2. ST. STEPHEN.

SOON after the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the disciples had become so multiplied, that the Apostles became burdened with the care of the needy among them. To aid them St. Stephen, and six others, "men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom," were set apart as deacons, and appointed over that work. St. Stephen was an able and

or ignominy, easily supported his character to the last; and if his death, however easy, had not crowned his life, it might have been doubted whether Socrates, with all his wisdom, was anything more than a vain Sophist. He invented, it is said, the theory of morals. Others, however, had before put them in practice; he had only to say therefore what they had done, and to reduce their examples to precepts. Aristides had been just, before Socrates defined justice; Leonidas had given up his life for his country, before Socrates declared patriotism to be a duty; the Spartans were a sober people, before Socrates recommended sobriety; before he had even defined virtue, Greece abounded in virtuous men. But where could Jesus learn, among his competitors, that pure and sublime morality, of which he only hath given us both precept and example? The greatest wisdom was made known among the most bigoted fanaticism, and the simplicity of the most heroic virtues did honour to the vilest people upon earth. The death of Socrates, peaceably philosophizing with his friend, appears the most agreeable that could be wished for; that of Jesus, expiring in the midst of agonizing pains, abused, insulted, and accused by a whole nation, is the most horrible that could be feared. Socrates, in receiving the cup of poison, blest indeed the weeping executioner who administered it; but Jesus, in the midst of excruciating tortures, prayed for his merciless tormentors. Yes: if the life and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God. Shall we suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction? Indeed, my friend, it bears not the marks of fiction; on the contrary, the history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as that of Jesus Christ. Such a supposition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty without obviating it; it is more inconceivable

successful preacher; and being full of faith and power, he did great wonders and miracles among the people. The principal persons of the different synagogues entered into repeated altercations with him; but they found themselves unable to resist the force of his arguments, or the wisdom and power with which he spake. This so exasperated them, that they bribed false witnesses to accuse him of speaking blasphemous words against God, and against Moses. On these charges, he was arrested and carried before the Council. Here he had everything to fear from the furious rage of the people and the blind prejudice and enmity of his judges; but his confidence did not forsake him, nor was his tranquillity disturbed. Conscious innocence, firm faith in his Redeemer, and the confident expectation of immortal bliss, sustained him in this trying hour. A Divine splendour overspread his very countenance; so that the whole council were attracted with steadfast gaze to him, and they beheld "his face as it had been the face of an angel."

When permitted to speak for himself, he made a most noble defence. He ran through a detail of the Divine dispensations to the patriarchs and their posterity, till he came down to the days of Solomon. Then, perceiving the impatience of the men who had already determined upon his destruction, and that they were about to interrupt him, he suddenly changes his discourse, and addresses his audience in the language of accusation and reproach. "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your

that a number of persons should agree to write such a history, than that one only should furnish the subject of it. The Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to the morality, contained in the Gospel, the marks of whose truth are so striking and inimitable, that the inventor would be a more astonishing character than the hero."

fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers. Who have received the law by the agency of angels, and have not kept it." Such was the strain of sublime invective with which the man of God charged home their sins upon the infuriated multitude. Their rage now knew no bounds. They literally "gnashed upon him with their teeth." That was a critical, an awful moment. An ordinary man, unsustained by religious faith, would have had recourse to tears and supplications that the hearts of his persecutors might be melted and they induced to spare; or, pale with fear, stupified with horror, he would in the very sullenness of despair yield to his fate. Not so with the suffering saint. Calmly he lifts his eyes above the scene around him, high up to the place of his help. Just then a vision of heaven was opened to his view; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."

The multitude could bear no more. "They cried out with a loud voice," that they might drown the voice of the blasphemer; they "stopped their ears," lest they should hear more of his words. Disregarding all the decencies of a court of justice, and all the integrity of judicial proceedings, they rushed upon him with one accord, thrust him out of the city, and stoned him. The few moments of life that remained to Stephen were spent in commending his soul to God, and in the utterance of that ever-memorable prayer for his murderers: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." As the last syllable of that prayer fell from his tongue, the mortal blow was inflicted by his murderers, and the martyr "fell asleep." Noble, illustrious servant of God! Martyred hero of the cross! Nobly didst thou illustrate the power and

excellence of the Gospel of Christ! Glorious was

thine example, set ceeding age!*

before the martyrs of every suc

3. IGNATIUS.

DURING the third primitive persecution, Ignatius, the celebrated bishop of Antioch, suffered martyrdom. He received the Gospel from St. John, the Evangelist; was deeply imbued with his spirit; and, in spite of all dangers and persecutions, continued, with untiring zeal, to preach Christ. In a letter to Polycarp, he describes some of his adventures, his sufferings, and his purposes. "From Syria, even till I came to Rome, had I to battle with beasts, as well by sea as land, both day and night, being bound in the midst of ten cruel libards, (i. e., soldiers,) who, the more benefits they had received at my hands, became so much the worse unto me. But now, being well acquainted with their injuries, I am taught every day more and more. And would to God I were once come to the beasts that are prepared for me; which also I wish, with gaping mouths, were ready to come upon me. Now begin I to be a scholar; I esteem no visible things, nor yet invisible things, so that I may obtain Christ Jesus. Let the fire, the gallows, the devouring of wild beasts, the breaking of bones, the pulling asunder of my members, the bruising or pressing of my whole body, and the torments of the devil or hell itself come upon me, so that I may win Christ!"

Nor was this an empty boast. When brought before the emperor, he boldly vindicated the faith of Christ. For this he was cast into prison, and there tormented in

The death of Stephen was succeeded by a persecution at Jerusalem, in which Nicanor, another deacon, and over two thousand other Christians, suffered martyrdom, and multitudes were obliged to flee abroad, and seek refuge in other countries.

a manner shocking to humanity. After being dreadfully scourged, he was compelled to hold fire in his hands, and at the same time papers dipped in oil were applied to his sides and set on fire. His flesh was then torn with red-hot pincers; and at last he was delivered over to the wild beasts, and by them torn in pieces. Through all this torture the venerable bishop passed with the utmost self-possession and constancy of faith; and thus attained the martyr's crown.

4. SYMPHORSA AND HER SONS.

THIS lady and her seven sons had become Christians. Having been commanded by the emperor to sacrifice to the heathen gods, they promptly and unanimously refused to comply with the impious mandate. The emperor, in a rage, threatened their destruction; but this not shaking their constancy, he immediately put his threat into execution. The mother was taken to the temple of Hercules, where she was first fearfully scourged, and afterwards hung up for some time by the hair of her head. After the savage monsters had thus glutted their vengeance upon her, a large stone was fastened to her neck, and she was thrown into the river.

The sons were fastened to seven posts, and being drawn up by pulleys, their limbs were dislocated. But these tortures, and even the indignities and cruelties practised upon their mother, had no power to affect their resolution. Their tortures were at length terminated. The eldest was stabbed in the throat, the second in the breast, the third in the heart, the fourth in the navel, the fifth in the back, the sixth in the side, and the seventh was sawn asunder. Thus was the whole family exterminated by the most cruel and relentless persecution.*

About this time (the beginning of the second century,) not less than ten thousand Christians suffered martyrdom in Rome.