carefully peruse, disqualifies himself for forming a judgment of their
veracity. The confirmation of the four facts already established, of
the existence, worship, morals, and sufferings of the disciples of
Christ; and these facts as well known within thirty years after his
death, will sufficiently appear by the perusal of the following
testimony of Tacitus.[78]

After relating the burning of the city, and Nero's attempt to transfer
the odium of it to the sect "commonly known by the name of Christians,"
he says:

"The author of that name was Christ, who, in the reign of
Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal, under the
procurator, Pontius Pilate. But this pestilent superstition,
checked for a while, broke out afresh, and spread not only
over Judea, where the evil originated, but also in Rome, where
all that is evil on the earth finds its way, and is practiced.
At first, those only were apprehended who confessed themselves
of that sect; afterward, _a vast multitude_ discovered by
them; all of whom were condemned, not so much for the crime of
burning the city, as for their enmity to mankind. Their
executions were so contrived, as to expose them to derision
and contempt. Some were covered over with the skins of wild
beasts, that they might be torn to pieces by dogs; some were
crucified; while others, having been daubed over with
combustible materials, were set up for lights in the night
time, and thus burned to death. For these spectacles Nero gave
his own gardens, and, at the same time, exhibited there the
diversions of the circus; sometimes standing in the crowd as a
spectator, in the habit of a charioteer; and, at other times,
driving a chariot himself; until at length these men, though
really criminal, and deserving of exemplary punishment, began
to be commiserated, as people who were destroyed, not out of
regard to the public welfare, but only to gratify the cruelty
of one man."

We add no comment on this remarkable passage. Take up your New Testament
and read the contemporary history--Acts xxii. to the end of the
book--and the letters of Paul from Rome, to Philemon, Titus, the
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the Second to Timothy, written
when the aged prisoner was ready to be offered, and the time of his
departure, amidst such scenes and sufferings, was at hand. Then form
your own op