Protestantism in Poland and Bohemia - James Aitken Wylie

soldiers and townspeople rushed into the street to
gaze at the strange phenomenon. The martyrs, who
beheld it from their windows, called to mind the
bow which greeted the eyes of Noah when he came
forth from the Ark. It was the ancient token of a
faithfulness more steadfast than the pillars of
earth;[13] and their feelings in witnessing it were
doubtless akin to those with which the second great
father of the human family beheld it for the first
time in the young skies of the post-diluvian world.
The bow soon ceased to be seen, and the loud
discharge of a cannon told them that the hour of
execution hail arrived. The martyrs arose, and
embracing, they bade each other be of good cheer,
as did also the ministers present, who exhorted
them not to faint now when about to receive the
crown. The scaffold had been erected hard by in
the great square or market-place, and several
squadrons of cavalry and some companies of foot
were now seen taking up their position around it.
The imperial judges and senators next came
forward and took their seats on a theater, whence
riley could command a full view of the scaffold.
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