"And who was she who was stretched upon the rack, and what was the crime for which she suffered? A young, tender lady, whose home had been a court, whose companion the wife of her king! And her crime was love for Gospel-truth, a devotion which led her freely to exchange a palace for a dungeon, and pleasures for the rack!
"Thought dare not dwell on the terrible scene; pain could wring forth only cries to Heaven, and prayers to the Saviour for whom she suffered."
"And He was with her in that fiery trial, as His presence was with the young men in the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar; in weakness He was her strength, in anguish her comfort. He could breathe into the soul of the tortured martyr, 'Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven!'"
"The heart of the stern executioner was touched; he paused, he could not proceed. Impatiently Wriothesley sprang from his seat, with his own hand turned the fatal wheel—a shriek burst from the lips of his victim!"
"'Retract!—confess!' These words rung in her ears. Oh! What mortal courage is sufficient for this hour;—God, God alone can support and strengthen! And God did strengthen—God did support. Anne's half-lifeless form was raised from the rack; the secretary's page was yet a blank. She had neither betrayed her faith nor her Queen!"
"Anne Ascue was carried to the stake the next day; she had no longer power to walk; but the bitterness of death to her was past! Calmly she gazed on the dreadful preparations, and saw in the heaped but 'the prophet's fire to bear her to a Father!' Soon all was over; cruelty had done its worst, it had sent its victim sooner to her eternal home. The soft breezes scattered the ashes of the martyr, and her spirit was rejoicing in the realms of light."
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"Can such a terrible story really be true?" cried Julia.
"Too true," replied Mr. Presgrave. "Anne was but one of many martyrs who suffered for the truth in the reigns of Henry VIII and Queen Mary."
"Ah!" said his wife. "When we read our precious Bibles, we little think how much blood has flowed, and what agonies have been endured, to secure to us a privilege which we often value too lightly!"