210 HOR^ PAULIN.E. 



ties, which real sentiments themselves, are no other than wi- 

 cient documents, whose early existence and reception can be 

 proved, in the roanner in which the writings before us are tra- 

 ced up to the age of their reputed author, or to ages near to his. 

 A modern who sits down to compose the history of some an- 

 cient period, has no stronger evidence to appeal to for the most 

 confident assertion, or the most undisputed fact that he deliv* 

 ers, than writings whose genuineness is proved by the sama 

 medium through which we evince the authenticity of ours. 

 Nor, while he can have recourse to such authorities as these, 

 does he apprehend any uncertainty in his accounts, from the 

 FMspicion of spuriousness or imposture in his materials. 



V. It cannot be shown that any forgeries, properly so 

 called,* that is, w^ritings published under the name of the 

 person who did not compose them, made their appearance in 

 the first century of the Christian era, in which century these 

 epistles undoubtedly existed. I shall set down under this 

 proposition the guarded words of Lardner himself: "There 

 are no quotations of any books of them — spurious and apoc- 

 ryphal books — in the apostolical fathers, by whom I mean 

 Barnabas, Clem.ent of Rome, Hernias, Ignatius, and Poly- 

 carp, whose WTitings reach from the year of our Lord 70 to 

 the year 108. I say this confidently, because I think it 

 has been proved." Lardner, vol. 12, p. 158. 



Nor when they did appear were they much used by the 

 primitive Christians. "Irenseus quotes not any of these 

 books. He mentions some of them, but he never quotes 

 them. The same may be said of TertuUian : he has men- 

 tioned a book called ' Acts of Paul and Thecla,' but it is 

 only to condemn it. Clement of Alexandria and Origen 

 have mentioned and quoted several such books, but never as 

 authDrity, and sometimes with express marks of dislike. 

 Eusebius quoted no such books in any of his works. He 



^ I believe that there is a great deal of truth in Dr. Lardner's ob- 

 servation, that comparatively few of those books which we call apoc- 

 ryphal wei-e stri(-tly and originally forgeries. Lardner, vol. 12, p. 167 



