But never, in the early ages of the church, did any book appear with this title.

Letters of the Virgin were likewise invented, written. to Ignatius the martyr, to the people of Messina, and to others.

Abdias, who immediately succeeded the apostles, wrote their history, with which he mixed up such absurd fables, that in time these histories became wholly discredited, although they had at first a great reputation. To Abdias we are indebted for the account of the contest between St. Peter and Simon the magician. There was at Rome, in reality, a very skilful mechanic, named Simon, who not only made things fly across the stage, as we still see done, but moreover revived in his own person the prodigy attributed to Dædalus. He made himself wings; he flew; and, like Icarus, he fell. So say Pliny and Suetonius.

Abdias, who was in Asia, and wrote in Hebrew, tells us that Peter and Simon met at Rome in the reign of Nero. A young man, nearly related to the emperor, died; and the whole court begged that Simon would raise him to life. St. Peter presented himself to perform the same operation. Simon employed all the

powers of his art; and he seemed to have succeeded, for the dead man moved his head. "This is not enough," cries Peter; "the dead man must speak: let Simon leave the bed-side, and we shall see whether the young man is alive." Simon went aside, and the deceased no longer stirred, but Peter brought him to life with a single word.

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Simon went and complained to the emperor that a miserable Galilean had taken upon himself to work greater wonders than he. Simon was confronted with Peter, and they made a trial of skill. "Tell me," said Simon to Peter, "what I am thinking of." If," returned Peter," the emperor will give me a barley loaf, thou shalt find whether or not I know what thou hast in thy heart." A loaf was given him: Simon immediately caused two large dogs to appear, and they wanted to devour it. Peter threw them the loaf; and while

they were eating it, he said-" Well: did I not know thy thoughts? thou wouldst have had thy dogs devour

me."

After this first sitting, it was proposed that Simon and Peter should make a flying-match, and try which could raise himself highest in the air. Simon tried first: Peter made the sign of the cross, and down came Simon and broke his legs. This story was imitated from that which we find in the "Sepher toldos Jeschut," where it is said that Jesus himself flew, and that Judas, who would have done the same, fell headlong.

Nero, vexed that Peter had broken his favourite Simon's legs, had him crucified with his head downwards. Hence the notion of St. Peter's residence at Rome, the manner of his execution, and his sepulchre.

The same Abdias established the belief that St. Thomas went and preached Christianity in India to king Gondafer, and that he went thither as an architect.

The number of books of this sort, written in the early ages of Christianity, is prodigious.

St. Jerome, and even St. Augustin, tell us, that the letters of Seneca and St. Paul are quite authentic. In the first of these letters, Seneca hopes his brother Paul is well-" Bene te valere, frater, cupio." Paul does not write quite so good Latin as Seneca:-"I received your letters yesterday," says he, "with joy."-"Litteras tuas hilaris accepi." "And I would have answered them immediately, had I had the presence of the young man whom I would have sent with them."- "Si præsentiam juvenis habuissem." Unfortunately, these letters, in which one would look for instruction, are nothing more than compliments.

All these falsehoods, forged by ill-informed and mistakenly-zealous Christians, were in no degree prejudicial to the truth of Christianity; they obstructed not its progress; on the contrary, they show us that the Christian society was daily increasing, and that each member was desirous of hastening its growth.

The Acts of the Apostles do not tell us that the

apostles agreed on a symbol. Indeed, if they had put together the symbol (the creed, as we now call it) St. Luke could not, in his history, have omitted this essential basis of the Christian religion. The substance of the creed is scattered through the gospels; but the articles were not collected until long after.

In short, our creed is, indisputably, the belief of the Apostles; but it was not written by them. Rufinus, a priest of Aquileia, is the first who mentions it; and a homily attributed to St. Augustin is the first record of the supposed way in which this creed was made,-Peter saying, when they were assembled, "I believe in God the Father Almighty"-Andrew," and in Jesus Christ”—-James, "who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;" and so of the rest.

