
something injurious to the gospel,

44:21.280 --> 44:24.960
through the duration and intenseness of
his sufferings resisted with so much

44:24.960 --> 44:29.380
firmness that he would neither tell his
own name, nor that of his nation or state,

44:29.540 --> 44:35.300
nor whether he was a free man or a slave,
but to every interrogatory he answered,

44:35.500 --> 44:36.500
I am a Christian.

44:37.220 --> 44:42.480
This, he repeatedly owned, was to him both
name and country and family and

44:42.480 --> 44:42.880
everything.

44:43.840 --> 44:48.340
The faithful, while they were dragged
along, proceeded with cheerful steps,

44:48.480 --> 44:53.300
their countenances shone with so much
grace and glory, their bonds were as the

44:53.300 --> 44:57.300
most beautiful ornaments, and they
themselves looked as brides adorned with

44:57.300 --> 45:00.340
their richest array, breathing the
fragrance of Christ.

45:01.180 --> 45:05.560
They were put to death in various ways,
or in other words, they wove a chaplet of

45:05.560 --> 45:08.520
various odors and flowers and presented it
to the Father.

45:09.740 --> 45:16.520
Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus
were led to the wild beasts into the

45:16.520 --> 45:20.520
amphitheater to be the common spectacle of
Gentile inhumanity.

45:21.280 --> 45:25.560
They were exposed to all the barbarities
which the mad populace with shouts

45:25.560 --> 45:31.040
demanded, and above all to the hot iron
chair in which their bodies were roasted

45:31.040 --> 45:33.420
and emitted a disgusting smell.

45:34.420 --> 45:38.500
These, after remaining alive a long time,
expired at length.

45:39.300 --> 45:44.040
Blandina, suspended from a stake,
was exposed as food to the wild beasts.

45:45.200 --> 45:50.020
She was seen suspended in the form of a
cross and employed in vehement

45:50.020 --> 45:50.800
supplication.

45:51.400 --> 45:56.840
The sight inspired her fellow combatants
with much alacrity, while they beheld with

45:56.840 --> 46:01.520
their bodily eyes in the person of their
sister, the figure of Him who was

46:01.520 --> 46:02.620
crucified for them.

46:03.640 --> 46:05.640
None of the beasts at that time touched
her.

46:06.400 --> 46:09.440
She was taken down from the stake and
thrown again into prison.

46:10.380 --> 46:14.600
Weak and contemptible as she might be
deemed, yet when clothed with Christ,

46:14.860 --> 46:19.800
the mighty and invincible champion,
she became victorious over the enemy in a

46:19.800 --> 46:23.600
variety of encounters and was crowned with
immortality.

46:24.840 --> 46:29.040
Atalas also was vehemently demanded by the
multitude, for he was a person of great

46:29.040 --> 46:30.240
reputation among us.

46:31.080 --> 46:34.280
He advanced in all the cheerfulness and
serenity of a good conscience,

46:34.920 --> 46:39.060
an experienced Christian and ever ready
and active in bearing testimony to the

46:39.060 --> 46:39.380
truth.

46:40.380 --> 46:44.820
He was led round the amphitheatre,
and a tablet carried before him inscribed,

46:44.820 --> 46:47.240
This is Atalas the Christian.

46:48.160 --> 46:51.900
The rage of the people would have had him
dispatched immediately, but the governor,

46:52.080 --> 46:55.160
understanding that he was a Roman,
ordered him back to prison.

46:56.100 --> 47:00.220
And concerning him and others who could
plead the same privilege of Roman

47:00.220 --> 47:03.780
citizenship, he wrote to the emperor and
waited for his instructions.

47:05.100 --> 47:08.980
Caesar sent orders that the confessors of
Christ should be put to death.

47:09.720 --> 47:14.700
Roman citizens had the privilege of dying
by decolation, the rest were exposed to

47:14.700 --> 47:15.580
wild beasts.

47:16.860 --> 47:21.400
Now it was that our Redeemer was magnified
in those who had apostatized.

47:22.620 --> 47:27.400
They were interrogated separate from the
rest, as persons soon to be dismissed,

47:27.660 --> 47:31.920
and made a confession to the surprise of
the Gentiles, and were added to the list

47:31.920 --> 47:32.820
of martyrs.

