ly in hand with him, sayd, take thine othe, and I will dyscharge thee, defye Christ, Policarpus aunswered: fourescore and syxe yeares haue I beene his seruaunt, yet in all this tyme hath he not so much as once hurt me:MarginaliaA faythfull seruaunt of Christ his Lord.how then may I speake euill of my king & souereigne Lorde, which hath thus preserued me. Then the Proconsull againe inforced him and sayd: Sweare thou I aduise thee by Cæsars prosperity. Policarpus replieth, if thou require of me this fonde word of vaine boasting, feyning not to know (as þ^u saiest) who I am, I doe thee to wit, that I am a Christian: And if thou desire to know the doctrin of Christianity, appoint a day, & thou shalt heare.MarginaliaPolicarpus ready to geue a reason of hys doctrine.Perswade the people to this said the Proconsul: Truly sayth Policarpus, I haue thought it my part, thus to say vnto you, for so much as we are commaunded to giue vnto the gouernours & powers ordayned of God, the honor meete & due to them,MarginaliaPolicarpus obedient to higher powers. and not hurtfull vnto vs: but as for those I doe iudge them vnworthy, to purge my self vnto them. Hereupon the proconsul stode vp, I haue, saith he, wilde beasts, to whom I will throwe thee, vnles thou take a better way: Whereunto Policarpus answered let thē come: we haue determined with our selues that we will not by repentance turne vs from the better way, to the worse, but rather conuenient it is, that a man turne from the thinges that be euill, to that which is good and iust.MarginaliaPolicarpus threatned with wilde beastes.Agayne sayth the Proconsul, I will tame thee with fire, if that thou set not by the wilde beastes, nor yet repent. Then said Policarpus you threaten me with fyre which shal burne for the space of an houre, & shalbe within a litle while after put out and extinguished, but þ^u knowest not the fire of the iudgement that is to come and of euerlasting punishment, which is reserued for the wicked & vngodly. But why make you all these delayes. giue me what death soeuer ye list. These & many other such like thinges being by him spoken, he was so replenished with ioy, and boldnes, and his countenaunce appeared so full of grace & fauour, that not onely he was not troubled with those things, which þ^e Proconsul spake vnto him, but contrarily the Proconsul himselfe began to be amased and sent for the crier, which in the middle of the stage was commaunded to cry 3. times, Policarpus, hath confessed himself to be a Christian, which wordes of the cryer, were no sooner spoken, but that all the whole multitude both of the Gentiles and Iewes inhabiting at Smyrna, with a vehement rage and loude voice cried. This is that Doctour or teacher of Asia, the father of the Christianes, and the destroyer of our gods, which hath instructed a great nūber that our Gods are not to be worshipped; & after this they crid vnto Philip the gouernour of Asia, and required him that he would let loose the Lion to Policarpus. To whom he made aunswere that he might not so doe, because he had already his praye. Then they cried againe altogither with one voice that he woulde burne Policarpus a liue. For it was requisite that þ^t vision which he saw as concerning his pillow or bolster should be fulfilled: which when he had seene burnt, as he was in his prayer, he turned himselfe vnto the faithful sort which were with him, saying by the way of prophecie, it will so come, that I shall be burned a liue. And the Proconsul had no sooner spoken, but it was out of hande performed. For why the multitude by and by brought out of their shops, workehouses, and baynes, woode and other dry matter for that purpose and especially the Iewes were most seruiceable for that matter, after their wōted maner. And thus the pile being layd, and that now hee had put of his garments & vndone his girdel, and was about to pul of his shooes, which he had not done before, for that all the faithfull sort amongst themselues striued (as it were) who should first touch his body at their farewell,MarginaliaAn example of brotherly loue.bicause for the good conuersation of his life, yea, from his younger age, he was had in great estimation of al men. Therfore straightway those instruments which are requisite to such a bonfire, were brought vnto him, & when the would haue nayled him to the stake with yron hoopes, he said, let me alone as I am, for he that hath giuen me strength to suffer and abide the fire, shal also giue power, that without this your prouision of nayles, I shall abide, & stirre not in the middest of this fire or pyle of woode. Which thing when they heard, they did not nayle him, but bounde him.MarginaliaThe willing minde of Policarpus to suffer. Therefore when his handes were bounde behinde him, euen as the chiefest Ramme taken out of the flocke, he was sacrificed as an acceptable burnt offring to God saying: O father of thy welbeloued and blessed sonne Iesus Christ, by whom we haue attained the knowledge of thee, the God of aungels and powers, and of euery creature, and of al iust men which liue before thee,MarginaliaHis prayer before hys death. I giue thee thankes, that thou hast vouchsafed to graūt me this day that I may haue my part amongest the number of the Martyrs in the cup of Christ vnto the resurrection of eternall life both of body & soule,through the operation of the holy spirit, among whome I shalbe this day receaued into thy sight for an acceptable sacrifice: & as thou hast prepared, and reueled the same before this time, so thou hast accomplished the same. Which canst not lye, O thou most true God. Wherefore I in lyke case for all things prayse thee, blesse thee, and glorifie thee by our euerlasting Bishop Iesus Christ to whom be glory euermore. Amen.MarginaliaThe thankesgeuing of Policarpus

