and for which they worthily strove. The people are right in asking generally of a story, "What is it for? What good does it do?" They insensibly regard it as an instrument of education. They do not care for direct preaching after the manner of the Salvation Army, for interlarded sermons, but they want it indirectly, through the development of a plot which shall indicate the true relation of cause and effect in human life, showing the results of good and evil conduct respectively. Thus conceived, the novel becomes an all-powerful preacher, showing the tragic results of sin, of illicit love, of jealousy, of vice and crime of all sorts. Says Besant: The development of modern sympathy, the growing reverence for the individual, the ever widening love of things beautiful and the appreciation of lives made beautiful by devotion and self-denial, the sense of personal responsibility among the English-speaking races, the deep-sealed religion of our people, even in a time of doubt, are all forces which act strongly upon the artist, as well as upon his readers, and lend to his work, whether he will or not, a moral purpose so clearly marked as to become practically a law of English fiction. In this spirit did Mrs. Stowe write Uncle Tom's Cabin, Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Reade, Put Yourself in His Place, Dickens, Oliver Twist, Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, and George Eliot, Romola. Every great novel having therefore some sublime purpose, the minister can illustrate his immortal themes by reference to them—to the out-working of the plot, the day of judgment in the denouement, the exhibition of mean and selfish or noble and beautiful character. Thus can one use the heroes of Shakespeare and the great creations of Hugo, Balzac, Scott, Thackeray, and the Wizard of Gads' Hill. And the people will thank him for linking into their lives and thoughts the lessons of the Bible with the powerful impressions, blazed upon memory and imagination, by the great creative masters whom they love and reverence. Levi Gilbert Levi ART. IV.-THE PEREGRINUS OF LUCIAN; A STUDY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE SECOND CENTURY. AMONG the extant works of Lucian, the rhetorician of the second century A. D., is one which is entitled IIɛpì τñs ПepɛypivOV TELEVτNS (De Morte Peregrini). The character of Peregrinus is so complex and mysterious that for many years there has been considerable discussion regarding Lucian's motive in writing this narrative. The essential facts in the life of Peregrinus, as given by Lucian, are as follows: His real name was Peregrinus, but he was fond of calling himself "Proteus." He was a contemporary of Lucian, and was born at Parium, a city of Mysia on the Propontis. He became notorious because of his crimes, among which was the murder of his father. To escape punishment he fled from home. In the course of his wanderings he came to Palestine, where he professed himself a convert to Christianity and was appointed to an office of great dignity in the Church. As a professed Christian he was imprisoned; during his confinement he received very great attention from his fellow-Christians, who in crowds visited the prison and ministered to his needs. Later, however, the Christians lost confidence in him, and expelled him from their communion. He now joined the sect of the Cynic philosophers and took up his residence at Rome. With the characteristic coarseness and freedom of speech of the Cynics he reviled the Roman emperor, and was finally expelled from the city. He next went to Greece, where he passed a precarious existence. Finding his influence waning, he determined to recover his prestige by the performance of an act of self-devotion which should give him a place in history beside the wonder-working Empedocles of Agrigentum. He gave public notice that at the Olympic games of 164 A. D. he would immolate himself on a funeral pyre. * By this announcement he succeeded in *Zeller and Bernays fix the date as 164 A. D.; Lightfoot, 165; Bauer, 168. The year is established by the Chronicon of Eusebius, ii, p. 170, sq., ed. Schōne, as Olympiad 236, that is, 164 A. D. again directing toward himself the attention of the Greek world. When the time came for the fulfillment of his promise he postponed from time to time the final act, but at last, finding that he could not evade his fate, he procedeed to carry the promise into effect. Lucian, who witnessed the closing scene, thus describes it: I found a funeral pyre erected in a cavity six feet deep. There were firebrands in abundance, and fagots had been stuffed in that the pyre might be readily fired. When the moon rose Peregrinus stepped forward, and with him the chief men of the Cynic set, and, in particular, the distinguished citizen of Patrae,* with torch in hand, no mean assistant in the drama. Proteus himself had a torch in his hand. Several men came forward and lighted the pile in various places. The inflammable material was soon ablaze. Peregrinus laid aside his wallet, his cloak, and his Hercules's club, and stood there clad only in a soiled undergarment. Then he asked for frankincense, that he might throw it upon the fire. It was handed to him, and he threw it upon the flames; then, turning to the south, he said, “O, spirits of my mother and my father, receive me kindly." After this speech he leaped into the fire and disappeared from sight. This narrative of Lucian is so