Primitive Christianity and early criticism

Front matter

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PHILO — JUSTUS — JOSEPHUS — PLINY — PLU- TARCH—SENECA—TACITUS—PLINY, THE CON- SUL — LUCIAN — SUETONIUS — JUVENAL — APU- LEIUS — EUSEBIUS — CELSUS — JULIAN

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SIBYLLINE BOOKS— THE LOGOS— NEO- PLATONISM— MOHAMMEDANISM

IV THE SCHOOLS OF GREECE

V PARALLELS— EARLY BELIEFS— MIRACU- LOUS CONCEPTIONS

VI THE NAZARENE CHURCH

VII " STROMATA "

APOTHEOSIS — THE RESURRECTION — ARIANISM — " THEOTOKOS " — THE TRINITY.

VIII DUALISM

Contents

PROLOGUE

Page

AGNOSTICISM 18

BELIEFS 7

FAITH 12

MARTYRDOM 11

MARTYRDOM OF ST. VINCENT 17

POLYTHEISM 13

PROPHECY 12

RELICS 16

RITES 10

Chapter I Attitude Of Constantine, The 36

ATTITUDE OF HADRIAN, THE 34

DECREE OF MILAN 42

FATHERS OF THE CHURCH 26

GREEK CHURCH, THE 44

GOSPEL, ORAL AND TRADITIONAL 28

INSPIRATION 31

NAZARENES, THE 28

NEW TESTAMENT CANON, THE' 40

NICENE COUNCIL AND CREED 36

SYNOPTIC GOSPELS 24

CHAPTER II Apuleius 98

Aurelius 69

Celsus 70

Dionysius 100

Domitian 66

Epictetus 58

Eusebius 100

Josephus 49

Julian 97

Justinus 65

Justus 46

Juvenal 63

CONTENTS

Page

Lucian 66

Martial 65

Numenius 99

Philo 45

Phlegon 99

Pliny 49

Pliny, the Consul 58

Plutarch 58

Seneca 47

Suetonius 65

Tacitus 61

Talmud, The 47

Trajan, Emperor 61

EXTANT LETTERS OF JESUS 101

GREEK TEXT OP THE GOSPEL CHANGED .... 55

LOGOS, THE 46

Chapter III Logos, The 106

NEOPLATONISM 108

SARACEN PHILOSOPHERS 119

SIBYLLINE BOOKS 103

Chapter IV

AQUINAS, ST. THOMAS, ATTITUDE OF 153

CHRISTIAN ETHICS 183

CYNICS, THE 126

CYRENAIC PHILOSOPHERS, THE 136

DECREE OF GALERIUS 168

EPICUREANS, THE 135

ETHICS OF HENRY GEORGE, THE 186

ETHICS OF LUCRETIUS 139

ETHICS OF ROUSSEAU, THE 189

ETHICS OF THOS. JEFFERSON, THE 190

HUMANISTS, THE . . . . 151

INQUISITION, THE 173

MARTYRDOM OF:

Hypatia 170

Huss, John 171

James, the Brother of Jesus . , 166

Jesus 166

John the Baptist 166

CONTENTS

Page

Justin Martyr 167

Maccabees, The 160

Mani 165

Polycarp 166

Savonarola 172

Servetus . 171

Socrates 156

St. Cyprian 168

Stephen , 166

PERIPATETICISM AT BAGDAD 149

PERIPATETICISM AT CORDOVA 150

PERIPATETICS, THE 143

PLATO 125

PLINY THE EPICUREAN 140

PYTHAGOREANS, THE 122

REFORMATION, THE 154

RENAISSANCE, THE 154

SOPHISTS, THE 124

STOICS, THE 129

UTILITARLVNISM 185

APOTHEOSIS 243

ARIANISM 254

BIOGRAPHY OF APOLLONIUS, BY PHILOSTRATUS 244 PARALLEL FROM LUCIAN 268

CONTENTS

Page PERSONATION OF JESUS ON THE STAGE AT

ALEXANDRIA 270

RESURRECTION, THE 249

THEOTOKOS 259

TRINITY, THE 266

TWO GREEK ADJECTIVES 258

Chapter VIII Prologue

Christianity embraces the best ethical thought and precepts of any system of religion, that has thus far been conceived. It has elevated man by giving him elevated ideals. Whether its esoteric doctrines be true or not makes no difference in its effect on living men; it is the splendid idealism of Christianity that makes men better, for men are in degree good as they in degree follow, portray and live good ideals.

