mit. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president delivers a discourse, in which he admonishes and exhorts (all present) to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray; and, as we before said, prayer being ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president offers prayers in like manner and thanksgivings, according to his ability; and the people express their assent by saying Amen ;' and the distribution of that over which the thanksgiving has been pronounced takes place to each, and each partakes, and a portion is sent to the absent by the deacons. And they who are wealthy, and choose, give as much as they respectively deem fit; and whatever is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows, and those who through sickness, or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning among us; and, in a word, takes care of all who are in need: but we meet together on Sunday, because it is the first day [of the week] in which God having wrought the necessary change in darkness and matter, made the world, and on this day Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. For he was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday), and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the sun (Sunday), having appeared to the apostles and disciples, he taught them the things which we now submit to your consideration."

Such is Justin's account of the social practices of the Christians about the middle of the second century (A. D. 150); and if we compare it with the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistles to the churches, we shall find that several alterations had at this time taken place, such as mixing water with the wine used in the Lord's supper, and the deacons carrying away a portion of the elements to those that were unable to attend the meetings of the church. These were manifest innovations, but they were not the only ones: the depositing with the president (or presiding elder) the fellowship, or stated contributions for the relief of the poor and other necessary uses, instead of leaving them in the hands and at the disposal of the deacons, was another deviation from apostolic precedent, and, little as may be now thought of it, it eventually led to serious evils, as I shall have occasion to point out hereafter; at present I content myself with merely

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adverting to it, and remarking that the apology which is of fered for it (viz. that the early converts who sold their possessions and lands laid the price at the feet of the apostles, Acts iv. 35) has always appeared to me a very flimsy excuse, and that for two reasons:-the first is that the presidents, elders, or bishops, in Justin's time, were not apostles, nor successors of the apostles; and the second is that, at the time referred to, the office of deacon had not been instituted in the Christian church; the apostles discharged the duties of that office, pro tempore, even as they did that of elder, and upon this principle, that the apostolic office, which was the highest in the Christian church, included every inferior office-prophet, evangelist, bishop or presbyter, and deacon.

I take leave of this subject by adding that, according to Justin's account, no persons were admitted to the Lord's supper, in his day, but such as had confessed the faith, been baptized, and lived conformably to the precepts of the gospel. The usual appellation by which the Christians of that age recognized each other was that of brother, and the account which he gives us of the intimate union that subsisted among the brethren, and of the readiness with which the rich contributed to the relief of the poor, proves that the spirit of love which distinguished the first converts still animated the members of the Christian community.

In concluding this brief notice of the life and writings of Justin Martyr, I take leave to direct the attention of the student of Ecclesiastical History to a small work lately published by the present bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Kaye, entitled, "Some account of the Writings and opinions of Justin Martyr" (printed at Cambridge, 1829) in which he will find the substance of the "Dialogue with Trypho," and also of his two "Apologies," exhibited with great apparent fairness and impartiality, and accompanied with much elegant criticism on that father's doctrinal sentiments. It is moreover due to the learned prelate to say that he has given a very fair estimate of the comparative merit of the writings of this Father of the Christian church, thus enabling the theological student to pronounce between the contradictory representations that have been made of them.

LECTURE XI.

Introductory Remarks-Some account of Athenagoras-Hegesippus-Theophilus of Antioch-Irenæus-Clemens Alexandrinus-and Minucius Felix-Their biography, writings, apologies, sufferings, &c. &c. A. D. 150 to 200.

IN my last Lecture I submitted to you a brief sketch of the state of the Christians, during the greater part of the second century—a period so replete with interest, and pregnant with useful instruction to us in the present day, that it would be wrong, in a course of lectures like the present, to pass it over in a slight and cursory manner. I mention this by way of apology for now resuming it, and you will consider what I am about to lay before you as furnishing additional details of occurrences which took place during the same period of time.

