ries; at the same time dictating to such as were willing to be the tools of this Antichristian cruelty, the mode to be adopted in dealing with their prisoners: namely, that evidence should be sought for of their having lived in Christian communion with brethren, partakers of the same precious faith, and on such evidence they were to be punished, not according to the civil or criminal code of the country, but with CANONICAL severity: a phrase, the full purport of which we shall better understand in pursuing the history. On the other hand, we see the accused, as described by their enemies, dwelling quietly, giving none offence, earning their sustenance by lawful merchandize, and assembling together, not to promote disaffection to any constituted authority, not to stir up strife, or to plot any mischievous device whatsoever, but simply because there existed among them one heart, one mind, and one faith. "They have," says this canon, no other ground for dwelling together save only their agreement and consent in error" —that is, in the pure doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who has left on record a mark of true discipleship thus unwittingly recognized by the persecutor of his church. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another:" and in like manner we are enabled to account for the rapid spread of the truth by means so silent, so unobtrusive, and to their adversaries so inexplicable. It was in answer to the Redeemer's prayer, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Holding the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life, this little company, as a candle of the Lord's lighting, shone in a dark place; and many were thereby won to cast away the works of darkness; and to join themselves unto them, in reality and truth; some, no doubt, shamed or persuaded into an external reformation of manners, rested there, unchanged in heart, to fall before the first temptation, when persecution should arise because of the word, and so to bring scandal on the holy cause to which they had never been really devoted; and, perhaps, to become accusers of the brethren, confirming by feigned confessions under their assumed character the cruel calumnies of the enemy. Others, again, acted the part so frequent in the Romish community, of which we find an example in the ancient enemies of our Lord, who "sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, so that they might deliver him to the power and authority of the Governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly." He to whom these deceivers came perceived their craftiness, and said, Why tempt ye me?"; but no such heart-searching power was conferred on his poor followers in after days, when wolves in sheep's clothing thus entered their humble fold, and were received by the confiding flock as being of themselves. Beyond what will ever be found cleaving to man in the flesh, even the corrupt inheritance of a nature striving against the sanctifying Spirit, these masked inquisitors found nothing whereon to ground an accusation; but they were enabled to ascertain the precise character of doctrines universally held by the true professors of a pure faith, and to mark out the prominent points of their opposition to the tenets of Rome. At the same time they enjoyed, and no doubt made the most of, many opportunities of speciously introducing unsound opinions, and teaching things contrary to the faith that they falsely professed to hold. For, be it remembered, the emissaries chosen for such work are always men of learning, skill, and subtilty, combined with hardness of heart, and obduracy of mind, sufficiently proved to serve as a guarantee against the intrusion of compunctious visitings, or any faltering in their wicked purpose. Thus beset on all sides, while as yet they apprehended no evil, but dwelt lovingly in the midst of a population remarkable all over the world for its refinement, and devotion to the gentler arts; a land of painting and poetry and song, a land of vines and fig-trees, and all the features of luxuriant beauty that could combine to mould the characters of its inhabitants into that pliability which, to the eye of man, promises little of resistance when a sterner force is brought to bear upon it; the little church of the Lord's hidden ones was marked out for an easy prey. While the carnal weapon was whetted to its keenest edge, other and more insidious modes of injury were adopted, and the whole machinery of injustice brought into such effectual operation as proved the little sacerdotal horn to be a worthy offshoot from the forehead of the original Beast, the mighty pagan empire, which was not only strong and terrible to break in pieces and to devour, but also remarkable for stamping the residue under his defiling feet. As the voracious serpent draws his unclean saliva over the victim that he is about to devour, so with the polluting exudations of its calumnious tongue, did this destroyer besmear its destined prey. History finds it still in a measure adhering to the memory of the dead who died in the Lord; and with it finds also the emphatic solution of what might otherwise be embarrassing. "The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his lord: it is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not, therefore: for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor bid that shall not be known." C. E. A NATURAL result of the Antichristian claim of infallibility, is the Antichristian practice of persecution. If the Church of Rome be infallible, it must possess an indefeasible right to the allegiance of ali Christians throughout the world; and the only question will be, to what extent and in what way this right should be enforced. Whereas, on the other hand, if this claim be not only devoid of all foundation in scripture, or in reason, but also one of the characteristics of the Man of Sin; then may we certainly conclude that the spirit of persecution is the spirit of Antichrist.-Archdeacon Browne. ON SOME FADING SPRING FLOWERS. SWEET flowers that still a radiance fling Though hope and youth have past away, Ye still refresh me in decay. Sweet flowers, to me ye always bring Visions of eternal spring, Visions of a happier clime, Where the things of earth and time Will never raise a bitter sigh, And tears no more will dim the eye, But here our fairest earthly spring, |