The Three Martyrs Examined On The Rack The Third Time.

The President said: “Methinks, thou art raving, and possessed of the devil.”

Andronicus replied: “If I had the devil in me, I should obey thee; but because I confess the Lord, I do not submit to the commands of the devil. But hast not thou the devil in thee? For, being deceived by the devil, thou doest the works of the devil.”

The President said to the Executioners: “Make bundles of paper, and put fire upon his body.”

When this was done, Andronicus said: “Though I burn from head to foot, the spirit nevertheless is alive in me. Thou shalt not conquer me; for the Lord, whom I serve is with me.”

The President said: “Thou madman! how long wilt thou remain thus obstinate? Seek at least to die upon thy bed.”

Andronicus answered: “As long as I live, I shall overcome thy wickedness.”

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The President said: “Heat the branding-irons red-hot again, and put them between his fingers.”

Andronicus replied: “O foolish despiser of God! Thou art full of the wicked thoughts of Satan. Seest thou not that my body is almost consumed through the manifold torments thou hast inflicted upon me. Thinkest thou that now at the last I shall begin to fear thy devices? I have Christ dwelling in my heart, and despise thy torments.”

The President said: “Thou miscreant! knowest thou not that this Christ, whom thou worshipest became man, and was punished under the Judge Pontius Pilate?”

Andronicus answered: “Be silent, for it is not lawful for thee to speak evil of him.”

The President said: “What gainest thou by thy faith and hope in this man whom thou callest Christ?”

Andronicus replied: “I have thereby in expectation a great reward and gain; hence I endure all this so patiently.”

The President said: “Break open his mouth, and take meat that has been sacrificed, from the altar, and force it into his mouth, and pour in wine also.”

Andronicus called God to witness, saying: “O Lord! Lord! behold, what violence I suffer!”

The President said: “How long wilt thou thus obstinately endure the punishment? See, thou hast certainly eaten of that which has been sacrificed to the gods.”

Andronicus answered: “Cursed be all who honor the idols, thou and thy princes.”

The President said: “Thou miscreant, cursest thou the princes, who have obtained for us so lasting and tranquil peace?”

Andronicus replied: “They are cursed, who, as the pestilence, and as bloodhounds, turn the whole world upside down; whom the Lord by his mighty arm shall confound and destroy.”

The President commanded the executioners: “Put an iron into his mouth, and with it break out all his teeth, and cut out his blasphemous tongue, that he may learn no more to blaspheme the princes. Take away his teeth, and burn his tongue to ashes, and scatter the latter all about, lest his fellow-Christians, or some women, gather his remains, and keep them as precious relics. Take him away from here, and put him into prison, that at the next show he, together with his companions, Tharacus and Probus may be thrown before the wild beasts.” Acta Procons. per Metaph. and alios.

It is declared that the above account concerning the examination of the three aforementioned Christians was written entirely by the heathen themselves, who put them to death; only a few words having been altered, to make the sense clearer. A certain celebrated author mentioning this, writes as follows: “Herewith ends the third examination or inquisition on the rack, and thus far these proceedings with the martyrs have been recorded by the heathen clerk of the criminal court himself, and were doubtless afterwards bought for money by the Christians.”

Beloved reader! I could not forbear to translate these records, just as they were, for the most part word for word; not only because I have found them to be true and genuine in every respect; but also, because we can very clearly see therefrom, what form of inquisition or examination the heathen employed against the Christians; as well as with what manifold torments the obdurate heathen sought to compel the Christians to apostatize from the faith, and how remarkably God preserved his own against the devices and wiles of the devil.

It need not seem strange to the reader, that the proconsuls or criminal judges so frequently put to the rack the same Christians, to cause them to apostatize from the faith: for Lactantius tells us of a president in Bithynia, who for two years endeavored by all manner of torments to compel a Christian to apostatize, and who, when this Christian finally seemed to yield, boasted of it just as though he had conquered a whole province of a barbaric country.

As touching the rest of the matter, that is, how and when the sentence of the Proconsul was executed, the heathen have not recorded it; but some Christian brethren, namely, Macarius, Felix, and Verus, probably bought those records from the clerk of the criminal court, and added from their own observation what was wanting, since they had been eye-witnesses of it at the theatrical drama the following day.