Cicero states that, — "Rome was victorious over the Carthagenians and the Greeks because Rome believed in the immortal gods." The wise and humane Pliny always began the day's business, whether in the Roman Senate or in the seclusion of his estate at Laurentum, with "grateful prayer and invocation to the gods." These men were good, because their thoughts and their ideals were good. The prophet said truly: "As a man thinketh so is he."

MYSTICISM

At the outset, the state of mind which prevailed among the masses of the people over the Roman Empire, at the time Jesus lived and taught in Judea should be considered. It was an age of superstition. The learned and illiterate alike worshiped the gods, or the forces of nature which the gods represented. Only a few philosophers, largely those of the Greek schools, had a higher conception of the Author of the Universe and His laws, and their conceptions were generally couched in the most abstruse propositions. It was an age of hero worship. Augustus had been apotheosized, and a temple built in Rome for his formal worship. All the emperors of Rome from Augustus to Constantine claimed divine honors of their subjects. The people everywhere bowed at the shrine of renown and power. We know, too, that it is characteristic of human nature that, as we recede from an impressive event, its glamour becomes more pronounced; that our imaginations paint it in brighter colors and give to it a more exaggerated form and meaning. This is especially true of all tradition, and the poet has well said: "Distance lends enchantment to the view."

We shall see that Peter, "The stone on which the Christian Church is built," in common with many others of his associates, could neither read nor write; and that, "Mark was his interpreter." We shall also ascertain that the gospel was an oral gospel, without form and without creed, until Paul began to write his epistles, about thirty-two years after the crucifixion of Jesus ; and that the Synoptic gospels were written much later. It also appears that St. Luke, — author of the third gospel and of the "Acts of the Apostles" — St. Mark, — author of the second gospel — and the apostle Paul, had neither seen nor heard Jesus and depended wholly on tradition for their information touching Him and His life and teachings. If Paul had not carried the gospel to the Gentiles, the religion of Jesus would have been confined to a sect of the Jews. Jesus gave his command to the twelve disciples, saying: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." After His resurrection, He is said to have given a more general commission, but, as between the two commands, we should hold to the former one made in the flesh.

It will be apparent, too, that the New Testament canon was made from an accumulation of sacred writings, and that decision was reached by majority vote of the delegates present at the councils of Hippo and Carthage, A. D. 393-397. Up to that time, no authoritative canon existed. One made earlier, without authority and general consent, was known as "The Muratorian Fragment," A. D. 170, which does not concur, however, with the New Testament canon as now made up.

There were no gospels written until after Nero's persecution of the sect known, in Judea, as the "Nazarenes," and in the Asiatic provinces and probably in Rome also, as "Christians." The coloring which this persecution gave to the views of those who wrote the gospels, while under its influence, or in its environment, must be considered, as well as tradition with its natural sequence.

It is easy to determine what would naturally and ultimately follow from one credulous man relating the miraculous occurrences in the work and life of Jesus to another credulous man, and the latter, in turn, relating those events to an assemblage of credulous men, and so on, for thirty-two or more years, when Paul's epistles appeared, and from that time on, until the Synoptic gospels were written, when the works and doctrines of Jesus, as interpreted, not by the Nazarene Christians, but rather by Gentile converts and Greek theologians, had crystallized into form. The moral precepts and ethical conceptions taught by Jesus, would likely not be exaggerated by recounting them from year to year, as these would not stimulate the imaginations of men as did the accounts of the miracles said to have been wrought by Jesus ; therefore, we probably have the moral precepts substantially as given by Him.

An historian of that time relates circumstances of Emperor Vespasian having cured a lame man; of having given back sight to a blind man, and of having wrought many and various miraculous cures, all in much the same manner, too, as Jesus is reported to have done. The historian Philostratus relates how Apollonius of Tyana raised the dead body of a woman to life, in Rome ; and Josephus relates, with all seriousness, that the Sea of Pamphylia opened to let Alexander and his army pass through. We certainly do not believe these reports, though coming from accredited historians. Why, then, should we believe accounts of unnatural and unreasonable occurrences coming down to us from tradition, and, perchance, colored by religious enthusiasm?

