I. CHAP. carried this ardent youth through all hardships: who would not prefer his disposition, with all his faults, to the cowardice and love of the world, which in our times prevent such numbers from daring to show true regard for the divine Saviour? This Apphian had a brother called Ædesius, who had advanced farther in the philosophical studies than himself, and who likewise embraced the faith of Christ. Prisons, bonds, and the drudgery of the mines of Palestine, he endured with great patience and fortitude; at length he came to Alexandria, and there saw the judge raging with frantic fury against Christians, treating the men with various abuses, and giving up chaste virgins, who had devoted themselves to a single life, to pimps, to be treated in the vilest manner. Fired at the sight, he lost all patience, rebuked the magistrate, and struck him. Upon which he was exposed to a variety of torture, and thrown into the sea. He seems to have possessed both the excellencies and the faults of his brother. It is proper to add*, that the inhuman magistrate was no other than the philosophical Hierocles, whose affected humanity and candour we have celebrated above. A remark or two may be proper in this place, before we proceed. 1. The persecution we are reviewing found the Church in the lowest state of Christian wisdom and piety. In addition to what I have said on the ungenerous remarks of Mr. Gibbon, concerning the behaviour of Edesius, it should be observed, that amidst the great dearth of instruction in which he had learned Christianity, it is not to be wondered at that he should know his duty so imperfectly. I compare the piety of him and of Apphian to that of Jephthah and of Sampson; sincere, but irregular and injudicious. They lived under similar circumstances, in times of great ignorance. The Spirit of God, when he creates a new heart, and a new spirit, and *See Valesius' notes on Euseb. IV. furnishes a man with dispositions for obedience, su- CENT. persedes not the use of pastoral instruction. Where this is much wanted, even divine love itself, though strong, is blind, comparatively speaking, and will mistake the rule of duty continually. It is in vain that I look out in all this period for judicious and discreet pastors, and for clear evangelical views. No Cyprian or Dionysius now appeared, to check, to regulate, to control the spirits of Christians, and to dicipline them by Scripture rules. The persecution found vast numbers perfidious and cowardly; some chosen spirits, humble and faithful to death, but of these many, it is to be feared, poorly informed of their duty both to God and man, and mixing with the love of Christ the intemperance and precipitation of blind self-will. The best use to be made of this observation, after teaching us to be candid to the faults of these good men, is this, that those who enjoy the advantage of better instruction and of wise pastors, should thankfully improve their privileges, and not by the want of just subordination deprive themselves of the opportunity of exhibitng more regular and edifying examples of holiness. That knowledge was thus low among Christians, is evident from Eusebius, one of the most learned of those times, who extols a conduct in these brethren, which every Christian of common light and capacity now would condemn. 2. I see also the prevalence both of the monastic and of the philosophic spirit. Devotees were increasing in numbers among serious persons; and Origenism had made philosophy more and more reputable. Under this influence, the two brothers, whose story we have seen, imbibed too much of Platonism, knew too little of Christianity, and though sincere enough to become martyrs for Christ, attained not the praise of Christian simplicity. The doctrines of Christ had ceased to be explicitly unfolded; and it was in sufferings chiefly, endured CHAP. I. Martyrdom with patient faith and cheerful hope, that we can now see, that Christ had yet a church in the world. The bush was burning indeed in a fire the most dreadful, yet it was not consumed. In the fourth year of the persecution happened of Agapius. the martyrdom of Agapius at Cæsarea. Maximin Cæsar was there exhibiting spectacles in honour of his birth-day. The ferociousness of pagans was doubtless much augmented by the usual barbarous sports; and the native enmity of the mind against godliness met not with so many checks of humanity, in times of persecution, as it would in our days of civilization. But it should be remembered, that it was not philosophy, but the Gospel, which improved, in this as well as other respects, the morality of the Roman empire. Agapius, who had been thrice before brought on the stage, and had thrice been respited by the compassion of the judge, was now brought before the emperor, to fulfil, says Eusebius, that word of Christ, "ye shall be brought before kings for my name's sake." A slave who had murdered his master was produced at the same time, and condemned to the wild beasts. The emperor, with a view to distinguish his birth-day by an act of generosity, both pardoned and gave freedom to the murderer. The whole amphitheatre rang with acclamations in praise of his clemency. But it was perfectly to act in character for Maximin to punish the innocent and to spare the guilty. He asked Agapius if he would renounce Christianity, promising him liberty on that condition. The martyr expressed his cheerful readiness to undergo any punishment, not for any crime committed by him, but for piety toward the Lord of the universe. He was condemned to be torn by a bear, and still breathing, was carried back to prison; where after he had lived a day, he was sunk in the sea with weights fastened to his feet. The exclamation of the Jews, in the history of our Saviour, "Not this man, but Barabbas," naturally occurs to Eusebius on this occasion. CENT. IV. Theodosia. In the fifth year of the persecution, a Tyrian vir- Also of gin, Theodosia, not quite eighteen years old, was put to death for owning and countenancing some Christian prisoners. The judge, Urbanus, afterwards condemned them to the mines of Palestine. Silvanus a presbyter, afterwards a bishop, with some others, was doomed to the labour of the brass mines, the joints of their feet being first weakened by the application of hot iron. Few persecutors exceeded Urbanus in malice and activity. He doomed three to fight with one another; Auxentius, a venerable old saint, he condemned to the beasts. Some of them he condemned to the mines, after he had made them eunuchs. Others, after bitter torments, he threw into prison again. If any be still inclined to regard the calculation of those, who represent the number of the martyrs as small, let him consider, that it was evidently very much the policy of this, and most probably of the former persecutions, to torment Christians without destroying them. The emperors did not wish to rob themselves of such a number of subjects, but to subdue them to their will. Yet in many instances the human frame must have sunk under these hardships; and the multitude of Christian sufferers on this account, in addition to the evils of poverty and flight, must exceed all powers of calculation. Urbanus tortured, among others, the famous Pamphilus, the friend of Eusebius; but lived not to see his martyrdom. Being himself convicted of crimes, Urbanus was capitally punished in Casarea, the scene of his cruelties, and by the same Maximin, of whose imperial savageness he had been the minister. In the sixth year of the persecution, of the great multitude of Christian sufferers in Thebais near a hundred were selected to be sent to Palestine, and CHAP. I. were adjudged by Firmilian, the successor of Urba- |