Then went the jury out, whose names were Mr. Blindman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, Mr. Love-lust,
Mr. Live-loose, Mr. Heady, Mr. High-mind, Mr. Enmity, Mr. Liar, Mr. Cruelty,
Mr. Hate-light, and Mr. Implacable; who every one gave in his private verdict
against him among themselves, and afterwards unanimously concluded to bring him
in guilty before the judge. And first among themselves, Mr. Blindman, the
foreman, said, I see clearly that this man is a heretic. Then said Mr. No-good,
Away with such a fellow from the earth. Aye, said Mr. Malice, for I hate the
very looks of him. Then said Mr. Love-lust, I could never endure him. Nor I,
said Mr. Live-loose, for he would always be condemning my way. Hang him, hang
him, said Mr. Heady. A sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind. My heart riseth against
him, said Mr. Enmity. He is a rogue, said Mr. Liar. Hanging is too good for
him, said Mr. Cruelty. Let us dispatch him out of the way, said Mr. Hate-light.
Then said Mr. Implacable, Might I have all the world given me, I could not be
reconciled to him; therefore let us forthwith bring him in guilty of death.
And so they did;
therefore he was presently condemned to be had from the place where he was, to
the place from whence he came, and there to be put to the most cruel death that
could be invented.
They therefore
brought him out, to do with him according to their law; and first they scourged
him, then they buffeted him, then they lanced his flesh with knives; after
that, they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords; and last
of all, they burned him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful to his end.
Now I saw, that
there stood behind the multitude a chariot and a couple of horses waiting for
Faithful, who (so soon as his adversaries had dispatched him) was taken up into
it, and straightway was carried up through the clouds with sound of trumpet,
the nearest way to the celestial gate. But as for Christian, he had some
respite, and was remanded back to prison: so he there remained for a space. But
he who overrules all things, having the power of their rage in his own hand, so
wrought it about, that Christian for that time escaped them, and went his way.
And as he went,
he sang, saying,
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“Well, Faithful, thou hast faithfully profest
Unto thy Lord, with whom thou shalt be blest,
When faithless ones, with all their vain delights,
Are crying out under their hellish plights:
Sing, Faithful, sing, and let thy name survive;
For though they killed thee, thou art yet alive.”
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