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PART III.

EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY DURING AND AFTER THE IRRUPTION OF THE NORTHERN NATIONS INTO THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

t

THE world and the glory of it pass away, but the word of God abides for ever, to renew the world and make it young again; to call forth from death a new and more glorious life.

We have seen destruction invade the world-wide empire of that city which arrogated to itself the epithet eternal; and we have seen even those great ecclesiastical establishments, the fruit of the blood of the martyrs, and of the protracted labours of enlightened and devout fathers of the church, carried away by this mighty overwhelming torrent. But while the pagans hopelessly mourned at the grave of earthly glory, and, filled with despair, beheld all the forms of ancient culture dashed in pieces by the hands of barbarians, devout Christians held fast to the anchor of believing hope, which raised them above all that was changeable, and gave them a firm stand-point in the midst of the destroying waters. They knew that, though heaven and earth might pass away, the words of the Lord could not pass away; and these words were to them, even when surrounded by death, an inexhaustible source of life. The existing ecclesiastical forms, as far as they were connected with the constitution of the Roman empire, necessarily perished in the universal breaking-up of society; but the essence of the church, as of Christianity, could not be touched by any destructive power, and at this period of the world's decrepitude

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and exhaustion showed itself more evidently to be the unchangeable vital principle of a new creation. In this time of invading destruction, a Christian father (probably Leo the Great, before he was a bishop) thus wrote:* Even the weapons by which the world is destroyed, subserve the operations of Christian grace. How many, who in the quiet of peace had delayed their baptism, were impelled to it by the fear of imminent danger! How many sluggish and lukewarm souls are roused by sudden and threatening alarm, on whom peaceful exhortation had produced no effect! Many sons of the church who have been brought into captivity, make their masters subject to the gospel, and become teachers of the Christian faith to those to whom the chances of war have subjected them. Others of the barbarians, who had entered the ranks of the Roman auxiliaries, have learnt in Christian countries what they could not learn in their native land, and returned to their homes instructed in Christianity. Thus nothing can prevent divine grace from fulfilling its designs, whatever they may be; so that conflict leads to unity, wounds are changed into restoratives, and that which threatened danger to the church is destined to promote its increase." Individuals in whom the gospel had kindled a flame of holy love, who combined the spirit of wisdom with the powerful energy of faith, appeared as messengers of heaven, as beings of a higher divine order, which indeed they were, among the corrupt enfeebled people who had succumbed to the rude power of the barbarians, and even among the conquerors themselves. It was here shown how much individuals could effect through

* Effectibus gratiæ Christianæ, etiam ipsa quibus mundus alteritur, arma famulantur. Quam multos enim qui in tranquillitate pacis sacramentum baptismatis suscepere differebant, ad aquam regenerationis confugere instantes periculi metus impulit ; et tentis tepidisque animus quod diu cohortatio quieta non suasit, minax subito terror extorsit? Quædam ecclesiæ filii ab hostibus capti, dominos suos Christi evangelio manciparunt, et quibus conditione bellica serviebant, eisdem fidei magisterio præfuerunt. At alii barbari dum Romanis auxiliantur, quod in suis locis nosse non poterant, in nostris cognovere regionibus, et ad sedes suas cum Christianæ religionis institutione remearunt. Ita nihil obsistere divinæ gratiæ potest, quod minus id quod voluerit impleatur, dum etiam discordiæ ad unitatem trahunt et plagæ in remedia vertuntur; ut ecclesia unde metuit periculum, unde sumat augmentum.-De vocat. omn. gentium, lib. ii. cap. 33. (Leon. M. opp. ed. Balerin. tom. ii. p. 242.)

the power of religion. We shall first direct our attention to the North African church, in which the period of devastation immediately followed the period of its greatest prosperity.

CHAPTER I.

THE NORTH AFRICAN CHURCH UNDER THE VANDALS.

