letters, dearest brethren, which ye wrote to us in the solicitude of your love concerning the captivity of our brethren and sisters. For who would not grieve in such cases? or who would not reckon the grief of his brother his own? since the Apostle Paul says, If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; and if one member rejoice, all the other members rejoice with it;' and elsewhere, Who is weak, and I am not weak?' Therefore now the captivity of our brethren is to be reckoned OUR captivity; and the grief of those who are in danger is to be reckoned as OUR OWN grief, since we are all one body:-Not only our affections, but the religion of Jesus itself ought to incite us to redeem the brethren: For, since the Apostle says, in another place, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?'it follows, that even if our love did not induce us to help the brethren, yet, in such circumstances, we ought to consider, that they which are taken captive, are the temples of God, and that we ought not, by a long delay and neglect, to suffer the temples of God to remain in captivity, but to labour with all our might, and quickly to show our obsequiousness to Christ our Judge, OUR LORD, AND OUR GOD. For whereas Paul the Apostle says, 'As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have [put on Christ;'] Christ is to be viewed in our captive brethren; and HE, who [redeemed us from the danger of death, is to be redeemed from the danger of captivity: so that he who rescued us from the jaws of the devil, who now abides and dwells in us, may himself be rescued from the hands of barbarians; and he, who by his cross and blood,* redeemed us, may, by a sum of money himself be redeemed.] In fact, HE suffers these things to happen, in order that our faith may be tried, and that it may be seen whether we be willing to do for another what every one would wish to be done for himself, were he a prisoner among the barbarians. For who, if he be a father, does not now feel as if his sons were in a state of captivity? Who,-if a husband,-is not affected as if his own wife were in that calamitous situa *Redemption by the blood of Jesus, union and fellowship with him maintained in the soul by faith, and the returns of love answerable to his loving-kindness, these are the principles of Christian benevolence. danger of the Not only their to be deplored: tion? This must be the case, if we have but the common sympathy of men. Then how great ought our mutual sorrow and vexation to be on account of the virgins who are there held in bondage! slavery, but the loss of their chastity is the BONDS of barbarians are not so much to be dreaded as the lewdness of men, lest the members of Christ dedicated to him, and devoted for ever to the honour of continency, should be defiled and insulted by libidinous savages. "Our brethren, ever ready to work the work of God, but now much more quickened by great sorrow and anxiety to forward so salutary a concern, have freely and largely contributed to the relief of the distressed captives. For, whereas the Lord says in the Gospel, I was sick, and ye visited me;' with how much stronger approbation would he say, 'I was a captive, and ye redeemed me!' And when again he says, I was in prison, and ye came to me; how much more is it in the same spirit to say, I was in the prison of captivity and lay shut up and bound among barbarians, and ye freed me from the dungeon of slavery: Ye shall receive your reward of the Lord in the day of judgment. 66 Truly we thank you very much that ye wished us to be partakers of your solicitude, and of a work so good and necessary;-that ye have offered us fertile fields in which we might deposit the seeds of our hope with an expectation of an exuberant harvest. We have sent a hundred thousand sesterces, the collection of our clergy and laity of the Church of Carthage, which you will dispense forthwith according to your diligence. Heartily do we wish that no such thing may happen again, and that the Lord may protect our brethren from such calamities. But if, to try our faith and love, such afflictions should again befal you, hesitate not to acquaint us; and be assured of the hearty concurrence of our Church with you both in prayer and in cheerful contributions. *Voluntary celibacy, I apprehend, was in growing repute in the Church at that time. St. Paul's advice in the 7th of 1 Cor. had then many followers, but monastic vows had yet no existence. +[Sestertia centum millia nummorum, £807. 58. 10d., reckoning ten sestertia at £80. 14s. 7d., or a sestertius at 14d, i. e. a fraction less than 2d. The late Dr. Burton estimates this at £3000.] That you may remember in your prayers our brethren, who have cheerfully contributed, I have subjoined the names of each ;-I have added also the names of our colleagues in the ministry, who were present and contributed, in their own names and in that of the people; and, besides my own proper quantity, I have set down and sent their respective sums. We wish you, brethren, always prosperity." About this time, Cyprian wrote to an African bishop named Cæcilius, for the purpose of correcting a practice in the administration of the Lord's Supper, which had crept into some Churches,-of using water instead of wine. With arguments drawn from the Scriptures, he insists on the necessity of wine in the ordinance, as a proper emblem of the blood of Christ.