moft agreeable to thofe of the ancient fathers, and to the inftitutions of the primitive churches.

The Apostles, and those who were taught immediately by them, preached the doctrines of Jefus Chrift through all the Roman empire, and in various other parts of the world; notwithstanding all the oppofition which they met with, from the chiefs. of the idolatrous fects, and from the proud and selffufficient governors, and philofophers, of those days: And, after having given fuch examples of piety and goodness, as were worthy of the difciples of their great Mafter, they were led like lambs to be flaughtered, and fealed their doctrines with their blood, because they obeyed the commandments of their God. Great multitudes of Chriftians fuffered the fame fate, in the Roman empire, as well as in other parts of the earth, for no other apparent reafon, but because they were Chriftians, and would not conform to the grofs idolatry which then prevailed, and pay that adoration and worship to ftocks, ftones, and the works of men's hands, which they thought to be due only to the great God of Heaven.-Pliny tells us in his letter to the Emperor Trajan, that there were great numbers of people employed, apparently by the idol priests and others, to inform the magiftrates against the Chriftians, for their not conforming to the laws then in being in favour of idolatry, which were very fevere against them;-and that, in confequence of fuch informations, multitudes of them were daily dragged to prifons, and loaded with injuries;

although

although it did not appear that they had been guilty of any crimes, except the refifting of idolatry may be called fuch-and therefore this governor demanded particular advice of the emperor how he fhould act in his government with respect to thofe, as he then thought, unhappy people, who were worthy of compaffion.

Upon the whole, on taking a cursory view of the rife and progrefs of the Chriftian religion, against all the oppofition and perfecution of the Jews and of the Gentiles; when we confider the resolution, firmness, and good conduct of the Apoftles, who were all illiterate men, and as well of those who were eye-witneffes of the fufferings of their Master, who converfed with him after his refurrection, and who, after they had filled even their enemies with amazement by the mighty works which they did, were content to feal their tef timony with their blood, and to follow him in all his fufferings:-I say, on reflecting seriously and impartially upon those matters, I believe there are very few who will not be ready to conclude, that thofe men muft have been well convinced of the truth of their doctrine; and alfo, that they must have had more than human fupport, to have carried them through those fiery scenes, in which they were frequently involved; to have modeftly withstood all the powers of the Gentile world; and to have propagated their religion through the greatest part of the earth.And moreover, when we candidly examine the fundamental principles of their doctrine,

O 3

doctrine, and particularly of the moral part thereof, by those laws of nature which the Supreme Being has given every intelligent being faculties to comprehend, we fhall find them, as it were, explaining our own imperfect ideas, and holding forth a defirable peace to our troubled mind.That pure and refined moral which they taught, as well by example as by precept, was fuch as made that of the philofophers, with all their pomp and parade, appear dull and uninteresting; and even their enemies were obliged to confefs, that the like had never been heard upon earth: Likewise that pure form of worship and of prayer, which Jefus Chrift and his Apostles taught their followers to offer up to the Father of Spirits, together with the condition of forgiving all those who had of fended them, which was thereunto annexed, was fuch as had never before appeared in the world; was fuch as muft give us an exalted idea of his Almighty Goodnefs, and of our own fituation as intelligent beings; and in fact, was fuch as muft make all the heathen forms of worship, which have been before described, appear contemptible, and even abominable.

Let us reflect, for a moment, upon the forms of religion which were ufed among the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Greeks, and Romans, with all their fects of philofophers and wife men, and in this enlightened age, our reafon alone, without any affiftance from the doctrines of Christianity, will teach us, that they were deteftable.-The offering that adoration

adoration to carved images, to crocodiles and other animals, to the fun, moon, planets, and all the host of heaven, and in fact, to a multitude of imaginary beings, which were formed by their poets, that was due only to the great God of nature and the Father of all things, which was the practice among the inhabitants of thofe countries, was fuch a degrading of human nature, as must make all their pretended knowledge appear to be foolishnefs. But the forms of religion which those people practised were pure and holy, in comparison to those scenes of blood and human facrifices, which were practised among the more barbarous nations, the very idea of which is fufficient to fill every thinking perfon with horror, and to make him deteft the very name of those infernal butchers.

It is true, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Zeno, the Brachmans, the Magi, and feveral of the Celtic philofophers, taught a fpecies of morality, the worship of one God, the immortality of the foul, and a state of future rewards and punishments; but their ideas of those matters appear to have been very imperfect, and their leffons made but little impreffion upon the most enlightened of their followers and notwithstanding all that the enemies of Christianity have faid to the contrary, I must be permitted to say, that that pure morality, and that brotherly affection, which is worthy of rational creatures, was not known in the world before it was preached by Jesus Christ and his Apoftles.0 4

But

But because the proud, arrogant, and felf-fufficient part of mankind in thofe days, who thought themfelves learned, could not comprehend some of the principles of the Christian faith, they rejected the whole. They fuppofed themselves capable of developing all the myfteries of the Supreme Being; that they were equally intelligent with the Angels; and that, fuppofing every part of the Chriftian doctrines to be true, it was an injuftice on the part of the God of heaven, not to have communicated it to them. Thus the preaching of Chrift crucified was to the Jews a tumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness.-The former were fo full of the ideas of Afiatic pomp and fplendor, and of the things of this world, that they were fcandalized to fee a perfon appearing in fuch a humble manner, and affociating with the lowest part of the people, while he was declaring himself to be the Meffias and the king of Ifrael, notwithstanding all the mighty works which he was daily doing. among them; and which they fuppofed were done by the power of the devil: neither did they then confider, that the great king, who made their nation the terror of all that part of the world, was a poor boy taken from feeding his father's fheep.

When the Greek philofophers were first informed of the principles of Chriftianity, they feemed to think that the moral part thereof was admiffible, as being only an illustration, or rather a refinement of the moral precepts of Thales, Pythagoras, Soera