This formula was called, in Greek symbolos, and in Latin collatio. Only it must be observed, that the Greek version has it" I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth."-In the Latin, maker, former, is rendered by "creatorem.' But afterwards, in translating the symbol of the first council of Nice, it was rendered by "factorem."

Constantine assembled at Nice, opposite to Constantinople, the first oecumenical council, over which Ozius presided. The great question touching the divinity of Jesus Christ, which so much agitated the church, was there decided. One party held the opinion of Origen; who says, in his sixth chapter against Celsus" We offer our prayers to God through Christ, who holds the middle place between nations created and uncreated; who leads us to the grace of his father, and presents our prayers to the great God, in quality of our high priest." These disputants also rest upon many passages of St. Paul, some of which they quote. They depend particularly upon these words of Jesus Christ-" My father is greater than I;"—and they regard Jesus as the first-born of the creation; as a pure emanation of the Supreme Being, but not precisely as God.

The other side, who were orthodox, produced passages more conformable to the eternal divinity of Jesus; as, for example, the following" My Father and I are one" words which their opponents interpret as signifying "My Father and I have the same object, the same intention: I have no other will than that of my Father." Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and after him Athanasius, were at the head of the orthodox; and Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, with seventeen other bishops, the priest Arius, and many more priests, led the party opposed to them. The quarrel was at first exceedingly bitter, as St. Alexander treated his opponents as so many antichrists.

At last, after much disputation, the Holy Ghost decided in the council, by the mouths of two hundred and ninety-nine bishops, against eighteen, as follows:"Jesus is the only son of God; begotten of the Father; light of light; very God of very God; of one substance with the Father. We believe also in the Holy Ghost," &c. &c. Such was the decision of the council; and we perceive, by this fact, how the bishops carried it over the simple priests. Two thousand persons of the latter class were of the opinion of Arius, according to the account of two patriarchs of Alexandria, who have written the annals of Alexandria in Arabic. Arius was exiled by Constantine, as was Athanasius soon after, when Arius was recalled to Constantinople. Upon this event, St. Macarius prayed so vehemently to God to terminate the life of Arius, before he could enter the cathedral, that God heard his prayer,-Arius dying in his way to church, in 330. The emperor Constantine ended his life in 337. He placed his will in the hands of an Arian priest, and died in the arms of the Arian leader Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, not receiving baptism until on his death-bed, and leaving a triumphant, but divided church.

The partisans of Athanasius and of Eusebius carried on a cruel war; and what is called Arianism was for a long time established in all the provinces of the empire.

VOL. II.

Julian the philosopher, surnamed the Apostate, wished to stifle their divisions, but could not succeed.

The second general council was held at Constantinople in 318. It was there laid down, that the council of Nice had not decided quite correctly in regard to the Holy Ghost; and it added to the Nicene creed, that "the Holy Ghost was the giver of life, and proceeded from the Father, and with the Father and Son is to be worshipped and glorified."

It was not until towards the ninth century that the Latin church decreed, that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son.

In the year 431, the third council-general, held at Ephesus, decided that Jesus had "two natures and one person.' Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who maintained that the Virgin Mary should be entitled Mother of Christ, was called Judas by the council; and the "two natures" were again confirmed by the council of Chalcedon.

I pass lightly. over the following centuries, which are sufficiently known. Unhappily, all these disputes led to wars, and the church was uniformly obliged to combat. God, in order to exercise the patience of the faithful, also allowed, that the Greek and Latin churches should finally separate, in the ninth century. He likewise permitted, in the east, no less than twentynine horrible schisms with the see of Rome.

If there be about six hundred millions of men upon earth, as certain learned persons pretend, the holy Roman catholic church possesses scarcely sixteen millions of them—about a twenty-sixth part of the inhabitants of the known world.*

CHRISTMAS.

EVERY one knows that this is the feast of the nativity of Jesus. The most ancient feast kept in the

* See sketch of the history of the Christian Church, under the article CHURCH.