Franciscan Martyrs in England

The revival of wide-spread interest in the English martyrs and confessors of the sixteenth and following centuries, and the steps recently taken for their beatification, are a sufficient apology for the publication of whatever may throw fresh light on the subject. To fill this gap as regards the Franciscans is the motive and object of the present volume. The reason for thus treating them as a separate group is simple and obvious. Each Order has its distinctive spirit, and historic truth and devotion alike are best served by drawing out the characteristics of each. This is especially true with respect to the Franciscans. Contempt for the world and h aman respect, insatiable thirst for poverty, humiliations, and suffering, and passionate longing for union with Jesus crucified, which naturally led to indomitable courage, childlike simplicity and joyousness, and tender personal love of our Lord, were the heritage bequeathed to them by their Seraphic Father. This peculiar Franciscan spirit may be traced throughout their history, and gives a certain unity of character to their early prosperity, their fearless defiance of Henry VIII., and all their martyrdoms. A further motive for the publication of this volume- is afforded by the nature of the original materials from which almost exclusively it is drawn.