the Catholic faith, shaken the whole world by our nefarious schisms, and disturbed the common peace and universal quiet of the church; and that, as formerly, Dathan and Abiram conspired against Moses and Aaron, so we, without any just cause, have renounced the Roman pontiff. We are, moreover, accused of setting at naught the authority of the ancient fathers and councils; of having rashly and presumptuously abolished those old ceremonies which, in more ancient and more moral times, had been highly approved by our fathers and remote ancestors; of having, on our own private authority, unsanctioned by the general and sacred council, introduced new ceremonies into the Church, and this not from any religious motive, but from a desire of promoting divisions and schisms in the Christian world. They, on the other hand, boldly assert that no changes have been attempted on their part; but that, to this very day, they strictly. adhere to the traditions of the apostles and ancient fathers, which have prevailed through so many

ages.

And that these accusations might not appear the offspring of private slander, and a secret

desire of bringing odium upon us, the Roman pontiffs suborned men of eloquence and learning to support their desperate cause, and place it in a fair point of view by their writings and elaborate discourses; so that the ignorant and unskilful might be led by the subtlety and elegance of their arguments, to think more favourably of their designs and doctrines. They saw, indeed, that their influence was every where on the decline; that their tricks were exposed to contempt and ridicule; that the bulwarks of their cause were daily hastening to decay; and that the greatest exertions were absolutely required to support the tottering fabric.

With respect to their accusations against us, many of them are totally false; many condemned by the very persons who uttered them; others, notwithstanding their absolute falsehood, by an artful and plausible gloss of language, exhibit a certain shew and appearance of truth, which may easily deceive a careless and inattentive reader; and some are of such a nature, that, far from attempting to refute them, we ought boldly to declare that they are founded on the basis of truth and reason. In a word, they ca

lumniate all our measures, even when they cannot deny them to be founded upon good and upright principles, and maliciously pervert all our words and actions, as if it were impossible for us to act or speak with propriety. Had truth been their object, they would have treated us with more simplicity and candour: but instead of open, ingenuous, and Christian conduct, they oppose us with mysterious and crafty lies, and abuse the blind ignorance of the populace, and want of learning in princes, to excite hatred against us, and overwhelm the cause of truth. This is the power of darkness, and of men who rely more on the uncultivated state of a rude and benighted multitude, than on the light of truth, and who, as St. Jerome expresseth it, shut their eyes against the clearest evidence. But we give thanks to the most high and gracious God, that such is our cause, that the rancorous hatred of our enemies can fix no reproach upon us, which may not with equal reason and justice be insinuated against the holy fathers, the apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul, nay, even against Christ himself.

But if these persons are suffered to employ all the powers of learning and eloquence in speaking

evil, it certainly would be disgraceful in us to remain silent spectators in a cause like ours, founded on the principles of virtue and truth; for to disregard the scandalous and false assertions made against our lives and doctrines, (especially when the majesty of God and interests of religion are deeply implicated,) would certainly be the part of dissolute and abandoned men, wickedly conniving at blasphemy and impiety: for although some injuries, even of the most flagrant character, may remain unnoticed by men of mild and Christian dispositions, "yet," saith Ruffinus, "that man is unworthy the name of Christian who patiently submits to be stigmatized as an heretic." We shall, therefore, now act according to the dictates of every human law, and the voice of nature herself, and follow the example of our Saviour Christ, when he was in like manner insulted and reviled, that we may repel the charges of our adversaries, and with candour and modesty vindicate our cause and innocence. For Christ himself, when accused by the Pharisees of sorcery, as if he were leagued with impure spirits, and by their aid wrought miracles, replied, "I have not a devil; but I honour my

*John viii. 49.

Father, and ye do dishonour me;" and Paul, when he was ridiculed by the proconsul Festus, as a madman, answered, *" *" I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness," and the primitive Christians, when they were traduced to the people as murderers, adulterers, guilty of incest, and disturbers of the government, and saw that the religion which they professed might, by these insinuations, be called in question, especially if they held their peace, and by their silence appeared to acquiesce in the truth of their accusations-in order that the propagation of the Gospel might not be impeded, made public orations, composed apologies, and vindicated themselves and their tenets in the presence of † princes and emperors. But since the eyes of nearly the whole world are

*Acts xxvi. 25.

+ QUADRATUS, a disciple of the apostles, wrote several treatises in defence of the Christian religion, and made an apologetic oration for it before the emperor Adrian, by which he put a stop to the furious persecution then raging against it. Anno Christi 128.

JUSTINUS, the martyr, a christian philosopher, composed an oration, replete with eloquence and truth, in the same cause, which he dedicated to the emperor Antoninus Pius, to his adopted sons, Marcus and Lucius, and to the senate and people of Rome, Anno Christi 150, which cost him his life.