toward the Christians, whom the great men of those times did not suppose entitled to the common equity vouchsafed to all other people. However, he also, like our Pliny, was at length overcome by their resolution and steadfastness in the cause of what they were persuaded was the truth, and important truth.

a

I have taken notice of the sentiments of some learned men, of late times, who have been very ready to magnify the moderation of Trajan, and his proprætor Pliny. I shall now take notice of some other things. For Grotius, who thought Trajan to be pointed at by St. John [Rev. xiii. 18,] says that Trajan shed as much Christian blood as Nero and Domitian. Which may be true: for the cruel edicts of Nero and Domitian were soon abrogated: but Trajan being generally reckoned by the Romans a good emperor, his rescript subsisted long in force, and by virtue of it many suffered in every part of the empire for a long time; as Pliny says in a letter to Trajan, in which he proposeth his making an ordinance for settling some affairs relating to Pontus and Bithynia: For it well becomes you, whose every word and action deserves immortality, to give laws that shall be for ever permanent.'

d

I shall now also subjoin some other observations of Grotius, in which he declares it to be his opinion that the persecution ordered by Trajan began in the tenth year of his reign, and that, by virtue of his edict, Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, and Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, suffered martyrdom.

VIII. As I have enlarged in my remarks upon the foregoing letter and rescript, and have passed very free censures upon the writers of them, it may be of some use to observe their several characters more distinctly; whereby, possibly, we may be able to discern how it came to pass that so renowned men as Pliny and Trajan treated the Christians so hardly.

e

Pliny, as I suppose, was a dutiful child, and he was very respectful to the memory of his uncle, by whom he was adopted for his son. He evidently was a loving husband, a good master, a faithful friend, and a kind and generous benefactor to many. He was also a friend to civil liberty, and an enemy to tyrants. Withal he was a good writer. To that he owes the immortal fame of which he was desirous. To that we likewise are indebted for the advantages which we may receive from his Panegyric and Epistles, still remaining. If to a friendly temper for particular persons he had added a love of mankind in general, his conduct might have been more unexceptionable than it was. His virtue and his wisdom had a trial when he met with Christians in the province which he was sent to govern. And when they were brought before him he failed, as seems to me, in a proper regard to the rules of justice and equity.

But before I proceed to any such things, as may be imagined to have been in part the sources of some wrong conduct, I must expatiate farther in the detail of his amiable qualifications, which may be easily collected from his letters, and are such as may deserve the imitation, and excite the ardour, of Christians themselves.

Several of his letters are written to his friend Tacitus, all of them very agreeable. One of them, particularly, is a mirror of intimate, sincere, and delightful friendship.

Many of his letters express compassion and tenderness for the distressed and afflicted. His letter to Marcellinus, where he laments the death of Junius Avitus, is very affecting. Catanæus admires and commends it as superior to all the rest.

a Vid. Annot. ad Apoc. cap. xiii. ver. 18. et Comment. ad loca quædam N. T. quæ de Antichristo agunt, p. 470. Opp.

Tom. 3.

b Multum vero errant, qui sub Trajano, quamvis cætera non malo principe, minus sanguinis effusum putant quam sub Nerone et Domitiano. Horum enim sævitia ferme circa Romam stetit, illius per omnes provincias pervagata est. Nec Nec quisquam est, qui hujus persecutionis oblitus sit, veterum Christianorum, qui persecutionum nobis numerum recensent, ut Eusebius, Augustinus, Orosius, alii. In Epistolâ ad Plinium inquiri quidem eos vetat; sed puniri vult, si accusentur. Accusatores autem nusquam deerant. Grot. respons. ad St. Curcell. in calc. Annot. ad N. T.

Nam quod in perpetuum mansurum est, a te constitui debet, cujus factis dictisque debetur æternitas. 1. x. ep. 113. d Sub Domitiano, ut omnes sciunt, acerbissima fuerat Christianorum vexatio. Nerva uno edicto omnia Domitiani edicta

sustulit, inter quæ et alia contra Christianos, quorum plurimi ab exiliis reversi, ut Eusebius in Chronico et Historiâ notat. Resuscitavit sævitiam novo edicto Trajanus anno principatûs sui decimo, ut idem Eusebius notat, Historiæ iii. 27-Quibus addi potest notissima Plinii epistola de pœnis Christianorum, et Tertullianus Apologetico. Ex eo edicto crucifixus Simon, filius Cleopa, Hierosolymorum Episcopus; Ignatius Antiochenæ Ecclesiæ Episcopus Romæ feris objectus; notante utrumque Eusebio. Grot. ut supr. T. 3, p. 471.

