Che Success of Christianity, AN EVIDENCE OF ITS DIVINE ORIGIN; WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE CELEBRATED BY MOSES D. HOGE, RICHMOND, VA. I. MORE than 1800 years ago, amidst the shadows of the night. and the gloom of a narrow defile near the city of Jerusalem, there might have been seen the dim outline of a human form, prostrate upon the ground, uttering plaintive cries, and exhibiting evidences of the most overwhelming sorrow. Presently lights were seen glancing through the foliage, and the heavy tramp of a company of men was heard. A band of soldiers, and others, bearing lanterns and torches and weapons, advanced, and took into custody the mysterious mourner. A little company of friends witnessed the capture, but they had neither the strength nor the courage to attempt a rescue, and seeing him in the keeping of the soldiers, they all forsook him and fled. The next day a tumultuous crowd darkened the summit of a hill, on which three crosses had been erected. On one of these crosses, the captive of the preceding night was hanging in the agonies of death. But strange prodigies attended that crucifixion. All Nature gave signs of unwonted agitation. The earth, as if instinct with life, shuddered as the crimson drops trickled upon it. It became pervaded by an emotion which seemed to pierce its heart and thrill through its entire frame. Upon its quaking surface the forms of the shrouded dead were revealed to the eyes of the terror-stricken living, while over the opening tombs, the rending rocks, and the parting veil of the Temple, the sun wrapped himself in darkness, and thus pursued his journey. Nor was the sympathy of nature wholly inarticulate. It found an interpreter in the Centurion, who, convinced by these prodigies of the Divinity of the sufferer, exclaimed, "Truly this was the Son of God." But strange as it may appear, while this heathen soldier is bearing such noble testimony to the character of the crucified Jesus, his own followers abandon all confidence in him. They did hope that he would prove the long-expected Deliverer-the light of Israel, and the salvation of the ends of the earth; but, now they believed themselves to have been cruelly deceived. It was a bitter disappointment, but there was no help for it. Their fondly cherished hopes must be buried in the tomb in which they believed him to be sealed, the prisoner of death, until the final Judgment. But soon after, a surprising change took place in the feelings and in the conduct of these timid, disheartened men. Having been scattered, they suddenly rally again, their hopes revive, their confidence is reanimated. They are no longer wavering or fearful; on the contrary, they are decided and courageous. No argument can shake their faith-no terrors can daunt their resolution. Decision-intrepidity-the loftiest heroism characterize the men who a little while ago were appalled at the death of their Leader, and who trembled lest there should be any suspicion of their connection with him. They themselves furnish the explanation of this sudden and otherwise inexplicable change in their views and feelings. They assert that their crucified Lord is alive. Everywhere, at all times, in the face of all dangers, they persist in the declaration that they have seen him, conversed with him, and possess the most undeniable proofs that he has risen from the dead. So firmly has this conviction possessed them-so wonderfully does it animate them, that they prepare to traverse their own, and even foreign lands, for the sole purpose of proclaiming salvation through the crucified and risen Jesus. Whether its earliest heralds were mistaken, or correct in their belief of the resurrection of Christ, is not now a point under discussion. The fact that such was their avowed conviction is all that concerns us at present. That they did maintain this doctrine -that they made it the basis of their creed-the theme of their proclamation, is equally admitted by the Christian and the Infidel. Now of the result of these labors we have two accounts-the one furnished by the friends of Christianity, the other by its foes. Both of these concur in two important particulars. They agree in their representations of the wonderfully rapid diffusion of the new faith, and of the feeble and inconsiderable instruments em: ployed in its propagation. We learn from the writers of the New Testament that the first triumphs of Christianity commenced in Jerusalem-the very city which had clamored for the crucifixion of Christ. A few days after his departure from the world there was an assemblage of disciples amounting to one hundred and twenty in number. In a little more than a week after, three thousand were converted in |