rsecute them. I am surprised that more stress has not been
laid on the confirmation which the Acts of the Apostles derive from
these words of Tacitus, Repressa in praesens, and rursus erumpebat.--G.
----I have been unwilling to suppress this note, but surely the
expression of Tacitus refers to the expected extirpation of the religion
by the death of its founder, Christ.--M.]

[Footnote 32: Odio humani generis convicti. These words may either
signify the hatred of mankind towards the Christians, or the hatred of
the Christians towards mankind. I have preferred the latter sense, as
the most agreeable to the style of Tacitus, and to the popular error, of
which a precept of the gospel (see Luke xiv. 26) had been, perhaps, the
innocent occasion. My interpretation is justified by the authority of
Lipsius; of the Italian, the French, and the English translators of
Tacitus; of Mosheim, (p. 102,) of Le Clerc, (Historia Ecclesiast. p.
427,) of Dr. Lardner, (Testimonies, vol. i. p. 345,) and of the Bishop
of Gloucester, (Divine Legation, vol. iii. p. 38.) But as the word
convicti does not unite very happily with the rest of the sentence,
James Gronovius has preferred the reading of conjuncti, which is
authorized by the valuable MS. of Florence.]

[Footnote 33: Tacit. Annal xv. 44.]

[Footnote 34: Nardini Roma Antica, p. 487. Donatus de Roma Antiqua, l.
iii. p. 449.]

But it would be improper to dismiss this account of Nero's persecution,
till we have made some observations that may serve to remove the
difficulties with which it is perplexed, and to throw some light on the
subsequent history of the church.

1. The most sceptical criticism is obliged to respect the truth of this
extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated passage of
Tacitus. The former is confirmed by the diligent and accurate Suetonius,
who mentions the punishment which Nero inflicted on the Christians, a
sect of men who had embraced a new and criminal superstition. [35] The
latter may be proved by the consent of the most ancient manuscripts;
by the inimitable character of the style of Tacitus by his reputation,
which guarded his text from the interpolations of pious fraud; and by
the purport of his narration, which accused the first Christians of
the most atrocious crimes, without insinuating that they possessed any
miraculous or even magical powers above the rest of mankind. [36] 2.
Notwithstanding it is probable that Tacitus was born some years