Me autem nihil æque ac diuturnitatis amor et cupido solicitat; res homine dignissima, præsertim qui nullius sibi conscius culpæ, posteritatis memoriam non reformidet. L. v. ep. 8. Lib. 7. ep. 20. 8 Lib. 8. ep. 23.

Impar igitur tanto dolori, (concepto ex Junii Aviti morte) Marcellino rem totam per hanc epistolam exponit, inter pulchriores pulcherrimam, inter tristiores tristissimam, inter amantiores amantissimam. Catan.

a

In another letter he well represents the benefit of sickness. Then,' says he, we recollect 'that there are gods, and we know ourselves to be but men.' And he thinks it may be laid down as a short rule, more valuable than many volumes of philosophical speculations, that we should ' endeavour to be in health, what we promised to be when sick.'

He has an excellent letter, written in a fine turn of expression, in behalf of forgiving injuries, or at least covering and hiding any offences which we have received. I must transcribe' below a large part of this letter, though I do not translate it. However, he recommends it as a good rule to be inexorable to our own failings, whilst we treat those of the rest of the world with tenderness, * not excepting even such as forgive none but themselves.'

After reading these, and other letters, written in a moving and affectionate manner, we may be disposed to wish that Pliny had never met with those people called Christians, whose only fault was, that they differed from him, and most others, in things of religion; and whose great unhappiness it was, that they were generally despised, and their principles unknown, and supposed to be unworthy to be inquired into and considered.

C

When old Simeon saw the child Jesus presented by Joseph and Mary at the temple, he said, under the influence of the prophetic Spirit: "Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against-that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed:" Luke ii. 34, 35. Which prophecy was afterwards fulfilled among the people of Israel, in the times of our Saviour and his apostles: and has been oftentimes verified since in other people and other countries. By the proposal of the gospel men have been tried; and it has been discovered whether they were lovers of truth, and open to conviction, or not. I therefore proceed.

с

d

It has been said that Pliny was indifferent about things of religion. On the other hand, I think, he was credulous and superstitious. His credulity is sufficiently manifest from his long letter, in which he gravely relates divers silly stories in support of the reality of apparitions. I might also refer to his long letter concerning the dolphin at Hippo, that carried boys upon its back: though that letter is written with more pleasantry. And perhaps we may hereafter observe more proofs of this weakness of our author.

His veneration for the gods is apparent, and shews itself upon every occasion.

h

Pliny begins and ends his panegyric upon Trajan in very devout_addresses and thanksgivings to Jupiter, and the other deities, founders and guardians of the Roman empire. I before referred to some of his letters to Trajan from the province, shewing how devoutly he and the people there celebrated the anniversary of his empire.

Upon occasion of private, as well as public, concerns, he always adores the gods. His wife, having had an abortion, he writes to her grandfather, that he should however give thanks to the gods for her safety, and that there were still hopes of her having children.

-Possum

a Tunc Deos, tunc hominem esse se meminit. ergo, quod pluribus verbis, plurimis voluminibus philosophi docere conantur, ipse breviter tibi mihique præcipere, ut tales esse sani perseveremus, quales nos futuri profitemur infirmi. L. 7, ep. 26.

ს Atque ego optimum et emendatissimum existimo, qui cæteris ita ignoscit, tamquam ipse quotidie peccet; ita peccatis abstinet, tanquam nemini ignoscat. Proinde hoc domi, hoc foris, hoc in omni vitæ genere teneamus, ut nobis implacabiles simus, exorabiles istis etiam, qui dare veniam nisi sibi nesciunt -Fortasse quæris, quo commotus hæc scribam? Quidam nuper. Sed melius coram. Quamquam ne tunc quidem, &c. L. 8. ep. 22.

