PART 2:

 

THE RELIGION OF THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS AS TO THOSE VIRTUES THAT RESPECT THEMSELVES.

 

CHAPTER 1. Of their Humility.

 

 1. Next to piety towards GOD, succeeds that part of Religion that immediately respects ourselves, expressed by the Apostle under the general name of Sobriety, for which the primitive Christians were no less renowned than for the other. Amongst them I take notice of their, Humility, their Contempt of the World, their Temperance and Sobriety, their Courage and Constancy, and their exemplary Patience under Sufferings.

 

 To begin with the first: Humility is a virtue proper to the Gospel. That this was the excellent spirit of primitive Christianity, will appear, if we consider how earnestly they protested against all ambitious and vain-glorious designs, how cheerfully they condescended to the meanest offices,-how studiously they declined all advantages of applause; how ready they were rather to give praise to others, than to take it to themselves;” in honor preferring one another.”

 

 2. When the people had universally chosen ST. CYPRIAN to be Bishop, he privately withdrew, and retired himself, reckoning himself unworthy of so great and honorable an office, and giving way to others, whose age and experience rendered them (as he thought) much fitter for it: but the importunity Of the people being heightened, and having found where he was, they beset the house,- and blocked up all passages of escape till they had found him, and forced it upon him. And with no less humility did he behave himself in the discharge of it: when consulted by some of his Clergy what they should do in the case of the Lapsed, he answers, that being now alone he could say nothing to it, for that he had determined from his first entering upon his bishopry, not to judge any thing by his own private order, without the counsel of the clergy, and the consent of the people. So meanly did that wise and excellent man think of himself, and so much did he attribute to the judgment and concurrence of those that were below him.

 

 3. NAZIANZEN reports of his father, (a bishop too,) that amongst other virtues he was peculiarly remarkable for Humility; which he did not express in little arts of external carriage, putting on a feigned behavior, like women, who having no natural beauty of their own, fly to the addition of dresses and paintings. His humility consisted not in his dress, but in the constancy of his mind; not in the hanging down of his head, or the softness of his tone, or the demureness of his look, or the gravity of his beard, or the manner of his gait; but in the frame and temper of his soul, being as humbling, his mind, as lie was sublime and excellent in his life; and when no man could arrive at the perfection of his virtues, yet every one was admitted to a freedom of converse with him.

 

How industriously do we find them many times disowning that deserved praise and commendation that was due to them How modestly does JUSTIN MARTYR decline his adversary's commendation of the acuteness and elegancy of his reasoning Resolving all into the grace of GOD, that enabled him to understand and expound the Scriptures, of which grace he there persuades all men freely and fully to become partakers with him. Of the Confessors in the time of the persecution under M. AURELIUS, Eusebius tells us, that although they had often borne- witness to the truth at the dearest rate of any thing on this side death, though they had been frequently thrown to wild beasts, exposed to the fire, and the remains of wounds and violence were visible in all parts of their bodies; yet they would not after all this, (which was common in those days,) either call themselves Martyrs, or suffer others to call them so; but if any of the brethren, either by letter or discourse, had saluted them by that title, they would severely check them for it;, acknowledging themselves at best but vile and despicable confessors; and with tears begging of the brethren to be instant with GOD by prayer, that they might perfect all by a real martyrdom.

 

 4. I shall give but one instance more of the humility of those times, and that is, their ready condescending to any office or employment, though never so mean, about the poorest Christian. They thought it not below them to cook and provide victuals for them, to visit the imprisoned, to kiss their chains, to- dress their wounds, to wash their feet. And in this our LO RD himself went before them, when a little before his death he rose from table, girt himself washed and wiped his disciples' feet, and then told them what influence-this-ought to have upon them;,” That if their LORD and Master had washed their feet, they ought also to wash one another's feet, for that he had given; them: an, example; that they should do as he had done to them:.” and good reason:” the servant not being greater than his Loin; neither he that is- sent, greater than lie that sent him:” Accordingly we, find this particular act of Christian condescension frequently used in the primitive Church. ST. PAUL expressly requires it as a qualification in a widow, that was to be taken in as a Deaconess intro the that she be one that has used to lodge strangers, and too wash the saints' feet. TEI1TULLIAN assures us, it was usually done by Christians in his time, to go into-the prisons to kiss and embrace the martyrs' chains, to harbor and provide for indigent brethren, and to bring water to wash the saints' feet: no office so low, which they were not content to stoop to. When PLACILLA the Empress was checked by some of the Court for visiting the Hospitals, and curing the lame and sick with her own hands, preparing and giving them their provisions, as a thing too much below her state and grandeur; she answered, That to distribute gold became the Emperor, but for her part she thought herself obliged to do this for God, who had advanced her to that honor and dignity: often instilling this pious counsel into her husband,’ It becomes you, Sir, always to remember what you once were, and what you now are; by which means you will show yourself not to be ungrateful to your great Benefactor, and will govern the Empire committed to you justly and lawfully, and to the honor of him that gave it.'

 

CHAPTER 2:

 

Of their Heavenly-Mindedness, and Contempt of the World.