† The appointment of Stephen to the bishoprick of Rome was soon followed by the death of Gallus; who was slain, in the year two hundred and fifty-three, after a wretched reign of eighteen months. Death of A. D. 253. CHAP. XIII. THE PACIFIC PART OF VALERIAN'S REIGN. UNDER Gallus the peace of the Church of Christ seems to have been very short and precarious. But his successor Valerian, for upwards of three years, proved their friend and protector. His house was full of Christians, and he appears to have had a strong predilection in their favour. The Lord exercises his people in various ways. There are virtues adapted to a state of prosperity as well as of adversity. The wisdom and love of God, in directing the late terrible persecutions, have been plainly made manifest by the excellent fruits. Let us now attend to the transactions of Christians during this interval of refreshment. The affairs of Cyprian detain us long, because his eloquent [Epist. 62.] + [This 62nd letter is a curious example of sound and unsound reasoning; of passages of Scripture well applied, and totally misapplied.] [Euseb. vii. c. 10.] pen continues to attract us; and because we would not lose a faithful and an able guide, till we are compelled to leave him. Probably, there were many before his time, whose Christian actions would have equally deserved to be commemorated: But the materials of information fail us: The fine compositions of this bishop are still, however, a capital source of historical instruction. During the tranquillity under the emperor Valerian, a council was held in Africa, by sixty-six bishops, with Cyprian at their head. The object of this assembly was, doubtless, the regulation of various matters relating to the Church of Christ. These bishops had, unquestionably, each of them, a small diocese ; and with the assistance of their clergy, they superintended their respective jurisdictions according to the primitive mode of Church-government. The face of Africa, which is now covered with Mahometan, idolatrous, and piratical wickedness, afforded in those days a very pleasing spectacle; for we have good reason to believe that a real and salutary regard was paid to the various flocks by their ecclesiastical shepherds. But, we have no particular accounts of the proceedings of this council, beyond what is contained in a letter of Cyprian, to which I shall presently advert. He mentions two points, which engaged their attention ;-but it is very likely, that attention;—but matters of greater importance than either of those points were then reviewed :-The synod was worthy of the name of Christian many of the bishops then present had faithfully maintained the cause of Christ during scenes of trial the most severe that can be imagined; and I know no ground for suspecting the clergy of those times to have been influenced by schemes of political ambition for increasing their wealth or power. * A presbyter, named Victor, had been re-admitted into the Church without having undergone the legitimate time of trial in a state of penance, and also without the concurrence and consent of the people. His bishop, Therapius, had done this arbitrarily and contrary to the institutes of the former council for settling such matters. Cyprian, in the name of the council, contents himself with reprimand ing Therapius; but yet confirms what he had done, and warns him to take care of offending in future. This is one of the points. And, we see hence that a strict and godly discipline, on the whole, now prevailed in the Church; and that the wisest and most successful methods of recovering the lapsed were used. The authority of bishops was firm, but not despotic: and the share of the people, in matters of ecclesiastical correction and regulation, appears worthy of notice. The other point he thus explains in the same letter addressed to Fidus: "As to the [case] of infants, of whom you said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, and that the ancient law of circumcision should be so far adhered to, that they ought not to be baptized [and sanctified] till the eighth day; we were all of a very different opinion. We all judged that the mercy and grace of God should be denied to none. For, if the Lord says in his Gospel, the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them,' how ought we to do our utmost, as far as in us lies, that no soul be lost! Spiritual circumcision should not be impeded by carnal circumcision. If, even to the foulest offenders when they afterwards believe, remission of sins is granted, and none is prohibited from baptism and grace; how much more should an infant be admitted ;-who, just born, hath not sinned in any respect, except, that being carnally produced according to Adam, he hath, in his first birth, contracted the contagion of the ancient deadly nature ;-and who obtains the remission of sins with the less difficulty, because not his own actual guilt, but that of another, is to be remitted. "Our sentence therefore, dearest brother, in the council was, that none, by us, should be prohibited from baptism and the grace of God, who is merciful and kind to all." I purpose carefully to avoid disputes on subjects of small moment. Yet to omit a word here on a point, which hath produced volumes of strife, might seem almost a studied affectation: On such occasions I shall briefly and pacifically state my own views, as they appear deducible from evidence. Instead of disputing whether the right of infant-baptism |