s of the Capitol,
while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the temple of
Jupiter." Yet I suppose Gibbon's fifteenth chapter is scarcely to Mr.
Henson's taste. Had I "been there" with Mr. Henson, I too might have had
my reflections, and I might have thrown this Freethought _douche_ on his
Christian ardor. "Yes, the Cross _has_ triumphed. There it gleams over
the dome of St. Peter's, the mightiest church in the world. Below it,
until the recent subversion of the Pope's temporal power, walked the
most ignorant, beggarly and criminal population in Europe. What are
these to the men who built up the glory of ancient Rome? What is their
city to the magnificent city of old, among whose ruins they walk like
pigmies amid the relics of giants? This time-eaten, weather-beaten
Colosseum saw many a gladiator 'butchered to make a Roman holiday.' But
has not Christian Rome witnessed many a viler spectacle? Has it not seen
hundreds of noble men burnt alive in the name of Christ? When Rome
was Pagan, thought was free. Gladiatorial shows satisfied the bestial
craving in vulgar breasts, but the philosophers and poets were
unfettered, and the intellect of the few was gradually achieving the
redemption of the many. When Rome was Christian, she introduced a new
slavery. Thought was scourged and chained, while the cruel instincts
of the multitude were gratified with exhibitions of suffering, compared
with which the bloodiest arena was tame and insipid. Your Christian
Rome, in the superb metaphor of Hobbes, was but the ghost of Pagan Rome,
sitting throned and crowned on the grave thereof; nay, a ghoul, feeding
not on the dead limbs of men, but on their living hearts and brains.
Look at your Cross! Before Christ appeared it was the symbol of life;
since it has been the symbol of misery and humiliation; and in the
name of your Crucified One the people have been crucified between the
spiritual and temporal thieves. But happily your Cross has had its day.
St. Peter's may yet crumble before the Colosseum, and the statue of a
Bruno may outlast the walls of the Vatican."

CHRIST UP TO DATE.

This is an age of weak conviction and strong pretence. Christianity is
perishing of intellectual atrophy. Its scriptures and its dogmas are
falling into more and more discredit. Mr. Gladstone may defend the
Bible with passionate devotion and lofty ignorance, but better informed
Christians see that the Old Testament is doomed. They say it must be