 

 1. The soul of man being heaven-born, cannot but partake of the nature and disposition of that country, and have a native inclination to that place, from whence it borrows its original: And though it is true, in this corrupt and degenerate state, it is deeply sunk into matter, clogged and over-borne with the earthly and sensual propensions of the lower appetites, the desires and designs of men creeping up and down like shadows upon the surface of the earth; yet the mind of a good man dwells in the contemplation of the upper regions, tramples upon those little projects of profit or pleasure which ensnare and enslave other men, and makes all its designs subservient to the interests of a better country: a temper of mind nevermore triumphant in any, than in the Christians of old, whose conversations were iii-heaven, and whose spirits breathed in too free an air to be caught with the best enjoyments this world could afford.

 

 2. Amongst us,' says TITIAN,’ there is no affectation of vain glory, but separating ourselves from all earthly thoughts and discourses, and having given up ourselves to the commands of GOD, we abandon whatever seems but a kin to human glory.' They never met with opportunities to advance and enrich themselves, but they declined them with a noble scorn. When ABG Axes, the Toparch of Edessa, offered THADDEUS great sums of gold for the pains he had taken, he refused them with this answer, ‘To what purpose should we receive good things from others, who have freely forsaken and renounced our own' Indeed, in those times, friends and relations, houses and lands, were cheerfully parted with: they could content themselves with the most naked poverty, so it might but consist with the profession of the Gospel.

 

 3. When QUINTIANUS, the President under Decius the Emperor, asked AGATHA, the Virgin-Martyr, Why, being descended of such rich and illustrious parents, she would stoop to such low and mean offices as she took upon her She presently answered him,' Our glory and nobility lie in this, That we are the servants of CHRIST.' To the same purpose was the answer of QUINTINUS, the martyr under the DIOCLESIAN persecution, when the President asked him, How it came about, that he being a Roman citizen, and the son of a Senator, would worship him for a GOD, whom the Jews had crucified The martyr told him,’ That it was the highest honor and nobility to know and serve GOD, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and his SON JESUS CHRIST our LORD, by whom all things were made, andd who is in all things equal to his FATHER.'

 

 4. As to Estate, they were not concerned for more than what would supply the necessities of nature, or the wants of others; not solicitous to get or possess such revenues as might make them the objects either of men's envy, or their fear; as may appear, amongst others, by this instance: DOMITIAN, the Emperor, being informed that there were yet remaining some of Christ’s kindred according to the flesh, (the nephews Of JUDAS the brother of our LORD, of the race and posterity of DAVID, which the Emperor sought utterly to extirpate,) he sent for them, and inquired of them, whether they were of the line of DAVID They answered, they were. He asked what possessions and estate they had They told him they had between them thirty-nine acres of land, (to the value of about nine thousand pence,) out of the fruits whereof they both paid him tribute, and maintained themselves with their own bard labor, whereto the hardness and callousness of their hands, which they then showed him, bore witness. He then asked them concerning CHRIST, and the state of his kingdom; to which they answered, That His empire was’1 not of this world,” but heavenly and angelical; which should finally take place in the end of the world, when he should come” with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, and to reward men according to their works:” Which whey, he heard, despising the men upon the account of their meanness, he let them go without any severity against them.

 

 5. Of ORIGEN we read, that he was so great a despiser of the world, that when he might have lived upon the maintenance of others, he would not; but parted with his library of books to one that was to allow him only four * a day. The day he spent in laborious tasks and exercises, and the greatest part of the night in study: he always remembered that precept of our SAVIOR,” Not to have two coats, nor anxiously to take care for the morrow;” nor would he accept the kindness of others, when they would freely have given him some part of their estate to live on.

 

 6. Nor were they more studious of pleasures and recreations abroad, than they were of fineness and bravery at home. They went not to public feasts, nor frequented the shows that were made for the entertainment of the people: indeed, they reckoned themselves particularly obliged to this by what they had vowed at their Baptism, when they solemnly engaged to” renounce the Devil and all his works, pomps and pleasures;” 1:e., (says ST. CYRIL,) the sights and sports of the theatre, and such like vanities. They looked upon the public sports and pastimes of those days, as the scenes not only of folly and lewdness, but of great impiety, as places where the Devil eminently ruled, and reckoned all his votaries that came thither. Accordingly TERTULLIAN tells us of a Christian woman, who going to the theatre, was there possessed by the Devil; and when the evil spirit, at his casting out, was asked, How he durst set upon - a Christian He presently answered,’ I did but what was fit and just, for I found her upon my own ground.'

 

 7. Being thus affected towards• the world, they could, very willingly part with any thing that was dearest to them; friends, estate, liberty, or life itself. Memorable it is, what ST. HIEROME reports of MELANIA, a lady of great piety in his time, That her husband lying dead by her, she lost two of her sons at the same time and when every one expected that she should burst into tears, she stood still, and at last falling down, as it were at the feet of CHRIST, broke out,’ Loin, I shall serve thee more nimbly and readily, by being eased of the weight thou hast taken from me.'

 

 8. Nay, so little kindness had they for this world, that they cared not how little they stayed in it. TERTULLIAN tells his adversaries,, That all those plagues which GOD sent upon the world, what damage so ever they might do their enemies, could not hurt them, because they had no other concernment in this world, than as soon as they could to get out of it. This the very Gentiles assigned as one reason, why the Christians were trained up in a defiance of all the sports and pleasures of this life, that they might be more willing to die; and that the cords being exit by which they were teddered to this world, they might be more expedite in their passage hence. Being inflamed (says JUSTIN MARTYR) with the desire of a pure and eternal life, we breathe after an intimate converse with GOD, -the great Parent and Creator of the world, and make haste to seal our confession with our blood. This was the great cordial with which they kept up their spirits in those times of suffering and persecution, the firm belief and expectation which they had of enjoying GOD in a better life. They knew, that the more haste their enemies made to break open the cage of their bodies, the sooner their souls would be at liberty to fly to the regions of blessedness and immortality. It was their care then continually to keep company with dying thoughts, and to dwell within the prospect of eternity; it being true of all, what ST. HIEROME particularly reports of MARCELLA; ‘That -she lived so as always believing that she should immediately die, and never put on her garments, but it put her in mind of her grave, and of the sheet that should wrap her up in the house of silence.'

