mosques in Damascus, the most stately of which was a Christian church; but to whom it was dedicated they do not mention. That churches were raised to the memory of the martyrs by the primitive Christians in honour of God, we do not doubt, because we know it was the custom with them, as it is with Catholics now, though not so among Protestants; neither do we doubt that the Turks appropriated these churches to their own use, after they had overpowered the Christians, as the Protestants in queen Elizabeth's time took possession of the Catholic churches raised in memory of the saints; but we doubt the accuracy of Fox's statement with regard to Ananias, since he has produced no authority, and we can find no account of him in the most esteemed works by Catholic authors.

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We have then only bare assertion, for this detail, and the credit due to Fox's unverified statements we will now make appear. Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, is " usually deemed," he says, one of the seventy. "The ecclesiastical writers," he continues, "make very little other mention of him," than that he was in some degree related to the Redeemer, and became a candidate with Matthias for the vacant apostleship; yet we are told with great confidence that "he was during his life a zealous preacher of the gospel." Now, reader, this Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, is the SAME PERSON Fox has recorded as a martyr under the name of St. Barnabas, the detail of whose martyrdom we have a little before stated in Fox's words. In the account given by him of St. Barnabas there is not a word of his having been a candidate with St. Matthias to succeed Judas, yet he is placed last with the apostles, and his festival is admitted to be kept on the 11th of June, which the Catholics do to this day. St. Barnabas was not one of the twelve chosen apostles, but is styled so by the primitive fathers, and commemorated as such by the Catholic church; but how came Fox to put him there? He was first called Joses, or Joseph, and was one of the first and chief of the seventy disciples of our Saviour, but after the ascension of Christ, the apostles changed his name to Barnabas. Fox, speaking of this apostle under the name of Barsabas, says the ecclesiastical writers make very little mention of him ; yet it will be seen by a reference to the acts of the apostles, that he is frequently spoken of there as the companion of St. Paul in many of his travels, as the latter, also testifies in some of his epistles. St. Barnabas, is said to have introduced St. Paul to the apostles Peter and James, on his coming to Jerusalem three years after his conversion. He is also mentioned in the acts of the apostles, chapter iv, verse 6, as being the first of the new converts who sold all they had and lived in common. "And Joseph, who was surnamed of the apostles Barnabas, (which is by interpretation, the Son of Consolation) a Levité, a Cyprian born, where he had a piece of land, sold it, and brought the "price, and laid it before the feet of the apostles." So far too were

the ecclesiastical writers from making little mention of him, that many authors wrote of him, namely, Sigisbertus in his book de Viris illustribus ; Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History; St. Jerome in his work de Viris illudribus; St. Isidore in his book of the Lives of the Fathers; and venerable Bede, in his Retractions. The Rev. Mr. Butler, in his account of this saint's life, says, " Alexander, a monk of Cyprus in the sixth

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66 age, hath written an account of his death, in which he relates, that "the faith having made great progress in Cyprus, by the assiduous "preaching, edifying example, and wonderful miracles of this apostle, "it happened that certain inveterate Jews, who had persecuted the holy man in Syria, came to Salamis, and stirred up many powerful men in that city against him. The saint was taken, roughly handled "and insulted by the mob, and after many torments stoned to death. "The remains of St. Barnabas were found near the city of Salamis, "with a copy of the gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew laid úpon his 'breast, written with St. Barnabas's own hand. The book was sent to "the emperor Zeno in 485, as Theodorus Lector relates." (Theod. Lect. ii. p. 557, Suidas, &c.) We can find no account of Fox's story of this saint being compelled to drink poison; and it appears from the testimony of this monk of Cyprus, that his death took place in that island, and not in Judea, as John Fox states. St. Barnabas is represented by St. John Chrysostom and all antiquity as a man of a beautiful and venerable aspect, and of a majestic presence. So much for John Fox's tale that ecclesiastical writers make very little acconnt of him. THE SECOND PRIMITIVE PERSECUTION UNDER DOMITIAN. The tumults and disorders which occured in the Roman empire under the emperors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, and the merciful disposition of Vespasian and Titus, gave peace to the Christians till Domitian succeeded to the purple, who exceeded in cruelty the first persecutor of the church, Nero, and was detestable to all men on account of the brutality and ferociousness of his manners. It is related of him, that in the beginning of his reign he was accustomed to amuse himself in his closet with catching flies, and sticking them with a sharp bodkin; Suetonius and Eusebius record, that he debauched his own niece and impiously took the titles of God and Lord. In the year 95, this tyrant issued fresh edicts throughout the empire against the Christians, by which many fell victims to his barbarity, and crowned themselves with a glorious martyrdom. John Fox tells us that he commanded all "the lineage of David to be extirpated;" but, as usual, he gives us no reference to authenticate his story. He then goes on,-"Two Christians "were brought before him, accused of being of the tribe of Judah, "and line of David; but from their answers, he despised them as idiots, "and dismissed them according." Who these Christians were, we are not told, nor have we any reason stated why Domitian should have a greater antipathy to Christians descended from David than from Pontius Pilate or Herod; however we cannot help remarking that this conduct on the part of the Roman emperor forms a striking contrast to that of "Protestant-ascendency," in Charles the second's reign. We have it from Rapin and Baker that a poor fellow, a lunatic, a reputed Papist, but a French huguenot, was condemned and execcuted upon no other evidence than his own confession,-the confession of a madman-for setting fire to London-while Fox assures us that the most merciless of the Roman tyrants had justice enough to despise and dismiss two Christians because he perceived they were idiots, "Oh! the times and "the manners!" Again he says, a law was made, ‘That no Christian, once brought before the tribunal, should be exempted from punish

