nce by the usual route, the port of Ephesus; where John had
lived for many years, and indited his letters, A. D. 96, scarcely ten
years before. The letters of Peter to the strangers scattered through
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, bring us to the same
mountainous region, eight hundred miles distant from Judea; whence, in
earlier days, our savage ancestors received those Phoenician priests
of Baal, whose round towers mark the coasts of Ireland nearest to the
setting sun; and whence, about the period under consideration, came the
heralds of the Sun of Righteousness, who brought the "_Leabhar
Eoin_"[74] which tells their children of him in whom is the life and the
light of men. Natives of these countries had been in Jerusalem during
the crucifixion of Jesus, and, though only strangers, had witnessed the
darkness, and the earthquake, and had heard the rumors of what had come
to pass in those days; and on the day of Pentecost had mingled with the
curious crowd around the apostles, and heard them speak, in their own
mother tongues, of the wonderful works of God. The remainder of the
story of their conversion we gather from the letters of Peter, John, and
Pliny.

"Pliny, to the Emperor Trajan, wisheth health and
happiness:[75]

"It is my constant custom, Sire, to refer myself to you in all
matters concerning which I have any doubt. For who can better
direct me when I hesitate, or instruct me when I am ignorant?

"I have never been present at any trials of Christians, so
that I know not well what is the subject matter of punishment,
or of inquiry, or what strictures ought to be used in either.
Nor have I been a little perplexed to determine whether any
difference ought to be made upon account of age, or whether
the young and tender, and the full grown and robust, ought to
be treated all alike; whether repentance should entitle to
pardon, or whether all who have once been Christians ought to
be punished, though they are now no longer so; whether the
name itself, although no crimes be detected, or crimes only
belonging to the name ought to be punished.

"In the meantime, I have taken this course with all who have
been brought before me, and have been accused as Christians. I
have put the question to them, whether they were Christians.
Upon their confessing to me that they were, I repeated the
question a