virtues, was called "the darling of mankind." This man Titus, who was the darling of mankind eighteen hundred. years ago, took ninety-seven thousand of the Jews captive; six thousand of whom, chosen young men, he sent to Nero, the Roman Emperor; the same Nero it was who subsequently, for the gratification of an insane caprice, set fire to Rome that he might have a real representation of the burning of Troy, and who afterward transferred the guilt of the act to the Christians, and caused them to be butchered by thousands throughout his domains. But let this pass. I am not recounting the doings of bad men; I was just speaking of an act perpetrated by Titus," the darling of mankind." I repeat: Titus sent six thousand of his ninety-seven thousand captives to Rome, as slaves for Nero. Thirty thousand were sold as bond-men into Egypt; eleven thousand in one place, he caused to perish by starvation. At Cesarea he murdered two thousand five hundred in honor of his brother's birthday, and a greater number at Berytus in honor of his father's; while he distributed nearly thirty thousand through the provinces of Rome, to be destroyed in their theatres by the sword or torn in pieces by wild beasts. And all this was perpetrated, not by a man recognized as a savage by the age in which he lived, but one who was the very quintessence of perfection, the "the darling of mankind!" and I know not but the darling of womankind also, if any distinction is allowed, for I am very sorry to say the wo men were as savage as the men. The reader is doubtless familiar with the account, in the Gospel, of the dancing of a beautiful damsel in the presence of a certain king, on the occasion of his birthday, and how charmed he was with her person and performance;-so charmed that he declared with an oath, that he would give her whatever she asked, even to the half of his kingdom. And do you

"Give

not recollect what she demanded as a present? me here," said she, "the head of John the Baptist in a charger;"that is, in a bowl or platter. What a present for a young damsel, charming in her person, all decorated for the dance, to ask of a king enamored with her beauty. The bloody head of the murdered fore-runner of the Lord Jesus! But, astounding as it may seem, her wishes were gratified. "The king sent and beheaded John in his prison; and the head was brought in a charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother." Perhaps the reader is ready to exclaim"Why this damsel must have been educated a savage, and was summoned to dance in the presence of the king, because of her remarkable agility or beauty. Instead of this, she was herself of the royal family. Herod Phillip was her father, Aristobulus her grandfather, and Herodias her mother, the woman to whom she carried the bleeding, ghastly head of John, when she had received it from the hand of the executioner. She was, therefore, educated a member of the royal palace, and had all the advantages which the most refined and polished society in that age could afford.

But here we have a specimen of what constituted refinement eighteen hundred years ago, in one of the most civilized nations on earth. We see the nature of the influences brought to bear on the minds of youthful females. Herodias, the mother of the young woman who so delighted the king, was offended with John the Baptist, because he had the boldness to condemn her incestuous intercourse with the king. She, therefore, instructed her daughter to ask the head of John as a present, if opportunity should present itself. And when she received it, it is said that she gazed with exulting pleasure on the speechless mouth that had dared to utter

such words of condemnation against her, and offered indignities to the tongue from which she could no longer dread reproof. St. Jerome positively asserts that "when she got the head, she drew out the tongue and thrust it through with her bodkin."

Such was the moral condition of the world eighteen hundred years ago. The apostle described it when he said: "Their feet are swift to shed blood."

How shocking are these exhibitions of barbarity to the humanity and refinement of the present age! Indeed, has there been no growth of the element of humanity in the human soul for the last eighteen centuries? Why the man who is unable to discover this change, would light a candle at noonday to find the sun.

And I will add in this place, that if there was nothing divine in the mission of Christ, the circumstance is most remarkable, and to my mind wholly unaccountable, that he should inculcate a religion so pure, and a philosophy so divine, in the midst of a darkness so gross! His very life-his spirit-his teachings, and the manner in which he bore his sufferings and his death, were all in direct opposition to the prevailing sentiments and customs of the age in which he lived. His breathings of love and forgiveness of tenderness and compassion-of benevolence and humanity, when contrasted with the predominant principles of that age, were like a resplendent star in the midst of surrounding darkness-or a blooming paradise in a howling wilderness.

CHAPTER II.

THE MARCH OF HUMANITY DURING THE LAST TWO

CENTURIES.

Inhumanity of France and England two Hundred Years ago--Cruelty of Persecution gradually softened--Inhumanity of Louis XIV-Inhumanity of the Pilgrim FathersPersecution of the Quakers-The softening of Penal Codes-One Hundred and Sixty offenses Punishalle with Death in England-Codes of England, Sweden, Germany, France and Poland-The Cruelty of their Punishments-Hanging for stealing forty Shillings--Touching case of the Execution of a Young Woman in England-Laws of the New England Colonies--Case of a Young Girl--Progress of Humanity in the more kindly Treatment of Criminals, and in the Improvement of the Poor, Ignorant, Sick and Suffering--Extract from Macaulay.

But let us come forward to a more recent age, and mark the growth of humanity in the hearts of those who stand more closely connected with us on the pages of history. We will limit our investigations to the last two centuries.

In 1630 we find France and England, two of the most enlightened and civilized nations on the globe, governed by principles, both in war and peace, that would utterly shock the humanity of the present age.

Men regarded as great and good, both in Church and State, gave their sanction to laws, practices and customs so unjust and inhuman, as to strike the worst man now living in civilized society dumb with astonishment and horror! This will be seen as we proceed.

Notice the unmistakable change which has been produced within the last two hundred years, with reference to the cruelty of proscription and persecution in consequence of religious faith. Christians have now very gen

erally learned the folly of attempting to convert men to a love of Christian truth, and inspire them with benevolence, by prisons, chains, fire and torture. But two hundred years ago, these were the principal means employed in the dissemination and defense of the Christian religion. Two hundred years ago, the inquisition, that tribunal of horror and cruelty, which drank the blood of nearly four hundred thousand innocent victims, was in full force in France, Spain, Portugal and other countries. An accredited English writer says, in describing the inhumanity of priests and potentates in their persecution of heretics: "If the least shadow of proof appeared against any pretended criminal, he was condemned to death at once, and was clothed with a garment painted with flames, and with his own figure surrounded with dogs, serpents, and devils, all open-mouthed, as if ready to devour him. If the offenders died in any other faith than that of Rome, they were burned alive, the priests telling them that they left them to the devil. who was standing at their elbow waiting to receive their souls and bear them to the flames of hell.

Flaming furzes, fastened to poles, were thrust against their faces till their faces were burned to a coal, and this was accompanied with the loudest acclamations of joy among the thousands of spectators. At last, fire was set to the furze at the bottom of the stake, over which the criminals were chained so high that the top of the flame seldom reached higher than the seat they sat on, so that they seemed to be roasted, rather than burned. There could not be a more lamentable spectacle; the sufferers continually crying out, so long as they were able-" Pity, for the love of God!" Yet it was beheld by all sexes and ages, with transports of joy and satisfaction. And even monarchs, surrounded by their courtiers, sometimes