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ment without renouncing his religion.," Did John Fox's master, the protector Somerset, and his mistress the virgin Elizabeth, borrow their system of legislation from Domitian, when they passed laws compelling Catholics, under fine and imprisonment, to attend the new-fangled service of the church as by law established, by which they would have renounced their religion? The martyrologist continues,-"During this reign there were a variety of tales, composed in order to injure the "Christians. Among other falsehoods they were accused of indecent nightly meetings, of a rebellious turbulent spirit: of being inimical to the "Roman empire, of murdering their children, and of being cannibals; and at this time, such was the infatuation of the pagans, that if famine, pes"tilence, or earthquakes, afflicted any of the Roman provinces, these "calamities were said to be the manifestations of the divine wrath occasioned by their impieties. These persecutions increased the num"ber of informers; and many, for the sake of gain, swore away the lives of the innocent. When any Christians were brought before the magistrates a test oath was proposed, when, if they refused to take it, "death was pronounced against them; and if they confessed themselves 66 Christians, the sentence was the same."..

"

On reading this statement of Fox, of the situation of the primitive Catholic Christians under Domitian, we were most forcibly struck with the condition of the Catholics of this country in the reigns of Elizabeth and the Stuarts, as bearing a strong parallel to the former. Who has not heard of the variety of tales composed in order to injure the Catholics, by the unprincipled and self-interested ministers of Elizabeth? Who has not heard of the falsehoods circulated of indecent intercourses between the secluded inhabitants of the monasteries, in order to find a plea for destroying them? What were the new enactments of treason passed for by the parliaments of Elizabeth and the Stuarts, but to instil the belief that Catholics were of a rebellious spirit, and their principles inimical to the British empire? Are not the Catholics now daily charged with committing murder through the influence of their religion? And the unfortunate misruled and oppressed Irish, with being cannibals? And at the time we are alluding to what was the infatuation of the Protestants? Did they not give credit to the most incredible tales? We shall have occasion, in the course of our review, to enter more at large into this system of invention and infatuation, but we cannot refrain from here asking the reader, what he can think of the state of men's minds, when they could believe that "an army of Papists were "training to the use of arms under ground;" and that a gunpowder plot was in progress, for "blowing up the river Thames, and drowning the "faithfnl Protestant city of London?" Yet credibility was given to such stories as these, as may be seen in the second volume of Grey's Examination of Neal's History of the Puritans. Search the records of parliament, and you will find, that in many petitions presented by the Commons to Charles the first, the Catholics were charged with being the occasion of all public calamities, and their blood considered a remedy for all public grievances. That of the Commons in 1628 reduces "all public misery to the increase of idolatry and superstition," which were the terms given to Catholicism. Then, again, as to informers swearing away the lives of the innocent, can a parallel be found for

the encouragement given to that infamous of all informers Titus Oates, who swore away the lives of innocent men with the most coldblooded villany, and was honoured for it with a guard, a pension, and the title of Saviour of the Nation?!!! As to a test oath; was not the oath of supremacy invariably put to the Catholic priests in Elizabeth's reign, and on their refusing to take it, were they not sentenced to death? Is there not at this day a test oath to keep Catholics from enjoying their hereditary and common rights? though, as we shall prove in this Review, the doctrines sworn to in this test, as damnable and idolatrous, were believed and taught by the martyrs of John Fox, under the persecutions of the Roman emperors, and who are called by him " GODLY." Now if they were idolaters, and Protestants on taking office at this day under the British government swear they were so, they could not be “godly ;" and consequently John Fox, by calling them "godly," must condemn the impiety of those who charge them with practices that are considered as meriting eternal perdition.