47:34.360 --> 47:39.040
The blessed Blandina, last of all,
as a generous mother having exhorted her

47:39.040 --> 47:43.120
children and sent them before her
victorious to the king, reviewing the

47:43.120 --> 47:46.740
whole series of their sufferings,
hastened to undergo the same herself,

47:47.400 --> 47:52.240
rejoicing and triumphing in her exit,
as if invited to a marriage supper,

47:52.440 --> 47:55.660
not as one going to be exposed to wild
beasts.

47:57.220 --> 48:01.820
After she had endured stripes,
the tearing of the beasts, and the iron

48:01.820 --> 48:05.380
chair, she was enclosed in a net and
thrown to a bull.

48:06.320 --> 48:11.020
And having been tossed some time by the
animal, and proving quite superior to her

48:11.020 --> 48:15.640
pains, through the influence of hope,
and the realizing view of the objects of

48:15.640 --> 48:19.980
her faith and her fellowship with Christ,
she at length breathed out her soul.

48:21.620 --> 48:26.140
Now let us enter the story of that most
constant and courageous martyr of Christ,

48:26.360 --> 48:31.120
St. Lawrence, whose words and works
deserve to be as fresh and green in

48:31.120 --> 48:34.280
Christian hearts as is the flourishing
laurel tree.

48:35.560 --> 48:40.800
This thirsty heart, longing after the
water of life, desirous to pass unto it

48:40.800 --> 48:45.180
through the straight door of bitter death,
when on a time he saw his vigilant

48:45.180 --> 48:50.820
shepherd Sixtus, bishop of Rome,
led as a harmless lamb of harmful tyrants

48:50.820 --> 48:55.780
to his death, cried out with open mouth
and heart invincible, saying, O dear

48:55.780 --> 48:59.540
Father, whither goest thou without the
company of thy dear Son?

49:00.660 --> 49:03.720
What crime is there in me that offendeth
thy fatherhood?

49:04.760 --> 49:06.280
Hast thou proved me unnatural?

49:07.320 --> 49:11.920
Now try, sweet Father, whether thou hast
chosen a faithful minister or not.

49:13.000 --> 49:15.840
Deniest thou unto him the fellowship of
thy blood?

49:16.720 --> 49:21.380
These words with tears St. Lawrence
uttered, not because his master should

49:21.380 --> 49:25.340
suffer, but because he might not be
suffered to taste of death's cup,

49:25.780 --> 49:26.920
which he thirsted after.

49:28.320 --> 49:30.900
Then Sixtus to his son shaped this answer.

49:31.920 --> 49:34.000
I forsake thee not, O my son.

49:34.560 --> 49:38.120
I give thee to wit, that a sharper
conflict remaineth for thee.

49:39.300 --> 49:43.240
A feeble and weak old man am I,
and therefore run the race of a lighter

49:43.240 --> 49:44.400
and easier death.

49:45.040 --> 49:49.220
But lusty and young art thou, and more
lustily, yea, more gloriously,

49:49.560 --> 49:51.640
shalt thou triumph over this tyrant.

49:52.840 --> 49:53.940
Thy time approacheth.

49:54.640 --> 49:56.100
Cease to weep and lament.

49:57.000 --> 49:59.060
Three days after thou shalt follow me.

50:00.380 --> 50:03.420
Why cravest thou to be partaker with me in
my passion?

50:04.380 --> 50:06.560
I bequeath unto thee the whole
inheritance.

50:08.540 --> 50:13.140
Let us draw near to the fire of martyred
Lawrence, that our cold hearts may be

50:13.140 --> 50:14.000
warmed thereby.

50:14.960 --> 50:19.940
The merciless tyrant, understanding him to
be not only a minister of the sacraments,

50:20.000 --> 50:25.300
but a distributor also of the church
riches, promised himself a double prey by

50:25.300 --> 50:26.980
the apprehension of one's soul.

50:28.160 --> 50:31.920
First with the rake of avarice to scrape
himself the treasure of poor Christians,

50:32.560 --> 50:38.420
and then with the fiery fork of tyranny so
to toss and turmoil them, that they should

50:38.420 --> 50:40.080
wax weary of their profession.

