, 1881-12-18


destroy it, When the martyr is asked Ills
nationality he replies. st / am Il Christian u
The Church forms the believer and not the
citizen. So it Is with lsaluism and Budtt-
| hisln:. The coming Of these great universal
religions made al end Ut the ancient idea OF
country: one no longer WAS Roman or Athe-
! nian, but Christian or -Mussultnan; men
arrayed themselves by their worship, not by
their fatherland, and .diSided upon lleresies.
not upon questions of nationality.
This is what Marcus Alirel1us saw clearly;
this is what made him regard Christianity
with such scanty favor. The Church scented
to hi1n State within State--avowed ITSELF
complete sqGlety, superior to the civil Of
g'lnlzation. Tue Christian owed nothing to
the Empire, but the Empire owed him every
thing, since only the presence OF himself and
Ills fellows Scattered throughout Its domains
preserved them from celestial ire. He did
not rejoice over its victories, and Its grent
disasters were to him put the seal aud con-
destractioa Of III .''if The eosmopo{ta, e
ism Of tbs Stotcz had its dungers, rno hut all
ardent love Of civilization md Greek culture
served as counterpoise to the excess of
tiails certainly were loyal subjects. They
never revoiteu; they prayed for their perSe-
cutors: they affected the most absolute Le-
gltlnjst principles. God giving power to
%homSoevsr a. IL woula. who 50 possessed it
But this apparent political orthodoxy was at
the bottom only the worship of success. Lib
eral politics owe noLhing-neyer will owe
anything to Christianity, and the idea Of
representative government IS the opposit Of
Peter, and Clement,
The most Important OF civic duties that
Of military service-Christfans could not
discharge, as it implied not only the she'd
ding OF blood, but acts deemed idolatrous.
There were, without doubt, not a few Chris
In n ,txy ht,+
the incompatibllity Of the two professions
revealed Itself and the soldier left the army
or became a martyr. 1t was held to be dUtng
enough for the Emperot to pray for him.
at the close OF the second century and dur
Mg the third was caused by Christianity.
Through being too consistent, Oriental
christianity has lost all, military value, Is
Inn has brofited thereby and, there has been
eternal Christian Of the East; everywhere the
same despite the difference Of races; always
beaten, always lnassacred, incapable Of look
l1E an armed man in the face, aud perpetu-
ally stretching out hts throat to the sword.
and the public service. To accept its honors
and function would be to testify to fAith {h
2 lost world rank with idolatry. A law, of
SeptlInus Se9erns permitted. the adopts
Of the Jewish superstition" to hold i;
trary to their oreed. They declined to avail
themselves Of 1t. They declined to appear
in the courts; they raised the wall against
mixed marriages; they forbade believers to
walk In the STREETS ot engage in public cou-
fersatlon; even their Travellers, instead of i
patronizing the inns, went to the churches,
where they were entertained. Nulnberless
arts and calfings were interdictcd, especially ]
sculpture and painting, and herein is to be
5Gd snEatr f a sSPaEt1 g. nse e Is the S
Of SCULPTURE in the first half of the third