The living or written testimony of those who have been actively engaged in the great latter-day work will ever have a weight far superior to any given by inimical or disinterested parties. Still, the descriptions given and the historical facts and incidents related by such persons are often highly interesting as furnishing glimpses of scenes and facts unmentioned by more prominent actors. For example, the discourse delivered by Thomas L. Kane before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, throws a flood of light upon the manners and customs of the Latter-day Saints and the scenes attending their expulsion from Nauvoo, which no history of the Church has exceeded; and this is all the more valuable as it corroborates many of the statements made by the Saints. So in like manner there are many references made by secular writers which throw light on New Testament history, and by this light we see a new beauty and force in the language of the inspired writers.

No man of sense will for a moment hesitate to acknowledge the superiority of the narratives written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to any merely human composition. The biographies of the Savior, written by Fleetwood and others bear no comparison to the simple, yet sublime records of the evangelists. But it does not militate against the authority of the scriptures to read a description of the personal appearance of the Savior as described by Marcus, a Roman lawyer who resided at Jerusalem, and still preserved in the works of Origen:

"Jesus of Nazareth, sometimes called the Galilean, was a most remarkable person. In stature He was above the medium hight, straight and tall. His complexion was fair: His hair was of a brown color, and fell in heavy curls upon His shoulders. His eyes were blue, and possessed such a penetrating power that no man could meet His gaze. His beard was of a deep wine color, fine and full: it is said that He was never shaved. His countenance was majestic, calm and serene, bearing the impress of wisdom, justice and love."

Again, we have the testimony of Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian who flourished between the thirty-seventh and ninety-eighth year of the Christian era. He was a Jewish priest and had no connection with the early saints; yet in the History of the Antiquities of the Jews, Book xviii, he declares:

"Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him, both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first, did not forsake Him, for He appeared to them alive on the third day: as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct at this day."

In the time of Christ, Palestine was in the very center of the then known world. To the north and north-east lay the decaying remnants of the Medo-Persian and still more ancient Babylonian and Assyrian empires; on the east were the powerful tribes of Arabia, who, fearless of any foreign power, had built their capital in the rugged defiles of Arabia-Petrea, the magnificent ruins of which astonish the travelers of the present day.

On the south lay Egypt reposing in gloomy grandeur and already boasting a hoary antiquity; yet even this ancient civilization was to a great extent indebted to the founders of the Jewish commonwealth. On the west lay the classic countries of Greece and Italy.

As is well known, after the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were widely scattered. Comparatively few of them availed themselves of the permission granted by Cyrus, to return to Palestine. The majority remained in Babylonia or wandered into other lands. In Alexandria, for example, at the time of Christ, fully one-half the inhabitants were Jews, who by trading had become rich and powerful. At that time the coasts of Arabia and even India were visited by Jewish merchants. In Asia Minor and Greece there was scarcely a town without its Jewish synagogue. In Rome the Jews possessed the greater part of the Trastevere, or right bank of the Tiber. From the time of Julius Caesar they were allowed to build synagogues and granted many other privileges. All these Jews who lived outside of Palestine and formed a majority of the whole nation were commonly called the Dispersion, It was this class of persons to which the Jews referred, when in speaking of Christ, they said, "Will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles?" (John vii, 25). Yet these Jews still considered Jerusalem as their center, regarded the Sanhedrim (or high council) as their highest church court, sent yearly gifts of money and sacrifices to the temple, and visited it from time to time at the great festivals.

It is easy to see how this state of things aided the spread of the gospel. The feasts of the Passover and of Pentecost brought many of these dispersed Jews from the neighboring countries to Jerusalem. Thus thousands, who were not residents of Palestine, had an opportunity at these yearly feasts to become acquainted with the teachings and miracles of Jesus. It was also at the time of the great feast of the Passover, that the crucifixion took place. Fifty days later was the feast of Pentecost at which time occurred those wonderful events recorded in the second chapter of Acts.

Thus, we perceive, how it was that people from various nations had gathered together; and how important the gift of tongues whereby each could hear in his own language the wonderful works of God. (See Acts ii, 5, 9-11.)