To those who are conversant with ecclesiastical history it would be needless to say that the second and third centuries of the Christian era are usually designated the "times of the Martyrs ;" and most assuredly they present us with numerous very extraordinary instances of persons meeting persecution in its direst forms, encountering the malice and rage of the heathen magistrates, and voluntarily laying down their lives for the gospel's sake. Some instances of this kind have been already mentioned, but many yet remain to be laid before you as we proceed. At present I would affectionately entreat you to consider whether these primitive Christians must not have had something more at stake than the great bulk of professors in our day have. Now the way to improve the subject is to bring it home, as it were, and seriously ask ourselves, how should we have acted, had our lot

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been cast in those evil days? The religion of Jesus Christ, considered in itself, is the same in all ages--yesterday, to day, and for ever-it is only the state of society around us, and the forms of government, that are changed. If you ask me what it was that animated the Christians of those days with the spirit of martyrdom, and led them to prefer death to apostacy, I answer, it was the love which they had to Christ and his salvation. Viewing themselves in the light in which the Gospel describes all the human race to be, in consequence of the fall, guilty, lost, helpless, undone, they found Jesus to be exactly such a Saviour as suited their case-they were made happy by the knowledge of Him-they found in Him all their salvation and all their desire-and consequently they not only gave a decided preference to his cause and kingdom above the gifts of providence, the good things of this world, but they could cheerfully sacrifice their personal ease, reputation, and even life itself; and, if we have not the same value for Christ and his salvation, it must arise from ignorance of our own character and state: from our not having the same exalted views of him-the same faith in him—the same sense of obligation to him. These things will always be found to go hand in hand; and there cannot be an instance of greater folly and presumption than for us to be flattering ourselves with the hope that all is right merely because it has been our lot to be born in what is termed a Christian country.

Between the times of Justin Martyr and those of Tertullian-that is to say, during the latter half of the second century, the annals of Ecclesiastical History present us with the names of several of the fathers of the Christian church whose piety, zeal, and talents entitle them to at least a brief notice in these Lectures, and I purpose to devote the present to the discharge of this duty. The persons to whom I more particularly refer are Athenagoras, Hegesippus, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, and Minucius Felix.

ATHENAGORAS is said to have flourished under the reign of the emperors Adrian and Antoninus Pius. He was originally a heathen, and appears to have studied philosophy at Athens-for in two of his publications he is styled "an Athenian and a philosopher." According to Philip Sidites, who flourished in the be

ginning of the fifth century, Athenagoras sat down to compose a treatise against the Christians; but while examining the Scriptures, in order to make his work more complete, he found the subject too hard for him-his mind was overpowered by the proofs of their divine authority, and he cordially embraced Christianity. We have two of his pieces still extant; one is an Apology for Christianity, and the other a treatise on the Resurrection. The former, according to Dr. Lardner, was drawn up in the year 178, and addressed to the emperor Marcus Antoninus. He is styled a polite writer, and his Greek is said to be Attic. He complains, in his Apology, that while other subjects of the Roman government were freely permitted to worship their gods, according to their own voluntary choice, Christians alone, whose worship was pure, simple, and worthy of the Deity, were not only denied this privilege, but most unjustly calumniated, slandered, and persecuted. He vindicates them from the charge of atheism, brought against them by their heathen adversaries, and refutes the calumny of their being cannibals, and also the atrocious charge that they indulged in impure and even unnatural connexions, by showing the holy tendency of the Gospel, as being a doctrine according to godliness, and avouching for the purity and innocence of their lives.

The invincible prejudices of the heathen, it seems, had at this time rendered the very name of Christian a "bye-word and a reproach." Adverting to this fact, Athenagoras asks, “Why should you be offended at our very name? surely the bare name does not deserve your hatred; it is wickedness alone that merits punishment. If we are convicted of any crime, less or more, let us be punished, but not merely for the name of Christian; for no Christian can be a bad man unless he acts contrary to his profession. We are accused that we do not worship the same gods as your cities do, and offer them sacrifices.' But, consider, O emperor, that the Creator and Governor of this world stands in no need of blood and sweet smelling incense; he derives his happiness from himself alone-nothing is wanting in him. The sacrifice he demands is a rational and acceptable service."

"There is an infamous report," says Athenagoras, "that we [Christians] are guilty of three great crimes-impiety against the gods, feeding upon murdered infants, and incest. If these