Burton, Nicholas

Burton, Nicholas a Spanish martyr, was a merchant dwelling in the parish of Little St. Bartholomew. He was put into prison in Cadiz for no assigned reason; and lay there in irons fourteen days. All this time he instructed the poor prisoners in the Scriptures. When the officers found out his course, they carried him in irons to Seville, into a still more dismal prison called Triana, where the fathers and friars proceeded against him secretly, according to their custom. On Dec. 20, 1558, he was taken to a place called the Auto, where his tongue was forced out of his mouth with a cloven stick fastened upon it, so he could not utter his faith to the people. As soon as the sentence was given, he was tied to a stake and burned. See Fox, Acts and Monuments, viii, 513.