It is also to be borne in mind that many ante- Nicene theologians did not esteem Jesus to be more than a prophet and teacher; nor did the historians of His time believe that He possessed the characteristics which were accorded, or ascribed, to Him; first, by a coterie of friends and acquaintances, and later, in a more formal manner, by the apostles.

Understanding these conditions and circumstances, an effort may be made properly to estimate the value of Christian doctrine as it relates to supernatural occurrences, to inspiration and to its many unusual claims. Any proposition outside of and beyond human experience and understanding cannot be accepted with safety or confidence.

ATTITUDE

Every religion has created its God. The Jews probably had the best ideals, and therefore created the best Deity of any people. But when the magnitude and complexity of this world of matter, — the grandeur of the solar system, with its eight major planets moving swiftly in orderly paths around the sun ; and the illimitable expanse of space, with its uncounted systems of suns and planets, are considered, the anthropomorphous God of the Jews does not rise to a true conception of the Creator and Master of the Universe. The majority of Christian people, when they lift up their thoughts and voices in prayer, have before their minds a more exalted Being than the God of Moses and Aaron.

Many worship an Ideal — an Ethical Ideal. Some personify this Ideal and call the personification "Jesus."

Lyman Abbott says: — "In worship we have a personal perception of the Infinite." Yet who has perceived the Infinite?

Max Muller states : "Religion is a perception of the Infinite under such manifestations as are able to influence the moral character of man." Can any one say truly that the Infinite Being has manifested Himself to him? In the final analysis of worship, a proper value must be put upon our emotions and our judgment, and then choose between them. We may at this point inquire: are the emotions primary sources of moral life? Or, are they not rather the primary sources of religious life? Morality being older and better than religion, a religion is good only so far as it is supported by morality. We may, therefore, affirm that morality is born of the judgment and experience of the race, and is independent of religious belief.

Matthew Arnold holds : "Religion is conduct touched by emotion." This definition fits an ideal religion, but Christianity is something more than this, it is "conduct touched by emotion," plus supernaturalism. It is this supernaturalism in Christianity that I seek to oppose. I have no serious criticisms to make of the ethical teachings of Christianity.

BELIEFS

It is a primary proposition in logic which affirms that "where there is contradiction there is falsehood." The early Christian Fathers were ever in disagreement in the interpretation of Christian doctrine and held contrary opinions touching the personality and attributes of Jesus.

The decrees of the early Church councils affirmed radically different doctrine from age to age. Doctrinal propositions that were considered and condemned as heretical at Antioch in the third century, became the cardinal articles in the creed made at Nicaea a century later. The doctrine held and advocated by Origen and Tertullian in the second century was largely condemned by Athanasius, Lactantius and St. Augustine in the fourth century. Each group was, in its day, the embodiment of orthodox Christianity.

An early body of Christians held that Jesus was divine, only from the moment of His baptism. Another body of Christians baptized its converts in the name of Jesus only, and did not regard the claims of Nazarene Christianity seriously. The Marcionites and the followers of

Appels, did not believe the Jewish scriptures, but worshiped Jesus as a divinity. The Docetae believed that Jesus had only a phantom body, that His crucifixion had an appearance only, and that there could have been no physical suffering and resurrection. There were five different bodies of Christians, during the first three centuries, which held to this view, on the ground that it is irrational to believe that the Godhead could have suffered. The Ebionites, a Jewish sect, organized immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus, if not previous thereto, accepted the moral teachings of Jesus, but denied that His conception and birth were miraculous. The Carpocratians, a body of Alexandrian Christians, believed in the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls, that the greatest wisdom and power were possessed by him who could remember and cherish his former incarnations, and who possessed an unshaken faith in a final reunion with God. They conceived Jesus to have been such a one. Many of the Gnostic Christians held to this belief.

The Montanists, A. D. 200, opposed institutional, or Catholic, Christianity and sought guidance by and through their own Gentile prophets. With them prophecy was to continue until Jesus and the millennium should come. There were three prophets that arose in this body of Christians. One of the Montanist churches in Phrygia became an oracle similar to the pagan oracle at Dodona and spake as the Sibyls had spoken. The doctrines and precepts were good, but the means employed to proclaim them were fraudulent. The Montanist body of Christians was very strong and pointed with pride, in the fourth century, to its considerable accessions of bishops and influential theologians from the Catholic body, and to the large number of its martyrs. The Valentinians, a very important body of Christians (A. D. 140), held that the conceptions of Christianity were symbolic only. The Manichaeans united Gnostic Christianity with Buddhism. The great St. Augustine was a member of this cult for nine years. Justinian, the Christian emperor, decreed the death penalty against all his subjects of this faith, as earlier emperors had done against orthodox Christians. This sect accepted the Jewish scriptures, but denied the divinity of Jesus, and the same may be said of the Mohammedans, who came on four centuries later. The Sabellians were not in accord with the Athanasians on the subject of the trinity, and the Arians opposed the Trinitarians bitterly a half century later. With the exception of the Manichaeans and the Mohammedans, these, and other sects, which might be referred to, were all important Christian bodies of the first three centuries, or up to A. D. 325.