50:41.640 --> 50:45.180
With furious face and cruel countenance
the greedy wolf demanded where this

50:45.180 --> 50:49.880
Lawrence had bestowed the substance of the
church, who, craving three days' respite,

50:50.000 --> 50:52.820
promised to declare where the treasure
might be had.

50:53.620 --> 50:57.020
In the meantime he caused a good number of
poor Christians to be congregated.

50:57.880 --> 51:01.720
So when the day of his answer was come,
the persecutor strictly charged him to

51:01.720 --> 51:03.100
stand to his promise.

51:03.800 --> 51:09.600
Then valiant Lawrence, stretching out his
arms over the poor, said, These are the

51:09.600 --> 51:11.200
precious treasure of the church.

51:11.900 --> 51:15.560
These are the treasure indeed,
in whom the faith of Christ reigneth,

51:15.620 --> 51:19.020
in whom Jesus Christ hath his mansion
place.

51:19.940 --> 51:24.360
What more precious jewels can Christ have
than those in whom he hath promised to

51:24.360 --> 51:24.760
dwell?

51:25.480 --> 51:28.640
For so it is written, I was hungry,
and ye gave me to eat.

51:28.760 --> 51:31.380
I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink.

51:31.900 --> 51:34.240
I was harbourless, and ye lodged me.

51:34.800 --> 51:40.260
And again, Look what have ye done to the
least of these, the same hath ye done to

51:40.260 --> 51:40.540
me.

51:41.280 --> 51:46.340
What greater riches can Christ our Master
possess than the poor people in whom he

51:46.340 --> 51:47.400
loveth to be seen?

51:48.680 --> 51:52.920
Oh, what tongue is able to express the
fury and madness of the tyrant's heart!

51:53.500 --> 51:58.160
Now he stamped, he stared, he ramped,
he fared as one out of his wits.

51:58.620 --> 52:04.260
His eyes like fire glowed, his mouth like
a boar foamed, his teeth like a hellhound

52:04.260 --> 52:04.840
grinned.

52:05.460 --> 52:09.280
Now not a reasonable man, but a roaring
lion, he might be called.

52:10.600 --> 52:14.200
Kindle the fire, he cried, of wood,
make no spare.

52:15.160 --> 52:17.020
Hath this villain deluded the Emperor?

52:17.580 --> 52:21.580
Away with him, away with him, whip him
with scourges, jerk him with rods,

52:22.000 --> 52:24.580
buffet him with fists, brain him with
clubs.

52:25.540 --> 52:27.280
Jesteth the traitor with the Emperor?

52:28.120 --> 52:32.340
Pinch him with fiery tongs, gird him with
burning plates, bring out the strongest

52:32.340 --> 52:35.480
chains, and the fire-forks, and the grated
bed of iron.

52:36.020 --> 52:36.980
On the fire with it.

52:37.600 --> 52:42.240
Bind the rebel hand and foot, and when the
bed is fire-hot, on with him, roast him,

52:42.400 --> 52:44.100
broil him, toss him, turn him.

52:44.480 --> 52:49.620
On pain of our high displeasure,
do every man his office, O ye tormentors.

52:50.600 --> 52:53.900
The word was no sooner spoken,
but all was done.

52:54.400 --> 52:59.800
After many cruel handlings this meek lamb
was laid, I will not say on his fiery bed

52:59.800 --> 53:02.420
of iron, but on his soft bed of down.

53:03.480 --> 53:08.640
So mightily God wrought with his martyr
Lawrence, so miraculously God tempered his

53:08.640 --> 53:13.800
element the fire, not a bed of consuming
pain, but a palate of nourishing rest,

53:13.800 --> 53:15.140
was it unto Lawrence.

53:16.380 --> 53:20.540
Albin was the first martyr that ever in
England suffered death for the name of

53:20.540 --> 53:20.920
Christ.

53:22.000 --> 53:27.580
At what time Diocletian and Maximian,
the emperors, had directed out their

53:27.580 --> 53:31.060
letters with all severity for the
persecuting of the Christians,

53:31.440 --> 53:36.260
Albin, being then an infidel, received
into his house a certain clerk,

53:36.860 --> 53:41.180
flying from the persecutor's hands,
whom when Albin beheld continually,

53:41.460 --> 53:46.320
both day and night, to persevere in
watching and prayer, suddenly by the great

53:46.320 --> 53:50.640
mercy of God he began to imitate the
example of his faith and virtuous life,

53:51.340 --> 53:55.120
whereupon by little and little,
he being instructed by his wholesome

53:55.120 --> 54:00.820
exhortation, and leaving the blindness of
his idolatry, became at length a perfect

54:00.820 --> 54:01.240
Christian.