These men on their return carried the news of Christianity to their homes. Then again the apostles in their missionary travels found synagogues in all the principal towns and cities; likewise, devout persons who were looking forward to the advent of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel. Of these might be mentioned Dorcas, and Cornelius, (Acts ix, 10.) Lydia (Acts xvi, 14.), Aquilla and Priscilla, (Acts xviii), Eunice and Lois, the mother and grandmother of Timothy, and many others. Every synagogue was, as it were, a missionary station in readiness for them with friends and inquirers already there to welcome them. The influence of the Jews had helped also to undermine heathenism and thus to prepare the ground for Christianity. So much was this the case that the Roman philosopher, Seneca, in speaking of the Jews, says, "The conquered have given laws to the conquerors." Josephus, in his Antiquities, Book 18, says, "Many of the Jews held high offices, and lived at the courts of princes. Even the empress Poppea, wife of Nero was a proselyte to Judaism." In his autobiography, he relates that, when in Rome, he made the acquaintance of this empress through a Jewish favorite of Nero, and at once received from her the release of some imprisoned Jewish priests together with large presents. Through her influence also was due much of that bitterness which characterized the persecutions of the saints in the reign of Nero.

Juvenal, a Latin poet, ridicules the prevalence of Jewish customs; also many of the Greeks, following the teachings of Socrates, believed in the existence of an "unknown God." It is in the very nature of man to believe in something. When the absurdities of heathenism became apparent, men fell into other superstitions. More and more was felt the want of a true religion. Even the Samaritans who were so carried away by the sorceries of Simon Magus, as to call him "the great power of God," readily received the preaching of the gospel. (Act viii, 5.) So also Sergius Paulus, who, dissatisfied with heathenism, had with him the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet Elymas, was won to the Christian faith by the preaching of Paul (Acts xiii, 6-11). Indeed the best feature of that age was a strong religious yearning. Expectations of a coming Messiah, in various forms and degrees of clearness, were at that time, by the political collision of the nations and by their intellectual and religious contact, spread over all the nations; and, like the first red streaks upon the horizon, announced the approach of day. The Persians were looking for their Sosiosch, who should conquer Ahriman and his kingdom of darkness. The Chinese sage, Confucius, pointed his disciples to a Holy One who should appear in the west. The wise men who came to worship the new-born king of the Jews, we must look upon as representatives of the Messianic hopes of oriental heathens.

The western nations, on the contrary, looked toward the east for the dawn of a better day. The Roman historians, Suetonius and Tacitus, both speak of a current saying in the Roman empire, that in the east, and more particularly in Judea, a new universal empire would soon be set up.

Thus, in a time, the like of which history before or since has never seen, appeared the Savior of men. Amid the dying and decaying forms of ancient society, while those things that had been the objects of man's enthusiastic love were withering away, Christ came that through Him humanity should receive a new, youthful life. Impenitent Judaism, it is true, still wanders, ghost like through all ages and countries: but only as an incontrovertible living witness of the divinity of the Christian religion.

The Jews who were scattered through the various countries of the east came in contact with the manners and customs of those various countries, and this had a tendency to break down Jewish exclusiveness and prepare the minds of many for broader and more liberal views. Hence we find that several of the most useful men of the apostolic church, such as Stephen, the martyr, Philip, the deacon, Paul and Barnabas were of this class. Barnabas was, indeed one, of the most remarkable men of the age in which he lived. He was born in the island of Cyprus, but removed to Jerusalem where he became one of the active members of the apostolic church.

After the martyrdom of Stephen and in consequence of the persecution which followed, some of the disciples were scattered as far as Antioch, whither Barnabas was sent to organize a church, and here the disciples first received the name of Christians. (Acts xi, 26.) It was Barnabas who first introduced Paul to the rest of the apostles and removed the mistrust which was felt towards him. Afterwards, when Paul was living a retired life in his native city of Tarsus, Barnabas sought him out and brought him to Antioch. To win over this great reticent and susceptible soul, to labor with him and even to take a subordinate place under him, indicate both wisdom and humanity; and this is what Barnabas did for Paul.

