The Annals of the Church [by E a Burgis

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: daughter, probably Dorotheus's converts, yield., ed to fear and obeyed: but thefe generous eunuchs fhewed a vigorous mind ready to fiiffer any thing rather than depart from the commands of their heavenly Mafter. For which Peter was laid on with whips till his flefh fell from his fides to the very bones;...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: daughter, probably Dorotheus's converts, yield., ed to fear and obeyed: but thefe generous eunuchs fhewed a vigorous mind ready to fiiffer any thing rather than depart from the commands of their heavenly Mafter. For which Peter was laid on with whips till his flefh fell from his fides to the very bones; then they chafed his wounds with fait and vinegar, and at laft broiled him by % flow fire on the gridiron. The torments of Dorotheus and Gorgonius were proportionably fevere; but the profpectsof the glorious rewards due to their injured virtues foftened their pains, and made them all lay down their lives with an unfhaken patience. The florm begun in the palace went into the city, of which Anthimus was Bp. who was put to death with a number of other martyrs: for now it was no longer confined to fingle executions, but whole families at once were caft into the fire, and droves tied together with ropes were thrown into the fea with milftones about their necks. And fome infpired yirgins leapt into the flames of them/elves, with a zeal rather defigned for our wonder than our imitation, From Nicomedia this violence pafTed beyond the Mediterranean, infomuch that the globe of the univerfe feemed floating in blood, and the world more drained by this one perfecu- tion than by all the foregoing wars. Mankind was taken off in fhoals; no longer fpace of time than one month (according to fome authors) produced 17,000 martyrs, and the blood of 140,000 wateredEgy// alone, where7oo, ooo befides perifhed under the fatigues of banifh- ment and the mines. A picture of thefe times, drawndrawn at length, and to the life, would bear too ibrong upon fouls tempered with a more than ordinary caft of pity; it would be a kind of cruelty barely to repeat the execrable barbarities of a Nero, a Domitian, a Se...