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Foxe - The Book of Martyrs

The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.

The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.

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<strong>Foxe</strong>’s <strong>Book</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martyrs</strong><br />

their order. Among these was Bartholomew Hector, a bookseller and stationer <strong>of</strong> Turin, who<br />

was brought up a Roman Catholic, but having read some treatises written by the reformed<br />

clergy, was fully convinced <strong>of</strong> the errors <strong>of</strong> the Church <strong>of</strong> Rome; yet his mind was, for some<br />

time, wavering, and he hardly knew what persuasion to embrace.<br />

At length, however, he fully embraced the reformed religion, and was apprehended, as<br />

we have already mentioned, and burnt by order <strong>of</strong> the parliament <strong>of</strong> Turin.<br />

A consultation was now held by the parliament <strong>of</strong> Turin, in which it was agreed to send<br />

deputies to the valleys <strong>of</strong> Piedmont, with the following propositions:<br />

1. That if the Waldenses would come to the bosom <strong>of</strong> the Church <strong>of</strong> Rome, and embrace<br />

the Roman Catholic religion, they should enjoy their houses, properties, and lands, and<br />

live with their families, without the least molestation.<br />

2. That to prove their obedience, they should send twelve <strong>of</strong> their principal persons, with<br />

all their ministers and schoolmasters, to Turin, to be dealt with at discretion.<br />

3. That the pope, the king <strong>of</strong> France, and the duke <strong>of</strong> Savoy, approved <strong>of</strong>, and authorised<br />

the proceedings <strong>of</strong> the parliament <strong>of</strong> Turin, upon this occasion.<br />

4. That if the Waldenses <strong>of</strong> the valleys <strong>of</strong> Piedmont refused to comply with these<br />

propositions, persecution should ensue, and certain death be their portion.<br />

To each <strong>of</strong> these propositions the Waldenses nobly replied in the following manner,<br />

answering them respectively:<br />

1. That no considerations whatever should make them renounce their religion.<br />

2. That they would never consent to commit their best and most respectable friends, to the<br />

custody and discretion <strong>of</strong> their worst and most inveterate enemies.<br />

3. That they valued the approbation <strong>of</strong> the King <strong>of</strong> kings, who reigns in heaven, more than<br />

any temporal authority.<br />

4. That their souls were more precious than their bodies.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se pointed and spirited replies greatly exasperated the parliament <strong>of</strong> Turin; they<br />

continued, with more avidity than ever, to kidnap such Waldenses as did not act with proper<br />

precaution, who were sure to suffer the most cruel deaths. Among these, it unfortunately<br />

happened, that they got hold <strong>of</strong> Jeffery Varnagle, minister <strong>of</strong> Angrogne, whom they<br />

committed to the flames as a heretic.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y then solicited a considerable body <strong>of</strong> troops <strong>of</strong> the king <strong>of</strong> France, in order to<br />

exterminate the reformed entirely from the valleys <strong>of</strong> Piedmont; but just as the troops were<br />

going to march, the Protestant princes <strong>of</strong> Germany interposed, and threatened to send troops<br />

to assist the Waldenses, if they should be attacked. <strong>The</strong> king <strong>of</strong> France, not caring to enter<br />

into a war, remanded the troops, and sent word to the parliament <strong>of</strong> Turin that he could not<br />

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