-nolen

c Unum gestit interdum, ne ignorata damneturtes audire, quod auditum damnare non possint. Hanc itaque primam causam apud vos collocamus iniquitatis odii erga nomen Christianorum,-ignorantia scilicet. Quid enim iniquius, quam ut oderint homines quod ignorant, etiam si res meretur odium? Tunc enim meretur, cum cognoscitur an mereatur. Vacante autem meriti notitiâ, unde odii justitia defenditur? Tertull. Ap. cap. i.

d Quare nec oderat eos, licet deorum contemtores, quos quippe et ipsemet, homo philosophus, contemnebat, ac secum animo suaviter ridebat. Exemplo scilicet avunculi sui, qui

Hist. Nat. 2. vii. patriæ suæ deos ridet, et socordiam esse ju-
dicat, credere deos innumeros. Heuman. De Persec. Plinian.
e L. 7. ep. 27.
f L. 9. ep. 33.

sect. v.

• I cannot but wonder that this should have been overlooked by any learned men. It is acknowledged again and again by Colonia, tom. 2. p. 49, 50. Il fit toujours gloire d'étre fort religieux, &c. See him quoted more at large by and bye.

h Bene ac sapienter, Patres C. majores instituerant, ut rerum agendarum, ita dicendi initium a precationibus capere: quod nihil rite, nihilque providenter homines sine deorum immortalium ope, consilio, honore, auspicarentur Quo magis aptum piumque est, te, Jupiter optime maxime, antea conditorem, nunc conservatorem imperii nostri, precari, ut mihi digna Consule, digna Senatu, digna Principe contingat oratio. Paneg. cap. i.

In fine orationis præsides custodesque imperii deos ego Consul pro rebus humanis, at te præcipue, Capitoline Jupiter, precor, ut beneficiis tuis faveas, tantisque muneribus addas perpetuitatem. Cap. 94.

* Lib. x. ep. 44, 45, 60, 61, 101-104. Vid. et ep. 9. Igitur-sic debes agere diis gratias, quod ita in præsentia pronepotes negaverint, ut servârint neptem, &c. L. 3, ep. 10. Conf. 1. 8. ep. 1.

In a letter to one of his friends, he tells him he had lately purchased, with a legacy that was ⚫ left him, a statue of Corinthian brass, which appeared to him to be antique, and was so highly • finished as to deserve the attention of the curious.' Well, how is this masterpiece to be disposed of? He goes on: I bought it not with any intent of placing it in my own house, (for I have ⚫ nothing of that kind there,) but with a design of fixing it in some conspicuous place, in my native country, and in the temple of Jupiter; for it is a present worthy of a temple and ' a god.'

He built several temples at his own expense. His letter relating to the temple of Ceres deserves to be read throughout. It begins with these words: In compliance with the advice of the Aruspices, I intend to rebuild and enlarge the temple of Ceres, which stands upon my 'estate.'

Concerning another temple of his building he writes in a letter to Fabatus, his wife's grandfather. He and his wife were going to make him a visit; but Pliny makes excuses for a short delay, because he would first go and consecrate that temple. We shall stop only once, and that for a short time; intending to turn a little out of the way in order to go to Tuscany.

• There is a town near my estate, called Tifernum, upon the Tiber, which put itself under my patronage when I was yet a youth- -that I may return their good offices, I have built a temple in this place at my own expense. As it is finished, it would be a sort of impiety to ' omit the dedication of it any longer: "differre longius irreligiosum est." We design there'fore to be there on the day that the ceremony is to be performed. And I have resolved to 'celebrate it with a grand feast.'

He speaks of erecting another temple, which was entirely new, in a place where had been none before; where he intended to place all the statues of the Roman emperors which he had in his possession. And he asks leave of Trajan that he might set up his statue there also. In a letter to Maximus, who was going into Achaia, he writes to this purpose: • You will consider yourself as sent to that noble province of Achaia, the real and genuine "Greece. Revere the gods their founders, those venerable deities. Respect the ancient glory of this people.. -Pay a regard to their antiquity, to their noble exploits, and even

to their fictions.'