Saul, afterwards Latinized into Paul, was born at Tarsus in Cilicia, in the tenth or twelfth year of our era. Paul's father early intended that he should become a religious teacher, but, according to the customs of that age, taught him a trade also, by which he afterwards supported himself without becoming a burden to the church. He came to Jerusalem at an early age and entered the school of Gamaliel the elder. This Gamaliel was one of the most learned men in Jerusalem, and the youthful Paul soon became a leader in society. This is evident from the position he held at the death of Stephen. Paul was short in stature, somewhat stooping and at the middle age his hair was thin, inclining to baldness. His countenance was pale and half hidden by a dark beard. His nose was aquiline, his eyes piercing and his eyebrows heavy. It is said that he possessed one of those strange visages which though plain, yet, when lighted up by emotion, assumes a deep brilliancy and grandeur. Paul was a man of great politeness and exquisite manners. His letters show that he was a man of rare intelligence, who formed for his lofty sentiments, expressions of great beauty. No correspondence exhibits more careful attention, finer shades of meaning or more amiable pleasantries. What animation! What a wealth of charming sayings! What simplicity! It is easy to see that his character is that of a polite, earnest and affectionate man. Simon, or Peter, as he was afterwards called, was a son of the fisherman, Jonas. He resided at Capernaum, on the shore of the sea of Galilee, where he followed his father's occupation. His brother, Andrew, who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, first brought him to Jesus by whom he was called to be a fisher of men. He was one of the witnesses of the transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and the agony of the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane. He was evidently the leader of the ancient apostles. In the four places where a list of the twelve is given, he is invariably placed at the beginning; and in many other places he is mentioned as the leading speaker. In Peter's character we have a remarkable combination of great natural talents and virtues, with peculiar weaknesses. This apostle was distinguished from the other eleven by an ardent, impulsive, sanguine temperament, and an open, shrewd, practical nature. He was always ready to speak out his mind, to resolve and to act. His excitable, impulsive disposition led him sometimes to over-estimate his powers, to trust too much to himself, and, in the hour of danger, to yield to opposite impressions. Thus we find that, in spite of his usual firmness and joy in confessing his faith, he actually denied the Savior when arraigned in the palace of Caiphas. In learning he was inferior to Paul, and in loving character, to John; but he possessed, in an eminent degree, the gift of inspiration which enabled him to act with promptness and decision. The apostle and evangelist, John, was the son of Zebedee, and the brother of the elder James. His mother was one of the women who supported Jesus with their property, and brought spices to embalm Him. John himself owned a house in Jerusalem, into which he received the mother of the Savior after the crucifixion. He was the only one of the apostles who was present at the cross, and to him Jesus committed the care of his mother. (John xix, 26, 27.) Nicephorus states that Mary continued to live with John until her death, which occurred about fourteen years after the crucifixion. After this, John went to preside over the church at Ephesus. Here he wrote the gospel and epistle that bear his name. In the reign of Domitian, about the year 84, he was called to Rome where he was condemned to be put to death by being thrust into a caldron of boiling oil. From this he miraculously escaped, even as the three Hebrews who were cast into the fiery furnace. Afterwards he was banished to the solitary, rocky island, Patmos, where he received that wonderful prophetic history of the conflicts and conquests of the church, which is called the Apocalypse, or Revelation. In the opening chapter he says, "I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."

When Peter asked the manner of John's death, the Savior replied, "'If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?' "Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die."

Peter, James and John were the chosen among the chosen, upon whom the Savior bestowed special favor. Peter was a man of great energy, fitted to be a leader in the church and in society. John possessed a deep, affectionate nature, which made him the dearest of the Savior's three chosen friends.

Of James we know very little. He seems to have been of a quiet, earnest, meditative turn. He presided over the church at Jerusalem until the year forty-four of our era, when he sealed his testimony with his blood, being the first of that glorious band of apostolic martyrs.

Such were the chief actors in New Testament times. The great facts of their lives are corroborated both by Jewish and heathen writers, and admitted to be true by the most eminent of modern infidels, such as Volney, Straus and Renan. Christianity did not take its rise in an obscure corner of the earth. On the other hand, from the very first it attracted the attention of the good, the wise and the learned, and aroused the opposition of the wicked, though they were powerful kings and potentates of the earth. Yet, in spite of all, it has won its way, both in ancient times and at the present day among the honest in heart by the simplicity, grandeur and harmony of its truths.