The military forces of the empire, under Constantine, were unable to suppress these numerous sects, though such suppression was often attempted, not always, however, in the interest of orthodox, or Catholic, Christianity. The Inquisition, a thousand years later, was futile in its efforts to suppress widely divergent and radical opinions that opposed Catholic Christianity. Threats of eternal punishment did not deter, nor did the hopes of salvation held out by the orthodox Church cajole dissenters from their course. Pope Boniface wrote to Philip, king of France: "Every human being is subject to the Roman Pontiff and to believe this is necessary to salvation." This was not the last innovation in Christian doctrine, but I will not here pursue this subject.

RITES

With reference to the rites and mysteries of the Christian Church, which were introduced into it largely by Gentile Christians and Greek theologians, there is reason to believe that much was taken from the mythologies of that and earlier ages by these converts, and that Nazarene Christianity was transformed and molded by Gentile Christians and scholars into the likeness of the polytheism of their ancestors. A trinity had been worshiped in Samothrace. Baptism had been practiced in the worship of Isis. Redemption by sacrifice, mediation of the Logos, immortality of the soul, the resurrection, the last judgment, were cardinal articles of faith in the worship of Mithra. This religion had been taught in Persia for four centuries before Jesus, and was continued in Rome until the fourth century, when, after an almost equal struggle with Christianity for supremacy in the Roman world it was discontinued. Epigrams of the second century are extant charging Christians with plagiarizing the doctrines of this cult. Aristeas of Proconnesus had risen twice from the dead and had been worshiped! A resurrection had been affirmed in the ceremony of the ancient worship of Adonis and Aphrodite and of Tammuz and Ishtar. The Phrygian god Attis, born of a Virgin, rose from the dead on the fourth day, and his resurrection was yearly celebrated for centuries ; and, as of martyrdoms, they were not unknown at the feasts of Bacchus and at the Olympic games. The early Christians, too, in many instances sought martyrdom. In the second and third centuries, Christians had come to regard martyrdom as a rite of the Christian communities — not a voluntary rite to be performed, but one that, under certain circumstances and conditions, should be cheerfully suffered. Tertullian said: "Let the ungulae tear us, the cross bear our weight, the flames envelop us, the sword divide our throats, the wild beasts spring upon us; the very posture of prayer is a preparation for every punishment. These things, so far from being a terror, are rather a pleasure to us." Ignatius affirms his desire for martyrdom in his "Epistle to the Trallians," and prays that he may become worthy of it. Many of the Church

Fathers maintained the same attitude, which the Roman magistrates could not understand.

PROPHECY

In the closing years of the reign of Aurelius, bishops were preaching in the catacombs at Rome, Carthage, Cyrene and Alexandria of the approaching end, — the world was soon to be consumed by fire. Appeal was made to the gospels and to the Sibyls — to Christian prophecy and to heathen oracle. The Sibyls had become Jewish, and now Christian. The zeal with which the Christians preached this doctrine brought fright and panic to the masses. The Sibyls had not been forgotten, Christian prophecy alone could not move the people, but the Sibyls had spoken from time to time for six centuries and their foreboding voices brought alarm and consternation. Human sacrifices were made in Rpme to the gods that the impending catastrophe might be averted. As the prediction failed, great honor was accorded the gods and Christian prophecy discredited.

FAITH

Gentile Christianity developed the doctrine of faith; the Gentiles received it first from Paul. This doctrine had become such an important factor in orthodox Christianity by the eleventh century that Archbishop Hildebert of Tours declared: "Faith is above reason." This assumption appeared to settle the case. Tertullian, who in the second century had been quite as dogmatic, said : "No more philosophy ! no more books ! after Jesus, science is useless I" Faith makes no investigation; it does not question authority, nor the truth or error of propositions. It opposes reflection. It opposes experimentation. It opposes reforms. It abets superstition. It is the refuge of ignorance and indolence. It would give repose by bidding us, "Let well enough alone," whereas it is through energy and unrest that we seek truth and pursue it. Through the doctrine of applied faith all forms of deception and error are made possible to a credulous subject.

