Cross and Crown

The spectacle of human beings suffering for the truth is the sublimest sight that can be witnessed on earth. In the providence of God this has been the means of strengthening and spreading the very principle which has at times seemed to expire with the martyr. It was thus with Christianity in the days of the primitive Church, the history of which is an almost unbroken record of martyrdom. The proudest and most fruitful triumphs of that Church were won at the stake, in the arena, and on the scaffold.