Page:Catholic Magazine And Review, Volume 3 and Volume 4, 1833.djvu/210

196 to him."—What a conviction of the divine origin of that religion, which is capable of making man so far superior to the weaknesses of flesh and blood, must such facts as these convey to every unbiassed and reflecting mind! And how will every sincere believer feel himself called upon to bless Providence, which is raising up such men to be the instruments of his abundant graces to the countries destined to become the theatres of their future labours!

But, to proceed wtihwith [sic] the narration, the martyrdom of the venerable prelate, Dr. Dufresse, was the prelude to the sacrifice of innumerable other victims in Su-chuen. Several of his clergy, after having been subjected to a variety of other torments, were strangled; and many others were first tortured and then condemned to perpetual exile. A vast number of the laity had the happiness of bearing testimony to the faith. In the month of August, 1818, one was enclosed in a narrow iron cage and exposed for three days to the rays of the burning sun, when exhausted With hunger, thirst and heat he gave up his Soul to God. Ingenuity often seemed at a loss to contrive fresh kinds of torments. Two catechists, having been first whipped with thongs and beaten with sticks, were compelled to kneel three whole days on iron chains without being suffered to move, two men, one on each side, being appointed to pull them by the ears whenever they attempted to procure a little ease by a change of position. Then they were suspended by the thumbs and again flogged. They were next placed in wooden stocks and left all night without the power of moving; and in the morning, four men were set to crush their legs with large wooden rollers. The female sex even were not spared. Many women were arrested, some of whom died in prison and others were banished. The mother of a Chinese priest, for refusing to declare where her son was concealed, was flogged to death.

From their, exile in Tartary the Christians have occasionally found means of getting letters conveyed to their friends at home, the tenor of which is in the highest degree consolatory and edifying. They express themselves as being content with their fate, or, if they have any source of unhappiness, is the fear of bring deprived at the hour of death of the ministry of a priest. Those in particular who have been conde-