POLYTHEISM

The world has ever been largely polytheistic. Confining our consideration to the Aryans of western Asia and their descendants, — the Europeans and ourselves — and to the gods of Homer and Hesiod, — the divinities of Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece and Rome; let us first determine whether the act of worship is the child or the parent of superstition. What influences lead men to worship? Primarily the feeling of fear. Otherwise we would not make sacrifices. Remove from the minds of Christians the fear of judgment and of hell, and Christianity must change her postulates and ideals at once, else the God of Moses soon will have gone with Jupiter, Jesus with Sarapis, Mary with Isis. Fear and piety are qualities inherent in the human mind. These beget worship, the form of which is determined by convention, and this by the character and amount of education and degree of civilization attained. The Greeks were pleased to believe that the gods were present and hovered in the air above them at Troy, and fought with them at Thermopylae. Treaties were solemnized by appeal to the gods, as being present. The treaty made by Philip and Hannibal calls the gods to witness: "In the presence of Jupiter, Juno and Apollo; in the presence of the deity of the Carthaginians, and of Hercules and of Iolus ; in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; and in the presence of all the gods who are with us in the camp." The Macedonian kings of Egypt believed the God of the Jews to be the same as Zeus of the Greeks, and Jupiter of the Romans.

It is, however, remarkable that a belief in the personality of the gods should have continued long and found lodgment in the minds of the emperors of Rome. Marcus Aurelius, being the best educated and the most enlightened of all the early emperors, his "Meditations" evince a well informed and well disposed mind. This work is a summing up of Stoic doctrine and compares well in moral tone and expression with the "Sermon on the Mount." It is sad and disappointing to see this well informed man bending under the weight of the popular superstitions of his age. He says: "To those who ask, where hast thou seen the gods, or how dost thou comprehend that they exist and so worshipest them? I answer, in the first place, that they may be seen even with the eyes ; in the second place, neither have I seen my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus then with respect to the gods, from what I constantly experience of their power, from this I comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them." And on the subject of future life, Aurelius continues : "But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of Providence? But in truth they do exist, and do care for human things and they have put the means in man's power to enable him not to fall into real evil." It may be said, however, that superstition is no more pronounced in Aurelius than in the writings of the Christian bishops and theologians of that period.

Judaism is of another race, — it is Semitic. When the doctrines of the Nazarene sect were stripped of their Jewish garb at Antioch and there presented to the Gentiles by Paul, their Semitic and monotheistic conceptions and exclusive character were, in a measure, retained, — Judaism and Christianity refused to become Aryan and make a shrine in the Pantheon. This exclusiveness and bigotry brought on the contest long waged in the Roman empire between Semitic Christianity and Aryan polytheism; between

Christians and the adherents of all the other systems or cults ; between Christian morality and the ethics of the schools of Greece. The emperors, therefore, became prejudiced against the Christians because they separated themselves from their fellowmen and held aloof from all the social and civic life of the empire ; because, while worshiping a trinity, they ridiculed with sarcasm and hate the system of polytheistic worship, then held venerable and sacred by the most enlightened and civilized peoples of the world; treated with derision and contempt the gods whom the scholars of that time admired for the idealism and naturalism of which they were symbolic, and whom the masses adored in faith and consecration.

The magistrates of Rome would have opposed no objections, would have instituted no prosecutions had the Christians built their temples, instituted their mysteries and ritual as other cults had done, without arrogating to themselves all of religion, and without assuming to be the sole servitors of God and righteousness. Polytheism was liberal and generous ; monotheism exclusive

and bigoted.

RELICS

The superstitious character of Christianity is painfully disclosed in relic worship, which is an exaggerated expression of the tender emotions we have for the dead. It is analogous to ancestor-worship and akin to hero-worship. It manifests emotionalism beyond the control of reason.

It evinces superstition broken away from the moorings of restraint and common-sense. This superstition did not develop until after Christianity had come forth from the catacombs, where it had found asylum and was domiciled for the greater part of two centuries.

