were sought out and put to death; and, even under a mild governor, the laws were such, that if a spiteful neighbour laid an accusation against a Christian for forsaking the gods, there was no choice but that the edicts should take their course. Indeed, some of the Christians themselves had become inflamed with an exaggerated desire of martyrdom, and, forgetting that God was to be served by their lives as well as their deaths, they courted torment and execution. When Arrius Antoninus, the pro-consul of Asia, opened his tribunal for accusations against them, they came in such numbers of their own accord to denounce themselves, that he had no heart to permit them to be prosecuted, but drove them away with an air of contempt. "If you are weary of life," he said, "there is rope enough for you to hang yourselves with." These wilful and presumptuous self-sacrifices were, however, always discouraged by the Church, and it was observed that none were so apt to flinch and give way at the first touch of torture, or the immediate prospect of death, as those who had run into the danger without necessity. It is plain that the persecution could not have been hot throughout the greater part of the reign, since there is no martyr of note on record in the lists preserved by the Churches, which were wont to be read aloud at a part of their Communion Service, the origin of that portion of our own where we thank God for those departed in His faith and fear. It was indeed said that Sophia, or Wisdom, with her three daughters, Faith, Hope, and Charity, were put to death under Hadrian at Rome; but this was probably an allegorical saying that is but too true of most times and places, but which came in after-times to be supposed to be the account of the martyrdom of four real women. Be this as it may, it is certain, that though the Christians in Hadrian's time were not actively persecuted, yet they lived only on sufferance, and might at any time be legally put to death; and in order to obtain toleration Quadratus and Aristides decided on endeavouring to argue out the truth of their religion, so that, even if the Emperor were not convinced, it might at least be established as a philosophy. It was a work well suited to the pupil of the Apostle who had met the Gnostics on their own ground, and shown how the Word, the manifestation, was coeval and integral with God, even like the light with the flame. The wise Greek pupil of the far-wiser Galilean fisherman donned the robe of the philosopher, and sought the Emperor under the shade of the portico, where the noble and beautiful figure of Hadrian might often be seen pacing the marble pavement, not so much resting from the toils cf state as trying to slake his thirst for satisfactory truth. Before him then Quadratus stood and set forth his Argument, or Apology as it was called. We know nothing of it, except one sentence quoted by the Church historian, Eusebius, saying that "The deeds of our Saviour were always present, since they were real; and many of those who were healed, and rose from the dead, were living even to his own times." Nor is even one word preserved from the Apology of Aristides: but both were listened to with respect by the Emperor; and though they did not convince him, he may have been struck by their wisdom and learning; and when the proconsul of Asia shortly after wrote to tell him of the violence and cruelty with which the Christians were used, he returned in answer a letter commanding that they should only suffer for direct transgressions of the law, and that accusations evidently preferred out of spite and malice should receive no attention. Such was the victory won by Quadratus and Aristides; the more marked because Hadrian, a keenwitted, satirical man, shortly after was so disgusted with what he saw of the Alexandrians, as to write to a friend that "They have but one god (i. e. Wealth): him, Christians, Jews, and Gentiles worship all alike." Had all Christians been like these of Athens, what might not have been the effect on the wise, thoughtful, shrewd, and inquiring Hadrian? And if it be true that Quadratus was the Angel of Philadelphia, surely he did stand fast and keep the Word, and denied not the Holy Name, holding fast that which he had, and letting no man take his crown. The simple, child-like Ignatius proved his love by practical exhortation, and by victory over death; the highly-instructed Quadratus used his talents to prove by human reasoning and argument the supreme glory of Truth. One seemed to continue the likeness of St. John in his character of Shepherd giving his N life for the sheep; the other in the character of Divine, setting forth the manifestation of the Godhead by force of argument. The later life of Quadratus is not known. There is only an uncertain report that after Hadrian's departure, the Athenians rose upon him, pelted him with stones, and drove him away, fearing lest his true philosophy should destroy all the false ones, as Aaron's rod swallowed those of the magicians, and that their city would no longer be a place of resort. He is said then to have gone to Magnesia, in Asia Minor; but all this is utterly uncertain. CHAPTER XII. HOW POLYCARP PLAYED THE MAN IN THE FIRE. "I bless Thee, Holiest Father, I praise Thee for the agony Of this departing hour."-MRS. ALEXANDER, THE last survivors of the disciples of St. John were Polycarp of Smyrna, Pothinus of Lyons, and Papias of Hierapolis. Polycarp's name in Greek means "much fruit," and he well fulfilled the promise of that appellation. The old Greek menologies (or histories of saints and martyrs) report, but on what authority is unknown, that he began life as a slave, but was educated at the expense of a pious and charitable lady named Calisto, who, while he was still a youth, made him steward of her household, and afterwards manumitted him. Under Bucolus, the first Bishop of Smyrna, he was made first catechist and then deacon; and at this time he was much with St. John, gathering and trea |