The first of the martyrs specified by Fox is Dionysius, the areopagite, whom he describes as travelling into Egypt to study astronomy, and there "made very particular observations on the great and super"natural eclipse, which happened at the time of our Saviour's cruci"6 fixion. On his return to Athens (Fox continues) he was highly ho"noured by the people, and at length promoted to the dignity of sena"tor of that celebrated city." How the martyrologist came to be so well acquainted with the travels of St. Dionysius, or Denis, as he is commonly called, he does not tell us. We have neither dates nor authors. The Rev. Alban Butler makes but little mention of him. We are informed by this author, on the authority of Tillemont, that he was converted through the eloquence of St. Paul, when that apostle was summoned to give an account of his doctrine in the Areopagus, at Athens, of which great council Dionysius was a distinguished member. From Rollin's Ancient History, and Potter's Antiquities of Greece, we learn that the Areopagus was so called from the Hill of Mars, without the walls of Athens, where it assembled. The number of members was not limited, as it sometimes consisted of two or three hundred, though when first instituted there were only seven. For a considerable

period, no one was allowed to be a member of this council, who had not served the office of supreme magistrate of the commonwealth; nor was any one to be adopted whose morals were not of the strictest and most irreproachable character. Its meetings were always held in the night, and the severity of its proceedings made its judgments extremely dreaded, while its decisions were looked upon by the people as oracles. Though Plato is said to have dreaded the examination of his theories by this council of sages, St. Paul appeared before it with an undaunted courage, and explained the great truths of Christianity with an eloquence that charmed these masters of oratory and philosophy. Many of them were moved with the sanctity and sublimity of the new doctrine and the marks of a DIVINE mission with which St. Paul delivered himself; and among the rest, Dionysius, one of the most learned and virtuous of this illustrious assembly, became a convert. He was afterwards appointed bishop of Athens by St. Paul, and received the crown of martyrdom in the city, which had so long witnessed his emi

ment virtues even when a pagan. The conversion of this great man conveys a strong proof, we think, of the divine essence of true religion. That Dionysius was not a Protestant martyr we consider clearly demonstrated by his body being sent by pope Innocent the third to the abbey of St. Denis, near Paris, where it is held in great veneration. This abbey is the burial place of the kings of France.

Nicomedes, whom Fox calls, a Christian of some distinction at "Rome," was a holy priest, and consequently a Catholic martyr. The next mentioned are Protasius and Gervasius, who, the martyrologist says, "were martyred at Milan; but the particular circumstances attending their deaths are not recorded." This is very true, but John had better have passed these two martyrs over in silence, as he had nothing to record of them. St. Ambrose, the eminent and learned bishop of Milan, stile these saints the protomartyrs of Milan, and says they were beheaded for the faith. St. Austin, both in his 22d book of the City of God, (c. viii.) and in his Confessions (1. ix. c. 7), makes mention of these martyrs, and states that many miracles were performed at their tomb, which is confirmed by St. Ambrose. they were not Protestant martyrs is clear by churches being raised to their memory in Catholic countries, and their festival being commemorated by the Catholic church on the 19th of June.

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That

We have but one other'martyr recorded by Fox under this persecution, who is St. Timothy, the beloved disciple of St. Paul, and bishop of Ephesus. He gives a pretty correct account of the travels of this saint, and details the manner of his death as follows: "At this period (A. D. 97.) the pagans were about to celebrate a feast called Catagogion, the principal ceremonies of which were, that the people should carry sticks in their hands, go masked, and bear about the streets the images of their gods. When Timothy met the procession, he severely reproved them for their idolatry, which so exasperated them, that they fell upon him with their clubs, and beat him in so dreadful a manner, that he expired of the bruises two days after." This martyrdom of St. Timothy ought not to be placed under the persecution of Domitian, as it occurred under the reign of his successor Nerva. We may here remark too the flippant way in which the relation is given. The pagans were about" to celebrate a feast, whereas it appears they were actually celebrating it. Again, one of the ceremonies was to carry sticks, which are afterwards converted into clubs. Such is the way Fox tells his tales, and yet the most unbounded credit has hitherto been given to him by the people of this country. The real fact is, as gathered from the writings of Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Isidore, and Polycrates, the people of Ephesus used to keep a festival in honour of the goddess Diana, during which a number of strong and desperate men paraded the streets, carrying an idol representing that goddess in one hand and a club of iron in the other. With this club they would strike those they met, and frequently with such violence as to cause the death of the parties. For this the holy bishop Timothy sharply reproved them, saying the god who was pleased with such sacrifices was no god. He also recommended them to abandon the worship of Diana and adore the true God. This conduct the pagans resented, and stoned him to death. The Catholic church to this day commemorates his fes