the place of princes, who were scarcely Roman citizens, and of courfe, gave themselves no concern about the nobility; when the principal employments, whether civil, or military, were entrusted to Barbarians, who had never read Homer, nor heard either of Mercury, or Apollo. These ferocious men, accustomed to worship their god, under the form of a wolf, and to revere only the spirit of the mountain, or the genius of the tempefts, found themselves exactly in the fame fituation, with those favages of America, whom the most ignorant of our miffionaries converted, by thoufands. Full of contempt for the Romans, they rejected their gods, of whofe history they were ignorant, and whofe power they defied.

This was the period at which the christian religion began to extend herself. Her members, more difperfed abroad, and more zealous, continually animated by the spirit of making profelytes, frequently irritated by perfecution, and, moreover, inculcating a doctrine, very oppofite to that contempt. which the Romans and the Greeks expreffed against the Barbarians, muft, confequently,

have presented themselves to these last in a more favourable point of view; and the simplicity of their dogmas, (for we shall observe farther on, that nothing could have been more fimple, than the tenets introduced by the apostles and their fucceffors) was much better fuited to the comprehenfion of thefe plain and properly-tempered minds, which had not yet been either infected by fuperftitions, or fubtilifed by idle dialectics.

To fum up the whole, then, we may conclude that Greece was the land of paganism; that all the religious ideas, established in this country, and united to polity, were overthrown by the conquefts of the Romans; that the Roman government becoming, at first, aristocratical, then democratical, and at length monarchial, religion which was the support of aristocracy muft neceffarily have fallen with it; and, in fhort, that the invafions of the Barbarians gave the finishing stroke to the deftruction of the last remains of the ancient opinions.

CHAP

CHA P. III.

On the establishment of Chriftianity.

WE cannot too often repeat what hath

been already mentioned, namely, that we have refolved, whilft we trace the progress of christianity, to enquire only into the human or natural means; means, the importance of which the theologians themfelves do not affect to deny but indeed, if providence had chosen to establish a fyftem of worship upon miracles, (s) it would have been fufficient to

have

(s) Origen, in his defence againft Celfus, agrees with the Pagan philofophy, in fuppofing that feveral miracles might have been wrought by magic; and the only rule which he prefcribes for diftinguishing the miracles, which proceeded from Heaven, is founded on the mo

rality,

have wrought at Rome a fmall part of thofe miracles, of which the Jews only were the witneffes; or even to have fixed on thefe, fuch a character of authenticity, as to have rendered it impoffible that they should ever have been called in queftion, or paffed over in filence, which two of the most learned men of Judæa, have, notwithstanding, done. (t) On the contrary, we perceive that the first advances of chriftianity were flow and laborious, and particularly, whilft we examine it under its political relations, and by its influence over the state of society; this fpecies of investigation being our chief object.

We must, here, guard against the indolence of the human mind, against that particular kind

rality, the doctrine, and the manners of thofe who worked those miracles. No one is ignorant of the prodigies brought forth by the magicians of Pharaoh; and it is alfo well known, that when the heathens placed the miracles of Apollonius Tyanus, in oppofition to the miracles of Jefus Chrift, the chriftians, in answer to this objection, were fatisfied with fcrutinizing the life and character of this philofopher; as, in their opinion, it was very immaterial, what miracle he might have per formed, if it were certain that his doctrince and his conduct deferved neither refpect nor confidence.

(t) Jofephus and Philo.

kind of curiofity, which flies from application, dreads the falling into doubt more than it likes inftruction, and is the oftnest satisfied with fome principal points whereon it may reft its wavering opinion. We refemble those travellers, who casting their eyes from the fummit of fome mountain upon an extensive plain below, observe here and there a tower and a steeple, and then return, perfuaded that they are acquainted with the country. We know that Jefus Chrift hath given his name to that religion, which all, who are stiled christians, at this time profess; and we believe that immediately after Jefus Chrift, there was a chriftian religion. The extreme averfion, alfo, which prevails amongst the christians of our days, and the Jews, inclines us to fuppofe, that there must have been, from the beginning, a very diftinguishable fciffion, an openly-declared war between the two religions. All these opinions are not conformable to the facts. Several hiftorical monuments prove that the Romans for a long time. confounded the Jews with the Chriftians. I fhall only produce one inftance, by a quotation from Suetonius, wherein that author, enumerating the laudable actions of Claudius,

at