difficulty to get to his fecreted friends than to ef cape from his gaolers *.

"

In a word, from this hiftory of the first propagation of the Faith, we learn, that, in times of perfecution, the Church affembled by stealth, and in the night but whenever they had a breathing time, and were at liberty to worship God according to their confcience, they always met together openly, and in the face of day. Thus when Paul came first to Rome (where this fect shared in the general toleration of foreign worship, till the magiftrate understood that it condemned the great principle of intercommunity) we learn, that he freely dif charged the office of his miniftry from morning to night'. And the facred writer, as if on purpose to infinuate, that, when the Church had reft from perfecution, it never crept into holes and corners, ends his narrative in this manner: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and RECEIVED ALL that came in unto him; preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jefus Chrift, with all confidence, NO

MAN FORBIDDING HIM ".

It may be objected, perhaps, "that the question is, of the perfecuting Pagans; and all that has been here faid, concerns the perfecuting Jews only." It does fo: But who can help it? The Jews happened to per fecute, firft. As to the question, that which is effential in it is only this, Whether the primitive Chriftians held their clandeftine affemblies to avoid per fecution; or whether they were perfecuted for holding clandeftine affemblies? Who perfecuted,

whether Jews or Pagans, is merely incidental to the question, and wholly indifferent to the decifion of it. But it may ftill be faid, "That the Christians having thus gotten the habit of clandeftine affemblies in Judea, by that time Churches became formed in the midst of paganism, they continued the fame mode of worship, tho' the occafion of its introduction was now over; fo that the learned Doctor's pofition may yet be true, That the Pagans perfecuted for thofe clandeftine meetings, which had been first begun in Judea, to avoid perfecution, and were now continued in contempt of anthority." To this I answer, that the fact, on the Doctor's own principles, is impoffible. According to his principles, clandeftine meetings must be profecuted as foon as obferved; and they are of a nature to be obferved as foon as practifed. Now all Antiquity, both prophane and facred, affures us, that the chriftian Church was not perfecuted on its first appearance amongst the Pagans: who were not easily brought, even when excited by the Jews, to fecond their malice, or to fupport their impotence.

But the fact is, in the highest degree, improbable on any principles. Had our learned Critic confulted what Philofophers, and not what Philologifts, call HUMANITY, that is, the workings of our common nature, he had never fallen into fo abfurd a conceit, as that the infpired propagators of a Revelation from heaven fhould, without any reasonable caufe, and only in imitation of pagan worship, affect clandeftine and nocturnal meetings. For he might have feen, that fo ftrange a conduct had not only been in contempt of their divine Mafter's example, who, at his arraignment before the high prjeft, faid, I fpake OPENLY to the world; and IN

d 3

SECRET

SECRET have I faid nothing"; but likewife in defiance of his injunction, when he sent them to propagate the faith,-What I tell you IN DARKNESS, that fhall you speak IN THE LIGHT: and what ye bear IN THE EAR, that preach ye UPON THE HOUSETOPS. Had our Critic (I fay) paid that attention to human nature and to the courfe of the moral world, which he has mifapplied upon an old mouldy brass, and a set of strolling Bacchanals, he might have understood, that the firft Chriftians, under the habitual guidance of the Holy Spirit, could never have recourse to nocturnal or clandeftine conventicles till driven to them by the violence of perfecution he might have understood, that the free choice of fuch affemblies muft needs be an afterpractice, when church-men had debased the truth and purity of Religion by human inventions and fordid fuperftitions; when, on emulous affectation of MYSTERY, and a mistaken zeal for the tombs of the MARTYRS, had made a Hierarchy of that, which at firft was only a Gofpel-miniftry.

On the whole, therefore, we need not, I think, afk leave of this learned man to continue in our opinion, that the primitive Chriftians held their assemblies in the night-time to avoid the interruptions of the civil power; and to esteem his CONVERSE propofition, as he affects to call it (of their meeting with moleftation from that quarter, BECAUSE their affemblies were nocturnal) as a mere dream or vision.

JOHN xviii. 20.

• MATTH. X. 27.

P All thefe refined fpeculations concerning perfecution, are at the end of the faid book of Elements; in a differtation on a curious ancient tablet, containing the fenatorial decree against a crew of wicked Bacchanals, of the fize and dignity of our modern Gypfies.

But

But to hide nothing which may concern a matter of fuch importance as our Critic's Difcoveries; I will ingenuously confefs, how much foever it may make against me, that there are inftances in facred ftory of meetings at midnight and before dawn of day, to which no interruption of the civil Power had driven the difciples of Chrift; but which were evidently done in contempt and defiance of that Power: fuch, for example, was the clandeftine meeting between Mary and the two Angels at the fepulchre: that between the Apoftles and the Angel of the Lord in the common prifon'; and that, again, between Peter and the fame Angel': not to speak of another famous midnight affembly between Paul, Silas, the Gaoler and an Earthquake'.

We come now to the learned person's second propofition, called by way of eminence, the conVERSE; which affirms, That the primitive Chriftians met with moleftations from the civil power, becaufe their affemblies were nocturnal. And this he affures us is true IN THE UTMOST LATITUDE; which in his language, I suppose, fignifies, true in the EXACTEST SENSE, for his argument requires fome fuch meaning. Now in common English - true in the utmost latitude, fignifies true, in the LOWEST SENSE; for the greater latitude you give to any thing the loofer you make it. This moft eloquent editor of Demofthenes therefore, by utmoft latitude may be allowed to mean, what makes moft to his purpose; tho' it be what an Englishman would leaft fufpect,-utmoft ftrictness. And now for his reafoning. By the moleftations the Chriftians met with, we must needs understand the FIRST molesta

9 JOHN XX. 11, 12. r ACTS v. 18, 19.

xii. 7.

ACTS xvi. 25.

d 4

tions; all other being nothing to the purpose: for when perfecution was once on foot, I make no doubt but the nocturnal affemblies, to which perfecution had driven them, gave fresh umbrage to the Civil power; it being of the nature of a perfeeuting fpirit to take offence at the very endeavours to evade its tyranny. The question between the learned Civilian and me, is, What gave birth to the first, and continued to be the general, caufe of perfecution? He fays it arose from nocturnal and clandeftine affemblies: I fuppofe it to be occafioned by the Atheistic renunciation of the Gods of Pa ganism.

Now it seems to be a violent prejudice againft the learned Critic's fyftem, that no one of those perfecutors ever affigned nocturnal affemblies as the firft or general caufe of perfecution; and equally favourable for my opinion, that they all concur in giving another caufe; namely, the unhofpitable temper of the Christians, in refusing to have Gods in common with the reft of mankind.

PLINY, in doubt how to act with the Christians of his district, writes to his master for instructions. His embarras, he tells the emperor, was occafioned by his never having been prefent at their examinations; which made him incapable of judging what, or how he was to profecute. "Cognitionibus de "Chriftianis interfui nunquam; ideo nefcio quid " et quatenus aut puniri foleat aut quæri." He wanted to know, whether the very NAME was not criminal; either for itself, or for fome mifchief hid under it" Nomen ipfum etiam fi flagitiis "careat, an flagitia cohærentia nomini puniantur." But could a Roman Magiftrate, when at lofs for a pretence to perfecute, overlook fo fair a one as voluntary