first was the Apoftlé James, the fecond Simeon; both whofe hiftories have been recorded. He mentions thirteen more; but we have no account of their characters or actions. During all this time fomething judaical feems to have continued in their practice; though Jewish ideas would naturally decay by decrees. The revolution under Adrian, at length put a total end to the Jewish Church, by the extirpation and banishment of this people.-To fuch outward changes is the Church of Chrift fubject: a new Church, however, arofe in Elia, of the Gentiles, whofe bifhop was named Mark. Adrian, after a reign of twenty-one years, was fucceeded by Antoninus Pius, who appears to have been, at leaft in his own perfonal character and intentions, always guiltlefs of Christian blood. It was now very difficult for the enemies of Chrift to fupport their perfecuting fpirit, with any tolerably specious pretenfions: The abominations of heretics, whom ignorance and malice will ever confound with real Christians, furnished them with fome: Probably thefe were much exaggerated: but whatever they were, the whole Chriftian name was accused of them. They were charged with inceft and the devouring of infants; and thus a handle was afforded for the barbarous treatment of the best of mankind; till time detected the flanders, and men became at length afhamed of affecting to believe what was in its own nature improbable, and was fupported by no evidence. It pleafed God at this time to endow fome hrif tians with the power of defending his truth by the manly arms of rational argumentation. Juftin Martyr prefented his firft apology to the emperor Antoninus Pius, about the third year of A. D. his reign, A. D. 140. He was of that clafs of 140. men men who, in those days, were ufually called philofophers. His converfion to Christianity, his views and fpirit, his labours and fufferings, will deferve to be confidered in a diftinct chapter. Suffice it here to fay, that the information and arguments, which his firft apology contained, were not in vain. Antoninus was a man of fenfe and humanity. Open to conviction, uncorrupted by the vain and chimerical philofophy of the times, he was defirous of doing juftice to all mankind. Afia propria was ftill the fcene of vital Christianity and of cruel perfecution.-Thence the Chriftians applied to Antoninus; and complained of the many injuries which they fuftained from the people of the country.-Earthquakes, it feems, had lately happened; and the pagans were much terrified, and afcribed them to the vengeance of Heaven against the Chriftians. We have both in Eufebius and at the end of Juftin's firft apology, the edict fent to the common council of Afia; every line of which deferves attention. The Emperor to the common council of Afia. "I am quite of opinion, that the Gods will take care to difcover fuch perfons. For it much more concerns them to punish thofe who refufe to worship them than you, if they be able. But you harafs and vex the Chriftians, and accufe them. of Atheism and other crimes, which you can by no means prove. To them it appears an advantage to die for their religion, and they gain their point, while they throw away their lives, rather than comply with your injunctions. As to the earthquakes, which have happened in paft times, or lately, is it not proper to remind you of your B. 4. xi, xii, xiii. own own defpondency, when they happen; -and to defire you to compare your fpirit with theirs, and obferve how ferenely they confide in God? In fuch feafons you feem to be ignorant of the Gods, and to neglect their worship: You live in the practical ignorance of the fupreme God himself, and you harafs and perfecute to death those who do worship him. Concerning thefe fame men fome others of the provincial governors wrote to our divine father Adrian, to whom he returned answer, "That they fhould not be molefted, unless they appeared to attempt fomething against the Roman government." Many alfo have fignified to me concerning these men, to whom I have returned an anfwer agreeable to the maxims of my father. But if any person will still perfift in accufing the Christians merely as fuch,-Let the accused be acquitted, though he appear to be a Christian; —and let the accufer be punished."-Set up at Ephefus in the common affembly of Afia. Eufebius informs us, that this was no empty edict, but was really put in execution. Nor did this emperor content himself with one edict. He wrote to the fame purport to the Lariffeans, the Theffalonians, the Athenians, and all the Greeks. As this prince reigned 23 years, fuch vigorous measures muft, after fome time at least, have had their effect. And we may fairly conclude that during a great part of this reign the Chriftians were permitted to worship God in peace. A few remarks on the conduct of this prince, and on the facts which appear on the face of his edict may be judged not improper. 1. There are, it feems, fome inftances of princes, even in antient hiftory, not unacquainted with the juft principles of religious liberty, which are now more generally understood. The moft intelligent legiflator, legiflator, in any age, never understood the natural rights of confcience better than Antoninus Pius. He faw that Chriftians, as sUCH, ought not to be punished. His fubjects, bigoted and barbarous, were far from thinking fo; and it was not till after repeated edicts and menaces, that he forced them to cease from perfecution. 2. In the conduct of this emperor one may obferve how far human nature can advance in moral virtue by its natural refources, while it remains deftitute of the grace of God and the fuperior principle of holiness. If the advocates of natural morality confidered as abstracted from Christianity, were to fix on a character the most able to fupport the weight of their caufe, it would be their intereft to put it into the hands of Antoninus Pius. He would defend it, not with pompous fyftems and declamatory flourishes, but by an amiable, generous, and magnanimous conduct. I have been aftonished at the character that is recorded of him. Doubtless a more diftinct and explicit detail of his life would leffen our admiration. We have not the opportunity of knowing him fo thoroughly as we do Socrates and Cicero. The former, by the writings of his fcholars, the latter by his own, are known as minutely as if they were our contemporaries. Could the emperor be as accurately fcrutinized, poffibly fomething of the fupercilious pride of the Grecian, or of the ridiculous vain glory of the Roman patriot, might appear. They are both allowed to be very eminent patterns of moral virtue; but yet, with all the difadvantages of fuch imperfect hiftorians as Victor and Julius Capitolinus, they must concede the palm to Antoninus. Defpotic power, in his hands, feems to have been only an inftrument of doing good to mankind. His temper was mild and gentle in a very VOL. I. Q high high degree; yet the vigour of his government was as ftriking, as if he had been of the most keen and irritable difpofition. He confulted the welfare of his fubjects with great diligence: He attended to all perfons and things with as minute an exactness, as if his own private property had been concerned *.-Scarce any fault is afcribed to him, but that of a temper exceffively inquifitive. His fucceffor, the fecond Antoninus, owns, that he was religious without fuperftition; and in particular, that he was not fuperftitious in the worship of the Gods. This we have in his Stoical meditations ftill extant t. We cannot therefore doubt but that a perfon of this ftamp would find opportunities of knowing what Chriftianity was. He certainly did know fomething of it, and he approved of the moral conduct of Chriftians. He gives them the most honourable character, has no fear of them as difloyal or turbulent, and makes comparisons between them and Pagans to the advantage of the former. From an expreffion in the edict,-" if they be able,"-one might be tempted to fufpect, that he had very little INTERNAL refpect for the gods. Were there no God, no Divine Providence, and no future ftate, the virtue of this man would doubtlefs be as complete, and as confiftent as fo abfurd an hypothesis will permit :-but his cafe fhews, that it is poffible, by the united influence of good fenfe and good temper, for a man to be extremely beneficent to his fellow-creatures, without due regard to his Maker. Surely-if the holinefs of a truly converted Chrif tian, and the mere moral virtue of a "natural man," were the fame things,-Antoninus ought to be esteemed a Chriftian.-Yet it does not appear that Juli. Capitol. Vit. Ant. chap. 7. See Lardner's Collections, chap. xiv. Book 6. c. 30. |