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wing with God, as if they were lost and perished men, and hus not acknowledging as true by the witness of the heart, what they confess outwardly in words." "We betray our hope and our faith; all that we say appears to be artificial and hypocritical."

The affectionate remembrance of the departed was not suppressed or weakened by Christianity, but rather heightened, reanimated, and rendered more cordial. Communion with the living and the dead was, in truth, a communion in the Lord, a communion for eternity, the bond of which, resting in the Eternal, could be sundered by no power of death or hell. Christians have a consciousness of constant invisible communion with those from whom they are outwardly separated. In prayer, by which the Christian feels himself connected with the whole holy assembly of blessed spirits to which he belongs, he thinks especially of those dear friends who have joined it before him. These feelings in the primitive age were especially indulged on the anniversary of their death, or rather their birth-day for eternal life. They partook on these days of the Lord's body, with the lively consciousness that they were joined in communion with the Lord, and with their dear friends, his members; they made particular mention of those who had died in communion with the Lord in the church prayers at the celebration of the Supper. In the same way the death-day of the martyrs was celebrated by the whole church. The church assembled at their graves, and partook of the Holy Supper in the living consciousness of indissoluble communion with the Lord and his people; they prayed for the martyrs, who had been like themselves sinful men, and could only find salvation in the grace of the Redeemer.

The Christians also evinced their tender love to the remains of the deceased, which did not appear to them as impure, as a corpse always appears impure to the Jews and heathen, and by the latter was regarded as carrying with it a bad omen. The Christian knew only one thing to be dead and impure, that is, sin, by which man is separated from the source of all true life; only from this impurity it was needful that man should purify himself by faith in the Redeemer, who suffered and died for him (by the inward sprinkling of the heart with the blood of Jesus, as it is described in the Epistle to the

Hebrews); he was bound to give himself continually to the new life, and to regret all that was dead; since both soul and body were destined to be living, pure and sanctified as the organ of a holy, all-penetrating higher life. Thus Christians regarded the remains of their brethren with peculiar love and care, as the organs formerly animated by a sanctified soul, temples of the Holy Spirit, which would hereafter be again animated as the glorified organs of glorified souls.

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The fanaticism of the heathen wished to deprive the Christians of the precious remains of their martyrs, as they said at the martyrdom of Polycarp, when they hesitated to give his ashes to his friends, "lest they should leave the crucified One, and worship him instead. When the Christians were told of this, they replied, that the heathen "know not that we can never forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of those who are saved in all the world, nor can we reverence any other; for we adore him, being the Son of God; but the martyrs we worthily love on account of their unconquerable obedience to their own king and teacher, of whom may we be joint-partakers and fellow-disciples." The church said further, in their account of his martyrdom: At last, taking his bones, more valued than precious stones, and esteemed above gold, we deposited them in a suitable place. There, if possible, assembling in joy and gladness, the Lord will grant us to celebrate the birth-day of his martyrdom, in memory of those who have endured past conflicts, and as an exercise and preparation for those that are to come after them.”

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We see, from these examples, how far they were at that time from over-valuing the vessels of divine grace. But such an over-valuation is an error into which man easily falls. He easily transfers the honour which is due to the Lord alone to the frail vessel which the Lord has made use of for his own glory. We have already noticed the dangers that threatened from this quarter. Tertullian felt himself obliged to protest against the excessive veneration of confessors and martyrs which was gaining ground in his times, when some who had been excommunicated for their vicious practices set too great a value on the absolution granted by the confessors, to whom they resorted in the mines or the prisons. Against the claims of such confessors he says: Who is there without sin, as long as he lives on earth and in the flesh? Whoever is a martyr,

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as long as he dwells on earth, has to beg for the denarius (Matt. xx. 2), is answerable to him who requires interest for the talents committed to him, and needs the physician. But supposing that the sword is already waving over his head, that he is surrounded by the flames, that he is already safe in the possession of martyrdom, who can authorize a man to give what belongs to God alone? It will be enough for a martyr to be purified from his own sin. It is ingratitude or pride, to wish to extend to others what he cannot succeed in obtaining for himself. Who is there, excepting the Son of God, who has paid another's death by his own? For in the very time of his passion he liberated the malefactor. For this very purpose he came, that being free from sin and perfectly holy, he might die for sinners. Hence thou, who wouldst imitate him in forgiving sins, suffer for me, if thou hast not sinned thyself. But if thou art a sinner, how can the oil in thy lamp suffice for me and for thyself too?"

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PART II.

CHRISTIAN LIFE WHEN CHRISTIANITY HAD GAINED THE ASCENDENCY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

CHAPTER I.

VARIOUS METHODS OF CONVERSION FROM HEATHENISM TO CHRISTIANITY.

WE see in this period a great alteration in the relation of the Church to the State. The alteration consisted in the fact, that the Church, which had been hitherto oppressed, or at the utmost tolerated, became outwardly predominant; its former depressed condition was exchanged for worldly splendour, and thus multitudes were induced to enter it, for whom the internal claims of Christianity had no attraction. Although in its rise, when the Church conflicted with the external power of heathenism, in consequence of the fountain of selfdeception lying in man's nature, there were not wanting merely apparent conversions; yet now, when the Church was surrounded with outward splendour, the temptations were much greater to substitute a merely outward profession for truly being in Christ.' And the great alteration of which we are speaking, arose, first of all, from the adhesion given to Christianity by the rulers of the Roman Empire, which was of such a kind that, though they believed themselves to be really Christians from conviction, and laboured with sincere zeal for the spread of the Christian Church, and its outward aggrandizement, yet their internal disposition was by no means penetrated by Christianity. Often by this false zeal, unsupported by a true Christian disposition, and unaccompanied by sound knowledge, they did far more injury to

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the Christian Church, which they wished to serve, than they could have done by direct hostility.

The first of the emperors who openly professed Christianity, Constantine, especially in the first years of his reign, owing to a certain eclecticism in religion, which was for him the transition-point to Christianity, and to the influence of heathen Platonists and Christian bishops of a more moderate and gentle disposition, and also from general political considerations, was very far from wishing to suppress heathenism by force, to persecute its adherents, and to spread Christianity by compulsory means. Thus when, after the victory over Licinius, he became sole ruler of the empire, in a proclamation addressed to the oriental provinces, now first under his control, he expressed the principles of a wise toleration in such a manner, that indicated far more of the spirit of Christianity than could have been shown by any zeal for proselytizing; for here we recognise what we noticed in a former part of this work, that by Christianity the ideas of liberty of conscience, and of the universal rights of man, were first brought to light, as well as the consciousness of the right method of imbuing men's minds with Christianity. The following was his language: "Let those in error equally enjoy peace and rest with the faithful, for the improving influence of mutual intercourse may lead men into the right way. Let no one molest his neighbour; let each one act according to his inclination. Whoever has right convictions must know that they alone will live in holiness and purity whom Thou thyself dost call to find rest in thy holy laws. But those who keep at a distance from them, may, if they please, retain the temples of falsehood. We have the glorious abode of truth, which Thou hast given us to satisfy the cravings of our nature. We wish for them that, in communion of mind with us, they may participate our joy."

But he who uttered these beautiful sentiments was very far from always adhering to them in his conduct, although he employed no coercive methods of conversion. Though the heathen were not, as in later times, exposed to many acts of oppression, nor obstructed in the exercise of their worship, yet the manifold outward advantages and privileges which flowed to the Christians of all classes from the time of Constantine's accession, and the favour of the authorities, which