54:02.680 --> 54:07.120
And when the aforenamed clerk had lodged
with him a certain time, it was informed

54:07.120 --> 54:12.160
the wicked prince that this good man and
confessor of Christ, not yet condemned to

54:12.160 --> 54:15.840
death, was harbored in Albin's house,
or very near unto him.

54:16.800 --> 54:20.420
Whereupon immediately he gave in charge to
the soldiers to make more diligent

54:20.420 --> 54:21.680
inquisition of the matter.

54:22.620 --> 54:26.380
As soon as they came to the house of
Albin, he, putting on the apparel

54:26.380 --> 54:30.520
wherewith his guest and master was
apparelled, offered himself in the stead

54:30.520 --> 54:35.640
of the other to the soldiers, who,
binding him, brought him forthwith to the

54:35.640 --> 54:36.040
judge.

54:36.940 --> 54:41.120
It fortuned that at that instant,
when blessed Albin was brought unto the

54:41.120 --> 54:46.020
judge, they found the same judge at the
altars offering sacrifice unto devils,

54:46.140 --> 54:51.180
who, as soon as he saw Albin, was
straightways in a great rage, for that he

54:51.180 --> 54:56.300
would presume of his own voluntary will to
offer himself to peril, and give himself a

54:56.300 --> 55:00.200
prisoner to the soldiers, for safeguard of
his guest whom he harbored.

55:01.220 --> 55:05.320
Wherefore he commanded him to be brought
before the images of the devils whom he

55:05.320 --> 55:11.160
worshipped, saying, For that thou hadst
rather hide and convey away a rebel than

55:11.160 --> 55:16.120
deliver him to the officers, that,
as a contemner of our gods, he might

55:16.120 --> 55:17.920
suffer punishment of his blasphemy.

55:18.820 --> 55:23.140
What punishment he should have had,
thou for him shalt suffer the same,

55:23.640 --> 55:27.500
if I perceive thee any wit to revolt from
our manner of worshipping.

55:28.500 --> 55:33.740
But blessed Albin, who of his own accord
had betrayed to the persecutors that he

55:33.740 --> 55:38.260
was a Christian, feared not at all the
menaces of the prince, but, being armed

55:38.260 --> 55:42.160
with the spiritual armor, openly
pronounced that he would not obey his

55:42.160 --> 55:42.760
commandment.

55:43.720 --> 55:47.780
Then said the judge, Of what stock or
kindred art thou come?

55:48.300 --> 55:52.580
Albin answered, What is that to you of
what stock I come?

55:53.300 --> 55:58.480
If you desire to hear the verity of my
religion, I do you to wit that I am a

55:58.480 --> 56:01.240
Christian and apply myself altogether to
that calling.

56:02.460 --> 56:06.620
Then said the judge, I would know thy
name, and see thou tell me the same

56:06.620 --> 56:07.340
without delay.

56:08.380 --> 56:14.040
Then said he, My parents named me Albin,
and I worship the true and living God who

56:14.040 --> 56:15.320
created all the world.

56:16.320 --> 56:21.480
Then said the judge, fraught with fury,
If thou wilt enjoy the felicity of

56:21.480 --> 56:26.500
prolonged life, do sacrifice that out of
hand to the mighty gods.

56:27.380 --> 56:33.200
Albin replieth, These sacrifices which ye
offer unto devils can neither help them

56:33.200 --> 56:37.860
that offer the same, neither yet can they
accomplish the desires and prayers of

56:37.860 --> 56:38.700
their supplicants.

56:39.960 --> 56:44.480
The judge, when he heard these words,
was passing angry, and commanded the

56:44.480 --> 56:49.020
tormentors to whip this holy confessor of
God, endeavoring to overcome with stripes

56:49.020 --> 56:53.020
the constancy of his heart against which
he had prevailed nothing with words.