striking that it is not surprising to find in modern theological works a literature of considerable extent concerning Peregrinus and his self-immolation. Three questions therefore naturally suggest themselves in this connection: Is Peregrinus a real character? Did Lucian intend to ridicule the Christians? How much light does this narrative of Lucian throw upon the Christianity of the second century of our era? I. Is Peregrinus a real character? Lucian himself in three other places mentions Peregrinus. In the Fugitivi† he represents a dialogue as in progress between Zeus and Apollo regarding the self-immolation of Peregrinus and the motives which led to the act. In the Demonaxt an exchange of wit takes place between Peregrinus and Demonax, the philosopher. In the Adversus Indoctum|| a man is said to have pur*Theagenes, a Cynic admirer and champion of Peregrinus. † 1-2. + 21. § Bekker and Bernays doubt that Lucian is the author of the Demonax. If Lucian is not the author of the work, the evidence in favor of the existence of Peregrinus is strengthened, as the writer of the Demonax was, if not Lucian himself, at any rate a contemporary of Lucian. || 14. chased for a large sum the staff which Proteus, the Cynic, laid down before leaping into the fire. In two of these passages it is noticeable that Peregrinus and his death are spoken of as something well known and undisputed. Had we no other evidence than the works of Lucian, we should be fully justified in regarding Peregrinus as a real historical character. Our evidence, however, is not limited to the testimony of Lucian. Aulus Gellius, the Latin grammarian, a contemporary of Lucian, was well acquainted with Peregrinus and frequently met him at Athens. He says: When I was at Athens I saw a philosopher, Peregrinus by name, to whom subsequently the surname Proteus was given. He lodged in a hut outside the city. He was a dignified and steadfast man [gravem et constantem]. I frequently visited him and heard him say many things that were both useful and noble.* . . . How severely, in our hearing, Peregrinus the philosopher reproved a young Roman of high station who stood lazily in his presence and frequently yawned!† Gellius also gives a specimen or two of the style of teaching which Peregrinus employed: "The wise man will not sin, even though neither gods nor men should observe the act. A man should avoid evil, not from the fear of punishment or disgrace, but from love of the good."+ It will be noticed that this characterization of Peregrinus is much more favorable than that which we find in Lucian. Indeed, Lucian, who felt himself most closely in sympathy with the Epicureans, entertained so implacable a hatred toward the sect of the Cynics that he seems incapable of expressing an unbiased opinion concerning them. Lucian says that Peregrinus was fond of calling himself "Proteus;" Gellius says that the name "Proteus" was subsequently given to him. The statement of Gellius is much more probable. It seems likely that the name "Proteus" was given him in derision by his enemies, with reference to his frequent changes of religious and philosophical profession. Bernays suggests that Peregrinus deliberately adopted the name "Proteus," which his * Gellius, xii, 11, § Lucian und die Kyniker, p. 89. ↑ Ibid., viii, 3. Ibid., xii, 11. foes derisively applied to him. By emphasizing the prophetic attributes of the Homeric Proteus he robbed the taunt of all its sting. Precisely this course was adopted by Diogenes, who took as his own surname the epithet kúwv, "dog," contemptuously flung at him by his enraged adversaries. The existence of Peregrinus is further attested by Philostratus. He speaks of the "Cynic Proteus," and says of him: This Proteus was one of those men who carry to such an extreme their philosophy that at Olympia he threw himself into the fire. At one time he uttered, in his half-barbarous dialect, invectives against Herodes. Herodes turned to him and said: "Why do you abuse me thus?" As Proteus continued his abuse Herodes said: "We are both childish: you, for addressing me so abusively; I, for listening to you." Further testimony is as follows: Tertullian, "Peregrinus, who not long ago threw himself upon the funeral pyre;"+ Ammianus Marcellinus, "Peregrinus, surnamed Proteus, a famous philosopher who, having determined to leave the world, built a funeral pyre at Olympia, at the time of the Olympic games, and, after lighting the pyre, ascended it and before the eyes of all Greece was consumed by the flames;"+ Tatian (a contemporary), "What do your philosophers do that is great or worthy of admiration? They say they need nothing; but, as Proteus says, they really need a currier for their wallet, a weaver for their mantle, a woodcutter for their staff;" Athenagoras, "You are aware that Proteus threw himself into the fire at Olympia;" Eusebius, "Peregrinus, the philosopher, in the presence of the national assembly kindled a fire and burned himself." This evidence, coming as it does from profane as well as from sacred writers, must be accepted as conclusive regarding the real existence of Peregrinus. II. Did Lucian intend to ridicule the Christians? For many centuries he has been regarded as a bitter foe of Christianity. *Philostratus, Life of the Sophists, ii, 1, 33. Ed. Didot. xxix, 39. Ed. Weidmann. § Oratio ad Græcos, c. 25, p. 102. || Legatio pro Christianis, p. 30. Ed. Nova Coloniæ, 1686. ¶ Chronicon, ii, 170, sq. Ed. Schōne. |