Edward Hayes Plumptre

“ To judge the matter fairly, however, it must not be forgotten that long before Holland became a nation, Java was the seat of a very respectable civilization, which has left magnificent ruins which to this day excite the admiration of the European traveller. It is quite possible, therefore, that the "steady industry" at least is an inheritance from the past, not a habit learned from the Dutch. ”

“ The wiser pastors continued, as far as they could, to watch over their flocks and keep them steadfast in the faith, even while exposed to taunts and suspicions of cowardice or deception. Others languished in prison, like the sufferers at Rome, of whom Cyprian tells, "sine solatio mortis." Some courted death not in vain, or met it bravely.
The persecution of Decius (commonly reckoned as the seventh) may fairly be measured as to its extent, if not its actual severity, by the list of martyrs under it still found in the calendar of the Western church. ”

“ Just in proportion, therefore, as the emperor was true to his Stoicism was he likely to be embittered against their rivals. (2) A trace of this bitterness is found in his own Meditations (xi. 3) . Just as Epictetus (Arrian, Epict. iv. 7) had spoken of the "counterfeit apathy" which was the offspring not of true wisdom, but "of madness or habit like that of the Galileans," so the emperor contrasts the calm considerate preference of death to life, which he admired, with the "mere obstinacy (παράταξις) of the Christians." "The wise man," he says, "should meet death σεμνῶς καὶ ἀτραγῴδως." ”

“ Wallace's testimony seems to dispose of much of the current criticism of the Dutch colonial system. When the population is really barbarous, at any rate, there seems no room at all to doubt that the system works admirably. Thus in the north of Celebes Mr. Wallace tells us that within the memory of persons still living the inhabitants of the several villages formed distinct tribes constantly at war with one another. To protect themselves from attack they built their houses on long poles. ”

“ The last word has, there seems reason to believe, a special significance. Justin, towards the close of his second Apology, presented to this emperor, had expressed a wish that some one would stand up, as on some lofty rostrum, and "cry out with a tragic voice, Shame, shame on you who ascribe to innocent men the things which ye do openly yourselves. ”

“ They now found themselves brought into contact with men of a purer morality and a nobler fortitude than their own, and with a strange mysterious power which enabled them to succeed where others failed. ”

“ Now feuds are at an end, life and property are protected, and the people have been taught to cultivate coffee plantations with the greatest success, the country has been opened up by roads, the old houses have been pulled down, and in their place have been built neat, comfortable, and well-kept villages. ”

“ The last-named year seems indeed to have witnessed an outburst of popular fury against the new sect, and this could not have been allowed to rage without the emperor's sanction, even if there were no special edicts like those of which Melito speaks (Eus. H. E. iv. 26) directly authorizing new measures of repression. It was accordingly an era of Apologies; Justin had led the way under Antoninus Pius, and the second treatise that bears his name was probably written just before his own martyrdom under Aurelius. ”

“ A thrill of fear pervaded the Christian population of the empire. The emperor was surrounded by counsellors who urged on him a policy of persecution, but his death hindered the execution of his plans. (3) In the interval we find him connected, singularly enough, with the action of the church in a case of heresy. ”

“ It speaks in admiring terms of the innocence of the Christians, declares the charges against them to be unproved, bids men admire the steadfastness and faith with which they met the earthquakes and other calamities that drove others to despair, ascribes the persecution to the jealousy which men felt against those who were truer worshippers of God than themselves. ”

“ It seems legitimate, therefore, to assume that the name "Christ" had been heard in the disputings of Jews and Christians, and that the prefects and Roman population, ignorant of its true significance, conceived it to be the name of some local ringleader in a seditious riot. Many indications in Acts and Romans imply a considerable growth of the Christian community before the accession of Nero. ”

“ The upward progress of Christianity brought its teachers into rivalry with the Stoic philosophers who up to this time, partly for good and partly for evil, had occupied the position of spiritual directors in the families in which there was any effort to rise out of the general debasement. ”

“ The order was given to an eunuch, Hyacinthus, who carried it to Sardinia, and obtained the liberation of Callistus and others, alleging his own influence with Marcia as his warrant, though the name of Callistus had not been included in the list. The narrative clearly implies that Hyacinthus was a Christian.
Thus some Christians had, as such, been condemned to exile; and persecutions, though less frequent, had not altogether ceased. One sufferer of the time takes his place in the list of martyrs. ”

“ Apollonius, a Roman citizen of distinction, perhaps a senator, of high repute for philosophical culture, was accused before Perennius, the prefect of the city, by one of his own slaves. In accordance with an imperial edict sentencing informers, in such cases, to death even when the accused was found guilty, the slave had his legs broken. ”

“ Antiq. xviii. 7) and gain for the former the title of king, they must have had some in their train who had known—perhaps those who had reported to him (Matt. xiv. 1, 2) —the "mighty works" of the prophet of Nazareth. The frequent visits of Herod Agrippa would make events in Judaea common topics at Rome. His presence there when Claudius came to the throne (Joseph. Antiq. xix. 4, 5) may reasonably be connected with the indulgence then extended to the Jews by that emperor (ib. xix. 5) . ”

“ Some, who thus withdrew from the common life of men, never returned to it (e.g. Paul, the hermit of the Thebaid, and Maximus of Nice) , and the Decian period has been commonly regarded, though with some exaggeration, as the starting-point of the anchoretic life. ”

“ Thaum.) , and partly from the history of the persecution, as traced by Cyprian, in his epistles and the treatise de Lapsis, and by Dionysius of Alexandria (Eus. H. E. vi. 40-42) . It did not order any sharp measures of extermination. Magistrates throughout the empire were ordered, under heavy penalties, to put pressure upon the worshippers of Christ to abjure Christianity. Fear did its work on many whose faith had never had any real groundwork in conviction. ”