56:54.040 --> 56:59.700
And he was cruelly beaten, yet suffered he
the same patiently, nay, rather joyfully,

56:59.840 --> 57:00.880
for the Lord's sake.

57:02.060 --> 57:06.880
Then, when the judge saw that he would not
with torments be overcome nor be seduced

57:06.880 --> 57:10.320
from the Christian religion, he commanded
him to be beheaded.

57:12.200 --> 57:16.320
Now from England to return unto other
countries where persecution did more

57:16.320 --> 57:17.600
vehemently rage.

57:18.760 --> 57:24.880
Pitiless Galerius, with his grand prefect
Asclepiades, invaded the city of Antioch,

57:25.000 --> 57:30.300
intending by force of arms to drive all
Christians to renounce utterly their pure

57:30.300 --> 57:30.700
religion.

57:31.720 --> 57:36.740
The Christians were at that time
congregated together, to whom one Romanus

57:36.740 --> 57:41.040
hastily ran, declaring that the wolves
were at hand which would devour the

57:41.040 --> 57:41.900
Christian flock.

57:41.900 --> 57:47.220
But fear not, said he, neither let this
imminent peril disturb you, my brethren.

57:48.600 --> 57:54.380
Brought was it to pass, by the great grace
of God working in Romanus, that old men

57:54.380 --> 57:58.960
and matrons, fathers and mothers,
young men and maidens, were all of one

57:58.960 --> 58:03.060
will and mind, most ready to shed their
blood in defense of their Christian

58:03.060 --> 58:03.640
profession.

58:04.880 --> 58:09.380
Word was brought unto the prefect,
that the band of armed soldiers was not

58:09.380 --> 58:13.900
able to wrest the staff of faith out of
the hand of the armed congregation,

58:14.540 --> 58:20.000
and all by reason that Romanus so mightily
did encourage them that they stuck not to

58:20.000 --> 58:24.460
offer their naked throats, wishing
gloriously to die for the name of their

58:24.460 --> 58:24.960
Christ.

58:25.500 --> 58:30.020
Seek out that rebel, quoth the prefect,
and bring him to me that he may answer for

58:30.020 --> 58:30.720
the whole sect.

58:31.560 --> 58:34.960
Apprehended he was, and bound as a sheep
appointed to the slaughter-house,

58:34.960 --> 58:39.780
was presented to the emperor, who,
with wrathful countenance beholding him,

58:39.860 --> 58:40.520
said, What!

58:41.080 --> 58:43.060
art thou the author of this sedition?

58:43.520 --> 58:46.680
art thou the cause why so many shall lose
their lives?

58:47.300 --> 58:52.180
By the gods, I swear, thou shalt smart for
it, and first in thy flesh shalt thou

58:52.180 --> 58:56.300
suffer the pains whereunto thou hast
encouraged the hearts of thy fellows.

58:57.620 --> 59:02.140
Romanus answered, Thy sentence,
O prefect, I joyfully embrace.

59:02.800 --> 59:07.600
I refuse not to be sacrificed for my
brethren, and that by as cruel means as

59:07.600 --> 59:08.720
thou mayest invent.

59:09.380 --> 59:12.560
And whereas thy soldiers were repelled
from the Christian congregation,

59:13.020 --> 59:18.100
that so happened because it lay not in
idolaters and worshipers of devils to

59:18.100 --> 59:22.480
enter into the holy house of God and to
pollute the place of true prayer.

59:23.600 --> 59:28.940
Then Asclepiades, wholly inflamed with
this stout answer, commanded him to be

59:28.940 --> 59:31.280
trussed up and his bowels drawn out.

59:32.320 --> 59:36.360
The executioners themselves, more pitiful
at heart than the prefect, said,

59:36.880 --> 59:37.700
Not so, sir.

59:37.900 --> 59:39.760
This man is of noble parentage.

59:40.360 --> 59:44.380
Unlawful it is to put a nobleman to so
unnoble a death.

59:45.300 --> 59:49.900
Scourge him then with whips, quoth the
prefect, with naps of lead at the ends.

59:50.760 --> 59:56.740
Instead of tears, sighs, and groans,
Romanus sang psalms all the time of his

59:56.740 --> 01:00:00.880
whipping, requiring them not to favor him
for nobility's sake.