By the fifth century, the traffic in the bones of saints had grown to such importance and magnitude that, in Rome, no dead man was safe. Catacombs and basilicas were ransacked, inscriptions defaced, crypts broken into and sarcophagi plundered. The church finally undertook to stop this vandalism and vicious traffic. Pope Stephen III published a letter, purporting to come from Saint Peter, menacing "with eternal damnation the violators of the hallowed tombs."

The adoration of relics was called "pollution" by the un-Christian emperor — Julian. St. Jerome held to the sanctity of relics, "around which the souls of martyrs are constantly hovering to hear the prayers of the supplicants." Later, the blood of martyrs was esteemed a talisman of great power. The Christian spectators of the martyrdom of St. Vincent dipped their clothes in his blood. "The bones of Polycarp," says one of the Fathers, "are more precious than the richest jewels and more tried than gold." Empress Constantina wrote to Pope Gregory the Great, at the end of the sixth century, for the head of St. Paul, in order, "with more solemnity to consecrate a new church." Gregory replied, in effect, that he could not divide the bodies of the saints and declared that "the danger of invading their tombs is sometimes even fatal" ! Martin of Tours narrated how he discovered, by summoning the ghost of a supposed martyr, that the revered relics were only those of a thief. The Church of St. Prassede, Rome, holds in its collection of relics a part of the Crown of Thorns, and there are two whole Crowns of Thorns possessed by two churches in France; by a "miracle" all are said to be genuine. Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, is said to have secured the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. After the crusade it was said that in Europe the fragments of the "true Cross" were sufficient to "freight a ship." Tradition recounts much for the efficacy of relics, — how the remains of saints healed the sick, converted heretics and raised the dead!

AGNOSTICISM

Those who possess their minds free from influences of environment and suggestion, and have the disposition and ability to observe, investigate and reflect; to question, consider and think; and yet again and again to think, ever come to the border land of uncertainty where they must confess, if honest with themselves, that, with the limitations which still beset them they do not know whence they came, or whither they go. After nineteen centuries of Christian civilization and learning, in Europe and the West, we fall back on Lucretius of old, taking his words fresh and pregnant with life as from his lips, confessing that we do not know "what lies behind the flaming ramparts of the world."

We are a part of the universe, a fragment of the life of the solar system, an integral part of the life of this planet. The glory, or the fate, of the world is ours. We are changing as our environment changes. The great stream of spiritual energy, whether an attribute of matter or existing independently, impregnates all. Six centuries before our era, Heraclitus of Ephesus had observed the transitory character of all things in the realm of Nature and affirmed: "Eternal flux and change are the sole actualities ; all phenomena are in a state of continuous transition from nonexistence to existence and vice versa," And Walter Pater interprets Epicurean doctrine, which bears on this subject, thus: "Conceded that what is secure in our experience is but the sharp apex of the present moment between two hypothetical eternities, and all that is real in our experience but a series of fleeting impressions." Truth is relative, however, and Epicurean doctrine should be so interpreted; rather, we are a part of a scheme that is transcendently grand, it is our privilege and should be our greatest glory to be sensible of this. The younger Pliny possessed this feeling of unity with the world, and in writing to his friend, Tacitus, of the destruction of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, the ruin of Campania, the three days of darkness and the creeping earth beneath his feet, — occasioned by the eruption of

Vesuvius, of which he was witness, — says: "My support was grounded in that miserable, though mighty consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself."

Man has risen from a low condition to his present state, and a higher plane awaits him. He possesses attributes which prophesy and assure this. His inquiring mind, his restless spirit, and his thirst for knowledge promise much. He will soon have freed his mind from the dominion of superstition, and his body from the thraldom of despotic government. The cruelty and license of Rome, under her emperors, largely came with the change of government, crime with imperialism, apostacy from sturdy virtue — -with empire and wealth. If, under the Republic, Rome was peccant, under the Empire she became a public plunderer and a heroic thief. If, under the rule of the Senate and Tribune, her hands were sometimes stained with fratricidal blood, under the Caesars they became incarnadine. Under the Republic, she banished tyrants ; under the Empire, she expelled philosophers, exiled her best citizens, expatriated Jews and sacrificed Christians. The crimes of the Empire were not due to its polytheism; it was impossible that there could exist side by side master and slave, patrician and plebeian, citizen and subject. Man's greatest happiness and glory will not be realized in Religion but in Democracy.