an dialect came to be abandoned from the day in which
people dreamed of a widespread propaganda. A provincial _patois_, which
was rarely written, and which was not spoken beyond Syria, was as little
adapted as could be to such an object. Greek, on the contrary, was
necessarily imposed on Christianity. It was at the time the universal
language, at least for the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. It was,
in particular, the language of the Jews who were dispersed over the
Roman Empire.

The conversions to Christianity became soon much more numerous among the
"Hellenists" than among the "Hebrews." The old Jews at Jerusalem were
but little drawn toward a sect of provincials, moderately advanced in
the single science that a Pharisee appreciated--the science of the law.
The position of the little Church in regard to Judaism was, as with
Jesus himself, rather equivocal. But every religious or political party
carries in itself a force that dominates it, and obliges it, despite
itself, to revolve in its own orbit. The first Christians, whatever
their apparent respect for Judaism was, were in reality only Jews by
birth or by exterior customs. The true spirit of the sect came from
another source. That which grew out of official Judaism was the
_Talmud_; but Christianity has no affinity with the Talmudic school.
This is why Christianity found special favor among the parties the least
Jewish belonging to Judaism. The rigid orthodoxists took to it but
little; it was the newcomers, people scarcely catechized, who had not
been to any of the great schools, free from routine, and not initiated
into the holy tongue, which lent an ear to the apostles and the
disciples.

This family of simple and united brethren drew associates from every
quarter. In return for that which these brought, they obtained an
assured future, the society of a congenial brotherhood, and precious
hopes. The general custom, before entering the sect, was for each one to
convert his fortune into specie. These fortunes ordinarily consisted of
small rural, semi-barren properties, and difficult of cultivation. It
had one advantage, especially for unmarried people: it enabled them to
exchange these plots of land against funds sunk in an assurance society,
with a view to the Kingdom of God. Even some married people came to the
fore in that arrangement; and precautions were taken to insure that the
associates brought all that they really possessed, and did not retain
anyth