 

CHAPTER 3:

 

Of their Sobriety, in respect of their Garb and Apparel.

 

 1. The Primitive Christians being thus eminent for their -contempt of the world, it is easy to imagine that they were very temperate and abstemious in the use of all the pleasures and conveniences of human life, which we shall more particularly consider in these three instances: Their Sobriety in respect of Garb and Apparel, their Temperance in regard of Food and Diet, and their Continence or Chastity.

 

 2. They were exceeding careful to avoid all costliness and finery, choosing such apparel as expressed the greatest lowliness and innocence.’ The garment that we should wear,' says CLEMENS of Alexandria,’ ought to be mean and frugal, not curiously wrought with divers colors; (the emblem of craftiness and deceit;) but white, to denote our embracing and professing simplicity and truth; out outward clothing is an indication of the temper of our minds. That is true simplicity of habit, which takes away what is vain and superfluous; that the best and most solid garment, which is furthest from art and curiosity, and most apt to preserve and keep warm the body.' CHRYSOSTOM especially commends OLYMPHIAS, (a woman of great birth and estate,) for the modesty and meanness of her attire, not much better than that of the poorest beggar; having nothing in her garb that was gaudy, nothing elaborate or artificial;’ which things,' says he,’ were the bright and beautiful representations of her virtue, whereby that wisdom that lay hidden in her mind, was externally shadowed out.'

 

 3. It may not be amiss to consider what the gallants of those times pleaded for themselves, and what was returned in answer to them. Sometimes they pleaded that they were rich, and ought to live like themselves, and to make use of the estates that GOD had given them. To this CYPRIAN answers,’ That they only are truly rich, that are rich in and towards GOD; that the world ought to be despised, the pomps and delights whereof we then renounced when we turned to Go n; with the love of whom all that is in the world,” the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” is not consistent: That the use of riches is to be governed by just and moderate measures; the Apostle commanding all women, how rich so ever,” to adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works:” ST. PETER also requiring of them, not the outward adorning of gold or fine apparel, but the hidden ornament of the heart: That if they thought themselves bound to use the estate that God had given them, God has shown them a more excellent way; viz., to relieve the hungry, and feed the poor members of CHRIST;--that this was the best art of improving riches, and the way to lay then up in safe and unfailing treasuries.' 

 

 4. The beauty of a Christian, in those days, lay not in external ornaments, but in the goodness and purity of the mind.’ The beauty of the body,' says CLEMENS of Alexandria,’ consists in a good complexion, and in an apt symmetry and proportion of its parts; but the greatest beauty in the world is that of the soul, when it is adorned with the HOLY SPIRIT, and the excellent graces of it, justice, prudence, fortitude, temperance, the love of goodness and modesty; which is the brightest and most lovely ornament that the eye of man can behold.'

 

 5. I conclude with the account which ST. GREGORY gives of his sister GORGODIA:’ That she used no-gold, no hair ordered into curls, no luster of stones and jewels, no affectation of beauty that may be easily bought: All this was far from her; and though she well understood the several modes amongst women, yet she thought none so honorable as the manner of her life, and that inward brightness that was lodged in her mind. The only redness that pleased her, was that which was the fruit of blushing and modesty; no other whiteness but what came through fasting and abstinence.' To which I add that of TERTUL-' LIAN, who after lie had condemned the vanity of going in curious, costly dresses, concludes with this counsel to the women of his time,' To clothe themselves with the silks of honesty, the fine vestures of piety, the purple of modesty; and being thus beautified and adorned, (says he)) God himself will be your lover.' 

 

 CHAPTER 4:

 

Of their great Temperance and Abstinence.

 

 1. AMONGST the many temptations that besiege the life of man, there is scarce any into which we are more easily betrayed, than into a vicious curiosity about meats and drinks, and the excesses of an unruly appetite; therefore it is, that the Christian Religion does so frequently inculcate upon us the precepts of sobriety and temperance; to be” temperate in all things;” “to watch and be sober;” to” cast off the works of darkness; to walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in excess of wine, reveling and banqueting;” to” take heed that our hearts be not at any time -overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness,” and that we be not, as the men of the old world, taken up with” eating and drinking, when the flood came and, swept all away.” The law of CHRIST commands, to” fast often, to keep under the body,” and to” make no provision for the flesh:” If nature, regularly governed, be content with little, religion will be content with less. These rules the first Christians exactly transcribed into their lives, being the greatest instances of real abstinence and mortification, which they both practiced themselves and pressed upon others.

