but flatter myself, that the accounts of the wonderful displays of the grace of God, which are here imperfectly related, will be read with pleasure by many, in the present and in future generations.

My desire has been, to record on the page of history, important events, which were fast sinking into oblivion; to arrange in one view those which were already recorded, and to place the history of the American Baptists on such a foundation, that it may easily be continued by the future historian.

I have found it difficult in many cases, to fix the date of events, which have been taken from the enfeebled memories of the aged, or from documents in part obliterated, and throughout indefinite and obscure. Cases have not unfrequently occurred, where aged people, could not perfectly agree among themselves respecting things which transpired in their youth. Correspondents have communicated accounts, which did not always agree with each other. Young men have stated things according to tradition, and old men according to their remembrance. In these ways difficulties have arisen, which I have laboured hard to solve, by writing many letters, and by every other means within my reach. And I cannot but feel a degree of confidence, that no great mistakes will be found in my statements. But as this history will be exposed to the observation of thousands, who have been eye-witnesses of the scenes it describes, if any essential errors should be discovered, I shall esteem it a favour to be informed of them, and they shall be corrected with cheerfulness and care.

Pawtucket, near Providence, R. 1.

April 16, 1813.

DAVID BENEDICT.

GENERAL HISTORY, &c.

CHAP. I.

A SUMMARY VIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

THE introduction of the gospel system was a most glo. rious and important event. At the time the Sun of Rightcousness arose upon the world, it was in a state of profound ignorance, and the deepest moral misery.

The Jews, the ancient people of God, had generally departed from the piety of their ancestors, and were sunk into formality and hypocrisy. The Gentile nations, whether barbarous or civilized, were involved in the grossest idol. atry; their deities were multiplied to an extravagant degree, almost every thing in creation was worshipped, and the enlightened city of Rome contained, at one time, thirty thousand different deities, which had been collected from the conquered nations. A magnificent temple, called the Pantheon, that is, the temple of all the gods, had been erected, in which this mighty host of divinities was assembled.

Towards the conclusion of the reign of Herod the Great, the Son of God, who had long been foretold by the ancient prophets, descended upon earth. Although the world was involved in darkness at this time, yet the nations were generally in a state of tranquillity and repose. The vast Roman empire, in which Palestine was then included, was less agitated with wars and tumults at the

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Churches began to be founded.

birth of Christ, than it had been for many years before. And, indeed, some historians have maintained that the temple of Janus* was then shut, and that wars and discords absolutely ceased throughout the world.

The manner in which the Messiah appeared, his ministry and death, and all the affairs of his kingdom and people, for many years after he ascended on high, are recorded in the New Testament. His disciples began to congregate into churches, soon after he left the earth. The church at Jerusalem was formed the evening of the glorious day of his ascension, in an upper room, and consisted of about a hundred and twenty believing men and women. The persecution, which arose about the time of Stephen's death, caused all the disciples of Jesus, except the apostles, to leave Jerusalem. They proceeded out every way like the radii of a circle from the centre, and formed churches in many places, first in Palestine, then in other parts of Asia, next in the Asiatic islands, and lastly in Europe.

Mr. Robinson has shown that the apostles and primitive preachers gathered churches in between sixty and seventy different cities, towns, and provinces, and in many instances a number were gathered in each. These churches were all composed of reputed believers, who had been baptized by immersion on the profession of their faith. Their bishops and elders were merely overseers of their spiritual flocks; they claimed no right to lord it over God's heritage; every church was an independent body, and no one claimed a right to regulate the affairs of another. If they met in council, as they did at Jerusalem, it was to advise, not to give law.

The church of Christ has always been taught by the conduct of the people of this world, that this is not her home. She was persecuted at first by the Jews, then by the pagans, and next by monsters under the christian name.