THE fierce nation of the Vandals who, though they made an outward profession of Christianity, had been taught and guided by an ignorant and fanatical clergy, and appear to have had no idea of the nature of real Christianity, overwhelmed North Africa under their despotic and cruel king Genseric. Fanatical hatred against the confessors of another creed (for the Vandals had adopted a creed opposed to that of the church, namely, the Arian) accompanied insatiable avarice, and served as a cloak for it. The corruption of nominal Christians in the opulent cities of North Africa was certainly very great, as appears from the words of Augustin already quoted: still there were not wanting here and there churches of genuine Christians, traces of whom we have indicated in the former part of this work. Persecution consequently operated differently on the different elements of the churches, and became a sifting and refining process. Το many the question was in effect put,-Wilt thou deny thy faith in order to retain the undisturbed enjoyment of earthly things, or wilt thou suffer the loss of all things in order to remain true to thy faith? And this question made Christianity, for many persons, a concern of heart-felt importance, which it would not have been without such a call to decision. Splendid examples are presented to us of a faith that joyfully surrendered all things and confidently endured all things under these persecutions. Distinguished men of Roman descent had filled offices of state with Christian fidelity under the chief of the savage people, whom God had given them for their ruler; but now he exacted from them, as a proof of their obedience, that they should confess the same faith with him, and promised

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them great worldly advantage on their compliance with this condition. But here, where their convictions and their consciences were affected, obedience found its limits. For the sake of their faith, they readily surrendered earthly good, honours and liberty, and often even their life in martyrdom.

To one of the first of these confessors, named Arcadius, who first of all was condemned to banishment, the bishop of Constantina, in Numidia, addressed an epistle of powerful exhortation, in which, among other things, he charged him: "Look to him on whom thou hast depended; adhere to him; hold him fast; forsake him not; forsake him not; look not back on thy wife, thy property or thy family. Raise thy heart! The fallen Chief of the Angels himself combats thee; but on thy side are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Fear not; he helps thee, in order to crown thee as conqueror. Christ was smitten on the face, was spat upon, was crowned with thorns; the Holy One was placed on a level with lawless robbers, he was pierced with the spear, he died; Christ suffered all this for thy guilt. How much more oughtest thou to stand firm for thy soul's sake, that no one may rob thee of thy crown of victory! Fear nothing, for the whole church prays for thee that thou mayest conquer. The Lord Christ endures along with thee; the church endures along with thee."

Martinian and Maxima, because they would not deny their faith, were handed over, after severe tortures, as slaves to the chief of a savage tribe that inhabited the wilds of North Africa. They strove by discourse and conduct to convert the heathen people, and by their agency many persons were won to the Christian faith, who till that time had been totally ignorant of it. Upon this, they sent messengers through trackless districts to a city under the Roman government, in order to obtain fresh Christian teachers and ministers. They came; many persons were baptized, and a church was built. But these exiles, in their state of wretchedness and slavery, had effected so much, especially for the spread of a doctrine which the Vandals regarded as heretical, that the wrath of the cruel Genseric was roused afresh. His vengeance could reach them, because the Moors were in some measure dependent on the king of the Vandals. He gave orders to bind them to horses let loose in a forest, that thus they might be dragged

to death. While the Moors lamented, the two martyrs, with peaceful looks, bade farewell to each other, saying, “Pray for me; God has heard our wish; thus we shall reach the kingdom of heaven." They met their fate praying and singing.

Thus God glorified himself among this heathen people by the powerful faith of these sufferers, and even those persons who were not led to embrace the gospel might yet be brought to acknowledge the power of that God who had imparted such strength to his confessors. At a later period, when the Moorish chieftain in the district of Tripolis was at war with the Vandalic king Thorismund, he sent some of his people in disguise into the parts through which the Vandals passed, and when the latter had completely profaned the churches which did not belong to those who held their faith, these Moors showed all possible reverence to the buildings, as well as to the clergy who had been ill-treated by the Vandals; "for," said the Moorish prince, “I do not know who the God of the Christians is; but if he is as powerful as he is represented, he will take vengeance on those who insult him, and succour those who do him honour."

When Genseric, in the year 439, sacked Carthage, the capital of North Africa, many persons were plunged from the summit of earthly felicity into the deepest misery. Whole families, after losing all their property, were glad to escape with their lives and liberty, and wandered in a state of destitution into different countries. Others, both men and women of the first families, were dragged away as prisoners and sold for slaves in various parts. Yet earthly sufferings contributed to the spiritual salvation of many, and gave occasion for the exercise of Christian virtues. Many a one who had felt no concern about religious matters while in prosperity, was led by outward distress to a sense of his spiritual wants. Thus a senator, who became a wanderer with his whole family, had to that time remained a stranger to Christianity, and was first brought to the faith by his sufferings. Bishop Theodoret, in recommending him as an object of Christian love and sympathy, wrote thus: "I am struck with admiration at the man's disposition, for he praises the Disposer of his destiny as if he were in the midst of worldly prosperity, and thinks nothing of his severe trials; for his misfortunes were the means of his gaining piety, while