 

 2. They knew very well, that GOD had given menu charter of freedom indifferently to use the creatures, and to enjoy them in some degree; but yet were afraid to go so far as they might, or to do any thing that might look towards excess, or argue an irregular and unsober mind They contented themselves with such provisions as were conducive to health and strength, without seeking after those that were more delightful. It is very true what ST. BASIL observes, that by reason of men's different ages and course of life, their different tempers and constitutions of body, and other circumstances, no one fixed and certain rule can be prescribed in this case: But yet our food and diet ought to be regulated by the general end of it, which is not to please the palate, but to minister to health, and to repair the weakness and decays of nature.’ Many,' says CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS,’ like brute beasts, live only that they may eat; but for us, we are commanded to eat, that we may live: for food and pleasure is not the work and design for which we live in the world, our residece here being in order to an incorruptible life; and therefore our nourishment ought to be easy and simple, and such as is subservient to the two main ends of life, health and strength.

 

 3. Upon this account ST. CYPRIAN, in an epistle wherein he gives directions about prayer, advises to eat and drink soberly and sparingly, that outward snares might not enfeeble that heavenly vigor and sprightliness that was in their breasts, lest their minds being overcharged with too plentiful meals, might be less watchful unto prayer. The same counsel ST. HIEROME gives to LATA about the education of her daughter, that her diet should be thin and mean, and that she should never eat more, than she might arise with some appetite, so as that after her meals she might be presently fit either to read or sing psalms. When at any time they were invited to public solemnities, as marriages, and the like, the prudence of the Church thought fit to lay restraints upon them, and not only to forbid them light and ludicrous actions, as leaping or dancing, but that they should dine and sup gravely and modestly, as becomes Christians.

 

 The chief care of Christians, then, was to become par takers * &Eras, as CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS styles it, of that’ Divine food that is from above;' and that only is capable to give real satisfaction; little regarding what provisions they had (so they had but any) for that part that dwelt here below.

 

 4.’ Our feasts,' says MINUTIUS FELIX,’ are not only chaste, but, sober; we indulge not ourselves in banquets, nor make our feasts with wine, but temper our cheerfulness with gravity and seriousness.' And indeed their often watching and fasting, and their constant observance of the strictest parts of devotion, sufficiently showed how little they pampered or indulged the flesh, the signs whereof they every where carried in their faces; and this was so notorious that their very enemies reproached them with their trembling joints, and their pale ghastly looks. And LUCIAN, giving an account of the Christian Assembly, into which he tells us CRITIAS was brought to be made a proselyte, describes them to be,’ A company of persons with their heads hanging down, and pale faces:' c”ich certainly did not arise from their fear of suffering; but from their frequent abstinence and fasting. To which purpose ST. BASIL'S comment is most apposite; where commending temperance, other virtues (says he) being mainly exercised in secret, are not so visible to the eyes of men; whereas continence, wherever it is, will at first sight betray itself. For as a good complexion, and an excellent constitution of body, peculiarly design a man to be a champion; so leanness of body, and that paleness which is the fruit of continence, evidence a Christian to be a real champion.

 

CHAPTER 5: Of their singular Continence and Chastity.

 

 1. A third and considerable instance of that sobriety and moderation for which the Christians were so renowned of old, was their Continence, in abstaining from all manner of uncleanness; which is that virtue that we properly call Chastity: a virtue for which how eminent they were, (notwithstanding what their enemies charged upon them to the contrary) we shall take notice of in some few particulars.

 

 2. First: The Christians of those times were so far from breaking in upon any unchaste embraces, that they frequently abstained even from lawful pleasures, and kept themselves even from the honorable and undefiled bed, never marrying all their life.’ We are,' says OCTAVIUS,’ chaste in our speech, and chaster in our bodies; and many of us do inviolably preserve a perpetual virginity; and are so far from any extravagant desire, that many stand at a distance from the most chaste and modest embraces. Thus JUSTIN MARTYR tells the Emperors, that amongst the Christians there were a great many of either sex, who had from their childhood been educated in the Christian Religion, who for sixty or seventy years had kept themselves single and uncorrupt. To the same purpose another apologist:’ It is very easy,' says he,’ to find many amongst us, both men and women, who remain unmarried even in old age; conceiving that in this state they shall have fitter opportunities of drawing near to GOD.'

 

 3. Secondly: When they did marry, they generally professed they did it only to comply with the great end of the institution, viz., the propagation of mankind; not to gratify brutish desires, but to answer the great end of nature.’ Either,' say they,’ we marry not at all, but keep ourselves always continent; or if we do marry, it is for no other end but the bringing forth, and the bringing up of children. Whoever amongst us takes a wife, according to the laws prescribed us, he reckons he does it only for the begetting of children: Within this, his desires are bounded and limited; as the husbandman concerns himself no further in tilling his ground and sowing of his corn, than to bring forth the crop at harvest.'

 

 4. Thirdly: They were infinitely careful to shun all occasions and appearances of lightness and immodesty; whatever might tend to inveigle their senses, and to debauch their minds and manners; nay, whatever might but give a suspicion of wantonness and incontinence. They declined, as much as might be, going to all public meetings; such as feasts, plays, shows, &c. Therefore CYPRIAN severely chides some virgins for being present at weddings ST. HIENOME, on the other hand, does as much commend some whom he knew, who always kept at home on festival days, to avoid the crowd and gazes of the people; and would never go abroad at those times when they could not venture into the public, without the greatest care and custody of themselves.

 

 5. Indeed in the first and purer times, they took all imaginable care that unmarried persons should not commonly converse together. CYPRIAN writing to POMRONIUS, charges him,’ That men and virgins should not only not sleep near one another, but not dwell together in the same house; lest the infirmity of their sex, and the slipperiness of their youth, should betray them into the snare of the Devil.

