244 CHRISTIAN VIRTUE. 



his master at the same table and in the same embrace. 

 On the pavement of the Basilica men of all races and of all 

 ranks knelt side by side. If any one were in sickness 

 and affliction it was sufficient for him to declare him- 

 self a Christian : money was at once pressed into his 

 hands : compassionate matrons hastened to his bed- 

 side. Even at the time when the Pagans regarded 

 the new sect with most abhorrence, they were forced 

 to exclaim, " See how these Christians love one 

 another !" It was reasonable to suppose that the 

 victory of this religion would be the victory of love 

 and peace. But what was the actual result ? Shortly 

 after the establishment of Christianity as a State 

 religion there was uproar and dissension in every city 

 of the Empire ; then savage persecutions, bloody wars, 

 until a Pagan historian could observe to the polished 

 and intellectual coterie for whom alone he wrote, that 

 now the hatred of the Christians against one another 

 surpassed the fury of savage beasts against man. 



It is evident that the virtues exhibited by those 

 who gallantly fight against desperate odds for an idea 

 will not be invariably displayed by those who, when the 

 idea is realised, enjoy the spoil. It is evident that 

 bishops who possess large incomes and great authority, 

 will not always possess the same qualities of mind as 

 those spiritual peers who had no distinction to expect 

 except that of being burnt alive. In all great movements 

 of the mind there can be but one heroic age, and the 

 heroic age of Christianity was past. The Church 

 became the State concubine ; Christianity lost its 

 democratic character. The bishops who should 

 have been the tribunes of the people became the 

 creatures of the Crown. Their lives were not always 

 of the most creditable kind ; but their virtues were 



