trouble to their mother the church, nor faction and fedition to the brethren; but joy, peace, unanimity, and charity."

Eufebius has given us which deferves attention.

another paffage alfo Alcibiades, one of the

martyrs, had led, before the perfecution, the life of an Afcetic:-he ufed to fubfift only on bread and water. As he continued the fame regimen while in confinement, it was revealed in a vifion to Attalus, after his first conteft in the amphitheatre, that Alcibiades did ill not to use the creatures of God, and that he gave an occafion of fcandal to others. Alcibiades was hence induced to change his diet, and to partake of the bounty of God with thanksgiving.- Eufebius tells us alfo of an epiftle directed by these martyrs to Eleutherus, the bishop of Rome, in which they give a very honourable encomium of Irenæus the prefbyter. Of him we fhall have occafion to fpeak more hereafter. He was appointed fucceffor to Pothinus: he outlived the ftorm, and governed the Church afterwards with much ability and fuccefs. The letter to the churches of Afia and Phrygia, of which Eufebius has given us fuch large and valuable extracts, furnishes ftrong proofs of his piety and judgment.

The fuperftitions, which afterwards arofe in fo great abundance, and with fo much ftrength: and which, like a dense cloud, so long obfcured the light of the Church, feem fcarcely to have fhaded the glory of thofe Gallic martyrs in any degree. The cafe of Alcibiades, and the whole fome check which the divine goodness put to his well-meant aufterities, demonftrate that ex• ceffes of this nature had not yet gained any remarkable afcendancy in the Church. And the

defcription

defcription of the humility and charity of the martyrs fhews a fpirit much fuperior to that which we fhall have occafion, with regret, to notice in fome fucceeding annals of martyrdom. In a word, the power of Divine Grace appears little lefs than apoftolical in the church at Lyons. The only difagreeable circumstance in the whole narrative is the too florid and tumid ftile, peculiar to the Afiatic Greeks; and which Cicero, in his Rhetorical works, fo finely contrafts with the Attic neatness and purity. In a translation it is fcarce poffible to do juftice to thoughts extremely evangelical and spiritual, clothed originally in fo tawdry a garb. Yet under this great difadvantage a difcerning eye will fee much of the "unction" of real godliness.-At first fight we must be ftruck with the difference between primitive fcriptural Chriftianity, and that affectation of rational divinity, which has fo remarkably gained the afcendant in Chriftendom in our times. In the account we have read, the good influence of the Holy Spirit on the one hand, and the evil influence of Satan on the other, are brought forward every where to our view. In our times both are concealed, or almoft annihilated; and little appears but what is merely human. Whether of the two methods is moft agreeable to the plan of the facred writings, must be obvious to every ferious and honeft enquirer. Chrift's kingdom, in the narrative before us, appears truly fcriptural and divine: Chriftian faith, hope, and charity, do their work under the direction of his Spirit: Chriftians are humble, meek, heavenly-minded, patient, fuftained continually with aid invifible; and we fee Satan actively, but unfuccefsfully, engaged against them. In the degenerate reprefentations

of

of the Chriftian religion by many moderns, what a different taste and fpirit! - Every thing is of this world!-Policy and ambition leave no room for the exhibition of the work of God and the power of the Holy Ghoft: The belief of Satanic influence is ridiculed as weak fuperftition; and natural, unaffifted reafon, and the felf-fufficiency of the human heart, triumph without meafure!

VOL. 1.

S

CHAP.

CHAP. VII.

THE STATE OF CHRISTIANS UNDER THE REIGNS OF COMMODUS, PERTINAX, AND JULIAN. THE STORY OF PEREGRINUS.

THE HE reigns of the two laft-mentioned emperors, which clofe the century, are fhort, and contain no Chriftian memoirs. That of Commodus is remarkable for the peace granted to the Church of Christ through the world. The means which Divine Providence uled for this purpose is ftill more fo. Marcia, a woman of low rank, was the favourite concubine of this emperor. She had, on fome account not now understood, a predilection for the Chriftians, and employed her interest with Commodus in their favourt. He was himfelf the most vicious and profligate of all mortals, though the fon of the grave Marcus Antoninus. Thole, who looked at fecular objects and moral decorum alone, might regret the change of emperors. In one particular point only, namely, in his conduct toward the Chriftians, Commodus was more juft and equitable than his father. And the power and goodness of God in making even fuch wretched characters as Commodus and Marcia to item the torrent of perfecution, and to afford a breathing time of twelve years under the fon, after eighteen years of the most cruel fufferings under the father, deferve to be remarked. For certainly the

Eufeb. B. 5. C. 19.

+ Dion. Caffius.

the Church of Chrift has no communion with debauchees; and though it be abhorrent, alfo, in its plan and fpirit from the fyftems of proud philofophers, yet, it is always friendly to every thing virtuous and laudable in fociety.-The fact is, It has a tafte peculiarly its own: God's ways are not like ours. -The Gofpel now flourished abundantly; and many of the nobility of Rome, with their whole families, embraced it. Such a circumftance would naturally excite the envy of the great. The Roman Senate felt its dignity defiled by innovations, which to them appeared to the laft degree contemptible; and to this malignant fource, I think, is to be afcribed the only inftance of perfecution in this reign.

Apollonius, at that time a perfon renowned for learning and philofophy in Rome, was a fincere Chriftian; and as a Chriftian was accufed by an informer before Perennis, a magiftrate of confiderable influence in the reign of Commodus. The law of Antoninus Pius had enacted grievous punishments against the accufers of Chriftians. One cannot fuppofe his edict had any force during the reign of his fucceffor Marcus; but under Commodus it was revived; or rather, a new one, ftill more fevere, was enacted, that the accufers fhould be put to death*. Perennis fentenced the accufer accordingly, and his legs were broken. Thus far he feems to have complied with the injunctions of the law: in what follows he obeyed the dictates of his own malice, or rather that of the fenate. He begged of the prifoner with much earneftness, that he would give an account of his faith before the fenate and the court. Apollonius complied, and delivered an apology for Chriftianity; in confequence of which, by a decree of the fenate, he was beheaded. It is not quite eafy to account for this procedure,

Eufeb. ibid.