 

 6. Fourthly: They valued their innocence above their lives, and therefore chose to undergo the greatest dangers, rather than any violence should be offered to their chastity. As the fairest promises could not tempt them, so neither could the fiercest torments affright them. When MAXIMINUS, the Emperor, governed in the Eastern parts, amongst other effects of his wild and brutish extravagance, he filled all places where he came with adulteries and ravishments, abusing women, and deflouring virgins; which succeeded well enough (says the historian) with all others, except only Christians, who, generously despising death, made light of the rage and fury of the tyrant. The men underwent all sorts of punishments; the women bore up with a courage no less unconquerable; and when any were drawn out to be abused, they rather submitted their lives to death, than their bodies to dishonor,

 

CHAPTER 6:

 

Of their Readiness and Constancy in Professing their Religion.

 

 WHEN our blessed SAVIOR sent out his Disciples to preach the Gospel, he acquainted them with the difficulties that were like to attend their message; but withal, bade them arm themselves with constancy and resolution, and not to regard the scoffs and reproaches, the miseries and sufferings that might fall upon them:” not to fear them that could only kill the body,” but to make for free and bold confession of his name before the world, and cheerfully to “ take up their cross and follow him.” And ST. PAUL, though himself then in chains at Rome, exhorts the Christians” stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel, being in nothing terrified by their adversaries;'. it being given them on” the behalf of CHRIST, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” And certainly, if ever true courage and greatness of mind appeared in any persons in the world, it was in the Christians of those times, who, with such a generous and unterrified mind, defied dangers and torments, owned and glorified in the profession of Christianity against all the threats, reproaches, and persecutions, which the worst of their adversaries could make against them.

 

 2. When MARIS, Bishop of Chalcedon, a man blind with age, met JULIAN the Emperor, he boldly charged him with his Atheism and apostasy from the Christian faith: JULIAN reproached him with his blindness, and told him that his Galilean God would never cure him. To which the good old man presently answered,’ I thank my GOD, who has taken away my sight, that I might not behold the face of one that has lapsed into so great impiety.'

 

 3. Were they at any time attempted by arts of flattery and enticement,, the charms would not take place upon them. So when JULIAN, both by himself and the officers of his army, set upon the soldiers, and by fair promises of preferments and rewards, sought to fetch them off from Christianity, though he prevailed upon some few weak and unstable minds, yet the far greatest part stood off; yea, by many of the meanest and most inconsiderable quality, his temptations were as resolutely beaten back, as the blow of an engine is by a wall of marble. Nor were they any more shaken by storms and threatenings. When MODESTUS the Governor under VALENS, the Arian Emperor, could not by any means bring over ST. BASIL to the party, he threatened him with severity: ` Dost thou not fear this power that I have'‘ Why should I fear' said BASIL’ What canst thou do, or what can I suffer' The other answered,’ The loss of thy estate; banishment, torment, and death.'‘ But threaten us with something else if thou canst,' said BASIL,’ for none of these things can reach us: confiscation of estate cannot hurt him that has nothing to lose; unless thou wants these tattered and threadbare garments, and a few books, wherein all my estate lies. Nor can I be properly banished who am not tied to any place: wherever I am, it will be my country: the whole earth is Gore's, in which I am but a pilgrim and a stranger. I fear no torments; and for death, it will be a kindness to me; for it will but so much the sooner send me unto GOD.'

 

 4. When the officers were sent to apprehend ST. POLYCARP, and had found out the place where he was, though lie had timely notice to have escaped by going into another house, yet he refused, saying,” The will of the LORD be done;” and coming down out of his chamber, saluted the officers with a cheerful and pleasant countenance. As they were carrying him back, two persons of authority met him in the way, took him up in their chariot, labored by all means to persuade him to do sacrifice; which when lie absolutely refused, after all their importunities, they turned their kindness into reproaches, and tumbled him with so much violence out of the chariot, that he was sorely bruised with the fall; but nothing daunted, as if he had received no harm, he cheerfully went on his way. When he came before the tribunal, the Proconsul asked him, whether he was POLYCARP Which he presently confessed. Then he attempted by all arts of persuasion to urge him to deny CHRIST, or to do but something that might look like it; but all in vain.’ These fourscore and six years,' says he,’ have I served CHRIST; and he never did me any-harm; and how then can I blaspheme my Master and my SAVIOR' Then the Proconsul told him, he would throw him to the wild beasts:’ Call for them,' answered POLYCARP, for we have no mind to change from better to worse; as counting that change only to be honest and laudable, which is from vice to virtue.'‘ If thou makes so light of wild beasts,' added the Proconsul,’ I will have a fire that shall tame thee.' To which the old man returned,’ You threaten a fire that will burn for an hour, and presently be extinguished; but know not, that there is a fire of eternal damnation, reserved for the punishment of all wicked men.'

 

 5. Had torments been able to sink their courage, it had been soon trodden under foot: but it was triumphant in the midst of torments, and lift up his head higher, the greater loads that were laid upon it: nay, in this triumph, even the weaker sex bore no inconsiderable part. Eusebius tells us (among others that suffered in the French Persecution under M. AURELIUS) of one BLANDINA, whom the Church was afraid how she should hold out to make a resolute confession, by reason of the weakness of her body, and the tenderness of her education; that when she came to it, she bore up with such invincible magnanimity, that her tormentors, though they took their turns from morning to night, and plied her with all kinds of racks and tortures, were yet forced to give. over, and confess themselves overcome;, wondering that a body so broken and mangled, should yet be able to draw its breath.