This letter of advice is written with uncommon earnestness, that Maximus might act worthy of himself, and not lose in Greece any part of that reputation which he had gained by his quæstorship in Bithynia, and the discharge of other offices in which he had been employed. And can we think that Pliny neglected such rules himself when he was governor in Bithynia? Pliny, as before said, was augur. It was an office which he much valued, and which he asked of Trajan in this manner: I beg you will be graciously pleased to add either the office of augur, or septemvir (both of which are now vacant,) to the dignity which I already enjoy by your indulgence, that I may have the satisfaction of offering up those vows for your pros'perity, from the duty of my office, which I daily prefer to the gods in private from the affection of my heart.'

Pliny was greatly delighted with his being appointed augur: My advancement,' says he to Arrian, is indeed an honour that justly merits the congratulation which you give me.-It is also an ancient and sacred institution, which has this high and peculiar privilege annexed to it-that it is for life. Other sacerdotal honours, though they may be not much inferior in dignity, yet as they are given, so they may be taken away; upon this, fortune has no power 'but to bestow it. What recommends this dignity to me still more is, that I have the honour ' to succeed so illustrious a person as Julius Frontinus; who for many years, upon the nomi'nation-day of proper persons to be taken into the sacred college, constantly proposed me, as if he had a view to my being his successor.'

This last mentioned particular certainly deserves some notice. Pliny's usual character was such as to shew him to be a very fit person for this honourable priesthood.

a

In another letter also he relates how that eminent man Virginius Rufus often recommended him as a person well qualified for the priesthood.

The business of the augurs, as is said, was to interpret dreams, oracles, prodigies, and to foretel whether any action should be fortunate or prejudicial to particular persons, or to the whole commonwealth. And it appears, from our Pliny's letters to his friends, that he thought he had a happy talent for interpreting dreams, and could give a shrewd conjecture, at least, how far they were to be depended upon, and whether they foreboded success or disappointment in any undertaking.

с

None can contest his credulity and superstition who observe what he says describing the river Clitumnus. Near it,' says he, stands an ancient and venerable temple, wherein is placed [the river god] Clitumnus, clothed in a splendid robe; whose immediate presence the prophetic oracles, there delivered, sufficiently testify.'

I am not singular in my judgment concerning Pliny's respect for the heathen deities, and his zeal for upholding their worship. Colonia expresseth himself very clearly to the like purpose.d

I think I ought not to omit that Pliny did not condemn combats of gladiators, or other things usually accompanying those cruel entertainments. He seems to have approved of them upon some occasions. This appears from a letter to his friend Maximus. You were extremely in 'the right,' says he, to promise a combat of gladiators to our good friends, the citizens of Verona; not only as they have long distinguished you with their peculiar esteem and veneration, but as it was thence also you received the amiable object of your affection, your late 'excellent wife. And since you owed some monument, or public shew, to her memory, what • other spectacle could you exhibit more proper to the occasion ?The readiness with which 'you granted this request, and the magnificent manner in which you performed it, is much to your honour.I am sorry that the African panthers, which you had largely provided for • that purpose, did not arrive time enough. But though they were delayed by the tempestuous 'season, the obligation to you is equally the same, since it was not your fault that they were 'not exhibited.'

g

The emperor Trajan has been admired and applauded by many. And it must be owned that he was an eminent person, and had many good qualities. Crevier begins his history of this emperor in this manner: Trajan is justly esteemed the best and greatest prince the Romans ever had.' His distinguished title was that of Optimus, given him by the senate, and all the people in general. 'But,' as a learned man says, that" title among the Romans does not denote a man of excellent morals, as if he were another Socrates, but only kind, courteous, obliging, agreeable; implying that he behaved respectfully toward the senate, and was gra

i

sic illo die, quo sacerdotes solent nominare quos dignissimos sacerdotio judicant, me semper nominabat. L. 2. ep. 1.

Vid. 1. i. ep. 18. Conf. 1. 5. ep. 5.

Adjacet templum, priscum et religiosum. Stat Clitumnus ipse amictus ornatusque prætextâ. Præsens numen, atque etiam fatidicum, indicant sortes. L. 8. ep. 8.

