Social conditions also exert an influence upon the colour of the hair;
a larger number of blonds and of lighter and more indefinite blonds
are to be found in the schools for the poor than in those for the
rich; also a larger number in country schools, where the poverty is
greater, than in city schools. Consequently we may conclude that there
are two classes of blonds: that which is associated with a racial
type, and that which is the consequence of arrested development. The
first type has a vivid, uniform and decisive colour tone, accompanied
by physiological robustness; the second is indefinite in colour tone
and lacks uniformity--for example, the more exposed parts of the body
are paler, and the hair varies in tone, some locks showing greater
intensity of colour than others. This is especially noticeable in frail
young girls from the country, where the sun discolours the surface
layer of hair. In this connection it should be remembered that in
those geographical regions where the rays of the sun are most nearly
perpendicular, the pigments are, on the contrary, darker and that the
skin becomes bronzed under the ardent kiss of the sun. But while the
sun intensifies the tints that are strong with life, it destroys those
that are weak and moribund, just as it does in the case of lifeless
fabrics, which become bleached out by the action of the solar light.
John Bradford was born in 1510 and received a good education in a grammar school in Manchester. He was able to earn a good living serving under John Harrington, paymaster to the English forces during the wars of Henry the 8th. For a time he studied law but through the influence of a fellow student he was converted to Protestant Christian faith. Because of this he left the study of law and began his study of theology at Cambridge.
Though he would only live seven more years he was often referred to as "holy Bradford" not in derision, but from respect to his unselfish service to God and those around him. In 1550, during the reign of Edward the 6th, he was ordained by Bishop Ridley to be a "roving chaplain". Following Edward's early death, England was ruled by Mary Tudor who was zealous to bring back the Roman Catholic religion and to discipline "heretics."
Before Mary's reign was a month old John was arrested on a trivial charge and confined to the Tower of London, never to be a free man again. His time in prison was not wasted as he continued to preach to all that would listen and to write letters and treatises that would encourage fellow believers. During his two-year imprisonment he was cast for a time into a single cell with three fellow reformers, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. Their time together was spent encouraging one another and in careful study of the New Testament. All three were to become martyrs.
Finally on January 31st, 1555 Bradford was brought to the notorious Newgate Prison to be burned at the stake as a heretic. Though the burning was scheduled for 4 AM, there was a great crowd, made up of many who admired Bradford, who had come to witness the execution. He was chained to the stake with another young martyr, John Leaf. After begging forgiveness of any he might have wronged and freely forgiving those who had wronged him, he turned to fellow-martyr, John Leaf, with these words, "Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!"
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