 

 6. So did those noble Martyrs, whom EUSEBIUS saw at Thebais; multitudes having been executed every day with all imaginable cruelties: sentence was no sooner passed against one party of them, but others presented themselves before the tribunal, and confessed that they were Christians, receiving the fatal sentence with. all possible expressions of cheerfulness. The same which he also reports of six young men, that suffered in Palestine, spontaneously addressing themselves to the Governor of the Province so owning that they were Christians, and ready to undergo the severest punishments. In the acts of ST. CYPRIAN'S passion, we are told, that the President having caused a mighty furnace to be filled with burning lime, and fire, with heaps of frankincense round about the brim of it, gave the Christians this choice; Either to burn the frankincense in sacrifice to JUPITER, or to be thrown into the furnace; whereupon three hundred men, being armed with an unconquerable faith, and confessing CHRIST to be the SON of GOD, leaped into the midst of the fiery furnace, with whose flames and vapours they were immediately suffocated. Of their exemplary Patience under Sufferings. 

 

 1. That the Christian Religion, at its first appearing in the world, was likely to engage its followers in miseries and sufferings, could not be unknown to any that considered the nature of its doctrine. The severity of its precepts, so directly opposite to the corrupt inclinations of men; the purity of its worship, so flatly contrary to the loose solemnities of the heathens; its absolute inconsistency with those religions which had obtained for so many ages, which then had such firm possessions of the minds of men, and all the powers of the world to secure them; could not prophesy to it any kind of welcome entertainment. This sect (for so they called it) was every where not only spoken, but fought against: For since men have a natural veneration for antiquity, and especially in matters of religion, they thought themselves concerned to defend that way, which had been conveyed to them from their ancestors, and to set themselves against whatever might oppose it: especially the great ones of those times; and the Roman Emperors made it their master-design to stifle this infant Religion, and, to banish it out of the weak c. Hence those imperial orders that were daily sent. abroad into all parts of the Empire, to command their Governors to destroy the Christians; of which, that we may the better apprehend the form, it may not be amiss to set down one or two of them out of the acts of the Martyrs. This following was agreed upon both by the Emperors, and the whole Senate of Rome.--” DECIUS and VALERIAN, Emperors, Triumpliers, Conquerors, August, Pious, together with the whole Senate, have by common consent decreed thus: Whereas we have received the gifts and blessings of the gods, by whom we enjoy victory over our enemies, as also temperate seasons, and fruits in great plenty and abundance; since we have found them our great benefactors, and to supply us with those things that are universally beneficial to all: We therefore universally decree, that all orders of men, as well children as servants, soldiers as private persons, shall offer sacrifices to the gods, doing reverence and supplication to them. And if any shall dare to violate our divine order thus unanimously agreed upon, we command, that he be cast into prison, and afterwards exposed to several kinds of torments. If by this means he be reclaimed, he may expect no mean honors from us. But if he shall persist contumacious, after many tortures, let him be beheaded, or thrown into the sea, or cast out to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey But especially, if there be any found of the Religion of the Christians. As for those that obey decrees, they shall receive great honors and rewards from us. So happily fare ye well.”

 

 3. This course they prosecuted with so much vigour and fierceness, that some of them boasted, they had absolutely effected their design. Witness those trophies and triumphal arches, that were every where erected to perpetuate the memory of their conquest over Christianity; whereof The meaning of both which; is, to show, that DIOCLESIAN and his colleague MAXIMIANUS had every where extinguished the wicked superstition of CHRIST, so pernicious to the Commonwealth, and had restored Paganism and the worship of the gods.

 

 4. By all which we may guess what hot service the. Christians had tinder those primitive persecutions. Indeed their sufferings were beyond all imagination great, which yet did but so much the more exercise and advance their patience; the bitterness of their sufferings,` making their patience more eminent and illustrious. Of which, that we may take the truer measure, it will be necessary to consider these two things: The greatness of those sufferings which the Christians underwent; and, The manner of their carriage under them. For the first, The greatness of those torments and sufferings they underwent, they were as bad as the wit and malice of either men or devils could invent; in the consideration whereof we shall first take a view of those punishments which were more ordinary, familiarly used amongst the Greeks and. Romans; and then of such as were extraordinarily made use of towards the Christians. Amongst their ordinary methods of execution, these six were most eminent; the Cross, the Rack, the Wheel, Burning, Wild Beasts, and condemning to Mines.

 

 5. The Cross deserves the first place in our account, not only as having been one of the most ancient ways of punishment; but as being the instrument by which our blessed SAVIOR himself was put to death. Omitting the various kinds of it, which were all used towards the primitive Christians, I intend here only that which was most common, a straight piece of wood fixed in the ground, having a transverse beam fastened near the top of it, not unlike the letter T, though probably it had also a piece of wood arising from the top of it. And there were two things in the way of punishment, which rendered it very severe; The Pain and Ignominy of it. Painful it must needs be, because the party suffering was fastened to it with nails driven through his hands and feet, which being the parts where the nerves and sinews meet together, must be most acutely sensible of wounds and violence. And because they were pierced only in these parts so far distant from the vitals, this made their death very lingering, doubling and trebling every pain upon them: Insomuch that some out of a generous compassion, have caused malefactors first to be strangled before they were crucified; as JULIUS CAESAR did towards the pirates, whom he had sworn to execute upon the cross. But no such favor was shown to Christians: they were suffered to remain in the midst of all those exquisite pangs, till mere hunger starved them, or the mercy of wild beasts, or birds of prey, dispatched them.

