had absolutely no pattern in existence; which they could not have imagined, because it was beyond the range of their conceptions; which they could not have imitated, because it was no where to be seen.

So that this dilemma lies before us: either the first followers of Christianity were men of totally different feelings and dispositions from any men whom we have ever known, and especially from ourselves, whom we know best; or they had irresistible evidence of the truth of those facts which form the basis of the religion. For that the Gospel, with the hopes and fears which it sets before us, and still more with the assistance it bestows, is able to effect this change, and create the character under consideration, is matter of undoubted experience. But those on whom it first produced this effect must have possessed undeniable evidence of its truth. It must have been proved to their satis'faction (to the satisfaction of those, we should remember, whom it was impossible to deceive, if they had the use of their senses), that the

facts on which it rests really happened, and that the Apostles were commissioned to promulgate them to the world. Otherwise, it would have had no more influence upon them than it now has upon those who disown its authority; and indeed much less: for a religion, once received and generally professed, has a manifest effect even on those who disbelieve it: but Christianity had no existence till converts from heathen idolatry and depravity exhibited it in their practice, and gave it a visible and beautiful reality by substantiating it in their lives. So that the faith of these first Christians is of very different weight, in the scale of evidence, from that of any modern opinion. Whoever, in the present day, thinks and lives as a Christian, proves no more than that the historical testimony by which Christianity is confirmed, confirms it to his individual satisfaction. But though we now believe on historical testimony, the first Christians did not; they believed on ocular demonstration, or on the personal evidence of those who had seen the things which we receive on their report: they had opportuni

ties and means of inquiry within their reach, which set them above the possibility of mistake. Their conviction is the conviction of persons who could hardly be deceived, even if the error had been of a nature most gratifying to their desires and feelings; but is quite beyond suspicion, when we know that all their desires and feelings must have risen in array against it, and inclined them to disbelieve.

Especially when another obstacle, which has not yet been mentioned, opposed the reception of the Gospel. Those who embraced it, from the first hour of its announcement at Jerusalem to its final triumph over Paganism, were constantly subject to bitter persecution: persecution, which did not come upon them unexpectedly, after they had committed themselves in the cause, and gone too far to recede with credit; but was provided for in the first writings of the sect. They were forewarned of the consequences of their profession; they expected to suffer, and they consented to suffer. And though we may allow, that from the moment a

man was convinced of the truth of Christianity, it became so all-important, that he would be ready to encounter any opposition; we can hardly deny that this opposition would ensure his hesitating, before he made either a rash or an insincere profession. Suppose a person, to whom the moral requisites of the Gospel presented nothing alarming. The fear of persecution would make him pause. Another might expect some present benefit in this new profession, if nothing appeared in the opposite scale; but no temporal advantage could recompense him for torture or death: so that the hypocrite was likewise excluded.

Martyrs, indeed, have fallen in every cause. Therefore we do not reckon it decisive in favour of a cause, that it is able to adduce a martyrology on its side. But we have a proof that men are sincerely convinced, when they are ready to seal their sincerity with their blood. In the present case, sincerity is nearly all we want; since what they attested was not matter of opinion, in

which they were liable to error; but matter of fact, in which they could hardly be mistaken.

We are apt, I suspect, to undervalue the testimony of martyrs, from a vague notion of the dignity attending them; the dignity of perishing in a noble cause, applauded by innumerable partisans, and admired even by enemies. But no false lustre of this kind could dazzle the early Christians. The persecution which they underwent, was of the most harassing and wearisome nature. It was the persecution of contempt, of reproach, of obloquy, alike undeserved, and unanswerable. It subjected them abroad to the misery of constant insecurity; and at home to the continual bitterness of domestic opposition, to the taunts of nearest relations, and the tears of beloved friends. There is nothing alluring, in being daily held up to ridicule as an enemy to oneself, or to reproach as the author of injury to others. During a great portion of the three first centuries, if the Tiber

A lively description of this is given in Justin, Apol. ii. s. 2, &c.