William Hunter and His Sacrifice
Today I lift up the name of William Hunter, an English Protestant stolen from a life of relative prosperity as a silk weaver and persecuted for his faith. At first glance one might picture him as an old and well-seasoned man, for he would not participate in Catholic doctrines he could not force himself to believe. He also showed a great amount of courage, even daring to read English Scriptures in places where his act of “dissention” might be seen. These “deviances” earned him a condemnation to the stake on the 27th of March, 1555. William Hunter faithfully died a Protestant at the ripe old age of . . .
. . . nineteen.
As late as the 1840s, the “Martyr’s Elm” still grew in Brentwood, England, but I am uncertain if it still stands today. There is, however, a plaque that commemorates William’s sacrifice. When we think of martyrs we often think of old men with long venerable beards, or perhaps of mothers, fathers, sturdy folk with years of experience. Seldom do we think of people who had not yet reached their twentieth birthday.
Rest in peace, William Hunter.
(c) 2012 Joyously Saved
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