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of intercourse and communication between all the provinces and the great capital; the almost universal use of the Greek language, establishing a common means of disseminating ideas, and the active trade which at that time was carried on between the various nations. But is it not plain in the light of after events, that all these circumstances were designs of that great Providence which wished to lead back to the knowledge of the truth, and bind together in the bonds of brotherhood the scattered children of men ?

Suppose, the better to realize the extent of this wonderful diffusion of the truth, we briefly trace its march through the various countries where it successively set up its throne. First, it becomes visible in Palestine and Syria; thence it spreads to Mesopotamia, to Asia Minor, to Egypt. Onward still farther to the south, it marches in triumph to Nubia and Ethiopia, extending even into Arabia. Westward we follow its course through Greece and Italy, till it reaches the very centre of Paganism, Rome.

From Rome, its champions carry the banner of the Cross into Gaul, invading the strongholds of infidelity at Arles, Limoges, Marseilles and Aix. Crossing the snowy heights of the Pyrenees, it descends into the confines of Spain, to Saragossa and Tarragona; then across the seas into the islands of the oceans thought then to be the ends of the world. To York, and London, and Lincoln, the new faith is borne by these heralds of the cross.

The impassable Alps proved no barrier to its progress, for next we see in Germany, along the Rhine, the people gathered to hear the tidings of peace. At Cologne, at Mayence, and Strasburg, the northern barbarians were led willing captives to Christ. Neither the arid plains

nor the burning deserts of the East proved more impassable than the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the sea. To the farthest East, to Assyria, to Persia and distant Parthia and onward still to India, the voice of God was carried, was heard and obeyed, so that it might be truly said: “In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum"; for at that time, these were the limits of the known world.

In three short centuries, with every human agency against them, with the threats of rulers sounding in their ears, and the sword of princes gleaming before their eyes, undaunted, undismayed, the first followers of Christ stood before frowning strangers and sneering philosophers, and in spite of every obstacle won the whole world from blackest night of superstition and idolatry to the bright light of Christian truth.

THE PERSECUTIONS, THE STORM

THE story of the persecutions of the Church of Christ is so unique in the history of the human race, that it might seem incredible were it not that witnesses and monuments above any possible exception render it certain beyond any doubt. For who would believe that emperors, rulers, governors, magistrates and men in general of all classes would unrelentingly harass, combat and punish a religion the sole object and purpose of which is to teach justice and holiness here in this life, and point to peace and happiness in the life to come: a religion which led the world back again to the knowledge of truth, and taught men, rulers and ruled, their duties toward God, their neighbor, and themselves, duties which rightly fulfilled could have but one effect, the diffusion through all the world of peace, making earth an image of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Yet "Fremuerunt gentes: adstiterunt reges terrae, et principes convenerunt in unum adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus." If we consider only the Roman Emperors, from Tiberius, under whom Christ completed His mission, and died upon the Cross for our salvation, down to Constantine the Great, we may enumerate forty-seven Cæsars. Of these, not all indeed were like Nero, monsters of cruelty and inhumanity; many distinguished themselves by military valor and wise government, caring deeply for the welfare of their people and the glory of their kingdom, and yet even among these were many who enacted laws and drew the imperial

sword fierce and sharp against the Christians, flooding the Roman Empire with the blood of the innocent. Mark, we pass over now, the persecutions raised by the Jews and by the nations of the provinces of imperial Rome. For, were we to take an account of these also, we might well assert that from the birth of the Church of Christ, down through three long, weary, heartless centuries, Christianity had no peace, or enjoyed it at such brief intervals, that one storm had scarcely abated before there was heard in the distance the rumbling and murmur of another that soon beat with increased fury.

The argument which Christians draw from the fierceness of the persecutions, the invincible constancy of the martyrs and the triumph of the Church in spite of universal opposition, is one of the strongest in demonstrating its divine origin. It explains why the enemies of the Church endeavor to extenuate the fierceness of the persecutions and diminish the number of the Martyrs. Henry Dodwell, in his "Quæstiones Cyprianicæ," published in 1684, seeks to prove that the number of those who shed their blood as confessors and martyrs of the faith, is greatly exaggerated; while in our days, Renan among others, to the same end, attempts to disprove the indubitable inhumanity of the Church's earliest foes. But the most learned students of that period allow neither Dodwell nor Renan room for credence. Among these, worthy of special praise, are Ruinart and Mamachio. But the glory of refuting beyond all response Dodwell and Renan was reserved to the learned and conscientious French student Paul Allard, who, in his five volumes of the "History of the Persecutions of the First Two Centuries," based upon the most trustworthy and authentic documents of archæology, with wonderful erudition and

precision of argument, closes forever the mouths of the Church's enemies on this subject.

Upon the subject of to-day's conference, we must consider many points, for under this subject I must look into the causes, the occasions, the pretexts of the persecutions, their extent, duration, ferocity, and number. You are not unaware that the story of the persecutions even summarily told, would fill volumes, and therefore, I need hardly say that in this lecture I shall be compelled merely to indicate what history reveals. Let us first consider the causes which have been assigned for the early trials of the Church. As there was no real cause for hunting down and endeavoring to extirpate an organization so purely beneficent in design and pacific in measures as Christianity, many causes and reasons were invented. These we may gather from the contumelious names by which the Christians were designated. They were called factious enemies of the Emperor, dangerous to the state, haters of the human race, sacrilegious, criminals, irreligious, and atheists. From these calumnious appellations, we may gather the causes which roused the early pagans against our fathers in the Faith. They were considered as the enemies of the religion of the Empire and its divinities, and therefore, of the state itself. Moreover, they were accused of the most infamous crimes. Were the book "De Officio Proconsulis" still extant, in which the famous advocate Domitius, in the time of Alexander Severus (222-235) gathered all the edicts of the Emperors against the Christians, we should have at hand the various causes which they alleged to have moved them in the suppression of Christianity; but unfortunately, this book has perished and we remain still uncertain as to the exact reasons.

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