◄ Mais il eut encore une attention plus particulière à faire fleurir par tout la culte des Dieux. Car il fit toujours gloire d'être fort religieux, comme il parôit, entre autres choses, par les grands mouvements qu'il se donna pour faire transporter dans un lieu plus décent le vieux temple de la Grande Mère des dieux, c'est-à-dire de Cybèle, qui étoit à Nicomédie, [1. x. ep. 58.] et par le soin qu' il eut de faire bâtir à ses propres frais un temple dans une de ses terres, assez près de Tifernum. Cet entêtement singulier de Pline pour les dieux, et pour les erreurs de Paganisme, doit paroître certainement quelque chose d'assez bizarre dans un aussi bel esprit que lui, qui devoit, ce semble, par mille raisons, s' être mis fort au dessus des frivoles préjugés du vulgaire. Colonnia La Religion Chrêtienne autorisee, &c. T. 2, p. 49, 50.

Recte fecisti, quod gladiatorium munus Veronensibus nostris promisisti. L. 6. ep. 34.

f — cujus memoriæ aut opus aliquod, aut spectaculum, atque hoc potissimum, quod maxime funeri, debeatur. Ibid. 8 Jam, quid tam civile, tam senatorium, quam illud additum a nobis Optimi cognomen? Plin. Pan. cap. 2. Justisne de causis Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimi tibi cognomen adjecit? Ib. cap. 88.

Conf. Dion. 1. 68. p. 1138. Vid. ibid. Reimar. not. sect.. 44. Tillem. note vi. sur Trajan. et Pagi ann. 103. n. ix. et ann. cxi.

h Cum Trajanus nominatus fuit a Romanis Optimus, hoc vocabulum non significat hominem virtutum moralium, et alterum quasi Socratem. Romani enim tales homines non magni faciebant- -Quid ergo sibi volebat ille Romanorum titulus? scilicet significabant eos Trajanum habere mores, qui ipsis placerent maxime. Faciebat enim quidquid gratum esse Senatui intelligebat, quidquid Populo. Hujus voluptatibus, illius ambitioni indulgendi nullam dimittebat occasionem. En Imperatorem judicio populi optimum. Heuman. De Persecutione Christian. Plinian, p. 146.

* Και τῳτε δημῳ μετ' επιεικίας συνεγένετο, και τη γερεσία σεμνοπρεπώς ώμιλεί αγαπητος μεν πασι, φοβερος δε μηδενι πOXELIDIS, WY. Dion. p. 1124.

⚫cious and condescending toward the people, conversing familiarly with them, indulging them in their pleasures, gratifying their humour, and affording them magnificent spectacles.'

And it may be not unfitly observed by us, that we have not Pliny's panegyric upon Trajan, as it was pronounced by him in the senate. For, as we know from himself, he afterwards enlarged and improved it, not only for more fully doing justice to the emperor himself, but also that it might be the model of an excellent prince, for the imitation of others in time to come.

Trajan's piety to the gods is acknowledged. The emperor's and his panegyrist's piety go hand in hand. In that justly admired performance Pliny celebrates his master as a humble worshipper of the gods. And he says, that Trajan placed his predecessor, Nerva, among the gods, not to please the people, nor out of any disrespect to the deities, nor with a view of honour to himself upon that account, but because he really believed him to be a god.' And,

in a letter formerly referred to, representing his own vows, and the vows of the province in which he was, he says: We implored the gods to preserve you and the republic in safety and prosperity, with that peculiar mark of their beneficence, which not only your other many and great virtues, but particularly your distinguished piety and reverence of them, deserve.'

Though Trajan has been much applauded by men of former and later times, as excelling in the arts of peace and war, temperate, mild, equitable; such was the impartiality of divers of the ancient historians, that they have not scrupled to record some very great faults which he was guilty of.

He is said to have indulged himself at some seasons in excess of eating and drinking: and he is charged with a vice not fit to be named. Some would set aside this charge, as if the testimony of Dion Cassius was liable to suspicion; but there is no reason for it: Dion was as likely to be well informed as any man. His only fault is, that he does not condemn the vice with the severity which it deserved: and' and Trajan's guilt is attested also by other witnesses, altogether unexceptionable.

Trajan was fond of the combats of gladiators. Dion says that, after he had triumphed for his first victory over the Dacians, he exhibited in the amphitheatre shews of gladiators, of whom he was very fond; and introduced dancers into the theatre, being enamoured with one of them.' And after the second victory over the Dacians, the same historian, or Xiphilinus from him, says, there' were shews continued for an hundred and three-and-twenty days, in