New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-04-21

personality; and between the hope OF hessoph 49,
opened 20 all mark ind and nesvou W H Leo as
rire In anv encounter between two snch rois
battle must be nternecne and the victory o"'
~ the cost Of the life of the vanqusnSu :. A.
Irha III, NJ the encounter was lllusTH'eu m Wv
g., 40 aeriences of Christianity in Gant few Asa.lc
teocbers from the Church of Smyrna headed oy rosn
80 ysbohad prayed with Polyearp, beloved compao'
o Of the beloved disciple ofJohn and either 1oo wing
~ rontes of commerce, or perhaps, invited by Jews
~ had accompanied Her0d or Plate in their exile,
we've the earthly instruments of its advent, small
circle of believers which they gathered at Lyons soon
bsoame considerable religions community. The re-
eisters still preserve TO us the names OF htty members
while those Of Others says the plous chroncler, are
written in the pages OF the Book OF Life But IN
thoee days success was sorrow, The lofty tone which
the new religion hastened TO assume With its WITH
in numbers, the diffusion Of an opinion that with the
fall Of the ancient religion of Rome tne temporal do
ronion would also fall, together With the unusual oc-
euTence of natural calamites, which awoke supersti
tous fears and the rumors OF new baroarlc inroads,
eonsIi to arouse the heather against Il with an al
most fanatcal fury Their zeal soon passed from ran
coIous reproach0s into personal violence. The Christ
ians stoned in the Streets they chased from
the baths and the forum they were shat up IN their
houses; they were denounced to the tribunals in
cestuous and atbeisca and the slaves we're subOrned
to proclaim their simple agap0 Thyestjan feasts aud
their frateIDa assemblies Hdlpodean marriages. Ar
rgned before the authorities, they were tortured By
all those horrible methods which Roman barbarity
well knew in order TO induce them TO reract their
confessions or to accuse their fellows. Some rsapsed
under the severity of the infections, but tue majority
of the confessors stood firm; man oil rank and
wealth Yettius Apagathus, who came forward TO de-
fend them being himself denounced Christian,
eagerly ayoWed the ofense. Many persisted in the
posome air Of the dungeons to which they were COM
mtted; others had their limbs dslOcaed in the stocks;
while the more detested among them were slowly
burned by the application of hot irons to the sensitive
parts of the body. BY peculiar refinement of cru
city the Romans coDtrived to ntict these puishments
on the occasious of their public festivals. Crowded
amphtheaers shouted when come tender and delicate
woman was torn by the wild beasts, or an aged and
venerable was stretched bleeding upon the cross.
Among the victims of this hellish rage the
Bishop Pothnus then ninety years OF age, whose feeble
body sank beneath its palms, but whoee mind gathered
serenity and frmness from them. Another victim, whose
appearance the was more characteristic OF the
great social revolution Christianity was efiectlng gas
Blandna-a woman and a slave. Through all thessx-
crucating agoDes of the torture, ber mietress who
herself conessor watched her in trembling anxiety
lest she should be betrayed into weak concession
But Christianity possessed living power then whl,h
could lit even the loSy slave into subinty of he
IOism. From the cross where Ike her heavenly Mas
ter, she hung, the gaze of frantic rab0e, she sang
hymns to his praise; when taken down from it, the
beasts of the refused TO do their Office as II their
brute Datures softer than those Of men, could be we'd
by such sweet piety; aud the intervals between her
punishments twice postpOned she passed in comfort
ing those of her companions who reserved for
siTniar fate The apoStates whom weakness had al
lowed to retIact animated by her 10 renewed
strength and they counted it their highest JOY to Do
admitted to the prospect Of sharing her sufierpgs. At
last when she was dragged forth 70 final execution
on the recurrence of the great festival games which
Csbgua had instituted the banks of the Rhons, che
met her DEATH by the hons and feet Of furious wild
animal "lke one invited 10 wedding banquet" She
WIS the last to die but her became the first in
The roll Of those saints whom the pous gratitude OF
the Gallo Church has aimee raised to the Skies
From Lyons the Christians fed TO VieuDe to Autun,
and to Chalons, whittier persecution followed toeni
hnff ~ 4ofsh he rouis hV tha
trowns of power In ess than twenty years. the little
original germ had grown to vigorous tree NurSed
by the zeal and prudence Of hensus, the successor of
Pothnus, and "the great luminary OF the West" it
became a champion Of orthodoxy In Europe, aud sus
tanned many powerful contest against the Gnosic
and Msncbasn heresies, while it dared TO check even
the overweening pretensioDs OF Rome.
The condition Of Gaul toward the close Of the
Roman domination is the subject of an able chapter,
from which we obtain an interesting view of the
social and domestic relations of that period. The
common people were divided into the mechanics, or
REQ artisans of the towns and the small possessors
of land in the country. In the larger Cities the in
dustris population was often numerous; the trades
were organized in different corporations; there
were colleges of carpenters, masOns, smiths, me-
cbanicians, workers in MARBLE gold, and brass, of
perfumers caIders, weavers, dyers, shoemakers, !
mark their plebean origin they were compelled to
adopt patrons among the great or richer classes;
the prices of their products and the rates of their
wages were determined by law; they found ruin
GUS competition in the public factories maintained
by the government and in the labor of slaves with
whom they would often have been glad to exchange
places though even that dismal boon was prohibited
by law.
The small posse,sors in the country were few in
number and wretched in condition. Property was
in the hands Of the principal chiefs. The cultiva.
tors of the soil, for the most part, were either
slaves, or bondmen, or small holders who worked |
on shares with their lords. They were often OPP
pressed by the chieftains, who wasted the sub.
stance of their followers by turbulent wars and
riotOus living. Yet they lived together, in certain
rude fellowship on the estate, till the influence of
Roman manners corrupted the habits Of the lords.
They became tired of the simplicity of country life,
left their rural homes for the cities, and avished the
products of their domains in snowy and expensive |
luxury The ties between the different classes were
thus broken. The cbieftain became an absentee |
and an aristocrat, and his prodgalities increased
the burdens Of bic tenants, till there was scarcely
difference between them and the slaves.
The upper classes, on the other hand, were
usually enormously rich, and devoted to a sump-
tuOus and idle indulgence. They alternated their
time between their city palaces and their country
villas, constructed in the Roman fashion, amid the
grand or picturesque scenes of nature. 10 the
cities, they INDUCED in the luxurious and magnf-
fcent delights of the Roman civilization. The morn