Classical Theology.—Xxv.

Areopagus from ever being reAvardcd with the honour of a crown , however great mig ht have been their judicial seri'ices . None were permitted , lest the accusation might afterwards arise of buying or bribing justice by the promise to wear one : On the day of trial the plaintiff and defendant took

direful oaths , calling down imprecations upon their own heads if they should speak falsely . These ancient litigants were sworn , not as with us , upon the book most sacred to Gocl , but on a sacrifice of the goat , the ram , or the bull , performed in honour of Jupiter . They ivere then placecl upon two silver stools , that for the accuser

"being called vppis , " of injury , " the other for the prisoner , " AraiSem , " of impudence . " Some write this " Apm-em , after the name of the goddess of innocence , whose worship was almost peculiar to the Athenians . There were also placed in the court two urns , one of which was of brass and had the name of Kipio , or 6 tynrpoeev , nipios , Bavara , alludtling to the spot AA'here it stood , and because the sound it made when the calculi or the black pebbles were cast

into it implied that a clear charge hacl been made out , and a certain conviction decided on , often that of death . The other urn was of wood , and named 6 Bsrepoy , i > EVISOJ , and o aiwpos , because the votes of those who acquitted the the accused , or more probably both the white and black calculi were thrown therein ; this was placed beside or

just behind the brass one . In this manner Socrates was condemned—no less than tAio hundred and ei g hty , at that time a large majority , balloting against him . He was allowed , however , the strange favour of choosing for himself the means to accomplish his mortal end . The crime of which the philosopher was accused was not that

of being a wizard ; his real offence was that of covertly making knovni the Hebraic doctrine of a certain spiritual omnipresence , and of the agency of an unknoAvn , or what they professed to consider , a strange gocl . In fact , they saicl he was "a setter up of strange gods . " The most perspicuous ancl popular of oracles , that of Delos , however , had pronounced this great philosopher to be ' ¦ 'the wise man . "

The next greatest of the learned after Socrates ( and a still more pre-eminent teacher ) AVIIO , like the Athenian sage , was summoned before this court of Areopagus , was the miraculously or supernaturally enlightened apostle Saint Paul , whose own eloquent words , ( Acts , xvii ) , give a highly finished and comprehensive account of the procedure of the Areopagitai in his time : —

" And they ivho conducted Paul brought him unto Athens , and receiving a commandment unto Silas ancl Timotheus for to come to him with all speed , they departed . NOAV while Paul waited for them at Athens , his spirit was stirred in him , Avlien he saiv the city ivliolly given to idolatry . Therefore , disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews , and ivith the devout persons , and in the market daily with them

that met with him . Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans , and of the Stoicks , encounted him , and some said , What will this babbler say ? other some , He secmeth to be a setter forth of strange gods ; because ho preached unto them Jesus , and the resurrection , And they took him , and brought him to Areopagus , saying , May we know what this neiv doctrine , whereof thou speakest , is ? For thou bringest

certain strange things to our ears , ive ivould knoiv therefore what these things mean . ( For all the Athenians and strangers ivhich wore there spent their time in nothing else , but either to tell , or to hear some new thing . ) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill , and saicl , Yemen of Athens , I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious . For as I passed band beheld devotionsI found an altar

y your , with this inscription : To TUB UXKLXOAVX Gem . Whom , therefore , ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you . Gocl that made the world and all things therein , seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth , clwclleth not in temples made with hands : neither is worshipped with men's hands

as though he needed anything , seeing he giveth to all life ,. ancl breath , and all things : aud hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth , and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitations : that they should seek the Lord , if haply they might feel after him , and find him . though he be not far from every one of us : for in him ive live , and move , and have

our being ; as certain also of your own poets have said , For Ave are all his offspring . Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of Gocl , ive ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver , or stones , graven by art and men ' s devices . And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but noiv commandeth all men everywhere to repent : because he hath appointed a day , in the ivhich he

will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from the dead . And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead , some mocked ; and others said , We will hear thee again of this matter . So Paul departed from among them . Hoivbeit certain men clave unto him , and believed : among the which was Dionysius , the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris , and others AA'ith them . "

This Dionysius was an Athenian nobleman ; whose friend Eegulus likewise became a disci ple and the first bishop of Senlis in France . At the coming of the holy man , it is related , that all the idols there were shaken and tumbled to the ground , by supernatural agency , whereby many were at once converted , to the Christian

faith . Paid was an affiliated Eoman Jew , Cilicia then being a province of Italy , and Tarsus ( the place of his birth ) , its capital ; and as being so affranchised , it would have been dangerous for the Athenians to have meddled ' with the liberties of a Eoman , ei * en if the events of time had failed to change .

But Plato himself , had he not concealed from the public those doctrines which he taught privately , woidd like Socrates , in all probability , have been arraigned , and have suffered a similar penalty for introducing , as he did , out of Egypt and Syria , the contemplation and worshi p of the majesty of one supreme God . If then these tAvo

pre-eminently great Grecian r / hilosophers could accomplish but little ; and although like Elijah and Elisha to the Jewish nation , they were in a manner the heai'enward stepping stones to the Gentile world , it is eA'ident , that it required a something more than these—a "greater than Solomon , " to shatter idols in the dust ,

and to point out the direct way to Him " who made the world , and all things therein . " Forasmuch as we are the offspring of God , "He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom lie hath ordained ; whereof lie hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from tho dead . "

By a decree of Adrian—ivhich , though it offended many , none dared to dispute—the power of masters over their slaves was considerably circumscribed ; they were no longer suffered by the mere dictates of their own cruelty and arbitary caprice to put a bondman or a slave to death . Even in the reign- of Nero , infamous as

that name is in history , and perpetuated by the memory of his cruelties , holders of slaves AA'ere forced to assign to them judiciary treatment . Christianit y had commenced its work in good earnest , ancl putting a final end to unlimited speculation , and extending a mildnessand gentleness of behaviour toivard all creaturesand

, continuing its growth to this end . The Christians themselves taught this to their slaves , and encouraged them to embrace their faith . They thought it not only wicked , but unnatural , that beings endued with faculties and feelings like themseli'es , similar in form and colour , should be treated no better than animals devoid of