• Janus, according to heathen fable, was the most ancient king, who reigned in Italy. Some authors make him son of Apollo, some of Calus and Hecate, and others, a native of Athens. Janus is represented with two faces, because he was acquainted with the past and the future; or, according to others, because he was taken for the sun, who opens the day at his rising, and shuts it at his setting. He was chiefly worshipped among the Romans. His temple, which was always open in times of war, was shut only three times, for the space of seven hundred years, for during that long period of time the Ro mans were continually employed in war. Classical Dictionary.

Extent of Rom. Empire...Ten general Persecutions.

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Christianity prospered greatly under the ministry of the apostles and primitive preachers, and in a short time was carried to most parts of the Roman empire, which extended in length above three thousand miles, from the river Euphrates in the east, to the western ocean; in breadth it was more than two thousand miles, and the whole consisted of above sixteen hundred thousand square miles. This vast empire was an assemblage of conquered kingdoms and provinces, and comprehended, at the commencement of christianity, most of the civilized world. And at this period, it is said to have contained, one hundred and twenty millions of souls.*

Providence seems to have chosen this vast dominion, for the scene of the first gospel labourers. The multitude of languages amongst its inhabitants was no obstruction to them, for they were inspired to speak with other tongues. Opposition they frequently met with, but this fell out to the furtherance of the gospel; for when persecuted in one city they fled to another, and carried with them the light of truth. The Lord gave the word to his servants, and great was the company, who published it abroad.

It would be difficult to form any probable conjecture of the number of converts to christianity in the early ages of the church, but it must have been immensely great, for it is supposed that three millions were sacrificed in the three first centuries, to the rage of pagan persecutors. In these three centuries there were ten general persecutions, fomented by so many cruel pagan emperours. They did not reign, however, in regular succession, and in the intervening spaces between their reigns, the empire was governed by princes, who entertained a great variety of opinions respecting christianity. Some turned it into ridicule, others showed some degree of clemency towards the christians; some repealed the persecuting laws of their predecessors, while others left them to their destructive operation. But the pagan priests continually employed their malicious eloquence to defame the disciples of Christ, and to rouse the persecuting sword against them. They laid to their charge the earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and conflagrations, and all the national calamities which happened where they resided. And they persuaded the magistrates that the

* Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 13, 14.

2

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Persecution by Nero...Pliny's Letter to Trajan.

gods sent down these judgments to avenge their lenity towards the christians.

The first of these ten persecutions was begun by the abandoned Nero. He was the first emperour who shed the blood of christians, and it is said that Peter and Paul were of the number. The city of Rome took fire, and a considerable part of it was consumed. The perfidious Nero was thought to have kindled the fire, but that cruel prince accused the innocent christians of the horrid crime, and avenged it upon them in a most barbarous manner. He caused some to be wrapped up in combustible garments, which were set on fire; others were fastened to crosses, others were torn to pieces by wild beasts, and thousands suffered death in the most horrid and cruel forms.

The persecutions under all the ten emperours, were similar in many respects; some of them were but short, and others of longer duration. The christians suffered every privation, and were put to death by all the excruciating tortures, which infernal ingenuity could invent. Multitudes were confined in theatres, where wild beasts were let loose upon them, and they were worried and devoured, for the diversion of thousands of barbarous spectators, who sat elevated above the reach of harm.

The third persecution was under Trajan, a prince renowned for many excellent qualities, but who was, nevertheless, a dreadful scourge to the disciples of Christ. The letters which passed between him and Pliny, the governor of Bythinia, I shall here transcribe.

C. Pliny to Trajan Emperour, health.

"It is my usual custom, Sir, to refer all things, of which I harbour any doubts, to you. For who can better direct my judgment in its hesitation, or instruct my understanding in its ignorance? I never had the fortune to be present at any examination of christians, before I came into this province. I am therefore at a loss to determine, what is the usual object, either of inquiry or punishment, and to what length either of them is to be carried. It has also been with me a question very problematical, whether any distinction should be made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust; whether any room should be given for repentance, or the guilt of christianity once