We must, therefore, accept the New Testament as a whole. We cannot accept the writings of one, and say they are true, and reject the writings of another, teaching the same doctrine, and say it is false. Neither can we accept the gospel and reject the epistles, for there is not a doctrine of the gospel which is not taught in the very first of them, that written by Matthew.

He who writes forgeries must needs be well posted in the matter of names, dates and places, or else he will contradict some well-known facts and so expose his forgery to the world. Men who write falsehoods do not write as follows:

"Now, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother, Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiphas being high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness."

Here, in one sentence, are twenty historical, geographical, political and family references, every one of which can be proven true by the statements of cotemporaneous secular writers. Infidels have utterly failed in their attempts to disprove one of the hundreds of such statements in the New Testament.

Among the various historical evidences of primitive Christianity, none seem more authentic or possess a deeper interest than those connected with the catacombs of ancient Rome. These were subterraneous chambers or excavations which were made in the soft, sandy rock which underlies the hills on which stood ancient Rome. To these dreary vaults the early saints were in the habit of retiring, in order to celebrate their worship in times of persecution, and in them were buried many of the saints and martyrs of the primitive church. They consist of long, narrow galleries, usually about eight feet high and five feet wide, which twist and turn in all directions, very much resembling mines. The graves were constructed by hollowing out a portion of the rock at the side of the gallery, large enough to contain the body. The entrance was then built up, and generally an inscription was placed upon it.

Roman Catacomb

[SECTION OF THE CATACOMB OF CALIXTUS.]

These excavations were first formed by quarrying the volcanic, sandy rock, in order to supply the materials necessary for the building of ancient Rome. They were afterwards increased in order to procure the sand used for cement, until, at length, they formed an area of very extensive dimensions. They are mentioned by the Roman writers, Horace and Varro, by Cicero and Seutonius. Jerome, writing about the middle of the fourth century, describes them as they existed in his day, declaring that he "was accustomed, as a youth, when studying in Rome, to visit these dark and dreary spots on Sundays, in order to see the tombs of apostles and martyrs."

Burial Place

[BURIAL PLACE IN THE CATACOMBS.]

Among the many inscriptions which the museum of the Vatican has derived from the catacombs is the following. It relates to the reign of Marcus Aurelius, or Antoninus, as he is sometimes called, about A. D. 150:

ALEXANDER MORTUUS NON EST SED VIVIT SUPER ASTRA ET CORPUS IN HOC TUMULO QUIESCIT. VITAM EXPLEVIT SUB ANTONINO IMPO, QUI UBI MULTUM BENEFITII ANTEVENIRE PRAEVIDERET PRO GRATIA ODIUM REDDIDIT GENUA ENIM FLECTENS VERO DEO SACRIFICATURUS AD SUPPLICIA DUCITUR. TEMPORA INFAUSTA! QUIBUS INTER SACRA ET VOTA NE IN CAVERNIS QUIDEM SALVARI POSSIMUS. QUID MISERIUS VITA SED QUID MISERIUS IN MORTE CUM AB AMICIS ET PARENTIBUS SEPELIRI NEQUEANT TANDEM IN COELO CORUSCANT PARUM VIXIT QUI VIXIT IN X. TEM.

TRANSLATION:

"Alexander is not dead, but lives beyond the stars, and his body rests in this tomb. He lived under the Emperor Antoninus, who, foreseeing that great benefit would result from his services, returned evil for good. For, while on his knees and about to sacrifice to the true God, he was led away to execution. O, sad times! in which sacred rites and prayers, even in caverns, afford no protection to us. What can be more wretched than such a life, and what than such a death, when they could not be buried by their friends and relatives? At length they are resplendent in heaven. He has scarcely lived who has lived in Christian times."

Sometimes a victor's crown—one of laurel—is intended to mark that the interred one has passed through the agony and strife of his Christian conflict, and was triumphant. At other times the simplest words indicated a saint's last resting place. In some cases these epitaphs are imperfectly spelled, indicating the humble class to which the survivors belonged.