V. CHAP. they said these things upon the suggestions and arguments of the Jews, who also watched us, when we were going to take his body from the pile; unacquainted indeed with our views, namely, that it is not possible for us to forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of all who are saved of the human race, nor ever to worship any other*. For we adore HIM as being the Son of God; but we justly love the martyrs as disciples of the Lord, and followers of him, on account of that distinguished affection which they bore towards their King and their Teacher;—and may we be ranked at last in their number! The centurion, perceiving the malevolence of the Jews, placed the body in the midst of the fire, and burnt it. Then we gathered up his bones,-more precious than gold and jewels,-and deposited them in a proper place; where, if it be possible, we shall meet, and the Lord will grant us, in gladness and joy, to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom, both in commemoration of those who have wrestled before us, and for the instruction and confirmation of those who come aftert. Thus far concerning the blessed Polycarp.-Eleven brethren from Philadelphia suffered with him,-but he alone is particularly celebrated by all:-even by Gentiles he is spoken of in every place. He was in truth, not only an illustrious teacher, but also an eminent martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, because it was regulated exactly by evangelical principles. For by patience he conquered the unjust magistrate; and thus receiving the crown of immortality, and exulting with Apostles and all the righteous, he glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord, even the Ruler of *The faith of Christ, and a just houour paid to true Christians, abstracted from superstition and idolatry, appear in this passage. + If we were in our times subject to such sufferings, I suspect these anniversary-martyrdoms of antiquity might be thought useful to us also. The superstition of after-times appears not, I think, in this epistle. II. our bodies, and the Shepherd of his Church dispersed CENT. through the world.—You desired a full account; and we, for the present, have sent you, what will, perhaps, be thought a coinpendious one, by our brother Mark. When you have read it, send it to the brethren beyond you, that they also may glorify the Lord, who makes selections from his own servants of holy men, who shall thus honour him by their deaths. To him who is able to conduct us all by his grace and free mercy into his heavenly kingdom, by his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, to him be glory, honour, power, majesty, for ever. AMEN. Salute all the Saints; those with us salute you, particularly Evaristus the writer, with all his house. He suffered martyrdom on the second day of the month Xanthicus, on the seventh day before the Calends of March, on the great sabbath, at the eighth hour. He was apprehended by Herod, under Philip the Trallian Pontifex, Statius Quadratus being proconsul, but Jesus Christ reigning for ever, to whom be glory, honour, majesty, an eternal throne from age to age! We pray that you may be strong, brethren, walking in the wORD Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel, with whom be glory to God, even the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, for the salvation of his elected Saints, among whom the blessed Polycarp hath suffered martyrdom, with whom may we be found in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, having followed his steps! "These things Caius hath transcribed from the copy of Irenæus, the disciple of Polycarp, who also lived with Irenæus. And I Socrates of Corinth have transcribed from the copy of Caius. Grace be with you all. And I Pionius have transcribed from the fore-mentioned, having made search for it, and received the knowledge of it by a vision of Polycarp, as I shall show in what follows, collecting it when now almost obsolete. So may the Lord Jesus Christ CHAP. gather me with his elect, to whom be glory with V. the Father and the Holy Spirit to the ages of ages. AMEN." I thought it not amiss for the English reader to see the manner in which books were then successively preserved in the church. Of Irenæus we shall hear more hereafter. Nor ought Pionius's account of his vision to be hastily slighted, by those who consider the scarcity of useful writings in those days. Whether the case was worthy of such a divine interposition, we, who indolently enjoy books without end, can scarce be judges. However, if any chuse to add this to the number of pious frauds, which certainly did once much abound, the authenticity of the account will still, in substance, remain unimpeached, as very near the whole of it is in Eusebius. This historian mentions Metrodorus, a Presbyter of the sect of Marcion, who perished in the flames among others who suffered at Smyrna. It cannot be denied that heretics also have had their martyrs. Pride and obstinacy will in some minds persist even to death. But as all, who have been classed among heretics, have not been so in reality, Metrodorus might be a very different sort of a man from Marcion. A comparative view of a sound Christian Hero suffering as we have scen Polycarp did, with a Roman Stoic or untutored Indian undergoing afflictions, where we could have an opportunity of surveying all circumstances, might show, in a practical light, the peculiar genius and spirit of Christianity, and it's divine superiority. At the same time, those who content themselves with a cold, speculative, and as they term it, rational religion, may ask themselves how it would have suited their principles to endure what Polycarp did;-and whether something of what is falsely called enthusiasm, and which the foregoing epistle breathes so abundantly, be not really divine and truly rational in the best sense. CHAP. VI. LYON THE MARTYRS OF LYONS AND VIENNE. *THE flame of the persecution by Antoninus reached a country, which hitherto has afforded us no ecclesiastical materials; I mean that of France, in those times called Gallia. Two neighbouring cities, Vienne and Lyons, appear to have been much favoured with evangelical light and love. Vienne was an antient Roman colony; Lyons was more modern, and her present bishop was Pothinus. His very name points him out to be a Grecian. Irenæus was a Presbyter of Lyons, and seems to have been the author of the epistle which Eusebius has preserved, and which the reader shall see presently. Other names concerned in these events are evidently of Greek extraction, and it is hence most probable that some Asiatic Greeks had been the founders of these Churches. Whoever casts his eye on the map of Frauce, and sees the situation of Lyons, at present the largest and most populous city in that kingdom, next to Paris, may observe how favourable the confluence of the Rhine and the Soane-antiently called the Arar-on which it stands, is for the purposes of commercet. The navigation of the Mediterranean, in all probability, was conducted by merchants of Lyons and of Smyrna; and, hence, the easy introduction of the Gospel from the latter place and from the other Asiatic churches is apparent. How much God hath blessed the work in France, the accounts of their sufferings will evince. Lyons and Vienne appear to be daughters, of whom their Asiatic mothers needed not to be ashamed. • Euseb. iv. c. 1. When will the moderns, notwithstanding all their enlightened views and improvements, learn to connect navigation and commerce with the propagation of the Gospel: CENT. CHAP. VL THE EPISTLE OF THE CHURCHES OF VIENNE The servants of Christ, sojourning in Vienne and Lyons in France, to the brethren in Asia propria and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of redemption with us, peace, and grace, and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. We are not competent to describe with accuracy, nor is it in our power to express the greatness of the affliction sustained here by the saints, the intense animosity of the heathen against them, and the complicated sufferings of the blessed martyrs. The grand enemy assaulted us with all his might; and by his first essays, exhibited intentions of exercising malice without limits and without control. He left no method untried to habituate his slaves to his bloody work, and to prepare them by previous exercises against the servants of God. Christians were absolutely prohibited from appearing, in any houses except their own, in baths, in the market, or in any public place whatever. The grace of God, however, fought for us, preserving the weak and exposing the strong; who, like pillars, were able to withstand him in patience, and to draw the whole fury of the wicked against themselves. These entered into the contest, and sustained every species of pain and reproach. What was heavy to others, to them was light, while they were hastening to Christ, evincing indeed, that THE SUFFERINGs of THIS PRESENT TIME ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE REVEALED IN US. The first trial was from the Eusebius does not give the whole of the epistle at length, but omits some parts, and interrupts the thread of the narrative. It is not necessary to notice the particular instances. |