burned alive, in a single
day, so that the murderous weapons were blunted and broken in pieces,
and the executioners, weary with slaughter, were obliged to give over
the work of blood."[39] And he goes on to describe deeds of shame and
torture of which he was an eye-witness, which our pen refuses to record.

The enthusiasm for martyrdom prevailed at times almost like an epidemic.
It was one of the most remarkable features of the ages of persecution.
Notwithstanding the terrific tortures to which they were exposed, the
zeal of the Christian heroes burned higher and brighter in the fiercest
tempest of heathen rage. Age after age summoned the soldiers of the
Cross to the conflict whose highest guerdon was death. They bound
persecution as a wreath about their brows, and exulted in the "glorious
infamy" of suffering for their Lord. The brand of shame became the badge
of highest honour. Besides the joys of heaven they won imperishable fame
on earth; and the memory of a humble slave was often haloed with a glory
surpassing that of a Curtius or Horatius. The meanest hind was ennobled
by the accolade of martyrdom to the loftiest peerage of the skies. His
consecration of suffering was elevated to a sacrament, and called the
baptism of fire or of blood.

Burning to obtain the prize, the impetuous candidates for death often
pressed with eager haste to seize the palm of victory and the martyr's
crown. They trod with joy the fiery path to glory, and went as gladly to
the stake as to a marriage feast. "Their fetters," says Eusebius,
"seemed like the golden ornaments of a bride."[40] They desired
martyrdom more ardently than men afterward sought a bishopric.[41] They
exulted amid their keenest pangs that they were counted worthy to suffer
for their divine Master. "Let the ungul[ae] tear us," exclaims
Tertullian;[42] "the crosses bear our weight, the flames envelope us,
the sword divide our throats, the wild beasts spring upon us; the very
posture of prayer is a preparation for every punishment." "These
things," says St. Basil, "so far from being a terror, are rather a
pleasure and a recreation to us."[43] "The tyrants were armed;" says St.
Chrysostom; "and the martyrs naked; yet they that were naked got the
victory, and they that carried arms were vanquished."[44] Strong in the
assurance of immortality, they bade defiance to the sword.

Though weak in body they seemed clothed with vicarious strength, and
confident that though "count