the educated classes. There are, of course, exceptions; but I speak of the general standard, and of what was not found inconsistent with distinguished personal excellence. Even a man with all the refinement of Horace never dreamt of regarding slaves as other than mere chattels; the highest Roman ladies gazed with eager and unpitying enjoyment on the hideous spectacles of the Coliseum. Nor was the stern morality of Juvenal shocked at the gladiatorial shows, but only at the nobles taking part in them. No public sentiment of Rome was outraged when 20,000 slaves were killed in a mock sea-fight for a summer afternoon's pastime to the spectators. But I need not multiply illustrations of what will be readily admitted. Now it is clearly a fact, that in these and such like matters the common feeling and practice of Christendom is a marked improvement on that of preceding ages. Cruelties no doubt, both public and private, have been perpetrated in Christian countries, some of a kind the heathen never dreamed of. Still it remains true, that the average standard, whether national or individual, is not what it was then. No one questions, for instance, that the influence of the Church contributed in the long run to the abolition of slavery, and softened the horrors of war. Care for the sick and poor was from the beginning a noticeable speciality of Christians; hospitals, as has been observed, were first erected in Christian cities. It is surely no mere fancy to connect the changed temper of modern society with the great event which has engaged our attention in this volume. There is a sequence of causation, as well as of chronology. An Order was founded by St. Camillus of Lelli in the sixteenth century, under the name of Cruciferi, for attending those afflicted with incurable diseases, or at the point of death. May we not say, that all who represent the more tender and compassionate spirit of Christian civilization are so far, in their measure, bearers of the Cross? |