01:00:01.740 --> 01:00:06.200
Not the blood of my progenitors,
said he, but Christian profession maketh

01:00:06.200 --> 01:00:06.680
me noble.

01:00:07.680 --> 01:00:11.820
The wholesome words of the martyr were as
oil to the fire of the prefect's fury.

01:00:12.880 --> 01:00:17.900
The more the martyr spake, the madder was
he, insomuch that he commanded the

01:00:17.900 --> 01:00:22.320
martyr's sides to be lanced with knives
until the bones appeared white again.

01:00:23.110 --> 01:00:27.540
The second time Romanus preached the
living God, the Lord Jesus Christ,

01:00:27.640 --> 01:00:32.660
His well-beloved Son, and eternal life
through faith in His blood, Asclepiades

01:00:32.660 --> 01:00:37.500
commanded the tormentors to strike Romanus
on the mouth, that his teeth being

01:00:37.500 --> 01:00:41.100
stricken out, his pronunciation at least
wise might be impaired.

01:00:42.080 --> 01:00:45.780
The commandment was obeyed, his face
buffeted, his eyelids torn with their

01:00:45.780 --> 01:00:50.580
nails, his cheeks scorched with knives,
the skin of his beard was plucked by

01:00:50.580 --> 01:00:55.280
little and little from the flesh,
finally his seemly face was wholly

01:00:55.280 --> 01:00:55.920
defaced.

01:00:57.100 --> 01:01:01.820
The meek martyr said, I thank Thee,
O Prefect, that Thou hast opened unto me

01:01:01.820 --> 01:01:05.980
many mouths, whereby I may preach my Lord
and Saviour Christ.

01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:11.980
Look how many wounds I have, so many
mouths I have, lauding and praising God!

01:01:12.640 --> 01:01:17.400
The Prefect, astonished with this singular
constancy, commanded them to cease from

01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:18.040
the tortures.

01:01:18.740 --> 01:01:24.240
He threateneth cruel fire, he revileth the
noble martyr, he blasphemeth God,

01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:29.860
saying, Thy crucified Christ is but a
yesterday's God, the gods of the Gentiles

01:01:29.860 --> 01:01:31.660
are of most antiquity.

01:01:33.160 --> 01:01:38.220
Here again Romanus, taking good occasion,
made a long oration of the eternity of

01:01:38.220 --> 01:01:43.160
Christ, of His human nature, of the death
and satisfaction of Christ for all

01:01:43.160 --> 01:01:43.800
mankind.

01:01:44.180 --> 01:01:49.060
Which done, he said, give me a child,
O Prefect, but seven years of age,

01:01:49.160 --> 01:01:53.560
which age is free from malice and other
vices, wherewith riper age is commonly

01:01:53.560 --> 01:01:56.580
infected, and thou shalt hear what he will
say.

01:01:57.440 --> 01:01:58.700
His request was granted.

01:01:59.680 --> 01:02:03.360
A little boy was called out of the
multitude and set before him.

01:02:04.100 --> 01:02:08.600
Tell me, my babe, quoth the martyr,
whether thou think it reason that we

01:02:08.600 --> 01:02:13.280
should worship one Christ, and in Christ
one Father, or else that we worship many

01:02:13.280 --> 01:02:13.680
gods?

01:02:14.560 --> 01:02:19.400
Unto whom the babe answered, That
certainly, whatsoever it be, which men

01:02:19.400 --> 01:02:24.600
affirm to be God, must needs be one,
and that which pertains to that one is

01:02:24.600 --> 01:02:30.500
unique, and inasmuch as Christ is unique,
of necessity Christ must be the true God,

01:02:30.940 --> 01:02:34.920
for that there be many gods we children
cannot believe.

01:02:35.520 --> 01:02:40.680
The Prefect, hereat clean amazed,
said, Thou young villain and traitor,

01:02:40.860 --> 01:02:43.580
where, and of whom learnest thou this
lesson?

01:02:44.700 --> 01:02:46.600
Of my mother, quoth the child.

01:02:47.780 --> 01:02:51.400
With whose milk I sucked in this lesson,
that I must believe in Christ.

01:02:52.320 --> 01:02:54.940
The mother was called, and she gladly
appeared.

01:02:55.640 --> 01:02:58.580
The Prefect commanded the child to be
hoisted up and scourged.