 

 6. The Rack: The first design of it was to torment the suspected person, to make him confess the truth. It was an engine framed of several pieces of timber joined

 

together, upon the top whereof, upon a long board,, the suffering person being laid upon his back, and fastened to it by his hands and feet, the engine was so contrived with screws, that all his members were distended with the utmost violence, even to a luxation of all the parts; and this more or less, according to the tormentor's pleasure. This was a punishment which the Christians were very frequently put to. Much of the same nature was that which they called the Catasta, being a piece of wood raised up like a little scaffold; .upon which Christians were set, that their torments might be more conspicuous. In this, as in that of the rack, there were certain additional torments made by instruments, called Ungulm, which were a kind of iron pincers, made with sharp teeth, with which the flesh was by piece-meal pulled and torn off their backs.

 

 7. The Wheel: This was a round engine, to which the body of the condemned person being bound, was not only extremely distended, but whirled about with the most violent distortion; the pain whereof was inconceivable, especially as used towards the primitive Christians: The wheel, to which they were bound naked, being sometimes full of iron pricks placed under it; so that every time the body of the martyr came to it, they racked off the flesh with inexpressible torment. Thus were served those three. martyrs, FELIX the Presbyter, FORTUNATUS and ACHILLEUS, the Deacons at Valentia, in France, and hundreds more in other places.

 

 8. Burning: This was done sometimes by staking them down to a pile of wood, and setting it on fire. Thus suffered JULIANUS and others in the persecution at Alexandria. Sometimes by laying them to roast at a slow gentle fire, that they might die with the greater torment. Other whiles they were hung up either by the neck, hands, or feet, and a fire made under them, or burning torches held to several parts of their naked bodies. Sometimes they were placed in an iron chair, or laid upon an iron grate, which was either made red hot, or had a fire continually burning under it. Of all which ways of execution, and some other near akin to them, were it not too tedious, I could give abundant instances.

 

 9. Throwing to wild beasts This was a punishment common amongst the Romans, to condemn a man to fight for his life with the savage beasts, bears, leopards, lions, and was usually the portion of the vilest and most despicable offenders; under which notion the Gentiles looking upon the Christians, did commonly condemn them to this kind of death; a thing so familiar, that it became in a manner proverbial, Christians and leones; Away with the Christians to the lions.' And they were many times tied down to a stake; sometimes clothed in beasts' skins, the more eagerly to provoke the rage and fury of the wild beasts against them.

 

 10. Condemning to the Mines: To this the Romans adjudged their slaves, and the most infamous malefactors; and to this too the Christians were often sent. What their treatment was in those places, besides their continual toil and drudgery, CYPRIAN lets us know in a letter to NEMESIAN, and the rest that labored in the mines, viz., that they were cruelly beat with clubs, bound with chains, forced to lie upon the hard, cold, damp ground; conflicted with hunger and nakedness, as slaves, and forced to live in the midst of filth and nastiness. Besides which, they were wont to be marked and branded in the face, to have their right eye pulled out, and their left foot disabled by cutting the nerves and sinews of it: not to say, that being once under this condemnation, all their estate was forfeited to the public treasury, and themselves for ever reduced into the condition of slaves. These were some of the more usual ways of punishment amongst the Romans, exercised towards the Christians in their utmost rigor. I omit to speak of Christians being scourged, even to the tiring of their executioners, especially with rods called Plumbatm, which were scourges made of cords or thongs, with leaden bullets at the end of them; of their being stoned to death, their being beheaded, their being thrust into stinking and nasty prisons, where they were set in a kind of stocks with five holes, their legs being stretched asunder, to reach from one end unto the other.’

 

 11. We shall now consider some few of those unusual torments and punishments, which were inflicted only upon Christians. Such was their being tied to arms of trees, bent by great force, and being suddenly let go, did tear the martyr in pieces: in which way many were put to death in the persecution at Thebais. Sometimes they were clad with coats of paper, linen, or such like, daubed in the inside with pitch and brimstone; which being set on fire, they were burnt alive. Other whiles they were shut into the belly of a brazen bull, and a fire being kindled under it, were consumed with a torment beyond imagination. Sometimes they were put into a great caldron full of boiling pitch, oil, lead, or wax, or had these fatal liquors, by holes made on purpose, poured into their bowels. Some of them were hung up by one or both hands, with stones of great weight tied to their feet. Others were anointed all over their bodies with honey, and at mid-day fastened to the top of a pole, that they might be a prey to the flies, wasps, and such little cattle, as might by degrees sting and torment them to death.

 

 12. But to what purpose is it any longer to insist upon these things Sooner may a man tell the stars, than reckon up all those methods of misery and suffering which the Christians endured. EUSEBIUS, who himself was a sad spectator of some of the later persecutions, professes to give over the account, as a thing beyond all possibility of expression; the manner of their sufferings, and the persons that suffered, being impossible to be reckoned up. The truth is, (as he there observes,) their enemies did little else but try to find out the most exquisite methods of torture and punishment. They were not content with those old ways of torment which their forefathers had brought in, but by an ingenious cruelty daily invented new; striving to excel one another in this piece of hellish art, and accounting those the wittiest persons that could invent the most barbarous engines of execution.