And assoone as he had ended this word Amen, and finished his prayer, the tormentors began to kindle the fire, & as the flame flashed out vehemently: we to whom it was giuē to discerne the same, saw a marueilous matter, which were also to this purpose preserued, that we might shewe the same to other.MarginaliaA miracle shewed.For the fier being made like to a roufe or vaute of a house, and after the maner of a shipmans sayle, filled with wind, compassed about the body of the Martir as with a certaine wall, and he in the middle of the same, not as flesh, that burned, but as gold and siluer when it is tried in the fier. And surely we smelt a sauour so swete as if Myrre or some other precious balme had giuen a sent. At the last when those wicked persons sawe þ^t his body could not be consumed by fire, they commaunded one of the tormentors to come vnto him, & thrust him through with his sworde.MarginaliaAn example of much cruelty.Which being done, so great a quantitie of bloude ran out of his body that the fire was quenched therewith, & the whole multitude marueyled that there was so much diuersitie betwene the infidels and the elect, of whom this Policarpus was one, being a Disciple of the Apostles, and a propheticall instructour of our times, and Bishop of the Catholique Church of Smyrna, for what worde soeuer he spake both it was and shalbe accomplished. But the subtil and enuious aduersary, when he saw the worthines of his martirdome, & that his conuersation euen from his yoūger yeares could not be reproued, and that he was adourned with the crowne of martirdome, and had now obtained that incomparable benefite, gaue in charge, that we should not take & deuide his body. For feare least the remnaunts of the dead corps should be taken away, & so worshipped of the people. Whervpon diuers whispered Niceta the father of Herode, and his brother Dalces in the eare, to admonish the Proconsul, that in no case he should deliuer his body, least (saith he) they leaue Christ & begin to worship him. And this spake they because the Iewes had gyuen them secret warning & prouoked them thervnto,MarginaliaThe Iewes enemies alwayes to the Christians.who also watched vs that we shoulde not take him out of the fire. not being ignoraunt how that we ment, at no time to forsake Christ, which gaue his life for the saluation of the whole world, (as many I meane as are elected to saluatiō by him) neither yet that we could worship any other. For why? him we worship as the sonne of God, but the Martirs do we loue as disciples of the LordMarginaliaMarke that he sayth we loue them, and worshippe them not. (& that worthely) for their aboundaunt loue towardes their king and maister, of whome we also desire and wish to be companions, & to be made his disciples. Whē therfore the Centurion saw & perceaued the labour of the Iewes, the corps being layd abroad, they burnt the same, as was their maner to doe.

Thus good Policarpus with xij. other that came from Philadelphia, suffered Martyrdome at Smyrna,MarginaliaTwelue Martyrs put to death in Smyrna. which Policarpus specially aboue the rest is had in memory, so that hee in all places among the Gentiles is most famous. And this was the ende of this worthy disciple of the Apostles. Whose hystory the brethren of the congregation at Smyrna, haue wrytten in this their Epistle as is aboue recited.

Iræneus in his 3. booke against heresies, the 3, chap. and Eusebius in his 4. booke, and 14. chap. of his Ecclesiasticall historyMarginaliaEx Irenæo. lib. 3 cap. 3. Euseb. Lib. 4. cap. 14. reporteth this worthy saying of Policarpus: This Policarpus (sayth hee) meeting at a certeine time Martion, the heretick, who said vnto him, doest thou not know me? made answere, I know that thou art the first begotten of Sathan. So great feare what euil might ensue therof, had the Disciples of the Apostles, that they would not speake to them whom they knew to be the deprauers of the verytie, euen as Paule saith: The hereticke after the first and second admonition, shonne, and auoyd: Knowing that he which is such one, is peruerse or frowarde, and damneth himselfe. This most holy confessour and Martyr of Christ Policarpus, suffered death in the fourth persecution after Nero, when Marcus Antonius, and Lucius Aurelius Commodus raigned, an, Dom. 167.MarginaliaAnno 167.as Vrsperg. affirmeth, an. 170. as Eusebius witnesseth in his Chronicles the 7. before the Calendes of Februarie.

Of Germanicus mention is made aboue in the storye of Policarpus of whome writeth Eusebius Lib. 4. cap. 15.MarginaliaGermanicus. Ex. Euseb. lib. 4. cap. 15. Histor. eccle. notyng him to be a younge man, and most constantly to perseuere in the profession of Christes doctrine, whom whē the Proconsul went about to perswade, to remember his age, and