01:02:59.420 --> 01:03:04.020
The pitiful beholders of this pitiless act
could not temper themselves from tears.

01:03:04.600 --> 01:03:08.340
The joyful and glad mother alone stood by
with dry cheeks.

01:03:09.320 --> 01:03:14.140
Yea, she rebuked her sweet babe for
craving a draught of cold water.

01:03:15.060 --> 01:03:19.000
She charged him to thirst after the cup
that the infants of Bethlehem once drank

01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:21.400
of, forgetting their mother's milk and
paps.

01:03:22.060 --> 01:03:26.320
She willed him to remember little Isaac,
who, beholding the sword wherewith and the

01:03:26.320 --> 01:03:31.120
altar whereon he should be sacrificed,
willingly proffered his tender neck to the

01:03:31.120 --> 01:03:32.520
dint of his father's sword.

01:03:33.680 --> 01:03:38.900
Whilst this counsel was in giving,
the butcherly tormentor plucked the skin

01:03:38.900 --> 01:03:41.080
from the crown of his head, hair and all.

01:03:42.080 --> 01:03:46.740
The mother cried, Suffer, my child,
anon, thou shalt pass to him that will

01:03:46.740 --> 01:03:49.600
adorn thy naked head with a crown of
eternal glory.

01:03:50.240 --> 01:03:53.280
The mother counseleth, the child is
counseled.

01:03:53.640 --> 01:03:58.600
The mother encourageth, the babe is
encouraged, and received the stripes with

01:03:58.600 --> 01:03:59.840
smiling countenance.

01:04:00.800 --> 01:04:04.300
The prefect, perceiving the child
invincible and himself vanquished,

01:04:04.700 --> 01:04:09.380
committeth the blessed babe to the
stinking prison, commanding the torments

01:04:09.380 --> 01:04:13.900
of Romanus to be renewed and increased as
chief author of this evil.

01:04:16.420 --> 01:04:20.780
Thus was Romanus brought forth again to
new stripes, the punishments to be

01:04:20.780 --> 01:04:24.200
renewed, and received again upon his old
sores.

01:04:24.780 --> 01:04:28.360
No longer could the tyrant forbear,
but needs he must draw nearer to the

01:04:28.360 --> 01:04:29.240
sentence of death.

01:04:30.180 --> 01:04:34.520
Is it painful to thee, saith he,
to tarry so long alive?

01:04:35.500 --> 01:04:39.460
A flaming fire, doubt thou not,
shall be prepared for thee by and by,

01:04:39.560 --> 01:04:44.160
wherein thou and that boy, thy fellow in
rebellion, shall be consumed into ashes.

01:04:45.420 --> 01:04:47.360
Romanus and the babe were led to
execution.

01:04:48.660 --> 01:04:51.660
When they were come to the place,
the tormentors required the child of the

01:04:51.660 --> 01:04:56.520
mother, for she had taken it up in her
arms, and she, only kissing it,

01:04:56.660 --> 01:04:57.440
delivered the babe.

01:04:58.020 --> 01:05:02.440
Farewell, she said, my sweet child,
and when thou hast entered the kingdom of

01:05:02.440 --> 01:05:06.380
Christ, therein thy blessed estate
remember thy mother.

01:05:07.380 --> 01:05:11.880
And as the hangman applied his sword to
the babe's neck, she sang on this manner,

01:05:12.740 --> 01:05:17.900
All Lord and praise with heart and voice,
O Lord, we yield to thee, to whom the

01:05:17.900 --> 01:05:21.380
death of this thy saint we know must dear
to be.

01:05:22.280 --> 01:05:26.300
With the innocent's head being cut off,
the mother wrapped it up in her garment,

01:05:26.460 --> 01:05:27.580
and laid it on her breast.

01:05:28.740 --> 01:05:34.280
On the other side a mighty fire was made,
whereinto Romanus was cast, whereupon a

01:05:34.280 --> 01:05:36.260
great storm arose and quenched the fire.

01:05:37.320 --> 01:05:41.440
The prefect, at length being confounded
with the fortitude and courage of the

01:05:41.440 --> 01:05:46.380
martyr, straightly commanded him to be
brought back into the prison and there to

01:05:46.380 --> 01:05:47.100
be strangled.