 

 13. Having given this brief specimen of those grievous torments to which the primitive Christians were exposed, we come next to consider what was their behavior under them. This we shall find to have been most sedate and calm, most constant and resolute; they neither fainted nor fretted; neither railed at their enemies, nor. sunk under their hands; but bore up under the heaviest torments, under the bitterest reproaches, with a meekness and patience that was invincible, and such as every way became the mild, and yet generous spirit of the Gospel. So JUSTIN MARTYR tells the Jews,’ We patiently bear all the mischief’s which are brought upon us either by men or devils, even to the extremities of death and torments, praying for those that thus treat us, that they may find mercy.'

 

 14. First, When they were sought for, in order to their being condemned and executed, they cared not to make use of opportunities to escape. POLYCARP, at his apprehension, refused to fly; though going but into the next house he might have saved his life. CYPRIAN, writing to the Confessors, commends them, that when they were oft desired to go out of prison, they chose rather to abide there, telling them, they had made as many confessions as they had opportunities to be God, and had rejected them;. Though, it is true, he himself withdrew from Carthage when the officers were sent to take him and carry him to Utica; yet he did it for this reason, That when he did stiffer, he might suffer at Carthage, whereof he was Bishop; and that those truths which he had preached to them in his life, he might seal before them with his blood: a thing he earnestly and daily begged of GOD, and which was granted to him. And if they did not run away from suffering, much less did they oppose it, and make tumults and parties to defend themselves: no, they were” led as lambs to the slaughter, and as sheep before the shearers are dumb, so opened not they their mouth.”

 

 15. Secondly, They were so far from being terrified with those miseries which they saw others undergo, that they freely, and in great multitudes, offered themselves to the rage and fury of their enemies:’ They strove' as SULRITtUS SEVERUS observes, speaking of the ninth persecution,’ which should rush first upon those glorious conflicts; men in those days much mare greedily seeking martyrdom in the cause of Christ, than in after times they did bishopricks and preferments.' LUCIAN, who certainly had very little love to Christians, vet gives this account of them:’ The miserable wretches verily persuade them, that they shall be immortal, and live for ever; upon which account they despise death, and many of them voluntarily offer themselves to it.' Indeed they did ambitiously contend who should be first crowned with martyrdom, and that in such multitudes, that their enemies knew not what to do with them: their very persecutors grew weary. TIBERIANUS, the President of Palestine, in his relation to the Emperor TRAJAN, gives this account of his proceedings against them:’ I am quite tired out in punishing and destroying the Galileans, (called here by the name of Christians,) according to your commands; and yet they cease not to offer themselves to be slain: nay, though I have labored, both by fair means and threatening, to make them conceal themselves from being known to be Christians, yet can I not stave them off from persecution.'

 

 16. They even envied the martyrdom of others, and mourned that any went before, while they were left behind. When LAURENTIUS the Deacon espied SIXTUS, the Bishop of Rome, going to his martyrdom, he burst into tears, and passionately called out,’ Whither, 0 my Father, art thou going without thy Son Whither so fast, 0 holy Bishop, without thy Deacon Never didst thou use to offer spiritual sacrifice without thy minister to attend thee. What have I done that might displease thee Hast thou-found me degenerate and fearful Make trial, at least, whether thou best chosen a fit minister to wait upon thee.' To this the good Bishop replied;’ Mistake not, my Son, I do not leave thee, nor forsake thee:' greater trials belong to thee: I, like a weak old man, receive only - the first skirmishes of the battle; but thou, being youthful and valiant, hast a more glorious triumph over the enemy reserved for thee: Cease to weep, thy turn will be presently; for within three days shall thou follow me.'

 

 17. Thirdly, When they were condemned, though it was to a most horrid death, they were so far from repining, that instead of bitter reflections, they gave thanks to their enemies for condemning them. A Christian being condemned (says TERTULLIAN) thanks his judges; he takes it for a favor to die for so good a cause. That they persecute us, (says CLEMENS of Alexandria,) it is not because they find us to be wicked, but because they think we wrong the world by being Christians, and by teaching and persuading others to be so: As for us, they do us no harm; death does but the sooner send us to GOD. If therefore we be wise, we shall thank them that are the occasion of our more speedy passage thither.

 

 18. Fourthly, When they were under the bitterest torments, they never discovered the least sign of a furious or impatient mind, but bore up with a quietness and composure which no sufferings could overcome. CYPRIAN, exhorting the martyrs to courage and constancy, tells them this of those that had God before them; That in the hottest conflict they never stirred, but maintained their ground with a free confession, an unshaken mind, a divine courage; in torments, they stood stronger than their tormentors; their bruised and mangled limbs proved too hard,”: for the instruments wherewith their flesh was racked and pulled from them; the blows, though never so oft repeated, could not conquer their impregnable faith, although they did not only tear off the flesh, but rake into their very bowels. They could die, but could not be overcome yea, therefore unconquerable, because not afraid to die. Of the Martyrs that suffered together with ST. POLYCARP, the Church of Smyrna gives this account;’ That all that were present were astonished when they saw them whipped until the, cords made way to the inmost veins and arteries, till the bowels and the most hidden parts of the body appeared. They were raked with shells of fishes, laid all along upon sharp pointed stakes driven into the ground, exercised with all sorts of torments, and at last thrown to be devoured of wild beasts; all which they bore with a mighty patience and constancy nay, so great was their patience and magnanimity, that in all their sufferings, not any of them gave a sigh or a groan.'